by Teri Barnett
As they arrived at the obsidian fields, Connor pointed to the trail he and Bethany had followed a few days earlier. “That’s where we were when the Eitellans found us. If you look farther that way, you can see the man-made path.”
Ian nodded. “You’re right. Obsidian doesn’t form like that. When the volcanic ash cools, it creates long narrow streams. The first path you showed me is a more natural formation.” His tone was appreciative. “You did the right thing, following this one. I don’t know if I would have thought of it.”
“That’s the point. They hope no one thinks about it.” He lowered himself onto the path, Ian following behind. “Bethany said the Eitellans always planted clumps of trees around the openings to the kiyolos, like that one over there.” He raised his head and pointed to a grouping about twenty-five rods from where they stood.
Ian nodded. “She’s right. They also planted neighboring groups to throw people off the trail. But if this is the kiyolo’s location, that would be the entrance.”
Keeping low to the ground, they began their search for the kiyolo. “Keep your head down,” Connor warned. “We’ve got to make it in without being caught this time.”
Chapter 27
Connor and Ian moved stealthily through the obsidian formation, each raising his head to scan the nearby land as much as he dared. “See anything?” Connor asked after Ian had finished looking around.
“Nothing. Everything’s clear so far. We chose the right passage. I think I can see the entry up ahead.”
They came to a low point in the chasm and got down on their hands and knees. Just as they began to crawl, a soft feminine voice called out from behind them. “Where do you think you’re going?”
Slowly, the pair stood and turned around. On the ground above them was an older, auburn-haired woman wearing a long black robe, her arms crossed over her chest.
“Uh, to worship, Mistress,” Ian answered. “We’ve come to celebrate the winter solstice.”
She let her gaze run over them. “You may be wearing the pilgrim’s robes, but this isn’t anywhere near the hills of Paran.” She smiled sweetly, pointing in the opposite direction. “You should be somewhere over there!” As she let her hand drop, five other women emerged from the entry, each carrying a cross bow.
“We’ve had a rush of visitors this day. So many pilgrims have taken a wrong turn it seems.” She shook her head. “Take them to the pit until I have a chance to talk to High Priestess Liazar.”
“One of the visitors you came across earlier wouldn’t happen to be a woman, about so high?” Connor asked, holding his hand up to mid-chest height.
She shrugged. “You’ll see for yourself in a few moments. Get them out of here.” she commanded.
Ian started to struggle as two of the guards grabbed his arms and began to tie his hands in front of him. His eyes caught Connor’s and the other man shook his head almost imperceptibly.
Ian nodded and relaxed, allowing the women to tie his wrists together as the others had done to Connor. Pulling the two men by their bindings, they led them into the bowels of the kiyolo. Descending the steps, Connor remembered another time, falling down a similar set.
If they’ve harmed Bethany or Sarah, I’ll see them all dead.
Into the darkness they traveled, their way lit dimly by sporadic torches mounted in the sides of the cave. This kiyolo was much larger and more elaborate than the previous one Connor and Bethany had explored, with passages criss-crossing in a maze. Connor tried to keep track of each one in case they found the chance to escape, but it was useless. There were just too many.
The air was heavier and more damp which meant they were going deeper into the ground. They stopped in front of a heavy wooden door at the end of one of the corridors. It appeared to be a jail of sorts as one of the guards threw back the bar and pulled it open. Together, the women shoved Connor and Ian into the opening. Immediately, their senses were assaulted by the smell of sour urine and decay. The familiar sound of scurrying reached Connor’s ears and he cringed inwardly. One of the women placed a torch into a hole in the wall, then slammed the door as she left.
Connor spied a slight form crumpled on a cot in the corner. Rushing over, he fell to his knees.
Please, God, let her be alive.
Gently, he turned her over. An ugly purple bruise covered the left side of her face. He leaned down, placing his cheek near her nose.
