Endric clubbed the groeliin again, and this time he connected with its nose, crushing it into the skull. Blood poured freely and the groeliin crumpled. Endric swung the club once more and collided with the side of its head.
Finally, the groeliin stopped moving.
Endric let out a shaky breath. He looked for his fallen sword and found it near one of the groeliin. He had to roll the creature to get it free.
There was something different about these groeliin. He was lucky to have killed the first one without it realizing he was there, but he didn't know why it had seemed stronger, possibly faster than the other ones he had faced. Maybe Gron’s theory about the groeliin was correct. Maybe they did have some ability that gave them speed or strength.
Endric watched the cave, afraid that there might be more movement there, but he saw nothing.
He started forward and reached the entrance. There was a patrol near him, but they kept their backs to the cave mouth. Groeliin streamed into many of the other caverns before retreating.
They had to know someone was in the breeding grounds—especially after finding one of the females dead. What would they do now that he'd killed three of their females?
How many attacks would he be able to withstand? He had barely survived the last one, and his head throbbed where he'd been struck. His body ached. He didn't think he could tolerate another attack like that.
As Endric watched, one groeliin patrol turned toward this cave mouth.
Endric backed up, moving deeper into the cave mouth, and waited.
It didn't take long. The five groeliin entered, only two of them with clubs.
Endric hesitated.
If he attacked, would he be facing a similar creature like the last one that had nearly overwhelmed him? And worse, this time there were three. He might surprise one, which would leave two plus two more armed groeliin.
Endric didn't think he could survive a fight like that.
He remained pressed against the wall of the cave and waited for them to move past.
The groeliin passed him, and he didn't pursue this time.
Endric ducked out of the cave and stood exposed, waiting on the rock. Most of the creatures streaming into the cave mouths went toward the females, leaving them somewhat distracted.
If he were going to escape, he would have to do so now.
Endric inched toward the east part of the valley, toward the slope that wound up, ultimately away from the groeliin. There was at least one more cave he would have to move past, which meant that he would have to move quickly, but he would also have to be careful here so that he didn't get caught.
He still wasn't entirely certain whether they hunted by movement or by smell. Smearing himself with groeliin blood seemed to have concealed him, but he still suspected there was an element of movement that alerted them. Somehow, when he remained perfectly still, they didn't see him.
Endric inched along the rock. His heart hammered and he was afraid that the groeliin would notice him, that they would somehow hear his heart more than anything else.
He prayed to the gods to keep him safe.
The creatures seemed to overlook him. He reached the opening to the next cave mouth.
Part of him wanted to go in and take out another breeding female, wanted to destroy as many of the creatures as he could, but he thought back to a lesson his father had tried to instill in him. He couldn't let anger and hate drive him. He couldn't let emotion drive him. He had to think through things, had to become tactical in his decision-making. Emotion had been what led him to impulsive decisions before. It was possible that his emotion had been the reason he had agreed to the penance before understanding more about it and thinking through it.
A certain amount of emotion was necessary and good, but too much… too much would lead to his death. Already he'd been placed into situations many times because he let emotion motivate him. He could not let it happen again.
Endric glanced down the mouth of the cave and didn't see any groeliin moving.
As he searched the valley, he saw the patrols, but they weren't looking in his direction. Endric hurried across the mouth of the cave.
And then stopped.
Coming from outside of the cave opposite him, on the far side of the valley, was a groeliin unlike any he'd ever seen.
The creature was enormous, taller than any of the others, and as muscular as a blacksmith. Even from here, Endric could see the dark markings along its flesh. Flanking this groeliin were three others, much like the heavily marked ones that Endric had killed before. They seem to be regarding the much larger one.
Endric stood, unable to move, terrified. The groeliin was enormous, but that wasn't the reason he couldn't move. There was a distinct sense of power that radiated from it.
The Antrilii had suggested there might be another with power, one that might be something like the Magi, but Endric couldn't have imagined anything like this. This was a creature out of a nightmare.
As he stood there, not moving, not daring to even breathe, he prayed it wouldn't notice him.
Movement from within the tunnel startled him, and he turned.
Too late, he realized his mistake. That movement was enough to draw the strange, massive groeliin’s attention.
It stopped, and the three groeliin around it stopped as well, and they stood almost perfectly still. They formed a triangle around the massive groeliin.
Dark power radiated from it and streaked toward him.
Endric couldn't describe it any differently. It was almost like the dark teralin lanced from it, practically summoned from within it.
Endric ran. He knew that it would draw the attention of other groeliin, but what choice did he have? If he did nothing, he was terrified of what would happen were that groeliin to reach him.
Endric hadn't even reached the end of the valley when he could feel a swarm of groeliin. There was no way he was going to be able to climb the rock sloping upward, and there would be no way he would be able to get himself free.
He turned, ready to fight. Resignation set in. He wasn't going to be able to deliver the information to the Antrilii. They would never know that groeliin used teralin in their breeding. And if they didn't learn, everything he had done would have been for nothing.
