The Crystal Legacy (Book 2) (7 page)

“We will respect your wishes, of course, Your Majesty. How is it you know of our names and us? We’re but a few friends traveling around the continent.”

If this king knows about us, others might also, thought Saxthor.

The king smiled. “The great Wizard Memlatec sent your highness on a mission that will affect the outcome of all Powteros. While we don’t know the details of your journey, we know that your success or failure will substantially influence the outcome of the impending war with Dreaddrac. At Memlatec’s request, our cousins provided a boat for you when you began your journey. Recently, the wizard sent a message requesting we assist you in any way we can. Should you fail, we can do little to restrain the Dark Lord’s tide of destruction. You must not fail.”

Saxthor was stunned. This declaration from the king increased the mission’s pressure and revealed more people dependent on the quest’s outcome.

Why do you reveal yourselves to us?”

“We have long lived here in peace. Recently, there has been a ripple in the energy force running through these hills. We have detected a wraith scouring the desert at night. Not since the Wizard Wars have we seen wraiths this far south. We think this one is seeking you, Prince Saxthor. We revealed ourselves to forewarn you of this threat.”

“I thank you for the warning. We’ll heed it.”

The greeter elf knocked and rushed in, not waiting for the king to bid him enter. His tense face exposed raw fear.

“Majesty, the wraith no longer scours the desert. It is now moving in a direct line here.”

Ahkenspec stood up. “We must destroy it now that the wraith knows where you are.”

“Tournak is a wizard. He can destroy it with wizard fire.”

“No,” The king said. “The energy surge from wizard fire might neutralize it, but the flash of energy would instantly alert its controller and draw them here to destroy us. We must stall it until dawn and kill it with sunlight.

”How do we stall a wraith?” Saxthor asked.

“Saxthor, one of your band has something unknown to him, something that is drawing the wraith to you. Search yourselves and your belongings and destroy the beacon, lest the wraith catch up to you here.”

Saxthor stood shocked. “I thank Your Majesty for your kind hospitality and your assistance. We’ll search for the betraying item and be on our way before we draw the evil to you.”

“Find the beacon at once,” Ahkenspec sat back on his throne.

“I apologize for bringing this danger to your secluded retreat.” Saxthor bowed again and withdrew from the king’s presence as the greeter and king conferred. He descended the stairs in hast, deep in thought.

What could we have that could betray our location to searchers?

“Where’ve you been, Saxthor?” Bodrin asked back at the hall. “You’re missing all this rich food. Look at all these beautiful elfin damsels, too.” He lay back and one dropped grapes in his mouth. “You’ve missed all the fun.”

“Come, we must return to our quarters and search our belongings at once.” Saxthor turned to leave. The others looked to each other, rose, and followed.

Reluctant to depart, Bodrin looked back, surveying each delicacy, the graceful elves dancing in the moonlight, the maidens, and the banquet laid out before them. He grabbed two plump, roasted bird legs in one hand and two apples in the other as he turned to follow his companions.

“We should’ve stayed a little longer, Saxthor. You’ve hardly eaten anything. The elves will think us rude.”

“I expect you’ve eaten enough for both of us.”

Grinning, Bodrin took a big bite of a bird leg and finished both before they reached their quarters.

They met in Saxthor’s room, where he looked at each companion. “We must never disclose the existence of this place or its inhabitants. Exposure would destroy what is left of this precious elfin world.” Everyone nodded agreement. Saxthor looked at his companions hoping his stern face would convey the seriousness of the situation.

“What’s wrong, Saxthor?” Bodrin asked.

“Somewhere in our belongings is a treacherous item drawing a wraith to us.”

“That’s not possible,” Bodrin said.

“King Ahkenspec assures me it is. One is racing this way right now. We don’t know what the beacon is, so it must be something obscure and ordinary. We must find and destroy it immediately, or the wraith will find us. Go through each thing in our gear and find the item. Every minute brings the wraith closer.”

