Dark Quest

by Richard S. Tuttle

  King Tugar scowled. He was not used to taking suggestions or giving out information without knowing why. Jenneva detected the frown and interrupted. “Your Majesty, we do not seek to hide any information from you. If we were to divulge our theory before hearing the history of your people, it might influence the teller in the amount of detail spoken. We are very eager to share our theory and that is why we have traveled so far to come here.”

  “Very well,” the King proclaimed, “Doryelgar can recite the lineage, but where do you wish him to begin?”

  Egam looked at his old friend, Doryelgar, and said, “We are most interested in how the dwarves came to dwell in Talman. The lineage from that point forward, while I am sure it is quite interesting, has no bearing on our theory.”

  “You seek information from many generations ago,” offered Doryelgar. “You will find this information to be very dry and confusing, but I will recite that which was told to me.”

  Queen Gilas signaled and a pair of stone chairs were pushed into position for the magicians to rest on.

  Doryelgar continued. “Back in the golden age of King Frakis, the dwarves were numerous and plentiful. Our mines were very extensive and minerals were abundant. At that time, all dwarves lived in Lanto, an area you call the Southern Mountains, but man did not exist then. The dwarves were very prosperous and wanted for nothing, but because of their large population, game was becoming scarce. The search for food was causing the hunters to be gone longer and longer each trip. King Frakis decided that the dwarves must spread out more and sent out explorers in search of other mountain ranges. Most of the explorers returned, finding nothing but ocean. One group, however, reported a vast mountain range far to the north. This mountain range was massive in size, even greater than all of Lanto.”

  “Would that be the Boulders or what you call Talman?” Egam asked.

  “Yes,” replied Doryelgar. “Anyway, King Frakis decided that his brother, Prince Arak, would take an expedition to these mountains and found a new colony. He would become King Arak of Talman and the two nations would be ruled separately, but always be one with each other. King Arak was given five years to found the colony and then he was to report on the wealth of the new land. The expedition got under way and headed for Talman. During the journey they had to pass through a vast land inhabited with elves.”

  “Elves?” interrupted Egam. “What land was this that contained the elves?”

  “There were great forests across the plains of what is now Targa and Sordoa,” the dwarf answered. “In those forests, the elves lived. They did not take kindly to great numbers of dwarves crossing their land. There were skirmishes and small battles along the way, although there were no major wars. King Arak finally arrived in Talman and found the area well provisioned with both game and minerals. Talman was a paradise for the dwarves and King Arak decided to send one of his sons back to Lanto early, so that King Frakis could send some more of the population. He sent Prince Sork with a company of men and they returned with the news that no one lived in Lanto anymore.”

  “Did they encounter the elves on their way to Lanto and back?” asked Jenneva.

  “No,” answered Doryelgar. “The elves were gone, as well. Obviously, the elves had taken it upon themselves to attack Lanto and all must have perished in the great battles. Only Talman survived. It was a time of great mourning for dwarves and has since been called The Suffering. During Prince Sork’s absence, King Arak sent out more explorers and they discovered Cazra, which you call the West Mountains. It was also abundant with all of the necessities for a superb home. When King Arak received the report of the loss of Lanto, he was furious and determined that the dwarves would never again settle all of their people in one location. He gathered his sons together and decided to spilt the world into three kingdoms. He made his son, Sork, King of Lanto and sent him back with dwarves to reestablish the colony. Another son, Zyck, he made King of Cazra and sent dwarves with him. His third son, Tias, he named heir to the Talman throne. It is from Frakis, Arak, and Tias that King Tugar is descended.”

  “Were elves known to King Frakis before the expedition left Lanto?” asked Egam.

  “The elves were first discovered on King Arak’s journey,” answered Doryelgar. “Had they been discovered before, King Frakis would have sent emissaries to open up trade with them. It is fortunate that he did not, because the entire dwarf race might have been eradicated. At least King Arak and his people were able to escape before the Great War.”

