In the morning, just before dawn, Elynna woke knowing that the Daegmons approached. She swallowed back the terror and warned the others. “One flies above us. The others pursue from the west. The Gaergaen is with them. They have already sensed our presence and know where we are, but they come on foot, and their progress is slow. I can sense their frustration along with their anger and hate.”
And hate. That was what Elynna now felt the most from her glimpses into the minds of her enemies.
Her companions rose at once. She looked at them, reminding herself who still lived and who had been lost. Only two of the Andani still remained: Bandor and Theo. Alrew was dead. Thimeon was gone. All three of the Ceadani were still with her. So were both her fellow Westwashers, Pietr and Falien. The Northlanders had suffered the most losses. Kayle, Hruach, and Cane were all gone. Cane, in whom so much of their hopes resided. Only Aram, Hrevia, and Cathros remained from among the Anghare. From the Plains they still had Nahoon and Beth, along with the Amanti Namha, the huntress Tienna, and Keet. But Keet had lost his brother. And Lluach was still alive. So sixteen now remained in the company, though it was hard to count Keet. They had almost no gear left—just two packs and their weapons.
Yet despite their losses, the despair Elynna felt the previous day was gone. And without gear, they were able to rise and begin moving almost at once. They did not bother to cover their tracks; they knew the effort would be futile. Elynna had sensed their enemy approaching from the southeast. Escape was now their goal, until they could find some new power, some new hope. Unless, perhaps, Thimeon had come upon some new knowledge or some talisman of power at Citadel. Or unless some help might be found from the holy mountain itself—Illengond —as the old stories told.
And so they started northeastward in the general direction of Illengond, which now lay out of sight—a journey of many days. They went that way not because Elynna hoped to find help there but because it was away from their enemies.
They had not walked more than an hour, however, before a steep and rugged ridge blocked their path. They had not the strength to attempt an ascent. By unspoken consent, they turned eastward to follow an easier route along the valley bottom. Elynna was tired, but at least she had managed to sleep a few moments during the night. Resting now was not an option. She forced her legs to keep moving, following the lithe form of Tienna, who now appeared recovered from healing Hrevia the day before.
Around an hour after sunrise, low gray clouds moved in from the east. At midmorning the fleeing companions came to a small river flowing south out of the hills to the left through a gap in the ridge. The water was waist deep and swift, and ice coated the rocky banks. Bandor took a quick look at the water, conferred with Tienna, Noab, and Cathros, then turned back northward following the river upstream rather than trying to cross it. The clouds spit a light damp snow.
Elynna sensed the Daegmons getting closer now, gaining ground despite no longer being able to fly. She warned the others, but they were too tired and weak to pick up the pace.
A short time later, they had passed through the gap and came into a secluded valley. They continued on. The air was still calm, but the snow fell harder in big wet flakes, causing visibility to fall to a few dozen feet. Only after they had traveled some distance did Elynna notice the valley narrowing on both sides and the walls growing higher and steeper. It felt like another trap. But there was nowhere else they could have turned. When Bandor almost walked into the face of a cliff and lifted his eyes upward at the impassable barrier, Elynna’s first thought was not despair that they were trapped but relief that she was not to blame.
The cliff was scalable, Bandor told the others, but not quickly—and not with so many of them. He turned and looked southward, out of the valley and back the way they had come. Though he could not see far, dread came into his eyes—perhaps at the thought of returning that way. “Follow along the cliff,” he said in a tense voice. “We must look for a way up.”
The others obeyed. They turned eastward and followed the valley floor, looking for a possible ascent. As they walked, they heard a rumble, like a distant roar. It grew louder as they walked. They had gone a hundred yards, when they came upon a deep pool blocking the way. There the river they had followed upstream earlier came thundering down over a hundred-foot-high waterfall. This was the roar they had been hearing. The valley had turned into a narrow gorge. It was a dead end.
