“Is that our way out?” Siyen asked, her voice trembling.
Thimeon shook his head. “We can’t be sure, but I’d guess we’re still inside the city. We haven’t gone far enough yet. Not according to the old counselor.”
“Then where does the passage continue?” she asked, for there was no sign of a tunnel on the other side of the well.
“I hope it’s not underwater,” Dhan whispered. “Maybe we should just climb up here and get out of the city another way. Can your merchant friend smuggle us out in his wagon?”
“Are you willing to take the chance of it being searched?” Thimeon asked.
Dhan shook his head. “But what shall we do, then? Go back? I didn’t see any other passages as we went.”
“And yet,” Thimeon said, “Borodruin was sure this way did lead out of the city. I think it is time to trust him.”
“Trust him how?” The prince asked.
“Swim,” Thimeon replied. His thoughts flashed back to the faith he’d put in Tienna a few days earlier on his descent from the Plains, and how that faith had been rewarded. He had spent only a few minutes with Borodruin, yet he felt the old man was as deserving of trust. He handed his torch, sword, and book to Dhan. “Wait here,” he said. Before his uncertainty made him waver, he stepped to the edge of the pool, took one step forward, and sank into the cold, dark water of the well. Only the glimmer of light above him kept him from panic.
As he sank, he reached his hand out to the side of the well and felt around. The well was just under five feet in diameter. By stretching his arms, he could brush his fingers along the opposite walls. Down he descended until the pressure hurt his ears and his lungs ached. Then he kicked toward the surface.
Swimming in his boots proved difficult, and he rose more slowly than he wished. He looked up trying in the near dark to judge the distance to the surface. His lungs ached for oxygen. Then he broke through and took a deep breath.
“Nothing,” he said to the questioning eyes blinking back at him. He waited a minute, regaining his breath, then let go of the side and dropped down again with his body turned at a different angle. This time his fingers passed over a gap in the wall almost at once. He stopped his descent and kicked toward the opening with his hands above him to prevent his head from banging the rocks.
There was indeed a tunnel in that direction. But how long would he have to go before he reached someplace he could breathe?
He backed out of the tunnel and went up to the surface. The water was chilling, and his muscles were growing stiff from the cold. He sputtered a quick explanation to Dhan, then—before fear of what he was about to do had a chance to paralyze him—he took another breath and went straight down for the tunnel. This time he swam in headfirst with his hands out front. The tunnel went forward about ten feet, then it turned left around a narrow corner. He continued on, wondering whether he would be able to turn and get out. He saw no light ahead. Ten seconds passed. Then fifteen. His lungs ached. Then his hands bumped against solid rock. He was at a dead end.
Panicked, Thimeon tried to turn in the tight corner. His knees brushed against the rock, and his foot caught on something. Pulling it free, he lost his bearings. The tunnel was black. Twenty five seconds had passed underwater. His lungs burned. He strained for some sign of hope in the darkness. Then a faint light caught his eye. He kicked toward it.
Two seconds later, his head broke through the surface. He was in another well shaft. The well cover sixty feet above was being opened at that very moment, and light streamed down. Then a bucket came zipping down the shaft.
Just in time, Thimeon squeezed against the side of the well to avoid getting hit in the head, and tried to quiet his breathing. The bucket hit the water, tilted to the side, and sank a few inches as it filled. While there was light, Thimeon looked around. He saw what he hoped for almost at once. Just a few feet up the side of the well shaft another tunnel disappeared into the wall. He made a mental note of its location. When the full bucket had been withdrawn and the well cover replaced, he found footing on the side and climbed up.
The tunnel was promising. He stood shivering for a moment. But he knew standing there longer would not help. So on he went. He followed the tunnel about ninety feet before he ran into another well. This time, however, in the light filtering down from above, he could see the tunnel continue on the other side. He turned and went back. It took him a minute to screw up his courage for the return trip underwater, but he made it without mishap.
Dhan and the others were glad to see him, though none of them were happy when he explained the situation. To his surprise, Siyen volunteered to go first. “Swimming, at least, I can do,” she said. “The benefit of having a father from the Westwash.”
Looking shamed by Siyen’s courage, the others conceded to the plan. Thimeon, Siyen, and Kayam had all brought leather purses—Thimeon in hopes of filling it with books or anything that looked like a talisman of some sort, and the other two in order to steal the treasure. They bound the book tightly in one purse, wrapped that in the second, and stuffed the second into the third. Thimeon cinched the bundle with a belt. Then one by one they dropped into the well.
Half an hour later they all stood in the tunnel on the far side of the next shaft. They had left the lanterns behind. Fortunately enough light shone down the next shaft to continue without them.
They followed the passage past three more wells, all close together, and then along a long stretch of passage with no light, forcing them to grope along with their hands.
“This, I think, is where we leave the city,” the prince said. “We are passing under the walls, I would guess, somewhere on the southeast side of the city. If we can somehow find our way up from here, we’ll be outside Citadel.”
