Chapter Six
Keo, Dlaine, and Jola (who Keo still could not see) ran through the darkness into the wilderness surrounding New Ora until the lights from the village were lost completely. The only lights now were the illumination of the moon and stars above, but Keo, Dlaine, and Jola still needed to find a place to rest for the night.
Jola found them a small cave just off the road that they could hide in. Its entrance was blocked by trees and bushes, which meant that it was unlikely that anyone would see it from the road, even if they looked directly at it. In fact, Keo would not have realized that there was a small hidden cave there if Jola had not led Dlaine and him to it.
The cave was indeed small, far too small to stand up in, so Keo, Dlaine, and Jola had to sit in it. Keo did not mind this too much, because they had been running hard for what felt like miles and Keo was more than ready to sleep the rest of the night. Keo may have been in good shape, but he still got just as worn out from nonstop running as anyone else, especially after such an intense confrontation with Skran.
Leaning against the stone wall of the cave, Keo looked at Dlaine. The Wanderer appeared to be listening for anyone outside the cave, but then he nodded and said, “Okay, Jola, you can go and be our lookout. If you see anyone or anything coming this way, just tell us, okay?”
Keo heard and saw nothing from Jola, but based on Dlaine's smile, he assumed that Jola must have answered in the affirmative. Then he heard some movement outside, bushes rustling, but Dlaine's calm expression told him that that was simply Jola going out to take her watch duty, thus leaving Keo and Dlaine alone in the cave together.
“Thank you for saving me back there,” said Keo. He wiped some of the sweat off of his forehead. “I thought for certain that Skran was either going to chop off my head with my own sword or drag me back to prison himself.”
“Don't mention it,” said Dlaine, waving off Keo's gratitude like it was nothing. “I've never liked those self-important Magicians, anyway. And besides, I didn't think it was right to let a kid like yourself get thrown back into jail not more than an hour after you escaped.”
“Well, thanks anyway, regardless of your reason for doing that,” said Keo. “I deeply appreciate it, because your actions may have very well helped save Lamaira as a whole.”
“Right,” said Dlaine. He leaned forward, a serious look in his eyes. “That reminds me. You mentioned something about the demons of legend rising again when you were talking to Skran. What were you talking about?”
Keo bit his lower lip, because he did not want to speak about this with Dlaine. But he now knew that there was no hiding the truth, so he told Dlaine all about his encounter with the lone demon last week, what that demon had told him, and what he planned to do. Dlaine, at least, did not interrupt his story, listening as intently as if listening to a ghost story around a campfire in the middle of the night.
“And that is why I need Gildshine,” said Keo, patting the flat of his sword, which leaned against the wall next to him where he could easily reach it if necessary. “I am hoping to deliver it to my friend, Nesma, who can read weapons and tell who their last victims were. By having her read Gildshine, she can then confirm the existence of the demon and hopefully convince the Magical Council to prepare for the demons' rise.”
Dlaine stroked his chin, a thoughtful look on his face. “Well, that is the wildest story I've ever heard in my life. I grew up listening to those stories and legends about the demons—my older brothers loved to scare me with them—but I never thought they had any truth to them. And frankly, I am still not sure I believe it, because you don't have any actual proof that these demons really exist or that they are rising to kill us all.”
“I'm not asking you to believe me,” said Keo. “I'm only explaining to you why I'm trying to do what I'm trying to do. As long as you don't try to stop me, then I won't object to your skepticism.”
“Well, I certainly have no plans to stop you,” said Dlaine with a shrug. “If your story is a lie, then no one will believe you and nothing bad will come of it. But if it's true, then Lamaira itself might be saved … or what's left of it, anyway.”
“Thank you,” said Keo. “Now, Dlaine, since I have told you my reason for going to Capitika, what's yours? You mentioned having to meet a 'deadline' earlier.”
Dlaine suddenly looked away from Keo. “When did I ever agree to tell you all of my secrets?”
“It's only fair,” said Keo. “I told you my story. Now you tell me yours. Or else I will knock you out and return you to New Ora to be jailed, just like you deserve.”
Dlaine laughed. “Kid, you couldn't beat me if your life depended on—”
In a flash, Keo had the tip of Gildshine at Dlaine's throat. He didn't even have to move much because they sat so close to each other. Dlaine's terrified eyes glanced down at Gildshine's sharp tip.
