Chronos and the Rogue Hunters

by Edward Eck

  Cyrus put his arms around her and spoke in a calm voice. “You okay? Don’t worry, we’re right here.”

  Amber whispered, “The darkness is closing in. I can’t breathe.”

  From the dark, they could hear Meagan’s voice, “Alecto orona na-see.” A little orb of light appeared above their heads and hovered there. It wasn’t a blinding light, but they could at least see one another and their immediate surroundings.

  Amber looked at Meagan and whispered, “Thank you,” then held tight to her brother once again.

  Cyrus was concerned so he decided to rest fifteen minutes this time. Looking down into the darkness, he knew it was only going to get harder the further they travelled, but he didn’t know what else to do at this point. They couldn’t go back. He began to question if bringing his sister along was such a good idea, but then pushed the thought from his mind. He knew he couldn’t leave her behind. They needed her and she needed to face her fears.

  Once Amber had calmed down and everyone had regained their strength, they continued on their way. Meagan had moved the little glowing orb a few feet below to help guide them. This time the descent was slower. The increasing darkness made it more difficult to navigate oncoming obstacles. Amber’s guiding winds knocked a few rocks loose and the occasional jagged outcropping posed a minor challenge in direction.

  As they neared the three-quarter mark, Amber’s guiding winds grew stronger and erratic once again. They were all glad for the next rest stop. This time, they all felt a little uneasy. Even with the glowing orb, the sides of the fissure were getting further apart.

  Meagan stretched a hand out over the side of the makeshift ledge she had created. As she moved her hand around, Cyrus grew concerned. Based on the supposed size of Fenrir, he estimated the cavern was probably large. His fears were confirmed when Meagan finished her search.

  She leaned in and whispered to him in the hope Amber would not hear. “We have a quarter mile to go to reach the bottom, but the fissure stretches out in all directions from here. There won’t be any walls to guide us to the bottom from this point on. It’s just going to be darkness.”

  Cyrus whispered in return, “Do you think it’s safe enough to parachute to the bottom from here?”

  Meagan looked at Cyrus through squinted eyes. “We have no idea what the floor of this cavern looks like. And you want to jump into the darkness?”

  “So, we continue with the levitation spell?”

  “I don’t see any other options.”

  “The echo in here is a little too loud,” said Amber sitting on the edge of the ledge staring into the darkness. “I can hear you. I knew we would get to this part sooner or later. It’s the dark chamber all over again.”

  Cyrus moved next to her and put his hands on her shoulders. “Just remember, we’re here with you. We won’t let you fall.”

  Amber looked over her shoulder and smiled. “I know. And Tiamat isn’t here either. But it doesn’t change the fact that I know I’m going to hear and feel her in the darkness.” Amber looked down into the fissure. “Whether she’s here or not, she’s always with me, in my mind.”

  For the fourth and final time, they each cast their spells. “Levas mon see-tor.”

  They lifted off from the ledge and descended into the black void. The light from above was now gone. The glow from Meagan’s orb touched nothing in their vast surroundings. The walls had disappeared along with any air current. No longer needing Amber’s power to move them away from the crevice walls, they descended into dark silence.

  Meagan shifted her orb into the center of their triangular rope connection so they could see one another.

  Cyrus noted his sister’s white knuckles as she gripped tightly to the ropes. Her eyes were squeezed shut and she gritted her teeth. He reached out his hand to take hers, and her eyes popped open at his touch. She grasped his hand and smiled weakly.

  A small object flew by them. Cyrus was startled at the motion, but quickly realized it was only a small bat. When he returned his attention to Amber, her eyes were squeezed shut and the winds had picked up and were growing. He knew she must be thinking of Tiamat.

  “Amber!” he called out to her, but the winds drowned out his voice.

  “Cyrus!” he heard Meagan call, but he couldn’t make out what she said. She pointed at Amber, but all he could do was cup his hands around his ears and shake his head as the wind intensity grew.

