The Tower of Daelfaun (The Tales of Zanoth Book 1)

by Ethridge, Aaron J.

  “Absolutely,” she nodded. “Alright. Let's try again. Back!”

  Again dark magic flew from the maiden's staff and once again they reached the next haven of sunlight before their enemies could regroup.

  “Just three more and we'll reach the door,” Alena pointed out.

  “Thank the gods,” Myra replied, wiping her brow. “And let's go. Back!”

  For a third time their shadowy foes fled the power of the former lich. However, before the young woman managed to reach the next patch of light, the hands of their enemies grabbed hold of her. She screamed as their freezing grasp began to drain the life from her body. Instantly Paul was at her side, Telseir blazing in his hands. As he slashed to the left and right screams rent the air. Nyssa surrounded the couple in fire on three sides, giving the young man time to drag the witch into the sunlight.

  “My turn,” he said with a look grim determination. “Drop dead!”

  Golden light encircled the young man, burning the wraiths nearest him to nothing and driving those not so close into the safety of the surrounding darkness.

  “Alright,” he said, swaying slightly. “That seems to take a bit out of me. How about we do the next one together?”

  “Brilliant,” the maiden smiled. “On three.”

  As soon as Myra reached three both she and Paul used their powers. The wraiths that stood between them and the chamber they sought fled in terror or were burned to nothing in an inferno of golden light. Seconds later the entire party stood inside the tomb of King Paffek.

  The windows of the chamber were so placed that even in the rays of the setting sun the room was filled with light. In its very center stood the sepulcher of the ancient king. Over the ages it had been completely broken to pieces and what remained was nothing more than a pile of rubble. Instinctively the entire band turned to face the horde of enemies that were gathering just beyond the reach of the light.

  Countless wraiths moved as near the chamber as the light would allow them, their red eyes searching the recesses of the room. Suddenly the whispering of the undead shadows ceased. At the same moment a number of glowing runes etched on stones around their side of the doorway attracted Myra's attention.

  “I wonder what these are,” she said aloud.

  “I don't know,” Sarrac said shaking his head. “Were they here the last time we were, Alena?”

  “No,” the ogress replied. “Absolutely not. They kind of attract attention. There's no way we could have missed them.”

  “Well whatever they are,” Darek said, gazing at their undead enemies. “I hope they have something to do with protecting people from wraiths.”

  “They don't,” Myra replied. “I can tell you that much already. They are somewhat familiar though.”

  “If they're not save our lives runes, it ain't gonna matter what they are in the next couple of minutes,” Paul pointed out. “I might have one or two more turns in me, but that's about it. And I doubt you've got much more back in you.”

  “No,” she sighed. “No, I don't,”

  “Right,” Nyssa nodded. “That's why we need to start...”

  As she said this she spun around to face the interior of the chamber.

  “Wow!” the fairy exclaimed.

  Immediately all her companions turned to see what had attracted her attention. The chamber before them was not the tomb they had been standing in just moments before. The light that filled it was cast by a number of torches hanging from the walls that burned with a light almost exactly like that of the setting sun. It had no windows of any kind, and it's only doorway was the one they had just passed through. Weapons and armor hung from racks that seemed to cover the floor and the chamber was filled with a wide range of other treasures.

  “Quick question,” Darek said, looking from the interior of the chamber to the wraiths just outside it. “Why aren't we dead? There's no sunlight in here.”

  “The runes!” Myra exclaimed. “I know what they are!”

  “So they do protect us!” he speculated.

  “Not at all,” she laughed. “They're transportation runes! We could be anywhere in Zanoth. Or anywhere out of it, for that matter.”

  “Alright,” Paul nodded. “But that still doesn't answer his question.”

  “It's you,” the maiden replied. “It has to be.”

  “I'm keeping the wraiths back?”

