Spell of the Crystal Chair (17 page)

Then suddenly the gate swung open, and Dave leaped out. “Come!” he called softly.

Beorn and Fairmina darted through the opening, followed by Josh and the other Sleepers.

“Where are the guards?” Josh asked.

“I made a big racket down the hall and then dodged around. But they’ll be back, so let’s move fast. We must get down to the lower level.”

Even at that moment six guards appeared, and a yell went up.

“We’ll fight our way through!” Beorn said.

All swords were drawn, but it was the archery of Fairmina and Sarah that saved them. Moving like lightning,
the girls shot two arrows apiece that silenced four of the guards. The other two, outnumbered, turned and ran.

“We’ve been found out now, but if we can get to the chair, we’ll be all right,” Beorn said. “Follow me!”

Zarkof was spending the day not in his chambers but in a lower level of the palace, working in a laboratory that he used at times.

Suddenly, a guard burst in. “Sire, enemies have entered the castle!”

Zarkof knew who the enemy had to be. “The Sleepers!” he gasped. He also knew that his life lay in the balance. “If they are not killed, I will execute every one of you! Destroy them all!”

“Yes, sire. The guard has been called out.”

Zarkof grabbed his sword and flew down the stairs.
They’re here to destroy me
, he thought.
And they’re here to destroy the chair
. When he got to the very lowest level, he ran through a secret corridor. At its end he loosed a bolt, and Shivea was free from her confinement.

“Now,” he said, “you may kill, and you may eat!” He held up the medallion, or she would have killed and eaten him. “There is other prey for you, my dear. Destroy all that approach the chair!”

Shivea’s eyes glowed, and her claws scrabbled on the stone floor as she disappeared down the passage.

“That should take care of them. No one has ever defeated Shivea.”

“Quick! This way!” Beorn led Josh and his companions along a maze of corridors and down a twisting stair to the lowest level.

There they came upon a large body of guards, well armed. The battle that took place was too close for
archery work, so it had to be swords. There was the sound of clashing steel, and for a while it appeared that they would be overwhelmed.

But then Fairmina seemed to suddenly remember the gift of Goél. As they were being pressed back and death was imminent, she held up the vial and called out, “Goél! Goél, come to our aid!”

The vial in her hand emitted a pale amber light, and the soldiers of the wizard grabbed at their eyes.

“What’s happening?” one of them yelled. “I can’t see anybody! Where did they go?”

“They can’t see us,” Beorn said. “Now act!”

“This’ll be easy!” Reb yelled. “Get ’em all!”

But the sound of voices without bodies and the threat of invisible enemies were too much for the guards. They turned and fled.

Immediately Beorn said, “This way.” He led them quickly along two more corridors to a black iron gate. “This will take us to the chair.”

“And is this where the monster is? Shivea?” Dave asked.

“Yes. We’ll have to pass through several more corridors, and she could be anywhere.”

He unbarred the gate and took a deep breath. “But we are trapped here. We either find the chair and destroy it, or else we ourselves will die.”

Then Beorn threw himself into the corridor beyond the iron gate, and the others followed him.

Josh brought up the rear to be sure there were no stragglers. He muttered to Reb, “Keep your sword out. Sounds like that monster Shivea may be harder to handle than any dragon you ever faced.”

T
he stones in the walls that Beorn had noticed on his first visit illuminated their way. He warned everyone to search for signs of Shivea.

“What are these rocks?” Jake asked. “They glow like light bulbs.”

“Probably some of Zarkof’s evil wizardry,” Fairmina said. She held her bow ready in her left hand and had an arrow notched.

They made several turns, and then Beorn announced, “We’ve made it. There’s the door at the far end of this corridor. The crystal chair is behind it.”

But just then there was a scrabbling sound, and Josh cried, “Look out! There she is!”

And there she was. Shivea. Her eyes were red, and she towered over their heads, making a monstrous shape. Poison dripped from her fangs. Raising two of her spider arms with their razor-sharp claws, she advanced slowly toward them.

“Spread out! Don’t get in a group!” Beorn yelled.

Without hesitation Fairmina drew her bow and sent an arrow at the beast. Josh saw to his dismay that it merely glanced off.
Shivea must have some kind of armored hide
, he thought.