“A wraith you say?” Tournak repeated.

They looked at each other, dumbfounded. Then, still in silence, they returned to their rooms, searching through their gear. Every item was inspected, clothes tumbled to the floor followed by camping gear, toiletries, everything. After an hour, they still had nothing they thought could be the beacon. They met again with Saxthor.

“I’ve no idea what it could be,” Bodrin said, throwing up his hands.

“Neither do we,” Tournak said. Hendrel nodded. No one had an idea.

“Could magic reveal the evil?” Bodrin asked.

“Since it isn’t living, Sorblade’s runes won’t glow when near it,” Tournak reminded them.

“It must be something that came with Hendrel, as the wraith has followed us since we left the Favriana Fortress,” Bodrin said.

“I brought nothing with me but my old belongings from my days on the Hadorian border. I never knew you then.”

“What did we buy in Favriana that we still have?” Tournak asked, racking his brain to remember the items he bought in the harbor shops.

The greeter came in. “The king urges you to hurry. Dawn is still an hour away and the wraith is within sight.”

“What would this item look like?” Bodrin asked.

Saxthor saw Bodrin’s furrowed brow and suspected some thought was forming in his head.

“It could be any ordinary item. It communicates through magic, so the item itself wouldn’t appear unusual,” Saxthor said.

Bodrin rushed out. ”I’ll be right back.” He returned with his hunting knife in hand to the silent group staring at him. He placed the unsheathed knife on the table.

“Hold your ring above the knife and turn the Celestial Fire Topaz to it.”

Saxthor looked at Bodrin in disbelief. “That knife has always been with you Bodrin, except when you sleep, or do you sleep with it still attached to you, too? I gave it to you on our ninth birthdays.”

Bodrin didn’t smile.

In the silence, Saxthor extended his arm, then index finger, closing his fist. The blue topaz faced the hunting knife. He concentrated on the Celestial Fire Topaz. In an instant, the primal force in Saxthor vibrated in sympathy with the gem’s energy, and a blue flame shot from the crystal. The knife glowed red then shot back at Saxthor. Before it reached him, it exploded in brilliant white light, blasting fragments across the room. No one spoke.

“What happened?” Tournak asked.

Bodrin stood dazed and staring. “Remember when the soldiers came up on us so soon after we started to brawl, Hendrel? Remember the one that stepped from the back and had such an evil grin, the one that took the knives?”

“Yes, I remember that now. It was odd that they seemed to be there in an instant. Now that you mention it, I do remember the short, heavily muscled one. He grabbed you right away.” Hendrel still looked puzzled.

“Out of uniform, he’d look remarkably like the orcs we saw at the rock-dwarf mines,” Bodrin said. “If he was an orc, and he recognized who we were …”

“He took your hunting knife there on the wharf,” Saxthor blurted out. “I saw that. I remember thinking how much I hoped he’d return it.”

“Well, he had it all the time we were with the sergeant,” Bodrin said. “When he rejoined us at our release, he smiled that sinister smile and returned my knife. He must’ve switched it with the beacon, disguised as my knife.”

“Why didn’t they kill you there?” Hendrel asked.

“They want what Saxthor is after,” Tournak said in his low, pensive voice. “The orc couldn’t do anything there without betraying his presence in the fortress, in Neuyokkasin itself. He planted the beacon so they could follow us and steal the crown when we have all the pieces.”

The room fell silent.

“With all due respect,” the elf said, “please hurry.”

Saxthor dashed out the door and back to the king. When he entered the throne room, anther warrior elf was conversing with his majesty.

“The wraith will collide with the perimeter shield in less than thirty minutes,” the elf said.

Ahkenspec turned to Saxthor. “If the specter’s negative energy collides with our shield, the resulting sparks will reveal elves live here and are giving refuge to you, Prince Saxthor.” He turned back to the elf. “We must devise a delay until dawn.”

Another elf rushed in. “The vile thing has slowed its approach. It seems confused.”

