Crell’s frown grew deeper. “Thank you for the warning. We’ll pass it along.” A look of disgust crossed Crell’s fine-boned face. “Could you warn Frankon? I doubt if he’d believe anything I tell him.”
Jenna nodded as the others went back to their plans. She didn’t mention that the sickly mage more than likely wouldn’t believe her either. But, pompous conjurer or not, he deserved to be warned.
Unfortunately, Jenna was right about how the thin mage would take her warning.
He took her hand as she tried to drum the information into his head and gave her a patronizing smile. “There, there. Now I know this whole situation can be trying for one so new in the arts. I’m sure it was a little case of emotional blackout. Has Ghortin been in contact since then?” As Jenna shook her head, he added condescendingly, “Then I can tell you what he would tell you. Just rest and regain your strength. I’m sure you’ll feel fine in the morning.”
Jenna unclenched her left hand and repressed her overwhelming urge to punch the idiot. She’d given him his warning. Three times in fact. If he was too stubborn to take it; well, that couldn’t be helped. With a tense nod, she went back to her tent.
29
The attack on Crell’s two scouts had forced a change in direction to get to the cave. Unfortunately, as Ghortin pointed out, there were only two ways to the Cave of Sorrows—their original way and the way they were now planning on going. Those were the only options.
Keanin and Jenna were chatting as they trudged up the steep mountainside. She’d figured out that asking him about royal gossip—any royal—kept him from whining about the terrain and weather. She was rapidly becoming an expert on people she’d never met, from lands she’d never heard of.
She went silent as they came around a sharp turn in the trail. They had climbed fast and hard as soon as day had broken, but she hadn’t realized how high they’d gotten until she looked out from this bend. A valley lay hidden within the close-knit mountains. Like the mountains themselves, and the plains behind them, the small valley was cloaked in a dusting of white. From this distance and angle, it was absolutely breathtaking.
“I do hate to interrupt this sightseeing, but I believe we should be quite near the cave. So, if you wouldn’t mind?”
Jenna didn’t bother to acknowledge Ghortin’s irritated request; she did, however, start walking again.
“We’d better get there soon; his crankiness is driving me crazy.”
“He’s still at it?” Keanin shook his head.
“Who’s still at what?” Storm asked as he came up to them, readjusting his pack. With all of his weapons sticking out of his bundle, he looked like a prickly turtle.
“Ghortin. My mental companion has been getting edgy as we get closer to the cave. He wants this to be over.”
“I can’t say that I disagree with him,” Storm said. “I don’t feel comfortable up here. Like we’re intruders or something.”
Jenna grinned up at her tall friend. “What? The great, fierce, fighting prince showing caution?” She faked a swoon into Keanin’s arms. “Catch me, I may faint.” Her sarcastic comment ended in a scream as her eyes happened to glance straight above.
Hanging high above them, like so many racks of beef, were well over a dozen corpses. All three species were represented, along with some odd-looking animals. The corpses were encased in a gauzy shroud type covering—one that wasn’t enough to hide what was up there. The ice and the odd fabric must have blocked the smell. At ten feet above the trail, the bodies should have been quite pungent.
Storm swore, drew his sword, and made ready to climb the steep mountainside to reach the trees and their grim burdens. Crell was on him in an instant, pulling him down.
“I know you weren’t thinking of doing anything as stupid as climbing up there.” She held on to his tunic tightly, clearly fearing he’d try again.
“We can’t just leave them.” Storm waved his sword in a wild arc above his head.
“We can and we will. It galls me as well. But more than a few creatures know how to use the dead as bait for the living. ‘There’s no use killing them that’s still livin’ for the sake of them that’s not.’ That’s what my Da always said. And I agree with him. Now get down, and keep walking.” She turned around to face the gathering group. With a sigh she freed one hand from Storm to point up to their grisly find.
“Look well. This is what can happen to you. So pay close attention to the trail and your mates. Now, we’ve a task to finish, so, ladies and gentlemen, if you will kindly move it.”
