Then he had to understand how Scrave had escaped the temple. How could he be here right now? Wherever here actually was. Stratholme was many leagues away. Was he somehow tracking him?
The odds of finding Kerian in the inhospitable terrain of the Vaarseeti desert were incalculable; the desert simply too vast. Octavian and Kerian had managed to become lost simply following the trail markers. The Provan legion had remained lost in the desert for generations until Kerian had blundered into them. Even the city of Tahl Avan had been scoured from its ever-shifting surface. If a desert could wipe a civilization from the map and swallow an entire elite legion of soldiers, the passage of two men and their horses would be simple to erase. There was no way he could have been followed. No one knew where he was heading. Indeed, up until a few days ago Kerian had been heading for Al Mashmaah, his course not set. They had only just changed direction in their quest for Blackthorn and he still thought this was a hair brained idea. How had the Elf managed to find him?
It was one hell of a coincidence and Kerian had lived too long and seen too much to believe in coincidences. He rubbed the flap of the bag faster, finding the action soothing in his current state of mind as he struggled to make sense of the mystery the Elf represented. Then there was Scrave’s eyepatch. There was something about the sight of it that made Kerian’s skin crawl. He took a deep breath and shuddered as his footsteps continued to pace through the haze. It seemed such a little thing but there was something very wrong about that unseen eye, something more dangerous than even the Elf.
His nose twitched; he could smell something strange. It was a scent of mulled spices and warm bread. He sniffed again, clearly in his weakened state with lack of nourishment he was starting to hallucinate! He sniffed deeper, there was definitely a spicy smell coming from somewhere. He looked down at his side and noticed that in his deliberations he had inadvertently opened the pouch and a tantalising aroma was now wafting from the opening. He slid his hand into it and felt something warm beneath his hand.
No, it could not possibly be. His mouth started salivating as he lifted out the warm spiced roll its surface pitted with olives and rouged with the orange of baked tomatoes. He held it up to his nose, breathing in the scents, not believing his eyes. It had been so long since he had taken any food! He ripped a chunk from the loaf, noting the steam rising from the bread as if it had just come from a hot oven and placed the morsel in his mouth.
He stopped walking, the sensation of the food passing his lips making his stomach roll in anticipation, his eyes flood with tears of pleasure. The rope snapped taut at his waist tugging him forward, almost making him drop his new-found bounty as his feet skidded across the surface of the span but he was determined not to relinquish his grip on his prize.
Kerian shot a scowl towards the front of the group, even though he could barely make out the shadowy shape of Scrave and nothing of Octavian at all, before he turned his attention back to the treasure in his hands. The bread was simply divine, he ripped off another mouthful. Feeling the crust crack as he bit into the surface and the warmth of the springy interior inside his mouth as he chewed ravenously. Tomato juice dribbled from his chin as he bit into a hot chunk of the fruit, nearly scalding himself in the process but he was beyond caring.
Then it hit him. He had smelled these scents before. Where was it? In the market place at Wellruff? No that wasn’t it. The vendor stalls at Lichfield? No that wasn’t right either. It was more recent than that. Then it hit him; an image of himself and Octavian hanging upside down over a boiling pot of molten gold. He had smelt it then, the time… oh gosh, the time when Colette’s pendant had fallen into the bag!
He plunged his hand inside the pouch, feeling several more loaves, small urns and amphorae pass beneath his questing fingertips. It had to be here. It just had to be! He did not want to raise his hopes up higher, dared not wish that his thoughts could be true. Then his fingers fell upon the unmistakeable shape of the one thing he had thought lost forever…
And Kerian’s heart soared.
Chapter Forty-Four
“Rauph! The trident; don’t forget the… oh excuse me, mind yourself, watch your hand. What was I saying? Oh yes …the trident!” Ashe yelled down into the labyrinth, struggling to make his way along the edge of the spectator packed wall, pushing and shoving, ducking and diving and somehow managing to find himself with two purses sticking from his pockets, holding a small roll of hot chicken in one hand and a fistful of assorted coloured ribbons in the other. “Yum… ou ave to take the… oh too late.” Ashe swallowed a mouthful of the food as he watched the acidic jelly surging forwards, rolling over the discarded weapon and collecting it up along with the other detritus from the arena floor.
