Path of Kings

by James Dale

  “I think your rehabilitation is nearly complete," Cil’lena remarked that morning when she arrived with his breakfast.

  Jack was balancing on his right leg, the one he'd broken, arms outstretched as he practiced the forms of a difficult katana. He looked at the Ailfar Healer, imagining her as his opponent. The Crane Stalks became Parting the Mist. He flowed instantly into Fang of the Cobra, a spinning leg sweep followed quickly by a front snap kick. He wavered slightly as he landed on the balls of his feet before assuming Lion Waiting.

  "I think so too," Jack agreed.

  "We shall see," Cil’lena said, setting down the tray of fruit she carried.

  Without warning she launched herself at Jack, attacking with a surprising flurry of crisp punches and kicks designed specifically to exploit his recent injuries. He countered with the Lion Waking, which became Claw of the Falcon, then Muzzling the Hound. Though these forms were designed for someone fighting with a sword in his hand, he would have disabled anyone less skilled with the last move, but a laughing Cil’lena skipped lightly out of his reach.

  "Finished so soon?" she smiled when he did not pursue. "You have been wanting to do this all winter. Here's your chance."

  "Where the hell did you learn to fight like that?" Jack asked, breathing heavily as he resumed his seat on the bed.

  "A girl must know how to take care of herself if she wishes walk the paths I have chosen," Cil’lena replied, picking up the tray once more and placing it in his lap. "If we are not going to fight, eat your breakfast, then I think we'll walk off the last of your foolish anger."

  "Where are we going?" Jack grinned, feeling like be biggest idiot in the world. How had he been so blind to what she had been doing?

  "I thought you might like to go see Eaudreuil this morning for a change," she smiled. "I know you have been growing restless these last few days now that you are on your feet again. Judging by your little demonstration, I believe you are well enough."

  Jack made short work of his meal, the idea of finally getting a chance to go exploring fueling his appetite. When he'd finished, he stood quickly and Cil’lena took his arm.

  "Friends?" she asked.

  "Cil’lena...I..."

  "There is no need to apologize," the Healer smiled, patting his arm as she led him from the small room which had been his residence for so long. "To see you moving this well was worth all your anger. Now watch where we are going and keep your mouth shut. Tomorrow you will be coming this way by yourself."

  "Yes ma'am," Jack grinned.

  Jack knew little about caves, having been spelunking only once in his life. During his brief enrollment at Boston College, a mineralogist friend had invited him to come along on an expedition to a frequently visited cavern close by the university grounds. It had been dark and wet and cold and they'd spent the entire day crawling around on hands and knees through cramped, muddy passages more fit for overly inquisitive children than two grown men. The experience had left him tired and filthy and completely apathetic about a second venture into the sport.

  The difference between that muddy cavern and Cil’lena's cave was like night and day. The Ailfar woman led Jack through large, high vaulted corridors of smooth gray stone and dry, with hard packed clay floors. He could see no visible source of illumination, but everything was well lit, and though not exactly bright was it was surprisingly comfortable and airy.

  "Where does the light come from?" Jack asked wonderingly, reaching out to touch the smooth walls. The stone was warm against his fingertips and for just an instant he thought he felt a low, vibrating hum traveling up the length of his arm.

  "There is a dormant energy present in all things," Cil’lena explained, "Stone. Wood. Water. Even air. What I have done in this cavern is simply release some of that energy. Enough to provide the necessary light and warmth."

  "Is that how you caused the avalanche?" Jack ventured innocently. "By releasing the energy contained in the hillside. Except all at once instead of a little at a time?"

  "Somewhat," Cil’lena nodded. "It was but a matter of gathering the..." She stopped suddenly and gave him an accusing look when he began to chuckle at how easily he'd trapped her.

  Cil’lena still refused to admit she had once been a Lord of the Staffclave, an order of powerful wizards or conjurers who were the opposite number of Nalon-Lox and his dark brothers. Jack was all but certain now the Ailfar woman had held that title in days gone by. Who else could have done the things she had? Causing avalanches, drawing energy from the inert stone, hiding within sight of Gorthiel for God only knew how long. She might claim she was nothing more than an Ailfar healer, but the powers she possessed spoke loudly where she was silent.

