Dark Quest

by Richard S. Tuttle

  “You shall have permission to examine our history records,” declared the King. “Galdan will guide you. I can only hope that your theory is accurate. It would mean much to my people to be able to wipe the Time of Desolation from our history. It is hard to imagine that two races bent on destroying each other for thousands of years is based on a misconception, but if your theory is true, I will stand first in line to greet King Tugar as a friend. If that happens, your names will be exalted in the halls of the elves forever. Go, make a peace come true.”

  “Thank you, Your Highness,” responded Jenneva. “When the time comes for you to greet King Tugar, I would consider it an honor to be present.”

  “So you shall be,” stated King Gondoral. “You may stand alongside Prince Rigal, who will be accompanying you on the journey to Elderal when you go.”

  Egam and Jenneva bowed to the King and Queen and Galdan led them into the mountain to the Hall of Records.

  Chapter 19

  Recon

  Sergeant Randi Witzak lay in the woods observing the Black Devil castle in the valley below. The stone castle was a fairly large structure, but had no moat. Randi figured it dated back to Targa’s expansion north of the Boulders and was probably once considered to be on the frontier. The location was not far from the Tor Pass, which connected lower Targa with the Northlands, yet out of the way enough not to be seen by casual travelers.

  The Sergeant was far enough away not to be seen and still close enough to observe the number of devotees below. What bothered the Sergeant were the hundreds of magicians at the castle. Storming the stronghold would cost the Rangers dearly.

  Randi heard a noise behind him and peered over his shoulder at the three Rangers who were crawling towards him. Captain Alexander Tork and his two Lieutenants had finally arrived.

  “What have you got, Sergeant?” Alex asked.

  “It looks to be around five hundred,” answered Randi.

  Alex pulled out the telescope that the elves had given him and focused on the castle, slowly panning the entire grounds. Dozens of tents were constructed on the green areas surrounding the castle and Black Devils were moving in and out of the castle and around the estate. Alex reflected that the scene reminded him of watching an anthill when he was a boy.

  “Has there been any sign of Mordac?” he asked.

  “It’s pretty hard to identify any individuals from here,” answered Sergeant Witzak, “but I did see one of them who was treated with deference. If he was Mordac, then he is here. Several groups have arrived since the one I was following. So far, all of the movement has been to the estate with the exception of two individuals who left earlier.”

  “Could one of them have been Mordac?” Alex queried.

  “Not from your description,” replied Randi. “You said curly brown hair. Of the two who left, one had long, black hair and the other was obviously female with auburn hair.”

  “The King’s Aides,” spat Mitar. “I sure hope they come back before we toast this place.”

  “So do I, Lieutenant,” stated Alex. “Why don’t you and David ride back to the group and get them to set up camp in the next valley? We need to plan a strategy for eliminating these murderers.”

  Lieutenants Mitar Vidson and David Jaynes crawled back through the trees and disappeared. Alex continued to peer through his scope, checking each of the castle’s windows.

  “Have you seen anything that resembles guards or sentries, Sergeant?” the Captain asked.

  “No, but I haven’t been here that long. The group I was following was not in any hurry. Tonight will answer that question, though.”

  “Indeed it will, Randi. We have to wait for Egam and Jenneva to show up before we start any major attack and these people don’t seem to be gearing up to move out. I think we can just observe for tonight, but if any more of them leave, I want them taken out once they are out of sight of the castle.”

  “No problem, Sir. I wouldn’t mind signing up for that duty myself.”

  “You and three hundred other Rangers, Soldier.”

  Alex suddenly tensed, his frame stiff and the tendons of his neck tightening. After a few moments, he spoke. “Randi, look at the left side of the castle, third window back, top floor. The person in that window is Mordac. Can you see him?”

  Randi peered through the dimming daylight and located the figure. “Yes, I can see him. I am not sure that I would recognize him if he wandered out into the crowd, though.”

  “You will with this, Sergeant,” Alex said as he handed the scope to Sergeant Witzak. “Don’t lose this. It is very special to me and I want it back in one piece.”

  The Sergeant took the scope and focused on the window. “Wow! This thing is fantastic. I feel like I am standing outside his window.”

  “Good,” declared Alex. “Whoever is on watch should use it until we’re ready to attack. I’m going to return to the group. I’ll send one of your men up here to stay with you. Use him as a runner. I want this position manned throughout the night. Someone leaves the estate or something happens that requires my input, send the runner. You’ve done a good job, Randi.”

  Captain Tork crawled back through the forest. When he came to the small encampment of Randi’s men he sent one of them forward to stand guard with the Sergeant. Alex then mounted his horse and rode into the next valley to join the main body of Rangers.

  The following morning Alex held a meeting to discuss the attack on Mordac’s castle. The two Lieutenants and Alex listened as Sergeant Witzak described the castle’s defenses.

  “They keep the four towers manned all of the time. They seem to work on four-hour shifts, all changing at the same time. Last night they had sixteen men on far patrol, four for each side of the estate. They move through the trees near the property border and shouldn’t be too much of a problem as long as we take them all out at the same time. There are also four guards on a close patrol, one for each side of the castle. These sentries will be very hard to get past. They keep to the open areas and are fairly visible to their entire encampment.”

