Chapter 19 - Chainbridge
“There are guards at the gate,” Jeremiah cautioned, squinting.
“You have good eyes!” Ben remarked, lowering his looking glass. “Yes, I suspected there might be,” he added as he glanced down the landing stage that jutted out from the main strip of the pier.
The others were hiding in the shadow of a merchant ship that was docked in a slip next to them. He motioned for them to approach. Waves lapped up against the side of the ship as it creaked with movement and masked the sound of their footsteps as they made their way toward him.
“I want you all to stick together in a tight circle until we’re off the pier and onto the village road. Don’t move too quickly either. If you manage to do this correctly, the guards won’t see or hear you,” he said, pointing to the customs house that stood next to the entrance to the town. Everyone nodded and did as they were told. “Follow me, but be as quiet as you can. When I give the signal, you can cross the gate.”
“What’s the signal?” Jeremiah asked.
“I will tug on my right ear, like this,” he replied and showed them.
As he strode in front of them with his mount, his stone glowed a soft grey. Then, he tucked it deep into his cloak so that no light shone. Suddenly, Chalice felt a strange sensation pass over them. It was like a warm wind that rippled through her hair and down her neck. Instantly, she could hear nothing, not even the sound of her own breathing. It was almost as if she had gone completely deaf. The unnaturalness of it threw her, but she continued on with the others without faltering.
When they reached the customs house, one of the men in uniform sauntered up to Ben, motioning for him to stop. The man said something to him and Ben pulled out of his pocket the papers that the Farahs had given him. The man nodded and motioned toward the door of the customs house. Ben handed him his horse’s reins and disappeared behind the door.
Chalice watched the guard holding the horse as he looked over his shoulder to make sure that Ben was gone. Then, he moved to undo the strap on Ben’s saddlebag. You scheming thief! she cursed silently. She had to restrain herself. It was all she could do to keep herself from breaking out of the circle and yelling for Ben. She didn’t need to, however, because the Appaloosa, seeming to sense what the man was doing, moved to the side so he couldn’t reach the saddle. The man tugged on the reins and scolded the horse, but it did him no good. The horse continued to dance around, thwarting every effort he made. Chalice giggled quietly as she looked at the others who were laughing as well. The horse was making a complete fool of him.
Just then, Ben emerged from the small building and the man stood still, abandoning his attempt. Chalice could see that the papers Ben was holding were stamped with the customs house seal of approval. Although he hid it well, his face was pale and she could tell that he was worried. As the man handed the reins back to him, Ben motioned for the other guards to approach. When they circled around him, Chalice saw him tug on his right ear and she nudged Jeremiah, who motioned the others to follow.
Slowly, carefully, and soundlessly, the five of them moved past the circle of guards and set out into the streets of Auvergny. When they were a safe distance ahead and blocked by a stone statue, they stopped and waited. Ben was walking brusquely, guiding his horse in their direction, not looking back. As he drew near, Chalice could hear sound come back to the world and she breathed a sigh of relief.
“Something is wrong,” she said to the others.
“What do you mean?” Kirna asked.
“Something happened in that customs house,” she said. “I know it. I can tell.” Just then, Ben had reached them.
“Chalice, Jeremiah, pull the cowl of your cloaks up and hide your faces. Do it now!” he said sternly and they both lifted their hoods.
“What’s going on, Ben?” Jeremiah asked.
“There are drawings of you two posted on the walls of custom houses in every port city in the Realm. There’s a bounty on you, alive or dead.”
“How do you know?” Chalice asked.
“There are two posted on the wall in there and they are good likenesses of you, too. I asked about them. I had to skirt around the subject carefully so as not to cause suspicion, but that’s what I learned. How the news traveled this quickly, I have no idea.”
“Well, wait a minute, how are we going to get back, especially with …” Chalice broke off.
“That’s right Ben,” Jeremiah finished for her. “How are we going to escort an entire village of people through the entrance and past those guards? Isn’t that going to be a little obvious?”
“Don’t worry. I have a plan to deal with the guards. There aren’t many of them, so it will be easy. Just follow my instructions and it should be fine—”
“Isn’t that what you said when we left Cedarwood?” Tycho interrupted.
“Tycho, I’m not in the mood right now,” Ben growled warningly. Then, he placed Bunejab in front of his saddle and mounted his horse. Tycho shut his mouth immediately, mounted, and followed Ben with the others.
“Ben, you know that guard who was holding your horse?” Chalice asked.
“Yeah.”
“He was trying to get into your saddlebag.”
“Did he take anything?”
“No, your horse kept moving out of the way.”
He grinned and patted the horse on the neck. “Good boy!” he said. “Yep, that’s why I named him Dancing Clown. He’s been trained to do that with strangers.”
Chalice smiled. Smart horse! she thought as they continued down a narrow alleyway to the right. The cobblestone street, wet with moisture from the coastal air, glittered in the moonlight. The shop windows along the alleyway were dark as businesses had already retired for the evening. The sun was set and the only lamplight streamed from broken windows of a tavern ahead where an annoying clamor broke the silence of the dark. A chipped wooden sign just outside, hanging lopsided on its chains, read The Fisherman’s Tale.
