First Comes The One Who Wanders

by Lynette S. Jones

  “Then you will die,” said Rengailai, squeezing tighter. “I’ll take great pleasure in killing you, bringing you to the edge over and over before you finally slip over into the darkness of death.”

  “Death will not be darkness, but light,” Leilas choked out. Rengailai squeezed tighter so she couldn’t reply.

  “There is no Jovan’s land, no beautiful valley, no wonderful magical creatures. You’ll soon see how mistaken you’ve been.”

  Sparkles began to float before Leilas’ eyes and she began to struggle to loosen Rengailai’s hold. She’d let him lull her into a sense of safety and now she was going to die due to her laxness. His hands were like steel bands and she couldn’t find a way to loosen them from her neck. She’d expected some battle of magic, to die in a maelstrom of enchantment. She hadn’t imagined that her life would be ended in such a mundane and human manner as strangulation.

  Just as she was slipping into unconsciousness, Rengailai loosened his hold and Leilas took several deep, gasping breaths.

  “Join me or die,” he whispered in her ear. “You’ll have wealth, power, honor. What more could you want?”

  Leilas tried to talk, but her throat was swollen from Rengailai’s choking. She simply shook her head and prepared for the next round. Rengailai’s hands tightened. Leilas could see the savage pleasure he was taking in her torture. She wondered if he would content himself with just killing her or if he would savage her as well before he took her life.

  It didn’t take as long for her to slip toward the darkness this time. Once again, just before she slipped over the edge into oblivion, Rengailai loosed his hold. “Join me.” Once more Leilas just shook her head. “I’m growing tired of this game. “If you want to live, if you want to have a chance to save the world, to use your power for something, join me now.” He pulled her body next to his. “I could give you pleasure beyond your wildest imagination. I could teach you all the ways to pleasure a man and all the ways a woman can be pleasured.” He rubbed his body against hers and took her mouth with his. “I would give you the time to explore these pleasures you have never known.”

  Leilas ignored the voice screaming in her head to choose life, to choose the right to experience pleasure at a man’s hands, to have her life mean something. Instead, she just tried to pry his fingers away from her throat, so she had a chance to fight him on more even footing, though she knew even in a fair crafter fight, she would be no match for his strength.

  “Goodbye Leilas Leyson, Jovan’s Chidra. You were really rather a pathetic choice. Perhaps next time, Jovan will choose better.”

  The steel fingers tightened once again around her throat. Leilas had no idea if he was still toying with her or if he would kill her this time. It didn’t really matter; in the end he would kill her. Each time he brought her to the edge of death, she grew weaker, less able to fight. If she hadn’t been able to get away in the beginning, what chance did she have now? As she slipped toward the blackness of unconsciousness, she heard a voice, or at least she thought she did. For a moment she thought it was Jovan, but soon realized it wasn’t.

  “It is not for you to kill her, Rengailai Crogson,” said a familiar voice, a voice that seemed to float in the air, a voice she’d heard before in her vision. “I have promised that pleasure to another. We’ll see what Jovan has planned and have our ultimate victory over him then.” These were the last words Leilas heard. The room began to darken as her oxygen starved brain began to shut down. She didn’t know what would be her ultimate fate this night, but with her last coherent thought, she made a rune of protection in the air, gasping as she moved her hands, “Jovan, protect me.” Then the darkness overcame her.

  CHAPTER 7

  She wasn’t in the dining room when she awoke, but then she hadn’t really expected she would be there, although she hadn’t expected to be in the dungeon either. To be honest, she hadn’t expected to wake at all. She’d expected to meet her Creator when she opened her eyes. Leilas rattled her arm chains in frustration. Not only were they locked but they were sealed with magic. Rengailai seemed to be taking no chances that she would bother him again.

