Jundag

by Chris A. Jackson

  He stared at Calmarel, shocked silent. Never had he expected to hear those words from her—I’m sorry—and his grip loosened on her robe. She rose and started to turn away, then hesitated and knelt back down before him. She lifted the ivory feather-blossom pendant from her neck and laid it on his chest. Taking his hand, she curled his fingers around the medallion. Then, after one more anguished look, she ran down the aisle and out of the temple. In her wake, he heard his daughter begin once more to cry, as if already she mourned her father’s death.

  CHAPTER 34

  Avari felt the tug of the thin line linking her to her invisible friends, and followed them around yet another corner. They had been moving sporadically through the maze of black stone corridors, flattening themselves against the wall whenever a contingent of guards trotted by, warned by the clanking of their armor and weapons. Avari was thankful for the mayhem that Phlegothax and the drakoll were apparently causing outside; none of the rooms they had passed had been guarded. Of course, there had been nothing of interest to them in those rooms either.

  This new corridor was long and empty, broken only by double doors halfway down. Avari sighed impatiently and a bit too loudly, and was rewarded by a sharp, warning tug on the line. She followed obediently, but vented her frustration by muttering under her breath. It didn’t take long to work herself into a high state of indignation; she was tired of everyone else making all the decisions. She planted her feet and stopped short, smiling grimly as the line pulled taut and Shay’s agitated hiss reached her ears.

  “Time to take another fix,” she whispered loudly. They had been consulting the gems at intersections and corners, and had been moving in this direction for some time. There was no reason to think that the gems would indicate differently now, but for just this one minute, they’d do what she wanted to do.

  "We do not have time for this, Avari," Shay admonished, but she ignored him and removed the diamond from its wrap, then placed it on the ground before her so it wouldn’t be concealed by her invisibility. The gem burst with a light so bright she had to shield her eyes. It took about two seconds for her to realize that the light might also attract enemies. She quickly picked up the gem, rewrapped it, and put it into her pocket.

  “We’re close,” she said unnecessarily. Her eyes turned toward the doors they had stopped in front of. One door was ajar. “I’m going in,” she advised her companions. Avari pulled the knot at her waist to untie the line, then stepped cautiously toward the door and slipped inside. She nearly cried out when she spied a huge black spider with a woman’s cruel face looming at the far end of the room, then realized it was only a statue.

  “Xakra’s temple,” she heard Brok growl with disgust.

  Slowly, holding Gaulengil at the ready, Avari moved down the aisle. The air stank of blood, death and incense, and corpses littered the floor. In front of the altar lay two bodies. One was a sprawl of black robes and hair; although she couldn’t see the face, the angle of the head indicated a broken neck. A glint of silver caught her eye, and she approached the second body. The man laid facedown, arms outstretched, as if he had tried to crawl. A dagger protruded from between his ribs, and fresh blood pooled beneath his body, in contrast to the obviously long-dead bodies piled next to the altar.

  A sense of dread rose in Avari's heart, and her breath came fast and heavy. She reached out to touch the body, pulled back, then finally forced her hand to brush the hair from his face.

  “Jundag!” His name caught in her throat and tears sprang to her eyes. So much blood...they were too late. She wanted to wail, but only managed a thin keen. If I had been here just a little sooner, she rebuked, I could have saved him! The tears overflowed, and she felt them trace crooked paths down her cheeks. As if in apology, Avari brushed her fingertips across Jundag’s cheek. The flesh was warm. Her heart skipped a beat.

  "Shay!” she called. “Come quickly!"

  She heard footsteps approach, then watched as Jundag’s garments twisted this way and that. Puzzled, she glanced about to see what forces might be at work, until a bright red light illumed the grisly scene, and she heard Shay’s cry of triumph.

  “The ruby!”

  "You bastard!" Avari swung her arm in the direction of Shay’s voice, cuffing him hard enough knock him over. The sight of her outstretched arm made her realize that her attack had rescinded her invisibility, but she didn’t care. The heat of rage flushed her cheeks as she rose and drew back her fist, but another hand intercepted hers before she could land a blow.

