The King's Ring (The Netherworld Gate Book 2) (4 page)

Seldaric nodded. “Kai is right, you could use our help, and Jahre was my grandfather.”

Ulthgaron smiled. “I am sure Liloriel will inform your superiors about your resignation from the Bluewater guard.”

“Resignation?” Kai asked. “Why resign? We are just going after one man.”

Seldaric shook his head and slapped a hand on Kai’s shoulder. “The way of the elves are different, my human friend. We are going to be in the service of the Kruks now. Bluewater will need a new captain of the guard.” Seldaric let his hand fall from Kai’s shoulder and he pointed to the window. “Come, let’s keep watch.”

“The priestess said the assassin was most likely already gone,” Ulthgaron put in.

Seldaric nodded. “Even if he is, if this is my last night as a Bluewater guard, then I prefer to spend it watching over the city.”

Kai and Seldaric went back to watching the streets below. After a short while, they moved to sit upon the roof, to gain a better vantage point than what they could survey from the window. The pair waited for hours watching the area with no sign of the assassin, or of anybody else except for the occasional trio of guards on patrol. Seldaric sighed in desperation as he looked down to his boots, watching them dangle as he swung them lightly over the edge of the roof on which he sat. Kai sat next to him, but did not move, he kept completely still scanning the area about him

“You are quite patient for a human,” Seldaric said after a long while.

Kai smiled in return, but did not say anything.

“Quiet too,” Seldaric noted. “Most peculiar for a human.”

“I have done my share of waiting,” Kai whispered.

“What about killing?” Seldaric asked pointedly.

Kai turned a keen eye on Seldaric and arched an eyebrow. “When it has been necessary,” he replied evenly. He turned to watch the streets below. A deep pang of guilt overcame him as the current conversation dragged up the memory of killing his former comrades. He winced as he recalled the brutal way in which Jimik died. Kai tried to convince himself that it was self-preservation that had brought about their demise, but he couldn’t rid himself of the empty, wretched guilt. Deep down, he knew that such an excuse might be given by a bandit who found himself in a life or death situation. Self-preservation didn’t always prove innocence. The real question Kai wrestled with was not whether his former friends would have killed him if he had let them. He knew that Jimik and Gainer, two of the best Rangers Kai had known in Rasselin, would most definitely have killed him if given the chance. They believed him responsible for Governor Gandle’s murder, as well as Captain Lador’s. No, the real question Kai couldn’t answer was whether his life was worth more than both of his former friends’ lives.

Perhaps that was why he was so driven to find this assassin. Maybe through bringing Governor Gandle’s and Captain Lador’s true killer to justice, he could finally purge himself of the guilt he felt hanging around him so heavily. Then again, as he thought about that prospect he had to wonder if it would have any effect on his shame whatsoever. He had helped eradicate the last of the men involved with his sister’s kidnapping, but that had done little to assuage his guilt.

He took in a deep breath, and as he exhaled he conjured up Boots, Daren, and Calhoun in his mind. He felt no guilt for them, or any of the other rogues who had found their way to the afterlife through him. Yet they didn’t lessen his guilt either. He couldn’t justify killing Jimik and Gainer by reasoning that Boots and the other leader of the human smuggling ring were caught only after Jimik and Gainer had been slain. Yet, the mere thought of the men connected with his sister’s kidnapping ignited the same hot fire in his chest that had come to life at the inn in Rasselin the night his sister disappeared. Even now, after those responsible had been brought to justice, Kai’s rage gave him a barrier to sit behind and hide from the guilt over his fallen comrades. He recalled then that Kelden had said that even the Rangers were suspect in the kidnapping. He let his rage push his guilt out of his mind.

Kai’s thoughts were disturbed when Seldaric tapped him on the shoulder. Kai looked up to see a small, dark figure hobbling through the streets near the docks, apparently headed in their direction. Kai could scarcely make out the cane that the slow, hunched over being used, but Seldaric could see much more clearly with his superior sense of sight.

