Deliverance (2 page)

She gave a quick look in her mirror after
getting fully dressed. Her long, light brown hair hung in waves
around her pale face, past her shoulders, and down her back. She
locked eyes with her reflection, the bright green color glowing
against the candle light. She did not care much for her appearance,
but making herself look somewhat presentable had been a regular
habit since her youth.

For three years, Crystal had led many people
who wanted their precious Cierith to be the way it was before the
neighboring kingdom, Daldussa, invaded. For ten years, the power
hungry king had occupied the castle and had allowed the soldiers to
occupy the cities and order all civilians around. There were those
who finally got up the courage to stand and fight, and so they
joined Crystal in her quest to take back the once peaceful kingdom
of Cierith. They, along with Crystal as their leader, were known as
Deliverance, the sworn defenders of the persecuted people of
Cierith.

The rebels took refuge in the Dwarven
Mountains in southern Cierith. There was a village in a hidden
rocky valley that the rebels used as their hideout. Even though
humans were the race that ruled Cierith, the human king had always
treated the other races with respect and honor. Naturally, when the
king was murdered, the dwarves jumped at the chance to help bring
his and his queen’s killer to justice. Therefore, when Deliverance
was formed, they built the hideout amid their mountains to shield
the rebels from the rest of the world.

The elves that once lived by the eastern sea
border of Cierith also aided the rebels for the same reasons. The
Daldussan soldiers had also destroyed the Elven Forest that most of
them called home, so when elf refugees found their way to the
dwarves, Crystal saw to it that they were protected. Even though
dwarves and elves never got along, they still banded together
hoping that by tolerating each other they would bring the kingdom
back to the way it was before the invasion.

Suddenly, there was a knock at Crystal’s
bedroom door which startled her.

“Hey boss,” said a familiar voice, “you
awake yet?”

“Just woke up, Taryn,” she replied. The door
suddenly opened to reveal a very short, red-haired teenage boy. He
wasn’t abnormal in size, however, for Taryn was a halfling.
Halflings were beings that were very small, roughly half the height
of a human, but they were very fast and nearly impossible to catch
off guard. They aged a bit slower than humans as well. Taryn was
about twenty-eight years old, but as a halfling, he was the
equivalent of a thirteen- or fourteen-year-old human. Halflings, as
well as dwarves and elves, were allied with Cierith for many years
and, therefore, they chose to join the rebels in bringing down
Daldussa.

Because of their small and often fragile
nature, halflings were enslaved by the Daldussans upon the
invasion, causing more and more of them to rise up to protect their
own kind. Many of the halfling rebels had lost their entire
families, and many were still even children. Naturally, when
Crystal formed Deliverance, her first act as leader was to form a
plan to free the enslaved halflings.

For the first several months as leader,
Crystal successfully led raids on work camps and freed hundreds of
halflings by the end of it. With time, the halflings began to
regain hope and some even dared to escape the camps. They were
indeed small people, but it did not stop them from gaining courage
and fighting back. The rebel hideout soon saw hundreds of halfling
refugees who wanted to join in their fight. The halflings used
their small statures to their advantage and used their speed and
quick wits to help bring down their oppressors.

“Thaddeus said to come find you. He says he
has something urgent to talk with everyone about,” Taryn stated.
Suddenly, Taryn’s sister, Maryn, came running up to Taryn’s side
from down the hallway.

“Taryn! How dare you walk in a lady’s
bedroom without knowing if she is decent! You’d better hope Mom
doesn’t find out—”

“Hush, Maryn! Thaddeus told me to wake her
up,” replied Taryn.

“All right you two, knock it off!” Crystal
scolded, “What did Thaddeus say this was about, Taryn?”

“He didn’t,” replied Taryn, “he just said
that he needs to talk to you right away.”

“Gavril was already awake and outside
training, so we found him and told him first. Kerali went to find
Sigurd to wake him,” added Maryn.

