by M. L. Forman
Arconn did not reply, but Alex could hear him helping Kat to her feet and moving away. He was grateful to Arconn for leaving him alone and not insisting on answers or reasons. But sorrow filled his mind and he had no place for other thoughts.
Alex didn’t know how long he sat there with Shahree’s dead body. The spell he had used had taken a great deal of power out of him, and when he finally tried to get to his feet, his legs wobbled beneath him. Leaning on his staff, Alex looked down at Shahree. He wiped his face on his sleeve and slowly forced himself to cast another spell.
The silver-gray horse faded into the ground like mist, and a large silver-gray stone rose out of the earth where she had been. Three words written in golden letters appeared on the monument. Resting on his staff for another moment, Alex managed a weak smile, then turned away.
Alex found the others easily, though he was not sure he wanted to answer questions even now. His sorrow had lessened, but the death of his horse was still clear in his mind, and the fact that she had willingly sacrificed herself to save him made her death harder to bear.
Thrang and the others said nothing as Alex sat down beside the fire. He could feel them looking at him nervously. He was sure Kat had told them what had happened and what she had seen, but that would not explain everything. Alex had done something out of pure anger, and now he wondered if he had been right to do it.
“Something to eat?” said Barnabus, holding out a bowl of stew for Alex.
Alex accepted the bowl, but he did not eat. For several minutes he just looked at the stew, and then he spoke. “I destroyed them. All of them. Forever.”
“The wall of flame?” Arconn asked.
“Yes,” said Alex. “It has moved across all of Thraxon and destroyed every hellerash that ever has been.”
“All of Thraxon?” Thrang questioned nervously.
“Yes,” said Alex, setting his bowl down and putting his head in his hands. “Nowhere, in all of this land, does even a bone of a hellerash remain.”
“A powerful spell,” Kat said softly.
“Perhaps too powerful,” said Alex.
“How so?” Thrang asked. “Surely you don’t feel sorry for destroying those evil creatures.”
“No, I don’t feel sorry for that,” said Alex, looking up. “But now I fear the necromancer will try to hide. He may no longer wish to face me. If that is the case, it may take me years to track him down.”
“Will you . . .” Thrang began but did not finish.
“I will finish this quest regardless of what the necromancer chooses to do,” said Alex, answering Thrang’s unasked question. “If he remains, I will face him. If he flees, I will pursue him. But after this adventure is over.”
The others remained silent and Alex picked up his bowl. He didn’t feel hungry, but he forced himself to eat anyway. He knew that he would need his strength, and he knew that he had to write to Whalen immediately.
Chapter Seventeen
The Cursed City
No one slept that night. When dawn finally came, they quietly collected their gear and prepared to resume their journey.
“Where are your horses?” Alex questioned, noticing for the first time that none of his companions’ horses were anywhere near the campsite.
“They broke away when we were trying to get up the hill,” Thrang answered. “Arconn’s carried him to the hilltop, but the rest ran.”
“And even mine ran when the hellerash closed in on us,” Arconn added.
“How close did they get to you?” Alex asked.
“Too close,” said Nellus with a soft laugh.
“We were standing back-to-back on the hilltop,” said Thrang. “The hellerash were closing in slowly, looking for a weak spot, I guess.”
“I’m sure they were about to charge us when the wall of flame appeared,” said Barnabus. “If your spell had been a few seconds later, I doubt we would have survived.”
“I shouldn’t have left the group,” said Alex bitterly.
“No harm was done,” said Thrang. “And you saved Kat from those foul creatures.”
Alex could tell that Thrang and the others wanted to hear about how he had rescued Kat and destroyed the hellerash. He suspected Kat had told them what had happened while he had remained with his fallen friend, but he knew they still had questions. He was grateful that none of them asked about it, and the conversation trailed off quickly.
They moved down the hill toward the spot where Shahree had fallen, and a fresh wave of sorrow filled Alex. He noticed Kat glance at him as if she wanted to say something, but she quickly turned away.
“A fine monument,” said Thrang when they reached the spot Alex had hoped to avoid. “And never a truer statement has been carved.”
“‘A True Friend,’” Arconn read from the stone. “Yes, I would say that is fitting.”
Kat made a strangled, sobbing sound and hid her face. Alex thought for a moment that he’d seen tears in her eyes, but he couldn’t be sure. Turning away from the monument, he wished the hollow feeling inside him would go away. The pale morning light shined on the open land in front of them, but in several places Alex could see where the stones and grasses had been scorched black.
“It appears that there were quite a few of them,” Arconn said, moving up beside Alex. “More than I would have guessed.”
“And now there are none,” said Alex, starting off across the open ground without looking back.
Arconn’s comment had not angered him, but Alex wasn’t ready to think about what had happened. He wanted to forget about it for a time, and move ahead with the business at hand. But he knew that he would not forget, and perhaps that made it harder for him to turn away from the monument and leave his fallen friend behind.
His companions hurried after him, not saying anything more about the monument he’d created or the spell he’d cast. They fell into line behind Thrang and Arconn. Alex noticed that Kat kept her head turned away from him. At first he didn’t know why, but then he realized that she blamed herself for Shahree’s death. She felt that Shahree’s death was her fault, and she feared that he would blame her for the loss of his friend.
