The Dragon War Page 24

  Diamedes was about to answer but the voice spoke quicker and with confidence, “Diminish your light, Kesh, and allow us to reveal ourselves.”

  There was a long hesitation before Diamedes said in a low tone to Damien, “Go ahead, dim your light.”

  Damien said nothing but nodded and then as he dimmed the light coming from his gemstone atop his staff, the entire room started to glow in contrast to the Kesh’s illumination. Damien ended up extinguishing his light altogether. The entire sanctum reflected light from an unknown source giving the place a warm, welcome hue.

  The footsteps resumed and from one of the far columns a figure appeared approaching them slowly. It was a woman dressed in a silk gown that flowed behind her as she walked. The coverings were reminiscent of that worn by a temple worker, but richer in quality. Her golden hair flowed behind her and down either side but was kept off her face. She had no weapon and wore no jewelry that was visible to them. She was extremely beautiful. “Now that you see me, Death Worshipper, do you find me simple enough for your tastes?”

  Dour’s jaw dropped and he tried to speak but couldn’t. Even Zokar sat up with great effort and said, “Am I dreaming?”

  Alyssa lowered her hand and answered for the woman, “No, you’re not dreaming. She’s real enough. Both you and Dour can close your mouths now.”

  Both men’s jaws closed, and their cheeks grew red. Even Diamedes blushed slightly before saying, “I apologize that we haven’t properly introduced ourselves. You seem to know me already. My stout friend here is called Dour, and he is a cleric of Akun. The Kesh wizard that you mentioned goes by Damien and our young lady companion here is Alyssa from Balaria. Zokar, also from the same realm spoke and the Northman on death’s door is Azor. He took that wound in battle with a Kesh arch mage.”

  “We know,” the woman said. “I too have not made a proper introduction because we don’t normally tolerate your gender in our abode.”

  “That sounds rather harsh,” Damien commented.

  The woman laughed slightly, not a mocking laugh but rather one that was filled with joy and happiness. It lifted their spirits and then she stopped and said, “You don’t understand, Master Damien. It’s not like that. Of course this place is reserved for our gender, but we have other sacred places for the Arnen who represent your gender. Both are welcomed and loved by the Mother.”

  “Well since you put it like that…” Dour said.

  “So if we are… trespassing,” Diamedes began. “Why did you allow us entry into your home?”

  The woman’s face went sad and she looked down at the marble floor, the first time she had broken eye contact with them. “The call was heard at the passing of my brother, Morgan. I came to investigate.”

  “You mean that old man is your brother?” Dour asked skeptically.

  The woman shook her head, “Not like you’re thinking. He is one of us, a protector of the Mother. His passing brings us great sorrow.”

  “We are saddened as well, but he died protecting us,” Diamedes said.

  “So I learned,” the woman replied.

  Damien cleared his throat, “Not to be rude, but you kept using the pronoun we and I only see you.”

  The woman looked up at him and smiled. “The other person is the Mother. Do you not feel her here with us?”

  “Well,” Damien brought his free hand up to his chin scratching at his goatee that started to grow back again, “I only see you.”

  “You can’t see her,” the woman explained, “but you should be able to feel her. She is everywhere and she is here with us now.”

  “I do feel something warm and safe,” Alyssa noted, dismissing what Diamedes had motioned for earlier and she stood facing the woman. “It is like a blanket of warmth and protection has encircled us.”

  The woman smiled, “Yes, you are more in tune with her than these men.”

  “Well these men,” Dour began, “saved more than a few women in our day.”

  Alyssa looked at the man and replied, “We women have saved more than a few men as well.”

  “Well said,” Diamedes intervened then looking directly at the woman he said, “You are the Lady Astor, Handmaiden to the Mother, are you not?”

  The women turned her gaze to Diamedes, “I cannot say however, I will not deny it.”

  Diamedes nodded and pressed his point, “We are on a mission—”

  The woman raised her hand, “Speak no more as we know what you intend to do and we will support you.”

