The Pool And The Pedestal (Book 2)

by Daniel McHugh

  The assassin turned and faced the stunned party far above on the Hold’s rooftop. It slowly brushed the dust from its black suit and removed the wands from the folds of the cape. Cefiz kept the bow drawn and stared down the arrow’s shaft at the black figure that meticulously arranged itself. Who was this being? So confident. So nonchalant. So full of purpose. The Guardsman let the bow go slack. Like his opponent, Cefiz wouldn’t waste his efforts on a futile chance.

  The black figure looked to the rooftop once more and nodded to the Guardsman. Cefiz returned the nod. The assassin spun and disappeared down the alleyway.

  CHAPTER 5: FLAME OF THE SERAPH

  The steady stream of recruits entering the hallway drew Ader from the yard. He overheard that recruits cornered an assailant on the roof and determined that situation to be well in hand. However, an intruder in the hallway might find its way to Kael. Where in heaven’s name was the boy? When the alarm sounded, Ader’s entire group of traveling companions, except Kael and the giant, spilled into the hallway. Ader and Manfir headed east, while Teeg dashed to the north door and Flair and Eidyn to the south. Ader didn’t discover Kael in the yard so he sent Manfir back to check the other unoccupied rooms in the southern hallway. Perhaps the boy moved in the evening to avoid Flair’s snoring.

  Ader stepped purposefully through the chaos of the yard. As he approached the center hallway a recruit staggered from the Hold’s interior clutching a broken arm.

  “Bring some longbows!” cried the recruit to his comrades. “You can’t get near the beast with any other weapon!”

  Several recruits snatched longbows from the rack and ran past Ader to the hallway’s opening. Concern filled Ader. He turned to the injured recruit.

  “What manner of beast do your compatriots corner in the south hall?” demanded the Seraph.

  “A Keltaran madman!” shouted the wild eyed recruit. “He’s taken some boy hostage and crippled a dozen good men, including the prince!”

  Ader whirled and broke into a sprint, an action he hadn’t performed in at least two centuries.

  Kael staggered to his feet heaving. The muffled cries and crashes from the hallway beyond the door were unmistakable. A battle took place just beyond that door. Kael hesitated. Could he help, or should he stay put? Granu expended a good deal of energy to get him in this windowless cavern, and the giant certainly didn’t want Kael out in the open.

  The boy gingerly touched the bridge of his nose. His hand sprang away as a wave of pain shot through him. He looked a mess. The swelling on his nose and around his eyes was pronounced. Blood dried and caked on his face from the cuts across his forehead. More shouts erupted in the hallway and the crazed bellow of Granu’s deep rumble followed them.

  The true nature of recent events aligned in Kael’s haze filled mind. Someone tried to kill him! The figure on the roof lay in wait for him, and he gave it the perfect chance. If not for the amazing reactions of Granu, he would be lying on that balcony with a crossbow bolt sticking from his chest. A shudder ran through his body.

  His hand slid across the gashes on his forehead and met chunks of broken stone stabbed into the skin. Kael winced and carefully pulled the painful shards from the tender wounds.

  How had he been saved? The giant must have heard the same sharp twang as Kael, but as an experienced fighter, Granu knew from whence it came. The Keltaran lowered a shouldered and barreled into Kael in order to knock him from the path of the deadly missile. Unfortunately, Kael reacted to Granu’s force and tried to twist from its path, only to turn his face in the direction of the balconies stone balustrade. He must have caught the edge of the banister directly across his nose. The boy laughed to himself. Better to break his nose than be the recipient of a crossbow bolt.

  Kael moved back to the door and listened to the roaring of Granu. Whoever these attackers were, there were many. Hopefully his father was unhurt. Perhaps the recruits staged a counter attack to retake the hallway. If Granu could just hold out, maybe they would be saved. Where was Ader? His powers were needed now! Kael wondered how he could help the giant. He reached over and opened the door a crack.

  Granu stood several yards to the right of the doorway spinning a pike handle like his staff. Green garbed recruits ..... attacked the giant! What went on here? Granu had protected him from the black figure on the roof! What were these recruits doing?

