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Knights of Alcea

Page 39

by Richard S. Tuttle


  Tanya pulled one hand free of her sword and raised it before her. Streams of fireballs soared from her fingertips as she ran towards the cleric. The man burst into flames and screamed in agony. He threw himself to the floor in an attempt to extinguish the flames. Tanya leaped over his burning body and continued racing towards the rear of the temple, confident that Wylan would dispatch anyone she left alive behind her. The sounds of fighting grew more intense as the queen neared the bend in the corridor. She slowed cautiously as brilliant light once again flared from around the corner. She paused briefly and inhaled deeply before turning the corner and racing towards the conflict.

  The queen leaped over two bodies on the floor, her subconscious noting that the victims had been Rangers, but her attention was focused forward. Torches illuminated the area of the corridor near the rear door, unlike the rest of the temple. In the dim light she could see two black cloaks facing each other, but separated by several dozen paces. Both of the mages had their attention centered on the alcove where the rear door entered the temple. Tanya realized immediately what was happening. Some Rangers were in the small alcove, and the black-cloaks were trying to magically eliminate them without exposing themselves to danger. She pointed the tip of her sword at the back of the closest black cloak and charged forward.

  "Behind you!" shouted the farthest black cloak.

  The mage turned almost immediately, but it did little to save his life. Tanya thrust her sword into the mage and kept running. When she could not pull the sword with her, she let go of it and dove for the floor. A flaming projectile soared over her as Tanya rolled her body into a ball. The queen grabbed a Lanoirian star from her pouch as she rolled, intending to throw it at the second black cloak when she came out of the roll. Unfortunately, her plan went awry. The hidden Ranger had chosen that very moment to try an identical tactic, and they collided in the center of the corridor.

  Tanya and the Ranger plowed into the wall of the corridor, their stars skittering away as their limbs became entangled. The Ranger must have hit his head on the wall because he refused to stir. Tanya tried to push the man's body off of her, but she realized that it was a futile effort. The second black cloak was leering joyfully as he gazed upon the tangled bodies. His arm rose to deliver the fatal blow, but no spell erupted from his fingertips. Instead, his eyes opened wide in shock as a Lanoirian star impacted his forehead. His arm fell slowly and then his body crashed to the floor.

  "Is he alive?" Wylan asked as he nodded at the Ranger on top of the queen.

  "I think he is dazed," Tanya sighed with relief. "Good timing. I thought that was my final mistake."

  "The promise of life for another day has not been fulfilled just yet," Wylan quipped as he lifted the Ranger off of Tanya. "There are sounds of fighting all over the temple, and I passed the bodies of two Rangers."

  "I saw them," responded the queen as she rose to her feet. "This is not going according to plan. We need to find K'san and make sure that he dies."

  "What do I do with him?" Wylan asked as he settled the Ranger back on the floor.

  "Leave him," instructed the queen as she retrieved her sword. "Hopefully no one will notice that he is alive. We can't carry him with us."

  Tanya started to walk away, but Wylan remained frozen over the body of the black cloak. The queen stopped and returned to his side.

  "What is it?" she asked.

  "I have never seen this black cloak before," Wylan declared. "He is not either one of the two mages who normally accompany K'san. We still have black cloaks to contend with."

  "Great," the queen sighed with frustration. "Check the other body."

  Wylan moved to the other black cloak and rolled him over. He stared at the dead man's face and nodded.

  "I have seen this one before," stated the Knight of Alcea. "That still leaves at least one black cloak unaccounted for."

  "And maybe more," Tanya responded as she bent down and picked up two Lanoirian stars. I am heading for the front of the temple where I hope to find K'san. I want you to go back into the cellar and bring the dwarves into the battle."

  "Is that wise?" asked Wylan. "The Zarans will likely find out about it."

  "The Zarans may already know," shrugged Tanya. "Somehow this attack was expected by K'san. Now is not the time to dwell upon it, but we have already lost a quarter of our Rangers. Perhaps more of them have fallen in battles upstairs. We cannot afford to fail in this mission tonight. Bring the dwarves in, and make sure that they kill everyone in the building."

