Child Of A Guardian And Of The Free (Book 3)

by Dan O'Sullivan

  Callian glared coldly ahead but did not reply. His fists were clenched at his sides.

  Milgorry glared at him. ‘You don’t agree?’

  Everyone else was now standing a little way away uneasily watching the warrior and the guardian. Timbul walked over and placed his hand on Callian’s shoulder and the Guardian General felt his anger draining away. He sighed heavily. ‘I know he’s alive too, Mil.’ He turned to look at the circle of distressed faces. ‘I’m sorry, I just...you didn’t see...well Larund did but-’ He sighed heavily. ‘If Kelian survives what they’re doing to him it will be a miracle. And I doubt Larund even saw the half of it before he got too far away.’

  When they reached the hut where Kelian’s torture had begun in earnest, the evidence of Larund’s handiwork was everywhere. To Larund’s grim satisfaction, there were three dead bodies on the ground and there was vomit everywhere, and much of the vomit contained blood. He could vividly remember what had happened, and as he didn’t trouble to hide his mind, the guardians and the free warriors also knew what had happened. Callian walked around the hut several times, studying the walls and the utensils and taking a cautious but interested sniff at the old stew pot which had fallen onto the floor spilling the remainder of its contents, and then he moved outside and checked that each of the bodies was indeed dead. His eyes fell upon a patch of ice that looked dirtied, and he recognized it from what he had seen in Larund’s mind as the place where Kelian had laid on the ice. He bent forward to take a closer look then he fell to his knees in abject horror, his mouth opening and his heart imploding with rage and despair. His breath came in quiet gasps as he failed to contain the pain and shock of what he knew had happened. Timbul and Araas rushed to his side and they too fell to the ice and knelt staring at the horrifying sight. Milgorry’s attention was caught by the waves of fury emanating from them and he walked to Callian’s side and crouched beside him. He drew breath sharply as he saw what the three guardians were staring at. Covered in blood and frosted with ice, were the severed tips of three fingers.

  ‘Keep him away!’ Milgorry growled as Dale walked curiously towards them. Eibhear grabbed him by the arm and pulled him backwards, feeling appalled but not surprised by what he saw in Milgorry’s mind.

  ‘What is it?’ asked Dale. He didn’t struggle, but trusted that Milgorry would have a good reason for not wanting him to see what they were doing.

  Callian reached out to pick up the three finger tips then withdrew his hand sharply. He clenched his teeth, closed his eyes and breathed slowly in an effort to control the pain of failure pulsing through his entire being. Neither Timbul nor Araas moved, and Milgorry could feel similar emotions coming from each of them. He picked up the finger tips and walked away. He went some distance before he found a deep crevice and then he dropped them into the crack before returning to Callian. The three guardians were kneeling exactly where he’d left them, excepting that now Eibhear, Ben, Rudiger and Rezon had joined them and were standing around with grim expressions. Dale and Leslie stood aside, looking extremely anxious. Larund leaned against the wall of the hut, feeling guilty for his failed attempt to take Kelian away from the camp.

  Milgorry walked across the ice. He could see bloodied boot marks leading away across the ice and he wondered if the fallen had been too ill to even bother to hide their tracks. He found the sight disturbing, not that the footprints were bloody, but that they were visible. He followed the footprints for a short distance then walked back to Dale.

  ‘If you had just abducted the King of Alkira and tortured him, would you leave a trail of your bloody footprints across the ice announcing where you were going? I mean everyone would assume you were heading home, but it’s not in the nature of my people to make it so easy for someone to follow them.’

  Dale said nothing, wondering why they had tortured Kelian and feeling miserable and distressed that he had not been able to stop this happening.

  ‘You know, I’ve had a funny feeling about this since we left Starly Forest,’ Milgorry continued. ‘They moved too fast, like they knew Callian was on their tail and if they hesitated they’d have to face him, yet they left blindingly obvious trails through Emerald. Dale?’

  ‘We need to move on, Mil. We can’t stay here.’

  ‘Don’t avoid the question.’

  ‘If you are wondering if I believe they are deliberately leading us into Nyinaku; then yes, I do believe that. I think Nandul’s up to something, and he wants to drag the guardians into Nyinaku. I don’t know why, but I’m certain he’s using Kelian as bait. It makes little difference. We have to go. How could we not go after Kelian?’

