by Tom Rogal
Neeza decided to try and be bold. It was actually bothering the Garchai leader that he wouldn’t tell him anything. He had to know.
“What is it about me that has you curious, all wisest Zondiir? Is it that I have knowledge of the magical properties around you that normally only elves can feel? Do I scare you?”
“I fear nothing!”
Zondiir stood up smashing the bottom of his scepter on the ground. Higalmos, who had approved of everything up to this point, shook his head.
“Why do you provoke him as such when you know he will kill you for it?” asked Higalmos.
Neeza answered, “I was under the impression that we were going to die whether we were respectful or not.”
“That much is true, but at least it would have spared you a few more minutes of life. That is only when we truly appreciate how our lives are, at that moment when death is certain.”
“And is this how you plan to live the rest of your days? Help us escape and I swear to you I will lead you back to your people so you can live the rest of your life like a normal elf should,” asked Neeza.
Higalmos stood up near the angry Zondiir and chuckled. The mage leader began to wonder what was so funny.
He finally explained, “An enticing offer. But even if I were to escape, the call of the relic would drive me back. It is . . . too late for me. As far as help, there is nothing I can do for you. You have chosen a quicker death over a much delayed one. It is in Zondiir’s hands now.”
The Garchai leader smashed his scepter on the ground once more, causing the rest of the Garchai to become restless.
Vindar said, “Neeza, if you have a plan, you better start it with much haste. The natives are growing restless.”
That was an understatement if he ever heard one. Twelve Garchai advanced toward them slowly, all equipped with maces, spears, and swords. Unfortunately, he didn’t find a way out of here. They were stuck.
In Neeza’s mind, Zondiir yelled, “We shall feast on your blood! When we do, your taste will become one with ours. Get them, my followers!”
The Garchai gave a blood chilling screech. He truly didn’t want to do it, but he might have to perform one of the forbidden spells. If he was going to die here, he was going to take as many of the hell beasts with him. He was certain the gods would find it a just cause to use it. If for no other reason than to wipe that sadistic smirk off of Higalmos’ face would make it worth it.
Thankfully, an answer presented itself before that became an option. About half the Ettui force came charging in, pouncing on the nearest Garchai. It was trying to shake them off by reaching over his back, but they proved elusive. By the gods, he never thought he would see the day when he would be happy to see the Ettui.
Zondiir yelled, “Nui’gwa llala’jhi sufara! Mor’kui Ettui!”
The other Garchai began to charge at the incoming Ettui ranks. Neeza quickly grabbed Vindar as they began to run toward the wall and away from the fight. He had seen enough combat to know when it wasn’t his battle. The Ettui were providing the perfect distraction.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Higalmos jumped in front of them with a sword in his hand pointed at them. The elf looked mad; the craziest stare he had ever seen one give, followed by a demented giggle that matched it. This must be what he meant when he talked about the Relic influencing him.
Neeza ordered, “Step aside.”
Higalmos laughed and said, “I told you that you wouldn’t leave here alive. Zondiir will be upset that he won’t get your taste, but order must be restored. Prepare yourselves!”
The elf charged forward as Neeza yelled, “Vindar, now!”
Vindar chanted, “Lightima Ghorma!”
A bright light stopped Higalmos as he had to cover his eyes. Neeza took this chance to disarm the elf with a spell of his own. He kicked the loose sword out of the way as the elf fell to the ground. Neeza walked over quickly to retrieve the amulet before Higalmos could recover from the spell. When the light spell dissipated, he stood up.
Neeza said, “You are right. You cannot be saved. You were wondering who we are? We are mages and damn proud of it. Firammii morza!”
The spell hit Higalmos right back into the middle of the skirmish between the Ettui and the Garchai. Ettui bodies were lying everywhere, but amazingly they had been able to take down some of the Valendritaii as well. He tried to stand up. He had to tell his master what they were dealing with. He only made it a few steps when he felt cold all of a sudden. He looked down to see a blade sticking out of his chest. So, death was finally coming to him. At last he was free. The relic could control him no longer.