  "Other than us and the Rangers," Wylan chuckled dryly as he nodded in agreement. "I will meet you in the front room. Don't start anything without me."

  Wylan turned and ran back the way they had come. Tanya shoved her stars into a pouch and held her sword before her as she moved towards the other corridor leading to the front of the temple. She moved cautiously, as if expecting someone to jump out in front of her at any moment. She silently vowed to herself that she would not make another misjudgment.

  As Tanya passed a stairwell leading upstairs, the sounds of battles drifted down to her. She winced at the unusual sounds of Rangers shouting to each other in confusion. She knew that the Rangers were the most efficient fighting force in Alcea, but she also understood that is was unlikely for any group to prevail unharmed when they are ambushed. The queen wanted to race up the stairs and help destroy the enemy, but she could not afford to leave K'san unattended. His powers could easily destroy the rest of the Rangers. She wished the warriors upstairs success as she continued along the dark corridor towards the front of the temple where she suspected that K'san was waiting for her.

  Tanya saw the glow from the smoldering embers before she smelled the stench of burning flesh. She immediately slowed down and moved stealthily onward. The queen tensed as she glanced at the body of a Ranger near the intersection with another corridor. She halted and erected a magical shield of protection around herself. She remembered from the diagram of the temple provided by Zack Nolan that the corridor that she was approaching was the one that led to the priest's study. She suspected that the Ranger just happened to be at the wrong place when K'san emerged to head towards the front room, but she was not willing to bet her life on it. She eased slowly towards the corner of the intersection.

  Holding her own breath and listening intently, she detected the sounds of someone around the corner, someone waiting to ambush the next Ranger to come by. Just as Tanya was about to make her move, Bantam flew into the intersection and saw the queen. The fairy was sailing towards the queen's shoulder when a series of tiny lightning bolts soared out of the connecting corridor. The still air in the corridor sizzled with energy, and the area lit up brightly. Bantam dove for the floor and then shot up towards the ceiling as she tried to avoid the lightning bolts. A loud snarl emanated from around the corner, and K'san stormed into view.

  The priest was looking upwards for the fairy when Tanya struck a blow with her sword. She slashed at his side as hard as she could swing, but it felt like she had struck a boulder. K'san cried out in pain and confusion. He grabbed the sword's blade as Tanya was pulling back to swing again. Ripping the sword from Tanya's hands and tossing it away, K'san shoved his other hand at the queen's chest. Tanya flew backwards and tumbled to the floor.

  The priest kept his arm extended as he pointed at Tanya. Streams of lightning bolts flew from his fingers and impacted on the queen's shields. The magical electrical storm illuminated the dark corridor as if the sun was shining indoors. It was bright enough for Tanya to see the slight cut in K'san's side. She smiled tautly and reached for a myric quill, only to find her small quiver empty. She looked frantically around herself on the floor while the priest looked around for the mage who was holding the shield around Tanya. For a brief moment, the corridor was deadly silent. Eventually, K'san stared at Tanya, his eyes widening with understanding.

  "You are a mage," K'san said accusingly.

  Abandoning her search for the myric quills, Tanya directed a fireball at t
he priest's wound. K'san grinned at the confirmation of his accusation.

  "You will find my shields more than adequate to deflect your spells," he gloated as he directed another stream of lightning at the queen.

  Tanya's fireball splattered against the priest's invisible shields, just as K'san's lightning did on the queen's shields. Tanya frowned as she realized her predicament. Still sprawled on the floor without her sword, the queen had only her magic to protect herself, and her spells seemed incapable of breeching the priest's defenses. Eventually, the shields of either Tanya or K'san would falter, but even if she managed to outlast his attacks, she had no effective way of killing the priest. While he was not protected from a physical attack, his protection against magical projectiles was impressive. Tanya realized that she needed to attack with a magical spell that utilized physical properties. Tanya scooted backwards until her back was against the wall. K'san took her movements as an action in avoidance of his spells, and he laughed in reaction.

