Chapter 16: Unexpected Guests
Within moments they were teleported to another gate that was identical to the one they had entered. A flash of red light went off and shot into the sky the feeling of weightlessness subsided. They moved out of the center close to the entrance and waited to see if Svarturvog would come through. An uncomfortable minute passed and then he appeared in a red flash of light. He was breathing fire and flapping his wings spinning around and flew out of the top over the stones. Xena and Zanir carried Xev out through the entrance and looked up into the dark sky watching the dragon continue to spiral around from the disorientation he had experienced from the teleportation.
"Svarturvog! Its okay come down we're here!" Xev yelled up to his dragon.
Svarturvog noticed them and flew down to the ground panting heavily. He walked over to Xev and nudged him with his nose. Xev was extremely happy that his dragon had followed them through the gate. They met up with Awha and Valon that were waiting just outside the entrance.
"Guess he didn't like that." Zanir said. "Looks like we've got some company."
Before them stood a heavily armed infantry column clad in iron maybe thirty strong and at the front was a tall man dressed in white robes with long grey hair. Xev looked at them and their surroundings. The clearing was lit by torches that some of the soldiers held.
"Let me speak they'll know we're friends." Zyra said as she and Zanir laid Xev down on the ground slowly.
"State your purpose here." Said the tall man in white his arms crossed.
Zyra walked forward slowly and said, "It is I Zyra agent of the rebel group and my companions Xev, Zanir. We've come with Valon bearer of the Amulet of Azure who is currently locked in his own defence spell. He needs attention of our most skilled mages. We also have a young dragon with us who has defended us through our travels. Xev has been injured gravely and needs healers quickly." She explained.
"I welcome you all." He motioned for soldiers to move to Xev's aid and they lifted him onto a stretcher. They did the same for Valon. "We wish not to spend any longer outside of our defences than need be. We'll escort you back to our fortress."
They accompanied the soldiers up a hill where large stone walls stood on either side of two massive iron doors. Mountains encircled the fortress, a cold wind enveloped them and snow began to fall. Once through the gate they proceeded down the stone road where straight ahead was the keep that housed many of the rooms used by the rebels as their main operations and strategy base. It extended five stories high and was made of thick stone.
"Your dragon cannot accompany us inside the keep. I give you my most sincere apologies." Said the leader. "It must wait outside. We'll see to it having proper living quarters as soon as possible."
Svarturvog snarled and crushed the stone beneath his talons, smoke escaping his nostrils. A number of guards jumped back in fear but hesitated on drawing their weapons.
"It's okay Svarturvog, we'll be out soon I promise." Xev assured.
Guards approached the dragon with a large meaty bit of boar which quickly got Svarturvog's attention. They enticed the dragon out into the courtyard and kept watch over the beast. People gathered at a distance quietly murmuring amongst one another in awe.
Through the entrance Xev and Valon were taken down a separate corridor to the medical bay while Zyra and Zanir continued to follow the man in white robes towards a set of spiral stairs.
"Are you sure you don't need medical attention Zanir?" Zyra questioned.
"I'm fine it's just a limp. Let's go I'm tired." He said hurriedly.
At the fifth floor the man in white robes opened a wooden door and motioned for them to walk in. Inside stood a number of other high ranking officials bent over a long table moving small markers symbolizing military and other assets in operations. Some paused to look in their direction but continued to work.
They moved around the long table in the middle of the room to the back where another door opened up to a similarly sized room that had one desk at the back with each wall stacked with books and scrolls. Sat in the chair was a man dressed completely in black robes his face hidden by a hood. He looked up from his book.
"It seems our guests have arrived. I am Lord Darwyn leader of the rebels. Please have a seat." He motioned Zyra to the only chair in front of the desk.
Zanir was unsure if he should move closer he decided to stay where he was next to the man in white.
"I know that you and Valon are part of our cause and serve as agents but who is the man stood behind you and your other companion?" questioned the leader.
"His name is Zanir and his brother Xev. They have a key role in our mission." Replied Zyra. "They have proved themselves to be powerful warriors and I believe Xev will become a great agent. Both of them served as elite guards to the king of Dreasfjord in the human world. They are Fae although unaligned."
"Fae…and they did not know this?"
"I believe that they had been hidden for protection for reasons unknown to me." Stated Zyra.
"Most interesting. We must keep them here and search for those answers. As to your methods of returning here there are some issues that need settling. You realize the gate was meant for only the highest ranking officials of the cause and you also destroyed two of our elemental defenders. Who knows what could have been tracking you and or followed you through here. As of now we have a few of our most skilled mages scanning our fortress for anything unusual the rest are of course with Valon. We have taken great steps to keep this place invisible and secret. You have chosen to jeopardize this. What have you to say?" he sat back his arms crossed.
"We had no other choice. Valon is in possession of the Amulet of Azure and we have been chased for days. I only knew that this gate would be our best chance of avoiding more ambushes from Vraeza's forces and it is the only gate that brings you closest to the headquarters. If we were to use another gate we may not have made it by. You of all people understand the importance of the amulet." She stated.
