‘But what if you werekilled?’ asked Miranda.
‘Then I suppose thatsomeone would have brought me back to life again,’ he repliedlooking pointedly at Miranda.
‘You don’t think thatI’m a part of the plot do you?’ asked Miranda looking worried.
‘No Mandy, I don’t. Idon’t think you’re a part of my grandfather’s plan at all, butyou’re a part of the Lady’s plan, and at the moment they have thesame objective. If at some stage their objectives diverge thenwe’ll have a problem. Anyway, let’s deal with the current problemfirst. I think you are needed for some healing.’
Aquitain called for allthe group leaders to report on their losses and was quite appalledat what he heard. The Crin had suffered the most with half theirfighters dead and another quarter injured. The little people hadlost seven warriors and another dozen were injured. While only oneguard was dead, another half dozen were wounded. Twenty dead inall, and the enemy had only lost one. Definitely figures that nocommander would be happy about, and Aquitain wasn’t. If granddad orhis father were involved in this, they would have to do a bloodylot of explaining to justify this debacle.
Chapter 38 TheBetrayal
Miranda healed theworst of the injured until she ran out of healing prayers andpotions, then rejoined Aquitain who had reformed his forces into asingle defensive circle and assembled a small team composed ofhimself, the Orc, Gastan, the Alloe file of Town Guards, Loma and asingle Crin fighter to breach the temple. As he expected, the keyshe had made earlier to disable the fountains also opened many doorswithin the temple.
An hour later afterlocating and disabling several nasty traps and journeying fourlevels below ground level without incident, they opened a door to alarge square shaped, sparsely decorated and dimly lit chamber.Standing across the other side of the room was a very large Yithdressed in a scarlet robe with a magically glowing belt holdingZephira in front of him. Behind him in a line were six Yith archersand a Yith wizard. To his left and chained together in a circle,were about twenty Barra children.
Aquitain whispered toMiranda and the others, ‘Go in first and talk to them. I’ll joinyou in a minute.’ He quickly touched Alpha and it grew finespider-like legs. ‘Carefully creep around behind that big Yithholding Zephira. Get in a position where you can touch him.’
Fortunately, thelighting in the chamber was poor, so Alpha very quickly disappearedas it scuttled off silently and Aquitain in his bear form walkedin. The main Yith didn’t wish to talk to the others, only thebear.
‘My name is Ishteth.I’ll get directly to the point. I’ve got your cousin and awagonload of tasty little Barra children here, and guess what, thechildren are standing on not one, but two fireball glyphs. Thereare several ways to make them explode - none of which I’m about todisclose. Should you desire to attack us they will explode, killingall the little children. What a pity.’
‘What do you want fortheir freedom?’ asked Aquitain, as he looked around thechamber.
‘I will let both thechildren and your friend here go, for two things in yourpossession.’
Ishteth smiled a verynasty reptilian smile and said. ‘I will exchange the children forthe mask and the girl for your memory crystal which you callAlpha.’
‘What!’ said Miranda.‘What’s to stop us from killing you?’
‘I’m not talking to youdruid, so shut up. The decision is for the bear to make.’
‘What’s a memorycrystal?’ whispered Gastan, loud enough for everyone to hear.
‘It’s a part ofAquitain’s mind and life essence embedded in a small crystal,making it sentient,’ said Miranda, and the others in the party allmuttered amongst themselves, suddenly realizing the sacrifice thatAquitain was being asked to make.
Aquitain’s mind almostfroze at the thought of losing Alpha, but he struggled for controland sent a mindspeak message to it. ‘Where are you, Alpha?’
‘Be very carefulAquitain,’ said Alpha. ‘There is an invisible wall of arcane forceacross the room between you and them. I found a small gap near thewall to crawl through, but your people won’t be able to getthrough. I’m currently right in front of Zephira.’ Everyone inAquitain’s group held their breath as they noticed Alpha slowlyclimb up the front of Zephira’s leg then stop on her stomach justbelow Ishteth’s arm.
‘I have neither withme,’ Aquitain hesitantly replied.
‘You have one hour toget them.’ said Ishteth. ‘It’s very simple. No mask and thechildren die. No memory crystal and your cousin dies.’
‘Why are you doingthis?’ asked Aquitain.
‘Your time is runningout!’ was the only reply he received, so he ushered his teamoutside the door into the hallway.
‘You won’t let ourchildren die will you Spirit Lord?’ begged Loma.
‘No I won’t, Loma.We’ve lost twenty fighters to save your children. We will honourtheir sacrifice,’ he replied.
‘And what about Alpha?’asked Miranda through their mindlink.
‘I’m not quite sure whythey would want Alpha. It’s useless to them. It’s a part of me. Itwill never give them any useful information.’
‘When I first flew withAlpha to the Jeti village it talked to me. It said that it knewwhat your grandfather was planning. It knew what information youwould need at the appropriate time. It was worried that I mightupset the plan. Perhaps somehow they know this. If you give themAlpha you will lose its knowledge, but if you don’t you will loseZephira. I’m sorry. I don’t want to make it harder, I just thoughtyou should know.’
‘Thank you, Mandy! Thatexplains a lot. Alpha has not been happy about the two of us beingtogether. It thinks that you are leading me astray. I have heard ofother mind wizards remaking their memory crystals after a few yearsas they become too independent. The crystals forget what they are.I have never considered having Alpha remade until the past fewdays. It has been disagreeing with my decisions and attempting towithhold information. I cannot accept that. The question is, whywould Granddad give instructions to Alpha
