The Shrine of Kallen (The Tales of Zanoth Book 3) Page 14

  “That's true,” the ogre replied. “But, as long as we're here, Grathis knows where we are. Eventually, we're going to have to fight to hold Kal Tammon again. That's going to mean more lives lost.”

  “This is a war, Sarrac,” she said. “Lives are going be lost no matter what we do.”

  “There it is!” Paul interjected with a wide smile. “It's been so long since you tried to throw anyone’s life away, I was beginning to worry about you.”

  “I don't try to throw people's lives away,” she replied, rolling her eyes.

  “I beg to differ,” Joey chuckled.

  “My point is,” she continued, “the undead are always going to be trying to kill us. As long as we stay here, the living will have a place they know they can flee to.”

  “No one,” Darek asserted, “is going to be able to reach Kal Tammon. Especially not if they're trying to bring their families with them. There's no way they'll ever get this far. Grathis will see to that.”

  “You're probably right,” Myra nodded, “but, it will still serve as a beacon of hope. Just knowing that the living have a place where the undead can't reach them will inspire people. Even if they can't reach that haven themselves, just knowing it's there will mean something to them.”

  “Actually...” he said thoughtfully. “Maybe we should take the haven to them.”

  “What do you mean?” Paul asked.

  “Do you know where we could find enough food to feed an entire city for months?”

  “Where?”

  “In a city,” Darek replied with a wide smile. “What if we move the fortress into one and completely empty it out? We can take every sack of grain, every horse, every man, woman, and child.”

  “Absolutely brilliant!” Alena said with a smile of her own.

  “Grathis will attack before we can move the fortress again,” the general asserted. “You can be sure of that.”

  “If we can move it again,” Myra added.

  “That's an extremely valid point,” Sarrac agreed. “This may be the last time we're able to move it.”

  “Every time may be the last time,” Alena pointed out. “We don't really know how this thing works.”

  “Which is why we have to be careful where we move it to,” the ogre replied.

  “Say we move it to the fairy well,” the ogress said, crossing her arms and gazing directly into his eyes, “wait a few days, and it charges up. Then we move it to the city and it never recharges again. All we'll have done is waste several days.”

  “You know,” he replied with a wink, “you're extremely attractive when you're annoyed.”

  “I'm not...” she began.

  “You are,” he interrupted with a chuckle. “Which is good, really, because you're usually annoyed.”

  “What I was going to say,” she replied, “was that I wasn't annoyed. However, under the circumstances...”

  “We're getting off topic,” Gregory pointed out. “The point is that we don't know how the fortress works. We can't be sure that whenever we move it, it won't be the last time we’re able to do so.”

  “Which is why we should leave it here,” Thaelen replied.

  “Or move it some place we know is safe,” Sarrac added.

  “That seems like a waste,” Paul replied, shaking his head. “I think we need to use it. The more people we can bring here, the better off everyone on Zanoth will eventually be.”

  “Say that we did move it to a city,” Gregory continued. “Are we going to have enough arms and armor to equip all the Warriors who live wherever-it-is?”

  “That won't be an issue,” Darek asserted. “We still have some equipment from the vault – other than that stuff that can only be taken by whoever is supposed to take it, I guess – not to mention everything else we've captured so far.”

  “Not everything,” Myra corrected. “Some of that equipment is too evil to be of any use to the living.”

  “Evil equipment?” Joey asked.

  “It's probably filled with unholy power or something,” Paul speculated. “Like that cursed sword you equipped that time.”

  “Oh, yeah!”

  “I told you not to do that until after you'd had it identified.”

  “It was just a game,” the wizard replied with a shrug. “Who would have imagined that it would teach me a lesson that would translate to real life?”

  “I know, right,” Paul chuckled.

  “Be that as it may,” Darek continued, “I'm sure we'll have what we need. Especially considering that we'll almost certainly find more in whatever city it is.”

  “Myra,” the general said, turning his gaze to her, “do you think that you and Nyssa...”

