“Adam, help me,” he said between sobs.
Kyle lifted her head. It turned freely in his gloved hands, and he looked into her pale face. Her eyes were closed, and she was serene, as if sleeping. He gently shook her face, whispering her name over and over. Tears broke from his eyes and streamed down his face as heavy emotion over took him and his body shook as he sobbed.
* * * *
Amber ran down the lonely stone corridor, peering into the empty cells, the only sound the slight scraping of the leather heels of her boots. She stopped and held her breath when she heard the sound of hitching breathing. She drew a dagger and slipped forward, her feet easing onto the stone. Cautiously, she peered across the edge where the stone met the metalwork of the cell. She saw Kyle cradling someone in his arms.
Amber moved to the door, then stepped over the threshold of the cell but Kyle didn’t move or acknowledge her. Keeping her eyes on Kyle, she wrapped her hand around the cold metal bars of the cell door and gave it a slow tug. Its rusty hinges creaked in response, but the sound didn’t stir him from his stupor.
“Kyle,” she said quietly.
Again he didn’t look in her direction, but continued to stroke the hair of the still figure draped over his lap. It was clear that she was gone.
“Kyle,” Amber said again, this time with a bit more force.
Slowly, as if his head were muddled from a deep sleep, Kyle turned his head and looked up at her. She could see the tears had cleaned twin tracks over his otherwise dirty face. His hair was disheveled and there were streaks of blood all over the front of his clothes.
“Kyle, I…”
“I failed her. She was here, alone, and I didn’t…” Kyle choked up and couldn’t go any further. He began to sob again, rocking Jennifer’s body back and forth, pulling her tight to his chest. Her right arm slipped free and fell limply to the floor.
“Kyle, you didn’t fail her. You’re…we’re here with her now. She’s not alone.”
Amber allowed him to spill his grief for a few moments more and then she crossed the cell and knelt at Kyle’s side. She put her hand out and touched his shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze.
Slowly, Kyle reached up and put his hand over Amber’s and squeezed back.
* * * *
“Do you see him?” Delas asked, standing on the base of the remains of the stone railing and leaning over the edge. She held on with one slim hand while the other was arched over her eyes to shield the setting sun. Her head bobbed one way and then the other as she swept the terrain below looking for a clue to Kurilan’s fate. She felt a handful of her robe clench together and then she was being pulled backwards away from the edge.
“Are you crazy?” Adam asked, releasing her. “That railing gave way under Kurilan, and it could crumble further and take you with it.”
“I just wanted to see if I could see him. Make sure he was gone.”
“He’s gone,” Amber said, stepping to the railing, sliding along it until she was looking down on the fields surrounding three sides of the tower, “Look at them go.”
“Who?” Adam asked.
“The help.” Amber pointed to the streaming throng pouring from the base of the tower. Orcs and Goblins of various shades of greens and grays made their way across the snowy fields. Some dropped their armor, others kept it intact, but all of them headed in one general direction, away from the tower and their fallen Master.
* * * *
Kyle stood in silence a short distance away from the base of the tower, in the middle of a bed of blooming, multicolored flowers. Tears fell from his eyes and he wiped them away with the sleeve from his shirt. His eyes shifted from the flowers to the pile of stones surrounding the blazing pyre where Jennifer’s body rested. The thin white smoke puffed out from the pile of weathered wood he’d collected, and whisked away in the light breeze from the ocean.
The heat from the flames was warm on his skin and brought back memories of the two of them together, in the cool night air, enjoying the warmth generated by their bodies. He couldn’t help but drop his eyes again.
“Oh Jennifer. I wasn’t here to help you. I failed you. Please-please forgive me. I love you. I’ll always love you. I just wish…”
Kyle turned away from the flames and walked toward the wooden door he left open at the base of the tower. The sound of the crackling and popping of the fire faded into the background.
I just wish you could tell me you’ve forgiven me. Kyle thought.
Kyle reached the door and turned to take one last look at the pyre. He turned and stopped.
