Demonkin (33 page)

“This is the infirmary for the poor people of the slums,” explained Fakir Aziz as he pointed to a door in the wall to Tedi’s left. “There is another room through that door that is a kitchen and dining room where the poor are fed. Kalmar sells his potions to the wealthy at inflated prices. He uses the proceeds to buy food for the poor.”

Tedi’s eyes widened. “You have set up a rather impressive operation.”

“Not I,” smiled Fakir Aziz. “This is the work of true Zarans. Well, most of them are Zarans,” he added with a grin as he took Tedi’s arm and steered him towards one of the female healers.

The woman turned and Tedi was surprised to see that she was an elf.

“Tedi Markel,” introduced the Mage, “this is Eulena. Eulena, this young man is the person I was telling you about.”

“You are the one to free the elven children?” asked Eulena.

Tedi’s eyes widened in shock. His mouth opened, but nothing came out.

“They think they have secrets,” chuckled Fakir Aziz as he took Natia’s hand. “Natia and I will go for a walk so you two can discuss whatever you need to discuss.”

Eulena smiled at Tedi. “I have asked to be a part of the rescue. Having finally met you, I am glad that I insisted. The elven children will not follow you blindly.”

“I had thought of that already. I will have an elf speak to them before the rescue.”

Eulena nodded approvingly. “I can still be of service. I am a mage, and I want very much to be involved. They are my people.”

“I certainly will not refuse your help,” smiled Tedi. “In the very least, some of them might need healing when they reach their destination.”

“I am not going with the children to the Isle of Despair,” stated the elf. “I will help you with planning and with the execution of the rescue, but that is all. My future lies along another path. There will be competent healers on the island to care for the children.”

“You seem to know a great deal about our plans,” frowned Tedi. “Has Fakir Aziz explained this to you?”

“I am an elf,” Eulena answered before she realized that her words did not convey her meaning. “I mean that I live in Elfwoods. We all know the overall plan of the rescues.”

“You are from Elfwoods?” gasped Tedi. “I thought it was forbidden to leave.”

“It is,” replied Eulena. “The penalty is death, but some things are more important than life. My path is one of those.”

“And what exactly is your path?” questioned the Knight of Alcea.

“I do not know.”

“You mean that you would prefer not to divulge it,” Tedi said knowingly. “I understand.”

“I meant what I said,” insisted Eulena. “I only know that my future does not extend to the Isle of Despair. Tell me what you have planned so far, and I will try to determine how I can best help.”

Morro stood on the limb of the tree and gazed down at the twenty-fourth Door. Like all the others, it was guarded by a squad of Federation soldiers. The soldiers were camped about a hundred paces away from the Door, and that got Morro to thinking.

“Why do they camp so far away from the Door?” he asked Sparky. “You would think they would want to be closer.”

“Maybe they are afraid of it,” suggested the fairy. “They must realize that it is magical in some way.”

“Perhaps,” Morro frowned, “but I do not think so. All twenty-four squads were the same distance away. That would indicate to me that their orders specify where they should camp. But why?”

“To give them time to react if someone comes through the Door?” posed the fairy.

“Now that makes sense.” The elf nodded. “I bet each squad has a designated runner to alert someone if the Door is opened.”

“You are planning to open one of the Doors?” asked Sparky.

“No,” balked Morro. “I have no reason to do that. Besides, I don’t have any idea where they go.”

“This one goes to Mya,” stated the fairy. “Should I check the number on it?”

“Yes,” answered the elven thief, “but be careful.”

“As if I haven’t been careful checking the other Doors?” quipped the fairy.

Morro smiled and shook his head as the fairy dived for the forest floor. The elf watched the fairy head towards the Door, but the little man was so tiny that Morro lost sight of him long before the fairy reached the Door. The elf shifted his gaze to the soldiers. He watched them to see if they were alerted to anything. After a while, Morro became concerned. The fairy had not returned, and the Door was not that far away. He took his eyes off the soldiers and stared at the Door, but he could not detect the little green man. The minutes dragged by, and Morro began to get nervous. He removed the hourglass from his pouch and moved his finger towards the trigger. He was just about to trigger the device and go looking for the fairy when Sparky landed on his shoulder.

