“I don’t know.”
Filia circled his head, then landed on his shoulder. Metta landed on the other side.
Bardon listened to their chatter but heard words in his mind.
“Kale has gone into the cellar of the castle and is finding it unsettling,” he told the captain. “She’s looking for the boys and wants me to come along.”
Captain Anton’s eyebrows went up. “You can mindspeak with minor dragons?”
“With these, I can. That is, when Kale sends a specific message.” He stroked Metta’s back and then Filia’s, when she let out a jealous chirp and nudged his cheek. “I’ve tried it on my own, and nothing passes to me or from me to the little creatures.”
“I’ll go on to the dragon field,” Captain Anton said, “while you go rescue the fair damsel in distress.”
Bardon laughed, raised his hand in a half salute, and strode back toward the castle.
He went upstairs first, sure that Kale would want to know what progress was being made in waking the knights. The smiles on the faces of the wizards told him progress had been made. He looked closely at Sir Jilles and saw a slight rising and falling of his chest.
“How much longer?” he asked.
Wizard Cam beamed as he looked up from the young knight on whom he was working. “A matter of minutes.”
“I’ll stay and watch. Kale wants me to join her in the dungeon. Perhaps I can take her father with me.”
He’d been in the room only a few minutes when he heard Toopka tearing down the hall.
“Help! Help!” she cried through gasps for breath. She careened around the corner and straight into Bardon’s legs.
“Whoa!” He crouched to face her. “What’s the matter?”
“Kale’s in trouble.” She panted. “The boys are in trouble. Something bad is down there in the dungeon.”
Knowing her penchant for the dramatic, Bardon looked at her closely. Her alarm was genuine. He stood.
Toopka began to cry. “Kale said to get everyone. It’s big and horrible.”
“We nearly have the knights awake,” said Lyll. “Cam and I will stay here. The rest of you go.”
“I’ll get the men from the library,” said Librettowit. “I’ll send one of the guard for Anton.”
Bardon threw himself out the door and raced down the hall. He plunged down the stairs and realized all four minor dragons kept pace with him as he entered the maze of rooms in the servants’ quarters. He let them lead when they got to the cellar door, and beneath the castle, he followed them to the storage room where Sittiponder and Ahnek had uncovered the half door.
He halted and took a moment to slow his breathing, to prepare his heart and mind for battle. He put his great fear for Kale’s safety in Wulder’s hands and petitioned for clarity of thought, for precision in his combat ability, and that his decisions would honor Wulder. He ducked through the short entryway and picked up a lightrock.
He addressed the minor dragons as he went, keeping his voice low. “I’m not used to battling with you by my side. Stay away from my blade. I don’t want to be distracted with worry over your safety.”
They passed a message to him, and he gathered they considered themselves seasoned warriors who would not do something so foolish. He stopped for a moment. The influence of Kale. My skills sharpen whenever I’m around her. Where I couldn’t hear the little fellows before, now I can. Thank You, Wulder, that was just the sign I needed to help me be more confident.
He moved rapidly but with great caution. He came to a turn in the passageway and heard Kale’s voice.
“Bardon, Bardon, don’t come in here. Don’t! Bardon?”
I’m here in the tunnel.
“Pretender’s been here. He left. But I doubt that he’s far away.”
Pretender?
“Yes, he’s in the body of a meech. Sittiponder and Ahnek are here, unconscious. Pretender knocked Gymn and Ardeo to the ground. He pinned me to the rock beneath my feet.”
I’m coming in, Kale.
“No!”
You think I’m going to leave you there?
“He’ll kill you. We can’t fight him, Bardon.”
Bardon advanced the last few steps to the cavern balcony. He bent and carefully placed the lightrock he’d been carrying on the stone ledge.
We can fight him, Kale. That’s what my training is for.
He stole down the incline, his sword out and his eyes moving about the room.
Pretender is evil. He’s strong and cunning. But he’s not Wulder.
Bardon saw Kale crane her neck to look up at the ramp he crept down. Her head shook in a fierce negative command, and the word “No” formed on her lips.
