“I am Teetoo,” he said to the maiden, and he extended his pale hand to her.
She grasped it and introduced herself and Cairn to him. Calyx growled softly in greeting and Cairn bowed deeply. They then all gathered in a small circle in order to talk as a group. Robyn took the initiative.
“Premoran is a friend who has been long absent from this part of the world. Teetoo is his companion,” he began.
“We have little time for small talk now, my handsome son,” Premoran said fondly. “Though I admit that I would really enjoy hearing you tell your friends of my exploits,” he chuckled. “As a youth, I was much like you, I suspect. But now you must get the boy out of the city at once. You have all flirted too many times with the gravest of danger these past days. My brother obviously knows you are here,” he said as he scrutinized Davmiran. “He will certainly not entrust your capture to those who serve him. He has never had anything more than contempt for the ones whom he enlists in his cause.”
“Brother?” Filaree asked. “You said that earlier, but I thought I was mistaken when I heard it. Did I truly hear you correctly?”
“Yes, my dear. But it is a long story that will have to wait for another time and another place.”
The sky once again was growing dark, and the glimpses of light that appeared concurrently with these new visitors’ arrival was rapidly fading. Premoran glanced southward.
“My brother approaches even as we speak. He and I have much to discuss,” he said. “You must be gone before that happens.”
Premoran walked over to Davmiran and put his arms upon his shoulders. Looking deeply into his blue eyes, they stared at one another for a moment. He then pulled a pouch out from the inside of his cape, handed it to the boy and closed his fingers tightly around it and cradled Dav’s hand in both of his own. Before he spoke, a faint glow began to emanate around them and it grew rapidly brighter.
“You must guard this with your life, my boy. Inside is what remains of the great Lalas who have departed this earth. Their meaning and use will reveal themselves to you in time.”
Teetoo’s expression turned from calm to distraction as Premoran handed over the pouch. A great sadness overcame his delicate features and Cairn noticed it immediately, as his eyes were locked upon the curious and beautiful winged boy.
“Can you not hold the shards any longer?” Teetoo asked his companion.
“No, Teetoo. Their purpose is no longer mine to enact. Besides, when I confront my brother I do not wish to have them in my possession.”
“Then the time has truly come for that?” he asked, his saucerlike eyes wide with question.
“Yes, I am afraid so. I do look forward to it though. Really I do! Do not fear for me. We are not so unequal that the outcome can be easily predicted. Have you no faith in me at all?” he asked him smiling.
Teetoo merely bowed his gentle head and said no more.
“I would like to let him know that we are here, Teetoo. We have not seen each other in quite some time, though I cannot imagine he will be overjoyed that I have chosen this moment to precipitate our reunion. He has never been much of a family man,” he chuckled mischievously again. “Come, assist me! Let us first rid this place of these infernal insects,” he said, beckoning for his winged friend to follow him.
“You make light of a grave situation, Premoran,” Teetoo replied, and his delicate mouth scowled disagreeably.
“There is a time for every purpose, is there not, my friend?” he said to him, though the previous lighthearted tone was completely absent from his voice this time. “Now be off, the rest of you. The shaft you seek is just on the other side of that rock yonder,” he said to the others, and he pointed ahead, though at first no one moved. “Go,” he insisted. “Great things await you.”
With those final words, Premoran bowed slightly, and with Teetoo at his side they walked away from them and toward the city. For a brief moment, they all stood there staring at the backs of the two who so propitiously arrived and yet whose stay was so abbreviated. They watched in silence as the pair casually made its way into the beleaguered city; until their silhouettes vanished amidst the billowing smoke and mounting debris resulting from the battle raging within the heart of Seramour.
“Let’’s go,” Robyn said, and he urged the others to follow him.
One by one they heeded his summons. Calyx bellowed a final, mournful farewell, and then he too bounded after his friends who had already reached the long-sought shelter of the trees ahead.
