Reluctantly, Alex obliged and released his grip. The man tried scrambling away until Shade stood in his path and growled, showing all his teeth. His sabers stained and dripping red made the effect more menacing.
“Now we can get some answers.” Gerieg stated.
“I’ll tell nothing.” The priest said, startling them for a moment.
Gerieg was further angered and kicked the man in his back and then planted his bare foot in his robed chest, charring the fabric and cracking a rib. Gerieg moved closer and ominously stated “Who said that you had a choice.”
Alex now had a closer look at the priest. Like the child, this man had the same V scars on his forehead and the ends didn’t touch either. His complexion was a dark brown and had irises that matched. His hair was black and quite short. He shaved most of his forehead hair to further display the scars on his brow. The features of the man were cruelly handsome and gave the feeling that he was beyond reproach. Besides the burning pain he was given, he remained in a semblance of control.
Then Gerieg sniffed near the man’s face and his brow pulled together. “You have vomited recently.” Then his blue eyes turned to Alex while his foot held the man securely to the ground though he tried in vain to tend to his useless ankle and to run away. “Alex, did he take poison?”
He nodded and pulled the black seed from his pocket. “Aye, he took this.” And he handed it to his master. “He was too quick in swallowing it whole before I forced him to retch. If he truly wished for suicide he should have cracked the seed in his teeth and the poisonous oils would have remained in his system.”
“Good thinking.” Gerieg praised.
Another of Sheer’s cries erupted from the forest.
Elo strolled up to them saying “I shall be back. Sheer may need help taking down any stragglers who fled.” With an approving nod Elo began to head towards the woods.
“Master,” Shade said. “do you need my help in tracking?”
“No, you have done well in this fight and you need to calm yourself. You are certainly a fierce fighter, but you rely too heavily on your fur armor. You took over fifty hits whereas I took only five. We are not invincible for one mistake can kill us like any other. Reflect on this skirmish on how to better improve your fighting skills. When I return you will tell me what you need to learn.
Shade nodded and Elo bounded into the forest.
Alex’s attention returned to his elder master as he felt a strange sensation. Gerieg had removed his foot and stepped back. He had complete eye contact on the priest. The sensation emanated from Gerieg and it felt as if a great weight pressed down upon everyone’s will. Alex felt utterly insignificant in the face of his master at the moment. Then Alex remembered his past experiences, especially the expressions of Commander Yort. Gerieg was using Dominance and this was the first time he was on the receiving end of the ability.
“What is your name?” Gerieg asked calmly, staring at the priest. The question increased the crushing weight even more. Alex felt compelled to answer, but restrained himself because he wasn’t the one being asked.
The priest seemed to be in ever increasing discomfort until he choked out “Odban… My name is Odban.” Once the question was answered some of the distress seemed to leave him, but not for long.
“Alright, Odban, as you can already tell you have no choice except to answer me and obey my commands. Now sit up straight.” If Gerieg was a puppeteer then Odban was undoubtedly the marionette because he sat up even though he was in debilitating pain. “Good. Now you do realize you won’t live long for the crimes you’ve committed.”
Odban shook his head with half closed eyes. “Nay, I’ve committed no crimes here. These sacrifices were not a crime for they are needed to please and bring back the Ancients to their rightful world. I did this for them so they will come back to us. You killed righteous members of our order and will suffer the consequences of this blatant act against us and the Ancients. When more priests come and hear about…”
“Silence.” Gerieg said shortly and Odban obeyed instantly. “Ancients were not gods nor could they bring back the dead either. What chance do you have? What you’ve done cannot be pardoned. Now tell me what are you doing this far north when your home is in Jugo. What brought you here?”
“King Yosh was conscripted by King Runkamon to bolster his forces. We only wished to continue doing our traditions in sacrificing. Gold and trinkets mean little to us and Runkamon was a great man who gave us permission to continue our practices as we wish. When we finished the sacrifice we were to build a foothold near the head of the Widow’s Forest.”
“Your nothing but a mercenary who kills for fun and self gratification. So the King wishes to kill his own people so that you can practice your archaic religion and beliefs?” Alex asked as he too began to feel his own Dominance surface. His arms trembled, but the spasms weren’t threatening. Gerieg glanced at Alex, feeling the weight of his question as well, but he was capable of nullifying the weight. With the surfacing of his own Dominance Alex’s burden and feeling of being compelled became bearable. He could keep his own actions in check now and ward off any forced questions should Gerieg ask.
Odban looked to be on the edge of breaking mentally and collapsing physically as he warred to whom to speak to. He settled for answering Gerieg. “Your king didn’t seem concerned when one of his emissaries told the temples to help him bring his lands together by any means necessary.”
Alex’s revulsion towards this realization seemed to cancel his Dominance as he felt Gerieg’s power come upon him again with the same force. Unwilling to say or do anything else Alex only glared at the insane and warped priest.
Gerieg gained much more insight from the priest’s interrogation and was soon done with him. Feeling satisfied with those answers he said “Odban, open your hand.” He did and Gerieg placed the poison seed in his palm. He didn’t even want his blade to touch this person. The poison would be somewhat slower and more painful. “Put it in your mouth, crack the shell in your teeth and swallow.”
