Bre’ach’s eye looked blackened, and blood all but covered his shirt. As he tripped into the light, Gialyn saw the Kel’madden Troopers pushing him. He reached for his daggers and put himself between Elspeth and the tunnel. Olg stood to her left while she quickly strung her bow.
“You’ll not need those,” a voice said.
A tall, thickly-built Trooper stepped in front of Bre’ach.
It was the first time Gialyn had seen one up close. The Trooper reminded him of Arfael, although he was nothing like as big. He had a thick forehead, a broad nose, and virtually no neck to speak of. His head looked like it was stuck to his shoulders.
The Trooper had Olg by the elbow. He forced the poacher to his knees and drew his blade. Casually – as if he was ready to cut a harvest roast – he angled the blade under Olg’s chin. “Put down your weapons, or they die. And then you die.”
Slowly, Lud placed his short-sword on the ground in front of him. He nodded at Fran to do the same. Then turned to the Kel’madden. “How did you catch up to us while dragging two bound men behind you? We barely made it through.”
“I’m afraid that was my doing, hmm. Yes, it was,” a familiar voice said.
Tamson edged past the line of Kel’madden and took a step toward Elspeth. “I had to slow you down, pretty lady. So I sent you the long way.”
“I knew we shouldn’t have trusted you,” Lud groaned.
“Hmm, maybe, and maybe not,” the old man said. “I mean, what choice did you have? No choice, none at all. Don’t blame yourself, hmm. It’s not your fault. I must say, though, it was nice of you to trust old Tamson, yes it was. Thank you, yes, thank you. You show old Tamson respect, which is far more than I get from this lot.” Tamson looked sideways at the Trooper, his lip curled in disdain.
“Quiet old man,” the Trooper said. “We let you live, and that’s more than you deserve.”
“Oh, will you listen to him,” Tamson said. “Fool thinks it’s all over; doesn’t know old Tamson’s got a plan. Yes I have. A good plan, hmm, hmm.”
The Trooper looked puzzled; he turned to one of his men. “Somebody shoot him.”
Tamson hefted the thick cane he was carrying and thrust it, point down, onto the cavern floor. It made an almighty ringing sound. Gialyn couldn’t help but put his hands to his ears. The cane was still ringing when an even louder, high-pitched squeal filled the air. Mercifully, the shrill screech only lasted a few seconds. Then came the sound of ten-thousand flapping wings as the bats took off from their perch. Gialyn watched as they circled the cavern in unison, and then ducked as they flew towards him.
He need not have worried, though. The bats ignored him and his friends and attacked the eight Kel’madden Troopers.
Even so, Gialyn kept his arms up and backed away.
The Kel’madden split in all directions. A few made a futile attempt to kill the bats. They swiped through the air with their swords, killing five or ten at a time, but the bats were relentless. The Kel’madden turned towards the exit, only to find a great horde of crawling insects filing down from their home in the dung heap. They sounded like a thousand stones rolling down a cliff. The three soldiers closest to the exit made a run through the blanket of creeping creatures. The Troopers went two steps before the swarm overran them. There were so many insects that Gialyn could scarcely tell what was what – apart from the huge centipedes. He could see them easily enough; two feet long and thicker than his thumb. A Kel’madden screamed and one of the centipedes crawled swiftly into his open mouth. The Trooper bit down, severing the insect in two, but just as he did, another bit at his eyelid with its pincers. A thick layer of beetles and roaches swarmed over the Trooper as he fell to his knees. Mercifully, the screams stopped after a few seconds. Gialyn thought the screams sounded worse than the bats.
The other two soldiers had fared little better; a moving carpet of grey, brown and yellow covered them from head to foot. Three others had succumbed to the bats. Only the leader and one last Trooper remained.
It was then that Gialyn noticed Elspeth. The Kel’madden leader held a knife to her throat and gripped her tightly, using her as a shield. For a wonder, both the insects and the bats held back a good pace, surrounding the two of them, but moving no closer. The bats circled above them while the insects chattered and clicked in a wide circle around their feet.
The Kel’madden leader backed up towards the tunnel they had come through just as the insects overcame the last of his men.
“What witchery is this?” the Kel’madden squealed.
His eyes were wide and his face white. His head flicked from side to side and up towards the opening in the cavern ceiling; he was surrounded on all sides and from above.
“Hmm, yes, there is no way out. No there isn’t.” Tamson shook his finger at the Kel’madden as though he were telling off a small child. “Let the pretty lady go and my friends won’t eat you.”