“Majesty,” Saxthor said, “we’ve destroyed the beacon.”

“That’s what confused the specter, but it won’t delay it long. It knows Saxthor is in these hills now. We must devise a diversion until the sun drives it into hiding.”

“Majesty, if the beacon drew the wraith here, could we confuse it further by scattering the shattered fragments?”

“The thing is within a quarter hour of striking the shield. We don’t have enough time to send runners with the fragments far enough to delay it.”

“It will need to find shelter before the sun rises,” Saxthor said. “We passed a dilapidated homestead not far from here. Could we rush the fragments there? It might be enough to draw the wraith. It will likely remain there as it is the only shelter from fast approaching sunrise.”

Ahkenspec raised his hand and finger, smiling at the idea. “When the wraith shelters there, we’ll burn it down exposing the vile thing to direct sunlight. The rays will kill it without expending excessive energy that would draw the Dark Lord’s attention. Excellent suggestion, Saxthor.” He looked to the soldier elf and raised his eyebrows. “Make it happen, at once.”

Saxthor joined the king up on the hillside sheltered behind an invisibility veil. The soldier raced toward the homestead building as the knife fragments, together again, drew the vile black haze.

“He won’t make it there ahead of the specter,” the greeter elf said. He chewed his fingernails.

Ahkenspec remained stone faced. “Tie the last fragment to an arrow and shoot it far to the left of the homestead. That might confuse the thing just long enough for our elf to place the beacon fragments and get away unseen.”

The arrow flew out into the predawn darkness. Everyone held his breath staring at the black shimmer in the moonlight. The wraith hesitated. Elves and men froze. The vile thing drifted again, toward where the arrow had flown. Then it stopped, hovered, and turned back toward the shield.

“It’s coming back this way,” Tournak said.

A sudden chirp from a lark and the wraith froze. The black vapor rose as if to check the horizon, then flew again toward the abandoned homestead. The soldier elf slipped out the back when the wraith approached. It appeared as though the ghostly structure sucked the ebony haze into it.

Two hours later, when the sun’s direct rays streamed over the hills onto the building, the elves set fire to the old, dry wood. Ashes soon fluttered in the sunlight. The wraith was no more.

*

Saxthor returned to his companions. “Go to bed, and get some sleep. We’ll leave as soon as we’ve rested a bit. If we stay here, other searchers will discover the elves and we’ll be the cause of their destruction. We must put as much distance between us and this place as we can.”

The adventurers rose midday and took their leave of the gracious elves. Saxthor sent his appreciation to King Ahkenspec through the chamberlain. The travelers left the tranquil village and started back for the outside world.

As they departed, Bodrin looked back thinking of the lost knife and more.

“I’ll miss those maidens.” Still glancing at the youthful elves that followed them, Bodrin spoke to the elf guide. “Everyone here seems so young and beautiful.” Bodrin observed the middle-aged guide and blushed.

The guide elf continued to gaze ahead and retained his blank composure.

“Unless killed, we live indefinitely aging slowly.”

“I suppose so,” Bodrin said, then laughed. He watched the elf but his expression remained the same. They continued along in silence and Bodrin nodded to a particular maiden dancing along beside them that he’d seen the night before.

“That girl there, she can’t be any older than I am.” Bodrin saw the guide’s profile when he glanced at the damsel. His expression, or lack of it, remained unchanged.

“Elspeth, yes ... She’s a bit headstrong, but that’s youth for you. She just turned four hundred thirty-seven last week,” the guide said stone-faced. They continued in silence, but Bodrin looked again at Elspeth who smiled seductively at him.

When they reached the tunnel, through which they would travel again to the outside world, their guide stopped and bowed to Saxthor. The group passed by, with Bodrin last. He repeated, “
Four hundred thirty-seven
, you say?”

“Four hundred thirty-seven, and her mother can’t do a thing with her,” the elf said with a bow as Bodrin walked into the tunnel.