  Meagan grabbed on to Amber and lost focus on her levitation spell. She called out something in the howling wind. Within seconds, Amber fell asleep and the two of them dropped. The rope connecting them to Cyrus was the only thing keeping them from plummeting to their deaths.

  Cyrus held tight to his section of rope, maintaining focus on his levitation spell. He knew it was now up to him alone to get them to the bottom of the cavern alive. He looked down to see Meagan holding the limp body of Amber as she grasped the rope binding them all together.

  It was ten minutes more until Meagan’s orb finally caught a glimpse of something below. Cyrus looked down just as Meagan stretched out her legs to kick off of a huge stalagmite rising up into the darkness. “Watch out!” she called, and shifted their descent away from the jagged rock formation.

  Cyrus knew the bottom had to be close. His attention was being pulled from their descent as he looked around for other signs of their destination.

  Meagan called up to him, “Keep your focus. Let me worry about the bottom.”

  Her little orb of light descended faster than they did in an attempt to locate the cavern floor. The orb was twenty feet below them when it hit ground.

  Cyrus lowered them the final distance and gently placed Amber and Meagan on the ground before dropping the final few feet himself to join them.

  Cyrus and Meagan collapsed in exhaustion, joining the already unconscious Amber. They remained there in silence as each needed time to regain strength. After a ten-minute rest, they awoke Amber and assessed their situation.

  All light was gone save for Meagan’s little glowing orb, but it did little to illuminate the enormous cavern. The space was huge and the crack in the ceiling that had led them to the fissure was thousands of feet above their heads. The cavern extended before them, where stalagmites of all shapes and sizes littered the cavern floor like a mouth full of sharp teeth.

  “Alecto orona na-see,” Cyrus cast a light spell. A small orb followed him around, just enough to illuminate twenty feet in all directions.

  “This way.” Meagan pointed off to their left.

  Cyrus led the way with his light just above his position.

  They walked about a hundred yards until they came to a gigantic boulder at least a hundred feet high.

  “This must be it,” suggested Meagan. “The rock has been worn smooth in a few places like something big had been rubbing against it for years.”

  Cyrus observed the large patches of smooth rock, still in awe of the enormous size the wolf must have been. “Look around for Gleipnir,” he instructed. “We need to find that magical ribbon if we’re going to re-imprison this giant wolf.”

  They all started looking around the area near the rock. As they spread out, Amber cast her own light orb spell so they could each see better in the area they searched. “I found it,” she exclaimed.

  “I found it,” exclaimed Cyrus.

  “I found it,” exclaimed Meagan.

  All at once they realized what they had found was not Gleipnir, but only shredded fragments of the whole. Gleipnir had been sliced and ripped into many pieces. They gathered the fragments into a pile of nearly a hundred pieces, as well as the giant sword that had been placed in Fenrir’s mouth to prevent him from biting at Gleipnir.

  “What do we do now?” asked Amber, staring at her brother.

  They had come all this way to retrieve Gleipnir in the hope of using it to imprison Fenrir once again, but the shreds would never hold such a creature. And they all knew it.

  15 Questions of the Past

  Alex was begin
ning to wonder about who he was and where he came from. From the first moment he met Qaletaqa, he had been told he was a member of the Rogue Hunters, but now he was beginning to wonder about the validity of that statement. They had encountered a young redhead named Taryn who claimed to be his friend, but she knew him as Max and informed him they lived in Baltimore, Maryland—not Arizona. Confused by the debate, he decided it was time he got some straight answers.

  People were breaking off into groups of three and preparing for the hunt. Some carried rifles, others knives. Some like Taryn, Sheelin and Radimir carried no weapons at all. Their weapon was the power within. A power Alex too shared. He could feel it, but he was still learning how to use it. He knew many spells, but was having a difficult time remembering them. His attention snapped to the present when he heard Qaletaqa call his name.

  “Alex, come on. We should get ready to head out.”

  Alex reluctantly approached with questions heavy on his mind. “Was I really part of the Circle before joining the Rogue Hunters?”

