Dwarven Ruby (17 page)

“A complex prophecy no doubt,” nodded the Queen, “but it does not answer my question.”

“May I present the rest of my party?” asked Alex.

“Did you not hear the Queen’s question?” thundered King Tring. “Have you no manners at all?”

Queen Trana patted the king’s arm. “Introduce your party, Alexander Tork,” stated the Queen. “Then I require an answer to my question.”

“Thank you,” nodded Alex as he began the introductions.

The presentation was short, but the delay still aggravated the king. The last person to be presented was Arik.

“Arik is the Prince of Alcea,” added Alex. “He is the one who must ascend to the throne of Alcea. He also carries the Sword of Heavens.”

“You have the Sword of Heavens with you?” gasped the Queen. “May I see it?”

Alex nodded and Arik unsheathed the Sword of Heavens. Alex watched as the Dwarven guards all tensed. Arik also sensed the nervousness in the room and carefully placed the Sword of Heavens on the floor of the chamber where the queen could see it.

“There are four gems missing from it,” remarked the queen. “May I hold it?”

“I do not object,” answered Arik, “but it is a magical sword. It is almost impossible to control at this time. It would take great strength to handle it.”

“What good is a sword that cannot be wielded?” thundered King Tring. “How can it be used to kill the Dark One then? What good is it?”

“To answer your last question first,” smiled Alex, “I noticed that you post lookouts high upon this mountain. Have they reported to you that the skies have cleared to the south?”

“You have a most irritating habit of answering questions by posing more questions,” scowled King Tring. “Yes, it has been reported. What does that have to do with anything? And answer the question this time!”

“The clearing away of the Darkness was accomplished by the Sword of Heavens,” Arik grinned. “That alone makes the Sword of Heavens helpful. It also points us to the next gem that it requires to be made whole.”

“The next gem?” questioned the queen. “Do you mean that you are required to fill those last four holes in the sword?”

“Correct,” nodded Arik. “And that is why we have come here.”

A dark frown fell over King Tring’s face. “Explain yourself,” demanded the king.

“The Sword of Heavens requires all seven gems before it can be wielded to kill the Dark One,” explained Arik. “It tells us where to find the gems by pointing to it. The closer we get, the harder the sword is to control as it begins to vibrate.”

“Preposterous,” snapped the king as he rose from his throne. “It may be hard for a human to hold, but dwarves have great strength.”

The king seized the hilt of the Sword of Heavens before Arik could stop him. King Tring’s face showed shock as the sword rose. His muscles bulged as he tried to control the sword, but the Sword of Heavens forced the king to turn around until he was facing Queen Trana. The Sword of Heavens vibrated dangerously as it pointed at her crown. Queen Trana tried desperately to lean her head back away from the tip of the sword, but the sword pulled the king closer to her. Finally, King Tring dropped the sword.

“It is easier to handle when you know what it will do,” Arik said meekly. “Right now it searches for the Ruby of Vasta, the Dwarven Ruby.”

King Tring turned to face Arik and the rest of the Rangers. Sweat covered his face, which had a dark red sheen to it. His eyes narrowed and his lips curled as he glared at Arik.

“You force me to make a harsh decision,” growled the king. “The Dwarven Ruby will not leave Dorgun. The question now is whether you will.”

“We know of the significance of the Dwarven Ruby to your people,” Alex began.

“Quiet!” shouted King Tring. “You know nothing of its significance. There is not a dwarf in Dorgun who will allow you to leave here with the Dwarven Ruby.”

“In your own words,” Arik said softly as he repeated the verses he had heard in the vision.

  The Ruby holds the darkness back

  And keeps the Dwarven people safe

  Its power foils strong attack

  The Ruby makes the Dark One chafe

Queen Trana stood and stared at Arik, her face a mask of concern.

“How do you know those words?” she questioned.

“The Sword of Heavens gave us a vision of where we would find the gem,” answered Arik. “You were in that vision, as was King Tring and this room. Many dwarves were also here and you recited the words together.”

“Impossible,” sputtered King Tring. “How can this be?”

“Do you know the rest?” asked Queen Trana.

“No,” Arik shook his head. “The vision ended after that. Then the Sword of Heavens pointed to this place.”

The dwarf runner returned and whispered something in the queen’s ear. She nodded and the runner returned to the doorway.

