by L. R. Flint
"I first noticed them earlier this morning. If they keep to their earlier pace, they should come across us as we approach the Wall, I am guessing.” I could only guess though, since I did not know our exact distance from my old home.
~ ~ ~
The three of us stopped cautiously on the edge of the forest and looked at the long stretch of dead earth between us and the Wall. I was getting more excited as I got constantly closer to seeing my old friends again. It was almost like I had swallowed an invigorating elixir of some kind, though it was tainted by a foreboding. I scanned the bottom of the Wall for the telltale shadow of the hole and found it, about fifty yards to the left of our location. I pointed out the small hole to Mattin and my sister.
“That is how you got out?” Mattin asked. I could tell he was nervous, being so close to the land of the man who had tried—and still intended—to destroy his people, but the prospect of me, a semi-legendary figure, escaping from Caernadvall through a little hole in the Wall, seemed to entertain him quite a bit.
“How else could we get through?” I asked.
“Scaling the Wall by use of the vines growing on it, perhaps?”
“Right. I was still convinced that I was a mere human when I left,” I said, defending myself.
He shrugged. “The hole will be faster too, I should think.”
Izar and I nodded in agreement and we all stepped out of the safety of our home forest and onto the open stretch. At that moment the three beings who had been following us rammed into Mattin and Izar. I had been aware enough of their presence to quickly step out of the way, and had already drawn my sword, before I recognized the intruders.
I slid my sword back into its sheath and checked on my companions; Izar as usual had handled herself well, but Mattin was unused to this kind of venture and he was breathing hard, his jaw clenched, and the hand he held his sword with shook slightly. Other than being caught completely off guard, I thought Mattin had done well—having been in a mentoring position to him I could not help but feel a little proud. Turning to those who had disrupted our mission, though, I scowled. “What are you doing here?” I was annoyed that they had followed us for any reason, valid or not.
“Oh come on, we could not let you get yourselves killed without us,” Alaia said.
I glared at Koldobika, not wanting to let Alaia know that she had broken my resolution and nearly even made me laugh. It did not take long before I gave in and mumbled, “Whatever; be quiet and do not run off or get lost.” I then turned back to the Wall and strode toward it with Mattin and Izar on either side of me. Mattin, I noticed, was hiding a smile; it crossed my mind that I was becoming quite the source of entertainment for him. A smile of my own passed my lips, but was gone shortly in the serious mood of the evening.
At the entrance to the tunnel Izar stopped and stepped aside to let the others through; I led and everyone else followed, my sister then took up the rear. I quickly scrambled through and stood in the dim moonlight as a cloud skittered between me and the source of light. I stood there as a silent sentinel and waited for everyone to file through. I gazed across the fields of corn and varied kinds of wheat, the old shack that had been burned since I had left, and the nearest buildings. Other than the shack, it appeared exactly as I had left it. Koldobika was also looking out across the place that he had left behind, even before I had. “Come on,” Izar whispered to me. “We have to keep going.”
“Sorry.” I turned and led them along the Wall to the old cellar where I had said goodbye to my old friends, and where I hoped—though I did not expect it—the two boys would be. A touch of dread began descending on me as I crept through the fields, and I worried at what I might or might not find there. I contemplated scouring the entire city for my friends if I did not find them in their homes.
When we arrived at the cellar I could see no dim light from the fire that should have been burning within, heating them in the cold of Caernadvall’s near-winter. I stood there for a moment, not sure if I wanted to find out just what the situation was, but knowing I had to keep moving—we only had until sun-up to be gone. I walked forward, the distance between the cellar and I steadily grew shorter with each quick stride.
25 CAERNADVALL
As I continued nearer the cell, I was able to discern the slight glow that came from within and I realized that the moonlight had disguised the gleam from further off. That gave me a leap of joy and I halted my companions to let them know that I would like to go on alone from there. “It has been forever since I have seen them,” I said.
“Go,” Koldobika whispered and I did so without further bidding.