  At this point, she wondered why he’d gone to the effort of binding her. She hadn’t been any challenge to him. In fact, he’d thought that she was a pitiful example of a crafter. He’d said as much. Had the voice she’d imagined been real after all? Had Rengailai’s plan to stop her now been thwarted? If so, why? If she died, then none of the prophecy would take place. The plan to save Preterlandis would have failed before it had even begun. Clearly, there was more going on here than she understood. But then, what was new with that?

  She sat back and spent a few moments calming her mind while she assessed her injuries. Her throat was swollen and sore. Her body was battered and bruised as if she’d been thrown against the wall, or down the stairs. Rengailai had spared her honor, though why was also a question that had no answer. She’d been helpless against him. He could have done anything he liked to her, except the one thing he’d wanted to do, which was to kill her.

  She’d been an idiot to agree to come here. Although she had to admit, she didn’t know she was coming to face Rengailai, not until the last moment. Instead of giving her word to Leodaemon, she should have run as fast and as far as she could, as Joshuas had told her. Solein had tried to warn her, as well. She just hadn’t understood his admonitions.

  The meeting wasn’t at all what she’d expected. Why had Rengailai been so intent on having her join him? What use could he have for such a young and inexperienced crafter? He was far more capable of using any magic he needed. What would be the point of having her join him? Leilas shook her head. She didn’t have any idea. In the end it hadn’t mattered. She’d refused him and if it hadn’t been for the intervention of a higher authority, she would be dead.

  But since she was still alive, and now that she was away from Rengailai’s all seeing eyes, she needed to find a way out of her present predicament. Probing the magic that held the shackles in place, she looked for a weakness in the binding. The words that bound the chains were old words of magic, strong because of age. She smiled grimly. They were old, but they were words she’d heard before. Slowly, she went over the pattern until she could repeat it. Then, she started working on a chant that would loosen the bonds. Each word needed to be matched with power, power for power to restore the balance.

  Solein spent a good deal of time in Neothera teaching her words of power, but it had been a slow process. Each word built upon another and the magik had to be strong enough to control the power.

  As she worked on the chains, her mind went back to Rengailai and the masters at the school. What surprised her now was how any of the masters believed there was one among them who could defeat Rengailai. There was no possibility it would be much of a contest. What if she chose a human as the champion? If no crafter had a chance, what chance would a human have? They must have misinterpreted the prophecy or the prophecy was false.

  What if the prophecy was false? thought Leilas bleakly. Where did that leave her? She’d begun to embrace the idea that she was chosen by Jovan to help restore Preterlandis. If she wasn’t chosen, then what was she supposed to do with her life? All her plans and hopes for the future were gone, lost in the battle at Dirth.

  Shaking her head to clear it of those disturbing thoughts, Leilas began a chant of unbinding using some unfamiliar words, along with the others. She could feel the dark power resisting her and steeled herself against it. It would be easier if she could use her hands to help control the power. But since they were shackled to the wall, she did her best without them. She repeated the chant for a second time and then a third. When she fell silent, sweat glistened on her face, which was pale from the energy spent, but the chains had fallen from her hands.

  After a few moments rest, Leilas rose and began to examine her prison. Her family was as safe as she could make them for now. She’d kept her word by coming to this place. Now, she needed to flee before Rengailai changed his mind
about killing her, or before the one who’d been promised the pleasure of killing her arrived.

  She’d walked the perimeter twice and found no sign of a door or any kind of opening. Yet, here she was inside. There was some way into this dungeon. If there was a way in, there was a way out.

  As she searched the walls again, she pushed her consciousness out into the stone, looking for imperfections or cracks. She worked slowly, but tirelessly, since she didn’t know how much time she had until Rengailai came looking for her. Hot, tired and thirsty, she reached the point where she’d started with no hint of a door. Sinking to the floor, she let her head fall back as she rested. A symbol on the ceiling of the cell caught her attention. It was barely perceptible, perhaps not at all to one not schooled in magic. Where had she seen that symbol before?

