by T R Kerby
A massive granite slide filled what had once been the entrance.
"Well, baby Dragons." Murdoc's face was unreadable in the torch's shadow. "You sealed us in. Can you get us out?"
Neva bit her lip.
Brannon's eyes reflected the torch light. "We can't. Not for a while."
"How long?"
"Don't know."
Murdoc scaled the slide until she gained the top. She moved the torch across the area, but no breeze disturbed its flame. "There's no air flow here, so no opening. My men are probably digging in from outside. Unless they believe we're dead, then they might not bother. Collect any torches you find, but don't light them. We'll work with one." Murdoc stuck the torch in a space between rocks and rolled stones off the slide.
Thera clambered up next to her and put her back against the larger ones, but some were too enormous and firmly seated to budge. Sweat beaded on her forehead and stung the scrapes and cuts on her hands. After several hours, they rested and shared a water skin from Murdoc's room.
"We're not making progress," Thera said.
Murdoc took a sip from the skin. "If we can open a hole big enough for Brannon to squirm through, he can get help."
"I won't leave Neva!" Brannon stiffened into a rigid pillar, fists clenched at his sides.
"Bran," Murdoc said, "if the two of you can blast the rocks, can your shield protect us?"
"I don't like you."
"You have every right to hate me, but sometimes we have to work with people we don't like to achieve a common goal. Can you agree we must escape?"
He chewed his lower lip and nodded.
"If we get out, you get to go home."
"You're lying."
"She's not," Thera said. "We're going home."
"I want to go home," Neva said.
"Can you zap the rocks?" Thera asked.
"We're not very good at making it go where we want."
Thera and Murdoc scrambled off the slide. "Aim for the top," Thera said. "Near the ceiling, but not at the ceiling."
"I'm scared," Neva said. "I don't like the power."
Thera put her palm on the girl's cheek. "Just do the best you can."
Brannon took his sister's hand. "We can do it."
Murdoc and Thera knelt close behind, almost touching the children.
Brannon's breathing altered, slowed and deepened. A silver sheen formed around his body like a wavering heat wave. It expanded until it encompassed them all. Iridescent colors flowed on its internal surface like oily rivers on a serene lake. Purple, blue, green, orange. The mesmerizing hues swirled in hypnotic, ever altering, combinations.
A tingling chill spread over Thera's body and pimpled her skin. Neva lowered her chin and a blue glow grew around the twin's joined hands. It spread up Neva's left arm, crossed her shoulders, and descended her right, coiling into a ball in her open palm. The blue ball grew, lighting the cavern and casting deep shadows into the corners.
Neva blew across her palm as if blowing a kiss. The ball shot from it and slammed into the stone slide. Rock debris blasted in all directions, whined off the cavern walls, and bounced against the shield.
The inside of the shield dimpled and sprang back. Colors rippled and expanded like rings on a pond. Brannon never flinched, though Thera and Murdoc covered their heads and hunched lower.
"Did we do it?" Neva whispered.
The shield dissipated like mist, and Brannon stirred as if waking.
Dust settled and a single thread of light shot through it like a beacon. "You did it." Thera hugged Neva and the girl fainted.
"Neva!" Brannon touched his sister's face. "Is she dead?"
"She fainted." Thera hugged him. "You did well."
"It makes her tired," Brannon said. "She doesn't like to use it."
"How about you? Are you okay?" Murdoc asked.
Brannon glared at her. "Fine."
Thera passed Neva to Murdoc and climbed to the hole.
"Can we fit?" Murdoc asked.
Thera peered into the hole. It seemed a long way to the other side. If it didn't collapse on her, she would fit. "Yes, let me go first in case our people are outside."
"Thera..." Murdoc's voice trailed off.
"Trust me."
"If you're wrong, I'm dead."
"I'm not wrong."
"Tell my men to lay down their weapons. Give them the password Advantage. I don't want them dying when your people show up."
Thera crawled into the hole and toward the light. Broken rock ripped her clothes and left bloody scrapes on her flesh. If anything settled now, she'd be crushed. She crawled faster and the light inched closer.
