Valley of the Ancients: Book Three of the Restoration Series

by Williams, Christopher

  On top of the food Flare placed his blanket. It was drier than his clothes. Finally, he rolled up his damp clothes and placed them in the pack. Then he closed the pack's flap and tied it down tight. With any luck the clothes wouldn't get any more wet than they already were. When he emerged from the cave later today, he could put the clothes back on and they should finish drying in the sun. The only problem was that he didn't relish the idea of running into any more of those creatures and having to fight them completely naked.

  He also tied his boots to the top of the pack. They would get damp from the waterfall mist but if he wore them they would be completely soaked from crossing the river.

  With everything packed and ready to go, he pushed his way through the bushes, muttering curses as the thorny plants found touchy areas of his body. Once he was free of the bushes, he strapped Ossendar to his back.

  When he reached the riverbank, he stopped and looked around. He guessed the sun had been up for maybe a couple of hours, but it was still blocked from view by the surrounding mountains.

  He shivered once more in the morning chill and sighed at the thought of the frigid water. Wanting to get this over with as soon as possible, he started forward.

  Despite his desire to cross the river as quickly as he could, Flare moved slowly and cautiously through the ice cold water. The riverbed was covered in rocks of all sizes. Most of them were smooth without any sharp edges or points. Still, he took his time getting across. In addition to being smooth, the stones were also extremely slick and he was barefoot.

  There was another reason that he moved slowly besides safety. The water was breathtakingly cold. He could see the snow on the mountain peaks and knew this had to be runoff from where the snow melted on the mountain side. It wasn't just cold it was painful. He had to inch his way into the water and every time the water touched a dry part of his skin it was like a searing cold burned into him.

  At the deepest point, the river came up to Flare's chest but with the rushing of the water even his face got wet. He nearly cried in happiness when he realized the river was getting shallower.

  He emerged from the river and jogged toward the waterfall, being careful to watch out for stones and rocks. He was soaking wet and didn't see any reason to dry off and then have to get wet again.

  He slowed down as he neared the edge of the waterfall. The mountain bulged out slightly giving him some shelter from the pouring water. He inched along the side of the mountain trying to stay out of the falling water. It was harder than he had thought it would be. The cliff was wet and extremely slick and he had to walk through water that came up to his knees. Just a foot to his left the water pounded down relentlessly. He carried his pack with his right hand, trying to keep it as dry as possible. It was extremely difficult as the falling water threw up a mist that covered him and everything around him. He groaned as the sight of drops falling from the sides of his pack.

  Finally he was through and stepped up several feet to the cave entrance. It was wonderful to be out of the water and he quickly moved forward, wanting to get away from the mist as well.

  "M ~on. m the sideag Il-lum." Flare said, due to the rather poor amount of light that reached into the cave. A ball of light sprang into existence and floated in the air beside him. In actuality it was so much more than a cave. The entrance resembled something like a rounded off triangle and was huge. At its widest point it had to be nearly thirty yards across and the top of the entrance another twenty to thirty yards above him.

  Flare moved forward into the dimly lit interior. Everything was covered with water. There were pools of water scattered around the floor and he kept slipping on the wet rock.

  The cave narrowed quickly and he began to have doubts. Perhaps the cave wasn't anything but a naturally forming cave. But why did the locals call this place the Valley of the Ancients and think that this valley had something to do with the Dragon Order? And he didn't even want to think about those statues.

  Abruptly the cave opened up again, this time into a cavernous room. Flare stepped forward amazed. Undoubtedly, this was naturally formed. The walls and floor were uneven, and much to his surprise it was much drier this far in.

  He took another step forward and felt a sharp pain digging into the bottom of his foot. He cursed and staggered backwards. He hopped for a moment as he inspected the bottom of his foot for a cut. Luckily there wasn't any, but there probably would be a bruise. He glanced down, so that he could avoid stepping on that sharp rock again, and paused. It wasn't a rock after all. It was a bone and it looked like a man's bone.