Elynna did not know what to do. She felt paralyzed, but Bandor acted at once. “Theo,” he ordered. “Look for a way around this pool. I will go back to the west and look again for a path up these cliffs. Tienna and Cathros can stand guard here. Be back in no more than a fourth of an hour.”
The two of them turned at once and ran off in opposite directions into the falling snow. Namha also disappeared, heading downstream. The other companions collapsed by the edge of the water and waited, but not long. Both Bandor and Theo returned a few minutes later, reappearing out of the snow at almost the same time. “No good,” Theo said. “We can cross the river if we go back downstream a quarter of a mile. But the cliffs are just as high or higher on the other side. What about to the west?”
Bandor shook his head. “A good climber like yourself might be able to get up if you had enough time. I don’t think the rest of us could follow except by rope, and our one rope isn’t long enough.”
Namha appeared an instant later. His visage was stern, and he brought no news. Bandor turned to Elynna. “Where are our enemies? Can you sense them?”
Elynna nodded. She closed her eyes, then opened them almost at once with a terrible knot in her chest. “They are already at the entrance to the valley. We cannot return that way.”
Bandor dropped his head into his hands. “I have failed. I don’t know what to do.”
An eerie screech filled the air, echoing off the canyon walls.
Cathros turned to Elynna. “How many of them have come? Can we fight?”
“I don’t know,” Elynna answered. “I can sense more than one, but their thoughts get mingled and confuse me.”
“Try to find out. If there are only two and both are wounded, perhaps we can try once more to fight.” Cathros said. “But if there are three and the Gaergaen is still with them . . .”
Elynna took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She winced in pain at the touch of her enemy’s minds, but she endured and probed deeper. Within a minute sweat gathered on her head despite the cold. Then she opened her eyes. “They are coming. All of them. Three Daegmons, and the Gaergaen is still with them. The whole valley is blocked against us.”
Some of her companions put their hands to their weapons. Others looked up the cliffs. “There isn’t much hope either way,” Lluach admitted.
“It is worse than that,” Noab said. Everybody looked at him. “There are horses approaching. My brother has heard them in his thoughts. They are no more than two miles away and are driven cruelly.”
“Undean warriors.” Cathros almost spit the words out of his mouth. “The cursed traitors!”
“No,” Tienna replied. “The Undeani do not ride horses.”
“Golach?” Cathros asked. Then he said the name again as though it were a curse. “Golach!”
Elynna tried to respond and couldn’t. Words would not even form on her lips. She had thought the situation could not have become bleaker. She was wrong. Despair marked the faces of every one of her companions. Even the stoic Namha—who understood much of the trade language, though he did not speak it—shook his head slowly and sadly.
“Come,” said Bandor after a moment. “As Thimeon often told us, there is always hope.”
Hope? Elynna thought. How could even Thimeon have chosen hope now? And where was he, when she needed his hope more than ever?
“I will not despair,” Bandor said as if reading Elynna’s thoughts. Though, he sounded more like he was trying to convince himself than the others. “We might find a ca
ve in which to hide, or at least a defensible position. Two of the Daegmons are grounded. And we are not defenseless. Namha is unhurt. We have our weapons. Cathros is still among us.”
But his gift is of no avail against humans. Nonetheless, something in Bandor’s words caused Elynna to take a deep breath and resist the despair. Maybe she heard Thimeon in those words. She would not give up while there was breath left in her.
Before she or Bandor could do anything, however, Namha spoke something urgent in his own tongue. Whatever he said caused Nahoon to turn as white as the snow falling on him.
“What is it?” Bandor asked.
“Namha said that there are men all around us,” Nahoon answered. “Thirty or more, above on the rocks on both sides. They approach through the snow. He can hear their feet upon the rocks.”
