"I shall," promised Alex. "Right now we have more important things to consider. Let's find Randi and get this temple taken down."
Chapter 26
Time of Testing
"We have a deviation," Randi announced as he walked into the dining room in the Governor's Mansion in Kantor.
"Jenneva and I were just on our way to find you," Alex replied. "What is the problem?"
"Well," replied the Ranger, "I am not sure if it is a problem, but it is a deviation from the pattern you described in Pia. You reported that the temple in Pia basically closed down at night. Bin-lu reported the same in both Chi-Chan and Ongchi. Such is not the case in Kantor."
"Are there innocents inside the temple?" asked Jenneva.
"No," answered Randi Witzak, "but not all of the staff are inside. There are four men marching around the temple. I suspect that the priest is expecting a raid."
"Taking out four men should not present a problem to the Rangers," frowned Alex. "What is your concern?"
"They are wearing bells around their necks," Randi replied. "I think they are being used in a similar fashion to the security perimeters we usually set up around our campsites."
"Clever," Alex frowned as he nodded. "If the bells stop ringing, someone inside the temple will sound an alarm."
"That is how I read it," agreed Randi. "We might be able to get inside without alerting those sentries, but if anything tips them off, we will be in a world of hurt. I think we need to neutralize the sentries before going in."
"I concur," nodded Alex. "Are they visible to each other?"
"Only at the corners of the temple," answered Randi. "They are timed to transit each side in unison, so when one reaches a corner, he should be able to see another sentry just turning the opposite corner."
"So we have to take all four of them out at the same time?" asked Alex.
"Unless we can break their rhythm without alerting those inside the temple," replied the Ranger, "and I don't see how we can do that."
"Is there a safe place where we can go to observe these sentries?" asked Jenneva.
"There is," responded Randi. "Do you want to see them?"
"Yes," answered Jenneva. "Maybe something will come to me."
The three Alceans made for the front door of the mansion. Alex turned and saw Smokey following them.
"Stay!" Alex instructed the dog as he opened the door.
The dog crouched as if waiting for a chance to dash out the door. Alex let Jenneva and Randi precede him out the door and then quickly slipped out and pulled the door shut behind him. Smokey dashed for the door but was too late. Alex heard him hit the door and whine.
"He listens real well," giggled Jenneva.
"Don't distract me this night," scowled Alex. "I will train him another time."
"Grump," taunted Jenneva.
Randi snickered softly, but Alex showed no reaction, his mind already pondering the current dilemma of the roving sentries. The trip through the streets of Kantor proceeded quickly, but Alex had the feeling that he was being watched. Several times he hesitated as he scanned the empty streets around him, but he could not see anyone.
Randi raised a hand in caution as they approached the temple area. He led Alex and Jenneva down a dark alley and turned at an intersection into another alley. As they approached the mouth of the second alley, Randi halted and pressed his back against the wall. Alex and Jenneva followed his example. Without speaking, Randi pointed across the street to the front of the temple. As the three Alceans watched, a white-robed man walked past the front doors of the temple, a soft ringing coming from the bell around his neck. The ringing grew louder as the man approached, and as he neared the corner of the temple, Alex could already hear a fainter ringing coming from somewhere out of sight. Moments later the scene repeated itself as the next sentry passed by the front doors of the temple.
"Perfect timing," Alex whispered as he frowned. "It is military precision. If we needed any more proof that these temples are part of the enemy's army, this would be it. Clerics have no need for such training."
"Fairies could probably duplicate the sounds," suggested Jenneva, "but we only have Bitsy with us. One fairy will never do."
"And there is no time to get more fairies," added Alex. "The attack must happen tonight. Bitsy could not even make it to the fairy village and back in time."
"There is still the option of sneaking in and hoping we are not detected," commented Randi. "We will be going in rather high over their heads."
"Which building are the men in?" asked Alex.
"It is just to the right," answered Randi. "You will have to hug the opposite wall to see it. Have you had a thought?"
