"Is that the only way through?" Tylen asked.
Darek nodded gravely. "As far as I know, yes."
Tylen was about to ask another question, but then two young clansmen came running toward the fire. When one of them spoke, he sounded short on breath. "Clan Black Wolf has sent a raiding party. They should be here in minutes."
Chapter 37: Clan Black Wolf
Tylen felt petrified as he waited for Clan Black Wolf to reach the settlement. He and Will had been trained to fight as Imperial Guards, but Tylen wasn't wearing his chain mail. He felt vulnerable without it.
"You should get outta here," Darek said. "We'll take care of the battle. You should use it is a distraction. We can handle things ourselves."
Tylen had already been planning something like that. He didn't want to be part of this battle. It wasn't his war. Yes, Clan Mountain Eagle had helped them and given them food, but that wasn't worth dying for. In Tylen's experience, very few things were worth one's life.
The riders approached from atop a nearby hill, dozens and dozens of them. Clan Mountain Eagle had similar numbers of warriors, so Tylen had no idea who'd win the battle. All he knew was he had to get out of here. Now.
But they couldn't escape until the battle started. Some of the riders carried bows. If Tylen's party tried to escape too soon, they'd be easy targets.
The riders rushed forward, screaming their war cries. Tylen's legs felt as if they couldn't support his weight. His chest seized with panic, the type of panic he hadn't felt since Crayden, or perhaps since his duel with Sam, his commander.
"We might have to fight anyways," Will said.
Tylen groaned softly, the sound lost amidst the activity surrounding them. "Not if I have anything to say about it."
Clan Mountain Eagle's warriors rushed forward, some on horseback, some on foot. They unleashed their own war cries, and soon volleys of arrows flew back and forth. One arrow whizzed by Tylen's ear, and his heart climbed into his throat.
"This is our best chance!" he shouted over the chaos. "We need to run."
He, Will, and Farah took off running as arrows flew through the air. The clinking and clanking of swords rang out as the riders met one another with savage fury. Already, Tylen could smell blood in the air. A few warriors on each side had fallen.
Tylen's party reached the edge of the settlement, but two riders from Clan Black Wolf were pursuing them. He turned to face them, nocking an arrow on his bow. Though he wasn't a great archer, he was good enough to hit a man heading straight toward him.
The rider urged his mount to the side just as Tylen released the arrow. It flew past the man, missing him by less than a foot. Damn. Now the rider was too close. Tylen dropped his bow and unsheathed his sword.
The horse raced toward him, preparing to trample him. As he ducked to the side, narrowly avoiding its charge, he slashed at one of its legs. The horse lost its balance as the leg collapsed beneath it, sending the rider flying forward. The man hit the ground hard, letting out a soft groan, but then he got to his feet immediately, facing Tylen with a drawn sword.
Tylen engaged the man, driving him back with a quick series of swings and thrusts. When Tylen had a sword in his hands, he felt as if he could conquer any challenge. Tylen parried one blow, then darted past his opponent's defenses and plunged his sword through the man's chest. The warrior's face twitched in pain and surprise, and then he fell.
Tylen turned away from the dying man, looking for Will and Farah. To his horror, he saw Will chasing after one of the riders. The rider held Farah atop his horse. She struggled against him, but he was too strong. The horse and rider raced away.
Will collapsed where he was, staring at the receding horse.
"What happened?" Tylen demanded. "How did that man grab her?"
"I wasn't fast enough. I'm sorry."
"You idiot! Don't you realize what they're going to do to her?"
"I tried to protect her," Will said. "I'm sorry."
Tylen tried to catch his breath. "Sorry. I know you tried."
"We'll just have to get her back."
"And we will," Tylen said. For the first time, he realized that his relationship with Farah was about more than sex. He did care for her. A part of him still longed for Nadia's company, but he'd come to understand that that would never happen. Farah was also a smart and spirited young woman, and she was more beautiful than Nadia.
Tylen would find a way to save her.
He was surprised by his own determination.
Chapter 38: Many Paths
Garet, Cyrus, Gram and Commander Adams all teleported to Varner City, then made their way north toward the entrance to the tunnels. They couldn't teleport directly to the Underground City because of the magical barriers around the place. When they reached the entrance to the tunnels, Cyrus touched a hand to a rock formation, and the cave passage shifted open in front of them.
"Now I know how the smugglers do it," said Commander Adams. "I'll have to remember this."
"Very few smugglers used these tunnels," Cyrus said. "They're too dangerous."
"Well, it's still worth remembering either way."
They stepped into the tunnels, and Cyrus used a short pulse of magic to close the entrance behind them. Garet and Gram both carried torches in their left hands while Cyrus and Commander Adams conjured flames in their hands to illuminate their path.
"You can use magic?" Garet said to the commander.
"A little bit. Warrick granted me a few abilities." He shook his head. "But I can feel them weakening. The sooner we get through this place, the better."
Garet was surprised that he and the commander could communicate civilly. Beneath that more pleasant exterior, though, Garet could sense the commander's hatred toward him and Cyrus. As soon as this was done, the commander would turn against them.