Neeza and Vindar stayed only long enough to see Higalmos’ death. The Ettui who slayed him went on to battle the Garchai. He did hate to do that to the elf. On the inside, he knew he was being led against his own will. But the power of the Relic had corrupted him too greatly. If anything, it proved that they had a strict time where they could examine it. After that, it had to be disposed of.
Vindar finally said, “We should hurry, the Ettui forces are dwindling. Won’t take them long to notice we are missing.”
He was right. They had their path of escape, so they had to take it. Once this Ettui force was defeated, it would be only time before they were found. Neeza nodded and led them down a hall that was too small for the Garchai to travel. He had to find the Relic. He could feel it. It was closer than it ever was before. They just needed a little more time.
As the last of the Ettui forces were defeated, Zondiir turned his head down at the scene, letting a long breath out. He could taste the blood of the Ettui as well as a few of his own kind. He also tasted another anomaly. This was elf blood, and there was only one elf that was allowed to live on this rock. Those spawns of hell! They kill his pet Kyroselip and now the only connection to what they used to be. All the invaders would be found and their blood spilled from their bodies until they were dry.
Zondiir yelled in the common tongue so that even their captives would hear them, “Find the blasphemers! Kill them! Kill them all!”
12
Neeza led Vindar down the various hallways; trying his best to let the power of the Relic guide him. They could hear voices behind them, but they knew that the Garchai were too small to fit in the halls. Granted he was certain that they had ways to get to almost anywhere in the mountain, at least in the tight halls they would be safe.
Vindar asked, “How much further? The echoes make it sound like they are nearby.”
Neeza honestly didn’t know. It was amazing to him that the Relic seemed to be pulling from every direction the closer they inched toward it. It made it that much harder to know what the right way was. The big disadvantage they had was that the enemy knew their target. The Garchai could very well be waiting for them there. Then again, maybe the Ettui’s involvement made them more enticing targets rather than the mages. Zondiir did go after the Ettui first after all when he could have eaten any of the three.
As they advanced forward, they both noticed they were going downward. They were moving in the correct direction, but how much further down would they have to go?
They proceeded deeper, both growing more worried as the rooms were getting noticeably bigger. The rooms were almost large enough to hold a solitary Garchai in it. It made sense, though. If what Higalmos said was true, the location of the treasure would be heavily guarded. In order to do that, the rooms would have to be large enough to accommodate its defenders.
Hallway after hallway, room after room they travelled. He felt like they were going in circles. Despite that, the power of the Relic was growing stronger. Oh yes, it was. He could feel it begin to tickle at his nose. A strange sensation, but one he was beginning to enjoy.
Vindar commented, “By the gods, these rooms look all alike. Are we lost?”
No, my dear boy. They weren’t lost. He had a guide leading them straight to the prize. It wanted him to find it. He was destined to be the one to take the blessed artifact fro
m its resting place after all these years. How else could he explain surviving the experiences he had? It was destiny, my friend. It was destiny.
He snapped out of his trance when they heard movement coming from a side hallway. The room they were in was like the others, but had pillars and statues of unidentified elves on the top if them. At least they had hiding spots in here. Most of the rooms were wide open. He grabbed Vindar, and they concealed themselves behind two pillars. The footsteps were getting closer and he was certain he heard voices.
Vindar asked, “What should we do?”
Neeza said, “Do the same as we did with Higalmos. Whatever is walking down here must have eyes. You blind them, and I’ll finish the rest.”
Vindar nodded as they waited. That was the hard part, the waiting. They could definitely hear voices, more than one. It was spoken softly, so it was hard to determine what was being said. It had to be the Ettui. That was the same strategy they were employing earlier. Vindar began to prepare his spell, but Neeza stopped him.