  Milgorry gave a snarl of fury and turned on Larund who jumped away from the wall of the hut with a look of fright as Milgorry leapt towards him. A split second later Milgorry lifted Larund from the ground with one hand and flung him against the door of the hut with a roar of rage.

  ‘You knew, you bastard, didn’t you!’ he growled. ‘You knew all along they meant for us to follow them, you stinking traitor!’

  ‘Mil! Stop!’ Callian’s shout fell on deaf ears as once again Milgorry picked Larund up by the front of his tunic.

  ‘No! I-’ Larund’s words were cut off as Milgorry smashed him against the door. The door behind him splintered and he went flying backwards into the hut. Milgorry snatched up a piece of the broken door and swung it towards Larund’s head. Larund ducked far too late and it caught him on the side of the cheek, sending him reeling. Milgorry followed him across the room and a knife seemed to materialize in his hand.

  ‘Mil!’ Callian shouted as he sprinted across the ice and flung himself into the hut. He grabbed Milgorry by the arm and the back of his shirt and threw the warrior bodily towards the doorway. What little remained of the door was smashed from its hinges as Milgorry’s body slammed into it and went sailing out onto the ice. He crunched to the ground, tumbled over and came to a crouch, with knife still in hand and looking murderously at Callian who was now standing over him glaring furiously.

  ‘If you move, I’ll snap your spine,’ Callian whispered viciously. ‘Go on...try me.’

  Milgorry gave a hiss of anger as he felt the muscles in his back contract. He didn’t move and Callian didn’t look away.

  ‘Araas, get Larund and make sure nothing’s broken and if he’s broken, fix him.’ Araas disappeared into the hut. ‘Now answer me! Have you completely lost your mind?’

  ‘He must have known what they were doing! He must have known Nandul was luring us back into Nyinaku! You saw what they did to Kelian! I swear I’ll return the bastard-’

  ‘No you won’t!’ Callian cried angrily. ‘I picked through his mind with the zeal of a starving chicken and I missed nothing! I searched his thoughts so deeply that for a while I wondered if I’d damaged him. But it was necessary. No. He knew they were after Kelian and that Kelian is being taken to Nandul, but he had no idea Nandul is trying to make us follow. Or that Kelian is being used as bait.’

  Milgorry rolled from his crouch to his knees. With deliberate care, he slid his knife back into its sheath. He stared down at the ice as a feeling of shame came over him.

  ‘Mil, we’re all a bit edgy,’ Callian began but Timbul’s sarcastic snort cut him off.

  ‘Are you joking, Callian?’ he said, lifting his hands questioningly. ‘I think that reaction was a little more than ‘edgy’.’

  ‘Funnily enough, I think for Mil it was probably closer to edgy than to angry. I don’t look forward to the day he gets really cross.’

  ‘This is coming from someone who’s just yearning to snap my spine.’ Milgorry shuddered slightly. ‘Can you stop doing that?’

  Callian gave him one last glare and then blinked and relaxed. Milgorry felt the muscles in his back gradually loosen and he slowly stood.

  ‘Larund?’ said Milgorry cautiously, without turning to where the warrior stood shakily beside Araas.

  ‘Face me,’ Larund ordered. Milgorry turned around, feeling more than a little guilty.
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br />   ‘If you want to scrutinize my thoughts I’ll not object. Even I’ll admit no-one seems to have difficulty doing that to me. But find out the truth before you return me Mil.’

  ‘I’m sorry.’

  ‘That’s not enough.’

  ‘What do you want? Oh.’ Milgorry sighed as he caught Larund’s angry thoughts. ‘You have the right.’

  Larund drew back his fist, and Milgorry flinched, waiting for the blow to come. Larund lowered his fist. He looked warily at Milgorry for a few more seconds, then his face reddened and he turned away. He walked back to the little hut and leaned against the wall then slid down until he was sitting with his back against the wall. He cross his arms and rested them on his knees, then leaned his head on his forearms.

  Milgorry turned to Callian in confusion. ‘What just happened? I thought he was going to hit me. He certainly wanted to.’