Chapter Fifty-three
Alemar entered the northern woods of Lormarion with her army fanned out behind her. Like her ancestor, the Ice Queen of Eleutheria, she wore a gleaming white breastplate covered in a delicate silver filigree, and she carried the same sword Alicea carried into battle, its hilt an intricately cut crystal orb. Across her back was slung a Noban crossbow, carved and delicate, though powerful and deadly despite its lightness of weight.
They had seen the fires burning in the sky from a great distance away, and their only fear was that perhaps they were already too late to save the besieged city. Cautiously, though with great speed, they penetrated the perimeter of the kingdom. A menacing glow emanated from the darkness shrouding the trees, and the unmistakable sound of falling timber and crackling wood assaulted their ears. A less identifiable noise also echoed within the confines of the forest; a constant buzzing that seemed to vibrate through the very ground they trod upon.
“I like not the feel of this,” Giles said to the Princess. “What make you of it, my Lady?”
“I am uncertain, Giles. But I feel it rattling my bones. Pass the word to proceed with caution until we determine what form our enemy has assumed,” she instructed.
Giles turned his horse abruptly to carry out her orders.
“A wretched odor is upon this wind,” Clovis observed.
“It is the smell of decay,” Alemar said. “Whatever has assaulted these woods has already taken its toll.”
“Did you see that?” Clovis asked with a start pointing to a dark mound ahead that surrounded a broad tree trunk.
“Yes. But I don’’t know what it is. It seems as if the ground itself is moving.”
As they grew closer to it, Alemar gagged in horror. The odor of waste was overwhelming.
“It’’s alive! And it’’s devouring the tree.”
“It is not one but many, my Lady,” Clovis replied. “I can see them everywhere. What manner of opponent is this?”
“An abomination, no doubt, conceived by Caeltin.”
As they spoke, a massive piece of the great Noban separated from the trunk and crashed to the ground.
“There are thousands of these things everywhere,” she said. “Approach with care.”
Giles rejoined them. “What shall I tell the men?” he asked. “Is this the enemy we are to engage?”
“It may be the greatest threat Seramour has seen,” she replied. “But I do not know how we are to combat it. I had expected a foe we could vanquish with a sword and bow.”
“Your expectations may yet be realized,” Clovis said, and he pulled his weapon from off his back.
Putting arrow to string in the blink of an eye, he let it loose. A troll fell forward out of the darkness, its right eye pierced clean through by Clovis’ arrow.
“Sound the horn, Giles,” Alemar shouted.
Lormarion soon reverberated with the call to battle, and within moments fighting broke out everywhere. Their enemies sprang from behind each dark tree trunk with their weapons ready, each driven by a relentless fear instilled in them by their master. They attacked with abandon, charging the elves from the ground with long, pointed spears. Arrows flew and swords slashed the air. Shortly, the smell of decay was overwhelmed by the scent of fresh blood.
Alemar fought like the Princess of legend, pivoting deftly in her saddle from left to right and turning her mount quickly and steadily. With her silver sword, she slashed through the attackers who advanced upon her unforgivingly until a ver
itable pile of bodies surrounded her. Leaping over it, she continued to fight though no end was in sight. For each troll she decapitated and each ore she cut down, two others reared their ugly faces from out of the darkness of the woods.
She looked to her left and saw that Clovis was surrounded by three enormous trolls. Despite his great strength, he was unable to keep them at bay. Though he slashed them over and over again until their black blood pooled upon the ground beneath their huge feet, they continued to attack him. Alemar pressed her knees into her horse’s side, silently urging it to kick its back hooves out and flatten the two smaller orcs who stood at her rear. Spinning around deftly, she then sliced two others clean through and left their ruined bodies standing lifeless before her while their heads lay upon the soil. Riding swiftly between them and sending them toppling to the surface like a pair of falling tree trunks, she approached Clovis. Arching high in her stirrups, she let loose a bolt from her crossbow, piercing one of the trolls through its temple. It turned to her, took one step in her direction, and then tumbled to the ground.
