“What is it?” Mikel asked. “Your expression is not encouraging.”
“I reached the first town over the border and found that they are the next target for the Csökkent.” I repeated my conversation with the baker, making Mikel frown with worry.
“You did the right thing to come back,” he said. “Let’s get a dozen warriors and meet the Csökkent before they reach the town.”
“Done!” I ran to the Warriors’ Arena, looking for Edwin and finding him easily.
“Edwin, we need twelve of you to come with us quickly. The Csökkent will be attacking a small town soon.”
“You got it!” Edwin replied with enthusiasm.
Within the hour, we were on our way back to the small town. I didn’t realize that the warriors could follow Mikel when he traveled, making it very easy to get everyone there at the same time. I took Mikel with me, and the warriors followed him. We arrived just outside the village, in the same group of trees that I had left from.
“The baker said they followed this road north, then left the road and traveled into the forest,” I explained to the group. “We’re in the foothills of the mountain, so it’s possible that there’s an abandoned mine nearby.”
“Should we wait here for them?” Edwin asked. “We could miss them in the forest and not even realize that they attacked the town.”
“Yes, I think you’re right,” Mikel replied. “We could split our forces, but if the Csökkent show up with more demons than we anticipate, we might not be able to stop them.”
So, we waited. The waiting was painful, but the Csökkent finally arrived, and we watched as the two men walked down the road and into town.
“Follow them, Darian,” Mikel whispered. I nodded and disappeared.
They went to each shop, harassing the owners, but I noticed the shopkeepers’ wary postures and defensive attitudes and smiled. Just as we reached the far end of town, I heard a loud, sharp whistle. I almost turned towards it, but I decided to watch the Csökkent’s reaction to see if it was one of theirs. Their surprised expressions indicated that it wasn’t one of the Csökkent, so I had to assume it was one of my group. I sprinted back to the north side of town and heard the battle long before I could see it.
When I reached the edge of the small group of trees, four demons and three warriors burst from the trees and into the road. I heard footsteps behind me and turned to see the two Csökkent running towards the group fighting in front of me. I pulled my illusion close to my body and leapt at the nearest Csökkent as he fired a bolt of lightning towards the group. It struck two of the demons and one of our warriors, causing all three to howl in pain. Blood sprayed across my arm as I sliced his neck and tackled the Csökkent next to him, knocking the air from his lungs. I buried my long dagger into his heart while he struggled to utter the words for his next spell, which died with him. I pushed myself from his dead body and joined the warriors fighting against the four demons.
I was grateful that the warriors had trained with us; it enabled me to move in behind the demons unseen while the warriors attacked from the front. I knew our warriors would see me flicker as I appeared, but the demons would not. We eliminated that group quickly and went to find Mikel and the remaining warriors. I could hear the clashing of their weapons in the trees and see Mikel’s blinding, white sword flashing in the shadows of the forest. By the time we arrived, the rest of the demons were dead.
“Gather them in a pile and burn them quickly, before the villagers come this way,” Mikel instructed. “Darian, as soon as this group is done, I’ll have the group at the road ready for you.”
We gathered all the bodies and I focused a funnel of fire into the pile, trying not to burn down the forest. I pulled a veil of air around the burning demons and compressed it into a small inferno until there was nothing but ash remaining. When we arrived at the road, the villagers were walking towards Mikel with old swords, shovels, picks, and kitchen knives. Mikel’s average frame, blond hair, and pointed features seemed so out of place standing in front of a pile of dead demons. I almost chuckled. Edwin elbowed me in the ribs, and I looked over to see him grinning. He must have had the same thought.
“What are those things?” the constable asked with disgust as he approached the gruesome pile.
“Those are demons, summoned by the two men in black robes who visited your village earlier,” Mikel replied.
“What did they want with our village?” asked one of the villagers, holding a shovel in his hands and fear in his eyes.
Mikel looked at him with compassion. “They are evil men who serve an even more evil master. They wish to destroy us, and they summon these creatures to do their bidding.” Mikel addressed the rest of the villagers standing before him. “Go back to your homes and families, but be vigilant and brave. If you see men dressed in these robes, be wary. They will always have this evil following them.”
We watched as the group reluctantly dispersed, then Mikel turned towards us as we looked at him expectantly. “As unpleasant as it will be, we need to carry these bodies into the forest. I prefer the villagers not see what Darian needs to do. It will only frighten them more.”
We dragged the bodies into the forest, and the warriors went back to the edge of the trees to make sure no one followed. Mikel stayed with me as I incinerated the bodies.
“You didn’t tell them about the sacrifices.” I looked at him, questioning why he hadn’t.
“No, and I hope they never find out,” he replied. “There have already been too many who have seen that destruction and now carry that heartache.” He looked at me with sadness and guilt. “I feel responsible, Darian. It’s my job to ensure we maintain balance, and I feel like I’m failing miserably.”
“I think there’s more happening here than we can possibly understand, Mikel, much less prepare for.” I laid my hand on his shoulder for a moment then headed back towards the road.
