by Kay L. Ling
Deals and Dangers
Book Three of the Gem Lore Series
Kay L. Ling
Copyright © 2019 by Kay L. Ling
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Contents
The Story So Far
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
A Note From the Author
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Afterword
The Story So Far
For those of you who read Myths and Mentors a while ago and would like a reminder of key characters, places, and events, here’s a summary so you can feel up to speed as you begin Deals and Dangers.
Determined to find Sheamathan’s Dark gems, Mierek officials send Gem Master Olissa Neban to Elantoth Fortress, throwing Raenihel, Tyla, and other fortress staff into a panic. When Olissa doesn’t find the gems at Elantoth, she leaves to search Elias’s cave. On the way there, she turns into a rat. No one suspects The Emanicus is responsible since The Emanicus is considered a benevolent organization of scholarly gnomes. Ben and Tina Ann know the truth about them, but they can’t tell anyone. They’re still captives, in lizard form, at Emanicus headquarters.
Sheamathan gets her first visitors at the confinement—Tyla and two of The Eight, Marrid and Zeetha. After the visit, Tyla and Gem Master Ertz drive by the confinement together. Tyla’s knife shows flames, indicating evil or danger. Ertz suggests they focus their oracular powers on The Emanicus. When they do, they encounter “white mist,” a ward that blocks oracular powers.
When Tyla returns from her trip to Aberell City, she learns that Raenihel has gone home after suffering a minor heart attack. He wants Tyla to take over as Elantoth’s commander, and she agrees.
Convinced that The Emanicus is hiding something, Ertz begins to investigate. While doing so, he speaks with Kaff and Eneff who live in Aberell’s Outcast District. Information they share convinces him that Emanicus gnomes are actually Outcasts, and that Ben and Tina Ann may have discovered their secret. Ertz believes the breghlin may be captives at Emanicus headquarters, perhaps in enchanted form. He travels to Elantoth with this disturbing news.
Tyla, Ertz, and Elias devise a plan. Olissa, who is still a rat, will sneak into The Emanicus and learn what she can, then attempt to rescue any enchanted beings. The mission is successful. Olissa returns with Ben, Tina Ann, and an Outcast named Slyhand. Ertz restores all four to their true forms, and they share alarming information about Emanicus activities.
Tyla, Ertz, and Commander Finnack plan a surprise attack on The Emanicus, hoping to seize Sheamathan and arrest the gem masters. When Finnack’s team breaks in, they discover S and all the gem masters missing, except Havinth and Sethan, whose memories and gem powers are gone.
Before Finnack gets a chance to tell the other fortresses that Emanicus gnomes have evacuated and taken Sheamathan with them, newssheets arrive announcing The Emanicus takeover. Finnack learns The Emanicus is using the Focal Gem to neutralize key officials. The fortresses must defeat The Emanicus soon, or there may be no one with gem powers left to fight them.
Chapter 1
There were advantages to being a nobody, Parcune told himself as he parked the cart near Elias’s cave. He didn’t have gem powers, so he could never be a leader or government official, and that had felt like a hardship a couple days ago, but it didn’t now. Being no one special meant he wasn’t likely to have his memory wiped like poor old Klemmet. Or grow an extra arm like Aram DeBiggin. He shuddered at the mental image.
Parcune picked up the books he was delivering to Elias and got out of the cart. Franklin and the strange striped animal climbed out the back. The zek had ridden without making a fuss, but it seemed happy to be out of the cart. It stood two-feet high at the shoulder and was a fierce looking thing with a long, narrow snout full of sharp teeth, and erect, pointed ears. The dog-like animal shook itself violently, and then, making a mockery of its savage appearance, bounded off after a large flying insect.
“You can see why I named him Bounder,” Franklin said, walking alongside Parcune. “He chases anything that moves.”
“Apparently, he’s not as vicious as he looks,” Parcune said, looking up at the easygoing human who, despite the gnome government’s edict against gnome-human interaction, had become a good friend.
Franklin laughed. “He growls at folks he doesn’t know, and I have no doubt he’d attack if he felt threatened, but as you can see, he’s relatively harmless.”
Bounder suddenly changed course and darted into the weeds. A moment later, he came running toward them with something black hanging from his mouth.
“What’s he got?” Parcune asked.
“Looks like a snake,” Franklin said, running a hand through his graying hair. “I don’t think there’s a single one left around my cabin.”
