by Kay L. Ling
“I have powers, but I’m not like her,” Marrid assured him.
Tyla gave the breghlin a reassuring nod, and he began.
“Few weeks ago, Emanicus gnomes come. They say there gonna be a war, an’ we gotta fight fer ‘em. If we don’t, they gonna make us sorry.”
“Did they explain about the war? Tell you what it’s about?” Tyla asked.
“Reg’lar gnomes don’t want them takin’ over.”
“That’s right. They’ll rule with dark powers just as Sheamathan did. You don’t want that, do you?”
NE3 shook his head.
“They already be threatenin’ ya,” Grace said. “That ern’t a good sign.”
“They be a bad lot, them Emanicus gnomes. Had no trouble figgerin’ that out. We sent ‘em away.” NE3 paused, a distant look in his eyes. “Few days later, they come back an’ ask if we change our mind. We says no. Then the bad things start happenin’. Our crops die. There be pow’ful rainstorms. One day, the ground shake so hard our house fall down. We got no crops, no grass, no shelter fer us’n our animals, so we had ter split up an’ join other clans.”
“Have other clans been threatened, too?” Marrid asked.
“They has, an’ most gonna fight fer The Emanicus ‘cause theys ‘fraid not to.”
Breghlin were notoriously afraid of gem powers, but fighting for The Emanicus wasn’t the answer. “If the clans side with them, they’ll have to fight fortress troops, and we have gem masters on our side, too,” Tyla reminded him.
Wally said, “We ern’t gonna let them Emanicus fellers push us aroun’. Not after gettin’ free of S.” The other breghlin nodded.
“Speakin’ of S. She be a woodspirit again,” Ben said. “Didja hear? Was in the newssheets.”
NE3’s mouth dropped open.
“But she may not have her powers back,” Tyla added hastily, wishing Ben hadn’t brought it up. The clans would be terrified if they thought S was fighting with The Emanicus. “We have Marrid and Zeetha, and more of The Eight may side with us eventually.”
“But they doesn’t use dark powers, or so I hears.” He looked at Marrid for confirmation.
“If worst came to worst, we might.” The look in her eyes said she would be a formidable enemy, with or without dark powers.
“I hope—” Tyla began.
“Shhh!” Marrid tilted her head, listening, as she had in the field.
A few seconds later, Tyla heard the ominous sound of beating wings, but when she scanned the sky, she didn’t see anything. Marrid was searching the sky, too, a puzzled look on her face.
Tyla’s heart skipped a beat when a pythanium materialized from thin air a few hundred feet from the terrace. It had been invisible! It was headed straight toward them!
“Look out!” Arenia cried. Everyone leapt to their feet, stunned and dismayed.
The pythanium landed on the terrace, and the stone floor trembled. Larger than its predecessor, it looked more like a lizard than a snake. It had powerful hind legs. Its intelligent yellow eyes shone with malice. The sun glinted off its black-and-red scales, and the scales looked as hard as iron.
“Don’t let me break up your party,” it said in a deep voice, studying them with a confident air. Its gaze rested on Marrid. “Fascinating. A woodspirit. Marrid, if I’m not mistaken.”
It knew who Marrid was! Tyla fought back rising panic. She couldn’t let the creature return to The Emanicus and say Marrid was here, but how could she stop it? Kill it? That would be easier said than done. Incapacitate it and return it to its original form?
“What are you doing here, woodspirit?” the Watcher demanded.
“None of your business,” Marrid said coldly.
Tyla forced herself to approach the Watcher. Its scales looked impervious to teeth, claws, and weapons. “If you’ve come with a message, deliver it and be on your way,” she ordered.
This one was not afraid of her. It lifted its upper body, towering over her, and looked down on her with evident disdain. “Tyla. The brave but foolish commander of Elantoth. The Emanicus sent Outcasts to your alamaria mine, but they never arrived. What do you know about that?”
“I have no interest in missing miners. If you don’t know where they are, you’ll have to look for them.”
“Clever. You don’t like to lie, so you avoid a direct answer.” It brought its face level with hers. “As it happens, I did look for them, and they said you turned them away.”