  The ball of light shot forward and flew low over the ground. The floor was littered with bones. Most of them looked to be animal bones, but here and there human bones could be seen.

  His first thought was that he had stumbled into the den of the creature that had attacked him yesterday. It probably was a good bet. His second thought was what if there were more of the creatures in here. He quickly transferred his pack to his left hand and drew Ossendar with his right. He started forward again. It was hard going between trying to watch where he placed his feet and scanning the walls and ceiling for winged monsters.

  Despite his fears, no monsters attacked him. He slowly crossed the cavern and he spotted another gap in the cavern wall. As he was heading for the gap, something caught his attention. He paused and looked to his left. The floor was still littered with bones and such, but there was something else. There was a small pile of what looked to be old rotten clothing.

  Flare hesitated a moment and looked around. "Might as well," he said aloud, immediately wishing he hadn't spoken. Even the small amount of sound echoed.

  He stepped over and poked the pile with Ossendar. It was old clothes, probably from the creature's victims. There was more than just clothes, though. He rooted around for several minutes. There was an old rusty sword in the mix which was definitely not worth keeping. He also turned up a broken knife handle and several miss-matched boots. The last thing he found was a small pouch, about the size of a man's hand. It was made of leather and looked to be in good condition. The back of the pouch had two small loops, probably so the pouch could be worn on one's belt.

  With his curiosity piqued, Flare picked up the pouch and turned it over examining it. It was made of plain leather with an ordinary buckle to keep the cover closed.

  He undid the buckle and put hand in the pouch. There was a blinding flash of light, the room began s ~ on "48pinning, and he blacked out.

  Chapter 14

  Flare hit the ground hard and he groaned. He felt light headed and was afraid he might be sick at any moment. He rolled over onto his back and groaned again. Even though he was sore from the fall, at least he didn't seem to have broken anything.

  He lay there for a moment with his eyes closed; enjoying the feeling of the cool stone blocks on his skin. His eyes popped open. Blocks?

  Forcing himself into a seated position, he swallowed several times to keep from being sick. He looked around taking stock of his situation. The cavern and it's bone covered rough floor were gone. He was in a dark man-made room. The lighting was dim and he couldn't see where the light came from but he could feel the magic in the air. The room was rectangular, longer than it was deep, with high ceilings. The walls and floor were made out of the same thick brown stones and the room was completely empty of furnishings or decorations. The only things on the floor was Flare's pack and Ossendar, both of which had slid away from him when he fell. A single archway led from this room to another similar room beyond. A woman stood in the arch, barely illuminated in the poor light.

  Tensing up, Flare seized control of his spirit and yanked Ossendar to him. The blade flew across the air but stopped several feet from his hand. He turned to stare open mouthed at the woman, who he now realized must be a sorceress. She had to be keeping Ossendar from him.

  The woman stepped closer, moving into the light. She was forty or so but attractive, only some small wrinkles at the corner of her eyes betraying her age. Her
hair was long and brown, and in this light her eyes looked like pools of night. She wore a white silken dress that drug the floor behind her; the sleeves stopped just below the elbow. She smiled down at Flare.

  "I am not your enemy," she said simply and released the sword.

  Ossendar flew at Flare and he fumbled but somehow managed to catch it by the hilt. Climbing to his feet, he suddenly remembered that he was still naked from crossing the mountain river. He tried not to think about it and pointed Ossendar at the woman. His safety was of more importance to him than his modesty. The woman's eyes met his and then she studied him, starting with his head, working her way down to his ankles, and then back to his head. Her grin widened and Flare felt his face growing hot.

  "My name is Diana and it's a pleasure to meet you." Her tone was firm, this was a woman used to being in control.

  He did not lower Ossendar. "Where am I and how did I get here?"

  "You are in my castle," she hesitated, "or perhaps I should say that it is your castle now."

