by James Day
“Great,” Valendor gasped. “All this way.”
“Maybe there's a trick switch,” Shadown helped.
“Maybe our Prince holds the key,” Ariq lashed.
Prince Grandur ignored the hostile man and turned his attention to opaque shadows from the balcony. He wondered why the bridge had been built across and the balcony's above. Sand and dust sifted down onto the bridge as he watched a small pebble strike the bridge. He broke away from the group and wandered back to the center of the bridge. Silence loomed as he picked up the stone and examined it, it was wet with a secretion on it. Prince Grandur's senses reeled in danger as backed away, but it was too late. From above something vaulted off the side of the balcony and swooped down with precision. Shadown leapt into Prince as the thing flew down and attempted to grab the Southlander. It was half insect, half beast with large stiff wings that fluttered, long legs and pinchers with a maw brushed by him. The creature was tremendous as it roared by them.
“Snapdragon!” Shadown rolled as he slammed the broadsword into the leg of the beast. It darted up as Ariq and Valendor made noised to draw it attention. Prince Grandur watched it vault out from opaque blackness, a thing forgotten within the realm of Iclandia. The creature darted at them with a buzz as their raised swords fended it off. Ariq attempted to open the door as it swooped over his head knocking him into the wooden structure. Its black steel-like legs attempted to grasp the man as he yelled in terror. The entire mass of the creature gleamed before them as Prince Grandur vaulted across the stone bridge to save the man. His broadsword struck the back of the creature as it fluttered and spun around to strike him, within its tail a needle protruded through a clump of rippling muscles. The men assaulted it as it flew upward and spun around.
“Break it down,” Shadown ordered.
“It will alert them to our presence,” Ariq responded while jamming himself into the door.
“No one knows we are here. Besides, I would rather face a whole platoon of men then to attempt to destroy that thing. It will kill us all,” Valendor yelled.
“Watch it!” Prince Grandur slammed the sword into the side of the creature as it buzzed passed nearly knocking him off the bridge.
Valendor joined Shadown in attempting to break the door down. Ariq shoved the prince forward as the thing swooped down into him, bowling him over. The Prince flipped over to the side and rolled off the edge. The men turned in horror as Snapdragon needled down at them forcing them back. Prince Grandur clung onto the side of the bridge and attempted to climb back up. Valendor reacted vaulting up and took a swipe at the thing, his sword breaking one of its pincher legs. The insectoid buzzed and swarmed into the darkness as if swallowed by something insidious.
“I don't like this.” Prince Grandur snapped.
Sand rippled down off the side of the mountain and filtered onto the bridge; pebbles thumped from all sides as the men looked around in horror. The thing returned, hovering before them shaking maddeningly, then two others hovered down from the darkness. Ariq grasped the torch from the side as Prince Grandur attempted to break the door down.
“We need an ax,” Ariq shouted.
“Move back, give me the torch,” Prince Grandur exploded.
Taking a defensive position, the men protected the Prince as the things swarmed down, attempting to grab them. Shadown, Ariq crouched down as the spiny legs missed them, wings beating.
“Rocks,” Shadown snapped. “What are you doing?”
Prince Grandur ignored his insults and placed the rocks from a small concealed pouch, hidden in his leggings. “Give me the torch, “he ordered.
Ariq passed him the torch as he lit rocks, which burned a blazing white light. Prince Grandur pushed the men to the center of the bridge as an explosion caved the door in and sent wood into the air. Stone, wood and fire slammed into one of the creatures as its wings caught on fire and it buzzed maddeningly into the wall. Its body slammed with a thud as rock and stone crashed in and it fell down into the dark pit. Prince Grandur and the others made their way through the smoky door. The two remaining Dragonsnap's disappeared as smoke billowed up into the room. Within a second, they had passed through an adjacent hall and bordered a maze of corridors. Wooden doors lined the hall as they halted out of breath.
“We are lost,” Valendor stated.
“How do you know?” Ariq asked.
“Because the bridge had not been used, it was dust covered. Those things must be living there for a long time. If their presence were known, they would have been destroyed.”