I crept toward the cellar, constantly on the lookout for Zigor’s men, now that I was actually back in his domain—and deep down I was not expecting the expedition to be easy; something was bound to go wrong eventually. I silently jumped down into the open area of the old cellar and walked over to the leather door; I took a deep breath, lifted the flap and stepped into the small room, praying to see Arrats and Ekaitz.
Eskarne quickly called a sword from Lietha and I found its tip pushing through my tunic, almost piercing the skin of my chest. “No, stop. It is me, Izotz.” The sword immediately disappeared and I found myself wrapped in the girl’s arms. Ekaitz quickly joined her and the three of us were squeezed in a group hug. “I have missed you so much,” I said, through Eskarne’s hair.
“So have we,” she said as we all let go of each other, then she looked at the other boy, biting her lower lip.
“Where is Arrats?” I was almost afraid to learn the answer.
Eskarne looked back at me. “Just this morning he was taken and drafted into the King’s Guard.”
I thought a moment; she had said it was just that morning—not days ago. It was unlikely that he had been forced to swear fealty to my enemy so soon. “We can still get him back, then.” I was starting to get my hopes up, again. My friends looked curiously at me and I repeated my words, more fervently that time. “We can get him back.”
“Look, Izotz, I know you are really strong end everything now, but the three of us cannot defeat all of the Guards,” Eskarne said.
“We do not have to. They are human and therefore must sleep; we will go tonight while they are in the barracks.” The two glanced at each other and smiles crept back onto their faces. Hearing a faint noise behind me, I said, “We will talk more, later.” At that moment my five other companions entered the small dwelling through the same entrance I had used.
“Koldobika?” Ekaitz exclaimed.
The wizard smiled. “And so we meet again.” After looking around though, his face grew solemn. “What has become of Arrats?”
“He has been taken into Zigor’s Guard,” I said. “Though not by his own accord.” I added the latter part more for Arrats’ sake, since my sister, Mattin, Argiñe, and the dragonlady did not know him in the least.
“We must think over this new complication while we sleep,” the wizard said. Making sure I did not make eye contact with Ekaitz and Eskarne, I nodded, noticing that most of the others did so as well.
“Is there enough room for all of you to sleep here, or will you be going elsewhere?” Ekaitz asked.
I glanced at Koldobika and said, “Here would probably be best.”
Are you not you forgetting something? Izar asked.
Mmm, like what? I replied.
Introductions, perhaps?
“Oh,” I said aloud, and everyone looked at me, mostly with curious looks on their faces. I quickly introduced everyone to those who did not know them, and vice versa. Thanks for the reminder, I said to my sister and she smiled in reply.
What would you do without me? I chuckled, and Ekaitz, who was standing next to me, gave me a questioning look. “Nothing,” I said in response to his wondering, shaking my head and still smiling at my sister’s words.
After a few minutes, three of the humans were curled up in blankets on the floor; Koldobika’s robes were thick enough that he would be fine without a blanket and h
ad insisted that Argiñe use the only free one. The three of us elves did not require anything to keep warm since we were hardly affected by the minimal cold. Alaia sat against the stone wall, wrapped in her wings, which were still crumpled.
I had once asked Koldobika about the possibility of healing Alaia’s wings in the same way Argiñe had used magic to transport us across the sands, but he had said that such a use of magic was unexplored and the dragonlady would not accept it if there was a possibility that someone would die because of it. Koldobika said that no one person had the magical ability to heal them in their extremely deformed state.
Ekaitz—I could tell—was still awake; he had been pretty excited since I and my companions had appeared, and I knew he was essentially enraptured with the thought that he would soon be leaving to join the elves and many other arcane creatures. I waited ‘til I was positive that everyone else was asleep before I rose to gather Ekaitz and Eskarne, but, just to be safe, I placed a spell to muffle any noises that might alert the others. I crept over to the girl first, placed my hand over her mouth, the act of which woke her up anyway, so I was not required to speak. I then went to Ekaitz and found him still wide awake. I motioned for them to follow me outside and we slipped up the stairs and out into the moonlight—the clouds had disappeared since I had last been outside.