“Is it him?” Kai whispered. “He seems kind of small to me. Doesn’t look like the same man.”

“It is not him, but it is not any elf I know either,” Seldaric replied. He then silently rolled to his side and crawled to the far edge of the building to let himself down. Kai went to the opposite side of the building to make his descent in order to flank the hobbling stranger. A few moments later they were sneaking up to him slowly, each man with their hand on their sword handles, but with their swords still in the sheaths.

If the stranger saw them flanking him, he showed no signs of slowing down. Kai kept a close eye on Seldaric as they closed in, trying to take his cues from the guard captain. As they approached, Kai felt the hairs on his neck stand on end. There was something about this elf that was different from any other elf Kai had seen in Bluewater. Suddenly the cloaked elf stood straight and let his cane fall over to the ground. He smiled wickedly and pulled back his hood to reveal a head of long, white hair framing his pointy nose and angular jaw.

Seldaric froze instantly. Kai, noting his companion’s sudden stop, did not step any closer. He instead drew his sword and waited for the elf’s command. After many seconds of waiting for a cue which never came, Kai turned to Seldaric and shouted. “What are we waiting for?”

“Has the pride of the fair elves fallen so low as to render them speechless?” the stranger mocked. “Look upon the legacy of your sins!” A small circle of flame rose out of the ground, encircling the three beings. Each of them still stood without moving. They just looked at each other, waiting for the first move to be made.

Kai felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end as he watched the flames rise three feet into the air, forming a bright wall and ringing them all in together. Kai glanced nervously at the ring around him. He had heard of magic before, but he had never before seen anything like this. He wondered suddenly whether it was a demon which had come among them. The orange and red flames danced around them all, illuminating each of their faces. Kai noted the surprise on Seldaric’s face, and then glanced to the stranger. He had not been mistaken.  It was an elf, from what Kai could see, but his skin was old, leathery, and gray.

“It is a drow! He is using magic!” Seldaric yelled.

The drow smiled widely and pointed beyond them. “Look, more of your murderous cousins have come to see the proof of their depravity. Now all shall see that the end is near, and that vengeance is come!”

Kai turned to look through the flames and saw many elves had come out to see the spectacle. The drow cackled loudly. Kai knew that laugh. He had heard it many times from criminals who knew they were caught, and it always ended with them erupting into a vicious fight to take down as many people around them as they could. The ex-Ranger advanced quickly, not wanting to take any chances with one who could conjure up a ring of fire. The drow drew a small dagger from his belt and threw it at Kai with lightning speed. Kai somersaulted forward and to the left, easily dodging the old drow’s attack. A few seconds later Kai slashed at the drow’s right arm just below the shoulders. The drow cackled and jumped aside. A pair of fireballs leapt from the old elf’s hand and sailed at Kai. This time, Kia couldn’t escape. Whenever he rolled, the fireballs changed course and moved to follow him. Finally the piercing, searing balls struck Kai in the back and in the side, dropping him to the ground as the magic fire burned his flesh. He rolled around on the ground, vainly attempting to extinguish the flames.

Seldaric rushed in, his scimitar catching a glint of moonlight. The old drow muttered something and then the sky came alive with fireballs the size of horses. The fiery rain pummeled the ground and buildings alike, causing the very earth to quake. Seldaric kept his footing and launched an impressive array of slices and strikes, but the drow blocked each of them with his knotty staff. Somehow the wood held up against the sword without even chipping.

The drow then countered and swept Seldaric’s legs out from under him with a heavy strike of his staff. Seldaric used the momentum to roll backward and out of reach. Then he rose to his feet. Through the flames behind the drow jumped another figure. Sword flashing in the firelight as he rushed in. The drow turned and created a wave of fire with his staff. The flames wrapped around the newcomer, but he didn’t stop. He just yelled and charged for the drow, running his sword through the old elf and tackling him to the ground. As the two of them burned, Seldaric could hear the old elf cackling wickedly.

“You all shall burn!” the old drow said. “All of you shall BURN!”

