She fought back burning, angry tears, but they spilled over anyway landing silently in Manola’s hair as she struggled to lock the chains to the wall.
“There, you will be fine until I return.” Manola stood and kissed Amana’s hot wet cheek. “Tears? Again?”
With nothing further, she left the room leaving Amana standing and chained in the cold, bleak bedchamber.
* * *
General Cullen arrived in the dusky night of Solis. He emerged from the Circle of Gahana, located almost fifty paces from Valek’s castle. The trail to Valek’s castle was rocky, difficult and filled with traps. General Cullen knew he should have called prior to dropping off Valek’s money, but he did not want to anger the short-tempered businessman any further.
The war had drained most of Earth 3012’s treasure. Yet, the war had also brought about some seized treasure, which had been used to purchase Solance and materials for weapons. Valek’s decision to raise the price of Solance came at a poor time. It put them in a serious crunch for silver coins.
The king’s two sons had been killed in the war, so it had been impossible to offer them for a martial arrangement with another kingdom for allies and money.
The king and the queen had tried to produce more sons, but they had a total of eight daughters. Their looks borrowed heavily from the king, and their tongues had the stinging sharpness of their mother, which made them quite unattractive to men.
The king of Earth 3012 had pawned each daughter off to various kingdoms over the years, even providing a substantial dowry for the oldest three just to be rid of them.
In a word, Earth 3012 was close to being poor.
General Cullen stepped gingerly around the moist, black earth surrounding the circle. The bulky bag of coins felt awkward as he stepped. He could smell the strange scent of death on the air, and he spat for the chalky taste of the flying black dust had landed in his mouth.
Just as he had cleared the Circle’s boundaries, he heard footsteps behind him. He should have brought the guards, but he could not spare any extras. The last series of battles had left Earth 3012 remarkably short for men. They had been forced to recruit women. It was disgraceful, but it had to be done. It seemed as if Saturn Four knew exactly what they were going to do before they did it on the battlefield.
Sure, the Solance that Earth 3012 used had notified them of the very moves that Saturn Four soldiers were about to make, but they had suffered heavy causalities.
General Cullen slid the bag to his left hand and placed his right hand on his sword. Gravel crunched and the sound resonated throughout the valley and echoed.
With speed and without hesitation, General Cullen withdrew his sword and swung around. “Stop where you are!”
The soldier shuddered and stood frozen in step. “Sir, I have an urgent message for you.”
General Cullen let out a slow breath of air before replacing his sword. “Why didn’t you say anything! I almost took off your head!”
“I-I apologize, sir. The message came from General Ogroth of Saturn Four.”
General Cullen gasped as if he had been hit in the stomach. “What?” He had only met the General once and that was across the battlefield on Earth 3012’s side of the Circle.
“Sir, shortly after you left, a message arrived from General Ogroth. It was highly urgent, but you had already left.” The soldier stepped back a few paces from General Cullen. “Are you all right, sir?”
General Cullen’s mouth had gone dry. Could it be possible that the General had decided to call a truce? Had the great and legendary General Ogroth decided that he had enough of Earth 3012? Could it be?
“What is the message?” General Cullen licked his lips anxiously.
“He did not disclose it, but said that he will only discuss it with you and you only at a secure sight neither on Saturn Four or Earth 3012.”
“Does the king know of this message?” General Cullen asked.
“No, sir. I am the one who received the message and I brought it straight to you.”
“And you told no others?” he continued his questioning.
“No, sir.”
General Cullen thought it could be a trap. Why would General Ogroth want to meet at an alternate kingdom?
“General Ogroth stated that the information is quite sensitive.”
“Fine,” General Cullen grumbled. He hated to be rushed and the more the young soldier spoke, the more he felt hurried. He would simply have to deliver the money to Valek later that evening. General Ogroth had better not take too long. Besides, if it is a surrender that General Ogroth wants to discuss, then it could mean trade between the two kingdoms could resume. Earth 3012’s economy would increase and they would be able to pay Valek his money plus his late fees several fold.