So much for that idea! Ashe thought as he took another bite, before lifting the skirt of a plump observer blocking his path and slipping between her legs, shielding his eyes with the fist of ribbons, just in case he saw something he would wish to forget.
“Sorry, nice bloomers by the way!” He darted between two stern Minotaur guards and risked another quick glance down into the labyrinth at the rapidly departing figure of the navigator as the stubborn Minotaur continued to head away from him down the slope. “You need to wait for… watch it, I nearly dropped my chicken roll, excuse me, please breathe in, sorry was that your foot? …wait for me.” It was so strange. Ashe had never known Rauph to be so deaf before. What was the Minotaur playing at? Why was he ignoring him? Was the noise of the crowd so loud he could not hear his voice? Come to think of it there was an awful lot of noise from the crowd behind him as if they were somehow agitated.
The Halfling risked a quick glance, noting to his surprise that there was an angry surging mob heading in his direction. He faced front, anxious to see who had upset them, only to collide with the posterior of a Minotaur guard who was bent over looking down into the maze and observing the action. The guard snorted in surprise, clearly not expecting to be run into and then spun around angrily, causing Ashe to throw his hands up in the air in surprise and send brightly coloured ribbons and chunks of steaming chicken onto the guard’s uniform.
“Oops, I’m terribly sorry. I never saw you there.” Ashe confessed, trying to squeeze by on the left where the crowd was tightly packed. The Minotaur snorted again, his anger clear for everyone to hear. Sinders swooped down, precariously scrabbling for a perch on the Halfling’s shoulder, only to see the hulking Minotaur bearing down. The bird swiftly buried its head under its wing, hoping that if it could not see the angry Minotaur then the angry Minotaur could not see it.
The guard stomped down a huge boot, blocking Ashe’s way, forcing the Halfling to dodge to the right and dart along the very edge of the maze wall. A burst of speed, then he was through, feeling the air part inches above his head as a huge hand reached out to snare him. Ashe held his breath, head down, he had to catch up with Rauph, had to… The spear haft caught his back foot as he ran, snagging the Halfling and spinning him off balance.
“Cracking conkers!” The Halfling cursed, stumbling on the crumbling edge, sending fragments of mortar and dust tumbling down into the passageway from beneath his scrabbling feet and accidentally dropping one of the pilfered purses to the ground, where it split open, spilling coins indiscriminately and causing yet more chaos as the crowd surged in to pocket the windfall.
Ashe’s little hand reached out, grabbing a scarf, yanking the poor unfortunate spectator forward, whilst somehow correcting Ashe’s own pendulum line of trajectory, allowing the diminutive thief to regain his balance and sprint off through the milling crowd, leaving the Minotaur guard to thrash his way through the people clawing at the coins on the floor and smash aside the choking man still struggling to release his scarf.
The Halfling pushed past a young couple more intent on each other than the spectacle below, before suddenly finding himself out of wall space, with another cross passage lying below him, that traversed left to right with several side branches clearly visible. Ashe looked down
into the maze, noted the scoured stone floor, far below and watched as a female contestant charged by, her crimson cloak spread out behind her like a flying carpet.
Oh this was a right bowl of hazelnuts! Where was Rauph? Somehow, he had lost sight of his friend. This part of the maze had to be further along the route as he had seen the Minotaur in the red cloak pass his earlier position minutes before Rauph had even entered this section of the labyrinth. Ashe’s eyes scanned the crowds lining the walls, trying to figure out what way the passage went. Clearly the route must have twisted away somewhere back along his path and was ultimately going to come back in this direction. That would mean that if he waited long enough Rauph would be along.