“Queen Alysa sends her regards to Alexander and Jenneva Tork,” the queen announced. “She does confirm that King Solva knew of Alutar’s escape before you left Sorelderal.”

King Tring’s eyes opened wide as he stared at the queen.

“So she still lives,” smiled Jenneva. “I am pleased. We passed through Sorelderal on our way here. We were very dismayed at what we saw there. We feared that all of the elves might have been destroyed.”

“They are safe,” declared the queen. “It is no longer possible for them to dwell in Sorelderal. The goblins appeared during the Collapse and plagued the city. They had to find a new home.”

“Please offer our condolences for King Solva,” Jenneva said.

“I shall,” nodded the queen. “There is something about this search for the Ruby of Vasta that bothers me. We also have a prophecy regarding the Dwarven Ruby and it appears that our purposes are at odds.”

Tanya left her seat and moved in front of Arik. She started to untie the strings of Arik’s tunic, but Arik stopped her.

“What are you doing?” Arik whispered.

“It is a hunch,” Tanya whispered back. “Remove your tunic and the breastplate.”

“No,” frowned Arik. “You are making a stir. Go sit down.”

“What is going on,” demanded the king. “If you are plotting on stealing the Ruby of Vasta, I assure you that you will not live to the mouth of the tunnel.”

“I believe that there is more to the prophecy,” Tanya stated as she turned to face the king and queen. “Arik bears a mark upon his chest. It is a winged serpent. Does that mean anything to you?”

“Let me see it,” demanded Queen Trana.

Arik glared at Tanya as he stripped off his tunic. The queen gasped when she saw the image on the breastplate, but Arik also stripped that off. The queen stared at Arik’s chest and walked slowly towards him. She ran her finger over the image and tears formed in the corner of her eyes as she recited another section of the Dwarven prophecy.

  The Ruby holds the darkness back

  And keeps the Dwarven people safe

  Its power foils strong attack

  The Ruby makes the Dark One chafe

  Outside the mine the world is dark

  The tall one finds the shield of kings

  The gem to he who bears the mark

  Garala tall the snake with wings

“I think you have answered my dilemma,” stated Queen Trana. “Your dilemma has just begun, however.”

“How do you mean?” asked Jenneva.

“Ages ago,” began Queen Trana, “dwarven armorers forged a special shield. Dwarven mages took the shield and wove spells into it. Spells that are no longer known to us. The result was the Shield of Oykara, the shield of kings. The mark upon your chest makes me think that you are the awaited Garala, savior of our people. However, our prophecy states that you would arrive with the Shield of Oykara. Do you have it?”

King Tring was now standing at the queen’s side examining the mark as Arik shook his head.

“Where can it be found?” asked Tanya.

“If we knew that,” sighed the queen, “we would not be looking for it.”

“Is there any history of the shield that might give a clue as to were it is?” asked Jenneva.

“It was lost during the reign of King Astel,” answered King Tring. “At that time goblins from the northlands had amassed in an attempt to destroy the dwarves. The goblins were defeated at the Battle of Lanto, but a great number of them escaped. King Astel gathered the mightiest dwarf warriors and gave chase to the retreating goblins. He carried the Shield of Oykara with him. He had hoped to put an end to the goblins once and for all, but none of the dwarves ever returned. That is all our histories show. The Shield of Oykara has not been seen since.”

“Do you have journals from that time?” asked Jenneva.

“Those journals would be in Lanto,” nodded the queen, “but they will not help you. King Astel never returned, so his journals have been lost.”

“Perhaps the journals will allow us to better understand where he might have gone,” suggested Jenneva. “If any of the journals describe where the northlands are or where the goblins came from, we can assume that is where King Astel went when he pursued them. It may not help, but it certainly cannot hurt.”

“You are welcome to try,” offered Queen Trana, “but you will need constant supervision while you reside in Dorgun or Lanto. Now that it is clear that you desire the Dwarven Ruby, we cannot risk the chance that you might decide to acquire it by nefarious means. I do not mean this as a slight to your character. It is every dwarf’s duty to protect the Ruby of Vasta.”

“I can assure you that we would not take the ruby,” nodded Jenneva, “but we can also appreciate your obligations to your people. How do we get to Lanto?”

