Alutar: The Great Demon

by Tuttle, Richard S.

  “I don’t understand,” frowned Jong. “Who is doing this and for what purpose?”

  “The purpose is to destroy Alutar,” declared Seiko. “That should be obvious.”

  “But it can’t,” argued Jong. “The demonstone is indestructible. All they can do is destroy the ship, but the demonstone will remain in the desert. We could flee and then come back for it later.”

  “There are two problems with that plan,” retorted Seiko as he started walking forward. “One is the black maw in the center of the circle. It will swallow anything that remains in the Sands of Eternity. That would include the demonstone.”

  Seiko stopped and picked up the bucket of red sand that had been gathered earlier. He continued walking in silence to the demonstone.

  “You said two problems,” frowned Jong. “What is the other?”

  “Use your knife,” ordered Seiko. “Slice me off a piece of the demonstone.”

  “What?” balked Jong. “I will not. Besides, it is impossible. Why do you request such a folly?”

  “Do it!” Seiko commanded threateningly.

  Jong backed up a step, but he drew the knife from his belt. He ran the knife along the surface of the demonstone in a halfhearted attempt to please his superior, but Seiko was not amused.

  “Do it or die,” demanded Seiko. “I will be obeyed.”

  Jong inhaled sharply. He did not know if Alutar would be aware of his transgression, but he knew that Seiko was not a man to toy with. He forcefully put his knife to the surface of the demonstone and with both hands tried to slice off a piece of it. The blade of his knife snapped and sailed off to land noisily on the deck. Jong threw down the remaining portion of knife and backed away from the demonstone.

  “I told you it was impossible to mar the demonstone,” he spat at Seiko. “It is indestructible.”

  “Is it?” Seiko mused in a calm voice as he pulled a white rag from his pack and poured water over it.

  The head black-cloak pushed the wet rag into the bucket of blood red sand and then pulled it out again. The rag was coated with sand particles, and Seiko stepped up to the demonstone. He rubbed the rag over the surface of the demonstone, and the whole ship shuddered in reaction. Black-cloaks fell to the deck, and the ship immediately slowed.

  “Back to your stations,” Seiko shouted as he picked himself off the deck. “Get this ship moving again.”

  Jong rose and stared at Seiko. “What did you do?” he asked.

  Seiko looked down at the rag and sighed nervously. He held it out for Jong to see. Mixed in with the red sands were small flecks of black.

  “The demonstone is not indestructible,” Seiko announced. “This red sand is enhanced for a particular reason, and that reason is the destruction of the demonstone. The whirling sand wall is meant to destroy the demonstone, and the maw is meant to mingle the particles with untold trillions of grains of sand. It would take eons for the followers of Alutar to find all of the particles so that they could be put back together. It is an ingenious plan, and we need to think of a way to defeat it.”

  “How much time do we have?” asked Jong.

  “I can only estimate,” answered Seiko. “If we do nothing other than keep this ship moving at its current pace, dawn tomorrow will see us sliding into the hole in the desert. We do not have time to spare.”

  * * * *

  Zack Nolan and Kalina sat in the black carriage while they waited for permission to enter the Sanctum. Garth Shado sat on the driver’s bench, his eyes scanning the defensive forces. After a few moments, a runner ran up to the gates and spoke softly to the commander of the private army. The commander waved for the gates to be opened and then stepped close to Garth.

  “My men will escort the carriage,” stated the commander. “You will follow their instructions at all times or you will be killed.”

  Garth nodded and started the carriage rolling. Two men mounted horses and moved in front of the carriage to lead the way. Garth calmly followed their lead, but he paid little attention to the riders. His eyes continued to scan the trees, noting the placement of the defensive forces. He had already penetrated the compound the previous night in an attempt to catch Lord Kommoron, but he had followed the path that Franco had used previously, and that trip had bypassed most of the soldiers. Thinking that the next visit to the Sanctum might be one to destroy it, he wanted more information about the defenses, and the carriage ride provided a chance to get that information.

