Firestorm Mountain

by Raymond L. Weil

  Kalvin let out a deep breath. He knew where this was leading. “We need to go to the mountain even if we have to go through the snow.”

  Handing the coin back to Janice, Lynol thanked the girl for the help. “Let’s go. We need to get back to the farm. I must speak to Malcon and we have to get ready to go to Firestorm Mountain. I think three of the sleepers are awake.”

  -

  Lynol stepped back into the hidden crypt of Malcon’s. Her heart was beating rapidly and she was a little uncertain as to what she was going to say. Was it actually possible some of the sleepers were awake? How else could the gold coin from the Golden Age be explained? It could only have come from Firestorm Mountain and the secret complex buried deep beneath it. Lynol grasped her amulet, feeling its comforting warmth. Could these three strangers be sorcerers as well? She knew from reading her mother’s diary that some technicians and other normal humans had gone into stasis.

  The braziers lit and Malcon appeared on his dais, gazing with his deep questioning eyes at Lynol. He could see the concerned look on Lynol’s face. “What is it that has upset you? You’re early for today’s training.”

  “Three of the sleepers have been seen in Galvin,” blurted out Lynol. “They used an ancient gold coin from the Golden Age to pay for food and drinks at the tavern before they purchased some horses from Addison and left.”

  Malcon’s figure seemed to brighten as he carefully considered Lynol’s words. “Were there any other indications they were from the mountain?”

  Lynol nodded. “They couldn’t read our language and had some difficulty communicating. They wore strange clothing and seemed out of place.”

  “They may indeed be sleepers,” pronounced Malcon, his eyes wide at what that might mean. “If three are awake how many others may also be awake but still in the mountain complex?”

  “Gilmreth!” uttered Lynol with sudden fear. “What if they awaken the dragon?”

  Malcon eyes narrowed and then he spoke. “You and Kalvin must make the journey to Firestorm Mountain and see what has taken place. There is another possibility you have not considered. “What if the three are from Adam’s group? What if they were in other stasis chambers in the complex we are unaware of? During the times you have been inside the mountain, you have not had the opportunity to explore the entire complex of the ancients. There is much of the complex still unknown to us.”

  Lynol sat down at the large table where she studied. She had not considered the three might be from Adam’s group. If they were, this could be a disaster. They might intentionally awaken Gilmreth, just as Adam ordered Jalene to. “We need to go as soon as possible.”

  “You may also want to bring your mother’s amulet back with you,” suggested Malcon. “It is more powerful than the one you wear as it was designed by Loraine.”

  Lynol let out a deep breath. Malcon was right. The white amulet she wore was very powerful but the blue one of her mother’s was even stronger. If there were three of Adam’s sorcerers loose in the world then she might need that power to subdue them if it became necessary. “I’ll make that decision when I reach the complex. If it is indeed three of Adam’s people then I’ll return with my mother’s amulet.”

  “Go and prepare yourself,” said Malcon, folding his arms across his chest. “You must be prepared for anything when you reach the mountain.”

  “What if there are other sleepers awake?”

  “Speak to them and see what they desire. We know those who went into stasis with your mother were for the most part good people.”

  “What about Gilmreth?”

  Malcon’s eyes narrowed and the glow around him substantially increased. “Stay away from the dragon. He must not be awakened. You must make sure, if any sleepers are awake, they understand that. Tell them who your mother was so they’ll listen.”

  “What if the sleepers are of Adam’s people?” This greatly concerned Lynol.

  “Then you must deal with them the same as you did Adam. These are the people who caused the destruction of the Golden Age. Look at how ruthless Adam was. If these are his people you must expect no less from them. They’ll be extremely dangerous and untrustworthy.”

  Lynol nodded her understanding. “Kalvin and I will leave tomorrow. We may stay several days in the complex and explore more of it. If these three sleepers are the only ones awake we’ll try to find where their stasis chambers are located. That might tell us who they are and if they represent a threat.”