General Cullen followed the soldier into the warmth of the circle along with the sack of silver coins still firmly lodged in the nook of his left arm.
* * *
“Something’s happening,” Sarah called to Zykeiah, rousing the sleeping knight from her much needed slumber.
Zykeiah rubbed her tired eyes and sat up. Then quietly, she crawled over to the spot of parched earth where Sarah sat, partially hidden by brush, to see what she meant.
“See there, there is only one guard on duty. Another came from the castle’s trail and spoke quickly to the other guard. Then he went into the circle.”
Zykeiah scanned the area around them and pressed her lips tightly together. “What happened to the other guard?”
“He ran back down the castle’s path. He seemed happy for he was smiling as he ran.”
Kalah slept silently a little ways in the tall, brown grass. Sarah and Zykeiah’s discussion fell on his deaf ears as he continued to sleep.
Zykeiah nodded as if confirming a debate she was having with herself. “This is not right.”
“Shhh –” Sarah crouched down in the grass. “Someone’s coming.”
Zykeiah parted the grass as she watched the circle’s glow increase and vibrate.
The lone guard leapt from his spot. He stood taller with his heels together and quickly wiped the remnants of sleep from his eyes.
General Cullen stepped through the Circle and handed the sack of coins to the soldier. As he emerged, another soldier stepped out of the Circle and remained standing as General Cullen stalked down the path back to the castle.
“Hurry up!” General Cullen barked at the soldier holding the sack.
The soldier quickened his pace as the two made their way down the pathway to the castle.
Sarah and Zykeiah watched with mounting curiosity.
“Why is he back so soon?” Sarah wondered aloud after the General and his soldier had passed their hiding spot.
“Why indeed. It has only been a few hours. He did not look very happy.” Zykeiah confirmed as she crawled back to her spot further away from Sarah.
Sarah followed, being sure to move slowly as to not arouse suspicion. The dusty earth sent puffs of reddish grit into the air as she crawled. She held her breath to try to minimize how much she inhaled for her mouth seemed full of it.
“We must take action. Time is running short for both Marion and Queen Zoë.” Sarah could hear the rumblings in her mind. The time was winding down. They had to act. “We cannot wait.”
“Agreed,” Zykeiah answered and shook Kalah’s shoulder gently. “Wake, Kalah.”
He coughed as he sat up on his elbows. “Is it light already?”
“No, we need to move. The air has changed and so have our plans.”
He balked at the idea, but he did not argue for he noticed the seriousness of Zykeiah’s face in the pale light of the moon. The chorus of the crickets seemed strange amongst the dusty and empty night.
“We must go through the circle and on to Solis. From there you will follow me through the caverns and tunnels to Valek’s castle. Once there, we need to split up to look for Marion.”
“And what of Amana?” Kalah asked as he pulled some hard but still sw
eet bread from his sack.
Zykeiah watched Sarah before saying, “If there is time and she is not under Valek’s spell, then we shall try for her as well.”
“Marion is our most important reason for being there,” Sarah said. Her voice caught as she continued. “We must save him for all is lost without him.”
The three shook hands and patted each other on the back for encouragement silently as they pulled on their sacks and prepared for the trip to Solis.
Sarah’s stomach was remarkably calm despite the mounting danger and possible death. The thought of going back to Solis when she had worked so hard to leave it almost made her want to run back to Veloris. She knew she could not return without Marion, regardless of the threat that she may be imprisoned in the cages. She owed him one, and she planned to pay him back in full.
Chapter Twenty-Two
The moons were round, swollen, and full as the three stumbled out of the circle and into Solis’s narrow valley of rocks and cellac. The air had been cooled as winter had approached and the lack of light gave Solis a sinister atmosphere. The feeling of gloom spread quickly to Sarah.
She noticed that there were no sounds. No animals remained on Solis, only the ones who lived and were protected behind Valek’s castle walls.