"Perhaps," mused Alex. "If we can't neutralize the bells, perhaps we can neutralize the person inside listening to them. Surely, most of the temple staff is sleeping. Do you have any idea where that person would be stationed inside?"
"No," Randi shook his head, "and we won't find out without setting off an alarm. If one of us attacked a sentry, the whole temple would stay up all night long and our mission would be a failure."
"Unless we could set off the alarm in such a way as to not make them suspicious," suggested Jenneva.
"Unlikely," sighed Alex. "We will just have to infiltrate the temple and hope that our losses are not too great."
Alex whirled suddenly at a noise farther back in the dark alley.
"What was it?" Randi asked worriedly.
"Just an animal," answered Alex. "I didn't get a look at it, but I heard its claws. It is gone now."
"You probably scared it more than it scared you," chuckled Jenneva. "You have such a way with animals."
Despite the tenseness of the situation, Alex found himself laughing softly.
"What was that?" Randi said excitedly. "I just saw something dart to the front doors of the temple."
"What did it look like?" asked Jenneva.
"I don't know," answered Randi. "I just caught the motion out of the corner of my eye. Whatever it was ran behind the sentry."
One of the sentries had just passed the front doors and was already at the corner of the temple. The three Alceans watched closely as the next sentry came into view. As the man passed the front doors, something flew out of the darkness near the doors and attacked the man.
"It's a dog," remarked Randi.
"It is Smokey," scowled Alex. "I swear I will make fish bait out of him for this!"
The dog and sentry crashed to the ground, the bells ringing loudly. The front doors of the temple opened immediately and a cleric poked his head out. The dog yelped and dashed away into the darkness.
"What is going on?" the cleric in the doorway demanded.
"A dog attacked me," answered the sentry as he rose to his feet and brushed the dirt off his robe.
Another sentry rounded the corner and halted in confusion when he saw the commotion in front of the temple. The timing of the sentries was broken.
"Perhaps you should bathe more often," taunted the cleric in the doorway. "You must smell like something he would eat. Continue your rounds and do not disturb me again."
The door slammed shut, and the sentry shook his head and mumbled under his breath. He moved forward as quickly as he could without breaking the rhythm of the bells, but that was not much faster than his normal pace. Any faster and his bells would ring loudly.
"We have the solution to the problem," announced Randi.
"Indeed," Alex responded. "Perhaps I will not cut the dog up and use him for fish bait after all. Let's get into our building before the sentries regain their pacing."
Randi backed deeper into the alley and led Alex and Jenneva to another alley. He paused at a nondescript door and opened it. Leading the way up the stairs, he knocked on a door in a precise pattern. The door opened immediately, and the three Alceans slipped into the room.
"What happened out there?" asked one of the Rangers.
"Alex's dog attacked one of the sentries," answered Randi. "We are going
in now. The primary target is a cleric just inside the front doors. He must die silently and quickly."
"I'm on it," volunteered one of the Rangers.
"After he is dead," instructed Alex, "move outside and silence the sentries one at a time."
"Right," the Ranger responded as he leaned out the window and glanced downward at the side of the temple.
The Ranger waited until the only visible sentry had passed below him. He slid out the window and onto a small ledge. He grabbed onto a rope strung over the street and began pulling himself across the chasm.
"When did you get that in place?" asked Alex.
"This morning," grinned Randi. "The followers were making such a racket out front that I couldn't resist. We could have all jumped up and down on their roof and they wouldn't have heard us."
Another Ranger moved quickly past Randi and out the window. The third Ranger remained in the room and gazed downward.
"Two at a time?" asked Alex.
"That is the best we can do," shrugged Randi. "We are halfway along their walk on this side of the temple. There were no better rooms available for rent."
"This will require time to assemble the men over there," frowned Alex. "I am inserting myself in the next pair."
"I will meet you over there," Jenneva said softly before moving to the corner of the room.
"You will be second," Randi said to Alex.
