by P. G. Thomas
Steve reached for a fresh bottle, “So, Grim Reaper, have you run out of bad news yet? Is there a light at the end of this tunnel?”
Trying to absorb the story, grabbing Steve’s glass, Lauren now understood why her stories had forced Arora to seek refuge in alcohol. “What happens if my daughters don’t birth him an heir?”
“I am unsure of how he did it, but he is confident an heir is on the way. He gloated about how everything was developing as planned, even better than he thought. It was strange, but he added, ‘all but one part, but better than I imagined so long ago.’ Ramblings from a madman?”
“If they don’t give birth to an heir?” Lauren asked again.
“Well, two of them are pregnant, so maybe he is only counting on one?”
“My family has a long history of multiple births, and what if daughters are born to him?”
“She means two or three born,” advised Panry.
He looked down at the table, “I cannot be sure, but what I know of Zymse, if any are girls, he will probably kill them.”
Lauren was having a hard time absorbing the words, “What happens to my other daughters when he has his heir?”
“When he mentioned his heir and queen, I asked a similar question. His reply was expected, ‘I cannot tell the bitches apart and there are too many. I only need one so the others will die.’ I am sorry, but those were his words.”
Lauren turned to Ryan, “Kill him! Split the bastard in two!”
*******
After Ryan had left with Panry and Darkath, Lauren turned in for the night, and Logan headed for the wine cellar. Steve and Eric walked out to the patio, hoping the crisp night air would somehow help them clear their troubled thoughts. Gor and Grax also turned in for the night, but Amber walked out onto the patio.
Eric feeling her gaze called her over, “What’s wrong?”
“Champion, I am—”
“Call me Eric, the Champion’s no more.”
“You are dwarf, and I see guidance. Tranquil, her words to Ironhouse I did not understand. I have tried, but her riddle, I can find no answer. Yet great meaning or more is hidden. Her words, did you understand them?”
Eric nodded, recalling Tranquil’s message. ‘I see your thoughts as well, and they are filled with a precious dwarf currency, but its value is without worth if you make the wrong deposit. In the past, dwarves in granite carved their first words, adding many more over the years. However, one is still absent from your language, and it is my hope that it remains absent from your future.’ He reached for his glass and then remembered he had left it inside, “Which part has you confused.”
Amber looked down, “All. Precious currency with no value, word absent, future.”
“Can I take a stab at the first part?” asked Steve.
Eric nodded
“If the Champion was about to tell me one of his stories, what would you do?”
“Grax and Gor I would go and get,” then she paused, “I would ask permission first.”
“I warned you the other day about the same thing. I may not be dwarf, but I’ve seen it in all of your eyes. Given the choice between listening to a story or eating. You would choose the first, but with you three, that’s all you see, and it’s almost like your trying to remember everything. Your fathers, when they went out with the legends, do you think they ever thought about what a great saga it would be? Or where they just more concerned with living? Your greatest currency is the love of history, but if somebody ‘deposits’ you into a grave, it’ll never be told.”
Eric smiled, “Not bad for an old guy.”
“Warned them I have not to be lore struck.”
“As for the second half,” Eric began, “you are both elf and dwarf. How well do you know the elfin words?”
She replied in elf, “My mother taught me so that I would be proficient in both.”
“How many words for ‘mistake’ are there in all of those elfin words?” asked Eric.
“There does be many, a dozen, perchance more.”
“Please speak them to me in elf.”
She did as asked and was quite pleased.
“Now speak that same word in dwarf.”
She began to speak but remained quiet. Dwarves had no word for mistake, working deep in the mines, there was no place for them, but they had one for those who made them, and that word was dead.
“Warned by fathers of this we were. My kin, this message I will make them understand. Thank you both.” Then Amber returned to the house, but upon entering the room, she found Gor and Grax both asleep, deciding to wait until later to make the warning clear to them.
Chapter 22
The next morning, Lauren woke up alone in her bed and sat on the edge, thinking about the long conversation from the night before. Especially the disturbing words trapped in her memory; Darkening, obedience spells, black mists, heir, and the threat to her daughters. She wished that John were here to help make sense of it, but he had absently taken all of the portal bracelets with him to Ironhouse. On the patio, she found Eric, Steve, and Logan, but all were quiet when she sat down. “I hate this freaking world, hate it more than is humanly possible. I thought we were making a difference. The children, they’re talking to Mother, the fire rain, her forests should be healing, but no, now we have the Darkening, my son-in-law is going to be Zymse, and two of my daughters are about to be killed. The Darkening will merge with my grandchild, possess Mother, and those that don’t bow to Zymse, he’ll throw them dead into the river. How does a world get so screwed up? There has to be something we can do?”
“Last time, with Tranquil Fury,” replied Eric, “I would’ve taken Zymse out myself, but I can’t do anything…” Then his voice went quiet, “I’m no longer the Champion.”
Steve’s reply was simple, “New guy here, and I’m still having trouble keeping track of everything.”
“I can burn the north end of the town to the ground,” began Logan, “but Zymse could still get away. We don’t even know where he lives, other than in a tree fort.”
