The Paladins of Naretia

  *

  The rest of the night was spent preparing for their departure from Elwood. Without the vines Ol?rin knew it would take them nearly an entire day to reach the eastern edge of the forest. He allowed the younger members of his party to gather the supplies needed as a weariness washed over him. He watched, with a certain amount of sadness, as the other elves gave Sudia a wide berth. They seemed afraid of her, and she didn't help matters by hissing at them whenever one came near.

  Sooner than his old bones would have liked, they were prepared, and set off for the edge of the elven stronghold, accompanied by three armed elves: Mirathall had insisted on the extra protection. But Ol?rin suspected that her concern wasn't for them, so much as it was for whatever crossed Sudia's path.

  Ol?rin wasn't sure if it was morning when they left, as the thick vines covering the forest let in no light. He only hoped that Bernard would be patient and wait for them on the other side, but he expected that patience wasn't one of his virtues.

  As it happened, however, Ol?rin was glad to hear the dwarf's curses coming from the other side of a thick wall of vines. The slithering tendrils that trapped them inside, refused to open at their escorts command. If it wasn't for the large broadaxes on the other side, they may not have been able to leave at all; every time a liana was cut down, another grew in its place. And so, this gave the companions only a few seconds to leave the arboreal tomb.

  "Wizard, where in the name of the wee man were you?" Bernard said.

  Ol?rin's mouth dropped open when he saw the hirsute dwarf standing in front of him. His fiery beard was neatly plaited again, and atop his head rested the spikey dwarven crown that king Thrais had once worn. Although his Etherium armour still did not fit his rotund figure, he was an impressive sight - made all the more impressive by the army of dwarfs standing to attention around him.

  But as impressed as Ol?rin was, it was the colossal Beasties that hung in the background which took his breath away. They towered near to the top of where the tall trees of Elwood should have been, replaced instead with a wicker dome of vines. Unlike the female Beasties he had seen in the mines of Balbuldor, these creature's maws of undulating teeth could have swallowed a man riding a horse, whole. Their exoskeletons were grey, toughened, with spikes as long as he was tall. Riding atop of each of them was a single dwarf in iron armour. Once again, the behemoths were being controlled with heavy metal chains driven into the sides of their heads. The ground rumbled underfoot as the six legs of the Beasties shifted impatiently. One of them let out a primordial roar, and it made the hairs on the back of Ol?rin's neck stand on end.

  "What has happened here?" Ol?rin asked, only barely able to close his mouth enough to form the words. "Why are you wearing Thrais's crown?"

  "Dinnae get me started on that fool," Bernard answered as Aramus, Aria, and then Sudia made their way through the vines. "Seems that the king had many allegiances with the wrong people, and it came back tae bite him in the arse. He betrayed you, he betrayed his own people, and I suspect that he attempted tae betray the followers of Dantet. If ye promise yer word tae too many people, I suppose it would be impossible tae keep it. I dinnae know how it happened exactly, but we are in fer a world of hurt now, wizard." Bernard paused for a long time, a look of utter fear crossed his face. "The seal tae Dantet's world, has been broken."

  Ol?rin felt a coldness wash over his insides as though Bernard's words had a powerful magic laced within them. He quickly realised that the rumbling sound which reverberated through Rhidwynn, and had alarmed the elves so badly, must have been the seal breaking. 'No, this cannot be. This was not meant to happen. Something has started events that were not in my vision.'

  "I came back tae Balbuldor too late," Bernard continued. "When I got there, I found that the king had been poisoned by a dark magic. He was jabbering on about some wizard making him break the seal, but I saw no wizard there. The only thing I saw was a legion of Dark One's as they emerged from the mines below; Dark One's the likes of which I have never seen before.

  "In the end, Thrais died, and as his right arm and his only successor, it was my job tae see the dwarfs' tae safety. And that's whot I've done. I've sent them on tae Lothangard while I travelled here. It's the only place left that is strong enough tae withstand the monster's that are coming."

  "Did he give you a name?" Ol?rin asked, stepping closer to the dwarf, his chest tight with panic. "Did Thrais name the wizard that had made him break the seal?"

  "Aye, but I tell ye there was no wizard there. It was just the ramblings of a poisoned and dying mind," Bernard replied, only now noticing Sudia and throwing her a cautious look. "I thought elves were supposed tae be pretty."

  "I thought dwarfs were supposed to be strong, not fat," Sudia snapped.

  "Och, I ought tae knock the two queer eyes outta yer head fer that," he said, huffing and puffing under his beard.

  "From what I heard there was only one queer thing you knew, your brother," she said with an ever widening grin.

  Bernard lunged at Sudia, followed by ten equally enraged dwarfs who wanted her blood to spill. But they were all stopped with Ol?rin's magic as he raised his staff, all except Bernard in his Etherium armour. Ol?rin blocked his path to the grey-elf by stepping in the way.

  "Outta my way," he snapped at Ol?rin. "Angus was a more formidable fighter, a more loyal subject, and a better person than she could ever hope tae be. She has no right tae sully his name like that. I willnae have it. I willnea let him be remembered for something like that. I'll cut out her tongue before she says these vile words tae another soul. Outta me way, wizard."

  "Bernard," Ol?rin said, placing his hand upon the dwarf's shoulder, calming him with a silent spell. "Aramus and I know only too well the pain of discrimination and bigotry. Even Aria has felt the sting of a prejudice tongue. So, we understand your anger. Sudia, I fear, will also know your brother's suffering soon enough, and will come to regret her words. However, none of us shall live long enough to regret anything unless we work together to end the prophecy. With the seal broken, Dantet needs very little to rise up into our world. But I am sure that he is still lacking in something, otherwise he would already be here. And so, I ask you again, Mighty King of Balbuldor, what was the name of the wizard that enslaved Thrais?"

  "Mullrode," Bernard answered.

  Ol?rin heard Aria take a sharp breath in.

  "That was the wizard who gave me the amulet, and the Etherium arrow," she said.

  Ol?rin's heart sank so low into his chest, he was sure he might die then and there.

  "Then it is true," he said, unable to hide the sorrow in his voice. "The wizard caste is no longer whole. Like a house built upon shifting sands, it has broken into two without me realising. Dantet's fingers have reached into the cracks to wrap around the greedy hearts of the ambitious wizards within. I am certain now, Aria, that your ill-thought-out actions have been as carefully orchestrated, and incited, by the same dark wizard that killed Thrais. Mullrode has worn many masks and you mustn't feel bad, or stupid either, for not seeing through them. Even I did not see the dark eddies turning under my own feet. Perhaps I did not want to see them."

  "So, what do we do now?" Aramus asked.

  There was a quiet tremble in the young man's voice that Ol?rin had never heard before, and he knew it to be fear. It was reflected in the arch of his wings that just would not lie flat on his back anymore, and the clenching of his jaw muscles. 'He must know that his time is running out. How I wish he had longer to discover love.' Had it not been for the betrayal of the wizards within the tower there might have been enough time. Ol?rin knew it did no good to dwell on what was no longer possible, so instead, he focused on the certainty of their situation.

  "Now, we must make haste and return to Lothangard where I can brew the potion," he replied, releasing Bernard and his dwarfs. "I fear that all the Dark God needs is one last piece of the puzzle to fall into place so, that he can rise from his world. But I will not allow him to have th
at piece. I will not allow him to have you, Aramus."