  "Never mind," Cil’lena said, on her guard again. "Here, this is the way we need to go." Directing him into a side passage opening suddenly into an enormous open cavern, Jack stopped in his tracks, stunned. All along the cavern's walls, veins of quartz glittered like twinkling stars. On the far side, a waterfall cascaded noisily from a large fissure in the doomed roof, pooling into a small crystal lake.

  "What is this place?" Jack whispered in awe.

  "I call it Aelin'Gil," Cil’lena smiled. "The Pool of Stars. Do you like it?"

  "It's beautiful!" he nodded. "Eaudreuil! So this is where you've been hiding." The stallion had been lounging by the water's edge, but rose quickly when he saw them enter.

  "Greetings Horse-brother," the roan neighed happily, walking over to join them. "So you have finally decided get out of bed and visit me?"

  "He's come to bathe Eaudreuil," Selena replied, "It's about time he washed himself for a change." Since Jack had come under the Ailfar healer's care, she's given him occasional sponge baths. They had washed away the grime accumulated during his stay in Gorthiel's dungeons but little else.

  "I don't know," Jack said, eyeing the pool skeptically. "That water looks awfully cold. Probably freezing."

  "No," Cil’lena laughed. "It is definitely freezing. But you're going to strip and wash just the same. And Eaudreuil, you're going to make sure he does or there will be no apples for you tonight."

  "Yes Horse-sister," the Val'anna replied quickly.

  "Well," she said, nodding toward the pool. "What are you waiting for?"

  "You mean right now?" Jack asked.

  "This instant," she smiled, "We've much to do today."

  Muttering under his breath, Jack slipped out of his shirt, then began working on the tie of his trousers until he saw Cil’lena was still watching him. "If you don't mind?"

  "I've seen you undressed before," she grinned mischievously. "Or did you think I kept my eyes closed while I treated your wounds?"

  "Turn around," he insisted.

  "Oh...very well." the Ailfar healer sighed, facing away from him. Jack finished undressing and tossed his clothes into a pile. Hearing them fall, Cil’lena began to turn and he leapt quickly into the pool. The clarity of the water misled him to its depth and he plunged instantly over his head.

  "Judas B-b-bloody Hell!" he sputtered, slinging water from his eyes as he resurfaced. She hadn't been lying about the temperature. It was freezing!

  "You whimper like a child," she grinned. "I bathe here every day. See he stays in there until I return," she instructed Eaudreuil as she bent to collect his clothes.

  "Of course Silverstar." the stallion chuckled as Cil’lena made her way from the cavern, laughing quietly.

  "Traitor," Jack muttered at the stallion. Cupping his hands he sent an arching spray of water at the roan. "I suppose you take daily baths in here too."

  "Me?" the Val'anna snorted, shaking the water from his flanks. "It is much too cold for my taste."

  "I'll get you for this," Jack laughed.

  The freezing water was beginning to numb his body, so Braedan struck out for the far side of the pool, thinking to generate some body heat by doing a few laps. Swimming the icy lake was invigorating, working muscles he hadn't used in many months. By the time he'd made two circuits of the small poo
l he was actually starting to enjoy himself. But it was taxing as well and by the end of the third lap he was out of breath and beginning to tire. He made one last circuit of the pool, then climbed out of the frigid water and went to stand beneath the tumbling falls on the far side of the cavern, letting the icy cascade hammer his aching body.

  Braedan had been standing under the falls for perhaps two or three minutes, scrubbing vigorously at his hair and beard, when the floor suddenly shuddered beneath his feet. It was followed quickly a muffled rumble which reverberated throughout the cavern. "What the hell?" he muttered, then Eaudreuil's urgent cry exploded in his mind.

  "Horse-brother! Something is wrong!"

