As soon as their dinner had been consumed, Nyssa had Darek prepare a bowl of water. On the surface, she floated several of the dessman blossoms that Sarrac had purchased for her. The fair fairy focused her thoughts and bent her will on discovering the army that Lord Grathis was assembling. After just over an hour – and the beginning of a headache – she located it. The truly massive force was just over two days’ march from Kal Tammon and, very fortunately, they were nearly five days from Parmoor.
“Once again,” Darek said, “it looks like luck is on our side.”
“I think you mean providence,” Sarrac asserted.
“Whatever the case,” he smiled. “we could hardly have timed things better. Grathis is going to have to choose between trying to recapture one of his fortresses or one of his cities.”
“Or dividing his forces to try to take back both,” Alena pointed out.
“We're not that lucky,” Darek said. “If he did that, we might be able to beat him on both fronts.”
“No, we wouldn't,” she replied. “We'll only be able to leave a few Warriors to stand guard over Kal Tammon. He'd be able to capture it with a significantly smaller force than the one that last laid siege to it.”
“You're probably right,” he admitted. “Still, if he were to divide his forces, it would make holding the city that much easier.”
“Undoubtedly.”
“You guys make it really hard to think sometimes,” Joey said with a frustrated sigh. “Is there any way you could continue this conversation at less than full volume?”
“Sorry,” Darek said with a rising inflection. “We didn't realize we were getting on your nerves.”
“It's not your fault,” the wizard chuckled, shaking his head. “I could just really use an office sometimes.”
“Maybe it is an office,” Nyssa suggested with a smile that quickly faded from her face. “Although, I certainly don't need an office. Something like that for you is hardly the kind of thing we could use, is it? Sometimes your selfishness almost stuns me, Joey.”
“Excuse me?”
“Could it be any clearer?” she asked with some heat. “You want an office for yourself! If you get it, what happens to our ballroom?”
“Oh, no,” he replied, shaking his head, “I should have explained that. The office is way on the other side of the building from the ballroom. Hundreds of couples could be dancing in it and I wouldn't even be able to hear them.”
“So, you would skip the dance?”
“Certainly not! I just wouldn't go to practice. Unless, of course, it turns out that I need it. But, we can't be sure whether I do until we find the ballroom, can we?”
“How do you know all of this?” she asked, eying him suspiciously.
“I don't,” he admitted. “I'm just guessing. But, when you really think about it, it's the only thing that makes any sense. I mean: what kind of person would be willing to give up a ballroom to get an office? Only a complete and total idiot!”
“You're right,” she admitted. “I'm sorry I called you selfish. I wasn't thinking.”
“That's alright,” he smiled. “It's probably just a side effect of building up an immunity to my stupidity.”
“It probably is,” she agreed with a smile.
“You are getting really good at that,” Paul observed.
“Good at what?” Nyssa asked.
“What are you working on, anyway?” the paladin asked, ignoring the fairy's question.
“Something I hope to show you tomorrow morning,” Joey replied. “If I can get it finished by then, that is.”
“I'll let you get back to it.”
“I would appreciate it.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?” Nyssa asked.
“There probably is,” he nodded, glancing down at the paper, “but, I want it to be a surprise.”
“Let me know if you change your mind,” she said, tilting her head and gazing at him in what Paul thought was admiration.
Joey didn't change his mind. In fact, he was still working away when the other members of the band decided to call it a night. Paul took first watch, which was unusually boring as there was nothing to do but sit there watching in silence as Joey muttered to himself and crossed out runes only to draw new ones – none of which conveyed the slightest meaning to the paladin. Fortunately, just before the second watch began, the wizard finished. Sarrac and Alena were awakened, and Paul and Joey stretched themselves out to go to sleep. In the early hours of the following morning, the pair woke their companions.
“Alright,” Joey said, gazing over the rune-cover parchment he had prepared the previous evening. “Now, you all get to see what I've been working on for days.”
“For days?” Paul asked.
“Yes. Days,” the wizard nodded. “Research was part of the work, genius.”
“Fair enough. I take it that it's a new spell?”
“You spoiled the surprise!” Nyssa exclaimed with a hint of annoyance.
“No, he didn't,” Joey explained, shaking his head. “That was the obvious part of what I was doing. Remember?”
“I do now!” she nodded excitedly.
“This is the surprise,” he said before reciting the words scrawled on the scroll.
As he brought his spell to an end, he reached out and gently touched Paul on the shoulder.
“Voilà!” the wizard said with a wide smile.
“So...” Paul replied after several silent seconds, “what does it do?”
“Oh, right,” Joey chuckled. “You're now completely invisible to undead.”
“You're sure?”
“Basically,” he nodded. “I found an invisibility spell in one of the books, but it takes a great deal of power to cast and doesn't last very long. So, I modified it. Now, it only works on undead and should last a good bit longer. Although, it does still take a good deal of arcane energy to cast, I should be able to enchant the seven of us...”
“Six,” Nyssa interjected. “I can just make myself invisible the natural way.”
