The Unwilling Ambassador (Book 3) (6 page)

Ned and Canto led the way through the city to the square with the stone. A few streets away Fred didn't lift his foot high enough and he tripped over the handle of a broken cart. He tumbled to the ground and his skin nearly slid over his head. The undead around them, which numbered in the dozens, stopped and stared at him. Ned hurried to the boy and helped him up. "Keep quiet and watch your feet," Ned whispered to him.

Fred nodded and they hurried faster through the streets. A few of the undead followed them and others joined, and before long they had a train of two dozen at their backs. Pat and Canto were alarmed at the swiftness of the monsters, but Ned faced forward and kept their pace to a brisk stride. They reached the street just before the square, and the entrance to the stone was blocked by another dozen undead. They were lined up like a decaying wall, and their dead eyes locked on the six companions. Ned turned left and right, but more undead shuffled down those streets toward them. They were trapped, and as their minds buzzed for escape plans a column of light shot from the stone. An army of undead broke out of the beam and landed behind those who guarded the entrance to the square.

Pat whipped her head over to Ned and glared at him. "As smart as rocks, huh?" she hissed.

He shrugged. "It seems I was mistaken," he whispered back.

Canto pulled his ax from under his skin and set his mouth in a firm line. "Wrong or not, here they come!"

The undead roared and jumped at the companions. The humans tossed aside their cover and aimed their weapons at their adversaries. Pat and Percy fought with swords while Sins used his sharp dagger to slice the heads off the undead. Canto swung his ax and chopped off limbs and heads. Any creature still squirming was put to dust by a swift kick of his powerful feet that disconnected the head from the neck.

Ned blasted his fireballs over a wide swath of the surrounding area and lit two dozen of the monsters on fire. They were consumed by the flames and dropped to dust. Fred transformed his stick, but couldn't think of any impressive moves to perform. He had his earthquake ability, but that would have leveled what remained of the city. He yelped and knocked aside the outstretched hands of the undead. They leapt and crawled over each other to get at the young man, and Fred dodged and rolled into the open door of a nearby house. He blocked the entrance with the remains of the door as the undead tried to push their way in through the narrow doorway.

Fred glanced madly around the room and spotted a doll lying on a bed in the corner. His eyes lit up with an idea, and he jumped back from the door. The undead burst inside and Fred prayed for a miracle as he pointed his staff at the creatures. A brilliant white light burst from the end and lit up the small room. Fred was blinded for a moment, and when he could see again his eyes fell on what remained of the undead creatures. They'd been turned into living-undead dolls with straw hair and cloth skin, and they were only a foot tall. He'd meant to turn them into the skins like Ned had, but this worked almost as well. The creatures still raced at him, but he had the upper foot and danced on them. He smashed their stuffing heads and they turned into dust.

With his doll enemies defeated, Fred stuck his head out of the building and saw his friends losing. Ned lifted his staff and captured them in a protective bubble, but like the episode in the valley the undead pounded away and weakened the barrier. Fred and Sins were the only ones outside the barrier, and the assassin raced over to the young man. With the undead distracted by the barrier, Sins dragged Fred through the open entrance to the square. "What are you doing?" Fred exclaimed. He tried to pull himself free and return to his friends. "We have go to help them!"

"You can help them by using this." Sins shoved something into Fred's hands.

Fred looked down and realized he held the box with the coconut halves. "How did you get this?" Undead burst from the column in defense of the stone and several more came up behind them.

Sins jumped into a group of undead and severed their heads. More replaced them, and soon they were surrounded. "Just use them!" Sins yelled. Fred yanked open the lid and clutched the two halves in his hands. He clopped them together, and nothing happened. "You have to get closer," Sins told him.

"How?" Fred countered.

"Hold on to the coconuts," Sins replied.