  “Are there records of the exact path taken by King Arak?” Jenneva queried.

  Doryelgar thought long before answering. “The dwarves did not make maps of the journey. They did, however, maintain journals of their trip and described many sights seen along the way. Where are you going with this, Egam? I find your interest in the elves most perplexing. While relations are somewhat better with the wood dwellers today, dwarves will never forgive The Suffering.”

  “How about if there was no Suffering?” asked Jenneva.

  “How dare you speak such words in this hall!” shouted King Tugar. “You try my patience, Jenneva. While Egam and Alex may speak highly of you, it will matter little if you continue to suggest that the loss of thousands of my people never happened. I will not stand for it.”

  Egam stood and bowed to King Tugar. “King Tugar, Jenneva and I would never try to make light of The Suffering. I beg your forgiveness for any slight we may have caused. As Doryelgar will attest, our profession is one of constant questions. We magicians take nothing for granted and always question known truths. It is our nature and we are merely trying to correlate our thoughts to your people’s actual history. While no one doubts the validity of The Suffering, indulge us for a few moments of speculation. It will not harm the memory of those lost, if for just a moment, we postulate a different theory for the missing colony of Lanto.”

  “A different theory?” the King ranted. “Thousands of my people lost and you wish to offer a different explanation from the fact that the elves slaughtered them?”

  Queen Gilas laid her hand on King Tugar’s arm, trying to calm him. “You upset my husband with such talk. Times are peaceful with the elves now. Why do you wish to dredge up such memories?”

  “Your Highness,” interrupted Jenneva, “you may banish me forever for my foolish words, but I believe that your people still exist. Certainly not King Frakis, but I believe his descendants still thrive in Lanto. In fact, I think there are two Lanto colonies.”

  Doryelgar rose now and stared at Jenneva and then at Egam. He had known Egam for many years and had never known him to talk of rubbish. “How is it that you believe there can be more than one Lanto colony?”

  Egam sat back down, drained from the stress of dealing with the King’s emotions. “We have reason to believe that King Arak led his people through a gateway to another Universe. In fact, after hearing your account, I think he may have actually led them through two Universes. Consider for a moment that you said King Frakis sent explorers across the continent. Could all of those explorers missed sighting a single elf?”

  “And in the Great War,” added Jenneva, “is it possible to believe that not a single dwarf or elf survived the destruction?”

  “When King Sork returned to Lanto with his people,” asked Egam, “did he find great graveyards and piles of bones? Other than the tunnels, did he find any signs that the great nation of Lanto ever existed?”

  “I recall the description from his journal,” replied Doryelgar. “He spoke of the nation of Lanto as if it had been completely removed, as if it never existed. What you are proposing, Egam is preposterous. That would mean that Lanto still exists somewhere and they would believe that King Arak died at the hands of the elves.”

  “Not necessarily the elves, Doryelgar,” Egam stated. “At that time, I don’t think they knew of the elves’ existence because I don’t think there were any elves in that Universe.”

  The chamber fell silent as each individual tried to rationalize what these revela
tions would mean. Finally, King Tugar broke the silence. “I can not dismiss The Suffering on your words, Egam. There have been thousands of years of war against the Elves because of The Suffering. I would like to believe that my people somehow escaped the massacre, but I will require proof and proof you cannot deliver. Let us be done with this nonsense.”

  “Your Majesty,” spoke Jenneva, “what if I could make contact with your people in the other Universe? Is there some way or something that I could convey to you from this other Universe to convince you that it exists?”

  “You plan to go to this other Universe?” asked the King. How do you plan to get there?”

  “Unfortunately, Your Highness, I know very little of these matters. I hope to find the Book of the Beginning. This tome contains knowledge, I believe, that will shed light on these other Universes. I have trapped an evil sorcerer in one of them and I must understand how travel between them is accomplished. I think your people achieved this by accident. I would like to search your records to find out how. I also think the elves are not of this Universe. We intend to speak with King Gondoral to find out how they came to dwell here. Perhaps, if we can gather enough information, we may be able to access the other Universes. If that is possible, I will go and it would be a pleasure if I might find some dwarves on the other side.”

