“Magic,” Elizabeth answered for her friend. “Much like I have the ability to heal, she can do that.”
“They’re very different abilities,” William quietly pointed out, “aren’t they?”
Elizabeth nodded.
Victoria picked up the hard cylinder with the map and put the strap across her front. “Gather your things,” she commanded, “we are leaving through the caverns. It’s the safest route out of the city.”
Max shook his head. “We refuse to leave our father here.”
“We should return to him,” Orthol suggested. Gringal and Rachel nodded. “The Arraci will ensure he leaves the city safely.”
“We will come with you,” Max demanded, motioning to his brothers. “We will be safer when we rendezvous with the rest of the royal entourage.”
William nodded and glanced at Elizabeth. “Come with us. I know my father will offer you refuge in our home.”
“He will,” Max agreed, “for both of you. If anything, what has happened today demonstrates the importance of that stone.”
“But my horse is in the cavern behind the house,” Richard spoke up quietly, interrupting the conversation. “Will we leave him here?”
William patted his brother on the shoulder. “We must, little brother, to return to father.”
Richard thought for a moment. “But the caverns are safe,” he muttered under his breath. “They are free from battle and…death.”
William started to speak but hesitated. His attention shifted to Max, who stood pensively. Max looked around the room, all of the bodies sprawled along the floor in pools of blood. He thought of Richard’s encounter beside the forest, the horrors of battle he experienced today. He shook his head.
“No,” Max said as he thought about it, seeing the terror in his little brother’s eyes. He looked to Victoria. “You said the caverns were safe?”
“Yes,” Victoria affirmed.
Max heavily exhaled, focusing on his youngest brother again. He hesitated before speaking. “Richard, you should escape the city by traveling through the caverns.”
Richard remained silent, his relief clear.
“It makes more sense that way,” Max continued, seeing that the others reluctantly agreed. “You are not yet a fighter, and that cavern offers you a safe way out of the city.”
Richard gave a shallow nod of gratitude.
“I will safely lead him through,” Victoria said.
“One of you will need to come with us though,” Max asserted. He looked to Elizabeth. “You are at the heart of all of this. Our father and the rest of the Arraci will need to hear the truth from you.”
“I cannot bring the stone through the streets, though,” Elizabeth countered, but recognised the conundrum as she turned to her friend. “But I also do not know the way through the caverns as you do,” she said to Victoria. “I suppose it must be me that accompanies them.”
“But the stone,” Victoria reminded.
“It seems you must take this stone through the caverns,” Elizabeth concluded as she slowly removed the small bag from the fold within her dress, her discomfort clear. “I see no other way.”
“Are you sure?” Victoria asked, clearly surprised. “You would part ways with the stone?”
“Yes,” Elizabeth resolutely answered. “You can better protect it as we escape, and I should travel with them through Orwell; for them to be lost in the Crilover District would be too dangerous.” She paused. “It seems Richard will be the safest of all of us, now,” she smiled. After handing the small bag to Victoria, a look of fear crossed her face. “Take care of the stone, my friend.”
“I will. You have my word.” She walked over to one of the bodies and extracted her second sword from the neck. “We will make our way to Brymar after we leave the caverns. The map will show the way.”
“It would be best to meet at Skee,” Max said. “Brymar would be two days of travel, a long time to go without knowing that Richard’s safe. We should meet in Skee and travel to Brymar together.”
“As you wish,” Victoria replied.
She moved to the back of the house, her two swords sheathed beneath her long dress and the map strapped behind her in its hard, conical tube. She gave a last glance to Elizabeth, who approached her, and they mumbled something to each other in a different language while Richard hugged his brothers.
“Be smart, Richard,” Max said sternly.
“I trust her,” Richard replied as William stepped back, too. He wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead and tried to stand tall. “I will be safe with her.”
“Wait,” Rachel said as she reached into her dress. She extended the golden ring in front of her. “Your Arracian ring,” she said, noticing Richard’s was missing.