“Bardon, go back.”
No, Kale. I hope to take vows to serve Wulder. The vows include protecting the innocent from evil and freeing the oppressed. This seems to be a good place to start.
He marched down the incline and straight over to Sittiponder and Ahnek. With the tip of his sword he sliced through the ropes that bound them hand and foot. He then leaned over and removed the gags. Neither boy stirred.
“A kimen stood over Sittiponder earlier.”
He’s probably still here somewhere. I have long suspected that the voices Sittiponder hears are kimens talking to him.
He stood and moved toward Kale. When he was face to face with her, he looked her in the eye and spoke in a strong, gentle voice. “You can move your feet now.”
Her eyes widened, and she inhaled sharply. Without hesitation, she moved into his arms.
“How did you do that? Was it wizardry?”
“What held you was a suggestion, only a suggestion. I merely spoke the truth.”
“How did you know?”
He pulled her close to him and hugged her while his eyes roamed around the room, taking in the area from this vantage point. He spoke while he sized up the strategic elements of the layout. “My studies have covered physical, mental, and spiritual laws. Yours have focused on the physical elements of Wulder’s world. You can alter things you understand. You can change water into ice. You can form cloth and then change the cloth. But your training has not introduced you fully to the spiritual realm. In the spiritual there are truth and lies. And truth is the stronger of the two.”
“Very philosophical.” The voice rattled through the cavern.
Bardon turned to face the meech-dragon form of Pretender. He stood in an alcove, where a large tunnel led away from the main cavern.
“But,” said Pretender, “your little summary leaves out many factors. For instance, the will.”
“We’ll get around to discussing that someday.” Bardon breathed deeply, maintaining the readiness of his body to fight.
“I think not.” The meech took a step closer. “You annoy me. Therefore, I choose to eliminate you.”
The ground beneath their feet rumbled. The tremor grew. The sleeping figures standing around the circumference of the room fell over. Kale tried to keep her balance but went to her knees. Bardon remained on his feet.
The stone floor split open next to Kale. The crack ran from one end of the cavern to the other. The slab under Kale tilted toward the chasm, and she screamed. Bardon lurched toward her, grabbed an arm, and managed to pull her away. When the earthquake quieted, Bardon, Kale, and Pretender stood on the far side of the cavern from the balcony entrance. Much of the incline they had walked down had shattered and fallen away from the wall.
Bardon let go of Kale and faced Pretender. He raised his sword and stepped closer to the meech.
Pretender laughed. “You think I would bother to fight you myself, boy?”
Kale shrieked. “Bardon!”
He whirled to see stinger-schoergs scrambling over the edge of the chasm. The creatures crawled on thin, black, furry arms and legs. Their thick bodies supported an equally thick head. They stared out of beady black eyes and snapped oversized, sharp, yellow teeth. Tails curved up over their backs. A glistening arrow-shaped stinger tipped each tail. The
creatures hissed as they approached.
One sprang at Kale. She swung her sword hand, and the beast’s head rolled across the floor.
Bardon jumped to her side as the next foray of schoergs swarmed up from the black pit.
Kale and Bardon fought as one. Both trained to use their swords efficiently, they sliced and stabbed the enemy’s minions, keeping the spiderlike horrors at bay. Occasionally, one of the beasts made it past their blades, alive and grasping. Bardon or Kale would use a well-aimed kick to stun the creature, if not kill it outright by breaking its neck.
Two of the creatures began clearing away their dead. These two did not engage in the battle but grabbed the mangled bodies of the fallen and threw them back into the chasm.
As the creatures kept coming, Bardon had the horrible notion that the lifeless schoergs somehow regenerated down in the depths to return. He heard a shout from above and glanced up to see the balcony crowded with wide-awake knights. However, the way down from the high entrance had been destroyed. Bardon refocused on the horde attacking him and Kale.
Arrows rained from the knights’ bows, slaying the black stinger-schoergs. The first assault ceased. Bardon looked up to see Wizard Cam replenish the knights’ supply of weapons. Bardon realized that it would be difficult for the wizards and knights to keep an adequate barrage against this swarming mass of creatures.
