Bladvaneer

by Dennis Purves

  “Good idea,” he said to Maurya. “Besides, I have a feeling we’ll need him in that form later anyway.”

  The familiar eventually got up to the top step, at which point the mouse vanished. He thought he was angry before, but that was nothing compared to what he was feeling now. However, he knew that one day he’d meet that mouse again, and the outcome would be different.

  Quite some time later, Klavin, Simko, and Maurya finished navigating through the invisible steps and joined the familiar at the top. Maurya immediately started checking the floor of the fortress for any ingress.

  “Incredible,” she whispered.

  “What?” Simko asked.

  She ran her finger along an invisible line. “There’s a door here. It’s nearly impossible to see the seam, but you can feel it. No one would ever be able to see it from the ground.”

  She pulled out a knife and ran it along the seam until she heard a click. Then she pushed the hatch open.

  Hoping that the mouse had gone inside and he could finish the hunt, the familiar immediately ran into the opening. Moments later he ran back out, down the steps, and back through the mountains.

  “Ah,” was all Simko could think to say.

  “Well that can’t be good,” Klavin added.

  “So which one of you wants to go up first?” Maurya asked.

  “I don’t suppose ‘ladies first’ really applies here, does it?” Klavin asked hopefully.

  He drew his sword and poked his head up. He was in a dimly lit room, although he couldn’t tell from where exactly the light was coming. It was, as far as he could tell, empty. Based on the paw prints he could see that the familiar had gone about ten yards into the room before immediately turning back. That didn’t fill him with a lot of confidence. He pulled himself onto the floor, and then helped the others.

  They looked around. The room was definitely empty. In the corner there was a flight of stairs heading up, so they went in that direction. They felt a gentle breeze on the back of their necks.

  “I wonder what scared your familiar,” Maurya asked, the nervousness fueling the need to make conversation.

  “He might have seen something. Or he might have just sensed it. It’s hard to tell,” Simko answered. “And where’s the light coming from?”

  “No idea,” Klavin admitted.

  There were no candles. No torches. Even if light was filtering down from upstairs, it seemed unlikely it would be enough to fill the room.

  They all noticed that the breeze was getting stronger.

  “Do you feel that?” Maurya asked.

  “The breeze? Yes, I feel it. I thought it was only me,” Klavin answered.

  “No, I feel it too,” Simko added. “Where’s it coming from? The door we just came up from?”

  “I guess it’s possible, but doesn’t seem likely,” Maurya said.

  As they got nearer to the steps the wind kept getting stronger. They also heard a whirring sound behind them.

  “Who’s going to look?” Klavin asked, without turning around.

  “Well, you’ve got that sword,” Simko suggested, a sly smile on his face.

  Klavin rolled his eyes. “Fine,” he said, turning around. “Uh, you two might want to look at this.”

  They turned. Behind them were what looked like mini-tornadoes, each no bigger than four feet high, heading their way.

  “I think you might have been right about the Air Elemental being here,” Simko said, and tried to think of a spell to cast.

  Maurya, meanwhile, drew a knife and threw it at one of the tornadoes. It spun around the inside of the funnel for a few seconds, and then was thrown to the floor in pieces.

  “Let me try,” Klavin said, holding Bladvaneer out in front of him.

  He approached the nearest tornado, which continued its course in his direction. He hoped that his sword wouldn’t suffer the same end as Maurya’s knife, and swung. The blade harmlessly passed through the spinning wind.

  “Isn’t that supposed to do something?” Simko asked.

  “Well, I was kind of hoping it would,” Klavin answered, backing toward the steps. The others joined him.

  “Do you think they’ll follow us up the steps?” Maurya asked as they reached the foot of the stairs.

  “How should I know? But I think we’re going to find out,” Klavin said.

  “I don’t think I have a spell that affects tornadoes.”

  “Can’t you make another illusionary mouse?” Maurya asked.

  “Why would I do that?”

