by Liara Woo
Balkan puffed his chest out and Katie stifled a giggle. "Well, well, well! Such a compliment, dearie! What do ye need ta know?"
"Where can we find a canyon with red stone and turquoise water?" Halthren asked quickly. Balkan's pleased expression vanished.
"What's this, dearie? An elf?! Ye've gone and mixed with the wrong folk! Elves are the zenith of all silliness. They think they've go' i' all figured out. But they don't, do they? They fail ta understand the incre'ible value o' gold!" He shook his fist menacingly and glared at the elf. Halthren glared right back.
"Perhaps we choose to value other things."
"Sapphires? Rubies? Amethysts?"
"Valor!" Halthren exclaimed. "Love! Honor! Courage! Kindness!"
The dwarf shook his head. "I admit…I've ne'er heard o' gems with those names afore now."
Halthren balled his hands into fists. "Do you care nothing for friends or family, or truly important things?"
"Here now, lad," Balkan responded angrily. "I do have friends. Loriina here is one. She's a good little miss; she offers the very lowest prices."
"I cannot believe this!" Halthren exclaimed. "You are a complete fool if you think that money and riches make friends!"
Loriina quickly intervened; with every word Halthren spoke their chances of getting help from the dwarf dwindled, so she transformed into a dragon and kicked him away.
"Loriina!" Katie said reproachfully, racing to Halthren's side. He was unconscious; he'd hit his head on a rock. But his pulse was steady. She returned to the dwarf and the dragon.
"Sorry about him," Loriina said apologetically. "So sorry, Balkan. Those crazy elves…"
Balkan's face was red with anger. "I'm almost reconsidering telling ye where to find the red canyon. But since yer prices are always so low, I will tell ye."
"Where is it?" Katie asked eagerly. Balkan looked at her as if seeing her for the first time, taking in her Stone and her vivid green eyes.
"Ah, Loriina, ye've brough' a dragon friend with ye. Good choice. Better than tha' elf. Now, as fer that canyon…'tis known as Devil's Rock Canyon, since the rock is red and devils are red."
"Devils?" Katie asked nervously.
Balkan nodded. "Aye. Devils. Little lizards that're bright red, with tail tips like arrowheads and a pair o' cow horns on their heads. They live 'round here, ye know. Try not ta get burnt by one; stings like nothin' else."
"But where is Devil's Rock Canyon?" Loriina asked urgently.
The dwarf's eyes twinkled. "You'd best come inside." He held the door to the igloo open as Katie and Loriina crouched and walked into the small house. Halthren groaned and opened his eyes, his vision blurry. He blinked several times, and gradually his eyesight cleared. He saw the igloo's door fall shut.
"Wait!" he exclaimed, getting to his feet and taking a step forward. The ground tilted violently, and the next thing he knew he was lying on the ground. With a moan he rolled to his knees and crawled forward, wincing at the sudden pressure on his blistered hands. When he reached the door he pounded on it and tried to push or pull it open, but it was locked. "Katie? Loriina? Er…Balkan?"
But Halthren knew that the dwarf would never open the door to him. "Discrimination against elves," he grumbled unhappily. He sat in the small shadow cast by the igloo and waited, uncomfortable in the dizzying heat. Elves were meant to live in cool forests and mountains, not sun-blasted deserts.
He had no water with him. I wish I could conjure water, like Loriina and Katie. Then I could cool myself off... His throat felt suddenly dry, and he wished more than anything for a drink of water, or a nice breeze. He closed his eyes and leaned his head against the clay house. The heat slowly lulled him to sleep, and he fell flat on his stomach, his head resting on his arms.
Vultures circled above him. Most were normal sized, but a few of them were much larger, and they carried demons on their backs. The smaller vultures soon landed beside the elf, trying to decide whether or not he was dead. Then the giant ones landed, scattering the smaller birds in all directions. The demons dismounted and drew their swords with a metallic ring.
