The Map Maker's Quest (13 page)

“Feels like it,” Jackie replied. She glanced around the corner of a small office building and saw the street was empty. She motioned them along.

“I don't like this waiting stuff,” Jacob muttered. He would have rather been forced to fight and run across the entire city.

They climbed the hill and entered the woods on the edge of the park without seeing anyone. Even the animals were quiet and Jacob did not see a single bird or squirrel as they crept through the forest. When they finally arrived at Enger Tower the grass of the park was wet with dew, and the sun had just cleared the top of the trees. They were all breathing hard from the climb, and they stopped to examine the scene before them and catch their breath. It was a beautiful area of the city, numerous trees dotted the park, and flowers were landscaped about bringing dashes of color to the grounds.

Jane and the others climbed over the stones and entered the tower, to her it looked like the laser light had struck the tower about half way up. On the third floor of the tower she circled the outside walkway and spotted the mark almost immediately.

“Look,” Jane pointed. There was a stone in the middle of the wall that was marked with a small round circle. The light had struck it so powerfully, that the stone was permanently etched with a thick black burn.

“Can we open it? Jackie asked. She slipped her fingers around the outside and noticed immediately that the mortar seemed softer than the other areas. “Here scrape the mortar out of the sides.” They all worked furiously until the stone was mostly clear and then Jane slid her fingers in and pulled. Slowly the stone began to give way. “Help me pull it out.”

“One, two, three, pull!” Jackie said. Together they pulled as hard as they could and slowly the small stone slipped free of its spot and fell to the concrete floor. “What's inside?”

Jane reached into the opening and pulled out a bundle wrapped in leather and clear plastic. The layers were so thick on it that the contents were almost unrecognizable. With shaking hands, Jane started unwrapping the package.

“What does it say?” Jacob asked. He stood ready with his back against the tower. Something felt wrong, and he could not say what but his brain was screaming warnings at him. “Better yet, let's go downstairs and unwrap it. They reached the bottom and stepped out onto the stones. Slowly Jane pulled away the layers as the others looked on.

Jacob kept a close eye around them, and suddenly spotted a dark figure moving through the trees. Jacob cried out a warning. The missing Adherents were here and moving towards them.

Jane grabbed up the book, which was now only wrapped in one or two layers of packing material, and they dove back to the top step. The door was open and they jumped inside the main floor of the tower.

“I think we have a problem,” Jacob muttered. He was standing next to the wall watching the park grounds out a narrow window. The single dark figure had grown from one to many, and now dozens of Adherents were emerging from the forest in a long line that stretched out as far in each direction as he could see. They were surrounded, cut off from any hope of help.

 

* * * * *

 

Cain motioned his men forward
and a smile filled his face. They had waited for hours. When the beam of light briefly illuminated the sky, he had almost cheered. They had found the hiding place for the Golden Book, and he would let them retrieve it. Then he would take it from them and throw the lot of them in the deepest dungeon he could find.

“Go,” Cain ordered his commander. “Make sure the entire area is surrounded.”

“It'll take every man we have to encircle the tower and the grassy area.”

“I don't care,” Cain replied. “This side is pathetic. The people are too busy running to worry about what we're doing. By the time their military is able to respond, we will be back on board the
Goliath
and back to our side of the Divide.”

He knew it was risky splitting his reduced force, but it could not be helped until the forces from Palisade head returned. With almost five hundred here, he had a third of his force guarding the approaches to the harbor and another third held in reserve still on board the ships. Already his hand-picked soldiers were on the way into the lands around Duluth on this side. They would scout the lands and build an accurate map of the area so when he returned his forces would sweep through any resistance.

“Bring the two prisoners forward,” Cain ordered. He watched as his men led the two women up to where he was standing. “Order your men forward. I want this noose closed tightly.” There was a scramble of movement, and the Adherents fanned out, racing to make sure all the escape routes were blocked. When all was in place, he motioned his small escort forward, and they started towards the stone tower. It was time to end this game, as fun as it had been. He was ready to crush this rebellion.

 

* * * * *

 

“They have mom!” Jane cried
out suddenly. She saw two tiny figures emerge from the scramble of activity and start towards them. “What do we do?”

“We make the trade,” Jacob replied sullenly.