The castle loomed large and magnificent above the valley on top of the hill, surrounded by rocky sculptures and the heavens knew of what else.
The stench of flesh and death was faint but still prevalent amongst the Solis air. Her breath rushed out as her eyes adjusted to the low amount of light.
“I can’t say it’s good to be back,” she said as she stepped through the wet, spongy land around the circle.
“No, it is not good to be back here,” Zykeiah said, her voice hollow and surprisingly shaky as she followed Sarah across the decaying land surrounding the circle to the hardened surface just a few paces away.
Kalah stood mesmerized as he stared in wonderment. “This is Solis?”
“Yes, can’t you smell the scent of death on the air?”
He sniffed then grimaced as he held his nose with his forefinger and thumb. “Whew! It smells like the carving stations out amongst the servants’ cottages.”
“That would be death, Kalah,” Sarah remarked coolly.
“Come, let’s get this over with,” Zykeiah said as she brushed past Sarah and started up the trail through the valley that led to Valek’s castle.
“You heard her. Let’s go.” Sarah glanced back at Kalah before starting behind Zykeiah.
Kalah took in a breath of air. “Here goes everything.”
Sarah glanced back to make sure Kalah was with them. Zykeiah walked at her usual brisk pace as she struggled to keep up. Sarah tried not to think about what lay in wait for them on the other side of the valley’s trail and inside Valek’s castle. Orono would be there as well as MaxMion. A shudder went down her back and she swallowed hard.
She was not alone. Zykeiah and Kalah were with her and they knew how to handle themselves as was proven by their bravery displayed as they made their way here. Kalah even saved her life on the battlefield.
Although she was returning to Solis, she knew that she was not the same woman who left the cages. She had changed and her powers had matured.
“Is it always this dismal?” Kalah asked as he huffed and puffed up the trail.
“Yes,” Sarah and Zykeiah answered in unison.
“The trail forks up ahead, we will go to the left,” Zykeiah called over her shoulder.
“Left?” Sarah asked, for the right fork led directly up around the various hills to Valek’s front door. The left fork veered downward and into what Sarah could barely make out as caves of some sort.
“Left,” Zykeiah echoed.
She said nothing further. When they reached the fork, Zykeiah veered left and the two followed.
* * *
“How can you stand the stench?” Kalah asked.
“When you are a soul you can not smell, taste, or feel,” Zykeiah answered.
The moons illuminated the path as it leveled out and then as it started to dip downward. The stench intensified the closer they came to the cave’s entrance.
“Zykeiah, where are we going?” Kalah asked yet another question.
She stopped short just a few paces from the cave’s mouth. Its mouth was black and hidden from the moons’ light.
Zykeiah waited until they caught up and the three came close together in a group.
Out of breath and sweating profusely despite the chilly night air, Kalah and Sarah placed both hands on their hips and tried not to take deep breaths, for the air was saturated with the smell of flesh.
“This is one of the tunnels that leads to the soul cages,” Zykeiah explained quietly. “The other trail is filled with traps, pits and other nasty things that would have killed us.”
She lowered a discerning eye at each of them and said, “This is the true test of character and bravery. I won’t tell you that we will all leave here together, but remember to get Marion out!”
Sarah nodded and wiped her face.
Kalah pulled out his sword and nodded at Zykeiah. “Lead on.”
Zykeiah smiled wearily, removed her dagger and inched into the cave’s open mouth.
Sarah shuddered as Zykeiah entered the black mouth of the cave; it seemed to devour her.
Kalah placed his hand on her shoulder, then entered the cave slowly. He glanced back at her and smiled. At that moment she thought, how much he now looks like Marion.
Sarah searched the area around her and then she, too, entered the cave’s gaping orifice.
The heavy sullen atmosphere reminded her of the moment of extraction—the last seconds when she could feel, and then that cold, bleak moment when her fingers could not touch anything except nothingness.
