Soldier Sworn (The Teralin Sword Book 3)

by D. K. Holmberg

  As he reached her, he saw her pregnant belly writhing much like he had seen with the other. She looked up at him with heavy lids, unmoving.

  Endric looked down at the merahl. “What you expect me to do with her? I don't have a sword, not like I did with the others.” He felt no remorse over the idea that he might have to kill the groeliin. They were horrid creatures, and they tormented the Antrilii, as well as the merahl.

  One of the merahl barked softly, and Endric went back to him.

  “I need my sword. Even a club would do.” Using a club seemed almost cruel, but he would do it without remorse.

  The merahl barked again.

  The dark-eyed merahl turned and loped down the length of the tunnel, disappearing.

  Endric didn't have to wait long. The creature returned, carrying something.

  He stared, realizing that the merahl carried his sword.

  He took a step forward, but the rest of the merahl prevented him.

  The dark merahl approached, carrying the sword, hilt out so that Endric could take it. The blade was not his own, but it was teralin forged, though darkened.

  Could he change the polarity?

  He closed his eyes, focusing as he had when doing it before. Endric felt a flash, and a wave of warmth washed through him that he recognized.

  When he opened his eyes, the merahl allowed him to take the sword. Relief washed through him.

  Surrounded by the darkness, surrounded by the negatively charged teralin, he'd not realized just how much it had influenced him. Now that he held the sword again, one that was comprised of teralin, one that now flowed with the power of a positive charge that he had just placed on it, he was able to withstand the pressure from the negative energy.

  He took a deep breath, drawing power from the teralin blade, letting the sense of it fill him. Now that he held the sword again, he looked at the merahl. “What do you want from me?”

  The merahl nudged him forward.

  Endric stood in front of the female, uncertain. The groeliin hissed at him, its voice dark, violent. Endric ignored it. He held the sword, ready to pierce the groeliin when the merahl nudged him again.

  Endric glanced down, frowning.

  “What is it? What do you need from me?”

  The merahl seem to glow more brightly.

  “Is it about the teralin?”

  The glowing persisted, and now each of the merahl had a soft glowing to them.

  “I know the groeliin rest on top of a collection of teralin. I saw how the females feed the young with the negatively charged teralin.”

  The merahl stared at him, eyes unreadable.

  “I can't change the polarity of this much teralin.”

  The merahl bared her teeth, letting out a soft growl.

  Two of the merahl slipped past him, and they grabbed the breeding groeliin, dragging her away, leaving the spot at the end of the cave uncovered.

  Endric looked toward them, wondering if they were going to attack the groeliin, but they only pulled her away.

  The female merahl nudged him again.

  Endric stood, the merahl nudging him, and his gaze flicked from the pregnant groeliin to the merahl, before finally shifting toward the floor of the cavern.

  There, he noted a patch of teralin. It was surrounded by rock, but the exposed area was oblong, and he realized that marks were made in the surface, and those markings resembled the same markings he'd seen on several of the groeliin. These were brood marks.

  Endric turned to the merahl, shaking his head. “There isn't anything that I can do. This teralin is all negatively charged. There needs to be someone like Tresten to change the polarity.” And even then, Endric wasn't certain whether Tresten would be able to change that much teralin.

  The merahl nudged him again, and Endric staggered forward. He touched the surface of the negatively charged teralin, and it felt cold.

  Not cold. This was a searing sort of sense, one that was almost wickedly hot.

  Endric jerked his hand away.

  Could he change it from negative to positive polarity? He’d changed the polarity of teralin in Thealon, but that wasn’t nearly as much as what he found here. Could he even do this?

  Another glance at the merahl showed that they watched him with what seemed like expectance. He might not think he was able to do this, but the merahl did.

  If he failed, would he somehow disappoint the creatures? Would he somehow make it so that they continued to ignore the Antrilii?

  Endric knelt in front of the teralin and then glanced at his sword. It was positively charged. Could he use that?

  He stood and leaned over the teralin. How could he connect the positive and the negative? How could he change this much?

  With sudden inspiration, he jammed the sword into the dark teralin.

  Endric wasn't certain whether it would work. He wasn't certain whether the sword would be able to pierce the metal.

  It sank in, practically to the hilt.

  Endric held onto the hilt and pushed through it.

  There was no other way to explain what he did. This was something that he had felt before when trying to push away the darkness. He did the same now, using the bright energy—the positively charged teralin—to push out.

  A trembling sense came through the sword.

  Endric felt a rumbling through the earth. It came slowly, building an avalanche of power that began with a steady rumbling, one that shook him, deep within him.

  He connected to it, recognizing the teralin. Endric continued to push, feeling the pressure as it shifted, sending whatever connection that he could through it.

  The teralin in the ground began to glow. It shifted from a dark, almost painful sort of glowing.

  Endric continued to push.

  The dark glowing shifted, the shadows within it began to shimmer. As it did, Endric continued to press, continued to push on the power that he could feel. The rumbling around him continued.

  Endric gave another push.

  And then there came an explosion of color. Positively charged teralin burst beneath him, leaving him staggering with a sense of light and power.

