Dark Quest (27 page)

“Your Majesty,” spoke Jenneva, “what if I could make contact with your people in the other Universe? Is there some way or something that I could convey to you from this other Universe to convince you that it exists?”

“You plan to go to this other Universe?” asked the King. How do you plan to get there?”

“Unfortunately, Your Highness, I know very little of these matters. I hope to find the Book of the Beginning. This tome contains knowledge, I believe, that will shed light on these other Universes. I have trapped an evil sorcerer in one of them and I must understand how travel between them is accomplished. I think your people achieved this by accident. I would like to search your records to find out how. I also think the elves are not of this Universe. We intend to speak with King Gondoral to find out how they came to dwell here. Perhaps, if we can gather enough information, we may be able to access the other Universes. If that is possible, I will go and it would be a pleasure if I might find some dwarves on the other side.”

“I’m not sure that I can buy into these theories,” retorted King Tugar. “I will allow Egam and yourself access to our records. Doryelgar will guide you through our library. If you find the answers to your questions, then will I listen more to what you have to say.”

King Tugar dismissed them and Doryelgar led the way through the dark, musty passages to the library. “You must understand King Tugar’s position,” the dwarf magician said. “You walk into his chamber and seek to disavow thousands of years of history. I think if it was not for the great regard he holds for you, Egam, you would have been shown the way out of the caverns at your first mention of The Suffering. I would like to believe that our people have remained safe throughout the years, but while your theory is interesting, I also require more than just words to convince me.”

“That is understandable,” replied Egam. “These theories fly in the face of all established thought, yet many things that we have learned over the years could easily have been dismissed in a similar fashion. Let us resolve to work together to prove or disprove the theory. Only then can we be sure.”

“Yes,” interrupted Jenneva, “let us see if your records can direct us to an opening to another Universe. If not, we shall try the records of Glendor.”

“I think we should research Glendor in any event,” stated Egam. “The more information we have when we attempt the transition, the better. Let us begin our search.”

Lieutenant Jaynes rode swiftly through the dense forest, ducking low branches as his horse swerved around trees. Soon he reached the Ranger encampment and dismounted his great steed. “Alex, we spotted another group of Black Devils heading northwest. I’ve got Sergeant Witzak and a Corporal trailing them.”

“Good, David,” Captain Alexander Tork replied. “Randi is a good man for the task. This time we will not attack them, but let them lead us to their lair. It goes against my grain to let these murderers live even one extra day, but we must find their hideout and kill them all.”

“We should wait and let all of these traveling groups arrive, then.”

“Yes, we will wait. We have to wait for the return of Egam and Jenneva anyway, but if they start to move out of their stronghold, the waiting will be over whether our magicians have arrived or not.”

“Okay, Alex, but I’m going to take a squad of men and track Sergeant Witzak just in case they are spotted and a fight breaks out.”

“A sound plan, David. Take no more than twenty men. I’ll form the rest of the column and stay a ways behind you.”

“I think I’ve found it, Aurora,” exclaimed Dalgar. “Look at this!”

Aurora rolled off the bed and rubbed her eyes. She looked over at Dalgar who was sitting at a small desk near the window. They had been taking turns going through the Book of the Beginning for several days. “What have you found?” she asked.

“It refers to something called a Junction,” Dalgar declared. “Universes are connected through Junctions.”

“Then that means there are already other Universes?”

“Yes, there must be,” reasoned Dalgar. “If Sarac is merely in another Universe as we discussed last night, then all we have to do is find the Junction for that Universe.”

“Do you mean, we just walk through this Junction and call out for Sarac?” she questioned. “Perhaps we just walk up to him and introduce ourselves and ask him to follow us back through the Junction.”

“I see what you’re getting at,” he reasoned. “Even if we find the Junction, we have no idea where in that Universe Sarac may be.”

“Or what other creatures may be there,” Aurora added.

“We can deal with creatures,” retorted Dalgar. “It is Mordac that I worry about. If we tell him what we know, he will find Sarac and take all of the credit. We will be pushed back down into the ranks of the other Black Devils, but if we don’t tell him and go ahead and bring Sarac back, Mordac will conspire to kill us so that Sarac doesn’t elevate us over him.”

