by Dale Furse
Terni scrambled out of the way and ran to Mike’s side.
“I knew you would come for me.” The boy eyes shone up at Mike.
Mike picked up the dropped gem and threw Terni a tired smile. “Pick up the book and hold it open for me, will you kid?”
Terni did, but the words still stayed the same. It was a weird language incorporating both symbols and letters. Mike took the book again and his gem-filled hand touched the page. Immediately, the symbols and words changed to English. The writing was definitely a recipe.
Ludo moaned and rubbed the back of his head.
“What is this?” Mike demanded of the prince.
Ludo glared at Mike and remained silent, but apparently, changing his mind, his mouth shifted into a smile of contempt. “A potion.”
“No joke,” Mike said, hoping Ludo understood sarcasm. “But what is the potion supposed to do?”
The prince shrugged. “It will not matter to you, boy. You will not get out of here alive. I wasn’t going to kill the messenger, but now you leave me with no choice but to kill you both.”
Mike replaced the sword’s point against Ludo’s neck. “I don’t think you’re in a position to give threats.”
“No? If I do not come out of here within the hour, my men will break down the door. You and the child will be shown no mercy.”
“An hour, huh? Well I’ve more than enough time to torture you then, don’t I?” Feeling woozy, Mike hoped he had an hour left in him.
A hint of fear washed over Ludo’s face.
Mike thought about the rifle the bandit had on the beach. “You know where I come from, don’t you? You have passed through my world’s door in the wall. You know what the humans on my world are capable of.”
Another hint of fear as some recollection showed in Ludo’s eyes.
“Those guns you got,” Mike said. “They’re pretty old on my world, around the time of the Revolution I think. Is that where you landed? Right smack in the middle of the American Revolution?”
“Those humans are animals.”
“And you’re not?”
“We don’t slaughter multitudes of people with cannons,” Ludo said.
That would have been a horrific thing to witness and a part of Mike was glad Ludo was horrified by the bloodshed he must have seen. It gave Mike hope the prince would come to his senses. “Oh? One of your henchmen boasted that you have many rifles. Why would you need them all if you weren’t going to use them?”
“I’ll use them to scare my people, not kill them.”
“Oh, boy.” Mike snorted. “I’m sick of this. Why can’t people everywhere just be happy with what they have? Why do they insist on taking what’s not theirs?”
“Happy? Happy knowing even though Derek left the kingdom and joined a band of rogues, even though the ingrate scorned the king and his kingdom, Father still intends to grant him the crown when he dies?” The side of his lip raised in a sneer. “I will take what is mine.”
“Sorry, Ludo, but I’m not really that interested in your family dramas. I just want to know why you want Terni’s wings.”
“With those wings, I’ll be a god.”
“Now you are crazy. What do you mean, a god?”
“The potion needs only the wings of a messenger, and I’ll gain power to walk the roads of heaven. And, just like Peteor, none will, or would, oppose me. I’ll take the kingdom and be emperor to all of Cillian.”
“Yep, you’re mad all right.” Mike tried to keep his hands from trembling as he tied Ludo to the ring in the rock with the rope. “Mad as a chicken with its head cut off.”
He straightened. “Don’t worry, mate, you would have blended in with the gods no problem. They’re pretty mad too.”
Mike spun around and flipped the pot up so the contents spewed over the hard floor. “It should seep in after a while.” He turned back to Terni and smiled, hoping he didn’t look as bad as he felt. “Get the book and crystal, and follow me.”
Chapter 20
Mike hesitated. He had told Terni to follow him, but he was unsure to where. He blinked, trying to focus.
If he went back to the kitchen, the only way out was through the tunnel. He couldn’t be sure of finding another way out of the labyrinth of caves and tunnels. He turned toward the door and sighed. “This is the only way out,” he said.
Terni’s face paled. “You’re hurt and the guards are armed with bad noisy things.”
“I’m fine. Trust me, kid. I’ll protect you from guns and swords.” Mike hoped he could do as he said because if he couldn’t, they were both dead.
