Emerald of the Elves (37 page)

“They may be his people,” admitted Rhula. “When this party passed through our lands long ago, they made a comment about having a friendly neighbor to our south.”

“That is right,” Garong nodded excitedly. “It was the human called Alex that spoke. He said to tell King Galever that when Alcea rose, he would have a good neighbor to the south.”

“That sounds to me like Klandon is not the good neighbor that he envisioned,” frowned the queen. “We must find out where Alcea is. We must send a party out of our homeland to find Alcea. It appears to be our only hope.”

“Not a party,” Garong shook his head. “One elf alone will go. It will be me.”

“Why you?” questioned Queen Lyander. “Why should we risk our prince on this mission?”

“Because I am one of the best warriors that we have,” declared Garong. “It will take a warrior to slip past Sarac’s minions. Besides, I think that I understand the humans better than anyone else here. Whoever we send will have to enter the human’s cities. That is why I must go, and why I must go alone.”

“He is right,” conceded Rhula. “A party of elves would be easily noticed. Plus, Garong has studied the humans along our border with Klandon. He knows how they think.”

“Then you shall go,” nodded Queen Lyander. “You cannot offer the humans anything for their assistance. You must convince them to help us out of compassion for our plight.”

“You mean that you will not give up the Emerald of the Elves,” smiled Garong. “Nor would I. I know the prophecy well, and I will live and die by its words.”

“There is still the problem of getting you out of Elderal,” frowned Rhula. “You will have to pass through thousands of the enemy. You may not make it at all.”

“We shall seek volunteers to create a diversion,” offered the queen. “While they call attention to themselves, you can slip by.”

“Volunteers?” questioned Garong. “You mean that you want my brethren to commit suicide so that I have an easy chance of escaping. I cannot abide by that.”

“There is no other way,” insisted the queen. “Even with the diversion, your chances will not be easy. All of your skill will be required to evade such an army.”

“She is right, Garong,” nodded Rhula. “I have seen their numbers. They are all around us. Even your skills will be severely tested. I will volunteer to lead the diversion.”

Queen Lyander’s normally composed face was stricken with fear. Garong shook his head vigorously.

“Absolutely not,” Garong stated sternly. “I may indeed have a hard time getting out of Elderal, but my mother shall not lose both of her children in the same day. I shall go alone. I neither want a diversion, nor will I accept one. You both need to have more trust in me and my abilities. You, Rhula, must prepare our army for battle in case I am not successful.”

“There will be no shortage of volunteers,” objected the queen. “I do agree that Rhula must not be one of them, but many others love and admire you. They would consider it a privilege.”

“No, Mother,” Garong said adamantly. “I will not have their deaths on my conscience. I need my mind free of burden and clear of thought to escape Elderal. Let me do this my way.”

“Very well,” sighed Queen Lyander. “Your grandfather would have been proud of you. You have inherited his stubbornness.”

“Among other qualities,” grinned Garong. “Do not fear for me. The humans are no match for my skills in the forests of Elderal.”

* * *

The Rangers rode tentatively into the deserted city of Toresh, the abandoned headquarters of Sarac’s minions. The ride was unsettling as they passed through once-bustling streets and gazed upon lifeless buildings. The only things moving were a few stray dogs and an occasional bird overhead.

“This is spooky,” remarked Arik. “It is easy to imagine this city full of Dark Riders. It makes me feel uneasy.”

“And so it should,” responded Tanya. “Sometimes things are not what they appear to be. We must use caution here. Maybe Sarac’s people have not all left.”

“More likely we will find other scavengers,” commented Prince Darok as his large nose sniffed the air. “There is a smell of human about this place, and recent, too. In fact, it smells familiar.”

“A handy trait to have, dwarf prince,” grinned Alex as he stepped out of one of the abandoned buildings. “You made good time in your travels. How much of a lead over Sarac’s Ravens do you have?”

“About two hours,” chirped Prince Midge. “They were extremely hesitant to follow us after our stand on the rise. You also managed to kill their leader. He was a man named Hagik. That caused much confusion.”

“You flew all the way?” asked Jenneva. “I sensed the unicorn flying spell when you left.”