  "Pitiful," K'san snarled as he unleashed another barrage of lightning bolts. "I expected at least a challenging fight, but all they sent was a young, cowardly girl?"

  Tanya merely smiled tautly as the still air of the corridor began to move slowly. The movement was imperceptible at first, even to Tanya, but soon a breeze was flowing in from both ends of the corridor. K'san did not appear to notice, even as the breeze began to strengthen. He was too intent on depleting the queen's shields so that he could cast a killing spell. Tanya intentionally weakened her shields slightly to direct more of her power into the spell that she was casting. The noticeable weakening of her shields brought a fresh grin to the priest's face. K'san knew that victory was mere moments away.

  Tanya watched the priest intently as she moderated the power of her spell. K'san continued his magical assault, but there was a discernible rhythm to his attack. He paused for several seconds between bursts, as if willing more energy into each new wave of his attack. When she was finally ready to attack, Tanya waited until the priest's burst had completely spent on her shields. She quickly dropped her shields and directed all of her power in the spell that she had been holding firmly.

  With a flick of her wrist, the air in the temple suddenly burst forth with an energy as powerful as the mightiest of storms. Tanya directed the flow of the wind into the small cut in K'san's side and watched as the rock-like skin began to peel pack in both directions, widening the wound. K'san noticed the wind immediately, but he misunderstood the attack. Expecting the wind to attempt to topple him to the floor, he braced himself against the wall. It was a fatal mistake. With a force that could drive a myric quill through a stone wall, the wind tore the priest's flesh apart. As the pain ripped through the priest's body, he howled in anguish, but his suffering was short. Before the priest could react to the attack, the wind tore his body in two.

  Exhausted from the effort, Tanya leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes. For several minutes she remained motionless and silent. Unexpectedly, she felt something move on her back, and she bolted upright.

  "I thought you were dead," Bantam said sheepishly. "What was that?"

  "Just a spell," Tanya sighed with relief. "I thought you were dead, too. Perhaps that was good, or I might not have summoned the wind. How did you avoid getting caught up in it?"

  "You practically sat on me," frowned the little fairy. "When the lightning filled the air, my wings behaved erratically. I crashed to the floor. What happened to the priest?"

  "K'san is no longer a threat to us," declared Tanya as she rose to her feet and picked up Bantam. "I used the wind to kill him. We need to find out how the others are doing," she added as she walked to her sword and picked it up.

  "I was too late with my warning," Bantam reported. "The Rangers had already discovered that they were expected. Worse, I saw dwarves in the temple. They have disobeyed you."

  "No," smiled Tanya as she placed Bantam on her shoulder. "I sent Wylan to bring them in. Are you alright on my shoulder, or should I put you in the pocket?"

  Bantam flexed her wings and smiled. "I am fine now," she chirped. "Shall I go on ahead?"

  "Be careful," nodded the queen. "There is a still a black cloak on the loose."

  Bantam leaped into the air and disappeared into the darkness. The queen moved quickly, but cautiously, through the temple to the front room. She did not find any of the enemy present, so she headed back towards the stairwell leading upstairs. Climbing the stairs to the second floor, she noticed that the din of fighting had diminished to almost nothing. An occasional shout and a clash of swords could be heard drifting down from the uppermost floors, but the lower part of the temple seemed eerily silent. When she reached the second floor, she almost bumped into Wylan on his way down.

  "Is K'san dead?" Wylan asked.

  "Yes," answered the queen. "What of the rest of the battle?"

  "It is almost over," answered Wyman. "David and a few Rangers are clearing out the last of the clerics. We found the last black cloak and dealt with him. Did you cause the great wind?"

  Tanya nodded, but she became suddenly aware of a breeze blowing along the corridor on the second floor. She became curious and started to turn into the breeze to investigate.

  "You should wait here for the others," Wylan said with disapproval. "The corridors are not safe to travel along."

  "I still have my sword," the queen replied dismissively.

