The Shrine of Kallen (The Tales of Zanoth Book 3)

by Aaron J. Ethridge

  At the far end of the room, they found another staircase leading down into utter darkness. With a series of chanted words, Joey caused a light to appear above his head.

  “Okay,” he said, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, “that's seriously it for me. I'm just about to puke, for real.”

  “Please don't,” Nyssa said, shaking her head. “I really don't want to see that.”

  “None of us do,” Paul replied. “Let's go.”

  The party plunged down the staircase which led them directly to an empty room covered in dark runes.

  “What is this place?” the paladin asked, holding his sword aloft as he stepped into the chamber.

  “Basically,” Myra replied, gazing carefully over the runes, “it's the heart of the citadel. This is the chamber where the spells are cast that help control the wraiths and other hard to manage undead who serve in the garrison. Some of the runes bolster Governor Bermoth's power, others control the dark shard, still others...”

  “Corrupt this place,” Paul suggested.

  “Yes,” she nodded slowly, before pointing to a particular circle of symbols. “Those, on the other hand, prevent teleportation.”

  “Can you work around them?” Alena asked.

  “Now that we can read them,” the fairy replied, fluttering over to inspect them. “Easily.”

  “How long will it take?”

  “I'm essentially done,” Myra replied with a smile. “At least, I think I am.”

  “How will we know?” Paul asked.

  “Now that we can get around them,” she said, “I should be able to teleport us back to the fortress.”

  “That sounds ideal,” Darek smiled.

  Without another word, Myra began drawing glowing runes on the floor with the tip of her staff. The moment she finished this task, she struck the ground with the weapon. Nothing happened.

  “Something's wrong,” the beautiful maiden asserted.

  Chapter 12: Many Hands Make Light Work

  “What is it?” Paul asked, his eyes locked on the fair former lich.

  “I'm not sure,” she admitted. “Right now, we should all be standing in the fortress, just outside the shrine.”

  “Could you have made a mistake?” Alena asked.

  “I don't think I did,” the maiden replied.

  “You didn't,” Nyssa asserted, her gaze passing from one set of runes to another. “At least, if you did, I can't see it.”

  “Could there be more than one spell protecting the place?” Darek asked.

  “I suppose it's possible,” the fairy replied, “but, I've never heard of anyone doing that.”

  “Neither have I,” Myra added.

  “We need to find a way around it,” Alena said. “Whatever it is.”

  “Let me try again,” the maiden replied before beginning to draw new runes on the stone floor.

  As soon as her spell was complete, she slammed the butt of her staff into the center of the glowing circle she had created. Instantly, the party was wrapped in darkness. Moments later, they were standing in the courtyard of Kal Tammon. Although this caused a certain amount of surprise amongst the garrison, as the band was instantly recognized, no alarm was raised.

  “What had you done wrong?” Joey asked, turning to Myra with a smile.

  “I'm not sure,” she replied, shaking her head. “Before we left for Parmoor, I enchanted this spot, as well as another outside the chapel, so I could teleport us here or there if I needed to. For some reason, the one in the fortress doesn't seem to work.”

  “I'm sure you'll be able to work out why in time,” Sarrac said encouragingly. “For the moment, however, we'd better let General Halfar know that we're here.”

  This was a statement the entire party agreed with. The band quickly made their way into the fortress and directed their steps toward the keep.

  “A couple of quick questions,” Joey said as the companions marched along.

  “Yeah?” Paul replied, turning his face to his friend.

  “They're not for you,” the wizard pointed out. “Myra, you can only teleport us to places that you've already enchanted specifically for that purpose, is that right?”

  “Basically,” she nodded. “As I mentioned before, teleportation magic requires a great deal of power to cast. On top of which, I'm not particularly good at it – although, I have been working on it lately. It's a lot easier when you've got an enchantment wherever it is you're going, drawing you to the area.”

  “Almost like summoning yourself to wherever it is?” Joey suggested.

