Emerald of the Elves

by Richard S. Tuttle

  “A handy trait to have, dwarf prince,” grinned Alex as he stepped out of one of the abandoned buildings. “You made good time in your travels. How much of a lead over Sarac’s Ravens do you have?”

  “About two hours,” chirped Prince Midge. “They were extremely hesitant to follow us after our stand on the rise. You also managed to kill their leader. He was a man named Hagik. That caused much confusion.”

  “You flew all the way?” asked Jenneva. “I sensed the unicorn flying spell when you left.”

  “If I returned to land anywhere near them,” nodded Alex, “they would have been ready for me. Besides, Kaz was enjoying himself.”

  “So you have been resting here while we had to travel by land?” giggled Tanya. “At least you will be well rested.”

  “I have not been resting,” grinned Alex. “I have been preparing a welcome for Sarac’s Ravens. I think we need to whittle them down some more.”

  “You intend to engage them again?” questioned Jenneva. “How many of their mages did you kill?”

  “Only six,” shrugged Alex. “That is all the more reason for another trap. Without their mages, Sarac’s Ravens become just another band of Dark Riders.”

  “What do you have planned?” inquired Arik.

  “I have spent a great deal of time preparing a trap,” explained Alex. “The buildings on each side of you are nests for snipers. The staircases are blocked so that the Dark Riders will find it difficult to chase you.”

  “If the staircases are blocked,” mused Tanya, “then we would be trapped inside. That hardly sounds like a one-way trap to me.”

  “Not if there was another way out of the building,” grinned Alex. “I have set up rope slides from each of these buildings to the buildings behind them. We will escape to the next buildings and then cut the ropes. The Dark Riders will not be able to follow us.”

  “Clever,” nodded Arik. “What do we do then? We will have stirred up the hornet’s nest with our initial strike.”

  “And we will be separated,” nodded Alex. “I know. There is an element of risk in this plan, but hear me out. When the Dark Riders surge into the trapped buildings, we escape. After they have climbed over the barricades on the stairs, we use fire glue to torch the buildings that they are in. It will create panic amongst them. If they have any decent leaders at all, they will retreat to consider their options.”

  “And if they don’t retreat?” asked Jenneva. “What is your plan then?”

  “We do the best we can,” frowned Alex. “Arik and Tanya will be on the side of the street closest to the sea. They should use their unicorns to fly out to sea. Darok and Jenneva will remain with me. We will try to lure the remaining members of Sarac’s Ravens to the west. We can use the same canyon that we used when Konic and Alan joined up with us.”

  “I do not like that part of the plan,” Arik shook his head. “You will be bearing the brunt of the attack without our aid. That is not acceptable.”

  “I cannot risk the King of Alcea to facilitate this plan,” argued Alex. “There is no way that we can unite after the attack without extreme danger to half of us.”

  “There is if we fly south instead of out to sea,” offered Tanya. “You could also flee south and we could join up.”

  “Not if they have mages left,” Jenneva shook her head. “Alex is wise in having you head out to sea. Their spells have a certain range to them. If you are quick enough to flee, you will be out of range before they can react.”

  “That is what I did near the rise,” nodded Alex. “They were not able to down Kaz. Also, our primary target in this trap is their mages. If we can eliminate them, we will not have to worry about being separated.”

  “They would be fools to enter this city without shields,” Tanya shook her head. “A magical attack will fail to kill all of their mages.”

  “But the initial attack will not be entirely magical,” insisted Alex. “Our arrows will also target the Black Devils.”

  “Why not block the streets heading south?” suggested Prince Darok. “We could create a maze for them to go through. Only we would already have the map to guide us through the city. It is a trick we use in the mines.”

  Alex stared at the dwarf prince and nodded his head. “That is an excellent idea,” smiled Alex. “There is much in this city that has been left by the Dark Riders. While much has been pilfered by the armies passing through, wagons have not been. There are quite a few wagons and carts abandoned.”

  “Fishing nets will work as well,” Arik nodded enthusiastically. “We do not have a great deal of time available to us. Let’s start rearranging this city to our liking.”

