“Let’s see where that way goes first.” Erinie started off down the road.
Arden raced after her. “No, wait. That is not the direction we need to head.”
The librarian stopped and glanced over her shoulder at him. “Can’t we go this way for a few miles? It won’t take long.” She almost bounced with excitement. “I think it heads toward Stelemia if my bearings are correct. Maybe we can find a shortcut back, or at least an alternate route like you suggested earlier.”
While the thought of finding an easier path back enticed Arden, he didn’t see the point in searching for one now. “It can wait for our return journey. Once we’re back here, we will follow this road and see where it leads.” He thought of what he just said and added, “as long as we go no farther than ten miles.” He knew she would want to keep walking to see where it ended and they didn’t have time for that.
Erinie’s shoulders slumped and she pouted her lips like she had as a child. Laughing, he took her by the arm and led her over to the others. “Don’t be upset. At least you get to find out where the other direction leads.”
She perked up at that. “Yes! Maybe it leads to the city you saw in your visiondreams.”
Arden pictured the route before them. He didn’t even remember the road in the dream. Perhaps it had passed by in one fleeting image. That meant they wouldn’t be walking it long before they would return to the natural caves. “I think we should enjoy this respite while we can, for I think we’ll be back to belly crawls and climbing before long.”
Surprisingly, it was Etrian and Wrynric who groaned at that. Both were getting on in years, and had really started to show their age. Crawling around on hands and knees, or sliding on their bellies was much easier when you were young. I should know. I’m not much younger than they are!
That night, they spent in a building that stood beside the road. It contained nothing but a few rooms and a rusting pipe sticking out of one wall. Still, before settling down for the night, Erinie had searched every inch of it, looking for artifacts or anything else that could give her insight on who had built it and why.
But she found nothing and soon grew bored.
The night passed uneventfully, and they resumed their march down the road. Eventually, they reached a cave-in and could go no further. They retreated back the way they’d come and found an opening high above them. Arden made the climb, then tossed down a rope so the others could follow him up.
Hours later, they arrived at another huge chamber. Passing through it, they came to a rock face. “We have to go up again?” Liana kicked a stalagmite. “Why can’t we ever go down? It’s much easier.”
“Look on the shiny side of the coin.” Etrian massaged his back. “When we head back this way, it will all be down. By then, we’ll be more tired than we are now and thankful for it.”
“Let’s get a move on,” Wrynric growled. Gearing up, he started the climb.
It took them hours to scale the next series of cliffs, each more difficult than the last. Reaching the summit of one, the group found yet another huge rock face to climb. Etrian headed up first, and it took him the better part of an hour to reach the top. When he was up, he tossed a rope down and the others made the climb.
Then they came to the most imposing one of all. A sheer wall stretching well beyond the reach of their torches.
"Alright, we leave a good one hundred feet between us when we make this climb," Arden said. "Liana, you go up first, then you Erinie, then Wrynric." He nodded at Kalisha. "You next."
Kalisha nodded once. “When I’m at the top, I’ll have Etrian help me haul you up.”
"Thank you, sister. I will remain here until you are half way up, then I will follow. By then, the other two should have already finished climbing."
Arden kept guard as they made their ascent. A good hour had passed before he saw Kalisha was halfway up and went to grab the rope. He froze as he heard a terrible scream. Looking up, he saw something big plummeting toward him.
On instinct, he dived to the side, landing heavily on his stomach, and spilling the torch from the holder on his back. Half a second later, something struck the ground where he had been standing with a great crunch.
Sitting up, he saw a brown mane of bloody hair. Kalisha. He closed his eyes, the image of her broken body freezing his blood. At least it was quick.
Alone, he carried her dripping remains and wrapped them in his blanket that quickly became sodden with blood. Nearby, he found a garden of stalagmites and placed her among them. He took the now scratched and warped medallion from her neck and kissed it once. "Sleep now, with the Lost Sun, my sister, my friend. I will keep your medallion safe until we return home, then I will forge it in the Cauldron and place it with those of our ancestors."