Hoping to seem unafraid, Tyla held its eyes. She soon realized that was a mistake. Its eyes began to glow, holding her transfixed. She wanted to back away, but try as she might, her body refused to cooperate.
“The cowardly fools are dead now,” the Watcher said. “If I were you, I wouldn’t interfere with the next group that comes.”
Tyla struggled to break the Watcher’s hold over her. If only she could look away from those glowing eyes, but she couldn’t even manage that.
Marrid stepped between her and the pythanium, breaking their eye contact. Immediately, Tyla was free.
“Why did you come here?” Marrid asked the Watcher. “It wasn’t to tell Tyla about the miners.”
“Whatever gave you that idea?” the creature said.
“I have oracular powers. At the moment, I don’t know why The Emanicus sent you, but I will find out.”
“You try my patience, woodspirit. I do not tolerate interference.” The creature’s jaws opened, and it lunged at her.
Instantly, Marrid’s Guardian appeared. It grasped the Watcher’s head with both hands. The Watcher’s scales provided no protection from the Guardian’s grasp. Tyla heard a sound like sizzling meat. The pythanium shrieked, its piercing cry setting Tyla’s teeth on edge. It launched itself from the terrace, desperate to free itself from the glowing form. Leaves flew off the vines in the arbor and swirled in a wild frenzy.
“Now who’s the coward? Come back! I’m not done with you!” Marrid shouted after the Watcher. Having served its purpose, her Guardian disappeared.
Tyla watched in dismay as the pythanium escaped.
Arenia grabbed Tyla’s arm. “It’s getting away! It will say Marrid is here!”
“I know! How am I supposed to stop it?” Tyla cried.
Marrid went to the edge of the terrace and braced her hands on the balustrade. “I’ve never tried this on anything so heavy, or from such a distance, but I think it will work.”
One moment the creature was flying. The next it was hurtling to the ground. Marrid gave a triumphant cry when it crash-landed. Most everyone raced to the edge of the terrace to gape at the fallen Watcher.
“Is it dead?” Arenia asked.
“I don’t know, but it isn’t about to fly any time soon,” Marrid said.
“How did you do that?” Tyla asked.
“I projected an immobility gem.”
“Once again, you saved the day,” Arenia said.
Marrid waved a dismissive hand.
Tyla envied the woodspirit’s ability to react quickly. When faced with a crisis, Tyla often froze and couldn’t think how to use her gem powers.
“Hey, there be somethin’ shiny on the floor,” Ben announced. He’d been coming to join them, but had stopped to look at it. “It be a gem.” He bent to pick it up.
“Stop!” Marrid cried. “Don’t touch it!”
Ben straightened, looking alarmed. “How come?”
Marrid hurried over. “I knew the creature had a hidden motive for coming. Now I know what it was.”
Tyla and the others crowded around. “To bring a gem?” Tyla asked, confused.
“Not just any gem,” Marrid said. “Do you know what this is?”
“A negative energy gem?” Tyla asked.
“Worse! It’s an ommort mirkstone. A gem that stores commands—often deadly ones.”
Everyone backed away.
Tyla had heard of this gem. Elias had encountered one at Elantoth shortly after S’s defeat. It was hard to believe this beautiful pink gem could be so dan
gerous.
“How does it work?” Arenia asked.
“Normally, specific acts within a warded area trigger commands stored in the gem,” Marrid explained. “But The Emanicus had to keep things simple, so I think merely picking it up would have activated the commands.”
Tyla didn’t want to think what might have happened if Marrid hadn’t been here to warn them. “They couldn’t get through our wards so they sent the pythanium with a boobytrap?”
“That’s about the size of it,” Marrid said.
Tyla looked at the gem, feeling more vulnerable than she had in weeks. “We’d better ward the sky over Elantoth so nothing larger than a bird can get in. The Watcher will have to deliver messages from outside the perimeter ward, or not at all.”
“Someone, bring me the metal serving bowl from the table,” Marrid said.
Wally brought it to her. “Whatcha gonna do?”
“Put the bowl over the gem and ward it so no one can pick it up.”
