Dwarven Ruby (21 page)

“As Abuud has promised me,” Azmet declared loudly as he held up his hand towards the statue of Abuud, “his new likeness has been given to the faithful. Let there be no further doubt as to who Abuud has chosen to lead you. Let there be no question about the powers that Abuud has gifted to me, his loyal prophet. I, the prophet Azmet, have been instructed to guide you in the mission to bring peace and harmony to all peoples. It is a task that I dare not refuse. For to argue with the great god Abuud is to deny your place in paradise.”

Azmet smiled inwardly as he watched the multitude of followers before him. Not a word was being spoken and all eyes were glued on Azmet’s own movements. Azmet walked away from the statue for the mere thrill of watching the eyes of the worshipers follow him. Finally, he turned and faced the followers and raised his hands high above his head.

“For the glory of Abuud we are all called to his service,” Azmet shouted. “We have been called to spread his message of peace and harmony. We have been chosen to give our lives in his service that we might gain a favored place in paradise. Are there any here who would deny the chance to gain favor in Abuud’s eye?”

Azmet stood and watched as the worshipers glanced left and right to see if anyone was foolish enough to raise his hand. When no hands were raised, Azmet’s lips curled into a grin.

“Look now at your neighbors,” commanded Azmet. “Look to your brother on your right and your brother on your left. Look at their faces and picture them in paradise before you.”

Murmurs rose from the worshipers as they did as instructed. There were faces full of puzzlement from some of the worshipers and sneers of disdain from others. Azmet let the worshipers continue for several moments before regaining their attention.

“Does it bother you that your neighbor might get to paradise before you?” shouted Azmet. “Do you care if he might get a more favored place than those who arrive later? Of course you do! The path to paradise is by believing in Abuud with all your heart. The steps to paradise are gained through your deeds in his name. The door to the most favored place of all is opened by your devotion to his prophet, me. It is through me that Abuud chooses those who will be selected to the most favored places in paradise. My words are the words of Abuud, the god of peace and harmony. Let no man among you ever doubt my word again. For to doubt my word is to spit in the face of Abuud.”

Azmet sneered as those followers who had been most vocal with their doubts about Azmet bowed their heads low when he looked at them. A shiver of excitement raced through Azmet as he felt the power of the followers in the room and beyond.

“This morning Abuud spoke to me again,” Azmet continued. “He told me it is time to enlarge his following here on this dismal plane. His instructions were to spread his message of peace and harmony, and to spread it far and wide. He told me that he was displeased that his followers had allowed some infidels to defile his last statue. He demanded that it never happen again. Do you know what it means to me when I must suffer with Abuud’s displeasure? Will any of you ever allow this new statue to be defiled?”

A few worshipers mumbled the word no, but Azmet was far from pleased with the response.

“Will any of you allow this statue to be defiled?” yelled Azmet.

“NO,” screamed the crowd of worshippers.

“That is better,” snarled Azmet. “The statue of Abuud is sacred. Each of your lives is to be given freely to protect it. The life of Abuud’s prophet is also sacred. Each of your lives is also pledged to ensure that no harm come to me. Do you understand?”

“YES,” shouted the multitude.

“Good,” Azmet continued. “Let me tell you what Abuud has ordered us to do. In the morning thousands of us will leave this city. One thousand of you will be chosen to remain here in Cleb. This city now belongs to Abuud and it will never be given back. The chosen leaders of this city will be charged with maintaining law and order in Cleb. The Kartaria law that has been given to us by Abuud will become the law of Cleb. It will be administered severely.”

“What of the rest of us, Prophet?” sang out a lone voice.

“The rest of us are going to descend upon Klandon,” smiled Azmet. “We are charged with bringing the laws of Kartaria to Klandon and beyond. The defilers of the statue of Abuud were from the city of Tagaret at the mouth of the Boulder River. Our task is to spread Abuud’s message of peace and harmony from Klandon down the Boulder River to Tagaret. It is because Tagaret is the home of the defilers that Abuud has ordered us to deliver his message there.”

Murmurs ran through the crowd of worshippers and Azmet smiled as he listened to their excitement.

“Enough talk for this day,” concluded Azmet. “Those who are chosen to remain in Cleb will be notified by the end of the day. The rest of you are to prepare to leave in the morning. The city of Klandon awaits Abuud’s message of peace and Harmony.”

