Bladvaneer

  Justyna giggled. “Of course I will. What kind of girl do you think I am?”

  “Now let me get this straight,” Grallen said. “This student of yours shrunk one of Krot’s Elite Guard?”

  “I did?” Justyna asked, genuinely surprised.

  “I’m sure it was an accident,” Tarquin said.

  “Whatever. Are you ready to go?” she asked.

  Tarquin nodded, and she touched the gem. In moments each of them was around an inch tall. Justyna dropped her hand next to them and beckoned them to enter.

  “Forget it,” Tul said, and used his power over wind to lift them and float over to the entrance.

  Justyna watched them for several seconds, barely making any distance at their size. Finally she giggled, stood and grabbed them, ignoring their protests as she walked them over to the wall.

  “There you go,” she said, opening her hand by the entrance. “It was much easier my way.”

  “For you, maybe,” Grallen said, the room still spinning.

  They entered the crack and disappeared into another world. Justyna returned to reading for several minutes. She suddenly rose, picked up a towel from the kitchen and returned to the front door. After wiping the door knob for a few seconds she dropped the towel, sealing the space between the door and the floor. She bent down to get a better look at the two tiny people who had gotten so close to escaping.

  “And where do you think you’re going?” she asked with a grin.

  “Please, we just had to get out of there!” the little man said.

  “You said we weren’t prisoners!” the little woman added.

  Justyna laughed. It hurt the tiny ears. “Of course you’re not prisoners. But it’s a big, dangerous world out there. You wouldn’t survive for more than a minute. The world I’ve created for you is for your own protection, and this is how you thank me?”

  “We’re sorry! We’ll go back and never leave again!” the little man said.

  “Oh no, I’m afraid it’s much too late for that. I warned you about how dangerous it would be if you left the town, and now you’ll have to be shown that I was telling the truth.”

  She raised her foot. The man and woman embraced. She wondered why they always did that, since it wasn’t going to do a thing to prevent what was going to happen next. She lowered her foot …

  22

  The now tiny foursome headed into town. Something was obviously bothering Simko.

  “Look, this is a bit strange for all of us. Everything around us is our size, but we know that in reality we’re the size of insects … but hopefully it’ll all be over soon,” Klavin said, attempting to comfort Simko.

  “Could you believe the way she carried us in her hand like that? I think she was enjoying that a bit too much,” Maurya complained.

  “I actually liked that part,” Klavin admitted. Maurya’s eyes flashed at the comment.

  “You two don’t understand,” Simko said, the first words from him since they had been shrunk.

  “What’s wrong then?” Klavin asked.

  “Well, I may not be the most powerful wizard—“

  “We know,” Maurya said with a smile.

  He ignored her. “But I’ve never heard of a spell that could permanently shrink a whole town. And if it was Tarquin who did it, it just doesn’t seem like his style.”

  “You don’t think Tarquin would shrink a town if he could?” Klavin asked.

  “Of course he would. But then he wouldn’t just leave. He’d probably declare himself a god and force the people to worship him. And if he had the power to do that, you can bet he would have shrunk all of us long ago.”

  Klavin thought this over and nodded. “She never actually said what the wizard’s name was. We’re just assuming it was Tarquin. Maybe it wasn’t.”

  “Maybe,” Simko admitted. “But it still doesn’t add up. She wasn’t telling us the whole story. Maybe nothing she said was the truth.”

  “And you didn’t think of pointing this out before we let her shrink us?” Maurya asked.

  “I was thinking it probably wouldn’t be smart to let her know I was suspicious, because she might have done something far worse than this to us.”

  “Well, we should be able to find some townspeople soon. Hopefully they can tell us exactly what’s going on,” Klavin said.

  Sure enough, they soon came upon a group of people. As soon as they saw the newcomers they rushed over.

  “How did you get here?” one asked.

  “You know how they got here,” another responded.

  “You poor fools,” a third commented.

  “Look, we just want to know what’s going on here,” Klavin said.

  An old man stepped through the crowd.

  “My name is Rand. Did Justyna mention me in her story?”

  “How did you know …” Klavin began.

  “Did Justyna mention me in her story?” Rand repeated.

  “Yes,” Klavin answered.

  “And may I ask what she told you?”

  “Of course,” Klavin said, and recounted the story.

  The townspeople laughed. It wasn’t a joyous laughter. It was more of a nervous, hopeless laugh.

  “I don’t understand. What’s so funny?“ Klavin asked.

  “Come with me,” Rand said and, without waiting for an answer, walked away.

  They followed him into a house. Inside was a young man who obviously hadn’t heard about the newcomers and was clearly shocked to see them.

  “Clegg, these people have met Justyna, as I’m sure you’ve already guessed,” Rand said. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know any of your names.”

  After introductions they all sat.

  “I don’t want to sound rude, but we’re on a very important quest. There’s something we have to find, and after we do we’ll be out of here,” Klavin said.

  Clegg and Rand laughed.

  “And where would you go?” Rand asked.

  “Back the way we came,” Klavin answered.

  “There is no way out,” Rand said matter-of-factly.

  “Of course there is. All we have to do is take off these necklaces and we’ll return to our normal size.”

