“Last night while I was asleep,” he answered before taking a deep breath. “Okay, Sarrac, get me down please.”
The ogre obliged.
“I had just made a minor mistake last time,” he continued. “As soon as I woke up, I thought I knew what I'd done wrong.”
“I know how that is,” Paul nodded. “That happens with me and programming problems all the time.”
“Now that I know the fix,” the wizard said, “I should be able to scale some of my other spells. Which means, by the way, that after I've had about an hour or two to rest, Nyssa, I'm going to be able to tell you exactly what it is you owe me three of.”
“Four,” she replied. “I don't know what they are, obviously, but I probably owe you another one for helping me drive Kallen out of the sky – even if you did have to use those giant, ugly wings to do it. You're going to have to learn to make fairy wings. They'll still look stupid being that big, but not as stupid as...”
“You're right,” he interrupted. “Considering what I just went through, you definitely owe me four.”
“Four what?”
“As me again in an hour.”
“I think we'd better complete the task that we came here for,” the general interjected with a smile.
“Agreed,” Paul replied.
The entire party turned and began making their way back toward the shrine at a rather sluggish pace.
“Myra,” the paladin said, nodding in the direction of the undead dragon's carcass, “are we sure he's dead?”
“Fairly,” she smiled. “Cutting his head off probably did the trick, if nothing else did.”
“I see what you're saying,” he replied, “but, considering the fact that he was a lich...”
“Oh, no,” she said, shaking her head. “In this case, his phylactery was his body. By killing him, we destroyed it; thereby freeing his soul.”
“To feed the hells,” General Halfar added, quoting the prophecy.
“On the other hand,” she said thoughtfully, “he was actually more than a lich. In some ways, he was almost a demigod.”
“I don't like that,” Darek replied, shaking his head. “What are you saying, exactly?”
“I'm saying that – at least in theory – his worshipers might be able to find a way to resurrect him,” she explained. “Although, that would be nearly impossible.”
“We'd better burn his body,” Alena speculated.
“Good idea!” Darek agreed.
“You know,” Joey said, shifting topics, “while I was hanging up in that tree – doing my best to think about anything that wasn't my bones – it hit me that Kallen Vale is actually a really nice place.”
“It is!” Nyssa agreed. “Where else can you see wild herds of galtars and ragmors that are actually alive? ….... Well...”
“I don't know,” Joey interrupted. “But, my point is that this place is still hidden from scrying, right?”
“It almost certainly is,” Nyssa nodded. “But, I don't see how that was your point, considering the fact that you were just talking about how nice the vale is.”
“What I'm saying,” he explained, “is that the undead don't control the place and they can't spy on it using magic...”
“It's almost certainly shielded from teleportation magic, as well,” Myra speculated.
“Another excellent point,” he replied. “If that map was anywhere near right, it also happens to cover an area of over six hundred square miles. We were worried about running out of room before; we may not have to be now.”
“Living here would be a little risky,” Darek said, “but, it'd still be a lot better than living in most places in Zanoth.”
“Given the choice between here and anywhere else,” Alena said, “only a fool would choose to remain under the yoke of the undead.”
“That may be the case,” the general replied. “Still, we should probably scout the area thoroughly before we jump to any conclusions. Not to mention that we don't know anything about this region politically.”
By this time, they had reached the entrance of the shrine.
“I don't suppose you have the strength left to bless any water?” General Halfar asked, turning to look at Paul.
“I can try,” he said with a weary smile.
“It shouldn't take much,” the old man said, handing the paladin a flask.
Paul took it from his hands and blessed it, although the divine power felt like fire in his veins.
“There you go,” he said, returning the leather bottle. “That's really all I've got left to give.”
“I hated to ask,” General Halfar replied, “but, I feel like the sooner we get the shrine cleansed, the better. For one thing, once I'm done, I may be able to channel the power of the gods myself.”
“That's... true...” Myra replied slowly. “Actually, we may not want to do this right now.”
“Why not?” Paul asked.
“The undead will be able to feel it,” she explained. “It will call to them. Even if they can't scry on the vale, they'll eventually realize that there's a shrine here. Once they do, you can imagine what will happen.”
“Then, what was the point of all this?” Joey asked with a shrug.
“We killed Kallen,” Alena smiled. “That alone made the trip worthwhile.”
“I guess I see that,” the wizard replied, “but I was hoping for something more useful to the cause than slaying some dracolich who lived over a thousand miles away from what you might call our ‘normal area of operation’.”
“We don't know what he might have done in the future if we hadn't killed him now,” Alena observed.
“I suppose that's the philosophical way to look at it,” Joey replied, “but, in my view...”
“This task complete,” Sarrac interjected, “cleanse ye the shrine.”
“Well, sure,” Darek nodded. “But, that doesn't mean we need to do it immediately. There's no point in cleansing it just to have the undead come level it to the ground.”
“Could they detect it through The Veil?” Paul asked, turning to look at Myra.
