“Who says it has to stop?” Natis asked, drawing a stern look from Jordan.
“I know what you’re thinking, Natis,” The Prince responded, “but you tell me if you would be willing to risk that when your wife is the High Queen of the Westland and the bearer of the legendary Sword of Alexon? I couldn’t stand against her and wouldn’t be able to run far enough to escape her wrath.”
Jaylen, who was riding in the lead, turned his horse about so that he could face the rest of the riders, “I would suggest a little less banter and a little more vigilance now that we are so close to Sedau. And it might be wise for us to find a place to secure the horses and make the rest of the trip on foot. It will be easier to remain hidden that way.”
They rode for another hour or so before Jaylen had them dismount and lead their horses on foot deep into the dying forest. Even with the shedding of leaves this place appeared more lifeless than would be expected. As they approached the dead city they encountered fewer evidence of animal or plant life. Many of the trees were twisted and grotesque, and even the evergreens were brown and in poor condition. Still, Jaylen was able to find a suitable clearing that was well out of sight, sound and even smell of anyone traveling to and from Sedau. There was a small stream, and enough grass that had not yet succumbed to the cold weather for the horses to feed on for a several days. Rather than tether them to the trees Jaylen took a good quantity of the rope they carried and tied it from tree to tree encircling the horses with a makeshift rope fence that was chest high to the animals.
“You expect that to keep them from escaping?” Eric asked.
“You do not know horses very well, do you?” Konik answered. “They are not the brightest animal, why else would they let people smaller than them rule over them as we do. If trained well they will see the rope and simply stay within the boundary unless spooked.”
Jaylen surveyed the clearing, “Precisely. The horses can eat and drink until we return. And if by chance we do not return they will eventually get free. And if they are hunted by wolves, orc or any other creature they have the chance to flee, something that would not be possible if we tied them to the trees.”
“That is a true elf for you,” Weslocke said, “Worried more about the animals we ride than our own well being should we return and find them gone.”
“They did not volunteer to come with us, so I will not endanger them any more than necessary.” Jaylen reminded the dwarf.
Weslocke began placing his gear upon his back. “Hey, I won’t complain if they are not here when we return. I don’t like riding the blasted things anyway. It’s just unnatural for a dwarf to ride horseback.”
Once they had their packs evenly distributed they set out on foot. The only two not carrying backpacks were Jaylen and Landis as the duo decided to scout ahead for any possible danger and did not need to be encumbered by additional gear.
They traveled without incident for the remainder of that day and made camp in the woods that night, eating a cold dinner before bedding down, followed by an even colder breakfast before resuming their march to Sedau. Around noon that day the city came into view. The once proud city of Sedau was in ruins. Most of the wall that had surrounded the city had fallen in or were completely gone. The gatehouse still stood, but only small portions of the wall remained erect anywhere else. The city was filled with short dead trees that Jaylen said had not existed when he was last there. The elf surmised that over the centuries tree life began, but died out before reaching maturity due to the magical wards that had been placed over the ruins by the wizards of Lonia when they restricted access to this place. Very few buildings remained. What still stood were little more than empty shells at best. In the far distance the remnants of the palace could be seen. There was no trace of the once lofty wizard’s tower. Jaylen pointed out from memory where it had stood and where certain aspects of the battle had occurred.
Eric finally shared with the others the location of the secret entrance to Bytorron’s tower. “We must find an old well near the old stables behind the palace.”
“A well?” Trevor asked.
“Precisely,” Eric insisted, “There are a couple other hidden entrances, but those are said to have been caved in. The well had a hidden passage that was built as a means of escape from Bytorron’s secret chambers, which is near his dungeon where he had performed all kinds of evil experiments on captive subjects. It was designed to give him access to the stables, probably to assure him a fast horse to aid in his escape should things not go well for him.”
“How was this passageway discovered?” Weslocke asked.
“Several days after the war ended a prisoner from the dungeon escaped through it. No one had even known that a dungeon had existed below the tower. One was found elsewhere in the city, and those prisoners were released. Even if the existence of the dungeon was known it would have been believed destroyed when the tower collapsed. It was also believed that magical runes laid out by some of the wizards from Lonia would prevent anyone from entering or exiting what was left of the fallen tower at the time—believe me, they supposedly did try to find any remains of Aaron or Bytorron, or anything else of value—but this man crawled out and shared with those who had found him how he had done it. My ancestors were instructed to guard it until the Master-Wizard who replaced Aaron could return to have it searched. But he never did. And I assume that he never passed that task on to anyone before his death.”
Jaylen was looking out through the trees to the ruins of Sedau. “I seem to remember a little about the wizards trying to find a way down below the tower. And even their efforts at blocking it with magic. But I do not remember any mention of the escaped prisoner. Perhaps I had left by then, although I did have other things on my mind.” The elf trailed off softly as he spoke the latter.
