The Tomni'Tai Scroll (Book 1) Page 23

He carefully scanned the area, looking for any hint of another guard, but he found none. The staircase ended on this floor, and the stairs leading from this floor to the third were barely visible behind a bookshelf at the far end of the library.

  Talon silently walked toward the stairs, his eyes darting to each flinching shadow. As he ascended the old, iron stairs he looked up, searching for any sign of movement. Judging from how tall the tower appeared from the outside, Talon guessed this would be the final floor. Therefore it should be the sage’s bedchamber. He knew that meant there were likely one or two more guards on the floor.

  If there were any guards, they did not make a sound as Talon emerged at the top of the stairs and stepped forward onto newly polished wooden flooring. Immediately before him was a dining chamber, roughly fifteen feet wide and another fifteen feet across. He saw a long, rectangular table in the center with a red, silk table runner on the table, accenting the silver and gold candlesticks.

  The dining chamber’s walls were also lined with bookshelves, though they were not as large as the shelves on the floor below. On the opposite side from where he stood was a wooden door. Runes were carved into the door frame, and the handle itself was a claw of iron wrapped around a crystal. Talon approached carefully, inspecting the curious door before opening it. He scrutinized the knob, assessing whether the crystal was for decoration, or perhaps was an ancient ward of some kind.

  Talon’s eyes moved up to the center of the door and settled upon a peculiar knocker made of bronze and inlaid with jade. The knocker’s ring attached to a bronze man’s head, each side of the ring going into one of the man’s ears. Atop the forehead was a bronze bird pecking into the man’s skull. Talon could only guess what the symbolism could be for such a statuette. The bronze had long ago faded and a green patina had taken it over, so there was no way for him to no whether the knocker was a recent addition, or a remnant left over from the time the tower served during the wars with the Sierri’Tai. Before Talon could finish searching the door for traps the crystal knob creaked and squeaked as it turned counter clockwise. Talon recoiled into a defensive posture and then the door was opened from inside.

  Long, silver hair flowed effortlessly over a thin, shapely face. Blue eyes went wide as they caught sight of Talon dressed in the tight red robes, but only for a moment before narrowing as the elf reflexively backed away. A long, silken gown draped across the elf’s body, hugging every curve. Talon’s mouth slacked when he realized this elf was female. Then he noticed the rim of her right sleeve had the same golden lettering as the other guards’ robes.

  The elf said something that Talon did not understand. Her gown rippled with her every movement. Her left hand opened in front of her and a swirling blue mist formed in her palm. Talon ducked back behind the wall as the elf’s spell blasted through the doorway, sending the dining table crashing against the stone wall beyond.

  A moment later the elf emerged from the room, holding a long scimitar in her hands. Talon quickly deflected two strikes and lashed out with his leg. The elf leapt back, hair and gown flowing before her as she did so. Her left hand opened again, palm facing Talon.

  Talon dove to the stairwell just in time to avoid another spell. He tucked his head and used his legs and elbows to control his descent as he rolled down the tight staircase. Once at the bottom he jumped up and ran behind one of the bookshelves as he plotted his attack.

  The elf glided down the stairs after him. Her bare, golden feet and legs were barely visible before another mist spell extinguished the candle in the center of the library, casting the floor into total darkness.

  “Can you see, human?” the elf mocked. Talon said nothing. Wood cracked apart and pages of paper ripped through the air, some slapping against other bookshelves or the wall as the air whooshed through the floor. Talon held fast, not wanting to give away his position by panicking.

  “I will find you,” the elf promised. Another bookshelf was ripped apart. A few large shards of wood landed near Talon and paper flitted around him. Silently, he rolled to his left, trying to circle back to the stair case in an effort to get to the elf’s back. Another bookshelf exploded somewhere across the room. Then wood scraped across the floor until the table skidded into the stairs and broke apart. The iron staircase rang out in protest, sending splintered wood in every direction. One of the table legs blasted Talon in the ribs, almost knocking the wind from his lungs.