Arden spent a moment more, remembering her life, her contributions to the Covenant and the heroic deeds she had performed during the war with the bone-people. Then he turned and began the arduous climb.
When he neared the halfway point, he began to hear fighting above him. Liana... Recklessly, he hauled himself up, arms burning with fatigue, breath racing. Soon he climbed over the top of the cliff and found Wrynric, Erinie, Liana and Etrian fighting for their lives against a scaly two legged creature. Arden had never seen its like before.
Wrynric parried a vicious swipe of the beast’s clawed hand with his sword, as Etrian came at the creature from the side. Liana threw rocks at it, while Erinie mixed reagents in a pouch. Arden staggered forward, drawing his sword with an arm shaky with fatigue. He needed a few minutes to rest, but his people needed him.
Coming up behind the creature, trying to keep his breathing steady, he drove his sword into the its back. To his horror, the point glanced off to the side, not even leaving a mark on its tough hide. The beast swung its head around and snapped at him with its long snout full of triangle shaped teeth. A long fin, like that of a fish, ran down its spine and along its tail.
What was this thing? Another strange creature spawned of old world genetics?
Letting out an animal growl, Arden swung his blade at its leg, but again struck to no avail. Wrynric roared and brought his long sword two-handed down onto the creature’s neck. It let out a deep throated mewling noise, and spun back to face him. Some of the fin was cut away, but no blood was spilled. Using its thick, muscular arms, the creature tried to grasp the old man, but he retreated.
With its back turned to him, Arden tried to hack off its tail, but again his weapon bounced off. He may as well have been trying to cut through the trunk of one of those giant mushrooms they grew in Stelemia. Arden bared his teeth and went in to deliver another blow. If they didn’t start inflicting damage soon, they were done for. Perhaps if he-
Erinie shoved a stopper in a vial. "Move away from it! Get back."
The creature spun to snap at Arden, who barely managed to avoid being bitten in half. He backed away, the beast coming after him, its dull grey eyes reflecting the flame of the torch burning on Arden’s back. Hissing, it spread its arms and prepared to lunge at him. He continued retreating, mindful he was drawing closer to the edge of the cliff.
Lost Sun, help me!
Suddenly, the creature let out a loud hissing cry. It turned its head around to paw at its back, as a vial smelling noxious orange liquid ran down its sides. Smoke rose from the liquid, and with it, came a horrible sizzling sound.
Erinie had made an acidic substance, the liquid eating through the creature’s tough hide. Aiming for a spot where the acid had exposed soft pink tissue, Arden raced forward and drove his sword into it. To his relief, he felt his weapon sink into the creature’s side, tearing through melting flesh, soft organs and gouging out part of its spine.
It screamed, and began thrashing around, tearing at the sword with its teeth in a frenzy of pain. The sword was torn from Arden's hands as the creature swung around again, tail whipping toward Arden. He dove to the ground to avoid being hit, and the beast stumbled over him, one of its feet pinning him to the ground. Arden wh
eezed as the air rushed from his lungs and his bones creaked. Then the weight was lifted from him as the creature’s frenzied movements took it over Arden and near the edge of the cliff.
Wrynric charged forward, and with a great kick, sent the creature over the edge, taking Arden's sword with it. Five seconds later came the thud of the beast crashing down onto the hard rock far below.
CHAPTER 5
Breathing heavily, the companions stared at where the creature had gone over the edge. It was a good few minutes before Arden got up from the ground. Rubbing his aching back from where he’d been stepped on, he asked, "Any injuries?"
They all shook their heads. He grimaced and told them what had happened to Kalisha.
"We heard," Wrynric said grimly. "But we didn't go down because—"
"I know." Arden wiped Kalisha’s blood from his armor in a pool of water. They didn’t come down because it would have put their lives at risk and they’d have to make the climb a second time. Kalisha would understand.
