“I doubt it. That’s what they’re discussing right now, before they head out to battle.”
The keepers and Senya seemed to be on the same side this time, conversing passionately with Malloc. Even the maneusis seemed more ardent in his speech.
“Dreas wants me to go fight,” Will said. “He’s telling Malloc that if I fight the Waymen, it will prove I’m not involved with them…Senya is saying the same thing.”
“But you won’t fight, will you?” Adan asked, more terrified at the thought of battle than he had ever been about the punishment Malloc had planned for them.
“I’ve fought them many times before. I’ll do whatever I can to help the Welkin. Malloc knows that, but he’s telling them that I’ll just flee during the battle or even turn on them…It all depends on what the maneusis says. We’ll see. Here he comes.”
Silence fell over the room once more. The maneusis approached Will and placed his hands on his shoulders. He looked him in the eye, saying a few brief words in the Welkin language. Will nodded and whispered a short reply. Adan thought he had never seen Will look so vulnerable as he did in that moment.
Then, the maneusis came and put his hands on Adan’s shoulders. “You fight Welkin enemy. Prove you no Wayman. Prove you love Welkin. That is will of Numinae.” He closed his eyes and bowed his head in a moment of silence as he held onto Adan’s shoulders.
Before Adan knew what was happening, Malloc gave a shout and everyone began moving at once. The maneusis stepped away and Adan found himself swept up in a mass exodus of the hogar. Malloc stormed out first and the others followed, pushing Adan and Will along. The hut was so cramped, there was no choice but to follow. Adan looked back in time to catch sight of Senya and Lila waving good-bye, their faces streaming with tears.
Adan’s heart sank at the pandemonium outside. Everywhere it was the same—people streaming down the pathways towards the exit to the cave. He wanted to turn back into the hogar and stay with Senya and Lila, but he couldn’t.
“I can’t do this,” he said to Will as they hurried along the path, “I can’t fight. You know that.”
“It’s all right,” Will assured him. “Just try to keep up and stay with me. I’ll protect you.”
Adan had no doubt about the sincerity of Will’s words, but from all he had heard about the Waymen he wondered if anyone, even Will, could protect him from the storm that was coming.
Fifteen
Mysterious Lights
Their chaotic flight came to a halt in the barricaded cave where they had met Dreas. Jarem and Halel crowded in close as more and more Welkin filled the chamber. The keepers from Senya’s hogar remained close as well, but they no longer kept hold of Will. Their attention was directed to the far side of the cave where Malloc, his voice bellowing, addressed his people.
“What’s he saying?” Adan asked.
“He’s laying out the plan of attack,” Will said, his eyes trained on the large man.
Malloc looked as vengeful and angry as ever, but it did not seem as out of place this time. An enemy was in their midst and perhaps this was the way leaders had to be when they were protecting their people.
“What are those rods everyone is carrying?” Adan asked, noticing that most of the Welkin had the same smooth, metal shafts used by the keepers.
“Feros,” Will said. “They’re used as weapons in close combat, but they’re hollow as well. The Welkin blow on them to warn each other when there’s trouble in the Viscera. That was the sound we heard back in Aldea.”
“Weapons…” Adan shuddered as the full implications of what was about to happen settled in.
Besides the rods, most of the Welkin also wore beaten metal discs strapped to their backs or arms. They reminded Adan of the serving dish Senya had used for the mosh, but they probably weren’t brought along to share a meal.
“Are they going to give us anything to defend ourselves?” Adan wondered.
“Probably. Either a fero or at least one of the shields,” he said.
“So what is the correct way to use a—”
“I don’t want you in the battle,” Will cut him off. He turned to the boys. “Listen, Jarem. Tell Malloc to let Adan be one of the runners. If I ask him, he’s sure to say no, but he might listen to you.”
“I will try, but Adan doesn’t know the Viscera. He might get lost.”
“That’s why I want you and Halel to stay with him.”
