Mandala's Catalyst (Gardone Trilogy)

by Warren R. Henke

  The trail eventually led through the cavern and to the base of the cliff. The steep rocks above him vanished into darkness where the trail entered a cave. He held his torch inside it and looked around while the others caught up.

  “Now what?” Rudoflo asked.

  “This looks like the way,” Len said, looking at the rough edges of the tunnel. This one was not man made.

  “Give me the torch,” China said to Rudolfo. She took it and began to walk along the cliff looking at the ground. “These tracks aren’t human.”

  Len walked to her. The tracks were faint, but something with large claw-like feet had passed through at some point.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “It walks on two legs and appears to have a tale, maybe a reptile. But what kind of reptile walks upright?” she said, looking at Len. “Is there such a thing?”

  “Not that I’ve heard of. It’s big, whatever it is. If that was a man’s foot he would have to be at least five times our size.”

  “That’s nice,” Rudolfo said. “Can we get moving now?”

  Len looked around. This wasn’t the safest place, but what if they went the wrong way? “We need to wait for Trask.”

  “You can’t be suggesting we wait out here with the giant lizard man,” Rudolfo said.

  “No,” Len said. “But over here...”

  He took several steps, knelt, and stuck his torch into a hidden nook. “We can wait in here.”

  China stuck her head next to Len’s and peered inside. “I doubt our lizard friend can fit.” She looked at Thamus. “It’s a good idea. We don’t even know for sure where we are going, we should wait for Trask.”

  She crawled inside and after looking around nervously, Rudolfo followed. After Thamus went in Len brushed away their footprints and joined them.

  “This isn’t a cave, it’s a tunnel,” China said and crawled further inside.

  “We really should stay here so we don’t miss Trask,” Rudolfo said.

  “Look at this!” China called from deeper inside.

  “You stay here and listen for Trask,” Len told Rudolfo. “If we keep the torches burning it’s better to go further inside so the guards don’t see our light from out there.”

  “And how did I get the honor of sitting here in the dark?” Rudolfo asked.

  Len smiled. “Because you don’t want to go on further, or have you changed your mind?”

  Rudolfo shook his head. “You will be right there, close, right?”

  Len nodded. “You’ll be able to talk to us. Keep an eye and ear out for anything that happens out there.”

  “Including the lizard monster,” Rudolfo frowned.

  “You’ll be fine. We’ll be close,” Len said.

  Rudolfo sat against the wall where he could see out into the cavern and Len crawled, his torch in hand, to the others. When the narrow passage opened up, he stood. Thamus and China were across the room looking further inside.

  “It keeps going,” China said. “Somebody made this,” she pointed to the tool markings on the wall. “Not only that, but I think they wanted it to be hidden. We might be the first ones in here for hundreds of years.”

  “I can’t see your light!” Rudolfo yelled from up the narrow crawlspace.

  Len bent down and holding his torch low, looked into the tunnel. He saw Rudolfo sitting at the end of it. Rudolfo smiled back at him.

  “Just making sure,” Rudolfo said.

  “We’ll be right here, don’t worry,” he said, then stood and walked back to China.

  “Thamus!” China shrieked in terror.

  Len turned to look, Thamus looked ghastly: eyes wide and vacant, face pale, and his mouth open. Thamus dropped his sword then covered his mouth with his hands and fell to his knees.

  “Thamus! What is it?” China asked.

  Len knelt next to him and spoke quietly into his ear. “Thamus, what’s wrong?” No answer. He leaned around Thamus’ body, looking for some type of injury.

  “Endell,” Thamus whispered. “Endell is dead.”

  “What?” Len said. “How do you know this?”

  Thamus turned and looked into Len’s eyes. “He is here. I feel him.”

  Len glanced at China, she nodded, her eyes full of wonder. “I feel him, too.”

  Len, however, felt nothing except unease, until something grabbed his leg. He jumped and spun around to see Rudolfo, who backed away in a wide eyed stare.

