Deliverance (7 page)

Blaze grinned smugly and replied,
“Naturally. Now let us get ready to destroy the rebels.”

Bogdan grew a twisted smile and replied,
“That’s what I wanted to hear.”

CHAPTER 4

Malcolm hurried down the corridors of the
Elder’s Hall toward the meeting hall. He had just received word
that the Daldussan army had been spotted about two miles outside of
the city. The elves who had sighted the army rushed back to the
city and delivered the message straight to Malcolm first, as he had
requested. He then gave the order to the elders to announce to the
city to get ready for battle.

As he rushed forward, several council
members and other mages ran frantically from room to room, some
carrying scrolls outside and others getting their equipment
together while rebels readied their weapons and bravely marched
outside to await the upcoming battle.

Malcolm entered the meeting hall and
discovered not only Crystal, but Gavril, Thaddeus, Kerali, Sigurd,
Taryn, and Maryn waiting for him to arrive.

“My goodness, all of you will be protecting
the Eye?” he asked.

“Actually, my brother, I was about to let my
comrades know that I would like to join you in helping with the
battle outside,” said Thaddeus.

“You won’t guard the Eye with us?” asked
Crystal.

“I am confident that all of you are able to
protect it well, and Malcolm and I planned on investigating the
enemy’s strategy more,” Thaddeus explained.

“I would greatly appreciate your help,
Thaddeus. Something seems unsettling to me about this whole thing,
although I cannot understand why. I could definitely use your help
figuring it all out, Brother,” replied Malcolm.

“Very well,” replied Thaddeus. He then
turned to Crystal and said, “Do not worry, I have trained you well,
and I believe in your abilities. I will meet you once we figure out
the plan.”

Crystal paused and then nodded after
Thaddeus gave her an assuring look.

“Well then, let us go to the chamber, but
before we do that, I must do something really quick,” said
Malcolm.

He then walked to the open double doors,
looked side-to-side in the corridor, and then closed the doors. He
then waved his staff and a glowing lock shape appeared around the
door handles.

“Why are you locking the doors, brother?”
Thaddeus inquired.

“Aren’t we going to the chamber?” Gavril
added.

“Yes, we are, but you see, the entrance to
the chamber is right behind you,” replied Malcolm. The rebels
turned around to see the desks that they saw the elders sit at
during the meeting.

“Where?” asked Crystal, “Behind the
desks?”

“Not behind the desks, in the desks,”
Malcolm replied. Without acknowledging the confused looks on
everyone’s faces, Malcolm motioned for the rebels to step aside.
Once they did, Malcolm stepped in front of his middle desk and
traced the symbols carved into it with his staff. The glowing gem
on the end of his staff left a glowing trail as it scratched across
the silver granite. Once the symbol was finished, the glow became
brighter and eventually disappeared, leaving an empty archway that
led down a dark hall.

“Astonishing!” exclaimed Thaddeus. Maryn and
Taryn ventured off on either side of the desks and peeked behind
the other side.

“No way! There’s nothing here!” exclaimed
Maryn.

“No tunnel or anything behind the desks,
just empty space!” added Taryn.

“The tunnel you see here is a portal that
leads into the nearby mountain. Only an Elder has the ability to
open it and no one can blast it open from the outside. We are given
special magic abilities when we are elected, so even if someone
memorizes the spell pattern, unless they are an elder, they cannot
activate the spell.” explained Malcolm, “Now, then, follow me.”

The rebels followed the high elder as told,
and he led them through the tunnel, which was shrouded in complete
darkness. As soon as everyone was inside, the tunnel door sealed
shut again. No one could see the person in front of them, so
navigating through it proved quite difficult.

“OUCH Taryn! You stepped on the back of my
heel!” shouted Maryn, startling everyone.

“HUSH you! Don’t shout so suddenly when it’s
this damned dark!” scolded Sigurd.

“Did they frighten you, dwarf?” asked
Kerali, from behind Sigurd.

“HA! As if I would scare so easily! No one
asked you anyway, elf,” replied the disgruntled dwarf.

“Would you all be quiet? There is an echo in
this corridor and you are far too loud!” ordered Crystal, who was
walking directly behind Malcolm.