Despite her fatigue, Elynna rose to her feet at once. She had read of Westwash fishers lost at sea who had suddenly found some amazing new strength or resourcefulness. Battling storms, or surviving days with just drops of water, they had not given up. Suddenly it was neither despair nor hope in her thoughts. It was not even the terror of the Daegmon. It was anger. Anger at the injustice and violence done to all of them. Anger at the Daegmons. Anger at the Gaergaen. Anger at Creagon, who had betrayed them. Anger at Citadel. Anger, especially, at Golach. She was ready to fight him.
Her companions, whether they felt the same thing as her or not, also rose in an instant, weapons in hand. For just a minute they stood in a haphazard circle facing outward. Even as they watched, the white forms came into view, their sheepskin hides taking shape amid the falling snow.
“Braga?” Tienna exclaimed.
Braga? It took Elynna a moment to place the name. She was confused. Why was he there? Where had he come from? Why did Tienna seem happy to see him?
“Come,” Braga said. “There is little time.”
Aram took a step toward Braga and swiped at him with his sword. The blow fell short by at least two feet, but Braga and his folk disappeared into the snow almost instantly.
“Wait,” Tienna called. “Come back.” She turned to Aram. “You fool! They are here to help. Leave him alone.”
Help us? Confusion and mistrust swirled through Elynna’s brain. Was it possible?
A moment later Braga reemerged. He was alone and wary. “Forgive us,” Tienna said quickly. “We have been betrayed, and six of our companions were killed.”
“Creagon?” Braga asked.
“Yes,” Tienna answered.
Braga shook his head sadly. “Then I understand your distrust. But now you must listen to me. Three of the creatures—the Daegmons, you called them—approach up the valley. With them is a company of fifty soldiers on horses. Men in bright uniforms, all armed for battle. They are not Undeani. They will be upon you before another hour has passed.”
“What can we do?”
“Follow me. You are near the heart of our land. There are underground ways that will lead us for many miles, but we must move quickly to get to them before your enemy arrives.”
“You will lead us there?” Elynna asked, barely able to believe what she heard, fearing she might cling to hope and find it false.
“I will.”
“We will not give up our weapons,” Aram said firmly. “We have been betrayed by your people once already.”
Tienna gave a sharp look at Aram, but she did not contradict his words. They all turned toward Braga and awaited his response. “It is against our law,” Braga finally said. “But I will bear that judgment. You may keep your weapons. I ask only that you swear yourselves to secrecy.”
At this Bandor smiled. “A thousand years could pass, and none of us could find our way here again.”
Braga met Bandor’s gaze and gave an accepting nod. Then he turned and started barking orders. At once several of the sheepskin-clad warriors took off in the direction of the approach enemy, holding their weapons as though running toward battle—and with the expressions of men about to risk death.
Braga turned to Bandor. “Come. Follow me as closely as you can.” He turned and jogged off in the opposite direction.
Within seconds Elynna and her companions were running silently along the bottom of the cliffs. Elynna’s heart raced with this sudden new hope, which materialized the very moment all had seemed most hopeless. She looked around, trying to take it all in, to make sense of what she saw. To convince herself it was real. She readied herself to fight in case it turned out to be yet another betrayal, for this rescue seemed too good to be true. Behind her, she saw several of Braga’s men working to cover or confuse their trail. Others simply closed in behind the companions as their new rear guard.
They marched for fifteen minutes. All the while Elynna could sense the Daegmons approaching. They could sense her too, she knew. She could smell the triumph in their thoughts, which made her doubt again whether they would escape. Was Braga only another false hope? The Daegmons’ thoughts of victory almost overpowered her.
Braga came to a halt. Against the cliff to the left stood a thick tangle of undergrowth below a stand of fir trees. He took another look around, conferred with two of his men, then turned to Elynna. “I take my life in my hands bringing you here, but I believe that in this battle all of Gondisle must unite.”
“We will not break your trust,” Bandor said before Elynna could speak.
Braga nodded. His men pulled aside the tangle of underbrush, revealing a stone door about five feet high set into the cliff face. He moved his hand over the door. One of his men pulled down on a root several feet away. Elynna heard a grating noise, and then Braga gave a push on the door. It creaked open to reveal a secret path into the mountainside.
