Knights: Book 03 - The Heart of Shadows (12 page)

"Why?"
asked Jerret. "What do you sense in there?"

"Dark
sorcery," said Aldreya, her eyes wide as she gazed at the pool.
"Incredibly powerful. Can't you feel it, Jerret?"

"I
feel something," said Jerret. "A heavy gloom."

"Maybe
I should deal with it," said Vannas, raising the White Flamestone.
"Such evil should not be allowed to exist in this world."

"No,"
said Lannon. "The beast is long dead. If we disturb the pool, we will
disturb the ancient sorcery as well. Just leave it alone."

Vannas
nodded. "I trust your word on it, Lannon."

"This
pool has the stink of the Bloodlands," said Saranna. "And the water
looks like the black blood from the Mother Trees."

"We're
not done here yet," said Jerret, pointing at a single tunnel that led from
the chamber. "That could be our way out."

"What
about Darius?" said Saranna.

"Let's
check the tunnel first," said Jerret. "If it's a dead end, there is
no point in bothering with your wolf. If it leads to a way out, though, we'll
come back and lower him down by rope. Fair enough?"

Saranna
nodded.

Jerret
started forward but Lannon grabbed his shoulder. "I'll lead the way,
Jerret, so I can search for danger."

Jerret
nodded. "You're getting quite bold, Lannon. I like that."

"I
don't want to see you blunder into a trap," Lannon explained. He respected
Jerret's combat skills, but he had no faith in Jerret's ability to detect traps
or move silently. Jerret hadn't received enough training as a Blue Squire to
warrant him taking the lead anywhere but on the battlefield.

"I
don't
blunder
into anything," Jerret muttered. "While it's
true that I'm trained mostly as a Red Squire, I'm not some bumbling oaf."

"Lannon
is right, though," said Aldreya. "You're ill prepared for sneaking
along tunnels, Jerret. I suggest you take the rear."

"I'm
not taking the rear!" said Jerret, glaring.

With
a shrug, Lannon started along the tunnel. The others followed. It led them to
another square chamber--this one larger than the last. As they emerged into the
room, the torchlight revealed crates, barrels, and other supplies--some broken
open and their contents spilled out. The smell of wine was strong in the air. A
pile of gnawed beef bones lay in one corner, and a half-eaten cheese wheel sat
atop a crate. Another smell hung in the air--the stink of Goblins.

Into
the circle of torchlight stepped two Goblin Lords--Priests of Tharnin with
runes painted in crimson on their foreheads and holding dark, twisted staffs.
They wore black leather armor that was also adorned with crimson runes. These
humanoid Goblins grinned when they saw the Squires. An aura of powerful sorcery
surrounded them, reaching out to Saranna and the Squires and demanding
submission.

"Look
here," one of the priests hissed, pointing. "Fresh meat."

"It
is Lannon Sunshield!" the other priest replied, his voice tense.

With
that, the two Goblins attacked, swinging their smoldering staffs at Lannon.
They moved so swiftly he barely had time to defend himself. He seized both of
them with the Eye of Divinity and halted their charge. He drew his sword and
lunged forward, beheading one of the priests.

But
as the Goblin Lord's body toppled over, dark tendrils sprouted from both head
and neck, and the head began trying to reattach itself. Lannon severed the
tendrils, then blocked a blow from the other priest. But the tendrils sprouted
again, pulling the head toward the neck.

Then
Lannon remembered that the Goblin Lords created an illusion of being
invincible, and he used the Eye to see through it. The Goblin Lord hadn't been
beheaded at all. It was fully intact--standing back and in the process of
casting some foul spell with its staff.

"Burn
its heart, Jerret!" Lannon ordered.

But
Jerret, still confused, attacked the illusion of the fallen, headless Goblin,
his sword striking the stone floor. Aldreya, however, was able to see the truth
thanks to her training, and she hurled a fireball into the chest of the Goblin
Lord that was casting its spell. Its sorcery disrupted, it howled in pain and
fell to one knee, clutching its chest. She threw another fireball and finished
it off.