Bounder dropped the dead snake at Franklin’s feet and looked up at him expectantly. “Good boy,” Franklin said, scratching the animal between the ears. The zek made a low, rumbling noise in the back of its throat. “Looks like everyone’s waiting for us,” Franklin observed as they continued toward the cave.
Elias, Jules, and Lana were sitting at a table inside the arbor Jules had built. A dense growth of climbing vines covered the arbor, providing shade as well as protection from all but the heaviest rains.
Bounder gave the humans an appraising look and sat down a few feet from the arbor, refusing to go any farther, even though Franklin and Parcune went inside and sat down.
“So, this is the animal I’ve been hearing about,” Elias said. The elderly gem master studied the zek and nodded approvingly.
Franklin grinned. “My companion and snake-hunter-extraordinaire.”
“He looks w
ell fed,” Lana observed. “What does he eat?”
“He catches his own food—snakes, rodents, and holediggers, mostly.”
Parcune pushed the books he’d brought toward Elias. “These are the books about gem-bonding.”
“Thank you. I’ll devote the next few days to reading them.” Elias opened a black cloth bag and set several pieces of jewelry and a dagger with a jeweled hilt on the table.
Even in the shade of the arbor, the gems sparkled. The settings were elaborate, some made of gold, others silver. Parcune was aware his mouth was hanging open and closed it. “These belonged to S?”
“Yes, she had a great deal of jewelry and gem-encrusted items in addition to loose gems. Assuming I can devise spells that work, Tyla would like me to gem-bond these pieces to local clan leaders. Arenia says the books don’t tell how to construct the spells, but they contain useful information about gem-bonded items.”
“When will Tyla be home?” Lana asked. Sunlight slanted through openings in the arbor, bringing out the red highlights in her long brown hair.
“Tomorrow, we hope,” said Parcune. He smoothed his bushy beard, which had more gray hairs than a week ago, and frowned as he envisioned the long drive from Aberell City. Tyla would be coming back with Gem Master Olissa and a couple Aberell officers, so she should be safe enough, though nothing was certain in these troubled times. “Good thing Tyla gave Elias the rizumen pendant before she left. Arenia’s been worried sick, but at least she can talk to Elias.”
“Yes, she contacted me as soon as she heard what happened at The Emanicus, and we’ve been in touch ever since,” Elias said.
Parcune picked up a jeweled cuff bracelet and admired the workmanship. Metal scrollwork surrounded the bezel-set gems, and the piece seemed to be from a bygone age, though he had no idea how old it was.
“Are you sure it’s wise to gem-bond all of these?” Lana asked. “Once you do, no one but the owner will be able to draw the gems’ powers. I’d rather see the clans share the jewelry and infuse the gems.”
“There aren’t many rare gems here,” Elias said. “I chose these pieces for gem-bonding because they have high quality gems with strong powers. If Emanicus gnomes confiscate these, they won’t be able to draw the gems’ powers. Come what may, these gems can never be used against innocent gnomes.”
“That’s a good point,” Jules said, “S has plenty of loose gems that can be distributed among the clans. It can’t hurt to gem-bond some of the jewelry.”
Lana nodded, seeing the logic of that argument. “If the owner dies or loses his gem powers, will the bond work like Tyla’s knife—the next member of the clan to pick up the jewelry becomes its owner?”
“That’s what I will determine after reading these books to see what others have done,” Elias said. “If we fear a piece might pass to an unworthy individual, I could structure the bonding spell to include a safeguard. Exactly what that would be, I don’t know.”
“You were keeping the gems for a rainy day, and it looks like the rainy days are here,” Lana said. “I never thought we’d be dealing with something like this so soon after defeating S.”
“Nor did I,” Elias said, shaking his head sadly. “Things were finally improving, and now this. Arenia told me today that if we could reseal the Amulet, she’d happily go back to being isolated and let the rest of Ahmonell deal with S and Emanicus gnomes. I must confess that when I first heard that S was missing and the gem masters were gone, the same thing crossed my mind.”
“There’s no way to do it even if we wanted to,” Jules said. The young man’s troubled expression showed how deeply he cared about this world. “We can’t reproduce the conditions that made the Amulet barrier impenetrable.”
“Someone will find a way to defeat The Emanicus,” Parcune said with more certainty than he felt. “In the meantime, we’ll protect ourselves as best we can and hope to get through this. We lived under S’s rule, and it can’t be any worse than that.”
Just then, Bounder began growling. Parcune had all but forgotten the zek. Bounder sat staring up at the sky, his tail lashing the ground.