After they had rested and eaten, Wrynric handed Arden a short sword. “You’ll need this.”
Arden took it and nodded his thanks. The old man knew how much the sword Arden had just lost meant to him. It had been a good weapon, a weapon which had seen more bloodshed than it ever should have. But once they returned with the artifact and learned what it did, hopefully those days would be over and his people could live in peace.
The next stage of their journey took them through another series of belly crawls. Arden always hated these sorts of passages, bumping your head, straining your arms as you pulled yourself forward, the claustrophobia of the rock closing in around you. Liana and Erinie would be suffering the most, as neither of them had done much of this before. Both women were bruised all over, and he was certain, suffering terrible muscle pain, but neither had complained. In their own way, the two were warriors like the rest of them. He’d never felt more proud of either of them.
They arrived at a small chamber and both Arden and Liana gazed upward. They knew this place from their visions. “We go up here,” Liana said.
Erinie frowned. “How? I don’t see-” She rolled her eyes. “How are we going to climb it?”
She had seen the small opening above them. Liana poked her tongue out at the librarian. “Like we always do, with our hands.”
The two women stared at one another then burst out laughing. Their laughter was infectious, and soon Arden and Etrian were laughing too. Even Wrynric, normally so humorless and dour, wore a grin. It had been a hard journey; they were all weary, cold, wet and hungry. But their spirits held firm. They would never give up.
Their people needed them.
“We are drawing close to the city now,” Arden said. “I am proud of all of you.”
Etrian rested his head against the wall. “Well I hope whoever lives in this city has the tables set, the soup boiling and a nice warm bed for me to stretch out in. I’m about done with these caves.”
“And warm water for a bath,” Liana added.
“I hope they let me ask them all the questions I can think of.” Erinie stroked her chin. “I want to know everything about them and their world.”
Arden had never thought about it before. Did anyone or anything still live in the city he’d seen in his visiondreams? Nothing in the images and feelings he had felt, suggested anyone lived there anymore. The place was old, he knew that much. “Don’t get your hopes up. I think the city is abandoned.”
Liana nodded. “I think so too. The visions never showed me anything about people there. All I saw was a gray, empty ruin and darkness.”
The light mood flowed out of the chamber, and once again their faces were haggard and drawn. “Don’t fear.” Arden got to his knees, and lifted his chin. “Once we return with the artifact and destroy the bone-scum, we will have all the rest we need. Your names will be inscribed into our history as the saviors of the Covenant, the heroes of Sunholm, blessed of the Lost Sun.”
That seemed to improve their moods again. “Well, let’s get to climbing,” Etrian said. “We ain’t making history squatting around in here.”
Arden made the climb first, followed by Erinie. About twenty feet up the shaft, he came to an opening in the wall. A fleeting image appeared in his mind’s eye. That was the way he needed to go. Maneuvering himself, he slipped inside it.
He had not gone far when he heard a feminine cry of pain behind him. Sliding back out, he perched at the entrance and looked down.
Erinie had descended and was kneeling beside... Arden's heart kicked. "Liana!"
Wrynric’s face appeared at the entrance to the shaft. "She's alright, she fell and hurt her ankle is all."
Arden went down and took Liana's hand. He wanted to scoop her up and kiss it better, then hold her like he had when she’d hurt herself as a child. But his daughter was a woman now, and he had to treat her as such. They grow up so fast.
Liana groaned. "I think I’ve have sprained it. I'm sorry, Father."
"It's fine. Something like this was bound to happen at some point.” He grinned at her. “At least you’ll be able rest soon."
"I know, the city is close. I can see our path clearly. A river, and then a climb then we we’ll be in the ruin."
He saw the same images burned into his mind. They were really close, so close he could almost feel the presence of the artifact like he had in his visiondreams. "How is her ankle?" Arden asked Erinie.