“You forget that I am a swordsman,” said Keo. “I may not be a match for you in fisticuffs, but since I now have Gildshine, I'd say that equals things out a little between us, wouldn't you agree?”
Dlaine looked like he was still going to deny telling Keo anything, but then he sighed and said, “All right. I'll tell you my reason for going there. But put down the sword, all right? I don't like talking with a sword up against my throat like this.”
Sensing that Dlaine was telling the truth, Keo lowered Gildshine and lay the sword across his legs. “Then start.”
“All right,” said Dlaine. He looked out the cave, like he was afraid of someone eavesdropping on their conversation, before looking back at Keo. “Jola and I have to be at Capitika in three weeks' time. That's the deadline I was talking about earlier. As for why we have to be there in the first place … my daughter is dying.”
“You have a daughter?” said Keo in surprise. “You don't seem like a father to me.”
Dlaine scowled. “Well, I am one, albeit not a very good one. Anyway, my daughter is dying of a deadly disease that no one has been able to cure. And Jola and I are supposed to deliver a potion that could cure her, which we received from … a friend, who said that the potion should be able to cure my daughter of her illness as long as we get it there in three weeks.”
“Who is this friend of yours?” asked Keo.
“None of your damn business,” Dlaine said, folding his arms over his chest. “All you need to know is that I trust him more than anyone else in the world, so if he says that the potion I carry in my bag will cure my daughter of an incurable disease, then I believe it.”
Dlaine patted the bag sitting at his side. He flipped open the top and pulled out a tiny vial containing a deep blue liquid, which he showed to Keo for a moment before placing it back inside the bag, which he then put on his lap and held like it was his firstborn. Just as Dlaine closed the flap, Keo thought he saw darts in it, but because Dlaine closed the flap quickly and it was so dark, Keo decided that he probably had seen something else.
“That's what we're doing,” said Dlaine.
“I see,” said Keo. “Well, that is definitely what I would call a noble quest. I hope you succeed in saving your daughter's life.”
“Thanks,” said Dlaine. Then he smiled. “But why do you have to 'hope' I succeed when you can help me succeed?”
Keo frowned. “I don't understand where you are going with this.”
“Come on,” said Dlaine, pointing at Keo and himself. “You and I both need to go to Capitika for various reasons. We even have a similar deadline. And we seem to get along reasonably well. Why not travel together at least until we reach the city? After that, we can go our separate ways, but until then, we could be travel companions, if you want.”
Keo considered the offer. “Well, I have to admit that that is a tempting offer. I have never traveled farther than New Ora in my whole life, so the trip ahead of me is vague. And it is always safer to travel in groups than by yourself.”
“Exactly,” said Dlaine. “The three of us can keep each other safe, particularly with my knowledge of the country
that you lack. It's why Jola and I are always together. So what do you say? Want to give this a shot?”
Although Keo still did not know as much about Dlaine or Jola as he liked, he decided that he knew enough to decide whether to trust them. And seeing as he thought that a father trying to save his daughter's life was a noble thing indeed, that decided it for him.
So Keo nodded and said, “All right, Dlaine. I'll travel with you and Jola until we reach Capitika.”
“Excellent,” said Dlaine. He held out a hand. “Let's shake to seal the deal.”
Keo reached out and took Dlaine's hand, which felt hard and scarred, and shook it.
After that, the two of them decided to go to sleep and head out first thing tomorrow morning. The small, cramped cave was not very comfortable, especially with the cold night air, but Keo eventually succeeded in finding a position that was less uncomfortable than the others and soon drifted off to sleep, wondering what the next day's adventures would bring them and hoping that he, Dlaine, and Jola would be able to get to Capitika as quickly as possible.
-
At the crack of dawn, Keo awoke to the smell of freshly-cooked bacon and biscuits. He saw Dlaine sitting in front of a small fire that he had apparently made himself, over which a small frying pan was suspended that contained bacon and biscuits. Dlaine looked up when he heard Keo moving and waved at him.
“Morning, kid,” said Dlaine. “Want some fresh bacon? It's my specialty.”
Keo blinked and yawned. The air in the cave was a lot warmer now, but the cold stone beneath him still felt cold, although it was warmer than before. “I didn't know you could cook.”