“You were gone a very long time,” scowled the elf. “I was just about to go looking for you.”

“That is not a very nice tone for a partner and fellow spy,” pouted Sparky. “I should not tell you what I found.”

“Let me guess,” chided the elf. “It’s Door number twenty-four.”

“Yes, it is,” the fairy answered with a superior air. “It is also Door twenty-five, and twenty-six, and twenty-seven…”

“What?” Morro asked in confusion. “How can it have so many numbers?”

“It doesn’t,” teased the fairy. “There is a pile of Doors sitting on some horizontal posts near the edge of this forest. In fact, there are twelve of them. They are the missing six pairs of Doors. They are numbered twenty-five through thirty.”

“Why are they here?” asked Morro.

“I don’t know,” answered the fairy. “Should I go and ask the soldiers?”

Morro fell silent as he wondered why the Doors were just sitting there.

“Perhaps they had all the Doors on a wagon,” suggested the fairy. “When they finished setting up Door twenty-four, they just piled the rest on the ground in case they needed them. They are sitting on a line of posts similar to the ones that hold the Doors upright.”

Morro nodded at the fairy’s explanation. “I guess it is as good a place as any to keep them. They are far enough away from the tunnel entrance that they wouldn’t be damaged if the valley was attacked, and if they needed them in Alcea, they could just send them through Door twenty-four. Let me note their location on my map.”

“The secret door to Tarashin is not far away from here,” stated the fairy. “Have you thought about how we are going to get through it? There is no mechanism for opening it on this side.”

“I have thought about it,” answered the elven thief. “You will have to crawl through their viewing hole and get someone to open it from the inside.”

“I can do that. Shall we go?”

“Not just yet,” Morro replied as if his mind was elsewhere.

“What is left to do? We have mapped the entire valley.”

“I want to see that pile of Doors,” Morro declared.

“You will be seen,” warned the fairy.

“I don’t think so,” grinned the elf as he held out the hourglass.

“Have you ever stopped to think that the hourglass might only have so many uses?”

Deep furrows creased the elf’s brow, and he stared at the hourglass for a moment. “I had not thought about that, but it is something to keep in mind. Nevertheless, I need to see those Doors.”

Morro moved around the tree so that it blocked him from the field. He climbed down to the forest floor and triggered the device. He was just about to run into the field, when he noticed Sparky hanging in the air in front of him. He reached out and gently grabbed the fairy and slid him into his pocket. The elf moved without caution as he ran into the field and turned to see the Doors. As the fairy had described, the twelve Doors were in a single pile sitting on top of twelve long posts that were assembled like a raft. He quickly looked at the numbers, not to check what the fairy had told him, but rather to see the order they were piled in. The lowest number was on top, which lent credence to Sparky’s theory.

Satisfied with his inspection, Morro turned and ran through the forest towards the secret door to Tarashin. Long before he reached it, the sands ran out and the fairy woke up. Sparky shoved his head out of the pocket and looked around before speaking.

“You should not do that to me,” the fairy complained. “One minute I was flying, and the next I am in total darkness in your pocket. It is very disturbing.”

“You would have fallen if I had not grabbed you,” chuckled the elf. “Quit complaining.”

“We should be quiet,” the fairy said softly. “Remember that sometimes the patrols cover this area.”

Morro nodded in agreement and slowed to a stealthy walk, but they did not run across anyone on the way to the dwarves’ secret door. Morro halted to one side of the door so that the dwarves would not see him if they were looking through the spy hole. He removed the hourglass and held it in the palm of his hand.

“We have come full circle,” Morro said to the fairy. “Now it is your turn. I want you to trigger the device and then go through the spy hole. Find Karicon, and only Karicon. Tell him to come to the secret door and open it for just a moment. I will sneak back in the same way I left.”

“That won’t work,” frowned the fairy. “Karicon will be frozen like everyone else.”

“Then wait for him to awaken.”

“Then you will also be awake,” warned the fairy, “as well as everyone else in this valley. You will be exposed.”

Morro nodded and looked around. There was an old sturdy tree not far from the secret door. He ran to the tree and climbed it. He found a solid limb on the mountain side of the tree and held the hourglass out again.