  “I don’t think these tornadoes discriminate on who they chase. They’re probably just activated by motion, so your mouse might lead them away,” Maurya explained.

  Simko considered this. “It makes as much sense as anything else here. Besides, I don’t want to be killed by a spinning funnel of wind, so I’ll try anything.”

  He concentrated. A mouse appeared at his foot, and ran across the room. The tornadoes ignored it.

  “So much for that,” he said.

  “They must not go by sight, only motion. Since there’s nothing really there, they can’t sense it,” she suggested.

  “Forget it. They’re getting way too close, and we can’t just keep standing here and come up with things to throw at them. Let’s go,” Klavin said and without another thought ran up the stairs. The others followed them.

  Without even looking in the room they had just entered, they watched the bottom of the steps. No tornadoes seemed to be following them. Klavin headed back downstairs.

  “What are you doing?” Simko asked.

  “I have to make sure of something.”

  As soon as he reached the bottom step several mini-tornadoes once again formed and headed his way. He slowly backed up the stairs, watching them continue their approach. When he got to the top, they dissipated.

  “Looks like you were right,” he informed Maurya. “It was all by motion. Probably most people head back down the hatch instead of going up like we did, but either way, once we’re out of sight they stop the pursuit.”

  “Aren’t we going to have to face them again when we try to leave?” Simko asked.

  “Probably,” Klavin admitted.

  With the danger from downstairs apparently past, they finally turned around. It was another dimly lit empty room. Empty, except of course, for the glass pillar right in the middle, which went from floor to ceiling.

  “Uh oh,” Simko said.

  “What’s wrong?” Klavin asked. Then, remembering what happened in Flant, said, “Oh.”

  “But there’s nothing inside,” Maurya commented as she reached out, her fingers coming just short of touching the pillar.

  “Nothing but air,” Simko said.

  “Both of you stand back. I’m going to use Bladvaneer to try and destroy whatever’s inside.”

  “But what if it doesn’t work? It didn’t affect those tornadoes downstairs. Maybe you’ll wind up freeing whatever is inside,” Simko warned.

  “Well, I’ve got to try something.”

  “You could try stepping away from that pillar,” said a voice behind them.

  They turned and saw Grallen at the top of the stairs. With him were Jord and several armed men. The hooded man was there but, as usual, he stood away from the rest of the group. Grallen’s eyes suddenly became fixed upon Bladvaneer.

  “Where did you get that?!” he demanded.

  Klavin smiled. “It just sort of found me.”

  Jord drew his sword and stepped forward. Grallen placed a hand on his shoulder.

  “Not yet. There will be plenty of time for that later. Unless, of course, you three have the sense to just walk out of here. I’ll allow that, you know.”

  “No chance,” Klavin said.

  Grallen laughed. “Then I suppose we’ll just have to make you leave,” he said, and waved his group forward.

  “Just one second,” Maurya interjected. “There’s something I have to know.”

  Grallen looked annoyed. “Very well, let’s get
on with it.”

  “How do you even know about any of this? We’ve been under the impression that only a very few people know where any of these things are, and you aren’t one of them. And since you obviously do know about it, how exactly are you getting here after us? It seems you could have cleaned this place out long before we arrived if you wanted to.”

  “Ah. Very good questions. As for the second, we have purposely been holding ourselves back. Dragging our feet, so to speak.”

  “Why?” Maurya asked.

  “Like you, I assume, we have ideas as to where these Elite Guardsmen are hidden, but nothing concrete. We’ve been allowing you to discover the exact locations for us. In addition, as there’s always a chance that these places are trapped, we’ve been allowing you to get through those as well. Thank you for your help, by the way. Although I supposed we won’t be able to do that anymore, now.”

  Klavin felt his face turning hot.

  “But that still doesn’t tell us how you know any of this,” Maurya pressed.

  Grallen laughed. “Do you know where Krot’s temple is? The place where he was ultimately defeated?”

  “Of course. Probably everyone does,” she responded.