“I have to know how to cook because of my wandering lifestyle,” said Dlaine. “Jola doesn't even know how to make a sandwich, so I pretty much do all of the cooking.”
“Okay,” said Keo. He glanced at the cave entrance. “Say, where is Jola? Is she coming in for breakfast?”
“She's probably already eaten,” said Dlaine. “She prefers to hunt and kill her own food. It's disgusting, but she says it keeps her in shape and that my 'awful cooking'—her words, not mine—isn't much different from eating raw meat anyway. She still doesn't think I've improved as a cook, even though that was years ago when she first told me that.”
Dlaine sounded quite disgruntled when he said that, like Jola's criticism of his cooking still annoyed him. Keo, however, thought that the bacon in Dlaine's pan looked and smelled delicious and didn't care what Jola thought about it.
So Keo and Dlaine had a quick but filling breakfast of bacon and biscuits, along with some water that the two of them carried in their own flasks. Once they had their fill, the two of them repacked what little they had taken out of their packs and then crawled out of the cave into the morning air.
Standing up and stretching his limbs, Keo looked toward the road, which was empty at the moment. Even so, he did not walk onto it just yet. He looked at Dlaine and said, “Did Jola see anyone last night?”
Dlaine looked at the top of the cave, where Jola apparently was, and said, “Hey, Jola, anyone we should avoid travel on the road while we slept?”
As usual, Keo heard nothing, but Dlaine appeared to hear her, because he nodded and said, “Nothing, huh? That's lucky.”
“Not necessarily,” said Keo. “The people of New Ora consider it bad luck to travel at night. They think that there are vengeful spirits in the darkness that will kill any travelers who trespass upon their territory. The Enforcers probably believe that as well, which is why they did not come after us.”
“Will they come after us now?” said Dlaine.
“Most likely, unless Skran told them otherwise,” said Keo. “But that's why we have to keep walking. If we leave now, we should hopefully be able to outrun them.”
“Do they have horses?” said Dlaine. “Because if they have horses, then we're screwed.”
“They do have horses, but it usually takes them a while to get saddled up,” said Keo. “I think that it's unlikely they'll send horses after us anyway, because they don't have many and they wouldn't want to accidentally lose or injure any of them. Still, we should travel as quickly as we can just to make sure they don't catch us.”
“That was my plan in the first place,” said Dlaine. “Let's go.”
So Keo, Dlaine, and Jola walked onto the road and started heading down it as quickly as they could. It was still early morning and so the first rays of the sun were just starting to rise over the hills and trees around them. As a result, the air was quite cool, but not freezing due to the fact that it was currently summer. Keo glanced over his shoulder every now and then to make sure that no one was following them, but the road behind them was as empty as the road before them, for which Keo was quite grateful.
As they walked, Keo looked at Dlaine and said, “What's the next town between New Ora and Capitika?”
“Torgan,” said Dlaine, nodding at the road ahead. “It's larger than New Ora, but it shouldn't take us long to pass through it. After that, we'll take a detour through the Silver Falls, which will take us to Carrk, and then after that is Capitika.”
“And how long should that route take us?” said Keo.
“Depending on how fast we walk, what the weather is like, and so on, about a week and a half,” said Dlaine. “But don't quote me on that.”
“A week and a half?” said Keo. He groaned. “I knew it was going to be a long trip, but I didn't know it was going to be that long.”
“Sorry, but there's not much we can do to improve our speed at the moment,” said Dlaine, shaking his head. “We could get some horses in Torgan, maybe, but they can be expensive to rent and money is frankly one of those things I don't have a lot of these days and you don't exactly look like you were raised with a silver spoon in your mouth, either.”
Keo frowned. “What if we found a Magician who could teleport us there?”
“Magicians can't teleport, though Jola can do it across very limited distances,” said Dlaine as he kicked a stone out of their path. “That's a myth. I have a Magician friend of mine who told me that. They do have ways of traveling over long distances that we don't, but that's not one of them.”
“What are their other ways of traveling long distances?” said Keo.
“No idea,” said Dlaine with a shrug. “My friend said it was a trade secret. You know how Magicians are. Never tell you a thing and when they do it never makes any sense.”