“If I returned to land anywhere near them,” nodded Alex, “they would have been ready for me. Besides, Kaz was enjoying himself.”

“So you have been resting here while we had to travel by land?” giggled Tanya. “At least you will be well rested.”

“I have not been resting,” grinned Alex. “I have been preparing a welcome for Sarac’s Ravens. I think we need to whittle them down some more.”

“You intend to engage them again?” questioned Jenneva. “How many of their mages did you kill?”

“Only six,” shrugged Alex. “That is all the more reason for another trap. Without their mages, Sarac’s Ravens become just another band of Dark Riders.”

“What do you have planned?” inquired Arik.

“I have spent a great deal of time preparing a trap,” explained Alex. “The buildings on each side of you are nests for snipers. The staircases are blocked so that the Dark Riders will find it difficult to chase you.”

“If the staircases are blocked,” mused Tanya, “then we would be trapped inside. That hardly sounds like a one-way trap to me.”

“Not if there was another way out of the building,” grinned Alex. “I have set up rope slides from each of these buildings to the buildings behind them. We will escape to the next buildings and then cut the ropes. The Dark Riders will not be able to follow us.”

“Clever,” nodded Arik. “What do we do then? We will have stirred up the hornet’s nest with our initial strike.”

“And we will be separated,” nodded Alex. “I know. There is an element of risk in this plan, but hear me out. When the Dark Riders surge into the trapped buildings, we escape. After they have climbed over the barricades on the stairs, we use fire glue to torch the buildings that they are in. It will create panic amongst them. If they have any decent leaders at all, they will retreat to consider their options.”

“And if they don’t retreat?” asked Jenneva. “What is your plan then?”

“We do the best we can,” frowned Alex. “Arik and Tanya will be on the side of the street closest to the sea. They should use their unicorns to fly out to sea. Darok and Jenneva will remain with me. We will try to lure the remaining members of Sarac’s Ravens to the west. We can use the same canyon that we used when Konic and Alan joined up with us.”

“I do not like that part of the plan,” Arik shook his head. “You will be bearing the brunt of the attack without our aid. That is not acceptable.”

“I cannot risk the King of Alcea to facilitate this plan,” argued Alex. “There is no way that we can unite after the attack without extreme danger to half of us.”

“There is if we fly south instead of out to sea,” offered Tanya. “You could also flee south and we could join up.”

“Not if they have mages left,” Jenneva shook her head. “Alex is wise in having you head out to sea. Their spells have a certain range to them. If you are quick enough to flee, you will be out of range before they can react.”

“That is what I did near the rise,” nodded Alex. “They were not able to down Kaz. Also, our primary target in this trap is their mages. If we can eliminate them, we will not have to worry about being separated.”

“They would be fools to enter this city without shields,” Tanya shook her head. “A magical attack will fail to kill all of their mages.”

“But the initial attack will not be entirely magical,” insisted Alex. “Our arrows will also target the Black Devils.”

“Why not block the streets heading south?” suggested Prince Darok. “We could create a maze for them to go through. Only we would already have the map to guide us through the city. It is a trick we use in the mines.”

Alex stared at the dwarf prince and nodded his head. “That is an excellent idea,” smiled Alex. “There is much in this city that has been left by the Dark Riders. While much has been pilfered by the armies passing through, wagons have not been. There are quite a few wagons and carts abandoned.”

“Fishing nets will work as well,” Arik nodded enthusiastically. “We do not have a great deal of time available to us. Let’s start rearranging this city to our liking.”

Alex stooped and started drawing a map of the city streets while the rest of the Rangers dismounted. Within minutes, Alex had diagramed the streets and Prince Darok had started to indicate where the blockages should be.

“This long run down the main street is what will really cost them time,” grinned the dwarf. “They will either have to stop to dismantle this blockage or travel a good distance backwards before they can find a way through.”

“I shall create that roadblock then,” chirped Prince Midge. “I can levitate things of great weight.”

“That you can,” smiled Arik as he remembered the tiny fairy moving the statue of Abuud. “Do not spend all of your energy though. We will need you to let us know when Sarac’s Rangers are coming.”

“I shall be done in no time,” promised the fairy prince as he darted into the sky.