“I wish I could be there to see that fat,
old dwarf’s face when an elf forces him to wake up! You know how
stubborn and hot-headed dwarves are, especially with elves. I can’t
wait to see his ears turning red at the meeting,” said Taryn.

Crystal shook her head amusingly.

“Thank you both for the message. Go and
inform Thaddeus that I will be there momentarily,” Crystal
ordered.

“Gotcha, boss,” replied Taryn. He and his
sister then darted down the hall and out of sight.

Taryn and Maryn were fraternal twins who
fought alongside Crystal. They were among the slaves that the
rebels freed in their first assault. Crystal found the twins
herself and then led them out of the camp; they have been close
friends of hers ever since and have stuck by her in battle. Both of
them were incredibly nimble and sneaky, so they often scouted areas
with other halflings and found shortcuts in dangerous areas. Though
they were still children, they were invaluable to Crystal in
battle, and she had much respect for their bravery.

Within fifteen minutes, Crystal arrived to
the meeting room. It was in the same building as her bedroom, as
was all the lead members’ bedrooms. The building was three stories
and though it wasn’t much, it was still sturdy and gave the rebels
plenty of room. The building overlooked a training yard, which was
directly in the middle of the hideout. Surrounding the training
grounds were other housing buildings and storage areas. Most of the
houses were only large enough to fit one family, but there were so
many refugees that often, two or more families had to share a
house. No one complained, of course, for it was better than having
soldiers breathing down their necks in the outside world.

When Crystal walked into the meeting room,
all of her closest allies were waiting for her. Taryn and Maryn
were seating on top of a large barrel and were pushing one another
to make room for them. Kerali, the prince of the wood elves and a
very intelligent and agile archer, was standing near a group of
other elf rebels. As Taryn predicted, Sigurd, the dwarf leader, was
already steaming about “that damned elf” waking him up. As usual,
when Sigurd became angry, his ears were turning red. The twins
often purposely annoyed him to see them turn red and they would
laugh behind his back.

Sigurd was standing next to a tall,
middle-aged warrior with long, black hair that he tied back at the
nape of his neck. He had a few gray strands that stretched from the
front to the back of his head and some gray in his goatee. At
forty-five years old, this man was well-trained and strong with a
sword. Crystal could tell that he had been training like Maryn had
said because his long hair was slightly damp from the rain. His
face was stern and serious as usual, but it was the face Crystal
grew up knowing and loving. When the man saw her enter the room, he
approached Crystal.

“Good morning, Crystal,” he greeted her.

“Good morning, Gavril,” she replied.

“Sorry to have you woken so early, but
Thaddeus said it was an emergency,” said Gavril.

“Well, I had actually just woken up.
Besides, since I am the leader here, I am the perfect person to
present if there is an emergency,” she responded.

“Of course, my lady,” Gavril bowed
humbly.

“You do not need to be so formal, faithful
knight,” she said, with a slight grin.

“Maybe not,” he said, “but as you know, I
have sworn to serve and protect you with my life.” Crystal smiled.
It was then that Thaddeus finally entered the room.

He was an old man, nearly seventy-five years
old, and he was quite experienced in the ways of magic. He wore a
tattered old robe and had long gray hair with a long, wavy beard.
He carried a scroll as he hurried into the room. He approached
Crystal and with his free hand, gave her a slight hug and a pat on
the back.

“Good morning, Master,” she said, hugging
him back.

“Good morning, my dear,” the old mage
replied. He then turned his attention to everyone else. “I am sorry
to wake you all so suddenly, but I have received troubling news
that I think you all should hear.”

He then rushed over to the old wooden table
in the middle of the room, opened the scroll he was carrying, and
laid it down on the table. Everyone inched closer and hovered over
each other to see it. The first thing they noticed was that the
words were scribbled in a strange language that no one could
decipher.

“What is this language, Elven?” asked
Gavril.

“The letters are curved delicately like our
language,” responded Kerali, “but no, it is not Elven.”