“But he wins then,” Jackie retorted. It tore at her heart to see her mom held captive, but she wanted desperately to find a way around giving in to Cain's demands but . . . there was nothing.

“But . . .” Jacob started.

“I know!” Jackie shouted. She stamped her foot. “I know! I spent a year of my life in his dungeon. I won't sentence my own mother to the same thing. I am just saying . . . then Cain wins.”

Jane finished pulling the wrapping off the book and her hands passed over it reverently. The words swam in her vision for a moment almost like the book was aligning itself for her to read. She turned over the first page and read the same inscription her grandfather had read all those years ago. The weight of what this book held hit her like a sledge hammer and she gasped.

“Do you know what this contains?” Jane asked quietly.

They all read the front cover and their faces paled. The mysteries that they could solve if they were given some time, and they had this one moment.

“You're going to give it to him?” Bella asked suddenly. She had silently slipped from Jane's shoulder and was standing on the ground near the door.

“We don't have any choice,” Jacob replied. “That is my mom out there.”

“A lot of us have lost family,” Bella replied. “And we were told we needed to press on and resist. Why are you different than the rest of us?”

Jane and Jacob stared at each other as they tried to find an explanation to justify the trade. They couldn't but neither could they see a way around it. Suddenly Jacob grabbed the book and strode to the door. He pulled it open and stepped on the stairs and was walked down to where Cain was standing.

“Jacob!” Jane started. She wracked her mind trying to find a way around what he was going to do.

“I gave up most of my family to try and stop him,” Bella said. “And not just for a year. My parents were taken almost fifteen years ago. They're locked in a gilded cage in Cain's capitol city.” Suddenly Bella vanished from sight and slipped out of the tower looking at the meeting about to take place.

“Give me the book!” Cain demanded. He motioned his soldiers forward, and they pushed the two women to their knees and leveled their weapons at their heads. “You know what my new muskets can do. These are not set to stun.”

“Stop!” Jacob shouted back. “Take your stupid book. Let them go and you can have it.” He held it out for Cain to see and then tossed it on the ground half way in between them.

“Get the book,” Cain ordered. One of his men rushed forward and reached out to grab at the book. Oddly the man seemed to pause just for a second as the material under his hand seemed to elude his grasp. “Hurry up!” Cain shouted.

The man shook his head and grabbed the volume, and then he rushed back to where the dwarf was waiting and held out the book and waited for Cain to take it.

“It's mine,” Cain laughed. He smiled broadly. The words swam in his vision for a moment and then appeared in ancient dwarven runes. A leather latch held the cover shut, but rather than open it here he tucked it under his arm. “Shoot them, get rid of them all and let's go back to our side. We have what we came for.”

“You promised!” Jacob shouted angrily. He struggled to align his shield with the muskets and repeaters pointed at them and finally gave up. No matter which side he faced dozens more Adherents had open shots.

“A wolf does not promise a sheep not to eat him,” Cain said calmly. “You are not even worth my time.”

Jacob watched and fumed as the leader of the Adherents turned and started across the grassy park. He pulled the book from under his arm and seemed to working with the latch. Then Jacob lost sight of him as the Adherents gathered around them.

“Mom, are you all right?” Jacob asked. The two women were roughly shoved forward, and Jacob's sword and shield was tossed onto the ground. His mother stumbled over to him and buried her face in his shoulder as Jane removed the ropes from around her wrists.

“I'll be fine, Jacob.”

“Mom,” Jane said sheepishly. Jackie was pulling the ropes off her mom's wrists and gave her a warm hug. “Sorry we couldn't get to you earlier.”

“It's all right dear,” Mrs. Timbrill replied with tears in her eyes. “I'm just glad I got to see you one last time.”

The Adherents shoved them all roughly against the stones that made up the base of Enger Tower and made them stand in a line. A line of twelve black-robed figures stood about fifty feet from them and held their weapons ready. When the commanding officer of the force had everything prepared exactly the way he wanted it, he barked out his order.

“Attention!”

The line of soldiers snapped to attention and shouldered their weapons.

“Take aim!”

Jacob grabbed Jane's hand as the weapons came level and turned to face her. The world seemed to slow down around them as he looked into her eyes and spoke.