Fred yelped when Sins grabbed the young man by his right arm and leg. The assassin swung Fred in a circle and lifted him off the ground. When Fred caught enough momentum Sins released him, and the boy flew over the eager hands of the undead to smack face-first into the rock. His arms wrapped around the stone, and his hands still held the coconuts so that they slammed into either side of the glowing rock.

Their clopping sound resonated through the stone and cracks opened beneath the coconuts. The two halves of the fruit slipped into the growing cracks, and Fred let go before his hands joined them. He fell back onto his ass and scurried away from the stone as the earth beneath them began to shake. The column of light fell into itself and, like at Tramadore, the undead were sucked into the sky and reabsorbed into the stone. At the final implosion the stone broke into thousands of small fragments that scattered over the entire countryside.

Ned let down his barrier and they all raced over to Fred and Sins. Percy hung back for a moment to catch up a sample of the stone, but he joined them beside the crater in the ground where the large rock had stood. Pat dropped to Fred's side and looked him over. "Are you okay?" she worriedly asked him.

He gasped for breath and glared up at Sins. "Mind warning me before you do that?" he wheezed.

"There wasn't time," Sins said as a matter-of-fact.

Percy pattered his assassin on the shoulder and smiled at him. "I'd say that was good teamwork," he complimented them both.

"Aye, even Ah'll admit that was a job well done," Canto spoke up. He looked less suspiciously at Sins, and then at the remains of the rock. "That's two stones down, four more to go," he cheerfully announced.

CHAPTER 7

The companions had good news to tell the gargoyles when the creatures awakened that night. Sampson was glad to hear all had gone well, and it was agreed the gargoyles would return to Tramadore that night to spread the news of victory to Tramadore and the Galaron refugees. Before he left he pulled his daughter aside. "I understand you stayed by our side while we slept," he told her. She blushed and nodded, but was surprised when he frowned. "That was very unwise. Your friends are your clan now, and they need all the help you can offer."

"But I was human and have no magic," Ruth pointed out. "What could I have done?"

"Pat and the male boy are human, and still they fought," he countered. "You must not be afraid to fight with a human weapon, and with this." He tapped her forehead. "In your human form that will be your best weapon." Ruth lowered her head in shame, and he clasped her chin and raised her eyes to his smiling ones. "But I am proud of you, and I wish you a safe journey. Come back to me safely, daughter."

Ruth smiled and hugged him. They soon parted and the gargoyles carried their good message back to Tramadore. That left the seven companions with their steeds around the crackling fire. Ned stretched himself out. "It's better to see less of a crowd. Not much of an adventure with a large group of gargoyles to guard us," he told his companions.

Canto rolled his eyes and poked at the fire. "We should be thinking of what to do next. There's the road below here we could follow to head north," he suggested. "Tramadore heard there was a troublesome stone in Dirth."

"The city or the region?" Pat asked him.

"Both," was the reply. "Ah imagine the fools in the city have tried everything they can to break the stone apart," Canto told them.

"I've heard differently," Ned quietly replied.

Canto raised an eyebrow. "And what have ya heard?"

"That there's trouble between the dwarves and their Helpers," Ned answered. "The Helpers could be keeping the dwarfs from a peaceful night's sleep, much less cracking the stone."

Canto scoffed. "What trouble could those things cause?"

Ned chuckled. "Quite a bit, by the news I heard some months back. The dwarves are without lights during the night except that from their forges because the Helpers refuse to light their houses, but come bedtime the dwarven rooms are lit up as bright as day. The whole city of Dirth is in a state of insomnia."

"Has the entire dwarven race become soft? Why haven't they put the Helpers back in their place?" Canto asked him.

"What are Helpers?" Ruth interrupted. Fred and Pat were also eager to hear an explanation.

"Relatively useless orbs but for the light they emit," Canto replied.

Ned chuckled and turned to Ruth. "The Helpers of the dwarves are known as will-o-the-wisps by other races. They call themselves Stars-"

"Humph, nothing but lights for dwarves," Canto insisted.