“Fortress, not tree fort,” replied Eric, and then turned to Lauren, “Ryan’s on the job now, and if any can kill Zymse, he can. When he sees him, and he thinks of what he has done to your daughters, what he has done to you, Zymse won’t stand a chance. When the rage boils over, that creep will be sorry for everything he has ever done.”
“So we wait?” When nobody answered, she went back into the house, grabbed the staff, and returned to the patio. She sent the magic out into the Bright Coast, searching for her daughters or Zymse, but at the end of the night, she returned alone to her bed: a headache being her only companion.
*******
It was the following day, and Amber, Steve, and Eric had just returned from a trip into the Bright Coast, seeing if they could find out what was happening. Eric, holding a poster in his hand, offered it to Lauren, but being unable to read the words, she took it over to Danex.
“It is a proclamation that the Ruler of Calicon is to be named. I was not aware of this, were you, Earth Mother?”
“I might have heard something. When is it?”
“It is tomorrow, why?”
I’m going to be a Grand Mother, and my son-in-law isn’t wasting any time. “Thank you,” and then she returned to the house. “It’s tomorrow. We need to—get the—. No, no—this can’t be happening.” Shaking her head, she went out to the patio with the gnarled staff in hand. There she began praying to Mother, hoping that the magic would help with the delivery of her urgent message.
“It’ll be okay. Ryan will fix this, and you know it,” advised Eric.
Without looking up, Lauren let out a sigh, “I need to warn Mother because she’s stirring. I need her to wake, to take action. Maybe Tranquil or Sister will hear me. I don’t know, but I need to do something.”
Eric headed back inside, sitting down at the table with Steve and Logan, “Isn’t there anything we can do?” As Eric said it, both he and Steve shifted their eyes to Logan.
>
“Sorry, but I have nothing. If Panry can’t get close to Zymse, I sure can’t. If we hadn’t shown up at that fake hanging, Zymse might be dead right now. The last thing I want to do is to screw up one of their plans because Ryan’s our best bet.” Then Logan stood from the table and went down to the wine cellar, grabbed a bottle, and took it to his room.
*******
It was dark when Steve heard somebody rummaging in the dining room. Going to investigate, he found Lauren sorting through the bag of Gayne’s magic.
She felt his gaze, turned, “I’m going to that proclamation. After Ryan kills Zymse, I want to be there to put the fear of Mother into all of them, so don’t try to stop me!”
“I had no plans to try. How’re you going to put the fear of Mother into them?” Steve replied, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
“I haven’t figured that out, but I’m not going to sit here. It’s not my style.”
Steve thought about John’s request to keep an eye on her, “Want some company?”
“Just so long as you don’t get in my way.”
Going into the front room, he strapped on his weapons, checked the revolver, and then returned, “So what’s the plan?”
“I’m still working on it. We’ll start by taking the flying horses to the theater. Once there, we gain access inside, then wait.”
“For what?”
“For something to happen. Planning was never one of my strengths.”
“I thought you did pretty well with the dock incident and feeding the people.”
“I had time to think about that, and unlike John, I’m unable to make time.” Lauren wrapped a bunch of small berries into a cloth, pushing them into her pocket, grabbed the staff, and headed to the door with Steve following close behind. Once outside, Steve heard the bushes rustle. Lauren placed the winged horse amulets on the ground, waved the platinum ring over them, and they materialized in front of her. Taking to the saddle of the first, Steve jumped onto the second, and then the horses raced down the dark street, unfolded their wings, and took to the skies.
As they flew high above the Key River in the moonless night sky, far below, they never saw the figures shrouded in the dark. If Zymse had seen them, he would have called them rebels, but Steve would have called them resistance fighters, and Lauren would have called them Earth Guard. As the magical horses flew to the north, the elfin boats slipped quietly into the water.
On this night, with preparations in progress for the big announcement the following day, the amphitheater was obvious from the high altitude, and both guided their winged mounts to an open area on the north side of the theater. Once on the ground, Lauren changed the mounts back into amulets, as Steve scanned the area to make sure nobody was searching for them. In quiet, they stole their way through the darkness to their destination, but once there, she was surprised how heavily guarded it was.
The park on the north side provided sufficient cover, allowing them to observe the outside of the amphitheater, but everywhere they looked, saw Darkpaye guards. With the help from the staff, the dry leaves and twigs under their feet remained quiet, as they moved towards the middle section of the building. When Lauren spotted the fewest number of guards, she stopped and pointed to a door, “If I can distract them, can you get us in?”
Examining the situation, like most doors in the Bright Coast, it was poorly constructed and easy to pry open. Pulling out the large knife from under his armpit, Steve nodded yes. She pushed the staff into the ground, sending the magic to the right and left of her, making the plants rustle, sounding like a large group of people were moving through them. When the guards went to investigate, she pulled a berry from her pocket, crushed it on the staff, and darkness surrounded them. Then she bolted for the door, dragging him behind her. Once there, he thrust the huge knife between the door and jamb, leaned on it, popping it open, and abruptly pulled her inside, closing the door behind them.