Hauling Storm along like an errant child, she stalked back to the front of the line. She also ignored Storm’s requests to be let go. It wasn’t until they were a good half hour away that she released the annoyed, but no longer irrational, prince.
Jenna noticed a horrific odor not too long after that. She shot a furtive look up, half afraid more bodies would be dangling overhead, but there was nothing. However, the further up they went, the worse the smell got. Soon, most of the people behind her were coughing and lagging behind. Crell was walking faster now, and Jenna found it difficult to keep pace with the much shorter derawri.
A twinge told Jenna they were close. She caught up to Crell. “The cave is nearby. Ghortin can tell.”
Crell looked grimly ahead to the next bend. “I was afraid you were going to say that.” She frowned, her nose wrinkling up at the awful smell. “Well, there’s nothing to do for it except to find out, I suppose.”
The two women rounded the corner cautiously, with Storm and Edgar not too far behind.
The rest of their people held back, ready should they be needed.
The bend led them to a small cave opening, set a good two feet above the trail. The mouth was wide, probably about four feet across, more or less in the shape of a circle. From Ghortin’s response, Jenna knew that this was the Cave of Sorrows. Less fortunate was the fact that it was also the location of the putrid odor.
“Don’t tell me, this is the mysterious Cave of Sorrows,” Edgar said as he came closer. The wiry kelar had a pained look on his face as he looked at Jenna for confirmation.
“Unfortunately, yes. At least Ghortin says this is where his body is. I suppose I should go in and get this over with.”
Crell stepped forward and stopped Jenna before she took a step. “I don’t think that would be a wise idea. We’ve no idea what else is in there. Or what that smell is that’s gracing our presence.”
She turned to Edgar, motioning to the group behind them. “I’ll need two of the strongest fighters with the best stomachs to go in and get Master Ghortin.”
Storm stepped forward. “I’ll be one.”
Crell looked up into his blue eyes intently, a small frown creasing her brow. “Are you certain? It’s liable to be hideous in there.”
“I’m certain. If anyone gets the opportunity to drag that old mage out by his heels, it should be me.”
Crell looked at her one-time ward with a serious eye. “I suppose you’ll do. Edgar, just find me one. Preferably someone of the same stature as Storm here. It’ll make carrying Ghortin’s body out easier.”
Edgar nodded and disappeared, only to reappear moments later with a familiar face in tow.
Marta nodded to Crell in lieu of a formal salute. “I’m ready to help.”
Crell gave her a nod. “I’ve no idea what else is in there, but we do know that Ghortin’s body is in there somewhere. You just need to grab him and get out.”
“What about me?” Jenna asked quietly. “Ghortin says we should go in; there may be a spell hiding the body.”
She wasn’t anxious to see what was making that smell, especially after their gruesome find back down the trail. But Ghortin’s urging was almost obsessive.
Storm frowned and shook his head. “That’s not a good idea. It’s not safe for you. Or for Ghortin.” He seemed to add the last part as an afterthought.
While Jenna thought his concern for her was sweet, she also knew Ghortin wasn’t going to l
et it go any other way. “I don’t have a choice. I need to go in.”
Crell ran her hand through her hair and threw a worried look over her shoulder toward the cave mouth. “I’m not trying to make light of your abilities or training, but what if you collapse? I don’t think even these two giants could get you and that monster of a mage out in one shot.”
“I’m not going to pass out. If something starts to happen, I’ll leave. I don’t want to do this either, but Ghortin thinks it’s necessary.”
Crell took a deep breath. “Okay, but at the first sign of something bad, or if you start feeling odd, I want you out of there.” She waved the three toward the dark entrance.
The cave was pitch dark and Marta pulled out a small glow light that the army members all carried. Wordlessly, she stepped ahead of Storm and crawled up into the cave. He and Jenna were close behind.
