Chapter 10

 

 

Rena was the last to head toward the stairs, looking instead out a window at the night beyond. And then something caught her eyes, bringing a startled gasp from her. She hurried over to the window with a cry.

 

‘Eldor!’ she exclaimed. ‘Come back!’

 

The wizard and Nyssa quickly came back up the stairs again at the urgency in her voice.

 

‘What is it, Rena?’ he asked.

 

‘Look!’ the dwarf said, pointing out the window.

 

Eldor and Nyssa looked out the window and saw a thin column of green light in the air. It rose from a point beyond the city to the south.

 

‘That’s Dwarf-fire!’ Eldor said in shock. ‘It must be from Lore!’

 

‘Do you think Dom is with him?’ Jena asked hopefully.

 

‘Let’s hope so,’ Rena said. ‘But why is he using it? Morgs will see it from miles around.’

 

‘And the Shiver,’ Nyssa added grimly. ‘But he knows we are somewhere. He would only use for an important reason.’

 

Eldor frowned, looking intently at the Dwarf-fire.

Then his eyes went wide as a thought came to him.

 

‘I think I know where he is!’ he said. ‘And if I’m right, he may have found the Stardust Fountain.’

 

‘What is over there?’ Nyssa asked.

 

‘It’s a grotto where tiny waterfalls flow into a pool at the bottom,’ Eldor replied. ‘It was used as a picnic place long ago. The fairies must have moved the Stardust Fountain there. The waterfalls are the mirrors in Queen Erin’s message.’

 

‘The Shiver will have seen it,’ Rena said. ‘We must hurry!’

 

Eldor led them back down the stairs and underground to the tunnels. They hurried down several before emerging out of another building at the edge of the city.

 

They headed across a field toward the Dwarf-fire that hung above a ring of trees. Passing through them they came to the grotto. They looked down and saw Lore and Dom standing by a small fire. They also saw the marble fountain in the pool, brimming with a sparkling mist.

 

‘Stardust!’ Eldor said in relief. ‘They have found it.’

 

‘Hello, there!’ Lore shouted up at them. ‘We were hoping you would come. Look what we’ve found!’

 

‘Very good, Lore,’ Eldor said as he made his way down the stairs, followed by Nyssa and Rena. ‘But put that fire out… quickly!’

 

Lore did as he was asked, scattering the burning wood. The Dwarf-fire vanished from the air. Eldor hurried across the pool and pulling out a large bottle from his cloak, began to fill it with the Stardust. Everyone else meanwhile hugged each other in joy, delighted at having found each other safe.

 

‘We all thought you lost when you fell into the gorge!’ Jena said to Dom, both on the ground where they could hug each other. ‘It must have been terrifying!’

 

‘Well… it’s happened before, so it wasn’t too bad,’ Dom replied.

 

Jena suddenly eyed him severely as a thought came to her.

 

‘Do mum and dad know you’re here?’ she asked. ‘I can understand Lore and Nyssa coming, but what are you doing here!’

 

Dom’s expression turned a little guilty.

 

‘Well, King Brodon didn’t actually say I couldn’t come,’ he replied. ‘And Queen Erin did send me the dream about the Stardust Fountain.’

 

‘Typical!’ Jena said in exasperation. ‘You just have to be where danger is.’

 

Then Eldor joined them having finished collecting the Stardust.

 

‘You can scold him later, Jena,’ he said. ‘We must flee here…’

 

An ear splitting howl above them suddenly smothered his voice. They looked up in fright. The Shiver had found them, writhing in fury above the grotto. It began to descend, its dark form whirling with grey wisps of trapped spirits.

 

‘A barrier, Jena!’ Eldor urged. ‘Quickly!’

 

Jena quickly willed a barrier above them, covering the Stardust Fountain as well. Almost immediately she could feel the Shiver pushing against it with incredible force.

 

‘I… I can’t keep it up for long, Eldor!’ she exclaimed in a strained voice.

 

‘What do we do, Eldor?’ Nyssa asked fearfully.

 

But Eldor’s expression was frightened as well. There was no well else to go in the grotto… no hidden passage or tunnel they could flee into. Once the Shiver forced its way past Jena’s barrier, they would all be turned to stone.

 

But Dom meanwhile was staring curiously at the Stardust Fountain. He was looking at the Stardust that was behaving in an unusual way. It had risen up from the fountain in a great cloud and was pooling against Jena’s barrier. It was as if it was trying to… touch the Shiver.

 

‘Eldor! Look at the Stardust!’ he exclaimed.

 

Everyone looked at what he was pointing at. Confusion filled their expressions as they wondered what the Stardust was doing. Then Eldor spoke in a stunned tone.

 

‘Good wizards! I think the Stardust is trying to touch the Shiver.’

 

‘That’s what I thought,’ Dom said.

 

‘What will happen if it does?’ Lore asked.

 

‘I’m not sure, but there’s a chance it could unravel it,’ the wizard said in a thoughtful tone.

 

‘You mean destroy it?’ Nyssa asked.

 

Eldor nodded.

 

‘Yes, it might have the power to do that,’ he replied. ‘The Stardust has been collecting here unused for hundreds of years. Now gather close.’

 

He drew everyone in with his arms, everyone hugging each other in a tight group. All were shaking a bit, fearful of what would happen. Then Eldor nodded at Jena.

 

‘Take the barrier away,’ Jena,’ he said.

 

Jena closed her eyes and the glow of her bracelet faded away.

 

Shiver screamed in triumph, thinking it had them. It came at them, but almost instantly the Stardust began to merge with its darkness. It began to consume it, eating it away. The Shiver sensed it was under attack and tried to retreat. But the Stardust refused to let it go.