  There was a short pause in the journey as the carriage was ordered to stop at the gates of one of the estates. The carriage was admitted onto the estate and rolled to the entrance of the mansion. Lord Zachary and his wife were let out of the carriage and taken to a large sitting room. They were shown to a couch and sat down. Moments later, Lord Kimner was brought into the room. The old man was infirm and had to be moved in a special chair fitted with wheels. An attendant moved the chair so that it faced his guests.

  “You have returned, Lord Zachary,” opened Lord Kimner as the old man waved for his guards and attendant to leave the room. “I am pleased, but also surprised. I never expected to see you again. Who have you brought to me?”

  “Lady Zachary,” smiled the Ranger.

  The old man nodded at Kalina, but his eyes quickly returned to Zack.

  “I have heard that Vinafor has broken away from the Federation,” stated Lord Kimner. “Is that what brings you back here?”

  “In a way,” Lord Zachary said. “The Federation is ended, Lord Kimner. Its only member now is the Empire of Barouk.”

  “And Spino,” interrupted Lord Kimner.

  “No,” Zack shook his head. “King Samuel has withdrawn from the Federation. Only Barouk remains, and that is hardly a Federation, is it?”

  “I had not heard,” frowned Lord Kimner, “but it does not surprise me. Have you come to gloat then?”

  Lord Zachary smiled. “The death of the Federation as it was carried out is not something to cry over,” Zack said, “but the death of the Empire of Barouk would be lamentable. I have come to you to seek help in preventing that.”

  Deep creases etched the old man’s brow, and he stared at the Vinaforan nobleman with suspicion.

  “I did check you out after your last visit,” Lord Kimner said, “and your statements of wealth were validated, but I smell something rotten here. Why would a Vinaforan lord care what happens to the Empire of Barouk?”

  “Why shouldn’t every man care about the destruction of a nation?” retorted Zack. “If you held within your hands the power to avoid a war in some country other than your own, would you not step forward and try to halt the bloodshed?”

  “I probably would,” Lord Kimner said cautiously, “but I am an idealist. I do not think you are cut from the same cloth. Do you think you hold the power in your hands to make the elves disappear?”

  “It is not just the elves who will descend upon Despair,” stated Lord Zachary. “The elves are merely in place to keep the armies of the Federation locked within the city walls. Before the week is out, Despair will be besieged by tens of thousands of warriors. The soldiers in Despair will be grossly outnumbered.”

  “So you say,” retorted Lord Kimner, “but it will not take a week for the armies in Despair to be reinforced. No one is going to crush Despair.”

  “Once again,” Zack shook his head, “I find you ill-informed. There are no armies of the Federation left except what is already inside the walls of the city. The 16th Corps is now a Spinoan army, and the 35th Corps no longer exists. It was destroyed by dwarves.”

  “Dwarves?” scoffed Lord Kimner. “Now you stretch your credibility far beyond the breaking point. The dwarves all died over four hundred years ago.”

  “The dwarves did not die,” stated Lady Zachary. “They escaped from the Isle of Despair over four hundred years ago and have been living in secret here in Zara, but even if they had gone extinct here, they flourish in Alcea. In fact, the dwarves that destroyed the 35th Corps were a union of dwarves from both con
tinents.”

  Lord Kimner stared at Kalina and a deep frown grew over his face. His eyes returned to Zack as he said accusingly, “You are not what you seem to be. Who are you really?”

  “I am Zack Nolan,” answered Lord Zachary. “I am an Alcean Ranger. My companion is Jenneva Tork, but she is known here in Zara as Kalina Shado. She is a Knight of Alcea.”

  Zack and Kalina were ready to react forcefully when Lord Kimner called for his guards, but the old man said nothing. He stared at the couple on the couch and slowly nodded his head.

  “What do you want from me?” the old man asked.

  “We want you to help us avoid bloodshed in Despair,” answered Zack. “What we have told you about the armies descending on Despair is true. What we have not spoken of is far more important. On my last visit, we spoke of the political situation in Barouk and the ways that nobles plot to take the throne. That conversation was not mere idle chatter. It is happening in Despair right now. We believe that Emperor Jaar is dead, and that a mage is standing in his place. That mage is controlled by one of your fellow lords here in the Sanctum. We want your help in exposing the fraud that now poses as your emperor.”

