by Oxford, Rain
My father was a cruel ruler who only did what was best for himself and never hesitated to put his servants at risk, but he never put me at risk. For all his faults and even his hatred and disappointment for me, he was protective of his only child. After all, I was supposed to be king when he stepped down, and carry on his objectives. My father was not as powerful as Dylan, but he was ruthless and knew his magic very well.
Behind us, Vivian screamed.
Chapter 4
Edward
It may have been the cold that woke me, or the splitting headache. My first response was to pull my blankets over me, but instead of soft covers, my fingers found cold, wet stone. The gravity was slightly stronger than Duran’s. Opening my eyes was painful, and it seemed my right eye was sticky with blood. The room I was in was slightly blurred, but I could easily tell it was a cell. The walls, floor, and ceiling were roughly cut dark red stone that was damp in most areas and in front of me were bars, just slightly too narrow for me to slip through. I was only wearing a loose, thin pair of light brown pants. I felt around for nominal energy but the only energy to found was pulsing from the walls too faintly to use; the stone must have been a type that absorbed nominal energy. Even my stored supply was fading slowly. I slowly climbed to my feet and pulled at the bars, but they didn’t bend nor break.
Instead, my efforts attracted the guard’s attention. The guard was a small creature of no more than four feet tall, though his wide width made him look even shorter. He was bipedal and had relatively the same shape as sentient beings, like sago and humans, but his skin was rough and dark brown. He wore a dark green tunic with light brown pants and curl-toed, dark brown boots. On his short fingers were sharp black claws. His arms were long for his body and his shoulders and neck were broad. His chin and nose were very flat while his head was round. Behind thin, blue lips bent in a permanent snarl were small, sharp, stained teeth. His eyes were beady and black, showing suspicion and frustration. Slightly higher than on a sago or human were his ears, which were long and slightly folded like a feline’s.
“What you doing, sago?” he inquired in his high voice. He spoke broken Lilat, and I was so glad I bothered to learn it. Unfortunately, he stopped about four feet in front of me, though his smell was so ghastly I would have backed up involuntarily had he come closer.
“Sir goblin, will you please come closer. I have something to tell you and my voice is broken with dryness,” I said in Lilat. Lilat was a language with grammatical rules very similar to English and vocabulary that sounded similar to Modo.
He sneered even wider. “Foolish other-worlder. Me not stupid as you thinks.”
Possibly because of their skin, goblins are highly resistant to magical manipulation. Still, it was not impossible and with the stone consuming my energy, reserving it would have been pointless.
“Perhaps not, but I have a secret. Unless you believe I can hurt you, come closer so I can give you this secret and you can give it to your boss for a reward.” As I said this, I used my remaining energy to convince him. It was very difficult to get through to his simple thoughts, but it helped that every goblin was essentially the same; every goblin wanted money and their egos were easily preyed upon. The little creature looked very confused, but as I pushed my power over him with urgency, he stumbled forward.
When I grabbed his arm he started to thrash and scream in fear. “Let me go! Help!”
His arm flexed with his powerful muscles, but I held firm as I searched his pockets for the keys. Goblins always had many pockets full of various things. My search turned out sticks, bones, coins, moldy bread, a ruby, a small plaque of wood, and a troll tooth. Finally I found the ring of four keys. I set them aside, but didn’t release the goblin. I didn’t have enough energy left to make him sleep, but I didn’t want to kill him. Fortunately, before I had to do anything harmful, he passed out from fear and air. Goblins were cave dwellers and sucking in enough air to scream was too much for him.
I let him slip to the ground and put the key in the lock. I had to jerk the key several times but it was the right one, and soon the lock unlatched. The bars scraped loudly on the ground as I escaped my cell.
The chamber was fairly large and dim with a heavy wooden table against the opposite wall, on which was a loaf of bread, a red fruit of some sort, and a large knife. To my absolute relief, my bag was lying on the stool next to it and a quick check revealed that everything was intact.
There was a cell next to mine, and two perpendicular to them. Across from that wall was the only door. All of the cells were empty except the one beside mine, in which a man stood, watching me.
He looked like any sago except for his complexion. He had short, dirty blond hair, cold blue eyes, and pale skin. I sniffed the bread and it smelled fresh enough. I went over to the guy, keeping out of his reach, broke the bread in the middle, and held out half. He took it slowly, then backed away and started eating it.
“Do you speak Lilat?” I asked. Unlike Duran, Kahún had many languages, but I only knew Lilat.
“I speak Tzoku,” he answered in Lilat.
Tzoku was the universal language, but the dialects could be so different they sounded nothing alike. Every world had at least one form of Tzoku. The fact that he knew what Tzoku was meant he either traveled the worlds or was close to someone who did.
“What dialect?”
“Many, but I’m best at Sudo,” he said fluently in Sudo.
That was suspicious. “How do you know Sudo? It’s a Duran dialect. What’s your name?”
“Relax, I am not a traveler. My mother was sago and she traveled many of the worlds. Did you kill him?” He indicated the goblin.
I looked at the dirty creature. “No. He’ll wake up any time.”
