A beam of brilliant light seared the mercenaries as he swept it across their armoured bodies. Screams and smoke drifted into the air as their defence crumbled, leaving them open to attack from the militia. With Colt and Nellise adding their own weaponry to the task, the four mercenaries were quickly eliminated.
The open door to the inn was slammed shut just as Aiden and the others hurried forward. Colt crashed into the door shoulder-first but there were others inside holding it shut.
“Open the bloody door!” Colt roared as he futilely slammed into the door once again. Pacian signalled for him to stop, and took a look at the situation.
“You know, axes are good at chopping into wood,” he mused, gazing at Sayana's weapon.
“You're gonna need more muscle than she's got to get through that door, sharp axe or no,” Colt growled, taking the axe off her back and marching up to the door. “No offence Sy but you're a dainty little thing and this needs a big man's touch.” Sayana raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
They stood back as Colt heaved the axe at the door, sending great chunks of wood flying with each hit. The sound of screaming from inside could be heard even over the din, and Colt redoubled his efforts. With a great roar he brought the door down, revealing the dimly lit interior of the entryway beyond. Colt tossed the axe back over to Sayana, who caught it and held it ready while Aiden rushed through the doorway.
What was through the door however, was not a group of mercenaries waiting to strike down whoever entered. There were three of them on the ground, bleeding from numerous wounds and no longer a threat. Aiden cautiously moved into the common room, glancing around at the faces of the frightened townsfolk, men and women he had come to know over the time he had spent here, clutching each other in shocked silence.
To his left, he saw the innkeeper, Tom, leaning against the wall sporting some nasty bruises on his face. His daughter Aislin huddled underneath a table nearby, her eyes wide with fright as she looked at Aiden, having witnessed whatever had been done to her father and been powerless to do anything about it.
Before him, Aiden saw the mayor sitting at a bar stool, mopping his brow with a piece of cloth. Next to him, a large, bearded man wearing heavy armour and the colours of the Kingdom Guard sat, blood dripping from his helmet as he struggled to stay upright. Other armoured men lay around on the floor - some mercenaries, some King's men who had clearly fought hard to protect their charge and paid with their lives. Of the princess, there was no sign.
“Mister Wainwright, this is terrible... terrible,” Olaf gasped, overcome with fear from the unexpected assault on the town. “They attacked without warning and took her!”
“They took the princess?” Aiden asked intensely. “Where did they take her? Get a hold of yourself, man.”
“They went out the back door, just past Captain Marshald,” Olaf sputtered, pointing at the rear entrance while trying to regain his composure. Colt and the others had come in behind Aiden, dismayed at the sight before them. Nellise set aside her crossbow and went straight for the wounded officer sitting next to the mayor. She slowly started removing his helmet to examine his injuries.
“How is he?” Aiden asked Nellise.
“He has suffered a serious head wound,” she replied distractedly. “Give me a minute to see what I can do.”
“You have to get her back,” the officer said, his voice slurred. “This whole thing... must have been planned long in advance. Someone is making a move against the throne.” Aiden was momentarily taken aback at the magnitude of what the captain had just stated. He glanced at his companions and saw a similarly daunted look upon their faces.
“You need to lie down, Captain,” Nellise advised the soldier, “right away, if you please.”
“It is my duty to protect the Princess and I will do so while I still draw breath,” he replied stoically.
“If you don't lie down, you won't be breathing much longer,” Nellise insisted. Marshald gave her a bleary look and then relented. While she set about treating his injury, a young woman wearing the armour and cloak of the town militia stumbled in through the door and saluted nobody in particular.
“Forget the formalities,” Olaf muttered. “If you have something to say, out with it.”
“The enemy has been pushed out of the town,” she explained. “We’ve lost twenty of the twenty five guards, including Sergeant Redfurn.”
“What’s your name?” Colt asked gently after noticing that the woman was still trembling.
“Private Mathilda,” she replied in the strict cadence of one addressing a superior officer. Aiden guessed that was all she had to hold on to.
“Congratulations Private, you’re now a Sergeant,” Colt continued. “Take a deep breath, then get out there and make sure the injured are treated. Then post guards on all the gates and report any further movement back here.”
“Yessir,” Mathilda said with a quick salute. She took a breath as ordered, which restored a little colour to her face, then hurried back out the door.
“You don’t have the authority to promote someone in the town militia,” Olaf pointed out, though his expression suggested he regretted doing so almost immediately.
“Do you think I give a shit what you think?” Colt spat. “She got the orders she needed to keep going. You can demote her after I’m gone.” A moment of silence fell over the room as they all took a moment to grasp what had just happened to the once-peaceful town.
“Those were Robert Black’s mercenaries,” Colt said in case anyone hadn’t figured it out yet. “How the hell did they get into the town without going through the gates?” Though Aiden's mind was slowing down from exhaustion, he knew the answer to this question.
“They dug in under the wall,” he informed them, “just like they tried in Culdeny.”
“Of course,” Pacian sighed. “They must have been digging for weeks.”