“Six of us,” he continued, “but, that's going to pretty nearly wear me out. Of course, since the idea is to avoid a fight, I don't think that should be a major concern.”
“I should be able to help you,” Myra said, carefully scrutinizing the paper in his hands. “Or not... Joey, I'm not sure this is going to work.”
“It will,” he assured her before launching into a technical explanation that Paul considered ‘magical gibberish’.
“We don't have to waste time discussing it,” the paladin pointed out. “I can just test it. Nyssa, would you come with me?”
“I'd be more than happy to.”
“The rest of you wait here. We'll be back in no time.”
The pair quickly ascended the stairs – the fairy vanishing from sight just before they reached the door – and made their way into the street. In less than a minute, they were able to locate a ghoul striding along the thoroughfare. At first, Paul simply got a few feet in front of him and stopped. The creature didn't so much as slacken its pace. The young man then began walking backwards and making faces at the monster. This also failed to elicit a reaction.
As good a sign as this was, the paladin wanted to be absolutely certain that the undead horror wasn't just ignoring him. He began waving his arms, punching the air just inches from its face, and hopping on one foot and then the other.
“What are you doing?!” a middle-aged woman exclaimed as the young man backed past her.
“What business is that of yours?!” the ghoul snarled at her.
“I didn't mean you, of course, sir,” she replied: quickly bowing her head before pointing at Paul. “I meant, him.”
“Are you mad?!” the creature barked gazing directly into Paul's face. “What are you talking about?!”
“I mean the young man...”
That was as much as Paul heard. He felt he had a good idea where that conversation was going and didn't plan to be around when it ended. As a result,
he ran for it. He ducked down an alleyway – where Nyssa made him invisible to pretty much everyone – before the pair made their way directly back to their waiting companions.
“Well, it works,” Paul asserted.
“Does it?” Alena asked, offering Joey a smile.
“It does,” Nyssa nodded. “Either that, or we ran into the most nearsighted ghoul who ever lived. I know they don't have great eyesight but, Paul couldn't have been three feet from him. Of course, he could have mistaken him for a hallucination, I guess. The way he was acting, for a moment, I thought I was hallu...”
“We should hurry,” Darek interjected. “The sooner we find those runes, the better.”
All of the companions agreed with this assertion. Each of the party members – with the exception of the fairy – were quickly enchanted by Joey. The band then made their way out of the cellar, out of the shop, and into the street. They reached the citadel – which was also in the heart of the city – in mere minutes.
The structure was surrounded by a thick, stone wall perhaps fifteen feet in height, sealed by a massive pair of steel double doors and topped with a parapet on which a number of undead guards ceaselessly stood watch. From the very center of the grounds rose a round tower of black stone reaching into the sky above. From its very peak fluttered the banner of Governor Bermoth.
As the party approached, Myra took the lead. The maiden seemed to have her attention fixed on the tower and strolled toward the gateway with an almost distracted expression on her face. Paul did his best to imitate her actions. It seemed obvious to him that she wasn't sure that Joey's spell was actually working. In truth, neither was he. Clearly, it had worked before but, there was no way to tell how long it would last or whether Joey had managed to successfully cast it again after his first attempt.
Fortunately, he had, and it lasted at least long enough to get them through the doors. As soon as they were all inside, Myra chanted to herself softly in a sing-song voice. As her spell ended, her eyes began to glow with a pale blue light. This done, she led them quickly and silently toward the keep of the citadel. This was a square building of thick stone set in the middle of the courtyard, from the very center of which rose the tower itself. Only one entrance led into the structure and it was toward this portal that the former lich made her way.
A halberd-wielding ghoul stood on each side of the open doorway, neither of whom showed the slightest indication that they were aware of anyone's presence as the party made their way past them. Myra led the band through several passages, avoiding the undead that occasionally appeared in their path, before suddenly ducking into a chamber filled with stationary zombies.
Paul gazed at her, lifted his hands, and shrugged his shoulders. In reply, she merely pushed herself up against the wall of the room and put her finger to her lips, indicating that he should remain silent. After just over ten seconds of her seemingly staring at the wall, Paul could make out the voices of two men. Seconds after this, they stepped past the doorway. Myra summoned the paladin with her finger before pointing down the hall. There, two quite-living young men strode, shoulder to shoulder, chatting back and forth.
Having successfully avoided this danger, she led them onward. She quickly brought the band to the entrance of a chamber that stood at the very center of the structure. A pair of reapers – skeletal warriors dressed in chain-mail and wielding scythes – stood on each side of the stairway located on the far side of the room. In addition to this, two ghouls guarded the portal through which they would have to pass. Another ghoul, this one attired in rotting robes and carrying a staff of black wood, quickly climbed the steps from the depths below as they approached.
