Beneath a Desert Moon

by Mary Hamilton

  Klunk set Marzi down. “We must fight.” He took his club from his belt.

  Arien knelt and withdrew two daggers from sheaths strapped to her lower legs. Brandishing one in each hand, she assumed a fighting stance, legs slightly apart, knees bent in a crouch.

  Marzi reached her side and withdrew her dagger, which glowed bright green. She moved to stand beside Arien, trying her best to look fearless, which was anything but the truth.

  The humans ahead stopped in their tracks, as though attempting to assess the danger. They had closed to about ten meters, and Marzi could see doubt in their eyes—not fear, just a twinge of uncertainty. If it was only this one group, there was hope. But the other band of humans, closing rapidly, would quickly overwhelm the three.

  And then, beyond the group that stood in their way, Marzi saw yet more dust being kicked up, this time, from the encampment. Either the ogres were under attack there or maybe help was coming.

  Then she saw Saryn, leading the charge and brandishing a two-handed greatsword. Her heart leapt. Behind him came a horde of ogres, clubs at the ready, running at full tilt.

  Arien barked, “Ignore the ones ahead. Our allies will take them. Those attacking from the side will reach us soon. We must face them.” She turned, daggers in hand toward the approaching group.

  As the incoming invaders drew within ten meters, Marzi could see that it was about seven or eight of them, all running as though driven by madness. They waved swords in the air and shouted unintelligible words. She held her dagger tight in her hand and prepared for the onslaught.

  Klunk stepped out in front, swinging his club with precision. Two of the humans went down in a single swipe. Arien lunged into the fight, her daggers glinting in the sunlight. Howls of pain went up from the humans. Two of them came at Klunk from behind. Marzi hurled herself forward, driving her blade into a human leg. More screams of pain. Klunk swung again, more humans down.

  And then Arien went down, not from a sword or axe but from close-quarters hand-to-hand combat. Dropping to the ground, she appeared stunned. A human kicked her, sending the elf flying several meters before dropping onto the sand.

  An enraged scream erupted as Saryn flew into the fray, swinging wildly. The remainder of the humans dropped and lay still on the desert floor. Marzi turned to see the ogres finishing up the other band of humans. And then there was silence.

  Arien lay still on the ground. Saryn screamed as he fell onto his knees beside her and then gently lifted her into his arms.

  Chapter 74: Crystal Sands

  Marzi threw back the flap of the medical tent and hurried to the other side to clear off an unused pallet. “Set her here. This is good.” She turned to see Saryn, Arien in his arms, enter the tent.

  “I told her. I told her.” He muttered as he looked her over, top to bottom. “She has no business here.” With his hands, he felt her arms, legs and neck. He barked, “Get one of the other healers, now!”

  Ariessa bolted into the tent. “How is she?” The empress went down on both knees beside her daughter. “What happened?”

  Marzi responded, “A band of humans attacked.” There was nothing more to say.

  The elven leader nodded as she looked Arien over. “I see no wounds, no cuts or gashes.”

  The Azyrean had seen the elf healer go down. “I think that she was knocked to the ground and then kicked. I don’t think it was sword or axe or anything like that.”

  The empress nodded, continuing to look for any signs of damage. When she leaned back, her tear-streaked cheeks glistened in the muted torchlight.

  Saryn paced the inside of the tent. “We must find a way to get her back to the Bough. Valyn must open a portal for us. Arien cannot stay here.”

  Saige entered the tent, far more reserved than the others. She knelt beside Arien for a moment and then stood. “It appears a minor injury. Her breathing is steady. Her color returns.”

  “No!” Saryn shouted. “She cannot remain here.”

  The leader of the cliff elves shrugged and left the tent.

  Ariessa stood and approached Saryn. “Yes, it is dangerous here. And remember, she is my daughter. But she is also an elf, whether of the Bough or the cliffs. It hurts incredibly to think of her in danger. But all of our people are in danger. Her life is special, but so are the lives of all elves and all ogres and human rebels, for that matter, and I believe it is her wish to be here in order to give aid to others.”