The six riders passed by unnoticed, as the men inside were engaged in drink, music and dance. It appeared that nothing on the outside could interrupt the ruckus within. As they rode the length of the road, they noted that every street block had some sort of tavern or inn sporting loud music and carousing men. They passed by several horse carriages and wagons along the way and after a few minutes, were close to the edge of the town.
Out of the corner of her eye, Chalice thought she had seen a shadow peeking out from behind a building, but when she looked again, there was nothing there.
I’m jumping at shadows, she chided herself. I need to calm down.
The buildings and cobblestone streets eventually gave way to dirt roads and lush countryside. Cottages dotted the hillside sparsely as the road stretched up a steep hill. As soon as they had crested it, they saw the profile of a small mountain in the distance, contrasted with the light of the moon rising just behind it.
“There it is,” Ben said.
“What?” Chalice asked. “That’s Chainbridge?!” She couldn’t believe how enormous it was.
“Yes. The mountain is its base and the fortress covers the entire top,” Ben replied. “At this point, we need to get off the main road. We’ll cross over there into the trees.”
He pointed down the road to the right and heeled his mount forward. They followed. As they drew nearer to the trees, in the moonlight Chalice could see the huge chains that held the massive bridge in front of the entrance. It spanned a wide, steep canyon that separated the mountain from the hillside.
As soon as they entered the thicket of trees, they could barely see where they were going. The moonlight was completely blocked by the dark canopy overhead. Jeremiah reached behind his saddle and detached a small lantern that Ardenne had given them. Halting briefly, he lit it and held it up so everyone could see the path ahead. They proceeded through the trees to a winding trail that led down the steep slope of the canyon. It took what see
med hours to reach the bottom and even longer to reach the base of the mountain.
“The entrance is this way,” Ben said and they followed him into a narrow gorge eroded into the mountainside. The steep, rocky cliffs loomed and threatened overhead. The pathway ended in a dark, jagged hole in the rock wall that was large enough for all of them to enter with their mounts. The horses seemed to hesitate as they were heeled forward into the darkness.
Once inside, they found themselves in a large cave whose various tunnels seemed to stretch out in all directions, winding deep into the mountain. It was very dark and Chalice noted that there wasn’t a trace of velarium within the cavern walls. Ben dismounted and motioned for the others to do the same.
“Tycho, light your lantern,” he ordered. Tycho tried, but his hands were shaking too badly to light the oiled candle inside it. Ben could tell he was nervous.
“Here, let me do it,” he said and his stone shone softly. A flame shot up from the wick and the lantern burned brightly. “Tycho, Bunejab will stay here with you as we go into the mountain. He’ll climb the rock wall just outside and keep watch for unwelcome visitors. We need someone to stay with the horses. Can you do that?”
“Sure. So, what happens if he sees someone?”
“Then come get us immediately.”
“Okay … uh, Ben …” he said and paused.
“Yes?”
“What happens if you don’t come back?” he asked soberly. His voice was a little shaky and Chalice and Kirna could tell that the stress was starting to get to him.
“We will!” Ben said with steely resolve and Tycho nodded. Then, they all handed their reins to him, patting him on the shoulder and Kirna gave him a tight hug.
“We will be back,” she reassured him.
“Kirna, grab your lantern,” Ben commanded and she complied. Lighting it with his stone, he set off down the first tunnel to the right. Chalice, Kirna, and Jeremiah followed.
After a few minutes, the tunnel became very wide and wound round in dizzying directions. At a certain point along the path, Chalice felt very strange. It was an achy hollowness that tingled deep within her stomach and throughout her body.
Am I getting sick? she wondered. Or is this just nerves? Am I finally succumbing to the stress like Tycho? Then, all the sudden, it stopped and she shrugged it off, continuing down the tunnel with the others. The path sloped upwards, turning into an exhausting climb that seemed to last for hours. Finally, it leveled off and they reached a stone wall. A long, metal bar was set horizontally into the stone door in front of them.
“Jeremiah,” Ben said, “I need your help with this. It’s heavy. I could use my stone, but I want to make sure we can move it manually, just in case I’m not here to close it.”
“I can do it, Ben,” Jeremiah said as he set down his lantern and moved to the door. His muscles strained tensely as he pushed with all his strength. Slowly, the stone slab shifted and opened.
They knew immediately that the prisoners were near as the smell of rotting corpses, fetid water and human excrement drifted into the corridor. Nausea gripped Chalice like a vise and she almost vomited. She had never smelled anything like this in her life. It was disgusting and she knew that her people, including her grandparents, were in there. It fueled her anger toward Dar’Maalda even more.
Pinching their noses, they reluctantly entered the corridors of the once-library that was now a series of wrought iron cell blocks holding prisoners. Following Ben’s lead, they walked along the passageways looking for anyone familiar. Mostly, they just saw ghostly shadows in dark corners of the cells where the light from the torches that dotted the prison walls did not reach. They recognized no one.
“Good Lord!” Ben said in revulsion. “This place has completely changed. These cells used to be nooks that held bookcases and desks. Now look at them.”
Suddenly, a male voice issued from the darkness: “Jeremiah?” Jeremiah halted and turned the lantern to the right as Ben continued on down the corridor and around the corner.
“Toby? Is that you? We found you!” he exclaimed when he saw his best friend who had approached the bars. Jeremiah could faintly see figures shuffling in the darkness behind him and heard someone cough softly.