Alex’s own sorrow melted away like ice, and he suddenly found himself concerned about Kat’s worries. Shahree’s death had not been Kat’s fault, and Alex could not blame her even if he’d wanted to. She had told him to leave her behind. She had warned him that her weight would be too much for Shahree to carry.
For one long, terrible moment, the images of Shahree’s death rose once more before his eyes. If Alex had been a little quicker or if he hadn’t frozen when the hellerash had charged him, then Shahree would not have had to sacrifice herself to save him.
But Alex knew that he was not to blame either. The only person to blame was the necromancer who had called the hellerash back from the dead. It was the necromancer who had killed his friend, and it was the necromancer who would pay for that death.
Alex wanted to say something to Kat, something to ease her troubled thoughts, but her sorrow seemed almost as deep as his own, and nothing he could think to say sounded right in his mind.
“I don’t blame you,” Alex finally said softly.
“I know,” answered Kat, looking at him for the first time since the night before. “But I blame myself.”
“Don’t,” said Alex forcefully. “There is only one person responsible for what has happened, and he will answer for it, to me.”
“A dangerous attitude,” said Kat in a lowered voice.
“No, not really,” said Alex, forcing a weak smile. “I do not wish to take his place or steal his power. I will simply call him to account for what he’s done, as I must.”
“And if he is the stronger?” Kat questioned. “Necromancers are said to have a great deal of magical power.”
“Then he will go on,” said Alex with a sigh. “Though I think my dragon friend might put an end to him, if I were forced to summon him.”
“You are set in your course, then,” Kat sai
d flatly. “You will summon the dragon to destroy you before you let yourself be used by the necromancer.”
“Better to die once in flame than live forever in the half-life of the necromancer,” said Alex. The words were not his own, and he was a little shaken by what he heard himself say.
Kat gave him a puzzled look for several seconds before she turned away.
As the day wore on, they began to look for any sign of a dwarf city or possibly even a party of dwarfs on the road. The road, however, remained empty, and for all they could tell there were no cities anywhere nearby.
“Can you sense anything, Kat?” Thrang asked as the afternoon was wearing away. “Anything at all?”
“Sadness,” Kat answered slowly. “There is great sorrow near, but I cannot see why.”
“Perhaps because of the hellerash,” Arconn suggested, gazing across the land in front of them. “I’m sure any dwarfs in this area would have suffered from those creatures.”
“Yes, that would make sense,” said Thrang, looking at Kat, his expression clearly hoping for more information.
“To the east of the road,” said Kat, a pained look on her face. “East and south of us, at the base of the mountain—there is a city.”
“Are you certain?” Nellus questioned, looking from Kat to the southeast and back. “I see no sign that would indicate a city.”
“And you wouldn’t,” said Thrang. “The dwarfs of the Lost Mountains are careful to hide themselves. We could walk right past a city and never see it if the dwarfs living there didn’t want us to.”
“I doubt that,” said Alex.
“Well, perhaps not right past,” Thrang admitted.
“In Vargland, many of the smaller cities are hard to find, even if you know what to look for,” said Thrain.
“The same is true here,” Thrang added. “But we have several things in our favor. We have a seer who can lead us, a wizard who can sense things others cannot, and I know the ways that dwarfs hide their cities here in Thraxon.”
“Then we should be able to find this city quickly,” said Barnabus. “And I hope they have horses for sale, because—”
Barnabus stopped quickly. For a moment they were all silent, and then Barnabus cleared his throat.
“Forgive me, Alex. I did not think.”
“You have done no harm,” said Alex, trying hard to smile. “And I really don’t want to walk all the way across Thraxon.”
As darkness gathered around them, the road began to bend toward the mountains, but when it became clear that they would not reach the city that night, Thrang reluctantly ordered them to make camp. The memory of the hellerash attack was still sharp in all of their minds, and only Alex was certain that there was nothing to fear.
As Barnabus prepared their meal, Alex found a comfortable spot and sat down. He knew he should write to Whalen—he needed his friend’s advice—but he didn’t really feel like writing down everything that had happened. Just then, Barnabus called them all to eat, and Alex was grateful that he could postpone writing a difficult letter, at least for a little while longer.
“We should reach the mountains tomorrow,” Arconn said as they ate.
“And what then?” Nellus asked.
“What do you mean?” said Thrang, looking around at them all. “We go on with the adventure, of course.”
“Yes, of course,” said Nellus quickly, glancing at Alex.
“You are thinking perhaps I will leave the company to chase the necromancer,” said Alex, looking at his food. “I have already said that if the necromancer should flee, I will complete this adventure.”
“And if he does not flee?” Arconn questioned.
“Then I will face him sooner rather than later,” said Alex.
“I think,” Thrang began, not looking at Alex, “well, I think we are all a little worried about what might happen . . .”
“If the evil is stronger,” Alex finished for him.
“It is a possibility,” Thrang said softly.