Another volley of fireballs appeared in the sky and began pelting the city furiously. Seldaric first went to Kai, and helped him extinguish the flames.

“Are you hurt badly?” Seldaric asked as Kai rolled the last of the flames out.

Kai winced and sat up, straining to push himself upright. “Just my pride,” he lied through gritted teeth. “Who was that?” Kai said with a jerk of his chin toward the two burning elves.

“I am not sure who the drow was, but I believe it was Ulthgaron who jumped into the ring of fire with us. Come on!” They both rushed over toward the two burning elves.

Next to them a building exploded as a fireball pounded through it. Shards of wood and hot embers flew out around them. Kai was thrown to the ground. They shielded themselves with their arms and then Seldaric struggled to pull Kai back to his feet.

They reached the smoldering bodies quickly, but not fast enough to save either of them. The elf used his sword to separate the two. He put one arm over his mouth and nose, coughing harshly against the foul stench. “As I suspected,” Seldaric said. “It is Ulthgaron.”

“How can you be sure?” Kai asked.

Seldaric backed away from the two bodies and pointed to a ring on Ulthgaron’s hand. “Because that is his ring. He wore it every day I saw him.” Seldaric then pointed to the half-bitten ear on the side of Ulthgaron’s head. “And that is where the assassin bit him.”

Kai looked down and inspected the blackened ring. From afar it was hard to tell, but when he bent down closer he could see that it was indeed the same ring. He wiped a bit of the soot from its face to reveal the sapphire and nodded.

“Are you both alright?” a soft voice called from behind.

They turned and saw Liloriel. The priestess was weaving magic and quenching the last of the flames around them.

Seldaric nodded and pointed to the ground. “A Sierri’Tai came into the open. How can this be?”

“Are you sure?” Liloriel asked as she rushed in beside them. She knelt down and examined the charred remains of the assailant.

Seldaric nodded. “It was a drow, I swear it.”

“Perhaps a Tomni’Tai, then,” Liloriel said in a whisper. “A few of them still roam the islands.”

Seldaric shook his head. “This one talked about our sins. I would bet my life that it was a Sierri’Tai.”

Liloriel shook her head in disgust and then looked to Ulthgaron’s remains. “By the Great Tree,” she said breathlessly. “It must have been a very powerful spell to have consumed Ulthgaron so quickly.”

The burning building off to their left creaked and groaned as the larger walls collapsed inward, spraying embers and smoke over the trio.

“Where did he come from?” Kai asked between coughs. “I thought all the Sierri’Tai were banished.”

Liloriel turned back to the attacker and shook her head as her mouth dropped open. “I…I don’t know.” She placed her hands on either side of the dead drow’s head and closed her eyes. Kai watched as a blue light sparked out from her palms to the drow’s skull. She held contact for a moment, but ultimately pulled her hands back while shaking her head. “Sometimes I can catch glimpses of memory from a dead mind, but this one held only darkness.”

Kai spoke again. “If the banishment didn’t affect all of them, then there could be other Sierri’Tai out in the forests somewhere, right?”

Liloriel shook her head. “No,” she said. “There must have been something special that kept this one from being banished along with the others.”

“What could do that?” Seldaric asked.

Liloriel stood and wiped her hands on her red robes. “The only magic that would have counteracted the banishment would be a spell of Svetli’Tai making.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Kai put in. “What elf would want to save any of the drow after the war you described?”

Liloriel shook her head. “No, it would have been a mistake. It wouldn’t be one intentionally.” Her eyes shot open wide and she held a finger out in the air. “The cave,” she said. “The Svetli’Tai locked the black dragon in an earthen cave, and used their magic to hold him there. If this drow happened to be inside the cave already, then that magic might have been enough to save him from the banishment.”

“So there could be others in this cave then?” Kai asked.

Liloriel nodded. “It is unlikely. I would imagine that if there were more than one, they would have attacked in force.”

“So why come out now?” Kai asked.

Liloriel turned and looked out past the burning fireballs and smoldering shards of wood around them. “The assassin. The drow is working with him.”