“These are to be his last breaths, My Lady. King Rengar will surely have us execute him.”
Faylen stood up straight and lifted her chin, her tone authoritative. “By the order of Queen Adilandra, this man is to come with me.”
The soldiers didn't appear completely convinced.
“But, My Lady… King Rengar will want -”
“Does King Rengar know he yet lives?” Faylen asked, looking over the broken man.
“Not yet. We were going -”
“You can present him to your king when we are finished with him. We believe he has vital information…” Faylen stumbled for the reason, aware that the Velians believed the war was over. “Vital information for the future of our alliance.”
The elf could see that this was a subject they didn't want to get in the middle of and she took advantage of their hesitation. With a single hand, Faylen grasped the back of Merkaris’ collar and yanked him in the opposite direction, dragging him at twice the speed of the soldiers.
Faylen threw the king of the north into the middle of the garden, his broken body sliding down the stone path. “He knows where Kaliban is…”
“You are sure?” Adilandra asked.
“Ye can't ask a dead man much!” Doran bellowed.
“He’s still alive,” Faylen assured them.
Glaide bent down and checked the king’s pulse with his only working hand. “How could he know where to find Kaliban?” the ranger asked.
Faylen hesitated, due to the source of her information. “Alidyr told me as much when we were stuck in the pit.”
“You can't believe a word that came out of that wretch’s mouth,” Tauren said. “His every word was venom and lies.”
Faylen shook her head. “He had no cause to lie. He mentioned it as an afterthought.”
“That,” Asher added, “and the fact that he never thought you’d live this long.”
“Exactly.” Faylen was thankful for the support.
Doran walked over to the king. “Let’s say he does know.” The dwarf kicked Merkaris in the arm, eliciting a quiet groan. “How do we get him to talk?”
“Tai’garn?” Adilandra turned to the oldest among them.
Using his crutches, the elder approached the king. “We don't need him to talk.” Tai’garn was assisted to crouch beside the king, where he laid a hand over Merkaris’ head.
“What are ye about?” Doran asked.
“Tis’ an old technique, master dwarf,” the elder explained. “I was taught by those who came before me shortly before the end of The Dark War.”
Merkaris grunted, his eyes detached. “I will… never tell you…”
Tai’garn closed his eyes and Merkaris’ broken body convulsed once, silencing the king. The ancient elf tilted his head this way and that.
The elder opened his eyes. “This technique has been used on him before… by Valanis. It has left his mind fragile and far too easy to navigate.”
“Does he know?” Reyna asked. “Does he know where Kaliban is.”
“The king of Namdhor has indeed been inside its halls.”
Adilandra gave Faylen a single look that lifted her spirits. In that moment, she could finally allow herself to see the good that had come from the horrors she endured in the pit and at the hands of Alidyr. Faylen had made certain that Reyna reached the docks and stopped the invasion, and now she had provided crucial information. She could only hope that it was enough to lend a decent night’s sleep.
“Where is it?” Asher asked. “How do we get there?”
Tai’garn considered his answer. “There is no way to walk in or out of Kaliban. It was made for those who wield magic and none other. It appears Merkaris was found by Alidyr, wandering the caverns beneath the pools.”
“So we fly…” Gideon said, looking to Ilargo.
“There’s no need.” Tai’garn gestured to one of the elders, who removed a small wooden box from within his robes. “I have seen Kaliban now. I can open a portal.” The box opened up to reveal a handful of sparkling crystals, all stored with magic.
“So what are we waiting for?” Doran banged the point of his fat sword against the stone.
“We?” Asher turned on the dwarf. “Only two of us need to go.” The ranger tilted his head towards Gideon.
“You’re not going alone!” Reyna protested. “Neither of you can open a portal to return.”
“That won't be a problem once I’ve been in the pools,” Asher countered.
“I will go with them,” Galanӧr said with his hands resting on his scimitars.
“As will I,” Nathaniel added.