Keo nodded. “Right.” Then he looked around them. “Where is Jola? Can I see her now?”
Dlaine shook his head suddenly. “No. Jola doesn't like to reveal herself to people who aren't me. She's not exactly shy, but she doesn't really trust people in general. It's nothing against you. She's just had some bad experiences with others and so prefers to stay invisible.”
“Then how do you communicate with her?” asked Keo. “I have never heard her talk, and since she's invisible, you clearly can't see and read her body language. Does she have some sort of magical way of communicating with you or something?”
“We know how to talk,” said Dlaine simply. “And anyway, I don't see why you need to know it. We may be fellow travelers right now, but that doesn't mean I need to tell you every little thing about me and Jola. I've refrained from asking you personal questions about yourself—such as where you got that neat little sword you got there—because I frankly don't need to know it.”
“Well, if you want to know where I got Gildshine—” Keo began.
Dlaine cut him off. “I said, I don't need to know it. And if I do, I'll let you know, okay?”
Though Dlaine's tone was not mean, it was very clear that he considered the matter of revealing their personal histories to each other to be a closed matter for now. Keo may have been young, but even he knew what point Dlaine was trying to get across, so he did not utter another word about it.
In fact, the three of them walked in silence for the next couple of hours as they walked across the foothills and trees of the area between New Ora and To
rgan. They ran into no other people, which made Keo wonder why the roads were so empty this morning, but then he recalled that few people traveled to New Ora from Torgan anyway, despite the proximity of the two towns. He considered it a good thing that there were fewer travelers on the road today, as that meant they would reach Capitika much more quickly than they otherwise would.
It wasn't until well after lunch that Keo noticed Dlaine's eyes darting to either side of the road. They were walking down a particular stretch of road that was bordered on both sides by tall, thick trees which had massive branches. The trees' branches provided some relief from the hot summer sun, yet Dlaine did not seem to relax underneath them the way that Keo did. He looked like he was looking for something, but what, Keo did not know.
“What did you see, Dlaine?” said Keo as they followed the road, which now curved slightly to the right. “You seem nervous.”
“Nothing,” said Dlaine. “But this particular part of the road is dangerous.”
Keo raised an eyebrow. “Dangerous? How so?”
“Brigands and robbers are known to hide out here and rob any unwary travelers,” Dlaine explained, gesturing at the trees on either side. “The trees provide excellent cover for them, which allows them to watch anyone traveling this road without ever being seen until they want to be seen.”
“Has Jola seen any brigands or robbers?” said Keo. He rested his hand on the hilt of Gildshine, intending to draw his blade if necessary.
“She hasn't, but even Jola doesn't know about everything,” said Dlaine. “I just think that we should be very careful. Lots of people have been robbed going down this road, including myself once several years ago.”
Keo considered asking about the circumstances of that particular robbery before realizing that Dlaine probably filed that under 'personal information you do not need to know,' so he did not.
Instead, Keo said, “Is there any particular band of brigands we should look out for or—?”
“Nah,” said Dlaine, shaking his head. “They tend to rotate because it is such a good robbing spot that they keep fighting over it. It's possible even that there aren't any here at the moment, but I doubt it because this spot is simply too good for any self-respecting brigand to leave alone for any period of time.”
Keo looked around at the trees on either side of the road. They were indeed quite difficult to see through due to their thickness, which Keo figured made it easier for a thief or brigand to spy on them without any of them ever being the wiser. He tried to listen for any unusual sounds in the trees, but all he heard was the chirping of birds and the rustling of the leaves as the afternoon wind blew through. The entire place seemed deserted to him, but even so, Keo kept his hand firmly on Gildshine's hilt as they walked through the small forest.
Then Keo heard the twang of a bow and looked to his right just in time to see an arrow flying at his face.
“Get down!” Dlaine shouted as he grabbed Keo and pulled him down to the road as fast as he could. The arrow flew by overhead, but then Keo heard someone scream in pain and looked to the other side of the road in time to see a man stagger out from the trees and fall to the road with blood leaking out of his chest, the arrow from before sticking out of his chest.
“What the hell—?” said Dlaine, but he was interrupted by the sudden twanging of several bows going off at once and dozens of arrows flying from the left side of the road into the trees on the right side.