The librarian wound a bandage tightly around Liana's foot. "She’ll be fine, but once we get out of these passages, she should rest for a few hours and have her foot elevated to keep the swelling down."
"Fine. All of us are tired and in need of some sleep. We should reach a river soon, then we can rest."
"I THOUGHT YOU SAID the river wasn't far," Erinie said from somewhere behind Arden.
"Well... I thought it was closer than this." Had his vision been wrong? Were they still going the right way? It felt like they were. It had been four hours since Liana had hurt herself, and most of their journey since had been long belly crawls with few places big enough to sit up and stretch. He was about to call a halt when he heard a distant sound coming from ahead of him.
Arden continued on, hope renewed. It was definitely a river.
Half an hour later, he emerged from the passage onto the gravel bank of the river and thanked the Lost Sun he could stand once more. Moving away from the entrance so the others could climb out, he stretched his aching muscles. If he hurt like this, how must Liana and Erinie be feeling?
When they were all out, they huddled together for warmth. Arden would give them five hours rest before he’d force them on. After eating a meal, Arden took first watch and let the others sleep. His thoughts were a turmoil of doubt, grief and unspoken fears.
Now that they neared their destination, it was as if everything came out to torment him one last time. Arden let the thoughts play themselves out. What did any of it matter anyway? Soon, he would wield the weapon that would change everything, and save them all.
His thoughts turned to Kalisha. He had known her his whole life. She had been a good woman, a brave warrior, a loyal friend. Kalisha had once taken down a full-grown aurtark with nothing but a spear, a knife and a few stones. Few warriors had been as brave or as capable as she had been. And now you have joined the growing list of others who have died while carrying out my orders. He held back a great sob. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I wish I could bring you back.
Arden’s father had led the Covenant for decades. Under his leadership, few scions or the people who lived with them had died violent deaths. Things had been much easier back then it seemed. In between fighting off the monsters that prowled the Nether and the occasional raid of exiles or bone-people, there had been long periods of peace. Babies had been born, food grown, territory expanded and trade with Stelemia had flourished.
These days, peace and prosperity were a distant memory. His people had suffered greatly over the last decade, fighting with bone-people, fending of
f increasing numbers of monsters and even a group of thieving husks who’d snuck into the granary and had gorged themselves on the Covenant’s food supplies. Those light-starved people had fought like animals, seemingly having lost every shred of their humanity.
Never would the husks have dared such a thing in the time of Arden’s father. In those days, the Covenant had been feared. Even the dark sisters of the Knives of Dwaycar had respected their might. Now all sorts of unsavory groups living out here in the Nether tested the Covenant’s borders, and raided their mushroom patches and outer watch posts. None of the attacks had been coordinated until the bone-scum had come along, but each had taken its toll on the scions of the Covenant. Some had died, others had been wounded and precious supplies had been lost.
How much of this is my fault? How much of it is the pure happenstance of fate?
Who could say? All Arden knew was that every waking moment he strived to be the best leader he could for his people. To give them hope in this dark time, wise council when they needed it and a solid wall at their backs. Someone they could trust with their lives. Only once had he failed to uphold their faith in him—when he had fathered a bastard half-blood—but they’d forgiven him.
Soon, the artifact would be his, and he would lead his people to victory. Once more would the Covenant stand proud, a bright bastion of light, in a world drowned in darkness.
Arden woke Etrian to take watch for a few hours so he could get some sleep.
After the scion woke them, they set out along the river, eager to make the final leg of the journey. Even with only a handful of hours of sleep, they all seemed refreshed. Liana walked with a bad limp, but she was cheerful and waded through the river, as fast as any of them. I am proud of you, girl. You are the light of my life.
Soon they passed a growth of dazzling crystals that covered the walls of the river passage. They marveled at the myriad of colors reflected off the water. "Truly wondrous," Erinie said, running her hand over them. She jumped. "Ow! It cut me."
Fall of a Lost Sun_The Prequel novella to the Lost Sun World Page 4
