Meanwhile, life as a prisoner in Merglan’s fortress posed daily challenges. Each evening Thomas ached from the hard day’s work in the mines. His crew and others dug deep into the ground in search of metals that could be forged into weapons and armor for the master’s army. While digging deeper into the terraced slopes of the pit, Thomas discovered brightly hued crystals embedded in the rock. The first time he’d seen the brilliant blue hue emanating from the scored rock it scared him. The darkened wall of the pitted hillside suddenly began to glow. With each swing of his pickax, the rock chipped away and the blue light grew stronger until it consumed the darkness surrounding him. Each time he uncovered one of these crystals, one of the heavily armed guards would quickly confiscate it, stuffing it away into a locked crate.
One day Thomas found himself working alongside a tradesman from Southland who’d been captured during the attack at the Grandwood Games when they broke through rock together, exposing one of the brightly shining crystals. The tradesman from Southland had seen many shiny trinkets in his thirty years living in Kartania and told Thomas he’d never seen any stone that could match the beauty of this crystal. The man pried it from the wall and hastily stuffed it into his pocket. Thomas tried to warn him against it, but one of the guards had seen the glow from farther down the shaft. The Southland tradesman attempted to act as if nothing were amiss, but it didn’t take the guard long to discover the blue light shining through his pocket. Instead of handing over the crystal and hoping for a lenient whipping as punishment for his crime, the prisoner struggled to keep the crystal. Before Thomas could help him out, the guard had drawn his long knife and stabbed the tradesman in the gut. The guard took the crystal and left the prisoner to bleed out slowly on the mine’s cold floor. There was nothing Thomas could do to save him. After witnessing this, Thomas quickly abandoned any notions he had of keeping any crystals he discovered following that day.
Kirsten and Maija continued to clean the rooms of Merglan’s highest in command. They were forced to scrub every inch of the stone floors in the chamber rooms, often until their knees were bruised and bloody and their hands raw from the strong soap and water. The head maid, Chantal, had placed guards at the stairwell leading out from the chamber rooms. If they noticed the girls weren’t down on their hands and knees scrubbing, one of the guards would pin them down while the other guard whipped them with a bullwhip. Maija struggled less than Kirsten, and her lashings weren’t as severe as her cellmate’s. Stubborn and strong-willed, Kirsten would struggle to free herself from the guards, but the muscular men overpowered her with each whipping. Soon Kirsten realized it hurt less to have bloodied knees and sprained wrists from scrubbing the floors than to have half-inch-deep lashings across her back, cutting through the fabric of her thinly woven wool prisoner garb.
Despite the guard’s watchful eyes, Maija and Kirsten discreetly searched the belongings of all whose rooms they cleaned, but never found anything of interest. Kirsten hoped desperately to find something that would help them escape. Having no luck in the chambers, Kirsten couldn’t help but think of Merglan’s door just down the hall. She was convinced Merglan had locked something away upstairs in his chambers that could be the key to their escape. The urge to sneak into Merglan’s room became overwhelming, but she never allowed herself to fall victim to her curiosity. Kirsten didn’t want to find out what the guards would do to her if they found her sneaking about in Merglan’s chambers.
They’d whip me to death with that awful bullwhip, she thought. If only those guards would leave for an hour.
While Kirsten schemed with Maija on how to break into Merglan’s chambers unseen, Thomas discovered more crystals in the mine. As each day passed, the torturous way in which the prisoners were being treated drove many individuals to attempt an escape; yet each one met the same end. Thomas watched several people try to scale the cliff walls. If they reached the top without falling, an invisible force launched them off, sending them high into the air before falling to their deaths.
Kirsten and Maija saw others who attempted to run through the open gates if the opportunity presented itself. These would-be escapees were either killed on sight by the guard’s blades or, if they made it past the guards, immediately transported back to where they began their escape attempt.
