Cafer and Alaron descended into the strange grayish light of the cavern. Although this was not the same set of tunnels as Gandr had destroyed ten years prior, it had a similar structure. The spaces were wide and tall. It seemed the gnomes either had not learned or were too prideful to adapt.
"The ceiling is so high! It is almost like being outside," the prince observed.
"Minus the sun, flowers, and open air," Cafer replied bitterly. He was already unhappy to be home. Four soldier gnomes came to meet them as they reached the end of the first hall.
"We are here to escort the prisoner to the king," one of them said in human-speak.
Alaron took a step back. He had not expected that kind of welcome. Cafer bristled, "You are mistaken. Prince Alaron has come to meet King Baak to talk of an alliance. You will treat him as an esteemed guest not some lowly prisoner. Now apologize!" he boomed.
The guard was taken aback. "Sorry, Prince Alaron. May I...escort...
"Kill them!" Baak commanded.Alaron froze. Had he heard correctly? The prince moved his hand to his sword as he continued to bow. He heard the ringing of steel as the gnome soldiers drew their weapons. The boy had no idea if he could defeat them all, but he would not go down without a fight.Cafer, on the other hand, pretended to be amused. "You are quite humorous, my king. You are far too wise to go around killing your faithful subjects like this." The crafty gnome straightened his back and gave the Baak a warm smile.Alaron picked up on the game. He also lifted his head and beamed a grin on the gnome king. "You had not told me that the King enjoyed jokes, Cafer. I would have come prepared with my own riddles."Baak raised his hand and the guards sheathed their swords. He gave a booming laugh. "You have a lot of nerve, Cafer. I will give you that. I would have much preferred to have you beg."Cafer dipped his head again. "I may yet have to do just that, my king. May I introduce Princ
Finding the throne room was not as easy as Alaron had thought. The Castle Valiant was an intricate pattern of rooms, but the prince had grown up knowing how to navigate it. These caverns were a mix of natural and gnome-made. They were unpredictable. Add to this the fact that he had no bearings because he was underground, and Alaron was utterly lost.His nose caught the scent of food, and his stomach growled. If the prince was lost anyway, he may as well not starve. But then Alaron remembered that the real Lukoss was heading to the royal kitchen. If this were the same place, that could be a problem. "If it happens, I will deal with it," the boy muttered.Quietly, Alaron crept into the large cavernous kitchen. There were trays of food on the counters that a dozen beautiful ladies were preparing and plating. Alaron stuffed some of the contents of one of the plates in his mouth. They were so delicious that the boy groaned. One of the ladies looked his way, but seeing that he appeared to b
The ground pushed and prodded Alaron. He was being pulled at a rapid pace. Before when he had been traveling with Cafer underground, he had not been afraid. But by himself in the ever-shifting darkness, he was terrified. Add to that the fact that his back still felt raw from earlier, and Alaron was screaming at the top of his lungs. After a steep descent, the earth around him began to push the prince upwards.Without warning, Alaron was thrust into a cavern. A hand slapped across the boy's mouth to silence him as another grabbed at his wrist to remove the Semblance Stone. The force used on him was great. It was only when Alaron realized that Cafer was the one holding him that he finally relaxed. The prince wriggled from the firm grip."You!" Alaron yelled. Like lightning, Cafer's hand flew back to the prince's mouth."You fool!" he hissed. There was a fire in his eyes that made the boy unconsciously shiver. Cafer hoisted the boy up by one arm and brought him back to the gnome's privat
Zan walked into the Empress's personal garden. "There you are, Your Majesty!" he said with a deep bow. "The entire Palace is looking for you."Aurora, Brinn and Mairwen were surprised by his sudden entry. His skills as a Guardian made him unnervingly undetectable. "Is something wrong?" The Empress asked with her brow furrowed.Zan did not answer right away. He ghosted away to call off the search. The three ladies exchanged glances. They had told Nurlan and Eira that they did not want to be found. It seemed that the two had done too good a job of 'losing' them. "My apologies," Zan said as he materialized once more. "It occurs to me that I am disturbing you."Aurora waved her hand to call him near. "You are most welcome, Cheif Zan. What have you come to say?""Two things, Your Majesty. The first being that we have rounded up the last of the names that Duchess Ravenna was persuaded to give us." The Chief shifted uncomfortably."Unfortunately for every traitor we catch, two more seem to s
Devrim, Junayd and Gandr crested the final hill and caught sight of the large lake. "I really did not think I would see this place again," the Emperor whispered with a sigh.The group had had few hiccups since their run-in with Ravenna's troops, but now they were approaching the real test. Gandr had tried using his earth magic to speed them along, but it had startled the horses. One of the steeds actually bolted, costing them precious time. In the end, Gandr's wind magic proved the best solution to give them the extra push they needed to get to this point."Do we cross or go around?" Gandr asked, indicating the large body of water. This had been the great debate for the last day and a half."You said yourself that going around will take at least an extra day. That is time we cannot afford to lose," Devrim stated."But we will also need the horses to go back home. They will not be able to cross the lake and we cannot just leave them and hope we find them later," Junayd pointed out."Th
"I would be happy to provide passage," Polymedes gulped. "My boat is always available."Devrim narrowed his gaze. "Do you perchance know how the eagle carries passengers across the lake?"The faun nodded slowly. "I do, actually. But she is busy with her hatchlings today. I cannot call her just now.""Polymedes!" Phoca was angry. She did not know that he was the source of the carrier eagles. Their interactions had always been at the dock."I am sorry, my lady," Polymedes apologized. "But I do have many businesses. A faun has got to eat.""Then we must go by boat: is that what you are saying?" Devrim asked for clarification."It is, good sir, but I promise my boats never sink. You will be quite safe," the faun swore with his hand in the air."I know we will be, because you are coming with us," Devrim gave a mischievous grin. The faun's eyes nearly popped out of his head."N-no. I must watch the dock in case I have other customers in need of passage." Polymedes took several steps away, h
For the third day in a row, Cafer brought Alaron above ground into the land of magic. He told the other gnomes it was to make sure the boy was safe, but really, Cafer found being in his cave to be more and more suffocating. The former councilman also did not think it a good idea to leave the prince in the company of the gnomes for too long. The abrasive personality of gnomes made Alaron nearly lose his temper with each interaction. Cafer was walking a very fine line.Today they ambled through a field that was close--but not too close-- to the elves' land. "A rabbit with horns!" Alaron exclaimed. He used a magic spell to pin the creature so he could get a closer look."It is a jackalope," Cafer informed him as they walked over to it. "And you should probably let it go." The gnome flicked his gaze around the field. These creatures could travel in packs, and the thought of a hundred small, horned creatures running at him was undesirable.Alaron touched the creature gently. Its fur was so
Having made it to the shore nearest the gnome's entrance, Devrim and Gandr carefully slunk until they could find a spot to watch the entrance to the cave unobserved. The first hours were uneventful. Finally the two got comfortable enough that they began to whisper."How well do you know those tunnels?" Devrim asked."I have been through most of them. But it has been eight years since I last set foot in those halls." Gandr's voice was tinged with sadness."Is that where you were between our run-in with Cafer and you deciding to join spymaster Brinn?" Devrim had always been curious, but Gandr only ever responded that he was righting some wrongs.The halfling gave a brief nod. "I freed as many of their slaves as would leave, and spent time looking for an elf that I left behind in the dungeon. I never found her. I hope she escaped on her own, but..." his voice trailed off."You cannot be sure," Devrim finished the thought. He patted the halfling on the arm. "Not knowing is even worse than