The Ladder: Part 1

by David Hodges

  Bjorn said, “There was another, he got away. The Ladder is safe.”

  “What’s happened!” said a voice from behind.

  Hazel turned and saw Fíodor approaching.

  “Where did you come from?” said Aatu suspiciously.

  Fíodor looked to Hazel. “I saw you all in haste. I came to check what was happening.”

  Aatu grabbed Fíodor by the collar with a changed hand. “Or perhaps you were coming to check on your accomplice?”

  “No.” Fíodor shook his head frantically.

  “He’s your friend, is he not?”

  “I don’t know what’s gotten into him, I had no idea.”

  “Let him go,” said Faron firmly.

  Aatu released his grasp on the feeble man. “I’ll have more questions for you later.”

  Two days had passed since Einar had interrupted the last match of the Samhain and Cameron had nearly killed himself going after him. He had not yet woken, but the physician assured he would be better soon. Despite all the commotion, the situation had not changed. Einar was still out there with Alexandra as his hostage. The Sphere was still missing.

  Hazel lazily flipped through a book with yellowed rigid pages. It was one of a selection that Fergus had handpicked. Since they learned of the Spheres, he had been scouring dozens of books in an attempt to learn more about Bheochan, hoping to discover the secret to Cameron’s shield and Hazel’s comb.

  They had gone straight to the library after breakfast and could not have been there for more than half an hour when Hazel’s eyelids became heavy and she began to doze off.

  She was half dreaming and half fantasizing about competing in the Samhain, effortlessly landing blows against her crumbling opponents, when she felt a light pressure on her shoulder, then she was being shaken harder. She jolted awake to find Fergus waking her up.

  He pointed across the library, where Elisedd was standing.

  When Hazel looked ahead at him, she immediately felt her face reddening.

  Elisedd gave a meek smile, then continued forward and said, “G’morning, Hazel, Fergus.” When he arrived at their table, he said, “Hazel, I was wondering if you’d like to go on a supply run with me and my father, thought it could be a nice break... we could catch up.”

  Hazel knew she needed to resolve the tension. “That sounds nice, but I doubt I’ll be allowed permission.”

  “Perhaps you could go without it?”

  “You mean, sneak out with you?”

  Elisedd shrugged.

  “How do you expect to do that?” asked Hazel.

  “Remember when I took you to see the waterfall at the quarry? I told you about the old mine shafts that had been shut down.”

  Hazel nodded, she remembered that day well.

  Elisedd stepped closer to Hazel and Fergus, and in a hushed voice he said, “I’ll let you in on a secret... they’re not all closed. In fact, there’s a way to get all the way to the bottom of the quarry.

  Hazel looked to Fergus, then said, “Can Fergus come too?”

  Elisedd hesitated. “Err... well...” He looked concerned, distressed even for a moment until his expression changed quickly and he said, “Yeah... yeah, of course.”

  Fergus said to Hazel, “You want me to come with you... and him?” Fergus was clearly perplexed as to why Hazel was not seizing the opportunity to be alone with Elisedd.

  “Aye, will you come with us?”

  “I dunno, you saw what happened to Ayalon. You keen on having a pair of sitters follow you around?”

  “We won’t get caught.”

  “Fine,” said Fergus with a sigh. “What about Daniel?”

  “We’ll leave him here. One of us should be here when Cameron wakes up.”

  As they left the library, Elisedd said, “You’ll need to get changed, Hazel. Those pants would attract unwanted attention.”

  Fergus muttered absentmindedly, “Yes. they would.” He blushed, then said, “You’d stick out like a sore thumb.”

  Hazel got changed into her dress which had been folded on her dresser for weeks. She had never felt so foolish simply walking, but the layers of fabric that impeded her every step seemed so impractical.

  She put her belt and sword on around her waist, then threw on her riding coat over top to cover them, along with her three point hat and wool gloves, all courtesy of the Taylors and her aunt and uncle. She laced up her riding boots, then looked at herself in the mirror. The ensemble looked much better with pants.