  Kael stepped into the hallway behind Granu. The boy tried to shout over the din of the battle but found his efforts useless. Granu fought with a fever pitch and drove his attackers further down the hallway.

  “I trust no one!” roared the giant. “Away with you!”

  The barbed pike hooked the pant leg of a nearby recruit and ripped his feet out from under him. Granu quickly spun the pikes handle into the recruits ribcage and knocked the breath from the man. A pile of injured recruits packed the hallway in front of the giant and hampered those trying to reach the Keltaran with their weapons.

  Cries and shouts rose up from behind the force of recruits. Granu paid them no heed, but Kael blinked in surprise. Several recruits with longbows entered the hallway and attempted to fire upon the giant. Their fellows in the front rows unwittingly blocked their line of sight in the tight packed hallway. This problem would soon be remedied however as recruits began to understand the gestures and calls of their compatriots and drop down or retreat along the hallway’s walls.

  The first shot was an awkward thing over the heads of the battling recruits. It harmlessly snapped off the hallway ceiling above Kael. However, the corridor rapidly cleared and Granu became vulnerable. Kael desperately tried to shout over the noise and explain what befell him in the yard. It was useless. He panicked. He needed to stop this. What should he do? What could he do?

  A recruit fired. An arrow tore through the black robe of the giant. Granu howled in rage as the arrow’s shaft protruded from his thigh. The remaining recruits realized what happened and moved from the archer’s pathway. Kael stepped from the doorway and screamed at the recruits. The archers drew their bowstrings. Kael stepped to the giant’s side and held his hands out screaming for the archers to stop. The boy was desperate. Granu saved his life and would lose his own due to ignorance and prejudice.

  “STOP!” commanded Kael.

  The archers fired as a blue sheet of flame swept across the hallway. Arrows snapped off the wall and fell ineffectually to the ground. The recruits near the front of the crowded hallway clawed and scrambled to retreat from the flame. A wild eyed Granu roared and advanced on the wall, oblivious to danger. The archers now held a clear shot down the hallway and notched more arrows in their longbows. The blue wall faded and tattered into wisps of light. The archers drew back and took aim as Granu staggered forward.

  “NO!” shouted Kael.

  The wall sprang to life once more and sent a shock wave of intense blue light surging down the hallway. The blue light swatted the archers backward and sent them sprawling to the ground. It knocked over those in retreat. Injured men lay in piles clogging the hallway.

  The blue wave disappeared upon contact with the men, but Kael stood encased in a glowing sphere of light. The boy felt lightheaded, almost detached from what happened. He knew what the wave accomplished, but didn’t feel as if he witnessed it. Instead, it was as if he became the blue light and his body remained behind while he knocked the archers from their feet. As Kael tried to gather his thoughts and comprehend the strange sensations, a howling Granu staggered past him advancing menacingly toward the fallen recruits with pike in hand. A voice promptly rose above the din.

  “Child of Awoi! Calm yourself!”

  Granu rumbled forward. The boy had heard of the battle fever of the Keltaran beserkers, but he could never have believed this. Granu completely ignored the gushing wound on his leg. Other wounds on the giant’s arms and body soaked his garments, but Granu remained oblivious and bore down on his enemy.

  “I will not allow you to injure anyone!” called the voice calmly.

  A wall of green
fire sprang up between the recruits and the advancing giant. The huge man seemed confused as he glared through the wall. His chest heaved from exhaustion.

  “You protected the boy. He is safe.” said the voice soothingly. “He stands behind you, virtually invulnerable to all attackers.”

  Granu’s chest slowed and the giant glanced over his shoulder at Kael. His eyes softened and his shoulders slumped. The giant heaved once more, then dropped to his knees before the green wall.

  Several of the recruits stumbled to their feet and moved toward the wall. Through the green flicker Kael could see the image of Ader moving past the injured men.

  “You recruits return to the yard.” said the Seraph calmly.

  They glanced at one another then continued staring at the giant.

  “You heard Lord Ader.” barked the familiar voice of Brelg from the hallway’s end. “Grab your fallen comrades and get to the yard.”

  All heads spun toward the old sergeant as he rounded the corner of the hallway.

