The Chronicles of Lumineia: Book 02 - The Gathering

by Ben Hale

  The words were insufficient to dispel the knot of dread in Taryn chest, but he thanked him anyway.

  Rake pointed to a side cave that had been concealed to look like a small alcove, “That leads to a secret exit at the base of the cliff. After I seal the main entrance it will be the only way in.”

  “But won’t that trap you inside?” Taryn asked.

  Rake smiled, patting him on the shoulder. “I don’t think I will be needing it, my friend. Good luck on your quest. I hope you survive.” Without waiting for a response, Rake turned and ambled back down the corridor. Taryn watched him until he was out of sight before turning to the large striped cat beside him.

  “Well we learned more than I could have hoped. Let’s get back to the camp,” Taryn said, stepping onto the wide staircase. Descending he reached the bottom and departed through a small opening hidden behind a large boulder. Bracing himself against the furious storm, he started running behind the white tigron.

  Before he knew it, he once again stood in the opening to the small cave where Liri sat on watch. Before he could say a word of greeting she stalked towards him. She came to a halt so close he could feel her warm breath on his face.

  “You didn’t even tell me where you were going, Taryn,” she hissed. “What if something happened to you and I never found out! I could kill you for being so inconsiderate as to not even tell me—”

  He didn't know why he did it, but he didn't think to second guess the impulse. Taryn’s soft kiss was only meant to stop her tirade and let her know he was sorry, but she wrapped her slim arms around his neck and kissed him back. Despite the wind, tingles of energy flooded his body. The sensation of fire blanketed his skin and dried his throat. As her mouth moved against his, he began to feel light headed. Dizzy, he pulled away at the same time she did.

  They held on to each other for a moment, and then he flashed a cautious grin. “That was unexpected,” Taryn said, and she smirked.

  “About time,” Jack said smugly, and Taryn turned to see everyone standing in the cave entrance. Trin crowed and the others started to laugh. Even Mae was grinning, and Taryn felt his face flush. Glancing at Liri, he saw her sheepish smile and couldn’t help but laugh at himself. As if of their own volition, his hands reached out and took hers. Her cold fingers intertwined with his, sending another jolt of lightning through his body.

  As the laughter died down, Taryn sobered and looked at each of their expectant faces in turn. “There’s a lot I need to tell you.”

  Chapter 28: Hunger

  Gaze stepped into the king’s antechamber and tried to rub the weariness and grime from his eyes. It was the room in which the king had gazed into the prophecy orb, but it felt like a different place. It felt like another life. Dirt and scattered papers littered the floor, and in the morning chill the hearth lay devoid of warmth. Dawn filtered through the windows and cast a dismal light onto the once bright room, allowing gray shadows to overtake the floor.

  “Spooky, don’t you think?” Anders said beside him, flashing him a half-hearted grin.

  Gaze nodded, looking out a window as if he might spot someone in the deserted city of Herosian, but Prince Graden had done an excellent job of evacuating the city. By now almost the whole population of the southern kingdom had departed, abandoning the jewel of the south to the invaders. From the moment they had approached the city Gaze had felt out of place. Streets once filled with people were now littered with trash rustling in the breeze. Doors and shutters hung open and storefronts still contained molding scraps on the counters. At every turn the evidence of the rushed departure glared at them, leaving the once bustling metropolis an empty husk.

  “How much time do you think we have?” Anders said, searching through some papers on his father’s desk.

  Gaze walked to the east side of the room and looked out another window. In the distance he could see the massive dust cloud rising from the approaching army. Looking skyward he saw the distinctive line of dark clouds that followed the army. His forehead crinkled as he considered that phenomenon. For everything he knew about magic he could not explain why every piece of sky above the fiends billowed with darkness, as if the very heavens were blackened by the presence of the creatures below. The cloud stretched in a distinct line from the lake on the north, to as far as he could see to the south. On the one hand it allowed him to mark the army at any time during the day, but it struck fear through his soul at the host of foes it implied.