  “What is going on?” Rudolfo said, his voice shaky.

  Len shrugged and shook his head.

  “No, he’s not dead. He’s…” Thamus took several deep breaths. “…he’s alright. He…he’s alive.”

  Thamus’ face changed from agony to happiness. “And I know the way out,” Thamus said. “Endell showed me. We need to go through the other cave out there. It’s safe, we can go.” Thamus seemed to be in a daze as he spoke. “No, wait…”

  “China, what is happening?” Len said, but China seemed to be vacant herself.

  Thamus nodded as if he was listening to directions from an invisible person. Then suddenly, his calm demeanor vanished and he jumped to his feet. “We have to get out of here!” He said and grabbed China’s torch. He scurried into the small tunnel that led out into the large cavern and Rudolfo followed without hesitation.

  Len looked dumbfounded at China, but didn’t follow the others. This time she acknowledged him and shrugged her shoulders.

  A commotion erupted down the passage, Thamus was frantic. “Wrong way! Go back! Go back! Get off me…turn…move.”

  Rudolfo and Thamus, in a heap of dust, tumbled back into the room. Thamus stood and ran past Len deeper into the ancient passageway with Rudolfo and China on his heels.

  * * * Tari started to yell, concerned her son was following Jewell and the others running out of the camp but a hand on her shoulder silenced her. She turned to see Gareth, the one Jasper called Crazybeard.

  “Where are they going?” she asked.

  “Those were signal arrows, guards have probably come through the door.”

  Her stomach dropped.

  “Jasper will be fine, don’t’ worry. They stay hidden up on the hills and only watch. It usually means they’ve brought somebody with them.”

  “What is going on?” Sharel interrupted; it was hard to tell if she was trying to sound whiny or if it was just her normal voice.

  Crazybeard frowned. “None of your business. I told you I didn’t want to hear another word from you.”

  “Then tell me what I want to know!”

  “We have but you won’t listen!” Gareth yelled back.

  “Just take me back and I’ll be out of your way,” she said.

  Now it was Tari’s turn to put a hand on Gareth’s shoulder to keep him from yelling. “Sharel, we all want to go back. We’d much rather be with our friends and loved ones living in the comforts of our homes—”

  “—Then let’s go.”

  Tari addressed the round, redheaded man across the fire. “Leon, have you ever tried to go back to Gardone?”

  He looked surprised and uncomfortable, but narrowed his eyes and frowned. “Several times,” he looked around at the others. “It didn’t go so well. There was an accident and we lost several…” He trailed off and looked down at the ground.

  Everyone fell silent and a lump formed in Tari’s throat.

  Leon cocked his head, then looked up. “It’s impossible to the north, the mountains just get bigger. There may be a way south, but after two days the river runs against the mountain and we’d have to travel on the west side.” He looked at Sharel, her expression didn’t change. “The dark ones live across the river.”

  Now it changed; her eyes widened.

  “They aren’t far, you might even hear them howling later tonight. But they don’t come to this side of the river. Well, except at the chains…where the guards were taking you.”

  “Why don’t you try and go through the door?”

  “We have. We tried everything:
picking the lock, cutting the door, breaking it, chipping around it. Gareth figures it must be magically sealed.”

  Tari turned to Gareth with tense eyes. The others didn’t know they had a key? He shook his head, telling her to keep silent. It didn’t feel right to hide information, but for now she’d keep her mouth shut. It was probably better that Sharel didn’t know.

  “We can wait there for the guards and then explain that we want to go back.” Sharel said.

  “The guards chained me to the wall as a sacrifice to the dark ones. I don’t think they are going to be much help,” Leon said.

  Sharel didn’t respond and he continued, “You can certainly try—”

  “—Oh no she can’t,” Gareth interrupted.

  “Gareth!” Tari said. “You can’t tell her what she can and can’t do.”