“Let me out of here.”
I ignored him, went back to the table, and took the knife. It had a horrible blade. No sword, no magic, and a sorry excuse for a knife. I needed some clothes, but I was not likely to be able to buy some here, or even find some to steal.
I looked back at the man, leaned against the table, and ate the bread. Whenever my brother was in a mess, he would sit back, act relaxed, gather information, and wait for a plan to come to him. “What are you in here for?”
“I’m a smuggler. I was smuggling some documents, and not even in their territory. The goblins attacked me and searched my shuttle. I had some information on King Unis that they didn’t want reaching the Underground.”
“So they sent you underground?”
“They figured a goblin wouldn’t care, and also, I told them I hadn’t read it. I’ll tell you what it said if you let me out.”
“Not a chance. I don’t get wrapped up in politics if I can help it.” I finished off the bread and started for the door. As I passed him, he panicked.
“Wait! I have a photographic memory! I saw the maps! I know how to get to the surface.” That made me stop. When I turned to him, he advanced on the bars. “I know the traps in this place. I know ways around cave-ins.”
“I don’t need to get to the surface. Do you know where the Stone of Iodus is?” I asked.
He frowned. “The Troll King’s Heart? It’s not exactly something they put on a map.” I started to turn. “I know someone who would know!”
I paused and considered him. His pants were caked in dried blood and mud and his hair was matted a little. He was naturally wiry, but not malnourished, so he couldn’t have been in that cell for more than a few weeks. His desperation to get out made it difficult to tell by the look in his eyes if he was telling the truth or not. “Why should I trust you?”
“Would you really leave me here? I know the way,” he begged. I sighed, picked up the key, and unlocked the man’s cell. “Thank you,” he said as he stepped out. “I am Cylo.”
“I’m Kiro. Let’s go.” I went to the door, turned the knob, and pushed.
“Quiet,” Cylo warned. “We’re in goblin territory. Great hearing and terrible personality.”
He stepped out in fron
t of me into the stone hall. There was a torch every twenty or so feet. After looking around for a few seconds, he turned to the left and motioned for me to follow, and we hurried down the hall as quietly as we could.
After only about ten minutes, we came to a corner. Cylo moved without hesitation but I grabbed his arm to stop him, earning a curious stare. “Two goblins are coming,” I whispered. He couldn’t hear them, but I had much better hearing.
“We can double back and go through the second turn off.”
“No time. Are you good at fighting?”
“I can handle myself. I get the short one because you have the knife,” he bargained.
I nodded. We only had to wait a few minutes before they came around the corner. The short one was identical to the goblin guard, and I had faith that Cylo could at least keep him out of my way. The larger one looked much more like a threat; he sported more muscle than fat and instead of raggedy cloth, he wore chainmail.
* * *
“So, what were you locked up for?” Cylo asked. I had to tell him to be quiet again. “No one will hear us; everyone is asleep now.”
“I want them to stay asleep.”
“And I want to know I am not helping a murderer,” he insisted.
The man had been helpful in the battle against two goblins, but his mouth was going to draw many of them right to us. I sighed. “You are hardly being helpful. I am searching for something.”
“And they threw you in jail because they did not want it found?”
“I am from Duran and the people of Kahún dislike us. However, deep in the heart of these mines is the Stone of Iodus. I need it to find someone who can help me.”
“You are going to summon a demon to help you? I think I should have stayed in the cell,” he said.
I nodded. “You should have. Go quick, there is still time to get back.”
But he still followed me. I did not blame him because we were currently creeping through tunnels which were completely black and partial to collapsing. These were the abandoned trade tunnels; built to trade jewels and food between cities. I was most worried about the rumor that the tunnels were abandoned not because the poor structure, but because the shadows kept eating the traders.
Finally, we found light seeping in through a partially collapsed doorway. We were just able to squeeze through, but had to step back into the shadows when we saw the sleeping guard. While it was probably not currently guarding, I didn’t want to be seen as a threat, because this was not a goblin guard.
“What is that thing?” Cylo asked loudly.
I instinctively tried to do a silencing spell on him, but there was no energy to use. No magic. And yet, I was facing a creature I would fear battling if I were at full capacity. A creature that should not exist.
The beast was about twice the girth of a man and nearly as tall if it were standing on four legs. It had the head, wings, and talons of an Earth eagle, and the body of a majestic lion. It was a griffin; a beast extinct on Earth and never meant to be anywhere else. Tiamat had created it as a companion to those in power, but found them to be more trouble than they were worth. In fact, she made them too perfect. Like the shark, they were the perfect predator, or guard, as they were. They had to be exterminated. But here I was, staring right at the magical beast.
Something was wrong… very, very wrong.
The room we found ourselves in was a library, which I would have loved to explore in a different situation, but that was not a wise plan. I nudged Cylo to the door and we left silently. Outside were halls, lit well with torches. That was not to our advantage, as this was goblin territory. While we could see, we could be seen.
“Where are we going?” I asked. “You are leading me to the person who knows where the stone is, right?”
