Chartile: Prophecy (27 page)

Chapter Seventeen

The Belirian
Forest

The last of the warm summer days seemed to
fade away overnight. A chill hung in the air the next morning,
aided only by the fear and sadness that clung to the hearts of all
the citizens of Mount Kelsii. Jack felt it in his heart too. A
heaviness, a nagging that sat and festered in his chest. His
feelings for Gemari only heightened the sense of urgency he felt to
evacuate the mountain as quickly as possible. He felt guilty that
he had needed to rest, but Frejah had instead. These were the
thoughts that inundated him as he lay staring at the jewel
encrusted ceiling above him the next morning. He wondered if it
would be there in a month. Would it even still be there in a
week?

Jack stretched and quietly climbed from his
bed. He tried not to wake Jayson, who lay drooling open mouthed in
the other bed. He was usually the first of his friends to rise. It
probably came from waking early to check on his family after his
father had been drinking. He stopped in the doorway to the common
area and leaned against the wall. He couldn’t remember the last
time he had thought about his family. He swallowed hard, and for a
moment he wondered if he would have to decide whether to stay in
Chartile or return home.

He closed the bedroom door behind him and
crossed to the cabinet with the pearl wine. Some bread and fruit
remained from their lunch the day before. Most of the food stores
had gone to the evacuees, and the kitchen staff were no longer
taking orders or deliveries. Most, in fact, had travelled down The
Great Passage that very night. Those soldiers and officials
remaining in the mountain were on their own. The kitchens were only
a half mile or so away from their rooms, but Jack preferred to wait
for his friends. He tore a piece from the half loaf and occupied
himself with chewing the stale bread.

There was the shuffling of sleepy feet, and
the door to Jack’s right creaked open. Leo emerged, rubbing his
eyes and affixing his glasses securely in place. Piper had long ago
tied string to the arms of Leo’s glasses so he would not lose them.
It was rather impressive they hadn’t broken yet, especially during
their fight practices.

“
Jay still sleeping?” Leo
mumbled.

“
Yep,” said Jack. Leo
joined him on the sofa, and they sat in silence, slowly crunching
the bread.

“
How much longer ya think
it’ll be before everyone’s evacuated?” Jack asked.

“
Maybe another day or so.
I was talking with Frejah yesterday. She said none of their scouts
can find any evidence of Taraniz’s army assembling anywhere. It’s
got everyone really worried.”

“
Maybe she changed her
plan. Maybe we have more time. That means the refugees will be
further along the Great Passage and closer to Tutaria when the
fighting starts.” And Gemari will be safer, Jack
thought.

“
They could be using magic
to conceal themselves.” Leo suggested with a shrug.

Jack shrugged back. He didn’t want to think
about Taraniz’s army or the coming battle. The safety of the
dwarves who had become like a second family to him was all that
matter. It may have been Leo who had first found The Black
Diamonds, and the dwarves did believe he was the reincarnated soul
of King Florine. But Jack had felt he belonged here in the mountain
since the day they came to Fortress Kelsii. Or, perhaps he only
wanted to spend more time with Gemari. He had never felt this way
about anyone before. It was strange. He knew some kids in school
who had girlfriends, but they always broke up after a few weeks.
Sometimes he heard of the high school kids who had the same
girlfriend for three years. Even his Aunt Kiera and Uncle Rob had
been high school sweethearts. Maybe finding your soul mate when you
were really young was still possible. But, Gemari couldn’t be his
soul mate. She was from another world entirely. It was all so very
confusing.

There was a loud crash from Jack and
Jayson’s room. Jack and Leo jumped to their feet, hands flying to
the daggers that sat on the table before them. The door opened and
Jayson stumbled out, the evidence of a fallen tapestry and a broken
vase behind him. His friends relaxed and sat back down, shaking
their heads.

“
They really didn’t need
all that anyway,” Jayson muttered, and joined them. His hair was a
complete mess, and stuck up in several different directions. They
had discussed having one of the Dwarvik hair dressers give them a
haircut a few days ago, but it was the furthest thing from their
minds now.