The Trooper laughed. “You think me a fool, old man. I’m leaving with her. So you can just tell these… these… friends of yours to stay away.”
“Hmm, no, that’s not right; you are supposed to say yes! Hmm, why don’t you say yes?”
Tamson looked agitated. The clicking and foul chirping of the insects grew louder as they inched their way closer to Elspeth.
“No! Stop it, Tamson,” Gialyn shouted. “Please, calm down, he will do what you say, won’t you?” Gialyn looked at the Trooper, who squinted at him as if he thought Gialyn was mad, too. “It’s your only way out,” Gialyn told him.
The Trooper shook his head and turned back to Tamson. He was about to speak when Gialyn flicked his knife at him. The blade went through the Trooper’s eye, he fell to the ground in a heap.
With her hand outstretched, Elspeth took a tentative step towards Gialyn. The insects parted, letting her through. Gialyn pulled her close as if dragging her from the edge of a cliff.
“Thank you, Gialyn, thank you.”
The bats calmly flew to their perch, but the insects remained, covering the last Kel’madden like a bloody sea of carnage. Some scurried back to their dung heap, but others quickly replaced those. It looked like a trail of tiny carts, Gialyn thought. Each bug took its fill of the dead Troopers, then went happily back to its home.
“Hmm, yes, there’ll be bones soon, yes they will; shiny bones.”
Gialyn helped Bre’ach to his feet. The Salrian was holding his ribs and blood was still trickling from a cut on his forehead. Olg was already standing by Lud and Fran; all three stared at the old man.
“Sorry, hmm, had to fool you, yes,” Tamson muttered. He wasn’t facing anyone, but Gialyn thought he was talking to Elspeth. “Had to bring them here, yes I did. Knew they were coming, my friends told me. Had to bring them here so my friends could have them. Hmm, hmm. Had to save the pretty lady.”
“You’re a… a Raic?” Bre’ach asked the old man, then looked to Gialyn as if asking if he had gotten the name right.
“He must be,” Gialyn answered.
“No, no, no. There’s no Raic here, hmm, just the Tunnel Master, yes? The Tunnel Master saved the pretty lady, not slimy Raics. No, no; it’s my magic.”
Gialyn decided to let it be, but Lud had a question…
“Why did they bring Olg and Bre’ach through the tunnels? What purpose was there in that? Better to leave them. Or kill them.”
“Oh, yes, hmm, the witch would want to talk to them, yes? The witch wants to know everything, so she does.” Tamson fidgeted as he spoke, he scratched at his chin and neck. “The witch is powerful, yes? The witch is bad magic. Pretty lady should stay away from black eyes. Yes, she should. Yes, she should!”
“What witch? Do you mean Vila’slae?” Gialyn asked him.
The old man shrugged. “Don’t know, hmm. Don’t know what they call her. No, I do not. She is strong. My little ones won’t work on her. No, not her, she has the Power!”
“It must be her,” Gialyn said. “How many witches can there be?”
“Where is she
?” Bre’ach asked.
Tamson shrugged again and pointed aimlessly towards the south. “Down there, hmm. You must go around. The pretty lady should stay away from the witch, yes. Hmm, hmm.”
“Aye, Tamson, I think that’s a good idea, my friend,” Bre’ach said.
“Tamson’s not your friend; Tamson is pretty lady’s friend. You’re just trouble! Hmm. Swords and fighting, bringing pretties into the tunnels, yes? You are trouble, yes you are! The little ones can have you, too, if pretty lady is hurt! Yes they can!”
Bre’ach gazed uneasily at the blanket of insects, and then up at the ceiling where the bats were once again hanging on the high shelf under the opening. It seemed as if he expected them to attack at any moment.
Elspeth took a step forward and reached out for Tamson’s hand. “They are my friends, Tamson; they have all saved my life, many times. You need not worry.”
Tamson smiled and hugged Elspeth, squeezing her close. His smile broadened when she hugged him back. She gave him a pat on the shoulder and tried to move, but he would not let her go.
“Hmm, you’re a pretty lady, yes? My daughter is a pretty lady, too.” The old man swallowed, and tears filled the corners of his pale eyes. “She was a pretty lady, too. You go home, yes? Hmm, you go home to your mother, and you stay there, hmm. Yes, you do that for Tamson; you stay safe, don’t let the White Eyes kill you, too. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.”