The first few feet of the cave were dry and tight, but taller than the opening. They could all stand and, as long as they stayed single file, they didn’t hit the sides. The smell was almost overwhelming here, but so far there wasn’t any sign of the source.
Jenna heard Marta gasp as she reached a deeper section of the cave. Storm was silent as he approached. But a shudder ran across his broad shoulders. Preparing herself for the worst, she moved forward and around Storm to see ahead.
She hadn’t braced herself enough. The light of the glow fell upon a sight so wretched that nothing could have stopped her from running back out of that cave. Almost nothing. Across the gruesome chamber lay the one thing that could, and did, stop her: Ghortin’s empty body.
Unfortunately, the ten or so feet lying between them and his body was something out of hell itself.
The room’s floor was a good two feet lower than the path they were standing on. It was buried in torn apart bodies. They seemed to form a grisly offering to a sick and twisted deity, with Ghortin’s untouched body as the crowning piece. That the entire cave was some sort of sacrificial altar was obvious, even to Jenna.
Jenna steadied herself and forced her eyes away from the awful sight. Marta was already scouting around for the easiest way to get to Ghortin’s body, and Storm was trying to find some sort of identifying marks from the less mangled body parts.
“Damn,” he swore as he identified tattoos on a shoulder and an ankle sticking out of the macabre pile. “We found at least one of the lost villages, or some of the former villagers.”
Jenna laid an almost steady hand on his back. “From the Markare?” They were hundreds of miles away from the desert, yet somehow she knew in her gut that these poor souls had made the trip alive. Which raised a good question. “Why would they have been brought this far to be killed?”
“I don’t know why they were killed.” Storm turned away from the sight with a pale face. “This is beyond even the horrors of Qhazborh’s followers. Does Ghortin have anything to say?”
Jenna searched inside her head for a moment, but came up empty. She could tell he was still there, but she couldn’t reach him. Most likely he was readying whatever spell he thought to use to get him back to his body. Providing they could manage to get it out.
“Ah-ha.” Marta waved to some dark shapes off to the side. “We can use these.” As she spoke, she held up two wide planks for them to see.
“Why would they have those there?” An answer hit Jenna as she spoke. She sent a probing spell over the twisted bodies. She kept it low level so she wouldn’t distract Ghortin, but she got her answer all the same. The seemingly freshly killed bodies were actually being maintained by a protective spell. They were being held in stasis from just after death.
Rather than Ghortin being there first and the bodies added, it was the other way around. The two planks were used by whoever took the mage’s body to place him above the grisly tribute.
Storm was also confused by Marta’s find, until Jenna explained her probe to them. With a grim nod, he took one of the huge red oak planks from the soldier and gently laid it across the mangled bodies. “If it worked for them, it’ll work for us.”
He and Marta made their way, slowly but steadily, to Ghortin’s resting place. Jenna started to pull up a spell to make sure no traps awaited them, but she couldn’t seem to remember how. Shaking her head, she tried again but found herself lost in a mind fog. She thought she noticed Marta turning toward her with an odd look, and part of her mind screamed in warning, but the look and the scream evaporated as soon as they reached Ghortin’s body.
His body was crisscrossed with a myriad of intricate protection spells that had Ghortin’s own signature. That explained why his body was offered here but not destroyed. His attackers could move him, but they couldn’t hurt him.
She was about to shout a warning anyway, so they’d be aware of Ghortin’s spells, when they reached the body and unceremoniously lifted it up.
Storm and Marta made it back to Jenna without trouble. They were almost to the cave’s mouth when an odd rumble came from behind them. Jenna looked back at the spot where Ghortin had lain. She couldn’t remember why she hadn’t checked for spells around Ghortin’s body, the fog she’d experienced blocked out that entire few minutes. If his kidnappers couldn’t put a spell on him, it would be logical to bespell the inanimate material beneath him. Jenna swore as a spell glimmered under her probe.