His body grew weary, and he knew that Kale, too, felt the fatigue of battle. The adrenaline that pumped through him had long since worn off.
“Paladin. Oh, thank Wulder!” Kale’s voice in his mind sounded as though she was close to tears.
Still swinging his sword with deadly accuracy, Bardon looked up again to see their leader at the front of the crowd of witnesses. Before him, a bridge was forming across the gap, supported by nothing that could be seen. The brief glimpse of help on the way gave him hope. He felt energy from Kale as she too recognized they were no longer in the fight alone.
In only a moment, the last bit of rock connected the balcony with the floor of the cavern. Paladin’s concentrated stare left the new bridge, and he turned to the warriors.
“Slay every one,” Paladin ordered. “Let not one of the abominable beasts survive.” He raised his sword and led the charge across the bridge. A half-dozen knights remained on the bridge with the tumanhofers and Holt. They used the advantage of the narrow space to fight off the schoergs who tried to climb up after them. The wizards, Cam, Lyll, and Regidor, jumped to the floor of the cavern on the unoccupied side of the chasm. They knelt together with their palms pressed against the stone flooring.
Six of the restored warriors circled Kale and Bardon, allowing them to rest.
Bardon did not doubt that somewhere in the fray, the tiny minneken warrior, Jue Seeno, did her part to decrease the number against them. In front of each of the sleeping servants and beside the unconscious boys stood a kimen, their garments, made of light, shining into the darkness.
The ground began to tremble as the three wizards closed the gap created by Pretender. Soon it was too narrow for the schoergs to pass through. The attacking horde already out of the abyss continued to fight. Refreshed, Kale and Bardon joined their comrades in the final minutes of the battle. At last they stood, panting, with arms relaxed, weapons pointed to the floor, and surrounded by the slain enemy.
Kale stepped closer to Bardon, and he hung an arm over her shoulders. She leaned against him.
A roar filled their ears. As one, Paladin’s brigade turned to the huge underground passage that led off from the main cavern. The smell of sulfur, a gust of blistering air, and the trembling of the ground announced the approach of something vile.
Paladin signaled them to re-form at the sides of the entrance. He stood where he was and faced the rock shaft that now flashed from within as if a violent storm rolled through the tunnel. A flash of fire heralded the entry of a black dragon, twice the size of Greer. The flame shot past the waiting warriors and engulfed their leader. When the blaze subsided, Paladin stood unharmed.
The creature lowered its head, stretched out its neck, opened its mouth, and blew. A second inferno leapt across the empty space.
“Charge,” shouted Bardon, and the two lines of Paladin’s warriors rushed the exposed throat of the huge dragon. The beast bellowed and threw up its head as it felt the multiple strikes. Most of the warriors lost their grips on their swords as the creature’s neck rose in a mighty jerk.
“Back!” ordered Bardon, and the fighters retreated.
The fire dragon leapt to the wall and climbed out of reach as it stoked its furnace. It breathed heavily and occasionally shook its head, as if annoyed by the swords stuck in its flesh.
Paladin shouted, “Lances!”
A pile of weapons appeared on the floor. Long rods with sharp metal tips lined up between the warriors. They rushed forward and grabbed them. The beast roared and circled the wall, while the men hurled the spears at the fleet-footed dragon.
“He’s enchanted,” said one of the knights. “Look at him scale the walls like a tiny lizard.”
Regidor joined those throwing the lances. Bardon noted that every one of the meech dragon’s spears hit the mark. Holt left off throwing the lances himself and took up the task of keeping a lance ever ready for the more proficient meech dragon.
The dragon kicked a hind leg, as if trying to shake something off.
“Look,” exclaimed Kale. “It’s the minneken.”
Jue Seeno clung to her sword. She had thrust the blade into the tender flesh behind the dragon’s knee. With every one of the dragon’s kicks, the minneken swung back and forth on the hilt of the embedded sword.
Infuriated, the creature leapt to the floor, using its tail to slam warriors out of the fight.
