by Doug Backus
“Perhaps, or you can spend the night thinking of a story to tell them. Either way, your death will not be by my hands.”
After placing a gag on the Kaltaures soldier, Jayden exited the house and was met by Oisin who had been waiting for him. Neither said a word as they quietly escaped the Kilto village.
They had travelled for several hours before Oisin finally spoke. “Jayden, I overheard the soldier. What do you make of it? Do you have any idea who betrays us?”
“I have been giving it a great of thought Oisin, and still I do not know. The soldier specifically said the traitor is of Solace. This means Palto and the inhabitants of the Sacred Realm are in grave danger. It gives Solharn an advantage; he may already know where Deke, Deo and Mary are. This information drastically changes our tactics. We must find our armies before it is too late.”
“How much further to Aura?”
“We should be there just before sunrise, but it will take time once we get there. When Palto flew me to Solace I could see that Solharn’s camp was positioned to the east of Aura. That is where we will come out when we arrive. Hopefully we will still have some cover of darkness because we will have to travel north through the woods in order to maneuver around his troops. Once we have done that we will have to find our armies. We can only hope that they are still where I saw them last. Our only advantage is that Solharn will not think we are coming. He will not hear about the Kaltaures failure to capture us until we are long past his camps.”
Oisin did not respond as he and Jayden continued toward Aura. He, too, had thought deeply about who could have betrayed them, and whoever it was, did they do so of their own choosing or were they under Solharn’s control? He had become more powerful, more evil. Jayden was right. Solharn had a huge advantage over them now. They were without Elissa, the boy from Earth who held the amulet was in the middle of the Tiqor Swamps, and they themselves had a long way to go to finally reach their destination and hopefully find their armies intact. To top it all off, their side had been compromised by a traitor.
Oisin greatly admired Jayden but realized even he could not have predicted this. Oisin hoped Jayden had some sort of plan because he was beginning to feel as if the survival of Rhol was slipping away. In any event, he would fight alongside Jayden until he could do no more. They were nearing Aura and were both exhausted, but rest would have to come later, much later.
Oisin stopped when he saw Jayden’s hand suddenly signal him. They were still in the cover of woods but Oisin, not wanting to take any chance of being seen, fell to the ground and sidled up beside him. He could see what had caused Jayden to suddenly stop. Solharn’s camps were visible now. He could see hundreds of smoldering fires and makeshift tents. They were still a good mile away, a safe distance except for the troop of Kaltaures soldiers who were being led across a field to the north of the camp. They were a mere hundred yards from them. Jayden and Oisin looked on as the sixty or so soldiers hid themselves amongst the grass and boulders that surrounded the area and disappeared from sight. Following this, he could see a single Kaltaures soldier leave the others and run back toward the main camp.
“What are they doing Jayden?” Oisin asked.
“It looks like they are preparing for a surprise attack,” Jayden said looking on intently.
“Do you think our armies are coming then?” Oisin asked enthusiastically.
“No, our armies would not attack from the north. The wind would not be in their favor and the Kaltaures army would be much larger if they anticipated an attack of that nature. It is troubling though. They block the way we must go to get around the camp.”
“Perhaps they have already heard the news of our escape from Kilto and lay in wait for us,” Oisin said not wanting to believe their bad luck.
Jayden was still staring intently at the field thinking. All of the sudden it came to him, “Oisin, we must move!”
“What is it?”
“The Nightstalkers, they have been discovered! It is the only explanation. They would enter the camp from the south and leave from the north. The enemy is setting a trap for them. It explains the small number of Kaltaures soldiers and the time of night they set their position up, which means they will be prepared for them inside the camps as well. They are walking to their demise. We must stop them before they enter the camps.” Jayden quickly started running through the forest to the south
It took longer than they would have anticipated, but finally they came around the back of the camps to the south side.
“Oisin, we must split up in order to find them. Return back to this spot in an hour if…”
Jayden was interrupted by a dark figure that jumped down upon him from a nearby tree knocking him to the ground. Oisin ran to his aid but made it only a few feet before he too was struck down. Oisin rolled and jumped back to his feet holding his knife in a combat position. Jayden, unable to get to his feet, was still struggling with three of the assailants.
They were surrounded by dark figures dressed completely in black. Only their silhouette made them stand out against the backdrop of the moon.
The circle surrounding Oisin was beginning to slowly close in. He was positioning himself for the attack when a voice boomed out from behind him, “Toltad, it is Jayden, these are Lealians.”
Without another word the Nightstalkers lowered their weapons and looked toward Jayden.
“You’re alive, Jayden! We had begun to lose hope. It is an honor to be the first to welcome you back.”
“I wish my return came with better news Toltad, but at least we arrived in time to stop your men from entering the Kaltaures camp.”
Jayden knew something was wrong by Toltad’s silence.
“Toltad? We have arrived in time, haven’t we?”
“The first half entered the camp a half an hour ago, Jayden. What is wrong?”
Jayden cursed. “They are walking into a trap.”
Toltad immediately signaled to the remaining Nightstalkers readying them for battle, but Jayden stopped him.