“It is written in the fairy language;”
explained Thaddeus, “no being except a fairy can read or translate
it. Usually mages send messages like this to other mages when they
want no one else to read it. The fairy who delivers the message
translates it from the sender’s language into their own language,
and then the fairy delivers the message and translates it back for
the recipient. It is a special precaution used in emergencies like
this.”

“So a fairy delivered it?” asked
Crystal.

“Yes, and she used her magic to translate it
for me,” replied Thaddeus.

“So why is it still in the fairy language,
then?” asked Gavril.

“Fairies only change it into a readable
language temporarily. They will only translate for the intended
recipient, and then the words revert back to the fairy language
after a few minutes to prevent anyone who would compromise the
situation from seeing it,” explained Thaddeus.

“So what did it say?” asked Gavril.

“I will let the fairy tell you,” replied the
old mage. He then made a whistling noise, and before anyone knew
it, a tiny blue creature came flitting into the room on graceful,
shimmering wings. Her enormous, sapphire eyes looked curiously
around the room.

“Little one?” said Thaddeus. The fairy
immediately flew to him. Then he said, “Will you please translate
this message for everyone here?” The fairy then bowed and hovered
over the scroll. She held out her little hands and waved them
around, making the letters on the paper change shape. Everyone
watched anxiously as the words began to take the form of a familiar
language. Finally, the words came to form and the message on the
scroll read:

Thaddeus, the City of Magi needs the
immediate help of the rebels. King Bogdan plans to invade. I cannot
give more information at this time. Please send your response with
the messenger fairy.

-Malcolm

“Malcolm?” Kerali said.

“He’s your older brother, right Thaddeus?”
asked Gavril.

“Yes, Gavril.” replied Thaddeus, “He knows
that we fight Daldussa every day, so when I saw that the king was
plotting to invade, I wanted to call a meeting and inform our
leader. After all, it is her decision to help them if she chooses.
What do you think, Crystal?”

Everyone turned their attention to Crystal,
but she was not listening. She continued to stare at the message,
particularly at the name written in it, Bogdan. It was a name that
had haunted her for the past ten years. She could still see the
empty eyes of the man who mercilessly killed her parents right in
front of her. He forced her out of her home and forced her to live
as a fugitive. Because of him, the kingdom of Cierith lay in ruin.
He was the very reason she fought and led others to do the
same.

“Crystal?” Gavril whispered softly as he
rested his hand on her shoulder. She then came back to reality.

“Sorry . . .” she muttered.

“Do not feel bad, Crystal. I should have
known this may upset you some. It is I who should apologize for not
warning you,” Thaddeus replied.

“No, Master Thaddeus. I have sworn to fight
this man until I have found justice for those that have died by his
hands, and I will therefore move to go to the City of Magi to
protect its people from the invasion,” Crystal responded.

“The elves are behind you all the way,” said
Kerali.

“As are the dwarves,” added Sigurd.

“Don’t forget us!” said Taryn and Maryn
simultaneously.

“And of course, as always, I will defend you
to the death,” said Gavril.

“As will I and all of the others here that
have sworn to do,” added Thaddeus. All of the rebels in the room
then raised their weapons and shouted:

“For Cierith!”

“Thank you all,” she said, quite humbled, “I
know we can win this war if we all fight together. Now let us go to
the City of Magi and show that joke of a king that we will take our
kingdom back.”

****

The team began their journey to the City of
Magi that same day. It was decided that Crystal and the other lead
members of Deliverance would leave first and then the other troops
would take alternate routes at different times. As Crystal had
explained to them earlier, it would draw too much attention to them
if they traveled in such an enormous group. Therefore, they were
ordered to all travel in small groups to appear as if they were
lone travelers.

Thaddeus knew the way well and directed them
through shortcuts. For the next several days, Crystal and her team
traveled north through the terrains of Cierith, avoiding the
watchful eyes of Daldussan soldiers by blending into crowds and
sending Taryn and Maryn to scout the areas. The cold January air
made traveling difficult, but the rebels still pressed forward
wrapped in thick cloaks. As they traveled further north, the land
was covered in more and more snow.