Third Power

by Robert Childs

  “Haldorum will be told,” he said. “He will open the portal near to the place we last saw Scott and the search will commence from there.”

  “What about Steve? He’ll want to know.”

  “No!” Haze said stopping abruptly to face her. “Steven need not be troubled with this—not yet. His training with Haldorum is by far more important to the whole of Mithal. He will be told only as a last resort.”

  “But Scott is Steve’s friend,” Sonya argued. “If something has happened to him then Steve will want to know about it. He already feels responsible for our being here and if anything—”

  “That is exactly the point,” Haze interrupted. “He feels responsible for you and if anything should happen to either one of you then he will be devastated.” The burly warrior suddenly seemed aware of his tone and continued more calmly, “I am sorry, Sonya. But try and see the situation from our point of view. Many lives are depending upon the Third Power, and something like this could seriously hamper his progress toward saving our world. Believe me, I am as concerned for Scott’s safety as you, but we must proceed cautiously. You have my word I will do my utmost to find your friend.”

  Sonya nodded. She could indeed understand Haze’s reasoning, and he acted according to what he thought was best. “All right,” she said. “Do what you feel you have to.” With a parting smile in the warrior’s direction, she nudged Diamondside into a gallop back toward the corral.

  You do what you have to, and so will I.

  Steve walked alone in the darkness of late evening toward his quarters. Usually he walked with Haldorum, for the old wizard’s quarters were directly next to his own, but for one reason or another Haldorum was called away on some unexpected meeting with General Corbett—which was fine. Steve was actually glad for the alone time. This was one of the few times he could remember being left alone, and because of it his sense of privacy was beginning to return from whatever faraway place it had fled to for the last eight days. Kayliss, who presently prowled the night, was the only one Steve didn’t mind hounding his every step.

  Compared to the number of tents Shallows Crag harbored, the number of hard-walled structures was rare indeed; Steve’s quarters, however, was one such exception. And when it came to area and luxury, his living space rivaled the general’s.

  As he stepped up to the front door the guards on either side snapped to attention with a sharp salute. The customs and courtesies took some getting used to, but he still thought it strange given the general had not yet even commissioned him an officer. Even so, he saluted in return and the guard to the left opened the door for his passage. Steve thanked him as he entered, and then the same guard closed the door behind him.

  The room was bathed in shadow save for the window across the way allowing in silver-white moonlight. Steve removed his boots and left them at the door, then silently padded across the room to look up into the face of the half-moon through the window, transfixed as though spell bound. He could not help but think of the plan Haldorum and he had contrived together, and all the dangers inherent to such a bold scheme. The general required some convincing initially but, although reluctant, agreed the fulfillment of the prophecy might just depend on the success of this mission. They had to succeed.

  Steve froze as a rustle of movement reached his ears. It had been slight and barely audible, but wholly outside the range of sounds he had come to recognize as normal. He pretended not to notice, for he was standing in the full light of the moon and, therefore, in plain sight of whoever shared his quarters this night. Steve’s right hand slowly crept to his side from the window sill it rested upon. With a mere thought, he willed the light orbs in the room to full brightness and whirled with sword in hand. His eyes scanned the room left to right but, oddly, there was no one to threaten him. Then his gaze settled on the sleeping form in his bed with the covers pulled up to her neck.

  “Sonya?” he muttered. He sheathed his sword and walked silently across the room to kneel down beside her. “Hey,” he said with a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Time to wake up, pretty lady.”

  Sonya roused slowly at first, then became instantly awake the moment her eyes focused on him. Her arms darted out from under the covers and hugged Steve tightly around the neck. “Oh my God, I’m so glad to see you!” she said.

  “Well, thanks,” Steve replied uncertainly. He tried to hug her back but in her present position lying on his bed he could only manage to cup her shoulders awkwardly. “I missed you, too. Is that why you’re here?”

  She released him. “Not entirely, no. It’s Scott. Something has happened to him in the Granar!”

  “The Granar? What was he doing out there? What happened?”

  Sonya quickly relayed the whole story of Haze’s invitation to participate in the hunt, all the way up to Scott’s disappearance. “And they weren’t going to tell you about it because of whatever is you do out there with Haldorum. I wouldn’t have said anything but Scott is our friend and I thought maybe you could do something to help bring him back.” She started to say more but faltered as her voice cracked. A single tear crept down her cheek and Steve took her in his arms. “Oh, Steve. We have to find him!”

  “Don’t worry, we will,” he replied. “Scott’s not stupid and he knows how to take care himself.” He lifted her chin to look her in the eyes. She sniffed once and Steve could not ever remember anyone looking so angelic as she did to him now. “As much as I hate to admit it, they’re right about waiting until morning,” he said. “But tomorrow that search party is going to have two additional volunteers. If he’s out there, we’ll find him. Okay?”

  She swallowed her grief and managed the best smile she could with a nod. “Okay.”

  “I don’t believe this!” Haldorum declared. “You should have known word would have gotten back to Steven; you should have acted sooner.”