Distracted by their companion’s demise, the other two trolls briefly took their eyes off of their prey. Clovis took advantage of the opportunity immediately. Lifting his heavy sword high above his head with both of his hands, he brought it swiftly down on the skull of one of his assailants, cleaving it in two. The other one, now caught between Alemar and Clovis and lacking the quickness of thought to help him through this situation, stood indecisively for a second too long.
Alemar closed in from the left while Clovis approached from the right. She signaled Clovis to go for the head while she crouched low on her saddle. Sweeping her blade from left to right, she sliced clean through the beast’s arm before it even had time to react. While it stood there howling in pain and holding its bleeding stump up before it, Clovis pulled a long dagger from his belt and threw it with all the strength he had. It caught the troll at the base of its skull, instantly killing it.
The fighting was going on everywhere throughout the dimly lit forest. Alemar, Clovis and Giles battled with a vengeance, clearing a wide swath deep into the woods. Possessed by the blood lust of combat, they decimated whatever came against them. The army that they led fought with the same determination, easily clearing the area of all but the most determined of their foes. Singly or in pairs, Alemar and her two companions assisted anyone who required it, dispatching even the fiercest invaders mercilessly.
Giles blew the horn again calling for assembly this time, and those who had slain the enemy around them and saw no others in the vicinity, answered the summons. With the exception of the humming noise that permeated the entire atmosphere, the sounds of battle were slowly fading.
“You have fought well,” Alemar shouted to the congregation. “We have lost few and we have slain many. We must clear the sacred woods of this rancorous invader and secure the balance of the area. Clovis, you take one third of the men and head south. Giles, you take another third and head west. I will lead the remainder east. It is within our ability to rid Lormarion of this enemy at least. The other invaders devouring the foundations of the city above we will consider later. It is not within our power to do it all now. When we are able to contemplate our options after we have taken care of those whom we can fight with sword and bow, we will find a solution,” she said.
“I will sound the horn when we have cleared the western quarter,” Giles said.
“And I will signal as well when our job is complete,” Clovis echoed.
“Good. When all is safe, we will return to this spot and consider our alternatives. Be careful, both of you. Caeltin D’Are Agenathea is no fool. There may be others of his allies that we have yet to encounter who will not be so easy to destroy. Be ever on your guard. When you battle with the Evil One you can never take victory for granted.”
The three friends each extended their right hand and clasped them together.
“Eleutheria,” Alemar shouted.
“Eleutheria,” they responded, and the troops echoed the call.
“Eleutheria. Eleutheria,” the cry rang out and reverberated throughout the woods, drowning out for the moment every other sound that could be heard.
Chapter Fifty-four
“Over there. I see it. Hurry now,” Filaree called, and she beckoned the others to join her. Behind the rock just as Elsinestra instructed, they found the covering that concealed the opening to one of the great funnels that fed light and air from the Heights to the forest below. During peaceful times, the shafts remained open, drawing the pure air from the sky above the city, and releasing it into the woods beneath it. Intricate panels of polished Noban and plant fiber directed and magnified the light from above as well, illuminating the woods of Lormarion and making it appear as if the sun was shining directly upon everything in the forest below.
The opening that they arrived at was placed at a bend in the funnel, and it was formerly used for maintenance. The Noban, though harder than most rock, grew lusterless over time with the wind rushing over it constantly. In order for it to retain its enormous reflective power, it needed to be polished occasionally. This trap door, as well as many others scattered all over the city, were constructed for that purpose. They provided the access to the tubes so that the elves could get inside and buff the dulled wood.
The funnels had been sealed from above when the Dark Lord’s intentions became known, and thus the amount of air that circulated throughout the forest below was restricted. The light was also shut off, and a blanket of darkness covered over everything below and left the woods perpetually gloomy except at its perimeters.
The inside of the funnel was smooth and slick. It was difficult to maintain a footing upon the interior surface. Small indentations were placed strategically for the workmen to step into when entering for purposes of upkeep and repair, but it required skill and balance in order not to slip and slide onto the next curve underneath, and then all the way to the bottom. They would have to maneuver around these bends as they descended. It was not possible to climb all the way down. It was quite a long distance to the surface.