The female Minotaur suddenly reappeared, from the direction she had taken, backtracking before taking another side passage that ran almost straight ahead. Spectators roared their excitement as she returned again in mere moments, her agitated actions showing how the ways she had chosen were clearly not the path to take. Ashe studied the crowd before him, noting how they stood across the Minotaur’s proposed path, therefore making that passageway another dead end and confirming that her latest choice had indeed been fruitless. She ran along the path, her actions frantic now, her hands pushing and shoving against the stone walls, looking for some means to escape.
“Gotcha!” snarled a voice from behind, causing Ashe to turn around and come face to face with the Minotaur guard who still pursued him, lumps of cooked chicken still sliding down his smart tunic, leaving unsightly greasy marks.
“You really ought to get that seen to or you will never get the stains out.” Ashe pointed out helpfully, feinted a charge to the left, before running right, wriggling his way between the tightly packed spectators gathered about him. A groan of disappointment issued from the mouths of the people behind him but Ashe could not stop to see what they all were looking at, his attention focused on escaping the clutches of the huge creature lunging madly after him, bowling spectators over like nine pins.
Ashe slipped past a man with a thick bushy beard playing drums and a young woman with short spiky hair that played a tune on a flute mimicking the excitement of the chase they were witnessing, before he dived between a fat man eating a large pastry and a parent balancing an infant on their shoulders, the child waving a blue stuffed toy monkey with pure enthusiasm. The guard roared his disapproval but was unable to squeeze between the spectators easily and started grabbing people and yanking them back past him causing the flute to toot loudly in protest before it was snatched and smashed to kindling under his boot.
The Halfling shoved and pushed his way along the wall, making his way around to the end of the first dead end, dancing beneath the outstretched arms of a drunken sot who wanted to kiss him and leaping over the scuffling bodies of two men who were clearly not seeing eye to eye. He raced through a column of smoke ascending from a brazier hung below, little orange flecks of cinder and curling spirals of smoke sent spinning in his wake.
He slipped beneath a silver lanyard hanging from a bugle held by a Minotaur who was waiting to announce another death to the crowds and stole a quick glance down into the labyrinth. The crimson cloaked Minotaur was now nowhere to be seen. Where had she gone? He looked over the side checking to see if she was against the wall but she was not there either. How could she have simply vanished? Rauph arrived, huffing around the corner and came to a stop, just as Ashe paused above him to draw breath.
“Hi Rauph.” Ashe waved down eager to see his friend again. Rauph glanced up, his eyes growing wide, then he scowled and shook his head before setting off down the first passageway the cloaked Minotaur had explored.
“It’s a dead end!” The Halfling shouted down helpfully but his calls fell on deaf ears. Soon enough Rauph retraced his steps and took the only remaining passage available.
“That’s a dead end too!” Ashe screamed, only to watch Rauph disregard him with a flick of his wrist and shake of his head before he charged down the pathway anyway.
“Told you so.” Ashe remarked, as Rauph came back to the main passage, this time with his enthusiasm clearly waning, a look of total confusion on his face.
Someone barged into Ashe from behind, causing the Halfling to stumble forwards, his little hands scrabbling for a hold on the ledge to prevent him from tumbling over. Sinders exploded into flight from the thief’s shoulder, flapping its wings before turning about in a tight circle and dropping like a stone to the floor of the maze, where it pulled up at the last moment, before crashing comically and rolling over on itself.
“Now there is no need to push!” Ashe snapped angrily, trying to resist the mass behind him, only to hear the screams from several upset and shocked spectators as they surged forwards to crash against him again, harder this time. “What are you doing?” The Halfling turned about and found several people squashed up against him and shoving through them, the towering Minotaur guard. The creature lashed out catching one complaining spectator on the nose, crushing it like a ripe tomato. A mist of crimson puffed in the air as the man stepped back, then stumbled and fell over the side.
Rauph had noticed the scrum of people crushed to the edge and struggling not to fall. He had also noticed zombie Ashe clawing at these figures as they screamed. The first spectator fell to the floor beside him, his short dark hair soaked with blood from his broken nose, his leg cracking as he landed, the sound echoing down the passage like a dry twig snapping.