Tobias looked ghastly. He was wearing dirty brown trousers and a torn cotton shirt. His eyes looked like dark holes sunken into his sallow face. Under normal conditions, Tobias was tall, strong and healthy, but now he appeared much thinner and malnourished, as though he had lost a lot of weight in a very short period of time.
“What have they done to you?” Jeremiah asked sadly, shaking his head.
“You don’t want to know,” Tobias replied. “Mostly they’ve just been working us to death, literally.” He paused, then said: “Jer, how did you get in here? Do you know—” he cut off just then as Chalice stepped into the light.
“Toby, this is Chalice,” Jeremiah said, introducing them and handing her the lantern. Then, he fidgeted with the lock on the cell door.
“Do you know they’re looking for you two,” Tobias warned. “They have your pictures.”
“We know,” Jeremiah said as he and Chalice nodded.
“Then, what are you doing here?! Are you crazy?! If they catch you—”
“They’re not going to catch us,” Jeremiah interrupted him. “We came to get you all out of here.”
“How? There’s no way out.”
“Yes, there is,” Ben’s voice echoed down the corridor as he turned the corner to join them again. “We’re going out the same way we came in.”
“Toby, this is Ben Graeystone,” Jeremiah said. “He—”
“You all need to leave now!” Toby interrupted. “There is—”
His words were cut off as a noise issued from the corner where Ben had just been. He pivoted around and saw the dark figure of a man emerge. Before the man could react, however, an arrow whistled past Ben and drove into the man’s chest, the force of it knocking him back into the wall. A loud crack and a thud resounded in the chamber. Then, the figure lay motionless.
“… a guard,” Tobias finished as he glanced over at Jeremiah who was holding his bow.
“Ardenne was right about those bows,” Chalice said as Jeremiah re-strapped it to his back.
“Are there any more of them?” Ben asked, pointing to the unconscious man on the floor.
“No, not down here,” Tobias said. “They don’t like to come down here. They work in shifts and the next shift is in a couple of hours”
“Alright, I’ll keep an eye out for the next one. In the meantime, we need to start getting everyone out. Do you know where they keep the keys?”
“No, they’re locked away somewhere and the only person who knows is right there,” Tobias said, gesturing toward the guard on the ground.
“Wonderful!” Ben replied, frustrated. “Alright, I’ll have to open the cell doors myself. When I do, proceed quietly out and down the corridor to the end. Take a left and then the first right. A secret doorway at the end of that hallway is open. Enter it, but tread carefully. The passageway is dark and very steep in some places.”
Tobias nodded and Ben’s stone glowed a soft grey. The lock clicked and dark figures within the cell swam into view as they made their way toward the door. They looked like the dead walking. A pretty young woman with disheveled red hair walked up in a dirty, torn country dress. She was shivering and coughing.
“Seychelle! What’s wrong? Are you sick?” Jeremiah asked and she nodded.
“She has a fever,” Tobias said. “There are many down here who have fallen ill. Some have died. The Draaquans just leave them down here. They don’t care.”
Ben’s face contorted with rage and disgust. “Alright, those who are well will have to help those who are sick. Leave the dead. There is no time to take them. We need to move quickly in order to get everyone out before daybreak. Those of you who are not helping someone who is sick
, grab a torch from the wall if you can. We will need the light.”
At this point, prisoners in nearby cells began rising and approaching the edge, holding onto the bars. A low murmur echoed down the corridor as Ben tried to silence them.
“Ben,” Chalice said. “You know, it’s going to be very difficult for them to make it to the docks. It’s far, even on horseback.”
“I know that, but we have to try,” he replied. “Even if we lose some along the way, we still have to try.”
She nodded and handed the lantern back to Jeremiah. Rushing into the cell, she took off her lambskin cloak and wrapped it around Seychelle.
“Here, this will keep you warm,” she said. “I’m Chalice.”
“Thank you, Chalice,” the young woman said weakly. “I’m Seychelle, Toby’s fiancee.”
“Fiancee?!” Jeremiah exclaimed and whipped his head around toward Tobias with a wry smile. “You finally did it. You finally proposed. By the way, you picked a really romantic setting.”
“Well, we thought it was the end,” Tobias replied. “But, hey, at least I was dating.” He said it in such a way, it made Chalice turn around toward them.
“What do you mean? Hasn’t Jeremiah ever dated anyone?” She looked over at Jeremiah who’s face was flushed with color as he shook his head.
“Hey! We don’t have time for this,” Ben told them in exasperation. “Save it for later.”
But they weren’t listening. Chalice thought it was odd that Jeremiah wasn’t meeting her eyes. Instead, he turned his head to glance around at the others who were coming out of the cell.
“Toby, where’s Aemis?” he asked.
“They took him.”
“What?! Why?”
“They wanted him to show them how to make his powder.”
“His invention you mean? The skyfire?” Jeremiah asked and Tobias nodded. “Why?”
“Because of what it does. It explodes into super hot, multi-colored fire. Aemis originally made it for festivals, but with it, the Draaquans want to make—”
“A weapon,” Ben interrupted soberly, nodding his head. “Of course!”
“So, it actually works?” Jeremiah asked, surprised.