They walked for hours and hours, navigating the twisting passages. At every junction, Garet wondered if they were making the right decision. Cyrus told them it didn't matter. The paths were random, impossible to decipher. They could wander in here a long time and still not find the Underground City.
"How can we choose the right path?" Garet asked, feeling as if all the rock above were pressing down on him. He shoved the feeling aside, though. He didn't need it.
"We really can't tell. I'm trying to feel my way with magic, looking at the Webs to see if they give us any clues. I think we're going the right way, but I can't be certain."
In the dark, there was no sense of day or night. They rested whenever they got tired and ate from the rations they'd brought with them. Cyrus had told them to bring a lot of food, for there was no telling how long they'd wander in the dark. It could be hours, days, or even weeks.
They encountered a few monsters in the tunnels, but Cyrus made quick work of them. He did caution them, however, that these were small monsters, easily handled. The closer they got to the Underground City, the more fearsome the monsters would become. Once they entered the city, they would find much more dangerous monsters.
The walking never ended. Garet placed one foot in front of the author in an automatic, lifeless motion. With every step, he felt more trapped. It seemed as if he could wander in this place forever. Why would anyone choose to go through these caves as a smuggler?
"You trying to get us lost?" asked Commander Adams. He hadn't talked much with anyone so far.
"As I've told you before," Cyrus said, "I do not know the way."
"How do I know you aren't lying to me?"
Cyrus turned to him with an icy glare. "I may be immortal, but I still feel the pain of hunger. Walking for days on end still makes my body ache. I want to find the Underground City as soon as possible. It just isn't possible to predict with any certainty where these paths are going to lead us. As I've said about a hundred times, I'm reading the Webs, but they aren't much use."
Garet wanted to side with Cyrus, but he secretly harbored the same feelings as the commander. There was no telling how long they'd been here already—
or how much longer they'd wander in the dark. This place was worse than the Prison City.
Garet still shuddered when he thought of his time there. He'd survived the first few days, which always proved the toughest for new prisoners, and had carved out a relatively stable life for himself. He'd expected to live the rest of his life there, until Nadia appeared. In truth, he was surprised to be free from those horrors.
But now he felt more trapped than ever. What had compelled him to take on this mission?
Days passed, or at least Garet assumed they had. They walked and walked and walked some more, their feet growing more painful by the second. The darkness pressed in on them from all sides.
Their periods of rest had grown longer and more frequent, and their food supplies were dwindling, forcing them to cook some of the monsters they'd captured. The monster meat tasted terrible, but it was all they had, and hunger was a powerful motivator.
Garet hadn't spoken much with any of the others. Cyrus spent most of their time resting with his eyes closed, looking into the Webs of Fate. He didn't like to be disturbed. Commander Adams wanted nothing to do with Garet and spent most of his time conversing with Gram instead, when he chose to converse at all.
Gram was the mystery of the group. Garet had heard that he was a good man despite his occupation, and that wasn't hard to believe. By now, Garet had encountered enough Imperial Guards to know they weren't all cut from the same cloth.
Still, Gram was hesitant to spend much time talking with Garet or Cyrus, probably because his commander would not take kindly to any such associations. This left Garet feeling lonely. He'd always been the type to go on adventures alone, but now that he was with people, now that he was part of something bigger, he wished he could feel like part of the group.
Garet scooted closer to Gram, relishing in the warmth of the fire Cyrus had conjured. "Why'd you choose to come with us?"
"It's part of the Imperial Guard oath," Gram said. "When I took that oath, I swore to protect the people of the Empire. Now they're facing their greatest threat ever. If I can be part of stopping that threat, I have to do it—no matter the costs."
Garet considered that response a moment. It seemed truthful. "I think you'll find that a lot of Imperial Guards don't share your ideals."
Gram hesitated a moment, chewing on his lower lip. "Well, I'll agree that some of us don't always uphold those ideals. You'll get that with any group of people. But I think you'll find that most of us are decent men if you take the time to look past your prejudices."
"I've run into some decent Imperial Guards," Garet said, "but not enough of them."
Commander Adams gave him a sharp look. "And how many of these encounters with Imperial Guards happened when you were in violation of the law?"
Garet forced a smile. "Well, most of them, I suppose."
"You have to see the truth now," said Commander Adams. "We are not the bad guys."
Cyrus opened his eyes. "Tell that to the people of Crayden."
"Do you think any of us actually wanted to do that? You're not stupid. You know how Warrick can control us when wants to. It's part of the Imperial Guard seal."
"Then you're admitting that Warrick is evil?" Cyrus said.
"I never said that."
"He burned an entire city to the ground," Cyrus said. "Is that not an evil act?"
The commander narrowed his eyes. "You are concealing part of the truth. If you can read the Webs of Fate, you'll know that it's all part of Warrick's grander plan. He told me as much himself. Crayden was necessary to make this a better world."
"Perhaps it was," Cyrus said. "I cannot see as far into the future as Warrick, so perhaps he knows some crucial truth I do not."
Garet remembered a question he hadn't asked before leaving Bradenton. "Cyrus, if you knew all along that Warrick created places like the Plain of Storms to contain the magic of the Darkness Temple, why didn't you tell us? Why did you let us believe that he created these places simply to torment us, to keep us from forming an organized rebellion?"