  “No,” she replied with another laugh, turning her attention back to the runes. “The wraiths aren't coming in to kill us because they're staring into an empty room wondering where we went. When Paul stepped through the doorway it activated the gateway that brought us here. Which is amazing! No wonder no one ever found anything, there was nothing to find except the gateway itself. And to find it you would have to be on this side of it. Whoever created this was a genius, or a god, or both.”

  “That's excellent,” Alena smiled. “And it seems to mean, for the moment at least, that we're safe.”

  “Safer than we've ever been in our lives,” Myra assured her.

  “Well in that case,” the ogress continued, “it seems like a good time to arm ourselves.”

  “Absolutely!” Darek replied with a wide grin.

  The party began to walk amongst the arms and armor, each searching for equipment that struck their particular fancy. A number of the racks held complete sets of armor and weapons and on the base of these were small, and completely blank, silver plates. A suit of full-plate complete with two-handed sword attracted Darek's attention as he passed, and he decided to see how such a massive blade felt in his hands. However, he could neither remove the scabbard from its rack, or the sword from its scabbard.

  “This thing won't budge,” he said, pulling on the weapon with all his might. “Sarrac, come give me a hand would you?”

  The ogre stepped quickly over to his companion and effortlessly drew the weapon. Instantly the name Sarrac Delfas Karn appeared on the silver plate at the base of the rack.

  “Well it looks like this is yours,” Darken pointed out. “I wonder why the names aren't already on them. That would make it a lot easier to figure out who's supposed to get what.”

  “What if the wraiths had killed us?” Sarrac asked. “Then all the wrong names might be on them.”

  “That's a point,” Darek chuckled. “Either way, I'm going to go find mine. Assuming, of course, that any of this is meant for me.”

  As the minutes passed, each of the party discovered a rack with their name quite literally written on it. Paul Alexander Stevens was etched below a stand containing full-plate armor and a large silver shield. Whatever magic governed the chamber offered Alena Marr Calmon a suit of extremely light and flexible chain armor, with a solid metal breastplate, as well as a broadsword and shield.

  Darek Tellas Farren was provided with a suit of hardened leather armor, a rapier, a main gauche, and a belt from which hung five masterfully crafted daggers. Myra Kel Marran found a small stand on which sat a slender silver necklace adorned with a pendant in the shape of a silver star, and a pair of cloth bracers with images of the sun and moons embroidered on them. Nyssa Ren Drall received a small box containing a ring of gold set with a sapphire that was a perfect fit for her tiny fingers.

  Along the far wall of the chamber was a rack the held a number of different weapons, and another covered with armor, which Darek discovered could apparently be claimed by anyone, as he was able to take items from each of them.

  “This stuff will come in handy,” he said with a smile. “Not that we need it, of course. But if we could get it into the hands of other Warriors of Dawn it could really be put to good use.”

  “I'm sure that's why it's here,” Alena speculated. “Paul being armed and armored is great, and his ability to turn certainly makes him a force to be reckoned with, but he's not an army.”

  “I agree,” Sarrac nodded with a smile of his own. “These are the tools we need to start a rebellion.”

  “Of course, there's not enough here for a real army,” Darek pointed o
ut. “And it's going to take more than just one of those to free Zanoth.”

  “That's certainly true,” the ogre nodded. “But it's a start. And our enemies have weapons we could use against them, if we can only reach them.”

  “Certainly,” Darek agreed. “However, before we start making plans on how to capture enemy armories, or decide who needs to be given what from this particular trove, we're going to have to come up with some ideas on how to get out of here alive. We're obviously far better armed than we were, but it's still going to be a trick to fight our way through a sea of wraiths and then past an army of corporeal undead.”

  “You're right there,” Alena sighed. “Finding this place isn't going to have done anyone any good if we can't get out alive. And even if we manage to do that, who knows if we'll ever be able to fight our way back in. It may be that what we carry with us will be all we'll ever take from here. At least for a very long while.”

  “Then we need to make sure we take as much as we can,” Paul replied.