Halthren's eyes flew open at the sound, and he leaped to his feet, pulling his own weapon from its sheath with a flourish. The ground tilted, but by leaning against the igloo he was able to counteract the dizziness. The demons advanced, growling. Breathing deeply, Halthren charged into battle. In ten seconds, two demons were unarmed, and he was about the kill them when a cold, familiar voice snarled, "Put your sword down or I'll kill this little lady."
Halthren turned to see Blacknack with a young desert fairy clutched in his fist. The thumb and pointer finger of his other hand circled her thin, delicate neck.
"Put her down," Halthren said in a low voice. "Then I will drop my sword." He knew exactly what the demons intended to do to him once he was disarmed, especially since one of them was Blacknack, but he had no intention of letting an innocent fairy die when he could prevent it.
Blacknack tightened his grip on the fairy's neck. Tears fell from her eyes, which were wide and pleading. "Drop your sword first, and then I'll let her go," the demon growled.
His heart in his throat, Halthren carefully set his sword on the ground. One of the demons, who carried a massive hammer, smashed the weapon into gleaming white shards. Halthren inhaled sharply. The silver ring faded from his eyes; the stars could no longer protect him.
"Set her free," he ordered through clenched teeth. With a wicked grin, the demon tossed the fairy into the air, and Halthren dived to catch her safely in his blistered hands. "Go," he whispered gently, and the fairy flew away without so much as a backward glance. Halthren turned to face the armed demons approaching him. It will be impossible to fight, he realized unhappily.
"Don't even think of escaping," Blacknack growled as he wrenched Halthren's arms forward and chained his wrists to the leg of one of the vultures. He punched Halthren in the stomach and grinned at him. "I'll take him back to Vernisgard. The rest of you can follow the dragon. When the girl is available…take her."
Halthren felt a jolt of horror go through him as the vulture took flight, and this time it wasn't because of his fear of heights. "Katie!" he shouted, facing the igloo. "Watch for vultures! Do not leave Loriina!"
"Shut up!" one of the demons roared, hurling a well-aimed stone at his head. Halthren was knocked unconscious, and Katie hadn't heard his warning.
The Sword of Light
The Sword of Light
Balkan led his two guests down a dark, narrow passageway that led deep into the ground, twisting and turning, spiraling downwards. Katie's neck and back soon became sore from being bent over for so long, and her eyes burned from the smoke billowing from the dwarf's torch. She missed the faint silver glow of the elves.
After what seemed like an age, the passageway ended at a dwarf-sized wooden door. Balkan unlocked it and stepped through, stepping aside to allow his companions to enter as well. The room was cavernous and dark; Katie couldn't see the walls. But at least she could stand straight.
In the center was a large sphere, faintly glowing. "This, my friends, is a pretty treasure, to be certain," Balkan said proudly. "And it is the reason that I am the greatest cartographer in Taklamen. Take a look at Allagandria itself."
Loriina gasped and leaned in close. Katie blinked; the sphere was a three-dimensional map of the world. She peered at it, noting that the top and bottom of the sphere were white with ice and snow. Kylaras was in the northeastern hemisphere and was vaguely shaped like a maple leaf. Most of it was green, but a large portion of it was charred and blackened. Kratchene was just beneath it; all black with glowing dots of orange. It had the obscure shape of an arrowhead with the point facing south. To the west was an ocean that covered half of the world, without any islands; and to the east was a long, narrow body of water that Katie guessed was the Ocean of Storm. On the other side of the blue mass was a large continent in the rough shape of an oak leaf with the narrow tip in the north and the wider bottom in the south. At the t
op she could make out a green land with several huge mountain ranges—Fliuviel, the land of griffins. Beneath it was a flat land that was a dark, rich green all over with the exception of hundreds of miniscule white dots speckling its surface—the burned-out lairs of dragons.
"I—I see my lair!" Loriina exclaimed excitedly.