Alex nodded and watched the Ranger in front of him slip out of the window. He took his place at the window and gazed downward at the sentry. As soon as the Ranger in front of him reached the temple, Alex stepped out of the window and grabbed the rope. He moved swiftly across the rope to the roof of the temple. The Ranger before him stood at the center of the rear section of the roof. Alex moved across the roof just as the Ranger was letting himself down the side of the building on another rope. Alex watched the man disappear into a window and then followed him.
Alex slid through the window into a dormitory room. There were two beds in the room and each had a body on it. The light was too dim for Alex to see the myric quills sticking out of the bodies, but he had faith in the efficiency of the Rangers. An eagle flew through the window and transformed into Jenneva. Alex waited for the transformation to be complete before stepping out of the room with Jenneva right behind him. He looked left and saw a Ranger exiting a room. To his right another Ranger was just entering a room. Alex moved to the head of the stairs and assumed a defensive stance while he waited for the other Rangers to arrive. Jenneva moved alongside him and whispered in his ear.
"We are supposed to head directly to the main room of the temple," Jenneva said. "That was the plan."
"And it still is," Alex whispered back. "I want to wait until more Rangers arrive before taking the chance of waking anyone. We will be in the main room long before K'san arrives. Don't worry."
"I am going on ahead," Jenneva declared. "I want a chance to explore that area. My method of traveling will not awaken anyone."
Alex frowned and was starting to object when Jenneva vanished. An eagle launched itself off the floor and silently soared down the stairs. Alex gritted his teeth as he waited impatiently for more Rangers to arrive. He was used to alterations to a plan once an operation had begun, but he was concerned about Jenneva because little was known about the types of magic the priests used. If K'san had a previously unknown ability that Jenneva could not counter, it would be imperative for him to be by her side to distract the Zaran and give her time to react.
Two more Rangers arrived in quick succession, and Alex pointed one left and the other right. He prepared for another long wait for the next pair of Rangers, but he was pleasantly surprised when they appeared almost immediately.
"The outside sentries are down," whispered one of the Rangers. "We can move forward."
Alex nodded and headed down the stairs. Behind him the Rangers gathered to follow, the top floor of the temple now completely contained. Alex passed right by the next landing and continued downward to the ground level. The other Rangers did not follow him, as they peeled off right and left to secure the second floor. When Alex reached the ground floor, he turned left and silently padded along the corridor leading to the front of the temple. He was halfway there when the first shout of surprise came from somewhere upstairs. Evidently the Rangers had run into a cleric who had not been sleeping.
Alex quickened his pace slightly, but he could afford no more speed without giving up his stealth. With the main room in sight, Alex heard shouts from multiple areas of the temple. The clash of swords rang faintly in the distance. The battle was about to get bloody.
Alex felt a breeze as he entered the main room. The room was torch lit, and he saw one of the front doors slightly ajar. A body was spread out on the floor near it. He glanced quickly around the room, but he saw no one. He frowned and wondered where Jenneva was. Alex sheathed his sword as he walked to the center of the room. Each of his hands cupped a Lanoirian star as he rotated slowly and peered into the dark corners. The room was empty. He began to wonder if their strategy was failing. The plan had been to get to the main room before the attack was noticed. The premise had been that K'san would immediately come to this room, and his forces would gather around him for the battle. That had been how the other temple fights had gone, but now Alex had doubts about the validity of his assumptions.
Not knowing Jenneva's location began to gnaw at the warrior. As he turned to leave the main room and go looking for her, he saw the curtain behind the altar ripple. He halted as his hands gripped the stars, and his eyes focused on the bottom of the curtain. Suddenly, the curtain rippled wildly, and a flaming projectile soared across the room. Alex dove to the floor, his right hand stretching out before him as he released the Lanoirian star. As the fireball screamed overhead and blasted into the wall behind him, Alex saw the curtains part and a black-cloaked body fall to the floor. Alex got to his feet and pulled another star from his pouch. He started to move towards the altar to verify that the mage was dead.