  “I’m not sure that I can buy into these theories,” retorted King Tugar. “I will allow Egam and yourself access to our records. Doryelgar will guide you through our library. If you find the answers to your questions, then will I listen more to what you have to say.”

  King Tugar dismissed them and Doryelgar led the way through the dark, musty passages to the library. “You must understand King Tugar’s position,” the dwarf magician said. “You walk into his chamber and seek to disavow thousands of years of history. I think if it was not for the great regard he holds for you, Egam, you would have been shown the way out of the caverns at your first mention of The Suffering. I would like to believe that our people have remained safe throughout the years, but while your theory is interesting, I also require more than just words to convince me.”

  “That is understandable,” replied Egam. “These theories fly in the face of all established thought, yet many things that we have learned over the years could easily have been dismissed in a similar fashion. Let us resolve to work together to prove or disprove the theory. Only then can we be sure.”

  “Yes,” interrupted Jenneva, “let us see if your records can direct us to an opening to another Universe. If not, we shall try the records of Glendor.”

  “I think we should research Glendor in any event,” stated Egam. “The more information we have when we attempt the transition, the better. Let us begin our search.”

  Lieutenant Jaynes rode swiftly through the dense forest, ducking low branches as his horse swerved around trees. Soon he reached the Ranger encampment and dismounted his great steed. “Alex, we spotted another group of Black Devils heading northwest. I’ve got Sergeant Witzak and a Corporal trailing them.”

  “Good, David,” Captain Alexander Tork replied. “Randi is a good man for the task. This time we will not attack them, but let them lead us to their lair. It goes against my grain to let these murderers live even one extra day, but we must find their hideout and kill them all.”

  “We should wait and let all of these traveling groups arrive, then.”

  “Yes, we will wait. We have to wait for the return of Egam and Jenneva anyway, but if they start to move out of their stronghold, the waiting will be over whether our magicians have arrived or not.”

  “Okay, Alex, but I’m going to take a squad of men and track Sergeant Witzak just in case they are spotted and a fight breaks out.”

  “A sound plan, David. Take no more than twenty men. I’ll form the rest of the column and stay a ways behind you.”

  “I think I’ve found it, Aurora,” exclaimed Dalgar. “Look at this!”

  Aurora rolled off the bed and rubbed her eyes. She looked over at Dalgar who was sitting at a small desk near the window. They had been taking turns going through the Book of the Beginning for several days. “What have you found?” she asked.

  “It refers to something called a Junction,” Dalgar declared. “Universes are connected through Junctions.”

  “Then that means there are already other Universes?”

  “Yes, there must be,” reasoned Dalgar. “If Sarac is merely in another Universe as we discussed last night, then all we have to do is find the Junction for that Universe.”

  “Do you mean, we just walk through this Junction and call out for Sarac?” she questioned. “Perhaps we just walk up to him and introduce ourselves and ask him to follow us back through the Junction.”

  “I see what you’re getting at,” he reasoned. “Even if we find the Junction, we have no idea where in that Universe Sarac may be.”

  “Or what other creatures may be there,” Aurora added.

  “We can deal with creatures,” retorted Dalgar. “It is Mordac that I worry about. If we tell him what we know, he will find Sarac and take all of the credit. We will be pushed back down into the ranks of the other Black Devils, but if we don’t tell him and go ahead and bring Sarac back, Mordac will conspire to kill us so that Sarac doesn’t elevate us over him.”

  “I know how to handle Mordac,” she claimed. “What we need to know is how to find these Junctions. Without knowing where the Junctions are, our knowledge of them is worthless.”

  “Finding the Junctions will not be a problem,” stated Dalgar. “There is a spell in the Book of the Beginning that allows you see the Junction. It has to be in your visual range, but we can search until we find the right location.”

