Zenith (4) (The Underground Kingdom)

by Steve Elliott

  "What's a double agent?" Fink asked.

  "A double agent is someone working for the opposition," I explained. "They pretend to be on our side but, in reality, they’re working for the enemy."

  "And you're saying we have one of them?" he frowned.

  "I don't want to believe it," I continued, "but there's no other explanation as to why we were caught. What we have to determine is who it is."

  "The first thing we have to do," Nix corrected, "is to get out of this cage. Once we do that, then we can chase down this alleged double agent of yours."

  "Good point," Thorn agreed. "Does anybody have any ideas on how to achieve that?" A concerted shaking of heads greeted her statement and the atmosphere became decidedly gloomy. I began to worry about my human body back in my bed. I couldn't afford to be away from it for too much longer but, under the present circumstances, I couldn't do a lot about it.

  As we shuffled restlessly around in the cage, dwarf guards occasionally patrolled by, keeping an eye on us. The situation appeared to be hopeless. We were trapped here and the king's guards wouldn’t do anything until we came back. I cursed myself for giving that specific order. If only I’d told them to come looking for us if we hadn't returned after a certain time. Ah well, too late now. Suddenly, my self-incriminating internal monologue became interrupted by something very peculiar. Everybody else was either looking the other way, or slumped in a defeatist attitude, so they missed the extraordinary sight of Zenith, dragging an unconscious dwarf towards us. I held my breath as I watched him. Okay, what on earth did he think he was doing? Was he simply showing off by bringing his catch to us to admire? I've heard that cats bring dead mice to their owners in order to receive their congratulations, but this ……..? And then it hit me. What an amazingly talented beast! I could have kissed him. Excitedly, I tugged Trix upright from her sitting position and, shushing her with a finger across my lips, I pointed her in Zenith's direction. She gasped in astonishment, and gripped my arm so hard that it hurt. By this time, the others had realised what was happening and joined Trix at the bars, silently urging Zenith to greater speed.

  Within a few seconds, the dwarf guard had been dumped beside the cage and I feverishly searched through his pockets but was disappointed. No key. Damn! Meanwhile, Trix cuddled Zenith as best she could through the bars and his tail wagged so fast it could have been used as a fan. "Good boy!" she whispered, ecstatically. "Who's a clever wolf, then? Mommy is so proud of you."

  "Tell him to go and get another guard," I told her. "This one doesn't have the key. We’ll have to try again."

  "Go, Zenith!" she breathed. "Bring Mommy another one." Zenith licked her hand and trotted off, leaving us all in a state of excitement.

  "I can't believe he did that," Thorn murmured. "I mean, how did he know what to do? It's incredible!"

  "Zenith is the smartest pet in the world," Trix proudly boasted.

  "I think you may be right about that," I proclaimed. "That's why he took off at the start of all this. Even back then, he somehow knew what to do. He was just biding his time until he worked out a plan. I think he’s extraordinarily clever, even for a wolf. There's more to him than meets the eye."

  A short time later, Zenith returned with another guard. Unfortunately, he didn't possess the key either, so Zenith was sent off again.

  "What if he gets caught?" Trix fretted.

  "I think he's too cunning for that," I reassured her. "The fact that he can take out the guards one by one proves it. Don't worry; I'm sure he'll be fine. So far, he’s proven to be the smartest of us all."

  Soon after, Zenith deposited a third guard next to our bars. This one displayed a few bite marks, but was still alive. The area outside the cage was becoming a little crowded, but luckily, this last offering of Zenith's proved to be a winner. Triumphantly, I held aloft the cage key with which we returned ourselves to freedom. Trix and Zenith indulged themselves in an orgy of reconciliation while the rest of us looked on, smiling and patting Zenith in turn.

  * See ‘Dangerous Desires (2)’

  Chapter 10

  "Let's get out of here," Fink directed, peering around nervously.

  "How about we explore the cave a little first?" I suggested. "After all, that's why we came here in the first place, and now we have the opportunity. We'll put the guards in the cage to keep them out of mischief and to make it look like we’re still in there while we have a bit of a search around."