  “You will?” Diamedes seemed surprised.

  “Yes,” she said.

  “How exactly?” Damien asked.

  The woman smiled at him, “You think you have a week, maybe a day or two less. That is not true. You have only two days until the Akun gate opens and the darkness and wickedness issues forth to scour the land.”

  She didn’t get a chance to finish. The companions gasped and they all started talking over her complaining and asking what could possibly be done. Diamedes tried to get them to slow down and he waved his hands, “Please, not everyone at once. Let her finish.”

  “You heard her,” Dour said. “If she’s right then game over. The High Mage will get his trinket and the rest of you will be enslaved.”

  “What about you?” Alyssa asked.

  “I serve the Father,” Dour said matter-of-factly, “He’ll protect me and my order.”

  Alyssa scowled but Diamedes spoke louder, “Please, let’s hear her out.”

  The group grew silent and even Azor blinked and tried to tilt his head to see the woman. Zokar had laid back down but managed to turn his head to see her. She smiled and looked at each in turn, “Your journey has been hard, unpleasant, and… unfair.” She said finally settling on that word. “We will give you something advantageous to level the playing field if I may use one of your phrases.”

  “Certainly,” Diamedes said.

  “Well, I for one don’t see how,” Dour started. “Azor is on death’s bed, in fact he should be dead except he’s one hell of a fighter, and the Father is close enough now to directly intervene and save his life. Zokar will look ugly… scratch that, he’s already ugly, but it will take days to heal his wounds enough for him to travel. Ulatha is three days away and you said we only have two remaining so… level or not the game will be over before we can get in it.”

  “He has a point,” Damien noted.

  The woman nodded and kept her smile on her face until she replied, “You know so little.”

  “Please,” Diamedes said, “What hope can you give us?”

  The woman walked over to Diamedes but did not touch him, though she got very close to him. She leaned over so that her eyes were looking deeply into his. Her eyes sparkled in merriment and her appearance conveyed youth, but the eyes… her eyes… they showed age and wisdom beyond count. Very softly she said to him, “In here we command time and we have stopped it for you.”

  Chapter 19

  Ulatha

  The companions needed what seemed to be a full day to digest this information. The woman asked them to trust her and they had little choice. In the end a display was necessary as the companions refused to sit for any length of time while under the impression that their quest was in jeopardy. The woman indicated that they were not to cross the threshold of the door or risk death. She then opened the door from which they entered a tiny crack, enough to see the flames from the blast that had erupted from the druid-wizard battle.

  Damien took a great interest in this and watched for what seemed to be an hour. After that time he pulled the door shut and proclaimed that time was only slowed, not stopped. He had seen a flame move the width of a hair in that time. Food appeared on a table further in the sanctum and they didn’t venture far. When they tried, they kept ending up back where they started. After some time tending to Azor and Zokar, the woman left them and said she would return when they were ready.

  “Did she say what she was doing?” Dour asked.

  “No,” Alyssa noted. “She ju
st knelt over them and closed her eyes like you do.”

  “They look better,” Diamedes said.

  Alyssa nodded while looking down at Zokar who was fast asleep. “She did say that natural healing was best and that they need to rest.”

  “It feels odd sitting here and doing nothing,” Damien said, resuming his seat on the floor near their companions.

  “She could have given us some nice feather beds or some other creature comforts,” Dour complained. These marble floors and stone benches aren’t comfortable.”

  “Well it beats being incinerated in that inferno,” Damien noted.

  “Let’s just trust her as agreed and give them time to heal,” Diamedes said.

  “Well, she better hurry it up, it’s getting late,” Dour said, sitting and starting his third meal for the day.

  “In the meantime, Alyssa do you think you can unlock that bound book that Damien has so I can do some reading?”

  “Consider it done,” Alyssa said, grabbing the book from Damien and pulling her tools out and picking the flimsy lock rather easily. “I don’t see why they bothered.”