“Good, she’s still breathing,” he whispered. He glanced around the cell, spotting a bowl of water on a table in the corner. “There’s a bowl of water over there. Here, soak this.” He pulled a kerchief out of his shirt pocket and gave it to the other man.
Ian did as he was instructed, offering the damp rag back to Connor. “The water’s pretty murky.”
“It’ll be all right, as long as it’s cool,” Connor murmured, cradling Bethany in his arms.
Rocking her back and forth, he kept the compress on the bruise.
“Wh-what happened?” she whispered.
“My God, Bethany, you had us scared.”
“Where did they find you, Beth?” Ian asked.
“Connor? Ian? Where are we?”
“Some sort of jail cell in the Kiyolo of the Night. How did you get here?” Connor continued to bathe the side of her face as he spoke.
“After I said my prayers, I heard a noise behind me and when I turned, there were three women standing there. Before I could move, they attacked me.” Bethany pushed herself up, then let her head drop down to her hands. “My head feels like it’s full of sand.”
“You’ve taken quite a hit. Can you heal it?”
“I can’t heal myself, Connor,” Bethany answered.
“Why not?” he asked.
“It’s just not done. It’s against the practices of a Healer to use the energy on ourselves rather than on those who would seek our aid.”
“I think it’s time you tried. After all, you want to be your strongest when you meet up with the infamous High Priestess, don’t you?”
“The High Priestess? Is she here?”
“The woman who brought us here said something about needing to talk to the High Priestess Liazar. If she’s not here, then she must be in the vicinity,” Ian answered.
“If that’s so, then I’ll try it. For Sarah’s sake,” Bethany said. Slowly, she raised her hand to her head, grimacing as she gingerly felt the contusion. As she continued to run her fingertips over it, she slipped into the Knowing. A soft indigo mist formed around her head, concealing her face from view. After a few moments, she let her hands drop as her body swayed, overcome with dizziness. When the mist cleared, a shadow of the bruise was still there, but its intensity was lessened.
“You’ve almost done it, Bethany. Can you try again?”
Bethany felt the side of her head. The bump was there, but it was quite a bit smaller than it had been. She closed her eyes as the room began to spin and it took all of her concentration to keep from falling over the side of the cot. “I’ve done as much as I can. I’ll be fine in a little while.”
Connor lay his hand on her cheek as he leaned in to kiss her, the door opened.
“Come with me,” the guard ordered, looking at Ian.
Connor stood. “We go together.”
“Not this time. She wants to see him first.”
“Who wants to?” Bethany asked. “Is it the High Priestess?”
“For a group of ‘pilgrims,’ you three seem to have a lot of questions about us,” the guard snarled. Two more entered the chamber and flanked Ian.
Connor’s hand moved to the gun. Ian shook his head. “Not yet. Save it. I’ll be all right.” Ian glanced at Bethany and smiled. “Be well, Bethany.” She lifted her hand and smiled back as the guards lead him out the door.
Bethany stood and started to go to Connor when a wave of dizziness swept through her. She teetered as Co
nnor rushed to her side. He gathered her into his arms, holding her tightly against him.
“This is my fault, Connor. Ian only came because I asked him to. She’ll kill him.”
“We can’t know that for sure. As for Ian’s being here, you couldn’t have stopped him. He wants to help you find Sarah, too. He’s a good man.” He leaned over and kissed the top of her head. “I have a friend like him at home. He never leaves me, even when I treat him like a dog.”
“A dog?” Bethany sniffed.
“Yeah, it’s a small furry animal. Very loyal. Anyway, Jimmy Brown Eagle, that’s his name, well I think he’d follow me to the ends of the earth. Of course, it goes both ways.”
“I remember Jimmy. He’s the one who was with you in the tent and at the portal, wasn’t he?”
Connor grinned. “The very same.”
“I’d like to meet him in person someday,” she said.