“
Leave anything for me?”
asked Jayson through a yawn.

Leo handed him the fruit bowl. A few berries
sat at the bottom and the last chunk of stale bread.

“
Fine dining, isn’t it?”
said Jayson, and he popped the berries in his mouth in one bite.
“Piper or Dimitri been by?” he asked, berry spit dribbling down his
chin.

“
No,” said Jack, and he
handed Jayson a handkerchief. “Maybe we should just go find one of
the guards. Last I knew the Topaz Quarter and Obsidian Quarter were
the last two to be cleared. I’m not sure how much they may have
gotten through during the night.”

“
No way, man. We said we
would always stay together.” Leo said.

“
Yeah, I don’t want to do
anything without Piper,” said Jayson, shifting uncomfortably in his
chair.

Jack nodded, swallowed the last of his
bread, and headed for the bedroom to change.

They waited for Piper and Dimitri for nearly
an hour. After several rounds of Rock-Paper-Scissors, they decided
to find them. Mount Kelsii was eerily empty and quiet. They passed
a few haggard looking soldiers on patrols who must have worked
through the night to evacuate their citizens. They passed door
after door in the Amber Quarter that had been hastily painted with
a strange symbol. Leo recognized it as the Draconian rune Brande
and Kylani had described as meaning ‘the way is clear.’

The once bustling civilization, now silent,
was unsettling to experience. Jack wondered if Gemari had already
fled with her people into the Great Passage, and if yesterday was
the last time he would ever see her. His fears were confirmed when
every door but Piper’s along the Emerald Quarter corridor had been
marked with that familiar rune. Surely Gemari would have gone with
the Elders. She was, after all, not trained in War.

Jayson rang the little bell beside Piper’s
door. The door whipped open before the last chime ended. Leo’s hand
flew to his sword hilt. Dimitri put a finger to his lips and smiled
mischievously.

“
Dude, you scared the crap
out of me,” said Jack as Dimitri held the door wide for
them.

“
My apologies,” said
Dimitri. “Piper is still resting.”

“
We can come back later if
you guys wanna sleep in,” said Jayson. “We can bring you some food
from the kitchens.” Dimitri smiled at Jayson’s constant thought for
food.

“
No, I am sure she will
wake soon enough.” Dimitri filled a cup with water from a pitcher
and joined the boys as they took seats in the common
area.

“
Looks like everyone’s
gone,” said Leo.

“
Halil informed me they
will have troops stationed at the main gates, and a few scouts in
each quarter.” Dimitri said quietly and flopped across the chair,
his legs dangling over its arm.

“
How come our doors don’t
have that funny mark?” Jayson asked.

“
We are neither citizens
nor Dwarvik soldiers. Like the Black Diamonds, we are on our own.”
Dimitri’s statement hung in the air between them. The dwarves had
been so eager to earn the returned kings to their side, but it
wasn’t a mutual ally they sought. Jack, Leo and Jayson had never
been offered a place among the refugees to Tutaria. Despite the
help they had offered, they were very much alone once
more.

“
What’s the plan then?”
Jack asked breaking the awkward silence.

Dimitri opened his mouth to answer, but
stopped when they heard a shuffling in the bedroom.

Piper emerged wearing several layers of
sturdy travelling clothes. Her hair had been tied back as well as
it could, but she still managed to look rather pretty.

“
Oh, you should have woken
me,” she said, and cast Dimitri a shy, sideways glance.

“
It’s okay,” said Jayson.
“We just got here.”

“
I am glad you are here,”
she replied, and began rummaging in an inside pocket of her vest.
She pulled out the small slip of parchment from Valar and handed it
to Jayson who sat closest to her. “This was delivered to Nefiri and
then to me yesterday. It appears to be from Valar, but I do not
understand it.”

“
No-cal-no-den,” Jayson
sounded out very slowly, and looked at Dimitri. “Is that some
Dwarvik word or something?”

“
I am afraid not,” said
Dimitri.

