Bladvaneer

  The fortress continued sinking. The only reason it didn’t go straight down was because the various levels of steps were slowing its descent.

  “Do something! There must be a spell you can use!” Klavin ordered.

  “I don’t know what to do. I don’t think creating another mouse is going to help us.”

  “What about your vine spell? Could you control its direction so it went to those mountains?” Maurya asked.

  “Probably. But what good would it do? The vines have to grow out of the ground, and we’ve already seen they can’t figure out how to get up here.”

  Maurya smiled, despite the situation. “There’s ground on these steps. The mud! Can you use that as a base?”

  “It won’t hurt to try,” he said, and began casting.

  “No, it’ll only hurt if it doesn’t work,” Klavin said under his breath.

  Sprouts popped up from the mud, and quickly grew. The trio held onto the thick vines as they headed toward the nearest mountain. The fortress continued to fall, crushing the invisible steps beneath it. It got to the steps from which the vines were growing just as they were within distance of their destination. They jumped as the vines were pulled down, clinging to the mountain face. The ground shook as the fortress landed and crumbled. The quake knocked them from their precarious position, and they fell. They wouldn’t have survived if a new patch of vines, with no invisible steps to impede them, hadn’t grown from the ground to catch them. Simko gave his friends a thumbs up, and then fainted.

  Grallen and his party had reached the ground as well, although their path hadn’t been quite as treacherous. They dusted themselves off and were preparing to head on their way when they heard slow clapping coming from behind some rocks. Tarquin stepped around, continuing his sarcastic applause. His two warriors were with him as well.

  “Well done. Well done indeed. I couldn’t have done it better myself,” he said.

  The guards drew their weapons, but Grallen held them back.

  “You’re the wizard Tarquin, aren’t you? I’ve heard of you,” he said.

  Tarquin grinned. “I see my reputation has preceded me.”

  “And I presume you know who I am as well,” Grallen said.

  “Haven’t the foggiest,” Tarquin responded.

  Grallen’s face dropped. “I am Grallen Dar, loyal follower of the omnipotent Krot.”

  “A priest, eh? And a wizard too, I see.”

  Grallen was taken aback. “You can tell? How?”

  “Let’s just say that I know your type. You’re far more wizard than religious man, but allow others to think you’re just a priest so that they’ll be more likely to let their guard down. And a priest would never be able to control those two,” Tarquin said, indicating Jord and Tul.

  “I’m not controlling them.”

  “Of course you’re not.”

  “Look, I’m not quite sure what you’re doing here or what you want, but we have very important things to do and I can’t waste any more time.”

  “Of course. Of course. I would imagine that resurrecting Krot would be very important to you.”

  “What do you know about it?” Grallen asked suspiciously.

  Tarquin waved a hand. “Don’t take it like that. I want to help you. I’ve had a few run-ins with your friends over there, and the encounters have left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. I’m looking forward to settling the score with them.”

  Grallen laughed. His men began snickering. “Settling the score? You mean they’ve bested you? You truly do not live up to your reputation.”

  “Nevertheless, I think we could work well together, with a common goal. I suspect we both have information that the other would find useful. Besides, I have a pretty good idea of what you’re doing, and I could make things difficult for you. You’ve got enough trouble with those four.”

  Grallen looked puzzled. “Don’t you mean ‘those three’? Surely you’re not counting that foolish little bear that they picked up as a pet along the way.”

  It was Tarquin’s turn to laugh. “Let me know when you’re ready to talk business.”

  Tarquin and his men began walking away. They didn’t get very far.

  An hour had passed since Grallen and Tarquin had walked off together, presumably for negotiations, and everyone left behind was wondering if they were ever coming back.

  “I wonder if they killed each other,” one of Grallen’s guards said.

  “I hope not. The priest hasn’t paid us yet,” another responded.

  “So what? Based on what I’ve seen, we’ll be lucky to get out of here broke but alive.”

  And away from it all, Jord and Tul were in a heated discussion.

  “We don’t need any of these people! For that matter, we don’t even need Krot! Just the two of us could bring this entire kingdom to its knees! We need to kill all of them, right now!” Jord snarled.

  “I feel the same way, but I believe that the priest’s spell not only raised us, but bound us to him as well. He seems too smart to go through all this trouble just to let us turn against him. So we can’t kill him. Not yet. Let him think he’s using us. Meanwhile, the whole time we’ll be using him to raise Krot and free us from his spell. Then we’ll make him die a thousand deaths,” Tul responded.

  “I guess that’ll have to do. But promise me I’ll be the one who gets to slaughter the priest!”

  “Not a problem.”

  Grallen and Tarquin finally returned. Everyone else immediately pretended they were doing something else. Grallen clapped his hands.

  “Gentlemen, time to go,” he stated.

  “So where do we start?” Tarquin asked.

  “I have reason to believe there is an Elemental Warrior hidden somewhere in or near Denorso. And speed is of the essence. We don’t have the luxury of letting those fools do our dirty work for us anymore.”

  “Ah. Denorso? That should be … interesting. You might want to reconsider letting the others go in first.”

  “Why?”

  “I’ll explain along the way.”