  Sergeant Witzak picked up a stick and starting drawing a map of the estate in the dirt. “Okay, here are the sixteen outer guards and these are the four inner guards. Towers, here, here, here, and here. There are also two sentries at the main door. This much I am sure of. Now for the guesswork. Best I can tell, they have one guard per floor inside. I could see a guard through windows on each floor, but I couldn’t tell if it was the same guard each time. I tried to time them, but their circuits were irregular.”

  “Has anybody left the estate or arrived since we last talked?” asked Alex.

  “Yes,” answered the Ranger Sergeant. “Two more groups of about thirty each arrived last night. If they get any more groups in, they are going to have problems finding tent space. That place is getting pretty crammed up. Nobody left, though.”

  “Mitar, David, what do you think?” Alex asked.

  “I would feel a lot better if we could know for sure about the inside guards,” stated David.

  “Agreed,” added Mitar. “We don’t even have a good estimate of their forces inside. If they have a good mechanism for locking that place up when we attack, we are going to lose an awful lot of good men.”

  “I also agree,” said Alex. “We have to know what we are up against. I am not going to throw Ranger lives away to a bunch of fireball tossing killers. Okay, Randi, I want your men to keep watching all day. Alert us to any change in the situation. Tomorrow morning after we know about their inside defenses, we will meet again to lay out the attack strategy.”

  “Excuse me, Captain,” interrupted Lieutenant Jaynes. “You sound like you are going to send a team into the castle tonight. You must be aware that it will be a one-way trip. It is suicide for a team to try and penetrate the castle without alerting the entire garrison. Shouldn’t we wait for the magicians?”

  “I am not sure that the magicians could do much for us on this one, David,” Alex replied. “The type of information we need woul
d escape their attention. Only a Ranger can do it.”

  “Well, Captain,” asserted David, “I will not throw my men uselessly to their deaths. Let me go alone.”

  “Lieutenant Jaynes,” Alex declared, “your protective attitude towards your men is one of the reasons I like having you by my side. A Ranger officer should never ask something of his men that he would not do himself, but your request is denied. And Lieutenant Vidson, if I find you or your men undertaking this task, I will have your uniform.”

  David was resigned to the task. He did not look forward to choosing the men who would make the deadly journey, but they were Rangers and proud of it. Not one of his men would shirk from the infiltration. “Very well, Captain. How do you want us to go in?”

  Alex leaned over and laid his hand on David’s shoulder. “You are not going in, David. I am.”

  All three of the junior officers started to protest and Alex held up his hand for silence. “While I appreciate your concerns, gentlemen, we have no time for this. David, I want you and five of your men over on that ridge. I want the inside of their shields stripped and polished like they have never been polished before. When the moon clears the Boulders tonight, I want your men to catch the reflection and aim it at the guard towers. I want the tower guards to be looking towards you and your men. Maintain their attention for a count of six hundred then immediately stop. Just before the moon hits its zenith, repeat the procedure.”

  “You still have the roving sentries to worry about,” interrupted Mitar.

  “I think I can get past them, Mitar, but in case I do not, you will have three men on each of the rear outer sentries. Do not kill them unless you are sure that I am going down without your help. I want to get in and out again without letting them know we are here.”

  The officers continued planning Alex’s nighttime raid for several hours. The meeting broke up and Alex decided to get some sleep.

  A corporal shook Alex and woke him up. The corporal nodded over his shoulder and Alex sat up to see Egam and Jenneva. Alex stood and embraced Jenneva. “I am glad to see you two. I trust your research was successful?”

  “Oh, yes,” smiled Jenneva. “Remind me to tell you about it sometime.”

  Alex looked at the sun and its approach to the horizon. “It will have to wait until morning. Corporal, find comfortable places for our guests to sleep and make sure they are well fed. And get me Lieutenant Vidson.”

  “You are troubled, Alex,” noticed Jenneva.

  “A bit. All these Black Devils in one spot concerns me. I worry for my men.”

  Alex saw Mitar coming and embraced Jenneva again before he strode off towards the Ranger Lieutenant. After a short talk the two Rangers split up and left the campground.

  Egam noticed the somber mood of the camp and the way all of the Rangers watched Alex leave. He walked over and talked to the corporal, but got nothing out of him.

  Alex lay in the woods, encased in his black suit, merging with the darkness of the forest. He did not carry his sword or shield this night, for to use them was to invite death. He watched the two closest sentries and timed their movements. The sun had been down for two hours and the moon would be clearing the mountain peaks within the hour.

  Quickly and quietly, Alex stole across the path of the two sentries and flattened himself in the darkness of the forest. He lay there unmoving, holding his breath as he watched the sentry’s feet moving a yard from his feet. When the guard had continued his walk, Alex raised himself and made his way silently to the edge of the trees. He lay on his back in the darkness of the woods, his hands, face and bare feet blackened with charcoal, and peered up at the tower guard, waiting for the recognition that the guard’s attention was diverted.

