by Dave Skinner
His men finally got the cage ready to jam into position. One of the new recruits coiled up the rope that was tied to the top of the removable cage door and draped back across the roof. He threw it up to Kent, Wolf’s second in command, who had positioned himself on the small overhang above the cave exit. Kent took up the slack on the rope and then, with a quick hand-over-hand motion, pulled the cage front up and away. The men with the spears backed away from the cage. The dog watched them warily for a few minutes without moving.
“Use the spears to push him back,” Wolf roared. “We must away soon.”
Two of the men started towards the dog with their spears raised. The dog backed away from them until it was out of the cage and into the cave. It continued to back away until it was almost lost in the blackness within then, with a snarl, it was gone. Wolf smiled again. The cave had barely been wide enough for the dog to turn around. A perfect plan he thought to himself. Now, time to get that gold.
“Get the cage moved up tight to the opening and make sure it is under the overhang and secure,” he yelled at his men again. He picked up the old woman and carried her over to the cart.
Chapter 7
Bray removed his weapons from the otter-skin bag. He had eaten a meal with Burton and the two men who were to travel with him. His preference was to undertake the search on his own, but Burton had insisted that he take Ramos and Gerard along. The men appeared dependable, and a couple of extra swords could come in handy. Ramos and Gerard had gone to get their packs and supplies while Bray prepared his.
He removed his sword from its scabbard. It moved smoothly and there was no evidence of rust on the blade. Next he checked his Nadian knives, not that he expected any issues with them. Nadian-made blades were the best that there were. Bray’s knives had been made by a Nadian master craftsman under contract to the royal house. His father had given them to him on his fifth birthday as swords, hence their small size. Bray had used them to kill pirates at the age of eight and the pirate warlord, Yucan Vee, a decade later at the battle for Waysley.
The knives rode horizontally on his lower back in a dual scabbard designed by Hobs, and presented to him as a gift in thanks for solving a goblin problem they were having. The scabbard had been a timely gift. He was sixteen at the time and was starting his specialty weapons training. The two knives were his weapons of choice. Ta’Lee, his adopted sister, had been mad that she had to wait for her present from the Hobs. She had also been involved in the goblin incident; in fact she had gotten Bray into the situation that had resulted in the goblin’s death, and in both of them being magically strengthened. She had received her Hob present when her specialty training in dance had started, a wonderful green cloak with magical enhancements. The little people’s magic made Bray’s knives fit into a space half their length. Ta’Lee’s cloak had special properties which befitted her dancing, but it also turned aside blades, arrows, and crossbow bolts.
He positioned the scabbard at his waist and tightened the belt. With the knives sitting comfortably, he attached his sword scabbard to his belt, and then considered his bow and quiver. The bow he would have to carry by hand while he was wearing his backpack, but he attached the quiver to the side of the pack with rawhide strips. The arrows were not readily available in that configuration, but leaving them behind was not an option.
Bray looked for Adel, but could not see her. She had slipped away when the meal had been served, and had not returned. He wanted to say goodbye, and thank her for the hospitality, but that was not going to happen because Ramos and Gerard were making their way towards him along with Burton.
“Will you thank Adel for her hospitality, Burton? She slipped away before I had a chance.”
“It will be my pleasure, Bray. Good luck to all of you on the hunt,” he concluded.
***
Adel, watching from the mouth of the cave saw the men shoulder their packs and head towards her. She slipped deeper into the darkness of the cave. She would travel through the it ahead of them until they reached the hilltop where she would hide in the trees, and then follow them through the woods until they made camp. It would be too late to send her back then. They would have to let her go along. The idea of leaving the village excited her, and something else was urging her onwards.
***
Conversation between the men was minimal as they travelled the cave. Ramos led the way with Gerard behind him and Bray at the rear. Bray was listening carefully. He thought he had heard a sound ahead of them some time before, but he was not sure. Although Ramos and Gerard were not talking, their passage through the cave was noisy. They brushed against the walls in narrower places, and their swords scraped rocks and walls almost continually. If there was something ahead of them in the cave, it was doing a much better job of moving silently.
Most parts of the cave they travelled were like narrow tunnels. In places they widened into galleries, branched off into other channels and, in two places, joined a stream that appeared from and disappeared back into the cave’s wall.
After some time, Gerard pointed to a mark scratched on the wall. “Half way,” he told Bray. The mark was barely visible in the pale glow that emanated from the walls. Bray had expected to have to use torches for light, but the walls gave off a weak luminescence that made it possible to see without the use of fire. Bray had asked about it, but his companions had no answers.