  Now that she’d found it, it seemed to call to her and she found herself on her feet moving to the center of the cell. Then she smiled as she remembered where she’d seen the symbol. How poetically just that the answer to her problem had been found in Rengailai’s own library. Without giving the ritual conscious thought, she let her memory guide her. Hands outstretched, she created a symbol in the air as she spoke a single word in the ancient tongue. A thunderous click echoed off the stone walls and a whole section of stone turned ninety degrees into a narrow tunnel.

  Leilas didn’t waste any time moving into the tunnel. As soon as she crossed the threshold the door began to swing closed. She had no idea if she was heading for a trap or for freedom, but either was better than sitting helpless, lost in a dungeon.

  Conjuring a small light, Leilas headed down the narrow corridor. She didn’t know which direction she was heading other than deeper into the earth. There were no openings on either side of the tunnel and only darkness in front and behind her.

  Shivering as she moved along the stone walls, she imagined demons, lost souls and monstrous evil all around her. Despite her best effort, she couldn’t tell what was real and what was imagined. Almost in a panic, she quickened her pace to a fast trot and plunged on into the darkness. Only when she ran headlong into an iron door did she stop, and only the ache in her head brought reason back.

  Gasping for air, she clutched her side and wondered what had just happened. She wasn’t the child she was when she went through the Echoes and she’d been through far worse than this in Neothera. Reaching out to brace herself on the door, she could feel the fear begin to rise within her again. Snatching her hand away, she felt herself grow calmer.

  Leilas smiled grimly to herself. Driving your prisoner crazy with fear was one way to keep them in the dungeon, if they were clever enough to find the first door. Now that she was aware of it, she could feel the spell all around her, even in the floor where she was standing. It was an incredibly strong spell. One she knew she couldn’t counter. Instead, she took a deep breath, mustered all the courage she could find and pressed her shoulder against the door. Fear poured over her as she struggled with the heavy iron blocking the opening. She was covered in sweat and trembling in terror when the door finally gave way against her pressure.

  As soon as she crossed the threshold, she felt the pull of the spell begin to fade. Walking further into the room to put distance between herself and the spell she looked around as she gathered her wits about her. The room appeared to be a square alcove with many doors leading in different directions. Although she couldn’t see it, Leilas could feel danger lurking nearby. The same feeling she’d had on the trail when the dark magiks overtook them. Desperately, she looked around for a weapon. She was more content to rely on her physical prowess than trust to magic in the stronghold of Rengailai.

  The alcove was cluttered with trash, some of it relatively new. So, someone or something lurked here. Scattered within the trash, Leilas found bones and pieces of armor. Most of it was useless, but perhaps she could find enough pieces to come up with some kind of protection. As she scavenged, she slowly became aware of a soft scurrying coming from one of the corridors behind her.

  More than one, whatever they were, she thought as she began to search more quickly. So far, she’d found a helmet, with a dent, but not unusable, a dull and poorly made short sword, which she sheathed in her belt, and a chain link vest, –which must have belonged to a woman, because it fit her well and was in good shape, but still had been left as trash.

  The scurrying had reached the door as Leilas grabbed a chair and smashed it against the floor. The sound seemed deafening in the empty room and she was certain whoever was coming now knew someone was on the other side of the door. Breaking the leg away from the smashed chair, Leilas stood facing the door wielding the chair leg as a club. It would be more useful among a group of attackers than a dull, short sword. Why she didn’t turn and run out one of the other doors never crossed her mind. If this was the way they were defending, this was the way she needed to go.

  Not that I’m going to make it through the door, she thought grimly, as she prepared herself for a fight. This wouldn’t be like Neothera. She wouldn’t find herself alive again should one of these attackers be a crafter and manage to kill her.

  But if there were no crafters, Leilas paused briefly, following this line of thought. Would any of the attackers be knowledgeable enough to know she couldn’t die? Could she fool them into believing she was dead? Would they leave her for whatever scavenged down here as they had all these others?