“Then it was a trap,” Ariq snapped.
The examined Prince Grandur with mistrustful eyes.
“If that happens again,” Valendor coolly sated, “then I will kill you. No more traps.”
Prince Grandur said nothing as he stared at the emerald eyes of Shadown. Something unspoken had passed between them, but Prince Grandur knew that the man knew his secret.
Shadown surmised that he was not Prince Alec.
**
King Fallqron led the way through what appeared to be an endless tunnel that went on for miles. The company trekked on through the darkness with no light, only the sound of dripping water filtering through the stone walls echoed. Quaid and Arieal remained suspicious of Prince Alec and Lady Saunder remained silent and still. The Gnomes felt uncomfortable and edgy as they continued down the tunnel, suspicious of every move and every single thing that scurried their way. The destruction of Gnomeholden and the takeover by the unseen race of Ogre astounded the man. Where had those creatures come from and what was their purpose? The fact that the cleric had turned into something dark and despicably evil and tactically placed the creatures into the Kingdom was an ill omen. The King attempted to continue questioning Arieal and Quaid concerning the Shannon Nation. Quaid expressed his contempt for Prince Alec in his usual fashion, a truce had been called, but previous actions and old grudges were hard to die and the implicit fact that the Darkmages held his family tainted his attitude. When the tunnel ended, it bridged into an old wooden wall that had been crossed and barricaded by loose bricks. The Gnomes swiftly removed the barricades and forced their way into the tunnel, their sharp reflexes and stern response hid the deep-seated anger within. A few minutes later, the Gnomes boarded up the brick and concealed the evidence that they had even been there. Steam rose from the brightly lit halls, not from torches, but something else. The company moved down as the Gnomes guarded the trespassers with strict caution, broadswords ready for a battle.
“Where in the blazes are, we?”
“We are in the boiler pits,” Prince Alec responded. “These vents and shafts go directly through the middle of Iclandia. The heat pushes those fans with some of the machinery to pump air, otherwise we'd all freeze to death.”
“We must leave Lady Saunder here,” King Fallqron announced as Prince Alec looked at him in shock. Before the prince had time to respond, the King cut him off. “No, words. She is hindering our mission. I will leave her here with a Gnome sentry. She will be safe. I doubt that anything will venture down into this pit.”
Prince Alec examined Lady Saunder's face, she lie quiet and sleeping. “Very well. We shall continue without her.”
Quaid looked at the dismayed face of the Prince. “Don't be saddened. I will make sure that we get down here. We will exit the same way we came in. I will personally see that she makes it out alive. Just remember our bargain,” he sounded. “I want my family alive at all costs.”
Prince Alec shook his head in agreement as they prepared the Gnome and Lady Saunder. After a few minutes, he left them concealed in the corner, Lady Saunder happily sleeping. Prince Alec had a strange notion that he would never see her again. From the boiler pits, they trudged down with a mindless mentality with the oncoming confrontation foremost in their minds. The Gnomes made hand gestures signaling a silent hallway ahead. Arieal watched and memorized the finger movements. The Southlander differentiated their signs with quick ease as the patter of their footsteps echoed down t
he hall. A steel door blocked their way into the next corridor as steam rushed from vents above causing them to flinch. Arieal remained hushed in all matter, she daydreamed briefly of Shannon and being back home in the Southlands while shuttering from the enormity of her current predicament, lost with Iclandia without a guide to bring her back. Quaid’s solitary shadow drifted along the wall as a Gnome took out a key of some type and began fidgeting with the lock. The gears within turned and cranked with click and the door opened.
“Disengage it,” the King ordered as his soldier placed a sticky substance within, a moment later, it hardened.
Quaid led them up a set of stone stairs and came to a landing. “We must continue all the way up,” he motioned as the dependability of soldiers as they awaited an order from their King. He motioned them and each bound up the stairs. In a moment they door closed with a low thud.