“No...” she said with a rising inflection. “But, that's not really going to help us, since you'd have to stay here in order to keep them from finding it. Whatever the prophecy means, I'm sure that the it isn't supposed to spend the rest of his life in Kallen Vale.”
“General,” Paul said, turning to the old man, “would you be willing to stay?”
“To bring the power of the gods of light back to Zanoth,” he said, his eyes locked on those of the paladin, “I'd live here until my dying day.”
“Does anyone have to wear it?” Joey asked. “Couldn't we just leave it here?”
“I don't know,” Paul said, gazing down at the ring on his hand.
“Even if we could,” Alena replied, “we shouldn't. The Veil is a true artifact. If we lose it, we'll never be able to replace it.”
“Which means we shouldn't leave it here at all,” Darek asserted. “We should just wait and cleanse the shrine later; after we've had time to come up with a better plan.”
“We've taken The Veil into countless dangers already,” Sarrac pointed out. “It will probably be far safer here on Mark's hand than it will be staying on Paul's.”
“How are we going to hide him from the undead without it?” Darek asked. “Every time he turns, or heals, or uses the divine power for any reason, they'll be able to feel it.”
“That could be a good thing,” Alena asserted. “It will give them something to fear.”
“And something to hunt,” he retorted.
“I might be able to come up with a way to hide it,” Myra said thoughtfully.
“If you do,” Darek said, shaking his head, “we can cleanse the shrine then. I don't see any reason for us to be in a rush.”
“That is a fair point,” Alena agreed.
“As far as I'm concerned,” Sarrac said, “this decision is completely up to Paul. He was given The Veil for a reason. It's up to him what he does
with it.”
“That's another fair point,” the ogress nodded. “Which is it to be, Paul?”
“It seems obvious to me,” he replied, looking at each of his companions in turn, “that Mark has been given the abilities of a priest or paladin. I'm basically positive that, once this shrine is cleansed, he'll be able to use those abilities here in Zanoth. I also have the feeling that, eventually, we're going to find other people who can channel the power of the gods.”
“I agree completely,” Sarrac nodded.
“You know, it's funny,” Paul said with a smile, pulling The Veil from his finger, “this wasn't the ring I was planning to give away.”
“What do you mean?” Myra asked.
“Nothing,” he replied, dropping the ring into the general's outstretched hand.
Instantly, he woke up in bed.
“No! No! No!” he cried, snatching the pillow from behind his head and furiously beating it with his fist.
“No!” he heard Joey yell from the living room.
Paul pulled himself sulkily from his bed, slipped on his pants, and trudged into the adjacent chamber.
“You know,” Joey said the moment he came into view, “I certainly didn't think I'd ever feel like this during my first few days in Zanoth but, being home really stinks.”
“We're not home,” Paul replied with a sigh. “At least, I'm not. Home is where the heart is.”
“True that,” his friend agreed with a nod.
“I should have just kissed her,” he mused aloud. “Obviously, that has nothing to do with us being sent back here.”
“I agree,” Joey sighed. “Not that we could be sure at the time. Man! I had just figured out how to get down to her size.”
“At least she'll owe you five if we ever make it back there.”
“That's true, I guess,” Joey replied, trying to look on the bright side. “You want to see what the administrator has to say?”
“We might as well,” Paul said, stepping over to his computer. “Let's see here... Subject: Take Five. And, it says: Once again, Paul, you did very well. As did Joey. You two have a few minutes to relax, but not too many. You may want to go grab some breakfast; it may be a while before you have a chance to eat fast food again. That's just a suggestion. Take it as such. P.S. Chick-fil-a is already open.”
“At least that's not cryptic at all,” Joey said, gazing at the monitor over his friend's shoulder.
“It doesn't appear to be,” Paul agreed. “What do you think?”
“I like Chick-fil-a.”
“I've never met anybody that doesn't,” Paul observed. “We may as well finish getting dressed and go grab breakfast, I guess.”
The End
(Enjoying this series? Check out my more classic fantasy series The Chronicles of Areon, which is currently available on Amazon.com: The Chronicles of Areon)
Thank You!
Dear reader, I'm Aaron J. Ethridge, the author of The Shrine of Kallen. I want to thank you for taking the time to read the book. I sincerely hope you enjoyed it. I put a great deal of time and effort (as well as love and soul) into it. I also want you to know that this is the third volume in what I plan to be a lengthy series. If you're interested in reading the further adventures of Paul Stevens and his companions, you can do something to help me make that happen.
You see, it can be very difficult for a new author to reach readers. However, the most helpful group of people in the world for doing just that are an author's current readers. Your opinion really does matter, and a few seconds of your time could change my life for years to come. So, I ask you to take a moment to review my work or post about it on your social networks using the links below.
Also, if you like The Shrine of Kallen, you might very well enjoy my sci-fi comedy series (which is honestly more comedy than sci-fi), The Last Time Traveler. You may also like my more classical fantasy series The Chronicles of Areon. The first books in both of these series are currently available on Amazon. You can take a look at them by using the links below.
The Last Time Traveler
The Stars of Areon
The Shrine of Kallen (The Tales of Zanoth Book 3) Page 32