  Saryn glared at the empress. “This is not just about Arien’s life. There is more at stake here.” He whirled and stormed out of the tent.

  Silence enveloped the medical tent. Marzi stared at Arien, wondering what had set Saryn off like that. Elves had been injured before, even killed. Ryshara had nearly died. Ellemareth had been close to death. But never had she seen Saryn act in this irrational manner.

  For the first time, Corhymin, who lay on a pallet nearby, spoke, “The roaming bands of humans are becoming bolder. I fear we must begin to think in terms of more rigorous defense of this compound.”

  Klunk, who had remained just outside the tent, stepped inside. “Pardon me, Commander, if I may comment. This was not just a roaming attack. Yes, there was this band that we saw from a distance. But when we tried to return to the camp, we met another group that looked like they were waiting for us. It could be coincidence, but it seemed like a coordinated attack.”

  Marzi marveled at the young ogre. “I know. It does seem like that.” He was barely older than she and yet he seemed to speak with the knowledge and wisdom of an adult. The interpretation he offered seemed obvious, but she had not thought of it until then… and Saryn hadn’t mentioned it.

  Corhymin considered the ogre for a moment. “If what you say is true, then it changes things even more. Up until now, we have considered that the only real threat would come through the portal. But if there are more groups already here, it begs the question of whether, when the main attack does come, we will be caught in a pincer—fighting those coming through the portal at the same time as we engage those behind us.”

  Klunk nodded. “I understand. But what can we do about it?”

  “I would ask that you, along with your battle leader, Kharla, meet with Saryn to discuss a more organized effort here at the camp. We must, of course, rely on the ogre forces here to both scout and defend.”

  “I will. In fact, I will go now to speak with Kharla, and then we will seek out Saryn.” With that, Klunk turned and strode out of the tent.

  Marzi started to leave when the commander’s voice stopped her. “Marzi, if you would please remain for a few minutes. I’d like to speak with you.”

  “Of course.” The Azyrean eased over and positioned herself on the floor beside Corhymin’s cot.

  “I have several concerns, but I am not sure where to turn for answers.” The elven commander glanced over at Arien, who remained unconscious. She lowered her voice anyway so as not to be overheard by anyone else in the tent. “First, as I saw in your face, something is amiss with Saryn. He is stressed beyond anything I have seen in him before. Of all the elves from the Bough and cliffs, he has always been the one most composed and rational. If you have any relationship with him at all, it would be worth asking what troubles him.”

  Marzi had already planned on this conversation, although she wasn’t sure how she would broach it. She nodded. “Yes. I will talk to him.”

  “My second issue, I fear, is far more complicated and ill-defined. I know there will be a great battle. I am confident in our ability to prevail. It is possible that we could lose, but we are doing everything we can, and so I must trust our battle leaders. But I wonder, Marzi, if we are victorious, what that will mean for the human race. We see them, well, except for the rebels, as our adversaries, our enemies. If I understand correctly, they are pieces placed in motion by Dredwyn. When he is banished and his influence is ended, what becomes of the race of man? Will they still be our enemies? Or friends? Or something else? I have no answers.”

  Marzi turne
d the words over in her mind and mixed them with her memories of what Valyn had told her about life and death and who got to make those choices. Before she could respond, the commander spoke again.

  “I tell you this because I feel the answer lies with you. Back in the Quel’dethain Mountains, you alone raised the question of how to view the human captives. By all accounts, they were rendered harmless. And yet our laws decreed their death. Our assembled leadership mostly advocated their death. And you alone spoke out to spare them. Your stated reason was a good one, I admit. But I strongly suspect that what you said in terms of purpose was not the real intent. My heart tells me that it was more basic. It was about life and death. Our lady, the goddess Valyn, has spoken to you. I feel, indeed I hope that she has had this conversation with you. I fear we shall need those words in the future.”