  As she was just about to leave the room, she remembered a letter she had written for Aunt Beth and Uncle George. She went to a desk and grabbed an envelope before meeting Elisedd outside.

  She had not been alone with Elisedd since the night of the opening ceremony. “Fergus, still getting ready?” she asked him, trying to fill the silence.

  “Went to the outhouse,” replied Elisedd. He said earnestly, “Listen, Hazel, about the other night…”

  “Your secret’s safe with me.”

  “I know, and I appreciate that, but I owe you an apology. I shouldn’t have misled you.”

  “That’s not your fault.”

  “It is though,” Elisedd blurted out passionately.

  “How do you mean?”

  “I err... I,” he sighed, then looked as if he was torn, he said, “Just that, I’m so worried of being discovered that I used you to deflect any suspicions.”

  Hazel was sure he was going to reveal something more shocking, but perhaps he was just that ashamed.

  “It’s okay, Elisedd. I can see why you would feel it necessary. It still isn’t your fault.”

  Elisedd took both her hands, and with as much comfort and warmth as he had offered her since she arrived, he said, “So we can be friends then?”

  “Of course.”

  “Thank you, Hazel. I’m glad.”

  “Ahem,” Fergus coughed as he walked toward them.

  Hazel smiled at Elisedd as she removed her hands from his.

  “You err... sure you want me to come?” said Fergus skeptically.

  “Yes, Fergus, c’mon, let’s get going,” replied Hazel.

  Fergus shook is head in confusion. “Alright then.”

  The three of them rode toward the quarry. They were to meet Fíodor at the bottom when they got through the mines. As they drew nearer and passed by the open fields, Hazel noticed all the stands from the Samhain had already been taken down. When they approached the edge of the cliff alongside the river, Hazel saw a female guard staring out onto the horizon.

  “What now?” asked Hazel.

  “I’ll handle it,” said Elisedd.

  “Alviva!” said Elisedd as he approached her.

  Hazel had not recognized her from the distance, she was surprised Elisedd was able to so quickly.

  “Is he gonna woo her too?” said Fergus lightheartedly when he was out of earshot.

  Hazel shook her head at him.

  Elisedd waved them over. “I’ve just explained to Alviva that I’d like to take you two down to see the falls up close. She’ll watch our horses while we look.”

  Alviva said, “Hold on, before you go…” Then she looked up at her red kite flying above and waited as it dove down toward them. “Sorry, I’m making an exception for you. We’re not supposed to let anyone down... just want to avoid a slap on the wrist from the other guards.”

  She touched the kite and concentrated for a few seconds as her eyes changed to match his. She let the kite fly away as she stared blankly, her eyes remaining changed.

  A few moments later, the kite returned to her arm and they changed back. She said, “Alright, go ahead, quickly.”

  Hazel followed Elisedd down the slippery rock steps and into the cave behind the waterfall.

  “It’s beautiful... the Tear of Talamh, doesn’t seem fitting,” said Fergus as he stared at the vast landscape and the rising sun through the heavy sheet of water that had also entranced Hazel.

  “Sorry to rush you, but we should get going,” sa
id Elisedd as he pulled out a small torch from his satchel. He struck a flint and lit the torch, then set off through one of the four different tunnel entrances at the back of the cave.

  The walls were a dark green and gray, just like the stone work all over the village that had been extracted from them. Before long, they were in a cavern with carved out columns, a shallow pool of water separated them from the other side of the cavern. The sound of splashing water echoed through the cave emanating from a small waterfall from a hole at the top of the cave.

  “We’ll have to get a tad wet, sorry,” said Elisedd as a he waded through the knee high water.

  “Hold on, let me take me boots off,” said Fergus.

  Hazel rolled her eyes at him and said, “Quickly, Fergus,” as she hiked up her dress and entered the water.

  “Ah! that’s bloody cold,” exclaimed Fergus as he went in after her.

  On the other side of the cave, there were only the solid stone walls, and a large pile of rubble. Elisedd approached the rubble and Fergus and Hazel followed.