  “And Joey,” the wizard interjected.

  “And Joey,” the old man added with a smile, “might be able to determine whether we'll be able to keep moving the fortress?”

  “It's possible,” she speculated.

  “In that case,” he replied, “I think we should call it a night. We know what the situation is and we can all sleep on it. Tomorrow, I would appreciate it if the three of you would do your best to find out what you can while the rest of us begin the more mundane task of turning this place into a home.”

  Not only could all the companions see the sense in this, they were all more than ready to get some additional rest. Most of the band headed straight for the barracks. This was not true, however, of Joey or Paul, who made a beeline for the wooded grove where Nyssa's bed was currently residing. Myra had intended to join them, but the fairy asked her not to. As it turned out, she wanted the fair former lich to help her wait impatiently for the boys to finish their work.

  The friends carefully made the bed – pulling the sheets, blankets, pillows, etc, from the branches where they hung – before Joey cast the spell to shrink it.

  “I think it's smaller than it was last time,” Paul pointed out, reaching down to grab one end of the stately, but diminutive, piece of furniture.

  “It is,” Joey said, lifting the other end. “I've been working on scale.”

  “Seems like you're making progress.”

  “Not enough,” he sighed. “But, I reckon I'll get it eventually.”

  “I wish you luck.”

  “I appreciate that.”

  Just minutes later, the pair made their way into the barracks.

  “It took you long enough!” Nyssa almost snapped, flying over to inspect her furniture.

  “Sorry about that,” Joey sighed. “I guess the fact that we're exhausted slowed us down a little.”

  “Don't worry about it,” she said, fluttering up to his face with a wide – and lovely – smile. “I really appreciate it. Plus, of course, I love being impatient. I don't get to do it all that often because I'm almost never waiting on anything because I don't know what we're going to be doing next. Oh, and Myra was a great help. She must have asked ‘What's keeping them?!’ at least a thousand times.”

  “Not a thousand,” the maiden corrected, offering the paladin a coy smile, “and, she asked me to say it.”

  “Of course, I did,” the fairy laughed. “It's the kind of thing anyone might overlook doing and I didn't want the boys to think that you'd been thoughtless. Set it down here, you two.”

  As she said this, she pointed to a spot on the floor requiring the pair to move six other beds to accommodate the new piece of furniture.

  “Sure,” Paul sighed, “why not.”

  At last, the bed was where the fairy wanted it. Joey then restored it to its normal size. After which, the companions climbed into their respective beds, where they quickly fell asleep.

  Late the following morning, each of the band ate a meager and measured breakfast before getting to work. Myra, Nyssa, and Joey began studying the control panel in the throne room while the remaining companions turned their attention to the infrastructure of the fortress itself.

  Days earlier, General Halfar had ordered that the entire grounds of the fortress be mapped. The walls that surrounded it encompass
ed a few thousand acres of rich, fertile land. Although it certainly wouldn't be enough to save all of Zanoth, it would be more than sufficient to feed a few thousand souls. All it needed was to be prepared and planted. To expedite this, of course, they would need plows and horses – both of which would be readily available in whatever city they selected.

  After a brief discussion, the general and his advisers decided that, for the moment, the best use of their time would be clearing out the small village that sat – half-buried in verdure – near the shrine. Captain Thaelen assembled nearly two hundred of the men, collected every ax they could find and set out – along with those members of the party who weren't currently wrapped in research.

  Just hours later, the group had uncovered a blacksmith's shop, a stable, a granary, and what appeared to be a two-story inn. They had no way of knowing how long these structures had remained deserted, but the growth that covered them seemed to indicate that it had been many, many years. Miraculously, all of these buildings were not only intact, they appeared to be perfectly sound.

  This was a blessing the general had not anticipated. Although the shrine had managed to resist the effects of time rather well, it was constructed of stone; whereas the other buildings of the hamlet had been built mainly of wood. Adding to the delight of this discovery, Darek made yet another. Not only was the inn supplied with dishes and cutlery, it also contained a cellar filled with bottles of perfectly aged wine.

