“Why is that?” Asked Nathan.
“You’ll see,” said Dodie.
They traveled for the rest of the morning, stopping only to rest the horses and have a brief meal. Hanoch chose a location nested between several small hills, so their cooking fire wouldn't bring undo attention. Nathan climbed to the top of one of these hills to survey the area, when suddenly he called for the others. They joined him to see the flicker of smoke dotting the plains in all directions.
“Campfires?” Isha questioned.
“I expect, but I’ve never seen so many before,” Dodie answered. “We should wait till nightfall to continue.”
Darkness could not have come quickly enough for their group. Their own fire sputtered and popped as the wood burned down to embers. They ate in silence and feared that at any moment the horde of possessed giants may come down on them. Hanoch took the first watch as the others tried to catch a quick nap before traveling.
More than once, Isha started upright, drawing her knives in each hand as though in the heat of battle, only to wake and realize her dream. Nathan tossed and turned in fitful slumber as his dream of walking the empty halls of Ariel whirled in his mind like smoke in the wind. In his dream, the city stood full and vibrant as people went about their daily tasks, holding smiles on each face as the palace reached tall and proud behind them. He eyed the city gates clad in majestic splendor, strong and upright as the day they were erected.
Carefully making their way between them, they passed into the city. Frozen in time, his dream stood still as the faces of the people halted in terror, turning, Nathan looked through the gate to see a monstrous horde approaching from the North. Armored warriors poured out the gates to meet them in battle on the open plain. But before them, Nathan could see the hate-twisted form of a man holding a dark book in his hands. He made an arcane gesture and a dark miasma sprang from the earth behind him, flying at the city's defenders. The warriors screamed in pain as the cloud of death stripped the flesh from their bodies, dropping both bones and armor to litter the open plain. Within the dream, Nathan felt the searing miasma hit him, burning and tearing at his flesh causing him to yell with pain. Hanoch quickly sprang to Nathan's side and put a hand over his mouth to muffle his screaming. The commotion tore Isha from her blankets as her mind tried to comprehend what was happening.
“Are we under attack?” Hanoch asked.
“No, he's having a nightmare,” Isha replied as she joined Hanoch at Nathan's side and began stroking his hair as she whispered to him, attempting to calm him. All at once, Nathan began glowing a faint white light that pulsed with intensity with each yell he made. Dodie stood beside them, staring at Nathan in desperation.
“Is there anything you can do for him? He going to attract every giant on the plains to our position,” said Isha helplessly.
“I have many tracts that bring light, but none to extinguish it,” said Dodie.
“Quick, get the horses,” urged Isha.
Dodie ran to the steeds but they were startled and, try as he might, he couldn’t get them completely calmed. As the light grew in intensity, the horses began rearing and stomping with terror in their eyes. Finally, pulling loose from their tethers, they raced into the night.
“After them, if they run into The Defiles we will lose them forever,” called Hanoch.
That marsh lay a half-mile from their camp, but the distance melted away quickly as Isha ran after them at full sprint, making impressive bursts of speed in her pursuit. However, the horses had gone too far, and, in spite of Isha's speed, outdistanced her to disappear into the smoky darkness of the cursed place. Isha turned her attention back to the camp where the light from Nathan gleamed like the midday sun, bringing everything for yards around into full view.
“Wake him,” shouted Dodie.
“It may injure him,” Isha replied.
“He's going to get us killed, wake him, now!” Dodie demanded.
Hanoch took the water bag pouring the contents onto Nathan's face causing him to bolt upright in his bedroll with his face twisted in stunned awareness.
“What happened, what's going on,” Nathan questioned.
“You were dreaming and then lit up like one of my flare tracts gone awry. You've probably alerted everyone on the entire plains,” said Dodie. “You're more trouble asleep than you are awake young seer.”
“I saw a great beautiful walled city under attack. People were screaming, running and dying in the street. It was terrible,” said Nathan breathlessly.