“Your men are not going in Toltad,” Jayden said.
“What do mean Jayden? We must save them.”
“If I thought there was a chance we could, I would lead the remaining Nightstalkers into the camps myself. You are probably not aware of this but Solharn has returned and has already joined his armies. To make matters worse there is a traitor amongst us. Solharn will have ensured that the Kaltaures were well prepared for the Nightstalkers’ return. Your men are some of the top warriors in the Lealian ranks, but they will not expect what is to come. They will not stand a chance and I will not allow another Lealian to die here tonight if nothing good can come from it.”
“I respectfully disagree, Jayden. I will not leave them to walk into a trap that will cost them their lives,” Toltad said staring at Jayden.
“They have already walked into the trap Toltad and fifty more Lealians will be of no use in fighting against thousands. You will have your revenge, but not tonight,” Jayden responded sternly.
Toltad knew Jayden made sense, but in his heart he would rather die than stand back and do nothing. As if reading his mind Jayden began to speak, this time to everyone.
“I know this goes against everything we believe in, but these are different times. We have lost too many already and our armies are dwindling more every day. I am not saying that we must stand idly by and do nothing. I will stay back here in an effort to gather whatever intelligence I can from the camps and try to find out what has become of our fellow Lealians. The remainder of you will go with Oisin. There are sixty Kaltaures lying in wait on the north side of the camp for any of the Nightstalkers that have avoided capture. Oisin will point their exact location out to you. Stealth will be the key. You must kill them in silence so as not to alert reinforcements. That will give us an escape route and is the only chance we have of saving any of the Nightstalkers who evade capture. If I have not joined you within an hour before sunrise then leave to find our armies and give them the news of what I have
told you.”
Toltad and Oisin nodded in agreement. Within seconds Jayden stood alone in the dark forest.
Chapter Twenty-One
Palto looked proudly at his two warriors. Solko and Preta had been working with the Rholians, teaching them basic combat skills for hours upon hours. When the Rholians took brief breaks to rest their aching muscles, Palto would tell them whatever he knew about the Dark Angel and his armies so as to prepare them when they finally faced the scourges of battle.
They were as ready as they would ever be, given the short amount of time he had to train them. The majority would last only minutes when facing Kaltaures soldiers or Phits for that matter, but he did see resilience in them and their hearts were big. That would go a long way when fighting for a cause that meant so much to them. They fought for their country, their world. Their enemies fought only for power and riches. They would prevail because their cause was the just one.
“Solko, Preta,” Palto said getting their attention. The Rholians did not hear Palto. He did not use spoken words, but telepathy. He did not want them to hear.
“We can wait no longer. Jayden has had his day. We do not even know whether he survives or not. We must leave Solace and join the battle.”
“I do not have to tell you Palto that the Rholians are far from being prepared for what they are about to face, even if we make it by Phanthus,” Preta responded.
“I know,” said Palto, “but would a day make much of a difference, or a week for that matter?”
“No,” Preta retorted still looking into the Rholian’s eyes.
“Then prepare them for our journey. Have them sleep for the next few hours. They are exhausted. We will leave shortly after sunrise.”
“Very well,” Preta said signaling the Rholians to stop what they were doing.
Palto slowly walked away. He had to come up with a plan to get out of the tunnel without being burned to death by the dragon’s fiery breath. Furthermore, even if the plan (which he had yet to think of) was successful, they would still have to slip by Phanthus undetected. They were no match for him without reinforcements.
He spent the remainder of the night trying to time the fire the dragon spewed down the tunnel, but there was no real pattern. The longest break had been almost two hours and the shortest, just under an hour. Given that it would take them at least a few hours to get to the entranceway, there was no possible way they could make it.
There was nothing he could think of that would withstand the heat of the fire and allow them to continue safely on. Palto was perplexed and stared into the Wall of Solace, straining to come up with an idea.
“There is a way,” a gruff sounding voice spoke out from behind him. “Of course your timing would have to be impeccable.”
Palto turned to see the source of this information. Standing behind him was a Brawltug. The Brawltug were shorter than most and generally kept to themselves. They were from the northern reaches of Rhol and were quite friendly, but as stubborn as Girons. If they ever drank spirits of any sort they turned into quite vile creatures. Spitting, cursing and fighting seemed to be the only thing that pleased them in that state. You could always tell if they had dabbled though, as their eyes turned a deep red and their cheeks became lined with veins.
They were very loyal to the Queen and even though they would never admit it they did like to help people in need (and brag about it later). As Palto looked at the Brawltug he couldn’t help but notice the left side of his face was missing an ear and scarred down to the bone. A scruffy brown beard hid whatever other damage he had suffered.
“And you are, sir?” Palto asked curiously.
“I am Alaster O’Dufaigh of course, but most people just call me Duffy,” the Brawltug responded, almost insulted that Palto did not know his name.
Palto thought for a moment before politely responding. “What has brought you to the Sacred Realm Duffy? If my memory serves me correctly, your people refused to go to any of the realms. In fact, my understanding was that they decided to spread themselves all over the vast lands of Rhol to exact revenge upon Solharn, all the while keeping watch over the less fortunate.”
