The voice was next to him.
He looked to see that same glowing form of his aunt. “You don’t need to do this. I would never ask that of you.”
“But you can’t mean to… I won’t let you be turned into…” The words were too horrible to say.
“I won’t. I have… other things in mind. You… need to go, before the krolls know you’re here.”
“Go where?” He looked back at the krolls, there were a couple nearest him who had heads raised, sniffing the air. Was that for him?
He moved farther down the rock tunnel, out of sight of the beasts. He returned the arrow to its quiver, the bow unstrung.
“Follow me.” She floated away quickly down the passage away from the cavern, deeper into the caves.
Jais did as instructed, his heart tearing, knowing his aunt’s life was measured in scant few heartbeats now.
“I deny you your prize!” his aunt’s voice came to him clearly, if softly from behind him.
Shuddering, he wanted to ask what she would do, but couldn’t, his curiosity outweighed by his concern.
Then there was a roar behind him and the thundering of heavy feet.
“Hurry! We’re almost there,” said the ghost form of his aunt, ahead of him.
The cave was narrowing, the walls here were smooth, and Jais noticed images on them as he passed. They were crude drawings of people and animals in a forest setting. He didn’t have time to take a closer look as krolls were rushing in behind him. He picked up his pace, running as the tunnel narrowed down to a space only slightly larger and taller than he was. He slipped through that as the krolls neared.
The cave shuddered with the impact of the not-too-bright creatures into the confined space behind him. They were pushing at each other, reaching into the hole, trying to reach him, but none would fit.
He stood there for a half-heartbeat watching the chaos, then followed his aunt’s form deeper still.
Finally, she stopped and said, “Rest here.”
They were in an odd cave. Odd because it was so well defined. The stone was smooth, with a perfect arched ceiling above him, and even what seemed to be a stone bench cut out from an alcove carved into the wall. It was on that which he sat.
He wasn’t exhausted, but he was winded enough to appreciate the pause. That, and his emotions were all a tumble within him.
“Did you… Are you…?” Jais asked as he caught his breath. Again the words were too hard to say.
She floated over next to him and crouched next to where he sat, an ethereal hand on his knee. “Yes. It is done.”
“Aunt Sarelle…” His voice was weaker now. “I’ve already lost so much.” A lump grew in this throat, and it became hard to speak. He wanted to reach out to her, to touch her, hug her, but as he tried to put his hand on hers, it only passed through.
“I wish I could touch you,” he managed to croak out.
“As do I.”
“How… how are you still here, with me?”
She smiled sadly. “I told you earlier I would be with you for a short time after I died.”
Again his morbid curiosity wanted him to ask how it had happened. He instead asked, “Was it… painful?” He wanted to think it had been quick and easy and painless.
The glowing from shared a sad smile. “No. As a healer and physical talent I have… had a fair control over my own being. I simply made it… stop. “
He felt hot tears on his cheeks, his lips pressed tight to hold back sobs as he nodded hastily.
She remained kneeling where she was as he wept for her, but as with his uncle he found his tears not lasting for long. He sniffed. “What do I do now?”
“You need to kill that krolloc.”
“How?”
The shoulders of the ghost slumped. “That I do not know. The krolls, and probably the krolloc itself, likely have your scent now. They know you’re here.” She grimaced. “But while I was in that larger cave I felt a breeze blowing in from the outside. If you could somehow get around to the far side of that cave you’d be up wind of them, they wouldn’t know you were coming. That is all I can suggest.” She glanced off down the tunnel they were in. “Perhaps this passageway continues around to the far side?” She shrugged.
It was worth a try. He didn’t know how he was going to take down that massive beast all on his own, but he had to try, had to do something.
He nodded. “I will do what I must.”
She nodded as well then reached out an ethereal arm to him, laying fingers on his cheek. He felt no touch, but a warmth there. “I can feel myself being drawn away. I am sorry I couldn’t do… more.” Her expression grew sorrowful. He was sure she’d be crying if she could. Her lips pressed together for a long moment.
Finally she said, “Be safe my darling.”
He felt the warmth on his cheek intensify as the image of his aunt faded away to nothing.
“Goodbye, Aunt Sarelle. I love you.”
From a distant place, or perhaps within him, a faint voice responded with: “I love you too. Goodbye… my son.”
20
Despite having rested for only a short time and having walked for the rest of the night, Caerwyn wasn’t feeling that bad. Her wound felt better, but she hadn’t risked removing the bandages to look at it. She didn’t feel that comfortable yet. She was, however, at least able to stand straight without feeling like her insides were going to fall out. The pain was diminished as well, from a swath of intense burning and stinging to a line of stinging pain. Overall it was a vast improvement.
They had evaded the men sent into the woods to search for them. By virtue of needing to search, those men were moving slowly, ranging back and forth to cover large areas of the forest. Whereas Caerwyn and Alnia, who also had to move slowly to keep from making noise, could move directly away, and hence had quickly drawn out of range of anyone seeking them. Caerwyn led for the most part, as her vision was better. She whispered warnings when there were roots or dips, where branches would brush by them, and so on.