“It's ancient Ariel you see,” said Dodie.
Suddenly, they noticed Hanoch standing atop a nearby hill scanning the moonlit plain.
“What is it,” asked Isha.
“Come see,” he replied.
Isha and the others went to his side and looked over the vast expanse of meadowland. The fires of the giant's camps twinkled in the distance like stars that had fallen from the sky to settle on the earth. As they watched over the course of several minutes, each fire vanished one-by-one until none remained. A moment later, the smaller lights of torches lit across the plain like a carpet of fireflies and began moving toward their position. Hanoch turned his face to the others, for the first time a hint of anxiety wrinkled his youthful forehead.
“They’re coming,” he said.
“How can you be sure,” asked Nathan, hating himself for bringing this trouble to them.
“He’s sure,” said Isha with a deathly flat tone.
“What are our options now,” asked Nathan as he began packing what little they could carry with them since the horses were gone.
“There are only two as I see it: The Defiles, or Kedesh Refuge,” said Dodie. “But Kedesh Refuge is further away.”
“I'll go into the marsh and find the horses,” said Nathan sacrificially.
“A noble thought my boy, but a useless one,” said Dodie. “Even if that were possible, you'd never do it in time.”
“How far is the refuge from here,” asked Isha.
“It's a half day march, but, we could do it in one if we go quickly and go now,” said Hanoch.
They all agreed and gathered what little they could carry, taking a southward direction at a pace that left Nathan gasping for air. Isha kept beside him, supporting him under his arm and almost dragging him at times. Dim moonlight cast a fateful hand over the area. Most of the time, Nathan couldn't see and would have fallen behind if not for Isha keeping him on track. Dodie fared even worse but kept himself at the pace somehow. His huffing and puffing reminded Nathan of a covered water pot on the boil, but tomewright or not, he never slowed or complained as his belly swayed to the rhythm of his trudging.
The sun rose like a copper disk in the distance, finding them foot-sore and exhausted as they crested a hill, bringing the sparkling shores of Lake Ith into sight. The lake meant they could enjoy the calming warm breezes that pulled over the water instead of the stinking air from the marsh. This thought brightened their spirits since it also meant their destination lay just ahead. The refuge lay on the western shores of the lake and made use of tributaries to draw in waters for fishing and other uses.
By midday, they said goodbye to the northern shore and saw their first distant glimpses of Kedesh Refuge pushing its tall ceramic battlements, gleaming in the morning sun. Its walls drew high against the sky for the leaders of the city knew that the Southern Plain held dangers that other refuges would never see. Isha glanced back over her shoulder to check if the giants pursued, but no sign of pursuit met her eye. Only a thin trail of smoke lifted into the sky from beyond the bulwarks surrounding the city, and as they approached an uneasy stillness filled the air.
“Something's wrong,” said Hanoch.
“What is it boy, speak up,” answered Dodie, but Hanoch gave no reply, his eyes filled with icy alertness.
“I feel it too,” said Nathan, noticing the utter stillness around the city.
No sounds came from within its wall and nothing traveled in or out of its gates. Entering t
he city with caution, the group noticed the gates were flung wide with utter abandon. Merchant carts littered the area as rotting produce fed clouds of flies hovering above them, filling the air with the stench of decay. Nathan and the others wrapped their faces to block out the stench, but it didn’t help much. Upon entering the city, they could not help but marvel at the construction of the city itself. The walls alone were several feet thick and felt like polished glass to the touch.
“Ironstone,” said Dodie. “It's like pottery only a thousand times stronger. The clay they use from the lake is like none other. How they fire-harden a surrounding wall this size in one piece is a secret they jealously keep.”
The city lay in a circular pattern with winding streets on the right and left, coming off of a main thruway with the houses nested between them in like fashion. Each house held colorful decorative mosaics made of small ceramic tiles bursting with reds, blues and other colors taken from the surroundings of the lake. But for such festive structures, they held a ghostly silence as no movement or sound came from any of them.
