Thad smiled at the thought of Leath and his Grandfather sparring. He looked at the other two and attempted a reassuring smile, but it only cracked on one side.
“Come on little buddy you can snuggle in beside us,” Leath said patting the bed beside him and Zyphera.
Thad crawled over and wiggled his way between the two. He knew that they were probably right. But he was afraid just the same.
Mathias took up residence on the opposite side of the fire, and all four drifted back to sleep.
A few hours later their senses woke them to the smell of smoked bacon, sizzling eggs and buttery toast swirling under their noses.
"You all looked so peaceful sleeping I didn’t want to wake you,” Traiden said cracking a big toothy grin.
“Uh who are you and what are you doing cooking over our fire?” Leath demanded.
“This is my good friend I was telling you about,” Mathias answered. “Everyone meet Traiden. Traiden this is Zyphera, Leath and of course Thaddeus Birk.”
“Pleased to meet you all!” he greeted, extending his hand to everyone. “Hope I didn’t disturb you too much with my cooking?”
“Not at all!” Leath replied hungrily. “Looks good enough to eat,” he said licking his lips
“Well dig in and enjoy,” Traiden replied grabbing the plates.
Leath attempted to move and winced, “I forgot about the whole arrow in the side thingy. I guess I owe you my life.” Leath added looking at Traiden gratefully.
“Anytime,” Traiden replied dishing out platefuls of food. “I am sure my sorry butt will one day be in trouble and you can repay the favor.”
“Sounds fair to me,” Leath replied as Zyphera brought him a heaping plate of hot food.
“Soon as we’re all done we will be hitting the road,” Mathias reminded them between mouthfuls of warm food.
“Oh I made coffee as well,” Traiden added grabbing a large steel carafe from under a cozy, “and I made hot chocolate for the little one,” He said handing Thad a mug of creamy chocolate. “And tea for the lady.”
“This is delicious,” Zyphera replied, breathing in the sweet aromas, “Thank you so much.”
“Yeah it sure hits the spot,” Leath agreed, licking the last bit of egg yoke of his plate.
“Glad to see your brush with death hasn’t taken away your manners,” Thad giggled, shaking his head.
“Waste not, want not,” Leath replied.
Everyone filled their bellies, gathered what little they had brought and started on their way. They headed east, deep into the heart of the Veron desert where the head of the Kelwan valley awaited. Nestled dangerously along its steep sides, the Relvak Passage resembled nothing more than a small path which was scratched into the belly of a subterranean volcano. Long ago the volcano ruptured leaving an obstacle course of deadly crevasses.
“So what is so dangerous about this Relvak Passage?” Thad asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.
“Many who attempt the passage never return, and those who have returned do not fear the nature of the path itself, but the souls whom line the passage walls and wander its darkness.”
“Stop it Traiden,” Mathias insisted, “You’ll scare the boy.”
“Forget about scaring Thad,” Leath piped up, “You’re giving me the hibbie gibbies,” he added squirming. He immediately winced. “Right, I got shot by an arrow, must remember that,” He grimaced holding his side.
“You seem to be recovering well from your injury,” Traiden commented, taking note of Leath’s mobility.
“Yeah as long as I don’t breath it feels okay,” Leath answered. “Mind you, if I didn’t have such a wonderful person playing nurse for me I would still be laid out on the floor somewhere completely incapacitated.” He reached for Zyphera’s hand.
“Zyphera, are you blushing?” Thad teased.
“No!” She retorted, trying to hide her face. But the attention made her face even redder.
“Imagine that, a cute little human making a fierce guardian turn to mush,” Leath gloated gleefully as he gave her a peck on the cheek.
Thad made gagging noises and rolled his eyes. “How long will it take us to get to this place?” He asked. Changing the subject as to try and erase the last scene of mush from his mind.
“Well if we can keep a decent pace we should be there in about eight hours,” Mathias answered.
“Eight hours,” Thad wailed, repeating Mathias. “The Shadow Breathers already have about three days on us as it is.” Thad felt a bit of despair creep into his heart.
“We don’t know for sure how much distance the Shades have on us,” Mathias reminded him, “Besides, your Grandfather is smart. He knows we will be on their tails. He’ll find a way to slow them down.” A small smile crept across his face, “I am sure he is already making them wish they’d never kidnapped him.”
Chapter 24
“This is the song that never ends, and it goes on and on my friend. Some people started singing it not knowing what it was and then continued singing it forever just because, this is the song that never ends……”
“Can’t we dispose of the old man right now?” one of the Shadow Breathers asked his companion, cringing as the professor sang.
“You know what Madron said. He wants him alive, very alive,” The other answered.
