“You shot down a bird in flight?” Grognor asked, amazed. “And at night?”
“Yes, Sire.”
“And not just any bird, a stealth model mechanical bird. Are they still as fast as they were reported to be in the old days?”
“Yes, Sire.”
“That’s incredible.”
“The Naw-nee people are very good with missiles, Sire.”
“Well, I’ve heard that but never realized how good.”
“What’s going on?” Teelena asked.
Grognor handed her the little scroll and waited for her to read it. Once finished, her face became flush.
“I’ll cut his heart out myself,” she said with a dark tone to her voice. She went into their tent and gathered her weapons.
“It’s more than that, my love,” Grognor said, trying to explain.
“He’s a traitor! After everything…we should have known. Damned human.” She was furious.
“Darling, we’ve suspected there was a spy. I have admit, I never suspected him. But, look at the letter again. It’s addressed to Daemon, and he speaks of a leader, referencing a ‘Her’.”
Teelena was undeterred. “I don’t care. He needs to die. Now.”
Eugene saw the fury and seemed to agree with her. “I can make it look like an accident.”
Grognor looked at him and shook his head ‘no’. “If anyone is to kill him, it’ll be me. Do you both understand that?”
Teelena scowled at Grognor.
“Eugene, let me know if he does anything else…suspicious,” Grognor ordered.
Eugene agreed and excused himself.
“Please let me kill him, Husband. We can skin him alive as an example of what traitors get.” Teelena’s fury was evident.
“Now’s not the time. We actually have the advantage. He doesn’t know that we know, and we can make that work for us.”
“I see your point, but if he crosses me, I can’t be responsible for my actions.”
“I understand.”
Daemon watched the sky expectantly as he filled his pipe. He and the elves waited for the war machine detachment to show up. To catch up, really. The rest of the elves decided to go ahead and make camp as the suns set. He willed the tobacco to ignite, and took his first puff as Bōddy joined him.
“Looks like a nice evening, eh?” Bōddy commented as he filled his own pipe.
“Sure is. The detachment is slow. It’s is going to be a long trip,” Daemon said as he puffed.
“You seem to be a bit preoccupied, something on your mind, old friend?”
“No, Bōddy, just homesick. You know I don’t like traveling.”
Bōddy nodded. “I’ve always loved traveling. Sorry you can’t enjoy this. How long has it been since you were in Lake Valley?”
“Three or…maybe four hundred years, I don’t know. There weren’t nearly as many humans there, I can tell you that. I can’t believe how much they’ve spread out…like a cancer.”
“Oh, they’re not so bad. They’re just trying to survive, like all of us. We used to be like them, remember?”
“Bōddy, in the before times we had technology, higher technology than them. We never displayed such a blatant disregard for the environment like the humans. At least the dwarves make it work for them. Humans seem to take what they want despite how the environment reacts.”
“You’re just grumpy, old friend. Come on and sit, relax. A good night of reflection will do you good.” Bōddy put his hand on Daemon’s shoulder and smiled at him.
“Yea, maybe you’re right.” Daemon smiled and walked with him to the small camp fire built for the arrival of the war machine detachment where the other elves had quietly congregated. Unseen to others, Daemon glanced once more at the sky, expectantly.
“Where are they now?!” She demanded, her fury building.
“Your Majesty, they’re still laying siege to Deepforge as per your orders,” the High General reported, quivering with fear as he knelt before her.
She was instantly infuriated. “Not them, you idiot!” She roared, causing the entire army to cower. “I mean the Emperor and his entourage of scum! Where are they?!” Her powerful voice echoed across the palace.
The High General swallowed hard, nearly losing his bowels in pure terror. “We’re not sure, your Majesty. We’ve gotten no word from our operatives. Our Deepforge spy has only said they haven’t shown up yet, so they must be somewhere between Lake Val—”
“Unacceptable!” she roared. “I expect accurate reports of their progress! We cannot let them get to Deepforge before we breach the citadel’s walls! The Stone Children must be found and stopped at all costs! Is that clear?!”