  Suddenly, the tower guard stood and walked to the other side of the tower. Alex flipped over and leaned out of the woods to observe the other tower guard. He, too, was focused on the far ridge. Alex stood and raced for the wall near the tower. Reaching up to grab the rough stones, Alex began to scale the wall. The stones were cold and rough under his feet, but he quickly made it to the top of the wall. He lay on the wall peering into the courtyard below, tracking the roving rear sentry. He could hear the guard in the tower talking to himself and hoped the sentry walking below would not hear the guard and look up. He waited while the rear sentry turned around and began his walk back, but the sentry on the side of the castle was now walking towards him. Alex lay frozen atop the wall. The tower guard called down to the side sentry and the sentry turned to look at the strange lights emanating from the ridge. Alex took his chance and dropped to the ground, now inside the castle walls. He hung in the shadows at the base at the tower and waited while he counted down his numbers.

  When Alex reached six hundred, the tower guard shouted something to the sentry below. The sentry shrugged and resumed his march. Alex had to stand in the shadows and wait several minutes before he heard the tower guard resume his position at the outside edge of the tower.

  Timing the sentries, it took the Ranger another fifteen minutes before he had the break he needed to scoot across the courtyard to the castle building. He quickly climbed up the side of the castle towards a window. He hoped the room was unoccupied, because he would only get one chance at his entry. He grabbed the edge of the window opening and pulled his head up so he could look inside. Four men were sleeping on the floor and Alex knew he had no choice. Quietly, he hauled himself through the window. He stole across the room and peered into the hall.

  The roving sentry that Randi had mentioned came by. Alex stayed flattened against the wall and waited. It was some time before the sentry came by again and Alex could determine that it was the same man. Alex waited until the sentry turned the far corner before he stepped into the hallway. He quietly walked down the corridor, checking each room as he passed, calculating the number of men in each.

  When Alex had completed the circuit on the first floor, he ducked into one of the stairways and headed for the second floor where he repeated the procedure. On the third floor the rooms were different. Some of the doors were closed and those that were open were empty, except for Mordac’s room. Alex pressed himself against the wall and watched Mordac turn the pages of a large book. The candle was flickering in the light breeze and each time Mordac flipped a page the candle would almost go out.

  Suddenly, Mordac stiffened as if he sensed someone watching him. Alex backed slowly down the hall and turned into a corridor that led to the center rooms. So far Alex had only checked the outer ring of rooms on each floor, so he would check the inner rooms on his way back down.

  Alex was amazed as he checked the inner rooms. Each room was packed with books, wall to wall, with tiny aisles between them. The stacks were taller than Alex. Room after room, Alex found more books. He descended one of the inner stairways and found the second floor was full of more books. Alex had seen many books in the library of the Royal Palace and even more when he visited Egam and Jenneva, but the amount of books here astounded him.

  The noise of someone coming down the corridor sent Alex into one of the book rooms and he lay on the floor between stacks of books. The musty smell of the books was nauseating as he lay there waiting for the visitor to pass by. Instead, the person entered the room where Alex was. The visitor’s candle flickered as he walked past Alex’s hiding spot and went deeper into the room. He appeared to be looking for some particular book and he wasn’t in a hurry. Alex was. He didn’t have much exploring time left if he wanted to get out of the castle. Within the hour, David would once again distract the tower guards. If Alex wasn’t back over the wall when the distraction ceased, he would never get over.

  The visitor was searching each aisle and he was getting closer to Alex. When the visitor entered the aisle next to Alex’s aisle, Alex rose and stood waiting. When the man was even with Alex’s position, Alex pushed the stack of books onto the man. The man and books crashed to the floor, his candle going out. The man started cursing to himself and Alex figured it was time to leave. He silen
tly crept to the door before the man silenced himself. Evidently, the visitor was more concerned with being caught in the room with the mess of books then how the stack happened to fall on him.

  Alex stole his way down to the first floor, blessing his days in the forest where he learned to be quiet. The inner rooms on the first floor were mostly empty. The Great Hall had scores of tables laid out with small piles of books on them. Alex reasoned that the books were stored in the upstairs rooms and then examined down here in small lots. The Captain made his way to the front doors and squeezed into an alcove behind one of the doors. He could hear the outside sentries talking to each other. From behind the door, Alex could see the large metal braces that held a timber to bar the door to attackers. He reached into his pouch and withdrew a jar of Fire Glue. He very carefully smeared a layer of Fire Glue on each of the metal braces.

  After the roving first floor sentry passed, Alex moved over to the other door and repeated the process. If, during the attack, someone chose to throw the timber into the braces to bar the doors, the timber and braces would burst into flames. Alex waited a long time for the roving sentry to return, but the man never appeared. Alex’s time was quickly being lost and he decided he had to leave now. He moved quietly down the hall towards the rear room where he had made his entrance.

  As Alex turned the corner the roving sentry was just closing a door, his back to Alex. Alex didn’t hesitate and quickly grabbed his knife and brought the handle down on the back of the man’s skull. He caught the sentry and lowered him to the ground. He ripped the man’s money pouch off of his belt and emptied it into a small pouch of his own. He tossed the man’s empty pouch on the floor and headed for his escape room. Hopefully, Mordac would learn that one of his Black Devils is also a thief in his own castle.