  “Who knows,” Diamedes said. “What’s important is that I have time to learn.”

  Based on their sleep cycles, the companions felt sure that they had spent over two weeks, and perhaps as many as three weeks, in the inner sanctum. There was no lapse in food or drink and even Dour had to admit that the facilities on the far western wall were adequate for what they had to do daily. Boredom and anxiety were their constant struggles.

  “I think she’s left us here for good,” Alyssa said, hope nowhere to be found in her voice.

  Azor and Zokar had healed well, if not fully, and both men had regained their strength enough to pace the floor. Azor spoke, “This is worse than being a caged animal.”

  “Whatever she did, it saved our lives,” Zokar commented.

  “The Father saved both of you,” Dour said, from his seat. “Now the Mother will keep us here till the Father’s gone and I’ll miss my chance to fulfil my destiny.”

  “You think too much of yourself,” Alyssa said without much energy in her voice.

  Damien stood up for his friend, “You need to understand him. This is his source of energy and it is here now. Not being able to see it or feel it is a great strain to him and his faith. Give him a break, please.”

  “If you say so,” Alyssa replied.

  “How can you be so sure she’ll be back?” Dour asked Diamedes, ignoring Alyssa.

  Diamedes was the only one who maintained optimism in the woman’s return. “I’m not so sure, but there was something that a Hand of Astor once told me. An acolyte who was stationed here in this very temple. She confided it in me before her death and her words about this place and her experience made a strong impression on me. If I can believe her and her story, I can believe in this woman.”

  “You don’t really think she is the handmaiden of the Mother, do you?” Zokar asked.

  Diamedes shrugged, “If not, then who is she?”

  “You really need to stay away from that door,” Alyssa said loudly enough for Damien to hear her. “It’s an unhealthy obsession.”

  Damien ignored her and opened the door a crack, “I am ensuring they do not use trickery to speed time up.”

  “Perhaps this lack of faith is why she has been gone so long?” Azor said, stopping his pacing to stand near his companions. “The shamans are not to be trifled with.”

  “Or maybe she don’t like being called a shaman,” Dour said to Azor.

  “Let’s not bicker,” Zokar said, trying to bring order to the group. “We should trust in Diamedes’ judgement and we should judge her based on what we have seen and what she has done for us.”

  “Well, you two do look a far sight better than you did when we came in here,” Alyssa said.

  “Yes they do,” a familiar voice said to them.

  Those who were still sitting stood and Damien shut the door returning to the group as the woman appeared from the far reaches of the sanctum. “We had all but lost hope,” Diamedes said.

  “But you didn’t,” the woman said to Diamedes. “Now are you ready to continue your quest?”

  The group nodded and Diamedes answered for them, “We are, but unless you have horses or can fly us to Ulatha on a magic beast, I fear we will be too late.”

  The woman laughed again, not at Diamedes but in love and friendship. “You can walk through a door?”

  “Not that one,” Damien said. “The blast is still in the corridor.”

  “Of course not that one,” The woman said. “That will only take you to the destroyed remains of our outer home and the ashes of our fallen brother.”

  “Then what door do you speak of?” Diamedes asked.

  The woman pointed behind her against the far wall where a door stood firmly closed where once there was no door. “I’m sure that wasn’t there before,” Zokar said suspiciously.

  The woman nodded, “It was not because you were not ready.”

  “We are now,” Dour said, shifting back and forth on his feet as if regaining his itch to fight.

  “Then gather your things and think one last time upon your decision,” The woman said walking around them and allowing her gaze to go from one companion to another. “You may stay here until the danger has passed and live, or…”

  “Or what?” Dour asked impatiently.

  “You walk through that door into certain danger and most likely death, at least for one or more of you.” She pointed back at the door.

  “What’s on the other side?” Diamedes asked.