  Dalgar stood and went to the doorway and looked out into the corridor. Satisfied that no one was around, he returned to the bed and sat down. “I shudder to think of how you might get rid of Mordac, but let’s keep in mind that if it goes wrong, we will both be in mortal danger.”

  Aurora barked out a cold, cruel laugh. “It can’t possibly go wrong on us,” she asserted. “First, we will give the Book of the Beginning to Mordac and we will be his heroes for a short time until he figures out that he should get rid of us. Then we will talk him into giving us a few days off for our good work. We will use that time to go to the garrison at Tor and inform them that we know where the assassin of King Eugene is hiding. The Army will do our work for us.”

  “Aurora,” cackled Dalgar, “you are a cruel and devious opponent. What about all of the Black Devils, though? The Army will surely kill them all.”

  “Yes,” smiled Aurora, “they will, won’t they. Of course, Sarac would have no choice but to make us his Assistants, wouldn't he?”

  Dalgar stood and retrieved the Book of the Beginning from the small desk. “Come, we must show our Master what a great discovery we have found.”

  The two devious magicians jubilantly bounced down the stairs of the castle and into Mordac’s study.

  “Master, we have wonderful news,” exclaimed Dalgar. “We have found the Book of the Beginning. Look, here it is.”

  Mordac quickly rose from his chair and crossed the room. He grabbed the Book of the Beginning from Dalgar’s hand and carried it to a table by the window and sat down. Furiously, he paged through the book and then finally stood again. “You have done well, Dalgar, and, of course, you too, Aurora. I knew the two of you showed promise. At last we have the means of bringing the God of Magic back to us.”

  “Can we help you, Master?” asked Aurora. “Perhaps we can be of assistance in ferreting out the secrets contained in the Book of the Beginning?”

  Dalgar gave Aurora a quizzical look and then noticed the dark frown shading Mordac face and understood.

  Mordac stared at his two assistants. “No,” he said, “that will not be necessary. You two have already done more than your share. In fact, why don’t the two of you take a few days off and enjoy yourselves. Soon we will have to proceed on a small trip and you should be rested. I am sure
that I can handle finding the proper information on my own.”

  “As you wish, Master,” Aurora said. She grabbed Dalgar’s hand and led him out of the building.

  “Aurora,” Dalgar whispered, “remind me never to cross you. Your mind works in a very strange and efficient manner.”

  The young magicians both laughed and headed down the road towards Tor.

  Chapter 18

  Sarac

  Sarac gazed out the window from his study, surveying his new estate. All that he saw and everything beyond was his and his alone. Green forests stretching away to the horizons, lines of mountain peaks beyond the forests, everything was his. The thought brought him no solace, for he had no books.

  His attention was drawn by a ruckus in the courtyard below where the workers were building another wing onto the castle. Two carts had met on the narrow path to the construction site and neither worker would yield nor back up. One of the workers picked up his empty cart and hurled it at the other worker. The cart smashed against the wall of the castle and fell to the ground, broken. The two workers started towards each other, pure hatred in their beady eyes. Sarac leaned out of the window and hurled a fireball at the empty cart that lay broken on the path. The two startled workers leapt back from the flames and looked up at the window.

  “Work!” shouted Sarac. The two ogres gave a slight bow and lumbered off to complete their tasks. Sarac sat back down in his chair and felt it wobble, one leg being shorter than the others. He picked the chair up and hurled it through the door into the corridor and watched it smash to pieces on the floor.

  Sarac’s Aide came running into the room. “Master, is there a problem?”

  Sarac turned around, fury in his eyes, and raised his hand at the cowering aide. Slowly, Sarac fought for control of his emotions and slowly lowered his hand. “Yes, Lattimer, there is a problem. More than one, actually. I would ask you to sit, but we don’t have any chairs left. Can’t these morons build a simple chair? One with all of the legs the same length? is that too much to ask?”