“It has been an exciting first adventure for you so far,” said Alex.
“Much more than I ever expected,” Thrain agreed. “I’d heard stories about first adventures, and most of them seemed very dull. Your first adventure was full of excitement, but you were a wizard-in-training then.”
“Yes, that’s true,” agreed Alex. “Though I don’t think my first adventure was as dangerous as this one has been.”
“Easy to say that now.” Arconn smiled at Alex. “Your past adventure is over and you made it home safely.”
“That is also true,” Alex agreed. “But we’ve met more dangerous things on this adventure than we did on that one.”
“Oh?” Arconn questioned. “That time we faced a three-legged troll, an oracle, bandits, wraiths, the dark shadow, and a dragon. This time it was a nagas, the hellerash, and a necromancer.”
“You count the oracle as dangerous, but not the dragon on the Isle of Bones?” Alex questioned. “And you have forgotten to mention Bane.”
“Oracles can be more dangerous than most other things,” Arconn answered with a smile. “And the dragon on the Isle of Bones proved to be friendly—or at least not dangerous. As for Bane, I’m not sure.”
“All right,” Alex said, waving away Arconn’s argument. “Thrain has had an exciting first adventure so far, but I hope that most of the excitement is over.”
“As do I,” Thrang agreed, taking a seat beside the fire. “We’ve been lucky so far, and I hope we don’t need too much more luck to finish this adventure.”
“I wouldn’t call it luck,” Arconn said with a nod in Alex’s direction.
“No, I suppose not,” agreed Thrang.
They ate in silence, as everyone was tired from the long day’s ride. As the others went to bed, Alex remained by the fire alone, assuming his customary first watch. Staring at the glowing coals of the fire, he thought about the crystal he had taken from Nethrom’s table. The crystal was the same as the one he had recovered for the Oracle, Iownan. He thought about the crystal and the empty tower by the Eastern Sea for a long time.
When his watch was over, Alex woke Thrain, but he did not go to his tent to sleep. Returning to the fire, he continued to think about the crystal, the tower, and the oracle that was to come. He wished he could make sense of it, but he didn’t know much about the empty tower or the legends surrounding it. He watched the fire for a long time. Slowly he felt his mind drifting away, returning to the hidden Isle of Bones.
“So, you come again, young one,” Salinor said softly.
“I wanted to thank you for waking me when I was under the mountain,” said Alex.
“And to ask more questions of me,” Salinor said with a smile.
“Yes.”
“The crystal you took from the cave is the tool of seers and oracles,” Salinor said calmly. “Yes, you could make it work, but you don’t really need it.”
“Should I give it to Kat? Is she to become the Oracle of the Empty Tower?”
“I do not know,” Salinor said slowly, as if he were thinking about Alex’s questions. “I know she could use the crystal, if she chooses to. I also know that the oracle must reach the tower soon or it will be lost. Also, only a dragon can take the true oracle to the tower—that much of the legend is true.”
“Then I must take the shape of the dragon if Kat is to be the oracle?” Alex questioned, his heart racing.
“Perhaps,” Salinor answered. “You still fear to take the shape?”
“I fear I will be lost.”
“Yet it is your true shape, or at least one of your true shapes,” Salinor said kindly. “You are so different from a dragon and yet so much the same. I cannot tell you what to do, but I can tell you this: you will never find your full power or become all that you can be until you accept both of your true forms.”
“I know. What I don’t know is if I am strong enough to do it. What if I become lost in the dragon shape? What if the power is too much for me to control?”
“Then you will break,” Salinor answered. “As the Oracle of the White Tower once told you.”
“Did she know?” Alex questioned, remembering everything that Iownan had told him. “Did she know what I was, or what I might become?”
“She may have guessed, but I don’t think she knew,” Salinor answered. “She knows a great deal, but even her powers are limited. I believe she told you as much as you needed to know at the time.”
“Yes,” Alex agreed. “I suppose even you don’t know everything.”
“I know many things,” said Salinor. “But everything is quite a lot, and I have not lived long enough to know everything.”
After a moment, Alex decided that Kat should have the crystal, even if he never took the shape of the dragon.
“You have my thanks, ancient one,” Alex said. “You have given me much to think about, but the path ahead already seems less dim.”
“If there is light on the path, it comes from you,” Salinor said softly.
Alex’s mind was already racing back through the darkness to his body. He heard Arconn call his name and he opened his eyes. “Was I gone long?”
“You were here all night,” Thrang said, looking confused.
“Only my body was here,” said Alex, getting up and stretching his legs. “My mind has traveled far, but my body is hungry.”
“Then have some breakfast,” Barnabus said, holding out a plate for Alex. “The rest of us have already eaten. Arconn said we shouldn’t disturb you until we were ready to go.”
“I’m sorry,” Alex said as he took the plate from Barnabus. “You should have called me as soon as breakfast was ready.”
“Not a problem,” Thrang said, taking a seat next to Alex. “We’re all a little stiff this morning. It won’t hurt us to stretch for a while before climbing back into our saddles.”
“We’d all be better off if we had some more of that dwarf remedy of yours,” Nellus said.
