Richard Tuttle - Sapphire of the Fairies

Tedi was chosen to ask Garth if thegroup could stop in Lavinda for an overnight stay. Garth smiledgrimly and explained that Lavinda had a reputation for notaccepting strangers and that their path lay in another direction.While Tedi spread the word of Garth’s answer, Garth made thedecision to ride later than usual and camp on the other side of thepass, effectively eliminating the need for any further questionsabout Lavinda.

That evening during the talk sessionwhen Garth lit his pipe, there were a lot of questions aboutLavinda, the unnamed village where Tork grew up, and the cave ofAlex’s first battle with the Yaki, which was somewherenearby.

Garth looked at the eager faces aroundthe campfire and pointed with his pipe at the Boulder Mountains.“That is what should occupy your thoughts,” Garth proclaimed.“Mount Kalas, the highest mountain of the Boulders, is where theDark One is imprisoned. We are at the center of Sarac’s domain andon a trip that will lead to his death, or ours. If this were apleasure trip, we could all get excited about seeing sights wherelegends were born, but the longer we stay in the vicinity ofSarac’s castle, the longer we dare death to visit us. Let’s get ourpractice going early. I plan to move out of here before firstlight.”

The Rangers split into groups and begantheir practice sessions with Garth supplying instruction as needed.Tanya chose to battle Fredrik with the staff and Tedi challengedArik with knives. Niki and Kalina worked on health magic. Thepractice was especially long and tiring and the Rangers worked up asweat. Fredrik and Tedi were soon stripped to the waist, but Arikkept fighting with his shirt on. Garth wondered if Arik’s rash wasstill bothering him. Since the first night out of Tagaret when therash was noticed, Arik had not removed his shirt except to changeit, which he managed to do when no one was around.

“Break,” Garth called to Arikand Tedi. “Arik, why don’t you shed your shirt? You are going tocreate a muddy pool on the practice area.”

“I’m all right, Garth,” Arikreplied sheepishly.

“Has that rash gone away yet?”Garth probed.

“It’s still there, but Ihardly notice it anymore,” Arik answered. “We’re going to switch tothrowing knives soon anyway and I’ll just catch achill.”

The boys went back to fighting andGarth noticed that Kalina and Niki had split up. He strode over toKalina and spoke to her in a low voice. “Have you checked Arik’srash lately?”

“He won’t let me near it,”Kalina replied. “I think all of the fuss involved with trying toclear it up embarrasses him. It’s not serious, Garth. It is just areaction to something. Perhaps the Palace Shadow has vermin afterall.”

“More likely the RoyalPalace,” chuckled Garth. “I know there are vermin residing there.The Children are progressing better than I could have hoped for.Their skills rival many soldiers whom I have served with. At thisrate, they will soon be able to rightfully call themselves Rangers.How are Niki and Fredrik doing with their magic skills? Are yougetting enough time with Fredrik or should I curtail his staffpractice?”

“Fredrik is doing fine withthe time we spend together,” Kalina commented. “He is a fastlearner and he picked up more than he knows from spying on theBlack Devils. Many spells he has already seen performed, but didn’tunderstand how they worked. Once I explain it to him, he isfine.”

Kalina lowered herself to a sittingposition and Garth slid down beside her. “Niki is another story,”Kalina continued. “She is very stubborn and refuses to accept mydirection. Her ability is not as strong as Fredrik’s and sheinsists it is much greater. Sometimes I think that reality doesn’texist in her mind. Even in the area of health where she has somespecial gift that I have never seen before, she will not take myword for anything. I have to get the book out and show her beforeshe will accept what I am teaching.”

“How about the cloak or herparents?” Garth inquired. “Have you gotten anything further out ofher?”

“Not a thing,” Kalina sighed.“Every time I bring it up, she develops a bad mood and stalks off.That is what happened to our session today. I was probing about hermother and whether or not her mother had magical ability. She gotmoody and claimed she had a headache. Then she just got up andwalked away. It is so damn frustrating working withher.”

“You should try showing herhow to fight with a knife as I have,” Garth laughed. “I think shemight stab herself in the arm trying to get her knife out of thesheath.”

“Maybe I am just expecting toomuch too soon with her,” mused Kalina. “Your push to get throughthe path to avoid Lavinda did not fool the Children, Garth. Theyknow there was time to detour through Tagaret and one night inLavinda would not have been far off the track.”

“You know I have a hard timedealing with some things, Kalina. So they know it now, too. Does itreally matter? We have a task before us and the sooner we get toit, the sooner we will get to our goal.”

Kalina laid her hand gently on Garth’sarm. “No, I suppose it doesn’t really matter. You cannot hide thetruth about the end of Alex and Jenneva forever, though. Some daywe will have to atone for our sins.”

“Perhaps, but that day is nottoday,” denied Garth. “I am not ready to live with mine yet. I amgoing to halt the practice for tonight. I think we should get aneven earlier start tomorrow. We are very exposed this close toSarac and I want to put some miles between him and us. Is the Swordof Heavens still providing direction?”

“It is actually gettingstronger,” Kalina acknowledged. “It is swinging more West thanNorth now. I suspect we will be going over the West Mountains andinto what was Cordonia.”

Garth nodded as he rose to break up thepractice sessions.

The early morning start allowed thegroup to be within sight of the West Mountains before stopping thenext night. Early practice consisted of tracking, camouflage, andstealth. During the after dinner talk session, Garth got tired ofhearing about Alexander Tork again.

“Why do you not ask questionsabout Oscar Dalek?” Garth inquired of Tanya. “Your uncle must havebeen full of stories about him, being a travelingmerchant.”

“Oh, he was,” conceded Tanya.“Most of Oscar Dalek’s life is fairly open and well known, though.You can not be the Prince of Targa without having books writtenabout you.”

“I’ve never read anythingabout him,” Tedi interrupted.

“Nor I,” Arik added. “Was he afriend of Alex’s?”

Garth groaned and shut his eyes. “Yes,they were very good friends,” Garth sighed. “Oscar’s fame did nothave anything to do with his friendship with Alex, though. He couldhave been a great warrior as well, but he never trained his skillsin those areas. Instead, he used his head to amass a great fortunewhile benefiting Targa. In fact, his contribution to Targa faroutweighed Tork’s. Without Prince Oscar, there would have been noTarga ships on the Targa Sea, no canal connecting the Targa Seawith the Sordoan Sea, and probably no victory in the war with thegoblins. His ships and wagons allowed the Targa Army to movequickly to entrap the goblins.”

“That hardly sounds asexciting as the life of Alex and Jenneva,” Arik said.

“No?” chuckled Garth. “WhenOscar was young he lost his father to bandits and his mother was sopoor that they could not put food on the table. He rose from thatmiserable disadvantage to become the richest man in the world andthe Prince of the mightiest nation in the world. Killing goblins iseasy work compared to that. A thousand men could grow up to leadarmies and kill their foes, but I do not think anyone will everduplicate Oscar Dalek’s tremendous feats. And what is even moreexciting about him is that one of you is his son.”