The Home Stone

Shamus, Kirin and Blick sat together and planned the storming of the castle. It was decided that Blick take the dwarfs and attack the barbarian army camped outside the castle walls, from the north, setting up a diversion so the elves could attack from the rear and its right flank. Shamus would take Shannon and the Drow elves to a secret entrance hidden in the south wall and once inside the battle would begin. This would divert the dragon and give Shannon and Brianna enough time to capture and imprison it again. It was a good plan and would work, as long as the elves, attacking from the south, would stay hidden from those soldiers that manned the walls, before any alarm could be given.

Now with everyone ready and Shannon on her way, Kirin gave the order to get the men ready. Getting so many men in place out here in the open was a great feat. So many things could go wrong, but the elves were experienced in the use of stealth and when the time would come to attack they would be in place. Along with the main body of the army to the south, he also had about two hundred archers aimed at the walls so the barbarians could not fire down upon his men. He watched as Shamus led his small group to the south wall and moments later they disappeared from view. That was the signal he was waiting for. He sent a messenger to Blick to begin his advance.

Once inside the walls Shamus led the friends along a dark corridor and to a stairwell that led down into the bowels of the castle. With only a torch set on the walls every twenty feet, the chance of missing an alcove or hidden passage increased as they ventured farther and farther down the stairs. Stopping about halfway down Shamus turned and whispered. “At the bottom, there will be guards,” he explained. “They are there to watch over the many men still loyal to the princess. If she’s not down here then maybe one of the prisoners know where she’s being kept. We will need her if this is to succeed. She’s the only one who can control these barbarians once the battle starts. I know some of them and if they are among those down here we’ll gain their help.” They continued their downward climb until they reached the bottom of the stairs. There was a short hallway that opened up into a room that housed the guards. There were three guards seated at a small square table and playing cards. They were so engrossed with their game that they did not hear the friends enter with weapons drawn. Shamus was upon the nearest and ran his blade through his chest before he could unsheathe his own sword. Raven; quickly dispatched another guard with her small crossbow. Hollis had his hands full with the third. He was a battle-hardened soldier and he knew after he saw his two buddies drop like flies that if he did not gain the upper hand he would join them. The Drow are said to be as cunning as a fox and Hollis was the slyest of them all. With his sword hand, he parried and dodged the arm of his opponent and with his other hand slowly and skillfully cut his adversary here and there until the blood began to weaken him. Then as the barbarian began to tire and lowered his guard, Hollis moved in for the kill. Minutes later the last of the three watchmen lay dead on the floor of the guardroom. Finding the large ring with keys to the cells, Shamus opened door after door allowing the prisoners to join him. Arming themselves with whatever weapons the guards had they stood by their new-found friend. The highlander then questioned the closest man as to the whereabouts of his friend, Wolfgar.

“Alas,” the man explained, “he was killed when they took us prisoner. They knew that keeping him alive would only create problems for the king and his men. The last words that Wolfgar spoke were to wait until the time was right to take our revenge and I think that the time has finally come.”

Now some twenty men strong the group made its way back up the stairs to the upper floors. Along the way they killed everyone that belonged to the king’s clan. With every man now armed, the group fought its way up to where the king and his personal bodyguards would be waiting. The battle outside was raging and in the great hall the king and his advisers were planning new strategies with the hope of turning the tide of this war in their favor. Outside the doors of the great hall, twenty men stood at the ready. Shamus had his men come at them from two sides at once. This would give them a slight advantage for he did not know how many more guards were waiting for them on the other side of the door.

Shannon and the Drow found a small door off to the side of the hall and sneaked in. the hair on the back of her neck stood straight up and the tingling sensation began as soon as she entered. If she could feel the dragon then surely, he could feel her. Keeping Brianna tucked behind her she advanced. Raven and Hollis played a game of cat and mouse with the half dozen or so guards that the king had waiting on the inside. Suddenly the main doors burst open and in swarmed Shamus and his men. This was the chance that Shannon had been waiting for and she made her move.

Blick and his men advanced so close that they were practically inside the camp before the alarm was given. The barbarians were awake quickly and joined the lines on the north side of the camp. Then Kirin gave all of his archers the command to fire and volley after volley rained down onto the barbarians. Had this tactic not worked so well both armies of the elves and dwarfs would have been greatly outnumbered, but the archers did their job well and managed to even the odds for Kirin and Blick. The men of the bear clan were highly skilled and battle-hardened. They did not die easily. They continued to press the dwarfs even though elven archers were killing them from behind. Then after some time the gates of the castle opened and Shamus waved at Kirin that the castle was ready to be taken. Kirin then gave the order to attack the rear of the dwindling barbarian army. He then took two hundred of his best men and entered the keep. There he teamed up with Shamus and a force of fifty well-armed men and proceeded to fight their way to the great hall to aid Shannon and her friends.

The dragon stared at the elf mage and roared.

“You think, you a mere little girl is strong enough to defeat me?” it laughed.

Showing his true form for the first time, the king’s advisers turned and ran for their lives, but they did not even make it to the open doors. A blast of flame from its mouth engulfed them and turned them to ashes. It now turned its attention to the elves, but Shannon was ready. As soon as the dragon breathed its hot flame and tried to repeat the scene as it did with the advisers, the elf mage spun her own spell of protection. The flames engulfed the pair but did not penetrate the shield. At the same time, Brianna began to murmur a spell that she had found in the secret library in sanctum and held the talisman out in front of her. The dragon suddenly realized what was happening and renewed his efforts to break Shannon’s spell and attacked again, forgetting all about the other two Drow that were hiding behind a stone column, but the spell held. How long could Shannon keep up this spell? Only she knew for she slowly felt herself begin to weaken. Brianna continued repeating her spell and spoke the ancient words louder and louder with increasing force.

The dragon too was beginning to weaken. It had never met a mage so powerful as this little elf girl that stood before it.

Again and again it tried to gain the upper hand, but it was to no avail. The elf was just too powerful and the other girl was slowly sapping its strength. With nowhere to run or hide the dragon began to falter in its efforts to free itself. Shannon, now so weak that she was down on one knee, saw the flash of light first. So bright was the flash that it broke her concentration and dropped the spell. When she looked up to where the dragon had been standing all she saw was the body of the king lying face down on the hard-stone floor. Moving cautiously forward, Shannon and Brianna examined the body to see if the dragon was still there, but it was not. Did they kill the beast or did it get away? No one ever found out for until today the creature was never seen again.

Once word got to the outside that the king was dead and that the princess was free once more and their ruler now, the remaining barbarian army laid down their weapons and surrendered to the elves and the dwarfs.

The only task left for Shannon was to locate where the dragon had hidden the Home Stone. She and Brianna searched the room as carefully as they could. Shannon could sense that it was nearby, but finding its location proved more difficult. Searching every corner and alcove they came up empty. Then it dawned on the elf mage; it would be hidden so no one should find it. Shannon decided to walk along each wall of the great hall and see if the sensation of the magic that the icon held grew as she homed in on it. Then, she felt the magic grow. Now with her hands feeling the wall off to the side of the throne, she found a latch that was kept hidden behind a false block of stone. Reaching in she pulled on the latch and silently the secret panel slid open. There in the middle of a tiny, windowless room, on a small table lay the stone. Taking it with both hands she left the room and met up with Kirin, who gave it to one of the Sky Elves and had it flown to Evermore.