Robert Keller - The Heart of Shadows

Vannas cried out in despair. "It's invincible!"

"No, it's just an illusion!" Lannon yelled, frustrated. He seized the Goblin Lord with Eye and held it while Aldreya hurled fireballs and burned out its heart. At last, the creature slumped to the floor in death.

Vannas groaned, embarrassed that he'd fallen victim to the ruse.

Jerret shook his head, disgusted with himself. "My sword didn't hit anything. I really need to learn how to see through illusions."

"So that's how it's done," said Saranna, smiling and patting Aldreya on the shoulder. "Any chance I could learn that trick of truth seeing?"

"It's not easy," said Aldreya, "even for a sorceress."

The Squires shone their torches around the chamber, searching for more foes. But they found none. They did, however, find four battered and bruised men tied up amidst some crates. Lannon cut their ropes.

The men gazed at the Squires in awe. One of them introduced himself as Gelran. The other three said nothing. Their eyes looked haunted. One of them had a large, infected chest wound and seemed feverish.

"Thank the Divine Essence you've found us!" Gelran said. "We've been down here for days, while those Goblins debated whether or not to eat us or force us into slave labor. There are other survivors down here. You must find them!"

"The Knights are searching for them," said Lannon.

Aldreya knelt by the man with the chest wound. "Can you hear me?" she asked. He glanced at her with dazed eyes, but didn't reply. "This one is in grave danger," she said. She laid hands on him, her eyes closed.

"What is she doing?" asked Gelran.

"Using healing sorcery on him," said Lothrin. "However, she is only a Squire and not a trained Healer. He will stand a much better chance if we can get him to the surface, where there are White Knights who can cure his wound."

"My healing sorcery is weak," said Aldreya. "This should help sustain him, however, until we can get him to the White Knights."

"Can you raise the dead?" one of the others asked. "My daughter…she was…devoured by Goblins…" He bowed his head.

"No mortal can raise the dead," said Aldreya, a look of pity in her eyes. She reached over and touched his shoulder. "Stay strong, for your village needs you."

He nodded, but didn't look up.

"We've all suffered much loss," said Gelran. "This has been a terrible ordeal for us, but it seems to be coming to an end. I can't thank you Squires enough for rescuing us. The Divine Essence has blessed us this day!"

"Right now we can't leave here, unfortunately," said Lannon. "It seems we have sprung a trap. So you haven't actually been rescued yet."

"We know of the trap," said Gelran. "It is only temporary. Those Glaetherin slabs will rise again in a few days."

"A few days?" Jerret muttered. "We can't wait that long. We're supposed to be helping the Knights clear out the Goblins."

"The barriers cannot be damaged," said Gelran. "All one can do is wait until the trap reverses itself. The Olrogs created it so any intruders would come down here to try to escape-only to be devoured by some foul beast."

"The creature in the pool," said Lannon.

"Yes," said Gelran. "How did you know? Anyway, the trap is harmless now but quite an annoyance to the unwary. I'm surprised that you even managed to activate it, as the machinery is worn out and barely responsive."

"Harmless?" said Aldreya. "I strongly disagree."

"Right," said Jerret. "I doubt Jace thinks it's harmless."

"It should have been disabled," said Saranna.

"This area is forbidden to villagers," Gelran explained, "so there was no need to disable the trap, which would be a difficult and dangerous process considering it is infested with dark sorcery. Some things are best left alone."

"True enough," said Lannon.

"This fellow doesn't have a few days," said Aldreya, nodding to the injured man. "As I said, my healing sorcery is weak, and he is badly infected. I can feel it in his blood. He must be attended to by the White Knights as soon as possible."

The wounded man mumbled something incoherent.

Gelran shrugged helplessly. "Glaetherin is invincible."

Vannas studied the White Flamestone, his face thoughtful. "I'm not so sure that Glaetherin is invincible. I think I just need a smaller, more focused attack. Maybe rather than blast through the metal, I can cut through it."

"Impossible," said Gelran, "even for a Divine Knight. I know not what power that shining stone holds, but only the Grey Dwarves understand how to mold raw Glaetherin. Once it has hardened into form, it cannot be altered. I'm a blacksmith by trade, lad. I know these things."

Two of the other villagers nodded in agreement.

"We shall simply have to wait," said Gelran. "However, we do have food and drink. And the Ogres and Wolves can't get to us."

"The Ogres and Wolves are dead," said Saranna.

Gelran grinned. "Then this is a happy day indeed!"

Vannas pointed the White Flamestone toward an ale jug. He concentrated for several moments, his brow furrowed, and then a thin beam of light shot from the stone and cut through the jug-without shattering it. Vannas nodded. "There, see what I mean? It just takes will and imagination."

"Good," said Jerret, "now go cut us out of this trap."

"It's worth a try," said Lannon, impressed with Vannas' command of the Flamestone. It seemed the Divine Essence had chosen wisely.

"You are truly gifted, my cousin," said Aldreya.

"Save your praise," said Vannas, "until we actually get past the barrier. An ale jug is one thing, a Glaetherin slab is quite another."

But Vannas' plan worked flawlessly, though it took almost an hour for the White Flamestone to cut a large hole in the Glaetherin slab. By then, Vannas was exhausted from extreme concentration. They found Flund Greenhelm's Knights waiting in the town, but the others were still somewhere below. The Healers set to work on the injured, while the Squires debated their next move. Jerret wanted to go below and search for the Knights, but Flund ordered the Squires to remain above ground and wait for them to return.

"If they haven't come back by evening," said Flund, "you Squires may accompany the twenty Knights I will send to search for them."

"So we're just going to stand around doing nothing?" said Jerret.

"We will do as ordered," said Flund, with a shrug. "We were instructed to stand guard and watch for Goblins."

The other Squires weren't happy about waiting either, and Lannon considered trying to persuade Flund to begin the search early. But ultimately he became distracted with feeding his horse and himself. He also helped the Healers get a fire going, along with other essential chores, in one of the houses where the injured men were taken. Lannon felt good about doing some honest work, and he thought back to the days when he was lazy and bored all the time while growing up in the little wooded valley with his endlessly quarreling parents. He realized how much he'd changed since then, how Dremlock had brought forth his best qualities. He was eager to work hard to make life better for those around him.

The Squires checked on Galvia and found her to be in stable condition, though in a deep, healing slumber. She stood a good chance of recovery. Jerret continued to sit by her bedside for a while after the others had left the room.

At last Taris and the other Knights returned from the tunnels, bearing a host of weary and wounded villagers, which they took into buildings. Taris was delighted to see that the Squires and Saranna had escaped from the tunnels, and he praised them for their heroic deeds in slaying the Goblin Lords and freeing the four prisoners. He promised the Squires would receive promotions for their valor.

"The Goblins are dead," Taris announced, "and all of the survivors have been rescued. We will now focus on restoring this town."