“I will trigger the device again when I see the door open. Make sure that you delay Karicon long enough for the sands to reset so I can use it again.”

Sparky nodded and pressed the trigger. He flew down from the tree and entered the spy hole. He was glad that no dwarf had his eye to the hole, as it would have made it difficult for him to get through. He entered Tarashin and sped through the tunnels. When he got to Karicon’s chamber, the door was closed. The fairy tried to squeeze under the door, but the dwarves were pretty exact with their measurements. He could not fit his head under the door. Sparky stared to get anxious, knowing that the sands were running out. He was just about to find another dwarf to open the door when Karicon entered the corridor. The fairy shot upward to the level of the dwarf’s eyes and hovered before the door. Karicon reached for the door. The dwarf’s eyes widened when he saw the fairy.

“What are you doing here?” the dwarf whispered. “Where is Morro?”

“He is outside the secret door,” answered the fairy. “He wants you to open it for just a moment.”

“I can’t do that,” retorted the dwarf. “If the king finds out that Morro was in the valley, he will be angry.”

“No one knows that we were gone?” asked the fairy. “We were gone over a week.”

“I have been covering for you two,” the dwarf explained, “and it gets harder to do every day. People are already beginning to ask too many questions.”

“You must open the door,” insisted the fairy. “Morro said that it must be you.”

“Wait a minute,” frowned the dwarf. “If you didn’t know that I was covering for you, why did he insist on sneaking back in?”

Sparky also frowned. “I don’t know. I agree that it makes no sense, but seeing as you have already covered for us, it does make sense for him to sneak back in. That way no one will ever know that we were gone. By the way, you need to drill a hole in your door so I can get in when I need to. You dwarves don’t leave any room under the doors.”

Karicon chuckled, but he immediately returned to a puzzled frown. “I don’t know if I can open the door to let him in. I have no reason to do so.”

“Well you better come up with one quick,” the fairy said worriedly. “The sands of the hourglass have run out, and he is sitting in a tree in the enemy’s valley. They will find him and torture him.”

“Sands? Hourglass? What are you talking about?”

The fairy turned bright green as he realized he had said too much. “It is just a fairy expression,” Sparky said with a shrug. “The important thing is that you have to hurry.”

“What is the hourglass?” Karicon asked stubbornly. “Is it something that Morro uses to gain his extra speed?”

“We need to hurry,” the fairy said impatiently.

“Answer my question.”

Sparky sighed nervously. “It does not affect his speed. That is his magical gift. The hourglass stops time. Only the person who triggers it can move. Everyone else is frozen until the sands run out.”

“So that is how he slipped out the door,” mused the dwarf. “I have spent sleepless nights wondering about that.”

“Do not say anything about this to anyone,” the fairy said sternly. “I should not have mentioned it, but I am afraid for Morro’s life. We must hurry.”

“On my shoulder,” ordered the dwarf with a pat of his hand. “I will think of something by the time we get there.”

Sparky dutifully landed on the dwarf’s shoulder. Karicon didn’t run through the corridors because that would draw attention, but he walked at a very swift pace. When he reached the end of the corridor, he stopped and looked around. Half a dozen dwarves sat in the chamber with the secret door. They looked up at him when he arrived.

“Isn’t that Morro’s fairy?” asked one of the dwarves.

“It is,” nodded Karicon. “I want him to look outside and see if anyone is around.”

“Why?” asked one of the dwarves.

“I heard some of the men talking over my meal,” lied Karicon. “There was some concern about the noise that might be made by opening the secret door. I thought we should check it, but not without knowing who is out there. I figured Morro’s fairy could check things out for us.”

“The door will make no noise,” scoffed one of the dwarves. “We’ve done these things before, and they never make noise.”

“What’s the harm in checking?” asked another dwarf. “If there is any doubt, let’s check it. We might not have the fairy around the next time we want to open it.”

The complaining dwarf shrugged in defeat. Karicon smiled inwardly and ordered Sparky to check out the valley. Sparky flew to the spy hole and crawled through. He flew up to Morro’s branch and told him the door would be opening soon. Morro thanked the fairy and told him that he would be in Karicon’s chamber. The fairy flew back to the hole and crawled through to Tarashin.