Azmet turned and marched down the corridor to his office. The mage Lotfi was waiting for him.

“You did well at the Island of Storms, Lotfi,” nodded Azmet as he sat behind his desk. “Did you manage to destroy our little troublesome friends?”

“No,” admitted Lotfi, “although I am not sure why. I managed to strike one of them with a fireball, but somehow he managed to survive it. I have never seen that happen before.”

“Perhaps he was a mage and you struck his shield,” suggested Azmet. “I would believe that one of them must be a mage to have escaped our prison.”

“No,” Lotfi shook his head. “I am familiar with shields. The force of the fireball threw this lad to the ground, yet he stood again. I do not understand it.”

“The statue is the important thing,” declared Azmet. “It feels good to have the following back in line. The defilers will be dealt with when the opportunity avails itself.”

“There was another strange occurrence while we were in Lanoir,” reported Lotfi. “The Darkness fled for some reason. There are clear skies over Lanoir now.”

“I do not see how that matters to our plans,” shrugged Azmet.

“There are rumors that the tale about the Sword of Heavens is real,” added Lotfi. “If that sword does have some magical powers, it is possible that would explain the lad’s escape from my fireball.”

“And why does that concerns us?” asked Azmet. “We have the statue and soon we shall pillage his favored town of Tagaret.”

“It concerns us because we once held the Sword of Heavens,” smiled Lotfi. “If we could somehow regain possession of it, think how powerful we could be.”

“An excellent thought,” grinned Azmet. “You are a credit to Abuud, Lotfi. Remind me and I shall host a special prayer session for you and your men for their valiant deeds in returning the statue.”

“Most of the men died,” responded Lotfi. “I am afraid I only returned with two of them.”

“That would not be good to advertise,” frowned Azmet. “No matter. Rest assured that I appreciate your efforts. There appears to be no need for a special prayer session.”

* * *

Tedi yawned as he opened the door to the wagon and climbed down the stairs to sit on the log. He wondered where Rax was, but Natia interrupted his thoughts.

“Good morning,” sang Natia. “I have your tea for you.”

“No,” called Rax from the direction of the central campfire as Tedi reached for the cup of tea.

Tedi looked curiously at Rax as she hurried towards him, but Natia frowned.

“He always has morning tea,” scowled Natia. “What does it matter to you?”

“He told me that he preferred coffee,” answered Rax as she handed a hot cup to Tedi. “I troubled myself to get one for him. Why don’t you have the tea yourself, Natia?”

“I have already had my tea,” responded Natia. “I really think the tea is better for him.”

Rax looked at Tedi and frowned when she saw him sniffing the cup suspiciously.

“You know?” Rax asked Tedi.

Tedi just looked at Rax and smiled meekly. Natia’s head swung between Rax and Tedi as she tried to figure out what was going on.

“Drink your coffee,” sighed Rax. “It will do you no harm. I think it is time we all had a talk.”

“What is going on?” quizzed Natia. “Do you two have some type of sign language or am I interrupting a previous conversation?”

“Sit,” ordered Rax as she placed herself on the log next to Tedi. “If you are so lost as to what we are talking about, let me sum it up for you in a word. Wendalweed.”

“You know?” Natia bit her lip.

“Did you really expect that I would not?” scowled Rax. “Do you so quickly forget who taught you your lessons? What confuses me is how Tedi knew and how long he has known.”

“I have never heard of wendalweed,” Tedi said softly. “I did not know what it was called.”

“But you knew that Natia was drugging you?” questioned the old healer.

“I suspected,” nodded Tedi as tears began forming in Natia’s eyes. “I was not sure which of you was giving it to me, but you gave me the answer yesterday when you dumped the tea in the bushes.”

“You are a clever lad,” smiled Rax as Natia started crying. “Yet you were about to drink the tea from Natia again this morning. Why?”

Natia tried to rise and run off, but Rax placed her hand on Natia’s shoulder.

“This is not something that you can run away from, Natia,” scolded the healer. “You have been playing with this lad’s life. The least you can do is to hear what he thinks about it. You know that wendalweed is poisonous. He does not.”