  “It's kind of like that, yes.”

  “I got ya,” he nodded. “If you were better at it, though – and I mean no offense, obviously – you'd be able to beam us to places you'd never been before?”

  “Beam?”

  “It's another word for teleport,” he explained.

  “Then, yes,” she chuckled. “There are casters who could beam us almost anywhere in Zanoth.”

  “That could be useful,” he replied. “In any event, the second question is: what was that spell that made your eyes glow blue?”

  “It allows me to detect the living.”

  “As opposed to detecting the dead?”

  “Yes.”

  “Alright,” he smiled. “My questions are answered, then.”

  “I have one of my own,” Nyssa said. “What happened to me in the citadel?”

  “You stepped...” Joey began before pausing. “No, I suppose you didn't step on anything. You just...”

  “She triggered a ward,” Myra asserted.

  “That much I already knew,” the fairy replied, rolling her tiny eyes.

  “How did she trigger it?” Paul asked. “I thought you had to touch a ward to do that.”

  “Not all of them,” the former lich explained. “Some protect an entire area. It all depends on who or what you're trying to keep out.”

  “What I want to know,” Nyssa said, “is why I woke up in Joey's hand.”

  Paul quickly explained to the tiny maiden exactly how that had come to pass.

  “You did the right thing, Joey,” she said, flying up to his face and offering him a beautiful smile. “I know I was asleep – well, not technically, but it amounts to the same thing – and I wasn't on fire – although, I might have been if you hadn't reacted so quickly – but, you still did the right thing, even though you touched me, as I just pointed out, in my sleep – kind of. Either way, I very clearly owe you one. Or two, I guess, because I still owe you one for dragging you into this nightmare of a world where evil spells can almost kill you and dead wizards try to catch you on fire.”

  “You certainly owe me two,” he nodded. “Although, I'll be willing to take more than that. Then, I can owe you for a while.”

  “I'll think about it,” she nodded excitedly. “What is it I owe you, again?”

  “I assure you,” he said with a wide smile, “I intend to tell you as soon as possible. I just have to figure out how to make my shrink spell more effective or find a way to reverse it. I've been working like mad on both.”

  “Well, keep it up,” she replied. “I hate having debts hanging over me. I want to pay you as soon as I possibly can.”

  “Not as much as I want you to,” he replied. “Trust me.”

  “I'll do my best,” she assured him. “After all, you've never lied to me before.”

  “I also have a question,” Paul said, as the party drew nearer the keep. “Obviously, the undead could see us as soon as we attacked them in the citadel.”

  “That's not a question,” the fairy pointed out.

  “My question is: why?”

  “Any sudden movements can cause the spell to fail,” Joey explained.

  “Again: why?”

  “Invisibility spells are essentially illusion spells,” Myra replied. “It's not that you can't actually be seen when you're invisible, it's that whoever or whatever is observing you doesn't realize they can see you. Because of that, invisibility spells are
n't particularity effective against some creatures...”

  “Like fey,” Nyssa interjected.

  “And,” she continued, “if you do something that makes the observer feel like they're in danger – like attacking them, for instance – they begin to believe that they can see you, after all.”

  “Ah...” Paul nodded. “How is that again?”

  This question caused Myra, Nyssa, and Joey all to launch into a very detailed – and very boring – explanation.

  “Forget I asked,” the paladin said after roughly two minutes of this. “There's no point in trying to explain until I understand a little more about magical theory.”

  The trio agreed with this sentiment and the subject shifted to more mundane topics during the few minutes that still stood between them and their destination. The moment they arrived at the keep, they sought out the general. One of the sentries quickly led them to a chamber that the old man had fitted up as a conference room and office.

  “Welcome back,” he said with a broad smile, getting up from his desk as the party made their way into the room and waving them toward a table surrounded by chairs. “I take it you were successful.”

  “We were,” Sarrac nodded, pulling out a chair for the ogress.