A bluebird sat perched on the top edge of the open door. Its bright blue back and faded orange chest contrasted the dark, solemn color of the door and the black granite stonework of the tower itself. Clasped in the beak of the bird was a small cluster of wildflowers.
He reached up, but the bluebird, startled, dropped the flowers and flew off. The flowers tumbled, and Kyle quickly reached out, pinning them against the door and capturing them. He held them to his nose and the fragrance took him back to the first time he told Jennifer he loved her. She had told him the same thing right back.
With tears streaming from his eyes once again, a weight lifted from his heart. Kyle felt the love Jennifer had for him release his remaining doubts.
“Thank you,” he whispered, and walked back into the tower.
* * * *
“I’m fine little girl. Keep your sorceress ways to yourself,” Legan grumbled. He rocked on the floor, trying to get comfortable and scooted a bit closer to the stone pillar he was leaning against. He waved his arms to ward off being tended to by Delas.
“Sorceress? I’m a mage, you toasted little man,” Delas replied, pointing a finger in mock admonition toward the now-healing dwarf. She kissed him on his forehead and then moved on to Adam leaning against the same pillar, several feet away.
“How’s my hero?” she asked, touching his side. The jerk of his body and the wince on Adam’s face answered her question.
“I’ll be okay. A little tender, that’s all. I’m just glad everyone’s okay. Too bad I couldn’t have helped Kurilan over that balcony,” Adam said. He was going to say more but was interrupted by a warm kiss from Delas.
* * * *
Adam walked around the room, surveying the damage from the battle with Kurilan. He stomped out a small fire that consumed loose papers from an overturned table before it had a chance to spread to the nearby drapes. Across the room he spied Amber dancing, her body bouncing back and forth around a small chest. Its lid was lying open and the table it sat upon was sprinkled with coins and small gems. Adam sighed, then chuckled at the sight of the dancing thief. A moment later, he stooped to grasp the edge of the table and righted it. He turned his head and stopped the housekeeping when he saw Delas.
She sat cross-legged at the base of a spilled bookshelf. Only a handful of books and scrolls remained on the shelves. Adam smiled as he watched her carefully pulling single tomes free of the pile. She examined their spines and then paged through them, flipping from leaf to leaf as she skimmed them for information that he knew he would never understand.
He’d almost lost her at the Great Library and then immediately following their departure. He silently vowed not to let her out of his sight again. When she laughed, he forgot about straightening up and moved to her side.
“What’s so funny?”
“I found a child’s map.” She unfolded the tan parchment, revealing thick uneven lines and partial symbols. It looked amateurish and unfinished. She refolded it and slipped it between two pages in a book that rested on the floor next to her.
“Delas.” Legan called out as he stepped out from a small alcove clutching a worn book, and headed toward her. He smiled, first at Adam and then at Delas.
“I’m not an expert in the arcane matters, but I found this on one of the bastard’s shelves. I think it might be of some use to you.” He handed the book to Delas, who ran her fingers over the worn leather cover and frayed edges
. Carefully she opened the book and as she flipped the pages, her eyes grew rounder in amazement and finally she couldn’t hold in her excitement any longer.
“Legan. The gods. Do you know what you have found?” she cried, a huge grin on her face, her eyes gleaming with joy.
“I think…”
“It is a casting book for students. I had a book just like this one when I was at my guild.” Delas beamed.
“I saw the mage crest imprint on the cover, very similar to the symbol on our Dwarven metallurgy guild’s apprentice guides.”
“I don’t know how to thank you,” Delas said, closing the book and running her fingers again over the cover. She jumped forward, throwing her arms around the surprised dwarf and gave him the warmest hug she could muster. She released him and continued to examine the book in her hands. Legan looked at Adam, winked and looked back at Delas.
“Thank me? Young lady, I think you have this all wrong. I’m not going to just give you such a valuable find. No ma’am. What do you have to trade for such an excellent specimen?”