  Alex stooped and started drawing a map of the city streets while the rest of the Rangers dismounted. Within minutes, Alex had diagramed the streets and Prince Darok had started to indicate where the blockages should be.

  “This long run down the main street is what will really cost them time,” grinned the dwarf. “They will either have to stop to dismantle this blockage or travel a good distance backwards before they can find a way through.”

  “I shall create that roadblock then,” chirped Prince Midge. “I can levitate things of great weight.”

  “That you can,” smiled Arik as he remembered the tiny fairy moving the statue of Abuud. “Do not spend all of your energy though. We will need you to let us know when Sarac’s Rangers are coming.”

  “I shall be done in no time,” promised the fairy prince as he darted into the sky.

  “The rest of us will start at this end of the city and work towards Prince Midge,” stated Alex. “Prince Darok and I will take the inland side of the city. Arik and Tanya can handle the seaward side.”

  “I will prepare some of my own surprises,” volunteered Jenneva.

  The Rangers separated and began blocking off the required streets. Wagons were moved and overturned. Fishnets were strung across streets to create confusion and slow down the enemy. Furniture was piled in heaps, and small open tins of fire glue were balanced on the top items. They worked for over three hours before Prince Midge warned them of the approaching enemy.

  “They are riding slowly and cautiously,” warned Prince Midge. “They may suspect a trap.”

  “They would be fools not to expect one,” declared Alex. “Let’s get into position.”

  The Rangers scrambled to their assigned places. Arik and Tanya occupied adjacent buildings on the seaward side of the street, while Alex and Darok were across the street from them in adjacent buildings. Jenneva stayed close to Alex. Kaz led Prince Darok’s horse to an appropriate place while the other unicorns dispersed.

  Sarac’s Ravens rode slowly into Toresh. The Dark Riders preceded the Black Devils and looked warily about. Calastano and Klarg lingered at the rear. The column was spread out more than Alex had hoped for. He waited for the bulk of the Black Devils to be below his window before he left fly his arrow. Almost immediately, arrows from Darok and Arik streaked towards the Black Devils. Tanya cast a spell and lightning flashed brightly to reveal the protective shields over the mages. Still, the arrows of the Rangers passed through the magical defenses and felled three Black Devils.

  As chaos erupted in the street, the ground thundered as Jenneva cast a spell. The spell was not aimed at the Black Devils, but at the ground beneath their horses. The street rippled violently and the horses rose in alarm. Black Devils, and Dark Riders alike, tumbled from their saddles. The horses scattered as Sarac’s Ravens chose to let them go or hold on to them.

  Another volley of arrows descended on the Black Devils as the Dark Riders scrambled to enter the buildings. Alex waved Jenneva away from the window as he sent his third arrow into the Black Devils. He pulled back from the window as a fireball hurtled towards it. He turned and ran towards the staircase to the roof. When he reached the roof, Jenneva was already riding the pulley across the rope to the building on the next street. Alex leaped and grabbed onto the rope and started pulling hand-over-hand to reach the other building. He saw P
rince Darok out of the corner of his eye as the dwarf sailed across the alley on a pulley of his own.

  By the time Alex reached the other building, Jenneva was gone, and Prince Darok had just fired his fire glue arrows into the building next to Alex’s. Alex let go of the rope and sliced through it with his knife. He dipped an arrow into the waiting tin of fire glue and fired it into the building he had just left. He fired two more dipped arrows before turning and racing down the stairs.

  Alex ran out of the building and leaped onto Kaz. Prince Darok was already racing southward, and Jenneva was blocks in front of him, already making the first turn in the maze of Toresh. Kaz bolted spiritedly as he raced after the others. Within minutes the Rangers joined up behind the final barricade.

  “I thought you had a surprise waiting for them?” Alex asked Jenneva as he peered through Prince Midge’s barricade. “The ground thing was great, but what was the surprise?”

  “The itching powder that covered the street,” giggled Jenneva. “I made enough of it to keep them scratching for hours. Even the horses will resent a rider on them for the rest of today.”