“Run! Something’s been triggered and I can’t stop it!” She pushed the others until they were free of the cave. Looking back she saw what the spell had triggered. The dead body parts were moving in a weird disjointed dance. And they were flopping toward the cave’s mouth and the outside. In a whirl, Jenna formed and aimed a disruption spell at the roof of the cave. She held it steady and pulled it toward her as she backed out of the cave, forcing the entire mountainside to collapse on the remains of the unfortunate villagers.
Jenna tumbled out of the cave mouth just before the hillside completely collapsed down on the opening of the cave. Storm and Marta barreled down the hill as fast as they could without jarring their precious cargo. Crell took one look at their faces and ordered the rest of the troops to follow. Edgar hung back with her and they half dragged a dust-choked Jenna down the trail as soon as she rolled free of the landslide.
Once Crell decided they were far enough away, she slowed down and Jenna motioned to the side of the trail. Crell helped her over as Jenna fell to her knees and became violently ill.
Edgar and Crell exchanged concerned glances over Jenna’s heaving back, but said nothing. Both of them had enough magesense to have felt the sheer amount of Power she’d sent into that cave roof. For whatever reason, Jenna had risked herself, and the others, to keep something in that cave. Thinking of the rancid smell that had come from the cave when they approached, Crell didn’t want to ask, but she knew she had to find out eventually.
Leaning forward, she gently rubbed Jenna’s back. “Easy, honey. It’ll be all right. Let your body do what it has to, and don’t fight it.”
Jenna coughed once more with a shudder, then reached out and pulled some of the long trail grass. Crell thought for a moment that Jenna had finally snapped, when she realized she was wiping her mouth with it. Finally, she turned to face Crell and Edgar.
“I’m sorry I didn’t warn anyone, and I hope no one was hurt. But I couldn’t take the chance that even one of those things would get out.” She shuddered again, and for a brief moment looked like she was going to be ill once more. The spasm passed without incident. Taking a few deep breaths to calm herself, Jenna went on. “We found Ghortin’s body in the middle of some sort of religious altar. There were mangled body parts all around it. Storm said the bodies were from some of the missing villages near the Markare. When he and Marta removed Ghortin’s body, they triggered a spell.” She paused; the look of disgust that crossed her features was directed inward now. “A spell I didn’t think to look for. It animated the body parts of those poor people. I had no idea how strong the spell was, so I had to use everything I could to make sure they didn’t get out.” She hung her head.
It was obvious to Crell that Jenna had thrown everything into that spell; and was willing to trap herself in there if that had been the only way to stop it.
Crell looked up as Storm came back up the trail, minus his cargo.
“Is she all right?” he asked, as he saw Jenna near the trail.
As Crell nodded, she happened to see his eyes. Whatever the tie was between Storm and Jenna, it was a strong one. She’d not seen that much concern on her former ward’s face for anyone for a long time. Interesting.
Jenna raised her head. “I’m fine.” Her voice was weak, like she’d just run ten miles backward. “Someone has to go back and make sure nothing got out.”
Looking at the lass, Crell seriously doubted Jenna would be able to do anything about it if something had made it out, but decided she most likely knew that as well.
Storm squinted through the slowly settling dust up the trail. It was clear, even at this distance, that the collapse had been huge. “I’ll go make certain.” He drew his sword, more for effect than any real sense of danger. “Wait for me here.”
Crell had Jenna standing by the time Storm returned.
“You did it. Everything in that cave is now flatter than a pressed flower; half of the hillside filled it in. How about I give you some help down?”
Jenna looked ready to shake him off out of pride, then stopped with a wince. “Thanks. I’m afraid I’m overburdening Crell here.”
The diminutive fighter smiled wryly, “Not at all, my dear. I’ve lugged bigger and taller ones than you off a battlefield. But I’ll be the first to admit that I lack the grace of our young giant here.” She smiled up at Storm. “She’s all yours.”
As Crell stepped aside, Storm moved in to pick up Jenna. With a sigh of resignation, she slid her arms around Storm’s neck.
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