“One sip each,” Thrang said, holding out his silver flask for Alex. “More than that and you might go back to sleep.”
“I wouldn’t mind a bit more sleep myself,” Barnabus laughed.
“There is something I need to do before we leave,” Alex said, handing the flask back to Thrang and setting aside his plate. “And I need you all to witness it.”
“Oh, what is that?” Thrang questioned.
Alex turned to Kat. “Kat, I won’t insist that you take this, but I will offer it to you just the same.”
“Take what?” Kat questioned.
Alex spoke into his magic bag and retrieved the crystal he had taken from Nethrom’s table. As he held it up, the crystal caught the morning light and blazed like a ball of fire in his hand.
“An oracle’s crystal,” Kat said, stepping back from Alex, her eyes wide in wonder. “How did . . . Why would . . . I don’t—”
“You are a seer,” Alex said, getting to his feet. “You may even be more than a seer. You can use this crystal if you will, that much I know. I offer it to you now, freely and without condition.”
“But, I . . .” Kat stammered.
“You are what you are,” said Alex. “Who can say what you may become?”
“The tower,” Kat said, holding Alex’s eyes with her own.
“Perhaps.”
“Very well, I will accept this gift you offer. I will try to use it wisely and for good.” Kat took the crystal from his hand.
Alex turned to the company. “Will you all witness that Katrina Dayyed has accepted this crystal?” he questioned loudly.
“We will,” the others answered as one.
“Then I think it is time we got moving,” Alex said. “There’s no telling how far the golden rocks are from here.”
“Yes,” Thrang agreed, shaking the stunned look off his face. “Let’s get moving.”
They rode south, taking their time and stopping for their regular midday meal. Kat remained silent as they went, and Alex thought he could understand at least some of he
r feelings. She was struggling with the idea of what her future might hold, just as he was struggling with his. The only difference was that everyone knew what Kat was thinking, and only Alex knew his own fears.
Two days later, Kat asked Alex for a private word. They had already made camp, and Alex suggested he and Kat gather some extra wood for the fire.
“There’s plenty here,” Thrang started to say but trailed off when he saw the look on Alex’s face. “Yes, that’s a good idea. Spring is slow in coming, and some extra wood might be useful.”
As Alex and Kat walked away from the campsite, Alex could feel the others watching them. He knew they all wondered what the two of them would be talking about, but he also knew they would not ask. In fact, the others seemed willing to accept Kat as a true oracle already, which was something that seemed to annoy Kat a great deal.
“You’ve given me a great honor,” Kat said after a long silence. “You’ve formed my destiny around me like a cage.”
“I . . . I’m sorry. I did not mean to,” Alex said, surprised by Kat’s words. “If you do not want the crystal, then do not use it. Hold it safe for another if that is your wish.”
“It’s not your fault,” Kat said, her voice shaking slightly. “I suppose I should have expected something like this.”
“Why?” Alex questioned, truly puzzled.
“When I was very young, a real oracle came to my village,” Kat said in a low tone. “The oracle told me that I would be an adventurer, but . . .”
“But that you might become something more,” Alex finished for her.
“He told me about being a seer, about seeing things that others could not. He also told me to beware of the sea. He said the sound of the sea would capture my heart, and once I heard it, I would never be the same.”
“You’ve heard the Eastern Sea of Thraxon, and now your heart is there.”
“The empty tower fills my dreams,” Kat said, shaking her head. “Ever since that day when you stopped me at the gate.”
“Do you think you are the oracle that was prophecied to come?”
“I don’t know. I don’t see how I can be. I’m a seer, and a good one, but an oracle is something more.”
“And I am a wizard, though I never thought I would be,” said Alex. “You know, when I went on my first adventure, I didn’t even believe in magic. I didn’t know anything about dwarfs or elves or oracles. It all seemed like a dream, or even some huge mistake.”
“You didn’t know?” Kat questioned in surprise. “How could you not know? You are a great wizard. How could you not know what you are?”
“Who really knows what they are or what they may become? We learn about ourselves as we do things. We discover what we are as we move through life. If we don’t like what we see, we try to change. That is how we grow, that is how we become all that we can be.”
“But what if I am not strong enough? What if I can’t do what is needed?”
Alex heard echoes of his own questions in Kat’s voice, his own doubts and fears.
“I asked the same questions of the Oracle Iownan once,” Alex said. “I asked what if I was not strong enough to be a wizard. Do you know what she told me?”
“No.”
“She said if I was not strong enough, I would break.”
“That seems a very direct answer from an oracle,” Kat said, a slight smile curling her lips.
“Iownan was kind to me, and she answered me as openly as she could.”
“So I must try to do what is needed, and if I am not strong enough, I will break,” Kat said softly.
“I will tell you this,” Alex said as he turned and started back toward the camp. “I do not think you will break.”
“Then at least I will have hope,” said Kat.
When Alex and Kat returned to camp without any firewood, the others simply accepted the fact that their friend the wizard had talked with their friend the new oracle, and what was said did not concern them.