  It wasn’t much of a plan, but it was the only one she had. Throwing herself on the floor, Leilas slowed her breathing until it appeared she wasn’t breathing at all. The door was thrust open and two dozen goblins poured into the room.

  Although she was sure the creatures that entered the room saw her, none stopped to determine if she was alive, dead or a danger to them. They were intent on getting through the room as quickly as they could. As they ran, they kept turning their heads to look behind them.

  This wasn’t a good sign, thought Leilas, lying still. If twenty goblins were fleeing, she should be running, too.

  As soon as the last goblin disappeared from view, Leilas jumped to her feet and scampered after the others through the far doorway. Whatever was coming, she’d rather not face it today.

  Plunging into the dark corridor at a sprint, she slowed to a jog as her eyes adjusted to the lack of light. She could hear the others still running ahead of her. And now, she could hear whatever it was they were avoiding, behind her. It sounded huge. She smiled grimly, wondering how much she was letting her imagination get away from her.

  She was forced to stop at a split in the corridor. Closing her eyes, she willed herself to be calm and listen. After what seemed like an eternity, she heard the footfalls of her attackers in the right corridor. But she also felt the smallest hint of air movement from the left. Hesitating only a second, she chose the left hand and jogged on in total darkness. She could clearly hear whatever was following her now. It was moving much faster than she was through the corridor.

  Leilas took ragged breaths through her bruised and sore throat which was making breathing difficult. Faster, bigger and probably in better shape, she thought. She had her doubts about whether she’d escape. But if she could escape without having to face this threat, she’d rather try. Picking up her pace, she kept moving up the corridor that was definitely climbing toward the surface now. Although she was doing her best to be quiet, her feet kept slipping on the loose shale that covered the floor. If she got out of here alive, she was definitely going to spend some time honing her survival skills. She should have paid more attention to Solein when he was trying to teach her.

  His words came back to her as she gasped for air and kept moving up the steep incline. “I’m trying to teach you everything you’ll need to know to survive. I can only hope you’ll remember.”

  He’d have been proud of her for remembering anything, while frustrated she didn’t remember it all. Leilas came to a halt and tried to catch her breath, when she noticed dim light filtering into the corridor. She could still hear footsteps following her an
d they showed no sign of slowing. She had no choice but to go forward. Drawing her short sword from her belt, wishing she’d kept the makeshift club, she moved toward the light.

  The source of the light soon became apparent. It was sunlight filtering in from the mouth of the cave. The opening was shrouded with bushes and would be difficult to find from the forest beyond. But from this direction, it offered a stealthy escape into the woods.

  After assuring herself there was no one lying in wait, Leilas moved into the forest and tried to hide her tracks as she went. She had no idea if whatever was pursuing her would continue to do so in the open. It didn’t take long to learn the answer. As she plunged through the forest, the head and shoulders of a very large, very ugly ogre appeared at the mouth of the cave. He was well armed and there was no doubt about his intentions. She wasn’t leaving if he had any say in the matter. For something that was so big and ugly, the ogre moved quickly. There was no way she was going to outrun him. Leilas began to look for a spot that gave her some advantage. A more open area would favor him. She needed trees under which she could maneuver, but whose branches were too low for him.

  He was almost on top of her before she found a usable area. What she wouldn’t give for a hefty morning star right about now. She could feel magic coming from him, and quickly spoke a spell of warding. It seemed odd this brute would be a dark crafter, but then lately she’d seen many things she’d thought odd.

  “So, you finally decided to stand and fight,” said the ogre in a voice that sounded muffled as it emerged from the oversized vocal chords. “I didn’t think you had it in you.” He pulled his spiked club from off his back and faced her. He stood twice as tall and twice as wide as Leilas. He could have crushed her head with one of his hands. Leilas looked at her puny weapon and thought of bees. If they stung enough–

  “Magic would seem appropriate right about now, don’t you think?”