“So I can’t even give him an accidental bonk on the head?” The first one grumbled.
His companion shook his head. “Want to play twenty questions?” he asked, an evil smile playing across his lips.
While the two Shadow Breathers took turns guessing what horrid method of torture the other would inflict to shut up the professor, Bartholomew ripped pieces of his shirt leaving the tiny shreds as a trail. He hoped his instinct about Thad and the others coming after him was right. He was very much aware of the danger he was about to face once they reached Barathrum. He also knew his time there could be brief.
“My lord,” a humble voice from the door spoke. “I don’t mean to interrupt you, but Azire and Drex are on their way here with the professor.”
Madron nodded his head. “Merrick,” He said turning slightly, “When they arrive with our guest, make sure he is well cared for,” A sly smile splayed across his lips. “We want him well rested so he will be able to fully enjoy his time here,” Madron’s voice dripped with evil intentions.
“Yes my lord,” Merrick nodded. He graciously bowed, exiting the room. He scurried down the hallway leaving his master to ponder his revenge.
Madron peered out from under the immense hood covering his head. Standing quietly with his hands resting on the large stone window sill he gazed unseeing at the flurry of activity going on below. His right hand tapped to the rhythm of a silent song as his mind danced excitedly. Images of the professor’s impending torment played willfully in his mind.
“You will see just how strong I have become dear professor,” He said evil creeping across his face. “I have waited a decade for this day and now it is so quickly upon me,” He thought.
He pulled a heavy silk cord sending a wave of velvet over the window. His preoccupied mind took no notice of the sound of tiny footsteps on the stone floor. He walked straight into a small boy grinning up at him unfazed by the impact.
“What are you doing here?” Madron demanded crossing his arms over his chest.
The boy, undeterred by the hostility in Madron’s voice, walked past Madron to the window pulling the heavy curtain back. He stood on his tippy toes grasping the edge of the sill tightly with both hands. Leaning out the window as far as he could, taking in the bustle of activity below. Fearing the boy would fall Madron walked briskly over and grabbed the boy around the waist.
“What are you doing?” He demanded traces of fear laced his voice, “You could have slipped and fallen out the window.”
“I would have been fine. You know you’re a little over protective,” The boy said rolling his eyes, flopping down on some of the big pillows arranged in the far corner of the roo
m.
“Anyways, I asked you what you are doing here,” Madron prodded again, ignoring the boy’s careless attitude.
“I was bored and thought I would come see what you were up too,” The little boy said innocently. He continued before Madron could speak “You must be happy that the professor will finely be at your mercy,” he said gazing at Madron with a twinkle in his eye.
“How did…oh never mind,” Madron said rubbing his temples.
“Headache again?” The boy asked.
Madron looked at him wearily slowly nodding his head yes. He wandered back to the window peering through the small crack in the curtains.
“You know he deserves it,” The boy said sternly.
“Who deserves what?” Madron asked.
“The Professor of course,” The boy snorted, “He deserves to feel pain for what he has done,” Hatred crept into his voice.
“It’s complica……” Madron tried to explain, his voice momentarily cut off by pain.
“Are you going to let him get the better of you?” The boy demanded. “A moment ago you were reveling at the idea of having him at your mercy and now you are beginning to cower like a little siss,” His voice filled with anger and disgust.
Before Madron could respond Merrick opened the door.
“Pardon the disturbance, but there is someone here to see you,” He announced, careful to avoid his master’s eyes. “He claims to be your greatest allie.”
Madron smirked. “I shall see to him at once.” Breezing past his servant towards the door, “Oh and Merrick,” Madron paused, “Make sure he stays out of trouble,” Madron gestured to the little boy lounging on the pillows.
Merrick bowed his head. The boy rolled his eyes and followed him out of the room.
“I wondered if you would ever brave this place,” Madron smirked as he entered his massive throne room.
“I have not come here on a social visit,” Spoke his guest.
“Really,” Madron said in a mock surprise tone, “I figured you’ve come to see what you helped me reclaim,” gesturing to everything around them.
“What I did was to benefit myself as much as you. Don’t think I will let this favor slide freely,” His visitor informed him in a hostile tone.
“What are you expecting in return?” Madron asked curiously, seating himself in his exceedingly large and ornate throne.
“This is not the time for payment of debts,” His guest replied. “I am here to warn you.”
“Warn me,” Madron scoffed, “about what?”
"Your recent actions were unwise and incredibly irresponsible drawing unnecessary attention. This is a very volatile time.”
“A volatile time,” Madron repeated unsure what his guest meant.
“You are more foolish than I expected, considering you are a feared Lord. Perhaps it was unwise of me to have aided in your return,” The guest snorted in a conceited voice.
