The Wizard's Tower 02

by Peter Last

  Suggestions were plentiful, so while Cirro and Brandon left to pack their things, Josiah began to track down the people that they had recommended. As time was short, he found only three of them but determined that they would be enough for an envoy. He allowed them time to gather their gear before returning with them to where he had met with his Captains earlier. Cirro and Brandon were there with packs and weapons strapped to their backs and around their waists.

  “You ready to go?” Josiah asked them. They hoisted their packs onto their backs in response. “Then let’s roll out.”

  Just as they were starting to walk toward the border of Dublack forest, they heard a shout coming from behind them. They turned around to see a man hurrying after them. He had a pack on his back and weapons strapped around his waist. Josiah thought that he recognized him but couldn’t be sure. As the figure drew closer, he was able to make out the features of his face and immediately recognized Petra Bentinck. Josiah and his companions waited until Petra reached them.

  “Permission to accompany you, sir,” Petra said, gasping air between words. It was evident by his appearance that he had thrown his gear together very quickly and had run all the way just to catch Josiah’s group before they left.

  “Permission granted,” Josiah said. He knew Petra from the dwarven attack half a year ago and had grown to like the man. He would certainly be an asset to the group, which was still well below the ten person limit that the General had given Josiah.

  The group turned back toward Dublack, and advanced toward it with no further delay. When they reached the edge of the wood, they held back, afraid to trespass on the elves' property, but Josiah walked under the trees as if he were simply taking a leisurely stroll. His friends were emboldened by his conduct, and followed him, though they were all on edge. Josiah took the lead and was followed directly by Brandon, who had his hand on the hilt of a battle ax secured to his belt. Petra took the rear, looking in all directions to make sure that they were not surprised. He also had his hand on the handle of his weapon.

  Josiah could still not get over the fact that the forest was not as mysterious as he had expected. The ordinary sound of water dripping from the tree leaves was in the air, and every once in a while a drop would splash onto Josiah’s head. Further into the forest, the underbrush grew thicker, and the pace of the group slowed considerably. They no longer walked in a single file line but spread out, each making his own way as best he could. They came to a small river and had to follow it a half mile downstream before a crossing presented itself. When they were safely on the other side of the river, they stopped to rest.

  “How do we know that we’re going south?” Cirro asked as they sat on a fallen log.

  “That’s a good question,” a soldier put in. The three members of Josiah’s party previously unknown to him were Devon, Stephen, and Heath. At first Josiah was not able to tell Stephen and Heath apart since they were identical twins; however, he had devised a way to distinguish between them. Stephen, the older of the two by three minutes, wore a ring on his left hand, and the hands of Heath were bare. It was the younger twin that had voiced the question, and Josiah looked at him for a long moment before answering.

  “We don’t really know, I guess,” he finally answered. “Not for sure anyway. But there is something. I don’t know about the rest of you, but ever since I entered the forest, an invisible force has been leading me. Maybe it is pushing me, I don’t know. That feeling is all that I have to go by, though.”

  “That feeling has nothing to do with the fact that you’re actually going in the right direction,” a voice behind Josiah said. The group jumped and spun around just in time to see a tall man step out from the shadows thrown by the trees. He was a little over six feet tall, had black hair and piercing eyes, and was wearing a drab green cloak. A bow and quiver were strapped to his back, and a short sword hung from his waist.

  “I am Josii, by the way,” the man said and extended his hand toward Josiah. Josiah scrambled to his feet and took the offered hand. As he shook the man’s hand, he looked into his eyes and knew immediately that this was an elf, one of the inhabitants of the wood.

  “My name is Josiah Pondran, and I have come at the command of Elohim,” Josiah said.

  “Is that so?” Josii questioned. “And what business do you have in Dublack?”

  “I told you, we’re here at the command of Elohim,” Josiah repeated. “He has sent us here to warn you of the recent attack on Magessa and ask for your assistance.”

  “That is not a question for me to answer,” Josii said. “Only the king can decided whether we go to war or not.”

  “Where is the king, then?” Josiah asked. “I must speak to him as soon as possible.”

  “We are still thirty miles north of Lêf, our capital,” Josii said. “The path there covers rough terrain, and we do not have many hours left in this day, but if we hurry, we can still reach it before nightfall.”

  “Then let’s get going,” Josiah said. He and his friends lifted their packs onto their backs and followed Josii away through the trees.

  The forest Josii led them through did not look any different than what they had been traveling through previously with the exception that the underbrush which had been slowing them down was no longer present. It was to their left and right and sometimes behind and in front of them, but it never covered the path that they followed, if you could call it a path. Josiah could see no evidence of a trail except that which he stood on. It seemed to zigzag in and out of the trees, and Josiah tried to discern its winding course, but no matter how hard he tried, he was unable to do so. Time after time it seemed as though they had come to a dead end, but Josii would always make an unexpected turn, and there would be room for them to walk again.