  Around noon, the band stopped for a few minutes of rest. Paul immediately set out for the throne room, where he hoped to find Myra studying away. Instead, he encountered her, Nyssa, and Joey heading toward the village. The former lich quickly informed him that they believed the fortress would continue to recharge every five days or so for – possibly – the rest of time. He asked what made them believe this and they filled the remainder of the distance between them and the hamlet with excruciating details that sounded like complete and utter gibberish to Paul. As a result, he did what he always did in situations like that. He smiled and nodded a lot.

  “You're certain?” General Halfar asked as soon as Myra had conveyed their message.

  “Very,” she replied. “The fortress itself seems permeated with arcane power. The runes actually draw it from the surrounding area.”

  “In that case,” Darek said, “we need to move it as soon as we can. If we're going to try to farm this place properly – not to mention defeat the undead – we're going to need far more people working with us than we have now.”

  “Which city should we target?” Paul asked. “Kafmara?”

  “No,” Thaelen replied, shaking his head. “That would be a bad idea. First, all the Warriors from Kafmara are with us already. Then, there's the fact that the garrison has been considerably increased since the last time we were there. On top of which, we basically plundered it just weeks ago.”

  “All valid points,” the paladin ceded. “So, where to?”

  “Caldorn,” Alena suggested.

  “I don't think we're ready to attack Grathis's capital yet,” Darek chuckled. “We should start with a place a little smaller than Kafmara, but with relatively good defenses.”

  “Gillsfen, maybe,” Sarrac said thoughtfully. “It seems about the right size to me and it has two walls surrounding it because it's close to the border.”

  “That would do,” Darek nodded.

  “We'll need to scry on the city to find out where we want to put the gateway,” Myra pointed out.

  “We will,” Nyssa nodded. “Fortunately, that won't take us long.”

  The beautiful fairy enlisted the help of both Joey and Darek. The one collected water from the fountain, the other fetched a bowl from the inn. While this was being attended to, she caused several wild flowers to bloom and collected their blossoms. The bowl was placed on the ground and filled with liquid before Nyssa floated the flowers on its surface.

  This done, she chanted out a spell with her melodious voice. As she brought it to an end, the water turned pitch black.

  “Are we scrying in a cellar or something?” Joey asked.

  “Shhh,” the fairy replied before beginning to chant again.

  As she did this, the water in the bowl began to ripple and swirl. Nothing else changed, however.

  “Something's wrong,” she said, lifting her tiny hand to rub her miniscule forehead. “We should be seeing Gillsfen. In fact, we should have a really good view of it from above. I was aiming for the route I took the last time I flew over it.”

  “Just try a different location,” Myra suggested.

  “Alright,” the fairy said, gazing intently at the bowl.

  For almost a minute, nothing happened. Suddenly, an image of green fields and stately trees suddenly appeared on the surface of the water.

  “What are we looking at?” Darek asked softly.

  “An area just outside the city.”

  “Why there?”

  “I'm just looking around,” she explained.

  A moment later, the image once again went dark. The fairy waved her hand over the bowl, bringing her spell to an end.

  “The city must be protected from scrying magic,” she asserted.

  “Why would that be the case?” Alena asked.

  “Actually,” Joey interjected, “I think a better question would be: why aren't all cities always protected from scrying magic?”

  “What?” the fairy giggled.

  “It seems to me,” he explained, “that it would be a really good idea to keep your enemies from being able to magically search through your cities and strongholds.”

  “Oh, right,” she smiled. “You're still learning. Like a child. A big, awkward, sometimes thoughtless, although very attractive...”

  “There are several deciding factors, Joey,” Myra interrupted. “The first is a matter of scale. The larger the area you shield from scrying, the more power it takes. Then, of course, permanent anti-scrying artifacts are rather difficult to make.”