“And that we did Palto sir. As you have probably heard, we were almost successful in destroying the sod. My family, the O’Dufaighs, were an integral part of that. In fact, we believe that is why he left Rhol. He knew what was coming. You’re sure you have not heard of me, eh? Strange indeed.”
Palto tried to keep a straight face. He knew the Brawltug were proud, and in fact very useful warriors. They did tend to stretch the truth a little and quite fancied themselves. Some say they may have even been the original settlers of Rhol, but Palto was sure that had come from the Brawltug themselves. In any event, he knew they responded to compliments.
“Well, now that you mention your name again, perhaps I do remember hearing something about the O’Dufaighs,” Palto fibbed chuckling on the inside.
“Ha! I knew it. Well, let’s see, yes. How did I come to be here, you ask? Well, it is quite interesting you see. My family and I were returning from a serious battle with several Kaltaures soldiers. I guess that was, well, between ten and eleven years ago now. We had to take on at least four of the beasts each! Of course we were quite successful in winning the battle, and in a short period of time I should add,” Duffy said very pleased with himself.
“Anyway, we were in search of a place to rest. We had not slept in at least four days and five nights. We found what we thought would be a safe place to lie down for the night, on top of this mountain range, in fact. Well, I kept watch for the first two hours while everyone slept. Then my brother took his turn. That’s when it happened. I remember waking up to a shooting pain running through my body and looking up to see a Cawlaway flying away. The cowardly creature must have attacked us in our sleep, I guess for good reason. It would not have stood a chance had I been awake and it probably knew it.”
Palto listened intently, a Cawlaway? He had not seen one for years, but could never forget them. They were a monstrous bird, black with aqua highlights. They had pearl eyes much like a Kaltaures, and were a most dangerous creature that fed solely on a meat diet. They were made for killing. Once you were in their grasp there was no escape. Their feathers were long, slender and as sharp as lynch grass. If their wing came in contact with their prey it would slice them to pieces.
“I stood up to give chase, looking around for the rest of my clan. I saw none of them. I circled the area in a mad attempt to find them, but there was nothing, not even a trace of blood or a footprint to track. I began retracing my steps thinking I must have missed something. I had only walked a few feet when the ground beneath me crumbled and I fell for what seemed to be forever. Luckily, I landed on some thick moss inside a long tunnel. I followed it blindly until I finally saw some light in the distance, and I walked into this place. I did not even know where I was. Delirious from exhaustion and pain I crawled through the field to the river and collapsed. When I awoke my face had been bandaged and a lady was tending to my wounds. Kiran was that lady. She told me I had been sleeping for six days in and out of fever. I immediately got to my feet still worried about my clan, but collapsed again. It would be another two months until I was well enough to go in search of my family, but it was not to be. On the very day that I was leaving Queen Elissa cast the spell that would keep me in here for the next ten years. Kiran convinced me that it was fate that brought me here. She explained that many lost travelers and people in need would be coming to the Realm and they would need our help. She convinced me that my place was here and that only in time would my destiny take me outside these walls again. Of course she would never have stopped me from leaving, but she was a very convincing woman. She promised that my fight against Solharn would come, but only when the protective fields around Tamon and Leal no longer existed. I wasn’t overly enthused with the idea of staying here, but I owed her my life, so I agreed.” Duffy looked around admiring the Realm. “It was with my help that much of the shelters within he
re were built.”
“That is quite a story Duffy. The other way out that you speak of, it is where you fell into this tunnel?”
“Precisely, it took me just under two hours to walk to this place in the dark, while injured. So I figure we can make it in just over an hour without those obstacles.”
“And by taking this way we can avoid Phanthus at the other end of the tunnel,” Palto said, already formulating a plan.
Duffy looked confused. “Well, if you want to I suppose. I was thinking more of a surprise attack.”
Palto laughed. “I have no doubt that’s what you were thinking Duffy, but Phanthus I think, will have to wait for another day.”
Duffy looked disappointed, but didn’t argue with Palto. “Are you sure of the amount of time it took you to get here Duffy?”
“Well, I was not myself, that is for sure, but it will be close to that time frame.”
“Very well, I will go down the tunnel to see if I can find what you speak of,” Palto said walking closer to the wall to await the next ball of flames.
“If you find my hatchet then you will find the tunnel. It will be stuck into the wall directly below it. I marked it of course, in case that was the only way out,” Duffy boasted.
“You are indeed the Brawltug I heard of Alaster O’Dufaigh. Who else could have fought through so many tribulations and still kept his head? You are a true warrior.”
Duffy stood proudly; he would tell many people this story. Palto, the leader of the Pegapires, considered him the best warrior of all time.
As the flames in the tunnel disappeared, Palto nodded a goodbye to Duffy as he ran through the Wall of Solace and down the tunnel, hoping to avoid the next fiery breath of Phanthus.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Mary and Deo were not at all impressed with their new companion, but Deke simply would not listen to reason, so the four set off through the swamps. Mary insisted on leading the way and Deke did not argue. He knew Mary did not trust Torrell, and he himself had his doubts.