“I know you haven't been happy with me about Flying Cloud and I'm sorry about that. I just wish I'd have had time to make it up to you because I really wanted to. After all we've been through over the last few days I think I'm starting to fall in love with you.”

Jane could no longer stop the tears that slipped from her eyes and she reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck. They shared a tentative kiss and then clung to each other as the repeaters came down and the oversized barrels suddenly looked many times larger.

“Sir!”

Jacob heard a shout from the north, and there was a nervous rustling among the firing squad. Several of the barrels shifted as many sets of eyes turned and followed the sound of the shouts.

Suddenly a thick vine snaked out of the ground and wrapped around one of the soldier's feet. He cried out as he was yanked to the ground. He struggled as the vines pulled him towards the forest. Two of the soldiers on either side jumped out of the firing line. They ran after him and used their belt knives to hack at the vine until it released its grip and vanished into the ground.

“What's going on?” the commander of the force shouted.

“Goblins, sire,” a panting soldier shouted. “And rebels, thousands of them.”

“Impossible,” the commander shouted back. “They were pinned down at Palisade Head by our superior force.” He brushed aside the scout and started towards the north tree line. “Watch them until I return.”

 

Chapter Thirteen

Here Comes the Cavalry

E
riunia was panting from the run when they arrived at the hill overlooking Duluth. The city of this side of the Divide was a small shadow of the other side. The elves had ways of watching what happened in both worlds around them, and Eriunia knew what she was looking for.

“Secure the hilltop and make sure the Adherents are dealt with,” Eriunia ordered. “I'll need some time to prepare.” The run to Duluth had taken nearly three hours, and she needed the rebels to eat and rest. “We'll be ready to move by morning.”

Carvin nodded.

Eriunia watched him go and knew her orders would be carried out. Already a few shouts of alarm rang out from those few Adherents left to watch the city. Instead Eriunia turned and began working her way along the top of the hillside. She knew Tasker's workshop was still here, and she knew she could find it given the time. Among the items he had hidden, was a copy of the device used to create the Divide. Well, not a copy, she corrected in her mind. He had help create the machine that made and powered the Divide. The original device was here in Duluth, but it was hidden deep within the tunnels that pierced the earth.

After an hour of searching she felt she was getting closer, but Tasker had hidden the workshop well, and she had only an hour before dawn. The rebels were mostly asleep except for the hundred or so going to remain behind to secure Duluth and arrange for an escape in case their plan failed. The shouts from the city had faded and she assumed that the rebels had made short work of the few defenders.

Eriunia was walking slowly near the burned ruins of a small cottage, when her keen vision caught the outlines of a door concealed by dwarfen skill and a small bit of magic. She stopped immediately and stepped closer to the portal. Carefully she traced her delicate fingers along the edge of the door until she had traced the entire outline. Softly the line in the stone wall began to glow, and bits of dirt and leaves that had collected in the gaps fell free. She knew dwarves could use magic to seal doors they wished to remain hidden but elves were masters of undoing magic.

“Open wide,” Eriunia whispered in the dwarven tongue. If a dwarf wished to conceal something they always placed a locking device in it that only opened when the dwarven language was spoken. Few beings knew the dwarf tongue in this world and none on the other side knew it.

Slowly the door cracked open and she slipped her hand in and pulled it open on smooth hinges. A short passage with thick walls protected the workshop, but when she arrived it was empty. The tables were clean except for dust and cobwebs. She began searching once more. The next door was concealed even better but the area was small. Despite the contained area, she walked by it four times before a single blemish in the camouflage caught her eye.

“There you are,” Eriunia said. A noise at the door caught her attention, and she whirled with an arrow notched and pointed at the door. She had a small pistol strapped to her waist but it felt strange in her hand and she preferred her bow.

“Whoa,” Carvin exclaimed. He raised his hands in surrender at her. “It's just me.”

“Shouldn't you be getting some sleep,” Eriunia said. She lowered her bow and slipped the arrow back into her quiver.

“I slept for an hour,” Carvin admitted. “Couldn't fall back asleep so I figured I'd come see what you were doing.”

“I'm trying to find our way through the Divide,” Eriunia explained. “I know it's here somewhere.”

“Tasker had a way to pierce the Divide?” Carvin said in disbelief. “Right here under Cain's nose the entire time.”