  "Avari, no!" Yen said close to her ear a moment before she saw him flicker into visibility, his own action disrupting the spell. "What’s wrong?"

  Avari wrested her hand away and dropped back to her knees. “It’s Jundag. We found him, and all Shay can think about is that blasted gem!”

  “Jundag!” Yen said as he knelt beside her, putting his fingers to Jundag’s throat. “He’s alive.”

  Shay appeared opposite Avari and Yen, apparently having dispelled his invisibility. He scrambled to his knees, one hand holding his sleeve to his nose to staunch the blood, the other reaching out to recover the ruby from the floor and drop it into a pocket. His eyes were wide as he glanced first to Avari, then down to Jundag.

  “I...I did not realize it was Jundag!” he stammered. He leaned close and tore open the tribesman’s bloody tunic to expose the wound. With each shallow breath, frothy blood bubbled around the knife blade. Avari reached for the hilt to pull it free, but Shay stopped her.

  “Do not touch it!” he said as he held his silver icon of Tem next to the dagger. The medallion glowed briefly. “It is cursed. I do not know what would happen if you touched this knife in Xakra’s temple. It may make her...aware of you.”

  “But we have to do something!” Avari insisted.

  "Here!" Yenjil's sword tip caught the crosspiece of the dagger, wrenched it free and flipped it across the room. Yen wiped his blade and looked grimly at Shay. “Now heal him.”

  Gratitude swelled Avari’s heart, and she put a hand on Yen’s arm in silent thanks. She watched as Shay pressed his icon against the ragged wound and prayed to Tem. Immediately, the wound began to close, replaced by a livid red scar. Color flushed Jundag's grey skin, and his breaths became smoother and deeper. Avari’s heart soared and she leaned closer, gently stroking Jundag’s cheek.

  “Jundag,” she whispered.

  “Jundag.”

  The voice seemed far, far away. More immediate was the soft touch on his face, but he knew that caresses were always followed by pain.

  "No!" he yelled, flinging up his arm to block her next move. "No, Calmarel! I won't— I— Who—" He blinked rapidly, trying to focus his eyes. A woman bent over him...but it wasn’t Calmarel. Slowly, recognition came, and he gaped in shock. “Avari?” he whispered as he hesitantly reached out to touch her cheek, wet with tears. "Am I finally dead?"

  "No, Jundag," Avari said as she gripped his hand tightly. "You’re alive!”

  “She told me you were dead,” he said as he remembered Calmarel’s grotesque taunting. “So many times...but I thought of you. I called for you...”

  “I heard you, Jundag!” Avari said, her voice choked. “I dreamed of you. I...saw what she did to you. I’m sorry it took us so long to get here.”

  Jundag lay still and closed his eyes. If only this moment could last forever; Avari was alive, her cool hand on his forehead. Calmarel was apparently gone— Calmarel... He tried to sit up, gasping as pain stabbed throughout his body. He felt a cold sweat break out on his face.

  “Don’t try to move yet!” commanded the man who knelt by Avari’s side. “Shay, he needs more healing to—"

  "No!" Jundag protested, forcing himself into a sitting position with Avari’s help, gripping her hand so tightly he saw her wince, but she did not let go. "No more healing! Please! It will just take longer that way."

  "What will take longer, Jundag?" Avari asked.

  "For me to die," he said quietly, sorry that he had to cause her such
despair as he saw now on her face. "I cannot live, Avari, at least not for long. I have been too wounded—"

  "Unbelievable!" Shay’s exclamation drew everyone’s attention. The half-elf crouched over the twisted body nearby, one arm raised in the air, a blue glow emanating form his hand. "The sapphire is here as well! We have all four cornerstones!"

  Jundag saw Avari’s face contort into an expression of wild rage, then a crazed smile.

  “The gems!” she exclaimed. “Shay, you can use the gems to help you heal Jundag! She turned back to the tribesman. “The gems we sought; they have great power! Shay can heal all your wounds using them. Yen,” she said as she turned to the man at her side, “help—"

  “Avari,” Shay said hesitantly as he glanced toward Jundag, “my healing skills are holy powers granted by Tem. The gems are conduits for magic. I cannot use them to heal Jundag.”