“We can’t deactivate the ommort?” Tyla asked.
“Smashing an ommort can keep it from activating stored commands, but I wouldn’t try it on this one. We might set it off.”
“Make sure you tell everyone why there’s a bowl on the floor, or the staff will go crazy trying to pick it up,” Arenia told Tyla.
Tyla could imagine the bowl here a hundred years from now and stories about the gem being handed down to each generation. “Ben, do me a favor. Find Tina Ann and tell her about the ommort. She’ll spread the word. Oliver, go down to the Pedestal Room. Lant is on duty. Tell him what happened, and ask him to warn the other fortresses. Can you do that?”
Oliver nodded gravely, and he and Ben hurried off.
So far, with all the commotion, no one had questioned why Tyla’s knife had protected Marrid, but someone would, eventually. Once again, Marrid had saved the day and proven herself a valuable ally. Tyla should tell everyone the truth about the guardian spell, and she would, she promised herself, but not today. There had already been too much excitement, and it wasn’t over yet.
“Let’s go check the pythanium,” Tyla told Marrid. “If it’s still alive, we’ll ask Elias to bring his transformation gem and turn it into a lizard.”
Chapter 48
Tyla found Olissa in S’s suite, studying ancient scrolls. “You missed all the excitement,” she told Olissa, then explained what had happened.
“They created an invisible Watcher?” Olissa asked, aghast. “If no one had been on the terrace, it might have dropped off the gem and left, and we wouldn’t have been the wiser.”
“I think that’s what it planned to do, but when it found us on the terrace, it pretended it had come to see me about the Outcast miners. If the creature survived the fall, I’ll have to ask Elias to transform it.”
Olissa rolled up the scroll. “This time, I’d like to watch. In fact, maybe I should do the transformation.”
“You can’t! You’d have to use a Dark gem.”
“I know, but Elias shouldn’t have to do it again. He’s starting to lose his witnesses, and we don’t want to ruin his progress. The pythanium is our problem, not his.”
On their way out, they met Lant who was looking for Tyla. “I spoke with all the fortresses and told them what happened,” Lant said, “and while I was talking to Commander Darrath, I found out where the escaped inmates went. They’re in the Outcast Districts.”
“Maybe officers can recapture them,” Tyla said.
“He and Commander Onott tried, but officers couldn’t get into the O.D.”
Olissa frowned. “Why?”
“The inmates set up sophisticated wards. Outcasts can come and go, but no one else can get in.”
“Unbelievable,” Olissa growled.
“Once again, they thought of something we never anticipated. Who would have dreamed of such a thing?” Tyla said.
“The inmates will help them prepare for war,” Olissa said, as they started down the passageway.
“Officers should block the roads and not allow any food or supplies into the O.D.,” Tyla suggested.
“They don’t have enough officers. They’re shorthanded as it is,” Lant said.
The group lapsed into thoughtful silence.
“Do you have to go back to the Pedestal Room?” Tyla asked.
“No, Elder Denkurk is covering the rest of my shift.”
“Come see the new pythanium.”
They went outside, and when they reached the place where the creature lay, they found Marrid and Arenia standing guard over it. Its eyes were closed, its wings were twisted, and one hind leg was bleeding.
“Is it dead?” Olissa asked.
“No. Just unconscious,” Marrid told her. “But it’s in pretty bad shape as you can see. There’s no need to immobilize it.”
“Are you going to have Elias transform it?” Arenia asked Tyla.
“No. I don’t think we’ll need to. I’d be surprised if it survives.”
“I wonder how many more of these they created,” Olissa mused. “I have a feeling this isn’t the only one.”
“I just spoke to all the commanders, and they haven’t seen any yet,” Lant said. “But that doesn’t mean much since this new kind can turn invisible.”
Lana told Marrid and Arenia about the escaped inmates who were safely behind wards in Mierek and Pantierk’s Outcast Districts. “The Emanicus keeps finding new ways to thwart us. It’s discouraging.”
“We need to shake them up. Our side needs to make some surprise moves,” Olissa said. If only—”
“I hear a cart,” Marrid said, interrupting her. “But I don’t sense danger.”
