A year later, a small group of the Dark Lord's priests passed through town on unknown business, Faltimir seized the opportunity to become part of something more than what he thought Mur had to offer him. He made himself useful to the priests while they were in town, running errands for them and securing supplies they required to continue their journey. When it came time for them to leave Mur, Faltimir went with them as their loyal footman. Upon finishing the business they had away from the Dark Lord's stronghold, the priests, taking Faltimir with them, returned to the mountains in the northeast, from where the Dark Lord ruled over his domain.
As he walked down yet another passageway on his route to the Dark Lord's audience hall from the subterranean chamber which kept the divining pool secret from the uninitiated, Faltimir recalled the first time he'd been taken on that path. It was before the right to learn the divining arts had been bestowed upon him. The old, Most Favored servant of the Dark Lord had enlisted his help for a trivial task which would change Faltimir's destiny.
~
Faltimir had just finished reviewing the logbook to confirm the magical locks for each of the doorways into the stronghold had been reset for the day—the review being one of his daily duties. All was well, he noted. The stronghold had been secured. Not that anyone would be foolish enough to break into the Dark Lord's abode, he thought.
As he closed the logbook, a nearby elder asked him to help carry some books for him. The slight feeling of importance Faltimir had been enjoying at reviewing the work of his underlings quickly dissipated when the elder charged him with such a menial task, but he couldn't refuse any request from an elder. He relinquished the annoyance he felt when he saw the books the elder had stacked beside him on a table. Each of them was bound shut with a metal clasp, and the one on top of the pile bore on the cover the insignia of the highest order of knowledge in the priesthood, the wings of a dragon, inked in red—rumored to be dragon's blood. Faltimir didn't know what knowledge the books contained, but he was certain they were important, and he thirsted for more arcane knowledge.
The elder said they were taking them to the 'deep chamber'. Faltimir had never set eyes on the place, as only elders, the two diviners, and the Dark Lord himself ever went there. "Yes, Most Favored," Faltimir said, then quickly retrieved the books from the table and stood ready to accompany the elder, as directed.
The elder had no name aside from Most Favored, though he once had one. The Dark Lord removed the man's name from him in a ritual of the highest magic, graduating the man into the post once held by his now-deceased predecessor. That was the way, Faltimir knew, but he didn't understand why. He knew he probably never would either, for he dared not question any action of the Dark Lord.
After following the Dark Lord's Most Favored down the winding path, taking descending stairs, turning corners, escaping the faint echos of chattering priests and their acolytes farther behind, Faltimir, already an accomplished priest for the Dark Lord, stepped foot for the first time into the cavernous room of the mist-covered black pool.
He stood at the edge of the room, holding the books which had intrigued him minutes earlier, but which now paled in comparison to the wonder of the black pool before him. He observed the mist sitting in the air above the dark liquid and wondered how the diviners performed their work. As the elder stepped to one side of the room, Faltimir peered into the mist for a long moment, hoping to see something more—perhaps a faint vision of something happening in the kingdom. He saw nothing and the Most Favored broke his attention.
"Bring them here." Without looking back to Faltimir, The Most Favored gestured to a desk beside him, at the back of the room.
Faltimir thought he had seen something in the mist above the pool just as the Most Favored's words snapped his gaze from it. He felt frustrated that he didn't see the scene clearly enough to determine what the pool had revealed, but the fact that he'd seen anything at all without any training in divination thrilled him in a way he'd not felt in many years. As he started to make his way across the room to the desk and the elder, he glanced back at the divining cloud, hoping to confirm he had indeed seen something in the swirling gray. The vision had disappeared.
I know I saw something.
After he placed the books on the desk, the elder turned to him, staring at Faltimir with such an intensity as to instill an unnatural fear in him. Faltimir didn't know why, but wondered what he might've done to elicit such an action.
After a few seconds, the Most Favored asked, "What did you see?"
Faltimir was taken aback by the question. The elder had his back turned to Faltimir and the pool when Faltimir had seen a glimpse of...something. Could he mean something else, Faltimir thought.
"What did I see?" Faltimir had no good answer, even for himself.
The Most Favored slowly nodded his head. "In the mist."
How could he know I saw something?
"I...don't know," Faltimir said, hoping his answer wouldn't disappoint the elder as much as it disappointed himself.
The Most Favored's expression sat unfathomable for what felt like a dangerously long time, but finally he smiled and Faltimir felt cautiously more at ease.
"But you saw...something?" the elder asked with a more pleasant, even encouraging tone.
Faltimir nodded, then quickly spoke, concerned a silent response might be taken as disrespectful by the elder. "I did, but only for a moment."
The Most Favored looked smug. "I'm such a good judge of these things."
"These things?" Faltimir asked.
The elder looked at the stack of books on the desk, then placed his hand on top of them. "I am not so old that I couldn't have carried these here myself." He grinned. "Though I may look it to you."
Faltimir opened his mouth to disclaim having the notion that the elder was incapable, but he again didn't know quite how to answer.