  Haze shrugged with open hands. “I acted as quickly as I could. I went to see General Corbett the very minute we arrived, but Sonya took a more direct route. The guards outside Steve’s quarters allowed her inside, not knowing at the time what they were allowing to occur.”

  Haldorum appeared as though his insides were coming to a slow boil. He was about to speak when General Corbett cut him off saying, “We know you did all you could, Haze. You acted accordingly and in a manner any of us would have done in your place.” Then, with a meaningful glance in the old wizard’s direction, “Did he not, Haldorum?”

  “Do you know what he is telling me?” Haldorum asked rhetorically with a single hand gesture to convey this was the last thing he needed. “Haze will not be leading the search party for Scott – he will! But that is not the half of it.” The old wizard paced the general’s quarters. “Sonya will be accompanying him, and once Princess Vessla found out she, too, demanded to come along. I do not have the time for this. We do not have time for this!”

  “Calm down, Haldorum,” General Corbett said patting the air with his hands, palms down. “The lad is only acting out of concern for his friend.”

  “I understand that, but the fact remains his training must continue. Without full control his powers can be as much a liability as advantage.”

  General Corbett nodded at that. “All right, listen to me, both of you. We only have a few hours until sunrise. Haze, I want you to call together the men you will need for the search party. Make whatever preparations you deem fit – but be quick.” The warrior saluted his commanding officer and then left without a word. When he was gone, General Corbett turned to Haldorum. “I want you to go with Steven into the Granar and do what you can to find his friend.”

  Haldorum only nodded, deciding that much for himself already. Steve was far too valuable to the future of their world for it to be any other way.

  “And there is one other thing,” the general continued with an interested urgency audible in his voice. “In your training with him thus far, what have you discovered?”

  Haldorum snorted. “That he is bull-headed, overconfident, and stubborn as a
mule.”

  “Yes, yes, you have said that time and time again, but how is he coming along?”

  The old wizard ground his jaw a moment and then tilted his head in concession. “The boy is a natural born leader. Granted, he has many rough edges that yet need smoothing, but a talented decision maker and strong leader nevertheless.” As Haldorum continued to speak the words flowed more easily, matching his growing excitement at the potential of this budding wizard. From the pride in his voice, one might almost have thought him to be speaking of a son.

  “All right, all right,” General Corbett said chuckling. “He is everything we hoped for then?”

  “I dare say more,” Haldorum grudgingly admitted.

  Corbett nodded and then said, “Perhaps then the time has come to grant him his commission.”

  With that Haldorum’s expression turned skeptical. “That may yet be premature. There are still things the lad and I must explore before thrusting such a duty upon him.”

  The wizened military man looked to consider the advice carefully. “Very well, then. I’ll defer to your judgment. In the meantime, if Scott is still alive it behooves us to find him with all due haste. I cannot say I do not worry for him.”

  “Nor I,” Haldorum said with a distant glance at the floor. “But they did not find his body where he fell so there might still be a chance for him.”

  “Good. At sunrise—” a knock at the door cut the general off and both Haldorum and he turned. “Enter,” General Corbett called.

  A captain entered without delay. With a sharp salute to both the First Power and General Corbett he said, “The werewolf chieftain requests counsel with you, sir. He came alone and currently waits for you at the cave entrance.”

  “Alone?” Haldorum said, hardly able to believe his own ears. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  General Corbett then addressed him. “Captain, take ten of your most capable men and go to the armory. I want each of you bearing a silver sword and escort Gouroth to my chambers. Understood?”

  “Yes, sir.” He saluted and then was gone.

  Haldorum was silent a moment as he considered. “What in the world would prompt that cagey dog to risk coming here alone? Unless of course…”

  “My thoughts exactly,” General Corbett affirmed. “I do not believe for a moment he has come without escort. But still,” he added thoughtfully, “even this behavior is highly unusual for him.”

  They waited together in tense silence for twenty minutes before the door to the General’s quarters opened again. Five silver sword-wielding men entered first, followed by Gouroth, himself followed by five more men plus the captain.

  “Where is she?” Gouroth demanded without preamble.

  “Who?” the general inquired.

  “You know! Kurella missing since yestermorning. Because of you this is so!”

  The men to either side of Gouroth visibly tensed, each of them looking prepared to strike if the werewolf chieftain so much as grew a single additional hair. General Corbett, however, appeared unshaken in the face of the dangerous man. “Why, in the name of the Third, would you think me responsible for your daughter’s disappearance? Our dealings with your kind—”

  “You send men into Granar! Your orders they follow!” Gouroth’s lips pulled back over his teeth in a wolf-like snarl. With a menacing, even tone he said, “If she is harmed – even slight – I will eat your heart.”

  With that the captain who had first announced Gouroth’s arrival placed the tip of his sword to the werewolf chieftain’s bare back. “Watch your words, mongrel.”

  “It is all right, captain,” General Corbett said. “He only fears for his daughter’s safety. However,” he then said pointedly to the werewolf chieftain, “a second threat in the face of my hospitality will not be so easily forgiven.”

  Although Gouroth did nothing more than return the look with a hate-filled stare, the captain lowered his sword; but not without first tracing a small cut. Gouroth did not flinch.