Terni’s eyes filled with belief, and he set his jaw and nodded.
Wishing the kid didn’t do that, Mike threw the bolt and cracked the door just enough to peer out.
Ludo bellowed, “Guards. Intruders.”
Mike pulled Terni over the threshold and started to run. Men repeating Ludo’s call echoed around the tunnel from ahead. The cave widened, and from three openings opposite, men with swords and guns spilled into the cavern.
“Terni,” Mike spoke quickly, “you have to run as fast as your winged feet can carry you and save yourself. Go the same way they brought you in, and as soon as you get out of the cave, go up the bank to your left. You know what your left is?
Terni nodded.
“Go up there and wait for me behind the swollen dead tree trunk. You can’t miss it.”
“But I want to stay with you.”
“Listen, kid,” Mike eyed the hundred or more men prowling across the huge cave. “I can’t fight them and look after you at the same time.”
Comprehension passed over Terni’s face and he began running on the spot.
“Don’t lose the book or the crystal.”
“I won’t.” He took off. A blur sailed behind the men and down the middle tunnel.
Okay. Mike should take that tunnel. He scanned the three groups of men. About half of them carried rifles aimed at Mike. Adrenaline raced through his body, giving him the focus he needed. He could see them clearly now. They had bayonets attached to the under side of the barrels and he decided they were definitely from the time of the American Revolution. He wondered if they had already loaded them or if they were empty. They all had clear shots, but none fired.
“Go ahead,” Mike yelled at the bandits. “Shoot. I’m not giving myself up to you lot.” Something wet dripped on his head. He glanced up. Water dripped from the roof of the cave. Looking back at the bandits, he took in the roof above their heads. The cave was leaking and water dripped onto the stone floor making it shine like a shallow lake.
The men kept aiming their rifles, but still none fired.
Mike took a few steps forward and held up his sword. “Come and fight like men, you bunch of weasels.” He didn’t know if they knew what weasels were, but he was sure by the look on some of their faces they got the gist of his words.
One of the men growled, brought his gun up and fired.
Mike instantly blocked the bullet with his sword. All right! He really liked his sword.
A man from the group on the right stomped over to the middle group and to the man who fired the gun. He snatched the gun out of the bandit’s hand.
“Get him,” a man from the right shouted at all the bandits. The men carrying rifles put them on the wet ground and drew their swords.
The guns were only supposed to scare Mike. Had Ludo said he wanted him alive for some despicable reason? Mike frowned. Probably as bait for Terni and his wings. He spread his legs and rested the sword’s blade across his raised left forearm. “Well?”
One man cleared the pack, and the others held back as if they didn’t think the fight would last long.
Mike closed in on the lone bandit and, with one swing of his sword, unarmed the man who went scurrying after his now bent weapon. Two bandits attacked simultaneously. Mike blocked one jab and then the other. Again, he disarmed the men by sending their swords flying across to the other side of the chamber.
A
gladiator-clad man shouted something Mike didn’t quite catch. All three groups went up in roars and shouts. They stormed forward.
Mike parried and disarmed, disarmed and blocked, blocked and parried, until every man scrambled over the cave’s floor in search of his sword.
He decided it was ludicrous to stay and fight and sauntered towards the middle exit. As each man collected his sword, he pursued Mike. With hot adrenaline swirling through his veins, he ducked, evaded, swung and flicked, even chopping some swords in half. By the time he fought his way to the threshold of the middle exit, the troops’ faces had changed. Fear replaced boldness and one by one, they broke off their attack.
Mike glanced behind them.
The man who had earlier berated the other man for firing his rifle stood, aimed, and fired.
Raising his sword, bubbles of laughter gurgled in Mike’s chest as the bullet ricocheted off the blade and bounced off the cavern walls. Men lunged in all directions, falling to the wet floor and clasping their arms over their heads. Unable to hold it back any longer, Mike roared with laughter and wheeled toward the exit.