The elder chuckled, then said, "I wanted you to see the pool, or, more accurately, to see if the pool would let you see something. And it has. What you saw is not important, not this time."
"Why?" Faltimir glanced behind him to the diving pool, then turned back to the elder. "How did you know I would see something?"
"I didn't, but I thought you might. I've been watching you from time to time over the years. You've exhibited an innate knack for each of the arcane arts to which you have been introduced. It seemed clear to me that you possess a natural predisposition to the work of the order. I needed to know if divination was also within your reach."
Though the idea that the elder had been observing him for some time didn't sit well with Faltimir, he felt exhilarated at hearing the Most Favored of the Dark Lord assessed him to have a 'natural predisposition to the work of the order'.
I am to become a diviner!
The elder scratched the side of his own face with the long pointed nail on one of his fingers. "Of course, I am not so old and tired as you thought me." He grinned. "But someday, when the order is in need of a new diviner...then you will get a chance to know the dark pool and it's mist more intimately."
Faltimir's heart sank at the news that he would have to wait for who knows how long before ascending to divination, the magic the order held in highest esteem.
~
Now, long after that day, walking the torch-lined hallways and stairwells leading from the divining pool chamber to the audience hall of the Dark Lord, Faltimir recalled how he finally became a diviner, the way the Most Favored met his end, which opened the post for him.
Did he count the torches on the walls on his final walk? What unwelcome vision did he share with the Dark Lord? Could it have been any worse than the news that the Carneran prophecy has a new Guardian and he is now trekking across our land to come here?
Chapter 13
My back burned from what I was sure were numerous scrapes, maybe gouges, from sliding down the long narrow tube which must've been carved into the rock by an old water flow over a long period of time. I knew before I jumped into the rough rock and dirt tunn
el that it was going to hurt like hell, but the alternative would have been much more unpleasant. Despite my strong legs and a crap ton of adrenaline, I hadn't been able to outrun the Dark Riders, but at least they'd followed me, not the others. My women and the boy had to have made it to the forest, thanks to me being the target. I hadn't thought it through, really. I just went with it, almost instinctively veering away from my women and the boy as I shouted at the Dark Riders behind me to keep their attention. If it weren't for the lucky break of seeing the hole, I'd be shredded beef jerky for the hairy beasts they rode.
After half sliding, half falling down the forty-foot hole, loose rocks coming down beside me as a plummeted, I tumbled into a larger opening, a cave. On my back, looking toward the way I'd come, I could see little. The cave was dark. But I listened, wondering if the Dark Riders would still pursue me. I knew they'd have to leave behind the large hairy beasts they rode. At least I won't be chewed up like beef jerky, I thought. Only the sound of a few more loose pieces of rock sliding down the tunnel echoed faintly into my cave.
The desperate run to get away from them had exhausted me, and the poorly made theme park slide left me bruised, bleeding, and rattled. But I was thankful to be alive, at least a little while longer.
I need to get up. See if there's a way out of here.
I glanced at my end of the tunnel again, making sure none of the Dark Riders had come down it yet.
Aside from that.
I took a breath, causing me to notice more places on my back where the rocks had done a number on me, then I sucked it up as best I could and sat up, trying not to make a sound. One of the Dark Rider's had driven his beast close to me just before I jumped into the tunnel. I had no doubt he'd seen me go into it, but I hoped that by being quiet the Dark Rider might write me off as dead already. After all, I thought, the tunnel was more of a drop.
I sat still, listening for any sign of them getting into the opening at the top. I knew it had been long enough for Alara and the others to get across the valley on the other side of the hill and make their way to the cover of the forest. The chase on which I'd led the Dark Riders had been long, thanks to several patches of tricky terrain that was easier for me on foot than it was for the riders on their monstrous mounts. I sat still, waiting to discover how persistent the Dark Riders would be in the hunt. All was quiet, except my breathing, which I worked to slow and steady.
Remembering how close to completely vertical much of the drop had been, I realized climbing out the same way would be impossible, especially given how battered my back and arms were from the fall. The slight relief I'd begun to feel as the moments of silence stacked up dissolved at the thought that I'd made their job easy for them, burying myself.
I turned away from the bottom opening of the tunnel and cupped my hands on either side of my face to shield whatever light was coming from that way. It took a moment, but my eyes, already growing used to the relative darkness, adjusted to it more. I scanned the cave and discovered it was much larger than I'd initially thought. I could see a rough, curved wall opposite the tunnel I'd come down, but to the right of it, the cave recessed more, fading into darkness. Stepping slowly and as quietly as possible, I moved to investigate the depths of the cave, hoping for another way out.
The ground was uneven, some of it sinking an inch beneath my boots, other parts firm and bumpy. I felt the cool still air around me, and as I walked farther into the darkness, a dankness with a peculiar odor permeated the space. I reached for where I thought a wall was, but I had to take several more blind steps until I felt it. Once I had, I kept one hand touching it and walked onward into increasingly impenetrable blackness, too much for my adjusted eyes.
Please let them be safe in the woods now.
I stopped for a moment and listened for any sound coming from the tunnel now far behind me.
