Free The Crystal Clipper by B. Roman

the mission to rescue Saliana on Judiah's professed loyalty.
    “I have timed the sequence of the patrol,” Judiah announces to Ishtar, with a slight inflection of self-importance. “When the rituals are taking place, the guards do not patrol the path. They guard the temple.”
    “Good. This will enable David to cross the perimeter undetected.”
    “Yes, Ishtar. There are fewer men available to check the grounds.” Then, to David, “When one sentry goes by, that will be your chance to scale the Palace wall.” His tone softens to shades of feigned comradeship. “Good luck, lad. I will be close by at all times to help if you should need me. But you won't be able to see me. Just know that I am there.”

Thirteen
    David makes his way carefully along the path to the Palace grounds, then halts just outside the forbidden zone and conceals himself in the brush. A sentry walks by on his patrol, then disappears from view. Knowing this is his chance, David sprints across the grounds to the Palace courtyard. Unlike the view of the Palace he first glimpsed from across the meadow, one of spectacular radiance, this side of the Palace is dim and shadowy, like the dark side of the moon.
    Hovering low to the ground, David creeps along the west exterior trying to get as close to the Tower as possible before attempting to enter. At last, he sees the Tower straight above his head. But how in the world can he get up there?
    He feels around for some grooves in the surface to grab on to so he can scale the walls. But the facade is slick and smooth and impossible to climb.
    “Oh, great. This is like climbing a wall of ice,” he grumbles. Why can't it be like a real medieval castle, he thinks, with some ridges to dig his boots into? Then, something along the side of the wall catches David's eye and he walks toward it.
    “Oh, no way. A rope? This is almost too good to be true.”
    He looks around warily. The landscape around him is still and dead quiet. Not a sound, not a sense of anything moving nearby. Too good or not, David grabs onto the rope and jumps up, letting it take his full weight. He jumps back to the ground.
    It just might work, he decides.
    Once again, David grabs onto the rope and pulls himself up onto it. Inch by inch, he painstakingly climbs its full length toward the window of the Tower.
    From an obscure nearby place, Judiah and a sentry stand together watching David scale the Tower wall using the conveniently-placed rope.
    “Good work,” Judiah commends the sentry. “The boy is in. Jaycina will take over from here. Be certain you're not detected by anyone when you cut down the rope.”
    Accepting the few pieces of gold Judiah offers him, the sentry nods stoically then rushes off.
    Exhausted from the climb, David glances down at the ground below and tries to steady himself on the window ledge. A sudden wave of vertigo sets his head spinning. His lunch threatens to regurgitate. He leans his head against the portal and, remembering a little trick his mother taught him, David presses his palms together in a prayer-like gesture. He stares intently at the vertical line of his hands. In a moment his dizziness subsides.
    Exhaling deeply, relieved, David steps off the window ledge and into the Tower. Remembering the Moldavite, he places his hand over his heart and speaks in a forced whisper. “Ishtar. Ishtar, if you can hear me, I'm inside the Palace up in the Tower.”
    In his cave dwelling, Ishtar's nervous waiting for David's voice is over. He holds a large quartz crystal, which is curved and hollowed like a conch shell, up to his ear.
    Elation fills his voice. “He made it! He's in the Palace Tower.” Dorinda huddles close to Ishtar's crystal earphone trying to hear for herself.
    David strains to hear something, anything, in return from Ishtar. Then, faintly, it comes through. “I am receiving you, David. Can you hear me, my boy?”
    “Holy cow!” David is amazed to hear Ishtar's voice through his hearing aid. “Yes,