Sudden shadow darkened the shaft and a face appeared in the hole. "Hello?" Murdoc's man peered into the entrance.
"We're coming out," Thera said.
He rolled rocks away.
"Stop! Don't touch anything! It could collapse."
"Ah, right." He vanished from the opening.
When she emerged, the men helped her climb down. She delivered Murdoc's message and, though they didn't appear pleased, they removed their swords and piled them against the cliffside. No sooner had the last blade touched the grass than Order scouts flooded from the bushes.
"Hold!" Thera stepped toward them. "Hold!"
They stopped, bows and swords drawn. "Murdoc and the children are coming out, but she will only surrender to Tegedir. Has he returned?"
"An hour ago," a scout said.
"You must clear the way for us. No one touches us. No one approaches us. Her men will leave uncontested. They are not to be harmed."
"We can't take that order from you."
"Then you best send someone to confirm or we stand here until our bones crumble to dust."
The scout gestured over his shoulder and a runner disappeared into the trees.
"Until he returns," Thera said, "lower your weapons. We're not going anywhere." She gestured to Murdoc's men. "You go sit there away from your blades and behave." To her shock, they complied without question.
An hour later, the runner came back. Thera's request was granted. She climbed to the opening. "Murdoc, come out. It's safe."
Brannon emerged first, followed by an exhausted Neva. Murdoc crept from the hole like a wary wild beast. When she stopped by Thera's side, she held out the book Thera had refused to read. "A gift for Tegedir."
Thera tucked it into her cloak pocket.
Murdoc lifted Neva onto her hip.
"Are you ready to start a new life?" Thera asked.
"I've never been more terrified, and that's saying a lot."
They walked together into the trees as the sun sank behind the western peaks.
Chapter 34
Tegedir wiped his sweaty palm on his hip. No moon rose to illuminate the night sky and complete darkness reigned beyond the ring of torches. A plank bridge had been laid across the stream and the box containing the egg was open at his feet. Only a few silent people waited within the circle of dim light.
When they entered the torchlight, his knees went weak and he forced himself to remain standing. Dust powdered their hair and faces. Torn and disheveled clothing hung on them like scarecrows. Brannon bolted from Thera's side and pounded across the bridge.
Tegedir dropped to one knee and crushed his son against his chest. Their two hearts beat together in rapid time. Lalaith knelt and embraced them both.
He stood Brannon away. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine."
He kissed his forehead. "Go with Trinn. We'll be right behind you."
"I want to stay."
"Not right now. Go on, son. I love you."
Brannon pursed his lips into a tight line. He hugged his mother and allowed Trinn to guide him away without further protest.
Tegedir knew her horse waited in the darkness to carry his son to safety, beyond what might come. He faced Murdoc across the narrow stream, trimmed in yellow grass.
Neva lay limp against her chest, mouth hanging open. Fear clenched his
throat.
"She's fine, Dragonlord," Murdoc said. "Exhausted. The day was tiring for her. For all of us."
Thera stepped in front of Murdoc. "I won't let anyone hurt her."
"What are you doing, sister?" Randir asked.
"She's not what you think. She saved my life. She's a good person and my friend."
"I want my daughter," Tegedir said.
Murdoc laid her hand on Thera's shoulder and came from behind her. "I hide behind no one. Least of all you, little thorn in my side. Let me speak." She inclined her head toward the dragon egg. "It's lovely, but I have no need for it now."
Lalaith gasped. "Your daughter died?"
Murdoc gave a short nod. "This morning."
"I'm so sorry. I can't imagine your pain."
Murdoc swallowed and lifted her head to address Tegedir. "Where is Caeth?"
"You mean your son?"
"Yes. My son. Where is he?"
Tegedir gestured and Caeth moved into the light. "He is unhurt and free to leave as he wills."
Tears streaked the blood and dust on Murdoc's face. "Your sister is gone. We couldn't save her."
Caeth's face disappeared into the shadows of his cloak hood.
