Zahara landed lightly in the middle of the courtyard. Climbing off, Anders began searching through those who rushed past him. He shouted his cousins’ names but was met with the blank stares of people he didn’t recognize. Panic began to set in. Had Kirsten and Thomas been killed on the journey to the fortress? At least a month had passed since he’d seen them and he had no way of knowing if they’d made it there alive.
Finally, he saw a familiar face, Bo. Max’s younger brother waved him down. Anders forced his way past a host of prisoners rushing past him toward the fortress gates.
“Bo! You’re okay!” Anders exclaimed. “Where are my cousins, Thomas and Kirsten?”
“As of yesterday they’d were assigned to mining duty,” Bo pointed a grimy finger toward the pit that lay just beyond the courtyard.
“Are they there now?” he asked.
Bo shrugged, “Could be anywhere. Once everyone realized you weren’t Merglan returning, all hell’s broken loose. Anders, where’s Max? Did he make it home to Brookside?”
Anders realized Bo had no knowledge of what had happened to his brother since the attack on Grandwood. “Yeah. He’s with the Rollo warriors now. We marched on the fortress and, with the help of the elves, pushed Merglan’s forces back.”
Bo smiled from ear to ear, “I knew Max would come for me.”
“Yes, he has. And now I must find my family.” Anders nodded his thanks to Bo and called for Zahara.
He climbed onto Zahara’s back once more and they swooped over to the far side of the pit. Anders strained his eyes as he scanned the terraced slopes. Each terrace had dark shafts that tunneled down, deep into the slope. Anders heart leapt when he spotted them.
Kirsten cracked a bullwhip as she chased down a guard. Anders grinned at the tenacity of his younger cousin. Thomas and Maija had just finished running off another guard, kicking him in the rear as he stumbled away. Anders steered Zahara and they flew in low over their heads. Kirsten cracked one more whip of the bullwhip on the guard’s behind before seeing Anders on the back of a dragon. She halted her pursuit and dropped the whip.
Zahara banked around, coming to land lightly along the terraced slope. Anders could see the bulging eyes and dropped jaws of Maija and his cousins as he dismounted Zahara. He realized she would be a shock to them, but he was beginning to think they might be dreadfully intimidated by her presence. He held the wide grin on his face and after several moments, Anders saw the joy of their long-awaited reunion grow on their faces.
Kirsten shrieked with glee and led the charge as Thomas and Maija followed her in a run to greet him. Anders met them with open arms, beaming as he held them tightly in a group hug. Tears of joy streaming down all of their faces, even Zahara became emotional and Anders could sense her happiness toward them.
Wiping away the tears with the back of her grimy hand, Kirsten sniffled, “I knew you’d come for us, I knew it.”
“We’ve missed you terribly,” Maija’s glossy brown eyes fluttered at seeing Anders again.
“I have so many questions, too many to comprehend right now,” Thomas added with a nervous laugh, one of relief after so many tribulations.
Anders sniffled and gave them a broad smile. “I’ll explain it all later.” He wiped his nose with the sleeve of his leather cuff and attempted to straighten his face into a more serious expression, “Well, lets get you out of this place.”
“Anders, wait. There’s powerful magic imbued into the walls of this fortress. Even the gates are enchanted,” Kirsten warned him.
Anders grinned, “Don’t worry; Zahara and I can get you out of here.”
“You’d better hurry. Merglan left a while ago and could return any minute,” Kirsten said.
Nodding, Anders returned to Zahara’s side and climbed onto her back. She leapt off the flat step and opened her wings to their full expanse. She soared effortlessly out over the people gathering in the courtyard, gliding toward the fortress’ main gate.
Kirsten, Thomas and Maija stood still, jaws hanging open while gazing at the sight of someone they knew sitting atop a real dragon. After a moment of bewilderment, they began to make their way to the courtyard.
Once at the main gate, Anders and Zahara worked to break the spell that held Anders’ cousins within the fortress walls. They drew on the force of energy that flowed within them and tried to focus it on breaking down the tall iron gates. Anders couldn’t quite hold his grip on the amount of energy they were producing. Each time he attempted to channel it on the gate’s hinges or lock, he’d become overwhelmed by the power surging through them. When he tried to lessen the force of magic he drew on, the spell Merglan placed on the gates remained too strong for them to break.
The magic on these gates is too strong for us to break alone, Anders said. We need help if we’re going to bring them down.
We’d better hurry in case Merglan returns, Zahara agreed.
Before leaving again, Anders found Kirsten, Thomas and Maija amidst the crowd gathering near the gate.
“This magic is too powerful for us to undo alone. Zahara and I are going to get help from Ivan, he’s an old rider who might be able to help us.” Anders looked sorrowfully at them and continued, “I’m sorry. I wish we were stronger, but our powers are new and I’m not trained in how to use them properly. We’ll be right back, okay?”
Thomas, Kirsten and Maija nodded understandingly.
“Hurry back,” Kirsten called to him as he bid them farewell and saddled Zahara’s neck.
“I will, I promise,” he called back as Zahara took flight once more exiting over the fortress walls.
By the time Anders and Zahara returned to the battlefield, it was over. The elves and Rollo warriors had made sure the enemy’s armies were no longer a threat by forcing their retreat. Anders could see the last of the orcs and kurr running away across the valley as they flew in for a landing. The host of the Rollo warriors cheered victoriously when Anders and Zahara returned to them.
“Ivan, Nadir,” Anders said as he ran to them and hugged them tightly; happy to see they were alive. “We need your help. My cousins and many others are locked in the fortress. The magic binding the gates is too powerful for us on our own.”
Ivan understood the haste required by the situation. Combining his dwindling magical abilities with their untrained energy, they might be able to break down the gates to free the trapped prisoners inside.
“Zahara, can you carry us both?” Anders asked out loud so Ivan could hear.
Of course I can. I’m not a weakling, she replied.
“Okay, I just wanted to make sure,” Anders said. I’m new to this and didn’t know if you’d be offended by letting Ivan ride you as well, he said to her with his mind again.
I appreciate you asking, but in this time of urgency I don’t need to toil on proper customs and all that nonsense.
Anders led as he and Ivan hoisted themselves onto Zahara and she returned to the sky. Within short order, Zahara was landing just outside the main gates to the fortress.
“You and Zahara try to focus your energy as best you can. Summon all you are able and I’ll help you to control it,” Ivan told them once in front of the gate.
Anders and Zahara drew on their powers and the well of magical energy within them bubbled to the surface before they let the full store of magic loose. Anders couldn’t control it, it came from his mind in wild flashes, but suddenly, he could feel Ivan’s presence. Like standing in the eye of a hurricane, Anders suddenly felt the calming sense of control he’d been lacking. Ivan allowed them the control they needed to focus on bringing down the gates. The three of them pried open the lock that held the two iron gates in the center. With a slow creak they began to open. The crack turned into a gap, and then a wide space. Then suddenly the spell holding them broke and the gates rocked open, slamming into the dark stone walls of the fortress.