  Stealthily, we began to explore the rest of the cave and luckily came upon our packs and weapons stashed in a side tunnel. We equipped ourselves and continued our journey of discovery without finding anything else of importance. We were about to retrace our steps went Zenith suddenly began whimpering and pulled out of Trix’s grasp. He ran ahead, and then turned around optimistically to look at us. His attitude was so unmistakably ‘follow me’ that we all hurried after him. He led us to another side passage where he stopped in front of a wooden chest and began scratching at the lid.

  "What's in there?" Fink enquired.

  "Well, if Zenith is following a scent, then it must have been one he was familiar with," I proclaimed, "and the most recent one was on that handkerchief. Therefore, what else do you suppose carries the same scent?"

  "The money!" they all chorused.

  "Let's open this up," Nix commanded, "and see if we’re right."

  Using Thorn’s sword, the lock was sprung and we beheld a small wooden box which, when opened, did indeed contain a sizeable amount of fairy money.

  "Would you look at that?" Fink declared. "It is the money. Can we get out of here now?"

  "First things first," I decided, taking the money container and pouring the contents into my various pockets.

  "What are you doing?" Fink demanded.

  "Hopefully buying us a little time," I replied, quickly filling the box with various small pebbles I found on the floor. "So long as they don't look inside, this may fool them for awhile."

  I replaced the false money in the chest and closed the lid. "Okay, now we can leave."

  With Zenith leading us, and me clinking at every step, we carefully negotiated our way back past the cage and towards the cave opening. An unsettling moment occurred when we stumbled across a group of four dwarfs who were more than a little astonished to see us roaming around free. With surprise on our side, Zenith, Thorn, Nix and Fink made short work of the guards and left them sprawled unconscious on the ground. Our next encounter was somewhat more serious, and we found ourselves outnumbered two to one. It was touch and go for a time, with Fink and Thorn sustaining minor injuries, but we prevailed in the end. Actually, if it hadn't been for Zenith, that might not have been true at all. One of the dwarfs broke away and began running for the entrance, probably to alert the rest of his companions outside the cave. Zenith, however, must have seen the fleeing escapee because he bowled over the dwarf he had been fighting and sped after the absconder, bringing him down a scant few seconds later. Panting a little, we caught up with the duo and found the dwarf comprehensively unconscious with a tail-wagging Zenith sitting on his back.

  "Good boy!" Trix praised, scratching behind his ears. "You're so clever! When we get home, Mommy is going to give you the biggest bone you’ve ever seen!" It must have been my imagination, but I could have sworn that Zenith actually grinned at that statement from Trix.

  Carefully, we peered around the cave entrance to see if we could spot any further guards. When we decided that it seemed safe, we scampered up the cliff face and made our way back to our campsite where our companions were waiting expectantly.

  "Let's go back and sort them out," Thorn suggested, gripping her sword.

  "There's no need to risk any more injuries," I contradicted. "We've got what we came for and that should be enough for anyone." I looked at the blood on her arm and said, "Speaking of injuries, let me have a look at you."

  "I'm fine," she insisted.

  "Nevertheless," I told her, "sit down and I'll bind that for you. No arguments." I ges
tured to Nix. "I think that Fink was injured as well. Would you check him out for me, please?"

  "For sure," Nix said.

  I examined Thorn’s wound and found it to be a shallow but longish cut. I gently cleaned it with a wet cloth and bound it firmly with a bandage.

  "There," I said. "Good as new."

  "Thanks," she murmured. Then she colored and whispered, "Have you given any further thought to what I said earlier, Stephen? You know, about my ……… my loving you? I know I'm putting you into an awkward position but I want to be totally honest. I'm positive that Traculimna loves you too and I don't know how we’re going to solve that dilemma. It’d be unfair of us to ask you to choose, but what else is there to do?" She sighed sadly. "You poor thing. I feel so sorry for you. My sister and I have handed you an impossible conundrum. I can't see any solution at all." She peered up at me. "Unless, of course, you have a preference? You can tell me, you know. I mean, who wouldn’t prefer Traculimna? She’s so much more beautiful than I am. It’s something I've always known, and if you say you'd rather be with her, I'd understand. Really. It'd hurt, but I'd understand."