The staircase bounded up through Iclandia as they passed with one torch ahead. Quaid held the flickering torchlit, small whisks of smoke ascending along with them. Arieal wheeled to his side as the Gnomes nodded in a funk at her incautious attitude. Quaid examined the worry that mirrored her face and he mulled over her own dilemma.
“You are homesick,” he inquired. She nod with a sad smile. “Don’t worry Southlander, we will get you back home. I’m sorry that you are involved in this matter, but I have no choice and my time is running out. My family is at risk.”
“I understand,” she smiled examining the dust-covered steps. “How do you know of this?”
“I’ve been here before,” Quaid explained, “I made my escape from this place. We don’t wish to overthrow Iclandia, we want fairness and freedom.”
Prince Alec exploded in anger, “Bold words for a brave man.”
“Look,” Quaid turned examining the shadows on his face. “I don’t like this situation, the whole thing stinks.”
“You got yourself into this. If you’d given them the Blue Star, then none of this would have happened.”
“It was not given to me to hand over to the Darkmages. It is not their power to control,” Quaid expressed ruefully. “My family pays the price for power. It will not matter because I am going to destroy the Darkmages.”
The others blinked at his response and shrugged their shoulders, they turned and continued up the steps. The company of Gnomes their King and the Nomads made their way up with Prince Alec and Arieal. The journey appeared to be more purposeful, but Arieal had reservations concerning the Mountaineers last statement. Did he possess the power to destroy them or was it a figure of speech? The assault against the Darkmages appeared chancy at best, their creepers of magic sounded invulnerable by the statements made by King Fallqron and the others. Quaid came to a door and motioned them to stay silent as he opened the door. Everyone piled into the stone corridor, it was well lit with torches flickering on the brackets, rugs lined the floors. Open doors revealed cold fireplaces, embers smoldering, small beds. To Prince Alec’s relief, they had entered the lower guest quarters, adjacent to the infantry. Prince Alec waved them into a room and gave a quick smile. He pulled picture on one of the walls and pushed a stone, suddenly a bookshelf turned, revealing a secret corridor.
“This leads up to the Darkmages quarters as well as the conference rooms. The cells are in the towers, uppermost peaks of Iclandia. If your family is here, then the Darkmages will hold them in the towers. There is only one dilemma that poses a threat, there is only one way up there. No other passages or secret paths exist.”
“Then we fight,” King Fallqron stated. “We need to move; time grows short and my men are weary.”
King Fallqron ordered a soldier to remain in order to signal them if any of sentries of Iclandia were to come. So far, they had been lucky at being undiscovered. Prince Alec pondered Lady Saunder and her fate in the boiler pits. In silence they traversed the secret staircases of Iclandia, only known to a few. Prince Alec explained that the royal families only knew about the emergency routes, the Darkmages were oblivious to the inner workings and secret passages of the fortress.
They breached the stairwell with great caution. The rooms remained empty devoid of all life. Arieal watched the shadows that led against the stone of the dark shadows while they entered another secret passageway, slipping away like wraiths. As they made their way up a set of an old wooden staircase, the wood creaked beneath their boots. The line of climbing men slowed to a halt as one of the Gnomes hesitated. A moment later, the entire staircase sagged under their oppressive weight and Gnomes lost their balance, one flipped over the edge as screams were released in attempt to save him. King Fallqron grabbed Arieal with the thrust of his body and swept her aside as a sentry fell to his death. Quaid and Prince Alec shoved themselves against the brick wall while boards and splinters of wood crumbled before them, planks crashed into the staircase below. Gnomes anchored themselves at the top of the landing and secured wire thin steel rope and anchored it onto the belts of the men. Prince Alec and Quaid inched over leapt as stone and brick crashed into the levels below.
Fallqron extended his hand, “Next time you may not be as lucky.”
“We're trapped,” Quaid snapped in aggravation.
“There are other ways around this,” Prince Alec ventured. “We move on time grows short.”
Within a matter of minutes, they reached a junction and beyond the landing of the steps, a huge vacant hall emerged with a single door. Prince Alec kept quiet as Quaid and Arieal checked it for traps. A damp breeze drifted through a small alcove that appeared to be a makeshift shaft.