  “For what purpose?” asked Lord Kimner. “If you truly have the armies that you claim, you can kill the emperor and end his charade.”

  “And kill twenty-five thousand of your young men in the process,” scowled Kalina. “Is that truly what you want, Lord Kimner?”

  “You said that you would halt a war in a foreign country because you are idealistic,” Lord Zachary pointed out. “Would you not do the same for your own country?”

  “I have no such power,” retorted Lord Kimner. “What do I bring to the solution of the problem?”

  “Your inability to climb stairs,” answered Zack.

  “The man posing as the emperor is a mage,” interjected Kalina, “The spell that he is using to impersonate Jaar will break if we can get him to cast a single spell. I feel confident that we can do so, but he can quickly reinstate the façade. Were we to unveil him in his office, very few people would see the truth, and that is not acceptable. We want you to go with us to see the emperor. Because of your condition, he will have to meet you in the throne room on the ground floor. We plan to make sure that there are enough people present to see the spectacle so that the reign of Emperor Jaar will end.”

  “And that will end the war?” scoffed Lord Kimner. “There are still the problems of the puppet master and the heir. By showing that Jaar is dead, you will force the heir to step forward. The noble will then conspire to kill him. Besides, what makes you think that Jaar’s son will be any different than his father?”

  “We know the identities of both the puppet master and the heir,” declared Zack. “You will be pleased to know that Jaar’s son is more like his grandfather than his father.”

  “Is he now?” Lord Kimner asked with a glint in his eye. “I would love to see the truth of that statement before I die.” The old man’s eyes narrowed as he continued, “You do realize what you are asking of me, don’t you? You want me to smuggle a couple of Alceans into the Imperial Palace for a meeting with the leader of the Federation. You could easily be assassins using me to gain access to the emperor. I cannot do it.”

  “We already have people who can gain access to the emperor,” countered Zack, “and the façade will indeed dissolve upon his death, but we do not want to act in that manner. The heir already suspects the truth about his father, but the imposter still looks like Jaar. To attack him without revealing the truth would seem hostile to the future leader of Barouk, and we would prefer to have good relations with your country in the future. The false emperor must be revealed for all to see. If you are concerned about me assassinating anyone, have the palace guards strip me of my weapons and forbid me to get within twenty paces of the emperor. I will agree to such terms.”

  Lord Kimner raised an eyebrow at the offer. Slowly, he nodded. “It is worth the risk to see Jaar’s son in control of the empire,” he reasoned aloud. “Jaar has done nothing for Barouk that I see as good. Explain to me what my role is to be.”

  Chapter 47

  Cutting It Close

  Seiko stood amidships staring up at the billowing sails of the Resurgence. The eastern sky was just beginning to lighten, and the head black-cloak sighed wearily. The lack of sleep was beginning to take its toll on him and the men under his command, but he could not afford to let anyone sleep. On his last trip to the stern of the ship, he had actually heard the roar of the sand wall, and that meant that it was getting closer.

  “It is within a pace now,” Jong said as he approached Seiko, tearing the leader away from his musings. “If just a handful of our men falter, we will be in trouble.”

  Seiko lowered his eyes and turned to look at Jong. “We are in trouble no matter what we do,” he sighed. “We have tried every known spell on that wall, and nothing will deter it. The black maw cannot be far in front of us. It is the end of our journey.”

  “We could flee,” Jong suggested anxiously. “If we cannot save the demonstone, what is the purpose of all of us dying? We have done the best we could. No one would blame us for saving ourselves.”

  “No,” Seiko replied strongly. “We have a duty to do what we can to preserve the demonstone. I will not hear talk about abandoning it.”

  “But it is going to be destroyed anyway,” protested Jong. “Have you gone mad?”

  “No,” retorted Seiko. “The demonstone may be sucked into the maw, but it will go in whole. It can be retrieved from there. Only if we let the sand wall destroy it have we failed. We only need to keep this ship ahead of the sand wall until it is sucked down into the maw. Then we may flee. The sand wall will burn itself out when the circle collapses. Don’t you see, Jong, we can actually defeat the Mage here. He may stop us from delivering the demonstone right now, but we have succeeded in bringing it thousands of leagues closer to Alutar. That is no small feat. We can regroup later and figure out a way to retrieve the demonstone from the Sands of Eternity.”

