by Kim Stokely
“With me?”
“Yes. It sounded like you were talking to someone else.”
He straightened himself up but still appeared shorter than me, maybe because he stood so round shouldered. “No, my lady, there is only me, Old Rab.” He smiled then, showing me all four teeth left in his mouth. “You’re looking a might bit cold, if I may be so bold to say. Would you care for somethin’ to eat and perhaps a warm blanket for the night?”
I chewed on my lower lip. Was accepting help allowed?
Rab’s face caught a shaft of sunlight as he stepped closer to me. It made him appear younger. His green eyes twinkled. “It’s been a few years since one of the Elders has traveled the mountain lookin’ for Ginessa’s Glade. But I always lent a hand when I could.”
“You’ve helped others?”
His head bobbed up and down,causing his long gray hair to swing behind him. “Oh, aye. I’ve aided many an Elder along in their quest.” He signaled me with his hand to wait a moment then shuffled into the trees again before returning with a string of fish. “I’ve been to the glade already today and caught this fine dinner. Would you care to join me in my feast?”
My mouth watered at the thought of food but distrust tugged at my brain.
“I can take you up to the glade tomorrow, my lady.”
My stomach rumbled loudly.
The old man’s eyes widened in surprise. “It seems you are in need of nourishment.” His gaze took in my ragged appearance. “A warm fire and some food. You’ll be ready to finish your journey in the mornin’.” His hand shook, making the fish on the line dance. “Won’t you dine with me?”
Any doubts fled as my stomach growled again. “Aye,” I whispered as my feet moved on their own toward him. I think I’d follow the old man anywhere for one of those fish.
“Well, then.” He flashed his four teeth again. “This way, my lady.”
He moved quickly for such an ancient looking man and prattled the whole time about the forest,where his traps were set, how deep the snow could get in the winter, the names of birds. I barely listened, offering only the occasional “uh-huh” when he paused to take a breath.
Dusk had fallen by the time we reached Rab’s “home,” a cave in the side of the mountain. He stopped at its entrance to gesture me inside with a sweep of his arm. I had to duck at first, but once inside, the space opened up so I could stand up straight.
A pile of embers glowed on the floor ahead of me. Old Rab hung the fish on a hook he’d somehow pounded into the rock. He threw some dry grass on what was left of his fire and soon the embers sparked to life. Once he added a few logs, the cave filled with light and warmth.
“Sit,” he pointed to the fire. “Sit and warm yourself. You won’t make old bones if you let the cold settle in on you for the night.”
I plunked myself next to the heat. Taking off my sandals, I put them near the fire to dry then stretched out my legs so it could warm the soles of my feet.
Rab fussed about, piercing several of the fish on sticks and propping them near the flames. He reached up into a natural shelf in the stone and pulled out a pear. “Look here, my lady, I found this yesterday when I was down among the plains. Good thing, too, or the snow would have taken it this mornin’.” He stretched his arm to me. “Would you like it?”
I eyed the fruit with longing but stopped myself from ripping it from the old man’s hand. “Why don’t we split it?”
Rab tossed it to me. “To tell the truth, pears bind my guts in knots. But somethin’ told me to take it with me yesterday. I must have sensed I’d have company.”
The green skin crunched as I bit into it. Sweet juice dripped down my chin. “My name is Ally.” I used the back of my hand to clean my face. “Ally Foster.”
The old man gave me an odd grin before he bowed his head. “Pleased to make your acquaintance, Ally Foster. My name is Rab. Old Rab of the hills is what men in these parts call me.”
“It’s good to meet you.” I gnawed the fruit down to the core and even then I continued to nibble on the remaining bits of flesh.
A smoky haze filled the cave as the fish popped and sizzled. Rab filled a wooden cup with liquid from a sack that hung toward the back of his home. He passed it to me. I sniffed at the dark drink. “What is it?
He took a gulp from the skin. “Wine, my lady.” His green eyes watched me as I took a sip. “It’s good, no?”