  Jack turned and dove back into the icy pool, making for the far side with desperate, fear driven strokes. He was but halfway across the frigid lake when Cil’lena came rushing back into the cavern.

  "Hurry!" she cried, and for the first time since he'd awakened in the Ailfar healer's cave three months ago, he heard something in Cil’lena's voice other than her usual confidence. With a sinking horror Jack realized it was the sound of fear.

  "What's going on?" he asked, climbing from the pool, unmindful of his nakedness. "What was that rumbling? Was it an earth-quake?"

  "No." Cil’lena spat, anger replacing the fear in her voice. "It was the Word of Warning at the entrance to the cave. We have uninvited guests. It collapsed the entrance but it will not take Galen long to blast his way through. I was a fool to think he would give up the search for the Heir of Ljmarn Bra‘Adan so easily. Even if only to find his body. Hurry!" she finished, pushing the bundle she carried into Jack's hands. "We don't have much time."

  Unwrapping the heavy cloak, he discovered buckskin breeches, a shirt and a pair of knee boots. Bkormar's knife was also there. As was the Talon of the Hawk, its hilt now wound in leather to hide the Ithlemere cross guard and the green stone in its pommel. As Jack began to dress he noticed Cil’lena was carrying an intricately carved, wooden staff about five feet long, with polished silver bands at both ends. A pale blue nimbus of light surrounded the staff and where it touched the clay floor, crackling sparks of energy danced.

  "Hurry!" the Ailfar woman cried again, her silver hair beginning to float upwards from her shoulders as if filled with static electricity.

  Jack hurried.

  Cil’lena ran back to the entrance to the cavern and began to pass her staff back and forth in an intricate pattern before the opening, all the while chanting in a fervent, throaty whisper. A shimmering, blue spider web of energy soon appeared across the opening, pulsing in rhythm with her words. When the doorway was completely covered by the glowing strands, Cil’lena struck the clay floor at her feet with the butt of her staff and the web of energy vanished with a muted clap. As soon as it had disappeared, she began to walk quickly about the cavern, touching the crystal veined walls with her staff as high as she could reach, weaving strands of the same blue energy, only thicker, like twisted ropes of light.

  Jack stood transfixed, watching the Ailfar woman going about working her magic. Until she noticed he had stopped dressing and shot him an urgent look that got him moving again. By the time he'd pulled on his boots and buckled Bin'et ardendel around his waist, Cil’lena had made two complete circuits, wrapping the cavern an a shimmering light. When she was finished, she raised her staff above her head. "Cythora a'danoi Yharies!" she shouted, and the ropes vanished with a blinding flash of blue.

  "If I had more time..." she sighed joining him. "Ah well, it will have to suffice."

  "What...what was all that?" Jack asked. His whole body was covered with goose flesh and his hair was now standing on end like hers.

  "A little something for our guests," Cil’lena smiled. "When Galen comes through the doorway he is going to be in for rather nasty surprise."

  The ground shuddered violently beneath their feet again and Jack had to reach out and catch Cil’lena's arm to keep her from falling. A large slab of stone dislodged by the quake fell into the pool, sending a geyser of water fifteen feet into the air.

  "So soon?" Cil’lena muttered. "Galen must be in a rage. It is time for us to be going."

  Motioning Jack to follow, the Ailfar woman began to herd Eaudreuil towards the falls on the far side of the cavern. As they approached, an opening suddenly appeared where there had only been blank stone seconds before. Cil’lena entered the dark hole without hesitation, pulling the skittish Val’anna with her. Jack lingered behind long enough to draw the Talon of the Hawk then plunged in after them. For a brief second, he was enfolded in total blackness, then a soft blue flame erupted from one end Cil’lena's staff, illuminating a narrow passage.

  "This way," she said quietly, and began to move along the tunnel surrounded by a circle of blue light.

  "Where are we going?" Jack called after her as he followed.

  "This passage leads to an exit about two miles from here," Cil’lena replied without slowing. "It opens into a valley leading away due north."

  "And where do we go from there?"

  "You must take Bin'et ardendel to Brythond."