“The rest of us will start at this end of the city and work towards Prince Midge,” stated Alex. “Prince Darok and I will take the inland side of the city. Arik and Tanya can handle the seaward side.”

“I will prepare some of my own surprises,” volunteered Jenneva.

The Rangers separated and began blocking off the required streets. Wagons were moved and overturned. Fishnets were strung across streets to create confusion and slow down the enemy. Furniture was piled in heaps, and small open tins of fire glue were balanced on the top items. They worked for over three hours before Prince Midge warned them of the approaching enemy.

“They are riding slowly and cautiously,” warned Prince Midge. “They may suspect a trap.”

“They would be fools not to expect one,” declared Alex. “Let’s get into position.”

The Rangers scrambled to their assigned places. Arik and Tanya occupied adjacent buildings on the seaward side of the street, while Alex and Darok were across the street from them in adjacent buildings. Jenneva stayed close to Alex. Kaz led Prince Darok’s horse to an appropriate place while the other unicorns dispersed.

Sarac’s Ravens rode slowly into Toresh. The Dark Riders preceded the Black Devils and looked warily about. Calastano and Klarg lingered at the rear. The column was spread out more than Alex had hoped for. He waited for the bulk of the Black Devils to be below his window before he left fly his arrow. Almost immediately, arrows from Darok and Arik streaked towards the Black Devils. Tanya cast a spell and lightning flashed brightly to reveal the protective shields over the mages. Still, the arrows of the Rangers passed through the magical defenses and felled three Black Devils.

As chaos erupted in the street, the ground thundered as Jenneva cast a spell. The spell was not aimed at the Black Devils, but at the ground beneath their horses. The street rippled violently and the horses rose in alarm. Black Devils, and Dark Riders alike, tumbled from their saddles. The horses scattered as Sarac’s Ravens chose to let them go or hold on to them.

Another volley of arrows descended on the Black Devils as the Dark Riders scrambled to enter the buildings. Alex waved Jenneva away from the window as he sent his third arrow into the Black Devils. He pulled back from the window as a fireball hurtled towards it. He turned and ran towards the staircase to the roof. When he reached the roof, Jenneva was already riding the pulley across the rope to the building on the next street. Alex leaped and grabbed onto the rope and started pulling hand-over-hand to reach the other building. He saw Prince Darok out of the corner of his eye as the dwarf sailed across the alley on a pulley of his own.

By the time Alex reached the other building, Jenneva was gone, and Prince Darok had just fired his fire glue arrows into the building next to Alex’s. Alex let go of the rope and sliced through it with his knife. He dipped an arrow into the waiting tin of fire glue and fired it into the building he had just left. He fired two more dipped arrows before turning and racing down the stairs.

Alex ran out of the building and leaped onto Kaz. Prince Darok was already racing southward, and Jenneva was blocks in front of him, already making the first turn in the maze of Toresh. Kaz bolted spiritedly as he raced after the others. Within minutes the Rangers joined up behind the final barricade.

“I thought you had a surprise waiting for them?” Alex asked Jenneva as he peered through Prince Midge’s barricade. “The ground thing was great, but what was the surprise?”

“The itching powder that covered the street,” giggled Jenneva. “I made enough of it to keep them scratching for hours. Even the horses will resent a rider on them for the rest of today.”

“Oh, that is special,” laughed Tanya. “I wish I had thought of something like that. There is no way that they will be in a hurry to pursue us.”

“What about damages?” asked Alex. “I am sure of three Black Devils.”

“Same here,” nodded Arik.

“Only two for me,” shrugged Tanya. “I wasted a shot testing to see if they had magical shields erected.”

“Hardly a waste,” smiled Prince Darok. “The lightning alone probably spooked the horses. I hit three, but I am not sure if the last one was a killing hit. I would say two.”

“Then they only have a handful of magicians left,” noted Alex. “That will slow their pursuit of us a great deal. It will take them a while to get replacements now that Sarac has abandoned Toresh. Let’s ride.”

Minutes later the first of the Dark Riders halted at the barricade that Prince Midge built. He cursed as the rest of Sarac’s Ravens raced up alongside him.

“Move out of the way,” shouted a Black Devil.