I nodded and sipped again.
“I make it myself from the wild grapes and berries that grow in the mountain.”
I finished off my cup. The old man went to pour me more. I covered the cup with my hand. “It’s very good, but do you have any water?”
He took a small flask from his waist and handed it to me. “That’s all I have, my lady. But you’re welcome to it. I’ll get more tomorrow.”
I hesitated. “Are you sure?”
“I would not have offered if I wasn’t certain I could spare it.”
I drained the water in three long gulps. I wished there had been more but at least my throat no longer felt like sandpaper. My hand trembled as I gave him back the flask.
“Are ye still cold?” Old Rab asked.
“Just a little,” I admitted.
He hobbled to the back of the cave where a crude bed had been set up. He pulled a faded red blanket from the top and brought it to me. “Use this to warm yourself up some more.” He frowned as I wrapped it around my shoulders. “I wish I could offer warmer clothes and the like, but alas.” He gestured to his baggy and tattered shirt. “This is all I have.”
The blanket smelled of sweat and smoke but I didn’t care. “It’s wonderful. Thank you so much.”
We sat in companionable silence as our dinner finished cooking. Old Rab gave me a lesson in how to pick the fish apart to find the bones. My stomach rumbled as I ate, glad to be getting something at last, but wishing it had been a filling steak.
I swallowed a piece of the soft, white meat. “How long have you lived here?”
The old man licked his finger. “In this cave? About ten years now.”
“Where did you live before that?”
He gave me a half-smile. “I’ve been in this forest for longer than you’ve been alive, Ally Foster.”
“Did you ever have a home?”
He let out a throaty laugh. “The forest is my home. I’ll never leave it.” Rab offered to pour me some more wine and this time I accepted. The drink was sweeter than other wines I’d tasted,more like some kind of berry juice, but thicker than cider or the tea Malvin had made. It burned my throat as I swallowed, but settled in my stomach with a toasty warmth. We finished off the last of the fish. Rab threw the remains outside into the forest. He gestured to the back of the cave with his head. “You may have the bed if you like.”
I didn’t want to deprive the old man of anything else. He’d already been so generous with his food and blanket. Besides, between the wine and all the walking, I knew I’d have no trouble falling asleep. “I’ll stay by the fire, if that’s good with you?”
He shrugged. “Are you certain?”
He wavered a bit out of focus. I blinked a few times to bring him back. “I’m sure. Thank you for everything.”
His wrinkled hands picked up a stick and used it to break apart one of the logs so the flames no longer burned as high. I laid down with my head in the crook of my arm as he ambled off to what remained of his bed.
“Good night, Rab.”
“Good night, Ally Foster.” I thought I heard him chuckle under his breath. “Sleep well.”
I slept without dreams, but not a peaceful sleep. It was as if something fought with my unconsciousness. Like I wanted to dream, but something stopped me.
Alystrine!
My eyes opened when I heard my grandmother call. Where was she? Sunlight poured in through the front of the cave. My head pounded. My tongue seemed to have swollen overnight. I smacked it against the roof of my mouth a few times, trying to relieve the sensation.
Old Rab was nowhere to be seen. The fire had again burned down to embers. A sick feeling churned in my stomach, not only a physical pain but one of worry. How long had I slept? I got up on all fours then stood. The cave rolled. I stumbled over to grab the wall like a drunken sailor.
Using the cave to steady my steps, I crept to the entrance. The sun wasn’t overhead, which meant it was either climbing or setting past the tree line. Surveying the forest, I cursed under my breath. Why hadn’t I paid more attention yesterday? Had we approached from the right side of the cave or the left? My memory shifted in and out of focus. Why couldn’t I remember?
I pressed my back against the wall and slid down to a crouching position, holding my head in my hands. Something was wrong. I pulled my fingers through my hair. I needed to be somewhere else, but for the life of me couldn’t remember where. Maybe if I started walking, I’d remember.