“It seems coincidental they attacked just when the akorans were going to, also,” Sayana added. “Wait, show me that battle plan you took from Erag, Aiden.” He took the rolled up plans from inside his tunic and handed them over to her, wondering what she wanted with them. The wild girl unfurled the parchment and took a closer look at it.
“If one of my people wrote this, it would not have been in Aielish,” she said, pointing at the scrawled writing. “This plan wasn't made by akorans, it was given to them, to co-ordinate with the warriors who came here this day.” Aiden smacked his forehead for missing that little clue as the answers to the events of the past few days were starting to crystallise.
“You're all wasting time,” Marshald said from down on the floor, cutting off any further discussion of this new information. “Go and rescue Princess Criosa from her captors or their plans, whatever they are, will succeed. I'd go with you but I don't think it's a good idea for me to try and stand up right now.”
“It certainly isn't,” Nellise muttered. “You're lucky to be alive, Captain. I have healed the wound as best as I can, but you will require days of rest before you will fully recover.”
“He will be cared for, madam,” Olaf assured her. “You have to leave immediately.”
“We only just returned from a harrowing mission down into akoran territory,” Nellise protested with a trembling voice, her resolve starting to wither. “You have no idea just how bad things went for us down there...”
“I can see by the ragged nature of your attire that it must have been very difficult for you indeed,” Olaf admitted. “But this is an emergency. The town has been devastated by this attack and if you had not returned when you did, I doubt any of us would be alive to have this conversation. I implore you, do as the Captain says and pursue Criosa's captors, or the people behind all of this might succeed in whatever nefarious plans they have in play.”
Aiden looked around at his weary friends. They were wounded, tired, and traumatised, but no-one disagreed with the mayor's assessment. Reluctantly, he knew there was only one answer he could give.
“Very well,�
�� he sighed, “we will go but we'll need supplies.”
“Take what you need from here,” Tom offered and, as if on cue, Aislin scrambled out from under the table to start collecting bread, cheese and sausages into a sack.
“I'm going to need more crossbow bolts,” Nellise murmured absently, resigned to her fate. She started looking around at the fallen mercenaries for spare bolts, while Colt did the same, looking for arrows.
“The princess and her contingent rode here on horses, which are still in the stable,” Tom informed them. “I don’t think she’d mind if you borrowed them for a while.”
“Fantastic, ‘cause I don’t think I can walk another step,” Pacian said with relief.
“They went out this door here, yes?” Colt called from across the room. Olaf nodded, and the big ranger responded by kicking the door off its hinges. With his sword drawn, he stepped outside into the near-darkness of early evening, with Aiden and the others quickly gathering their gear before following him outside.
“Please save her,” Aislin begged, looking up to Aiden as she handed him a sack full of food. “She was nice to me and didn't deserve to be dragged off by those bad men.”
“Don't worry,” Aiden assured the little girl with a resigned sigh. “Apparently, this is what I do for a living.”
Chapter Twenty-One
It only took them a few minutes to find the concealed tunnel entrance - a covered hole in the ground, cunningly hidden near some bushes close to the wall. Their departing enemies had left deep boot prints in the thick mud, and even the small light provided by Nellise's prayer was sufficient to allow the ranger to follow them.
“They must have been in a hurry,” Colt muttered, “That, or they're just stupid. Either way works for me.”
“Fine, just don't go down there until I take a look,” Pacian advised, waiting for Nellise to finish healing a cut to his arm, before cautiously approaching the hole. “No sign of any triplines. If they've lain in some traps, I can't see them.”
“I do not find that reassuring,” Sayana said, watching the proceedings with impatience before making a small noise of frustration and promptly climbing into the hole. Nearly a minute passed in tense silence before she signalled that it was clear below.
“They've left a ladder down here. Just give me a moment to prop it up.”
“I'll go first,” Colt grunted. “If they've got people watching this end of the tunnel, she isn't going to give them much of a fight. Nel, you and Pacian get the horses from the stables and meet us on the north side of the river. I’m willing to bet this tunnel doesn’t go much further than that.”
“Are you okay with this?” Aiden asked Nellise, who stood next to him wrapped in the thick winter cloak that was her only real protection against the cold.
“I'm doing my best,” she replied in a quiet voice. “I really didn't need this just now. However,” she added, pre-empting Aiden's next comment, “the thought of Princess Criosa in the hands of the men who attacked the town fills me with anger such as I have never known. I will not rest until she is freed, though I fear for her safety in the interim.”
“Okay, hang in there,” Aiden consoled her, wishing he could take away her pain.
“You too,” she replied as she and Pacian hurried off to the stables. Colt carefully stepped onto the proffered ladder and slowly made his way down, with Aiden following him moments later.
The digging of this tunnel was quite an impressive feat, given it was done without anyone in town ever noticing. It was easily fifteen feet deep, and wide enough for two armoured men to stand shoulder to shoulder. Wooden buttresses were set up at regular intervals to provide additional support and the smell of damp earth was strong while the sounds of dripping water in the distance gave the tunnel an eerie atmosphere. A small flame danced in Sayana’s palm, providing them with light.