The boys gave him a frustrated look. “But Nacio, we came to fight,” Jarem protested.
“Do this for me,” Will said. “Sending Adan into a fight would be as good as throwing him into the depths. He’s weak and he has no training.”
Jarem’s dissatisfied expression remained, but he nodded in agreement.
“Good. Now go,” Will said, clapping them on the shoulders.
The boys pushed their way over to Malloc and attempted to get his attention. But he was so busy directing the Welkin around him Adan couldn’t see whether or not they were successful.
A short time later, they returned, accompanied by another Welkin about Jarem’s height.
“He said yes,” Jarem reported. “I think he was so distracted he didn’t realize what he was agreeing to. He put Cayo in charge of the runners.”
The newcomer and Will embraced.
“Nacio, good to see you back,” he said. “I only wish it was under better conditions.”
“A pleasure to see you as well, Cayo. You’re coming along with the old cant.”
“Well, Senya is a good teacher. They say your friend doesn’t understand kindred.” He placed his hand on Adan’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “Greetings. My name is Cayo,” he said.
“I’m Adan. Nice to meet you.”
“Welcome to our knit,” Cayo said. “I’m sorry, but we don’t have much time for talking. We are heading out soon. Jarem said you have no battle testing so you are best for a runner. We will warn the knit if the battle is lost. At least one of us must survive and run back to Aldea with news.”
Adan nodded, relieved that he would not be involved in the fighting.
“Are you going to be a runner too?” Adan asked Will.
“No, Malloc will want me in the fight,” Will said distractedly, caught up in what the leader of the Welkin was saying to his people.
Adan was about to object when Malloc gave a shout and the whole room fell silent. Malloc motioned with his large hand towards the exit and the Welkin began pouring out, two by two. As the rest of the knit marched past, Malloc approached Adan and Will.
“You come with me, Nacio. I can’t have you running off in the middle of the battle.”
“And what about our weapons?” Will asked.
“Someone as advanced as yourself has no need of our primitive Welkin weapons. If you find you need any once the battle starts, ask your brothers the Waymen. I’m sure they’ll be happy to give you some,” Malloc said, stone-faced.
“Not even a shield?” Jarem blurted out.
It looked as if he and Halel wanted to say more, but Malloc gave them a stern look. Will motioned for them to keep quiet. When the last of the Welkin had fallen in line, Malloc gave Will a shove and they joined in the procession, bringing up the rear.
As they set off down the passage, the men opened the cylinders around their necks. The light from the glowing shards they wore glinted off the metal feros and the discs so that they looked like a cloud of shining debris, floating through the corridors of the Viscera.
They ran through the tunnels faster than Adan had ever gone before. Though he started the journey fresh and rested, he soon found the pace to be too much. His lungs burned; every stride was more strenuous than the last. If they didn’t stop soon, he was going to be left behind. He tried to recall the laughing eyes of Lila, the gentle smile of Senya—anything to take his mind off the pain, but such thoughts only brought on a new kind of torment as he wondered if he would ever see them again.
Then he remembered something Senya had told him: �
�Everything, in the end, is passing’. He tried to hold on to that thought. The running had to end eventually. And if he made it through this, some day he would come back and see her and the children again. He didn’t know how he was going to make it, but he would find a way. Somehow, that thought was enough to keep him going.
All of the lights from the shards went dark when they came to a stop.
While Malloc whispered something to the keepers, Adan crumpled to the floor, clutching his aching sides. He wanted to cry out, but knew the Waymen might be nearby so he clenched his teeth and stifled the pain.
Will knelt down beside him, rolling up Adan’s sleeve. The potent aroma of almamenth drifted through the tunnel and Adan felt the cool paste oozing against his skin.
“Senya gave me this while the maneusis was praying for you,” Will whispered.
Immediately the pain began to fade from his body. Adan said a quiet ‘thank you’, as much to Senya as to Will, as a soothing warmth spread over his body.