My fingers didn’t seem to be my own. They felt fat and clumsy. I tried four or five times to lace the leather ties of my sandals before giving up. I’d carry the stupid things.
“Are you feeling better?”
I shrieked at the voice, not realizing how accustomed I’d been to the quietness of the cave. Old Rab stood holding a dead rabbit. “Sorry if I gave you a fright. I tried to wake you earlier, but you’d not move.”
My heart raced. I shook my head in an attempt to clear out the strange fog that hung in my brain. “I need to go.”
The old man hobbled in. “No, you don’t.”
I stared into his green eyes. “I don’t?”
“No reason to leave so soon, Ally Foster.” His fuzzy eyebrows furrowed together in concern. “You’re not feelin’ well, are you?”
I rubbed my stomach. “No, I’m not.”
“Then stay another night. There’s no hurry to be on your way.”
“There’s not?”
He smiled down at me. “Of course not. Stay as long as you need.”
I frowned. He seemed to have more teeth today. I sat back on my heels. Something wasn’t right.
Rab whistled and set about preparing the fire and the rabbit for cooking. I studied the flames, watching them dance and lick the air like hungry snakes.
I shuddered. The image of the serpent popped into my head but then, like someone throwing water on a chalk drawing, it faded. I sat transfixed by the fire, unable to pull myself away.
Old Rab handed me a wooden cup. I took a sip without looking at what it held. The cloying wine slid down my throat with ease. I drank some more.
As if a curtain had been lifted to reveal a stage, I flashbacked to my first meeting with the Order. The heads of the Sanctuary. When I asked my uncle how I’d know my enemies, Devnet told me to pray for discernment. The thought slipped from my mind as I squinted again at the firelight.
Something was definitely wrong.
I glanced up at Rab. He puttered around the cave, grabbing spices to season the meat that now roasted over the flames. Heat rushed to my cheeks when he caught me staring at him.
“Are you well, my lady?”
I lowered my head. “I’m not sure.”
He came over by my side to refill my cup. “Have a bit more to drink, Ally Foster. It will do you good.” He shuffled back to turn the rabbit on the spit.
I stared at the purple liquid. Tiny waves formed on its surface as my hands trembled. What was I supposed to do again?
Discernment
The word pushed through my hazy thoughts. Ask for discernment. I closed my eyes. “Help me,” I whispered. “Something is wrong and I need help to know what to do.”
“What did you say?” Old Rab’s voice sounded more like a growl.
I looked up at him. “Nothing. Just talking to myself.”
His green eyes went cold, like emeralds, hard stones with no life in them. “Take another drink, Ally Foster.”
He no longer asked, this was a demand. I lifted the cup to my lips. His stone eyes watched as I took the smallest of sips.
“More.”
I tried to keep my voice even. “What?”
“Drink it all.”
But I knew. And looking at his face, Old Rab knew that I knew. The drink was drugged. Something in it caused me to forget everything I needed to do. Everything important to my life. How dumb was I to be drugged a second time? Now I knew why medieval monarchs always had tasters for their food. As soon as I got back to civilization, I’d hire one.
Old Rab stepped toward me, his feet no longer shuffling along the floor. “Drink it, Ally Foster. It will be better this way.”
I threw the liquid into the fire. Blue flames shot three feet into the air. I scooted away as the old man drew closer. The wrinkles on his face faded, his white hair turned dark brown. His body straightened and muscles filled out his clothes so that they no longer hung loose. I let out a squeak like a frightened mouse as my back hit the stone wall of the cave.
This new Rab stood over me. Younger. Stronger. His face hard and smooth, like stone. “There is nowhere to go, Alystrine.”
How did he know my real name?
“You came here of your own free will.” His voice no longer held the soft brogue of the old man. It was hard. Authoritative. Cruel. “You will stay until I say you can go.”
“But I didn’t know.”
One side of his mouth lifted in a cruel grin. “You knew as soon as you left the path. Do you deny it?”
I tried to push myself along the wall to get away from him but he stepped in my way. “I didn’t understand what it meant.”