The southern base of the continent was barren and brown, with a few mountain ranges here and there.
"Now watch this," Balkan smiled, whispering a few undecipherable words in a foreign tongue. The globe shone brightly and flattened out before them, lying horizontally in thin air. Taklamen was spread out before them like a glowing map, perfectly realistic.
"Where did you get this?" Katie asked in awe.
"Certain dragons choose to devote their lives to magic. One of 'em sold this ta me for thousands of coins—nearly put me in debt. But t'was certainly worth it. This wee beauty shows everything in the world, though it don't show any livin', walkin', movin' creatures. It shows every geographical feature as it is at this very moment." He tapped the map, which rippled in circular rings, like a still pool of water does when a small, smooth stone is tossed into it, until it became Dralantia. "See, here's a fire that's burning at this instant." He pointed to an area of the dark green country that was black and orange. Katie exchanged a look with Loriina as Balkan tapped the map again, and it reverted to Taklamen. "Here we are now," he said, gesturing the northernmost area of the region, which was dusty green and pale brown. Then he pointed at a deep crack in the surface of the desert. "That is Devil's rock Canyon. Only three miles directly south from here.
"Thank you, Balkan," Loriina said thankfully. "Your next purchase will be…free."
Balkan beamed. "Many thanks!" he exclaimed.
* * *
When they walked outside, they instantly noticed the pulverized shards of Halthren's sword scattered on the ground. Katie frowned, a thrill of fear shooting through her heart. "Not good," she murmured uneasily. "He's gotten himself into trouble again."
Loriina picked up a long black feather from the ground. "Vultures," she said, surprised. "Giant ones."
"He's been taken to Kratchene," Katie concluded, dread filling her soul as she realized what had happened.
"It's my fault," called a small, scared voice. Katie gasped and looked down, receiving her first sight of a fairy. She was about as tall as a house finch, with long, moth-like wings, dressed in a flowing dust-colored dress. Her body seemed to pulse with red light, even in the face of the bright sun, and there were tears in her large, expressive russet eyes.
"What do you mean?" Loriina asked.
"I thought the elf was handsome, so I wanted a closer look. Then the demons came, and I was too far from my plant to be able to hide… the demons tried to kill me. They threatened me to make the elf agree to drop his sword. One of them carried him off somewhere, heading west. The rest of them split off and went east."
"You're right, Katie," Loriina said gravely. "They're taking him back to Vernisgard."
"We have to help him!" Katie exclaimed. "They…they'll kill him!"
"Yes," the fairy agreed, her voice shaking. "The demons are angry. One of their leaders was killed by this elf, and so they intend to punish him."
Katie's eyes widened in anguish. "Loriina…"
"I know," the dragon answered anxiously. "But we need to get the Sword of Light first. Our one hope of destroying Darkness forever is so close. And in order to defeat Nashgor, we'll have to go to Kratchene anyway. We can save Halthren after Nashgor is gone."
Katie nodded, grim-faced. "So…now we know where this red canyon is. Halthren told me that the sword was hidden behind a waterfall inside that canyon. But we don't know anything else."
"We have enough information," Loriina responded with a shrug as the fairy fluttered away. "Quick; get on."
Katie climbed up the dragon's back, and they took flight, racing over the barren, dry land. A hot wind blew in their faces, carrying with it dust and small fragments of plants. Vultures circled overhead, flying even higher than Loriina. It wasn't long before they reached Devil's Rock canyon, and Loriina dived into it, following the turquoise blue river carving through the stone.
"Just as Halthren said," Katie murmured as they reached a short, wide waterfall shaded by trees.
"It isn't this one," Loriina said.
"How do you know?" Katie inquired.
"Because I have a feeling that it isn't the right one. If we can't find another waterfall, then we'll come back to this one."
"Okay," Katie responded with a shrug. She didn't know anything about dragon intuition, so who was she to criticize?