They had travelled perhaps half as far again from the half-way mark when Ramos stopped suddenly. Ahead of them, where the cave curved to the left they saw the back of a person stepping out of the gloomy light. It was a woman moving slowly and softly backwards towards them. Although her face was hidden from him, Bray could tell by her posture that she was terrified. He dropped his pack silently to the ground. He was going to string his bow, but time was against him as an echoing roar sounded. The young woman spun around and ran towards them, as a huge, wild-looking dog sprang into view. Its eyes were red rimmed and full of hate. There was blood on its chest. Saliva dripped from its jaws. The cave was too narrow for swords, so Bray grabbed his knives as he screamed “down!” to those in front of him. The dog sprang. The young woman, who Bray recognized as Adel, fell to the ground and curled into a ball. The beast’s leap carried it above her. Directly ahead of Bray, Gerard had dropped face down to the ground. Ramos tried to pull his sword, failed and, at the last moment, tried to turn away. The dog’s jaws clamped onto his shoulder. Bray heard the sound of bones breaking and flesh being torn away as he ran along Gerard’s back and slashed a knife downward across the beast’s face, barely missing Ramos’s head. The dog released his hold with a howl of pain. Ramos crumbled to the ground. Bray sprang forward; both knives flashed repeatedly. As the dog opened its mouth to scream its anger, Bray drove a knife up from under the jaw into its brain. The dog collapsed. Bray’s second knife went in through an eye, followed by a circular movement that maximized damage, habit more than necessity.
Bray withdrew both knives, cleaned them on the beast’s shaggy coat, and returned them to their scabbard before he turned to Ramos. Gerard was already attending to him, so Bray turned his attention to Adel who remained curled in a ball on the cave floor. She flinched when he laid a hand on her shoulder.
“It is alright, girl. The beast is dead. You are safe, but what are you doing here?”
“I have to go with you,” Adel said as she climbed back to her feet.
“You have to go, why?”
“There is a compulsion in me that I do not understand,” Adel admitted. “I feel I must go with you.”
Bray stopped his questions, and turned to examine Ramos’s injuries. It was evident that the man would have to go back to the village, but he was unable to manage on his own. Gerard was of the opinion that Adel should take him, yet she was physically unable to support him, so the task fell to Gerard.
“You should accompany them, Adel,” Bray suggested, but she refused.
“I have a part to play in finding Grandmother. I can feel it. I have to go. If you refuse
to take me with you, I will just follow behind.”
“As you wish,” he said, “but you must do as I say, and we will travel without talk until we are out of this cave.”
Bray considered simply leaving her, but it was something he was incapable of doing in the same way that he could not abandon the search for the old woman. Not abandoning a person or a promise made was ingrained in him through circumstance.
Bray was able to stop most of Ramos’s bleeding, but did not bother to attempt to clean the wound reasoning that it would be better done in the village. Gerard was able to support Ramos on his uninjured side once they got him up.
“Tell Burton that Adel is with me and we have gone after Grandmother Adel,” he said as he saw the men on their way.
Bray and Adel travelled silently and carefully for the first while until they were certain there were no more surprises waiting for them. Then they picked up the pace. As they traveled, Bray wondered about the men who had abducted the older Adel. Releasing the dog into the cave was clearly an attempt to stop anyone from following them, but they had a substantial head start on any pursuit, so why go to the trouble? Putting a dog into the state that animal had been in was evil. Clearly the beast had been tortured and starved for some time before it was let loose. That suggested forethought, planning, and more time than was available after the abduction itself. Furthermore, it suggested more men than had been so far identified. While three men had been involved in the abduction there had to be more dealing with the dog. That was the only way the timing worked. How many men he would be pitted against was unclear, but the fact that they would be close by was obvious. The attempt to stop the pursuit suggested it. You do not go to that bother if you are planning on putting great distance between you and your pursuers.
Chapter 8
Wolf Blackheart stood at the side of the trail and watched his men trudge by. He had five men in the lead, followed by the cart containing their food supplies and the old woman. The pony pulling the cart was moving well, and the ten men bringing up the rear were keeping up, no stragglers. They would make his planned distance before dusk. Another half day tomorrow would see them to their destination. Then the fun would begin.
Blackheart had to admit he was looking forward to that. He liked to kill. It made him smile. They had given him the name Blackheart for a reason, and he had kept the name because he felt it suited him. Other characteristics could have led to other names. He was a big, powerful man. He was fast. He was handsome. Heads turned when he walked by. He felt he was more intelligent than anyone else he had ever met. Any of those characteristics could lead to a name, but the one that stood out the most was his cruelty. Wolf felt that when his crimes caught up with him, and they cut his heart out they would find it was black, devoid of light and goodness. Yes, the name Blackheart suited him.
***
Someone else felt the same way about the colour of Wolf’s heart. As the column of men moved down the trail, there was a twinkle of light beside a large oak tree siting off by itself overlooking the cliffs and the water. A figure seemed to step out of the trunk of the tree. It was short, coming to only a normal person’s chest in height, dressed in a long red coat that almost brushed the ground. On its head the person wore a red cap from under which strands of red hair were trying to escape. As the creature watched the column of men trudge away up the path, it placed its hand on its hips, an action that pushed the coat open, exposing soft, green, leather breeches tucked into red leather boots, and topped by a soft, green silk blouse. The action also exposed that the watcher was female.