  “And yet nobody ever goes there. The traps and various magical incantations placed on that building are enough to scare practically anyone away without even trying to enter. But not me, of course. It took some time, and some research, and some … acceptable losses. But I got in. Do you know what I found inside?”

  “No.”

  “Absolutely nothing. No treasure. No magic staffs. Nothing. I guarantee that anyone else would have simply walked away disappointed.”

  “But not you, of course.”

  Grallen forced a smile. “You’re correct. Because I knew that there was a treasure there, if only one knew where to look. Have you ever heard of the Invigilators?”

  “Yes,” Maurya answered.

  “I haven’t,” Simko said.

  “What a surprise. The Invigilators were a people whose sole purpose in life was to listen. Those of you with simple minds,” he looked at Simko at this point, “would probably think that means listening to people, but it doesn’t. Everything has a story to tell. The trees in the forest. The seaweed in the oceans. And the stones that make up the walls of Krot’s temple.”

  “But wait a minute,” Klavin interjected. “I thought there weren’t any more Invigilators. Didn’t they all die out?”

  “Almost all of us did,” the hooded man said, stepping forward.

  “The stones told my friend here what happened in the temple that fateful day. From that information I’ve been able to piece together the means to bring Krot back to this existence. We were also able to glean some information about your hero Kriger’s travels after that event. Unfortunately, what we got was spotty. Kriger was quite crafty. He crisscrossed and backtracked many times to insure no one was following him. Still, we got enough for a start.”

  “So since you know so much, how exactly are you planning to resurrect Krot?” Klavin asked.

  Grallen laughed. “Nice try. Everything I’ve told you so far has really been meaningless. Besides, I do like to brag. However, I’m not about to tell you that.”

  “So we’re right back where we started from,” Klavin said.

  “Right. Get them out of here,” Grallen instructed his men, who attacked.

  Maurya drew two daggers and fought two guards simultaneously. Simko cast a spell that didn’t have an immediate effect, but about a minute later a few guards started hopping around as though their feet were on fire. Jord drew his sword and approached Klavin. Their weapons met, and to Klavin’s surprise and disappointment, Jord’s blade didn’t shatter.

  “You’re tougher than the last time we met,” Jord commented. “Or at least your weapon is.”

  Instinctively Klavin tried to kick his opponent in the midsection to make him lose his balance. He nearly broke his foot in the process. In return, Jord tried the same maneuver, and kicked him clear across the room. He got to his feet just in time to feel the floor shake under them. A hole ripped open, and Klavin fell through. He managed to hold on with one hand. The other one was busy dropping his sword, which fell to the floor below. Below he could see tornadoes starting to form and above was the smirking face of Jord, who placed his foot on Klavin’s hand. A moment later he found himself next to his sword.

  Maurya and Simko found themselves being pushed into a corner and, worse yet, noticed that Grallen seemed to be mumbling to himself.

  “What’s he doing?” Maurya asked.

  “I don’t know, but I’m sure it’s not good for us,” Simko answered.

  The hooded man noticed Klavin was heading back up the stairs, so he waved several of the guards over to intercept. Despite apparently being in a trance, Grallen grabbed one of them.

  Klavin wasn’t concerned about the guards blocking his way. What he was concerned with was wasting any more time. The tornadoes down here had been reactivated, and he had no way of telling for sure what was happening upstairs. He was trying to get through the guards as quickly as possible, but it wasn’t quick enough. The tornadoes reached the stairs, but were unable to climb them. Instead they kept spinning and ate through the steps. Klavin felt them losing stability under him and a moment later both he and the guards were on the floor.

  Maurya and Simko managed to hold their own opponents at bay, at least until Jord decided to join the fight. They both knew any weapons they had would be useless against him.

  “Try a spell!” Maurya hissed at him.

  “None of them are powerful enough to affect him!”

  “Just try one! We’ve got nothing to lose.”