  “That's true,” the ogre said, taking one of the swords from the rack. “But we don't have any horses, and the more we carry the slower we're going to go. For the time being, our focus has to be on survival. With the equipment we've got right now we could strike a serious blow against Lord Telraen. If we caused enough trouble he'd have to start pulling forces back to deal with us.”

  “You're right!” Alena exclaimed. “If we started killing town garrisons and things like that he'd have to recall his troops. Then we could head back here with enough horses to take everything. Well, everything the chamber will let us take anyway.”

  “What about the wraiths?” Paul asked. “We'd still have to deal with them.”

  “We can work around them,” Darek pointed out. “We could actually cut a door at the back of Paffek’s tomb. We'd have to be out of here well before dark, of course, but it could still be done in a matter of days. Then we'd have access to an armory that the enemy could never reach!”

  “It's a good plan,” Alena agreed. “But we still need to find a way of getting out of here.”

  “What about one of the windows?” Paul suggested. “If there's any rope amongst all this stuff, Nyssa could fly up to a window with it tomorrow morning and we could climb out. Unless, of course, she could just carry us up.”

  “No,” the fairy giggled. “I'm strong enough to lower you down a cliff face that's thirty or forty feet, but I certainly can't lift any of you that high.”

  “Alright then,” the young man nodded. “Let's start looking for a rope. We might even be able to make one.”

  “Maybe,” Myra replied, a thoughtful expression on her face. “However, I believe there may be a better way. Nyssa, come with me please.”

  Immediately the entire party followed the young woman back to the entrance of the room. The sun had set and nothing but darkness, filled with glowing red eyes, could be seen on the far side of the portal.

  “It strikes me,” the maiden said, gazing at the runes around the door frame, “that some of these represent coordinates. What do you think, Nyssa?”

  “Let me see,” the fairy replied, hovering up to the markings and studying each one closely.

  After a few moments silent consideration she spoke.

  “It's possible,” she said at last. “I think I would even go so far as to say probable. Logically, the caster had to set a point for the gateway to exist in Zanoth because in reality it isn't there at all. It's a bit like the gateways from the fairy wells. They're always in Falmarrin, but they only exist on the worlds they lead to when they're being used.”

  “Those are my thoughts exactly,” Myra agreed. “Now, do you think we can change the coordinates?”

  “Maybe,” Nyssa replied thoughtfully. “At least, if the runes were moveable we could.”

  Having said this she reached out and pushed one of the runes to the side. The small stone slid along the door frame; instantly the runes stopped glowing and the portal was filled with a solid rock wall.

  “And it seems we can,” she smiled. “Now we just need to figure out where we want to go and how to set the coordinates.”

  “This is incredible!” Alena exclaimed. “This is a weapon the undead won't be prepared to face! We could fit a few hundred people in here if we had to. Imagine storming a castle simply by having our troops march into it!”

  “Well, that wouldn't really work...” Myra began.

  “Why not?” the ogress interrupted. “If we can just set the coordinates for the doorway then...”

  “Several things,” the maiden counter-interrupted. “To begin with, the undead aren't fools. All their major fortresses have spells in place to stop teleportation magic.”

  “What about the capture stones?” Paul asked.

  “They're each crafted for a specific fortress,” she explained. “They can bypass the wards that prevent teleportation. And actually that's a really good point! If we can get a capture stone from a particular stronghold we might be able to find a way inside. Well, into the dungeons at least. But even that's a start. Still, there are more potential problems.”

  “Such as?” Alena asked.

  “We can't be sure how it's powered,” Nyssa pointed out. “It may be that there's a certain amount of time you have to wait between changing coordinates, or maybe you have to activate it somehow, or it could even be that if you break the connection you can never open the gateway again.”

  “What?!?!” Darek exclaimed. “You mean break the connection like you just did when you moved that rune?!?!”