  Josii had been telling the truth when he said that the route covered rough terrain. During their first few miles, the group gained several hundred feet in altitude. Josiah knew from his geography lessons that this variation in terrain was the foothills of the Reaumur Mountains. The ground became rockier as the group got higher, but even so they made good time. Finally the ground leveled off, and Josii informed them that they were finished going up. The rest of the journey would be downhill. There was still plenty of light to navigate the forest, but it was slowly fading, and Josiah wondered how their guide expected them to reach Lêf before sundown. The group’s pace increased as they traveled downhill, and the walking became easier. Even though Josiah had worn light armor for the mission, he had begun to feel the weight of it as he climbed and had expected that going downhill would be easier for him in this respect. Now, however, he could still feel the weight of his armor albeit in a different way. As he hiked down the hill, he had to take care to keep his balance, for with every step he took, the weight of the armor increased his speed, and he had to be careful to not start running down the hill. The trees were clearing up considerably, and the underbrush between them began to thin out, making the going quite a bit easier than before. Their speed increased, and in less than ten minutes they had reached a new mode of transportation.

  Josiah finally understood how they were going to reach Lêf before dark. The Vänern River cut through the forest in front of them, and three canoes were tied to a small pier that jutted out into the water. A shack stood a small distance from the pier, and it was to this building that Josii walked. The door of the shack, or what Josiah assumed was the door, had no handle, but a small hole was visible to one side. Josii pulled a small piece of metal from his pocket, slipped it into the hole, twisted, and withdrew it. Hooking his foot underneath the door, he pulled upwards, and, to the surprise of his companions, the whole wall slid upward, disappearing as it reached the top of the door frame. Josii stepped into the shack and was back almost immediately with several paddles.

  “Carry these down to the pier,” he ordered. “All of you do know how to use a paddle, correct?” he asked, almost as an afterthought.

  Everyone indicated that they did, indeed, know how to use paddles
, and Josii brought out one for each person. In no time, they were on their way. Josii was in the lead canoe with Heath and Stephen while Cirro, Brandon, and Devon occupied the second canoe. Josiah and Petra were in the rear canoe. The group set out in this order, paddling very little since the river’s current was strong enough to pull them downstream at more than twenty miles per hour. The person in the rear of each boat used their paddle for steering, but this was also not a difficult task since the river was very wide and the current kept the canoes in the middle.

  The time spent in the canoes was uneventful, to say the least, leaving Josiah with a chance to study the forest. The trees at the edge of the wood had been large, but the ones in the heart of the forest were colossal. He could not see how tall they stretched, but the trunk of each tree would have required at least three men to reach around it. The underbrush was back in force, filling, it seemed, every available space between the trees. Water still dripped from the trees, but something was different. Josiah had noticed, for the last several miles, the absence of animal activity in the area, and the cause for this was soon obvious. Houses in clearings appeared for the first time beside the river and grew more numerous downstream. These houses had many lanterns hanging from them, and Josiah wondered how long it took to light all of them. Accompanying each house was a large waterwheel. Josiah had seen these before and knew that they were used mainly to grind grain, but these waterwheels did not have adjoining houses big enough to accommodate such equipment. Elfin was becoming more evident, and the buildings along the river’s edge were getting closer and closer together until there were no trees at all separating them.

  The river took a large bend, and as the canoes rounded it, Josiah was confronted with the most amazing sight he had ever laid eyes on. Lêf, the famed capital city of the elfin nation, lay before them, and it was even grander than Josiah had imagined. Buildings and towers made from strange substances rose from both sides of the river. Glass, a material not unknown to Josiah, but also not common to him, was used in abundance in these buildings. Three large bridges crossed the river, connecting the two sides of the city, and huge systems of docks lined the edges of the river. Buildings covered the ground as far as Josiah could see, and he was more than a little surprised to discover that they were built after a system that was very similar to that of human cities. Lanterns and torches covered the buildings and bridges, and again Josiah wondered how long it took to light all of them. Josii led the canoes to one of the many docks where the travelers got out of the watercraft and tied them securely to rings.

  “The king’s palace is about a mile from here,” Josii told the humans when they had finished tying up the boats. “His court will not be in session, so there are two choices. Either you can stay at my house and wait until tomorrow to talk to him, or we can go straight to the palace and determine whether he will see you or not.”

  “Let’s go to the palace first,” Josiah spoke up. “If we can’t see him today, we will be more than happy to take you up on your offer; however, our information and request is urgent, so I need to see him as soon as possible.”

  “As you wish. Follow me,” Josii said and led the humans away from the water and into the city of the elves. The streets were wide and clean and did not have sewage running down them as was seen in most of the cities in Magessa. Josiah decided that the elves must have enclosed sewage systems like those of a few of the bigger human cities. Josiah was also struck by the orderly flow of traffic in the city. The way that people waited their turns at intersections and stayed to one side of the road was entirely different than the chaotic activities that were the traffic in most cities. Also, the lanterns were hanging everywhere, keeping the streets lit even though the light was quickly fading.