“Yeah, you bet it does! He was showing us when the Draaquans invaded the village and they saw it. So, they’ve been trying to get him to make it for them ever since. Either he can’t recreate it or he’s pretending that he can’t. In any case, they finally became angry and threatened him. I’m afraid they may have taken him away for the last time.”
“Where?”
“Those who are chosen to be ‘disciplined’ are taken to something they call the chamber. They don’t come back. I overheard the guard say it’s in the watchtower. He has the key in his pocket.”
Ben groaned. “The watchtower is all the way on the other side of the fortress, Jeremiah. We don’t have time!”
“But Ben, he’s my best friend!” Jeremiah pleaded. “Also, if they succeed in forcing it out of him, we could be giving them a potentially powerful weapon. That’s not a good idea.”
Ben paused and nodded. “You’re right. Alright, we’ll stay here and guide everyone out while you go get your friend.”
“He’s not going alone!” Chalice protested. “I’m going with him.”
“No,” Ben responded. “You’re staying here.”
“No, I’m not. You don’t understand, Ben. I’m not going to let him go by himself. If Aemis is alive, he may be hurt and Jeremiah will need my help.”
“I’ll watch out for her, Ben,” Jeremiah promised. “Don’t worry.”
Ben scowled when he realized that Chalice was not going to obey. “Stubborn girl,” he growled, but conceded all the same. “Alright, Kirna and I will stay. We’ll try to free as many as we can, but we may not be able to get everybody. There are more prisoners here than just your villagers.”
Chalice looked anxiously at Ben and he knew that she was worried about her grandparents.
“I will try to get everybody, Chalice,” he said and turned back to Jeremiah. “To find your friend, this is where you will need to go.” Ben pulled out the diagram of Chainbridge that he had in his pocket and handed it to Jeremiah. Then, he showed them the direction to the watchtower. “You are less likely to be seen if you go this way. These halls are rarely used … at least, they were. They may still be. Take the lantern with you, it will be very dark.”
“There are Draaquans who man the walls at night, Jer,” Tobias warned. “So, be on the lookout.”
“Yes, be extremely careful,” Ben said and was already moving down the corridor, opening the locked cells and giving instructions. Kirna, who was holding the other lantern, was directing the slow stream of people to the hidden door.
“Jer,” Tobias added. “The rounds of the night watchmen are predictable. If you time it just right, they won’t see you.”
“Okay, thanks, Toby!” Jeremiah replied, placing his hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Chalice and I can handle it. You and Seychelle just get yourselves out as soon as possible!”
Tobias nodded and placed his arm around his fiancee as they joined the line of escaping prisoners. Jeremiah walked over to the fallen guard and rifled through his pockets. Removing a large, wrought iron key, he turned to Chalice, the light of the lamp illuminating the right side of his face.
“You ready to go into the lion’s den?” he asked.
She looked into his eyes and saw no fear. “I’m ready if you are,” she said bravely.
“Okay, stay behind me.”
“No, I’m going first,” she said.
“No, you stay behind me!” he said sternly and she didn’t argue. She knew if she pushed it, he would make her stay in the dungeon with Ben and Kirna.
They rushed past the crowd and into the corridor that led to an ascending stairwell. The stairs were steep and broken into sections, each section divided by a long, flat step that allowed some respite from the grueling climb. At the top, they took a sharp right, into a corridor that led to the path that Ben had shown them. It took forever to cross to the other side of the fortress, but they finally reached the last ascending staircase that led out into the courtyard of the watchtower. Before they reached the last step, Jeremiah set down the lantern, pushing it aside, and slowly opened the wooden door. Silently, they crept along a small hallway until they reached the corner, around which Jeremiah peeked.
He turned back to her and whispered: “Ghost in the graveyard. Three o’clock.”
She knew what he meant. It was from a game they had played as children. The person who was the ghost hid from the others as they left the base to search. As soon as the ghost was spotted, everyone yelled: “Ghost in the graveyard!” and had to scramble back to the base without being tagged. If you were tagged, you became the ghost.
A fitting analogy! she thought. If we were tagged here, we would truly become ghosts.
She waited as Jeremiah watched. After a few minutes, he turned to her and whispered again: “The guard walks the wall back and forth and then disappears behind the tower. After a few minutes, he reappears. We can make it to the tower door after his next round. I’ll let you know when.”
She nodded and they waited. Finally, he motioned for her to follow and they silently sneaked out of the corridor. Stealing down the length of the courtyard, Chalice could see metal weapons of every kind and size hanging on hooks along the walls. Light from the torches glinted off the sharp metal and she shivered.
What do they do with those? she wondered, but did not want to think about it. Finally, they made it to the tower door and Jeremiah quickly removed the key from his pocket. He unlocked it and turned the handle slowly.
They jumped in and hurriedly shut the door behind them. Chalice could feel it immediately. It was a darkness that sunk deep into her soul and sucked the life out of her, filling her with dread and despair.
“You feel that, Jeremiah?”
she whispered.
“Yeah, I do,” he replied.
It was same feeling she had had when she had touched the red falcon at Cedarwood. What in the world was this? she wondered as they turned around and saw it. It must have been what Tobias had called the chamber. It sat in the middle of the enormous round room like a plague. It was huge, black, and wrought iron with a circular door in the front. A wrought iron staircase behind it spiraled up to the floors above, where they could hear footsteps of men enjoying drink and entertainment. A large wooden table topped with strange instruments sat to its left. As they studied the room, a faint groan from the right caught their attention and they looked over. It was Aemis, in a broken, crumpled heap on the floor. He was dirty and his hands and feet were bound with rope.