Most evenings when Maija, Kirsten and Thomas returned to the courtyard, they’d be escorted directly into their cells by several armed guards assigned to their cellblock. On occasion, however, they’d return to the courtyard and find the guards hadn’t yet arrived. Whenever this happened, they were glad to find a moment’s reprieve from the harshness of prison life. With a watchful eye out for Merglan’s guards, they would share whatever had happened since the last time they’d been able to talk. Thomas told them about finding the crystals and having them immediately confiscated each time. After mentioning the crystals, Maija recalled seeing guards carrying heavy crates into Merglan’s chambers.
“I thought they were just crates of stone. It seems like each delivery is always followed by muffled knocking sounds, like they’re tapping on rocks, or whatever they are, to build something,” Maija said.
“I haven’t noticed any of that. I wonder what he’s doing with them?” Kirsten asked.
“Whatever it is, it must be something important,” Thomas said. “The guards are quick to take the crystals from anyone who discovers them.”
“Maybe it has something to do with the magic he’s woven into this place.” Kirsten suggested. “Maija and I have been searching through all of the belongings in the rooms we clean. Nothing so far has revealed itself to be helpful for an escape plan, but maybe Maija is right and these crystals are the clue we’ve been looking for?”
“Let’s say they do have something to do with the magic of this fortress; Merglan would make sure they were heavily guarded, wouldn’t he? If he won’t let any of us prisoners leave, how heavily protected do you think he’d have something like these precious crystals?” Thomas asked.
“If we’re going to escape, we’ll need to risk finding that out. I say it’s worth the risk,” Kirsten said boldly.
Maija nodded, “I think you’re right. We should find out where they’re taking the crystals and see for ourselves if they have some kind of magical powers keeping us trapped inside these walls. Doing something is better than doing nothing.”
“If you insist on snooping around, be careful,” Thomas said. “I think something big is about to happen.”
“What do you mean?” Kirsten asked.
“I mean like a battle or something. I overheard some guards talking about orcs and kurr gathering by the hundreds outside the walls. We’re mining so much metal for their weapons. On top of that, I’ve noticed enough frantic activity that I’d say they’re going to war,” Thomas said with his eyebrows raised.
“I hope it’s the two that Merglan and Thargon were talking about in secret that have come to fight them and get us out of here,” Kirsten said.
“You two try to find out how they’re using the crystals and I’ll try to get some more information about the army of monsters gathering outside the gates,” Thomas said, delegating duties to support their plan.
They agreed and went to their cells for the evening before the guards arrived, sure to give them a lengthy lashing if they caught them consorting.
After a guard locked their cell door and the sound of his footsteps faded into the distance, Maija whispered, “Kirsten.”
“Yeah,” she whispered back.
“I heard Merglan talking about us today.”
“Really? When?”
“It was when we were about to eat lunch. He told Thargon to have the guards keep an eye on us. He said he noticed something strange about us, that he can’t read our thoughts the same way he can everyone else’s.”
“That’s weird.”
“Yeah, I think that might be why he always stops and looks at us when he leaves his chambers. I’m worried he might be onto us about our plans for escape,” Maija said with a concerned twinge in her voice.
“You just said he couldn’t read our minds, so how could he know what we’re plotting,” Kirsten said, trying to comfort her.
“I guess you’re right. We might want to be more careful about talking in front of any guards. Also, it might be hard to sneak into Merglan’s chambers if we’re being watched,” she said.
“Then we’ll just need to be more careful. I hope the guards become too distracted with their preparations for battle to pay more attention to us,” Kirsten said. “We’ll have to wait and see what happens, I guess. Goodnight,” she rolled onto her side and closed her eyes.
“Goodnight,” Maija replied.
Kirsten could hardly sleep thinking about the crystals and the army of orcs and kurr. The next morning when the guards came by slamming sticks on their cell bars to wake them, Kirsten was already up equipped with a plan for the day. She would clean the rooms until just after lunch when Merglan usually left his chambers for several hours. Then she and Maija would make sure no guards were around and sneak into his chambers to look for the crystals.