“Scary to think about, isn't it,” Eriunia agreed. She turned back to the door and carefully traced the outline. When she was done she spoke the same words. Once again the door opened just enough for her to grab the edges and pulled it completely open. Inside was a rough set of stairs leading down into the ground and Eriunia motioned to Carvin to follow.

“Where does that go?” Carvin asked.

“You might as well come with me and see,” Eriunia said. A torch sat against the wall. She lit it and handed it to Carvin. Another torch was held in a ring on the wall, and she pulled it free and lit it also. She ignored his question for now. She might as well explain it later when he could understand better.

The moment they stepped into the passage Eriunia felt the change in the air.

“Why does it feel so weird in here?” Carvin asked. He pulled the pistol from his belt and worked the arming mechanism with his free hand. The weapon lacked the ability to kill but it would still stop most attackers in their tracks.

“This is a dwarven passage. I think it connects to their underground realms,” Eriunia replied. “That is something that no elf or human has ever seen. I don't think anyone outside the dwarf race has ever been allowed to see or visit any of the great delves.”

“Delve?” Carvin questioned.

“What the dwarves call their cities,” Eriunia said. “Much like all of the elvish strongholds are closed to outside races, the dwarves defend their privacy most tenaciously. Almost none may enter and those few who find their way into the underground chambers of the dwarves hardly ever leave.”

The steps continued down and Carvin counted four hundred before they ended in a more natural looking cavern. The room widened considerably. Across the cavern, the steps continued down, but a thick gate blocked their path. The golden image of a bearded dwarf face frowned at them, and the carving was so perfect Carvin felt like he was being watched. He could have sworn the eyes rotated slowly to watch them as they entered the passage.

“You probably are being watched,” Eriunia said when he asked her. I've been told the guardian faces have many strange abilities. Some legends say they can tell the difference between the races and read what your intentions are. If they sense you're going to try to break through, the cavern will collapse and close off the threat to the Delves.” She turned away from the frowning face and immediately found what she was seeking.

“What is this?” Carvin asked.

“All dwarven tunnels also contain a treasure room that can be accessed by elvish traders,” Eriunia explained. “As two of the elder races, we still try to maintain a bit of trade and diplomacy.”

Another room carved off the right side of the cavern, also blocked by a thick gate also. This time there was another symbol carved into the golden plate attached to the gate. It looked to Carvin like an elf hand and a dwarf hand placed palms out and slightly carved down into the metal.

“If Tasker was in a hurry and needed to store something where Cain would be very unlikely to find it,” Eriunia explained. “He would leave it here and mark it for storage so the dwarf merchants who come here would not take it and leave payment.”

“How do we get in?” Carvin asked curiously.

Eriunia walked to the gate and placed her hand against the image of the elvish hand and waited for a moment. Suddenly there were two loud clicking sounds and the gate slid open, allowing them entrance.

Carvin followed Eriunia into the room and lowered his torch. Fastened to the wall were several globes of light that supplied enough illumination to the area for them to douse their torches. There were bowls of sand near the entrance and each of them ground the torches out in the sand. The room was carved out of stone into a rough square, and about a dozen stone shelves had been carved into the walls. Several crates of goods sat along the walls waiting for pick up and several more with open tops sat out. Carvin walked to one and looked down into it. Inside the first barrel were several dozen swords made out of a black metal that gleamed wickedly when he picked it up.

“What are these?” Carvin asked. He walked to where Eriunia was reading the tags on the crates and showed it to her.

“It is a fitting weapon for you, I think,” Eriunia said. Carefully she reached into her pocket and pulled a small gold coin from it. “Put this in the payment box over there and take one, they are the weapon of choice for elvish hunters that watch for the spirits of the dark one.”

“I don't understand,” Carvin replied. He picked up a sheath that matched his sword and walked to where a small cold iron box was bolted to the wall. He slipped the coin inside and then fitted the sheath onto his belt.

“The sword cuts the body and the spirit,” Eriunia replied. Suddenly, she held up her hand and stopped. Tucked into a corner shelf was a wooden box about two feet tall and wide. She stepped over to it and pulled it from the shelf. “I think this is what we're seeking.”

Carefully she pulled the top of the crate loose, and Carvin crowded over her shoulder. They both stared in awe at the complicated device resting in the bottom of it. The entire thing seemed to be sheathed in gold. Various dials and gears were arranged in a delicate balance that defied the mind to trace where all the connections were made.