“Yes. I have a friend who knows the location of every historical treasure, especially magical artifacts like that. She’s in a small village right outside the king’s city. What was that creature?”
“Above ground?” I asked, ignoring his question.
“Yes. Most people do not like living in the dirty caverns,” he insisted.
I had to contemplate how long it would take to make it to the surface, track her down, get back into the under cities, and find the stone. I didn’t have that much time left.
“You didn’t think the Troll King’s Heart is underground, did you?” he finally asked.
I looked at him. “The trolls live underground, why wouldn’t the stone be there?”
He laughed. “The troll king does not live underground. Since you know nothing of this world, I should probably inform you that the troll king has demon guards. You will not take the power source easily.”
“Just get me to the person who knows where the stone is and I will take the rest of the journey alone.”
“No,” he said. “I will help you get to him and defeat him, but I need something from the troll king myself.”
“And what would that be?” I asked. “Trying to raise your own demons?”
“I want to get back something they took from me. Something very important.”
* * *
Cylo turned out to be very useful after all; he knew a way to the surface without having to pass the goblins. It meant taking some bad tunnels, unfortunately. While Cylo talked unnecessarily and relentlessly, I tried to tune him out. Dylan liked to talk a lot, but he usually had something clever or humorous if not helpful to say.
I wondered where Dylan was, what he was doing. He would know by now that I was missing, but at least I could trust Divina to take care of him. When Rasik came to me for help, I wanted to run back to Dylan and make sure he was okay… But Dylan really didn’t need me. He was an adult now, in a relationship with a goddess. He tried to hide it from me, but I knew he discovered some magic on his own, magic far beyond the skill of any other Guardian. It was time to let him go. There is a line between aiding and holding him back and I was starting to cross it.
Still… he was more like a son to me than an apprentice, and isn’t that confusing. I couldn’t stand most of my children. Oh, I have lied and said I am unaccustomed to their needs, but in truth, I just do not like being a parent.
It wasn’t that I disliked children. Every child I had was because the mother or Erono demanded it. A baby relies on their parent entirely for the first four years of their life. They never do things that make any sense and they cannot be reasoned with. Teenagers were fine, but they wanted nothing to do with me by that age. Then when they grew up, they complained because I did not spend enough time with them.
Dylan was already an adult when he became my apprentice, but just barely. He acted like my brother did at his age, and looks extremely similar, but he is my brother’s son. With my brother gone, it was my job to teach him and protect him. As long as Divina was with him, Dylan would be fine.
We came to an incline plane of rocks; remains of a cave-in. At the top, there was a small body of water. We were in a cave with a wide open, sun-filled mouth, and the smell of salt told me that there was an ocean nearby. Stalactites hung from the mouth and looked like large teeth. Surely Dylan would have had something to say about that.
It took us a short time of walking carefully along the rock ledge to clear the cave. Outside I could see the island, which was basically rock cliffs with large white buildings built into the side, and quite a few windows.
“Is the person we are looking for on this island?” I asked. I took a small cloth out of my bag and a small, glass bottle of water to clean all the blood off myself that I could. Cylo was at least presentable enough to go into the city.
“No. We will need transportation. I have been to this land a few times, so I know where to go. However, they took all of my money.”
“I still have some in my bag, but it is Duran money; I doubt it will be accepted. The first thing we need to do is find me a shirt,” I insisted. “Boots would be nice as well.”
He considered my lacking attire and smirked. “I am not sure we will actually nee
d money.”
We trekked slowly through pathways in the mountain until we entered a vibrant city. And by vibrant, I mean colorful and alive. There were people everywhere. The center of the city was a small canal, where small, thin boats littered the water. People cluttered on bridges that looked like they were made of nets. These bridges stretched from building to building, as the buildings were all thin, flat-walled, and at least twenty stories. The walls were the main source of color, seeing that each and every one of the hundreds of different structures was a different color. Windows and glass doors were the only things lacking color, and most of those were covered with paint and décor. On the bridges, people were selling fabrics, clothing, jewelry, foods, and more.
We walked along the very narrow walkway until we got to a door. This door led to a room filled with short stalls. There were also stairs going up on either side of the building. We pretty much walked building to building, floor to floor until we found a small store that sold clothes.
The woman sorting clothes looked around Dylan’s age, which I knew rarely meant anything. Magic could retain youth, or reduce it, depending on how skilled the wizard and how he used his talent.
She turned to us and smiled. Her eyes were a very appealing rust color and her hair was long and dark blue. While that was not a terribly common hair color on Duran, I would be shocked if the people of this land were less colorful than their homes. Her shirt hung off her shoulders, seemingly fashionable. It was dark gray with what looked like paint splatter of every color on it, and she had a wide gold belt wrapped around her waist. Her skirt was short, tight, and color-splattered, too. It probably would have been camouflage outside.
I walked up to her, purposely invading her personal space. “Hello. Do you speak Lilat?” I asked, my voice rough and quiet.
“Yes,” she answered. I smiled and she shivered.
“I need a shirt,” I said.
She looked down at my chest, but did not step back. “Yes.”