There were three parts to the amphitheater; the actual stage with supporting buildings at the end of the large natural bowl-shaped feature, and the huge grass-covered grounds in front of the stage with an open sky above. Around the outside perimeter, a structure that housed ten rows of tiered seats with a roof above them.
When inside, they advanced to the main hall that ringed the large structure where the occasional oil lamp glowed between the various exits. With the lights present, Lauren wrapped a cloth around the end of the staff to extinguish the magical darkness. Heading to a passageway that led to the grassy field, she saw that they were at the halfway point on the north side, being an equal distance to the back or front. As she faced the stage, she could clearly hear the workers cursing at the forced long hours to finish the decorations for the upcoming ceremony.
Steve pulled her back inside, “So what now?”
“Not sure. I’ve never been here before. I think I told you that planning wasn’t one of my strengths. Right now, I think we need to find a place to hide.” When they were back in the main hall, Lauren pulled out a berry, rubbed it on the staff, and a soft blue light glowed around them. With this illumination, they were able to see numerous closed shops in the passageway, and the signs suggested they sold refreshments, meals, or gifts. She shook her head, “We can’t hide in one of those, so we need a janitor’s closet or a storage room. Let’s head towards the stage.”
They had walked about twenty feet when Steve noticed scrape marks on the floor. He stopped, tapped her on the shoulder, and pointed to the wall, as he knelt down to where the marks indicated a door should be. Lauren lowered the light from her staff so that Steve could examine it, and he quickly spotted the metal lock plate. With the oversized knife in hand, he pried open the door, allowing the magic light to spill inside exposing a large storage room.
“Will this work?”
Lauren scanned the room, noticing numerous tree knots missing from the backside of the wooden seats, which the brightly lit stage transformed into faint orbs of illumination. She walked in, peered through one of the holes, but the stage was not visible. “Let’s check down further, and see if we can find something closer. If we can’t, we’ll return.” Once back in the hall, they found several similar rooms, and while some were too congested, others were empty. On the fourth attempt, they found a room similar to the first, including the knotholes in the seats, through which Lauren could see the stage.
“Lock us in, and let’s get comfortable.”
Pulling the door closed, Steve began to examine the contents of the room, Inside were wooden boxes of different sizes, a pile of garbage, some bolts of fabric, and an assortment of brooms, mops, and buckets. He went to the larger boxes that were over six feet long and three feet tall. Pushing on each until he found two that seemed empty, he pried off their tops and inside, found packing material. Tipping them onto their sides, he pulled out their contents, and grabbing one of the brooms, he created a hole in the pile of garbage next to the wall. Sweeping the contents over, he buried it inside, so if a janitor entered, they would fail to notice anything different. Tipping the two boxes onto their sides, Steve replaced the original boxes that had been on top in similar positions and turned to Lauren. “We can hide inside in case anybody comes in. So now what?”
“We wait.”
“Any idea when the big show is going to start?”
“No,” and then Lauren reached into her pocket, pulled out a cloth that she unwrapped, “Hungry?”
Steve walked over, looked down at the small handful of berries, “You on a diet?”
“These are special berries, from Mother, that were growing in the back corner of Danex’s garden. I don’t even know if she knew they were there.” Steve reached down and picked up a half-dozen, but before he could raise his hand, Lauren stopped him, “Just one. If you’re still hungry in an hour, they’ll still be here.”
“Chinese takeout?”
“No, but eat too many, and they might screw up your insides.”
“What do we do, if we need to—?”
&nb
sp; “They’re magical, and they don’t create waste, so we won’t have any reason to go looking for a restroom.” He picked up a berry, dropped it into his mouth, and within a few seconds, Lauren could see his eyes go wide. “If you had taken six, I think your eyes may have exploded.”
“Wow, if you could grow those back home and bottle them, you would rule the world. What are they?”
“Full berries.” Then she saw Steve smirk, “Hey, I didn’t name them. The last time I was here, I had a staff that contained knowledge. This world is so simple, and they don’t overcomplicate anything. Eat a berry and feel full. I wish it were that unpretentious back home.”
Steve nodded, “So what happens tomorrow?”
“What am I hoping for? When they call for Zymse to appear on the stage, somebody runs out announcing that he’s dead, because Ryan has killed the bastard. I’ll make my way into the amphitheater and declare an Earth Bond to worship Mother. Those from Calicon should welcome it, but I’m not sure about our Darkpaye friends. Well, that’s what I’m hoping. As for other options, if that doesn’t work…make the ground soft to slow them down, or maybe destroy the seats. I’m not really sure.”
Steve nodded, “What happens if—”
“If Zymse does step out on the stage, and Ryan hasn’t killed him? I’ll level that large mountain-like hill behind the stage on him. No, I won’t. It depends on where my daughters are. I want to kill him for what he has done, but I can’t ki—I just don’t know.”
As the night grew longer, their eyelids grew heavy, and when the workers extinguished the lights on the stage, the knotholes stopped providing their simple illumination, so they crawled into the boxes to rest. However, with the strange surroundings, the unknown events to follow, their minds were filled with a thousand questions. All of that and so much more, it robbed them of their ability to fall asleep for any duration.