It was slow going, but after a while they had felt safe enough to stop once again and rest for a bit.
For some time now, Caerwyn had also been aware of something else. Something she’d forgotten about: she knew were Jais and his aunt were. She could sense them because they were drahksani and thus she knew exactly which direction to head.
Yet as she and Alnia rested, she stopped sensing one of the two. She didn’t know which it was, and for a moment, panic rose within her that Jais might be lost, gone forever. Though after that thought, she felt guilty. His aunt was also a person to be mourned if lost. She was a great healer and powerful in other ways. She would be a great loss to their kind as well.
She didn’t want to say anything to Alnia. The woman’s state was fragile enough, tired and at her wits end. She’d wept, seemingly for no reason, several times as they’d moved through the dark forest. She’d kept the noise low, whimpering to herself, but Caerwyn was still well aware that the other woman was enduring her own trials this night.
“I don’t think we’re far away now,” she said, hoping to cheer the other woman up. “A little farther then we’ll come to where Jais and his aunt are.”
Alnia’s voice was full of a soured surprise when she responded. “You almost seem happy that we’re headed toward a den of krolls, led by something even worse, if that’s possible.”
Caerwyn hadn’t thought of that. “You don’t have to go that far.”
“Because I’m useless. I know. There will be little I can do to help you.” The bitter tone seemed to deepen.
This wasn’t going well. “You saved me. That’s something.”
Alnia sighed. “I know. I just… This is all so much. I’m not meant for this.”
No she wasn’t. “You’re bearing it bravely.”
“You’re kind to say so, but I think you’re lying.”
So what could Caerwyn say to help this girl? Perhaps it was time to take a slightly harder approach. It had worked with
her troops. “Things are only going to get harder from here.” She kept her tone neutral, calm, but went on. “You’ve said you can’t go back. Well even if we succeed in stopping these krolls, life won’t be easy. Living out of a small pack, eating what we can hunt or forage, sleeping on the ground, in the cold or rain. That’s my life, and your life now. You’ll need to grow harder for such things.”
Alnia gave a huff of a sardonic laugh. “You make it sound easy.”
Caerwyn didn’t think she’d made their life sound that easy at all.
“Just ‘grow harder’ like I could sprout a second skin of snake’s scales. I am only starting to understand what you think of as a hard life. You can say all those words now, and trust me that sounds like the pits of Holn to me, but I get the feeling that living it will be so much worse. I’m not ready for any of this.” Those last words were said amidst sobs.
So the hard approach hadn’t worked. But Caerwyn had to agree, Alnia wasn’t ready for any of this.
“You could still go back. See if you can find some joy in a normal life.”
“Without Jais? With my family and friends always looking at me askance, like I’m some sort of traitor?”
“You’ll be a comfortable traitor I suspect.”
The sobs continued for a while without any response. Caerwyn waited.
“You don’t know how good that sounds, but I can’t,” Alnia said once she was able.
“Why not?”
More sobs for a moment before she found her words. “Because even if they could forgive me for what I’ve done, I’m not sure I could ever forgive them!” The sobs were laced with anger now.
Caerwyn nodded to herself.
“Then you’ll become hard like me. I’ll teach you how to fight, defend yourself. You’ll survive, and there will be good days, but as you say, things will probably be far worse than you expect for a while. It isn’t easy to leave everything you know. Trust me, I’ve done it. But you get used to it.”
Alnia sniffed. “You had to leave your family and everything else behind?” She sounded disbelieving.
“Twice. Both because I was drahksani.”
“Twice?”
“Once when I was a child and my family was being slaughtered. I escaped, but I was only a child and had nothing. I had to learn to survive and live off the land, by my wits only. You think what’s ahead of you is hard. Try doing it when you’re barely old enough to know what’s going on, and with no one to help you.”
“That’s horrible!”
“It was. But I endured, and so will you.”
“I hate to ask about the other time.”
Caerwyn laughed for a moment. It hadn’t been a question, but she would answer. “That time was easier for many reasons, but still I had to leave behind everything I knew, family and friends, and I can never go back.” Before Alnia could ask why, Caerwyn answered that too. “I was an adult, and I had a friend with me, but I was exposed as drahksani to my adopted family. It was only because I was held in high esteem, a person of great respect and privilege, that I wasn’t killed outright. Instead I was banished. That was just over a year ago.”
Alnia’s tears seemed to be drying. “And here I thought you had always lived this way. I am sorry, Caerwyn. I can’t imagine what you must have endured. Your life sounds like it’s been far worse than mine.”
“Perhaps, but there were many good moment as well. As you’ve had, I’m certain. Cherish those, hold them close. They will help to get you through what is to come. Just don’t pine to return to those memories, down that road lies a dangerous path of regret and sorrow… even madness.”
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Telling me about your life. It helps.”
Oh? Caerwyn hadn’t thought of that approach, but apparently they’d gotten there in the end.
“Shall we move on then?” she asked.
Alnia drew a long breath and let it out, sounding determined in the darkness. “Yes.”