  ‘I guess he changed his mind.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘He’s far too intelligent to be deceived into thinking that hitting you would solve anything,’ said Callian. ‘And he’s entirely terrified of you,’ he added quietly. ‘He thinks if he hits you he’s going to look pathetic after what you did to him. He’s not a fighter and he feels...inferior.’

  Milgorry’s mouth opened and then closed again. ‘Well that makes me feel worse than I would have done if he’d beaten the life out of me in vengeance.’ He looked shrewdly at Larund. ‘He knew that too, didn’t he Callian?’

  ‘Definitely, but don’t be fooled. He’s a very intelligent man, but his fear of you is not an act. He’s managed to survive this long purely by brains and courage. He’s just scared because he knows if it comes to a physical fight with any other warrior, he doesn’t stand a chance.’

  ‘And you’re absolutely certain he’s not a traitor - please don’t snap my spine for asking again - I just need to know. I need to be absolutely sure.’

  ‘He’s not a traitor. In fact, he heard rumors of Rudi’s plans and he’s wanted to seek him out for a very long time, but it’s been terribly difficult for him. Can you imagine what it must be like, being entirely disloyal to Nandul and having to stay close to him and act like nothing’s wrong, for fear of being returned?’

  ‘I wonder how that must feel!’ Milgorry’s words were laden with sarcasm.

  ‘Yes, you should know. Now add to that the inability to hide your thoughts adequately; the terror of thinking the wrong thing at the wrong moment whilst you’re standing right next to Nandul. The fear of going to sleep at night and having Nandul listen to your mind - you probably don’t know this, but Larund lacks the natural ability of the fallen to hide thoughts instinctively when sleeping. I can only imagine how tough it must have been for him.’

  ‘That is a disturbing thought,’ Milgorry admitted. ‘But I haven’t heard his thoughts when he’s sleeping. And I haven’t heard a great deal from him during the daytime either.’

  ‘No, you haven’t,’ said Callian smugly. ‘Good.’

  ‘If he’s coming back to Nyinaku with us someone needs to stay with him, to hide his mind. It’s too dangerous for all of us if someone hears his thoughts.’

  Callian considered for a moment then nodded in agreement. ‘I think I’ll ask him to go back to Alkira, at least for a while.’

  Milgorry went to sit beside Larund.

  ‘I’m sorry Larund. I can only beg you to forgive my stupidity. Not all of us have your brains. You have far more intelligence than our entire race put together, but some of us were born without even the tiniest portion of this gift.’

  Larund managed a small smile.

  Milgorry sighed heavily. ‘It’s a bit disturbing when you find out you’re an idiot. But that’s something you’ll never have to face.’

  ‘You’re not stupid Mil, far from it. That’s one of the many reasons Nandul is utterly petrified you’ll come after him. He doesn’t put a lot of faith in the notion that you won’t return him because he’s your father. You’re certainly intelligent enough to find a way. You’re just a bit hot headed, but you have every gift we of the free are entitled to and more, as well as intelligence. But that’s all I have. And it isn’t enough.’

  ‘One of the most intelligent people I’ve ever known is human and he seems to get along just fine,’ Milgorry observed, nodding towards Dale who chose that very moment to trip over his own foot and land sprawling on the ice. Larund laughed then his smile faded.

  ‘Can you imagine what Nandul might do to him if he catches him in Nyinaku? I can guarantee he hasn’t forgotten that Dale was involved in that business with the guardian woman he captured; the one he wanted to mate with. Maybe he doesn’t have any reason for taking Kelian other than revenge and... No…that would just be stupid. He’d know the guardians would be bound to come after him. I think Dale’s right. Nandul’s just drawing the guardians into his net.’

  ‘What about Kelian? If he’s just bait to make the guardians come after him, what are they intending to do with him?’

  Larund rolled his eyes. ‘What do you think they’re going to do with him? What we always do perhaps?’

  ‘Keep him barely alive until he’s no longer useful,’ said Milgorry bitterly, thinking of his father. ‘Your enemy deserves pain. Track them relentlessly, kill those who oppose you, forgiveness is for the weak.’ His eyes glittered coldly. ‘Since my father taught me so well, when I find him I’ll keep him half alive just long enough to make him regret what he’s done, and then, since I actually don’t seem to be able to return the bastard, I’ll give him to Tim. He seems to think it’s his job to return him. Doesn’t he?’ Milgorry asked as Callian hunkered down beside him, against the wall.