"I do but that does not mean exposing our main headquarters to Vraeza and his dark Fae guilds. Even if he had gotten the amulet we would still have this base of operations. If we are to lose this we lose the war. We cannot effectively operate and run a successful revolution without this fortress of secrecy." He responded struggling from raising his voice in anger.
"Hey! She saved our lives on more than one occasion. She deserves recognition for that." Zanir said stepping forward.
"So what do you propose?" questioned Zyra.
"If it weren't for the amulet I would have you stripped of your position and exiled from the rebels." He said. "However, you have done a great service to our cause and deserve recognition as Zanir has stated. I thank you deeply for what you have done and I can assure that many others would agree. In that case I need some time to think of what happens next. We may need your friend's skills for future missions."
He closed his book. Then became strangely stiff and awkwardly grabbed a letter opener next to him and slowly brought it up to his neck. He fought whatever was controlling him, veins bulging in his neck, his mouth shut.
"What's going on!" yelled Zanir he ran over and grabbed Darwyn's arm and tried to stop him from stabbing himself.
Zyra quickly shadow stepped to the right corner of the room behind the desk where she embedded her dagger into an invisible being. Blood squirted when she removed the dagger. A thin woman dressed in all black her face hidden by a dark writhing cloud fell limp to the ground. Lord Darwyn gasped for air and released the letter opener dropping it onto the desk.
Guards rushed into the room one of them said, "Lord! We've found one of our mages dead and another injured in the building. What happened here!?" he looked at the dead assassin on the floor and rushed to the Lords side. "We must take you to safety!"
"There's more here I can feel them." Zyra said. "I'll hunt them down. Zanir go with Lord Darwyn and his men." She stealthed and left the room.
Xev was helped into a medical bed by the soldiers. Skilled healers quickly got to work on his leg and other wounds. He looked over to his left where a group of two men and two women stood motionless around Valon in his bed. They all wore white robes and had long straight silver hair.
Once the two healers had removed the jagged branch from his thigh and healed over his wounds they left him to rest. He had a drink of some medicinal and hydrating concoction they insisted he put in his system. He laid and watched as the mages tried to wake Valon with their spells. After a few minutes two of the mages swiftly left the room while the remaining male and female stayed entranced in their spell.
He suddenly felt tired as though their entire adventure had caught up with him. He was about to fall asleep his eye lids slowly closing until he caught a shadow moving along the wall to his right. He saw it move next to his bed he was confused as none else in the room was moving to create the shadow. Immediately he tried to sit up but a force pushed him back down and someone grabbed his neck and began to strangle him. He was unable to move any part of his body feeling completely helpless. His vision started to fade his heart beat sky rocketed feeling as though it would burst. He couldn't give up after all that he's been through not now. A deep energy rose and he tapped into it feeling it spread throughout his body. A blast of fire emanated from him shooting in all directions sending the assassin flying towards the wall engulfed in flames. He got up and tried to run out of the room but fell over after a few steps continuing to burn screaming and writhing on the ground.
Xev called for help but he couldn't hear his own voice. He stood up vision fading but his left leg gave out and he fell to the ground. Just before he passed out he saw Zyra rush into the room.
He woke up in another bed since the previous one had been scorched. He felt embarrassed at the amount of times he's fainted over the last few weeks. First being strangled by a shade, blown up from a defensive ward and now expending almost all of his remaining strength nearly killing him. He felt strong yet pathetic at the same time. He decided it was that he just needed rest and more training until he can face threats without being outmatched so easily. There was barely any time to regain his full potential over the traverse.
Across from him one of the injured mages lay in a bed next to Valon, a mage and healer looking after him. Zyra appeared next to Xev sat in a chair she had been there waiting until he regained consciousness.
"Good to see you awake again. You seem to have a habit of getting knocked out don't you." She joked smiling. "How do you feel?" she asked and checked his leg.
"I'm alright besides the fact I nearly got assassinated and almost blew up the entire medical room with Valon and two mages with it. How's your night been?"
"I killed one of the assassins in Lord Darwyn's room. He's the leader of the rebel's or I should say new leader as I don't remember him being the leader last I was here. One assassin got away he killed one of the mages. I'm not sure what he was may have been a shade. Although the two dead were mesmers." She looked over where a scorch mark in the shape of a man remained on the floor.
"A Mesmer?" Xev questioned.
"A dark fae being that can control other's bodies and manipulate feelings, a perfect spy and assassin when trained with my skills. We're probably going to be in a heap of trouble after this. It is our fault that those assassins followed us through the gates."
"Should we try to leave? I'm not getting locked up." Xev said staring at the ceiling.
"That wouldn't do any good besides I and Zanir saved Darwyn plus you killed an assassin as well." Zyra replied.
"True but you said one got away. That can't spell any good for our circumstance."
"I believe we have other assets tracking him down, shouldn't be long before we catch him. Darwyn will have the gate guarded closely and a perimeter around the fortress."
"Why aren't you after him?" asked Xev.
"I chose to stay here and make sure you and Valon are protected." She held his hand.
"Thank you. I feel much better knowing that you're watching over us. Just don't fall asleep." He joked closing his eyes.
"Rest, you'll need it for the days do come. Darwyn may put us on an assignment." She kissed his hand and watched as he effortlessly fell asleep.