“We are nearly there, everyone.” said
Malcolm, “No need to fret.”

“How can you tell? It’s nothing but black in
here!” said Taryn.

“There is a red glow up ahead,” Kerali
answered.

Sigurd snorted and muttered, “Leave it to an
elf to see things before anyone else and to brag about it,” he
said.

“You brag about your ‘toughness’ and
‘endurance.’” countered the elf prince, “I merely pointed out the
obvious.”

“I can last for days on end in battle! I
have a right to brag!” replied Sigurd.

“You are all talk and no brains,” Kerali
remarked.

“LISTEN YOU DAMNED EL—”

“That is ENOUGH!” Gavril shouted angrily
from behind Crystal. Even elves and dwarves knew to keep quiet at
that point. With everyone finally quiet, Malcolm instructed
everyone to stop.

Now that they had reached the origin of the
dull, red glow, Crystal could barely make out everyone’s
silhouettes. The glow was coming from a wall at the end of the
corridor with strange symbols much like the ones Malcolm had carved
into his desk. The high elder then began muttering an incantation
and before anyone knew it, the wall disappeared. The hallway
continued and everyone could see a dim light ahead.

“This is where I leave all of you. There are
no more doors to open here, so you can go on without me and wait.
My brother and I will now return to the city. Good luck to all of
you,” said Malcolm.

The rebels gave their farewells to Malcolm
and Thaddeus, and Crystal then led her team forward towards the dim
light.

****

Bogdan and Blaze hid amongst a densely rocky
area, waiting for their chance to strike. The frontal assault was
moving in, and from where they were hiding, the king and the prince
could hear the mages begin casting defense spells. Blaze sat near
the top of a large boulder, giving him a decent view of the
battle.

“There are warriors charging from the wall
with swords. Rebels, no doubt,” Blaze called down to his
father.

“They are most likely defending the gates.
Fools, they are playing right into the trap,” laughed Bogdan.

Blaze continued to keep watch of the battle,
giving feedback to his father here and there. After a few minutes
of telling his father what he saw, Saitar appeared out of nowhere
right next to him atop the boulder.

“Sorry I am late. It is a frantic mess in
there,” Saitar said.

“No kidding,” Blaze replied sarcastically.
He then dropped from the boulder and landed next to his father. He
swung his head to get his long, black hair out of his face. Bogdan
and Blaze then looked up to see Saitar contemplating a way
down.

“Just jump down, Elder,” said Blaze.

“As easy as you make it look, Prince, I
regrettably do not have the leg power to handle such a landing
without my bones snapping in two,” replied Saitar.

Blaze rolled his eyes and muttered, “We’ll
be here all day.”

Eventually, Saitar could not find a safe way
down, so he disappeared and reappeared next to Bogdan.

“That’s quite a convenient power there,”
commented the king.

“Not many mages can do it, or choose to do
it,” replied Saitar.

Suddenly, a large explosion sounded from the
battle. Blaze, who had peeked over another boulder, saw that the
catapult had been launched.

“That’s our signal.” Blaze said, “Let’s
go.”

Saitar then led the two through the rocky
area closer to the city wall. They hid behind boulder after boulder
in hopes to avoid detection from the city. Fortunately for them,
the boulders blocking their view of the city were densely packed
together.

“You will see why the mages put them
together like this soon,” replied Saitar after Blaze questioned
it.

Eventually, they came across an old well
that was surrounded by a wall of thick, tall boulders. Saitar
approached the well and removed the wooden lid. Dust and cobwebs
flew off of the top and a thick cloud of dust came out of the
well.

“Here we are,” said Saitar.

“You mean that the entrance is in this
filthy well?” asked Bogdan.

“Yes. The rock formation was kept like this
so that if there was an emergency, the elders could escape from the
Elder’s Hall, go through a secret tunnel and come out of this well.
The rock formation would block them from view of the city, and so
they could escape while avoiding detection. We are doing the exact
opposite; we are sneaking into the Elder’s Hall. From there, I
shall guide you to the chamber where the Eye of Gaull is kept,”
explained Saitar.