  Although she glared at him with the sides of her eyes, she accepted this offer. Paul provided the same service for Myra, whereas Joey invited to Nyssa to sit on his shoulder – which she did. As soon as the entire party was seated, the conversation continued. The members of the band briefly recounted the details of their time in Parmoor, their meeting with Rex Shane, and how they had discovered and worked around the anti-teleportation runes.

  “I can have the men ready in less than an hour,” General Halfar asserted the moment they brought their tale to an end.

  “We should move the fortress immediately,” Alena observed. “I doubt the garrison will be able to put up much of a fight against us, but the more daylight we have to work with, the better.”

  “Do you think we should wait until tomorrow?” the old man asked. “If we did, we could attack at dawn.”

  “No,” Darek replied, shaking his head. “Grathis has assembled a huge army. Nyssa managed to track them down last night. By now, there's a good chance they're just over a day from Kal Tammon. We need to give Grathis something to distract him as quickly as we can. I figure capturing Parmoor ought to do the trick.”

  “If he hears of it in time,” the general mused, taking his chin in his hand. “Just how large is this army?”

  “Like Darek said,” Nyssa replied, shaking her head, “it's huge.”

  “In that case,” the old man said, “it might be best to abandon Kal Tammon completely.”

  “I don't see that,” the ogress disagreed. “There's no reason to flee before the enemy even arrives.”

  “Nor any reason to try to hold it when we know that we can't,” the general replied. “How many men would you want to leave behind? Fifty? A Hundred? Even if we left Gregory and Thaelen here with hundreds of men, they couldn't hope to fight back an army. Not without Paul and the rest of you here to help them, anyway. However, leaving them behind could make capturing Parmoor much more difficult.”

  “I see your point,” Alena ceded. “I just hate the idea of giving ground to the undead.”

  “It's worth deserting an abandoned fortress in order to free a city,” the general pointed out.

  “It is,” Sarrac nodded, “but, we don't have to do one in order to accomplish the other. We could leave Gregory here with twenty or so men to watch the place. If they run into anything serious, they can jump in the vault and move it to the fairy well.”

  “They could,” Myra agreed. “In fact, I think that Nyssa and I...”

  “And Joey,” the wizard interjected.

  “And Joey,” she smiled, “should be able to work out the coordinates of the fortress itself. Then, if they run into any trouble, they can rejoin us immediately.”

  “That's an excellent suggestion,” General Halfar replied. “I admit, I'd rather not lose Kal Tammon if we can help it. As it's one of the easiest to defend strongholds in Mal’Creal, it will certainly be worth leaving a few men to watch over it. Especially considering the fact that, if anything unexpected happens, they should be able to escape immediately.

  “Now, how do we plan to press our attack against Parmoor?”

  “Rex suggested that we move the portal into a wine cellar near the center of town,” Paul replied. “From there, we'll be able to start slaughtering the garrison and arming the Warriors who live in the city.”

  “I'm not sure about that,” Myra said with a thoughtful expression on her face. “Having had a few minutes to consider it, I think we should move the gateway into the citadel itself.”

  “It may be a little difficult to get fully loaded wagons into the place,” Darek observed.

  “Not if we place it just within the walls,” she explained. “The outer doors of the citadel are almost as large those leading into the Fortress of Donmar.”

  “Not quite,” he said. “But, they're big enough to easily move wagons through, which is the real point.”

  “It is,” she agreed. “Plus, it will keep us from having to fight our way inside.”

  “On top of which,” Alena added, “the citadel will serve as a much better ‘last line of defense’ than a wine cellar if the undead happen to fight their way into the city.”

  “Excellent points,” the general nodded. “As soon as we've captured the courtyard, we can throw open the outer doors and join our forces with those already in the city. The moment we have the streets cleared, we can start moving citizens into the fortress.”

  “Which brings a question to mind,” Darek said. “What do we do with the living guards of Parmoor?”