They scurried over quietly and bent down. Chalice removed her obsidian dagger from its sheath on the belt that Ardenne had given her, and cut his bonds, freeing his hands and feet. Then, they rolled him over. He looked very much like Jeremiah had in the forest clearing that day when they were saved by the Quaie’Miren. Chalice almost growled in anger, but restrained herself. After all, he was still alive. He was in bad shape, but he was still alive.
“Jeremiah?” he whispered. “Is it really you? Or is this a dream?”
“Shhh, no, it’s me, Aemis. We’ve come to get you,” Jeremiah said as Aemis’s face lit up with hope.
“Hi, I’m Chalice,” she introduced herself. “Can you walk?”
He shook his head. “My left leg is broken.”
Jeremiah looked at her. “We’ll have to carry him,” he said and she nodded. They stood, pulling him from the floor and propping him up under both their shoulders.
“Okay, Aemis, just like the three-legged race at home. With your right leg, step in tandem with my left.”
“I’ll try,” he said and they fumbled to the door. They opened it, peeked out, and found the guard. The cloud covered moon glowed behind him as he strode behind the tower wall and disappeared.
“Now!” Jeremiah whispered.
Shutting the door behind them, they scrambled for the corridor from which they had just come. After they turned the corner into the hallway, Aemis groaned.
“My firestick!” he said. “I forgot it! It’s on that table in there.”
“You mean, you made one for them?”
“They were going to put me in that chamber, Jer. I’m sorry! I finally gave in. I didn’t want to go in there. When they put you in there, you don’t come back out.”
“Don’t worry about it, Aemis,” Jeremiah reassured him. “What does it look like?”
“It’s a tubular object with a string at the end.”
“I’ll get it,” Chalice said.
“Chalice, no!” Jeremiah whispered frantically, but before he could stop her, she had released Aemis and was speeding back to the door, re-entering the round room.
She ran swiftly to the table and found it immediately. It was the only object fitting the description. It was made of a coarse, strong paper material, topped with a cone. At the other end was, just as Aemis had said, a long string that dangled from a small hole. A wooden stick was glued to the side and stretched out longer than the string, creating a kind of handle. Interesting! she thought and tucked it behind her belt. Then, she made for the door and peered out.
The guard was gone. She darted out and made for the corner where Jeremiah and Aemis were waiting, but before she could make it, suddenly, five dark shapes appeared all around her. They had silently dropped down from the floor above like phantoms in the moonlight and landed on the ground, caging her in. She froze as she realized where she was and what was happening. She turned her head slightly and out of the corner of her eye, she could see who they were, but she had already known. Draaquans.
Three of them, she knew. The other two she didn’t recognize, but their eyes still gleamed sinisterly with only one intention. Her heart beat uncontrollably and sweat beaded her brow. She didn’t know what would happen to her, but she did know one thing. She would die first before she let them take her.
I will not be caught again! she swore silently to herself.
Then, suddenly, blessedly, she felt it. She couldn’t believe it. After all this time, after all the training, after all the pain, sweat and tears, it had finally come to her. The Na’Veda. Time stood still and she became aware of the world as if her whole being enveloped her surroundings. She could sense everything, from the fly buzzing on the east wall, to the sharp dagger hanging from a hook on the west wall, to the Draaquan manning the north wall, who had just reappeared from behind the tower, nocked an arrow, and loosed it in her direction. It hung in midair while she held time in her hands. She could feel the fabric of time and space as it moved through her. She could control it, slowing it and sensing events before they happened. Strangely, in the back of her mind, she could faintly see a blue, pulsating gem, like the one from her dreams. Then, she moved through the forms she had been taught and timed her motions accordingly.
The men had no idea what they were facing. Rhaene stood directly opposite her, a few paces away and Nerrick stood to his left, unsheathing a belt knife. The arrow in the air was aimed directly at her heart and she could feel the invisible shield that Rhaene was intending to form around her. She knew exactly where it would be.
She bolted for him and sprang toward the shield. The arrow flew right past her, ricocheted off her shoulder, and changed direction. Instead of piercing her heart, it pierced the heart of the unknown Draaquan to her left. She bounded off the shield, backflipped, and came down upon the shoulders of the one behind her. Clutching his neck in between her legs, she squeezed as hard as she could, cutting off his windpipe. While he was choking, the knife that Nerrick had let fly through the air toward her missed and struck the man below her in the chest. As she drove him to the ground, she saw the sword of the third behind her being unsheathed before it was flung at her back. It was Jaden.
She rolled off the Draaquan and fell to the right. Flying end over end, the sword passed through the invisible shield that was no longer there, to plant itself forcefully into Nerrick’s chest. He opened his mouth in a soundless yell as blood spewed out. She could sense the fire building in Rhaene, the fire he wanted to throw at her to force her back into Jaden. She could see it before he kindled it. Faster than thought, she slid into Jaden’s legs, flipped over and drove her right leg into the back of his knees. He buckled and fell forward. Before the fire came, she rolled away at lightning speed and Rhaene’s flame rained down upon Jaden, cooking him and melting his armor. He screamed as he sizzled and smoked and Rhaene looked on in horror as his brother died.