The morning spent cleaning went as it usually did. Kirsten noticed a guard at the end of the hall watching them as they worked. They scrubbed the floors and carried out the dirty laundry and waste left on the floor by the filthy occupants. Maija and Kirsten stopped cleaning and ate lunch early, hoping to be in the hallway to see Merglan leave his chambers. After a quick bite and a talking to from Chantal about how to properly make the beds, the two went back to work. By mid-afternoon they were running out of things to keep them busy when Merglan left his chambers. He walked down the hallway as he usually did, pausing to stare at them as they scrubbed tirelessly at the same section of spotless stone floor before he continued on down the length of the hall.
“It’s so creepy when he does that,” Maija said to Kirsten, irritated by his leering look.
“Yeah, he definitely doesn’t like not knowing what everyone in his fortress is thinking,” Kirsten said. “Is he gone?”
“The door at the far end of the hallway just closed,” Maija said tilting her head to listen.
“What about the guards?” she asked.
Maija leaned a little harder toward the entrance to the hallway, “They followed Merglan.” The upswing of the last syllable she spoke told Kirsten she was surprised the guards also left.
“It’s crazy that you can hear things so well,” Kirsten said.
“I know, its weird. It’s something that just started happening recently,” Maija said. They looked into the hallway, checking both directions.
“All clear,” Kirsten said.
“And Chantal left before we went for lunch. She hasn’t come back yet,” Maija added.
“Perfect,” Kirsten said while stepping hesitantly into the hallway. Maija followed and they ran up to the door that led to Merglan’s chambers. As Kirsten pushed, the door squeaked on its hinges and swung open. They slowly climbed up the staircase, making sure to be quiet in case others were in Merglan’s chambers. At the top of the staircase a second doorway led into a room. Kirsten turned to Maija and put a finger over her lips to let her know to be extra careful as they approached the top of the staircase.
Kirsten watched closely as she neared the top stone step and could see more of the room beyond the doorway. She didn’t see anyone as they inched closer. The room was large with extremely high ceilings. She could see tables, chairs, and a desk through the doorway. Checking in both directions, she gave Maija a thumbs-up and motioned to follow her into the room. Enormous bookshelves lined the walls, rising high into the air. Both of them stood in the doorway in awe.
“Wow. It’s beautiful,” Kirsten said, taking in the magnificence of the chambers.
“Remember, we need to find the crystals before he comes back,” Maija said, nudging Kirsten to keep her on track.
The two began searching the room. Not entirely sure what they were looking for, they rifled through the desk, searched throughout the shelves, and even looked under the rugs. They searched everywhere but didn’t find anything that resembled a crystal.
Finally Maija called to Kirsten, “Come over here! Check this out.”
Maija pulled aside a banner hanging as a decoration on the wall. Behind the banner several lines deeply engraved into the wall resembled a doorway.
“Is that a door?” Kirsten asked.
“I think so,” Maija said. “But there’s no handle or knob,” she said as she searched the area where a handle would normally be installed on a door.
“Look at this,” Kirsten said pointing to the ground. On the floor next to the wall was a strange marking, a spiral carved into the stone floor.
“Maybe it’s the doorknob?” Maija said.
Kirsten bent down and felt it. She pushed on it. Feeling it release, the spring-loaded spiral carving extended up from the stone floor. She turned it to the right. It twisted and the hidden door in the wall cracked open.
“Wow!” Maija said, amazed at the secret doorway’s complexity. Maija pushed the door open. It led into a long narrow passageway. It grew dark in the narrow hallway as the light from the chamber room grew more faint. In the distance at what appeared to be the other end of the passageway, they could see a glow. As they approached, the glowing light seemed to shine a brighter blue. The passageway led to another large room with high ceilings. The only light in the room was a glowing hue of light blue that radiated from the end of the narrow hallway.
“Maija look!” Kirsten said. She pointed across the room to the origin of the blue light. There, neatly stacked into a giant slab rising twice the height of her family farmhouse and running nearly the length of her barn back in Grandwood were brightly glowing crystals, emanating the unusual light.
Maija tugged on Kirsten’s shirtsleeve. She looked at her with a furrowed brow, “What is it?”