  Endric took a step back, releasing his grip on the hilt of the sword. As he did, he noticed that the darkened teralin that seemed to fill the space, that occupied the spot where the groeliin had lain, flickered. As it did, it surged, the darkness changing, shifting, and exploding in a brilliant white light.

  That light stretched outward, streaking through the walls, flowing much like the avalanche that Endric felt within himself. As it surged past the groeliin female, she hissed, screaming. The light burned past her.

  It reached the recessed area and then continued onward. Faint white light now raced through the walls, leaving the teralin here now positively charged.

  How had he changed the polarity of this much teralin? How could it be possible?

  Endric reached for the hilt of the sword, surprised that he could withdraw it. The blade still glowed, the teralin flickering softly.

  Endric pushed through it and felt as much as saw the intensity of the light burning more brightly once more.

  The merahl howled again.

  The female merahl began nudging him, and Endric followed, not knowing what else he could do. Where did she expect him to go?

  When he reached the mouth of the cavern, he saw the carnage outside. The merahl had destroyed most of the groeliin. Bodies were tossed aside with huge gashes in their flesh, and these creatures that were so gentle to him had been ruthless when they hunted the groeliin.

  Endric returned to the female still pushing on him. “What of the powerful groeliin?” he asked her.

  She shook her head. It was a gesture that was so human, but this time he understood. The groeliin had escaped.

  Endric sighed and started toward the east end of the valley, toward the mountains that would lead him up and back to the Antrilii. The merahl came around him, blocking him.

  Endric frowned. “What do you want from
me?”

  The merahl nudged him. Endric looked up, saw where the remaining merahl were guiding him, and he understood.

  With a sigh and a sense of uncertainty, he nodded and followed them toward the next cave mouth.

  31

  There were eleven caves in total. Endric hadn't known how many there would be, not having had a chance to count them when he had first tumbled into the valley. Eleven caverns, and eleven places with the dark teralin that infused the walls. There were eleven places where he repeated what he had done in the first.

  Knowing what the merahl wanted of him made the process easier. It was still not a simple thing. The merahl guided him, showed him where they were, and Endric did what was required by sinking his sword into the teralin and pushing.

  It felt like physical exertion, but the more he did it, the easier it became, though still not easy. By the second one, Endric was sweating and weak, barely able to stand.

  But he went on. What choice did he have? If they did nothing, the groeliin could use the negatively charged teralin for more of the pregnant females. He wasn't certain whether he could stop that by charging these, but the merahl seem to think it was possible. That was enough for him.

  Endric had found only one other remaining female. Like the first, they dragged her away, exposing the teralin void in the rock so that he could sink his sword into it. Each one was a struggle.

  The merahl changed as he gradually changed the polarity of the caves.

  They had been silent, almost somber, as he had started working, but that eased the longer he worked. The merahl began to bark from time to time, acting almost playful as they did. He found them nudging him, almost encouraging him, as he went.

  As he worked, he came across the groeliin females he had previously killed. The heavily marked groeliin were missing. When he charged the teralin, the flash of bright white with each one caused the groeliin to burn, as if he ignited them through the changing polarity.

  Endric staggered out of the cave, leaving the last one behind. He was exhausted from the effort of it.

  He sunk to the ground, finally complete, and rested his head on his hands. His body felt weak, though not nearly as painful as he expected after the beating he'd sustained. The merahl, primarily the female that had been nudging him along, encouraging him, lay down next to him and rested her head on his lap. Endric scratched her ears, wondering whether that would be offensive to her, but she twisted her head so that he could get a better position.

  All around him, he could see the entrances to the caves. They all glowed with a soft, almost faint light. The positively charged teralin pressed on him, and he realized that it felt right.

  He turned to the merahl. “Now what?”

  He'd found the breeding grounds, but he’d lost the Antrilii. More than that, he’d lost the cub who had been his companion through much of this.

  So many had been lost. So many Antrilii sacrificed so that they could find the breeding grounds. From what Endric could tell, an entire tribe had been lost.

  While sitting there, resting from the overwhelming sense of fatigue that came from somewhere deep inside him, a place that felt less like when he fought with the sword and more like a strange, not quite physical, exertion, he wondered if he would be able to find the Antrilii. Would he be able to reach Nahrsin and his tribe? Would the merahl accompany him, or would they abandon him again?

  A soft howling drifted toward him, and Endric looked up to see a cluster of merahl making their way along the rock, coming from the west end of the valley.

  The female that had been guiding him sat up. She barked once in response, and the merahl made their way toward him.

  As they did, Endric noticed a small form among them.

  The cub bounded over to him and jumped onto his lap, lapping at him, licking his face. Endric laughed.

  One of the merahls with the cub began making a soft whine. The dark-eyed merahl appeared from behind some rocks and licked her face before trotting off and into the cavern where Endric sat.

  He glanced back, wondering what he might be missing, when the female nudged him again.

  Endric stood and followed the other two merahl into the cave. Once there, he froze as it sunk in that the female lay on the same spot that the groeliin female had lain.

  Why would the merahl want the same place?

  As he walked, the newcomer arched her back, and he understood.

  She was giving birth.

