Brinks In Time:The Legend of Valendri's Relic

by Tom Rogal

  The smell was a mixture between rotten food and decomposing corpses. There was nothing evident to justify the hideous scent. They covered their noses as they moved to the next room.

  They froze at the sudden noise behind them. It was definitely footsteps and they were coming their way. Haldirin signaled for the students to be ready, pointing down the hall. The footsteps grew closer.

  Once again, the three mages were very glad they hadn’t cast their spells. Control was one of the first things taught in a mage school, right after the first fireball. Each mage cancelled their spells, relieved to see a familiar face among the dark crevices of the mountain.

  “Gerran!”

  “That’s what I know before we got separated.”

  Gerran told them all about what happened from the drop up until the wall as well as his uneventful journey in the dark until he found them. Haldirin listened attentively as Gerran explained the events, not showing any emotion. Dyenarus had to shake her head when she heard about Lindaris’ actions. She knew he hadn’t completely grown up yet. Even after all those talks, he still didn’t understand.

  Haldirin finally commented, “I’m glad to hear you guys were safe. It is quite disturbing to hear of this dissention. I would have hoped that with our experiences it would have matured everyone.”

  Dyenarus commented, “Obviously, not all of us have.”

  She stood up and walked toward the other side of the cylinder room. Haldirin watched her until she sat down before he excused himself. Staring at the wall, it was obvious to him she had much on her mind.

  “Mind if I join you?”

  She looked up as Haldirin didn’t even wait until she answered. He sat down next to her just as if he had been invited to do so. The prized pupil from the School of Illusions was hiding things from them. It was something he noticed the moment he met her back on the dock of Myyril. He was certain Neeza had felt it too, but with the mission deep on his mind he didn’t think to ask her more about it.

  She shrugged and said, “Go ahead, I guess.”

  He could tell she was trying to avoid him. What sort of secret could she be covering? If he was going to figure it out, he was going to have to be tactful. Dyenarus was a strong woman who didn’t let people dictate what she was supposed to do.

  Haldirin, instead of inquiring about what happened back with Gerran, asked, “I'm sorry to pry, but I overheard your earlier conversation with Condarin about Lindaris. Believe me, I realize he has many shortcomings at this point in his life, but I'm still puzzled. Why would you never even consider him to be an option for possible further relations? To have a Black magic user such as Lindaris, and his potential, would be the dream of mostly every female mage. He also comes from a fairly respectable family.”

  A long way for him to ask the simple question it was, but it got a smile out of her. Not being direct was sometimes the best way to go.

  “Well, I’m not your typical female mage, as I’m sure you’ve noticed.”

  Haldirin continued, “Yes, you are very skilled at your craft. Something tells me that there is more to you than just that. You can tell me.”

  Dyenarus gave a quick look over to Condarin and Gerran. They were too engulfed in their own conversations to care with what they were talking about.

  She said, “There is, but how can I trust you?”

  It must have been quite the secret if she even doubted his trust. His curiosity was never higher. There was only one way he saw that would get him the answers he sought.

  Haldirin stated, “I promise on the life force of my wife and child, that I will keep your secret safe, and this conversation will not go beyond us unless you want it to.”

  Dyenarus took one more look at the other mages before saying, “I would never go out with a guy like Lindaris because we are too different.”

  That was it? That was her secret? That she just felt they weren’t compatible? No, there was more to it. He began to think about what she said and look beyond what it could mean. After what seemed like minutes, his eyes opened wide. No, it couldn’t be.

  Haldirin asked, “Dyenarus, you’re a half-mage, aren’t you?”

  Her silence was all the answer he needed. Incredible!

  “This is most shocking, but also enlightening. How did you get your birth past the Kittara?”

  “You know my mother, right?”

  Haldirin knew her very well. Her name was Fionna. She was a superstar in terms of Illusion magic. She was even a finalist to go to the last Elvish Games 24 years ago. She didn’t end up competing because Neeza felt it necessary that the ones representing Myyril should come from the Black Magic School. She was quite beautiful and unbelievably skilled.

  Dyenarus continued, “My mother, when she was visiting in the border towns, met a human male who she grew smitten with. One night, she had snuck out and made love with this man. When she found out she was pregnant, she knew it was the human’s child, so she spoke to Dinermar. Afraid that his greatest pupil would lose the one thing she loved most, she and him cast a potent Illusion spell, making the birth, my birth, seem like that of a regular mage. As you know, if the Kittara don’t take the child at birth, they won’t know unless the secret is made public. That is another reason why Dinermar suggested I volunteer for this journey. If I can graduate with a signed acceptance of the highest honor by our leader, then I would be untouchable by the Kittara. To answer your question, I can’t ever date a mage because they would find out, if not during our relations, then when I gave birth to child. It wouldn’t be fair to me or to them.”

  That was most interesting. It went all the way up to Dinermar. It was just incredible that they were able to outsmart the Kittara. Previous to the knowledge he just gained, there had been many attempts to mask the birth of a half-mage by their parents. They all failed, of course. But they never had to deal with two extremely powerful mages doing it. Neeza would be interested. If this was true, perhaps he could use it against the Kittara to demoralize them and weaken their power.