Maija’s eyes widened as she pointed at the ground in front of them. Kirsten’s eyes, at last adjusted to the dim blue light, could now see clearly what she had failed to see before. On the ground in front of them lay an enormous dragon spread in a heap, comfortably-sleeping on the floor. She watched as its dark scales rose and fell with each breath. Kirsten almost shouted in fear, but put her hand over her own mouth to avoid making any noise. She returned Maija’s wide-eyed look. Just as they exchanged their fearful gaze the dragon stirred. It’s enormous black-scaled body shifted as it rolled onto its side and let out a drowsy growl. Kirsten and Maija didn’t wait to see if the dragon’s eyes opened. They darted down the narrow passageway and back into the master’s chamber. Kirsten closed the hidden door behind them and pushed the spiral nob on the floor back into its locked position. Both of them breathed heavily as they looked at each other.
“A dragon,” Kirsten said, shocked. “He has a dragon in there.” She pointed to the wall where the banner now covered the secret door.
“Yeah, an enormous one too,” Maija gasped. “But hey, at least we know where the crystals are,” she said sarcastically.
“Come on, let’s get out of here before we get caught,” Kirsten said as she rushed across the room toward the door. Before they reached the stairway, though, they heard the door at the bottom of the stairs close. They also heard Chantal calling for them.
“Crap!” Kirsten mouthed. “What do we do know?” she whispered.
Looking around the room, Maija said, “Hold on, I got this.” She went over to the desk and grabbed some dirty dishes stacked on the corner and handed some to Kirsten. Then she led them down the stairs and out into the hallway where Chantal stood, obviously looking for them.
When they opened the door leading out of Merglan’s chambers, Chantal immediately chastised them, “What in the world were you two doing in there? You’re not allowed to be in there, only I and…”
Maija cut her off, “The master asked us before he left if we would be so kind as to return his dirty lunch dishes to the kitchen.” Chantal looked at her with hands on her hips angrily tapping her foot. Maija continued, “We told him that we were explicitly told never to enter his chamber room. He said to forget what we were told and follow his orders. He wanted the place tidy and clean when he returned.”
Chantal scoffed and said, “Well that’s ridiculous, the master has never complained about his dishes remaining in his room for too long. I clean them up before dinner every day.”
Maija handed her the dirty dishes and said, “I was just obeying his direct orders.” Kirsten loaded more on top of those Maija had handed her.
“Anyway,” Chantal continued. “You’re needed to help prepare for tonight’s dinner. The master will be entertaining special guests and there is much to do beforehand.”
Maija and Kirsten rushed off to the dining hall, leaving Chantal with an armful of dirty dishes.
“That was brilliant,” Kirsten said as soon as they were out of earshot.
“Thanks,” Maija said, blushing. “I saw those dishes when we entered the room and thought that they’d serve as a good excuse if we got caught leaving.”
“It worked beautifully,” Kirsten said happily.
They reached the dining hall and began helping the others set up tables and chairs.
“Is there any special reason why the master is having guests tonight?” Kirsten asked one of the kitchen servants.
“I heard something about a battle. It seems the master is hosting a strategic planning meeting with some of his commanders tonight,” the servant told her. Kirsten thanked him and kept the news to herself.
She briefly entertained going back to Merglan’s chambers while he was busy at the dinner, but Chantal had told Thargon to place two guards at Merglan’s chamber room door, which made a second visit impossible.
That night after they had cleaned up the mess the orc, kurr, and men made during the feast, Kirsten and Maija stayed up talking with Thomas about the events of the day. After making sure no guards were spying on them, they told Thomas about finding the crystals in the secret room with the sleeping dragon. They followed up with details about the meeting Merglan had with members of the orc, kurr and human armies at his command.
“I heard about a fight with the Rollo Islanders,” he said. “The orcs attacked a group of Rollo Island warriors, taking them by surprise in their sleep, but the warriors fought them off.”
“I hope they kill every last orc and kurr in Merglan’s army,” Kirsten said angrily.
“Me, too,” he agreed. “And the crystals, you said they were behind a secret door or something, guarded by a dragon?” he asked.
“Yeah, so they’re definitely important,” Kirsten said.
“They must be used for magic,” Maija said. “It’s the only explanation that makes any sense to me.”