  "Well, you see Thorn, that's the problem," I confided. "I can't decide. I'm attracted to the both of you and I don't know what to do about it. It's not like choosing a shirt out of the cupboard where you can pick one and know you can choose another one the next time. It doesn't work like that. At least, it doesn't in the human world. Maybe things are different here?"

  Thorn squirmed uncomfortably. "I think I know what you're carefully edging around, Stephen," she disclosed, "and the thought isn't entirely offensive. In One society, it isn't unusual to find three people together. It's unconventional, but it's accepted. However, would it work for us? I'm not totally opposed, and I doubt if Traculimna would be either, but ………. "

  "Yes, there’ll always be that ‘but’, won't there?" I remarked, dejectedly. "Would any of us be truly happy in that situation? It'd be so tricky and we’d have so little time together as individuals. It could very well end up in chaos."

  "Traculimna and I fight over you already," Thorn divulged, "so what would happen if we were all in a relationship? I doubt that either Traculimna or I have the temperament to share. I foresee fights every day."

  "You do that anyway," I told her with a smile. "It's all you ever do."

  Thorn returned my smile. "But these fights would be serious," she confessed. "We'd see each other as rivals, and I'm afraid there'd be no holds barred." She sighed despondently. "No, it would be impossible. It'd never work out." We both fell forlornly silent, immersed in thought.

  "We could try it," Thorn finally suggested, "and see what happens."

  "No, I don't think so," I contradicted. "My conscience wouldn’t condone causing the two of you to fight. I wouldn't be able to sleep at night."

  We looked at each other miserably.

  "So, we’re never to be together, then?" she whispered, tears appearing in her eyes.

  "Never is a long time," I reminded her, taking one of her hands. "There's always hope. No matter how impossible the situation seems, there's always that."

  She gave me a sad little smile and got to her feet. "Yes," she murmured, "there's always hope."

  Chapter 11

  We returned to the dwarf King and related our adventures.

  "So, the money is saved," he happily exclaimed. "That's good news. Without it there’ll be no weapons. Excellent. I'm in your debt."

  "I still can't understand why you don't just attack the dissident camp and stamp this problem out once and for all," Nix enquired. "I mean, why do you let them keep doing what they're doing?"

  "It's how we do things here," the King explained. "Everyone has a right to their opinion and I can't go attacking others just because they disagree with my point of view. That would be uncivilised and against our code of personal freedom. "

  "You're more tolerant than I'd be, your Majesty," Nix said, bowing. "I salute your patience."

  The King waved his appreciation of Nix’s comment as we made preparations for our departure. The section of the Royal guard that had accompanied us wished us well and returned to their duties, while the rest of us set out for Nix’s home. During the journey, we revised what had happened, still marvelling at Zenith’s astuteness and cunning, much to Trix’s pleasure. Thorn, however, wasn't as exuberant as the rest of us, for reasons that I quite understood, and my heart ached for her. I felt somewhat downcast myself, enmeshed in the coils of indecision. What to do? This was a fine pickle, and no mistake. If I went with Thorn, Tracy would be upset. And so would I, because I'd be forever yearning for her and wondering what I'd missed out on. The reverse choice also applied, of course. Being with Tracey would leave Thorn heartbroken. Gods, what a mess! The obvious solution was to be with them both, but that solution seemed fairly exotic and would require a balancing act of epic proportions and I wasn't known for my acrobatic skills. I imagined myself edging across the tightrope of such a threesome and I shuddered. To prevent a catastrophic meltdown, I'd have to watch what I said and did every second of the day and night. No, it wouldn’t be fair to either Tracey or Thorn. So, was the final solution to be with neither of them? Perhaps to never see either of them again? Maybe to stop coming to this underground fairyland altogether? I cursed the fate that had devised this seemingly impenetrable labyrinth of emotions. I didn't want to leave. True, I'd been forced to put my life on the line on more than one occasion while down here but, damn it, my life had finally become interesting! I enjoyed it! The surface world seemed so dull and predictable by contrast. So ……. boring! My days seemed to exist as a surfeit of acute edges. Yin and Yang. Where was my balance? Right now I veered from one extreme to the other. Surely I could find a middle road somewhere?