  “You planning to move all this?” asked Fergus.

  Elisedd smiled and looked back at them, then said, “Hold this,” as he handed Fergus his torch. He stepped up to the rubble and grabbed a hold of one stone with his right hand, and with his left, he grabbed another stone several feet away from it so that he looked as if he were hugging the pile of rocks. Then he closed his hold on the rocks slightly, and each of them hinged forward.

  There was a loud click; it sounded mechanical, then a section of the rubble swung forward to reveal a wooden door covered by a facade of stone. Behind it, there was a small tunnel within the rubble, supported by wooden beams.

  “Alright, that works too,” said Fergus.

  Hazel followed Elisedd into the tunnel and said giddily, “I’ve always wanted to go through a secret passage.”

  Elisedd replied, “You know the only rule when it comes to a secret passage right?”

  “What’s that?” said Hazel.

  “It’s just a door if you don’t keep it a secret,” he said with a wink.

  As they reached the door at the end of the tunnel, Fergus hung back, examining one of the wooden beams that braced the rubble. He ran his hand against the surface of the wood and muttered, “That’s strange.”

  “C’mon, Fergus, we need that light,” said Elisedd.

  Fergus lingered at the beam for a moment longer before continuing to the door, which led them into another cave. This was a taller, more narrow cave then the last, and the ground was dry. There was an old table and a handful of chairs around it.

  Hazel thought the room looked familiar somehow. She stared at the table and chairs for a moment, then she remembered her dream before the Samhain or what she had thought was a dream. The room she had seen through Ollie looked very much like this one, but it was hard to be sure with the low lighting and the obscured vision Ollie had provided through his memory.

  “Hold on,” said Hazel.

  “What is it?” asked Fergus.

  “Go take your lantern over by that table.”

  “What, why?” asked Fergus.

  “Remember the cave Ollie saw?

  Fergus nodded.

  “I think this might be it.”

  “There are lots of caves in the quarry,” said Elisedd.

  “How many have a table and chairs in them?” she said.

  Fergus went over to the table, holding his torch which spread light through the cave just as the single lantern had in the cave she had visited with Ollie.

  Hazel went back toward the tunnel they had entered through, then knelt down by the wall and looked at Fergus and the table, then up toward the high ceiling where the light faded up the walls. “This is the same cave, it has to be.”

  “So they knew about the secret passage,” said Fergus.

  “Hold on, who is they? What meeting?” Elisedd asked.

  Hazel replied, “I was down here... or Ollie was, he saw and heard people talking here. They were planning the attack for the Samhain. That’s how we knew to go back to the armory and the Sphere.”

  Fergus said, “Elisedd, who else knows about this cave? Who showed it to you?”

  “I found it myself, by accident. As far as I know, I’m the only one who knows about it.”

  “And your father as well?” asked Fergus.

  “Right, of course, but I only just told him about.”

  Hazel said, “Well we’re not the only one’s who know, that much is clear. We should go back and tell someone about it.”

  “Perhaps after we return,” said Elisedd.

  “If this is a way out for us, it’s a way in for him too,” said Fergus.

  “You’re right,” said Elisedd. “Fergus, would you run up at tell Alviva? We’ll wait here.”

  “Sure,” said Fergus. He looked to Hazel. “I’ll be right back.” He went through the tunnel, carrying the light of his torch away with him. The cave faded to complete darkness.

  “Sorry to keep you waiting,” said Hazel.

  “No, it’s fine. This is more important. I didn’t know you had seen a meeting. I suppose you weren’t able to tell who they were?”

  “I didn’t hear their names, and I couldn’t make out any of their faces or voices, but after what happened at the Samhain, I know now that one of them was Einar.”

  “What did they say?”

  “They talked about the Sphere, about how the fate of Talamh would be in their hands if they found it. I don’t understand why anybody would help him, why would they want to give him control? The man murdered his own wife.”