Tedi gulped as he said, “I did not know that it was poisonous. I am glad that you intervened, Rax.”

“I was going to stop it,” sobbed Natia. “You know I would never hurt him.”

“I do know that,” consoled Rax. “Yet I wondered if you would be able to stop when the time came. Do not forget that I was young once myself. I know the pain that you are going through. Love is not an easy emotion to handle.”

“But now he will have to leave,” sobbed Natia. “If Adan even lets him leave. Please don’t tell my brother.”

“Adan already knows,” smiled the healer. “Tedi’s belongings are under the wagon. Adan delivered them yesterday before he left.”

“Then he will not harm Tedi?” questioned Natia. “He will let him go freely?”

“He will,” confirmed Rax. “We talked about it yesterday and we both agreed that Tedi would never cause us harm. He is free to leave. My worry is about you. I had hoped that Adan would be back to talk to you before this all came out. You cannot up and leave your people. They need you.”

“Tedi needs me too,” sobbed Natia. “At least I hope he does,” she continued as she looked at Tedi.

Tedi put down his coffee and moved next to Natia. He put his arms around her and kissed her gently on her cheek.

“I do need you,” he said softly. “I love you. Still I know that your people depend upon you and your brother. I cannot ask you to leave your home.”

“You don’t have to ask,” Natia replied through her tears. “Adan is all these people need. I want to go with you.”

“Perhaps it is time to find out who you are, Tedi,” Rax interrupted. “Gypsies are a protective lot. They will not take kindly to someone running off with their princess.”

“Princess?” echoed Tedi. “I do not understand. I thought Adan was just the leader of the tribe, not royalty.”

“Gypsy royalty is not as formal as basta royalty,” explained Rax, “but it does have its similarities. That is something we can discuss after we learn more about you. How long have you known about the drug?”

“Only two days,” Tedi answered. “I was not really sure I was being drugged, but my morning memories tickled me. Two days ago, I did not drink my morning tea. When nobody was looking, I poured it out behind the log. Then yesterday you dumped it in the bushes. That only confirmed my suspicions.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” asked Natia. “Why hide the fact that you knew?”

“Because it was my excuse to stay,” confessed Tedi. “That and the fact that I no longer have anywhere to go.”

“You sure were in a hurry when you were captured,” interrupted Rax. “How can it be that you now have nowhere to go?”

“I have already spent too much time here,” explained Tedi. “I was in a hurry to catch up to the group I was supposed to be traveling with. I had directions to meet them in the Southern Mountains, but they would not have stayed there this long. I have no idea where they would be now.”

“Who is this group that you travel with?” asked Rax.

“A group of friends,” Tedi said hesitantly. “We are on a quest to restore the Sword of Heavens.”

“Can you just forget about this sword and stay with us?” asked Natia. “I am sure that I could talk Adan into letting you stay.”

“I would love to stay forever,” admitted Tedi, “but this quest is more important than my life. As soon as I find out where they have gone, I must leave and rejoin them. I have no choice.”

“What could be more important than us?” scowled Natia. “You said that you love me, but now you cannot wait to be free of me.”

“That is not true,” Tedi replied defensively. “I do want to stay, but you do not understand how important the Sword of Heavens is. The world depends upon us restoring it.”

“I have heard of this Sword of Heavens,” interjected Rax as she sipped at her own cup of coffee. “Why is it so important?”

“The Sword of Heavens is the key to the Ancient Prophecy,” explained Tedi. “Once it is restored, it will be used to kill the Dark One.”

Rax dropped her cup of coffee and yelped as some of the hot liquid landed on her foot. Tedi raced to help her, but she waved him away.

“The Ancient Prophecy,” gasped Rax. “Does it have anything to do with the clearing of the sky?”

“Yes,” nodded Tedi. “The Sword of Heavens is what causes the Darkness to flee. Each time a gem is found and restored to its hilt, the Darkness is pierced and destroyed for a great distance around.”

“And when was the last gem added?” queried Rax.

“Just a few days before I got here,” answered Tedi. “The Diamond of Edona was restored in Barouk. The group left for the Southern Mountains. I had to make a trip to Ongchi before I rejoined them. That is where I was heading when I ended up here.”

“And do you know this king who will bring back the sun and the moon?” probed the healer.