“I see. I apologize, my count,” Anna said, dropping into a curtsey.
Indrid brushed his thumb and forefinger across her cheek, “It’s all right. You don’t have to bow to me.”
“Indrid, listen! You can’t take Burton to Ikarus. Don’t you see? Demitri wants us to attack him there,” Anna said. She had always been influential in Indrid’s decision-making as Ikarus general. She knew that Indrid loved her and she could only hope that she could still persuade him.
“Then what would you suggest?” asked Indrid.
“We must go back to Illyrium. When you fail to deliver Burton, Demitri will go there. He’ll realize that forces are conspiring against him. I found my mother, Indrid. Her name is Glassinger Lott. The Merns, the real Merns from kingdoms on the ocean floor agreed to help us. The rivers and fresh water are no boundaries to them. My people will take Demitri’s ships down as they cross the Origon River.”
Considering the notion, Indrid paced around, combing through his black beard with his fingers.
Anna could tell that he took her claim seriously and no longer thought mythical ideas crazy. And she was grateful. “It’s the only way to free our people. They are now hostages. If we attack Ikarus, he will kill them.”
Indrid jumped onto a high stone and addressed his traveling army. “I have reconsidered and decided that it is in our best interest to go back to Illyrium and use it as our base. It will be a temporary home for the new Resistance against the tyrant who calls himself king.”
He looked back at Anna and nodded with a stern look.
The sun had set. They traveled back by moonlight. Anna rode with Indrid. He had covered her with an alpaca fur blanket. When she held him close, his body felt warm.
Back at the ruins of Illyrium, the army set their horses in the old garden, weed-choked and overgrown.
“Where is everyone else?” Anna asked. “Burton wasn’t alone.”
“They’re still down in the oubliette,” Indrid said.
Anna insisted that she and Burton go down the well immediately to gather the rest of the people. During the little time she’d spent in the caverns, she took a liking to the comical characters.
Indrid was reluctant, but allowed it. “Sir Simon will accompany you.”
Anna immediately said, “No!”
“It’s all right, Anna. He can come. Trust me,” said Burton.
EGGWARD AND Grimm led Montague through the troll’s system of intricate underground tunnels to the oubliette of Illyrium. His back had miraculously healed, but the pace at which the nine trolls were moving was still too fast for him. Illyrium was far from the caverns beneath the Ikarus plateau where the trolls had cared for Montague. The further they went the wetter the air became. There were no more lights on the walls, and the smell wasn’t as friendly as before. Instead of torches, Eggward held a device that shined light like the lights on the walls at the troll’s home, similar to Burton’s wand, but not as bright.
When they arrived in the great cavern of the Illyrium oubliette, Montague walked in and saw people there, wandering in darkness. They looked cold, starved, and dehydrated. They must have gone days without nourishment, he thought. Fortunately, the trolls brought bags of food, barrels of water, and piles of wood to start a fire. And when Montague turned back to Eggward, he wasn’t there—the trolls were gone.
Most of the people there recognized Montague. He was once the speaker of the Ikarus council and a well-known farmer who delivered medicines to all three kingdoms. And when Montague told the people in the oubliette that he had something important to tell all of them, their faces froze in attention.
“Some of you may or may not have heard about the invaders from the sky. Your parents and their parents before them probably passed the stories off as fairy tales. But they’re true. The invaders are called Nekrums. And they want blood…” Montague paused for a moment. He thought about all of the suffering and all of the deaths that had transpired throughout the generations; all because of what was in his blood. “…And they won’t stop until they get it. But we have allies living beneath our feet that are willing to help us. Not all of the Nekrums are malevolent. A group of rebels fights to protect mankind. They, the trolls, brought these supplies for you as a sign of peace.”
Montague knew that the truth was hard to swallow. The men and women were shocked yet thankful for the supplies, and they had many questions about the mysterious trolls and the reality that had been kept from them. But Montague urged them to rest before revealing the details of their lost history. He lit a fire in the middle of the cave and handed everyone an equal share of food and water.
Shortly after their meal, everyone except Montague fell asleep. He’d gotten plenty of rest while the trolls helped him recover from his back injury, but he was still mentally exhausted. What do I do now? Where do I go? The answers were hard to imagine. He was in the depths of the Illyrium oubliette with nothing but a week’s worth of food. Nearing two hours of tiresome contemplation, he finally dozed off.
In the middle of the night, a man woke, kicking and shoving everyone else to wake up. “There’s a boat approaching from the landing rock. I can see the light!”
Montague recognized that light. It was no fire light. It was the light of Vandagelle, Burton Lang’s wand. Finally, Montague would see his sensei again.
When the boat got close enough for Montague to see three faces, he was thrilled to see Anna Lott’s. Burton was cloaked in deep shadow, and the third face he didn’t recognize.
Anna jumped out, ran towards Montague, and hugged him tightly. “It so