  The buildings of the city were very different than those of the human cities. These structures were taller than Josiah had ever seen, the tallest stretching upward for more than ten stories. The sight made Josiah dizzy and he had to look back down at the road, which was just as different from human cities as any other part of the city. First of all, the road was made of stone and had designated areas for vehicles and animals and for pedestrians. Also there were no booths lining the streets as was common to human cities.

  “No, you won’t see any of them here,” Josii said when someone commented on their absence. “All of our shops are inside the buildings. This helps to decrease the congestion of the streets and gives the city a neater appearance.”

  “Imagine that, Josiah,” Petra whispered. “No booths outside. I’d like to see this city in the daytime. It must look very strange.”

  “What about drainage ditches?” Heath spoke up. “I don’t see any, nor do I see any sewage.”

  “And you won’t see any in the time that you stay here,” Josii informed him. “We have gone to great lengths to make the city clean, and this holds true for water and sewage. Underground pipes carry water from the river to the buildings and carry sewage out of the city.”

  “How is that possible?” Brandon asked. “Water can’t flow up from the river to where we are, and surely it can’t flow to the tops of the highest buildings.”

  “Actually it does both of these things,” Josii said. “I can’t explain to you how it works since I am not well acquainted with the machines that make it happen; however, I do know that a water wheel gives power to the contraption.”

  “Amazing,” someone in the group muttered. The others were stunned to silence and remained that way as they walked the rest of the distance to the castle of Lêf. They were so engrossed with the amazing sights of the city that had they been by themselves, they would have missed a building relatively unimpressive by comparison to the surrounding structures. It was surrounded by a swath of open ground and looked more like a castle than the seat of elfish power. It was not particularly tall, nor did it have any of the other details characteristic of the other elfish buildings. In fact, its architecture was almost human in appearance. It was not particularly large as it stretched for only two hundred yards along its façade and was only two hundred yards deep. The basic square shape was supplemented by a circular tower at each corner and a smaller turret in the middle of three of the walls. The gatehouse was set in the middle of the front wall, and a large, circular, and seemingly unfinished tower rose from the center of the castle. Tall, thick stone walls formed the perimeter of the castle, but no moat or other defense was visible. The gate was double; a thick pair of iron-bound oak doors were fronted by a massive iron portcullis, making it a difficult entrance to break into. Both the doors and the portcullis were open but guarded by two soldiers who held pikes. Josii led the party through the gate and into a courtyard that separated the castle walls from the tower in the middle. Guards patrolled the walls and courtyard, and a group of them sat in the gatehouse to be called upon if trouble arose. Though the guards were dressed in full body plate armor, they moved as if they were not encumbered by it very much. Their helmets were made of metal and had been shined until they reflected their surroundings. A loose vest with the image of an oak leaf embroidered onto it covered the breastplate of each man and was tucked into his belt. Each man wore a sword at his hip and carried a bow on his back. In addition to these, several of the guards also carried longer weapons, like pikes or spears.

  Josii led the staring humans across the courtyard to the door of the tower in the middle of the castle. He knocked firmly on the thick oak door and stepped back to wait. Moments later, it scraped open and an elf dressed in royal attire stepped out.

  “What is your business?” he asked.

  “I have travelers to see the king,” Josii answered. “Before you turn them away for the night, let me say that this is something that cannot wait until tomorrow. The king needs to know about it immediately.”

  “Well, what is it about?” the elf asked. “I’m not going to believe that it’s urgent simply on your word.”

  “It’s about an attack on Magessa,” Josii said shortly.

  The elf stared at him for a seco
nd, then scurried inside the castle with a vague gesture for them to follow. They stepped through the doors and into a massive foyer where the elf told them to stay while he hurried through another door. As they waited for the elf to return, the group shuffled nervously in the hall under the watchful eye of two guards. Josiah noticed immediately that these were not ordinary guards. They were covered from head to foot with a cloak that they wrapped completely around their bodies; the only visible armor was their helmets which were topped by crests in the form of dragons. A sharp bulge in their cloaks indicated the presence of a sword, but they did not carry bows. Instead, a hollow tube extended over the shoulder of each, and Josiah wondered what they were for.

  “What are those tubes on their backs?” Devon finally asked their guide. “I’ve never seen anything like them.”

  “That is because they are specific to the elves,” Josii whispered. “Very few people know they exist, and no one but a few elves know how to make them or operate them. They are called death-tubes by many, though elves call them stringless bows. They fire projectiles through the air at high speeds, have a longer range than bows, and have the ability to pierce armor. In a word, they are more efficient. I don’t know exactly how they are operated; like I said, only a few elves know that. I do know that something is placed in it and a trigger like that of a cross bow is pulled. Then, if the operator is skilled, the target falls over dead.”

  “So they are magic weapons,” Brandon said in a tone of awe. “I always heard people say that all elves were magicians, but I never believed them. Now I see that even soldiers can use it. Amazing.”

  “If you think that’s amazing, watch this,” Josii said with a mischievous grin. He walked over to the wall and manipulated something there. Suddenly half the lamps in the foyer blew out and a gasp came from the humans. A few seconds later the lamps were instantaneously relit, and the humans gave an audible gasp of awe.