  21

  Klavin, Simko, Maurya, and Talb walked the road to Denorso. They could see the town in the distance.

  “We’re really not doing too well,” Simko felt the need to point out.

  “I know,” Klavin admitted after a moment’s hesitation. “I thought once we had the sword, everything would be easy. Obviously I was wrong.”

  Klavin could feel Talb’s disappointment in himself. He put a hand on the Karthuma’s shoulder.

  “Don’t blame yourself. You did this job once before, so I’m sure you can do it again. We just seem to get overwhelmed in these fights,” he said.

  “We’re here,” Maurya said.

  Denorso seemed to be a town like just about every other one they had come across. The same houses. The same temples. The same taverns. The only thing different was the dragon that suddenly came out from behind one of the larger buildings.

  “Is that a …” Simko stammered.

  “It sure looks like a dragon to me. Talb, I think I’m going to need your help,” Klavin said.

  Talb nodded, and within seconds the magic sword was in Klavin’s grip. The dragon seemed to be taking a deep breath as he ran into town. Suddenly the librarian simply disappeared.

  “Klavin!” Maurya screamed.

  “Here we go again,” Simko said.

  They looked at each other and ran into Denorso just as the dragon exhaled, its blazing hot flames surrounding them. Except they didn’t burn. And the two of them found themselves falling.

  In the blink of an eye the town was gone, and the dragon as well. The three of them found themselves in a deep crater that seemed to go on for miles.

  “Where are we?” Simko asked.

  “Denorso, supposedly. Except it’s obviously not here,” Klavin said.

  “Is it possible we got lost somewhere along the way?” Maurya asked.

  “Of course, that’s always possible. But I don’t remember ever hearin
g about a huge crater anywhere in the kingdom,” Klavin answered.

  “Well, first we have to get out of here. Then we can figure out where we are,” Maurya said, and took out some rope.

  Several minutes later they had climbed back out and took a look around.

  “Wow. Nothing at all,” Simko commented.

  “Not quite,” Maurya corrected, pointing at a house on the far edge of the crater.

  “Well, if we’re going to find out what’s going on here, I guess that’s the place to start asking questions. I only hope someone’s home,” Klavin said.

  They began walking. They had considered taking a straight path across the crater, but something about that just didn’t feel right. Eventually they reached the house.

  “What’s wrong?” Klavin asked, sensing Talb’s emotions.

  “Is he all right?” Simko asked.

  “I don’t think he wants to go in there.”

  “Maybe he’d feel safer if he turned back into Bladvaneer,” Simko suggested.

  “I don’t think that would help.” To Talb he said, “Look, I really need your help on this. I’ve got a bad feeling about this myself, but I don’t think we have a choice but to push on. What do you say?”

  Talb nodded.

  “I can’t imagine why he’d feel uneasy. A whole town vanishing into thin air doesn’t seem like a big deal to me,” Simko said sarcastically.

  Maurya shot Simko a dirty look and knocked on the door. An amazingly beautiful woman with long red hair and long red fingernails and wearing a long red dress opened the door.

  “Yes?” she asked.

  “Er …” Klavin stuttered.

  “Er …” Simko stuttered.

  Maurya rolled her eyes. “I know this is probably going to sound like a strange question, but—“

  “Where is Denorso?” the woman finished, a sly smile on her lips. “Come on in. We can talk inside.”

  They entered and the woman led them to several comfortable-looking couches, where they sat. Talb sat very close to Klavin.

  “I’m Justyna, by the way. May I know your names?”

  They introduced themselves.

  “So I’m assuming you must know where the town is. Did we take a wrong turn somewhere?” Maurya asked.

  “No, actually you are in the town, believe it or not. Or more specifically I should probably say that the town is in here.”

  “I’m sorry, but I have no idea what you mean.”

  Justyna stood and walked to the window, staring out at the crater. She turned back, fingering a fire red jewel that hung around her neck.

  “Not long ago I decided to visit some family in a nearby town. I stayed with them for about a week. When I returned home I was greeted by the same sight you were. My entire town had simply vanished, leaving only a large indentation where it once was. Strangely enough, my own house remained standing, so I headed to it. I went around the crater, rather than through it. Later I found out how fortunate it was that I did. Inside the house was a wizard. A terribly arrogant man. He laughed when he saw me, and decided to brag about what he had done.”

  “And what had he done?” Klavin asked.

  “He visited a local magic shop. It was run by a kindly old wizard named Rand who once was an adventurer, like yourselves I presume, but had long since retired. He demanded that an ancient tome be turned over to him, but Rand was no fool and felt that giving him such a powerful book would come back to haunt us all. The wizard tried to intimidate, but Rand wouldn’t budge. Looking back, I think we all wish he had given in. The wizard stormed out of the shop and let himself into my house, which is right on the edge of town. I don’t know what he would have done if I was at home. It probably wouldn’t have made any difference. From that very window he cast a spell and shrunk the entire town to a fraction of its original size.”

  “That sounds like something Tarquin would do,” Simko whispered to Klavin.

  “I asked him what he was planning to do with me, and he just laughed. He said he wasn’t going to do a thing to me, because he wanted someone left intact who could tell everyone else just how powerful he was.”