Elynna gaped in surprise. Her hope grew. Several Undeani warriors turned and disappeared back out into the snow. The rest disappeared into the mountain. Braga motioned for Elynna and her companions to follow. Bandor went first, followed by Theo, Lluach, Falien, Nahoon, and Keet. Aram looked distrustful, but he followed Hrevia in. Anchara was next. Namha had to bend way over to fit through the doorway.
Braga was still waiting outside with Elynna, Cathros, Tienna, and the other Ceadani, when they heard a startled human scream from somewhere close by. Elynna froze and looked about in terror. An instant later two of the Undeani came flying out of the snow as if they had seen one of the Daegmons. Braga had his battle-axe out in an instant, just in time to see a large shape come looming out of the falling snow. He raised his weapon to hurtle it at whatever creature approached.
Just in time, Noaem grabbed his arm and held it. The huge shape belonged to the tiger. Noaem stepped toward it at once. It limped on a badly wounded leg. Blood matted its beautiful fur, marring the white and orange with brownish-red crust. Yet even in that state it was majestic and frighteningly powerful.
Noaem turned to Elynna. “He needs help. He must come with us or he will die.”
Elynna did not know what to say. She feared the tiger as much as Braga’s men did. But she knew, also, the debt they owed to the animal. “Bring it with us,” she said.
For the first time since they had met him, Braga looked afraid. “This is too much.”
“He fought against the Daegmon,” Tienna said. “He saved our lives.”
Braga took a deep breath. “Again I will trust you. May I not be remembered among our people as Braga the Fool.” So saying, he moved a dozen steps away from the tunnel entrance so the tiger could pass at a distance. Seconds later Noaem led the way into the dark tunnel. The great cat looked as distrustful of the dark underground passage as Braga did of the cat, but at a word from Noaem he stooped his great head and followed. A minute later they were all in the dark.
Somewhere outside, the remaining members of Braga’s troop were covering the door and hiding their tracks. They did not fear the Daegmons pursuing them into the caves, for the creatures were far too big, but now they again had the Cit
adel soldiers and probably Golach to worry about.
“Will your men be okay?” Elynna asked.
“Yes,” Braga answered out of the darkness. “They know of other hidden paths and places where one or two can go. Besides, you wouldn’t catch my brother Breogo in here with this beast for anything in the world. I can see its eyes. They give me the creeps.”
“It needs help,” Noaem repeated. “Its wound is deep.”
“Yes,” Tienna said. “It is gravely wounded. I feel its life failing. I must attempt the healing.”
“On a tiger?” Elynna asked in dismay.
“I know of no other way. I cannot let such a great creature die.”
44
POWER
Thimeon turned. To the north, the clouds broke just long enough for him to get a glimpse of the great mountain Illengond. Did the great one really dwell there? Did he make his presence known? Where was he now?
“May the All-Maker protect us,” he said aloud. Then he drew the ancient blade and looked from one companion to the next, his gaze ending on Jhonna. “We will ride along this trail to the base of the cliff and the entrance to the village, which is carved into stone of the mountain.” he said, pointing with the sword. “There we must dismount and leave the horses. Unless it is destroyed, there is a wide courtyard through the entrance. To the right you’ll find a stable deep under the rock and stairs leading up to the village. That is our goal, to make it inside and join the villagers, not to fight it alone out here.
“If there is a battle on the open ground—if one of the creatures opposes us—fight them outside only as long as we must. If that happens, Corandra, Jhonna, and Rammas should stay as far from the creature as possible. The three of you can lead the horses through the arch on the right and into the stables while the rest of us keep the enemy busy. I do not want the three of you joining this battle! Do you understand? If you get inside, go back as far in as you can and stay with the horses until we come in after you. It will be the safest place you can be.” The company’s three youngest members were white with fear. All three nodded.
The Betrayed Page 43