As the first couple groeliin approached, Endric noticed the powerful one standing back, watching.
He spun through, connecting with the first two, dropping them. Two more quickly surged forward, replacing them.
Endric sank into his patterns, into the familiarity of them, and embraced the emptiness within his mind that he would need to survive.
Distantly, he was still aware of the other groeliin watching him, almost as if it knew he had no chance of survival. Endric dashed forward, letting the groeliin surround him. He spun, falling through the patterns that he knew. Slicing again and again, bringing down one after another of the creatures. They fell before him.
Endric was struck, and he felt one of the groeliin clubs catch him in the back. The thick furs protected him, but he staggered forward, into the next attack. Between the two, he fell, managing to stay on his feet, but he slammed into one of the groeliin. Endric lowered his shoulder, wanting to knock the creature back to reset his position.
Endric darted back to get into his catahs, and as he did, he felt the groeliin squeeze around him, closing in. Endric screamed, no longer concerned about remaining silent, no longer concerned about anything other than bringing down as many as he could.
He was struck again and staggered to the side.
He charged forward, swinging his sword, forms essentially forgotten as he screamed, knocking down several more groeliin, and was again hit.
Endric fell to his knees.
As he did, the strange, powerful groeliin turned away, as if no longer concerned about him.
Endric stabbed, managing to connect with the nearest creature, and it fell, leaning toward him. Hot blood seeped around him.
He tried to get to his feet b
ut was struck again.
Endric could no longer see straight.
Pain throbbed through him, pain too much like his first encounter with the groeliin.
The creature continued clubbing him, and Endric swung his sword, striking wildly, no longer thinking that he would even connect. He fought out of instinct, doing it out of nothing more than that, knowing that if he did nothing, he would fall.
Distantly, he was aware that he would die regardless. There was nothing that he could do to survive.
He was clubbed again, and as he fell to the side, he jabbed up with the sword, no longer aware when he connected and when he did not.
Pain struck him again, and he tried to swing but didn't know if he managed to connect or not.
His vision began to blacken, and Endric once more tried surging to his knees.
He swung again and knew that he had to have missed.
His ears were ringing. It sounded like a steady cacophony of violence, a slow and steady cry, one that carried with it a call that sounded in time to the throbbing in his head. It filled him, something like a bell constantly gonging around him.
As he lay there, he could no longer tell if it was his head throbbing or if it was something else. The ringing seemed to have a familiarity to it. He was struck again and again.
The ringing persisted.
This time, Endric knew he didn't imagine it.
Merahl?
Could they be coming?
He fought with renewed vigor, somehow managing to sit up again. He swung his sword, blood coating his hand, no longer able to hold the sword. He dropped it and began punching, using his bare fist, much like the groeliin that had attacked him in the cavern.
The steady calling increased, growing louder.
Endric had to continue to fight. He had to fend off this attack. He had to survive long enough for the merahl to reach him. This seemed to be a pack, and if that were the case, there might be enough for him to actually survive.
30
Pain continued, growing more intense with each passing moment. Endric didn’t know how he managed to stay conscious, but he willed himself to remain alert. Having lost his sword and forced to attack with fist and foot, he was left weakened, uncertain whether his attacks did anything. Had it even mattered that he’d struck at the groeliin? There were too many for him to face as the swarm of creatures overwhelmed him.
The beating lessened.
Endric tried standing, but his body didn’t respond as it should. His muscles didn’t work. He fell backward, sinking toward the ground. The darkness seemed oppressive, full, and the rising heat reminded him of the teralin mines in Vasha.
Was he moving?
He opened his eyes but only saw blurred shadows.
Endric punched and was rewarded by a soft whine.
That wasn’t groeliin.
Merahl? Had they reached him? Had he managed to stay alive long enough for them to get to him?
It seemed impossible, but then again, so was the fact that he lived. Facing that number of groeliin had been foolish. He should have run sooner—or should have remained in the tunnels until he found a way free or the groeliin departed the valley.
There was pressure against his skin, and it took a moment to realize what he detected.
The merahl licked him.
It was a painful sense at first, one that burned much like the Antrilii salves burned, before that sense faded, replaced by a steady throbbing. The pain in his head eased, and the ringing in his ears abated as well, leaving only the overwhelming body aches.
“Merahl?” The word came out as no more than a grunt, but his voice worked.
He was licked along his face, and the throbbing in his body eased.
Endric managed to open his eyes.
It was dark. The caves had the strange dark glow, that of the negatively charged teralin, and they were warm. How had he made it here?
He looked around him and saw seven of the merahl in a circle around him. They all sat on their haunches, watching him through eyes that glowed softly.
Not only their eyes glowed, but there was something of their fur that had a soft glow as well. Endric stared at it, trying to understand if it was something from his injuries that made him see the glowing—or whether it was real.