Then, Chalice stood and glared at him. He held a calculating look, wary and suspicious. He couldn’t understand how she could move that fast. He didn’t even see her. How could she be in one place at one time and then the next moment, be in another, paces away? He was perplexed, but still enraged. To his surprise, after having just witnessed three of his comrades and his brother die within a matter of seconds, he was not about to go near her. Instead, he circled her cautiously, like a wolf.
“Hello, Rhaene,” she said, smiling.
“I thought you might come,” he growled. “It was a mistake.”
“You mean, what Nerrick said was a mistake? Yes, he was wrong. I’m still alive, and this,” she said, motioning to the dead men on the ground, “this is what happens to those who threaten my people. You can tell that to your precious Fierain, that is, if you live and if you walk away now, I might just let you.”
At that, his temper exploded and his stone glowed brightly. The fusillade of fire blasts, sound explosions, and weapons that were flung at her were overwhelming. He was trying to trap her again in a shield, but she managed to dodge each attempt, moving out of the way just in time. The path of a spear, she misjudged, and it nicked her right ear. She reached up to touch the wound and her fingers came away wet wit
h blood. He smiled and continued.
In his rage and through the torrent of weapons flying through the air, he failed to see the dagger that was hanging on the west wall behind her as he flung it in the air. She stepped into its path, blocking it from his view. Remaining calm and peering into his eyes, she ducked to the ground. It flew through the air over her toward him, lodging itself firmly into his neck. He grabbed at his throat with both hands and choked, falling to his knees, blood gushing through his fingers.
Suddenly, the fire and explosions ceased and the weapons that seemed to be hanging in midair, dropped to the stone floor with a loud clang. She rose from her tiger crouch and walked over to him as he was dying. He looked up at her as if he couldn’t believe what was happening. She placed her foot on his chest and pushed him down. He fell backwards, and with a loud thump, hit the ground.
“I told you,” she said. “You didn’t listen.”
He drew in his last rasping breath and was dead, eyes glazed, still staring up at her. Suddenly, she felt very tired and could barely keep herself from swaying. Then, it occurred to her that she had completely forgotten about the Draaquan on the wall. Spinning around, she found him on the ground of the courtyard, slumped over the side of a brandy barrel with an arrow through his gut. She glanced at the corner and saw Jeremiah, holding his bow, and Aemis, almost on his knees, clutching the side of the wall for support. They were both gaping at her, speechless.
“Good shootin’ Jeremiah!” she said.
He blinked. “Uh … thanks,” he replied as he and Aemis continued to stare at her in disbelief. Jeremiah looked as if he had just met her. His expression brought back the memory that Chalice had of him that night in his father’s study. Who are you? he had asked.
“You … you just took out five Draaquans!” Aemis exclaimed incredulously, and she nodded as she scurried up to help him. “Holy crap! How the heck did you do that?! Where did you learn to fight like that?”
“I learned it growing up in Canton. It’s called, ‘the way of the empty hand.’”
“Empty hand?” Jeremiah asked as he and Chalice threw Aemis’s arms around their shoulders once again and picked him up. Chalice used her left shoulder this time, as her right was sore and wet with blood. In the fight, her wound had re-opened.
“Yeah, we don’t use weapons when we fight,” she said.
“You know, the next time I’m in a tight spot, I want you with me, okay Chalice?” Aemis asked.
She laughed. “Okay, Aemis.”
“Why? You plan on getting into trouble again sometime soon?” Jeremiah asked.
“Well, you know me,” Aemis said.
“Yes, I do!” Jeremiah responded with a wry smile as they raced down the corridor as fast as their legs would carry them. Chalice still felt unusually tired, but she shrugged it off and kept going. She had to. They could hear the warning bells as the castle stirred from its slumber. One of the men had triggered an alarm and in a few moments, Chalice estimated, there would be many more men swarming around the fortress looking for them.
“Let’s get out of here,” Jeremiah said.
“Good idea!” she responded as they opened the door, grabbed the lantern, and sped down the staircase. When they arrived at the bottom, they could hear the tower bells above, resounding in the night as the fortress came alive with shouts and movement. Miraculously, Ben had been right about the pathway he had recommended. They met no one along the way to the other end of the fortress. It wasn’t until the last corridor that led to the stairwell of the prison that they were spotted.
Suddenly, angry shouts resounded in a hallway to their right as they passed. Chalice whipped her head around and saw a huge group of men speeding in their direction. As quickly as they could, they careened around the corner into the stairwell and made what Chalice thought was the fastest three-legged descent of their lives. It took the Draaquans a moment to discover where they had gone as none of them expected they would head for the prison. This allowed them valuable time to gain a head start down the stairwell. Despite it, though, as they reached the end and entered the prison, the men had gained and were almost upon them.
Chalice stopped and looked back. She was breathing hard and her heart beat frantically.
“What are you doing, Chalice? Come on!” Jeremiah shouted.
“No, Jeremiah, they’re too close!” she said in a panic. “They’ll reach us before we get to the door.”
She looked down and discovered that her hand was on Aemis’s firestick. Then, it suddenly occurred to her what she needed to do. She ripped the stick out from her belt and held it up.