“So, how do we get to them if they’re guarded by a dragon?” Thomas asked. “I didn’t even know dragons still existed. Father told us the last dragon left this world after it destroyed the castle at Highborn Bay.”
“But Merglan’s got one. We saw it,” Kirsten said. They perked their heads up as they heard guards coming through the hallway to the courtyard.
“We’ll talk more tomorrow,” Thomas said and quickly ran to his cell. Kirsten and Maija did the same.
Once the guards were gone, Kirsten said to Maija, “There has to be a way to get the crystals. If they are, in fact, the key to the magic here, then maybe we could use them to escape.”
Maija said, “All we have to do is get past that dragon and we are home free.”
When Kirsten awoke to the banging on the cell door, she still hadn’t come up with an idea on how to get past the dragon guarding the crystals. She spent all morning thinking about it. Every possible scenario she dreamed up ended with either the dragon eating them or Merglan killing them for attempting to steal the crystals. They were cleaning the rooms near Merglan’s chambers when Maija stopped mopping the floor and leaned over with her ear. Seeing her do this, Kirsten came to her side.
“What is it?” Kirsten asked.
Maija said, “Merglan is arguing with Thargon.” She walked to the edge of the room and leaned her head out the doorway into the hall to get a better angle. “Merglan says he’s leaving,” Maija said, looking back at Kirsten. “Oh, get back to work; Thargon’s coming.” They continued to mop and scrub the floors and watched as Thargon left in a rage.
“Did you hear where Merglan was going?” Kirsten asked.
“No, just that he was leaving at once,” Maija said.
They kept cleaning the rooms long after they were spotless, but Merglan never left his chambers.
“Shouldn’t he be gone by now?” Kirsten asked. “I thought he said he was leaving right away.”
“Yeah,” Maija agreed. “He should’ve left by now.”
“Should we check to see if he did?” Kirsten asked. “Maybe he’s got more than one secret passageway out of his room?”
“Okay, let’s do it,” Maija said. “But be careful; we can’t get caught.”
The two silently snuck up the stairs. They examined the room at the top of the staircase, but Merglan wasn’t there.
“He’s gone,” Maija said
“Now is our chance to get the crystals,” Kirsten responded.
“I just hope that dragon is gone,” Maija added as they rushed over to the secret doorway.
Once open, they nearly ran down the narrow passageway once again, careful not to make too much noise in case the dragon was still in the secret room. Something about the trip down the hallway seemed different; somehow darker than before.
Maybe the door is closed, Kirsten thought, noticing the absence of the blue glow.
They felt along the cold stone walls with their hands, making sure they didn’t pass the doorway and stumble into the dragon’s keep. When they reached the doorway, the glow was gone, as were the dragon and the crystals.
Kirsten looked around the darkened room confused, “Where did they go?”
“Do you think Merglan took them with him when he left?”
Kirsten shrugged in response and together they left the secret room and followed the dark hallway back to the master’s chambers. Once back in the main chamber room, they searched for any other secret doors Merglan could have used, but they didn’t find any.
Giving up on their hopes of finding the crystals, the two realized they would have to wait until Merglan returned for them to try again. Now that Merglan was gone, the slaves and prisoners didn’t have any preparations to accomplish in the dining hall for his evening feast, so they were sent along with the other chambermaids to work the remainder of the day in the mine.
Like the miners, they took up picks and followed orders. Kirsten and Maija were sent to work a section of terraces on the other end of the mine away from all of the other maids. Arriving at their assigned terraces, they were surprised to see Thomas working there too.
“What are you two doing here?” he asked when he saw them.
“Merglan has left the fortress. We didn’t have any work to do in the castle, so we were sent down here to work,” Kirsten said.
“Back to work you three,” a guard shouted and cracked a whip at them. They did as he ordered, fearing a whipping.
Talking as they worked under the cover of the noise of picks striking rock, Kirsten told Thomas about going back into the secret room to get the crystals.
“They were both gone,” she said.
“Do you think he took them with him when he left?” Thomas asked.
“That makes the most sense to me,” Kirsten said. “Either that or he found out we were in there and moved them to a new hiding place.”