  “An hour,” Gaze said, hoping for more, “At best.”

  Anders didn’t reply. Instead he continued searching the desk. Snatching an open letter he said, “Hey, this is from Graden.” He scanned the document and nodded in satisfaction. “It says he got everyone out, and wishes us luck.”

  “That’s at least some good news,” Gaze said. “Does it say anything else?”

  Anders laughed as he scratched the scruff on his face, “I think so, it’s a few pages long.” He flashed the sheaf of papers at Gaze before stuffing them into his pouch. “We can study the note later. I need to keep looking.” Growling, he turned to the shelves along the wall.

  “What are you looking for anyway?” Gaze said. “All you said was that we had to stop here.”

  “Relax,” Anders said, turning to another shelf. “We’ll be out long before they catch up.”

  “I don’t know,” Gaze said with a frown, his stare returning to the enormous cloud advancing towards the city. “They always seem faster than we expect.”

  Anders paused, his expression resigned. “If I don’t find it in the next five minutes, let’s go.”

  “Fine, but what is it anyway? The only reason I agreed to stop was because you said your father would want you to.” He spun to face to his long-time friend, an apology on his lips. It was the first time he’d mentioned king Drayson since they had watched him be killed by the fiend captain.

  “It’s OK,” Anders said, sinking into his father’s chair. For a moment the silence hung between them, until the prince murmured. “I just can’t believe he’s gone.”

  “Me either,” Gaze said, leaning against the wall as his voice caught. He had to swallow to say, “I . . . I'm sorry I didn't save him.”

  Anders face clouded in anger, “Don’t take that on yourself, Gaze. He knew what he was getting into when he took us out there.”

  Gaze looked away, his throat too tight to speak. The king had been like a father to him ever since he’d met the prince, and losing Drayson had been a stab in the gut. He couldn’t imagine a world where the wise king didn’t live. Of all the deaths he had seen, and of every brave soldier he’d watched die, Drayson was the hardest to bear.

  “Do you really want to know what I am looking for?” Anders said, and when Gaze turned back he saw that the prince’s expression was wistful. At Gaze's affirmation the prince smiled. “It’s my father’s favorite ring. It’s just a simple band, but it has an engraving that was very special to him.”

  “What does it say?” Gaze asked, his curiosity getting the best of him.

  “I honestly don’t know," Anders said with a shrug, "He always told me that it had helped him in the bad times as well as the good.”

  “I don’t understand."

  “Me either. He used to say that it helped him in the good times to be prepared for the bad, and it reminded him that dark days always come to an end,” Anders exclaimed, reciting his father’s words as he returned to his search. “He told me when we set out that he didn’t take it with him, but to return for it if anything happened to him.”

  A moment later Anders crowed in exultation. “Found it!”

  Gaze moved to stand beside him and read what was on the inside of the plain silver ring. In clear flowing script were the words ‘Remember the end.’ The phrase resounded in Gaze’s mind for several seconds as he considered their meaning. As understanding dawned on him of how the expression must have helped the king, and he realized how many conversations he’d had with the old man where this ring must have influenced his ad
vice.

  A low chuckle came from Anders and he turned to see the prince with the first true smile he’d seen since they’d been in the courtyard four weeks and forever ago. “Now are you ready to go?”

  Gaze flashed a grin. “Let’s go.”

  Their errand completed, they hurried to exit the castle and get out of the city before the army arrived. Stopping to swap their filthy clothes for clean garments and refill their packs with scraps left in the storerooms, they exited the deserted castle and walked into the hazy morning sun . . .

  Gaze stopped cold as he came through the gate and saw what waited for them. In a perfect semi-circle around the main gate, twelve hulking Krakas stood like statues of impending death. Although he’d seen one in the darkness, this was the first time he’d looked at one during the day.

