cloak before strolling towards the waterfront and finding an open market with dozens of shops and stalls. Niki’s spirits immediately lifted. Niki’s red dress and red hair drew a lot of attention, which lifted her spirits even higher. She was drawing so much attention, as a matter of fact, that she did not notice the man with long black hair and black eyes who was following her.
The Rangers stood and stared at the massive rock wall. “I can certainly shatter the vault wall,” Kalina said absently, “but the force necessary would probably bring the mountain down on top of us. It’s not going to work.”
Fredrik stared at her in amazement. The amount of control and power required to shatter the vault wall should take an army of Black Devils and Kalina had just said that she could do it herself. She hadn’t even thought of asking Fredrik to join with her. He was inclined to write it off as being boastful until he saw Garth nodding and frowning.
“I was afraid of that,” Garth stated. “Bringing the whole mountain down does not get us closer to retrieving the Crown of Light. I hope Midge is having more luck on the inside of the mountain.”
“Was someone talking about me?” Midge called as he flew into the cave and settled on Arik’s shoulder.
“What does the other side look like?” Arik asked.
“There is no way in,” sighed Midge. “The vault probably is the reason that the dragon left, though. It protrudes into the bottom of the cone where the dragon had his lair.”
“Can you show us?” inquired Tanya. “Perhaps we will see something that will give us some ideas.”
Prince Midge nodded and closed his eyes. He started thinking of his journey and projected the images above a clear spot on the cave floor. The group watched as Midge flew down the cone and the scene grew dimmer. It seemed to take Midge a long time to reach the bottom and when he did it was quite dark. They watched as Midge created a fairy light and the image grew brighter. The floor of the cave was littered with gold and silver objects as well as several piles of bones. Tedi’s eyes widened as he saw the vast treasure the dragon had left behind. He also noticed what appeared to be a small tunnel burrowing into the side of the cave.
“That looks like a tunnel,” exclaimed Tedi. “Similar in size to the one at the back of this cave. I think we should explore it.”
Midge’s image flickered momentarily and then stabilized again as someone ordered quiet. Everyone focused their attention on the image as Midge rotated and looked around the dragon’s lair. Protruding into the lair were two sides and a corner of the roof of the vault. The sides of the vault were tilted slightly and the roof was cracked as if the weight of the mountain was too much for the vault to support. There were also several stalactites touching the roof. Most of them had been broken off, but one of them appeared to pass through the crack in the roof. The image of the crack in the roof came closer as Midge moved towards it and searched for a break that would allow him to enter the vault. While the roof was cracked, it was not cracked enough to allow entry even for one so small as Midge. The image of the lair continued for a while as Midge checked every inch of the exposed surfaces of the vault and eventually flew back up the cone.
“As you can see,” Midge declared, “I was not able to find even the smallest hole to gain entry.”
“Let’s go back to the mansion and get something to eat,” Garth said suddenly. “We can discuss our options tonight and retrieve the Crown of Light tomorrow.”
The group filed out of the cave and headed back to the mansion. Nobody noticed that Tedi had not emerged from the cave. Tedi stayed behind and was crawling into the tunnel in hope of finding an entrance to the vault.
Niki was enjoying the open market and when she saw a food peddler with a couple of tables set out, she decided to get something to eat. Niki sat down and the peddler handed her a chalkboard with the day’s specials. Niki could not read the script and sat there staring at the chalkboard.
“Perhaps I can help,” offered the man with long, black hair and black eyes as he sat at Niki’s table. “His specials are all seafood. Today he has crab cakes, jumbo shrimp, which are really quite small, I promise you, and mussels. I would recommend the crab cakes.”
“Why, thank you,” Niki got out. “You must live around here to know so much.”
“Actually, I am from Trekum,” the dark man said. “My name is Dalgar.”
“Oh, I am also from Trekum,” chirped Niki. “What a coincidence. Have you been here long?”
“I have been wandering ever since my wife died,” Dalgar confided. “I have been searching for my lost daughter.”
“Your wife died and you lost your daughter?” Niki exclaimed. “How terrible that must be for you.”
“It is terrible for everyone,” Dalgar explained. “You see, my daughter must be found so she can lead her people to greatness.”
“Lead her people?” Niki inquired. “Can’t you lead the people? Who would she lead in Trekum?”
“Ah, you have many questions,” Dalgar smiled. “My wife was the Empress of Sordoa and our daughter must be found to unite and rule over Sordoa once again. I cannot lead them because I am not entitled to. Only my daughter can do that.”
“I do not understand,” Niki queried. “I thought the Empress was married to the Emperor and her daughter was also the daughter of Sarac. What you are saying makes no sense.”
“Where ever did you hear such fairy tales?” laughed Dalgar. “Aurora was not married to the Emperor. She was the Emperor’s advisor and heir. The Emperor was unmarried and had no sons or daughters of his own. That is why he made Aurora the heir. She was so wise in advising him that he knew she would make an excellent Empress. As for Sarac and Aurora… I cannot imagine the swine that would spread such disgusting tales. Aurora hated Sarac with a passion. She would never bear his child. No, that Princess Callie of Targa, now that was more Sarac’s taste, but never Aurora.”
Niki’s head spun with the contradictions between Dalgar’s story and Kalina’s. Suddenly, it dawned on Niki where she had heard the name Dalgar before. He was the Black Devil who had escaped with Aurora from the Rangers’ attack on Mordac’s castle.
“I thought Aurora was a Black Devil?” questioned Niki. “Aren’t they servants of the Dark One?”
“Oh, yes,” laughed Dalgar. “Aurora and I were both Black Devils. We are the ones responsible for freeing Sarac from Jenneva’s trap. That does not mean that we follow Sarac without question. Aurora and I had made plans to rule the world before Alex and Jenneva killed her.”
“Alex and Jenneva killed Aurora?” Niki asked confusingly. “I thought Sarac killed Aurora.”
Dalgar shook his head sadly. “Someone has filled your head with nonsense,” Dalgar declared. “Oh, Sarac wanted Aurora out of the way all right, so he allowed the information on her whereabouts to fall into the hands of Alex and Jenneva. They did his dirty work for him.”
“I am really confused,” admitted Niki while holding her head with her hands. “If you and Aurora were plotting against Alex and Jenneva as well as Sarac, why are you willing to tell all of this to me? Aren’t you afraid I might tell somebody?”
“I do not think so,” smiled Dalgar. “You wear Aurora’s cloak and you have Aurora’s hair and face. You will not tell anyone because you are my daughter and with my help, you will rule the world.”
Niki’s head snapped up and she stared, openmouthed, at Dalgar. “You mean I am really going to be a Queen? Or Empress, I mean? You can make that happen?”
“Together we can make it happen, daughter,” smiled Dalgar. “We must not let anyone know that we suspect their lies just yet, though. You will continue to play along with your friends as if nothing has changed.”
“How will that help me become Empress?” Niki asked. “Suppose they find out about you?”
“You will not let them know about me,” ordered Dalgar. “They seek to destroy Sarac. We will help them do that, up to a point. When we are ready, we will destroy them and Sarac and there will be nothing to stand in our way. You must get them to lead you to Alex and Jenneva. We need to avenge Aurora’s death by killing those two and Sarac. You will learn everything you can about their plans and movements. I need to know everything I can about each member of your group and where they plan to go next.”