“Aemis, how does this work?”
“Set it in the direction you want it to fly and light the end of the string.”
Swiftly, she grabbed the candle from the lantern and bolted to the first section of the staircase. She could hear the pounding of Draaquan boots getting closer. It sounded like an army marching to war. Holding the firestick with the wooden stem, she placed it on the step in front of her, aimed, and lit the string. Fire sizzled all the way up to the base of the tube. Then, it suddenly shot from her hand, the wood burning her palm, and flew up the stairwell toward the men with incredible speed and accuracy. She marveled at Aemis’s talent as she watched it go. At that moment, the first Draaquan emerged from the darkness into the torchlight at the top of the last section and glared at her.
“Chalice, get back here quickly!” Aemis yelled in warning and she felt Jeremiah’s strong hand seize her left arm and yank her off her feet, back behind the corner. She ducked behind them on the ground and replaced the candle.
A furious explosion shattered the air and they covered their heads as multi-colored light from the passageway blasted out of the stairwell and into the prison in a searing hot mass of dust and broken bits of stone. The fortress shook and rumbled loudly as huge blocks of rock fell, collapsing the stairwell right where the Draaquans had been. They heard men screaming in pain and raging curses echoed down the now-blocked hallway. Chalice stood up and walked over to the bottom of the staircase, peering up into the dust.
“Wow, Aemis! That really works!” she said, coughing loudly. “That should hold them off for a while.”
“Well done, Chalice!” Aemis cheered. “That was satisfying.”
“Well done to you!” Jeremiah said proudly to his friend, as he rose from the ground. “That was your invention!”
“Well, it wasn’t meant to be a weapon, but … given the circumstances …” Aemis added, attempting to stand up.
Chalice ran over and helped Jeremiah pull Aemis from the floor. Then, they continued down the prison corridor to the doorway. As she glanced around, Chalice could see that the cells were empty and she hoped that Ben and Kirna had gotten all of the prisoners into the passage before the alarm had sounded. Finally, turning the last corner, they saw Kirna standing in the opening with a lantern.
“Oh, thank heaven!” she exclaimed. “That explosion! What was it?”
“That was Aemis’s firestick,” Chalice replied, laughing. “We managed to stop them with their own weapon.”
“Right on!” Kirna laughed and stepped back as they rushed into the passage.
“Where’s Ben?” Jeremiah asked, as two men that he didn’t recognize approached them to offer a hand with Aemis. Then, he pulled the door shut.
“He’s at the front of the line,” Kirna replied. “He’s leading them. He told me to stay back and wait for you. We managed to get everyone, but there are many who are really sick,” she said, shaking her head. “Chalice, I don’t think they’re going to make it to the ships.”
“Well, like Ben said, we have to try,” Chalice said and sprang into a run along the line of people. Kirna and Jeremiah followed swiftly after her. As they descended the long tunnel, they passed what seemed like hundreds of people, all of them filthy and unkempt men, women, and children. Kirna was right. Many of them were very sick. One wom
an, Chalice noted, appeared to be clutching a dead baby to her breast. Apparently, the woman hadn’t wanted to leave it behind.
How heartbreaking! she thought as she ran.
It took forever to reach the end of the line and by that time, they were close to the bottom near the exit out of the mountain. Suddenly, they heard the clop of horse hooves and saw Tycho standing there in the tunnel, talking to Ben with Bunejab right next to him.
“There are large groups of riders out there, Ben,” he was saying with a worried expression. “They appear to be looking for something and they’re close to the gorge.”
“How many?” Ben asked.
“Hundreds!” Tycho said, shaking his head in dismay. “It’s only a matter of time before they find the entrance.”
Ben looked troubled. “We won’t be able to get all these people past them. There’s no way,” he said, shaking his head in frustration. “Curse it! We’re trapped!”
“What are we going to do?” Kirna asked, her voice trembling with fear, and Ben turned around to look at her.
“You’re back! Good.” He breathed a sigh of relief. “What are we going to do? I don’t know. Let me think,” he said worriedly and they all stood there, terrified and speechless. They had been relying on him and if Ben didn’t know what to do, that meant it was over. They were caught.
Chalice was starting to feel the nervous sickness again she had felt when they had first passed this section of the tunnel. She placed her hand on her stomach and the other she placed on the wall to steady herself as she closed her eyes and hung her head. Jeremiah touched her shoulder gently.
“You alright?” he asked softly.
Then, suddenly, she knew. She looked up at the wall and removed her hand. Ignoring his question and ignoring the murmurs of everyone around her, she began kicking it violently, as hard as she could.
“Chalice, there is no use kicking the wall,” Tycho said forlornly. “It’s not going to help and you’re just going to hurt yourself.” The tone of his voice implied that he had already given up.
“Chalice, what are you doing?” Jeremiah asked. He was concerned that she was cracking under the pressure and losing control.
“I feel something!” she cried. “I feel something right here! I felt it when we passed by this spot coming in. It’s this way.”
“What way?” he asked. “There’s nothing but a wall.” He looked at her as if she was losing her mind.
Then, all the sudden, the wall cracked where she had been pounding it with her foot and they could hear the noise echo down a large, hollow cavity behind the stone. They all stood there, frozen.