Cairn and Filaree brushed the branches and leaves off of the trap door. Together they lifted the handles and pulled upward on the panel. It resisted their efforts at first, but then it gave way with a whooshing sound, and warm, stagnant air blew into their faces, forcing them backward.
“How is your leg feeling?” Robyn asked Davmiran.
“Much better. Thank you. It was not a serious wound.” He was unconcerned.
“Good. We have a long journey ahead of us and it would only make it more difficult if you were in pain,” Robyn said. “Dav?” he asked.
“Yes,” the boy replied.
“I have not had even a moment to talk with you, to comfort you, or even to welcome you back to this world. I can imagine how difficult all this has been. You have barely had the opportunity to regain your bearings, and now you are being whisked away, fleeing from one peril to the next with practically no explanation of the why or wherefore.”
“Everything is new to me. I try to remember things, but I cannot. There is one image though that flashes repeatedly before my mind’s eye, and that face has a name; Mira. I feel her here and here,” he said, placing one hand on his heart and the other on his forehead. “Though I cannot recall any more about her, it gives me great comfort to close my eyes and gaze upon her countenance no matter how vague it may be.”
“We are each aware of her great sacrifice.”
“She gave her life for me, did she not?” he asked childlike.
“Yes, Dav, she did. She gave her life for all of us.”
“If you two do not stop talking and get ready to leave, we may not have another chance,” Cairn shouted from the edge of the exposed opening in the shaft. “We will have plenty of time for conversation when we’’re safely out of this city.”
“Thank you for reminding us,” Robyn replied with a smile. “Let us go then,” he said to Davmiran, leading him to the exit.
&
nbsp; “I will go first,” Filaree offered.
“Let Calyx take up the rear,” Cairn said.
“We do not know what awaits us below. I will follow behind you, Filaree. You should come after me,” Robyn said to Cairn. “It is probably best if Dav has Calyx covering his back. Keep your weapons safely tucked away until you near the end.”
“And keep your arms tight to your sides,” Cairn advised.
“Agreed?” Filaree asked them all.
“Agreed,” they unanimously responded.
Filaree drew her shoulders back. “Well then, here we go,” she said as she stepped over the edge.
She disappeared into the blackness of the funnel immediately. Robyn waited a moment and then he stepped in. Just as he fell from sight, a blinding light burst over the burning city, highlighting the spires of Seramour, followed by an earsplitting boom. A cover of shimmering energy spread over the wheat fields behind them like a wave upon the seashore, rapidly engulfing everything in its path.
“You go first,” Cairn urged Davmiran, unwilling to leave him behind with what was so swiftly approaching.
The boy heeded his prompting and rushed over the rim of the funnel. He dropped down and was gone from sight. Cairn hesitated for just a second, careful not to jump in too quickly and crash into the boy on the way down due to his heavier weight. After stepping in, he looked up at the fading aperture as he rapidly descended, anxiously searching for Calyx’s shadow to appear on the edge, but he went flying around the first bend before he saw what he hoped for. Darkness overwhelmed him and his velocity increased. A quick burst of light brightened the obscurity of the shaft, reflecting off of the Noban panels and blinding him temporarily. The air crackled around him and his skin tingled and burned. He continued to stare into the blackness above him, desperately hoping that Calyx escaped before he was engulfed by whatever it was that he saw happening in the city as he left him behind.
Filaree pressed her arms tight to her side, pointed her toes and sped down the funnel. She felt the pressure build in her ears as she gained speed. After she cleared the first bend, she learned how best to navigate, shifting her body left and right. She had no idea how long it would take her to reach the bottom, and she prepared herself mentally for whatever she might encounter down there. Since the darkness was so complete despite one faint moment of luminosity, she had difficulty maintaining her perspective, though her body recognized instinctively whether she was prone or upright.
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