The Azyrean almost expressed gratitude that the god would not bother him again. But that wasn’t really true and Jarek knew it. He opted not to respond.
“You and I, we have had some—how should I put this—interesting conversations. And I admit that I have taken a somewhat sarcastic tone on occasion.”
On occasion? How about all the time?
Aristan chuckled. “Perhaps. But, in truth, you gave as good as you received. You are a smart man, Jarek Whit.”
Without warning, Jarek sensed that the conversation was turning serious, although he didn’t know how he knew that. He was just certain of it.
“You are also a good man. You have a kind heart. But you are also a person of extraordinary courage and loyalty. I confess that I was slow to see that. My friends, Valyn and Myhrren, knew all along. But it fell to you to demonstrate your qualities to me. And here now, as the mantle of responsibility passes from you to another, you come face-to-face with your future. The world you see below you represents that from which you came.”
What, are you saying that I shouldn’t go back there? But Jarek knew that this was not what the god had said.
“As I said before. You are asking the right questions. Do not look to me for the answers, Master Whit. They lie within your heart. I can only tell you what I see. You have touched the hearts of others. You have changed their lives forever. Whose life did you change on Pangrove? Your future stretches out before you. But there are different paths that you may choose. I can indeed arrange for you to return to this world. But look down at it, Jarek. Has Pangrove missed you? If you returned there, would the people of Ebon Hills miss you? Would you miss them?”
No. I shouldn’t go back there. But I don’t know. I’m not a human. I have made friends here, but it was only because of this war. They liked me because I knew about beams and portals. He sensed himself talking around the issue without actually identifying it.
Aristan seemed to sense the conflict and, for whatever reason, chose to go directly to the heart of it. “You give her too little credit. She sees past your ears and short stature and into your heart. But what comes next is up to you.”
Jarek considered the world that lay below him. Everything he’d ever known resided there, that is, before the red moonbeam. But what was it that he’d known? How much happiness had he had?
“Gaze out into the universe, Jarek. There are trillions of stars with billions of worlds. And on millions of those, beings are going about their lives. They are struggling to survive, struggling to find happiness and meaning. Like you, they are given the gift of life, fleeting though it may be. What you decide next will change nothing for most of them. But I promise you this; the choices you make in the days to come will forever alter the life of at least one human.”
Chapter 84: Ebon Hills
Tovi was glad that Ran had come along. No, glad wasn’t the right word—he was ecstatic. Aristan had told them all that Tovi would need to go in alone. But Myhrren hadn’t said anything about that. And neither did Valyn. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust the god of the humans. It was just that, well, Myhrren had never let him down.
“Do not be alarmed, Tovi. I am with you.”
Do I have to go in alone or not?
“You don’t have to do anything. Recall, though, how Dredwyn manipulated you, Klunk, and Kharla in the tunnels. He managed this by pitting you against one another. When he notices you—and, make no mistake, he will notice you entering the lower passages—he will stop at nothing to delay you. That means that, if you have others with you, he will attempt to work on all of you. And remember, all he has to do is to delay you until his troops can get there. You must weigh off the benefit of taking others with you against the danger that will arise when the demon begins to turn you against each other.”
Tovi wanted to talk more, but he suddenly realized that he was standing, along with Ben and Ran, inside the castle walls beside a small stone building. He forced himself to concentrate, trying to remember where the building was in relation to the passageway they needed to take.
“Over here.” Ben crouched down behind some barrels and beckoned to the elf and the Azyrean. “We need to stay hidden until we’re ready to go.”
Ran knelt beside the boy. “You said you knew the way. Where do we go from here?”
“The way to the underground passage is in one of these buildings.” Ben had a look of uncertainty in his eyes.
“Which one?”
“Um, I’m not sure.” The boy bit his lower lip as his gaze shifted between the two small stone structures.
Tovi nodded toward the closest building. “The door to that one is right there. Let’s try it first.”
To avoid standing to his full height and risk being seen, Ran crawled quickly to the doorway, beckoning with his head for the other two to follow. “I’ll open the door, Ben, and you slip in. Take a quick look. If it’s the right one, let us know and we’ll follow. If not, well, then, just come out and we’ll have to try the other one.”
Tovi surveyed what he could see of the other building. Nothing resembling a door was visible. A wave of sickness coursed through his stomach. If the first structure wasn’t the right one, they’d have to go out into the courtyard to get to the right door.
Ran reached up and pulled the rope handle on the door. It swung open with a creak. Ben soundlessly crawled in, only to emerge a few seconds later. “Nope. Not that one.”
Tovi’s heart fell.
Ben stood and turned away from the structure. “I can go out into the courtyard and check to see where the door is. I’ve been here before. Nobody notices anything inside.” He picked up a basket that was lying next to the other building. “I’ll carry this… make it look like I’m running an errand. Stay here until I get back.”
A thought struck the Azyrean. What if the boy was planning to turn them in? What if, once he got out in the open, he panicked and alerted the guards?
