Chapter 7

 

 

Eldor’s party spent another night in the mountains, all feeling gloomy at Lore and Dom’s fate. No one felt like eating, but Eldor urged them to. He reminded them that they would need their strength no matter happened. They did so and then managed some fitful sleep. They were on their again with the dawn.

 

By mid morning they had climbed down out of the mountains to hilly woodland country. They made their way through the trees, wary for any sign of morgs as they were in their territory now. Just before midday they crested one high hill and below it lay the ancient city of Rethan.

 

It lay in a wide, shallow valley ringed by grassy fields and hills. Jena and Nyssa could only stare in wonder at its hundreds of buildings. They had been constructed from pale yellow and white stone. Their tiled roofs were red, blue or green and some had domed roofs of tarnished gold.

 

It was so big they couldn’t see its far end, hidden by a thin mist that hung in the air about the valley. But they could see that much of the city had seen better days. Many of the buildings lay crumbled and broken in the streets.

 

As Eldor had said a river ran through the middle of the city. It was quiet wide and full, its waters winking in the misty sunlight. Numerous bridges spanned it and Jena could only imagine the throng of people that must have used them. She thought it very sad that the city was now empty and forgotten.

 

‘Good elves!’ Nyssa said. ‘I never thought it would be so big!’

 

Eldor chuckled.

 

‘Yes, it’s a very large place,’ he said.

 

‘How many people lived here?’ Jena asked in fascination.

 

‘Thousands upon thousands,’ Eldor replied. ‘And not just my folk, but elves and dwarves, fairies and gnomes.’

 

‘But what happened to them… where did they all go?’ Nyssa asked.

 

But Eldor didn’t reply, instead moving down the trail that wound down the hill. Jena could see they were heading toward the river that flowed out of a deep gorge before splitting the city in two. When the reached the bottom of the hill they discovered a small park lying on top of a cliff overlooking the gorge.

 

Jena saw numerous statues had been placed there. She thought it was an odd place to find so many. But as they came up to the nearest she suddenly realized what they were statues of.

 

They were people, but horribly turned to stone where they had been walking or sitting. Over by some trees was a family, a man and a woman with two children, their faces turned to look up at something in horror. There were some dwarves, some elves and even a family of gnomes, all with expressions of terror on their faces.

 

‘They’ve all been turned to stone!’ she whispered in shock.

 

Eldor nodded.

 

‘Yes, this is what happened to the people of Rethan… when the magic escaped and formed the Shiver.’

 

‘It’s… it’s horrid!’ Nyssa said, tears in her eyes at such a tragedy. ‘Did you know about this, Rena?’

 

The dwarf nodded.

 

‘A few dwarves and elves know the true horror that lies here,’ she replied. ‘It’s why we never encourage anyone to come…’

 

Suddenly a piecing howl split the air and everyone jumped at the sound. Jena thought for a moment that it was the Shiver itself and that they had been discovered. But then she recognised them as the howl of morgs. They all looked back up the trail they had come down. Large furry shapes could be seen moving through the trees and heading toward them.

 

‘Morgs!’ Rena growled and in a flash her axe was in her hands.

 

‘Quickly… follow me!’ Eldor urged.

 

More howls filled the air as they fled across the park, Jena clinging to Nyssa on her shoulder. She managed a look behind and saw a dozen or more morgs bound out of the trees in pursuit. She didn’t need to look at her bracelet to know it was glowing.

 

Eldor led them to one end of the park and a long drop down a cliff face. There was a narrow stairway leading downwards and they followed it. Reaching the bottom they found themselves on a small landing and a jetty standing over the swift flowing river. But cutting back into the cliff was a narrow gap and Eldor took them down it.

 

At its end they came to a large iron door in the cliff wall, pitted and rusted with age. Eldor grabbed its handle and gave it a shove with a shoulder, but it didn’t budge.

 

‘I didn’t think this door would open. It’s been shut too long and become jammed with age,’ he said.

 

He turned to Jena on Nyssa’s shoulder.

 

‘You’ll have to open it for us, Jena. Use your magic.’

 

Jena nodded and reaching out both hands, put a picture in her mind of opening the door. She could feel how stuck it had become, fused with the doorframe over the ages. She put more force into her command, but though it groaned and creaked, still it remained shut.

 

‘Hurry, Jena!’ Rena said behind her. ‘The morgs are here!’

 

This time she used a lot more force, calling on more of the magic. And this time the door just blew inwards with a huge crunch and struck a wall inside with a ringing blow. They hurried inside, followed by Nyssa and then Rena. She backed in slowly, her axe swinging as the first morgs reached them.

 

They were in a large chamber where there were two more people turned to stone. In the middle of the floor was a spiralling stairway that led down into darkness.

 

‘Bring down the doorway, Jena. Don’t worry, we won’t be leaving the same way,’ Eldor said.

 

Rena jumped clear of the door and Jena didn’t waste any time trying to be careful with the magic. She just willed the doorway to collapse. It did so, stone and earth toppling downwards and crushing several morgs.

 

With the door blocked, they were suddenly plunged into darkness. But Rena quickly got a lantern out of her pack and lit it with a piece of flint. She handed it to Eldor who then led them down the stairs.