He did. And Alex felt Gerieg’s force diminish back to normal.
In less than a minute Odban’s eyes rolled back in his head and he rolled onto his back and began convulsing, violently. Thirty seconds later he stilled forever.
“I thought you said Dominance cannot make someone do things like kill themselves or fall in love.” Alex said a few minutes later.
Elo and Sheer returned and said only eight fled, but were all disposed of. Luckily no one close was harmed. The fight had been fierce and the knowledge that was learned hung heavily among them.
They all began walking back a half hour later, after stacking the dead bodies of the murderers together. About halfway to the village Gerieg quickly replied. “It doesn’t work if it goes against something they don’t already believe in or wanted to do themselves without convincing. He was already prepared to die even before the interrogation when he learned he was to be captured. After all, he took the poison once already, but we wouldn’t have learned anything if you hadn’t reacted so quickly and forced the poison out.”
With that cleared up Alex felt compelled to say “Master, while we properly burn the dead, can you tell me about these fanatics?”
Gerieg was silent for a minute before saying “Aye, but why do you want to know? Is it some kind of sick fascination you have or something along those lines?”
“Nay,” Alex said in appalled revulsion and disgust. “those ideals and archaic notions are too gruesome to be allowed to continue. I won’t stop them from practicing on themselves. If they wish for suicide or voluntarily commit themselves to being sacrificed then they are free to do so, but this” Alex gestured to the obliterated village. “cannot be allowed to continue. What they did was murder and nothing more.”
“That I can agree with.”
“MY LORD!” Kikren yelled, running towards them as quickly as he could. The older man was running with all he had and was both overjoyed and in distress. Something had happened
because he was no longer spotless in his meticulously kept appearance. His white gloves that had never shown any wear before had been covered in dark dirt. He was sweating profusely and many streaks of dirt covered his brow and left cheek. It was strange to see him so disheveled.
“What is it?” He said hearing his friend’s distress.
He stopped before them all and quickly announced “Hurry! I found a survivor of the village!”
They all looked at him like he’d grown as second head. Can it be possible for someone to truly survive? Alex wondered. Hope swelled inside him and in everyone else as well. He was the first to ask “Where?”
Kikren hurriedly pointed towards the lake. “In the caves, I faintly heard a child crying. Sheer and I couldn’t search every tunnel before Shade found us. I went back there when your fight ended and heard a noise when I was alone and silence accompanied me. There was a cave-in and I was unable to move the boulders for they were too much for me. A man lay dead before the cave-in. It looked like it was intentional, but he couldn’t get away in time. He was killed by blade, but the child needs help.”
“Show us where.” Gerieg demanded.
Soon Kikren rode atop Elo, while he and Shade followed Gerieg and Alex. Alex’s protective surge of hope activated his abilities again, as they raced to the lake. It wasn’t long before they skirted the village and ran to the water source.
The clear green lake was contained below a short bluff. Several small fishing boats were moored on the shore at the base of the cliffs. Gerieg led Alex over to where the villagers built a staircase that safely descended down towards the empty boats. Three small, single person, boats were tethered to a post on shore.
The stairs were cut into the stone and were just barely wide enough to incorporate Shade and Elo’s bulk down to the water.
Once they all safely made it they ran along the shore for a hundred yards before finding the entrance to the caves. The ceiling was too small for either shade or Elo to follow because they were both too large to accompany any further. They grumbled as they were forced to stay behind. The cave itself was barely an inch higher than Alex’s head as he followed his master and Kikren into the cavern.
Kikren removed his lens and a light appeared as he focused the ambient light into the darkness. “Hurry this way.” He said while running down the tunnel, his glass being the only available light source. He turned down a different path when he saw a white scratch in the stone. It was how he marked the path so he wouldn’t become lost in the maze. Kikren panted heavily as he led the Furions to the child.
It felt like an eternity in the caves as Kikren came to a sudden stop before a dead end, only it wasn’t. Rubble and debris littered the ground, some were so jagged and sharp that Alex needed to avoid them or end up wounding his bare feet. The side walls were solid cut stone but the impassable wall before them showed the signs of a recent cave-in. At the foot of the cave-in lay the body of a man that was pierced through the heart. The only source of light came from Kikren’s lens. Apparently it can also recycle its own light by collecting the dim reflections that reflect off the walls. Although Alex could see in near darkness, total darkness was impossible to navigate safely. Alex was glad to have Kikren here.
Kikren aimed his beam of light to the large rubble stones that seemed to be fused together by pure weight alone. The aid raised his voice to say comfortingly “I’m back little one! I’ve also brought help to get you out of there!”
“I’m scared.” Came the faint voice of a distressed child.
“Kikren, move back.” Gerieg said, and as his old friend moved he began studying the walls, ceiling and the collapsed stones before him.
“What is it?” Alex asked as he began shaking from the inaction.