As the group advanced deeper into the city, Nathan noticed that channels of water circled along each street, providing an excellent source of water for the whole city. It appeared so crisp and refreshing that he couldn't help but leave the main street to grab a quick drink. The others didn’t notice his quick descent into the waterway, and as he leaned down to scoop the sparkling wetness into his hand. He paused for a moment, noticing something moving below the surface of the water. Squinting, he tried the break the surface with his gaze, but it was no use. The channels were much deeper than he had guessed so reaching his arm into the cold wetness. He pushed toward the bottom until his hand felt something that reminded him of an old submerged tree covered with moss. By this time, Isha noticed Nathan’s wayward jaunt.
“Nathan, get back up here with the rest of us. We shouldn't separate,” she called.
“I think I've found something,” he returned, taking a grip in the mossy surface and pulling firmly.
The object appeared to be lodged, so he braced his legs for a harder tug. It was all he could do to keep from falling as he heaved with all his might. Something under the surface broke loose as bubbles danced to the surface giving way to Nathan's efforts. He pulled his prize to the surface, but found his hand gripped to a coarse slimy cloth attached to a child’s doll. Startled by the discovery, Nathan lost his balance, pitching forward toward the water, only halted inches from the surface by Hanoch's grasp on the back of his shirt.
“Please stay focused, something horrible happened here,” noted Hanoch, pointing toward tracks ahead.
Isha pulled a blade from its sheath and held her weapons ready while Dodie loosened the clasp on his tract pouch. Nathan couldn't see it for himself but didn’t doubt Hanoch’s word.
“What could have done this?” whispered Nathan, but Hanoch only shook his head.
Proceeding down the deserted streets, they followed the thin trail of smoke to the city square, but reeled at the scene that met them. Burning bodies lay in the city square, piled high as a building, sending billows of reeking smoke high into the sky. The sickening scent of burned flesh filled the air as the cold grip of caution tugged at Dodie’s heart. Due to their training, only Hanoch and Isha appeared unshaken by the sight as they peered at an unburned body that rolled off the pile by accident. Large, bulbous, blue-black lumps stood out from his neck and armpits, accenting the fact that he must have died in terrible pain.
“I've never seen anything like this,” said Isha as her breath caught in her throat for an instant.
“I’ve seen it where I come from,” said Nathan.
Abruptly, the door of the meeting hall flew open, spilling a ragged wisp of a man out onto the street.
“Leave us!” he gasped, climbing to his hands-and-knees. “Leave us or die!”
Nathan tried to run to him, but was stopped by Dodie's grip on his sleeve. Looking back into the tomewright's eyes, he saw in Dodie’s eyes that it’s too late.
“Eldar Naarai?” Dodie said as brief recognition came to him.
“Yes. But I am only a dying shell as you can see, and you will join me if you don't leave, quickly,” the eldar said as he shakily stood to his feet. “What's left of me and the city is all you see here before you.”
“Have the giants done this?”
“No, it was a plague like none other. The giants simply collected the bodies. It was...” Naarai stopped mid-sentence, staring in panic at the sky above the group.
They followed the eldar's gaze to a black blur far above. As it drew nearer, it made an unmistakable humming noise that grew louder each passing moment.
“Flies brought this plague!” shouted Naarai. “Run for your lives.”
They ran toward the gate, but the flying swarm cut them off. Dodie, with tract in hand, lifted a prayer of protection, which kept the flies several feet away. But, the tomewright couldn’t keep it up forever. They turned down another street in order to go around the cloud of insects, but no matter where they turned, the mass followed, advancing with each step they took. Dodie attempted to run and pray at the same time, but the effort left him out of breath for either purpose.
“We are being herded back to the city square!” shouted Isha to the others, who nodded in agreement, but, there was little they could do.
When they entered the square once more where Eldar Naarai with tome in hand and hood on head, prayed aloud, rocking to-and-fro with intensity.