Nothing. How long did they stay at the entrance above? They didn't see anyone else, did they?
I had been sure the others had made it out of sight before the Dark Riders discovered me and gave chase, but I worried I'd been mistaken.
What if they had seen Tara too? I have to get back to my women. This can't be the end.
My need to find another way out of the cave felt more urgent now. Instead of taking steady and slow steps, I hurried ahead, only occasionally grazing the wall with the tips of my fingers to guide me. I stretched my other hand in front of me, so I wouldn't smack my face against the back of the cave, wherever it was.
A few seconds later, I stepped onto a large wobbly rock and it flipped off whatever stone fulcrum sat beneath it. My ankle buckled and I tumbled to my knees in the darkness. Despite reflexively extending my hands to brace myself for the impact, they touched nothing until after my face slammed into the stone floor of the cave.
My head throbbed and seemed to sway erratically until I rolled over onto my back and regained my sense of up and down. The throbbing persisted, but took a back seat to the searing pain from my nose and forehead. After a slow exhale, I brought a hand to my face and felt to assess the damage. My forehead was wet. I wiped the blood away from my eyes and touched my nose.
"Son of a bitch!"
That's gotta be broken. Great. After all the crap I've been through in Galderia, I break my nose falling down in a cave.
Even as I lamented my accident, I noticed the faint echo of my words, coaxing me to carry on. 'Son of a bitch.'
The echo faded, quieting, as if it was moving away from me, into greater depths of the cave.
I rolled back over to my hands and knees, and after wiping more blood from my forehead, and from my nose, I stood. Taking a moment to be sure my legs were steady, I stared into the darkness where my echo had gone.
Another echo came back to me, faint, indecipherable, but I knew it wasn't the words I had said.
Someone else is down here.
I glanced behind me, toward the tunnel I'd fallen down. I could no longer see it, not only because of the darkness, but because I'd walked far from it. I knew from touching the cave wall that I'd taken a curved path part of the time, putting solid stone between me and the hole I'd come out of.
It can't be the Dark Riders. Can it?
I heard the murmuring echo again. This time I could make out a few of the words.
"You go," the last of the echo said.
There's at least two of them.
I could tell the voice wasn't coming from behind me. It couldn't be the Dark Riders, I thought.
Being more careful with my steps this time, I walked farther into the darkness, toward the voice.
Unless the Dark Riders knew another way into here.
I stopped moving, and listened, hoping one of the strangers would say something else. Then maybe I could tell who they were.
I didn't have to wait long before I heard something, but this time the noise came from behind me, from somewhere back where I'd entered the cave. At first it was a few grunts, then something shuffling about. Maybe rocks sliding down the tunnel into the cave, I thought, recalling how many had done that as I came down the hole. More grunts. They were deep, angry.
The Dark Riders. They didn't give up after all.
I heard more clamoring noises from the direction of the tunnel, and then, "Find him!"
The words echoed around me. The Dark Rider must have screamed them. I tried to recall how far I'd walked from the tunnel, but I couldn't be sure. I wondered how long I had before they were upon me. What I did know was that I'd rather take my chances with whoever was farther in the cave, in front of me. For all I knew, the Dark Riders might be able to see in the dark better than I could. Fighting them in daylight with a sword was bad enough. Facing them in the blackness of a cave, using only my bare hands, while they outnumbered me and had weapons...
Screw that!
Preferring 'who the hell are they' to 'I know those bastards want to kill me', I moved farther into the cave. I stumbled again, but caught my balance as I happened to touch the side of the cave with one of my flaili
ng arms.
I could hear the Dark Riders behind me. They were getting closer, obviously moving faster in the darkness than I was.
I guess they can see without much light. Figures.
I kept moving, listening for the strangers ahead, but they were quiet.
A drop of blood from my forehead fell into my left eye. It stung. "Ah." I wiped it clear and kept going.
"I hear them," someone nearby said.
Them. The riders had only seen me.
I realized the voice was one of the strangers. The Dark Riders hadn't caught up to me yet, but I knew they would soon.
Please let them be friendly...or at least not assholes.
I walked toward the voice. A few seconds later, I could finally see some of the cave in front of me. A soft, flickering glow revealed the rocky floor ahead, making my steps easier. The source of light was coming from around a natural corner formed by one of the cave's walls, which I could now see.
"They're coming," the stranger said. "Get ready."
Get ready? Shit. What does that mean?
I almost stopped, but the Dark Riders had nearly caught up with me. Their footsteps were heavy, confident, agressive. I could tell there must have been at least three of them behind me. Close.
I wished for a lucky break, then stepped around the corner toward the light and whoever was with it.
"Agh!" One of the two men in front of me yelled as he pointed at me. He had a torch in his other hand.
The man beside him was already in action, swinging his hand at my head. He was holding something.
A rock?
Another drop of blood fell from my forehead into my eye just as the man's attack came at me. I moved my head to duck out of the way, but the blood forced my eye shut when I needed to gauge the distance between my head and whatever was in his hand.
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