  Each one stood at least ten feet tall, and their heavy obsidian swords dragging behind them were almost as big. On the outside of their black skin, white bone grew like armor plating. Although there were several gaps, he doubted anyone could get close enough to slip a blade through—or if it would even slow the massive creature. His gaze crawling up their goliath forms, Gaze saw that the krakas skulls were a sinister combination of bone, black skin, and red eyes. As still as death, Gaze knew they moved far quicker than seemed logical, and that they could close the gap in less than three seconds. His heart caved as he recognized there was no way out of the ring.

  They were dead.

  Anders whispered something, too quiet for him to hear but he didn’t dare turn his head. “What?” he hissed.

  “They were sent to kill us,” Anders said in a low voice.

  “Why?” Gaze asked, fighting to quell the panic bubbling inside him. “And why aren’t they attacking? I have never seen them not attack.”

  “They are staring at you Gaze.” Anders said.

  Gaze blanched as he saw that his friend's words were true. Every single Kraka was looking at him. “So why aren’t they charging?” Gaze demanded, his desperation cracking his composure.

  “These were sent to keep us here.” Anders said, understanding coloring his voice. “We have slipped through their fingers too many times, and I don’t think they want it to happen again. Any chance you can strike them all at the same time?”

  “Are you crazy?” Gaze said. “It was hard enough to take one down, let alone twelve!”

  “So what do you—” Anders started to ask but then the Krakas shifted, leaving a small gap in their center. Before Gaze could say anything, the most vile thing he had ever seen filled the opening. Shorter than a human, the fiend looked vaguely like a dwarf. Dry gray skin hung on a skeletal frame, giving the impression that the thing hadn’t eaten in an eternity. Emaciated beyond the point of death, its stomach sunk almost to the backbone, and each rib pressed through the flesh of the bare chest. It moved slowly, as if it lacked the strength to walk, but a moment later Gaze forgot all about his horror when the thing raised its arm.

  Unimaginable pain arced through Gaze’s body, and he doubled over, gasping for breath. His stomach seized in the worst hunger he’d ever experienced and his whole body convulsed at the demand. Involuntarily he clawed for his fallen pack and fumbled for the food they had gathered, but the moment he pulled it into view he saw it molding and wasting away.

  He screamed as the craving to fill his stomach arched his back, causing him to fall to his knees and clasp his stomach with both hands. Images of bread, cheese, fruit and every other edible food flashed through his mind, amplifying the craving to the point of madness. Looking down he was astonished to see his stomach begin to shrink, and for that brief second, despair engulfed him . . .

  Then the hunger stopped short, leaving a dull ache that left him in an agony of want. Blinking at the sunlight, he fought to raise his head to see why. Forty feet away he saw the wretched fiend that had caused his hunger, and he squinted to see what looked different. As his vision cleared, he spotted something that made his eyes widen. An arrow now protruded from the creature's thin arm, but before he could focus enough to puzzle out where the arrow came from, the krakas surrounded the fiend as arrows began to rain down on them.

  An arm grabbed his, hauling him to his feet and yanking him back inside the castle. Bleary eyed and fighting the urge to gag he turned to see an armored elf dragging him half stumbling away from the giant krakas. A few feet away another elf had already succeeded in getting Anders inside the portcullis, and he shut the iron barricade just before a kraka thundered into it.

  The clash of bone and steel caused the gate to shudder but it held—just. Its metal bars now bent, Gaze doubted the barrier would hold against more than a few more attempts.

  “Get them to the ladder,” his rescuer ordered with a light voice.

  An elf maid?

  He tried to ask a question but couldn't get the words out. His throat was so dry his question came out as a cough. Ignoring him, the two elves shouldered their burdens and hurried to the north wall. Gratefully, Gaze began to feel his strength returning as they rounded the northwest corner of the castle. Sixty feet away Gaze spotted a ladder leaning against the courtyard wall, and the elves hastened for it.

  The wall ahead of them exploded inward, the impact throwing battlement bricks like they were pebbles and knocking them to the ground. Adrenaline spiked through Gaze's body, and he somehow managed to get to his feet a split second after the elves. A huge fiend captain now stood between them and the ladder to safety. Whirling towards them, it bellowed its fury as the gap he'd created filled with Quare, their angry challenges filling the air.