“You dare call me a fool in my own house,” Madron bellowed rising from his seat. “I have reaped more death and destruction upon the worlds of this universe than any, and you have the gall to call me foolish.” His voice boomed around the room.
“I am warning you,” He guest continued unfazed by Madron’s out burst. “You have set into motion a chain of events that will only end in your demise. Only this time no one will be around to save your pathetic excuse of a life form,” He taunted.
Madron’s eyes flashed with a fiery rage, his voice seething with disgust. “I do not utter these words lightly, so I suggest you listen well. Your kind will one day know the wrath of this dark world. They will suffer an eternity of torment and will beg for death a thousand times over and you will forever wish that you had let me rot on the forsaken lands of Hadis,” he spat, clenching his fists to control the fire that burned in his veins.
His guest remained ever still. “To have let you die on Hadis would of rob me the satisfaction of watching you die slowly at the hands of the one who’s wrath you should truly fear, the one who will watch the light leave your eyes and drop your lifeless body to the scorching earth without so much as a concern for your soul.”
Before Madron could utter another word, the figure vanished into the darkness of the room. Madron screamed in frustration, pounding his fist into the armrests of his throne as he collapsed into a heap upon it. He closed his eyes and lightly pressed his index fingers against his throbbing head, hoping to ease the agonizing tension pulsing in his temples.
He slouched in his chair, his body hot with anger.
He mulled over the message and contemplated its worth. His anger slowly drained away, replaced by an intense hate that fueled his quickly beating heart. He drew a deep breath releasing it in small controlled bursts. He opened his eyes. Directly on the floor in front of him rested a small pair of handsomely shoed feet.
“What in god’s name are you doing here?” he demanded feeling a sudden wave of exhaustion blasting over him.
The little boy looked at him, his head cocked to the side.
“What?” Madron asked exasperated.
The little boy just smiled a silly little smile.
Irritated, Madron pushed up from his throne. He strode purposefully towards one of the many doors leading out of the room.
“He is bluffing,” The little boy said barely turning to look at Madron.
“Excuse me,” Madron stopped mid stride.
The little boy turned around. “He is scared. He is just trying to discourage you. He knows the balance of power is about to shift. He is trying to destabilize you, rattle you chain, see if he can get you to run.” He spoke nonchalantly with his arms swinging by his side. “But you’re not scared are you?” He spoke almost accusingly.
“How dare you insult me, fear has never tasted the blood in my veins,” Madron snapped his emotions raging beneath his skin.
“Good,” smirked the little boy, “because a war can not be waged by someone who has begun to doubt his own self worth.”
Madron shook his head in confusion. “War, what war?”
“You not going to let your enemy come waltzing into your house, threaten you, call you a coward and expect to get away with it scot free.”
“Of course not,” Madron snapped tired of the child’s demeaning manner. “I was simply thinking…….”
“You were planning the best course of action,” the little boy answered finishing Madron’s thought for him.
“Yes the best course of action,” Madron repeated.
“Well don’t let me keep you from reaping havoc and chaos,” The little boy said innocently, yet his face glowed with deviousness.
Madron stared at the little boy’s big green eyes, and wide childish smile. He wondered why child seemed so determined to aid in his dream of revenge. The boy was like a shadow, a shadow that was there weather the light shone on him or not. A child should be innocent, but he was all but that. His mind was as twisted, if not more twisted, than his own. In a way he feared him, feared the evil that lurked behind the boy’s innocent smile.
Madron cleared his head. Thinking on the matter only made his headache worse. He abruptly exited the room his heavy cloak billowing in the air. It danced for a moment before floating down to rest on the cold stone floor.
The little boy waited till Madron was gone, his green eyes gleaming with satisfaction. He turned on the heels of his perfectly polished shoes, and began to sing. “A tisk it, a task it, a green and yellow basket, I wrote letter to my love but on the way I dropped it.”
The song clung to the walls of the room, haunting the air through out the hallway as it skipped merrily after the little boy.
The lyrics drifted happily out a window of Madron’s stone fortress and into one of the many corridors of the labyrinth enclosing the castle where a group of five shade shifters gathered taking all precaution to ensure their meeting remained concealed.
“Are you positive you heard right?” A shade asked, addressing the smallest in the group.
“I am,” A slimy
voice replied, “The Guardian stood there without fear, threatening our lord and reminded him of his debt owed by his freedom.”
“I believe it is time we once again rule our own kind and refuse to bow before the swine that holds our very existence against us,” a voice commanded.
A quiet, “hear, hear” went up from the other four in agreement.
“But there are still many loyal to Madron,” a voice whimpered.
Sentry Rising Page 22