  “What do you mean?” Myra asked.

  “I mean,” he explained, “we can't bring them here, so...”

  “Why not?” Paul interrupted.

  “Well,” he replied, “there's the rather obvious they work for the undead to consider.”

  “Not out of choice,” Myra asserted.

  “Yes, out of choice,” Alena corrected. “They chose to serve the undead. We didn't.”

  “When you look at it that way,” the maiden replied, “I suppose they did choose, but...”

  “What other way is there to look at it?” the ogress asked, her eyes locked on those of the former lich.

  “Under different circumstances...”

  “You mean,” the ogress interrupted again, “if undead didn't rule the world, they might not serve them? I'm afraid that doesn't change the way I feel about them.”

  “Nor should it,” Darek said, shaking his head. “They betrayed the living when it mattered. What difference does it make what they might have done if it hadn't?”

  “It's not like that,” Myra asserted, her tone somewhat defensive. “Most of them – at least, most of those I've known anything about – seem to simply be doing the best they can for their families.”

  “Which is exactly what we have to do for ours,” Darek replied, shaking his head. “Meaning: we shouldn't bring them here.”

  “I don't think we can just leave them there,” Paul said.

  “Oh, yes we can,” the ogress disagreed with some heat. “In fact, it's exactly what we're going to do!”

  “The living guards in Kafmara didn't fight against us,” the paladin pointed out.

  “No, they didn't,” Darek agreed. “Because they knew it would have been suicide. But, they certainly didn't join us when we were driven from the city, did they?”

  “No,” Paul replied with a rising inflection, “but, that doesn't mean...”

  “Please,” Sarrac said, raising his hands. “Let's not argue about this now. As of yet, we don't know how many of the living members of the garrison are going to survive our attack, we don't know what they're going to want to do after we've taken the city, we don't know what their families might want, and we haven't discussed it with Rex – which I thin
k would be wise to do under the circumstances.”

  “I agree completely,” General Halfar nodded. “For the time being, we need to focus on capturing the city as quickly as we can.”

  This was a point with which it was hard to disagree. Within minutes, they had finalized their plans and begun putting them in action. General Halfar ordered Thaelen to ready the men for their assault and told Gregory to select twenty Warriors to help him stand watch over Kal Tammon. While this was being attended to, Myra and Nyssa prepared to move the fortress. Paul, Alena, Sarrac, and Darek all volunteered to assist the captain in organizing the troops. For his part, Joey decided to take a quick nap.

  If he were going to be able to use any more magic that day without throwing up, he was going to need some rest. Nyssa so approved of this plan that she cast a sleep spell on him ‘while he wasn't looking’. Unfortunately, this caused him to instantly collapse on the floor. Fortunately, the fall didn't wake him. The ogre took just enough time to place the young man in his bed before joining the paladin and his companions in their task.

  As the general had predicted, they were ready to begin their attack in less than an hour. The fairy and the former lich took a few minutes trying to work out the coordinates of the Fortress of Donmar but, with so little time to work with, they failed to do so. As a result, they instructed Gregory to move the vault to the fairy well if anything went wrong. Just before their attack was initiated, the red-robed wizard was awakened.

  The Warriors, headed by the party, stood at the gates of the Fortress of Donmar, waiting for it to be transported into Parmoor. The massive doors stood open – the interior of Kal Tammon spreading out before them. In a flash, this scene shifted. The image of Gregory and his men was instantly replaced by that of a group of marching skeletal warriors.

  Without hesitation, the party, and the hundreds of Warriors with them, rushed into the stronghold of their enemies. Its undead guardians were in no way prepared for such an unexpected and overwhelming assault. In mere moments, not one of those who filled the courtyard remained within the realm of the living. Paul and his companions flew toward the doorway that led deeper into the heart of the fortress. Without the slightest hesitation, they struck down the halberd-wielding guardians that stood watch over it and dashed inside.