  “Oh, that is special,” laughed Tanya. “I wish I had thought of something like that. There is no way that they will be in a hurry to pursue us.”

  “What about damages?” asked Alex. “I am sure of three Black Devils.”

  “Same here,” nodded Arik.

  “Only two for me,” shrugged Tanya. “I wasted a shot testing to see if they had magical shields erected.”

  “Hardly a waste,” smiled Prince Darok. “The lightning alone probably spooked the horses. I hit three, but I am not sure if the last one was a killing hit. I would say two.”

  “Then they only have a handful of magicians left,” noted Alex. “That will slow their pursuit of us a great deal. It will take them a while to get replacements now that Sarac has abandoned Toresh. Let’s ride.”

  Minutes later the first of the Dark Riders halted at the barricade that Prince Midge built. He cursed as the rest of Sarac’s Ravens raced up alongside him.

  “Move out of the way,” shouted a Black Devil.

  The Dark Riders quickly moved to the sides and the Black Devil hurled a fireball into the barricade. The dry wood burst into a raging fire.

  “Are you crazy?” yelled one of the Dark Riders. “What are we supposed to do now, wait for it to burn? We can’t pull it apart if you set it on fire.”

  The Black Devil frowned as the Dark Riders whirled and headed back up the street. They split into two groups at the first intersection. Each group dismounted and started to dismantle the barricades before them. Almost simultaneously, the tins of fire glue fell and burst into flames. The Dark Riders backed into the intersection. Calastano and Klarg arrived to see the three burning barricades.

  “Enough,” shouted Klarg. “Let them go. Return to the ambush site. I want our wounded cared for.”

  “And find some way to counteract this foul itching,” added Calastano. “We cannot fight and scratch at the same time.”

  The Dark Riders mounted and rode dejectedly northward towards the burning buildings. One of the Black Devils opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out as he stared at the foul mood of Calastano. He shook his head and followed the other Black Devils northward.

  “This is a catastrophe,” Calastano scowled softly as he sat next to Klarg. “I cannot even begin to tally up our losses today. Yesterday was bad enough, but Sarac will have our heads for this defeat.”

  “I thought all of the Black Devils were revenants,” frowned Klarg. “How is it that they only die once?”

  “Most Black Devils are not revenants,” corrected Calastano. “Hagik and I are, but the rest are not.”

  “Why is Hagik dead then?” inquired Klarg.

  “All of the Black Devils killed at the ambush near the rise were decapitated,” explained Calastano. “It appears that Tork does not care for taking chances where Black Devils are concerned.”

  “He had no chance to decapitate anyone today,” observed Klarg. “Perhaps it is time for the remaining Black Devils to become revenants. It will stop this type of attack in the future.”

  “The future?” echoed Calastano. “I do not think you appreciate our position here, Klarg. We have no future. We might as well throw ourselves into these burning fires. Sarac will demand our deaths over these failures. He has given Sarac’s Ravens unprecedented authority and power. In return, he will accept no measure of failure. It is hard to describe this as anything but a major failure. No, my friend, we are already dead. It is only a matter of Sarac choosing the time and the place for the executions.”

  “I care for life a little bit more than what you are proposing,” snickered Klarg. “I do not die easily and I will not let Sarac have my life when I have faithfully tried to do his bidding.”

  “So you will refuse the execution?” Calastano laughed sarcastically. “What makes you think that you have any choice in this matter?”

  “I have not attained my rank and seniority by being a fool,” smirked Klarg. “Let me ask you a question. Who leads Sarac’s Rangers?”

  “I do,” frowned Calastano. “What are you getting at? Do you think that I will absolve you of guilt because you acted properly?”

  “Certainly,” grinned Klarg. “Just as I will absolve you of guilt for these failures. Your answer to my question was the wrong answer. The fact is, Hagik commands Sarac’s Ravens.”

  “Hagik is dead,” Calastano shook his head.