  "That is not what I meant," Wylan responded. "Your wind has destroyed a good bit of the temple. There is debris all over the place. All of the boarded-up windows were blown inward. You killed a fair number of the enemy by that act alone. Luckily, the Rangers and dwarves were in the corridors and not the rooms with windows. We only had to avoid doors being blown into the hallway, but those inside the rooms were badly smashed up."

  Just then, Prince Darok came up the stairs from the first floor. He bowed to the queen with a wide grin on his face.

  "You certainly know how to throw a party," quipped the dwarven prince. "My men have thoroughly searched the ground floor. It is all clear, and I have ordered them back into the tunnel."

  "Excellent," smiled the queen. "Were there any casualties?"

  "I have three men who were injured by flying debris," reported the prince, "but the clerics didn't harm any of them. I think most of the ones we met were too shocked to see us."

  "We lost two men," David Jaynes reported as he came down the stairs. "A few more are injured, but not seriously."

  "There are three more dead Rangers downstairs," frowned the queen, "and one who is unconscious."

  "My men have already removed them," announced the dwarf. "The unconscious one is no longer unconscious. He did not take kindly to being ordered into the tunnel with my men, but I convinced him that arguing with a dwarven prince would not gain him anything but trouble. Our healer is tending to him."

  "Thank you, Prince Darok," David nodded glumly. "This was not one of the Rangers' finest moments."

  "Nonsense," disagreed the queen. "We walked into a trap. The fact that any of your men survived it is a testament to their skills. We will need to meet in the morning to see if we can discover how K'san knew that we were coming, but that can wait for now. I want all of the papers in this building boxed up and taken to the palace, and I want it done before first light. The sooner we get it done, the sooner the dwarves can seal up the foundation."

  "We can start sealing the tunnel right now," declared the dwarf. "You no longer need the tunnel to leave the temple. The doors have been blown in. We can just walk right out into the street."

  "No," David Jaynes said forcefully. "I don't want anyone to know who was in here tonight, and I don't want them to know that we took papers out."

  "Everyone in Tagaret will know," interjected Wylan. "Who else but the Rangers could have accomplished something like this?"

  "I mean the individuals," explained David Jaynes. "No one needs to know that you and the queen were here. No one needs to know about the dwarves, either. If we
do have a spy amongst us, we need to control who knows what. It is the only way that we will catch the spy."

  "I agree," stated the queen, "but I am not sure that we have a spy among us. Until we know the true capabilities of the Zarans, I will not assume anything. We will remain guarded in everything that we do, but I will not suspect my own people until I have good reason to do so. Let's follow David's orders and evacuate through the tunnel as planned. Tomorrow we can begin to think about what happened here tonight."

  "What happened here is obvious to me," grinned Wylan. "A storm blew through this temple. Perhaps the real gods don't take kindly to imposters?"

  "Heck of a storm," chuckled the dwarven prince. "Storms like that are good reasons for people to live underground. Speaking of which, I am returning to the tunnel before the rest of this building falls down on us. Let me know when you want it sealed off."

  Chapter 31

  Balmak Unrobed

  King Arik sat in a chair in Fredrik’s room as Zalaharic worked tirelessly on the Royal Sorcerer. Niki slept fitfully on the floor, and the king gazed at her sympathetically. Unexpectedly, the elven healer stood erect and turned towards the king with a weary sigh.

  “He is an amazing man,” declared the elf. “The lightning strike should have killed him, just as the one during the siege of Tagaret should have, but Fredrik appears to have beat the odds once again.”

  “He will be all right then?” asked the king.

  “He will, but I do not understand why. Do not get me wrong. Fredrik was close to death. If you had not sent for me, he would not have survived, but I am still puzzled as to why he was able to absorb such energy at all.”

  “Fredrik always claimed to be a lucky man,” smiled the king.

  “Luck is surviving a deadly lightning strike,” frowned the elven healer. “Fredrik has done so twice now. There is something more than luck preserving his life.”

  “Perhaps there is,” conceded the king. “How long before Fredrik is ready to resume his duties?”

 

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