Before he could say anything, though, Ben disappeared around the corner. Tovi turned his attention to Ran, who simply shrugged as he watched the spot where the boy had vanished.
What was taking so long? It had been maybe five minutes… or more like ten or fifteen. Tovi shuddered. Maybe the guards were on their way. They had probably called for reinforcements. Any minute, they would storm around the corner. Ran would be overwhelmed. And Tovi would end up having to face Dredwyn again.
But the guards didn’t come. Instead, Ben sauntered into the small alley, the basket on his right shoulder. Once out of sight of the courtyard, he hustled over to where Tovi and Ran waited. “The door is just around that corner to the right. But anyone in the courtyard can see, so we’ll have to make it look good.”
Tovi had an idea. “If we come out of the alley right there and then straight into the door, it’ll look funny. I think what we should do is go out the other side of the alley and directly into the courtyard. We could kind of wander around a little, like nothing was going on, and make our way to the door.” He looked at Ran and added, “We’ll have to pull our cloaks up. People would probably notice our ears.”
Ran rolled his eyes but nodded. “Okay. I agree. But we have to take it easy.” He stood and pulled his hood over his head. “Let us go.”
The three emerged from the alley into the fading daylight in the courtyard. Several guards stood, looking relaxed, beside the main entry to the palace. The soldiers at the main gate of the castle proper had their backs turned, as might be expected. Their concerns lay outside the grounds. Ran crouched and moved quickly across the cobblestones toward the other end of the building and the door.
“Hey, you three. Halt!”
Chapter 85: Ebon Hills
Tovi froze. The voice carried an unmistakable tone of authority. The Azyrean turned to face the source of the sound, being careful to keep his face down. He had never in his life felt so keenly aware of his pointed ears.
“You, boy, come here, now!”
Ben bolted over to the guard. His response floated
back to Tovi’s ears. “Yes, sir.”
“Run across to that cart and fetch me a hunk of cheese and a strip of the freshest meat they have. And be quick about it.” The guard, who had a large gut, pointed toward a small push cart on the other side of the courtyard.
Ben turned to go. “Right away, sir.” He stopped and turned back toward the soldier. “Uh, begging your pardon, sir, I don’t got no coin.” He lowered his gaze, his hands stuffed in his pocket.
The man reached into a small pack on the ground beside him and retrieved several silver coins. “Here. And, mind you, bring back what’s left over.”
The boy grabbed the silver and bolted across the courtyard. After a moment, he returned to the man with two packages. After handing them, along with a few coins, to the guard, the lad stood for a moment, shuffling his feet over the stones.
Finally, the man handed Ben what looked to be several coppers. “There. And get on with your business.”
As the boy sauntered toward Tovi and Ran, a smile painted his face.
“Good work, Ben. Quick thinking.” The elf patted the boy on the head. “Now, as the good soldier bade you, let us get on with our business.”
They made it to the doorway, and Ben casually pulled on the rope handle. The door opened, and Ran stepped inside, beckoning the other two to follow.
Ben pointed to a wooden door set in the plank flooring. “That’s it, right there. It’ll take us to the tunnel that lets out on the other side, by the castle wall.”
Tovi said, “And that’s where the access door is to the crystal room?”
“I don’t know about any door or crystal stuff. I just know this lets out over by the large building, like that god said.”
Ran knelt and pulled the door open. “We will just have to trust that Aristan spoke true.”
It struck Tovi that he’d been doing a lot of trusting lately. But mostly, it had turned out okay.
One-by-one, they dropped through the opening in the floor to the darkened passageway below. Ran whispered, “Hold up. It is dark in here. We are going to need some light. There was a torch lit in the other room. I will get it.”
A moment later, the elf returned, and the torch illuminated a tunnel with dirt floor and walls, while wooden planks lined the overhead. “Move slowly. Ben, are there any tunnels that break off from this one, or does this go straight across with no intersections?”
“As far as I remember, this is the only one.”
And so, they proceeded in silence. As they trudged along, Tovi found himself wishing for one of Klunk’s songs. Of course, his friend wasn’t there but, still, it would have been nice. Suddenly, the ogre’s voice filled Tovi’s mind.
Into the tunnels
into the night
leaving behind
the goodness and light
Tovi descends
pursuing his fate
with dagger and hope
to vanquish the hate
With Ran at his side
and Ben as well
a song in his heart
as clear as a bell
Three of them journey
with purpose ahead
from darkness they bring us
a future instead.
As the last strains of the song echoed through Tovi’s mind, he could have sworn he heard Klunk’s chuckle. “Good one, Tovi, huh?”
The Azyrean smiled and muttered, “Awsie, Klunk. Awsie.”
Ran glanced back over his shoulder. “What was that, Tovi? Did you say something?”
“It was nothing.” The smile softened. He missed his friend.
Chapter 86: Ebon Hills
“It must be dark out there by now.” Tovi struggled to make sense of time. They had come through the portal just after sunset. It had taken them nearly thirty minutes inside the castle walls to find their way into the tunnel that led across the courtyard. And now they’d been down in that passage for… what… maybe an hour. No, surely not that long. He didn’t know.