After a few minutes, Mikel followed me out of the trees. The sun was starting to set, leaving the sky with streaks of red, pink, and orange. We stood there, looking at the sunset until it dropped behind the trees.
“If the demons are this far south, then Adalina, Eli, and Juana likely found the same troubles as you,” Mikel said to me, breaking the silence. “I’m leaving a couple of the warriors with you and going back to Santuario with the rest.” He looked up at the darkening sky. “Return tomorrow with a report, and be careful.”
“I’ll find them before tomorrow night,” I assured him.
Edwin and another warrior named David stayed with me. “Let’s see if we can follow the demons’ tracks back to their den,” I suggested. “The snow is deep enough that we should be able to see them for another hour, maybe longer if the moon is bright enough.”
They nodded in agreement and we went back through the trees, looking for tracks. They were easy to follow through the snow for an hour, then, just as the baker had said, the tracks disappeared. I looked at the terrain around us, noting the line of trees to our south, a group of low hills in front of us, and a small valley running east to west where we stood.
“There must be a hidden entrance somewhere. There’s no way the demons just popped into existence right here.” I looked at Edwin and David, hoping they had seen something I missed.
“Is it possible they can now travel like we do?” David asked.
“I sure hope not!” Edwin said vehemently.
“I agree with Edwin,” I replied. “Let’s assume they can’t, unless we’re unable to find an entrance to a cave or mine.”
“What if they deliberately backtracked here to hide the starting point?” Edwin asked. “There are tracks here from dozens of demons, going in both directions.”
“Good point, Edwin!” I said, clapping him on the back. “It must be in the tree line.”
We retraced our steps into the trees and started searching for the entrance to a cave. It had to be a shallow tunnel leading into the nearby hills, or it was possible that they dug out a new cavern for th
eir own use.
“Over here, I think I’ve found it!” David called out as he was pushing aside a large thicket of underbrush. We helped him pull the branches away to reveal the opening to a sloped tunnel. It was dark, but there were fresh prints leading down into the tunnel.
“Good work!”
“Aren’t we supposed to be finding Adalina, not looking for more demons?” Edwin asked.
I paused before entering the mouth of the tunnel and looked at the two warriors. They were fiercely loyal to Adalina, and I knew they were concerned for her.
“Adalina and the others would have reported back to Santuario by now unless something has happened that prevents them from doing so,” I explained. “It’s only one more day to the next town where I expected to meet them. I’m assuming they ran into a group of Csökkent and demons who have kept them preoccupied.” Understanding started to dawn across their faces. “I bet this tunnel will lead us to our friends as well as the demons.”
“Lead on!” they said in unison, and I smiled. I pulled a torch from my bag and lit it as we entered the tunnel.
Chapter 27
The tunnel slowly sloped downward into the earth, large tree trunks supported the walls and ceiling every few feet. It was obvious that the tunnel was new, as the trees still bled sap from their recent cutting. We headed in a northeasterly direction for what seemed like hours before the tunnel started rising back towards the surface.
“Sorry boys,” I said. “We’ll need to continue the rest of the way in the dark. I think we’re almost to the end.” The tunnel was quiet, but I feared we might run into guards when we reached the end. I extinguished the torch, leaving us in total darkness.
“Put your hand on my shoulder so we don’t lose track of one another,” David suggested. “It will also keep us oriented in the dark.”
“Great idea!” I said with surprise. “Obviously, you do more than just train with weapons.” They chuckled at my comment, and we moved forward awkwardly for about ten minutes before reaching the end. It was still dark outside, and the moon had already set, so we didn’t realize we were at the end until we felt the fresh night air on our faces. We almost rushed out of the tunnel, but at the last minute I held us back.
“We should make sure there are no guards before we escape from this hole in the ground,” I whispered quietly. I closed my eyes and searched the area with my mind.
There were two demons just outside the tunnel. I pushed my mind a little farther out, where I found a dense forest with a small trail leading up to a well-used road. I retreated back to my mind.
“There are two demons at the entrance,” I said quietly.
“You and David should take the one on the right, dispatching it quickly, then assist me with the one on the left if it’s not already dead,” Edwin suggested.
“Sounds like a plan to me,” I replied.
“I bet I can kill the right one on my own before you and Darian can kill the left one,” David challenged.
“What makes you think I need help taking down the one on the left?” Edwin said, starting to raise his voice.
“Do we have a challenge?” David asked with a grin.
“We do!” Edwin replied, and he leapt from the mouth of the tunnel towards the demon on the left.
“Damn!” David swore and shot forward towards the one on the right.
I laughed at their competitiveness and followed them into the cool night air. The demons were dead within seconds, and the two warriors were arguing over who got the kill first.
“Darian, tell me you saw that!” David demanded.
“Sorry, you were too quick for me,” I replied with a hearty laugh. “They were dead by the time I made it out of the tunnel.”
I incinerated the two demons and scattered their ashes with the wind. David and Edwin were back to business, following tracks in the snow.
“Darian, there are three sets of tracks here that aren’t demon or Csökkent,” David said. “Could they be Adalina’s group?”
I smiled at the way he always referred to them as Adalina’s group.