“We're running low on time,” Eriunia said finally. “We better get up top and put this to work.”

She picked up the device and realized there was a golden case in the crate also, she slipped the device into it and closed the case. Despite the color and shine of the metal, the case was light and Eriunia was able to carry it with one arm.

Carvin relit the torches and then stepped out into the cavern as the gate swung shut behind them. The return trip seemed to go by quickly. When they stepped out onto the cliff overlooking Duluth the sun was lighting the distant horizon.

“Gather the soldiers up there,” Eriunia said. She pointed to a big flat grassy area. “I'll go work the device and ready our passage.”

Carvin left at a run, spreading the word. Soon a stream of rebels headed towards the gathering place. Eriunia hurried to the center of the meadow and set the box down. The machine itself was simple to operate, and she turned several switches to the on position and then watched as a small dial began to slowly rise. It was gathering power from the magnetic lines of the earth and storing that power inside the device.

The sun was fully into the sky when a light pulsed out of the device and a break in the Divide slowly formed in front of them. This break happened much more naturally then the cruel breaking that Cain had achieved the day before. Still the Divide seemed to groan in protest to the attacks being leveled against it.

“If we aren't back by tonight, return the device to its place and collapse the cliff on the tunnels,” Carvin ordered one of the com­manders standing nearby. The man saluted, and he and a dozen other soldiers took up positions around the glowing break in the Divide.

Carvin followed the last of his men through and blinked as he passed through the break and stepped out into the middle of a wide area. The ground was covered in a black hard substance and had little white and yellow lines all over it. There were buildings all over the ground on this side and he joined the stream of soldiers moving south and east. Mounds of iron were parked everywhere and sat on wheels made out of a substance he had never seen before. A sign on a nearby building read Barnes and Noble and he wondered what it stood for.

“We spotted the Adherents already,” Eriunia shouted. She pointed to where flashes of energy marked the beginning of battles with scattered bands of black-robed men. The first couple groups were quickly overrun, and the mass of rebels slowed as they entered the forests around what they called Lookout Tower on their side.

Eriunia worked her way to the front of the force and passed the word for the rebels to slow down and move quietly. Almost immediately the force quieted. Soon the woods and houses around Enger Tower were awash with rebels.

“Look,” Carvin said. They had reached the edge of the forest and were overlooking Enger Tower. Hundreds of Adherents were milling around on the grassy area, but in the distance he spotted several familiar forms.

“Wait, Carvin,” Eriunia hissed. She motioned several of the tree spirits forward and immediately they sent the vast systems of roots grown into the earth forward. Better to sow confusion first and attack when the Adherents were broken and desperate. Carvin's next words chilled her to the heart and she quickly changed her assessment of her strategy.

“We have to move,” Carvin said. He watched in horror as the firing line raised their weapons. Then confusion seemed to break out and most of the weapons were lowered again. Carvin grabbed a musket from a nearby rebel and leveled the barrel at one of the groups just outside the tree line.

“On my signal,” Carvin said to the fighters near him.

They all raised their weapons and watched as the Adherents slowly turned to face the woods as if realizing for the first time that something was wrong.

“Ready, aim,” Carvin said. He paused for a moment and centered the musket on a group of six Adherents. “Fire!”

He shouted the last word, and the Adherents tried to scatter. All around him a rolling wave of energy erupted from the trees and sent black-robed figures crumpling to the ground. All around him the rebels poured a withering fire into the gathered Adherents. Cain's men tried to fight back, but they were caught in the open with no escape. The battle turned to a rout almost the moment it began.

“I'm going after Jackie,” Carvin shouted to Eriunia. He armed his musket again and sprinted from cover.

Eriunia paced him step for step, and her bow was a blur of action, the rebel soldiers charged out after them. Soon the force was rolling over the remaining Adherents. Carvin arrived at the tower at the head of a very angry force of soldiers, and he ducked a swing by an Adherent officer. He used the butt of his musket and slammed it into the stomach of his opponent. The man doubled over and Carvin followed through with a strike to the back of his head that made his eyes cross as he slipped to the ground.

“Jackie!” Carvin shouted. He dropped his musket when they arrived and swept her into his arms.