“We need to tread carefully so that we do not cause another cave-in and get both us and the child killed.” Gerieg said calmly, but he was also hurrying. “We need to find all of the keystones before we even think about digging our way through. From the strength of the kid’s voice I’d say we have fifteen to twenty feet to dig through to reach him. When we find the weight bearing keystones we’ll dig around them to find our way.” He studied the rocks for a few more seconds and pointed to a head sized stone about chest high. “Here’s one, we need to avoid it.”
He turned to see Alex holding his arms across his chest, spasming to use his strength. Gerieg then said “Alright, let’s get to it, but only move dirt and stones that come free. If it is harder to pull away than should be necessary, leave the stone be and work around it. It will be a weight bearing one. If you are unsure if it is one, ask me and I’ll let you know.”
Grateful to finally exert his abilities, Alex dove into the debris and began digging around the place Gerieg pointed to. He knew about keystones from his books back home, but didn’t know what to specifically look for. Alex’s tremors stopped as they were being focused on removing stones and small boulders like they were almost weightless. Gerieg took Alex’s work away and placed the debris against the side wall, clearing his student’s space would help expedite his excavation and rescue. Several minutes in Alex felt a stone the size of his fist was more difficult to move than should be required. He asked and Gerieg confirmed his suspicions that it was yet another weight bearing keystone. He dug around it like a focused madman.
While Alex dug with his bare hands Kikren kept talking to the child, telling him it would be alright. The child’s pleas eased as he knew he wasn’t going to remain in this cave for much longer.
What was miraculous was that he said he wasn’t alone and he has his baby sister with him. This information made Alex redouble his efforts while making his tunnel as safe to pass as can be. When Alex’s strength began to fail, Gerieg took his place and continued working.
In less than an hour of work, Gerieg broke through the other side. He said “We’re through.”
Alex was right behind Gerieg and followed through to the other side.
Hope was restored as a young boy around the age of eight held his newborn sister, cradled in his arms. These young ones survived beyond all odds.
Chapter 6
The lucky survivors were both crying, but the older brother allowed tears of happiness and freedom to flow from no longer being trapped band alone. The eight year old boy had been in here for more than a day and was dirty from head to toe. He wore his full arm red gauntlet on his left arm. His item seemed to have the ability to increase his physical strength because many stones had been obviously removed and would be impossible for a boy his age and even some adults would have difficulty in moving them.
His cradled and crying little sister was wrapped in a thick sheet to keep warm in the cold dank cave. In her tiny hand was a small pair of green needles made for constructing clothing.
Both seemed to be in good health and the reason why soon became clear to Gerieg. This part of the cave holds many of the village’s emergency supplies, mainly food. A small trickle of water shimmered in the beam of light that Kikren shone from the other side of the collapse.
“Are you two ok?” Gerieg asked while kneeling. Alex joined him.
The boy nodded weakly, too grateful to speak.
“That’s good. Can you tell me your name?” He asked, trying to ease the tension and worry from the children.
“Name’s Sean.” He said and adjusted his arms carefully so as to not cause further discomfort in his sister. “This is Shay.”
Gerieg reached forward and tussled Sean’s hair and gave him a grin. Sean weakly returned a smile. “I’m Gerieg and this is my apprentice Alex. We are both thrilled to finally find you both safe. Ready to get out of here?”
Sean nodded, but then stopped himself. “My Father? Have you seen him? What about my mother? Father took Shay and me here and made the roof collapse. He said once it was safe he and the others would get us out.”
“I’m sorry son, but everyone of this place has passed on and have been reunited with their ancestors and loved ones. The two of you are the only survivors.”
He said tightly, wishing he didn’t have to say any of this. These two youths were now homeless and their families had been torn from them by savage beasts. Gerieg knew children adapted quickly, but losing one’s family would never be something enjoyable to watch for it scarred ones soul. After all, Gerieg’s family had also been torn from him too.
In disbelief Gerieg watched as Sean stopped crying and looked down into Shay’s eyes and hardened himself. The baby looked back at him and ceased her bawling. Sean sniffled a few times, but returned his attention back on the older man. “If my family is gone then I’m the man of the house and I’ll protect Shay.”
Gerieg knew that the boy was scared and heartbroken, but was being brave for Shay’s sake. He stood and looked down at the siblings, Alex stood as well. His student remained silent. He could see that Alex was so grateful that these children were spared and the expression he used almost made Gerieg break down and cry himself. That serene and grateful smile gave a stab of pain in Gerieg’s chest. It has been fifteen years since he’s seen such a remarkable resemblance and it was disheartening to keep so much bottled inside, but it was all for the best.
Needing to focus on the task at hand Gerieg turned his attention back to the children. “Sean, may I hold Shay so that we may get out of here. This place isn’t very secure at the moment and I don’t wish to worry about another cave-in.”
He took a moment to deliberate, but since he was saved, Sean handed his sister over to Gerieg’s arms. She was so small that he safely carried her in the curve of a single arm.
Alex led the way and crawled through the hole and Sean was following right behind. Gerieg brought up the rear with the baby in his arm. As he was almost through he heard Kikren sigh in relief to finally see the child that would have been permanently entombed if he hadn’t come back. Sean hissed at the bright light being focused through his item and Kikren turned it away.
Furion's Trials (Book Two of the Items Trilogy) Page 12