  Chapter 75: Ebon Hills

  Ran drew his greatsword and took a crouching combat stance. Brother Andrew stared, his mouth open. Jarek eased to the side and pulled the dagger from his belt, keenly aware it would do him no good.

  “You have no need of your weapons, my friends. I mean you no harm.” The glob of glowing purple light offered a sinister laugh. “You are here for the crystals, no doubt. I simply wanted to be here to offer you an alternative to your doomed plans. You seek to move the human rebels to Crystal Sands to confront me there. They will, of course, all die. And you, left here undefended, will suffer terribly before your end comes.”

  Jarek struggled to assign meaning to the words. They were not what he would have expected. And then it dawned on him—Dredwyn, assuming that this was some incarnation of the demon, didn’t know their plans. The rebels had long since gone to the desert. The entity had apparently not discerned that the real motive was creating a portal leading into the bowels of the castle.

  The voice continued, “Lay down your weapons and relax your minds.” The words came out soft and soothing. “I offer you this opportunity to atone for your crimes. Join with the hundreds of others who will emerge victorious. Be at my side when I rule the universe. Cast off your silly plots and machinations.”

  Ran tightened the grip on his sword. “Show yourself, demon. If you are so brave and strong, fight me with honor.”

  But the voice continued as though it had not heard. “Cast aside your worries. Take your rest. Sleep. And come to my castle. Fear me not. We will clear up our misunderstandings and all will be well. I await your arrival.” The light dimmed and then flashed brilliantly before vanishing into darkness.

  “He wasn’t here.” Jarek’s confidence built. “What we saw was just an illusion, placed here after the brotherhood left. The message was put into place back then. That’s why he appeared to be focused on our going to the desert. He doesn’t know that we already have people there.”

  Ran relaxed and lowered his sword. “I’ve seen this thing before. He tries to plant the seeds of doubt. The demon commands armies that can indeed fight and kill. But Dredwyn himself cannot engage physically.”

  Andrew cleared his throat. “Well then, let us continue with the task at hand.” He took the torch from Ran and lit others around the room. Scores of large shapes—items covered by white cloths—filled the room. “What we seek is among these if it is to be found.” With that, he moved on and removed the cover from an emerald crystal. “Go ahead, look at all of them. What we seek is amethyst—a pale purple. I think we’ll know it when we see it.”

  The three went about their business in silence. There looked to be about thirty shapes scattered around. Jarek had uncovered three of them when he heard Ran’s voice from the other side. “What about this case? Could it be in here?”

  The Azyrean turned to see a small wooden container standing up with its lid closed. He recalled seeing it the last time he was here but couldn’t recall exactly what was inside.

  Andrew approached the box and opened the top. “There’s no crystal in there. Just an old cloak.”

  Ran held his torch closer and reached out, touching the border of the garment. “Those look like elven runes.”

  Jarek noticed the symbols arranged around the edge. “What do they say?”

  “I do not know. I believe they are ancient runes.” He stared as though transfixed.

  The Azyrean shrugged. “Interesting. But let’s find that crystal and get back up to the surface. This place doesn’t feel right.” Admittedly, he was still spooked from the image of Dredwyn.

  Brother Andrew called out, “Here it is. This is the one.” He stood aside, gesturing toward a crystal easily larger than Jarek by half. “It is doubtful that the three of us will be able to get it up there.”

  Ran nodded. “Agreed. I think we will need Mathias’ help. Let us go back to the surface and report. Remember, we still have to figure out where to move it to.”

  Andrew grabbed the box holding the cloak and then closed the cabinet door. “Let’s take this up with us. We can discuss it more up there.”

  Chapter 76: Ebon Hills

  The small party emerged into the clearing to be blinded by the midday sun. Jarek shuffled across a patch of grass. “We found the crystal but we’re going to need some help getting it up here.”

  Ran recounted the incident with Dredwyn as they took the noon meal. “I have to agree with Jarek on this. I believe that what we saw was not really the demon but merely a pre-placed image and message. It did not seem to react at all to my words.”