Zykeiah and Kalah waited for her to reach them on the inside of the tunnel. There were torches lit and secured against the solid walls every few paces, just enough to mark the trail. Shadows played on the ceiling and Sarah’s eyes flickered around.
Kalah appeared to be holding his breath. Indeed the smell was stronger here and the cave’s position kept it from receiving any wind.
“We must be close to the pit,” Zykeiah said.
Ahead of them were five tunnels leading various places, but each had the same uninviting blackness and emptiness. In the distance was the clanking of tools on the almost impenetrable cellac.
“Follow me.” Zykeiah picked the center tunnel and Sarah and Kalah followed. Neither of them spoke.
Sarah wondered how Zykeiah knew where to go. Zykeiah had made it no secret that she had escaped from the cages. Indeed, it was the primary reason she had been knighted on Veloris. Sarah had wondered even then, how she had done it alone.
As a soul, Sarah had not smelled the overwhelming stench of the cages. When she had been reincarnated and back in flesh, so urgent was her need to escape that she took no notice of the smell. But now, it threatened to choke the very life from her and reclaim her as its own.
Their shadows followed them, elongated and skinny. They shimmered against the tunnel’s surface, dark and empty.
“I know this place like it was the back of my own hand,” Zykeiah said softly. “She brought me back and forth through the tunnels with her.”
“Who?” Sarah whispered back for she did not want to rouse any suspicion or be overheard.
“Manola. She is Valek’s right hand. His sorceress, his confidante and his source for power.”
Sarah remembered seeing Manola, but only on a few occasions when she took over for MaxMion in the cages. She seemed to be dead, for her skin was white like the clouds that used to be on Earth. The only color came from her fiery red hair and her painted lips. Even her eyes, an extremely light blue, appeared to be washed out.
Sarah remained quiet, for it appeared that the return to the tunnels and Solis inspired Zykeiah to talk about her past.
“I was her present. A gift from Valek to her for doing whateve
r evil deed he wanted,” Zykeiah went on.
Her voice, although soft and low, was filled with fury and bitterness. “Her ‘precious’, she called me. She kept me chained to a wall in Valek’s bedchamber.”
“In his bedchamber!” Kalah shouted out.
“Shhh!” Sarah shouted back equally as loud.
They halted and waited to make sure they were not overheard.
When nothing but the ever-growing sound of hammering and chiseling could be heard, Zykeiah continued her tale.
“Yes. When it did not suit her to leave me, she took me with her. I traveled through the tunnels in little more than a gown.”
“But these tunnels are cold, even during the day,” Sarah remarked. “Were you still a soul or had you been returned to flesh?”
“Flesh,” Zykeiah answered. “A soul could not satisfy her needs.”
“Needs? She too is dead.” Sarah shook her head in the dimly lit tunnel, causing her shadow to skip across the ceiling.
“She is dead, but undead. Her needs are those of a sexual nature,” Zykeiah said flatly.
Single file, they walked through the tunnel and slowed as it came to an end and emptied out into yet another series of tunnels.
“What happened, Zykeiah?” Sarah asked softly.
Zykeiah reviewed the five tunnel openings in front of them. “I stole the key to my chains as she slept and Valek was away. I unlocked my chains and fled to the Allerton Circle. Next thing I knew I was on Veloris.”
“That is how Marion found you,” Kalah added, “in nothing more than a sheer silk gown and barefoot in the snow. She was close to death from the frost.”
“Yes,” Zykeiah confirmed.
* * *
Orono and MaxMion patrolled the cages. Orono grumbled all the more about General Ogroth, Valek, and his missing payment.
“We should visit General Ogroth and demand payment!”
MaxMion said nothing. He thought the General would make a meaty evening meal and more than likely a meaty morning meal.
“How dare he use me for my information but not render payment. He pays Valek without fail and Valek is double-crossing him.”
Orono paced and MaxMion sat and counted the souls as they passed on their way back to their cages. Their numbers were low, and he would soon need to compress most of them for another batch of Solance, especially if the deal between Earth 4016 and Valek was confirmed.
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