Adilandra stepped forward. “I haven't come this far to miss the end of Valanis.” The queen raised her hand to silence the elders and the generals. “Should I fail to return, I'm sure your collective wisdom will forge ahead with the new age.”
“You can count on us,” Tauren tapped Doran’s armour plating.
“No,” Asher quickly replied. “Your people need you now more than ever, Tauren Salimson. Your task is a hard one, but I'm sure, Glaide, Doran, and Hadavad will assist you in any way they can…”
Doran’s expression foretold of the outburst he was about to unleash, but Glaide spoke before any curse words could leave the dwarf’s mouth.
“The folk of The Arid Lands will have our aid,” the old ranger said.
Hadavad spoke boldly. “We will see them ready for their journey home.”
Tauren was visibly torn by the paths laid out before him. The young man had fought what he believed was right his whole life. Now he had to choose.
Nathaniel confronted the southerner. “You’ve been fighting since you were a boy for your people. They don't need a fighter now. They need a leader, a leader with strong allies,” he added with a glance over the rangers. “Be what they need, Tauren. Live…”
Tauren slowly nodded. “You had better all come back.”
Doran harrumphed and plonked himself down on a stone stool. “Well, this is decidedly shit…”
Without warning, Ilargo shot into the sky, his beating wings blowing off the leaves from the trees. His flying silhouette quickly disappeared against the starry backdrop as the dragon headed west.
“Where’s he going?” Galanӧr asked.
“Vengora,” Gideon replied. “He’s not particularly happy about our chosen form of transportation.”
“Ilargo won't be able to help inside the caverns of Kaliban,” Tai’garn explained.
Gideon thumbed over his shoulder. “You try telling him that…”
“But he doesn't know where to go,” Adilandra stated.
“Once we’re there, he’ll find me.”
“Then it is decided,” Reyna announced. “We seven will travel to Kaliban.”
The queen raised her eyebrow again.
“There’s really no arguing with her,” Faylen said, scooping a crystal out of the small box.
“I will open the portal.” Tai’garn was helped to stand. “Perhaps you should all take a crystal… just in case.” Galanӧr, Reyna, and Adilandra took a crystal each, the only ones who knew how to use such magic.
Galanӧr naturally stood with Gideon, while Reyna and Nathaniel clustered around Asher. Faylen stood with her queen, ready to join them in passing through the portal.
Tai’garn stopped before he flung the crystal. “Despite what we know, I can see nothing but divine hands at work here. Fate has brought you all together, man and elf. If there are gods out there, listening to us, then I would pray that this alliance is finally enough to make our world safe again.” The elder threw the crystal into the open space in front of the railing, where the magic inside exploded. The portal ripped through reality, a circle of black against the horizon, its edges sparking with lightning.
Asher pulled free his silvyr short-sword and led the way, into the abyss…
51
The burden of destiny
Asher didn't need acute senses to feel the blistering cold that greeted them on the other sid
e of the portal. The wind howled, blowing everyone’s cloaks and hair in every direction. His sense of touch informed the ranger that he was standing on a slab of stone, and the breath in his lungs told him of their elevated altitude. The sounds bouncing off the rock built the picture of a balcony in his mind, the whistling wind rushing between the stone railing.
Everyone stepped out of the portal with their weapon of choice ready. Reyna pointed Adellum’s bow, covering every corner of the balcony, while Nathaniel kept Asher’s bow on the only door. Gideon, Faylen, and Galanӧr spread out with their scimitars in hand. Adilandra was the only one who had stepped through without a weapon, at least not one made of steel or wood. The queen of elves raised her hands, each one a glowing mass of flames and burning energy.
Asher kept his silvyr short-sword by his side, sensing the lack of any presence but their own. “Well, we’re not dead yet,” he said, making for the door.
Once inside, his new cloak fell to the floor again and his bones thanked him for getting out of the chill. The chamber was sparse but for a large bed and an enormous fireplace, which did its very best to heat the room.