Saranna
ducked a blow from the remaining Goblin Lord and cut a deep gash in its
shoulder. However, the gash healed instantly--the priest's dark sorcery knitting
the flesh back together without so much as a scar. Jerret hacked off the Goblin
Lord's arm, but the arm sprang up from the floor and reattached itself.

Jerret's
eyes widened in disbelief. "Impossible!"

"Stand
aside, Jerret," Prince Vannas commanded. Jerret leapt out of the way, and
Vannas blasted the Goblin Lord with white fire, burning the creature into a
pile of ashes. But the ashes swirled about and regenerated into living flesh,
and an instant later the Goblin Lord stood fully intact and grinning.

Vannas
cried out in despair. "It's invincible!"

"No,
it's just an illusion!" Lannon yelled, frustrated. He seized the Goblin
Lord with Eye and held it while Aldreya hurled fireballs and burned out its
heart. At last, the creature slumped to the floor in death.

Vannas
groaned, embarrassed that he'd fallen victim to the ruse.

Jerret
shook his head, disgusted with himself. "My sword didn't hit anything. I
really need to learn how to see through illusions."

"So
that's how it's done," said Saranna, smiling and patting Aldreya on the
shoulder. "Any chance I could learn that trick of truth seeing?"

"It's
not easy," said Aldreya, "even for a sorceress."

The
Squires shone their torches around the chamber, searching for more foes. But
they found none. They did, however, find four battered and bruised men tied up
amidst some crates. Lannon cut their ropes.

The
men gazed at the Squires in awe. One of them introduced himself as Gelran. The
other three said nothing. Their eyes looked haunted. One of them had a large, infected
chest wound and seemed feverish.

 
"Thank the Divine Essence you've found
us!" Gelran said. "We've been down here for days, while those Goblins
debated whether or not to eat us or force us into slave labor. There are other
survivors down here. You must find them!"

"The
Knights are searching for them," said Lannon.

Aldreya
knelt by the man with the chest wound. "Can you hear me?" she asked.
He glanced at her with dazed eyes, but didn't reply. "This one is in grave
danger," she said. She laid hands on him, her eyes closed.

"What
is she doing?" asked Gelran.

"Using
healing sorcery on him," said Lothrin. "However, she is only a Squire
and not a trained Healer. He will stand a much better chance if we can get him
to the surface, where there are White Knights who can cure his wound."

"My
healing sorcery is weak," said Aldreya. "This should help sustain
him, however, until we can get him to the White Knights."

"Can
you raise the dead?" one of the others asked. "My daughter...she
was...devoured by Goblins..." He bowed his head.

"No
mortal can raise the dead," said Aldreya, a look of pity in her eyes. She
reached over and touched his shoulder. "Stay strong, for your village
needs you."

He
nodded, but didn't look up.

"We've
all suffered much loss," said Gelran. "This has been a terrible
ordeal for us, but it seems to be coming to an end. I can't thank you Squires
enough for rescuing us. The Divine Essence has blessed us this day!"

"Right
now we can't leave here, unfortunately," said Lannon. "It seems we
have sprung a trap. So you haven't actually been rescued yet."

"We
know of the trap," said Gelran. "It is only temporary. Those
Glaetherin slabs will rise again in a few days."

"A
few days?" Jerret muttered. "We can't wait that long. We're supposed
to be helping the Knights clear out the Goblins."

"The
barriers cannot be damaged," said Gelran. "All one can do is wait
until the trap reverses itself. The Olrogs created it so any intruders would
come down here to try to escape--only to be devoured by some foul beast."

"The
creature in the pool," said Lannon.

"Yes,"
said Gelran. "How did you know? Anyway, the trap is harmless now but quite
an annoyance to the unwary. I'm surprised that you even managed to activate it,
as the machinery is worn out and barely responsive."