Quickly Fairmina shot arrow after arrow. Sarah did the same. None of them seemed to affect Shivea.

Then Beorn held up the sword that Goél had given him. Raising it high, he ran straight at the monster spider.

“Don’t!” Fairmina cried. She dropped her bow and arrow and pulled her own sword and followed.

Shivea reached out for Beorn with her claws, but with a mighty swing of Goél’s sword, he cut off one leg. The monster emitted a terrible scream and leaped at him.

“She’s got him! He’s underneath her!” Jake yelled. “Come on, everybody! We have to help!”

The Sleepers and Fairmina ran at the spider, slashing at her legs. But Shivea was concerned only with the one underneath her.

At that moment a laugh filled the chamber. “So. This is the end of the Seven Sleepers!”

Josh whirled to see the wizard, stepping out from a hidden door.

Zarkof laughed again. “The Dark Lord will be pleased that all of the Sleepers die together. You will be a fine meal for my pet spider. Kill them all, Shivea!” he ordered.

The wizard advanced. But as he did so, perhaps the spider had some dim memory of how this man had tormented her. In any case, she turned away from the prey who lay under her and moved toward Zarkof.

Fear leaped into his eyes. He grabbed for the medallion on his chest.

But Josh was faster. He guessed that the medallion had something to do with the wizard’s control of Shivea. With a cry, he threw himself at Zarkof. He ripped the medallion from the wizard’s neck, breaking the chain.

“Give me that!” Zarkof screamed, clutching at him.

But Reb seized one of the wizard’s arms. Dave seized the other, setting Josh free and pushing Zarkof away. And then Shivea was upon them.

Zarkof let out a scream and tried to flee. But he was too late. The claw of the monster reached out and closed on his throat.

Beorn staggered to his feet. “Run! She’ll kill us all!” he yelled. Then he threw himself between the spider’s legs. In his hand Goél’s sword glowed in the semidarkness. He thrust the blade upward, shouting, “For Goél!”

A terrible roaring filled the chamber, and Shivea flung herself to one side. Her legs clawed the air as, again and again, Beorn thrust into her body the sword that had been the gift of Goél.

Josh ran up to his friend. “You’ve done it, Beorn! She’s dead!” He could hardly stand the stench of the monster. “Come away.”

And then Fairmina came to support Beorn on the other side. “Please come, Beorn. Our task is not over yet.”

“I know. The chair,” he gasped, still gripping the great sword. He had to be supported by Fairmina and Josh, but he led them to the secret door.

“Open it,” he told Josh. “Just hold out the medallion.”

And then many footsteps sounded in the corridor above.

“Everybody inside—and close the door behind us!” Beorn cried.

Wash and Reb slammed the door and put their backs against it. “They can’t get in. We’ve got the medallion,” Reb said. “We’ll have to hold ’em if they try to break down the door.”

But Josh stood staring at the chair that he had heard so much about. It appeared to be made of glass, and it glowed with an evil light. Then he ran toward it.

“We’ve got to destroy this thing!” he cried, and he
brought down his sword on the chair. But the blade rebounded as though it had struck an invisible shield, and Josh himself fell.

“Josh, are you all right?” Sarah cried.

“Yes. But something’s wrong. My sword didn’t even—”

Dave brought down his own sword on the wizard’s chair, and the same thing happened to him.

And then a voice suddenly filled the room. “And so I have you all. This indeed is the end of the Seven Sleepers.”

“It’s the Dark Lord!” Josh whispered. “I’ve heard that voice before!” But then he cried out, “You’ll never defeat Goél!”

“You fool! Goél is doomed, and so are you!”

The chair began to vibrate, and Josh could feel the power of the Dark Lord draining energy from his body. At the same time he heard banging on the door behind him. He heard Reb say, “Something’s happening to me. I’m losing all my strength.”

“The arm of the Dark Lord is longer than you think, you fools!” The voice sounded triumphant. “Now you will die, and your precious Goél can sing his stupid song about the Seven Sleepers, but he will be lost also!”

Beorn felt drained of strength. Fairmina, at his side, was now on her knees, struggling to notch an arrow as if she could put it into the chair.