  “Be careful,” cautioned Malcon. “Your sorcery powers are very strong but you may be dealing with sorcerers from the Golden Age. We have no idea what they may be capable of. Also keep in mind the parts of that complex which are not protected by stasis fields may be too dangerous to enter.”

  “Yes, Malcon,” replied Lynol. “We’re going to have a hard enough time just reaching the entrance this time of year.”

  “If the three who were in Galvin are sleepers, they had to make a trail down from the mountain.”

  “If there is a trail that will tell us they came from the mountain.” Lynol hoped there wasn’t but she had a strong intuition these three people were indeed sleepers.

  -

  Dresdia and Kyle were in the house talking to Damon when Lynol came back in. “Well, are they from the mountain?” asked Dresdia, brushing back a strand of her long blonde hair which had escaped the green hair ribbon holding the rest in place.

  “Maybe,” answered Lynol, sitting down across from Dresdia. Dresdia was one of the few people Lynol trusted to know the truth and confide in.

  “Are they going to awaken Gilmreth?” Dresdia was mortally afraid of the dragon. She had nearly been sacrificed to Gilmreth when she was being held as a prisoner in Draydon. Lynol had rescued her just as Gilmreth was preparing to feed on her. Dresdia still had nightmares from that horrifying experience.

  “I won’t let them,” promised Lynol. Dresdia very seldom mentioned the dragon. “Kalvin and I will leave tomorrow morning for the mountain. We’ll probably be gone five or six days depending on what we find.”

  Dresdia shivered. “I don’t see how you can go inside the mountain knowing Gilmreth is there.”

  “It’s not easy,” admitted Lynol. “However, I have to know if some of my mother’s people are awake.”

  Dresdia reached over and wiped Kyle’s mouth where milk from his cup had spilt. “What if they are?”

  Lynol frowned. “I’m not sure. Malcon suggested I tell them who my mother is so they’ll trust me.”

  “Be careful, Lynol,” said Dresdia. “Bad things happen on that mountain.”

  Lynol nodded. She hoped Dresdia wasn’t predicting the future. Lynol still had a dreadful feeling about what was going on inside Firestorm Mountain and she knew part of it pertained to Gilmreth.

  Chapter Four

  Joshua sat on his horse looking at the city of Draydon. From its appearance the city probably held over one hundred thousand people. In the center was a massive white temple.

  “That looks like Adam’s work,” commented Gail. “I could see him building something like that to rule from.”

  “It looks a lot more modern than the village we were in,” added Karl.

  Joshua spent a minute examining the town. The area around it was green with numerous farmhouses. From all appearances, this was a thriving community. “Let’s go down and see what’s going on. We need to buy some clothes to better blend in with the locals.”

  “I hope they have a tavern serving whiskey,” muttered Karl, licking his lips. “I’m getting thirsty.”

  Gail frowned at Karl. “Is drinking all you ever think about?”

  Karl leered at her. “Not all the time.”

  Gail reached over and knocked Karl off his horse. She had some military training and wasn’t afraid of his sorcery.

  “That’s enough!” shouted Joshua. “Let’s focus on the job ahead. We need to find out what exactly happened to Adam and how Gilmreth was defeated.”

  “No one can defeat Gilmre
th,” said Karl as he remounted his horse. “That dragon is just too damn mean.”

  “Well supposedly this Sylvar woman did,” replied Gail as she started down the trail toward the town. “We just need to find out how if we ever want to waken the dragon and use him for our own purposes.”

  -

  The three continued into the town of Draydon and came to a stop in front of a large inn. They had passed numerous shops and throngs of people going about their business. A few had stopped to stare at the strangers but after a few moments went back to what they were doing.

  “At least we’ll have somewhere comfortable to stay,” commented Gail as she dismounted from her horse and began rubbing her back. “It’s been awhile since I rode a horse.”

  Karl got down from his horse with a deep frown. “If we’re going to travel much we need to find a better way than horses. They’re uncomfortable as hell to ride.”