21
Jais crept toward his doom.
He couldn’t stop thinking of it in such terms. He saw no way he would get out of what he was about to do alive.
Even if he could get close to the krolloc without being seen — or scented — and maybe somehow surprise it, he was still fairly certain that it would take more than one blow to fell the thing. And more than one blow would mean more time. The longer he was there, the greater the chances that the krolloc would magic him in some foul way, or that another kroll would come along and help his master. It seemed like it’d take a miracle to kill the krolloc and escape with his life.
He crept down a narrow, jagged tunnel in complete darkness. He had followed the nice carved tunnel a little ways before it had turned back into the jagged rock above and below and to either side, which was more expected for such a deep cave. He could see in a limited manner, but made his way along partially by feel, his hands out on the walls. He knew he was turning, curving around to his right, and hoped that meant he was heading back toward the main cave. A little while ago he’d felt the air current’s change. It hadn’t been that noticeable, but he’s started feeling a faint breeze blowing against his face in the darkness. So, if he was creeping toward the back end of that larger cave then he would be up wind of the krolls. They shouldn’t be able to smell him.
That was something… if not a lot.
Light up ahead let him know he was getting closer to — what he assumed was — the large chamber. He moved more carefully. A wrong step could still announce his presence with an unwelcome noise.
Finding the end of the tunnel, he stayed within its shadows as he surveyed where he was, within the cavern of the krolls.
This was a good spot and a bad spot all at once. The cavern was long, and he was far from the end where most of the krolls were. That meant he was far from the great fires as well. There were many shadows and places he could hide as he made his way to the other end of the hall. He’d have lots of cover and time to work his way over to them. And yet, because it was so far away, that also meant he had farther to return once the deed was done. He was fairly certain they were faster than he, which meant they’d catch him before he could get back here. The ground was also quite uneven with many odd slopes and jagged edges. Again, good for moving slowly, not so good for running.
Yet he could not turn back from the task his aunt had given him. He truly knew very little about krollocs, but he could guess they were every bit as bad as she had made them out to be.
He left his bow and quiver here. They would do him no good. As much as he could use the ranged advantage he doubted that such small projectiles would truly hurt that massive beast, even if he hit well with every arrow. No, his sword was his best chance to kill the thing, but that meant getting far closer than was comfortable.
As he snuck from his concealed spot to creep along the floor and around the stalagmites, he found an ironic grin on his face at the thought that he might die saving people who wanted to kill him. In truth, they got the best out of this deal no matter how it went. At least in their minds they would: either they got rid of a drahksan, or the krolls.
He tread with extreme care. There were small rocks and dust, covering this area of the cave, on which he might slip or that might crunch under his boots. He could make no noise, give no warning of his attack. It was painstaking, each step measured and scouted, every path well thought to keep him out of their sight.
To cross the couple hundred feet from the crevice to the place where he was closest to their light, and where he paused to make his final plans, seemed like an eternity. His heart raced, sweat slicked his forehead and dampened his clothes despite the rather chill air in these caves.
Jais had no idea if krolls slept or not, but gazing down on them now from his vantage point, hidden behind a thick column of stone, he learned that they did. He thanked any god that would listen for that. Not all of them were asleep, it seemed some, less than a dozen, just meandered around the cave, lumbering
along, almost as if lost, no direction or goal apparent. Yet the rest were in various positions of repose, including the krolloc. The big beast was still another fifty feet away from Jais. There were two possible spots Jais might be able to hide along the way if any of the alert ones looked his way.
This was it. Probably his best chance was now.
He descended the hill of stone from which he had been watching the krolls, and padded along as silent as he could until he reached the first spot to hide. He’d been moving so quickly that he hit the jutted stone wall hard and it blew the air out of him in a huff. His heart thundered in his ears. His breath came so heavily, he was certain one of the krolls would hear it, but as he waited to see if there was any alarm raised, nothing happened. He glanced around the stalagmite and indeed nothing seemed amiss. It would be all uphill from here to another spot where the floor seemed to have shifted and broken, creating a four-foot wall he could hide behind. That stood less than ten paces from the krolloc.
He slipped around his current hiding spot, and rushed up the incline to the next, throwing himself down to hide there.
His heart was hammering, frantic. He’d seen the krolloc start to rouse as he’d reached this spot.
There was a roar. It was a feral and terrible sound which sent a shiver down his spine, turning his sweat cold and making his insides squirm.
He heard a great, hissing inhalation from somewhere above him, then… “Another drahksan!”
Gods! He was done for before he’d even reached the thing. He must have been too close, even being up wind, and the thing had scented him.
The krolloc bellowed more, but it was in the krollish tongue, and Jais couldn’t understand it. He drew forth his sword, not caring if there was any noise. The rousing of the krolls was quite thunderous as it was.
He steeled himself, knowing that at any minute a giant form was going to come looming above him. This would be his one and only chance to slay the beast. He’d cut the legs out from under a kroll before, perhaps he could do so again on this massive creature.
Soul Seeking Page 18