“I hope you will, Angel. But right now, you need to rest.” He helped her back to the small cot. Sitting down, he pulled Bethany onto his lap. She curled up in his embrace, resting her head on his chest.
“Where have you been, Billy Boy, Billy Boy? Oh, where have you been, charming Billy?” he crooned in Bethany’s ear.
Bethany held tight to Connor and tears rolled down her cheeks as Ian’s screams echoed around them.
Chapter 28
The torch’s weak flame eventually sputtered out, leaving Bethany and Connor in virtual darkness. They stayed on the cot for most of the day. Ian’s yells of pain had stopped some time ago and now they kept vigil for his return. It was evening when the door finally scraped open. A thin stream of yellow light slowly expanded to fill the entire room. Bethany ran to the door.
“Ian?” she called.
A guard pushed her way in. “Move away from the door.”
Bethany backed up. “Where’s Ian?”
“Resting,” the guard answered with a vague smile. She placed a tray of food on the floor and turned to leave.
“Excuse me, ma’am,” Connor called. “Would you be so kind as to leave us a fresh torch? I’d like to make sure it’s food I’m eating and not one of the varmints I keep hearing running about.”
“I suppose that would be acceptable.” She took the extinguished torch from its holder and replaced it with a fresh one another guard handed her. She cast a backward glance at the pair, then closed the door behind her.
Bethany carried the tray to the cot where Connor was sitting. Together, they shared the meager fare of flat bread and berries, washing it down with cold bitters. After one swallow, Connor grimaced.
“Like I said before,” she said, “it takes some getting used to.”
“I don’t think I ever will.” He shivered, swallowing the drink.
“I’ve been thinking, Connor. Do you suppose they used this cell for anyone who may have challenged the priestess and lost?”
Connor shrugged. “They could have. What difference would it make?”
“Well, I could go into the Knowing and see if there’s any information to be found. If someone was here who knew the answer to what we seek, maybe I can find out.” She chewed on a piece of the hard bread and shrugged. She looked at Connor. “What do you think?”
“If it’ll help us get out of this hell hole and find Sarah and Ian, I say do it. It sounds like a good idea to me.” He cleared the tray from the cot and placed it near the door. “What do you want me to do?”
“Nothing, other than try to remember whatever I tell you. I can’t always recall everything I’ve said.” She shifted to the edge of the bed, placed her feet on the floor, and went into the Knowing.
“Tell me what you see, Bethany,” Connor bade quietly.
Bethany scanned the room. Generation upon generation of prisoner began to appear. Some old, some young. Men, women, children. All manner of dress and demeanor, from the richest nobleman to the lowliest slave. “There are so many people here. I can’t make out what any of them are saying.” She put her hands over her ears. “It’s getting too loud.”
“Pick out one person and shut out the others,” Connor whispered as though he were in her head. “You can do it. Go slowly and seek one person at a time.”
Bethany nodded. “I see a young woman. She’s sitting on her heels, crying…”
“My baby, my baby,” the woman sobbed. “They killed you.” She rolled her eyes heavenward. “Sweet Mother of All, please forgive me for turning against you. The Eitellans offered worldly riches but they stole my child. I’d gladly give it all back to save his soul. They might as well kill me, too.”
“Hasn’t someone told you what we had in mind?” a voice called through the door. “Come sunset, the priestess will take you, too, though I can’t see why she’d bother as old as you are.” Laughter mixed with the sound of footsteps echoing down the hallway as the guard walked away.
“Oh, Connor, they took her child, too,” Bethany cried. “What if we don’t find Sarah? What if we’re going about this all wrong?”
Connor put his arm around her shoulders and drew her close. “You’ve got to trust your instincts, you know that. It’s what’s brought us this far. Try again,” he urged. “Pick out someone else.”
She nodded. “There’s an old woman in the corner.” In her mind’s eye, the woman came into clear focus. She was wearing the garb of a priestess, only it was dirty and torn. Her pewter gray hair had been shorn above her ears and all her jewelry removed. Bethany listened as she talked to herself, repeating the words in a murmur for Connor’s benefit.