  “Back!” the elf captain yelled. “Inside the castle!”

  Without argument, all four of them hustled into the citadel, slamming the main doors a heartbeat before they shuddered from a blow. The elf whirled, her gaze piercing. “Is there another way out?” she demanded.

  “No,” Gaze said, at the same time Anders said, “Yes.”

  Gaze stared at him in surprise, but he winked at him and said, “The drain.”

  Snorting, Gaze spun and raced down a hall. “This way,” he called, sprinting when he heard the doors shatter behind them.

  The drain that Anders had referred to was a large drainage pipe that led from the kitchens to outside the castle. At some point when the prince was young, he had figured out a way to loosen the bars that covered it so they still looked intact. For years they had used it as a secret way of escaping the confines of the royal house whenever they wished.

  Racing past the dining hall and into the kitchen, Gaze hurried to the corner and yanked the bars off the hole. Sweeping his hand to the elf captain he said with a smile, “Ladies first.”

  She gave a short bark of laughter, and then jerked her chin to the other elf, “Loken, you first, make sure it’s clear on the other end. Then the prince and his friend. I'll go last.”

  Both Gaze and Anders opened their mouths to protest but she gave them such a fierce glare that their words died on their lips. Amongst snarling echoes of fiends searching the castle, Loken slipped into the hole, followed by Anders. Just as Gaze crouched to drop into the drain, two Quare leaped into the room, heading straight for the elf captain.

  Before Gaze could even think to react, the elf darted forward. One of the fiends lunged for her, but she side-stepped and struck it as it flew past her. Before the body had even crashed to the floor she’d dispatched the other one. Returning to the gate she demanded, “What’s the delay?”

  He flushed as he realized he was staring and dropped into the dark pipe. In the blink of an eye, she followed him in, but still managed to replace the gate before several other Quare entered the kitchen. “Go!” she whispered.

  Turning, Gaze hurried down the long tunnel. Reaching the end, he dived through the opening and into a covered culvert. Three dead Quare bore testament to a short battle, but no other fiends were in sight. Gaze breathed a sigh of relief as the agile elf materialized through the opening behind him.

  “Who are you?” Anders asked before Gaze cou
ld.

  She didn’t answer until she had checked the perimeter and received a nod of assurance from Loken. Satisfied, she turned to face them, “I am Lexi, Captain of the guard of Lareith. It’s a small village in Numenessee. We heard about you trying to slow them down and thought we would join you.”

  “You were sent? Or volunteered?” Anders asked, his eyebrows pulling together.

  “We came on our own.” Lexi said, her eyes going hard. “When the order to gather came, we felt this was where we were supposed to be.”

  “So how did you find us?” Gaze asked.

  “We saw you enter the city, but we were too far away to catch up. By the time we got here, we saw Famine and the contingent of Krakas setting the trap for you.” She flashed a dazzling grin and added, “We discretely surrounded them.”

  “Is that what that thing is called, Famine?” Gaze asked, rubbing his stomach.

  She nodded. “His magic is the opposite of the kind farmers usually have. He spreads hunger, a powerful draining spell.”

  “So we are lucky to be alive,” Gaze stated, and Lexi smirked.

  “So what now?” Anders asked.

  Before Lexi could respond, scratching and snarling echoed from the tunnel. Glancing towards the dark opening, she said, “We’d better move. We have spare horses and the rest of the Riverguard will have pulled back by now.”

  She began to move away but Anders raised a hand. “Hold on a second.” Then he looked at Gaze. “Take down the tunnel, would you?”

  Gaze nodded, aware of the puzzled expression on Lexi’s face. Turning in the direction of the tunnel, he raised a hand and clenched it into a fist. A bolt of lightning streaked downward and struck the ground on top of the tunnel fifty feet away. Muted cries of pain and a blast of air signaled the tunnel had collapsed and Gaze turned back to Lexi with a satisfied expression.

  Her thin eyebrows were raised. “Lightning magic,” she said. “Impressive.”