  Gail shook her head. “You just have to get used to them and from looking around they’re the main form of transportation for these people unless you want to walk.”

  “They’re vehicles stored in the mountain,” replied Karl. “We could get a couple of those.”

  “And drive them on what?” asked Joshua as he got off his horse. “All we saw on our way to this town were narrow trails and rough wagon roads. Our vehicles are not suited for that type of travel.”

  The three tied their horses to the long hitching post in front of the inn and went inside. The inside was clean and well lit with lanterns and from the large windows letting the sunlight in.

  “We need three rooms,” said Joshua, stepping up to the desk where a man was watching them.

  “For how long?” the man asked.

  Joshua looked at the other two and then replied. “For a week or two. We’re new in town and want to spend some time looking around.”

  “How do you want to pay?”

  Joshua reached into his pants pocket and took out one of the gold coins he had retrieved from the complex. “With this.”

  The clerk looked greedily the coin and nodded. “That will do nicely. Is there anything else I can do for you?”

  “We need a place for our horses and a good place to eat.”

  “No problem,” replied the clerk. “I’ll have my son take care of your horses. There’s a good stable down the street where they can be kept. There’re also several good eating places nearby. I’ll point them out to you.”

  -

  An hour later all three of them were settled into their rooms and back down in the lobby of the inn.

  “Let’s go get something to eat and then find a clothing store so we’ll blend in better,” suggested Joshua. “We have a lot we need to find out from the locals before we do anything.”

  Going to one of the nearby eating places the clerk at the inn had pointed out they quickly ordered some food and sat back to wait. While they did Joshua and Karl used their sorcery abilities to listen in on the conversations around them.

  Most of the people were talking about normal things. The weather, jobs, food, and their evening plans. However, a few were discussing the events which had occurred in the town a number of years back.

  “I tell you, if not for Lynol Sylvar we would still be enslaved by Gilmreth and Jalene’s High Priest. Storn Daes had the coldest eyes of any man I have ever met. You saw what he did to Jalene. I was there when Storn fed her to the dragon.”

  “That sounds like Adam,” muttered Karl, looking over at Joshua. “His eyes always gave me the creeps.”

  “Quiet,” said Joshua. “Let’s keep listening.”

  “Lightning,” said the other man. “They were throwing giant lightning bolts at one another. Lynol’s were white and blue and Storn’s were a deep red from that scepter he was carrying.”

  “That sounds like the Stone of Loraine,” said Karl, his eyes widening. “How could this Sylvar woman defeat the stone? It was the most powerful amulet of our time.”

  “I don’t know,” replied Joshua, now feeling worried. If this Storn had the Stone of Loraine it almost confirmed he had to be Adam as the stone had been stored in the deepest vaults in the underground complex. Only Adam would have known how to get in.

  The server returned setting a large mug of whiskey in front of Karl and a fruit beverage in front of Gail. Joshua was having water and after taking a sip found this water to be closer to what he was used to. “Tomorrow we’ll split up and search the town for any information on Storn, Adam, and Gilmreth. I’m beginning to believe that Storn was Adam, though why he felt it was necessary to take on an alias is mystifying.”

  “Did Adam ever do anything that was predictable?” asked Gail, taking a sip of her drink.

  “How long are we going to stay here?” asked Karl. He was staring at one of the better looking servers working another table.

  “A week or two and then we’ll return to the mountain,” answered Joshua. “There are some dragon obedience collars in one of the vaults. If we can get to them and if they’re still functional we’ll use one on Gilmreth. With the dragon under our control we can set up a nice little kingdom here.”

  “We may be able to control the dragon but that still leaves the problem of the Sylvar woman,” pointed out Gail. “If she defeated Adam and Gilmreth what will happen when she comes for us?”

  Joshua leaned back as the server returned with a plate piled high with meat and potatoes as well as freshly baked bread. “We’ll have a plan for that. I have an idea which may work but that depends on some devices inside the complex.”