Delas thought about the trade for only a moment and then pulled the folded parchment from the book. Rather than unfold it, she held the map out to Legan and fought to keep from laughing. “Tell you what. This is a map I found among Kurilan’s papers. I know how much you love maps.” She shot an amused look at Adam.
“Trade?”
When Legan’s hand closed on the map, Delas released it and clutched the casting book with both hands, and then broke out in good hearted laughter. Her laughter died a moment later when she saw the serious expression on Legan’s face as he looked at the now unfolded map. He slowly walked to the tabletop Adam righted and put the parchment on its surface.
Delas grew concerned, stood, pulling at Adam’s sleeve and lead him to Legan’s side.
“Legan. It was a joke. I’m sorry, it was just a child’s map I found. If you want the book back…” Delas said, holding the book out to the dwarf.
“A child’s map?” Legan said, suddenly looking up. A slow grin appeared, removing all traces of the previous seriousness. “You don’t know what this is, do you? This is a wizard’s map. Come here. Come here.” Legan waved his hand as the grin turned to a full smile that lit up his face and creased lines appeared at every corner.
“What do you see?” Legan asked.
“A mostly blank piece of parchment, with some simple blocks and wavy lines over it. It looks like a child’s drawing of a map, like I told you,” Delas said.
“That is what it appears. Watch.” Legan chose one of the small rough square shapes on the map and touched the map on either side of the square with an index finger. Slowly, he separated his fingers, sliding them away from one another on the parchment surface.
Slowly, the square began to grow as the corners followed Legan’s fingertips. In the center of what was a blank square, small dots appeared, and as Legan continued to slide his fingers, the dots grew larger, connecting with one another and separating elsewhere. The dots formed lines and squares of their own and eventually took on the shapes of buildings, streets and alleys. Legan lifted his fingers, and chuckled at the gawking expressions on Adam and Delas’ faces.
“That’s…” Adam managed to spit out.
“Pretty amazing. Watch this.” Legan chose one of the squares and performed the same gesture he’d done originally. In the center of the map the square expanded to reveal a beautifully rendered drawing of a two floored building, with a sign hanging from a pole in the front of it. The detail was fine enough to read the lettering on the ‘Wounded Boar Inn’ sign.
Legan let the two examine the image a moment longer and then put his thumb on a thick circle along one of the parchment’s edges. Immediately, the image on the map disappeared, replaced by the original rough squares and wavy lines Delas thought were the work of a small child.
“Yes, I think it was a fair trade.” Legan said, folding the map closed.
Chapter Twenty Eight
Amber sat cross-legged on one of Kurilan’s tables. Adam sat nearby, leaning against a wall, with Delas sitting next to him. She leaned against his shoulder to avoid putting pressure on his injured side. Legan moved a stool next to the table and settled himself on it.
“So when are you going to tell us what happened to you? How did you get out of that ship and get up here?” Legan asked.
“Ahhh that is a long story. Tell you what. I’ll tell you the story about the ship and leave the rest for one night when the fire has almost burned itself out and the darkness closes in on us,” Amber said, ending with a whisper. “We’ll tell scary stories.”
“Thanks Amber,” Delas said and snuggled closer to Adam.
“When I sent you away, I really thought that the hold of that ship was where I would finally end my time. You climbed out and I felt the ship tilt toward the bow. Sand began pouring in through every crack in the hull. All I could hear was the sound of snapping wood and the sizzle of sand filling up everywhere.”
“We shouldn’t have left you,” Legan said.
“Then we could have all died in that desert,” Amber said, “I couldn’t let you two risk your lives for me.”
“Well, we…” Legan started.
“So,” Amber said, holding up her hand. “There I was, sand pouring in, thinking I must have done something the gods found unpleasant, to put me in that situation, when the bulkhead gave way, freeing my wrist.
I pulled my hand free, grabbed my pack and crawled to the rear of the hold where the ladder was…where it used to be.”
“Used to be?” Delas asked.
