Zahara's Gift

by A. J. Walker

  “A dragon,” Kirsten said, shocked. “He has a dragon in there.” She pointed to the wall where the banner now covered the secret door.

  “Yeah, an enormous one too,” Maija gasped. “But hey, at least we know where the crystals are,” she said sarcastically.

  “Come on, let’s get out of here before we get caught,” Kirsten said as she rushed across the room toward the door. Before they reached the stairway, though, they heard the door at the bottom of the stairs close. They also heard Chantal calling for them.

  “Crap!” Kirsten mouthed. “What do we do know?” she whispered.

  Looking around the room, Maija said, “Hold on, I got this.” She went over to the desk and grabbed some dirty dishes stacked on the corner and handed some to Kirsten. Then she led them down the stairs and out into the hallway where Chantal stood, obviously looking for them.

  When they opened the door leading out of Merglan’s chambers, Chantal immediately chastised them, “What in the world were you two doing in there? You’re not allowed to be in there, only I and…”

  Maija cut her off, “The master asked us before he left if we would be so kind as to return his dirty lunch dishes to the kitchen.” Chantal looked at her with hands on her hips angrily tapping her foot. Maija continued, “We told him that we were explicitly told never to enter his chamber room. He said to forget what we were told and follow his orders. He wanted the place tidy and clean when he returned.”

  Chantal scoffed and said, “Well that’s ridiculous, the master has never complained about his dishes remaining in his room for too long. I clean them up before dinner every day.”

  Maija handed her the dirty dishes and said, “I was just obeying his direct orders.” Kirsten loaded more on top of those Maija had handed her.

  “Anyway,” Chantal continued. “You’re needed to help prepare for tonight’s dinner. The master will be entertaining special guests and there is much to do beforehand.”

  Maija and Kirsten rushed off to the dining hall, leaving Chantal with an armful of dirty dishes.

  “That was brilliant,” Kirsten said as soon as they were out of earshot.

  “Thanks,” Maija said, blushing. “I saw those dishes when we entered the room and thought that they’d serve as a good excuse if we got caught leaving.”

  “It worked beautifully,” Kirsten said happily.

  They reached the dining hall and began helping the others set up tables and chairs.

  “Is there any special reason why the master is having guests tonight?” Kirsten asked one of the kitchen servants.

  “I heard something about a battle. It seems the master is hosting a strategic planning meeting with some of his commanders tonight,” the servant told her. Kirsten thanked him and kept the news to herself.

  She briefly entertained going back to Merglan’s chambers while he was busy at the dinner, but Chantal had told Thargon to place two guards at Merglan’s chamber room door, which made a second visit impossible.

  That night after they had cleaned up the mess the orc, kurr, and men made during the feast, Kirsten and Maija stayed up talking with Thomas about the events of the day. After making sure no guards were spying on them, they told Thomas about finding the crystals in the secret room with the sleeping dragon. They followed up with details about the meeting Merglan had with members of the orc, kurr and human armies at his command.

  “I heard about a fight with the Rollo Islanders,” he said. “The orcs attacked a group of Rollo Island warriors, taking them by surprise in their sleep, but the warriors fought them off.”

  “I hope they kill every last orc and kurr in Merglan’s army,” Kirsten said angrily.

  “Me, too,” he agreed. “And the crystals, you said they were behind a secret door or something, guarded by a dragon?” he asked.

  “Yeah, so they’re definitely important,” Kirsten said.

  “They must be used for magic,” Maija said. “It’s the only explanation that makes any sense to me.”

  “So, how do we get to them if they’re guarded by a dragon?” Thomas asked. “I didn’t even know dragons still existed. Father told us the last dragon left this world after it destroyed the castle at Highborn Bay.”

  “But Merglan’s got one. We saw it,” Kirsten said. They perked their heads up as they heard guards coming through the hallway to the courtyard.

  “We’ll talk more tomorrow,” Thomas said and quickly ran to his cell. Kirsten and Maija did the same.

  Once the guards were gone, Kirsten said to Maija, “There has to be a way to get the crystals. If they are, in fact, the key to the magic here, then maybe we could use them to escape.”

  Maija said, “All we have to do is get past that dragon and we are home free.”

  When Kirsten awoke to the banging on the cell door, she still hadn’t come up with an idea on how to get past the dragon guarding the crystals. She spent all morning thinking about it. Every possible scenario she dreamed up ended with either the dragon eating them or Merglan killing them for attempting to steal the crystals. They were cleaning the rooms near Merglan’s chambers when Maija stopped mopping the floor and leaned over with her ear. Seeing her do this, Kirsten came to her side.

  “What is it?” Kirsten asked.

  Maija said, “Merglan is arguing with Thargon.” She walked to the edge of the room and leaned her head out the doorway into the hall to get a better angle. “Merglan says he’s leaving,” Maija said, looking back at Kirsten. “Oh, get back to work; Thargon’s coming.” They continued to mop and scrub the floors and watched as Thargon left in a rage.

  “Did you hear where Merglan was going?” Kirsten asked.