As he entered the tunnel, one man shouted behind him, “Black magic.”
Another agreed, “Aye.”
Mike, still chuckling, loped past open crates of rifles. He paused to pick one up and pulled back the striker. He had never held one before. The rifle club had a few in glass cases. The owners took out on occasion to show the members the different parts. But they were they only ones who could load and fire them.
Scanning the area, Mike found some smaller crates. He peeled off the lid of one. It was near full with lead balls. They had to be the bullets. Barrels stood in a corner and he took the top off one. Small pouches full of gunpowder filled the thing. He replaced the lid, wishing he had a match to light and throw at the barrels.
The adrenalin that was acting as an anesthetic was wearing off. His leg throbbed with familiar pain.
Water coated the walls of the cave and dripped down from the low roof onto his head. He wondered if the weight of the water was proving too much for the cave to hold back. If the roof gave way, Ludo and his men would drown. He shook his head as he trotted past the horses to the end of the tunnel. The caves were probably always dripping. They could have been for hundreds of years, and the caverns were still there.
All three tunnels opened to the cave’s mouth. Half expecting a guard to call out, Mike coursed up the hill to find Terni.
Thankful it was daylight, he scrambled up the rise between the mountain and the bamboo forest. Hearing no one call out behind, he chanced a look and stopped to scan the mountain and bay. A steady roar sounded above him.
He hadn’t noticed the waterfall the first time he escaped. The water fell onto a large ledge, but didn’t continue over. Mike guessed it entered the cave system. That was the running water he had heard. Had the water formed a lake that in turn, ran out to sea? Cillian was a marvelous planet, with its pink forests and who knew what other strange sights. Mike wished he could explore the land instead of running from, and fighting, stupid thugs.
He checked behind the dead bole. Terni was asleep. The sight of the kid had Mike’s lips widen in a smile. His heart grew in his chest. Had it just made room for the kid? He had come to like Terni and Mike wouldn’t let anyone hurt him again.
Shouts brought him out of his reverie.
Men and horses spewed out onto the beach. Ludo wouldn’t be happy Mike and Terni had escaped.
He hurried to the dead tree trunk still with its roots clutching the ground as if expecting one day to return to life. He walked around the back. Terni was still asleep, curled up with the book, but the stone had fallen from his hand. Poor kid must have been exhausted.
Mike picked the gem up, straightened and came face to face with the Shanks.
“Ah, we knew you would find him,” Shank Two said.
“Yeah, we knew.”
One took the crystal from Mike before the Shanks’ body bent down so Two could pry the book out of Terni’s hands.
“What’s this?” Two asked.
“I found it in Ludo’s lair. I could read the words when I touched the gem to the book.”
Shank Two opened the book. “This belongs to Oln.”
Shank One peered at the page. “Oooh.”
“And that,” Two closed the book and One held up the gem, “belongs to Gart.”
“Yeah, ooh ah, naughty Gart.”
“Who is Gart?” asked Mike.
“He is Oln’s brother and the god of the Quarter Realm. He should not have Oln’s book. You know what this means?” Two twisted his head to One.
Chapter 21
Mike stared at the Shanks. Shank One looked as concerned as Shank Two over the Quarter Realm God’s apparent involvement with Terni’s kidnapping. From what Mike knew, one god could not interfere in another god’s realm. Cillian, Salteran, and Earth were all in the Inner Realm—Oln’s Realm.
“Did Gart do something to the wall?”
“He’s done it before,” One said.
Two hit him on the head. “Be quiet, One.” He faced Mike. “Thank you, but we have to go.”
They were just going to disappear? “Is that all you’re going to say? Thank you? What about us?”
“You have done well. You have not only saved Terni, you might have saved the Inner Realm. You should be very proud of yourself.”
“Yeah, very proud.” Shank One touched Mike’s forearm. “You will be all right. Find Noor and tell her of Ludo’s treason. She will know what to do.”
“Can you at least tell us which way to go?”