Malloc snagged Will by the arm just as he finished applying the paste. “Time to fight,” he whispered, “Just like the old times.”
He pushed Will to the front of the company, but they stopped at the threshold. Adan started to go after them but Cayo placed a hand on his shoulder and kept him back.
Though there was some light up ahead, it wasn’t much. Adan wished he could see more of what lay beyond the passage. He remembered the lentes. He pulled them out and pressed them over his eyes. Immediately, a ramshackle platform just beyond the end of the tunnel came into view. They must be back at the Basin. A mixture of fear and wonder swirled inside him as he recalled both the terrible depths and otherworldly beauty of the massive cavern.
A faint creaking sound drifted into the tunnel from beyond. A moment later it came again. That seemed to be enough for Malloc. He crept out onto the planking. Will and the rest of the Welkin followed, slinking through the opening one by one in perfect silence.
Adan edged forward with Cayo and the children, feeling a growing sense that something horrific awaited them beyond the threshold. He was about to pass through when Cayo pulled him back. The runners remained just inside the tunnel while they watched the rest of the Welkin steal onto the walkways, splitting off into three groups. Most went straight ahead onto a wide bridge leading into the center of the cavern, but two smaller groups ventured out onto narrow spans leading upwards, one to the left and one to the right.
Stuck inside the tunnel, Adan quickly lost sight of the Welkin who ventured off to the sides, but he could still see the larger group in the middle as they advanced further in.
From somewhere came an outburst of disjointed noises. Whispering voices echoed covertly off the cavern walls. Rattling and creaking noises came from somewhere higher up. Then several loud concussive booms drowned out all other noises. Flashes of light burst from the center of the cavern and some of the walkways and rigging shuddered and swayed. As the blasts faded, moving shapes, like shadows, skittered along the walls. Adan guessed that there must be people up there, but he couldn’t tell for sure.
Several more blasts erupted from the same spot as before. Cayo motioned for them to move out onto the platform. Adan had barely moved when an agonizing scream ripped through the Basin, freezing him in place. He had never heard anything like it. It was more than a mere sound; the pain expressed in that cry was something that could be felt physically. It hurt to hear it, setting off a pounding in his head and a pang in his chest.
He wanted to flee, but fear gripped him, paralyzing his body. More bursts of light flashed in the middle of the cavern. This time, when the lights faded, they did not die out completely. Instead, they lingered as a permanent glow, one that flickered and rippled like the glimmering neophosphorous running through the walls. Adan caught glimpses of the light through the bunched-up Welkin on the central bridge.
More screams pierced the cavern air, drawing Adan’s attention to the two smaller groups navigating the rickety planking higher up. They were heading towards the center of the cavern as well, zigzagging across dilapidated walkways and swaying bridges, flying along the plank-work as if they were walking on air. But not all were advancing. Some lay writhing on the walkways, screaming in agony, emitting cries like the one which had pierced Adan’s heart a moment before. Metal shafts jutted out from the bodies of the fallen. The poles quivered and jerked along with the forms of those who were still screaming. Others who had been pierced remained unsettlingly still.
Before Adan could grasp what was happening, two dark streaks came flying out from the bright center of the cavern, plunging into two more bodies. At last he knew where the enemy must be.
The Welkin surged forward all the more recklessly towards the light, ignoring the cries of their fallen companions as they lit across the walkways, descending on the central platforms before more shafts could strike them down.
By the time they got to the plank-work outside the glowing area, the number of Welkin was noticeably smaller. Everywhere Adan looked, they lay fallen, clutching the cruel poles on which they’d been caught. Worse still, the survivors on the edges of the cavern looked to have braved the dangers of the light for nothing. There was no direct access to the illuminated platforms from where they were. A few strands of rope stretching above them were the only possible connection between them and their enemies. Adan did not think they would be foolish enough to try crossing the enormous gap using just the ropes, but a moment later the first of the Welkin flung himself into the network of precarious cords and started to shimmy across.