Suddenly, the curtains parted again. Alex tossed another star as K'san emerged from behind the curtains. The star struck the priest's chest, but its tip barely penetrated the black man's skin. It fell to the ground as K'san continued forward. Alex prepared to throw the star in his left hand as a distraction to buy him time to draw his two-handed sword, but the star was never released.
"Where is your mage?" snarled K'san. "I am told that you Alceans always attack in pairs."
Alex felt lightheaded and his motions seemed to slow to almost nothing. He could feel his left arm moving forward to release the star, but its progress was agonizingly sluggish.
"Right here," Jenneva said loudly as dozens of flaming projectiles soared towards K'san.
The priest's black face showed shock as Jenneva appeared in the corner of the large room. The priest's smugness instantly evaporated as Jenneva's sudden appearance showed his failure to magically detect her presence. Still, the fireballs did not harm K'san. They flared to brilliance as they impacted on a magical shield surrounding K'san. Jenneva continued her assault to weaken the priest's shields, but K'san unexpectedly started laughing.
"I expected more from the Knights of Alcea," he bellowed. "Obviously your reputations are exaggerated."
Alex groaned with frustration as the priest held him with the magical spell, but the spell did not affect his ability to see or speak. Through the seam in the curtains, Alex saw the other black-cloak. He realized in an instant that Jenneva would never succeed in weakening K'san's shield, because K'san was not shielding himself. The black-cloak was providing K'san's protection.
"Behind the curtain," Alex shouted.
Jenneva immediately understood the warning. While the fireballs were still streaming off her fingertips, she pivoted slightly and aimed at the seam in the curtains. The curtains burst into flames, and a shrill scream ripped through the air. K'san roared with rage as he turned his attention towards Jenneva. Lightning bolts rippled from his fingertips and cascaded into her shi
elds. Alex felt the spell on him falter as the Zaran priest concentrated exclusively on Jenneva. The Lanoirian star flew from his left hand and impacted the priest on the side of his head, but K'san hardly seemed to notice it.
Hundreds of small lightning bolts hammered Jenneva's shields in a blazing display that illuminated the whole room. Alex drew his sword and raced towards K'san, but the black priest extended one arm towards Alex, and the warrior was magically halted again. Alex snarled with frustration, but he noticed that the priest's attack on Jenneva had been halved. If he could just figure out a way to further distract the priest, Jenneva would be able to divert some of her energy into a magical attack.
The standoff had only consumed a few moments, but to Alex it felt as if it had been hours. He saw K'san suddenly smile and he glanced over at Jenneva. Despite K'san diverting his attention between the two of them, Jenneva's shields appeared to be weakening.
"You are almost done, mage," gloated K'san. "While your effort has been noteworthy, my report will tout your obvious inferiority."
Jenneva had been the first to notice the blur streaking across the floor. Her face remained impassive as she glared at the black priest. Alex saw it next and frowned in confusion. By the time K'san noticed it, it was too late. Smokey leaped into the air and threw his body at the priest's face, his claws extended before him. K'san brought both arms inward to shield his face.
Alex felt the spell holding him fail. He raced towards the priest with his sword held high. Smokey yelped as the priest flung the dog away. K'san pivoted towards Alex and pointed both arms at him. Alex saw the sneer on the priest's lips and knew that he would never reach K'san in time. No longer was K'san intending to hold off Alex's assault. The spell coming this time would be fatal. It showed clearly in the priest's expression.
"Enough!" snapped K'san. "Now you will die."
Alex refused to admit failure. He raced towards K'san as fast as his legs would carry him. Suddenly, the room blurred to Alex's left. The blur soared towards the priest and slammed into his head. Alex gasped in amazement as the priest's head literally exploded. The headless corpse slammed to the floor with a loud reverberating boom. Alex slid to a halt and stared at the corpse.
Knights of Alcea Page 34