I decided not to go to the Keelwell bank directly, but instead, I had a different destination in mind. But before I departed, all the journeymen returned, and between them and Isaac, I replenished my SUS rings and added a few spares and a couple of new tricks. I also traded out my partially used gemmed rings that took a day to recharge and took replacements.

  The journeymen made sure my diamonds were fully charged, and I was at max casting points.

  I lifted the staff, pulled my backpack straps tight, and said, “If all goes well, I’ll see you in twelve hours or so. Bella will let you know the precise time.”

  Adriana gave me her usual hug, but this time it was a little longer and tighter. “Be safe.” And she kissed my cheek.

  Happy but a little off balance, I said. “I’ll see you all soon.”

  And I teleported to the summoning circle in the Welcoming Hall of the Copper Mountain Hold using the stone that grandfather had given me.

  King Flavnar was waiting for me. “I got your Bella’s message. I will walk you to the bank. What is it that happened to you that your time is so urgent?”

  I told him everything on the way to the bank.

  He reacted explosively at all the right moments.

  “My brother is the heir to the Elven crown?” and “Your own humans tried to assassinate you?” and “The Mer are not an honorable race, and danger lies at the bottom of that great depth.” and finally, when Isaac and Biff’s plan was revealed, “I do not approve.”

  “Me either, my king.”

  “Save the platitudes for court. This is wrong.”

  “I agree, Flavnar. But two of my most trusted friends, who have each risked their lives for me, insist it is the only way to root out the deepest evils in the city.”

  He walked with me in silence. “I don’t like it.” He repeated. “I don’t like my brother being mixed up in it.”

  “You are the only other I have spoken to about this. Just the two of them, one of whom is the Archmage’s grandmaster apprentice.”

  He grunted and seemed distracted.

  “Is there something else?” I asked.

  He stopped walking. “I would speak with you about something of great importance.”

  I looked at him. The guards were keeping a discreet distance.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  “I was told not long after you departed that the Silvery Axe has been claimed.” He looked at me as if I should know the importance of this.

  “I’m sorry, but I don’t know what this means.”

  He rolled his eyes. “The Silvery Axe? The Three-Bladed Axe?” He sighed visibly. “You are a dwarf and live in the very city where the axe of the High King is held. And you say you do not know about it?”

  “Sorry, no,” I said.

  “Your Archmage has kept the Silvery Axe, the mark of the High King of all dwarven kings, in his Tower. Dwarves from all the Holds journey there, believing they are the worthy successors and hope to claim the axe that is buried halfway in an anvil of some strange, dark metal. Even I, in my younger years, journeyed with cousins to test our worth and strengths against the anvil. None of us was found worthy. But I have been told that one has come who is worthy, who claimed the Silvery Axe but has not revealed himself.”

  “When did this occur?” I asked.

  “As I said, I heard about it just hours after you departed, but it took them time to return, even using flying mounts for speed. Had they known what they would have discovered, they would have taken stones to bring them back to the Welcoming Circle. But they had to rely on conventional travel using mountain ponies. But one chanced the use of a mounted Griffin, purchased at the stalls outside Keelwell to get back with all speed to report to me and the Masters Council.”

  “What does this mean for you and our Hold?”

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  “The king will not displace any of the Hold kings, but he will take up his throne and displace the evil that has overrun Erte Ale.” He spat on the stone floor after pronouncing the Dwarven name.

  The legends of Erte Ale are intermixed with the Great Necromancer, the lost Hold, and much horror and destruction. It is not spoken of among dwarves.

  Until now, it seemed. The return of the true king, according to legend, would free all peoples of the realm and open an age of freedom and plenty.

  Or, it opened a door to eternal middle darkness, pain, and misery.

  But that’s how these legends usually work.

  “Do you know of a dwarf bearing a great axe of silver? He would have visited Keelwell between four and eleven days ago. That is the time between visits to the Tower.

  I thought of Quartz and his Dwarven Copper axe, broken shield, and studded leather armor. “I know of a dwarf who visited during that time, but he did not have a Silvery Axe. He bore an axe of Dwarven Copper.”

  “Who was this?”

  “His name was Quartz Loadstone.”

  Flavnar’s face clouded over. “He is a banished cousin from this Hold. He is a thief and a dabbler in the shadows. Do not mix with him, brother. He will bring you only hardship.”

  “He fought at my side against the giant shark I spoke to you about.”

  “I did not say he was not capable. He is talented and strong. But I gave you fair warning. What you choose to do is on your beard.” And then he smiled. “When one finally grows in.”

  Teasing a dwarf about his beard could be grounds for a challenge. But Flavnar was both king and brother. And he was right. I had a little fuzz on my chin and nothing else.”

  “Perhaps it is the influence of elves,” I said, looking at him sideways.

  He shook his head. “Heir to the Elven throne. My brother. I should banish you for the shame of it.”

  “Would you banish your brother to a fate, alone, as protector and liege of the elves?” I asked in mock astonishment.