“Yes, it is,” agreed Alex. “I have told Kat and Arconn, and now I will tell you all, I will not be a tool of the necromancer. If he has the power to overcome me, I will be less than I am now. If it comes to that, I will use the last of my will and power to summon the dragon to destroy me. I will not become a slave to evil.”
“Let us hope it does not come to that,” said Thrang, trying for a hopeful tone.
Alex knew his friends were more concerned about him and his ability to face evil than they were concerned about the rest of the adventure, and he was grateful for their care. Of course, they all knew about the time he’d faced the dragon Slathbog, but necromancers were not dragons, and Alex knew better than any of his friends that their power was something to fear.
As the others rolled themselves into their blankets, Alex remained by the fire with Arconn in companionable silence. Arconn seemed to be deep in his own thoughts, so Alex took out his writing things.
For a long time the page remained blank because he could not find the words to explain things to Whalen. He reviewed the events again and again in his mind, finally forcing himself to put it all on paper.
In the end, the letter was long, but Alex had somehow managed to express all of his doubts and fears, as well as his sorrow. It seemed that pouring his sadness into the letter had removed some of the weight from his mind and heart. He was glad that he had forced himself to write everything he had been feeling.
He summoned a geeb to take his message to Whalen and put away his writing things. To his surprise, the entire night had almost slipped away.
“You should get some rest,” Arconn said as the geeb vanished with a small pop.
“I have no need of sleep,” said Alex. “The others will need it more than I. Let them enjoy what rest they can.”
Arconn nodded, returning his attention to the darkness around their camp.
When the eastern sky showed signs of the coming morning, Arconn woke the others.
“You should have woken us in turn for the watch,” said Thrang as he walked toward the campfire. “Though I suppose you know what you’re doing.”
“Why would you suppose that?” Alex asked with a half smile. He was surprised to realize that he felt much better than he had the day before.
Thrang answered with a grunting laugh as he brushed frost off a log and sat down for breakfast.
They marched all that morning, and as midday approached, Thrang suddenly shouted in excitement and rushed toward a pile of fallen stones. The rest of them hurried to follow, uncertain about the reason for Thrang’s shout.
“A boundary marker,” said Thrang, kneeling beside the fallen stones. “It has been pushed over, and some of the inscription has been chiseled away.”
“And the part that remains? What does it say?” Nellus asked as he looked at the surrounding countryside.
“The city of Neplee lies ahead,” said Thrang, tilting his head to one side as he read the fallen marker. “The instructions for reaching the city and requesting entry have been removed, but not too long ago, I would guess.”
“Who would destroy the marker?” Thrain asked, a worried look on his face.
“Hard to say,” said Thrang as he got back to his feet. “Enemies of the dwarfs, perhaps.”
“Or the dwarfs themselves,” said Kat.
“Why would dwarfs destroy their own marker?” Thrang questioned, a hint of worry in his voice.
“Perhaps they do not wish to be visited,” Alex said. “It is possible this is a warning to outsiders.”
“I have heard of such things,” said Arconn. “Dwarf cities in distress or some other kind of trouble will sometimes destroy their boundary markers.”
“I would think any dwarf city in trouble would send for help,” Thrang said. “There are many dwarfs in Thraxon, and it would be a simple matter for another city to send assistance.”
“Then this may be a call for help,” said Alex. “Though I think we can all guess the reason for Neplee’s troubles.”
“You don’t think the necromancer is in the city, do you?” Thrang asked nervously.
“No, he would not remain in a city of the living,” said Alex. “Though he may be forcing the people of the city to do his bidding.”
“Perhaps we should avoid this city and move on,” Barnabus suggested.
“They are in need and are unable to send for help,” Kat said in a pained voice.
They all looked at Kat, who was standing a short distance behind them. She seemed to be looking at something that no one else could see, and her face had gone pale.
“Do not dwell on it,” said Alex, realizing that Kat was feeling the pain and troubles of the entire dwarf city. “Turn your mind from the darkness ahead of us, or it may overcome you.”
“It is difficult to close it out,” said Kat, turning to face Alex.
For a moment Alex didn’t realize what he was seeing, but when he did, he was quick to act.
“Depart from her,” Alex commanded, moving his hand in front of Kat’s eyes. “Leave her, and do not return.”
“What is this?” Thrang questioned, looking from Alex to Kat and back again.
Kat was still for a moment, staring at Alex without speaking. Suddenly she dropped to the ground as if someone had struck her from behind. The others rushed forward to see what was wrong.
“She will recover,” said Alex, watching as Nellus and Barnabus helped Kat to her feet. “Darkness clouded her mind for a moment, and our enemy seized his chance to get a good look at us all.”
“The necromancer used her?” Thrang questioned, his voice shaking slightly.
“Yes, but he will not be able to do so again,” said Alex. “I have blocked the darkness from her mind so he cannot return.”
“And the rest of us?” Arconn asked.
“Kat is the only one he could use from a distance,” said Alex. “He would have to make eye contact with the rest of us to gain power over us.”
“I . . . What happened?” Kat questioned, her voice weak and confused.
“A moment of darkness,” said Alex. “It will not return.”