“How did you do that?” I asked. “I thought you were finally asleep.”
Ekaitz shrugged. “I have been working on it; actually you would not believe how many times I was awake and listening to you and Koldobika, before he left.” I opened my mouth, and then chose not to say anything just then, so I snapped it closed. “That’s how we snuck away, to give you some peace, the day you left Caernadvall.”
I was dumbfounded. I had not had the time to find out what had happened to them, before I left, and now I realized it had only been them trying to give me time to think. It only took me a moment to come to terms with the fact; it had happened long ago and there was no going back to change my actions, nor—I realized—would I, even if the chance were available.
“Are you both ready?” My friends nodded their heads; a mischievous look on Eskarne’s face, as always. “One of you knows the way, right?” The look was wiped clean off the girl’s face so fast it was almost comical.
“I followed them when they took Arrats,” Ekaitz said, and Eskarne sighed with relief.
“Let us be gone, then.” Ekaitz nodded and took off as fast as he could without making much noise, the other two of us followed after him, toward the edge of the fields, where the buildings began. If I had looked behind me just then I would have seen a bright-eyed figure on the far side of the cellar, and then another appearing beside it, seemingly having sprung from the ground. The two shadows raced around the field and on toward the buildings of the city, following our exact path.
The three of us stealthily slipped around the corner of a building, blending into the shadows around us. We hurried down the street and almost slammed into each other as we came to a hurried stop, hearing the voices of two Guards ahead of us, and saw the light of their torches as they walked down a side street toward the one we were on. Ekaitz led us quickly to an alley that would bring us safely around the area near the Guards. Slinking in and out of the shadows, we came to another sudden halt as we turned a different corner. Two dark silhouettes stood a little farther down the alleyway, waiting for us. I motioned for Ekaitz and Eskarne to get behind me, so that it would be easier for them to escape if the need arose. “What are you guys doing?” my sister hissed furiously, the realization that it was only her and Mattin relieved me.
“You should not do that, someday you will give me a heart attack,” I said lightly, grateful that it was her, rather than Zigor’s Guards, or even Koldobika, who would have made me return immediately.
“You are getting your other friend—Arrats—right?” Izar asked. I nodded and she said, “We are coming with you.”
“What?” Eskarne hissed. “He is our friend.” I knew she would have added, “Not yours,” but my sister was faster.
“And he is my brother,” Izar said, pointing her finger at my face. Eskarne continued to glare mistrustingly at Izar; it would be a while before she could come to terms with me have a sister by blood.
“It is alright, you two.” I motioned for Ekaitz to continue leading us, and as I passed Eskarne I said, in a muted voice, “At least they are not here to make us go back.” She smiled at me halfheartedly, but did not complain further.
As we approached the compound Ekaitz said to me, “You see those gates?” I nodded. “They are the only entrance and they have got some kind of lock on the inside, keeping them closed.”
“Thanks.” We all stopped just outside of the gates. “Mattin, you stay here with Ekaitz and Eskarne; Izar, we are going in there to find out how to get these open.” I indicated the gates with a thumb over my shoulder. I nodded quickly to Mattin and jumped lightly up to the top of the wall, above the gates. Crouching as low as I could, I crawled to the other side and leapt back to the ground, Izar was less than a second behind me.
Ekaitz’ guess had been pretty close; a huge oak beam crossed the side of the gates I was facing, held up by iron loops, melded into the wood of the gates themselves. To the left of the gates were a few extra rings so that the beam could be slid out of the way for both gates to be flung wide-open. My sister and I positioned ourselves evenly along the beam and I took a deep breath before we began to slide it slowly to the left. Having moved the huge beam just enough the get one side of the gate open, we ditched it, and pulled on the gate. Luckily, the Guards seemed to enjoy oiling the gate’s hinges so the only noise was the sound of the wood complaining under its own weight.