A moment later, a cart came into view with two figures inside that were too big for gnomes.
“It looks like Lana and Jules,” Tyla said. “That’s odd. They never come without Elias. I hope he’s all right.”
Jules drove through the wards and parked near the group. “Good heavens! Look at the size of that thing. Is everyone all right?” he asked as he and Lana got out of the cart. They held hands as they walked toward the group.
“We’re fine,” Tyla said, “but I can’t say the same for the pythanium. It crash-landed after Marrid projected an immobility gem.”
Tyla introduced the humans to Marrid.
“Pleased to meet you,” Jules said. “We heard you were here.”
Lana studied Marrid discreetly.
“This one looks more like a dragon,” Jules said. “Do you think this is the new, improved model?”
“That’s what we’re afraid of,” Tyla said. “And it can turn invisible.”
“Oh no,” breathed Lana. “That’s disturbing.”
“It sure is,” Tyla said, frowning. “We had planned to ask Elias to transform it, but I think it may die of its injuries.”
“Please don’t ask him to do that again,” Lana said sharply. “He shouldn’t use Dark gems under any circumstances.”
Tyla was taken aback by Lana’s tone. “It might slow his progress in losing witnesses?”
“Yes, but that’s not my main concern,” Lana said, blinking back tears.
Jules slipped an arm around Lana’s waist. “Elias isn’t well. He hasn’t been for a while. He claims there’s nothing seriously wrong with him, but he didn’t protest when Gliaphon cancelled training sessions and brought him home ahead of schedule, so you know he’s not well. The last thing he should do is tax his system by using dark powers.”
“I’m so sorry,” Tyla said. “We pushed him too hard. He’s too old to be traveling so much, and teaching is stressful.”
“Don’t blame yourself.” Lana’s voice quavered. “He volunteered, realizing he’s very old and may not live much longer. He’s never forgiven himself for things he did long ago. He says he’s atoning for his sins.”
“According to Ertz, guilt blocks the healing process,” Jules said. “I think Elias feels more at peace now, and that’s why he’s losing his witnesses.”
Lana sniffed and trie
d to smile. “So, sending him on this mission was a good thing.”
Tyla still felt guilty. She knew Elias couldn’t live forever, but she would miss him terribly when he was gone, and she certainly didn’t want to be responsible for his death.
“Gliaphon can deliver gems on his own,” Lant said. “If he doesn’t want to go alone, we’ll find someone to go with him.”
Tyla nodded. “As for the training sessions, the clans Elias trained can help the others. We’ll make do.”
Lana brushed a tear from her cheek. “Thank you. He’s too proud to say he needs to stay home. He’ll be upset when he learns we came here behind his back.”
“Hopefully, he’ll forgive us when he hears the other reason we came,” Jules said. “Tyla, with your permission, we’d like to be married at Elantoth. We understand it’s customary for a clan leader to perform the ceremony, so we already talked to Raenihel, and he’s agreed to officiate.”
Tyla was surprised but delighted. In these depressing times, it was nice to think there could still be joyful moments. “Of course you may! We’d be honored. But would a marriage performed here be legal in the Fair Lands?”
“No, and naturally, I can’t tell anyone we were married in the gnome world, or that Jules spent a hundred years here as an enchanted wolfhound, and now he lives with my great-great grandfather. Eventually, we’ll marry in the Fair Lands and live together, but he needs a legal identity first, and I’m still working on that.”
“Elias has always wanted us to marry, and considering his health and the increasingly dangerous conditions in Ahmonell, we decided not to put it off. If we marry in your world, he can attend.”
“Between shadow attacks and invisible pythanium, Elantoth isn’t the safest place for a wedding,” Tyla said. “I’d feel terrible if something happened to spoil your day.”
“We’ll do our best to make sure that doesn’t happen,” Olissa promised, then looked down at the pythanium. “This is no place to discuss a wedding. Let’s go inside.”
They started back to the fortress. “I’ll have flowers brought in, and the kitchen staff will make a special meal,” Tyla said.
“I thought you were short on food after The Emanicus killed your crops. We don’t want to impose,” Lana said.