“I will supply guides for you,” offered King Tring. “It is not a far journey, but some of it will be above ground. You must be prepared for goblin attacks.”

“We are no friends of goblins,” declared Alex. “If we encounter any, you can count on our help to rid the area of them.”

“That sounds more like dwarf talk than human,” grinned King Tring. “There may be hope for you yet.”

The dwarf halted on the narrow trail and held up his hand. The party behind him immediately halted, their senses alert for danger. The dwarf’s large bulbous nose turned upward as he sniffed the air. Slowly, Darok shook his head and frowned. He could smell the goblins, and he knew that he had led the party into a trap. He turned and began making hand signals to disperse his men, but it was too late.

Dozens of dwarf-sized boulders began cascading down the mountainside. A deadly hail of arrows immediately followed. Darok shouted a warning and then brought his shield up over his head as he crouched on the trail. Even as he did so, he knew that most of his party would be killed in the initial onslaught. The trail ran along the edge of the mountain and there was no place to run to. The best that the dwarves could do was to rally after the boulders passed by. Darok hoped that enough of his small band would survive to extract revenge on the goblins.

Jenneva heard the shouted warning and looked up to see the missiles hurtling down towards her dwarven escort. Swiftly, she chanted a spell of wind and sent it upward and towards the front of the dwarven column. The arrows immediately veered from the force of the wind, but the boulders merely slowed their descent. Jenneva detected Tanya at her side as the younger mage’s hands rose skyward. Boulders began to burst into dust particles as Tanya swiftly raced to direct her spells. Jenneva redirected her wind spell upward to further slow the descent of the boulders while Tanya sped to destroy them. While the mages worked to halt the onslaught, and the dwarves huddled under their shields, Alex started scaling the side of the mountain. Arik and Wylan followed him.

“Keep the wind going upward,” ordered Tanya as she watched her fellow Rangers climbing the side of the mountain. “I want a quick ascent to that ledge up above.”

Jenneva’s face was puzzled at first, but when she saw Tanya scaling the mountain, she understood Tanya’s instructions.

“This is going to be unsettling for you,” Jenneva warned. “You don’t exactly have wings.”

“Wylan is not ready for this type of combat yet,” replied Tanya. “I must even the odds for him.”

Jenneva nodded and directed her wind stream towards Tanya. The gusts whipped the face of the mountain and tore Tanya from her precarious perch. The wind carried her swiftly upward, and Tanya struggled to keep her head up and her feet down. She went soaring past the Rangers. As her head cleared the ledge, Tanya saw dozens of goblins dragging more boulders towards the edge. She drew her sword as she felt Jenneva’s spell tapering off. A last puff of wind pushed Tanya onto the ledge. She tumbled to the ground and rolled to her feet.

Shouts rang out from the goblins as some of them abandoned their boulders and raced towards Tanya. Not wanting to make herself a target for the goblin archers, Tanya charged towards the goblins.

Darok peeked out from under his shield and wondered why the rocks had not hit yet. He looked up in amazement and saw only falling dust. He turned to look back along the trail and saw Jenneva propelling Tanya upward. He shook his head as he also saw the other Rangers climbing the side of the mountain.

“Get up you sleeping dwarves,” shouted Darok. “There are goblins to kill. Up the mountain now, all of you.”

The row of shields quickly lowered and the dwarves attacked the side of the mountain. Their strong arms and short legs pumped furiously as they raced up the side of the mountain.

Prince Midge flew out of Arik’s pocket as the Rangers gained a foothold on the ledge. He darted skyward and soared over the body of goblin attackers. As he hovered in the air, he searched the assemblage of goblins below for any that were preparing to use their bows.

Tanya met the first of the goblin attackers and fiercely sliced through him as she continued to stride forward. The next three came in a group, and Tanya fell back a few steps into a defensive stance. As she battled the three goblins, she detected Alex coming up alongside her. A second later, Arik appeared on her other side.

“All right then,” Tanya grinned. “Shall we begin?”

Without any verbal response, Alex and Arik stepped forward and struck out at the closest goblins. Tanya struck in the center. The three goblins fell to the ground as another half dozen charged forward. More shouts rang out through the goblin ranks, and all of the boulders were abandoned. The goblins turned to rush the Rangers.