  Simko began casting. A mouse appeared at his feet and ran in Jord’s direction. To everyone’s surprise, including his own, Jord hopped out of the way to avoid it. The guards started laughing, but stopped when Jord looked at them.

  “Afraid of mice?” Simko asked.

  “Of course not!” Jord lied.

  “Then these shouldn’t bother you at all,” Simko said, and a dozen more mice ran in Jord’s direction. He ran away and fell through the same hole he had created to trap Klavin.

  “Now what?” Simko asked.

  “I don’t know, but I get the feeling we’re too late to do anything now.”

  They watched from across the room as the guard Grallen had been holding turned to dust. Meanwhile the glass pillar began to crack and finally shattered. A small tornado, not unlike the ones downstairs, started to form amongst the shards. As it spun it began to solidify.

  Klavin and two guards found themselves cornered by the tornadoes. One panicked and tried to run but was caught. He was trapped in the rapidly spinning funnel and torn apart much like Maurya’s knife had been earlier. Another decided to bolt as well, and managed to get out the hatch in the floor. He jumped from step to step, miscalculated and fell. For a while the random steps he was hitting on the way down broke his fall somewhat, but eventually there was nothing between him and the ground. The tornadoes were ignoring the other two guards who had been knocked unconscious when the stairs collapsed. Following their example and remembering what he had learned before, Klavin stood still and the tornadoes left him alone. Due to Jord moving around on the other side of the room, however, they didn’t dissipate. He knew he couldn’t stand still forever, but he took some satisfaction knowing that the Elite Guardsman was going to share the same horrific fate as him.

  The tornadoes got two more targets when Maurya and Simko suddenly dropped from the floor above.

  “What’s going on?” Klavin asked as he watched the tornadoes move toward his friends.

  “No time for that. We’ve got to go, now!” Maurya ordered, rushing to the hatch and dropping through. Simko followed. As his companions’ movements had drawn the tornadoes’ attention from him, he had a clear path to the hatch. He dropped through as well.

  They landed on the invisible step below and began their descent.

  �
�What’s happening? Why are we leaving?” Klavin insisted.

  “We’ve lost, that’s what. We can talk when we get to the ground,” Maurya said.

  Jord swung his sword at the tornadoes, but it had no more effect than Klavin’s did. He looked up and saw an elegantly dressed man with a cape floating down where the steps used to be. Grallen, the hooded man, and the remaining guards floated down as well.

  “Good to see you again, my friend,” the caped man said.

  “Sure. Right. Good to see you too. Now, do you think you could give me a hand here?”

  “Ah. Sorry about that,” the caped man said, waving a hand. The tornadoes dissipated.

  Jord walked across the room as the caped man touched down on the floor, and shook his hand.

  “You purposely let me sweat there a little, didn’t you,” he asked with a smirk.

  “I wanted to see how well you’d fare. Not very well I see.”

  “Air really isn’t my thing, Tul, although I’m sure you already knew that.”

  “I’m sorry to interrupt, but I’m sure this reunion can wait. For now we have more important matters to attend to,” Grallen said, as the floor began to shake. “Are you doing that?” His question was pointed at Jord.

  “I’m not doing anything,” Jord insisted.

  “I suspect that since I’ve been freed the spells holding this place in the air have been broken. You can probably figure out what that means.”

  “Can’t you do something about that?” Jord asked.

  “Of course I could. But why bother? Let this place fall. We’ll be fine,” Tul answered, and walked through the hatch.

  “Let’s go,” Grallen said.

  “What about them?” one of the guards asked, indicating the two that were on the floor unconscious.

  “They can get themselves out. Or not. I really don’t care.”

  As Klavin, Simko and Maurya continued their descent they noticed Grallen, Jord, several guards, and the hooded man floating to the ground. The hooded man, as usual, was in the rear. They also saw that the fortress above them was beginning to lose altitude, and had fallen onto the top step, crushing it with its weight.

  “We’ve got to go faster!” Simko demanded.

  “We can’t go that fast,” Maurya said.