  “But you said the entire desert is moving into the maw?” frowned Jong. “I cannot comprehend what that will mean in the future. How will we retrieve the demonstone when it will be covered by leagues of sand?”

  “I do not know,” sighed Seiko, “but we will find a way. How we do it is not important right now. What is important is staying ahead of that wall until the ship gets sucked into the maw.”

  “How far are we from the hole?” asked Jong.

  Seiko glanced up at the sky and saw that dawn was approaching. “We will know soon,” he said. “Walk with me to the bow. By the time we get there, there should be enough light to see it.”

  The two black-cloaks walked towards the bow of the massive ship. By the time they reached the bow, the sky had lightened considerably. They stared across the dim desert, and Jong gasped as he saw the gigantic hole and the sand pouring into it. Seiko also gasped, but not at the sight of the maw. He was staring at the circular wall surrounding the ship and the maw. No longer was the circular wall of sand a mere mental image. He could see it now, and that caused a shudder to race though his body. As both mages silently stared at their coming fate, the ship shuddered violently. They both knew what that meant.

  “Get them to push more air into the sails,” Seiko said urgently.

  “The sails will not hold any more air,” retorted Jong. “They are already full.”

  “If they were full,” snapped Seiko, “the wall would not have caught up to us. Do it before we fail.”

  Jong did not argue. He raced aft to carry out Seiko’s order. Even in the bow, Seiko could now hear the roar as the sand wall started eating through the ship. He turned around and gazed at the monstrous hole before the ship, mentally calculating how long it would take to reach it. Suddenly, a loud crack split the air, and the ship lurched and bucked. Seiko whirled around in time to see the aft mast falling, it sails fluttering as they dropped to the sand alongside the ship. Seiko cursed loudly and started runn
ing aft. When he reached amidships alongside the demonstone, Jong approached from the other direction.

  “The mast couldn’t take the strain,” Jong reported. “The sand wall is rapidly eating its way forward now. We are doomed. We will never make the hole.”

  “It doesn’t matter if we make the hole,” declared Seiko. “It only matters that the demonstone does. Help me unstrap it.”

  Jong’s puzzled face stared at his leader. “You plan to levitate it into the hole?”

  “There is no other option,” Seiko replied as he sent a fireball at the ropes holding the demonstone in place. “Help me and hurry.”

  Jong also began casting fireballs at the restraining ropes, and they began to pop free as the fire burned through the fibers. Seiko saw some birds winging away from the ship and he cursed again.

  “Stop those fools from fleeing,” he spat. “We will need everyone to levitate the demonstone and move it faster than the wall. Go. I will finish up here.”

  Jong raced off to halt the desertions while Seiko continued to destroy the restraining ropes. The roar of the sand wall grew louder and louder, and Seiko was soon forced to turn and look in its direction. He gasped in alarm when he saw that only a dozen paces of the ship remained aft of him. As he watched, the sand wall started eating through another mast. Within seconds the ship lurched again, and Seiko knew that he was out of time.

  “Everyone rally to me!” he shouted as loud as he could. “Forget the sails and rally to me! Hurry!”

  The ship faltered as if it had hit a reef. Seiko was thrown to the deck as the bow of the ship dropped and plunged into the sand. At first he thought they had reached the black maw, but he soon realized the truth. His black-cloaks had answered his call, but they were doing more than merely filling the sails with wind. They had also been levitating the bow to keep it from plunging into the sand. The Resurgence slid to a halt, but the sand wall did not stop. It began chewing up the deck at an alarming rate. Seiko jumped to his feet and saw the demonstone starting to rise. He smiled inwardly as he realized that some of his men were already at work. He shouted for the others to join in as he magically reached out to the demonstone to add his power to the effort. Only then did he hear the shouts of his men. He looked up and saw a dozen demons hovering over the demonstone. They were levitating the lower half of Alutar, and they were taking it far too high to be delivering it to the black maw in front of the ship.