"As you can see, I have no weapons," Murdoc said to Tegedir. "I will give you your daughter and surrender to you. Thera tells me you are a fair and just man, though I've met few of those. She says there's a chance at a future. A future with honor, and knowledge, and ... friendship. I would have that for my son, if not for myself. Do as you will with me, but bring no harm to him. He played no part in the abduction of your children."
"Pass my daughter to Thera and let her come to me," Tegedir said.
"I will not leave Murdoc," Thera said. "Not until I know she's safe."
"I will meet you on the bridge," Lalaith said. "We'll come across together. All of us."
Tegedir caught her sleeve. "I will not let you do that."
She smiled at him. "You've protected me as long as you can, my love. I cannot continue to hide in Aernan, sheltered and blind to the world. Let me go to her, as one mother to another."
Tegedir released her elbow and glanced at Narthan. Narthan ran into the darkness. In minutes, the Companies would descend like ghosts onto Lyov's ranks. Tegedir needed those few minutes to get his family behind the lines, away from the battle sure to come.
"No!" Caeth's voice broke the darkness. "I avenge my father!" A flash of silver shot through Tegedir's peripheral vision and he lunged for it. It sailed past his outstretched fingertips as Lalaith turned toward Caeth's shout. The dagger buried itself in her chest. Blood blossomed around the cherry wood handle like a rose on the pale fabric of her tunic. Lalaith's eyes rounded in surprise as she staggered backward and slipped off the bridge.
The second silver flash whispered over Tegedir's head. Murdoc's horrified expression changed in an instant as she folded her body around Neva to shield her from the flying steel. The dagger skipped across her breastplate and opened a deep furrow in her neck. Blood, black in the firelight, coursed from the wound, as Lalaith's body hit the water.
The roaring in Tegedir's ears muffled Thera's scream. He scrambled toward Lalaith as the hiss of steel leaving scabbards surrounded him. Water closed around her, lifting her silken hair like a cascade of kelp. He plunged into the water and raised her free of the stream. Water flowed from her body in icy pink rivulets.
He laid her in the grass as the world exploded around him. The shouts and clashes of swords were a hundred miles away as he focused on her face. She'd live, she must. She was his strength, his life blood. She wheezed and crimson bubbles rose around the dagger hilt. Starlight reflected in her brown eyes as they stared at the darkened sky. Her body shuddered, seeking air and clinging to the final vestiges of life.
Laughter will fade beneath a darkened sky.
The prophecy rang in his mind. No! He gave her a gentle shake. No! He was supposed to be first. Not her. She was too pure and precious to die like this. Her children needed her. He needed her. "Please don't go." He brushed her cheek, as her body arced and expelled one last desperate breath. He wiped away the trickle of blood at her mouth while it seemed someone ripped his ribcage open and tore his heart from his chest. In that moment he prayed a sword would find him, but there was no such mercy in the world. He hugged her against him. Warmth was already leaving her body, limp and heavy with death. The bellow passing his lips was not recognizable as his own. It issued from his body but belonged to a wounded animal, some beast not of this world.
He returned her to the grass, straightened a strand of her damp hair, then got to his feet. Aric and Randir fought on either side, swords flashing as they kept Lyov's men at bay.
Tegedir didn't bother to draw his sword. What welled in him now was not in his control. The images around him shifted from color into a pallet of black and white. "Caeth!" Darkness opened to him as if it were day. Men ran though the trees, some Lyov's, some his own. Every detail of their faces was clear. "Caeth!"
He sprinted toward the woods. Power burned in his veins and propelled his muscles. The footfalls of Randir and Aric as they followed cracked in his ears as if they ran next to him, though they had no hope of keeping up. He hesitated and sniffed the air. The scent of fear wove through the heady aroma of pine and damp earth, so distinct it was practically visible. He twisted toward the strongest odor. "You can't hide. I'm coming for you."
Caeth broke from the underbrush and careened like a hunted rabbit through the trees.
Tegedir jogged after him. His prey could not outpace or outdistance him.
Caeth glanced behind as he fled. Terror contorted his youthful face into a horrible mask.