They continued their journey the next day and the next, always moving south, but never seeing anything that might be the golden rocks. After another week of riding, the Lost Mountains had almost vanished behind them, and the world seemed to open into a wide grass-covered plain in front of them. After the second week, they could see a single mountain in the distance, but even Arconn could not guess at how far away it was.
“We will ride toward that mountain,” Thrang said in a decisive tone. “If ever a mountain called to a dwarf’s heart, that one does.”
The next day it started to rain, and the mountain was lost from sight.
“Spring rains, moving north,” Arconn commented as they rode south. “I would guess they will last for several days.”
“Weeks perhaps,” Thrang said in a slightly grumpy tone. “The spring rains of Thraxon can sometimes last for a month or more.”
“Then we will all be well watered before the sun comes out again,” Barnabus said.
“We may all be drowned,” Nellus added, pulling up his hood a little.
“How will we see the golden rocks if the sun isn’t shining?” Thrain questioned.
Nobody answered, but they were all thinking about it. Of course, they knew the golden rocks were more myth than anything, but a little sunshine would help them to find such rocks, if they really existed.
A week later, as they continued to ride south through the rain, Kat suddenly stopped her horse. Alex paused as well, feeling something powerful move above them in the clouds. None of the others seemed to notice anything, but they stopped and looked from Kat to Alex and back again.
“Something big,” Kat said, turning her face toward the rain clouds. “Something powerful.”
“I felt it as well,” Alex said. “Though it didn’t feel evil, if that’s the word.”
“No, not evil,” Kat agreed. “Yet powerful and possibly dangerous. We should try to move more quickly. We will need to reach the cover of the mountain before the rains stop.”
“And if the rains stop before we reach the mountain, then what?” Thrang questioned.
“Then we will see what moves above us,” Kat answered, her eyes still fixed on the sky.
“Must be part elf,” Thrang grumbled, urging his horse forward.
For another week they rode as quickly as they could. When they camped, they only made small fires, allowing the rain to put them out as soon as Barnabus was finished cooking.
Alex remained alert, trying to feel whatever it was that had passed above them, but there was nothing. Finally, late on the eighth day, they came to the mountain.
“There is an entrance to the east of us,” Kat said, pointing.
“Are you sure?” Thrang questioned. “Have you seen what lies in the mountain?”
“Yes,” Kat answered. “Or I should say, I have seen some of what lies in the mountain. We have reached our goal, but I fear we will find sorrow here.”
Thrang didn’t ask any more questions, but nudged his horse forward. They all followed him through the gathering darkness, and suddenly they found themselves on a well-made road.
“This is dwarf work,” Thrang said as he looked at the road. “Albrek’s people must have made this road.”
“Then it will lead to their city,” Arconn said in a hopeful tone.
They all rode forward, eager to reach the dwarf city. It was almost completely dark when they reached the city gates, and they were shocked when they saw that the gates were nothing more than a pile of shattered stones.
“What could have done this?” Thrang asked. “The gates must have been three feet of solid stone, yet they lie broken like old wood.”
“Whatever did it was powerful,” Alex said. He looked up at the sky. “I think we might be safer inside the gates; the clouds are starting to break up.”
“Has what you felt before returned?” Arconn questioned.
“I don’t feel it now, but I would be happier inside the mountain than out here in the open,” Alex answered.
“Yes, let’s ge
t inside,” Thrang said, climbing off his horse. “We’ll take the horses in as well, and find a place to make camp.”
The others dismounted, leading their horses into the darkness. Alex conjured weir lights to show them the way, but the lights did little to make the dwarf cavern look inviting.
“It would seem that there are no dwarfs left here,” Nellus said as they unsaddled their horses.
“And there haven’t been any for some time,” Arconn added. “There is a great deal of dust on the floor.”
“Such a city should not be empty,” Nellus said. “Something terrible must have happened here.”
“Perhaps,” said Alex. “I suspect the dwarfs were here for a long time because even dwarfs could not have built such large gates quickly.”
“It would take months, even if they had worked on them night and day,” Thrang agreed. “It is a mystery, but not the first one we’ve found on this adventure.” He turned to Kat. “Kat, what do you see in this city?”
“The dwarfs of the Golden Mountain have either fled or died,” Kat said in a trancelike tone. “Only their memories remain. Tomorrow, I will lead you to Albrek’s tomb, but now I must rest.”
“Very well,” Thrang said with a bow. “We should all rest. Whoever has the watch should wake everyone if they hear or feel anything strange.”
They all agreed and moved a little deeper into the cavern. There was a sad and lonely feeling in the empty city, and a sorrow seemed to have settled on them all.
Alex stood for a while, looking into the darkness outside. He stared at the ruined gates, wondering what could have destroyed them so completely. So many questions, and once again, he didn’t have the answers he needed.
Chapter Twenty-One
Albrek’s Tomb
When morning arrived, the rising sun blazed into the cave where they were sleeping, waking them all at the same time. Without speaking, they walked back to the ruined gates. Looking out across the open plain, it was easy to see the truth of where they were.
“The rocks all shine like gold,” Thrang said softly. “Even those in shadow seem to shine.”
“The rain and the sunlight combine to make it look this way,” Arconn said. “A wondrous sight from a very sad city.”