“We come out at the Darkmages quarters; the other stairwell leads directly up to the towers. Remember there is no other way,” Prince Alec warned.
Fallqron gave them a nod and moved to Arieal who called their attention. “I will go. They will be less likely to suspect me.”
“She may be right,” Alec implied, nodding.
“I know she can handle herself, but she needs an escort.”
“I shall assist her,” Quaid announced, but the others shook their heads negatively.
“We need you to assist against the Darkmage,” Fallqron responded.
“Very well.” He examined the nervous face of Arieal who attempted to smile. “I wish you luck. We shall meet you back here, if not go all the way down. Many of the passageways west, to your left, lead to the cellar. Here take these.” He handed her a whole pouch of black rocks and gave a small wink.
Arieal nodded with recognition as the company filed out the door and closed it behind. The Southlander remained silent for a moment, took a deep breath and began her ascent into the tower of Iclandia.
The small room was a weapons supply room that stored clothes, weapons and scrolls. The company peeked out the door and waved each other on as they entered the west wing of the internally built tower, within the stone casing of the mountain. On this floor torches burned brightly with well-oiled lamps. Sounds came from down the hall as the Gnomes moved into a defensive position. They stole away in the shadows as two guards sauntered down with their weapons sheathed. A moment later, they were ambushed, no cries sounded. The Gnomes appeared to hesitate as a cold feeling wafted by, an uncertainty fell upon them. Quaid and Prince Alec moved swiftly; weapons unsheathed for a possible counterattack. They moved and came upon the still body of a Darkmage. The man's face was twisted in some kind of horror that had befallen him.
“A dark magic is at work,” Quaid whispered.
“Someone approaches,” Fallqron gave a hand signal.
A shadow appeared down the hall, massive and dark. The sounds of weapons and chainmail clinked. As the thing lumbered out of the shadow, Quaid's eyes lifted in shock. It was an Ogre. The huge muscle-bound thing slog with great dark coal eyes that scanned, tufted hair covered its head as it moved to the body of the Darkmage and lifted it with simple ease. The creature lumbered down the hall and disappeared around a junction. The others moved into position and secretly rushed down the corridor. They came into a huge room with dozens of tables arche
d. Candles burned brightly on the tables as they entered with a feeling of discontent. Quaid had the feeling he was being watched by an unseen presence.
It was then that the dark shadows converged from the walls and secret passageways that existed. Four dark cloaked men strode out from the platform as the Gnomes arched, their swords drawn in battle.
A familiar voice echoed in the dark room, “I've been waiting for you.”
Quaid turned to see the face of Javern.
Arieal ascended up the stairwell to see a small doorway etched just above the circular stairs. It was a framed door, she bounded around in fear as noises erupted from behind the door. She wondered if she had been discovered by sentries, nothing followed from below, and no one approached from above. The Southlander moved up the stairs in the dimly lit light, firelight flickered wildly from the updraft. As she looked over the edge, the stairwell spiraled down into darkness. Above her, the landing ended with a double set of doors side by side, they were locked with a key ring that hung on the side. She realized that she did not have to use the exploding rocks. She took the skeleton key and turned the lock. In a few moments she knew she would enter the tower. The iron bars creaked and echoed as she slipped into the room. A pair of stairs loomed before her. They were so steep that she would have to climb them hand to feet. Sounds echoed above as she heard a group of soldiers filter into the stairwell below, her heart raced, had she been discovered. Time appeared to halt as she moved out of breath. She held the pouch knowing that she'd have to use the rocks to defend herself against her possible attackers. Arieal saw a shadow appear at the door landing as she moved up. Her heart raced as she made it up to the top landing before her dark dungeon-like stone hall lengthened. Complete silence loomed as the wind bellowed, then something clinked at the end of the hallway. She moved to the end passing empty cages then she moved to the last two, one the left a sleeping woman was concealed and, on the right,, another sat quietly in the shadow. Arieal unlocked the bolt and the woman turned in shock.