  “The sorcery inhibitor,” said Gail in realization. “It was destroyed by Jason and the dragons.”

  Joshua nodded. “But you can build a new and smaller one. If this Sylvar woman comes for us, we can focus it on her and strip her of her powers. That will make her susceptible to Gilmreth who can then feed on her.”

  Gail nodded. “If I can find the parts I believe I can build a smaller portable unit. Its range would only be ten or twenty yards at the most.”

  “That should be sufficient,” replied Joshua. “Now let’s finish eating and then we’ll go clothes shopping. Tomorrow and the days after we have a lot of work to do if we want to make this town our center of power. We need to know more about the surrounding region and get a general idea of how many people are living on both sides of the mountain.”

  Gail nodded. Joshua had big ideas and she supported them. He was smart and knew how to bend people to his will. He was also a very strong sorcerer, almost as strong as Adam. Of the three of them, she was the only one who was a trained technician and could build the items Joshua might want in the future. The sorcery inhibitor was a good example. Buttering a piece of bread, she wondered exactly what her position would be in the new order.

  -

  Lynol and Kalvin were on their way to Firestorm Mountain. She recalled her first trip to the mountain and how desolate everything had been. Since that time she had greatly increased the snow and rainfall and now the land was green all the way to the slope of the mountain. When the snow finally melted from the peaks and the temperatures warmed up the green zone would even extend partway up the steep slope.

  As they walked they talked about the strangers and what they might find in the mountain.

  “What if all the sleepers are awake?” asked Kalvin. “What will you say to them?”

  Lynol had discussed this possibility with Malcon. “Tell them who I am and who my mother was. Then go from there. We have no idea what they will want. All my mother’s diary mentioned was they wanted to create a new and more peaceful world when they awakened.”

  Kalvin nodded. “Let’s hope so. We’re talking about several hundred sorcerers. That will change everything with what they’ll be able to do.”

  Lynol knew Kalvin was right. How would the people around the mountains respond to having sorcerers around in large numbers? “It’s a problem we’ll deal with when it happens. For now I just want to see what’s going on inside the complex.”

  - />
  After nearly half a day of travel they reached the slope of the mountain. There was a good spot protected by large boulders for them to camp and build a fire. They had camped here several times in the past. There was also a slight overhang to protect them from the weather.

  “Do you remember the first time we came here?” asked Kalvin. “The three of us were going to find the sacrificial rock where young women were sacrificed to Gilmreth.”

  “We did find it,” replied Lynol as she dropped her pack and sat down on a small boulder to catch her breath. The two of them had pushed themselves to get to the mountain before the sun set. “We need to go back there sometime as I would like to examine those paintings again. We may have missed something since we were in such a hurry.”

  “We nearly died there,” said Kalvin as he slid out of his large backpack.

  “That’s when you and Dresdia found out about my sorcery.”

  Kalvin grinned. “It was quite a shock. However, it was your sorcery which saved us from those large cats.” Kalvin began gathering firewood. It was cold this close to the mountain and they would need a good fire to stay warm during the night.

  Lynol dug a glow bulb out of her pack and set it down. She looked at it and it instantly lit. She could control the brightness with her thoughts. Digging through her pack, she took out some biscuits, cheese, and bacon. Once the fire was going she would cook the bacon and warm up the biscuits. She had a small cast iron frying pan she had brought along.

  After a few minutes Kalvin had a good pile of firewood and Lynol used a fire spell to cause it to light. Shortly they had a warm fire and Lynol began cooking the bacon. She watched it sizzle in the pan and she could feel hunger pangs. She hadn’t realized she was so hungry.

  “That smells good!” commented Kalvin, sitting down next to Lynol and making himself comfortable. Looking up he could see the stars and a quarter moon. “The sky sure is clear tonight.”

  “It’s quiet too,” replied Lynol as she turned the bacon. “There are still very few insects, birds, or animals anywhere near the mountain. It’s as if they sense what’s hiding beneath.” She had already used her powers to determine there were no large predators nearby.