“Not yet. They’ll see your spell from behind the pillar. Wait until they are in the room, and then fire.”
Vindar negated his spell and continued to listen. The voices were getting closer and much clearer. It almost sounded like the common language, but just because of that he knew he couldn’t assume they were friends. He knew the Ettui understood the language and even a few of them could speak it fluently. A light could be seen coming from the hallway.
Neeza whispered, “Count to five and then go.”
Vindar gave a deep breath,
One.
His hands began to sweat. Even though he shouldn’t be nervous with what they experienced, the reality that death could occur at any time was enough to keep that feeling strong.
Two.
The light was getting closer in the hallway. They could almost make figures out of the shadows splashed against the wall. Definitely humanoid, but again, the Ettui could walk bipedal as well.
Three.
Vindar tried to relieve the stress by moving his fingers to keep them loose. That wasn’t working, either. His thoughts then returned to Condarin. She was somewhere in here. He wanted badly to be with her again. He didn’t know if any of the mages fell with her, but he knew at least for the moment she was safe as he could feel her life force. Neeza had said he wasn’t going to leave without the Relic. For Vindar, he wasn’t going to leave this mountain without Condarin.
Four.
The voices were very audible now. He almost believed there was a female voice mixed into the chatter. Despite that, Neeza began to gather the life particles to cast a fireball spell.
Five.
Vindar leapt out and was prepared to fire a light spell into the air. His spell thankfully never left his hand as it was friend, not foe that walked from that hallway.
“Gerran!”
Neeza had already negated his spell. He had to hand it to these kids. Their spell control and decision-making was incredible. All of them. It seems that added curriculum he passed over a hundred years ago was beginning to reap its rewards. At least three times on this mission alone did their control avoid friendly fire.
“Vindar! Neeza! By the gods you’re safe! Guys, come here!”
Out of the hallway stepped Dyenarus, Condarin, and Haldirin. Vindar instantly ran to Condarin as they embraced. Knowing she was safe put much ease to his heart. Haldirin and Dyenarus walked up to Neeza and they shook hands.
“Well done. Glad to see you all in one piece.”
Haldirin commented, “We could say the same for you.”
Neeza laughed as he asked, “Do you know of the others?”
Haldirin and Dyenarus explained to Neeza what Gerran had told them about Lindaris and the group. Neeza shook his head, but said nothing. Not that he needed to. His action spoke louder than any words.
Haldirin asked, “What about Captain Mimerck?”
By this time, Vindar and Condarin had rejoined their group. Neeza had no idea about the fate of their captain. He knew he fell down the same hole as them, but Vindar made no mention of him when he woke up.
Vindar explained, “I’m not too certain. As we fell, there was a split in the paths. Neeza and I fell down the right, Mimerck must have fallen down the left. He wasn’t in the cage when we exited the tunnels.”
Haldirin asked, “Cage?”
Neeza put a hand on his protector’s shoulder and said, “We have much to catch up on.”
Neeza and the group travelled together again, with Gerran back in the lead. He told them how he followed the Relic’s power to the location they'd met. That eased Neeza’s heart that he was indeed going the right way. Why he doubted it was another thing. The feeling was not going to lead him astray. As he always believed, it wanted them to find it and rescue it from its Garchai captors.
Likewise, Neeza and Vindar told them about Higalmos and Zondiir and what happened before the Ettui interfered. They were shocked to hear that an elf had survived in the mountain that long, but not so surprised when they told them that it was willing to die for the Garchai and the Relic in the end.
Dyenarus, the more she heard about their target, the more she hoped they didn’t find it. She couldn’t tell for sure, but she was becoming more convinced that the object was pure evil. It seemed all who went near it eventually succumbed to its strong urges. She hoped no one in their group would be so unlucky. She decided then and there to keep a close watch on everyone. If she noticed a change in behavior, she was going to have to take matters into her own hands.