  We said goodbye to Nix and turned our steps toward the fairy settlement. On the outskirts, I stopped and pulled everyone into a circle. "There’s something we have to discuss," I told them, solemnly. I turned to Fink and said, "I want you to take all the money we found, and keep it hidden for a little while."

  "Why?" he asked, confused. "I thought the whole idea of this was to return it?"

  "In other circumstances we would," I explained, "but there's something else we have to consider."

  "The double agent?" Thorn hazarded.

  "Right," I said. "Someone from here informed the dwarfs that we were coming and, until we know who that is, we can't afford to take any chances. On top of that, remember that someone also gave the robber the key to the Elder’s cupboard door, so there could be more than one double agent running around."

  "I still can't see how hiding the money will help," Fink protested. "What good is that going to do?"

  I shrugged. "The less we tell others, the better," I commented. "We need some trump cards up our sleeve. In the meantime, Fink, you’re the most official one of us to hold the money. At least, that makes it semi-legal. We'll give it back all in good time."

  "But what are you trying to achieve?" Thorn exclaimed in exasperation.

  "I'm not sure," I said, pensively. "Someone we know is a traitor, and if they find out that the money is still missing they might give themselves away or come chasing after us to find it. Either way, we'll discover who it is."

  "It sounds fairly dangerous," Trix piped up.

  "Correct," I agreed, "and I’ll understand if you don't want to do it. If you’d rather, we can give the money back."

  "But then we'll never know who the double agent is," Fink said shrewdly.

  "Also correct," I agreed.

  "But what are we going to tell the Council of Elders?" Thorn protested. "To do it your way we’d have to …… lie to them. Stephen, you know how uncomfortable that makes me!"

  I put a sympathetic arm on Thorn’s shoulder. "I know, sweetie," I said, "you’re too honest for your own good and that’s why I want you to let me do all the talking. I’ll concoct some story or other to account for the money being missing. For a good cause like this, I can lie until the cows come home. All
you have to do is to stay in the background and not say anything."

  "What do cows have to do with it?" Trix asked in a puzzled voice. "Are they another part of your plan? If so, you've lost me."

  I smiled at her confusion. "It's just a human saying, sweetheart," I explained. "Don't worry about it. But you and Zenith are going to play an important part of the overall strategy." I gave her half a dozen coins from the stash in my pocket. "Keep these hidden," I instructed, "and when I tell you, take them out and let Zenith sniff them. I want to see what happens after that."

  "I'm not following any of this," she complained, taking the coins and secreting them on her person.

  "Neither am I," Thorn said, shaking her head.

  "It's simply a random throw of the dice," I assured them, "and I don't know where they're going to land. It's something I want to try because, otherwise, we have no leads at all."

  "So, in other words, you’re blindly trying something and have no idea what's going to happen?" Fink summarised.

  "That about sums it up," I agreed. "Do you still want to go through with it?"

  "What other choice do we have?" Fink shrugged. "The thought of a double agent makes my flesh crawl. I don't want anyone like that running around my town."

  "Good man!" I exclaimed, slapping him on the back. "Keep the money in a safe place for us and we'll see if we can flush out our traitor. But, keep on your toes. If this person comes to the conclusion that we have the money, he’s likely to do anything."

  Chapter 12

  Fink took the money away and later rejoined us outside the Council Chambers. I looked around at my companions. Fink looked decidedly edgy and Thorn wasn't much better, either. I knew she had a strong aversion to telling fibs, or even being around them, and I was about to unleash a whole string of untruths. Trix seemed tranquil and Zenith spent his time energetically sniffing at everything, as usual.