The arrows disappeared into the thick leaves and branches of the trees, but Keo heard more than a few cries and groans of pain and someone fall through the trees, but he could not see anyone on the other side. He did, however, see another volley of arrows fire back in retaliation from the right side.
These arrows fell into the trees on the left side of the road, their iron tips digging into the trees, but this time Keo did not hear anyone fall down or cry out in pain, which probably meant that no one had gotten hurt.
But then another dozen arrows flew out from the left side, except these ones were larger and faster than the first volley. But Keo did not get to see where these arrows landed, because Dlaine grabbed him by the back collar of his shirt and said, “Come on, kid, get up! We're not going to get stuck in the middle of whatever this is. Come on!”
Dlaine pulled Keo up to his feet and the two of them dashed down the road, keeping their heads low even though the arrows overhead were too far above them to even touch them. But they did not get very far down the road before a dozen men—armed with swords and clubs—burst out of the left side of the trees, matched by an equal number of armed men emerging from the right side. The men charged at each other and started fighting, swinging swords, bashing clubs, and screaming and yelling all the while. And volleys of arrows kept firing back and forth between the two sides of the trees, although many of them were now aimed at the battle below as the archers of each side tried to take out their enemies.
Keo and Dlaine skid to a stop before the battle, watching in surprise as one man stabbed another man, only to get the back of his skull bashed in by the club of yet another man who was apparently an ally of the stabbed man. Then an arrow flew out of nowhere and struck the club-wielding man in the head, causing him to collapse into a bloody, still heap on the road.
That entire sequence happened in less than a second, but it was a good example of the ferocity and confusion of the battle raging before Keo and Dlaine. Even worse, there was no way for them to go through the battle without getting caught up in it.
Nonetheless, Dlaine grabbed Keo and dragged him to the shelter of several nearby trees, where they hid behind a particularly large tree that kept them separated from most of the fighting. Dlaine did a quick check to make sure there were no brigands hiding nearby and then turned to look at Keo, an annoyed expression on his face.
“See?” said Dlaine. “What did I tell you? There's a reason this place is known as Lethal Road and it's not because of the hungry bears.”
“What the hell is all of that?” said Keo, peeking out from around the tree to see the two sides still battling each other like wild beasts. “Magician soldiers?”
“Nah,” said Dlaine, shaking her head. “If I had to guess, it's two groups of brigands who both want this road for their own business. As they clearly don't know the first thing about the fine art of negotiation, they have resorted to all-out warfare and don't seem to care who gets caught in the middle.”
“How do we get past them?” said Keo, looking at Dlaine again. “Could we go through the trees?”
“And risk getting filled with arrows from one side or the other?” said Dlaine. “No way. Getting shot with arrows hurts like hell. Especially in the behind. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about here.”
The implications of Dlaine's statement made Keo wish that Dlaine followed his own 'as needed' policy as strictly as he expected Keo to, but before Keo could respond, a brigand with a large sword lunged out of the trees toward them.
Keo and Dlaine jumped apart as the brigand's blade struck the tree they had been hiding behind. He must have put a lot of effort into his attack, because the brigand's blade sank deeply into the tree, forcing him to pull hard to get it free.
Taking advantage of this man's predicament, Keo drew Gildshine and slammed its flat into the brigand's face. The blow instantly knocked out the brigand, who collapsed into a heap on the ground, his broadsword still stuck in the tree.
Still holding Gildshine out, Keo said, “Any ideas about how we can get out of here without becoming target practice for one side or the other, then?”
“Jola's searching for a way to get around this,” said Dlaine. “I told her to hurry, so she should be back soon to let us know.”
“I hope she is,” said Keo, glancing around the tree at the battle, where now several men from both armies lay on the road dead or wounded (it was hard to tell which from here). “Because I'm not feeling very confident about our survival here at the moment.”
“Don't you worry,” said Dlaine. “Jola a
lways comes through, so—”
Dlaine abruptly stopped speaking. Before Keo could ask him why, Dlaine suddenly collapsed, causing Keo to shout, “Dlaine!”
Keo took a step forward before feeling something prick at his neck. He touched his neck and felt some kind of feathery dart before he collapsed just as suddenly as Dlaine, everything turning black around him before he hit the ground.
***