 

It took a minute or two to reach the bottom and they emerged into an even bigger chamber. A wide tunnel disappeared into darkness with a narrow raised walkway to one side. In the shadows above Jena could see the open ends of two gigantic pipes hanging downwards. There was also an odious smell in the air, old and faint, but still unpleasant.

 

‘Where are we, Eldor?’ she asked.

 

‘This is part of the sewer system of the city,’ he replied. ‘These pipes at one time fed water from the river above us and flowed down the tunnel. These are the tunnels I spoke of that will allow us to search for the Stardust Fountain.’

 

‘Do you have any idea of where to start looking, Eldor,’ Rena asked. ‘It will take an age to search everywhere.’

 

‘We shall look first at where the fountain used to be,’ he replied. ‘There may be some clue there as to where it was moved. But for now, we shall eat and rest.’

 

* * *

 

In the dim lantern light they ate a cold meal of cheese, biscuits and dried fruit. When they were finished Eldor encouraged them to get some sleep as there was a long walk ahead of them. Nyssa and Rena managed to nod off, but Jena only dozed before waking with a start. A distant but blood curdling sound was echoing down the tunnel.

 

It was a shrill, mournful wailing and it made her shiver in dread. She looked around to find Eldor awake, his eyes twinkling in the dim light of the lantern.

 

‘Is… is that the Shiver?’ she asked in a whisper, not wanting to wake the others.

 

Eldor nodded and Jena knew why it had been named so. It did make you shiver when you heard it.

 

‘It almost sounds like it’s… in pain,’ she said.

 

‘It is in pain,’ Eldor replied and she started in surprise.

 

‘You mean… it feels things?’

 

‘In a way. You see, when the Shiver was formed from the trapped magic, it became a creature that not only turned people to stone, but stole their spirits as well. It’s their cries we can hear… their spirits trapped in the magic of the Shiver with no way to escape. It is a tormented being, clinging to the spirits because they give it purpose, but in pain because of the suffering within it.’

 

Jena shivered again as he spoke, a thing of such horror being almost unimaginable.

 

‘Can’t they be freed somehow?’ she asked.

 

‘It would take a greater magic then itself to do so, Jena,’ Eldor replied. ‘But there’s no magic now strong enough. The Shiver and the spirits of the people it snared here will remain trapped forever.’

 

‘It’s so horrible and sad,’ Jena said. ‘But how did you survive, Eldor? What did you do to escape it?’

 

Eldor was silent a few moments as he gathered his thoughts.

 

‘There were others who knew trapping the magic was a mistake, that doing so would prove destructive. You would be surprised to know that even Mogrom could see the danger in it and she, I and few other magic wielders tried to warn the city of the danger. But our concerns were disregarded.’

 

‘But why? Surely someone as wise and…’ Jena began, but then hesitated at what she was going to say.

 

Eldor chuckled.

 

‘Someone as old as me,’ he said with a smile.

 

Jena nodded, a little embarrassed.

 

‘I was a young man when all this happened and Mogrom a young woman. We were not considered wise enough to know what we were talking about.

 

‘But we both knew that something terrible was about to occur, that the magic would escape and take some kind of vengeance. We combined our magic’s to give ourselves protection against what might happen. Some others did the same, but only we were successful.’

 

He paused, his eyes suddenly intent on her.

 

‘As I said, I was a young man when this all happened…’

 

‘The Shiver aged you!’ Jena exclaimed as realization came to her.

 

Eldor nodded.

 

‘Yes… it aged both myself and Mogrom, but also gifted us with incredible long life as well.’

 

‘Will you live… forever?’ Jena asked in awe.

 

‘Well, perhaps not that long,’ he replied with a small laugh.

 

‘But surely some of your folk survived elsewhere … with the dwarves and elves, or Mogrom’s old castle and the ruins in the Barren Hills.’

 

‘Oh, there were indeed,’ Eldor replied. ‘But the escaping magic did something else to my people, no matter where they lived. None could have children anymore and the last died out within a century. It didn’t affect anyone else… just my own people.’

 

‘Oh, Eldor!’ Jena exclaimed, tears in her eyes. ‘That’s just so awful. How lonely you must be.’

 

But Eldor smiled, much to her surprise.

 

‘Ah… but I have always had the best of company amongst the other folk of Lendor,’ he said. ‘I am content as much as I can be.’

 

Jena was silent at that, still feeling sad for him. Eldor reached down and stroked her gently on her chin.

 

‘Enough sad tales for now,’ he said. ‘It’s almost time for us to be moving again. We have a quest to complete.’

 

But Jena had one final question to ask.

 

‘Is what happened to Mogrom why she became so wicked?’

 

Eldor nodded.

 

‘Mogrom was once a good person. But what the Shiver did to her, turned her vengeful… bitter that our folk had suffered so.’

 

‘Do you think we shall ever see her again?’

 

‘Probably… but in what way I cannot say,’ Eldor replied. ‘But come, night is upon us and we must be on our way.’

 

They woke Nyssa and Rena. Then all headed off down the darkened tunnel and deeper into Rethan.