  “No, just that he was leaving at once,” Maija said.

  They kept cleaning the rooms long after they were spotless, but Merglan never left his chambers.

  “Shouldn’t he be gone by now?” Kirsten asked. “I thought he said he was leaving right away.”

  “Yeah,” Maija agreed. “He should’ve left by now.”

  “Should we check to see if he did?” Kirsten asked. “Maybe he’s got more than one secret passageway out of his room?”

  “Okay, let’s do it,” Maija said. “But be careful; we can’t get caught.”

  The two silently snuck up the stairs. They examined the room at the top of the staircase, but Merglan wasn’t there.

  “He’s gone,” Maija said

  “Now is our chance to get the crystals,” Kirsten responded.

  “I just hope that dragon is gone,” Maija added as they rushed over to the secret doorway.

  Once open, they nearly ran down the narrow passageway once again, careful not to make too much noise in case the dragon was still in the secret room. Something about the trip down the hallway seemed different; somehow darker than before.

  Maybe the door is closed, Kirsten thought, noticing the absence of the blue glow.

  They felt along the cold stone walls with their hands, making sure they didn’t pass the doorway and stumble into the dragon’s keep. When they reached the doorway, the glow was gone, as were the dragon and the crystals.

  Kirsten looked around the darkened room confused, “Where did they go?”

  “Do you think Merglan took them with him when he left?”

  Kirsten shrugged in response and together they left the secret room and followed the dark hallway back to the master’s chambers. Once back in the main chamber room, they searched for any other secret doors Merglan could have used, but they didn’t find any.

  Giving up on their hopes of finding the crystals, the two realized they would have to wait until Merglan returned for them to try again. Now that Merglan was gone, the slaves and prisoners didn’t have any preparations to accomplish in the dining hall for his evening feast, so they were sent along with the other chambermaids to work the remainder of the day in the mine.

  Like the miners, they took up picks and followed orders. Kirsten and Maija were sent to work a section
of terraces on the other end of the mine away from all of the other maids. Arriving at their assigned terraces, they were surprised to see Thomas working there too.

  “What are you two doing here?” he asked when he saw them.

  “Merglan has left the fortress. We didn’t have any work to do in the castle, so we were sent down here to work,” Kirsten said.

  “Back to work you three,” a guard shouted and cracked a whip at them. They did as he ordered, fearing a whipping.

  Talking as they worked under the cover of the noise of picks striking rock, Kirsten told Thomas about going back into the secret room to get the crystals.

  “They were both gone,” she said.

  “Do you think he took them with him when he left?” Thomas asked.

  “That makes the most sense to me,” Kirsten said. “Either that or he found out we were in there and moved them to a new hiding place.”

  “But if he knew we’d been in there,” Maija said, “we wouldn’t have been allowed to work; we would’ve been tortured or killed or something, right?”

  Nodding, Kirsten said, “Then he must have taken them when he disappeared today.”

  “But how? Those crystals filled many crates and weighed more than he could carry.”

  “Quiet down,” the guard yelled and cracked his whip again. Kirsten glanced over her shoulder at him and noticed something familiar about the guard, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.

  “You know how I told you there was something big happening?” Thomas whispered with his back to the guard so the guard couldn’t tell that he was talking.

  “Yeah,” Kirsten said.

  “Well, I think it’s going to happen very soon,” Thomas said. “All of the guards have been acting weird. Many left the fortress gates earlier dressed in helmets, chestplates, arm guards, and iron-linked long-shirts. I’ve also seen wagon loads of swords, spears and shields being hauled out of here all day.”

  “Do you think the Rollo warriors have made it to the fortress?” Kirsten asked, hopeful.

  “Could be,” Thomas said. “Whatever it is, it has the whole place spooked.”

  The three continued to work the remainder of the day and into the evening. They stopped when Thomas turned around to see the guard was gone. They walked to the edge of the terrace and gazed out from the pit and across the open courtyard. The whole fortress was strangely quiet.

  “Where is everyone?” Thomas asked.

  “You tell me,” Kirsten said. “I usually only see the inside of the walls. I don’t know how many people there are working out here with you all day.”

  “There’s usually a lot more activity than this,” he said. “I mean the guards, we’re usually overseen by many more.”

  “Maybe they’re off preparing for the battle that’s got everyone spooked,” Kirsten suggested.

  “We could stop working now and go back to the courtyard,” Thomas said.

  “Or we could go look around Merglan’s chambers for any crystals that might have been left behind or hidden in a new spot,” Maija added.

  “No way. The guard left all this food behind,” Kirsten said walking over to the spot where the guard had been stationed. “There’s even a pile of firewood here. Let’s stay here until someone makes us leave. I hate the cold floor of that cell.”

  “Okay,” Thomas said. “We’ve got a nice view of the place from this terrace anyway.”

  The three of them sat by the fire they’d made and talked late into the night, feasting on the jerked meat, cheese and day-old bread the guard had left behind.

  “I guess the rules around here are relaxed once the boss is gone,” Kirsten said as she enjoyed a thick slice of jerky.