  ‘He’s not planning to return him.’ Callian looked at Milgorry guardedly.

  ‘I beg your pardon?’

  ‘I thought you knew. Tim was sent back for a purpose, but it wasn’t to return Nandul.’

  ‘Then why?’

  ‘He was sent back to kill him.’

  Chapter 43

  Fishing

  Danil, Tiernan, Borgulnay and Gilgarry made a quick trek to Tabul Bay, where they tried to make sense of the mass of gathered ships. After watching the ships for some time, Tiernan and Danil concentrated on capturing any unprotected thoughts, should someone aboard one of the ships be less than careful in shielding their own mind. They had little success until a small boat was rowed to shore containing two people. In a flash, Tiernan and Danil were upon them. It took Tiernan only minutes to force their thoughts from their minds as Danil, Gilgarry and Borgulnay held them firmly, and even less time to remove their memories of the incident, to render them unconscious and set them adrift in the boat in the harbor. He left their oars with them.

  They discussed the situation as they rode south on the horses they borrowed from Caity and Smith. From what Tiernan read of their thoughts, they considered themselves to be a race apart; children with one parent of the fallen and one human, but whose abilities tended more towards human. Their limited gifts were considered inferior by most of the fallen. He pondered the fact that there could be so many people born of, but not accepted by the fallen, and he found it chilling that a parent could reject their own child. Yet he had seen it and heard of it so many times, that the fallen would murder their own child, or make them a slave, seeing them as inadequate. A baby born with pale eyes of blue, green or even a less dark brown was considered inferior. What surprised him most was the number of these people who had somehow managed to escape a life of slavery. That they had gathered together in Hosatabaht and made a life for themselves astounded Tiernan, that they were returning for vengeance and with a plan to retake their homeland didn’t surprise him at all, as he knew that revenge was a part of their nature, refined over so many years that he would have been astonished if they had accepted the insult of being rejected. Danil spent longer than Tiernan taking thoughts from one captive and he concurred. These people weren’t interested in the Alkiran people. In fact, they saw full blooded humans as no more than an expend
able commodity for the production of their own offspring. Their only thought was to ascend into Nyinaku and bring battle, to take revenge on those who declared them more human than free and to claim what they felt was their own, their right to live in the land of their birth. After much discussion, Danil decided to leave his soldiers guarding Warbilla and Khynol, and head south with Tiernan, Borgulnay and Gilgarry, the purpose being to move with speed and stealth and attempt to bring Kelian away from Nyinaku before the people from the ships started a war. Both Danil and Tiernan were quite certain that if the human soldiers got caught up in such a conflict, with either the fallen or their discontented brothers, they were unlikely to survive. So Danil gave them orders to remain around the Alkiran villages and provide the people with the extra protection they would need as the people from the ships passed by on their way south to Nyinaku.

  They rode from Warbilla to Cabla, to West Cabla and on to Khynol, trading horses at each village, and then they left the road and went south towards Khynol’s Gap. To their satisfaction it was apparent that no force had marched through the Gap before they arrived. They made camp on the side of the mountain not far from where Danil, Gilgarry and Borgulnay had camped once before, but taking care to remain just inside Alkiran territory. It was an hour before dawn when they made camp. Borgulnay and Gilgarry saw to their horses and then, on Danil’s orders, found as comfortable a place to sleep as the rocky mountain allowed, feeling grateful for the clear weather. Borgulnay lay under his blanket nibbling on one of Caity’s famous travel cakes and looking up, as the bright sky blazing with stars began to give way to the pale dawn.

  ‘This brings back memories,’ he murmured.

  ‘It does,’ Gilgarry agreed. ‘We’ve made good speed thus far Borg, but it’s high time we came up with some kind of plan. I can tell you haven’t come up with anything yet and when you do...well, your plans usually involve a hell of a lot of danger, someone being badly used as a distraction and the assumption that everyone around you is a fast, strong and terrifying as you are. Now, I’ve been thinking-’