“I was getting ready to start looking for you,” Mattin said when he saw me. He appeared a bit on edge—as he had since nearing Caernadvall.
I grinned. “Do not worry; all we had to do was wrestle with a huge oak bolt.” Izar scowled at me, so I refrained from teasing further and fell silent. We snuck around the inside of the wall toward the enormous building we all assumed to be the barracks—and it was. The only semi-awake person we ran into was a half-drunk Guard at the door to the building, and my sister easily knocked him out by placing pressure on a nerve at the base of his skull.
I pulled open the door and cringed as the metal of the hinges groaned, but I did not stop its progress until it was open wide enough for us to enter single file. We then spread out to find Arrats; Mattin with Eskarne, Izar with Ekaitz, and I went alone, not needing a bodyguard and—naturally—knowing what my friend looked like.
Even though it annoyed me that it happened, I was not surprised that we did not find the boy ‘til we had reached the far end of the huge room, but I was happy to be the one to actually find him. “Arrats,” I whispered. He groaned quietly and turned his head toward me, slightly opening his eyes. “Arrats, we are here to get you out of this place.” I mentally contacted my sister and Mattin to let them know that our prize had been found.
“Have I seen you before?” I smiled sadly—either Arrats had somehow forgotten me, or he was too sick to recognize me. I was not sure which it was, but he certainly did not look as if he were in very good condition.
“Yes,” I whispered. “I am a friend.”
“They will punish me if they find me gone.”
I wanted to kill whoever it was that had done that to my friend—he had never been afraid of what someone could do to him. “I promise I will never let them get you—now come, please,” I spoke quietly and tried not to let my voice crack. I was shocked to find that Arrats could barely even sit up on his own, he was so weak. As the thin blanket slipped from his shoulders I saw that nearly all of the skin on the front of his torso was grey, black, blue, and green with bruises.
As I helped him stand, I felt dried blood on his back. I quickly made him sit again and, after looking, found that his whole back was cut and torn from the lashes of whips. I felt a cold fist clenching in my chest as I tore the tunic from
my back and gently slipped it over Arrats’ head and pulled it down to cover his chest. Trying to be as gentle as I could, I laid Arrats over my shoulders so that he would not have to exhaust himself with walking, and joined my friends in the walkway between the isles of bunks, in which dozed more Guards than I had seen at any one time.
“It is past time we got him out of here,” I said, and we hurried out of the barracks. Eskarne closed the squeaky-hinged door behind us and we ran around the edge of the open space toward the huge gates which were still opened slightly.
I waited without the gates with the three of my human friends, while my sister and Mattin placed the bolt back where it had been found. Izar cast a quick glance behind her before she jumped down from the wall. Landing beside me she said, “We have been spotted.” The five of us who were conscious took off running down the cobbled street. Less than a minute later a sharp horn sounded and I knew that it would not be long before a group of guards was let out through the gates after us.
“If you do not mind, Ekaitz and Eskarne, we could get out of here a lot faster if you would agree to be carried,” I said. Ekaitz easily agreed, but Eskarne had too much pride to go easily, so Izar just slung her over her shoulder like a rag doll and we sped off, leaving a mere trail of dust in our wake.
We soon were back at the cellar, where we found the others wide awake and waiting anxiously for us. The wizard was pacing back and forth, his brow creased in worry. When he caught sight of me, I began wondering how exactly he planned to kill me—he looked so angry.
Eskarne was so upset over her hurt pride that she would not stop glaring at my sister, between bouts of reprimanding me. It did not take Izar too long to get annoyed enough that she simply pulled a spell from Lietha and my friend slumped to the ground, unconscious. “She annoys me,” Izar said pointedly, at me. I shrugged, trying to look innocent. The two girls’ bickering gave Koldobika the time he needed to cool down enough to not start yelling and alert the entire kingdom to our presence, but he was still angry.