“I know how to handle Mordac,” she claimed. “What we need to know is how to find these Junctions. Without knowing where the Junctions are, our knowledge of them is worthless.”

“Finding the Junctions will not be a problem,” stated Dalgar. “There is a spell in the Book of the Beginning that allows you see the Junction. It has to be in your visual range, but we can search until we find the right location.”

Dalgar stood and went to the doorway and looked out into the corridor. Satisfied that no one was around, he returned to the bed and sat down. “I shudder to think of how you might get rid of Mordac, but let’s keep in mind that if it goes wrong, we will both be in mortal danger.”

Aurora barked out a cold, cruel laugh. “It can’t possibly go wrong on us,” she asserted. “First, we will give the Book of the Beginning to Mordac and we will be his heroes for a short time until he figures out that he should get rid of us. Then we will talk him into giving us a few days off for our good work. We will use that time to go to the garrison at Tor and inform them that we know where the assassin of King Eugene is hiding. The Army will do our work for us.”

“Aurora,” cackled Dalgar, “you are a cruel and devious opponent. What about all of the Black Devils, though? The Army will surely kill them all.”

“Yes,” smiled Aurora, “they will, won’t they. Of course, Sarac would have no choice but to make us his Assistants, wouldn't he?”

Dalgar stood and retrieved the Book of the Beginning from the small desk. “Come, we must show our Master what a great discovery we have found.”

The two devious magicians jubilantly bounced down the stairs of the castle and into Mordac’s study.

“Master, we have wonderful news,” exclaimed Dalgar. “We have found the Book of the Beginning. Look, here it is.”

Mordac quickly rose from his chair and crossed the room. He grabbed the Book of the Beginning from Dalgar’s hand and carried it to a table by the window and sat down. Furiously, he paged through the book and then finally stood again. “You have done well, Dalgar, and, of course, you too, Aurora. I knew the two of you showed promise. At last we have the means of bringing the God of Magic back to us.”

“Can we help you, Master?” asked Aurora. “Perhaps we can be of assistance in ferreting out the secrets contained in the Book of the Beginning?”

Dalgar gave Aurora a quizzical look and then noticed the dark frown shading Mordac face and understood.

Mordac stared at his two assistants. “No,” he said, “that will not be necessary. You two have already done more than your share. In fact, why don’t the two of you take a few days off and enjoy yourselves. Soon we will have to proceed on a small trip and you should be rested. I am sure that I can handle finding the proper information on my own.”

“As you wish, Master,” Aurora said. She grabbed Dalgar’s hand and led him out of the building.

“Aurora,” Dalgar whispered, “remind me never to cross you. Your mind works in a very strange and efficient manner.”

The young magicians both laughed and headed down the road towards Tor.

Sarac gazed out the window from his study, surveying his new estate. All that he saw and everything beyond was his and his alone. Green forests stretching away to the horizons, lines of mountain peaks beyond the forests, everything was his. The thought brought him no solace, for he had no books.

His attention was drawn by a ruckus in the courtyard below where the workers were building another wing onto the castle. Two carts had met on the narrow path to the construction site and neither worker would yield nor back up. One of the workers picked up his empty cart and hurled it at the other worker. The cart smashed against the wall of the castle and fell to the ground, broken. The two workers started towards each other, pure hatred in their beady eyes. Sarac leaned out of the window and hurled a fireball at the empty cart that lay broken on the path. The two startled workers leapt back from the flames and looked up at the window.

“Work!” shouted Sarac. The two ogres gave a slight bow and lumbered off to complete their tasks. Sarac sat back down in his chair and felt it wobble, one leg being shorter than the others. He picked the chair up and hurled it through the door into the corridor and watched it smash to pieces on the floor.

Sarac’s Aide came running into the room. “Master, is there a problem?”

Sarac turned around, fury in his eyes, and raised his hand at the cowering aide. Slowly, Sarac fought for control of his emotions and slowly lowered his hand. “Yes, Lattimer, there is a problem. More than one, actually. I would ask you to sit, but we don’t have any chairs left. Can’t these morons build a simple chair? One with all of the legs the same length? is that too much to ask?”