In the distance they occasionally saw snow-elves and orcs moving about the city, but not enough to determine how many or how few occupied Sedau. A tent was visible near where Jaylen said the tower had stood, leaving them to believe that this was where the command center for whoever led the exploration of Sedau was stationed. It was decided that they would spend the remainder of the day resting, while Jaylen and Landis scouted the area in order to have a better understanding of what they were up against before continuing. Then they would enter the city under cover of darkness in an attempt to make it to the ruins of the palace and hopefully discover the location of the well and climb down below the city without discovery.
Chapter 7
Landis and Jaylen were returning to the camp after scouting the area when he the half-elf had shared the information about the Pearls of the Elf Lords with his father.
“I recall something of the Green Staff of the King of Delowe’.” Jaylen said concerning the elves at the far southernmost region of the Eastland. “It was said that it had become lost or stolen. But that was two centuries before my birth, and as Delindea and Delowe’ do not associate it is no surprise that we would know little else.”
“Have you ever heard of these pearls?” Landis asked.
“No, but I have heard of the Elf Lords. They are not spoken of often, but if you study the old lessons, as I had to when I was a child, they teach of the Elf Lords who made war with the Dragon Gods. There has been debate among the differing scholars as to whether or not the elves ever served the Dragon Gods. Some say yes while the majority of them claim that the elves were forced into slavery and fought to cast off their oppression. The version that you learned from your Spirit Guides is as good as any other I have heard. If we find these pearls then I would have to suppose them to be in the right.” Reflecting on times past the elf continued, “I do seem to remember a large white pearl in the top of Aaron’s staff. I remember it because it was rather large and baroque in shape, at least two inches across with an irregular cross-like shape to it. I never really thought that it was a pearl due to the size, but now that you bring it up I would have to say that it was indeed a pearl.”
“Were you there when Aaron fought Byto
rron?” Landis asked.
“Unfortunately I was. I say unfortunately because I should have been with my compatriots with the Delindiean heir, but as they were all dead I went with Alex to assist in the capture of Bytorron.
“We made our way through the tunnel along with some of Alex’s men, following after Aaron. Bytorron must have been attempting to flee to his private lair where perhaps he meant to escape. Or maybe he meant to wait for Aaron and take his staff after defeating him as your guides believe. Either way, Bytorron was cornered by Aaron in a large room where the two were using magic to fight each other. When we arrived it appeared that Bytorron held the advantage. He stood tall, waving his green staff—by the gods, Landis, it was green! Just as your Spirit Guides told you—He waived it at Aaron, who was slumping forward, looking older than he already was.
“Upon finding them Alex rushed into the room to assist his grandfather. I had thought that Aaron must have been faking his weakness for as soon as Alex rushed in behind him Aaron stood tall and appeared refreshed. Alex charged Bytorron despite his grandfather’s warnings. Bytorron attempted to deflect the sword with his staff but only succeeded in preventing it from hitting any vital areas as it stabbed into his right shoulder. He quickly struck Alex with his staff knocking the man backwards. Then Bytorron’s eyes went wide as if he had discovered something that excited him. I felt fear for the first time when I saw his face. Aaron must have seen it to for he yelled for Alex to leave the room immediately. He yelled for us to drag him out if necessary.
“I helped to hold Alex as we watched Aaron raise his staff and hold it in both hands across his chest. Bytorron was laughing at him; he just stood there with Alex’s sword still sticking out of his shoulder and was laughing! But he stopped when he realized what Aaron was doing. I will never forget his cry when he screamed for Aaron to stop. But Aaron brought his staff down across his knee breaking it and then tossing both halves at Bytorron before turning to flee. At least we thought he was fleeing, but what he did was slam into the door closing both of them inside just as the room exploded. We were told later that when he broke his staff he released all of its magic at once. He must have combined it with some spell that helped to trigger the eruption.
“As you have already heard, when the dust settled the room was gone; the wall had torn away leaving the very floor we were standing on dangling over a ledge. We could see the earth on the other side beyond where the far wall had been. It was as if the room had been swallowed up.
“Assuming that what Eric has said about the dungeon is correct then it is very possible that the explosion caused the entire room to collapse down into the dungeon below. But we had no time to search for any such thing before fleeing. The tower began to sway above us and we knew that we had to escape before it caved in on us.
“That was how Bytorron and Aaron Sergius perished.”
“What should I do about Natis?” Landis asked, “If what I was told is correct then he is seeking Aaron’s broken staff. And I am not supposed to allow him to take it.”
“Leave that to me,” Jaylen offered, “I will inform everyone before we go down below that Jobez has ordered us to return anything we find to Birhirm for evaluation before anything can be taken. Natis will agree and that will allow time to decide what should be done.”
* * * * *
When they returned to camp, Jaylen drew a map in the dirt showing the way he believed best to travel into and through the ruins to get to the area where the stables had once stood. “There is the remains of a well there,” he verified Eric’s story, “But we will have to clear the debris covering it and that will be risky. Remember that the Snow-Elves are still elves, so they can see and hear better in the dark than humans. We must work as quietly as possible.”