“How cunning it is to use their own escape
route against them!” replied Bogdan, “I like the way you think,
Elder.”

Saitar then unrolled a rope ladder on the
rim of the well and let it fall into the hole.

“Here is where we go down.” he said, “I will
go first.” He then climbed over the edge of the well, latched onto
the ladder, and climbed down. Bogdan went in next and then Blaze
followed behind him. When they reached the bottom, they saw an old
tunnel that opened at the bottom, and one at a time, they each
walked through it. At the end of the tunnel was a door with no
doorknob, but that was decorated with strange symbols. Before
Bogdan or Blaze could ask questions, Saitar muttered an incantation
and the door disappeared.

They then entered through the round archway
into another tunnel. The walked around curves until they could no
longer see any light, at which point Saitar lifted his iron staff
and tapped it on the ground. This caused tip end to glow, lighting
the way for himself, the king, and the prince.

As they walked through the old tunnel, they
could hear the battle ensuing overhead. With every booming
explosion from the mages’ attacks, dirt and debris from the tunnel
ceiling fell onto all of their heads.

“This is entirely beneath us! We will be
filthy before the night is over,” bickered Bogdan.

“Sneaking around like thieves usually is a
dirty business,” replied Blaze, as he brushed a chunk of dirt off
of his shoulder armor.

“I am sorry for this, my King.” replied
Saitar, “By my estimation, we are most likely right under the
alchemy shop. We are about halfway to the Elder’s Hall.”

“This city must be larger than Cartigo!”
exclaimed Bogdan.

“It has to be big. All of the mages in the
world come here to learn and gather supplies,” said Saitar.

“All this land is definitely covetable. The
city is well built, and with all of the magic artifacts and items,
a mage like you could rule this city completely unopposed,” said
Blaze.

“Not to everyone, of course,” replied
Bogdan, obviously hinting at his own power and authority.

“Just don’t forget, Majesty,” said Saitar,
“I am getting you into the city, so you had better keep up your end
of the deal.”

Blaze’s body grew stiff for a brief moment.
It was not a wise thing for anyone to talk to his father that way.
Even he knew to watch his words carefully. The king always demanded
authority over everyone, and if someone talked to him with such
disrespect, they had better pray they still had their tongue before
it was over.

To Blaze’s surprise and relief, Bogdan
laughed and responded, “You have my word, Elder, you will rule this
city. I’ve no use for it.”

“Very well then.” replied the elder, “Let us
press forward. I believe we are now passing under the fountain in
the classroom area. We only have a little ways to go until we reach
the Elder’s Hall and be able to enter from below. This tunnel leads
straight to the meeting hall, and the entrance to the chamber is in
that room. I can listen for anyone in the room before opening the
door to assure that no one will see us enter.”

“This is going to be far too easy.” replied
Bogdan, “Those morons might as well have just handed the Eye to
me.”

“Which is why it will be too easy to rule
these simpletons,” Saitar said with grim smile.

The king laughed, but Blaze still couldn’t
shake the uneasy feeling that this plan was not going to go as
expected and he did not know if that would be good or bad.

Crystal waited in the dark until she
suddenly heard voices. She sat on a ceiling beam above the platform
where the Eye of Gaull was placed on a pedestal. A dim light
hanging in a glass orb shined under the beam, barely casting its
light on the blood red gem. The gem was about the size of a human
skull and was round with dozens of facets all around it. Behind the
gem was the stone pillar where the Eye was to be placed. The pillar
had strange black runes marked around the depression that spiraled
outward around the rest of the pillar.

When Crystal heard several voices, she
realized Bogdan had planned a sneak attack after all. She then
whispered urgently to her friends, who were also hiding in
different places around the room, to get ready to defend the Eye.
She clutched the hilt of her sword and took a deep breath. Her
heart began pounding in her ears when she saw the entrance to the
chamber glow. However, Bogdan was not the first person she saw . .
. or heard.

“Here it is, my King,” said Saitar.

Crystal’s face burned. She should have known
an elder was behind this! How else could Bogdan have known about
the Eye in the first place? It made sense how defensive Saitar
became whenever Crystal claimed that the plans he presented were
fake; she should have known that his reaction meant he was hiding
something.