Lattimer turned to look at the broken chair and saw the timid crowd in the corridor. “Bring the Master a new chair,” he ordered. “Bring two chairs and get that mess in the hall cleaned up.”

Lattimer knew he had just moments to calm Sarac down before his temper ignited something else. “Master, the ogres are ignorant savages. They have no knowledge of the finer things in life.”

“Finer things?” scowled Sarac. “They have no concepts at all. I have never seen woodworking so primitive. Even the castle walls are crooked and their eating habits are grotesque.”

Lattimer thought back to their first year in the land. At first, they hadn’t even been aware of the ogres that dwelt in the mountains, until some of the Black Devils started to disappear. He remembered his horror at seeing these giant beasts fighting over the carcass of one of his friends. He pictured their horribly sharp teeth set in their squared-off mouths tearing into the human’s flesh. “Yes, that is a problem, but they seem unable to comprehend the concept of eating utensils. At least, they are not eating us anymore.”

Sarac smirked. “They dare not try anything like that again, now that they have found their god, for I will smite them down if they defy my law. What ignorant fools! One hundred thousand of them and less than one hundred of us and they do all the work. How are we progressing with their speech?”

“The leader, Urk, is doing fairly well,” answered Lattimer. “A couple of dozen others are also doing well, but most of the remainder are near hopeless. It is worse than trying to teach children. One of them gets a word right and a fight breaks out. I have started the men teaching them one at a time and that seems to work better.”

Two Black Devils entered the room and set down chairs for Sarac and Lattimer. Without looking at their leader or his aide, they scurried out of the room. Sarac tested his chair and was satisfied when it didn’t rock. Lattimer smiled when he saw the fresh cut marks on one of the legs and realized that his men had made sure the chair was level.

“Has there been anything at all that resembles a book?” asked Sarac.

“No,” answered Lattimer. “The ogres have no notion of writing and we have found no other intelligent life anywhere.” Lattimer thought back to his days spent in Targa, reading and studying. It seemed so long ago and such a foreign, abstract thought in this land. “Master, do you think we will ever find the way back?”

Sarac seemed distracted by the question and appeared to gaze right through his Aide. “Yes, Lattimer, we will return to Targa and when we do, we will rule it and everything else. We have one hundred thousand warriors that will return with us and eat our enemies after they have crushed them. All of our enemies except for one. I want the pleasure of dealing with her myself. Jenneva will join Egam and Kirsta in death, but her death will be much slower and much more painful. You will want to be there, Lattimer. It will be a very pleasurable sight to behold.”

“What of our brothers in Targa, won’t they be spared?”

“Oh, certainly. Actually, we need to keep quite a few people alive when we attack. Someone has to perform the tasks that these moronic ogres cannot. Besides, I imagine not too many of the one hundred thousand ogres will survive. Perhaps just enough for a small army to keep the people in line.”

Sarac gazed out the window again at the huge ogres building his castle. They were fierce warriors and he knew it would take more than the slash of a sword to fell one. One hundred thousand of them may equal a quarter of a million soldiers back on Targa. Nothing on the entire continent could stand up to his army, but first he had to find a way back and there was something about that thought that bothered him.

“Lattimer, did you have some of our men retrace our steps of the first year?”

“Yes, Master, several times. I admit that I don’t understand what you were looking for. It might help me if I knew what I was supposed to find.”

“Nothing, Lattimer, you were supposed to find nothing. I have been trying to piece together how we ended up here in the land of the ogres. I suspect during the battle, Jenneva realized that she could not beat me and cast a spell that I have never seen. Obviously, it didn’t kill us because nothing she knows could penetrate my shields, so she must have transported us somewhere.”

“But how could she have done that, Master? What spell could she have known that you did not?”

“Jenneva is a very clever witch, Lattimer. She fooled me into thinking Egam was dead and Kirsta, too. What she disclosed, though, was that she knew both of them before she came to my castle. I long believed that Kirsta had found the Origin Scroll and was afraid to turn it over to me. She never did have a liking for the Dark Side. It was her weak spot and why she died. Jenneva was not shocked when I mentioned the Origin Scroll, in fact, she led me to believe that she had seen it.”