  Flare's forehead wrinkled in confusion. "I do not understand."

  The woman nodded. "I will be glad to explain, but it is not a short explanation. Would you like to put on some clothes first? And perhaps I could explain things to you while we eat. It is time for dinner after all."

  Dinner? Where in the name of the abyss was he? It hadn't even been noontime in the mountains. He was fairly sure that he had only momentarily blacked out when he touched the pouch; he had not ~ wokemet his been out for hours.

  He slowly lowered Ossendar until the tip touched the stone in front of him. He started for his pack and then stopped. Diana was still watching. Clearing his throat, he held up his right hand with the index finger up and he spun the finger making a circle in the air.

  Still smiling, Diana turned her back to him while he pulled on his damp clothes. He strapped Ossendar to his back and slid the pouch onto his belt.

  "What is your name?" Diana asked, still keeping her back to him.

  Flare paused in the middle of pulling his pants back on to glance upwards. The woman had seen everything he had to show but he still felt better with her back turned. "My name is Flare."

  Diana led him through several corridors and up two flights of stairs. This level of the castle was better lit and seemed more welcoming. Furniture, of an antique design, lined the hallways and rooms. Tapestries and paintings hung on the walls and Flare studied them with fascination. It was rather curious though, that he didn't recognize the scenes or people portrayed by the artists. Diana did not speak as they walked and he was content to follow in silence. It allowed him to observe his surroundings better. He was surprised that the rooms were all windowless.

  Emerging from the stairs they passed a young woman, a maid of some sort. Her hands were full with blankets but she still curtsied and hurried on past.

  Diana led them down a long hallway and turned left about halfway to the end. The room they entered was a dining room, large for just two people but certainly not a banquet room.

  The floor stones had been covered with light brown wooden panels and the walls were a light off-white color which gave the room a more open and airy feeling. Small tables sat in each of the four corners and a different kind of plant grew out of a pot on each of the four tables. The plants seemed to like the magical light and were growing up the walls and spreading along the ceiling.

  A long wooden table sat in the middle of the floor. Flare felt the thing was about to snap at any moment from the enormous amounts of food that covered it. Roast pig, turkey, and venison fought for room alongside different types of breads and other types of dishes. Steam rose from the food and Flare's mouth immediately began watering.

  Diana strode to one end of the table and sat down. She picked up a glass of wine and held it out to him. "Please join me."

  Pulling his eyes from the food, Flare studied the woman. Was this a trick?

  Diana sighed. She sipped wine from the glass she had just offered to him and then pulled a piece of meat off of the pig, popped it into her mouth, and started chewing. She then held the wine glass back up for him.

  That was good enough for Flare. He smiled and bowed in Diana's direction. Then he accepted the glass of wine and sat down at the other end of the table. The smells of the food were making him ravenous.

  He paused briefly and looked at Diana. She was still watching him. "Care to tell me where I am now?" Without waiting for an answer, he began buttering a hunk of bread.

  Diana nodded and leaned back in her chair. "This may be difficult for you to understand, but you are between worlds."

  Flare paused with the bread halfway to his mouth. His eyes met Diana's for a moment, then he bit off a piece of the bread. He waved for her to continue talking.

  "My husband was a wizard of some renown. He took our castle and moved it between worlds."

  He didn't know what to think. The woman obviously believed her story but it didn't make much sense to him. "What do you mean between worlds?"

  Diana leaned forward and placed her glass on the table. "Are you familiar with wizardry?"

  "Somewhat," Flare answered truthfully. He reached forward and grabbed a turkey leg and a fat slice of ham. "Although there hasn't been a wizard in the last two thousand years."

  "What?" Diana exclaimed, half rising from her seat. "Why not?"

  Flare watched the woman wide-eyed. She had come close to shouting and that seemed a little out of character for this woman. So far she had the appearance of one who strove to always be in control. "Wizardry was forbidden after the Demon Lord Wars two thousand years ago."