“Yeah, you go that way.” One pointed to a southern path just visible through the bamboo. “You can follow the path safely because Ludo’s men are busy preparing for war.”
Shank Two hit One on the top of the head again. “You didn’t have to add that bit,” he said, as they disappeared.
“Who are you talking to?” Terni sat up.
“Nobody by the look of things. Come on, we’ve to get back to Noor before she thinks we’re dead.”
The thought struck him she might have already left. No, he refused to believe Noor would abandon them. She would be at the stream. She would never leave him and Terni stranded in the wilderness.
Mike brushed away at the sweat on his forehead. All he wanted was to curl up and sleep. He could no longer ignore the pain screaming from his wound, nor the poison flowing throughout his system. He didn’t know how long he could continue before he collapsed for good. An image of a sick Vala popped into his mind. He hoped she was all right. He rubbed his thigh, trying to wish the infection away.
After sometime on the route, he recognized some landmarks he had taken note of on the way to the bay. There was a rock protruding out of the ground with its top flat as if someone had taken a stonecutter and sliced off the top. A half hour later, he spied the familiar red, berry-covered bush about twice the height of Mike, and, further on, a crossroad in the path where he had paused to wonder which way he should go. He had gone northwest then, so he continued southeast.
“It’s getting dark,” Terni said.
“I know.” Mike patted his clothes down. “Blast, I don’t have anything to light a fire.” Mike wondered if he could rub two sticks together as Noor had, but decided it was safer to get out of the forest and back into the canyons. The sun, already low in the sky, wouldn’t shed light much longer.
Sounds of hooves approached from ahead. “There’s someone coming. Quick.”
Mike pulled Terni behind a yellow berry bush and waited. So much for Ludo and his henchmen being busy.
Three hooded bandits came into view. Two of them sat on horses while one walked beside his mount. Every now and then, he checked for something on the ground.
“Find anything?” one of the sitting horsemen asked.
“There’s been a lot of traffic this way,” the walking man said.
Mike recognized the second voice as Derek’s and he wondered if the older prince cou
ld be trusted. He didn’t exactly hang around to help Mike after Mike saved him from Ludo’s men.
Night seemed to close in around them all at once. Low growls grew in the darkness as if whatever made the noise had followed the blackness of night right to them. Mashki. Mike’s heart smashed against his ribs and his pulse thundered. The growls sounded behind them.
Terni spun around and screamed. His face was ashen and his eyes—bulging brown orbs.
Mike turned. In less than a breath, he stood with the sword in his sweaty hand.
The same instant, Derek and his men lumbered forward.
“There you are,” Derek said as he stepped back alongside Mike. “And you have the little messenger with you.” He took off his hood and smiled.
Now they were really trapped, Derek in front and Mashki behind. He needed to take Terni and run. He whipped his head from side to side then looked from Derek to the Mashki. Terni could run through them, but to where? Mike glanced at the kid. Terni had hold of Mike’s leg and stood stiff and scared. There was no way Mike could dodge either enemy, but Terni could run. The kid, though, was frozen in fear.
“A… Mashki,” Mike said, pointing to a drooling fang infested mouth.
“TTTTTTT TER TTTTT,” it squealed, but no other Mashki answered.
Derek and his men crashed past Mike and Terni, stopping just short of the Mashki.
One arrow lodged in the animal’s head and another in its throat. It gagged and cried out, its eyes turning an angry red. It charged. Derek jumped to the right, spun, and drove his sword into the beast’s flank.
That only seemed to make it angrier. It snorted drool out of its great nose holes and glared at Mike. It sniffed the air between them. Could it smell his fear or the scent of injured prey?
Mike swallowed down the hurt, pushed Terni away, and stood firm.
The beast bared its fangs and charged again.
Wonderful adrenaline whipped through Mike’s veins. He inhaled, waited until the beast’s nose was a hair’s breadth away from him and jumped to his right, swinging his blade down onto the back of the Mashki’s neck. The stupid animal turned on him. Mike wondered if it even knew its neck was bleeding out.