  "What about you?" he asked, not liking the way she'd said you. "Cil’lena?"

  "I will make sure you are not followed," she replied, glancing back over her shoulder with a stern look which left no room for argument.

  They walked on in silence for several minutes, following the tunnel as it began to incline slowly upwards. Suddenly a distant rumbled shook the foundation of the hillside. When the last echo died away and the earth was still again, Cil’lena quickened their pace. Jack didn't have to ask this time what had caused the disruption. Someone had triggered the trap the Ailfar had left in the pool cavern. How long would it be until their pursuers found this tunnel? Days? Minutes?

  About a mile further along the corridor they came upon a smooth wall of stone without any crack or blemish. Stacked along one side of the tunnel were several large trunks of wood. Cil’lena opened the nearest and passed Jack a pair of bulging leather bags. Inside were small, tightly wrapped bundles bound with coarse string. He raised a questioning eyebrow as he took the sacks from the Ailfar woman.

  "Food," she replied simply, and he hung the sacks across Eaudreuil's back.

  Cil’lena went to the next trunk and pulled out two heavy, fur lined cloaks. She wrapped one around her shoulders and handed the other to Jack. He removed the one he was already wearing, tossing it over Eaudreuil's back to be used in lieu of a saddle, then replaced it with the one Cil’lena had given him. The silver amulet which he used to fasten the cloak around his neck left little doubt to where the woman had gotten them. It was the same horned skull he'd seen adorning the throne of Horak' Angst.

  The next trunk contained several water skins which also went across Eaudreuil's back. From the last she produced a short horn bow and a quiver of twenty arrows. While he tied them to his back with a length of stout cord, Cil’lena removed one final item, a warrior's helmet of familiar design. It was lacquered with white and gold paint, though faded now by time, with an open face, sweeping guards to protect the cheeks, and sprouting from its crest was a long tail of horse hair. Seeing recognition in his eyes, Cil’lena smiled faintly as she placed the Knight of the White Horse helmet on Jack's head.

  "I found it not far from here," she explained. "A long, long time ago. Usually when I come across such things in these hills I leave them lie. But the sun was unusually bright that day and the light reflecting from it tugged at my heart for some reason. It is Ithlemere of course or it would never have survived for so long. The plume had long turned to dust, but Eaudreuil kindly agreed to donate some of his own hair to refit the helm."

  "Only a Val'anna's mane would suffice," the stallion replied with a snort.

  "Consider it a gift," Cil’lena smiled, patting the roan affectionately. "From both of us."

  "I hope I live long enough to repay you," Jack said, glancing anxiously down the dark tunnel, then at the stone wall at their back.

  "I think you will," the Ailfar wo
man smiled.

  Turning to the wall she placed one end of her staff against the blank stone and spoke a single word. A small section of the wall began to slide away with a rumble of grinding rock and muted light flooded the tunnel. Through the narrow opening Jack could see an overcast sky above a long, narrow valley. Patches of melting snow still clung precariously to the shadows, but tufts of new grass could also be seen sprouting from the thin soil.

  "See? The way is clear."

  "Come with me," Jack said suddenly, clutching Cil’lena's arm. "Close up this tunnel. Collapse the whole damn mountain! We can be miles from here by the time whoever is following manages to blast their way out again."

  "Do you think Galen would only bring a single party after you?" she asked. "Doubtless he has roused all of Gorthiel for this hunt."

  "We'll worry about that when the time comes."

  "No," Cil’lena insisted, gently prying his fingers from her arm. "We both have duties to perform. Yours is to go on to Brythond and deliver The Talon of the Hawk to the House of Th'nar. Then to claim Yhswyndyr and the Throne of Immer. Mine...mine is to ensure you do."

  "But..."

  "You have trusted me with your life this far. Can you not trust me with it one last time Son of Bra’ Adan?"

  "Don't make me leave you Cil’lena!" Jack cried. Would this vicious cycle never end? Once again he was being asked to abandon someone to face danger while he ran away. This time a woman!