Soon the river became partially obscured by trees, so Loriina landed in the river, crawled out onto the bank, and galloped alongside the picturesque creek. Tall desert trees grew on either side of the shore, and the soil had a reddish-orange hue, just like the towering cliff walls on either side, blotting out the sun. The water was clear and pure, flowing gently southwards with a gentle rushing sound as it whispered over the stones beneath it, providing a harmony to the rhythmic melody of Loriina's galloping feet. After a few minutes, Katie heard a deep roaring sound, like faraway thunder that never ceased and never changed frequency.
"This is it," Loriina said confidently as, moments later, they came to a second waterfall, much taller than the first, tumbling down into the canyon below. Loriina took flight and hovered in front of the cascade, facing it. The rumbling of the water nearly drowned out all other sound.
Katie's eyes widened. "How am I going to get behind this to the cave Halthren mentioned?" she asked loudly, staring apprehensively at the tons of water flowing in feathery white shreds over the moss-covered rocks.
"There's a ledge," Loriina observed. "See it? The water's still pounding on it, but there's a cave behind it. I'll fly closer and toss you in."
"Sounds good," Katie responded, although inside she was reeling with turmoil at the thought of being hurled by a dragon into a cave that was barely visible from where they hovered.
Loriina landed near the pool of water at the base of the falls. Katie dismounted and faced the torrent, closing her eyes and breathing deeply to counteract her apprehension and fear. Focus, she told herself, breathing deeply to calm the worms of terror wriggling through her stomach. Remember the flowers.
She felt the dragon's talons grip her middle, and there was a sudden lurch as her feet left the ground and Loriina took flight. Suddenly she was thrown forward with abrupt and terrifying speed, spinning wildly towards the cascading falls. Screaming, she flailed her arms and legs until she hit water and then stone. That's it! I'm dead!
Her heart raced. Her breathing was swift and uneven. Slowly she calmed down enough to realize that she wasn't dead, and she opened her eyes, shaking like a leaf in autumn, clinging to a tree despite the winds tearing at it. She was lying just inside of a dark, moist cave. The roaring of the water rushing down behind her filled her ears.
Katie got to her feet and turned around, facing the waterfall. She was soaking wet. Loriina waved to her with one front paw, and Katie returned the gesture. Then she turned and walked into the gloom. She couldn't see anything; only the looming darkness ahead. Concentrating, she summoned a ball of shining white Light into her hand, ignoring the brief burn of pain in her heart and feeling proud that she was able to do it as she gazed at the damp, rough-looking sides of the cave around her. Cautiously she walked forward, placing her feet carefully on the uneven ground. Then she hit her head on a low part of the ceiling and bent down with a gasp of pain, her forehead burning. After the wild throbbing had faded to a dull ache, she continued forward, paying more attention to the cave ceiling.
Suddenly the sounds of her footsteps changed from the low, echoing click of heels against stone to the hollow thump of feet on wood. She looked down and saw that she stood on a square trapdoor made of ancient rotting timbers, hardly supporting her weight. There was a crescent-shaped chunk missing from one side—a handle. She grabbed the wood and he
aved it upwards, staring into a cavern with a sandy floor. There was a pool of shimmering water in the center, reflecting turtle shell patterns on the walls. Katie couldn't see the source of light. But I think it's the sword. I know it's the sword!
She jumped down into the cavern, landing with a muffled thump in the soft sand and approaching the pool with awe after she regained her footing. There was a glowing patch of silt under the water, and Katie instantly guessed what lay beneath it. The Sword of Light!
She waded into the water and dived in, not even bothering to hold her breath, since she could breathe water as if it were air. She swam deeper until at last she reached the glowing spot, where she kicked the sand away, revealing the long, radiant sword, shining with silver Light, lying beneath it. She grasped the smooth hilt in both hands and kicked out for the surface, eventually coming to the shore and pulling herself out, leaning against the stone wall.