He squatted in front of me. “You lie, Alystrine. You knew you what you were doing and yet you chose to take a different path.” He leaned closer. “You chose to come to me.”
His voice changed. No longer the crackling sighs of an old man, this new Rab’s voice filled my head with sound, as if a hundred people all spoke at once. He let his fingertips follow the length of my neck down to my collarbone, leaving my skin feeling as if he’d touched me with an ice cube. He laughed when I pushed off the wall and ran to the other side of the cave.
“Who are you?”
“I am Rabble. I am Many. The Ancient One.” He rose in one fluid motion. “And you are mine.”
“No.”
He strode up to the fire. “You will stay here. At least until the Black Guards come.”
My knees weakened. “What?”
He held his hands out over the flames as if to warm them. “I’ve told you from the beginning. The Lord Regent has made a deal with us and, as you won’t leave Ayden and he has kept his end of the bargain, we will keep ours.”
I made a dash toward the entrance but was yanked backwards and thrown to the ground by an invisible force. Rabble’s footsteps crunched near my head. The fire reflected off the polished leather of the boots he now wore. “You are strong, but not as strong as us.”
My mind reeled with thoughts of the Black Guards. I couldn’t let myself be taken by them again. “Oh God,” I choked out a prayer. “Someone help me!”
He pressed his boot against my mouth to silence me. Then he swung the foot back. I knew if it connected with my head I would be out cold. In an instant I shifted my body so I could grab his shin. He grunted as I pulled his leg out from under him and he crashed to the floor.
Again, I ran for the opening. Again, unseen hands stopped me. I fell to my knees, the force pushing me to the ground. I dug my fingers into the dirt, trying without success to keep from being dragged back into the cave.
“You gave me power over you when agreed to come with me.” Rab rose unsteadily to his feet. “You are mine.”
I rolled to my back and stared up at him. “I take it back.”
He grinned. “You cannot.”
“I don’t believe you.”
A wave of confusion fell over his face. “What?”
“I made a mistake. I’ve changed my mind.”
He struggled to maintain in control. “It matters not. The choice has been made. You cannot go back.”
“No.” I
pushed myself up so I could look up into his face. “As long as I’m living, I can choose to change my life. I don’t have to keep making the same stupid mistakes.” He reached out as if he was going to take my throat in his hand but I struck it away. “I’m going to find the right path and I’m going to finish what I set out to do. You can’t stop me!”
This time when I fled to the entrance, nothing forced me back. Barefoot, I escaped, unsure of what direction I needed to go but relieved to have gotten out of the cave.
“The Black Guards are on their way Alystrine,” Rabble’s voice called. “They will find you before you complete your quest.” I tripped over a branch and sprawled face first into the dirt. I spit out mud. Rab’s silhouette stood in the mouth of the cave. “Come back to me and I will ease the passage to Braedon. The drugs will take you to a place past caring. Without them, you know what the Black Guards will do to your mind.”
I fought against my terror and pushed myself off the ground. A dark gray sky hung overhead, the last rays of sunshine long since disappearing behind the trees. I let out a choked sob as I fled into the darkening forest.
Rabble’s voice echoed as I ran fast and hard. “This is my last offer, Alystrine. Return to me now or face the Black Guards on your own.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Final Test
I ran until the cold air froze my lungs and I couldn’t breathe without searing pain stabbing my chest. The moon hid behind a thick layer of clouds, making it impossible to see any kind of path through the forest. I stumbled forward from tree to tree, stopping to use each trunk like an oversized cane to keep my balance.
The Black Guards were coming.
I could feel them already in my mind–seeking me. They fed off my fear. It gave them power, and with that power they would find me quicker. I swallowed the panic that fought its way up from my gut. I wasn’t hurt this time. I wasn’t bleeding to death. I wouldn’t let them take me again. I would find my way to Ginessa’s Glade and complete this task of the Elders. Then together with my mother and Geran and Devnet and Quinn, I’d go to Uz to face Lord Braedon.