  Haldirin asked, “But how did your mother help? Females temporarily lose their ability to use magic during childbirth.”

  She was reluctant to answer, but seeing as she had already gone that far with him, might as well tell him about her other dark secret.

  “They discovered there was a Dark Magic ability that allowed a woman to use her spells even when bearing a child. She loved me so much that she was willing to dabble in Dark Magic to protect me. That is why I have an interest in it. I want to know if their using it at my birth might have some . . . side effects on me later.”

  Haldirin couldn’t believe it. Why would Dinemar risk so much for one person? If anyone discovered that they performed Dark Magic, he would have been expelled from the council and Fionna with him. He understood why Fionna would do it. A mother would do anything to protect her child, but what did Dinemar have to gain?

  Dyenarus gave a heavy-hearted plea, “Please don’t tell anyone. I love the School of Illusions. If the other schools found out I would be exiled. The same with my mom. And who knows what they would do to the Honorable Dinermar.”

  He smiled and said, “I promise. Your secret is safe with me.”

  He patted her on the shoulder as she smiled. He wasn’t sure how he would keep this secret away from Neeza. He had been looking forever for a way to consolidate the Kittara’s power. If he could use her to prove that the Kittara are becoming ineffective, then he could convince the public to possibly even disband them entirely. When the time came, he would need to ask her for her permission to tell Neeza what she told him. Until then, he was a mage of his word. He would keep her secret as long as she would allow him to.

  Suddenly, they heard a soft chanting coming from the distance. Condarin and Gerran heard it too because they stood up and joined their friends.

  Condarin asked, “It’s the Ettui, isn’t it? That accursed chant?”

  “Yes, and they’re coming from that direction. The direction we need to go.”

  Haldir
in asked, “Why do you say that, Gerran?”

  “Because the power of the Relic is stronger going this way. That is what was leading me this way until I found you.”

  That wasn’t good. That meant that the Ettui were ahead of them. Haldirin figured they were at an advantage because they most likely knew where it was located. They were primarily relying on Gerran to lead them because none of them could sense its power as strongly as he did.

  Haldirin said, “If that is the case, then we have already fallen behind. We must find a way to regain our lead on them. Can you lead us to them so we can see what we are dealing with?”

  “I wouldn’t be any good at my work if I couldn’t. Let’s go,” said Gerran.

  They travelled for about thirty minutes through winding hallways and empty rooms before finally coming to a large room that had makeshift tents made. The mages hid behind a fallen rock pile and began to observe the situation.

  “That’s not good,” commented Condarin.

  No, it definitely was not. There had to be at least three hundred Ettui soldiers camped out, apparently working on a sealed door to the north. Just by the bluish glow it emitted, he assumed it had an elvish spell attached to it. As this was close to half his force, it must have been one of the most direct routes toward the Relic. How they were going to get through, that was going to be a challenge.

  “No, but at least we now know a potential path to the Relic.”

  Dyenarus asked, “What good is it if we can’t get that door open? It looks like they are having trouble.”

  Haldirin added, “It has an elvish seal. We won’t be able to open it. That path next to it might lead us somewhere, but how we are going to get to it is beyond me.”

  Condarin asked, “Dyenarus, can’t you cast an invisibility spell on us? You are advanced enough to do it at your class, right?”

  She replied, “Group invisibility is tricky because it would require me to get internal life particles from every person I’m making invisible, which makes the act borderline into the entry of Dark Magic. The longer the invisibility lasts, the more desire the caster would get. I could kill you all if we stayed invisible long enough, not to mention I’d be going down a path I don’t want to even step foot on.”

  Invisibility was always considered the most dangerous spells a student in the School of Illusions could perform. It wasn’t so bad when you had to cast it on yourself because the internal life particles are borrowed then returned, never fully used. When having to cast it on others, she was correct. If she did it wrong or for too long, she could unwittingly kill them because it involved constantly using another person’s life particles. Why they haven’t banished it yet like most of the Dark Magic spells was beyond him. Spells that dangerous shouldn’t be taught in their schools. Being what he just learned about her birth, he didn’t want her casting anything that might sway her affiliation toward their God of Death.

  Haldirin replied, “I won’t force you to do it, either. There has to be another way. This place is full of paths to get to the same location. We just have to find the right one. Let’s go.”

  The mages began to go back the way they came. Condarin, when she moved, knocked a piece of rock off accidently. It bounced toward the Ettui camp. The other mages turned around and froze. The nearby Ettui noticed the stone and stared at them.

  “Maginiias. Maginiias!”(Mages. Mages!)

  Haldirin commented, “That’s our cue. Run!”

  Everyone followed his advice. Haldirin cast a spell on a pile of rocks nearby hoping to slow them down for a few seconds. Other than causing some ancient dust to fly in the air, it did nothing to slow the enemy’s progress. They began to sprint down the halls as fast as they could. Their staves were rocking on their back holster, hitting the back of their boots. He couldn’t tell how many were following. He thought he counted twenty, but it was probably triple that knowing the Ettui.