Tegedir altered course and slowed his stride. His footsteps fell silent on the forest floor. Every stick and twig was discernable and easy to avoid. His new path intersected Caeth's near the spring. He ducked behind a tree and waited. There was no emotion. No anticipation. No nervous energy. Just a calmness he'd never experienced before. A surety of his success in the hunt. No other outcome was possible.
A twig snapped as Caeth crept into view. He stopped often to listen and watch his back trail. As if that could save him. His inferior vision would fail him in the utter darkness. The ones he heard following would never find him. He would be a bloody carcass before Aric and Randir ever got close.
Tegedir brushed a finger through Caeth's hair as he slipped past.
Caeth swatted and batted at the sensation, then ignored it. Probably assumed it was a random twig or spider web. It was a web for certain. One he'd never escape.
Tegedir growled low in his throat and Caeth bolted. In three strides, Tegedir jumped in front of him again. He extended his foot and Caeth tripped over it, flailing as he fell. He crabbed backward until a tree trunk stopped him. He managed to keep hold of his sword and waved it ineffectually in front of him. His huffing filled the silent forest, the sounds of the other battle now far away and unimportant. All that mattered was the prey.
He crouched next to Caeth. The kid's wide, wild eyes searched the complete blackness of the forest, seeing nothing. Tegedir blew against his cheek. Caeth screamed, skittered away, and crashed through brush like a frightened stag.
Tegedir rose, drew his dagger, and followed. There was no rush. It was a long time until dawn.
Chapter 35
"Oooh Caeth," Tegedir said. "Where arrrre you?"
He cowered less than ten feet away under a thorn bush. Clear as daylight to Tegedir's new eyes.
Tegedir rustled a branch and Caeth cringed farther into the stickers. "Come out, come out, killer of my mate." He eased closer until he stood next to the bush. Gnarly thorns tangled in Caeth's clothes and pricked the flesh on his face. "I hear you."
Caeth shot from the bush, leaving bits of clothes and skin behind. As he passed, Tegedir flicked his wrist and let the dagger take a more significant bite than the thorns.
Caeth screamed and swung the sword. The blade contacted open air.
"Keep runni
ng, rodent," Tegedir said as he fell in behind.
The vermin crashed into the spring and floundered at the sudden loss of solid ground and surge of icy water. He gasped and paddled and dragged himself up the opposite shore where he rolled under an overhanging rock.
"Did your sister trust you? Love you? Your mother did. How did it feel to betray them completely? Are you sorry?" Tegedir hopped the narrow end of the spring. "I bet you're not. I bet you'd do it again to get your crown. Is it the shiny metal, or the power? My guess is the power." Tegedir nudged the bottom of Caeth's foot.
Caeth smacked his head on the rock as he scrambled away on all fours.
Again Tegedir's dagger took a taste. "How do you like being powerless? Terrifying, isn't it? I'm sure it's what your mother and sister felt. Maybe having experienced it yourself, you could be reformed, but guess what? I don't want you reformed. I want you dead."
Caeth got to his feet and faced Tegedir's voice. He panted in ragged spurts and swung the sword wildly. The blade whistled in the stillness.
Tegedir ducked it and punched him under the ribcage, knocking him into a tree. The air whooshed from him and he dropped the sword. "Oh, now you're unarmed. Where's the fun in that?" He wiped the dagger on his thigh and sheathed it.
His prey ran but was no match for his lengthy strides. He caught Caeth's collar and snatched him off his feet. He straddled him and gripped his throat. The prey clawed at his wrist, fingernails ripping loose in his chainmail, eyes bugging from their sockets. Tendon and cartilage gave way under his grip, the tiny jolts and lurchings that marked the crushing of flesh. Caeth gurgled and stopped struggling.
Tegedir continued to push until his knuckles contacted the earth. Silence shrouded him and still he shoved his weight toward the ground, through the throat of the one who killed his mate. He would push until the man's body joined with the dirt. Until the pillars of the earth gave way under his assault. Until time came around again and everything was made new.