“This is where he sleeps?” Reyna whispered. “I never thought of Valanis as being someone who sleeps.”
“For all his power,” Adilandra warned, “he is still an elf. Don't allow your mind to make him something more than he is.”
Asher sniffed the air. “He hasn't slept in here for days, maybe longer.”
Gideon sighed. “He must be in the pools…”
The group cautiously left the bedchamber behind and began their exploration of Kaliban. The stone corridors had an endless feel to them, with rooms that led to more rooms, each long forgotten. Torches lined the walls, their heat and sound acting like beacons for Asher’s senses. The wind always found its way in, howling through the hallways in its attempt to disorientate them. Every time he thought he had found Valanis’ scent, the wind blew through and redirected him. It didn't help that he was surrounded by six rapidly beating hearts and soft footsteps that sounded to him like a herd of sheep.
“This place is a maze,” Galanӧr observed.
Nathaniel displaced the air as he turned to face the ranger. “Asher?”
“It’s hard to say,” he replied. “My best guess is we keep heading into the mountain, but every time I pick him up we get sent down another one of these damn corridors.”
The group continued through the stone halls, checking every room they came across. It occurred to Asher that Valanis might have ways and means of avoiding detection, but the ranger couldn't think of any spell that could hide both scent and sound. He had to remind himself who he was hunting…
“Look at this,” Reyna called softly.
The princess was standing in front of a wall at the head of a T-junction. Asher could tell by the way her voice bounced off the stone that it was smoother than the wall around it.
“What is it?” Faylen asked.
Everytime someone spoke, the sound built a more detailed picture in the ranger’s mind. This particular slab of stone had been carved up to show what appeared to be a massive battle. Asher ran his hands over the carvings, taking in the details of the dragons and the fortress in the centre of the mural.
“It’s the First War,” Gideon explained. “The last battle between Atilan’s forces and the Dragon Riders.”
Reyna ran her hand over the mural. “Does Valanis know the truth about the gods, about Atilan?”
“I think not,” Adilandra replied. “I was only a child when he began his fanatical crusade, but I remember his preaching before it turned into war. Valanis believed the gods had once lived on Verda as we do, but they were banished to the heavens by the dragons. He’s always believed it was his destiny to bring them back.”
Asher didn't care much for the history lesson. Every word they spoke echoed throughout the halls of Kaliban, giving them away.
Other such murals decorated the walls, each telling its own story, but Faylen always put a hand on Reyna’s shoulder to focus the princess. Now was not a time to explore the relics of the past.
“Wait,” Adilandra said, frozen to the spot.
The group turned around to find the queen of elves standing in the middle of another empty junction with her eyes closed. Adilandra’s hand slowly lifted into the air, her palm outstretched.
“What is it, Mother?”
Adilandra’s eyes snapped open. “I can feel it.”
Asher joined the queen and focused his senses down the corridor they had chosen to leave. The ranger knocked the end of his silvyr blade against the wall and listened. The sound bounced off the stone as it ran down the hall until it changed at the last second. The difference was very subtle, but to Asher’s ears, he could tell the difference between stone and jagged rock.
“There’s a cave system at the end of this hall,” he explained.
“I can feel the magic of the pools,” Adilandra added.
As if they were one person, the group stopped breathing and their heartbeats increased. This was it and they all knew it. There would be no going back after they entered the cave.
“Destroy The Veil as quickly as you can,” Asher reminded Gideon.
“Make sure you keep hold of that gem,” the Dragorn replied.
The seven companions crept through the hall and into a cave network pitched in darkness. Faylen produced an orb of light to guide those without any Nightseye elixir in their veins.
“Does anybody else feel that?” Nathaniel asked cryptically.
“Yes,” Galanӧr answered. “I feel strange…”
Asher could feel it too. The further into the cavern they journeyed, the more pronounced the strange feeling became. The ranger felt it more keenly than the others, however, due to his sensitive inner-ear. His every step didn't feel right, as if the ground wasn't, in fact, the ground.