  Was this the reason the merahl had been unsettled?

  But why the irritation with the Antrilii?

  When the merahl gave birth, the cub that emerged was small and began slowly circling. When the cub settled, it began nursing. The mother's fur began to glow, taking on the same soft white glow that the other merahl had when he had gone with them through the caverns, slowly charging the teralin.

  “Is she feeding the cub with the teralin's energy?” Endric asked.

  He didn't really expect a response, but the merahl nuzzled against his hand. The smaller cub pushed on his other side, giving him two merahl, both competing for his attention. Endric crouched, petting both of them.

  He turned away, leaving the female merahl and her cub to feed. When he stepped outside the other caverns, all had merahl heading into them, most waddling as they made their way in, likely as pregnant as the female who had entered this one.

  Had this been nothing more than a competition for breeding grounds? Had the groeliin displaced the merahl? Considering how close this had to be to the Antrilii lands, the merahl would have been here first.

  Had Nahrsin known?

  No. He couldn't have known. Had he known, they would have not needed to search for the groeliin. They wouldn't have needed to question why the merahl had abandoned the groeliin. Endric didn't know why the merahl had grown angry, but it had to do with these breeding grounds. Did they blame the Antrilii?

  What he needed now was to find the Antrilii. Did he share with them what he had discovered?

  Endric didn't know if he could. The Antrilii fought the groeliin, and for that, he could explain that he'd found the breeding grounds, but maybe the merahl didn't want him to show the breeding grounds to the Antrilii.

  But he could share with the Antrilii that the groeliin used teralin mines, and could explain how they were charged. Maybe he could even find those among the Antrilii who could change the polarity, allow them to hunt, and possibly prevent another similar attack.

  Endric sat near the entrance to the cave, resting. He was exhausted, but he would take a moment to recover. And when he was, he would return to the Antrilii. It was time for him to return home.

  Endric headed east out of the valley. He thought he would find Nahrsin, as well as the rest of the Antrilii, that day, but he did not. As he walked, he felt a growing sense of unease that made him think he would find the groeliin once more, but it faded, leaving him thinking that perhaps he had been mistaken.

  He climbed, and the trail led him on a gradually sloping path that eased around the bend. After a while, Endric was forced to climb up the rock. He found the footing difficult but pushed on. He was determined to reach the Antrilii.

  The cub followed him. Endric was thankful for the company but surprised that the cub would follow him now that the other merahl had returned. Then again, every so often, he saw flashes of fur and heard the occasional howl of merahl and knew they weren't alone as they made their way through the mountains. Other merahl were around him.

  At the end of the first day after leaving the valley, Endric camped along the rocks. Snow and ice surrounded him, and he shivered, cold despite the laca fur. The cub curled up next to him for warmth. Endric debated starting a fire but decided against it. His stomach rumbled, and he realized that it had been days since he'd eaten. He missed the jerky the Antrilii had with them, and missed the comfort of having someone else he could speak to. As the night grew longer, a pair of shapes appeared in the darkness. Two more merahl came and joined him, curling up on either side of him,
giving him warmth. Endric slept, drifting into the kind of sleep that came to him rarely, one that he needed after days spent on the move, never sleeping soundly. Knowing he had the merahl watching him gave him confidence that he could rest.

  When he woke, the two merahl that had stayed with him through the night were gone, but he was left with a small rabbit. Endric glanced at the cub, smiling mostly to himself. “I take it you didn't bring this to me.”

  The cub nudged him, and Endric snorted. Using the sword, he skinned it and started a small fire. Then he roasted the hare until it was done. Endric tossed hunks to the cub, letting him get enough, and then he ate, thankful for the food.

  They continued onward, heading east as he followed the trail. As the day went on, Endric still hadn't seen any glimpse of the Antrilii. He should have seen some sign of them by now, shouldn't he? Endric pushed himself, continuing until darkness spread, making it difficult to go on anymore. He camped again, and the cub once more curled up by him, sleeping soundly even before Endric had a chance to sleep. Three adult merahl joined him as he slept again.

  When Endric awoke, he was less surprised that another gift had been left for him. This was another rabbit, and much as he had previous morning, Endric skinned it, roasted it, and shared it with the cub.

  The days passed like that. After the third day and he still hadn't seen anyone, Endric realized he had to decide. He could either continue searching for the Antrilii, never knowing whether he would reach them, or he could attempt to turn south and begin his journey back to the rest of the Denraen.

  There was another option, but Endric wasn't sure that he was willing to risk it. If he did, and if he weren't believed, the Antrilii would quarter him. He had little reason to doubt that the Yahinv wouldn’t take that threat seriously.

  And yet, the Antrilii needed to know about the breeding grounds. They needed to know how the groeliin used teralin. And they needed to know about the tribe that had been slaughtered.

  He thought he understood why his father had made the choice that he had, why he had abandoned the Antrilii when he had embraced the Denraen. He couldn't do both. Endric couldn't serve the Denraen and serve the Antrilii. And he couldn't understand the Antrilii when he was pulled by the Denraen. As much as he wanted to understand who he was, where he had come from, and his ancestors, it simply didn't seem possible.