Ran stopped and leaned up against the dirt wall. “We are here. This is the end of the tunnel. I assume this door leads outside. Once we leave here, there’s supposed to be another door or access that leads down beneath the castle… to the crystal. Ben, do you remember what the doorway looks like or where it is, exactly?”
The boy shook his head. “I never said I saw the door. I only said that I knew how to get to where we are. I took this tunnel once before, but I never went outside. The soldier that I had to see was down here.”
Ran groaned and slumped to the ground. “So, we have no idea what’s waiting for us out there. The doorway is above us, so I assume that we come up through some kind of opening in the ground. I do not know whether it is inside the castle structure or the outside courtyard.”
Ben just shrugged.
Tovi said, “Why don’t we ease it open a little, so we can see?”
Ran countered, “What if it comes up right in the middle of a meeting room, with soldiers all around?”
“We’re going to have to open it sooner or later.”
“We wait. Even if it is a meeting room, it is less likely to have people there in the middle of the night. In the meantime, we can listen, try to hear any sounds from above.” Ran motioned the other two to sit. “Get something to eat and relax. And keep your voices low. In fact, do not speak unless you have to.”
Tovi retreated into his thoughts. What was going to happen when he entered the crystal room? Aristan said that Dredwyn would know and try to delay things. The Azyrean remembered the events in the tunnels with Klunk and Kharla. There had been so much confusion. And he remembered the conflict, even within himself. First, he thought one thing, then another. At the heart of all that was the demon. But now he knew better. He knew what to expect. Or did he? He wanted to talk to Ran about it but realized that the elf probably knew even less.
His hand searched out the dagger hilt. He grasped it, feeling the smooth surface. Energy seemed to pulse through his hand and up his arm. This small dagger, the one that revealed itself only after the human had cleaned it up for him, would be the thing that ended Dredwyn… or at least banished him. And it was really just luck that he found it… or was it? Myhrren had said that there are reasons why things happen the way they do. Nothing was an accident.
The blue moonbeam that left him in the desert—it wasn’t just a coincidence. Klunk’s rescuing him was planned. If it had been another ogre, maybe things wouldn’t have happened as they had. Then there was the snake, Growl, Klik, River… all of them… all of the things. Were they all part of what was supposed to happen? How did Myhrren know that Tovi would go along with it and do what he was supposed to?
No. There was no way that all of these things could have been planned for sure. “What I decide for myself matters.” He caught himself muttering.
“What do you mean?”
Tovi glanced up to see Ran staring at him.
“Nothing… really. I was just trying to think about how things happen, whether they are meant to be. Or do we make choices on our own?”
“Those are complicated issues. I am no expert, Tovi; I only know what works for me. But I believe that our decisions do make a difference. We can choose right or wrong, good or bad. And things happen as a result. To think otherwise would be to say that our choices do not matter. I cannot accept that.”
“Why do I have to decide? I’m just a kid.”
Ran laughed softly. “You are young, to be sure. But I have known your sister long enough to know that neither you nor she are just kids. The fact that you are asking these questions tells me that you were chosen with care. I suspect that the gods picked you because they knew that you had greatness in you. And so far, I would have to agree with them.”
Tovi suddenly missed Klik, his pet squirrel… and friend, of sorts. Klik never seemed to lose faith. He had stuck with the Azyrean through everything and never complained. Well, not much, anyway. He had left the small animal in the care of Klunk. When this was all over, he wo
uld go back and spend some time with the squirrel. He wondered if he would be able to take Klik home to Pangrove. That would be wonderful.
“Okay, it has been at least an hour. I have heard nothing from above. Let us crack the opening and take a look.” Ran stood and put both hands on the square wooden access door above him. Taking a deep breath, he applied a little pressure. “It is inside a building. It looks to be a storage area, but I cannot see much. I do not see any movement or hear any sounds.” He lowered the door back into place. “But there is a torch in the room—I could see the flickering. We wait just a while longer, and then we go.”
After what seemed like two or three hours, Ran announced, “It is time.” He stood and pushed the door open as far as he could reach. “We need to do it differently. I cannot reach up far enough. Tovi, get on my shoulders.” He knelt, allowing the Azyrean to climb on.
“Okay, when I stand, push the door up as far as you can.”
Tovi placed his hands flat on the wood and applied pressure as Ran stood. “It’s going up. Just a little more.”
A few minutes later, the three stood in the center of a small room lit by a single torch. Crates were stacked against two of the walls. On each of the unobstructed walls was a door. Ran crept over and eased one open. “This one leads into a passageway, probably farther into the castle.”
The other one opened to the outside. They slipped out and closed the door behind them. Tovi immediately searched the area for an access or door. “I don’t see anything except the door we just came out of.” They found themselves in a narrow alley with the fortress wall on one side and the castle itself on the other. “There’s nothing here.”
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