“Throw me in here, will you? Upstart!” She picked up a stick and started to scratch at the wall, making marks. Bethany struggled to decipher the writing. It was a type of old cuneiform, similar to what she had seen on Yongi’s statue. Perhaps they were from the same time period.
“What can I do for revenge?” The old woman stroked her chin. “I know! I know!” A bony finger sliced the air. “I’ll leave a message of death for future Eitellans. If I convey the secret words, then they’ll be able to destroy the priestesses that follow me.”
With the stick, she dug at the mortar surrounding one of the smaller blocks of which the wall was constructed. Finally, it loosened and she struggled with it until she was able to slide it out halfway. She put her hand inside one of the knee-high boots she wore, pulling out a thick, sharp skinny implement, like an oversized sewing needle. Furiously, she scratched and dug, forming the letters that would spell certain death for future priestesses.
Bethany watched in a few moments what must have taken the old woman several months to write. Every night, she’d force the block out and work. On the left side, she made the markings. On the right, she dug until a small hole was formed. When her work was finished, she placed the needle into the hole and slipped the stone into place for the last time. That night, a guard came to take her away. The old priestess never returned.
Bethany walked slowly over to the wall perpendicular to the cot. Pushing the bed out of the way, she dropped to her hands and knees and searched the stones. There it was. The one she’d seen in the vision. She sat back on her haunches. “Connor, come here.”
He squatted down next to her. “Is that the stone?”
“Yes.” She dug with her fingers at the sand the old priestess had packed into the joints until enough was gone to allow her to slip her hands in next to it. “I can feel the carvings,” she said, sliding the stone forward.
Connor went to retrieve the torch. “Can you read it?”
“It’s an old tongue but, yes, I think I can interpret it.” She lay down on her stomach in order to have a better look. She ran her fingers over the letters.
“What’s it say?”
“‘Hear my words, children of Eitel. If you would destroy the priestess, her head she must lose. Take this gift and put it to good use. Shaken thrice, a weapon you’ll have. Strike fast and sure.
You’ll not get a second chance.’” Bethany sat up and leaned back against the cot, crossing her arms over her knees.
“Didn’t you say something earlier about the woman placing something in the stone?” Connor asked, reaching around its side. “Here it is.” He pulled out the shiny silver needle and handed it to Bethany.
Bethany paced to the center of the room. “It said to shake it three times to kill the priestess. Do you think I can kill her from here?”
She gave the needle a good shake downward, but nothing happened. She shook it two more times and the instrument began to glow a bright orange. She dropped it and backed away, watching wide eyed as it stretched and grew in length.
“My God,” Connor said, standing behind her. He moved past Bethany and picked it up. “It’s a sword.”
“Of course!” She clasped her hands together. “‘If you would destroy the priestess, her head she must lose.’ The High Priestess must be beheaded!”
“Beheaded?” Connor swallowed hard.
Bethany nodded. Taking the weapon from Connor, she watched as it returned to its normal size then fastened it to the inside of her blouse. “As sure as I’ve ever been about anything in my life.”
Chapter 29
The cell door’s bar hit the stone floor with a heavy thud, cutting through the stillness of the tomb-like cell. The noise jolted Bethany and Connor awake.
Esther walked in with a guard on either side, her arm in a sling. She placed a new torch in the holder and turned to face the pair. “Well, well. We’ve met before, haven’t we?” She eyed Connor. “I suppose you came back so I could thank you for this,” she said, pointing at the injury. “You really should have stayed away when you had the chance. Now you’ll have to deal with Liazar. I don’t mind telling you she’s in a foul mood this morning. That friend of yours kept her up all night with his howling.”
“What did she do to Ian?” Bethany demanded, rising from the cot. “Tell me or I’ll finish what Connor started.”