  Jundag watched Avari’s face shift once more, and now she looked at the half-elf with an almost feral expression. She growled deep in her throat and started to rise, but he held onto her hand as tightly as he could. His grip wasn’t enough to hold her, but the pressure seemed to restore her to her mind, and she looked at him in dismay.

  "Avari," he said gently, “I choose not to live. My memories will not allow it. I remember every knife stroke, every whip lash, every broken bone. I remember the smell of my own burning flesh. I remember the sight of my..." He started shaking as he remembered, then concentrated and finally stilled his trembling limbs. He had thought some memories so deeply buried that they could never surface, but Xakra's cursed knife had reawakened it all. He looked down at the pink scar where the sacrificial blade had entered him, and realized that it had wounded more than just his flesh.

  "I can’t begin to understand all you've gone through, Jundag," Avari said, "though bits and pieces have plagued my dreams. But it's over now! At least try to let it be over. If you decide later that life is still not worth living, then I'll—" Her voice broke, but after a moment she managed to continue. "Then I'll help you end it."

  "No, Avari," Jundag said, shaking his head sadly. "I could not ask that of you. I will not—"

  "Please to be excusing me, Mistress Avari and my new friend Jundag,” said a voice from the air near the now-closed doors. Shay must have read the confusion in Jundag’s eyes, because he said “Hufferrrerrr,” then murmured and waved his hands. A lion-man materialized near the doors, along with several others, both human and not-so-human. Hufferrrerrr continued, saying, “We must be in a great much of hurriedness. I hear voices nearing to us, and we are still having to be destroying this place of evilness. We must—"

  The doors rattled, but did not open; Hufferrrerrr was leaning against them. The doors rattled again, then bowed open as they were hit from the other side. Yen and Shay jumped up and ran to help the others. An old man in robes whispered and gesticulated. The lintel flashed briefly, and the man said “The door is sealed...for now.” Beyond the doors, a shrill voice called out.

  "It is the mediator! She calls for Lysethra Darkmist," Jundag said as he waved toward the elder sister’s corpse. He motioned to Avari, and she helped him to rise. Pains stabbed him, but he suppressed a groan and merely grimaced. “You must flee, or she will sacrifice you all to the Dark Gods! However you got here, you now must go! I will hold them back as long as I can."

  “Not alone, Jundag!” Avari said as she hefted Gaulengil and faced the door. “I won’t leave you this time!”

  “We can’t leave yet. We have to disrupt the core of Void essence!” the old man said.

  "Though we still don’t know how to do that!" complained the robed woman who appeared to be his companion.

  "I think the answer is in Shay’s pockets!” said the old man. All looked toward him. "After you recovered those two cornerstones from the Nekdukarr last year, I did some research on them. They are conduits of tremendous power, and you’re right to take precautions to keep them from touching one another. Shay, what do you think would happen if they did touch?"

  “They would release an incalculable amount of magical energy,” Shay warned, “enough to— No, Feldspar! How dare you suggest we throw them away like that!"

  "What do you mean, 'Throw them away'?" Feldspar asked incredulously. “This is our world we’re talking about! If we don’t stop the Void essence, it will destroy everything. What good are the gems if everything we know is gone?”

  “See!” said Avari grimly. “That’s what I’ve been talking about. All he thinks about is those damned gems and his magic. He doesn’t care about anyone or anything else.”

  “Avari, that is not true!” Shay protested. “We have gone through too much to regain these artifacts. I am not about to destroy them needlessly now."

  "This is not needless, Shay!" protested a beautiful woman who stepped out of the shadows. Her dark hair and beautiful face seemed familiar, then Jundag remembered: the wolf-elf they had met outside Zellohar Keep. She stood in front of Shay, her fists clenched and her mien determined, though tears glinted in her fierce eyes. "Is it needless to save everyone we know and love? We must destroy this place, even if it means destroying the cornerstones!"

  A great weight crashed against the door. It held, but there was no telling for how long.

  "But you can't—"

  “Shay, listen to Feldspar and Lynthalsea, listen to me!” insisted Yen. “If this fortress remains, everything on our world dies. No army could destroy this place. The gems are the only logical choice.”

