The Map Maker's Quest (6 page)

 

Chapter Six

Split Rock Lighthouse

D
id you find anything?” Jackie asked excitedly. She held out her hands wanting, to examine the first part of the treasure map more closely.

“Take a look,” Jane replied. She carefully handed the mirror piece to Jackie and stepped back while the others crowded in around her. They all read the inscription and puzzled over it while Jane walked to the window and looked out. Bella was perched on her shoulder and she felt the invisible fairy shift around to get a better view of the water. The lake had calmed with the evening, and the moon was brilliant in the night sky. Everything was peaceful, but Jane had this sinking feeling it was the calm before a storm. She sensed electricity in the air, and it made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

“Jane, let's go,” Jackie said. She walked over to where Jane was standing at the window and put her arm around her sister. “Here's the shard. You found it. You should keep it.” Jackie held out the piece of glass to Jane. She was so proud of her sister and how much she had grown up in the last year.

Jane took the piece back and held it in her hand, “I'm ready.” They all went down the steps to the main level and gathered around the door. Jane started to tuck the glass shard into her pocket but stopped when the angled edges caught on the material.

“Want me to just cut it open?” Jacob asked. They were gathered around the door whispering when suddenly the lights that kept the grounds visible at night suddenly went dark. “Did you see anything?”

Tasker was standing on a stool near a window covered in thick glass. He shook his head. He turned away from the window and watched as Jacob drove the impossibly sharp sword through the door about where the lock was located. They were rewarded a moment later with the metallic clang of iron pieces falling to the concrete.

“I got it,” Jacob said with a big smile. “That was easy, at least easier then picking the lock.” He smiled mischieviously as Tasker turned and frowned at him. He enjoyed poking fun at the short figure.

Jane was standing near one of the other small windows when suddenly she spotted a figure moving in the darkness. A black robe and the glint off a musket barrel shouted warnings at her and set off all the alarms in her mind. Time seemed to slow for her, and she tried to turn her head and shout a warning to Jacob. There was a roar of several muskets outside the lighthouse and four glowing balls of energy rushed across the grounds. Two of them slammed against the walls and wasted their charges on the concrete and plaster. The third charge slammed into the window near where Tasker was standing and sent the dwarf flying off the stool and into the corner of the building. The last one caught the edge of the door Jacob had just pulled partially open and tore it from its hinges.

Tasker jumped to his feet and rushed to the edge of the door. Before leaving the rebel camp, he had taken a pistol from the captured weapons and fashioned a harness so he could carry it over his shoulder. He grabbed the weapon and peeked around the corner. Three of the Adherents were walking slowly towards the lighthouse with their muskets pointed at the entrance.

“Wait for them,” Jackie muttered. She was able to see the advancing men through a side window, and she watched as Tasker armed the small weapon.

“Tell me when,” Tasker whispered to Jackie. He knew he only had one chance to use his pistol, and he needed the Adherents as close as possible. The smaller gun didn't carry as much power as the bigger weapons, and he needed to hit them quickly. He trained his eyes on Jackie while she watched them approach. They both heard the men talking as they approached.

“Think that stopped 'em?”

“No thanks to you two. At least try and get your shots on target.”

“I hit the kid with the shield right in the chest,” another laughed.

“Let's find the clue they were looking for and get back to Master Cain.”

Jackie waved her hand at Tasker and mouthed the words now. She also saw that Jacob wasn't as badly hurt as he was pretending.

Jacob was watching their movements from where he lay on the floor. The shot had glanced off the door and knocked him from his feet. His right side hurt, and he figured that was a good thing. When he had been struck by the ball of energy last time, his body had gone numb. His shield lay on the ground about a foot from his hand and his sword had skittered off into the wreckage of the door.