  The shaman took in a deep breath then let out a long sigh through pursed lips. “Now is not a good time for this discussion.”

  “Qaletaqa, I need to know.”

  The old shaman sighed. “Honestly, I don’t know. Taryn seems to think so, but it’s possible she’s just after you for your power. You will be a force to be reckoned with one day and I don’t want to see that strength fall into the wrong hands. For now, it’s best you stay close to me.”

  “So I wasn’t always a member of the Rogue Hunters?”

  “We found you wandering the desert two days ago, hence your name. But this Malcolm that Taryn and Vincent spoke of was torturing people to find out where you were. I knew I had to keep you safe. We found you in shredded and blood-stained clothing. You had no memory, but even then Sheelin and I could sense your power.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me the truth? Why make me think I was a member of the Rogue Hunters for years? And tell me I was your adopted son?”

  Qaletaqa remained silent for a moment. “I said what I needed to in order to save your life. You were delusional and dehydrated. If I hadn’t convinced you to come with us, you would have died. After that, I should have told you the truth, but I was afraid you were with this Malcolm, who killed our friends. I couldn’t let power like yours go back into the hands of those who would seek to destroy this world.”

  “And now that Taryn is here?”

  “For all we know she could be working for this Malcolm person. She seems to have a good heart, but I’m not ready to blindly trust her just because she claims friendship… nor should you.”

  “What about Sheelin’s truth spell?”

  “Sheelin’s spell indicated they were speaking the truth, but not the entire truth. Taryn’s holding something back and until I know what that is, I can’t trust her completely.”

  “Every time she and I try having a conversation, you keep interrupting. Why?”

  “I’m only looking out for you, Alex. She could be trying to fill your head with lies, trying to convince you to go with her regardless of what I say. The power you possess must be protected.”

  “I understand, but I also understand if I want to know who I am, I need to talk with people who knew me. I need to find out what she knows.”

  “In time, we will discover the truth together. For now there are more pressing issues to deal with.”

  Alex nodded in agreement, but in the back of his mind, he was beginning to wonder. Who am I and where do I belong? These were questions he would need to get answered, and he had a strong feeling Taryn was indeed the one to answer them.

  * * *

  Later that evening, Taryn, Radimir and Sheelin started out on the path set for them by Qaletaqa. As they left camp, Taryn noticed Qaletaqa kept Alex in his hunting party. He wasn’t going to make it easy for them to speak privately. He guarded Alex as if protecting him from an enemy. But Taryn wasn’t their enemy. If only she could figure out how to convince Qaletaqa of this fact.

  Sheelin was a skilled tracker and an apprentice shaman. After a couple of hours in the frozen wilderness, she indicated unfamiliar tracks leading into a tree line west of their position. Perhaps it was their quarry, the Wendigo.

  Taryn did her best to cope with the cold. As a fire elemental sorceress, she could deal with extreme temperatures of heat, but her tolerance for the cold was lacking. Even the heavy winter jacket Sheelin had provided did not offer the warmth Taryn preferred.

  Radimir on the other hand tolerated the cold with ease. Living in Russia must have accustomed him to the colder climates.

  “You make fire, keep you warm,” he said.

  Taryn wasn’t sure if Radimir was making a suggestion or asking a question, but either way she knew it wasn’t an option. “The f-firelight will give away our p-position and alert the Wendigo of our approach.” Her speech was shaky and her teeth kept chattering.

  “Shh…” admonished Sheelin, placing a finger to her lips while she crouched beside a bush. She pointed to some broken branches and tracks in the snow. She then pointed further into the woods indicating the direction of the tracks.

  They continued to follow the trail deeper into the woods until at last, the tracks disappeared. Sheelin searched around trying to figure out how the trail simply disappeared and where their quarry had gone.

  “Wendigo go up.” Radimir was pointing upward at a section of bark that had been torn from a nearby tree. Claw marks in the bark indicated something big and heavy had climbed the tree at that point.