“Yes. Somewhere in the thigh-deep sand was the ladder. Through the open hatch, it seemed like the entire desert was pouring through. I panicked, went back to the chest and pulled it open and climbed inside. I thought I could gain some time to figure a way out.
I felt the chest shift and the bow took another sharp dive. Then I was in total darkness. I guess that’s when the ship disappeared below the sands. I pulled the lid of the chest closed and hoped the lid would be able to carry the weight as the hold filled.”
“So how did you escape?” Adam asked.
“Delas, you are going to love this.” Amber began to rummage through her bag. “Just a second. Ahh here it is.”
Amber pulled a small copper frog from her bag and tossed it into the air, catching it in her open palm.
“Watch this,” Amber said, and vanished.
Delas, Adam and Legan looked at each other puzzled.
“What just happened? Where did she go?” Legan said.
“I’m here,” Amber said, stepping out from behind a pillar.
“A teleportation spell linked to that copper frog. Where did you get it?” Delas asked.
Amber smiled and stepped back to the table where she began her story, and put the talisman on the table. “Where I got it, is another long story involving a handsome magic user, a jealous prince and a fistful of stolen gems, but unfortunately, it ended with a thief’s broken heart,” Amber said with a sigh.
Amber clapped her hands together lightly. “So in the darkness of the closed chest, waiting for it to collapse and smother me, I remembered the acorn. It’s not very powerful, but it works. I had to imagine the location where I wanted to go. I doesn’t work imagining somewhere vague like the desert, it had to be specific. I imagined the campsite where we slept the night before. Where we were almost covered by the blowing sand. Remember? I appeared there, a little harried but safe.”
Amber picked up the acorn and tossed it to Delas.
Delas examined the small copper item and noticed an engraved leaf-speckled vine circling the acorn under the edge of the cap. “Does it still work?” She asked.
“No. See that engraving? Every time it’s used, the vine grows. That last jump completed the engraving and consumed the last of the magic. Delas, if you want it, you can keep it.”
“Thanks,” Delas replied and pocketed the bauble.
The creak of hinges caused all heads to turn to
ward the wooden door. Kyle stepped across the threshold.
Kyle looked at the others in the group sitting down and resting, examining the things they’d found in Kurilan’s chamber and his heart wept for Jennifer. Tears flowed over his cheeks and he found himself silently sobbing, the emotions overtaking him and he simply gave up trying to hold them back. He didn’t know how long he stood there, his shoulders hitching as he mourned the loss of his girlfriend. He felt arms enveloping him as Adam pulled him close.
When the two parted, Kyle looked into a mirror image of his own tear stained face. He hadn’t thought about Adam and how he felt about the loss of his friend, Jennifer. The three of them had been inseparable.
“How are you?” Kyle asked Adam.
“I’ll be all right,” Adam replied, and turned to Delas who came up behind him and put her arm around his waist. She led him over to where they were sitting originally.
Kyle leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. He was thinking about their travels to get here in time to rescue Jennifer, remove the curse of the medallion and be done with it all and somehow everything had become undone and filled with chaos. He became angry at himself for not moving faster and then his anger turned to the one that had started it all.
Kurilan.
“Are you okay?”
Kyle opened his eyes. His anger instantly deflated when he saw the care and concern on Amber’s face. He felt her arms wrap around him, pull him close and he buried his face on her shoulder and drew some strength from the support he felt from her.
Amber whispered some soothing words to him, and when he felt better, he stepped back from her embrace.
“I…I just…”
“Don’t worry about it. If you need to talk, just ask. Okay?” Amber said, her mouth set in a slight grin, her eyes moist.
“Okay.”
“Really?” Amber asked, a slight grin on her face.
Nodding Kyle said, “Yes, really.”
“Good. Now, I’m off to catalog my goodies.” Amber said, laughing and bounding away toward the small chest she’d discovered, hands clapping together, leaving Kyle alone once again.
Medallion of the Undead Page 28