“Stop you’ll tip us all over!” Ashe yelled, struggling to move away but the pressure of the crowd was too much and he could not find grip on the crumbling edge to push back. His heels slid over, leaving the Halfling balancing on his toes and still the force increased. A huge hand burst through the spectators grabbing Ashe by the hair and lifting him squirming from the ground.
“Aww let go you are hurting me!” Ashe squealed, struggling to hold on as the Minotaur guard swung Ashe clean over the edge, sending another two spectators screaming into the pit as the brute laughed aloud. Rauph dodged as a large woman fell, landing awkwardly, dazed, her head striking the stonework with a sickening thud. More spectators screamed, whilst others cheered, as the second man fell, a scholar by his robes, his hair thinning atop his head. He landed better than the other spectators had, rolling with the fall only to find himself further down the passageway, flat on his back, further along the passage Rauph had come from.
This was horrific, these poor people had thrown themselves down into the labyrinth rather than be eaten by a zombie Halfling! Crowd members panicked trying to rush away as the angry Minotaur guard continued shoving people aside with little concern for where they may end up.
Zombie Ashe, now clearly frustrated by his fleeing meals, had apparently turned his attention to larger prey and seemed to be clawing at a Minotaur guard’s huge hand, clearly trying to sink his little incisors deep into the creature’s flesh. Those poor people, Rauph wanted to help but they were all on top of the wall, there was nothing he could do.
“I will teach you to abuse me you little bug!” the guard snorted. Ashe’s hands fumbled at the Minotaur’s hands, trying to lever up a finger, grip onto the wrist of his uniform, anything to stop the pain from his hair but he could not find any way to gain purchase. He looked into the guard’s eyes and suddenly realised what the creature was going to do to him.
“Rauph help me!” He pleaded. “I’m going to fall.”
A wet, squelching noise sounded behind the navigator, as the gelatinous mass that had been sliding down the passage slowly oozed around the corner behind him, blocking any chance of escape. Rauph looked back at the two exits remaining, knowing each ran to a dead end, then up at the dangling flesh-eating Halfling zombie then back again at the jellied mass slowly sliding towards him down the ramp.
A quick mental note of his purple maze diagram confirmed to Rauph that he was boxed in, there was nowhere to go. He tried to quell the panic rising within him but he knew what the corrosive touch of this jelly creature could do having seen i
t first-hand. He checked the distance thirty feet, twenty-five feet. It was surprising how fast this wobbly lump of gel could slither!
Ashe screamed as the guard let go, dropping him into the maze. Sinders squawked too, loudly warning Rauph that something was up and the Minotaur stepped back just as a certain small Halfling landed atop of him with a grunt before tumbling to the floor. Ashe bounced up only to come level with the pointed edge of Rauph’s twin swords. He looked down at the blades in disbelief, bewilderment on his face at being welcomed with such aggression. He wasn’t sure if he should check his hair to make sure it was still there or ask the dumb Navigator just what the hell he was thinking!
The scholar further down the passageway screamed as the acid jelly oozed across his wrist and moved to suck him inside. Snatching the man from his dazed state and forcing him into agonising reality.
“You will not bite me undead fiend!” Rauph snarled, to cheers from the crowd above.
“Rauph what are you talking about?” Ashe remarked, putting his finger on the tip of one sword and pushing it to the left so he could step away to retrieve Sinders and place the bird back on his shoulder.
“I will not let you eat my brains.” Rauph stated.
“Why would I want to eat your brains.” Ashe asked bemused. “I don’t like brains. They are all rubbery and slimy. Yeuk!”
“Oh yeah! So what’s that on your tunic Zombie Ashe?”
The decidedly not a zombie Ashe, looked down and discovered an errant chunk of chicken from his earlier lost roll, tucked in amongst the folds of his clothing.
“Oh that’s just chicken.” He confessed with a smile, picking it from the front of his clothes and popping it in his mouth with a grin. “See, lovely.”
Rauph backed up a step and almost threw up.
The Labyris Knight Page 79