Part 17 by Taylor.

Landlion, Cerelda, and Goricnal were sitting by the horses when they heard Kyrian's first long blast. "What did a long note mean?" Goricnal tried to remember. "It's means that they found shelter!" Landlion said, mounting Meldarion. Goricnal climbed onto Lithernac and grabbed Rhovanion's reins. Cerelda flew overhead. Landlion held onto Lorthim's bridle as they made their way through the thick woods.

As they fought their way through the thick underbrush, they suddenly heard two short notes from Kyrian's horn. "They must have found trouble!" Goricnal yelled. They spurred their steeds forward, plunging through the forest. They burst in upon the group of beasts, who were carrying the unconscious Kyrian and the kicking Laurel away. Landlion and Goricnal charged them with sword and axe in hand, slashing and hacking. Cerelda swooped down and attacked. But there were far more beasts than they had first assumed, and they soon found that they were vastly outnumbered. One large troll hit Landlion roughly on the head, and carried the unconscious elf in the same direction that the others had gone. Several beasts tackled Goricnal and bore the struggling dwarf away. Cerelda looked around, everyone was gone. A arrow whistled past her head. She decided to fly away and look for help. Suddenly, she saw a pinpoint of light shine from the forest. She flew over to see what it was and she found Emerion there.

Landlion woke up lying in a dank cell. He put a hand up to his head; he had a splitting headache. Goricnal was sitting beside him. "Are you okay?" the dwarf asked huskily. Landlion nodded and winced as he sat up. He heard a groan from the cell across from theirs. "Hello?" he asked warily. "Landlion, is that you?" a familiar voice answered. "Laurel, you're here! Where's Kyrian?" he asked. "She's right here, but she's just waking up."

"We've got to get out of here!" Landlion said desperately. "But what about that wizard?" Goricnal muttered. "That's right, I'd forgotten about Mintara!" Landlion said, snapping his fingers. "But how can we find her?" Kyrian asked groggily. "I think we had better concentrate on freeing ourselves first." Laurel said. They sat there for hours, but no chance for escape came. No one even entered the dungeon, and the cells were sturdy, though filthy.

Several hours later, they heard the bolts of the prison door being drawn back. Sounds of scuffling drifted through the opening. Soon they heard a familiar voice. "Get your filthy hands off of me!" Three beasts backed through the door, pulling a struggling form dressed in white. "Mintara!" Laurel gasped. She was being drawn, bit by bit, into the dungeon. She threw one troll off balance and gave it a hearty kick in it's chest. It flew backward and bounced off of Landlion's and Goricnal's cell door. He jumped back up and propelled his warty body back toward the others. They picked the wizard up and hurled her into a cell.

She fairly spat at them in anger as they left, laughing. She kicked the wall and paced the width of her cell, six steps to the door and six steps to the back of the enclosure. "Mintara." Kyrian said softly. Mintara's head snapped up and she looked at them all standing behind the bars. "My heroes," she muttered. "Well, look who's talking!" Goricnal yelled at her. "You're the one who flew off in a little temper tantrum!" Mintara's eyes flashed at him. "Temper tantrum? Do you have any idea what will happen when Exron discoveres how to use it? He will be the greatest threat outside of Melkor, and they will be together against us! You foolish people can't even imagine the evil he will work in this world." They were silent for a moment before Laurel said, "We need to work together to stop him. None of us can do it alone. We're going to need help before we can try to get the necklace back and stop Melkor." Mintara hesitated before she finally nodded agreement. "Now, does anyone know a way out of here?" Landlion asked. "I might be able to help with that." Mintara said. She bent her head and softly chanted a magic spell. There was a quick spark of light and the cell doors flew open! They gave an exclamation of surprise and rushed out to stand together.