  Talon gripped the table leg in his left hand and his dagger in his right. He waited until another bookshelf exploded across the room, then he chucked the table leg through the air, letting it crash into the wall. A moment later a fireball erupted through the room and crashed into the wall exactly where the table leg had hit. Talon wasted no time, he threw his dagger straight and true, lodging it deep in the elf’s leg.

  She cried out in pain and turned to launch another spell, but Talon had already rolled around to flank her by this time. He was only a few yards away when she sent another fireball to the place he had launched the dagger from. He rushed forward, scooping up a large fragment of wood as he somersaulted across to her. The elf spun around but her aim was too high. The third fireball sailed harmlessly over Talon as he stopped just before her and lashed out with a savage kick to her stomach.

  The delicate elf stumbled backward, but managed to keep her feet beneath her instead of falling to her back. She sliced in front of her with her scimitar, forcing Talon to avert his direction. Then she sent him sailing into a bookshelf with one of her mist spells.

  His ears rang and his head throbbed. He shook his head and realized he had been knocked through a bookshelf. A large plank of wood lay over his leg and several hunks of wood were mixed with torn parchment beneath him. His sword was no longer with him. One of the fireball spells had managed to latch onto some of the wrecked shelves, spreading orange light through the floor, the fire cackling as it consumed books and wood alike. The two locked eyes on each other again.

  “One of us dies here,” the elf swore.

  Talon shook his head. “I don’t kill women,” he said dryly. He rose to his feet, sweeping splinters from his arm and pulling a long plank of wood up with him.

  The elf regarded him for a moment, and then began to speak in Taish, the elven language. Talon rushed forward again. He stepped left, avoiding a fireball, then dodged right as another fireball sailed by. He lifted his wooden weapon and let out a shout as he and the elf lunged for each other.

  Talon swung low, then jerked the wooden plank upward to slam into the elf’s hand. Her fingers released her scimitar, but not before the blade sliced shallowly through Talon’s right shoulder. The elf lifted her left palm, but Talon dropped to his back as a column of fire leapt out from her hand to where he had been standing a fraction of a second before. Talon then spun and kicked the handle of his dagger. The elf recoiled and cried out in agony as the dagger tore out from her leg. Blood coursed down her fair, golden skin and she stumbled backward, falling on her rump. Talon rolled close, flipped up to his feet and ended the fight with a quick, decisive blow to the elf’s temple.

  Talon bent down and placed two fingers on the elf’s neck. Her pulse was still strong. He quickly moved to open the elf’s eyelid. The eye did not react or move. She was out cold.

  Talon whispered a curse and looked around for something to tie her with. The fire was spreading to nearby piles of paper and wood, but it wasn’t an overwhelming fire. The fuel was spread thin enough that none of the hotspots were much more than a small campfire. Seeing nothing in the firelight, Talon decided to carry her upstairs. He slumped her body across his shoulders and stood up.

  She was not very heavy, probably only a little more than a hundred pounds, but it was still a bit of a challenge to position her evenly across his shoulders. Her silk gown slid up a bit, revealing the side of her upper thigh as Talon pushed her body to one side for better balance before ascending the stairs. When he reached the third floor again he walked through the doorway and laid her on the floor. He glanced a
round quickly. He saw two beds, one was empty, but made up; the other was empty and was obviously where the elf had come from before meeting Talon. He went over to the bed and started ripping the sheet into long strips. When he had enough, he walked back and tied the elf’s wrists together behind her back. Then he tied her ankles together. He then turned her onto her side and brought the ankles up to meet the wrists. He tied the two bands together and then rolled her to her other side so he could dress the wound in her leg.

  He didn’t have his field kit with him, he realized. He had left it at the brook. He scanned the room for anything that would help. He spotted a green jacket slung over a chair near the far wall in front of a desk. On the jacket was a small brooch. He went to it and broke it apart, taking the needle-like pin from it. He rolled it between his fingers, realizing it was too large in diameter to be of any real use. Besides, he had nothing to use for sutures, not even any regular thread. He abandoned the idea and went back to the elf. He packed a wad of the strips from the sheet and pressed them tightly against the wound. Then he took two more strips and tied them tight, but not so constrictive as to make a tourniquet. He was unable to give her the proper medical attention she required, but at least he had not broken his rule. He had not killed her. He had to hope that the famous elf constitution would help her fight off any infection and allow the wound to heal.