Tasker saw Jackie give him the signal, and he popped his head around the corner, in a second he leveled the pistol at the men and pulled the trigger. He saw the surprised look on their faces when they saw him. The ball of energy that left the muzzle of the pistol was much smaller than the ones the bigger muskets fired but it still packed a punch. His shot dropped two of the Adherents. Tasker dove back into the shelter of the lighthouse as the third man triggered his musket, and another ball of energy slammed through the door.

Jacob felt the power tear through the air above him, and he felt the power wash down the wall and into his body. It didn't completely disable him, but once again he was struggling to move. He thrashed his arm around trying to get a grip on his shield but failed once again, so he went limp, hoping they would ignore him.

Jackie saw one of the men Tasker shot fall forward with his arms outstretched. His musket skittered on the ground and stopped just outside the front door to the lighthouse.

“Jackie, be careful!” Jane shouted. She watched in horror as her sister dove headlong through the open door and vanished into the night. Jane lunged across the main room, her heart racing. Vaguely her mind registered a faint cry as Bella lost her grip on her jacket and fell away. When she reached the door, Jackie fell back through the entrance dragging one of the muskets and threw her body to the side as another ball of energy slammed into the back wall.

As she stopped her head long rush the shard in her hand slipped free and went skittering out the door. To her horror it continued to bounce along wildly like it had a mind of its own until it came to a rest against the railings leading down to the lower area.

“I lost the shard!” Jane shouted. “Give me that musket.” Jane grabbed the weapon from Jackie and flipped it around to check the charging lever. It was ready to fire. She pushed the muzzle out the shattered door. There was an Adherent near the steps hiding behind the concrete and metal railing. She trigged the musket towards his hiding place. The crackling ball of energy slammed off the concrete and drew a shout of surprise from the man but nothing else.

Jane ducked back inside and looked down at Jacob, he was weakly trying to pull his body away from the opening. Each time a blast struck the back wall, the jolt was keeping him from getting out of the way. Suddenly there was a volley of blasts that splattered off the walls and door. Jane heard a shout of victory. When she dared to glance back out over the steps the shard of glass was gone. Across the lower grounds she saw a series of black robed characters running off into the woods. Jane threw caution away and sprinted to the top steps. She leveled the musket at the only figure she could still see and pulled the trigger.

A second after she fired, Jackie grabbed her and pulled her back, “What are you doin!” Jackie shouted. There was a cry of surprise from the lawn below them, and Jane twisted her head around the corner to look. Her target was lying half in the underbrush and half on the lawn, he was weakly trying to pull himself fully into the forest.

“Grab him,” Jane growled. She tossed the musket to Jackie and grabbed the other dropped weapon from the ground. “At least cover me.” This was her chance to find out how they there tracking them. She sprinted down the steps two at a time and ran to where the adherent had almost vanished into the thicket. She grabbed his leg and pulled him back onto the grass.

“How did you find us?” Jane demanded.

“Did he have the shard?” Jackie asked. She started to rustle around in the brush searching the ground for the piece of glass. She was about to give up when a gleam of light caught her eyes, and she smiled triumphantly. Into the thicket she pushed her body, ignoring the grabbing thorns and the tearing sounds as the branches ripped at her jacket. There on the ground at the base of a small bush was the glass shard half buried in the dirt from the force of the impact. “I found it,” Jackie crowed happily when she finally emerged from the undergrowth.

“Good, hold onto it,” Jane said. Then she turned her attention back to the Adherent and her eyes went cold as anger washed over her.

The Adherent smiled at her and clamped his mouth shut. Instead he turned his eyes to examine the rest of them. Tasker watched as Jane blustered and threatened horrible things he knew she would never carry through. That was the problems with threats, without actions to back them up they rarely worked.

“Answer me or I will send you into the Divide forever,” Jane growled. She was tired of being hounded and even more tired of running into the agents of the Temple every time she turned around. She wanted all this to be done. She wanted her mom and Jacob's mom back and to just disappeared back to the Twin Cities.

“Why don't you ask him,” the Adherent said finally. He grinned wickedly and flexed his fingers.