  “Definitely Tarquin,” Simko whispered.

  “The problem was that he had left the town right in the middle of the crater. The people were no more than an inch tall, and had no chance of survival out there. So I begged him to move them someplace safer. I don’t know why he did it, but he did. Perhaps he just liked the idea of perpetuating their torment. For whatever reason, he moved them from the crater into their own … tiny world. The only way in or out was through here,” she said, and walked over to the wall. She bent down and pointed at a tiny crack right at the bottom.

  “So you’re telling me your town is inside your wall?” Maurya asked.

  “Yes and no. That’s the only way in, but if you tore the wall apart you wouldn’t find the town on the other side.”

  “Incredible,” Simko muttered.

  “After that, he simply left. I talked to the townspeople, but we weren’t able to come up with a solution. Rand didn’t know of any counterspell that could return them to normal size, and even if he did, he suspected that he wouldn’t be powerful enough to make it work. They didn’t want me to venture outside the city for help, because they doubted anyone could do anything and also didn’t want to become the butt of the kingdom’s jokes. They trusted me with the secret, but didn’t want anyone else to know. Needless to say they’re incredibly vulnerable in their current state.

  “Although he couldn’t reverse the process, Rand was able to teach me a spell to create the illusion that the town was still intact. Being at the edge of the kingdom we don’t get many visitors, but any who did venture our way would see any of a variety of dangerous monsters inside. It was enough to keep practically anyone away. Except for you, of course. So what exactly are you doing here?”

  “Well,” Klavin said, and then hesitated. Finally he added, “We sort of need to get into that town.”

  “But maybe we don’t,” Simko insisted. “If … what we need … is shrunk inside there, then it means no one else will be able to get it either.”

  “I don’t think we can take that risk. We need to find out for sure if it’s in there or not,” Klavin said. “Is there a way to get into that town?”

  “There is, but I can’t recommend you doing it.”

  “What is it? We’ll take the risk. We really don’t have a choice.”

  “Rand figured out what the wizard did to shrink the town. It was very ancient magic. Although he couldn’t reverse it, he did know how to recreate it, at least on a temporary basis.”

  Justyna walked across the room to a table. She opened a drawer and removed four necklaces, each with a red stone not unlike her own. She handed them out.

  “What are these?” Maurya asked suspiciously.

  “When you put them on, they’ll allow you to shrink. Wear them while you’re inside the town. When you return, remove them and your size will be restored.”

  “But I thought you said the process couldn’t be reversed,” Simko said.

  Justyna laughed. “You flatter me by thinking I’m capable of doing the same spell that shrunk the town. This is a much weaker version which can be reversed. Trust me, if giving necklaces like these to all the people in there would restore them I’d do it without a second thought.”

  Maurya looked at Klavin.

  “Do you want to do this?” she asked.

  “Want might be the wrong word, but I think we have to.”

  While the four of them put the necklaces over their heads, Justyna absentmindedly fingered the gem around her own neck, which glowed for a moment.

  The room seemed to spin, and they closed their eyes to lessen the effect. When they reopened them, it was as if they were in a different world. Justyna sat across from them, but was now many, many times bigger. She stood and placed her hand next to them.

  “Go ahead and hop in. Otherwise it’ll probably take you all day to get to that wall,” she sa
id with a smile.

  They looked at each other. None of them had counted on having to do this. They understood why the townspeople were concerned about their level of vulnerability. Apprehensively they climbed onto her hand, and she carefully lifted it. She pointed at them with a fingernail that was longer than they were tall and giggled.

  “You’re all so cute. I had forgotten how much fun it was to have tiny people in my hand. Now hold on.”

  She gently closed her hand around them and walked to the wall. They couldn’t help but bounce around inside her palm, and found themselves dizzier than before. She kneeled down and opened her hand right outside the crack in the wall. Now that they were closer they could see that there seemed to be light shining through. They climbed down and she stood, looming over them.

  “Now just remember, leave those necklaces on until you come back out. You’ll cause a lot of problems if you take them off while you’re inside. I’ll prepare a meal for your return,” she said, walked over to a chair, and sat.

  She watched as one by one they passed through the crack into whatever was behind. After they last one went, she picked up a book and began reading.

  About twenty minutes later there was another knock on the door. She would have been surprised to get two visits in one day if she hadn’t sensed who it was this time.

  She opened the door and found Grallen, Tarquin, and company on the other side.

  “Justyna, my dear,” Tarquin said, a nasty smile on his face. “So good to see you. May we come in?”

  “Of course. I’m very popular today.”

  They entered and sat. Everyone who Justyna didn’t know was introduced.

  “I don’t intend to waste too much of your time. We need to get into your little town, but I suspect you already know that.”

  “I figured as much. Obviously you wouldn’t bother visiting if you didn’t need something.”

  She walked over to the table and removed more necklaces. Tarquin waved a hand.

  “Please, Justyna. Save your parlor tricks for fools like the ones you just met.”

  “You’re ruining all my fun,” Justyna pouted, and reached for the gem around her neck. Tarquin grabbed her hand.

  “Just promise that when we’re finished you’ll restore us to our normal size.”