  “Is he?” questioned Klarg. “I would not be in any hurry to agree with you. In fact, I charge that Hagik is leading Sarac’s Rangers very poorly at this time. So poorly, that I am tempted to file a protest with Sarac. I will ask that Hagik be executed and command given to Calastano, who just happens to agree with my assessment of Hagik’s abilities.”

  Calastano stared at Klarg for a long moment before turning and gazing at the still-burning fires. “You are devious, Klarg.”

  “I know,” grinned Klarg. “It is a required talent to remain alive these days.”

  “If just one of the men refuses to go along with this,” warned Calastano, “Sarac will kill us.”

  “You just said that we would be executed anyway,” Klarg pointed out. “We have nothing to lose. I will make sure that my men also understand that their lives are riding on this. They will cause me no problems. What about the Black Devils?”

  “As you say,” shrugged Calastano, “we have nothing to lose. I will impress upon my men that their necks are in the noose. I do not think any of them will deviate from the plan.”

  “Even when we send them back to Sarac to become revenants?” asked Klarg.

  “I will not risk that,” Calastano shook his head. “I will ask for revenants as replacements for the men that we lost, but these men will not be returning to Sarac. That is something that we must agree on. When our task is complete, the men that are with us now must die. I will leave nobody around to refute our description of Hagik’s poor performance here today. Do you agree?”

  “That, my friend,” snickered Klarg, “is a decision that I can live with.”

  Chapter 24

  Making Friends

  Bin-lu walked into the office of Colonel Zackary Nolan in the Royal Palace of Tagaret. The colonel acknowledged him, and Bin-lu sat in the chair in front of the desk.

  “I think I know how the assassins gained access to the Royal Palace,” declared Bin-lu. “There are sewers running under the city. A young girl took me on a tour of them because she was concerned about finding evidence of someone else using the sewers.”

  “Someone else?” questioned Zack. “What do you mean someone else?”

  “The children that used to steal food shipments used the sewers,” explained Bin-lu. “They called it the Thieves' Highway. One of them recently found evidence that other people were still using it for some reason. Nobody is forced to stealing food anymore, so she was concerned about it. I went to see what she was talking about. The trail led right up
under the kitchens.”

  “That explains the wet boots that alerted me in the first place,” nodded Zackary. “The fake Red Swords were escorting kitchen attendants. I will have that entrance sealed off immediately.”

  “I wouldn’t do that,” suggested Bin-lu. “We may be able to use our knowledge to trap the assassins.”

  “You learn quickly,” smiled Zack. “Bear in mind that we must close the access before King Arik returns to Tagaret. I will not risk his life in this gamble to catch the assassins.”

  “What about Prince Oscar?” questioned Bin-lu. “Should we keep him out of the palace for a while?”

  “I believe that Prince Oscar would be willing to be bait for the assassins,” replied Zackary. “He wants the assassins dead before Arik returns. If I arrange a situation that proves tempting to the assassins, can you handle them when they try to escape?”

  “Why let them escape?” questioned Bin-lu.

  “I do not intend to let them escape,” explained Zackary, “but I believe in redundancy. I always have a backup plan and for this operation, you are it.”

  “I will be ready,” promised Bin-lu.

  * * *

  “Let go of me,” screamed Sheela.

  Wylan’s ears immediately came alert. His useless eyes did not bother to open as the noise stirred him from slumber. He remained still as his ears sought to identify the situation.

  “You are the one who is dragging foreigners into the sewers,” accused the male voice. “Why don’t you mind your own business?”

  “I do what I want,” shouted Sheela. “You have no right to boss me around. Let go of me. You are hurting me.”

  “I have worked too long for this to allow you to interfere,” snarled the male voice. “Get down there.”

  Sheela’s scream became muted, and Wylan realized that she was being forced into the sewer on the other side of the wall. He rose and grabbed his staff as he tried to remember the male voice. He had heard it before, but he could not picture the person it belonged to. He shook his head as he wondered if he had actually ever seen the speaker before. Wylan slowly eased the wall panel open and slipped into the other part of the factory.