  “Oh yeah...” she replied, gently biting her bottom lip. “I should have thought about that first.”

  “I agree!” he replied vehemently.

  “Don't worry,” Myra laughed. “I'm sure we can get it activated again. If we couldn't then whoever built this place wouldn't have made the runes that easy to move.”

  “I can see that,” he replied.

  “So now,” the maiden continued, “we just need to pick a location so Nyssa and I can start working on figuring out the coordinates.”

  “What about Jannac,” Alena suggested. “There are a number of Warriors there, and the garrison is small.”

  “No,” Sarrac replied shaking his head. “I don't like the idea of it being in the middle of enemy territory. If there's a chance we won't be able to move it again for a while...”

  “And there is,” Myra interjected.

  “Right,” he nodded. “So we need to pick a place we can sneak to and from without attracting attention.”

  “The fairy well maybe,” Darek suggested. “I know that's in the heart of enemy territory, but if we could set the gateway on the hallowed ground it would be impossible for the undead to reach it.”

  “I don't think that would work,” Nyssa replied. “The well is a center of magical power. It could prevent the gateway from working.”

  “That's true,” Myra agreed. “But if we did it right the gateway could almost touch the outskirts of the well right at the edge of the dark lands.”

  “That would be possible,” the fairy replied. “As long as we set the coordinates perfectly.”

  “Then that's what we need to aim for,” the maiden replied. “You guys may as well get some rest. This will likely take us a while.”

  Myra's companions immediately took her advice and just minutes later were making pallets out of rolls of apparently magical cloth they had found in a section of the room. For the time being they were safe and sound, and they would even be able to sleep without a watch for a change. However, all these blessings didn't distract Alena and for two hours the four warriors practiced their swordplay, before stretching themselves out for the night.

  Chapter 14: A Single Spark

  “Any progress?” Paul asked, taking a seat beside the young woman.

  “Yes...” she answered slowly, before lifting her eyes from the papers she was considering. “It's taken a bit of effort, but I think we've just about gotten it worked out. Fortunately for us, Nyssa
is extremely clever. In spite of the fact that, at times at least, she seems a little...”

  “Dizzy,” the young man suggested.

  “Yes,” she chuckled. “That's a good way to put it. Either way, without her help it would have taken me days. She understands coordinates in three dimensions in a way that's hard to grasp.”

  “Well, she can fly,” he replied. “So I guess she's used to thinking in three dimensions.”

  “Maybe that's it,” she agreed. “But either way, to have worked it out in less than a day is amazing. At least to me it is.”

  “To me as well,” he nodded. “So when do we try it?”

  “Now,” the maiden replied. “I'd just finished actually. Nyssa, I think I'm ready.”

  “Wonderful!” the fairy exclaimed, leaping into the air from where she was laying a short distance away. “I'd almost gotten bored! Of course, it's actually an interesting sensation if you haven't felt it in a while. And bored is just something you don't get to feel very often on Zanoth. Afraid, exhausted, furious, hungry, and worried sure, but bored? I think the last time I was...”

  “Can we get started?” Myra interrupted.

  “Of course!” the fairly laughed. “What's stopping us?”

  “Let me rephrase that,” the young woman said with a smile. “Nyssa, let's get started.”

  “Absolutely,” she responded, gazing down at the paper Myra had in her hand. “Are you sure those are the coordinates?”

  “I think so,” the maiden nodded. “All we can do is try them.”

  “Right,” the fairy nodded, before flying up to the runes.

  She quickly rearranged them in the pattern that Myra had put together. As soon as the last one was in place the runes began to glow. Suddenly, the stone wall vanished and the doorway was filled with the image of the fairy well. Immediately the light in the runes died away.

  “Looks like you did it,” Paul said, smiling at the maiden.

  “Looks like we did,” she nodded. “But it also looks like we won't be able to do it again for a while. Or maybe ever again.”

  “What makes you say that?” he asked.