“But if he knew we’d been in there,” Maija said, “we wouldn’t have been allowed to work; we would’ve been tortured or killed or something, right?”
Nodding, Kirsten said, “Then he must have taken them when he disappeared today.”
“But how? Those crystals filled many crates and weighed more than he could carry.”
“Quiet down,” the guard yelled and cracked his whip again. Kirsten glanced over her shoulder at him and noticed something familiar about the guard, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.
“You know how I told you there was something big happening?” Thomas whispered with his back to the guard so the guard couldn’t tell that he was talking.
“Yeah,” Kirsten said.
“Well, I think it’s going to happen very soon,” Thomas said. “All of the guards have been acting weird. Many left the fortress gates earlier dressed in helmets, chestplates, arm guards, and iron-linked long-shirts. I’ve also seen wagon loads of swords, spears and shields being hauled out of here all day.”
“Do you think the Rollo warriors have made it to the fortress?” Kirsten asked, hopeful.
“Could be,” Thomas said. “Whatever it is, it has the whole place spooked.”
The three continued to work the remainder of the day and into the evening. They stopped when Thomas turned around to see the guard was gone. They walked to the edge of the terrace and gazed out from the pit and across the open courtyard. The whole fortress was strangely quiet.
“Where is everyone?” Thomas asked.
“You tell me,” Kirsten said. “I usually only see the inside of the walls. I don’t know how many people there are working out here with you all day.”
“There’s usually a lot more activity than this,” he said. “I mean the guards, we’re usually overseen by many more.”
“Maybe they’re off preparing for the battle that’s got everyone spooked,” Kirsten suggested.
“We could stop working now and go back to the courtyard,” Thomas said.
“Or we could go look around Merglan’s chambers for any crystals that might have been left behind or hidden in a new spot,” Maija added.
“No way. The guard left all this food behind,” Kirsten said walking over to the spot where the guard had been stationed. “There’s even a pile of firewood here. Let’s stay here until someone makes us leave. I hate the cold floor of that cell.”
“Okay,” Thomas said. “We’ve got a nice view of the place from this terrace anyway.”
The three of them sat by the fire they’d made and talked late into the night, feasting on the jerked meat, cheese and day-old bread the guard had left behind.
“I guess the rules around here are relaxed once the boss is gone,” Kirsten said as she enjoyed a thick slice of jerky.
“I could get used to this,” Maija said, warming her hands against fire.
Suddenly she perked her head up in the way she always did when she could hear something interesting happening in the distance.
“What is it?” Kirsten said, recognizing the look.
“I can hear fighting,” she said, standing up.
“What?” Thomas said, confused and trying to hear what she was talking about.
“Maija has incredibly good hearing, almost like a super power,” Kirsten said.
“Oh,” Thomas said, confusion written across his face.
“There’s a battle going on beyond the walls,” she said.
“I knew it,” Thomas said. “Who are they fighting?”
“I can’t tell. It’s far off in the distance, but there’s definitely a battle going on out there,” she said confidently.
“Well, I guess all we can do is wait,” Thomas said.
“And hope that whoever it is wins and frees us from the evil that lives here,” Kirsten said.
The three stayed up all night wondering and waiting for something to happen. It wasn’t until the sun rose that they saw the first sign that the battle was nearing an end. Kirsten worried things weren’t going well, because guards had returned to the courtyard, forcing prisoners back to work. She heard the voice of a guard returning, shouting orders to those who’d stayed among the terraced slopes of the pit while the battle raged through the night. She’d been eyeing the bullwhip left among the guard’s abandoned items and quickly grabbed it, readying herself for his return. As he came into view, Kirsten recalled why the guard looked so familiar to her; he’d been the one she almost struck on their first day in the fortress. Letting the whip uncoil at her side, Kirsten wasn’t going to let him boss her around. She didn’t care if the battle had been lost; she was going to fight back and now was her chance.
Maija pointed to the sky and gasped. A silhouette of a dragon flew over the fortress walls, and their hearts sank.
Merglan has returned, Kirsten thought.