“The two largest sets of tracks could certainly be Adalina and Eli,” I said, looking at the boot prints in the snow. “It would make sense that the smaller ones belong to Juana, rounding out the group.”
“The tracks follow this small path,” Edwin added. “Are we going after them?”
“Absolutely!” I replied. “This path leads to a well-traveled road. It’ll be morning soon, hopefully making our task a little easier.”
When we reached the road, the sun was rising over the trees into a deep-blue sky. I welcomed its warmth.
“I guess we follow the road,” Edwin said, looking at the tracks that disappeared in the distance. “Why would they be on the road and not reporting back to Santuario? These tracks can’t be more than ten or twelve hours old, which means that they came through here yesterday evening.”
“I don’t know,” I replied, thinking of the timing. “They must have come through the tunnel just before the demons and Csökkent that we fought yesterday.” I paused for a moment. “Or just after they came through the tunnel to attack the town.”
“I hope we catch up to them soon,” David said, the frustration clear on his face. “There are too many questions with no answers.”
After another two hours, we reached another small village. The villagers were all heading in one direction towards the center of town. We merged with the crowd and followed to find out what the commotion was. I smiled when I saw Eli, Juana, and Adalina being showered with food and gifts. Adalina was delighted with all the attention, while Eli and Juana let her have it. There was no resentment in their eyes, just relief and exhaustion.
When the crowd disbursed, we approached our friends with smiles and handshakes.
“Mikel is worried sick,” I said quietly. “Let’s go home so you can tell us what happened.”
“We should close that tunnel first,” Juana said, looking at Eli.
I looked over at her tired face. “You’re right,” I agreed. “They should not have easy access to conceal their movement.”
“You know of the tunnel?” she asked with surprise.
“Yes, it’s how we found you,” I replied. “We stopped a group of demons and Csökkent from attacking the town at the south end of the tunnel, then followed it to the end to find your tracks leading us here.”
“When did this happen?” Adalina asked urgently. “We just came through that tunnel yesterday afternoon.”
“We fought the demons just outside of the village yesterday evening,” Edwin replied.
“I don’t know how we missed them,” Eli said with disbelief.
“Well, they’re gone now,” David said with satisfaction. “Let’s close that tunnel and go home.”
“But what if there are others that we’ve missed?” Juana asked. “We can’t leave these people with that danger lurking.”
“Mikel needs us home to make a plan,” I replied. “Do you realize how close you are to Zar’Asur’s castle?”
“We can’t be that close,” Juana replied, but the doubt showed on her face.
“Less than two days from here,” I said.
She gasped. “He is drawing us to him, isn’t he?”
“Possibly, which is why we need to go home.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Juana traveled to the northern end of the tunnel while I went to the southern end. Then each of us forced a massive fireball down the mouth of the tunnel, causing each end to collapse. When we finished our task, we went back to Santuario.
We arrived back at the gate and smiled at one another.
“I keep forgetting about Raphael’s newest toy,” I said, laughing. “Old habits are hard to break.”
As we walked through the courtyard, Adalina talked quietly with Edwin and David. They left us and headed towards the barracks as we passed by. I looked at Eli and Juana, noticing their silence and exhaustion.
Just as we reached the door to the tower
, Edwin ran up behind us and handed Adalina a small package wrapped in a white towel. I looked at her skeptically, but she just smiled.
We entered the hall, and Adalina, Eli, and Juana headed towards the stairwell. I remembered the new meeting room and stopped at the door. It was slightly ajar, and I could see a small light peeking through the cracks around the door.
“I think Mikel is in here,” I called to them.
They turned around and gave me a strange look when they saw me motioning towards the old storeroom.
“Raphael made a new meeting room for us,” I explained with a smile as I pushed open the door.
Mikel looked up as I opened the door. “Please tell me you found them,” he said with pleading eyes. Then he saw them come around the corner, and relief washed over his features.
“Everyone sit down and rest while I get Raphael.”
He quickly left the room and was back within minutes, Raphael in tow. It was just enough time for Adalina to hand the small package to Eli, who was sitting next to her. He opened it and smiled at the pile of sandwiches. He handed one to Juana, who looked at Adalina with appreciation. Mikel went to the large table that still had the map covering one end, then turned to look at each of us.
“First, I’m grateful to have Adalina, Juana, and Eli back in Santuario. I won’t try to hide my concern for each of you.” He paused, reining in his emotion. “Second, tell me what happened after I left that small village on the border.”
Eli and Juana looked at one another. “You were in Russia?” they asked together.
I blushed, realizing I’d left that part out. Mikel looked at me with confusion. “You didn’t tell them about the Csökkent you found?”
“I did, sort of,” I said self-consciously. I looked towards the group and recounted my journey across the border, along with the battle at the village. I turned my attention to Mikel, describing the tunnel that led to Eli, Juana, and Adalina.
“Amazing,” Raphael said. “Not that I’m happy about it,” he corrected, “but clearly they’ve been in this area for a while. It must’ve taken them months to dig out that tunnel, and it’s a brilliant way for the demons to travel unseen.”
Light's Rise (Light in the Darkness Book 1) Page 21