“She’s got a powerful kick!” Ben remarked to Jeremiah, a hint of hope in his voice.
“Umm … yeah. You have no idea,” Jeremiah said, the memory of having been sent flying across his father’s study still itching in his mind. Chalice continued kicking at the wall with all the force she had left. She was exhausted and Ben could see it.
“Stand back, Chalice,” he ordered, placing his hand on her shoulder. She didn’t need telling twice. She stopped and backed away. They all did. Then, he held his palm to the cracked wall as his daieoden gleamed with light.
Suddenly, the stone blocks burst outwards, tumbling into a wide cavern that lay on the other side. Kirna and Tycho had to calm the horses, who jumped and danced around, terrified by the explosion. Jeremiah moved the lantern toward the opening and shed light onto the dirt floor of the passageway that stretched out before them. It sloped gently downward into darkness.
“Look at that!” Ben exclaimed with a jolt of excitement.
“Good job, Chalice!” Kirna burst out, putting her arm around her best friend, but Chalice didn’t respond. She had a crazed look in her eye as she grabbed the lantern from Jeremiah and darted through the doorway.
“Wait!” Ben cautioned, but she didn’t listen. “Reckless girl!” he growled. “She plunges ahead into the unknown without a care that she might get hurt!”
“I agree with you!” Jeremiah said in exasperation, as he jumped after her. Ben stayed where he was, motioning the others not to follow. A few moments passed and they heard Jeremiah’s shout resound in the chamber below.
“Uh, Ben, you may want to come down here,” he said. “And bring everyone with you. There’s plenty of room.”
“Alright, we’re coming!” Ben shouted back and then turned to Kirna. “You take them down, but be careful. I’ll stay back and usher them through. Once we have everybody, I’ll need to seal this hole in the wall. Hopefully we can do this before we’re discovered.”
Kirna nodded and let Tycho, Bunejab, and the horses go first. Then, she motioned to the people in line and they began to follow her cautiously down the dirt path. A few spans down, the path became murky, wet, and cold. They rounded the huge rock wall and suddenly found themselves in an enormous cavern through which a large stream flowed, pooling into a small pond in the middle. Huge stalactites and stalagmites jutted out from the ceiling and the floor. Some were so big that they met in the middle and formed columns.
But that wasn’t what awed them. What held their attention were the glowing, multi-colored gems of all shapes and sizes strewn along the bank and under the surface of the pond and stream. The rushing water shot shimmers of light from the stones, giving the rock walls a pearlescent glow. Kirna looked over and found Chalice slowly crossing the stream, waist deep in water. Jeremiah was with her, holding her steady and keeping her from being pulled under by the force of the current.
“What are they doing?” someone in the crowd asked. Kirna knew, but she hushed the crowd anyway and stayed silent.
It took a long time, but Chalice and Jeremiah finally reached the other side of the water where everyone saw what she was after. She bent down toward a beautiful, pulsating gem and removed it from the bank of the stream. She was wet and muddy, but she didn’t care. The gem looked like a sapphire that had been finely cut into the shape of a tear drop. It was bright blue and sparkled on every side. She dipped it into the water to wash off the flecks of mud that covered it, then lifted it in her palm and held it in front of her face. Her eyes gleamed as blue light from her stone rose and fell, pulsing with the beat of her heart and illuminating everything around it.
Then, she suddenly understood the part of her that had been missing her whole life, that she hadn’t even known until now. It was almost as if it were a vital organ inside of her that she couldn’t live without. She could feel its very being within her and she knew now what Ben meant when he had said: For reasons I will teach you later, they cannot live without their daieoden. She knelt there, motionless, Jeremiah at her side, mesmerized by this huge part of her that she had been living without for so long.
“What is it?” a woman asked.
“It’s her daieoden,” Kirna responded.
“It’s what?”
“Her stone,” she said. “She is Terravailian.” And then, Kirna suddenly realized how different she and her best friend were from each other. The fact hadn’t really occurred to her until now.
“She found it,” a deep voice issued from behind her. Kirna turned and saw Ben standing behind her. He had just walked up with Bunejab.
“Is everyone in?” she asked.
“Yes, but—” he broke off when a man yelled from the darkness.
“Hey! I found something!”
Ben turned his head abruptly in the direction of the man’s voice and shouted: “What is it?”
“I don’t know. It’s some kind of door, I think.”
He bolted toward the man, Kirna and Bunejab following right behind him. Tycho just stood there with the horses, watching, as Jeremiah and Chalice, having risen from the bank of the stream, made their way back across the water.
As Ben ran up, he saw immediately what the man had found. It was a huge doorway, outlined in a silvery vein that formed an intricate pattern. A small circle was located to its immediate r
ight.
“Stand back,” he said and placed his palm on the circle.
“Are you going to blow up the wall again?” Tycho asked.
“No,” Ben replied as the outline of the doorway glowed brightly and the doors pushed open to loud gasps of astonishment. Warm air blew past everyone, rushing out of the darkness inside. Then, Ben stepped in and placed his palm on the inner wall. They all gaped as the enormous room within lit up blindingly.
“It’s here!” Ben said, incredulous. “It has been here the whole time, right under my nose. We finally found it.”
“Found what?” Kirna asked.
“The lost city of Barenthren.”