Richard smiled and took the ring, placing it on his finger again and turning to leave. “Thank you,” he said, looking to his brothers again. “I will see you in Skee.”
He moved to the back of the room and Victoria led them through the hole in the wall. It felt wrong to see Richard leaving again, both of the brothers felt the same fear, but Richard would be safer this way. The two moved out of sight, and Max turned his attention back to the front. He looked at William.
“Let’s go find our father.”
Chapter XV
Orthol peered through the front door.
Such a disturbance should’ve alerted Orwell’s entire army let alone the guards, but the streets were empty. He looked down; a single body in front of the house, one of their attackers that never made it inside, lay sprawled across the road. After spotting the decimated body at the base of the steps, he noticed a few others to the side, all with a gaping hole in their chests and puddles of dark green blood around the lifeless bodies. He ducked back into the house with a perplexed look.
“There are more bodies outside,” he said to the others.
“Are they assassins too?” Max asked.
“I saw the white masks on their faces.”
“Could an Arracian arrow have passed through the door and struck them?” Rachel asked, though she’d kept track of every shot of her own. “How’d they die?”
“I’m not sure but not by arrows. Take a look for yourself.”
Rachel caught a glimpse of a body before returning. “That’s from no weapon we possess,” she said.
Elizabeth shook her head. “Are they dead?” she asked while grabbing a fine wooden bow from beneath the table and a matching quiver.
“Well, yes.”
“Then we should go,” Elizabeth settled, impatiently taking the lead from Orthol. “Follow me.”
After descending the few steps from the house, Elizabeth vaulted across the road and back into the alley they came from, motioning for the others to follow. Rachel insisted on being second with the other Arraci at the back. They quickly examined the other bodies on the road again, noticing the gaping holes in all of them. But a few of the further ones died from arrows – arrows with white feathers and a black shaft.
Max recognised the arrow; it was the same one that he noticed during the battle in the courtyard, the enemy that rolled down the stairs. Before he could inspect the bodies further, Rachel pulled him into the alley and they followed Elizabeth. As they walked through the eerily deserted streets, Max looked at her quiver, noticing that her arrows were all white-feathered with white shafts. More questions raced through his mind. But after weaving through the district for a while, they could hear the rustling sound of nearby footsteps at an intersection ahead, jolting Max from his thoughts.
Someone approached.
The group slipped into the shadows. Elizabeth waited patiently with her blade readied as the sounds loudened; a repulsive creature walked past her, and she struck it with palpable force. Her blade passed through the base of the creature’s head, the tip protruding from the top. She gently helped the body fall silently to the ground, withdrawing her blade and quickly wiping the black blood on the creature’s rags. The others watched in approval; she’d made a stealt
hy kill.
“It’s different,” William commented as he pointed. His whisper was barely audible. “There’s no mask. This is like the one we fought in the courtyard.”
“These creatures are not a part of the Laskil Order,” Elizabeth said, her voice low as she listened for any other movement. “They’re the Fortari, a band of swordsman that came from the Artelian Forest.” She paused as she looked into the creature’s dead eyes. “My father and I encountered them when we took the stone. Tolin told us their name.”
“Are they allies with the Laskil Order?” Max asked.
Elizabeth shrugged.
They passed by the body, each of them inspecting the rotten teeth and sickly dark green, rough skin. It’s dead, yellow eyes stared back at them, making William sick to the stomach as he closed his own. He thought of the fight his brother endured outside the forest with these creatures, all of the screams and cacophony of noises that interrupted the peaceful ride he should’ve had to Forelorne. All the blood he must’ve seen spilled and the moment a jagged blade cut through Richard’s flesh, the agony and fear he must’ve felt in that moment, the mortality. It pained William to think of his brother’s fear; at least he was in safe hands, Victoria would ensure safe passage through the caverns and protect Richard from further fighting.