  “I lament your loss but there is little I can do,” General Corbett continued. “We are presently seeking one of our own who has also turned up missing. If we should discover something of Kurella’s whereabouts in the course of our search I will have word sent to you immediately.”

  “Why should I believe?” Gouroth growled.

  “Why should we believe you?” he returned. “Think about it, chieftain. Had I truly anything to do with your daughter’s disappearance, the only reason for doing so would be to draw you out. It certainly appears as though my “master scheme” has succeeded, would it not?”

  For the briefest instant, a faint glimmer of doubt flickered over Gouroth’s countenance. He glanced once to either side, reassessing the numbers around him before returning to look at the wily general before him.

  “If that had been my intention then you could say my plan worked rather well, yes?” General Corbett was silent then, allowing the weight of his words to sink in. Then, with deliberate slowness, he said, “You may go now.”

  The captain moved in front of the chieftain and motioned for him to depart. Gouroth turned and left, grinding his jaw as he went.

  When the room was once more clear Haldorum chuckled and said, “As always, you seem to find the exact words Gouroth does not wish to hear.”

  “I suppose you could say one gains experience after a time.” The general’s expression then changed to one of a more serious nature. “What are the odds these two incidents are somehow related?”

  The old wizard had had the very same thought. “I do not know how yet, but I believe they are, yes.” He then crossed the room and seated himself as though exhausted. “In fact, I am beginning to think there are a great many things at play we have not yet discovered.”

  The sun crept its way out of the horizon with a steady, patient slowness, and the low ground fog that had rolled in during the night was beginning to dissipate as the sun’s rays permeated its lazy, swirling depths. Birds drank of the morning dew deposited in tiny beads upon every leaf of every tree while keeping a keen eye out for fat flying insects to devour. Not far away, one such insect struggled to free itself of the web it had unwittingly flown into. It beat its wings in a relentless effort to regain its lost freedom, but the strands of spider silk proved too strong.

  Scott jerked and tugged in the morning light, rolling once to his left, then muttering a curse beneath his breath as his struggles rolled him to the right. He worked his wrists back and forth, trying to put some slack in his bindings so that he might slip his hands free. Hard as he tried, however, Kurella’s knot work proved more than a match for him. Scott gave it a rest, allowing himself a brief respite and begrudgingly admitted the werewolf girl could teach the Boy Scouts a thing or two. He glanced over at the sleeping form of the scantily clad young woman and scowled. Kurella had to be a woman confident in her skills for her to sleep so soundly. Scott, on the other hand, was just plain exhausted. With another muffled curse, he turned his head and dozed off into a fitful half-sleep.

  He awoke with a start as Kurella cut the ropes holding his ankles with a small knife. “We have ground to cover,” she said. “Start walking—and at a brisk pace.”

  Scott maneuvered himself to his knees and then stood erect. He groaned as he stretched the knotted muscles all throughout his body, the result of his cramped sleeping arrangements. “You change your mind about letting me go yet?”

  “Walk.”

  “Nah, I didn’t figure.” Scott turned and began marching in the direction the wolf girl pointed. “You know, you never did answer me last night,” he said.

  “Answer what?”

  “Why you kidnapped me. As I see it, you avoided the question because you either were afraid to tell me or just plain didn’t know why you took me in the first place.”

  “Afraid? And why should I fear you, human? Are you so dangerous?”

  “No, not really,” he admitted. “But if it isn’t that you’re afraid to tell me, then it must be
you don’t have a reason. I guess you just saw my charming features and acted on impulse, eh? Although I have to say, for a first date, flowers would have been more romantic.”

  “I think you will find,” Kurella said prodding him forward with a finger between the shoulder blades, “your sense of humor diminishes when we reach my home.”

  “Why? Are you going to take advantage of me?”

  Scott turned his head slightly and caught just a glimpse of Kurella’s amused smile. Good, he thought. All he needed was for her to trust him, to relax her guard—even if only a little.

  “So why did you do it?” he asked again.

  “Because I am to my people what you humans would consider a princess, and every princess must have her retinue of slaves.”

  “Wait a second,” Scott said coming up short. He turned to face her. “Why would a princess of the werewolves have to hunt down her own servants?”

  “Slaves,” she corrected him. “And it is because every wolf, no matter their station, must hunt those things they desire. And they must hunt those things alone.”

  Scott smiled like a fox. “So you’re saying you desire me?”

  She pointed. “Move.”

  They continued their march, Scott leading the way while Kurella followed. More than once Scott felt the young wolf girl’s gaze as she regarded him, although what she was thinking he could only guess. She was very careful and her expressions were difficult to catch—harder still to interpret.

  In another hour the terrain turned rocky and the grass of the forest floor gave ground to harsh undergrowth that crunched underfoot. The wind picked up and Scott noticed from the lean of the scrub foliage that it probably grew much fiercer in the late season. Every tree looked bent and gnarled, with branches broken and others intertwining with their neighbors, lending further credibility to his suspicions.

  “I don’t suppose you could answer a question?” Scott asked at last. When Kurella did not reply he said, “Why is it silver is so difficult for your kind to recover from?”