  “I could get used to this,” Maija said, warming her hands against fire.

  Suddenly she perked her head up in the way she always did when she could hear something interesting happening in the distance.

  “What is it?” Kirsten said, recognizing the look.

  “I can hear fighting,” she said, standing up.

  “What?” Thomas said, confused and trying to hear what she was talking about.

  “Maija has incredibly good hearing, almost like a super power,” Kirsten said.

  “Oh,” Thomas said, confusion written across his face.

  “There’s a battle going on beyond the walls,” she said.

  “I knew it,” Thomas said. “Who are they fighting?”

  “I can’t tell. It’s far off in the distance, but there’s definitely a battle going on out there,” she said confidently.

  “Well, I guess all we can do is wait,” Thomas said.

  “And hope that whoever it is wins and frees us from the evil that lives here,” Kirsten said.

  The three stayed up all night wondering and waiting for something to happen. It wasn’t until the sun rose that they saw the first sign that the battle was nearing an end. Kirsten worried things weren’t going well, because guards had returned to the courtyard, forcing prisoners back to work. She heard the voice of a guard returning, shouting orders to those who’d stayed among the terraced slopes of the pit while the battle raged through the night. She’d been eyeing the bullwhip left among the guard’s abandoned items and quickly grabbed it, readying herself for his return. As he came into view, Kirsten recalled why the guard looked so familiar to her; he’d been the one she almost struck on their first day in the fortress. Letting the whip uncoil at her side, Kirsten wasn’t going to let him boss her around. She didn’t care if the battle had been lost; she was going to fight back and now was her chance.

  Maija pointed to the sky and gasped. A silhouette of a dragon flew over the fortress walls, and their hearts sank.

  Merglan has returned, Kirsten thought.

  Chapter Seventeen

  |||||

  Battle at the Fortress

  IVAN LED A SMALL group consisting of two other warrior scouts to retrieve Red and Britt’s party who were waiting with the ships. Ivan instructed them to stay out of sight, keeping within the low wrinkles in the hillside. Before they left, Ivan made sure the Rollo leaders knew where to organize their ranks.

  “Form your lines just over this hill,” Ivan pointed ahead of the mass of men and women, who stood clad in their leather-plated armor awaiting orders and armed to the teeth with freshly sharpened swords, axes, daggers and spears. “A fan of rocks juts up out of the foothills. That is the closest and best concealed place to prepare for the march across the valley.”

  Jorgen nodded, understanding where he was to bring his people while they waited for Ivan’s return. “Come back safely, with my son,” he said to Ivan when he had finished delegating responsibilities to his troops.

  “I will, you have my word,” Ivan responded seriously. Ivan turned to Anders and gave him a nod before leaving with the two scouts.

  Anders and Max fell in with the Rollo forces as they began to move over the hill and down to the hiding spot. As they crested the hill, Anders laid eyes on the vast expanse of the Eastland Territories for the first time. The setting sun at their backs created a rainbow of colors across the landscape before them. Yellows, oranges, pinks, purples, and blues mixed in a changing blanket of light that darkened as it shrank, fading into night. His eyes remained transfixed on the towering fortress in the distance.

  That’s Merglan’s stronghold, Anders noted to himself.

  The fortress was built seaside along a band of cliffs that extended down to the murky bay below. Smoke billowed from the chimneys scattered throughout the fortress. He could hear the faint sounds of shouts and metal tools banging against rock. Anders wondered what Merglan was doing at this moment. He hoped that whatever it was would be enough of a distraction that he wouldn’t notice the army of men, women and, hopefully, elves hidden along the mountainside just across the valley.

  “That’s some view,” Max said, waking Anders from his momentary trance. “Do you think the elves are really going to show up and help us?�
� he asked Anders.

  “I really hope that all elves are of the same mind as Nadir,” Anders said. “I honestly don’t know what to expect, but it sounds like we’re going to need their help.”

  “The orc attack was overwhelming for us at first. I think an army of orcs and kurr will be even tougher to handle,” Max said.

  “If this doesn’t work and if the elves decide to pull one over on the Rollo warriors, I’m afraid this fight will be over quickly, and not with a good ending,” Anders said.

  They walked down the face of the mountain. The cliffs blocked their view of the valley as they descended into their designated hiding place. The mass of thickly leather-bound warriors carrying shields, spears, axes and swords gathered into their respective groups. The lead captains were spread out evenly among the ranks. All other captains and their crews formed lines directed by each leader. It took them several minutes before the ranks were sorted out.

  Anders and Max joined in with the group previously captained by Britt. Max and Anders had fought with them once before and trusted that crew more than the others. Anders knew he could count on each one of them to watch his back during any fight. They stood near the center of the forces, next to Red’s father. Huddled together in the twilight, they anxiously awaited the return of Ivan with Red, Britt and the others.

  “Something must be holding up the elves,” Anders said to Max in a low whisper so others around him wouldn’t hear. “I’m confident they wouldn’t betray their word with Ivan. The elf king seems to hold him in a high regard.”

  “I just hope they make it in time to help us,” Max said worriedly.