The person she was most worried about was Gerran. He had been allowing his senses to follow the strongest urges of the Relic so that he could lead them to it since they landed on these islands. The closer they got, would the influence it had on him be strong enough for him to betray them? She thought he understood the risk he was taking, but it didn’t seem to bother him. He had a job to do, and he was going to see it through to the end.
Condarin and Vindar were hanging around Neeza, mainly because he had begun to limp. When he told her about the ankle, Condarin jumped into her role as the medic. That was a funny thing she noticed about mages, purebloods at least. When they chose a role, it became their life’s work. Condarin was most likely talented in other things. But when a situation arose, she would instantly put on her White Mage cap and get to work efficiently and with excellent results. She even displayed a sense of humor, as was evident when she worked on Lindaris earlier.
She guessed that was true of all mages, including Lindaris. It was something she would never experience as a half-mage in hiding. She was toying around with a suggestion Haldirin had for her moments before they re-connected with Neeza. He suggested she tell Neeza her secret because he would not be angry, but thrilled to learn of what she had accomplished. He joked that he would probably coronate her before they even left the mountain, he would be so impressed and thankful. But could she trust even him with that information? Haldirin made what the mages called a blood promise. It was when one swears on the blood of their kin that they will keep a secret or else the gods could very well take those very relatives he swore on. It was nothing to take lightly. If Neeza made that same promise with her, then maybe she would consider it. She doubted he would do it with his only daughter, though. Then again, with what she heard about him encouraging her peers to make fun of her just so she would learn magic, anything was possible. She trusted Divi more and she had never met her.
Gerran suddenly stopped everyone, saying, “Hold on. Something seems strange.”
Their navigator began to slowly move forward. Dyenarus tried to see what was ahead, but the only odd thing she could see was a large metallic object lying on the floor. After a moment, Gerran signaled them over, but refused to enter the room. As they arrived, they could see why.
The room was filled with fallen Garchai, so freshly killed that their blood was still seeping on the floor from their wounds. From what Dyenarus could count, there had to be at least twelve of them. Haldirin mo
ved forward and began to examine the room, looking up and down the walls and ground.
Neeza asked, “Gerran, please tell me you had something to do with this on the way to finding us.”
“If I did, would you be impressed enough for me to get your instant recommendation?”
If it were true, that would have been a guaranteed recommendation. However, it was not even close to being accurate and both knew it. They were never even near that part of the mountain. Haldirin knelt down examining a wire and some footprints. Dyenarus began to look around curiously when she noticed something strange hanging from their leader’s robe pocket.
“Neeza, what is that?”
He saw her point to the amulet that he had grabbed off of Higalmos. He had forgotten he had it. Not that it appeared he needed it. No one here seemed remotely affected by the Relic’s power.
Neeza said, “It was something we found. You can have it.”
He tossed it to Dyenarus, who barely caught it not expecting the throw. Vindar gave a concerned look as he moved over to her. Condarin joined them out of curiousity.
Vindar whispered, “We didn’t just find it. That amulet is supposed to suppress the power of the Relic so that one could tolerate it and not be driven mad. That elf, Higalmos, wore it.”
Dyenarus replied, “And he just gave it to me without an explanation or anything. Vindar, Condarin. I hate to have to say this, but I think we need to keep an eye on those three up ahead. I want to be wrong, but don’t you see that as odd behavior?”
Both couldn’t have agreed more with her. As much as they hated to have to keep a watchful eye on their own, Neeza’s willingness to pass the amulet on knowing what it can do was enough. Condarin was the last to agree, but did so under Vindar’s reassurance. Dyenarus put the amulet on and walked toward Haldirin.
“What have you found out?”
Haldirin saw her and said, “Mostly theory, but one thing I know for sure is that the Ettui are responsible for all twelve of their deaths. I’m seeing thin, but strong metal wire everywhere that was broken. These are made in the classic Ettui design. I think these Garchai stepped into a trap.”