And then the voice of Goél sounded in Beorn’s head.
The sword! The sword! Use the sword, Beorn!

Beorn looked down at the blade in his hand. It was glowing with a white glow. With the last of his strength he staggered toward the crystal chair. Lifting the sword
high over his head, he breathed a cry for help to Goél and brought it down.

A tremendous flash of blue lightning lit up the chamber. The air was filled with the crack of thunder and the cry of the Dark Lord.

And then the chair began to disintegrate!

“The chair! It’s falling apart!” Josh cried. He had fallen to his knees, but now, oddly, he found his strength returning. “It was the sword! Goél’s sword. You’ve done it, Beorn!”

The chair seemed to slowly dematerialize, and then it was gone.

“You really did it!” Reb called out. “I’m feeling strong again!”

One glad cry after another went around the chamber.

“The wizard is dead, and the power of the Dark Lord over this land is broken,” Beorn said quietly.

At that moment Josh realized that the door was standing open. The spell that kept it sealed had been broken. One by one, warriors began to stumble in. They looked as if they were men who had waked from a dream, and they made no attempt to attack.

Beorn said, “Why, it is
you
, Kilnor!”

That warrior said, “My lord Beorn, I don’t understand. I think I’ve been bewitched.”

And thus it turned out that the slaves of the pale wizard came out of the spell he had put them under. Many of them were of the Yanti tribe, and Beorn welcomed them gladly. Others were of Fairmina’s tribe. One was a childhood friend, who had been lost and she had thought dead.

“Have you been here all this time, Feanor?”

“I do not remember, Princess. I know it was like a bad dream. The wizard—” He stared at Zarkof’s body.
“He kept us here by the power of the crystal chair. We were all enslaved.”

“You’re a slave no longer,” she said. “The power of the pale wizard is broken.”

“Then what shall we do now?” Feanor asked. He looked at Beorn—a man who had been his enemy. “We are all here, both Lowami and Yanti. Are we still at war?”

In the silence that fell over the chamber, Beorn took the hand of Princess Fairmina. “There will be no more war. Gather all together, and we will go first to my father and then to the father of the princess. We shall tell them that the power of the evil Dark Lord is broken.”

A yell of victory went up, and soon all of the former servants and slaves of the pale wizard were gathered in the upper great hall.

“There are so many of them,” Beorn said.

“Yes. Enough to follow our lead. May I speak to them?” Fairmina asked.

“Of course.”

The speech that the princess made was one the Sleepers would never forget, nor would the warriors who listened. Nor would the man who later became her husband. She spoke of peace between the two tribes and of how war had destroyed them for long enough. Finally she said, “There will be no more war.”

“But what will Chief Balog say?” one of the Yantis asked.

Beorn spoke up then. “When my father sees what has happened, I think he will listen to reason.”

“Then, come. It is time to heal the land.”

What took place next would fill a large book. The army of former slaves marched first to the Yanti village.
There Chief Balog stood speechless as his tall son, standing with the daughter of Chief Denhelm, told what had happened. He looked around at the many men he had thought were dead and could not find words to speak.

And then his father, Magon, said, “Son, it is time for you to be wise.”

Balog nodded. “Yes. Yes, I see that I was wrong to ever trust the wizard. We will not follow the Dark Lord any longer. We will stand for Goél.”

The same scene was replayed when the warriors led by Chief Balog and his son appeared before the village of the Lowami.

Denhelm and his wife stood at the head of what men they had in their small force of defenders.

But Balog cried out, “We come in peace!”

Denhelm lowered his sword, and joy came to his eyes. Then he saw his daughter hand in hand with Beorn, the son of Balog, and he went to the Yanti chief. “My brother,” he said, “this is good.”

Balog looked at the two young people, then said, “I am ashamed of what has happened.”

“We will put the past behind us,” Denhelm said. “It looks as though our two tribes will be united even closer.”

Balog smiled. “That means we will be related, does it not?”

“Yes. We will be brothers indeed.”

A great cheer went up at this.

Abbey said, “Look! Beorn’s kissing the princess!”

“Well, what did you expect him to do?” Jake asked.

Indeed, Beorn did kiss the princess, and there was great rejoicing in the land and among the Sleepers that day—the day when the Yanti and the Lowami became one tribe.