Without pausing, Nyssa flew above the heads of her companions and into the room. The moment she crossed the threshold, waves of orange light enveloped her. The beautiful fairy screamed in agony as her tiny body fell helplessly – and visibly – toward the cold stone floor beneath her. Instantly, Joey dropped his staff and leapt into the room; diving toward her falling body. This valiant effort met with success as he deftly caught her in his outstretched hand just before she hit the ground. At almost the same moment, the sound of disembodied screaming filled the air; warning the undead that enemies had made their way inside the citadel.
The robe-wearing ghoul slammed his staff on the floor; directing jets of black flame at the unconscious fairy lying in the open palm of the prostrate wizard. Before these could reach her, Joey closed his fist around her and slipped her beneath his body. He did his best to cover his face with his other arm as dark fire engulfed him. Alena and Sarrac rushed through the door, engaging the two ghouls who had been standing guard. Darek and Paul charged at the reapers – who were quickly moving to join the fray.
Myra raised her weapon, releasing a bolt of black energy aimed at the enemy spell-caster just before she felt the icy grip of an incorporeal hand wrap itself around her throat. She tore herself from her attacker to find the insubstantial form of a wraith behind her.
“Die!” Myra cried, bringing the unlife of her foe to a speedy end.
Joey carefully slipped Nyssa into his pocket as he climbed to his feet; black fire still burning around him. He stretched out his hands toward his enemy, focusing on the pain that wracked his body and his desire to destroy his foe. Bolts of electricity shot from his outstretched fingers as he poured arcane energy through his body.
His opponent bellowed in rage as lightning covered his undead flesh. As the creature prepared to counter-attack, the red-robed wizard decided it would be best not to allow his enemy to continue. As a result, he dashed across the room, snatched the staff from its hands, and proceeded to beat it to death with its own weapon.
By this time, the ghouls and the reapers that had originally stood guard over the chamber had all been destroyed. Unfortunately, reinforcements had already arrived to take their place. A group of zombies and reapers, led by ghouls, had flown toward the scene of conflict as soon as the alarm had sounded. Myra fell back before this band, moving into the center of the room, and allowing her more martial companions to form a living wall between her and her oncoming enemies.
These two forces crashed together in a storm of flashing weapons while bolts of dark power struck down one after another. In just moments, only the lifeless bodies of their adversaries remained – many of which were burning with golden fire.
“You have to heal her!” Joey said, drawing the unconscious fairy from his pocket and dashing toward the paladin the moment his enemy ceased to struggle.
Immediately, Paul laid his hand on the fair form of the fairy. Almost instantly, she took a deep breath and opened her eyes.
“What happened?” she asked groggily.
“We'll explain later,” Darek replied. “We have to get out of here.”
“Yes, we do,” Myra nodded. “Follow me.”
The maiden quickly led her companions a short distance down the hallway to the room that had previously housed the guards they had just slaughtered.
“Joey, is there any way...” she began.
“None,” he interjected, shaking his head. “I'm about to vomit, or pass-out, or vomit and then pass-out.”
“Let me see the scroll,” she replied.
He pulled the parchment from his pack and handed it to the fair former lich.
“Alright,” she said, shaking her head. “Let's see if I can do this.”
Having made this statement, she began reading from the scroll. As soon as she finished, she reached out and touched Paul on the shoulder.
“That did something,” she asserted.
“Let's just hope it did what we want it to,” Darek said. “I don't like the idea of having to fight our way out of here.”
“Fight our way further in,” Myra corrected. “We still have to find those runes.”
“It won't do us any good to find them if we can't get out after we do,” he pointed out.
“If we find them,” she replied. “I'll get us out. Now, let me finish.”
&nb
sp; “With all my heart,” he smiled.
In just over a minute, the maiden had cast the spell five more times. The paladin had also taken the time to attend to the minor wounds of the wizard. When these tasks were complete, Myra led them cautiously back toward the scene of their previous conflict.
“Is that room going to attack Nyssa again?” Joey asked softly.
“No,” Myra assured him quietly. “It had been warded against fey, but that kind of spell only works once before it has to be recast.”
“Why would anyone have cast a spell like that?”
“Maybe they figured that whoever escaped the prison was traveling with a fairy,” Darek suggested. “I would have.”
“Whatever the case,” the maiden whispered, “we can discuss it once we're safely out of here.”
Silence once again fell amongst the companions as they made their way into the chamber and down the stairs – carefully avoiding several undead guardians who were dashing this way and that in search of intruders. Myra led them down two floors before stopping at a landing and magically inspecting the door blocking her chosen path. After disarming the arcane trap that protected it, she opened the portal and led her allies into the chamber beyond.
“You seem to know where you're going,” Alena observed quietly as the party passed through the room which held the city's dark shard.
“I do,” she nodded. “I've been here a few times before.”
“That's convenient,” the ogress smiled.
“It is,” Myra agreed. “It's almost too bad that I had never been in Parmoor's prison before. It might have made it even easier for us to break out of it.”
“Do you know where the runes are?” Joey asked.
“No,” she replied, shaking her head. “But, I know where I would have drawn them. Now, shhh.”
The Shrine of Kallen (The Tales of Zanoth Book 3) Page 20