  As they continued looking around, the claw marks kept climbing until it was too high for them to clearly make out the direction of the Wendigo’s path.

  Radimir fell to his knees and put his head down, shaking briefly before he began to shrink in size. The other two stood back, observing what was happening to their Russian friend. His clothes collapsed inward and from the pile of discarded clothing arose a hawk. The reddish-brown bird of prey took flight with one thrust of his mighty wings and soared into the sky. He circled the trees many times before landing on a downed tree limb not far from the girls’ position. The hawk took one look at them then turned and flew off into the woods.

  Sheelin grabbed Radimir’s clothing, then they followed the shape-shifter amongst the trees and woodland debris. At one point, the hawk disappeared from sight around a large tree. As the girls approached, Radimir poked his head out from behind the great tree.

  “Clothes?” Other than his head, he remained behind the tree. Sheelin tossed his pile of clothing over to him and the girls waited. Once dressed again, Radimir stepped out of concealment and pointed off to his right. “Tracks, there.”

  “I take it ye can shape-shift at will like I can control fire?” asked Taryn.

  “Change easy.” Radimir smiled, proud of his ability. “When not trapped.”

  “The Wendigo is back on the ground again,” said Sheelin as she examined the tracks, “but it’s found the tracks of something else now. It looks like another one of the hunting parties. There are three individual sets of prints besides the Wendigo. They may be hunting him, but now he’s hunting them as well. We’d better pick up the pace if we’re going to catch him before he catches them.”

  Taryn took a step, but then fell to one knee. Her face was white and she couldn’t stop shivering. The cold was affecting her more than anticipated. Sheelin and Radimir rushed to her side, but she waved them off as she struggled back to her feet.

  “I’m okay. I just tripped over a root sticking up out of the ground.”

  The temperature was just below freezing, but Taryn felt like it was twenty below zero. Right now, she would’ve liked nothing better than to be standing in the middle of a burning fire.

  The other two clearly weren’t fooled. “Perhaps you should return home to your castle in Baltimore,” suggested Sheelin.

  “I promised I would help catch this creature.” Taryn’s determination was evident in her voice if not in her appearance. “That’s wh
at members of the Circle do—we protect the world from monsters like this, no matter the cost to ourselves. Max believes that too, which is why we almost lost him and why he’s here now.”

  Sheelin studied Taryn for a moment then opened a pouch at her side and pulled out a small bottle. “Drink this.”

  Taryn looked at the bottle and then at the pouch before accepting the bottled liquid.

  “It’s a multi-dimensional pouch,” commented Sheelin as she caught Taryn’s gaze. “I have a few hundred potions in there in case of emergency. This one is for health, but it will also keep you warm, at least for a while. It will wear off in a few hours.”

  Taryn unstopped the cork from the small bottle and drank the potion. Within seconds, she could feel the warmth returning through her body and reenergizing her. It warmed her so well, she felt like she could take off the heavy winter clothes and wear her normal bikini top in the middle of a snow storm. Even if the effects were temporary, it felt good for now.

  They continued off in the direction of the tracks at a brisk pace, but still slow enough that Sheelin wouldn’t lose the trail. After about an hour, the screams of two men and the howling of their quarry was unmistakable.

  A battle was in progress, and the three broke into a run hoping to arrive in time to capture the beast. A few gun shots were heard followed by another howl, then silence.

  When they arrived at the scene, the snow-covered ground was soaked with the blood of at least one from the hunting party. There were signs of a struggle, but no bodies… alive or dead. Whatever had happened, they hadn’t killed the beast.

  Sheelin began searching the fringes of the battle scene for more tracks. Taryn and Radimir waited patiently as she made her rounds.

  “One man headed off to the east by himself,” Sheelin announced. “Another headed south. The third was the one whose blood this is. Based on the amount, he’s most likely already dead. The Wendigo must have gotten him and dragged him away to the southwest.”

  “If it’s draggin’ a body, it should be easy to track down,” said Taryn. “And if the creature has just fed, it shouldn’t be hungry anymore.”