“
We believe it may be a
code, but we do not know what it means.” Piper gazed hopefully
between Jack, Leo and Jayson.

Leo snatched the tiny bit of parchment from
Jayson, pushing his glasses up his nose and squinted at the wide
looping script.

“
noCalnoden. Wait a
minute. Do you have a pen and paper?”

Piper hurried to the table the portraits of
her family had been laid upon the day Nefiri and Valar had come to
visit her. She pulled a piece of parchment, an inkwell and a stubby
calligraphy pen from the center drawer, and rushed back to Leo.

For several minutes, Leo worked quietly,
writing on the parchment, scratching things out, and rewriting. He
had never used a calligraphy pen before, and the excess ink began
to bleed into his fingers from the nib. Finally, he leapt to his
feet and triumphantly held the paper aloft.

“
Aha! It was out of
order!” he exclaimed.

“
Huh?” asked
Jayson.

“
Look,” said Leo, and he
pointed to the word at the very bottom of the parchment. It spelled
Cannondole. “Cannondole. It is where we’re supposed to meet Valar
before we go to the castle.”

“
We already know this,”
said Piper.

“
Why would he send us a
message for something we already know?” asked Dimitri, squinting
his eyes at the paper in skepticism.

“
I don’t know,” said Leo
shrugging. He set the parchment back on the little table in front
of him, then immediately jumped back up again.

“
Wait!” he said, looking
at Jack. “Didn’t you say the dwarves can’t find the elven
soldiers?”

“
Yeah,” said Jack
tentatively, “Frejah said none of the scouts can find
anything.”

“
Dimitri, you said this
was sent to Nefiri, right?” Leo turned to face Dimitri, who still
lounged across the chair.

“
Correct,” replied
Dimitri, shrugging his shoulders. “Nefiri believed it appeared to
be Valar’s writing. She assumed it was meant for Piper.”

Leo shook his head and smirked.

“
I think Taraniz’s troops
are in Cannondole, and Valar was trying to tell Nefiri.” Leo pushed
his glasses up his nose again, and nodded curtly.

“
Cannondole is only two
days from here,” said Dimitri. “It is one of the main cities the
dwarves trade with. We would know if Taraniz had stationed her
troops there.”

“
Not if she’s using magic
to conceal them,” said Leo, and his smile deepened.

They looked at one another, their eyes
slowly widening as the revelation hit.

“
We must inform Nefiri
immediately,” said Dimitri. They nodded, and tore from Piper’s
room, nearly forgetting to close the door behind them in their
haste.

The number of soldiers had dwindled even
further, and it took them some time to track Nefiri down. They
eventually found her in the armory, calculating the weapon stores
with Frejah and some of the other commanders. Brande was there to
offer his knowledge of the weapons the Diamonds had within their
possession.

Jack, Leo and Jayson burst through the door
to the armory, completely out of breath. Piper and Dimitri followed
close behind, though far less winded. The Dwarvik soldiers in the
armory were tense and staring, some with their hands poised over
the hilts of their swords and daggers. Nefiri, Frejah and Brande
looked equal bewildered at the sudden intrusion. Dimitri shouldered
past the boys and stopped a few feet from Nefiri.

“
Empress, we have an
important matter that must be discussed regarding the recent
message sent to Piper.” Dimitri held the slip of parchment in his
hand for the Empress to see. She nodded, and dismissed the group
around her.

“
I think Frejah and Brande
should hear this too,” said Leo. Nefiri’s harsh eyes made him
blush, but she nodded, and the two rejoined them, Brande closing
the armory door behind the last soldier.

“
Empress,” said Piper, and
she stood beside Dimitri, bowing in the elven style, “The message
you gave to me was in fact from Valar, but it was always intended
for you.”

“
How can you know this?”
asked Nefiri. Her features remained emotionless, though her tone
sounded intrigued.

“
My Lady,” said Jack
turning to Frejah, “You said your scouts haven’t found any evidence
of Taraniz’s army, correct?”

“
Yes, this is true,” said
Frejah. She shifted her weight uncomfortably from side to
side.