  "Forbidden by whom?"

  "Well, the Church mainly," Flare answered. Diana had regained her control but she still looked angry. "The Church of Adel that is."

  The scowl on her face darkened. "And no one challenges this ban?"

  "How do you do that?" Flare asked. "To become a wizard requires instruction from a wizard. I believe they are all gone." He wasn't so sure that was a bad thing. The Dragon Order had known wizardry, but if he couldn't learn wizardry then perhaps he wouldn't need to worry about the Kelcer prophecy. With all the wizards gone perhaps Kelcer didn't matter. "You were explaining how we're between worlds."

  "Well, what a wizard does is he creates a doorway from our world to the demon world. He then summons the demon through the doorway. Once the demon is in our world, then the wizard bends it to his will."

  Flare nodded. That much made sense to him. "Why would he move this castle between worlds?"

  "He was much older than me and it was apparent that he would die before too much longer. By moving the castle here between the worlds, time does not pass for us. Or perhaps it's more correct to say that time passes but we do not age."

  "All right," Flare said slowly. If her husband was a wizard, then that meant they had to come from before the Demon Lord wars, some two thousand years ago. "When did this happen?"

  Diana sighed. "Unfortunately, one of the failings of not aging is that the passage of time becomes almost meaningless. When my husband brought us here, Jaresh the second had just come to power in Paria and King Erimir of Steliatia was already an old man."

  Flare had never heard of Jaresh the second or even Paria, but the kingdom of Steliatia was vaguely familiar. He wasn't sure but he thought that Steliatia would one day become the Steel Kingdom before being absorbed into Telur. If that were true, then this castle was ancient, thousands of years old. He was surprised at how well she spoke common. Languages always changed over time, so why did she speak it so fluently? "And where is your husCares ofband?"

  Diana's countenance fell. It was hard to tell but Flare did notice.

  "He grew bored with life in the castle and began making trips back into your world. These trips became more and more frequent and he left for a trip one day and never came back."

  Flare nodded, "I'm sorry." The disappearance of her husband still seemed to bother her, even after untold ages.

  Diana smiled. "Thank you but i
t has been a very long time." Even so, there was a touch of sadness in her words.

  "Why didn't you go and look for him?"

  "I cannot leave." Diana said simply.

  The words sent a momentary feeling of panic running through Flare. He froze with a bite of pork suspended halfway to his mouth. He did not want to spend the rest of time in this castle and he dearly hoped that she wasn't implying that he could not leave.

  Diana held up a hand. "Be at peace. I cannot leave, but you can. You possess the key."

  Silence hung in the air for a moment while Flare tried to work out what she meant. "What key?"

  "My husband created a key that he could use to travel back and forth from here to your world. You wear it on your belt."

  Confused, Flare look downwards. What did she mean that he wore the key on his belt? It was then that he saw the pouch; the very same pouch that he had found in the cavern.

  "The pouch?" he asked, understanding bursting forward. "You mean this is the key your husband made?"

  Diana nodded. "Yes. If I may ask, how did you gain possession of it?"

  "Well," Flare began slowly, "I found it actually. I was exploring a cave in the Az'ha'rill mountains. I was attacked just outside the cave by a creature." He shrugged, "To tell the truth, I really don't even know what it was, but I fought it and killed it and then I went inside. The cave floor was covered with bones." Flare paused suddenly, not sure if he should have said that. The woman lost her husband mysteriously and she probably would not want to think about him being something's dinner.

  Diana sensed his hesitation and smiled. "Flare, it's been ages since my husband died and I seriously doubt that your creature killed him. Please continue."

  Flare nodded, but he wasn't so sure. He had encountered a dragon once that had been imprisoned in a valley for ages. Not every creature was mortal. "Well, I was exploring the cave and I noticed a pile of rotten clothes. I poked through it and it must have been the creature's treasure. The pouch was the only thing worth keeping."