"Harmless?"
said Aldreya. "I strongly disagree."

"Right,"
said Jerret. "I doubt Jace thinks it's harmless."

"It
should have been disabled," said Saranna.

"This
area is forbidden to villagers," Gelran explained, "so there was no
need to disable the trap, which would be a difficult and dangerous process
considering it is infested with dark sorcery. Some things are best left
alone."

"True
enough," said Lannon.

"This
fellow doesn't have a few days," said Aldreya, nodding to the injured man.
"As I said, my healing sorcery is weak, and he is badly infected. I can
feel it in his blood. He must be attended to by the White Knights as soon as
possible."

The
wounded man mumbled something incoherent.

Gelran
shrugged helplessly. "Glaetherin is invincible."

Vannas
studied the White Flamestone, his face thoughtful. "I'm not so sure that
Glaetherin is invincible. I think I just need a smaller, more focused attack.
Maybe rather than blast through the metal, I can
cut
through it."

"Impossible,"
said Gelran, "even for a Divine Knight. I know not what power that shining
stone holds, but only the Grey Dwarves understand how to mold raw Glaetherin.
Once it has hardened into form, it cannot be altered. I'm a blacksmith by
trade, lad. I know these things."

Two
of the other villagers nodded in agreement.

"We
shall simply have to wait," said Gelran. "However, we do have food
and drink. And the Ogres and Wolves can't get to us."

"The
Ogres and Wolves are dead," said Saranna.

Gelran
grinned. "Then this is a happy day indeed!"

Vannas
pointed the White Flamestone toward an ale jug. He concentrated for several
moments, his brow furrowed, and then a thin beam of light shot from the stone
and cut through the jug--without shattering it. Vannas nodded. "There, see
what I mean? It just takes will and imagination."

"Good,"
said Jerret, "now go cut us out of this trap."

"It's
worth a try," said Lannon, impressed with Vannas' command of the
Flamestone. It seemed the Divine Essence had chosen wisely.

"You
are truly gifted, my cousin," said Aldreya.

"Save
your praise," said Vannas, "until we actually get past the barrier.
An ale jug is one thing, a Glaetherin slab is quite another."

***

But
Vannas' plan worked flawlessly, though it took almost an hour for the White
Flamestone to cut a large hole in the Glaetherin slab. By then, Vannas was
exhausted from extreme concentration. They found Flund Greenhelm's Knights
waiting in the town, but the others were still somewhere below. The Healers set
to work on the injured, while the Squires debated their next move. Jerret
wanted to go below and search for the Knights, but Flund ordered the Squires to
remain above ground and wait for them to return.

"If
they haven't come back by evening," said Flund, "you Squires may
accompany the twenty Knights I will send to search for them."

"So
we're just going to stand around doing nothing?" said Jerret.

"We
will do as ordered," said Flund, with a shrug. "We were instructed to
stand guard and watch for Goblins."

The
other Squires weren't happy about waiting either, and Lannon considered trying
to persuade Flund to begin the search early. But ultimately he became
distracted with feeding his horse and himself. He also helped the Healers get a
fire going, along with other essential chores, in one of the houses where the
injured men were taken. Lannon felt good about doing some honest work, and he
thought back to the days when he was lazy and bored all the time while growing
up in the little wooded valley with his endlessly quarreling parents. He
realized how much he'd changed since then, how Dremlock had brought forth his
best qualities. He was eager to work hard to make life better for those around
him.

The
Squires checked on Galvia and found her to be in stable condition, though in a
deep, healing slumber. She stood a good chance of recovery. Jerret continued to
sit by her bedside for a while after the others had left the room.

At
last Taris and the other Knights returned from the tunnels, bearing a host of
weary and wounded villagers, which they took into buildings. Taris was delighted
to see that the Squires and Saranna had escaped from the tunnels, and he
praised them for their heroic deeds in slaying the Goblin Lords and freeing the
four prisoners. He promised the Squires would receive promotions for their
valor.