“Yes, your Majesty! But…what of Grognor and Deccon?”
She stepped forward, causing the floor to tremble under her massive black talons. She lowered her huge head, level with the trembling human High General. “I told you. If they’re killed, I’ll tear your liver out while you watch, and roast it to a crisp with my fiery breath weapon before making a nice stew of your family. Is that understood?!” She snarled and bare her long razor sharp teeth as small drops of acid dripped onto the floor. Streams of smoke drifted up from the caustic liquid burning through the stone.
The High General visibly shook with terror as she roared, the wind from her powerful breath knocking his helmet out of his hands and blowing his hair back.
“Yes, your Majesty!” he said as he shook, his teeth chattering and tears rolling down his cheeks. He desperately wanted his mommy.
She stepped back, shifted into a lovely nude human woman, and sat down in her human-bone sculpted throne. “You came way too close to killing them at the last engagements. Do I need to explain again why they’re important to me?”
“No, my Queen. We’ll keep them from harm.”
“Good.” She was always calmer in her human form. “Then get the others and begin looking for the Stone Children and the rest of them. Find out where Grognor, Deccon and that abomination Bruno are, and kill everything else. Is that understood?”
“Yes, my Queen.”
“Good, now be off with you and get this done. See if you can get that transceiver working, too. Waiting for those damned wind-up toy pigeons is ridiculous. This war is taking too long. We should have already been inside Deepforge. If I could do this myself, I would have. Remember, we have a long term goal here. So, do as I say and we will all reap the rewards.” She waved him away, and ran her delicate hands through her dark curly hair, yawning sleepily. “I think it’s time for a bath and a meal. Bring me meat, and run a bath of boiling water at once,” she ordered.
Although as a woman she had fair blemish free skin, deep purple eyes, and a perfect figure, her subjects called her the ‘Black Queen’. Her beauty as a woman was absolutely unmatched, almost divine. She was able to get more things done in this form, but when her rage overtook her, she morphed back into her other form. The other form had stuck terror into whole worlds. On the far continent of this world, it had allowed her to enslave all races and reduce them to one- the humans. She recruited others of her kind, other dragons, and enlisted them to wreak havoc. In her dragon form she was the most horrible creature ever seen. She was huge, and could increase her size to proportions beyond what seemed possible. She was mistakenly identified as a black dragon. In dragon form she was black alright, but that’s where the similarity ended. She could use three separate breath weapons without limit, and was totally immune to those types as well: Acid, fire, and chlorine gas. Her malevolence was complete, and she would stop at nothing to get what she wanted. What she wanted was Deepforge citadel. She sat on her throne while a horde of slaves tended to her every whim, her bathtub filling with boiling water as she waited. If one of them did something even slightly wrong, she would have them drained of blood, and bathe in it while her servants gratified her sexually. Then she would eat her servants’ hearts out, literally. Male or female mattered not. It had been several years since anyone served her incorrectly.
“You
r Majesty, your bath is ready,” one of her female servants reported.
“Thank you, Jennifer. Now, go get me some of that green stout beer for me to sip while I bathe, and make sure it’s hot.”
“It’s already waiting for you on the bath stand, along with your velvet pouch.”
The Black Queen rose from her throne and walked over to the young woman. She gazed into her servant’s eyes and stroked her red hair. “Jennifer, you’ve served me well. You always seem to know what I need before I need it. I’m pleased with you. Come, and scrub my back.”
“Yes, your Majesty. As you command.” Jennifer smiled and bowed.
“My lovely girl. Tell me more about the place from where I took you. What was it called again?”
“It was called America, your Majesty. Austin, Texas.”
“Yes, that’s it. America.” The Black Queen smiled and led the young woman to the boiling bath.