“What's he doing?” Isha looked into Dodie's alarmed face.
“Eldar Naarai, please!” Dodie shouted as he dashed toward the old man.
Just before he reached him, a flash of fire came from the sky striking the eldar, swirling around his form like liquid light, flowing through the city like water through a flooded stream and vaporizing anything in its path. The force of the strike threw Dodie back several feet, landing him flat on his back with flames licking the fringes of his cloak.
“Everyone down, and hold your breath!” warned Dodie as Nathan and the others fell to the ground at the last moment. “The eldar has called for a cleansing by fire.”
Nathan fell on his belly, barely gasping a lungful of air before the fire overtook his position. Nearby he saw that Isha lay on her back marveling at the majesty of the gyrating conflagration above them. She turned her head and locked his gaze for what seemed like an eternity until he reached quivering fingers toward her and she to him. They clasped hands for a brief moment as the firestorm ended.
Hanoch was the first to be on his feet, pulling Dodie to a standing position as quickly as possible for the entire city was now ablaze, crumbling to ash before their very eyes. The cloud of flies incinerated in the fire along with Eldar Naarai and all his people they infected. They ran from the city as fast as their legs would take them, stopping only when the heat of the blaze blocked a path through the city itself.
Finally outside the city, the group rested a moment and watched as billows of dark smoke drifted high into the sky. They waited till the fire died down, sending faint trails of smoke to be carried off by the northerly breezes that came this time of year. Sadness gripped their hearts as they watched the remains of the city fall into ash. At dusk, the sun dipped its amber radiance below the far mountains of the west. As they traveled, the smoldering embers of Kedesh Refuge offered itself as a beacon in the darkening sky.
“Someone called the plague flies,” said Isha.
“I’ll stop that he-witch Conner, I swear it,” spat Nathan with venom in his tone.
“What does your star-cloth say now?” asked Dodie.
Nathan was so angry, he’d forgotten all about it so he quickly took it out and glanced at it.
“This can’t be right,” he said. “It’s still pointing south.”
“Actually, it makes perfect sense,” said Dodie as they gave him a questioning look. He lowered his head and explained. “I didn’t want to tell you unless Kedesh fell, but my sources in Warehaven told me Bero Ref
uge was taken over days ago by the Blood Fianna. Conner is in control of that refuge as well.”
“I don’t understand. If Bero was the last refuge, then how can it be pointing anywhere?” asked Isha.
“Because Bero isn’t the last refuge, Ariel is,” said Dodie.
“Fine, then. Maybe there, I can finally find some answers,” said Nathan with fire in his eyes.
They walked in silence, but not in despair. Naarai's fire had destroyed the city, but also had ignited something in their hearts as well.
Twenty-Five
“Jagged Tears…”
Traveling along Lake Ith, midnight found them on the south end of the mere where the Hage River nurses its water from the lake for the southward journey to the sea. The embers of Kedesh Refuge were far behind, and the moon stood lonely at their shoulders as they marched through the grasses of the plains. Before them, the plains began to take a gentle rolling, with rocks and hills scattering the landscape.
“We should camp for the night,” said Dodie. “It's best not to approach Ariel in the dark.”
They set down, daring to build a small fire to keep them warm since Dodie assured them all that nothing comes near this area, even at night. For the most part, it was true as far as Nathan could tell. Only the sound of the southern breezes whistling though the plain’s grasses could be heard as they settled down for a short rest.
“I'll take the first watch since my prayers must be attended to,” said Hanoch.
“What do you mean,” asked Nathan with interest.
“Just what I said, I have prayers that need tending too. A seer should understand that,” said Hanoch.
“Why would a trained killer need to pray,” said Nathan. Hanoch fell silent and looked at Nathan for a long searching moment. For the first time since Nathan had known him, Hanoch looked dejected and remorseful.
“May I tell you a story?” asked Hanoch with a sad tone.
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