  A part of him questioned why he was bothering to waste so much time on an elf. She had tried to kill him, after all. For a moment he questioned whether his rule should have any room for flexibility in such circumstances. He looked down at her face. Her mouth opened and she groaned. Immediately Talon was taken back to a similar scene.

  He remembered his mother, lying on the ground mumbling incoherently. Her hair was matted to her face with blood. Smoke hung low in the air, carrying with it the stench of death and blood. People screamed in the distance. Then, his mother turned to lock eyes with him. She groaned with her last breath and then her eyes went dull.

  Talon shook his head and forced the memory out of his mind. His heart thumped so strongly in his chest it almost made it hard for him to swallow. He looked back to the elf woman. A tear slid down his cheek, but he did not linger. He pushed up to his feet and went to work rummaging through the room. It was obvious that Jahre was not here. This was the last chamber in the tower, and the hatch leading to the roof was sealed from the inside with iron plates riveted through the ceiling.

  Talon went back to the desk and looked through the drawer one more time before slamming it back into place. Just then, a paper flitted out from under the drawer and floated back and forth until it came to rest on the floor. He bent down to pick it up and saw that it was a letter. However, it was written in Taish runes, so he couldn’t read it.

  Talon sighed and slumped into the chair and stuck his feet up on the desk. He let his arms droop beside him as he contemplated his next move. It was possible that Jahre had gone back to Bluewater for the festival, but Talon dismissed that idea. Surely if the sage was going to attend the festival the old elf lady in Bluewater would have known that and mentioned it. There had to be something else.

  Talon put the letter in front of his face touching one edge lightly to his forehead as if he would somehow magically understand the runes written thereon. He pulled it back and scanned through the markings, and was about to lose interest when he saw one character that did, in fact, seem familiar. The runes in one of the words matched one of the signs he had seen on the road.

  “Medlas,” Talon whispered as he recalled the old elf lady with the cat. “Take the road to Medlas,” he repeated. A grin stretched his lips. He looked at the word once more. He was certain the runes matched the sign on the road, and since the road led to Medlas, he deduced that the word was Medlas. It wasn’t much to go on, but it was something. Talon folded the letter and exited the room.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  “You had better not be aiming to put that into your pocket,” Kelden said sternly as he caught one of the Zinferth sailors holding some gold coins from the Isabell.

  The sailor stuttered and shifted in his boots for a moment before shaking his head vigorously and placing the coins back in the chest. “I just wanted to hold them for a bit, sir. That’s more than I make in a whole year.”

  Kelden nodded and motioned for the sailor to leave. The sailor nodded and climbed up the stairs to the top deck, leaving the door open. Kelden then walked over and closed the top of the chest. He glanced around and then pulled the shiny, silvery black cube out of his pocket. It was cool to the touch, but he could not see a use for it. He turned it over a few times in his hand, marveling at the fact that the cube remained unsmudged by his fingerprints. He even breathed on it, but the cube remained pristine.

  “It is marvelous, isn’t it?” a familiar voice called from above.

  Kelden looked up and saw the bottom of Queen Dalynn’s robes before dropping to a knee. “My queen,” Kelden said respectfully as he bowed his head.

  “Rise, Kelden,” Queen Dalynn commanded. “You have done well.”

  “I trust this is the item you sought?” Kelden asked.

  Queen Dalynn nodded with a smile and she descended the last stair and approached with her hands outstretched. Kelden noticed Karmt close the door and shuffle down the steps after her. Queen Dalynn turned and showed it to Karmt. “He found it,” she said.

  Karmt smiled wide, stretching his thin cheeks to the point that Kelden wondered if his skin would tear. “Praise the Gods,” Karmt said. Then he turned to Kelden. “Do you know what this is?” Karmt asked.

  Kelden shook his head. “No,” he said.