Lyll and Cam stood with their heads together. When they turned to face the dragon, their expressions showed intense concentration.
“What are they doing?” Bardon asked Regidor.
The meech studied the wizards for only a moment, then grinned. “Good idea!” he said as a smile broke out on his face. “They are drawing all the animal’s fluids into the craw that produces the flames. I think I’ll join them.”
The beast became sluggish. Paladin ordered, “Stand down, men, and get back,” just before the heavy head slammed to the cavern floor. It breathed once more, drawing in its last breath with a shudder and exhaling a hot, fetid gasp.
Paladin walked among his men, praising their work, taking note of the injured, and giving orders. He came to Bardon’s side and put a hand on his shoulder. “Well done, Squire.”
Bardon bowed his head in respect before his commander.
Paladin lifted his hand and clapped it down again. “You’ve decided to join me, haven’t you?”
Bardon raised his eyes to look into Paladin’s face. Today, the ruler of Amara looked younger, stronger than when he had visited Bardon at Castle Pelacce.
“Yes,” Bardon answered.
Paladin waved his hand around the room to indicate the crumpled forms of the mass of servants, all still under Risto’s spell. “You will have to deal with such as these.”
Bardon studied these cold, useless people, and he looked at the warriors around him. Kale and Lyll embraced Sir Kemry Allerion. N’Rae and Granny Kye had at some point crossed over the bridge from the castle cellar and now held between them the younger of the old emerlindian’s twins. Bardon looked at the collapsed forms of Sittiponder and Ahnek. Toopka sat beside the blind seer, grasping his hands. In front of each and every living creature in the vast underground hall stood a kimen, solemn and watchful.
His eyes fell again on Kale, and his heart tightened with the need to hold her, to have his arms around her, to never let her go.
“Yes,” Bardon said. “Each of these people is precious to someone, and all of them are precious to Wulder.”
“Indeed,” said his commander.
Paladin turned away from him, withdrawing his hand from Bardon’s shoulder. He put his fists to his hips and
surveyed those servants who’d fallen as the earth quaked. One by one, as his gaze rested upon them, their color returned, their breathing deepened, and they moved, stretching and sitting up, blinking as they looked around. Gymn and Ardeo fluttered up from the floor and sought Kale. Sittiponder hugged Toopka. Ahnek stood and turned in a circle, his mouth hanging open as he took in the wondrous scene. Those among the warriors who were injured received healing.
“Bardon,” a soft voice spoke behind him, and he turned to see Granny Kye standing with her eldest twin. Her small, dark face beamed with joy.
Bardon put his arms around her and squeezed. “You have both your sons, alive and well. I’d say our quest has been successful.”
“And you’ve gained someone as well,” she said.
Bardon looked over her head to Kale, who was making her way through the crowd to him.
“Yes, very definitely.” He grinned at Kale and, as their eyes met, winked.
“Oh, I’d forgotten Kale,” said Granny Kye. “So I guess we should make that two someones. No, three. Four!”
Bardon leaned back to look down into her glowing countenance. He knew his face must be a mask of confusion, because she laughed.
“I’m your grandmother, N’Rae is your cousin, and, Bardon…” She eased out of his embrace so that he could face her eldest son. “Meet your father.”
EPILOGUE
The Knights’ Chamber hung silent even though crowded by the entire questing party and the rescued knights. Paladin crouched before Fenworth’s tree and spoke quietly to Toopka. The little girl had wedged herself in the old wizard’s branches.
Bardon put his arms around Kale as she started to go forward. “Let Paladin handle this.”
“Come, Toopka.” Paladin held his arms out to receive her.
She shook her head. “No, he’s sleeping. He always becomes a tree when he sleeps.”
Paladin nodded, his eyes filled with compassion. “This time he is not asleep, but gone.”
“No, no, no!”
Paladin reached in to touch her hand. He rubbed gently. “Come to my arms, child.”
To Bardon’s surprise, the doneel girl let go of her hold of a branch and slipped into Paladin’s embrace.