  “Your destination,” she said. “Time is short and as your esteemed Kesh colleague has noted, we did not actually stop time but slowed it considerably. This power we dare not wield for long as evil forces lurk about in anticipation of stealing this power.”

  “You can’t mean the Kesh or the dragons,” Diamedes said, his brows raising.

  “No,” she answered. “The universe is large and forces that you may never know or understand are everywhere. Decide now. I will wait for you at the door.”

  “Wait,” Alyssa spoke quickly. “What about Morgan’s bears?”

  “I will take care of them for you,” the lady said. “We harbor many of the Mother’s children with each passing of Akun and with them it will be no different.”

  The group watched as she walked away and crossed the chamber to stand with her back to them once she reached the door. She certainly meant what she said and apparently had no intention of motivating them one way or the other. “Well?” Dour said, impatient as usual.

  All eyes turned to Diamedes and Zokar spoke, “We have followed you this far. Will you see it through?”

  “Yes,” Diamedes said. “As the lady said, time is short. Let’s do this together.”

  Everyone nodded and one by one they followed Diamedes to the door and stood near the woman. She turned her head slightly and then nodded, “You have made your decision. Our love and hope go with you all.”

  “We are ready,” Diamedes said.

  The woman reached for the door and opened it, standing back so that they could pass. The doorway shimmered a deep black and she graced each one with a smile that imbued hope within them. Though they could not see through the deep dark of the door, one by one they stepped through leaving the inner sanctum of the Temple of Astor in Tannis.

  “Where are we?” asked Alyssa.

  “When are we may also be appropriate,” Damien said.

  Zokar spoke, “Damien, some light, please.”

  Damien complied and the group found themselves in what appeared to be an antechamber off the inner sanctum. The room had frescos of various scenes of the lady of Astor as well as landscape pictures drawn along the walls bordering the room. A set of double doors was a dozen paces in front of them and the room was pitch black until lit by Damien’s staff.

  “Shall we?” Diamedes asked.

  “Let us go first,” Zokar said. “Azor, are you ready?”
<
br />   Azor stepped forward, “Ready.”

  The group walked behind the pair and when they reached the doors, they each grabbed a handle and pulled. Instantly they were accosted by multiple sounds of chaos. Rumblings were heard as well as the roars of dragons and the screams of men. Pain and suffering were evident, and the clashing of weapons assaulted their ears. The worst came to their eyes.

  Despite being in the lighted sanctum, the light from outside was not of a soft hue. Red fires glowed everywhere movement from dozens of creatures or people crossed in front of them in front of a field of rubble and ruins. They had entered into the middle of a battle.

  “Draw your weapons,” Zokar ordered.

  His companions needed no prompting. A green dragon suddenly landed in front of them and exhaled at something or someone out of sight to their left. The beast was no more than ten paces in front of them and its maw was wide when it seemed to notice them. It turned its head and inhaled again even though it wasn’t completely finished exhaling its poisonous green gas.

  “Al veter,” Damien said, commanding the wind against the beast. It breathed at the same time directly at them in the small confines of the antechamber. Damien’s spell unleashed a gust of wind that was fierce and strong enough to counter the gas attack and the green mist rolled back over the immense head of the dragon.

  “Attack,” Zokar ordered, using his drawn sword to smite the dragon on its snout. Azor followed suit and the beast roared in pain rearing its head back and high above them, out of reach of the offending steel that had caused it so much pain.

  Dour ran at the beast and literally plunged his short sword deep into its clawed foot eliciting yet another roar as the dragon pulled up and out with its limb sending the small cleric flying through the air and out of sight to their right. “Do something,” Alyssa said, nocking an arrow and aiming it as she had learned at the beast’s vulnerable eye high above them.

  Damien chanted and gave one last effort in calling forth a fireball and hurling it at the dragon’s head. The ball of flames hit and burned the creature which tried to bite them by lowering its head back into the fray. Everyone jumped to safety and out of reach as its razor, sharp fangs and teeth snapped on thin air.