If real, it indicated a connection to teralin.
Was that why the groeliin and the merahl were such enemies?
Endric shivered. “The groeliin?”
The merahl watched him and one of the creatures—one with deep rims of dark eyes—stepped forward, lowering his head. The merahl approached and came close enough to basically look into Endric’s eyes, meeting his gaze.
“This is the breeding ground,” Endric said. “That’s why you’ve been acting strange,” he said, thinking that he understood. “You’re connected to the teralin and… they did something to your collection of it.”
The merahl began to howl softly, and the hackles on their back began to stand on end.
Endric wished he had some way of speaking to them.
No, he wished they had some way of speaking to him. It seemed that they understood him well enough, but there was no way for him to understand them at all.
The merahl nudged him with his nose.
Endric looked around the cave. What did they want from him? What did they think he could do?
There would be nothing that he could do.
“Why not let the Antrilii know what’s going on?” he asked.
The merahl nudged him again. Endric stood, not knowing what else he could do and not knowing what the merahl wanted of him. The pain in his body throbbed a moment, and dizziness rolled through him, nearly sending him tumbling to the ground.
One of the merahl—a female with streaks of red fur mixed with silver—pressed against him and Endric leaned on her for support. He closed his eyes, letting the dizziness pass, and it finally did, leaving him with a sense of vague unease.
“Thank you.”
The merahl barked softly, and Endric almost laughed. Here he was, alone and likely in one of the groeliin breeding caves, lucky to be alive, and he was talking to creatures that could understand him, but that couldn’t speak to him. The idea that the merahl could understand him still shocked him, but not as much as the fact that he was still here. With everything that he’d been through, he should be dead. The groeliin had overwhelmed him, and swarmed over him, and had clubbed him to the point where he wasn’t able to think clearly anymore, and could do nothing more than beat at them with his fists. Somehow, he was here. Alive.
The merahl took a step away. As Endric still leaned on her, he held onto her fur and was pulled forward. He stepped forward, still holding onto her back. The other merahl shifted their protective ring and maintained their presence around him.
She took another step.
The dizziness faded somewhat, but not entirely, and not enough for him to keep from wobbling as he walked. The merahl remained pressed against him, the heat of her body reassuring and her soft fur somehow soothing.
Endric took step after step, following the merahl, feeling like that was what she wanted of him. They had saved him—twice now—and he owed them.
Only, he didn’t know what they would want from him.
The merahl led him deeper into the cave. The dark glow persisted, a steady, almost painful sense that pulsed against him. The air had the warmth from the teralin, but it was touched with a hint of a foul odor, one that reminded Endric of the stench that came from the groeliin’s blood. Maybe it was him. He’d coated himself with the groeliin blood and used it to conceal himself.
But he didn’t think so. As he looked at his arm and the laca fur, he could tell that the merahl had licked the blood clean. Had that been all that they’d done? Was there any other reason for them to clean it from him?
The stink wasn’t coming from the groeliin blood then.
Was it the teralin that he smelled?
The merahl continued guiding him along the tunnel. A
s she did, he began feeling stronger, less of the pain and dizziness that he’d been feeling following the attack. His mind began to clear, lurching forward. Should he be worried that he was in the cave again? Should he fear that the groeliin might return—and attack?
Would the groeliin attack with the merahl here? There were enough merahl present that Endric doubted they would. The merahl didn't struggle when facing the groeliin. Now that there were seven here, there should be more than enough to at least give him a fighting chance at getting free.
The merahl continued to push him down the length of the cave. Endric held on to her fur. There was a softness to it. It was not coarse or oily like the laca fur had been. This was soft, almost luxurious. He had held the cub several times but had never thought it quite as soft as he did now.
The cub.
Where had he run off to, leaving Endric behind as he had raced toward the breeding ground? Had the cub known this was where he'd find the groeliin? Was there a different connection here?
“What happened to the little one?” Endric asked the merahl.
The female continued to push him, guiding him along the cave. Endric gripped her fur, unwilling to let go but feeling a rising concern for what might've happened to the cub.
“Did something happen? Is he okay?
They reached the wider opening, the place where Endric had found the female groeliin.
Endric was feeling well enough that he could stand on his own. He released the merahl's fur and continued into the cavern. His eyes pierced the soft, dark glowing, and he ignored the pressure against him, the soft pulsing that came from the negatively charged teralin. He was surprised to notice that there was a female groeliin here, and even more surprised to realize that she was still alive.
Endric turned, fearing that one of the heavily marked groeliin might be present, but there was no sign of it.
Had the groeliin abandoned this female here?
The merahl whined softly.
Endric glanced back, realizing that the others followed him. They no longer formed a protective circle, but they did trail him in a half circle of protection that guided him forward, giving him no choice but to continue onward, no choice but to continue toward the groeliin.
Soldier Sworn (The Teralin Sword Book 3) Page 22