  Rand smiled. “Why don’t you go ahead and remove it now?”

  “I can’t do that. Don’t you realize what will happen?”

  “I know exactly what will happen. Take it off.”

  Klavin suddenly had the suspicion that a cruel joke had been played on him. He nervously removed the necklace and placed it on the table in front of him. He waited to expand back to his normal size, but nothing happened.

  “Ah,” he said.

  “The necklaces don’t even have real gems, and they have no real magic. It’s all part of the show for her. Would you like to know what really happened to this town?”

  “Of course,” Klavin said. Especially since it seemed like they were going to be in it forever, he couldn’t help but think.

  “Justyna was the sweetest girl in town. We all loved her. Clegg especially. He was her fiancé. She showed quite an aptitude for magic, so I took her on as my apprentice. She did wonderfully. The best student I ever had. And somehow Tarquin got wind of this.”

  “I knew it!” Simko said triumphantly.

  “Tarquin and I went way back. Never liked each other. No one ever really liked Tarquin, but most were too afraid to make those feelings known. He heard about my student, saw her incredible potential, and decided to make her his own. I tried to convince her to stay with me, of course, but his lure was just too strong.

  “Being his student changed her. The sweetness and kindness she once showed was gone, replaced by a dark side none of us thought she had in her. Eventually he moved on. He wanted her to accompany him, but she decided to stay. At this point she was already more powerful than I was, and liked the idea of having the entire town at her beck and call.”

  “Wait, so at what point did Tarquin shrink the town?” Simko asked.

  “He didn’t shrink the town,�
� Rand responded.

  “But—“

  “Trust me, I’ll get to it. So one day Justyna simply disappeared. We had no idea where she went, and honestly didn’t care. We were just happy to be free of her. Some of us did feel sympathy for whatever new place she wound up in, though. What we didn’t know was that she had left on a quest to find the Gem of Troberts. We never did learn how she found out about it, or how she knew where to look. Eventually she returned with the gem, and was more powerful than ever. And her soul was darker than ever as well.

  “She used the power of the gem to shrink the entire town. She laughed at our new size, saying that we were all like insects to her before, and now she had made it a reality. Then she placed the entire town into this pocket dimension and made the only way in or out a part of her wall. She liked the idea of always having us at her feet, and didn’t want anyone else to know about it.”

  “So that gem can shrink things?” Simko asked.

  “I’m quite sure it can do far more than that. I suspect that with enough training and patience it would allow its bearer to do practivally anything. It’s actually quite fortunate for us that she seems satisfied keeping us as her pets. If she ever gets bored and really tries to explore the power of that object, there’s no telling what she could do.”

  “So nothing can ever return us to normal?” Maurya asked.

  “Of course something can. The gem. But as long as it’s around her neck you’ll never be able to get to it.”

  “Will we be able to use it?” Simko asked.

  “Don’t use it. Destroy it. That should reverse all the damage it’s done. Of course, it would take an object of incredible power to be able to do that, and no offense, but I doubt you’d be up to it.”

  Klavin smiled as he placed his hand on Talb’s shoulder. “I think we might have a trick or two up our sleeves.”

  “But can we leave?” Maurya asked.

  “Of course. Justyna has done nothing to seal us inside. I actually think it amuses her that we’re in an unlocked prison. We can leave whenever we wish, although very few have tried.”

  “What happened to them?” Klavin asked.

  “No one knows. If they managed to get out of the house they’d be facing a world nearly a hundred times bigger than them. If Justyna catches them, well, who knows? All I can tell you is that anyone who’s left has never returned. Most of us think it’s foolish to even try. As scary a thought as this is, it’s far safer in here than it is out there.”

  “Well, we’re going to find a way out of here. Not just for us, but for everyone. But first we need to do what we came here for in the first place,” Klavin said.

  “If we can be of help, just let us know,” Rand said.

  “For now we just need information. We’re looking for anything unusual—“

  “Anything more unusual than having your entire town shrunk?” Clegg asked.

  “Well, this would have been here before that happened. Probably. By process of elimination we think it might be related somehow to water or fire.”

  Rand and Clegg exchanged glances.

  “You might be looking for the Eternal Flame,” Clegg suggested.

  “The Eternal Flame?” Klavin asked, hope evident in his voice. “That would definitely have something to do with fire, right? What is it?”

  “A few years ago some kids were digging in a field. The ground opened beneath them, and they wound up in some underground maze. They called for help until someone came to get them out. Then we sent people in to find out what was down there. I was one of them. It didn’t take long to figure out that the place was riddled with traps. Fortunately we have our share of people skilled in disarming the mechanical ones, and Rand here was able to take out the magic. In the center of the maze was a single torch. It looked like any other one. It was just a piece of wood wrapped with a rag with a flame coming out of the top. Thing was, it was just floating in the center of the room. We tried to take it, but it wouldn’t budge. We dumped water over it, but the flame didn’t go out. We even brought in some acid, just to see if it would eat through the wooden part. It didn’t. Finally we caved in the entrance, left it alone for a while, and then dug back in. We figured the torch had to go out without any air to feed it. We were wrong again.”