  Elisedd sighed, “It was strange, how it happened... before she died, they were very happy, very much in love. My father worked with Einar on occasion and knew both of them well. He was so shocked when he’d heard what happened, he even wondered...”

  Elisedd was interrupted by a faint clicking noise that began to ring through the cave. It sounded distant, it must have been coming from one of the tunnels.

  “Do you hear that?” he whispered.

  Hazel said in a hushed voice, “Aye.”

  The sound grew louder.

  Hazel moved over to where Elisedd had been standing and bumped into him.

  “Woah, that you?” he said, startled.

  “Sorry,” she said as she grabbed onto his arm. Then she remembered she had her sword. She unbuttoned her jacket with her free hand and clutched the hilt of Crúbail.

  “Would love to have that torch back right about now,” Elisedd whispered.

  The sound was much louder now. Whatever it was, it was in the cave with them.

  Hazel wished she could see where the tunnel behind them was, but it was pitch black. She tried her best to see through the dark and felt her eyes change. Still, she saw nothing. She began backing away from the noise, pulling Elisedd along with her. Her heart was beating hard as she glanced over her shoulder, looking for any sign of the tunnel. Then she saw a dim light, she pulled Elisedd harder toward it.

  Something brushed against her leg.

  She instinctively drew her sword as she leapt backward.

  The sliding sound of the blade against the metal of its scabbard alarmed Elisedd. “Oi... who’s that?!” he shouted.

  She felt something against her thigh again. She slashed down at it and the blade moved through the air much faster than she had intended, slicing through something soft.

  It screamed.

  There was a clap against the ground, and then a commotion before there was a loud impact somewhere in the cavern.

  “Hazel!” shouted Elisedd.

  “Oi!” shouted Fergus as he ran into the cave, lighting it up. “What’s the matter?”

  Hazel was shaking as she looked down at her feet where a large, curved object rest. A bone, no, a horn. Thick, ridged, and sliced cleanly.

  She shifted her attention toward the panting she heard at the side of the cavern, then walked with Elisedd and Fergus over to a trembling creature.

  “W
hat’s a goat doing in here?” asked Fergus as he shined the torch over it.

  Hazel sighed in relief and dropped her sword before crouching down next to the terrified ibex. Most of one of its horn had been cut off. At the end of the stub was a raw, bloody pulp.

  “I hurt him!” said Hazel, who was crying now.

  Elisedd crouched down beside her and put a hand on the animal’s side.

  The ibex’s hurried breathing slowed down, and he looked up at them for a moment, then he sprung up and dashed down the tunnel they had entered through.

  Hazel felt an arm around her shoulders. “He’s fine, Hazel,” Elisedd said calmly as he stood her up.

  Exasperated, she said, “I almost killed him. I didn’t even know what I swinging at, I was just so... afraid.”

  Fergus said, “Bloody hell, all that fuss over a goat. I thought I was gonna find one of yous with your guts out.”

  “We didn’t know what we were dealing with, we didn’t have the torch,” Elisedd replied.

  Fergus looked at the torch in his hand and said, “Oh, right.”

  “Let’s get going,” said Elisedd as he took the torch out of Fergus’s hand.

  Hazel picked up her sword. It was the first time she’d ever swung it, there was a smudge of red and brown in the middle of it. She sheathed it quickly.

  They continued into one of two tunnels, this one was longer than the others and sloped downward at a steep angle. At the end of the tunnel, they stopped at a large square staircase, its steps were carved from the stone with no rails separating them from the drop off below, a square pit that faded to complete darkness far below.

  “Careful, stay close to the walls,” said Elisedd as he led them down.

  They descended what must have been a hundred vertical feet, passing by various tunnel entrances.

  Elisedd stopped next to a stack of flat pieces of wood and a complex pulley system that was setup underneath a large hole in the wall. It was about four feet across. He said, “We’re not going down the stairs from here.”

  “What?” asked Fergus incredulously.

  “We’re going down this drawing chute.” Elisedd grabbed a tray and placed it in the hole before hopping up onto it.