“This is definitely not right,” Reyna announced.
The princess was standing upside down on the ceiling of the cave.
Gideon took an explorative step before skipping up the wall to join her. “I have seen magic like this before, in Dragons’ Reach. We must be getting close to the pools.”
It wasn't long before the glow from the pools washed against the ranger’s face. The pools felt alive to Asher, who could hear the unusual crystals within. All thirteen of the pools moved gently, as if each was a miniature ocean, only the water was solid and liquid at the same time. The cavern that housed them was large, the space supported by a series of random, natural pillars, dotted with stalactites.
The companions moved deeper into the cavern.
“I see it now…” Valanis’ voice came from everywhere, halting the group. “For eons, my kin have considered our grace, our very nature to be what sets us apart from man. But I see it now, in you, Ranger. That drive, the tenacity, the reck-less-ness… There really is no difference between you and me.”
The dark elf slowly emerged from the pool in front of them. The armour and mask were gone, replaced with clean, dark robes, a contrast to his long, blond hair and pale face. Asher could hear the elf’s skin crackling with energy over what sounded like the coursing rivers of his veins.
“You have come here to kill me,” Valanis continued. “But even now you fulfill divine words by bringing me that which I have sought for over millennia.” The dark elf focused on Gideon. “I am not evil, as you have been led to believe. Give The Veil to me and I will see you all die without suffering.”
“They’re not real gods!” Reyna blurted.
“Reyna!” Adilandra warned.
“Listen to your mother, child,” Valanis said. “Blasphemy is not permitted here.”
“It’s true!” Reyna continued. “They’re humans, all of them. They came first and they made us; that’s probably the only thing you’ve ever been right about.”
Valanis laughed. “Is that it? What a master of lies you are, Princess. You still have a way to go, however, if you’re ever to compete with your father. Now there’s
an elf who truly lost his way.”
The ranger had heard enough. He charged at Valanis with his silvyr blade held high and a roar on his lips.
“Stop!” Valanis raised his hand and a wave of fractured light washed over Asher and the others.
The ranger stopped, hearing the gasps and groans of his friends behind. They were as still as the rock that surrounded them, almost. Asher’s senses could still detect the slow movements of their limbs and weapons. Reyna’s fingers had released her arrow, but the projectile had yet to leave the bow it moved so slowly. Galanӧr and Faylen were in the middle of raising their scimitars while Adilandra and Gideon had the earliest sparks of a spell forming in their palms. Valanis flicked his fingers and a crystal was torn free from the pocket of every elf and abandoned on the ground.
“There will be no leaving, I'm afraid,” Valanis continued casually. “I applaud you for your efforts, not just in your accomplishments since meeting the princess, but even before. Adoption into Nightfall isn't easy, especially for an Outlander, so wild and free. You have stood against more than most men and had the skill to survive it. That's the difference between a legend and a hero.” Valanis sat down on the edge of the pools and stroked the surface of the crystals. “West Fellion, Syla’s Gate, Velia… I can see why they would consider you.”
Asher didn't care for much of his words and understood even less. The ranger was using the time to plan his attack, predict Valanis’ counter-attacks and strategise his own counters. Until he could reach one of the pools, magic was off the table, leaving them to close combat. For all of his experience in the world of fighting, Asher suspected he was still no match for the ancient elf sitting before him.
“Have you seen it, Ranger? Have you seen how this is going to end? What will be your first move? How will it make me move and how shall I defend myself? You might appear to be more than just a man, but you are a man none the less. I can see the cogs working behind that blindfold.”
Asher had the advantage of not having to look in order to see his surroundings. The dark elf was expecting him to attack with the blade in his hand, so the ranger wouldn't attack. From the sound and warmth that poured out of the pools, Asher knew that the pillar to his right was the only thing between him and the nearest source of magic. If he charged Valanis and altered his course at the last second, he could dive into the pool and change the game.
Relic of the Gods: (Echoes of Fate Book 3) Page 46