  “Well,” Gareth said, “she can’t. If they know we are alive they’ll send guards to hunt us down.”

  “If Sharel wants to chance it alone, that’s her choice. She knows the risks and I’m sure she won’t say anything about us being here,” Tari said, although she didn’t believe it for a second. But she also knew they weren’t making progress by placing demands on Sharel.

  “It’s true, I won’t say anything,” Sharel said, her voice full of enthusiasm.

  Gareth’s eyes bulged. “You can’t be serious,” he said to Tari.

  “Let the guard you captured take me back,” Sharel said.

  “We can’t do that,” Tari said. “He tried to kill us and would again if he had the chance. We don’t trust him like we trust you.”

  “But what are you going to do with him?”

  Tari, at a loss for words, shrugged and looked at Gareth.

  “Jewell won’t let us hurt him. He should be executed for murder,” Gareth said.

  “Well, I agree with Jewell. We are not going to kill him,” Tari said.

  “You can’t leave him tied up forever,” Sharel said. “So if the plan is to let him go, just do it. Let him take me back.”

  “I say chain him to the wall, just like he’s done to others, and let the dark ones take care of our problem,” a new voice, Walther, said.

  “Good idea,” Gareth said.

  “I’ll vote for that,” Trina added in her husky voice.

  Tari looked at Gareth who raised his eyebrows and shrugged. “We do things democratically here and that sounds like the winner,” he said.

  “The voting isn’t finished,” Tari said.

  “If you’d seen him do what I’ve seen him do, you wouldn’t talk like that,” Gareth said.

  “They did this to me,” Tari said, a slight flame in her voice as she pointed to her bruised face. “And I know he would have killed me but that doesn’t mean I’m ready to sentence him to death.”

  “Let’s ask him what he thinks,” Gareth started towards the tent where the guard was bound and gagged.

  “Gareth, come back,” Tari said. “Just let him be.”

  “I have a few questions for the murderer.”

  Tari ran to catch him. “Don’t you touch him.”

  Gareth looked over his shoulder but kept walking. “Just a few questions…”

  She ran after him and then followed him into the tent. The guard was lying on a pile of furs, his hands and legs bound and mouth gagged. His leg was bandaged from the arrow that had pierced it earlier. Gareth removed the gag and the guard spat. Gareth slapped him.

  “Gareth!” Tari yelled.

  He looked at her surprised. “He spit in my face!”

  Tari felt a presence behind her and turned to see Sharel watching from the opening.

  “You remember me?” Gareth said to the guard. “You remember hitting me with your little club? Remember that? How about the woman in the blue dress? Remember her? You remember how she begged you not to hit her? Remember how she cried and told you about her baby? Remember how you didn’t stop hitting her until her body was lifeless?” Gareth was yelling.

  “Lies,” the Guard said through a bitter frown.

  Gareth laughed. “Lies? I saw you do it!”

  “No,” the guard said. “She had no children. She was a witch. She was trying to kill the Guide just like the rest of you.”

  This surprised Tari. “Why would we want to kill the Guide?” she asked.

  “Don’t play games with me,” the guard said. “I know all about the Resistance. I know how you sneak around and how you’ve tried to assassinate the Guide. I know you practice magic and are stockpiling weapons to assault the castle. It makes me sick.”

  “We don’t want to kill the Guide,” Tari said, realizing she had just referred to herself as part of the Resistance.

  “Say what you want. I know the truth.”

  “But who has told you this, how do you know it’s the truth?” she said.

  “The Guide,” he said, as if that quelled all doubt.

  “But what if he’s lying?”

  The Guard scoffed. “He’s the one that ended the bloodshed. And I’ve never seen him do anything that wasn’t kind and generous. So you tell me, why shouldn’t I believe him.”

  Tari didn’t have an answer.