“Bounder, what’s the matter?” Franklin called. The zek paid no attention to him, and his growl took on an even more menacing note, so Franklin left the arbor to see what was wrong. Out in the open now, Franklin looked up and followed the zek’s gaze. “You’d better come here,” he called to the group, his voice unmistakably tense.
Everyone left the arbor and looked up.
“It can’t be,” breathed Lana.
Parcune blinked once, twice, hoping it was his imagination, but the dark, winged form remained, gliding in a slow circle as if looking for something. He swallowed hard. “They were all dead.”
“Lana, take the jewelry inside,” Elias ordered in a tight voice.
Lana dashed to the arbor, grabbed the jewelry and books, and took them to the cave.
Parcune’s jaw tightened. “We’d better get inside.”
“Go,” said Elias. The winged serpent was coming directly toward them now. “It’s already seen us, and I suspect it’s looking for me.”
Bounder continued to growl. Neither Elias nor Franklin moved, and Parcune couldn’t bring himself to leave. “You’re going to face down a pythanium?”
“Wouldn’t be the first time,” growled Jules, blue eyes flashing, He drew his knife. “I’ve killed two.”
Parcune had heard the stories. Jules’s knife had produced a pulsing light that had hypnotized the creatures, and then he’d stabbed them to death. “Does this mean S is a woodspirit again?” Parcune was ashamed to hear his voice tremble.
“I don’t know,” Elias said, “but I’d like to find out.”
“If not, this is still her doing,” Jules said, brushing a lock of brown hair from his damp forehead.
The creature was descending rapidly, and it was larger than any Parcune had seen before.
“You’re right,” said Elias. “It takes great skill as well as several Dark gems to create these monsters. Emanicus gnomes didn’t do it on their own. Keep your knife ready, but don’t hypnotize the creature. We want to talk to it.”
Personally, Parcune would rather kill it.
The pythanium landed a few yards away, then pulled its three sets of wings back against its green-and-gray scaled body, making it look all the more like a giant snake. Its yellow eyes held a cunning gleam.
Bounder launched himself at the creature. The pythanium hissed and opened its uppermost set of wings, revealing a pair of short muscular legs with clawed feet. Before the pythanium could grab him, Bounder sank his teeth into its wing. The creature hissed and flung the zek away.
Bounder landed with no apparent damage except to his pride. He showed his teeth and growled but was reluctant to approach again. When Franklin ordered, “Stay back, Bounder,” the zek snapped his jaws, clearly unhappy to be beaten by a snake, no matter how big it was. The serpent’s wing might be injured, Parcune decided, studying the way the creature held it partially extended.
“Which of you is Elias?” the pythanium asked with a slight hiss in its voice. “For this is surely his cave.”
Elias stepped forward, his green robe rippling in the wind. “I am. What do you want?”
“I have a message.”
Elias crossed his arms over his chest. “Well, get on with it, then.”
Parcune was amazed that Elias showed no fear. His own legs were trembling. This was as close as he’d come to a pythanium, and it was all he could do to keep from running.
“I am your region’s Watcher. If anyone kills me, everyone will suffer, and another will come to replace me. Do not interfere, human. You cannot win this time. Your foes are too many, and you cannot find them.” Its eyes shifted from Elias to Jules, and finally to Parcune. Then it extended all three sets of wings and beat them, raising a cloud of dust, and took to the air.
No one moved. Not even Bounder. They all stood watching the hideous thing fly away, and Parcune realized it was heading towar
d Elantoth. It would probably deliver its message there as well.
Lana came to join them. Parcune hadn’t seen her leave the cave, but judging by her grim expression, she hadn’t missed anything.
“I can’t believe this is happening,” she said. Jules sheathed his knife and slipped his arm around her waist.
Elias’s shoulders sagged now that the confrontation was over. “Emanicus gnomes will learn from S’s successes but also from her mistakes. They will strike down anyone who poses a threat, and they won’t stay in one place where the opposition can find them.”
“They didn’t strike you down,” Parcune said.
Elias sighed. “The Emanicus may fear me, but I’m not much of a threat. I can’t leave the Amulet and travel into Ahmonell. And without the Focal Gem, I can’t attack them from a distance.”
A tense silence followed.
Lana said, “The rest of Ahmonell hasn’t struggled with dark powers since The Great Upheaval, and even then, it was nothing compared to what the clans here went through. Amulet gnomes will cope and survive. They always have.”