  Mathias said, “If that’s true, then we might assume that Dredwyn doesn’t know for sure that we were even here. We don’t know how long the trap was in place. He could have placed it just after we left, which would account for the fact that he didn’t seem to know that our people had already gone to Crystal Sands.”

  It made sense to Jarek. “What do we do now?”

  “We do exactly what we were sent here to do. Actually, this is good. The message didn’t seem to indicate that he knew anything about the plan to portal Tovi into the castle.”

  Jarek glanced over at the boy who had, to this point, remained silent. Ben sat by the young Azyrean, likewise quiet. They seemed an odd pair. Tovi was short with pointed ears. The other lad, although apparently of a similar age, was tall and gangly with a shock of brown hair that just covered his ears.

  Mathias interrupted Jarek’s observations. “While you were down there, Burns scouted around and found what might be a good spot. It’s about one hundred meters to the south, just beyond this stand of trees. The horizon isn’t visible, but West said that we’re coming just past a quarter waxing moon. That means it will be well above the horizon at sunset.” He nodded toward the lone female in the group. “She reckons it might work if we are ready just after sunset.”

  At that moment, the human leader seemed to notice the box that Brother Andrew carried. “What do you have there?”

  “An old cloak. Ran said that the symbols around the edge look elven.”

  “So?”

  Andrew scratched the side of his head. “I don’t know. It just seemed right, you know, to bring it up.”

  Ran said, “There are some elven leaders in Crystal Sands right now. It is possible that one of them could read the runes. But we’d have to get the cloak to them.”

  “We can see to that later. Let’s get that crystal up and in place before sunset.”

  A thought occurred to Jarek. “If you want to get the cloak over to the desert, we could use the same crystal that we used to send Captain Virgil. It’s hidden not ten minutes’ walk from here. We should find it and move it to the new location too.”

  ◆◆◆

  By late afternoon, the pale amethyst crystal sat leaning against a tree in the clearing and the deep sapphire one lay propped on the wooden box containing the cloak. Mathias took a deep drink of water. “Catch your breath and then we’ll move these. Burns, you scout the path ahead. Ran, Andrew, and I will move them. Jarek, you, Tovi, and Ben, keep an eye out to our rear. We don’t want anyone sneaking up on us.”

  Jarek got the impression his task was
mainly to stay out of the way. He started to object and offer to accompany Burns on the scouting. But it occurred to him that this would leave the two boys alone in the rear—not a good idea. “Will do.”

  “Oh, and Jarek, could you bring the box along?” Andrew nodded toward the container. “I’d just as soon not leave that here.”

  An hour before sunset, the crystals sat in the new location. “Let’s get the purple one set. Once Tovi and Ben go through, we can set up the blue one.” Mathias turned to Ran. “You’re an elf. Do you want to take the cloak to Crystal Sands? After all, you know the leaders.”

  Ran shook his head. “Things have changed. I will go through the portal with Tovi and Ben. I suggest that Brother Andrew takes the cloak. After all, he knows more about its history. I know only that it is of elven nature.”

  Mathias sat up, appearing concerned. “This was not part of the plan, you going to the castle.”

  “I know. But do you really think it a sound plan to send two young boys alone into the den of the demon?”

  “In fairness, Ran, their strength is in their ordinary appearance. Two young boys inside the castle would not stir interest like an elf would.”

  “I dare say that young Tovi’s ears will raise eyebrows.”

  “And he will keep his head covered. Besides, he will only be outside for a moment. Once he accesses the tunnel to the storage building, he will remain out of sight for the duration.”

  Ran chuckled. “So, I will keep my head down and covered.”

  “Ah yes, but you are considerably larger. Taller, I suspect, than most humans. You will certainly be noticed.”

  “Nonetheless, I will be going. I made a promise to his sister that I would see him through. That oath guides my decision.” He sat cross-legged on the ground, chewing on a hunk of bread.