The cold air helped to lessen the foul odour sweeping through the alley. William thought about the city and the beauty it used to carry. These creatures’ musk now festered in the streets, blotting out the usually pleasant aromas of bread and mead, turning this once majestic city into one of horror and decay. It saddened him to think of this city’s current condition, like a disease running through its ancient veins.
Elizabeth opted to keep an arrow notched in her bow while walking, with the three Arraci doing the same. William regretted not having his bow on him, as did Max. They’d left them back at the safe house right after Max won every archery competition; had William been in a better state of mind, perhaps he would’ve thought to bring it. He found himself grappling the hilt of his sword even tighter.
From their training with the twins, their ability with a bow matched most of the Arraci, or at least came somewhat close. However, they’d never usually carry their bows through the city, let alone be holding their swords. It felt strange, but they held their swords firmly; times were different now. Walking through the streets of Orwell bore a new feeling, a new danger – a new enemy and a new horror. Orwell truly was compromised, and now their father walked right towards it. No doubt he’d be back in the city soon, if not already.
Elizabeth abruptly stopped again and listened, eventually pointing upwards with her arrow aimed above. Everyone else peered upwards, too, struggling to see past the silver moonlight. The moment William’s gaze turned to the stars, he felt Max’s hand push him against the wall, hard. Then he heard them, the footsteps on the rooftop above followed by the repulsive sniffing of another creature. On the wall across from them, they could see the shadow of a tall, lanky creature with a bow and arrow pointing in front of it. Were it not for the small overhead staircase leading into the higher residences blocking them from view, they’d have to put an arrow between the creature’s eyes to stay hidden. But that would alert the others.
They were being hunted.
Judging by the shadow on the wall across from them, this creature appeared different than the Fortari or Laskil, yet another new enemy. Its grotesque stature sent chills down William’s back as they waited for it to pass by. But it continued to snort above them, its head cocking to one side as it listened for its prey. William could feel his nerves breaking, but Max lent a calming hand on his shoulder and squeezed. Killing the creature quietly wasn’t an option, and William knew that. They stayed at the base of the wall, still and silent, in the hopes it would pass by.
With one last snort, the figure decided to move further across the rooftop. William held his breath; he dared not breathe, though he probably couldn’t even if he tried. His heart pounded so hard that he could hear each beat in his head, and the creature likely could too. After a brief moment of silence, it jumped over top and onto the building across the alley. They transitioned to the other wall but nothing hid them from above. They were exposed. The moment the creature’s head peeked over the wall; all three of the Arraci released an arrow, striking it in each eye and the forehead. Before it could cry out, Elizabeth put a fourth arrow through its mouth, her white shafted, white-feathered arrow with a bloodied tip protruding through the back of the creature’s head.
It fell from the roof and thudded on the ground in front of them – loudly.
“We must run,” Elizabeth whispered.
They managed to see a glimpse of the creature up close, its rotten yellow teeth, thin, dark green skin and tattered robes along its tall, emaciated body. Surely that sound would send ripples in the air; and more would show up, William was sure of it. Max pulled his brother away from the creature and the six of them ran at full speed. They could hear strange calls that pierced the silence, followed by angrier snarls and screeches. But Elizabeth remained calm, her expression unchanged. She abruptly stopped after reaching the Crilover District’s main courtyard with her hand raised, quickly stepping back and signalling for the others not to proceed.
“Several of them guard the courtyard,” she announced. “I saw them on the rooftops and inside the far building.”
“Is there another way out of this district?” Rachel asked as she glanced at the district walls around them. It would be too late to turn back.
“No.”
“Then we’ll have to fight through them.”
*************************************************************
Adriana and Brian surveyed the barren streets. A vicious snarl reverberated through the empty market district.
“What was that?” Brian whispered as they passed along the street.