  “This box holds the way to peace for our kingdom,” Queen Dalynn said.

  Kelden narrowed his eyes skeptically. “I don’t follow,” he said.

  “When King Dailex fell in battle, he was in the Elven Isles,” Karmt began. “The elves encapsulated his pendant in a magical box.” Karmt pointed to the cube and smiled. “This is that box.”

  “Why would they do that?” Kelden asked.

  “Because the elves knew that our nobles were squabbling over the throne,” Queen Dalynn said. “King Dailex’s son was not yet old enough to rule, so the nobles competed for the right to control the empire.”

  Karmt cut in excitedly. “This led to the Mage War,” Karmt said.

  Kelden nodded. “The nobles waged war against all magic users in the empire, blaming them for King Dailex’s death and then they set against each other and fractured the empire, but I still don’t see what this box will do to create peace today.”

  Queen Dalynn stepped forward. “This box contains King Dailex’s pendant, the symbol of his right to rule. It will open for the rightful heir to the throne.”

  “And the bearer of the pendant will have the right to unite our empire once more.” Karmt beamed like a small child who had just been given a life’s supply of sweet rolls.

  Kelden shook his head. “But King Dailex’s family was murdered by a rogue mage during the Mage War. There is no heir.”

  “That is where you are wrong, Kelden,” Queen Dalynn said. She smiled and held the cube up in her hands. “King Dailex actually had twins, one son and one daughter. While King Dailex’s son was killed, his daughter had been secreted away at birth to avoid squabbles over the throne between the twins. I am her descendant and rightful heir to the throne.”

  Kelden held his breath for a moment, looking from Karmt to Queen Dalynn and back to Karmt.

  Karmt nodded. “It’s true. I researched the lines myself. She is the rightful Queen to the entire empire.”

  “Even if the box opens, why would that create peace?” Kelden asked pointedly. “The empire no longer exists, and hasn’t for five hundred years.”

  Queen Dalynn held up her hand and Kelden immediately closed his mouth. “Because the people are tired of fighting. I’m not saying it will be easy, or even an immediate remedy. I am saying that I believe the people will rally under King Dailex’s symbol once more in the hope of c
reating something better than what they have now. A united empire would take away the nobles’ power to cause mischief, and it would remove King Sarito from power without the need for total war.”

  Kelden shook his head, unconvinced. “With respect, I don’t think King Sarito will voluntarily relinquish his throne and kingdom.”

  Queen Dalynn turned cold. “King Sarito has murdered my cousin, and shed my peoples’ blood along the borders in the south. Whether he gives his throne or not is irrelevant. I will give him one chance to surrender to me, the rightful heir and ruler. If he agrees, then I will allow him to retain his title and land as a governor. If he refuses, then I will wage complete and total war against him.” She took in a deep breath and then stepped forward. “There are many groups of people within Shausmat who would rally to King Dailex’s banner, if a true heir were revealed. This will weaken King Sarito’s army and populace by attrition, making the war nearly impossible for him to win.”

  “Refusing King Dailex’s symbol would be a death sentence for King Sarito, and anyone else stubborn enough not to take the chance for peace,” Karmt said.

  Kelden nodded slowly. He didn’t like the idea, but he wanted the conversation to be over, so he kept his thoughts to himself.

  “We have the cube, but we still have many things to prepare in order to open it,” Queen Dalynn said. “In a ten-day, I will hold the ceremony. I will open the box in front of all of my advisors, so that all may see. Karmt has assembled the necessary genealogical records that prove my lineage, and he will finish the rest of the preparations.”

  Karmt nodded enthusiastically. “I am almost ready now,” he said. “However, we have to wait for the moon to be full. Its light is required to release the first magical lock on the cube. Only then can we proceed with the rest of the ceremony.”

  Kelden nodded his understanding. “What would you have me do now?”

  Queen Dalynn smiled again, albeit faintly. “I would have you go back to your previous assignment. Just because I have the pendant does not mean that others won’t plan to take power for themselves. Return to your unit, they have much to discuss with you. I expect to see you in ten days.”