Amadella had been sitting high in the oak tree enjoying the view as the caravan approached. Normally she would have ignored their passing, but something had drawn her attention. From her high vantage point she could discern a glow coming from the bed of the donkey cart. As the cart passed below, she made out a person, a prisoner, in the cart. Although the dirty bandana over the eyes and mouth obscured the person’s appearance, the glow told Amadella the captive was an Adel. Now at the bottom of the tree, she lifted her hands, and held them cupped before her. Her lips moved as she spoke quietly, and finally she lifted her cupped hands to her face and blew into them. In the next instant there was a red breasted song bird resting in her hands. She whispered instructions to it before the bird launched itself into the air. Amadella strolled off towards the cave leading to the village. A warning was winging its way to her people, and she had other information to gather.
Chapter 9
“It’s a cage,” Adel stated.
They had stopped a short distance from the mouth of the cave because something was not right. The sunlight entering into the opening showed as rectangles where it illuminated the walls and floor. Bray had figured out what it was before Adel spoke, but he was more interested in what lay beyond the cage. Were the abductors still close? Did they carry bows? Were they laying in ambush waiting for whoever came to the mouth of the cave? It would be a simple thing to shoot a person as they attempted to squeeze between the stone and the cage if that was even possible. He held Adel back when she started forward.
“Let us make sure no one is waiting out there,” he suggested.
“Why would they wait around?”
“Why use the dog?” was Bray’s response. Adel considered this, but moved on to another question of her own.
“How will we know if someone is out there waiting?”
“By using our senses,” Bray answered as he crept forward and took up a safe position just out of sight of any possible observers.
He motioned Adel to silence, then stood quietly observing the landscape beyond. He remained motionless for as long as it would take a large cooking pot of water to boil on a good fire. Although his eyes roamed back and forth across the area, he was not expecting to see someone hiding in the underbrush or amongst the trees. For one thing the cave exit was located in a narrow gully that climbed slowly to level ground. All he could see aside from that was the top of the trees, so instead, he watched for movement, watched for startled birds, listened for unnatural sounds, or the lack of natural sounds. He detected nothing inapposite.
Adel must have been concentrating so hard that Bray’s sudden movement forward startled her. She made a small sound in her throat and then looked embarrassed. Bray ignored her reaction, and continued closer to the cage, to examine it.
“Do you think we can move it?” she asked.
“It appears they jammed a log between the back of the cage and the dirt wall, so I think it will not move easily.” He shook and heaved the cage to demonstrate his point. He tried to lift it, but the cage sat under the cave’s roof, making it impossible to lift without moving it backwards first. The gully leading to the cave made it difficult to shift the cage sideways for more than a hand span or two.
Made of thin metal bars interwoven vertically and horizontally, the rough construction left different sized openings all around. The weave on the back wall was tighter than that on the side walls, but both left openings too small for Bray to fit through. The only possibility was the weave on the roof which was looser than that on the walls, with larger openings, but still too small for him to manage.
“Do you think you could squeeze through those openings if I lifted you up?” he asked Adel, indicating the cage roof.
She considered the possibility, tilting her head first one way then the other before she answered. She pointed to an opening in the second row from the back edge. “I think that one is the largest. I can try.”
Adel dropped her small pack and positioned herself below the opening before she lifted her arms above her head. The top of the cage was at her wrists with her arms stretched up like that. Bray squatted behind her, placed his hands, palm side up, beside her feet, and then had her step onto them.
“Here we go,” he announced.
Adel was as light as her slim build suggested. Bray had no trouble lifting her. Her body moved up through the opening until it stuck with both arms and her head part way through. Bray lowe
red her back down, and they tried it again with one arm raised and the other down at her side. She was still unable to squeeze through. Bray lowered her to the ground again.
“Any ideas,” he asked.
“We could check the side passage back there,” Adel suggested. “It seemed lighter to me.”
“What side passage?”
“That one,” Adel said pointing at the side of the cave.
“I must have missed it,” Bray suggested.
He could not remember a side passage close to the exit. Adel took his hand and walked deeper into the cave and there it was, and furthermore there was definitely a suggestion of light around the first bend. The roof was low enough that they both had to duck their heads, but not for long. A hole in the roof was just beyond the first bend. Bray had Adel stand on his palms again to lift her. She was able to squeeze through.
“I am too big to fit through,” Bray said. “We will still have to shift the cage back.”
Bray returned to the cage and passed their packs out to Adel when she arrived. She was digging away at the place the log jammed into the dirt wall when they heard the sound of a throat being cleared.