  “Can you take us there?” Klavin asked.

  “Sure. It’ll be nice to do something different for a change.”

  They got up to leave.

  “Oh, and one more thing. You might get some more newcomers soon,” Klavin said.

  “More newcomers? Sounds like Justyna’s keeping herself busy out there,” Rand said.

  “Listen, if anyone sees them, don’t stop them. Don’t even get in their way. They’re very dangerous. Trust me, you don’t want to fight them.”

  “We’re not cowards,” Rand said indignantly.

  “It’s a priest of Krot, and two of his Elemental Warriors.”

  “Oh,” Rand said. “I guess we’ll stay out of their way then.”

  “And you too, Clegg. We just need you to lead us there. We don’t want you getting hurt because of us.”

  “I wouldn’t mind a good fight, but if you insist, I’ll stay out of it. We’ll stop on the way and get a map of the maze so you can find your way through.”

  Klavin nodded and they all left on their way to the underground maze.

  23

  The maze was pitch black. They could only see thanks to the glow that Bladvaneer constantly radiated. But Klavin had to admit that Clegg’s map was very accurate. They were having no problem navigating the maze thanks to it. And since the way to the center had already been cleared of traps, all they had to do follow the directions.

  Eventually the sword wasn’t the only source of light, as they finally reached the center of the maze. Just as Clegg had described, there was what looked like a perfectly normal torch floating in the middle of the room. Now came the difficult part, as they needed to find a way to destroy it. Based on past experience, it wasn’t going to be easy. They weren’t even sure if it was possible.

  “Stand back,” Klavin instructed, as he took the most obvious course of action and swung the sword through the flame. Just like what happened with the tornadoes, the blade harmlessly passed through.

  “So much for that. Let me try something. Regular water didn’t work, but maybe magical water will,” Simko said, and began casting.

  After a few moments a small cloud appeared in front of him. It floated over the torch and started raining. As the water poured out, the cloud shrunk away. After it disappeared, the flame was still burning. Simko shrugged his shoulders and looked at Maurya.

  “What do you expect me to do? I don’t have a magic sword or any spells,” she said, the frustration obvious in her voice.

  Klavin felt a breeze on the back of his neck.

  “Oh no,” he said.

  The three of them were lifted off the ground by a strong air current. Grallen entered, flanked by Jord and Tul. The rest of his guards filled the room. The hooded man stood behind the group.

  “Good, Tul. Keep them out of the way and we can get out of here quickly.”

  Tul nodded and stepped forward. Jord sneered at the three people suspended on the ceiling. Grallen, meanwhile, began chanting.

  “We can’t just stand here and do nothing,” Maurya said.

  “Well, what else can we do?” Simko asked.

  Klavin threw his sword. Its blade plunged into Tul’s shoulder. He screamed in pain and stepped back into Grallen, breaking his concentration. Klavin, Maurya, and Simko fell to the ground.

  Grallen looked down at Bladvaneer and smiled. He lifted the sword and examined it. The grip immediately became burning hot and he cursed the weapon, throwing it across the room. He shook his hand in pain and nodded for his guards to move in.

  Maurya drew two daggers and handed one to Klavin. Jord stepped in his way.

  “Those little knives aren’t going to do a thing to me,” he laughed, not realizing that a sheet of ice was
forming under his feet.

  “Well I don’t think your sword can do anything to me,” Klavin challenged.

  “I think you must have hit your head too many times,” Jord said, stepping forward and slipping on the ice. He landed with a thud.

  Klavin tried to lift Jord’s sword, but it was too heavy. He managed to fight his way through the guards and reached his own.

  “They’re getting better,” the hooded man commented.

  “I can see that!” Grallen roared.

  He pointed and a pulsing red beam fired from his finger. It deflected off Bladvaneer and struck Jord, who was just managing to get up, and knocked him down again.

  “Great,” Grallen muttered.

  A great wind swept through the room, and Klavin was knocked off his feet. He started getting up when another wind threw him to the far end of the room and knocked the sword out of his hand. Tul stared at him, rubbing his injured shoulder.

  “You’ll be sorry you dared to strike me,” he warned.

  From behind, Maurya grabbed him by the cape and threw him backwards. He landed on top of Jord, who once again was trying to stand on the ice.

  Klavin, Simko, and Maurya suddenly felt electricity surge through their bodies. Through the pain they managed to see Tarquin walking down the hallway in their direction.

  “No …” Klavin stammered, as the three of them fell to the ground.

  They watched Tarquin smile as he pointed at them, and once again lightning came from out of nowhere and electrified them. They screamed in agony. After that the assault was over, but they found it difficult to move.

  “It’s a good thing you brought me into this,” Tarquin bragged as he waved a hand, causing the ice under Jord to disappear.

  “We were doing fine,” Grallen insisted.

  “Of course.”

  “Jord, seal them up in here. We’ve wasted enough time, and I don’t feel like dealing with them again today,” Grallen commanded.

  Jord smiled and called the ground up to form a new wall in the room, cutting the three heroes off from the rest of them.

  “What happens to them now?” Tul asked.

  “They die in there,” Grallen answered. “I need a volunteer.”