Jennifer helped the Black Queen step into the boiling water, and sat next to her. As Jennifer scrubbed the Black Queen’s fair skin with the metal brush, she told her tales of love, loss, freedom, presidents, war, automobiles, and…torture. The Black Queen lay back and relaxed as the water continued to boil, carefully adjusted by Jennifer. She reached over to her velvet pouch and felt the object inside through the strange, multicolored fabric that sparkled as she caressed it, a coin of some sort. “Let’s see him try his tricks when I pull this out.” She said, pleased with her secret weapon. She smiled at Jennifer who returned the smile, and then put it down. The Black Queen then grabbed Jennifer’s other hand and seductively placed it on her own breast. “Join me in the bath. Pleasure me, sweet Jennifer of Grognor.”
Jennifer complied.
“We should kill him, Husband. I’ve thought about it, and everything you’ve said, but he’s a human. Regardless of the peace we’ve brokered, humans can’t be trusted. You know that. We need to kill Brendon, and do so publicly,” Teelena whispered.
The couple lay in bed, Teelena propped up on one elbow beside Grognor, looking down at him. The two of them argued quietly the entire night about the traitor’s fate. Grognor couldn’t deny his need to kill this treacherous human. His feelings of hate for all humans had come back to him in a flash when they found out about the deception. He was heartbroken by the betrayal. Two ex-enemies, turned into good friends, brothers in arms. Cast aside by the putrid human’s need to sacrifuce it all, and for what? But, he had to resist. There was more at stake. Teelena saw it as weakness not dealing with the damned human immediately.
“They need to be reminded we’re the superior race, and are not to be messed with,” Teelena said. “We need to kill him, plain and simple.”
She spoke right to his soul. He felt what she said, and deeply. He couldn’t deny it, as much as he tried. His wife was right. The bastard needed to die, and badly. Painfully. Publicly. The only problem was, there was a war going on. Knowing who else was behind the conspiracy would be a critical piece of knowledge, and there was more. “Darling, I agree with you—” he started.
“Then? Let’s kill him now,” she said, happy for a moment.
“It’s not that simple. We need to know who else is behind this, who the ‘Her’ is mentioned in the note and, if nothing else, use Brendon’s treacherous ways to feed false information to the others, and possibly gain more information back. Believe me; I want to kill him too. More than anything. But, we don’t know how many of his troupe here are with him in this endeavor. The fact is we may need them to fight with us if we run into dragons, or more Drakmids. Damn it! Teelena, we can’t do it. Not yet.” He smashed his fist onto the ground in frustration. It was all he could do not to jump up, find the traitor Brendon, and smash his head in.
“Why do you have to be so damned logical?” Teelena lay back angered, but in reluctant agreement again. “Just keep that son of a whore away from me. I swear if he crosses me…”
“I know, Wife. I know.”
The light of the red sun had already risen above the horizon as the sounds of the army preparing and breaking camp spoiled the tranquility of night. As the Imperial couple lay there, the familiar voice of Brendon came to their tent.
“Sire, My Lady, we’re breaking camp. The cooks are already preparing breakfast,” Brendon said, as softly and politely as he could.
Teelena nearly jumped out of the tent, but Grognor held her back.
“Thank you, Brendon. We’ll be up shortly.” Grognor tried not to sound like he was saying this through clenched teeth.
They heard Brendon walk away as the sounds of the army got louder. They lay there fuming. After a few more moments of forcing themselves to cool off, they got up.
“Just so you know, Wife. This is not easy for me, either.”
Teelena nodded and smiled sarcastically.
The Stone Children seemed to come right out from the forest with Bruno in the lead. He walked up to Grognor and Teelena.
“What is it, Sire?” Bruno asked.
Grognor was a bit confused. “What?”
“I can tell there’s something wrong, is it something I should be concerned with?”
Grognor ignored the question. “How’s the trail looking?”
“We’ve determined that the next couple of days travel should be relatively easy, but after that it’ll be a bit tricky. The spring thaw is in full force right now, so there’ll be some hazards. We’ll get you through it.”
“Thanks, Bruno. We’ll be heading out as soon as breakfast is done.”
“Very good, Sire. We’ll be ready.”