Adriana shrugged. Only moments had passed since the group of twenty Arraci and the twins had descended the steps from Zed’s house, leaving Aroden behind as they searched for his sons. They walked cautiously with an arrow at the ready, constantly surveying their surroundings and expecting the worst; the lack of guards unsettled them, and the harrowing sounds emanating from deeper within the city further unnerved them. They picked up the pace as they passed the abandoned wooden stalls stationed at the centre of the high street and the closed doors along the periphery.
They moved up the large marble staircase and past the tiered, marble fountain, its gentle trickle a painful reminder of a more peaceful time. They saw the banners lining the periphery, along with a broken piece of coal on the ground. Adriana spotted it and curiously stared at it for a moment, but she thought nothing more of it. There were a few other scattered objects around the fountain, likely from the people fleeing after the fighting began, such as cups and unfinished food.
From the Crilover District, they heard the noises louden, the sounds of clanking metal or the whip of an arrow. Perhaps that’s where the guards had gone and explained their absence elsewhere, though none of this made sense. The last time those sounds struck the Arraci’s ears dated some time ago, back when they fought the battles of the Brutean Kingdom against the Navarine Kingdom. But there’d never been fighting within the city walls of Orwell, or at least none that history had documented. Adriana pointed towards the Crilover District, but Brian shook his head. They knew no reason to travel in there.
The peaceful trickling of water irritated Adriana. The present was anything but peaceful, and it angered her to think about the errors in their decisions, what they should’ve done differently. The day had started with everyone together; now Richard was missing, William and Max might’ve been caught up in a battle somewhere, and Aroden waited far away in Zed’s home for news of his three sons. She felt her hand tightening around her bow just thinking about it. She looked towards her brother, who she knew shared her thoughts.
Though they stepped with precision and delicacy, the tapping on the marble staircase into the C
aisen District still echoed their footsteps, like a pack of elephants stampeding on stone. Brian reached the top first, walking into the courtyard of the Caisen District and staying close to the walls, while the rest quietly followed. Only the moonlight lit up the streets, the torches all extinguished with thin streams of smoke still rising above the blackened wood. Adriana almost flinched from the new stench of the city; it bore an uncanny resemblance to the odour of the forest.
They navigated through the streets of the Caisen District uninterrupted with Brian in the front and Adriana close behind. But a quiet ringing echoed in Adriana’s head, forcing her to slow her pace. She knew what was coming and tried to brace herself. The sharp pain in the back of her head returned, though this time it seemed to invoke fear rather than anger. She could feel her heartbeat racing, and droplets of sweat formed above her brow. One of the Arraci behind her started to say something, but she couldn’t hear anything; after the Arracian patted her shoulder from behind, Adriana fearfully glanced up to her brother in front of her.
“Is it happening again?” Brian asked. The group stopped to the side of the road. “Is your vision changing?”
“No,” she muttered, “just the pain.”
Brian said nothing.
Adriana buried her head in her hands while the rest of the Arraci watched her. Instead of her vision saturating in blues, everything plunged into darkness, even with her eyes still open. The ringing started to dampen until the world fell silent. She could feel Brian’s hand on her arm but could do nothing about it, a sense of fear and vulnerability blotting out her conviction. It happened for only a moment, a brief pause in the normal world, and the level of terror in her mind peaked. Through the darkness she saw nothing, heard nothing, and felt nothing. But then a sound broke the silence, broke the void around her, a booming voice that wholly surrounded her.
“The Shroud of Alikon afflicts you. The Sages of Arborough watch you!”
Adriana tried to speak back, desperately attempted to scream her words, but none came. As quickly as the darkness came, it lifted, and she saw her brother’s eyes fixated on hers, his hand tightly squeezed on her arm. She rubbed her eyes and withdrew her arm, trying to hide the fear. Her head returned to normal, the pain receding, and although her vision started to only slightly fluctuate with blues, it, too, returned to normal. The silent stares of the others came into focus, along with the eerily quiet streets around them. She sighed as her brother waited for an explanation.
The Secrets of Brymar (The Elitherian Fragments Book 1) Page 16