Finally they came to the far end of the tunnel. They were at the bottom of another well shaft. This time there was no passage on the other side, and Thimeon did not volunteer to swim down and look underwater. Instead, the duke climbed his way up to the top of the shaft. As quietly as he could, he pushed the cover back and looked out while Thimeon and the others watched from below. He soon called down to the others to follow and then disappeared out the top.
Thimeon came next. The climb was not difficult, and they followed him one at a time. Each emerged at the top, cold and dripping wet, in the middle of a walled enclosure.
25
THE LAST PEOPLE
Golach had finally caught them, Elynna thought. Everything they had done had failed. Everything she had done had failed.
“No,” Cathros said. “I don’t think it is Golach.”
Elynna looked at him, desperate for any reason to hope. But Cathros gave no explanation for his reasons, and Elynna’s heart continued to beat rapidly.
Cane grabbed Aram and Kayle, and the three drew their weapons and backtracked several dozen yards toward a line of trees they had just passed through, while Lluach and Alrew circled around by a wider route. Cathros followed his brother, but without any weapon. They had barely reached the trees when Cathros turned and called out in an excited voice that Namha was returning.
Soon the three missing figures appeared at the edge of the trees. Bandor and Namha carried between them a long pole, over which hung a large buck, freshly cleaned and gutted. Anchara had three fowl—two hens and a brightly colored cock—strung over her shoulder.
Elynna breathed a sigh of relief. While she was grateful for the food, she was more grateful not to see the blue uniforms of Citadel. And she was glad Namha had returned. She took a few steps forward the greet them. A proud smile spread across Bandor’s face as he walked into the midst of the waiting companions. Even Anchara’s normally illegible expression was on the verge of a smile. Only Namha’s face showed no emotion.
After their welcome, Bandor explained what had happened. “Namha woke me up as the first hint of gray crept into the sky. He motioned for me to follow him. By the time I
had my boots laced, Anchara had joined him. I don’t know why he picked me, but to be honest, I was in awe. So I followed.
“I understood we were to be quiet, and he showed by motions with his weapons that he meant to hunt. Well, at first I thought he meant there was going to be a battle, but before I could get excited and wake the others, he took my arm and made me understand. I doubted we would find much this time of year, but I wasn’t going to say no, and I did know we would soon need food. He led us westward into the hills, and before long he had flushed out the three birds. I was able to shoot two, and Anchara shot the third. Namha himself then brought down the buck with his spear. I have no idea how. We saw the tracks, and he just took off at a run holding his spear but not following any tracks. He went at an angle to the right and disappeared into a thicket. We couldn’t keep up and just had to jog behind in his tracks. By the time we got to the thicket, he was coming out with the big deer.”
When Bandor was finished, Theo suggested they cook some of meat right away and have a meal. Cane shook his head. In the cold weather the meat would keep well enough, and they couldn’t risk a halt. Especially not long enough for a fire.
So they finished carving the animal and divided the meat among several packs, then they were off again. They marched into the afternoon, maintaining a course just north of west under Elynna’s guidance. They walked in single or double file depending on the terrain, taking turns breaking the trail, and with a pair of rear guards. The silent figure of Namha came alongside, sometime leading, sometimes following. Now and then he disappeared to one side or the other, without explanation, and then returned. His presence comforted Elynna. She tried not think of what he had left behind.
The course slowly edged them away from the ridge of higher mountains and further into the center of Undeani land and the twin peaks. In the middle of the afternoon Elynna felt the probing touch of her enemy. A sharp sting deep inside her. And then it was gone. She didn’t say anything to the others—there was nothing to say. The touch only confirmed what she had already told them—their enemy was there. Somewhere in the wilderness ahead of them.
An hour passed, and she felt a second touch. This one lasted longer. It left her leaning over with her hands on her knees and her head tilted up looking fearfully toward the skies. It was long enough for her to feel its thoughts. Long enough for Elynna to realize that her enemy searched for her the same way she had searched for it at the start of the day. Long enough to sense that it wasn’t just out there somewhere, fleeing from them.
They were getting closer.
“Cane,” she called out to him, but he marched onward into the snow. He didn’t hear her. Or if he did, he didn’t answer. She looked behind her. The three Ceadani Highlanders had stopped behind her and looked at her with concern. Be strong, she told herself. She walked on, plodding through the tracks left for her in the snow.
The third touch, an hour later, almost dropped Elynna to her knees. With the pain came a taste of tremendous animosity and the irrational fear that always came with the presence of their enemy. Though the touch lasted only a few seconds, it took Elynna much longer to recover.
A gentle hand came to rest on her shoulder as she stood hunched over in the snow. She didn’t move.
“Are you okay?” Tienna was at her side, speaking quietly. “Did you feel our enemy?”
Elynna nodded. The touch was gone now. She straightened and looked at her friend. “It knows we are coming. Knows where we are now. And it is not fleeing. It is waiting for us. We must warn the others.”
“Is it attacking?” Cane asked when Tienna and Elynna had caught up with him and explained what happened..
“No,” Elynna replied. “It has simply ceased to flee. It waits as we approach.”