  Finding Gerran had been a godsend. He seemed to know which way to go while also using tricks to throw off their scent. Telekinesis was a powerful tool to mages who could master it. Neeza may have condemned his daughter for not continuing her studies, but there were few stronger than her in it. When they reached the bridges, he instead went to a hall facing north.

  Gerran explained, “This way! This leads to the edge of the caverns. Might be able to find another route toward the Relic.”

  Dyenarus and the group listened as they followed. She felt they could have taken that small group that was pursing them. In those halls, their superior numbers would mean nothing. They could just fire their spells at them, and they would eventually be destroyed. Haldirin, as she was learning, was a cautious man by nature. He would rather evade and run than fight to the death. She was like that before the trip. That’s what she got for spending too much time around Lindaris.

  Just as Gerran had said, they were back in the recognizable plain and unfinished halls of the outer layer. These service tunnels were much darker than the other ones because there were fewer air pockets. It took a few minutes, but they finally reached the lighter edges of the tunnels. Gerran headed east, believing their pursuers would continue to track them to the west. They could hear the Ettui behind them, but still they had a considerable distance on them. Passing a northern outlet, they continued east.

  Gerran stopped suddenly, almost getting bowled over by the rest of the mages.

  Dyenarus shouted, “Better warning next time!”

  It was then they noticed the Ettui pack coming toward them. Either they knew a different path to get that far or it was yet another group that they had the unfortunate luck to run into.

  “Go toward that northern outlet. Fast!”

  Dyenarus led the charge as they turned around and sprinted back. The Ettui pack, ten in number, noticed them and began to give chase. As they turned down the north path, they could feel the strong breeze hitting their face. Although it felt good, Dyenarus also knew what that meant: This was an exit to the mountain.

  At the end of the path, her theory was correct. There was a large hole in the wall, probably one of the few made this obvious. When they reached the edge, she could see why. Nothing laid before them but a steep and dangerous hundred foot drop to the forested base of Mount Hrithgorn. One had a great view overlooking the northern island of the Simorgan Chain from here, but that was all it could serve.

  Dyenarus yelled, “Damn it! Dead end!”

  The Ettui could be heard coming from the entrance of the northern path. In less than a minute, they would be on them and they had no place to go but down.

  Condarin asked, “Now what? No place for us to hide here.”

  Hide . . . that was it! She looked to her right and saw the smallest of floor. It was going to take casting a spell that she hadn’t tried with a group before, but at least it was safer than casting invisibility on everyone.

  “I need you to go to that sliver and look scared.”

  Gerran commented, “Look scared? No problem there.”

  Haldirin asked, “What’s you plan?”

  “No time to explain. Just do as I say. Trust me.”

  The Ettui were nearly on them. They were so close that they could see the scared looks on their faces and the tears flowing off Condarin’s cheeks. They could almost taste their blood as they began to sprint harder toward them. At ten feet away, they leapt to tackle their prey.

  To their surprise, they passed right through them and began to fall out of the mountain. When the tenth Ettui was sent plunging to the ground below, Dyenarus negated the copies she made of them.

  The mages stepped out from their hiding spot amazed at what just happened.

  Condarin said, “That was weird. When they passed through us, I could almost feel them.”

  Dyenarus explained, “Because technically they were passing through you. I made life particle copies of you by using your internal life particles. Unlike invisibility, where I need to absorb other life particles, copies allow me to borrow your internal life particles and return them
once the spell is done. It’s much safer. Good work acting scared.”

  Gerran added, “Who said anything about acting?”

  They laughed as they waited a few moments to be sure no other Ettui were coming.

  When they confirmed it clear, Haldirin finally said, “Okay, let’s go. I don’t think those were part of the ones chasing us originally, which means there is another entrance somewhere. So let’s move.”

  They returned back to the main tunnel and continued going the way they intended to before the Ettui interrupted them. It looked like there was another path, but that wasn’t what caught their attention. About fifteen Ettui were lying dead on the ground, nearly all of them with their skin melted on the floor. The smell was horrible.

  Dyenarus bent down and once again saw strange footprints. Whatever that thing was, she didn’t like. Luckily for them it was finding the Ettui first, but she knew that it was only time before it would discover them.

  Dyenarus evaluated, “Tracks go that way, continuing down the outer tunnels.”

  Haldirin looked down the path. They could see the trail all the way down until it went around the curve. He looked over at Dyenarus and the others.

  “Well, as the footsteps go that way, let’s go inside this path here.”

  10

  MIMERCK

  Mimerck seemed to be wandering for hours. Despite falling down the same hole as Vindar and Neeza, he ended up falling down a separate hole that split off during the drop. It wasn’t a soft landing, either. The only reason he was alive was because the end was only a few feet from the floor. It was also completely dark, so for the first thirty minutes he laid on the ground cursing and unable to see anything. When he came more to his senses, he composed his thoughts and cast a light spell. The rooms he dropped in were frightening, and he had been to some of the scariest taverns on all of Gyyerlith.