  “Even for fairies,” Nyssa added.

  “Meaning,” she continued, “in most cases, you have to keep refreshing the spells to maintain them. Couple that with the fact that all of the undead have access to spies like falauk and there's usually not much point in doing it.”

  “What about anti-teleportation magic?” he asked.

  “It's similar,” she replied. “Although, you can create temporary runes to protect a place for much longer periods of time that you can prevent scrying. During times of war, it’s often worth the effort. Although, I can't think of an instance of anyone shielding an entire city. I'm relatively powerful and the largest group I've ever transported was when I teleported the six of us into the Tower of Daelfaun. And, I had enchanted my room to expedite my doing something like that years before. Lord Telraen simply didn't realize it.”

  “I guess that makes sense, then,” Joey nodded.

  “No one's ever been able to teleport an army of hundreds before,” Darek said with a smile. “Which is why the undead have no idea what's hit them.”

  “They may be beginning to figure it out,” Sarrac speculated. “There's a reason Gillsfen is shielded from scrying.”

  “Maybe,” Alena said, “but, it could be a coincidence. Try another city, Nyssa.”

  Immediately, the fairy began chanting again.

  “Nothing,” she sighed, gazing down at the dark water. “This should be Kafmara.”

  “I wonder...” Myra said thoughtfully.

  “Wonder what?” Paul asked.

  “If Grathis has shielded all his cities from scrying,” she replied, “it's possible that he may have shielded them from teleportation magic, as well. All of his strongholds – like the Tower of Daelfaun or Kal Tammon – are always protected because small groups getting inside can do things like drop drawbridges or raise portcullises.”

  “Like we did,” Alena added.

  “Exactly,” Myra nodded. “Normally, though, only certain areas of a city would be shielded – like the prison, areas of the wall
s, gates, you get the idea. However, by this time, Grathis has to realize that we've come up with a way of teleporting an entire army. Or, at the very least, he suspects that we can. That being the case, he may very well have gone to the effort to completely protect each of his cities.”

  “How will we be able to tell?” Alena asked.

  “Try to move the fortress into one,” Myra replied. “If we can't, we can safely assume it's shielded.”

  “If we can't scry,” Joey said, “how are we going to select our coordinates?”

  “That's a good point,” Myra replied with a sigh. “We may as well take a look for ourselves. Once we get there, we’ll be able to tell if the city's protected or not.”

  “It'll take us more than a week to get to Gillsfen,” Darek asserted.

  “We could reach Parmoor in four days or so,” Sarrac pointed out. “It's about the same size.”

  “It doesn't have double walls,” Darek said, shaking his head.

  “No,” the ogre agreed, “but it has a moat around it.”

  “That's true,” Darek replied. “It's probably six of one, half a dozen of the other, really. Do we know who leads the Warriors in Parmoor?”

  “We do,” General Halfar asserted. “At least, I did. It's a man named Rex Shane. I haven't spoken to him in two years or so. Even if something's happened to him, you could make some discrete inquiries at his inn, The Long Night. More than likely, you'll be able to find a lead on the Warriors there.”

  “Isn't there some way we could work around the anti-scrying magic?” Joey asked.

  “Probably,” Myra admitted. “Although, even with the three of us working on it, it would probably take days. Then, if it turns out that the city is shielded, we'll still have to try to get a capture stone from it or something like that in order to find a way to teleport in. So, all things considered, I don't see any reason to take the time.”

  “Nor do I,” Alena agreed. “Who knows how long we have before Grathis heads back this way. We should give him something else to distract him before he can lay siege to Kal Tammon again.”

  Before they came to a firm decision, Nyssa scried on the lands surrounding the stronghold they held. For the moment, Grathis's armies didn't seem to be in the immediate region. This determined, the companions began preparing for the journey. Fortunately, there were still enough horses available for each of them to have a mount. As the others were packing up supplies for the journey, the former lich turned her attention to something else entirely.