Tienna’s face showed her concern. “We will catch it only if it allows us to. If it is waiting, then it is not afraid.”
Elynna nodded. No, it is not afraid, she thought. But I am. That their enemy knew they were coming, had experienced their new power in battle, and still was not afraid, made Elynna all the more fearful.
But Cane spoke before she could voice her fears. “That has been the case from the beginning. We know that now. We pursue it knowing that it can always escape. Yet we must pursue it anyway. We must hope that it grows weary of the pursuit, or makes a mistake, or simply deems in its confidence that it can defeat us. It has done so before. We have battled it three times already. And now we have the power to be the victors.” He turned back toward Elynna. “Which direction? Can you tell us?”
Elynna closed her eyes. “Help me,” she said before she had even tried on her own. She waited for him to stand beside her. When his hand touched her shoulder, she closed her eyes. Again the surge of power flowed into her through him from the stone. Now it was more powerful than ever. It was like standing knee-deep in the river behind her home, or wading into the coastal tides, feeling the strong current tugging at her. The power of it startled her, and she instinctively pulled back and opened her eyes.
“Concentrate,” Cane said without releasing his grip on her shoulder. “I can feel the strength also.”
Elynna relaxed under his touch, let the growing power enter her, and reached outward with her thoughts. At once she sensed their foe. She knew where it was.
She felt as if she were suddenly high up in the air looking down on the landscape—except without sight. She was smelling the landscape. And she could smell exactly where it was. She knew its thoughts also. More clearly than at any time before except during the battle on the Plains, when it had spoken to her. It awaited them, in the hills to the northwest. It had chosen its place to fight.
She shivered with the terror of the realization and opened her eyes.
“There.” Elynna pointed in the direction from which she had smelled the energy of the Daegmon’s presence. Her finger aimed directly toward the twin peaks rising in the middle of the Undeani domain. If her arm had been long enough, like a great sweep of clouds, she could have reached out over the miles and touched it.
Cane turned to Cathros. “How far?”
“Distances are deceptive here,” Cathros answered. “The peaks are perhaps fifty miles away?”
“The Daegmon felt much closer,” Elynna said.
Cane looked at her for a moment, then turned to the others. At his suggestion they agreed to travel until dark. In the morning they would decide what to do next. If the Daegmon was still nearby, they would rest for a morning and prepare for battle. If it had moved, they would continue their pursuit.
Changing their direction a little more toward the north, they started off again. They followed a downward slope away from the southern range and toward the wide central Undeani valley. Ahead of them a large forest spread out for several miles in each direction. Beyond it the twin peaks. Elynna searched the landscape as though she might see her enemy off in the distance. But the land gave no hint of what it was hiding. So with her fear slowly growing, she marched onward.
Before long they were out of the thin trees and into the thicker evergreens. Beneath the green roof, the ground was nearly free of snow. The footing was uneven with roots and frequent gullies, but it was not treacherous. Aside from a few detours around thickets, they kept up a good pace.
As they walked, Cane spoke about the battle. Others drew closer to him, walking beside him instead of following his tracks. Elynna was with them.
For weeks of travel she had sought to be as close to Cane as possible. Hoped that somehow the physical closeness would turn into some sort of emotional bond, that he would look at her in a different way. That hope had all but disappeared. But something about his power seemed to combat the power of the Daegmon. The closer she was to him, the less she feared. The less pain she experienced when she felt her enemy’s touch.
“What if we are still pursued by Golach?” Lluach asked as they walked. “I would feel better about attacking the Daegmon if
I knew the Citadel army was not going to ambush us from behind. Getting away from Golach might be as important as being prepared for our battle against the Daegmon.”
The words made Elynna cringe as her fear turned toward frustration—not because Lluach was wrong but because they had been having this conversation since they escaped from Citadel into the Plains and met the Daegmon in battle. Hadn’t they already come to grips with the answer?
She was glad when Alrew answered him. “I have as much to fear as you from being caught by Golach. Still, I think we do not have to worry about him yet. His army was decimated—we learned that much from Namha. And what remains of it still has to get past the defenders—those who remain of the Amanti and Uëtha.” He glanced to his left. Elynna followed his gaze. Their new companion shadowed them several dozen yards away, like some powerful and stealthy woodland creature.
“Seeing our new companion,” Alrew went on, “I am under the impression that even five of the Amanti would suffice to guard that gap against ten times their number. And suppose Golach does break through. It will not be the company of two hundred but a ravaged army that pursues us. They will not easily bring horses up by the way we came. They will be following us on foot and will be tired after a hard-fought battle. We have already traveled a long way. We will have at least a two-day lead over them.”
Elynna wanted to believe that Alrew was right. His reasoning was sound. Indeed, she hoped Golach’s people would not win the pass at all. Tienna had spoken of an army of Plainsfolk massing to battle the forces from Citadel. But Elynna had underestimated Golach before, and it had nearly cost them everything. And if Golach did reach the mountains, once he found their tracks he would have no problem following them. Indeed, with the Daegmon guiding him, he wouldn’t need tracks.
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