Ned scowled at him and continued. "They put off a strong, soft glow from their bodies, and in the wilder parts of the world they're placed in jars and used as lanterns."

"And fed for their services," Canto added.

"Are you quite finished?" Ned asked him. Canto grumbled and then silenced himself. "For the dwarves, they are used as lanterns and to light their forges. No flame stays alive as long or as hot as one lit by a Star."

"So what are they griping about now?" Canto asked him. "Better food and treatment? That's their usual demands."

"I hadn't heard what the problems were about, but the stone will complicate any bad blood in the area as it did in Galaron," Ned replied. "The people were consumed by Canavar's influence while that rock stood in the city, and I hope to see Galaron rebuilt with a rosier disposition."

"Are you saying these stones affect the surrounding people?" Pat spoke up.

Ned nodded. "I am. They have a very old and powerful magic, and Canavar's dark character seeps from them because of his calling and using them. It won't help the feud between the dwarves and Stars."

"Helpers," Canto corrected him.

"Stars," Ned countered.

"Helpers."

"Stars."

Pat held up her hands. "Call them what you wish, we will all know what you're talking about," she suggested.

Ned coughed into his fist. "Yes, well, as I was saying, the stone will be a nuisance-"

"-like those Helpers," Canto grumbled.

"-and we will have to be our most diplomatic if we're to find the ancient item and destroy the stone," Ned finished.

"Doesn't that book give you some clue to its whereabouts?" Percy asked him.

Ned pulled the book from his cloak and opened it. "It only says the items were hidden near the center of each region. Fortunately that was always near a settlement or city, and we may rely on legends and stories to lead us to the treasures."

"Does it say what they look like? It would help to know what we're searching for," Percy added.

Ned closed the book and shook his head. "No, only that each item resonates with the stone of its region."

"That's not much to go on," Canto grumbled.

"Then we had better get some rest so we're well prepared for the treasure hunt when we reach Dirth," Ned suggested.

"How far is it?" Fred wondered.

"Four day's hard ride from here," Canto replied. "The mountains make the road dangerous to travel during the winter, but we should only have to worry about flash floods from the rivers that flow along the mountain roads."

Ned stood and rubbed his butt; he winced at the sore muscles. "If we were not so much in a hurry this would be a wonderfully laid-back adventure."

"And the world would collapse around us if we didn't hurry," Canto argued.

Ned smiled and shuffled over to his bed. "Which means it's bedtime so we can hurry along tomorrow."

Fred lay down on his blankets and pulled off his coat to use it as an extra covering. He remembered the cut from the undead creatures, and inspected the damage. There wasn't any damage. The tears were gone. Ned noticed Fred's confused expression and chuckled. "If you're looking for tears you won't find any. The cloth repairs itself, except in extreme damage, and has saved me more than once from revealing my birthday suit to the world."

"What an extraordinary coat," Percy complimented. "Perhaps you should patent the design."

"The design would be too tempting for less scrupulous individuals," Ned countered. He noticed Sins staring at him and bowed his head. "Not to include you in such company."

The group went to sleep except for Ruth, who offered herself as the night guard for her human companions. Dawn broke the next day and they hurried north toward the rocky home of the dwarves. The plains and hills were replaced with high, peaked mountains and craggy bluffs. The tall willows slowly morphed into shorter, stalky pine trees, and a white-rapids river sprang up on their right. They stopped for the night along the road, and Ruth took guard as before while her companions slept beneath their blankets. She sat on the outskirts of the fire ring listening and looking for any trouble.

Trouble came at midnight when the night was darkest. Her pointed ears picked up soft rustling sounds in the forest that were too large to be small, cute, fuzzy animals. Her bright eyes watched the thick mess of pine trees for movement, and she noticed shadows flit between the thin trunks. A deep voice drifted out of the woods in a language she didn't understand, but had heard before. It was the same speech used by Cousin Michael when he read from the dark book of spells. She jumped up and raised the alarm. "Everyone, wake up!" she cried to her companions.