Richard Tuttle - Sapphire of the Fairies

“We do not like bandits orarmed groups within the walls of Kantor,” the officer stated. “Youcan leave your weapons here and retrieve them upon your exit or youcan turn around now. It is your choice.”

“We can do neither,” Garthdeclared. “We seek passage to the Isles of the Sea from a ship inthe port of Kantor and we wish to take our weapons with us when weleave the city.”

The officer hesitated and Garthrealized that there were no firm orders to back up the officer’srequest to leave their weapons at the gate. The soldier was merelytrying to keep a band of bandits from entering and causingtrouble.

“We also will require lodgingfor the evening,” Garth suggested. “Perhaps we could check ourweapons with the innkeeper until passage is booked. We wish noaltercations during our short stay in Kantor.”

The offer did not seem to convince theofficer as he looked at the blacksuited party. “You will beescorted to the General’s office by my men and he will determineyour fate. If one of you even touches a weapon, my men will slayyou all. We give little advantage to the likes of you and youneedn’t worry about a trial.”

Garth nodded to the officer and allowedthe soldiers to escort them to the General. The escort of severaldozen soldiers led them through town to a large mansion with a gatefacing the street. Soldiers manning the gate opened it and admittedthe Rangers and their large escort. When they had ridden down thewide pathway that led from the street to the front of the mansion,the column halted and the officer disappeared inside the mansion.Within a few moments, the officer reappeared followed by an olderofficer with short, gray hair cut in a military fashion. The manwas distinguished looking, but sported a thin scar running from histemple to behind his ear, probably a sword scar. The man wasobviously the General and Garth smiled when he recognizedhim.

“General Fernandez,” Garthgreeted, “your hair has grayed since we last met.”

The General stopped and focused hispiercing eyes on Garth and it took a few moments before his eyeslit up with recognition. “Colonel!” General Fernandez announced. “Inever expected to lay eyes on you again. Dismount so I don’t haveto break my neck looking up at you, and I’ve told you before thatyou can call me Julio.”

“As you wish, Julio,” Garthsmiled, “and you can call me Garth. I am no longer aColonel.”

The General switched his gaze to therest of Garth’s party with a suspicious look as Garth wasdismounting. He turned to the officer and said, “Keep a close eyeon the rest of them while I talk privately with thisman.”

The General turned and walked into themansion with Garth on his heels. The General did not break hismilitary stride until he reached an office with two guards postedoutside. He opened the door and entered the office, allowing Garthentry before he closed the door, and then sat at his desk, wavingGarth to a chair.

“The years have not been badto you,” General Fernandez smiled.

“The color of your hairappears to be the only change you have suffered,” Garth smiledback. “I assume that you are the control behind Kantor thesedays?”

“There was no one else I couldtrust,” laughed Julio. “Speaking of trust, I notice that you do nottrust your own party. Are they a threat here in Kantor?”

“They are not a threat to youor me,” Garth answered. “Your men can safely standdown.”

“Then why do you hide thingsfrom them?” quizzed Julio.

“Habit, mostly,” Garthadmitted. “The years since we last met have not been peaceful onesfor Kalina and myself. We have been hunted for years and I am surethe hunt still continues today. It is safer this way.”

General Fernandez shouted for his doorguard and the door opened to admit one of the men. “Sergeant,”Julio ordered, “bring me the papers we found on the Black Devillast week. Also, dismiss the escort and invite our guests into thesitting room where they will be more comfortable and see to theirhorses.”

The Sergeant disappeared and returnedalmost immediately. He handed some papers to the General and closedthe door behind him as he left. Julio rifled through the papers andwithdrew two that he handed to Garth. Garth accepted the papers andlooked at them. His eyes widened, as he looked at pictures ofKalina and himself, complete with physical descriptions andnotations about Arik and Tedi. The description of the boys wasincomplete, as if made by someone who had heard about them but hadnever seen them. The Dark Rider, Klarg, immediately came tomind.

“What else did you find onthis Black Devil?” Garth asked.

The General passed over the rest of thepapers and Garth flipped through them. Most of them meant nothingto Garth, but he stopped at one sheet that mentioned Lord Wason.Reading the sheet thoroughly, Garth picked out the descriptions ofthe five Children as they had appeared in Tagaret, including Niki’sred dress, which she had worn only during the prison break inTagaret. Oddly, there was no mention about General Gregor orSergeant Trank, which led Garth to believe that someone in theRoyal Palace was serving two masters.

“You always were good atgathering intelligence,” complimented Garth. “I can see now thatGarth Shado will have to disappear.”

The General took the papers back andlooked at the one, which had interested Garth. “This does appear tobe your party,” noticed General Fernandez. “You have been travelinga great deal. Why have you come to Kantor?”

“We are on a fool’s mission,”sighed Garth. “There is an artifact which was in the PresidentialPalace when Oscar Dalek got married. I need to recoverit.”

“A fool’s mission, indeed,”agreed General Fernandez. “What is the artifact?”

“It is called the Crown ofLight,” Garth answered. “It is a crown small enough to be a ring ona woman’s finger. It belongs to the fairies and has been missingfor hundreds of years at least.”

“I doubt that you have becomea jewelry merchant since we last met,” Julio stated. “Why do youneed this crown?”

“Julio,” Garth admitted, “theAncient Prophecy has begun. I do not know if you are aware of theProphecy, but it foretells of the death of the Dark One. The Crownof Light is needed to help fulfill that Prophecy. I need to find iteven if I have to take the mountain apart grain bygrain.”

The General nodded and stared out thewindow at the mountain for a period. “I have read about the AncientProphecy,” declared the General. “Of course, I am not sure if Ibelieve it. I suppose that the young men you have with you are theChildren of the Prophecy?”

“Yes,” confided Garth. “Wealso have the Sword of Heavens which will be used to kill Sarac.The Prophecy is true, Julio, and it has fallen to me to see thatthese Children succeed.”

“There is a chance, Colonel,”General Fernandez suggested. “Most of the Palace no longer exists,but there is a section of the ground floor still accessible. Moreimportantly, the section contains the library and the treasureroom. The library has been gutted and the contents removed, but thetreasure room has been inaccessible because no one could enter it.If President Suarez kept this crown in the treasure room, you havea chance. If not, you will have to dismantle the mountain and youwill not live that long.”

“How is it possible that thetreasure room survived and yet has never been opened?” Garthinquired.

“It is amazing,” granted theGeneral. “I watched the mountain appear myself. It didn’t grow orfall into place; it sort of materialized from nothing. One cornerof the Palace was left sticking out. When we went to search forsurvivors, we found that it extended into the mountain like a cave.In fact, that is what we think it is. Wherever the mountain camefrom, the cave was already in it and so was a dragon. I watched thedragon fly out of the cone of the mountain. I suppose the cave mayhave been his other entrance and that is why he never returned. Youmay be able to get in through the cone.”