"That's probably as much magic as I can do, I left my staff with Emerion." "You left your staff?" Laurel asked incredulously. "Didn't you know that you needed it?" "Of course, but I didn't want to risk it being taken. I didn't come here to fight, I just came here to see. I know that I can't defeat Erxon alone, I just needed to see what we're up against. Unfortunately, my hiding place was discovered. But I did see where the necklace is hidden. We might be able to sneak it out." They left the dungeon and stepped out into a long dark hall. Landlion led the way as they walked down the corridor. As they rounded the corner, they ran into two minions! The creatures shrieked and ran back the way they had come! "Oh no you don't!" Kyrian shouted as she gave chase. The others followed suit and they soon overpowered the beasts. All of their weapons had been taken when they had been captured, so they were going to have to be careful. They passed through the gate that the creatures had been guarding and came to a stop a few steps further. Mintara pointed up to an air shaft. "This is where I went earlier." she whispered. It was a good nine feet up the wall. Mintara and Landlion were the tallest, so they would go first. Mintara stepped up and jumped with superhuman strength, catching hold and pulling herself up. Goricnal would have to be helped up. Landlion hefted the stout dwarf up toward the opening. Mintara leaned out and tried to catch the dwarf's hand, but his arm was too short; instead, she grabbed his long beard! "Hey, let go of that!" he roared. "How many times do I have to tell you people? NOT THE BEARD!" He swiped at her with his fists, but Mintara avoided his flailing arms and pulled him up. Landlion jumped as high as he could, and he just barely grabbed the edge with his fingertips. Mintara grabbed his arm and helped pull him up, which he obviously enjoyed. Laurel noticed and pouted. Kyrian sighed, she was really getting tired of Laurel's crush on Landlion. Laurel was next, she jumped as high as she could but didn't come close to reaching the edge. Landlion had to hold onto her hand and pull her up. Laurel seemed to be having a difficult time getting up, Landlion had to help her a lot. Kyrian gave Laurel's back a look of exasperation as she jumped. Landlion had to grab her too, but Kyrian scrambled up a lot faster than Laurel.



They crawled single-file down the tunnel. Soon they came to a gigantic room! They peered through the opening and saw a throne down at one end guarded by many creatures. "That must be Erxon's throne!" Laurel thought. But Mintara moved on until they reached a tiny room. She stopped and jumped down. The others followed; they barely fit into the room. "This is just a broom closet!" Laurel exclaimed. "I'm sure this is the right place." Landlion said defensively, looking at Mintara. She rolled her eyes and shared a disgusted look with Kyrian. Mintara walked to the rear of the room and bent down. A little splinter of wood was sticking up out of the floor. Mintara held it with her fingernails and pulled sharply on it one, two, three times! Instead of breaking off, the splinter made a little clicking noise and popped out! Three smooth boards rose up out of the patterned wooden floor behind her. She walked over and stepped on them in a peculiar order. Each went down a little when she stepped on it; she continued the sequence until a section of the wall opened a little. She stopped and they all ran over and pulled on the door until it finally opened enough for them to squeeze in. They went down a series of steps, then made a sharp turn. Mintara went over to a stone wall and pushed on a certain stone. The wall slid back to reveal a circular opening. In the middle, on a crystal table, lay a shining diamond box. They all looked at each other, holding their breaths. Then Mintara slowly walked over to it and picked it up. She gently lifted the lid and saw... nothing. There was nothing in it! She shook it upside down; she looked everywhere on the floor. Nothing. Wait. A little piece of paper was jammed in the corner of the box. She pulled it out and opened it. The thin, scraggly writing on it said:

In this box, you expected to find,

A treasure of unparelled kind.

You thought you would find it here in my lair.

But as you can see, it just isn't there!

Where could it be? Could it have been taken?

I know that by now, you're feeling quite shaken.

I heard you coming, so I decided to flee.

And I decided to take the necklace with me!

Mintara finished reading. Everyone was quiet, until Goricnal said bitterly, "He's gone with the necklace, what now?" Mintara crumpled up the paper and threw it into the corner. "Well," Landlion said slowly. "I guess Laurel and I need to go back to Locien to finish her training." Mintara stood up briskly and said, "It's clear that we are going to have to defeat Melkor and and Erxon in order to get that necklace back. We're going to need an army. That's where I'm going. I'm going to get all the support possible from the people of this world. But I'll need some help." Her gaze rested on Kyrian. The girl looked up and saw what Mintara was hinting at. "Oh no, I can't go! I've never been outside this region before! Take Goricnal!" The dwarf heard her and made a gagging noise. Mintara glared at him and said to Kyrian, "I need a more," she paused. "people friendly person. Which the dwarf is obviously not." She looked at Goricnal condescendingly. Kyrian sat there considering before she lifted her chin and said, "Okay, let's do it!"

Mintara let out a piercing whistle, and suddenly they were standing at the base of the mountain! Emerion was standing there with Cerelda, he had used Mintara's magic to warp them out. She walked over to him and gave him a hug. "I guess we had better go." Landlion said unhappily, looking at Mintara. "Yes, we had better." Laurel said hurriedly. Cerelda flew over to Laurel happily. Landlion mounted Meldarion, looking at Mintara and muttering under his breath. "Why does she always moon over that dumb animal? I would welcome that attention." Laurel, who was walking to Lorthim, heard him, and her cheeks burned crimson. She jumped onto the mare and Goricnal pulled himself up onto Lithernac, he would be going with Laurel and Landlion. With shouted goodbye's between everyone but Mintara and Goricnal, their company separated.