 

And something else was happening within the Shiver. All watched in wonder as the trapped spirits turned a bright silver as the Stardust touched them. Voices filled the air, sighs of delight as their imprisonment ended.

 

Then with a sudden rush, the Stardust swallowed the Shiver entirely. It then burst out of the grotto with a dazzling explosion. When their eyes cleared, the Shiver was gone.

 

Everyone was momentarily stunned at their survival. Then tears came as they realized they were safe.

 

‘We’re safe! We’re safe!’ Rena exclaimed, doing a bit of a dance around the grotto.

 

Lore and Nyssa joined in and all three danced in joy. Jena and Dom did so too, whilst Eldor looked on with a satisfied smile.

 

‘Yes… we’re safe,’ he said in a pleased tone. ‘And we have Lore and Dom to thank for that. How did you stumble across the grotto? I had forgotten all about it till I saw the Dwarf-fire.’

 

‘Well… it’s a long story,’ Lore said.

 

‘Then let’s make some tea and here it,’ Rena said. ‘I’d like to know what brought you both here.’

 

* * *

 

They got a fire going again and brewed some tea. Then sitting round the flames they listened in amazement to Lore and Dom’s tale. How they had been swept along the underground river to the huge lake under the mountains. Eldor said that he knew it. He told them what they had both thought, that his folk had indeed rowed about it long ago.

 

They went on with the discovery of the jetty and the tunnel that had brought them outside again.

 

‘We almost headed home then,’ Lore said. ‘We knew we would never find you in Rethan.’

 

‘But we just wanted a closer look at the city,’ Dom said. ‘That’s what led us to the grotto.’

 

‘And it was Dom who realized that the waterfalls looked like mirrors,’ Lore said. ‘I thought you might not look here, so I used the Dwarf-fire to let you know where we were.’

 

‘And thank goodness you did,’ Eldor said. ‘We were very close to going home ourselves.’

 

‘But could the Stardust have destroyed the Shiver all those years ago, Eldor?’ Jena asked.

 

Eldor shook his head.

 

‘No. As I said, the Stardust has been collecting here for hundreds of years. It needed that much to unravel the Shiver.’

 

‘But it’s all gone!’ Nyssa said in alarm. ‘Did you collect enough to help the fairies?’

 

Eldor smiled.

 

‘Yes, I have what we need,’ he replied. ‘And the fountain will collect more over time.’

 

They slept the night in the grotto and in the morning went back into the city. Eldor wanted to investigate something. They didn’t have far to go to discover what he was looking for. The stone figures of his folk had all disappeared. A fine grey dust lying on the ground was all that remained.

 

‘What does it mean, Eldor?’ Jena asked as they stood in the park in the middle of the city.

 

‘It means the spirits of my folk are at last at peace, Jena,’ he replied. ‘When it rains next all traces of their stone imprisonment will be washed away.’

 

‘Perhaps folk will come and live here again,’ Lore said. ‘Dwarves, elves, fairies and gnomes could bring it back to life.’

 

Rena nodded in agreement.

 

‘We could rebuild the city,’ she said. ‘It would be a great triumph to have it whole again.’

 

‘Don’t forget the morgs, Rena,’ Dom said. ‘You’ll have to get rid of them before anything else.’

 

She fingered the double-bladed axe at her belt.

 

‘I think we dwarves could handle that,’ she replied with a deadly gleam in her eyes.

 

‘And the elves can help too,’ Nyssa added. ‘We can grow things… bring back colour and life here. It would be a wonder to see.’

 

‘Well, let’s not forget the fairies,’ Jena said. ‘We ought to hurry back with the Stardust.’

 

‘Yes, let’s be on our way,’ Eldor agreed.

 

* * *

 

Some days later found them in the Quiet Woods again. It was dusk and all those who had travelled to Rethan were gathered at the edge of the fairies glade. King Brodon, King Nemon and Jena and Dom’s mum and dad were present as well.

 

Eldor’s staff was still standing by Queen Erin’s starflower. Everyone watched as the wizard walked over to it. He lifted it from the ground and the orange glow from its crystal faded from the glade. The fairies starflowers were still glowing dimly, showing they were still alive.

 

‘This is very exciting!’ King Brodon said. ‘I hope the fairies will be as good as new after this.’

 

‘I’m sure they will be,’ Jena said confidently.

 

‘We owe you all a great debt,’ King Nemon said. ‘I shudder when I think of Lendor without the fairies.’

 

‘Look!’ Dom exclaimed from Lore’s shoulder. ‘Eldor’s taken out the bottle of Stardust.’

 

They all watched with anticipation. They held their breaths as the wizard pulled out its cork. He then flung his arm wide around him and the Stardust flew out of the bottle in a shimmering cloud. It quickly filled the glade and then slowly settled onto the starflowers. As soon as they were touched, they began to glow brightly.

 

It wasn’t long before the glade was filled with delighted fairies. Their wings hummed as they flew around the glade, overjoyed at being saved. Queen Erin thanked everyone personally for saving them. She was very happy too at the news that the Shiver was no more.

 

Eventually everyone began to head home. In the morning the elves and dwarves would be returning to the Forest of Rivers and Dwarf Gate.

 

‘We’ll have to organise a campaign against the morgs,’ King Brodon was saying as they walked. ‘Chase them out of the city and the surrounding lands. Then we can start rebuilding Rethan.’

 

‘There must be great treasure in the city… things our ancestors made long ago,’ Lore said excitedly.

 

‘Good gnomes! Imagine all the buildings we’ll have to search!’ Dom added. ‘What an adventure!’

 

Jena and Nyssa looked at each other and rolled their eyes. If they did go, Jena hoped the pair would keep out of trouble. But she figured they probably wouldn’t… which was just so typical of them!