“They're not that far ahead of us,” Colt grunted, crouched near the ground to read the footprints in the sodden earth. “It appears as though half a dozen of 'em escaped from the town. The princess is being dragged, from the looks of these heavy indentations. She's not giving up without a fight.”
“I don't know much about construction,” Aiden muttered, “but something tells me this tunnel wasn't built to last.” He was referring to the torrent of water streaming in from overhead, about twenty yards further down the tunnel. “It looks like this section goes right underneath the Stormflow river - it's just above our heads.” Nobody could avoid looking up at the ceiling, its porous dirt and sparsely placed wooden beams failing to instil them with confidence.
Aiden tried not to think about the countless tons of water just above their heads, as he jumped through a small waterfall cascading from the ceiling into the middle of the passageway.
The tunnel continued on for nearly a hundred yards, which was simply astonishing, in terms of both the trouble the mercenaries had gone to, and the fact that it hadn't yet collapsed. Colt wasn't bothering to look for tracks anymore, for the passage was basically straight.
Aiden was starting to get very anxious, wondering just how long they were going to be underground when they abruptly came to the end of the passageway. Sayana was crouched just beneath another hole, much like the entry back in town.
“No ladder,” she whispered. “They may have left a few men behind to ambush anyone coming through.”
“Kill the light,” Aiden whispered. She nodded and the light vanished, leaving them shrouded in darkness aside from the thin sliver of moonlight coming down from above. “Sy, could you fly up there and check it out?”
“Good idea,” Colt added. “Here, take this rope and tie it to something big.” She silently took the rope and quietly spoke an invocation. Aiden knew a little about magic, and what she did was so far outside anything he knew about the art, he wasn't even sure it was the same thing. But then, his magic shield and the little trick she had taught him with his vision weren't exactly by the book either.
Her glowing tattoos momentarily lit up the immediate area of the tunnel, though the writhing light faded after a few seconds returning them to darkness. Her shadow passing across the moonlight was the only indication of her upwards movement through the shaft.
“All clear,” Sayana called as the welcome sight of a rope tumbled down to them. Colt was the first one up, disappearing over the lip of the tunnel in a matter of moments, while Aiden had a little more trouble negotiating his way out. The tunnel had been excavated with trees and scrub providing cover and the wall of Bracksford wasn't visible from this location.
“Can you see any tracks in this light?” Aiden whispered to his companions.
“Vaguely, though not with any great detail,” Sayana whispered back.
“Here, put these on,” Aiden said, taking the lenses from his head and offering them to her. “Oh wait, you can't use them,” he added, suddenly remembering the blinding effect she had experienced when last using them. “Colt, put these over your eyes and see what you can find.” The big man took the proffered device and strapped them on his head.
“These are bloody impressive,” he grunted with amazement. “It's almost as bright as an overcast day out here.” He spent a moment looking around at their surroundings, before focusing on the mess of tracks at their feet. “They're heading north-east, which I could have told you even without these things.”
“What lies in that direction?” Sayana wondered.
“The town of Lachburne,” Colt answered.
“Could they be using it as a base?” Aiden mused aloud.
“Only if the mercs took control of it,” Colt answered. “We'll just have to follow the tracks and see what we see. Sy, light up and go find Nellise. We need those horses.”
“No need,” Pacian said as he and Nellise emerged from the scrub a short distance away with five magnificent horses in tow. “We followed the sound of your voices. I take it we’re safe for the moment?”
“The remaining captors will be travelling fast and light,” Colt explained. “We have to
keep going if we don’t want to lose them.”
“I don't know about you,” Pacian protested, “but I was really looking forward to a proper meal and a night's rest.”
“I couldn't agree more,” Nellise mumbled, “but I can't stop thinking about Criosa in the hands of those mercenaries.” She opened one of her pouches and produced her mortar and pestle.
“Oh no,” Pacian groaned, “Not that energy tonic again.”
“It's the only way we're going to keep on our feet,” Nellise advised, sounding less than thrilled by the prospect of using the bitter-tasting tonic once more. “When it runs out, we'll want to be somewhere we can rest.”
“Yes, I vividly recall what it felt like after it had run its course,” Aiden grumbled. Nellise ground the substance into a powder, then added some water and gave each of them a drink. Aiden couldn't help but shudder a little after swallowing the foul stuff.
“Guh,” Pacian exclaimed, walking around in circles a few times after drinking his share.
“Quit complaining and mount up,” Colt growled, giving Pacian a shove as he moved past.
Aiden caught Sayana’s attention while the others were taking a closer look at the horses. Looking at her long, curly red hair and large sad eyes, Aiden felt a longing to reach out and hold her close.
“Are we okay?” Aiden asked her tentatively. She gave him a curious look, then her expression became harder as she realised what he was referring to.
“This is not the time or place to discuss it,” Sayana answered distantly.
“Just... give me something.”
“You died, Aiden,” she hissed under her breath. “No-one comes back from that without being changed. I feel like you never returned from akora. A dragon always takes its price. You will find out what it took from you someday, and only then will you understand.” Without waiting for an answer, she headed over to join the others.
Nature Abhors a Vacuum (The Aielund Saga Book 1) Page 32