The distance wasn’t great, but the man was only halfway across when another shaft shot up from the glowing lights, plunging itself into his back. Adan watched in shock as the man fell, twisting towards the infinite dark. There were only a few cables beneath him, but unbelievably he latched on to one of them as he fell. He clung to it with one hand. His other arm hung limply at his side. He dangled like that for what seemed an eternity. Time became a hush and all of the chaos in the Basin washed away. Adan silently willed him to reach up with his other hand and begin the impossible climb back to the safety of the walkways.
But a second shaft flew through the air, impaling him in his side and knocking loose the tenuous hold he had on the rope and on life itself. His dark shape went plummeting down—down into the yawning nothingness. Adan, overcome with anguish, pitched forward, crashing painfully onto the unforgiving slats of the platform. As the Welkin’s shrieks slashed through Adan’s mind, he shut his eyes, trying to block out the unbearable reality of what he had just seen.
But the more he attempted to shut them out, the louder the screams became, replicating inside his head so that he could not escape. Adan tried to tell himself it had all been a mirage or a terrible dream. It could not have been a real person he had seen dangling up there in the rigging. Surely it was too distant and chaotic for him to have seen things as clearly as he imagined. The tension and the confusion must have gotten the better of him, making him see something that wasn’t really there. Men could not just fall into the darkness like that. How—how could that possibly happen? How could someone be struggling for life one moment and the next—gone?
Glinting shafts hurtled through his mind—horrible things streaking through the darkness. He tried to dodge them, deflect them, do anything to avoid them, but nothing worked. Their whistling shrieks melted into the screams reverberating inside his head. They were all he could hear. He opened his mouth to cry out, but could not tell if the screams he heard were his own or those of the man who had just plummeted to his death.
Sixteen
Undaunted
Cayo, Jarem, and Halel were at Adan’s side at once.
“Tst, tst,” Jarem whispered, “Are you okay?”
Adan’s mind fumbled its way back to the present, but the screams were still there, echoing inside. He reached out and the boys helped him up.
“I’m fine,” he said, though it wasn’t true.
“Good,” Cayo said under his breat
h, “The flankers failed, but the main force will finish them off. We still have them outnumbered.”
Adan felt Cayo was being truthful, but somehow his words failed to inspire any confidence. He was still reeling from what he had seen.
The groups advancing on the sides were gone, their members fallen amongst the walkways or perhaps into the depths.
“They’re all dead…” Adan mumbled.
“No, they are fighting on. The men are brave. We need to stay brave for them, too.” Jarem grabbed Adan’s shoulder and pointed towards the central group. Adan turned to watch the remaining Welkin as they arrived to face whatever was inside the awful glow in the center of the Basin.
Many from the central group lay scattered along the bridge, pierced and broken and still. The fall of so many had opened up large gaps in the advancing Welkin, giving Adan his first decent view of the lights.
Through the crowd of Welkin he saw, spread out on what looked like two large platforms roped together, a group of a dozen or so shimmering men. They appeared to be clothed in strands of woven light. They were crisscrossed with them, as if they had stepped out of the very cavern walls. But it was not just their clothing which was dappled in light; the platforms themselves were splattered with the same bright streaks.
Beneath these strange glowing patterns the men wore garricks and kaffs similar to the kind Adan and Will had worn. Slung across their backs or brandished in their hands were the cruel shafts Adan had seen flying into the bodies of the Welkin with such terrible effect. If these were indeed the Waymen he had heard so much about, he could see why the Welkin would speak of them as they had.
As the first of the Welkin reached the edge of the platform, they whipped their metal feros about, trying to strike at the invaders. But their opponents were too quick; they easily dodged the blows, knocked the weapons from their hands, and closed in to grapple the slower, weaker Welkin. The Waymen slammed two of the defenders down onto the platform. Before they could rise, the attackers descended upon them, pummeling them with their hands, feet, and knees—all in a blur of violent motion.
The Chronotrace Sequence- The Complete Box Set Page 11