  Gareth spoke. “The Guide has done many good things for us, we don’t dispute that. We didn’t organize ourselves to fight against him. We organized ourselves because we had questions and the Guide didn’t like the questions we asked—”

  “—So you try to kill him because he doesn’t like your questions,” the guard said.

  “We have never tried to kill the Guide. You can think what you want,” Gareth said.

  “Then why have you been banished? He wouldn’t banish you if you hadn’t done something bad. All of you are enemies to Gardone and that’s why you were removed. I hate what you stand for.” The guard’s face was red with fury. “I lost my father to the great wars; he died in my arms as blood spilled from his mouth and stomach. You all want to sacrifice the lives of hard working people for your own lust for power!”

  He looked at Sharel. “I should have killed you when I had the chance. Both of you...all of you!”

  “Gag him,” Tari said to Gareth, who looked like he was about ready to shut him up in more harsh ways.

  The guard struggled as Gareth held his face and bound his mouth. The three of them walked away as the guard squirmed and cursed through his gag.

  Tari paused at the door and looked back inside. “It’s not like you think. I wish there was something we could do to convince you.”

  This sent him into a fit of muffled rage. Tari left and her eyes filled with tears. He had suffered much. He was fighting for what he believed in but was angry at the wrong people. How could they possibly convince him of the truth? It was the only solution without a terrible ending.

  Chapter 17

  Casualties of War

  Horvold’s directions to Rudolfo’s girls were brief. Rudolfo had told them their mother was alive and they were leaving Gardone to be reunited with her. When Horvold knocked on their door and introduced himself, they screamed in excitement; they hadn’t expected him for a couple of days. He instructed them to be ready to leave at nightfall and then left them to return to Endell and make his own preparations.

  Walking through the farmlands back to the city gave him time to think. He would take advantage of the next few weeks with these kids. He’d teach them survival skills, prepare them for the ataiki, and try to learn more about this younger generation. Many of them seemed more interested in the politics of Gardone than his generation at that age, but then again, his generation was too busy fighting to think about politics. The irony was sickening. Seeing these young adults gave him hope, not only because they were the future leaders but because they had value in the present. No adult, that he was aware of, had come close to what Endell had now twice experienced: travel in the spiritual plane. Char and China would not only teach him, they would learn just as much in return.

  “Excuse me, sir,” a voice said.

  Horvold stopped, turned, and saw a young
guard approaching.

  “Yes?”

  “I assume you have heard of the incident this morning in the marketplace?” the guard asked.

  Horvold frowned and nodded.

  “We need everyone’s help to stop the traitors before they attack again, but most people out here in the farmlands don’t know the details. Have you ever heard of the Resistance?”

  “Only a little, earlier today. Something about a group of rebels working to overthrow the kingdom?” Horvold said, rubbing his chin.

  “That’s right. If you see anything strange you need to contact us immediately. Search your home and farms for the black capes they wear. And if you find any magical items or documents don’t touch them, just contact us immediately. They could be dangerous. And watch for people sneaking around at night or whispering in alleys.” The guard’s eyebrows tightened and his right eye squinted in a stern gaze. “Anyone you know come to mind?”

  Horvold pretended to consider the question while he studied the young guard. “No, but until today it’s not something I would have noticed. I’ll certainly be on alert now.” The guard was young, unpolished. “How long have you been with the royal guard?”

  “I signed up this morning, when I saw the request for soldiers.”

  “How old are you, if you don’t mine me asking.”

  “Sixteen,” he said, his toughness fading. “Did you lose anyone this morning?”

  “Not that I know of, thankfully,” Horvold said. “I’ve been making my rounds throughout the city checking on friends and family. So far I have been fortunate.”

  The boy nodded and opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it again. He looked away from Horvold. “I lost my father and my sister, they were selling two of our goats.”

  Horvold’s throat swelled.

  “And I’ll spend the rest of my life hunting these murderers until I kill every one of them.”

  “I’m sorry to hear about your family. I lost my father, too, years ago.”