They waited until well after dark before leaving the safety of their cold camp. It had been decided that they would travel in groups of two or three, with each party having someone experienced in stealth—through either training or breeding—as part of each team. Jaylen took Eric with him and headed out first. When the duo had vanished from Landis’ vision he sent out the second team—Weslocke, Trevor and Konik—to follow after them; neither of the two men were as noiseless in their travels as an elf or thief, but they were well trained and made too good a team to split up. Landis waited the same amount of time until he was certain that they had safely made it beyond the scattered remnants of the wall before sending Jandelie and Jordan. He resisted the urge to stop her from leaving, knowing that the two of them could sneak into the city together without ever being caught, but both Natis and Jordan needed someone to help them, and Landis believed that he should stay with the mage. He silently prayed that the young Squire did not do anything that would bring attention to the two of them as they crept along. He watched as his recently returned lover and the young man disappeared into the darkness then motioned for Natis to follow him and they moved slow and silent through the field and around the broken stones of the once formidable wall that had guarded the city of Sedau.
Once inside the city they skulked along the decided path that Jaylen had laid out. Landis was thankful for the clouded sky that hid the Moon, giving them more darkness to work with. They were midway through their long, winding trek when the half-elf motioned for Natis to squat down low and remain still. Using his fingers he signaled the mage, Jandellie and Jordan are just ahead: One Snow-Elf heading in their direction.
The Mage strained his eyes but could see nothing. Still, he trusted Landis’ night-vision enough to know that the half-elf was not mistaken. Landis silently removed his bow from his shoulder and readied an arrow. Natis marveled at how the bow appeared to have gone from ivory colored to near black as they knelt in the darkness. He realized that he was holding his breath as he waited for Landis’ next move. He forced himself to breath but dared not move a muscle as the half-elf trained his eyes on the target. Then Landis lowered the bow and returned the arrow to his quiver. “He’s going the other way.” Landis dared to whisper.
The rest of their silent walk was uneventful as they continued on their way, using the stubby trees and ruins to cover their approach. Eventually even Natis was able to make out the sight of their seven companions, who had left before them, huddled together in the darkness. They practically crawled the remainder of the distance, and when they had arrived they found that Jaylen, Eric, Trevor, Konik, and Weslocke had done a sufficient job of removing enough debris to permit them to climb down into the well. Landis reached for the rope at his side but his father motioned for him to stop.
“We will not need it.” Jaylen whispered.”
Following his father’s instructions, the half-elf looked over the side of what remained of the stone wall and was able to barely make out irregular formations in the wall as it descended. Landis realized that these irregularities would probably have gone unnoticed to anyone looking into the well in the daytime or at night unless they were looking at the well as an entrance as the companions now were. The outcropped stones were actually a designed network of steps and ledges to allow someone to climb into or out of the well.
“We still need to be careful,” Landis spoke as softly as possible, “They are old so we do not know how safe they are. And they are probably slick too. Most of us will have no trouble, but those of you who are not used to such climbs need to be very careful.”
He looked directly to Eric and Jordan as he spoke.
Jandelie glanced down the well. “I am the lightest, let me go down first and test the ledges.”
Landis did not like the idea but knew that it was the correct decision. Jandelie was a trained thief and as such she could scale walls that were way more treacherous than this. And she had the least risk of any of them of having her weight collapse any of the outcroppings in the wall. He nodded his approval and the thief slithered over the side and down into the darkness. Everyone waited in silence for some sign that she had succeeded. None of them had expected to see her face pop back out of the darkness before them.
&
nbsp; “It will hold, hand me a backpack.” She instructed as she sat atop the well and placed one of the packs on her back and descended a second time into the darkness.
They carried only the supplies that might be needed below ground, having left everything else outside of the city. These were divided up amongst the more experienced climbers. Landis and Jaylen carried the most while Trevor, Konik and Weslocke each wore smaller packs. Jordan, Eric and Natis all carried nothing but their own few personal belongings and weapons. Weslocke went next, finding the climb more challenging as the ledges were not spaced close enough for the dwarf’s shorter legs to manage as well as a human or elf-sized person. But Weslocke Blademender had spent many years climbing through rougher places than this and had little difficulty descending down into the bottom of the well. Eric followed next. Everyone stopped moving when the Prince’s sword banged against the side. Landis prayed that the sound did not carry too far and motioned for everyone to move more quickly as he and Jaylen scrutinized the area cautiously. Alek and Natis both followed the Prince, and Trevor was just beginning to climb in when Landis spotted movement in the distance.
“Someone is coming this way.” He said, reaching for his bow.
Jaylen stopped his son’s movements and motioned for Landis to follow Trevor down into the well. Knowing better than to argue, Landis slid effortlessly over the side and made his way down with ease, having to stop only to allow Trevor time to reach the bottom before him.
Landis stepped into the knee-deep muddy water. It was pitch dark and they all waited impatiently for Jaylen to join them. At long last they spotted something—presumably Jaylen—coming down the side of the well. When he came nearer it could be seen that the elf carried more than a large backpack with him. He reached the bottom and dropped the body of a dead orc into the water at their feet. Landis did not need his night-vision to know that the creature’s throat had been cut.
Elf Lords: 01 - Pearls of the Elf Lords Page 6