“Find Delvin Cranksprocket and Eugene of Naw-nee. Meet me at that clearing up ahead in 10 minutes.”
“Right away, Sire.” Bruno walked off.
“What are you thinking, Husband?”
“I think I just got an idea of how we can make this work. But, I need to know a few things. Do you remember how these things work?” Grognor motioned to the mechanical bird covered up in a sheet inside the tent.
“Yea, I know the basic principal behind it.”
“Doesn’t it use some sort of signal beacon?”
“Yea, a tuned crystal array, why?”
“Come on, let’s take it with us,” Grognor said.
Teelena shrugged and grabbed the bundle, careful not to reveal the bird inside. A few moments later the clandestine meeting took place.
“What’s happening, Sire?” Bruno asked.
Teelena opened the sheet just enough so that Bruno and Delvin Cranksprocket could see what it was.
“Is that a stealth model?” Delvin asked, incredulous.
“Yes, exactly. I shot it down last night,” Eugene said.
“That’s really cool! Where’d it come from?” Bruno asked.
Grognor handed Bruno the scroll.
“Oh, Jesus,” Bruno said. He finished reading and handed it to Delvin.
“Brendon? He’s a traitor?” Delvin said, incredulous.
“It’s not much of a stretch,” Teelena said.
They all agreed.
“Mister Cranksprocket, do you think you can repair it?” Grognor asked.
“I don’t know. I’ll have to look at it.”
“Take it and let me know. Make sure nobody sees you working on it, right?” Grognor asked.
“Of course.”
“Ok, listen up. How do these things…know…where they’re going?” Grognor asked.
Delvin explained, “They operate on a radio frequency and a tuned crystal array. For one bird there would be multiple transmitters, depending on the number of recipients, and the receiver in the bird itself connected to the flight controls. The perpetual spring-weight power plant produces just enough power to run the receiver and the mechanics. Did it stop and fall as soon as you hit it?” He asked Eugene.
“Yea, just like I hit it in the heart…or whatever,” Eugene said.
“That’s a good sign. Hopefully you hit it in the actuator. If that’s the case, it’s an easy fix.”
“So, would that mean th
e…message senders would have some sort of transmitter on them?” Grognor asked.
“Yes, exactly. A low power transceiver, actually.”
“Wait, I don’t understand. Why wouldn’t they just use a radio to talk to each other?” Eugene asked.
“That would take more power for the great distances involved, and would be difficult to hide. These little transmitters could fit almost anywhere. A necklace, in the hilt of a sword. It could be disguised as a decorative crystal,” Delvin explained, “with just a slight adjustment, they could tell the bird to come in for a landing, or circle until it was clear. It’s a very clever design, actually.”
“What are you planning, Sire?” Bruno asked.
“I have an idea.” Grognor smiled.
Chapter 13
Brendon began assembling his division for breakfast when he noticed his decorative ring was glowing. “I have to go water a bush. Get everyone ready to head out as soon as breakfast is cleaned up,” he ordered. He turned the jewel on his ring and looked up into the morning sky. The night dove was harmlessly circling. He sighed in relief and walked out into the forest alone. The bird followed him, and as soon as he turned the jewel to another position, the bird came in for a landing, lightly perching on his arm. He reached up and hit the ‘off’ switch. He waited for the spinning sounds to completely wind down inside and began folding the bird up into a more compact shape. He noticed it had a patch in the side. “Hmm, looks like you ran into some trouble.” He then opened the message compartment and pulled out a small scroll.
Brendon,
As you can see, our little friend here ran into some trouble. One of the natives nearly shot it down. No problem. That particular hunter will be hunting in the happy hunting grounds for all eternity. Thankfully, it was not a major injury.
Rest assured. She will get your message. I doubt She will agree with your assassination plan, but time will tell. For now, continue on your mission. Be prepared for a major dragon strike once you get into the rougher country, and by all means keep Grognor safe, for now.
In Her name,
Deepforge Page 13