Cyrus stroked his chin. "It is possible for both explanations to be true. Yes, Warrick contained the magic of the Darkness Temple within these places. But he could have done it much differently. He could have allowed easier travel, but he didn't. He was telling the truth about protecting us, but that wasn't the whole truth. In the end, he needed to keep us separated from one another. It was the only way to keep his rule without killing too many of us."
Commander Adams barked a laugh. "There. You just said it. Even his act of separating the Empire's regions was not an act of cruelty. By making rebellion more difficult, how many lives has he saved? How many people would have died in a useless fight against him?"
Garet hadn't considered that. It made him feel a little more sympathetic toward Warrick's views, but he could never bring himself to support the tyrant.
"He's still a tyrant," Cyrus said, as if reading Garet's thoughts. "He never asks his people what they want. He makes the decisions. He controls our lives."
"And keeps us safer than the rest of the world," said Commander Adams.
Cyrus fell silent, as if he couldn't argue the point.
"Why are we even debating this?" Gram asked. "Don't we have our own mission to attend to? We can worry about what happens later once we finish."
Garet wished he could share that attitude. But as he watched the fire slowly die in front of him, he knew the inevitable truth. Everyone was on the same side for the moment, but as soon as they stopped the spread of this twisted magic, they would be enemies again. Surely there would be war. Without the threat of Warrick, the people would fight for their freedom.
Or at least Garet hoped they would. Unfortunately, there were many people in the Empire who were happy with the way they were treated. Were there enough rebels to overcome both the Imperial Guards and their loyalists?
These were concerns for later, but Garet had trouble putting them out of his mind. As they traveled through the tunnels again, he couldn't stop thinking ahead to the future. Every time he envisioned it, it looked bleaker and bleaker.
Weeks had passed, or at least it seemed that way, when they reached what seemed like a dead end. Cyrus remained calm, placing a hand against the wall and hitting it with a pulse of magic. A moment later, the rocks shifted out of the way, revealing blinding sunlight. Garet covered his eyes so he wouldn't be blinded by the sudden glare.
"Are we back at the entrance?" he asked.
"No," Cyrus said. "This is the Mountainside entrance. That's a good thing, though. We could use a chance to resupply before we head back into the caves."
Garet felt sick at the thought of going back in there. He understood now why Captain Davis had decided against joining them on this mission. Those caves were suffocating.
But Garet had agreed to be part of this mission. He wouldn't turn back now.
Chapter 39: Captive
Farah would not allow these men to take advantage of her. For the moment, she was wrapped in one man's strong grip, but she had a plan. The horse thundered across the grassy plain. She had no idea where they were taking her, but they would never arrive there.
All she had to do was wait for her captor to relax. It would happen eventually. She needed to be patient, and that was a virtue she'd always possessed.
But this situation did test her patience, perhaps more than anything else she'd ever done. They rode for hours, and still her captor's grip remained as firm as ever. Eventually, they arrived at a small settlement, where they dismounted.
"What are you planning to do to me?" Farah asked. Her voice betrayed none of her fear. She'd always been good at concealing her emotions.
As a spy for Warrick, she found it necessary.
"We were paid well to capture you." The man tugged her through the settlement, saying nothing else as he led her toward the largest tent around. At the tent, he pulled aside the flap, then said, "I have the woman."
"Send her in."
Her captor gave her a light s
hove, and she moved forward into the tent. A man sat in a chair at the other side of the tent. She had expected a rough, bearded man. Instead, he looked more like a middle-aged scholar.
"Who are you?" she asked, taking a tentative step closer.
"My name is Marlon. I am the High Sorcerer of Luminia."
That wasn't the answer she'd expected. "And why do you want me?"
"Because you are a Weaver. You've heard of the Webs of Fate, haven't you?"
"Yes, Warrick told me," she said, taking a seat in a worn-down chair across from him. "I assume you know who he is."
Something flashed behind Marlon's eyes. Pain? Regret? "Yes, I know him well."
"You still haven't told me what you want from me. Or why you're working with these violent savages."
"I have looked into the Webs of Fate," Marlon said, "and I have seen a very disturbing, and very likely, future. Luminia is likely to fall to Warrick and Krinir."
"Krinir?"
Marlon frowned. "He was the loser of the Great War. For his atrocities during that period, he was exiled to the Shadowed Land. But he is likely to return in the near future. You have to understand Krinir's nature. He is a god, more specifically the god of Destruction. It is his nature to destroy things. Imagine how the world will look if he gains a position of power."
"If he's a god," Farah said, "then how am I supposed to prevent this?"
"That isn't what I expect you to do. I expect you to retain your position at Warrick's side once he returns. I'll need people on the inside."
Farah gave him a tired look. "And why would I be on your side? I believe in Warrick's vision. I will not work against him."
"You may not believe it," Marlon said, "but I also see the power in Warrick's vision. I knew Warrick long before he became emperor, before his lust for power took control of him. Before he became Krinir's servant."
"I don't understand. Warrick is the one in control."
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