  “That Keltaran saved a Zodrian life today!” snarled Brelg. “In your prejudice, you attacked the one man in this facility practicing vigilance! Get to the yard and I’ll be there shortly to sort out how those on guard duty allowed an intruder into an impenetrable fortress!”

  Many of the recruits hung their heads and helped their injured comrades to their feet. When their numbers thinned, Ader waved his hand and the green wall dissipated. The Seraph moved to the side of the giant and helped him sit against the stone wall. Brelg rushed past the pair and approached Kael.

  The boy stood motionless in the center of the hallway. His outstretched hands sputtered and crackled with blue flame. His big, round eyes remained focused on the area where he had materialized the wall. Kael felt as if he were lightly floating there now.

  “Kael?” whispered a Brelg. “Son?”

  Ader finished tending to the giant and propped him against the wall. The Seraph walked down the hallway and stopped in front of the boy.

  “Let it go!” commanded Ader. “Draw yourself back in, my boy.”

  Slowly, Kael took command of his senses. He allowed his mind to release the blue flame.

  “Take a deep breath.” suggested Ader calmly. “Lower your hands.”

  The boy did as told. The blue flame flickered and went out. Kael blinked. His head and shoulders fell forward. Brelg reached out and caught the boy in his strong embrace.

  “Are you all right?” asked his father.

  “Just a bit lightheaded.” replied the boy rubbing his eyes. “I ... I need to sit down.”

  Brelg immediately shouldered the boy and pulled him into the nearest room.

  “I’ll see to our injured prince.” stated Ader moving down the hallway toward Manfir.

  Brelg used one hand to keep Kael standing, and with the other he stood one of the chairs upright. The boy immediately dropped into the chair.

  “How’s that lad?” asked the father.

  “Much better.” replied the son.

  Brelg stepped to the corner of the room and filled a drinking ladle from a bucket placed there. He returned to the boy and helped him take a long draw on the cool water. Kael nodded reassuringly to his father and smiled. The sergeant returned the smile and rubbed the boy’s mop of black hair.

  “You worried me there, boy.” said Brelg. “I thought they might have gotten to you. Cefiz tells me they would have, if not for the giant.”

  “He saved my life.” said Kael rubbing his tender brow.

  “You look a sight boy.”

  “I’ll be all right.”

  A roar of pain echoed down the hallway and an instant later Teeg ran into the room carrying a bloodied arrow. The Elf quickly looked about and his eyes settled upon the bucket of water. He ignored the father and son and rushed from the room hefting the sloshing bucket before him.

  “I don’t envy the man dressing that wound.” stated Brelg.

  “Nor the Elf who drew the arrow out.” replied Kael.

  A moment later Eidyn struggled through the door with a woozy Manfir leaning heavily upon him. The Elf prince moved toward the table, and Brelg retrieved the second sprawling chair. Manfir fell into the chair and the Elf inspected a large lump on the side of the Zodrian’s forehead. Brelg furrowed his brow and looked to the Zodrian prince.

  “I’ll be fine.” announced Manfir. “Tis my pride that’s hurt more than anything.”

  “Better your pride, than your sword sticking from my gullet.” came a rumble from the doorway. “Or an assassin’s bolt in the boy’s chest.”

  The group turned to see Granu limping into the room. The giant’s shredded robe glistened with sticky, wet blood. The Zodrian prince glared at the Keltaran for a long moment as Eidyn approached him with a cool, wet towel.

  “Many thanks Eidyn, but look to the true hero of the day.” began Manfir, standing and pointing to Granu. “I was but one of the fools on the stage today. Running about like a hen with a fox in the house.”

  Manfir pushed the chair toward Granu and stood swaying unsteadily. The Keltaran nodded in appreciation, moved to the chair and slowly sat. Kael noted a bright crimson binding about the giant’s thigh. Teeg and Ader entered the crowded room and Flair followed. The young man carried strips of white cloth and a small jar. He moved toward the giant as Granu put up his hand.

  “It’s under control.” growled Granu. “I don’t need more attention.”

  Flair ignored his protests and knocked the outstretched hand aside.