“What is he talking about, Tasker?” Jane said. She whirled around and stared at the short dwarf as her mind rushed to conclusion after conclusion.

“Jane,” Tasker said finally. “The effects of the blast are wearing off. We need to deal with him, and we need to get away from here. I'll explain as best I can but we need to move.” He took a length of rope he had found in the lighthouse and bound the Adherents hands and feet. A quick search revealed the man's anchor and Tasker took it as well, he set the anchor on the ground and looked around until he found a large enough stone to suit his purpose. With two hard blows he reduced the anchor to scrap. After rolling the Adherent into the underbrush and putting a gag around his mouth they hurried back down the trail towards the beach.

“All right,” Jane demanded when they reached the stairs. The night was quiet except for their footsteps. “What was he talking about? Why did he say to ask you?” She glared at him for a moment. “Why do I get the feeling you're more mixed up in this then you've told us?”

“I was one of the first dwarves to come to the surface,” Tasker started out. He walked slowly down the steps and motioned for them to keep following him. “My race has always been isolated, and our leaders liked it that way.” They reached the first platform where the steps turned to the left, and he paused. The top board of the railing was too high for him to lean on so he picked one more comfortable and looked out between the boards. “I defied the elders and began traveling to the surface on both sides of the Divide two hundred years before anyone else even dreamed of crossing over.” Tasker paused for a moment to reflect and then continued. This was a part of his life that he was not proud of. “I loved the things I saw on this side. The humans who in this world were so full of ideas, and the things they made were amazing. I wanted to bring those things to the other side. I wanted to better the lives of my people and those on the other side. I founded the Temple . . .” There was a gasp and he paused again to let them all stop talking. “But I founded it as a place where those with ideas could come and share them, not an institution to stamp out everything that opposed it. The temples were supposed to be places of learning, of sharing ideas, and helping better those around us. For almost a century things went well despite the misgivings of the Seely Court.”

Tasker started down the steps again, the lights were coming back on up near the lighthouse and there were startled shouts echoing through the night sky. The men and women who worked at the lighthouse knew something had happened, and they were raising the alarm.

“I had a young apprentice, not really talented with the making of maps but well liked,” Tasker explained. Step after step he felt like each wooden plank was taking further and further into his past. “I gave him what knowledge I could, but I knew he would never be as talented a map maker as most of the others. Still he rose quickly in the Temple, and soon his opinion was valued as much as my own . . .” Tasker paused as if thinking hard. “Now that I look back on the circumstances around his rise to power I suppose I should have seen it coming. He tried to take over by force and failed. We were saddened with the events but no harm was done. Cain was placed in a cell, and that was it. Several years passed, and he emerged from isolation with a book he had written. He said it was a recording of the struggles he went through. He even called it
My Struggles for You
. He emerged even more charismatic, and he began once again to gain followers. Five more years went by, and he was elected to the board of regents who watched over the Temple. This time he was elected head regent. I was cast aside,for Cain's first act was to banish me from the Temple buildings. I went away angry and tried to avoid all my old contacts. Even so I heard rumors of what was happening. Those he brought to power were like him, others of my friends began to vanish without any trace.”

They reached the bottom of the steps and walked out on the great rocks that marked the edge of the lake water and began walking south. Jane and Jackie flanked Tasker on each side as they listened to him tell the story.

“We met with the Seely Council and they refused to do anything about what was happening. Only some of them went a step further, they signed treaties with Cain and the others ruling the temple. The Temple agreed to halt its outward expansion to the places where they already held power in exchange for sovereign rule in the areas where Temple members made up the majority of the people.” Tasker shook his head sadly. “Six months after the treaty was signed, the Temple started the purges . . .” Tasker stopped talking as they walked along the beach. The surf was building again, and the waves were starting to throw heavy sprays of water across the stones, making them slippery. “So many were killed. Even more were driven from their homes. Many have taken to calling it the Night of the Bloody Knives.”