  “It would serve you right. The crazy and dangerous plans you are mixed up in.” He said. And then, “But no, I would not wish that on a goblin, let alone my brother.”

  We came to the hall leading into the Dwarven branch of the Bank of the Realm.”

  “I have shared with you things that no other knows,” I said.

  He sighed. “And I shall honor that trust. But be careful, Gwydion. I fear for you.”

  I smiled. “Well, at least I am not alone in that.”

  We embraced, and I entered the bank with plans to return immediately to the Elven capital and my duties there.

  I emerged from the bank and was met by a half dozen Elven guards who had waited patiently for me for hours. “To the Lodge, I need to meet with the king,” I stated to the guard who presented himself to me.

  They circled about me, and I spoke with the guard as we walked, telling him about the attempt on my life by hidden assassins. He listened attentively and then whistled and made a hand signal. The point guard took off at a sprint away from us.

  Within minutes, a dozen guards appeared, and then a dozen more soon after. The guard on point from our group did not reappear.

  “He has gone to inform the Commander and the King.” The Elven officer stated, his eyes looking in every nook and crevice.

  I started to respond that all of this was unnecessary when he barked a single word, “Left!” and let loose an arrow. It was followed by several others. A figure cloaked in black had emerged suddenly from around a tree and raised a bottle of green smoke. It was identical to the poison bottles thrown at us in Keelwell.

  Two others were also seen after they had thrown their bottles toward us.

  Having already played this game, I sent an air elemental shooting from one ring to catch and hold the bottles. Neither figure lived to retreat. The elven soldiers filled both with arrows.

  The soldier, seeing something above us, grabbed me and, pushing a wooden leaf in my hands, shouted, “Use it, now!”

  I did. I teleported into an Elven Lodge to the surprise of a family eating a meal together.

  I learned some time later, after I was escorted to my own homestead and entered the Lodge through my portal, that a dozen creatures of mist and shadow had descended from the tree tops while we were distracted by the ground attacks. The shadow creatures slew the officer who saved my life and all two dozen plus guards in the location where I had been moments earlier, before disappearing like mist in a breeze.

  Word spread, and thousands of elves and a hundred mages scoured that part of the city and elsewhere for the magical creatures. None were found.

  I sat in my office with Captain Leomys, Commander Devdan, and the King’s father, Yandril. The other guards had been dismissed and were guarding the hallway and the portal in my homestead study.

  They listened as I recalled the actions by the assassins in both Keelwell and the Commerce Quarter, not too far from the bank.

  “It appears that the Enemy is not happy with your work in our city,” Yandril commented dryly. “Apparently, until recently, you were a mild nuisance. But your ability to unite humans, elves, and dwarves was unexpected and posed a threat to their plans.”

  This I already knew.

  “What of the families of those who died protecting me?” I asked.

  “They are families of soldiers; they understood the risks. They are strong Elven families and will live on. As must we all.” The Commander replied.

  I thought his answer was cold and callous, even for an officer. But before I said anything I likely would have regretted later, Bella said, He grieves, Gwydion. Do not think he does not. But they were soldiers, and you are at war. There will be casualties. They died defending you. Make their sacrifice mean something.

  My hard stare at the Commander softened. “What do we know of the creatures that attacked us?”

  The Commander spoke again. “They are known as Slayers, a shadow creature that has not been seen in our lands in a thousand years and certainly not in our magically protected capital ever, before today.” He added at the end.

  “The Twilight has opened doors that otherwise had been closed,” Yandril said. “The Between is weakened, and this places us all in more danger. The goblins and other evil races are a threat, but more of a feint, hiding darker plans.”

  “And the Seneschal has complicated their plans,” Leomys said. “How do we defend against them or better yet, take the fight to them?” He asked.

  “We need to call a Council meeting. We need the mages informed and action taken.” The Commander stated.

  “The King has called for just such a session. He sent word as I was coming here to meet with you and ensure the Seneschal’s safety,” Yandil replied.

  “The timing of this, as we prepare to depart with troops and supplies, is unfortunate,” Leomys said.

  “Unfortunate.” I agreed. “But not unintentional. They wish to sow seeds of fear and encourage elves to rally and keep their forces here.”

  The Commander said, “Under different circumstances, it is exactly the advice I would provide and urge us to protect our home.”

  “But now?” I asked.

  “If they do this to keep us here, we go there. If it is a war they wish, we elves are slow to anger, but when the bear awakens, few can stand its charge.”

  Leomys sat up taller, his eyes alight with passion at the words of his commander and father.

  “They will strike again,” I said.

  “And again. And again.” The Commander agreed. “And we will take their strikes and return the blows. Many of the soldiers carried standard weapons. We have not seen harm come to an elf in the city by an outside threat in living memory. But we are a magical race. Every elf will carry a magical blade. Every elf will carry some magical defense, magical light, and a powerful weapon. We will not be unwary and asleep again. Let them come.” He declared.

  Even Yandril was moved by the Commander’s words. “You may need to share those words in Council.” He said to his old friend. “Bearing the blades we will, having the courage to strike back, that may take something more.”