  “I quickly plugged the bleeding earlier.” stated Flair. “But to truly stop the flow and begin to heal, I must redress the wound.”

  The southerner moved quickly. He untied the bandages about the giant’s thigh and stripped them from of the wound. The large triangular puncture in Granu’s thigh immediately welled up with blood. Flair dipped a strip of cloth into the nearby bucket and wiped the wound clean. Granu looked into the eyes of the company. All were focused on the wound as Flair pulled a bone needle from the sleeve of his tunic. The Southlander threaded the needle with a length of heavy thread.

  “What are you all looking at?” asked Granu. “We have an assassin to catch...”

  The giant clamped his teeth together as Flair stabbed the needle into the Abbot’s exposed skin.

  “The Keltaran is right.” announced Brelg. “I must direct my troops. I will leave Kael in the protection that has served him well to this point. Be careful son.”

  The old sergeant smiled at the boy and tousled Kael’s hair once more. He turned and stepped toward the door.

  “I will accompany you.” mumbled Manfir staggering forward.

  Ader put a hand to the Zodrian’s shoulder.

  “You can do no good now, Prince Manfir.” stated Ader. “The son of Grannak has seen to that.”

  Manfir stopped and glanced at the concerned eyes throughout the room.

  “There are hundreds of eyes scanning the city for the assassin.” continued Ader. “One more hazy set will add nothing to the search. Sit down on the bunk and lend your equally cloudy mind to our discussion.”

  Manfir looked into the Seraph’s eyes then nodded, walked to the bunk and sat.

  “Chimbre, Lilywynn and Sprig supposedly kept watch on the gates of the Hold throughout the evening.” said Ader to Teeg. “This assassin either fooled the children of Sprite or they abandoned their posts. I desire an explanation, Lord Teeg. Please attend to it.”

  The Elf Lord bowed and slipped from the room. Ader’s vision swept the dark cube and the Seraph made one last assessment of the situation. He spun to Kael.

  “Start from the beginning.” demanded Ader.

  Kael jumped in surprise, then took a deep breath and told his story from the moment he woke. Ader listened intently and his eyes narrowed at the mention of the black figure. When he seemed certain that Kael could add no more he turned to Granu.

  “You were out of your room?” asked the Seraph.

  Flair continued to sew the gash in the giant’s thigh.
Granu replied through clenched teeth.

  “I’ve never been partial to small spaces.” said the giant. “I planned to return before the bell called the recruits to their training.”

  “No hint of anything unusual? Any personnel about the yard before the bell’s call?” asked Ader.

  “Only the one called Cefiz.” shrugged the giant. “The anger of his prince drew him up before the bell.”

  “Where is Cefiz?” asked Kael.

  “He’s out combing the streets for this assassin.” replied Chimbre as the Sprite slipped through the doorway with Sprig and Teeg. “He and a group of recruits claim the assassin exited the building. Cefiz possesses the best description of the assailant’s height and size and is aware of its last known location. He will return shortly.”

  “And what do you have to say for yourself?” frowned Ader.

  “Nothing.” said Chimbre.

  “You’ve nothing to report?” scoffed Ader.

  “Oh, I’ll give you a report.” replied Chimbre. “But you won’t like it.”

  “Go on.” growled Ader.

  The Sprite rolled his eyes and sighed.

  “We watched the doors all evening. Brelg’s recruits never left their posts. No one entered and no one left.” said Chimbre. “Sprig relieved me, then I relieved Lilywynn several hours later.”

  Eidyn glanced at Chimbre upon the mention of Lilywynn. The Sprite noticed the look and pursed his lips.

  “My sister slipped into a guise and roams the streets hoping to overhear some news on this creature.” stated Chimbre as if in reply to Eidyn’s look.

  The Elven prince reddened and leaned over to help Flair dress Granu’s wound.

  “Is there any other way in or out of this facility?” asked Chimbre.

  “No.” replied Manfir sitting forward on the bunk.

  Ader stood staring at the wall with a faraway look on his face.

  “The situation may have grown extremely dangerous...” mumbled the Seraph to himself.

  The room went silent save for the croaking of Flair's thread as it was drawn through the heavy hide of the Keltaran.