  Jundag watched this battle of wills with a growing sense of impatience and dread. From outside the door, he heard the mediator call for someone to fetch more guards and a wizard. They had no time for argument. He turned to the source of contention.

  “Priest!” he said with all the strength he could muster. It was enough; the others hushed. “Shay. I have died untold deaths already for these gems. How many thousands more must die before you listen to your friends? Are you so wedded to your magics that you would sacrifice your friends for it? That is the way of these people.” He gestured to Lysethra’s body and the blood-soaked altar. “Friend? Family? They care not. They will put anyone under the knife if it allows them to have their way...their power. Are you of the same ilk? Has your power made you like them?”

  Shay opened his mouth to retort, but no words came out. His eyes wandered along Jundag’s scarred body, to Avari and the others, to the pile of dead bodies, and finally to the statue of Xakra. Then his face sagged, and he closed eyes and fell to his knees.

  "Holy Tem, what have I become?"

  After a long moment of silence, he pushed himself to his feet, a new look of determination on his face. "Feldspar, use the Starstone to get everyone home. I will remain here and destroy this fortress using the gems."

  Jundag barked out a laugh, then bent double with a hacking cough. He cherished the warm strength of Avari’s arm around his shoulders, supporting him, but knew time was running short.

  "Don't be a fool, Shay!" he said. "I long for death, and what could be sweeter than to send these...people...into oblivion? But I ask a favor in return."

  "Anything!" Avari cried as she gripped his hand tightly. Her eyes sparkled with tears, but he saw from her unwavering gaze that she respected his decision.

  "I have a child," he said with a catch in his voice. He thought of the babe and her beautiful blue eyes, knowing that he would never see her grow up, never hold her hands as she learned to walk, never hear her voice call out to him. He lowered his head while blinking away tears, full of sorrowful regret. But this, he thought, is the only way to give her a chance at a life away from this hell.

  "A child?" Avari gasped.

  "Though my participation was forced." he said, “from the moment I saw my daughter, I loved her. The woman who bore her is sister to the Nekdukarr—"

  “Calmarel!” Avari said. She laughed wryly at his startled gaze. “You called her name when you woke up, though not in a very loving tone.” She gestured for him to continue.

 
“Calmarel,” he agreed. “She is hopelessly evil, a priestess of Xakra and Pergamon, but she covets the child, though the Dark Gods revoked her powers for the sacrilege of mating with a slave. She fled after her sister," he waved once again at Lysethra’s body, “tried to sacrifice the child. I know not where she is, but if you find her, you find my daughter. Please...” his voice broke, “please, find my child and take her away from here.”

  "I will, Jundag.” Avari’s tears flowed once again, but she made no attempt to stop them. “I will.”

  "But how will we find Calmarel and the child?" Yenjil asked. “And more immediately, how do we get out of this temple?” He glanced significantly at the door through which calls were persistently louder.

  Jundag considered Yenjil. He had seen the warmth and longing in the man’s eye when he looked at Avari. Though it had first provoked a twinge of jealousy, now it pleased him. Though he did not know him, the man seemed quick in thought and action, confident yet considerate, strong and able. Most importantly, he seemed to care deeply for Avari, and Jundag had seen her blush at Yenjil’s gaze, suggesting that she felt similarly. He sighed silently, and wished them well with all his heart.

  “There is a back exit,” he said, “through which acolytes bear the bodies of the sacrificed. It comes out several corridors away from here. But I do not know where Calmarel may have fled.”

  “If you are having anything that this Calmarel has touched,” Hufferrrerrr said, “I can be tracking her scent.”

  “Jundag!” Avari’s voice was excited. “Here, where you were laying!” He saw her stoop and pick something up. When she rose, she held an ivory feathered pendant carefully by the chain. “Wasn’t Calmarel wearing this, your medallion?”

  His heart lurched, but he nodded assent. The sight of the pendant around Calmarel’s neck always infuriated him, the way she had transformed a token of love into a symbol of domination. Hufferrrerrr sniffed the medallion several times, then said, “This scent is being excellent for use in tracking. Thank you!”