Gialyn was glad Elspeth didn’t ask who the “White Eyes” were. Elspeth hugged the old man again and whispered in his ear. Tamson’s jaw quivered and a tear rolled down his cheek. He said nothing, but let her go, all the while nodding his head and saying, “Hmm, hmm, hmm.”
Bre’ach coughed. “Sir, can you tell us the best way out of here?”
The old man nodded. “Same as before, yes, follow the stream. Follow the stream to the river… and follow the river to the city. Easy, yes, hmm. Easy enough for a child. Hmm.”
Gialyn bowed to Tamson as the others gathered their things.
“You should come with us,” Olg said. “You will not be safe here, once they find out what you have done.”
“Hmm, Tamson did nothing, hmm. Don’t worry about Tamson. My friends killed the bad ones, not Tamson. They will kill others, too. Hmm, yes they will. The witch won’t come. No, the witch won’t bother with old Tamson.”
“Are you sure about that?” Olg asked him.
“The White Eyes will stop her, yes. The White Eyes will kill us all. She knows, hmm. She went the safe way. She knows the White Eyes are here. No, hmm, she won’t come for Tamson.”
Gialyn wanted to ask, and from the look on Bre’ach’s face, he wanted to ask, too, but neither did. A silence came over the group, it seemed they all knew something terrible must be in the caves, but nobody was in a hurry to find out what it was.
“We’ll keep to the path,” Olg said, as though he were reading their minds. “We’ll be safe enough.”
Tamson nodded. “Yes! The path; keep right, keep right, never left, hmm, hmm. Right is right!”
Bre’ach picked up his sword and pack from next to one of the now half-eaten Kel’madden. Gialyn winced as he watched him carefully avoiding the river of insects that strung out from the dung heap to the bodies and back. Olg took the pack from Bre’ach and Lud offered him an arm; he was still limping a little and holding his ribs. Once they were set, Fran led them through the right side tunnel.
“Yes, hmm. Right is right; right is right. Don’t forget that right is right!” Tamson’s voice echoed in the tunnel until they turned the first corner. Then they were alone again. Elspeth lit her lantern and Gialyn followed, as the group made their way through, what they hoped, would be the last they ever saw of the Tunnels of Aldregair.
CHAPTER 25
Shine
Gialyn squinted along the tunnel as the light from Elspeth’s small lantern disappeared beyond yet another turn.
“Are you sure this is right?” he mumbled, not really expecting anyone to hear.
“‘Right is right,’ that’s what the man said,” Olg told him.
“I know,” Gialyn replied over his shoulder, “but the last right turn brought us to a dead end. And there are all these smaller tunnels…? What if we missed something?”
Olg shrugged.
Gialyn faced forward to find the tunnel ahead even darker; he could barely see the glow from Elspeth’s lantern.
“She’s going to get lost if she doesn’t slow down. Why is she in such a rush?”
“I think it was the bugs,” Bre’ach said. Gialyn saw him shudder, and then hold his ribs tighter. “If I could keep up, I would be with her; probably in front. Who’d have thought beetles could do that to a man? And so quickly, too.”
For all his bruises, Bre’ach was looking better. For the last ten minutes, he had managed on his own, without Olg’s shoulder to lean on.
“You’re walking faster,” Gialyn told him. “Has the pain gone?”
“I’m trying to ignore it,” Bre’ach answered. He tested his ribs and let out a low grunt. “To be honest, another hour of this and I’ll have to stop and rest whether we are out of here or not. Maybe less than an hour, if she doesn’t slow down.”
Gialyn looked over his shoulder at Olg and then back to Bre’ach. “Why did they beat you so hard? Olg hardly has a scratch.”
Bre’ach sneered. “That’s because he threw his hands in the air at the first sight of them.”
“There were eight!” Olg moaned in a high-pitched, almost squealing tone. “Little point fighting two against eight. If you’d stopped to think, you would have realised what would happen. But you had to go acting like a bull-headed child; throwing your weight around like some old-time hero. I’m surprised they didn’t kill you.”
Bre’ach stopped. Resting his hand against the tunnel wall, he slowly turned to face Olg. “We could have run, at least; we were close enough to the tunnel. But you… no, you might as well have walked over and surrendered. I don’t even think they saw us until you stood up.”
“They were walking our way, Bre’ach; they would have seen us in another few seconds and might have shot first. And running would have been foolish; we would have caught up to the others all the sooner. And then where would we be?” Olg hoisted his pack up higher. “I’ll tell you where; we would all be marching to the witch, that’s where. Foolish child.” Olg whispered the last bit, but not very quietly.
“Oh, so that was the plan, was it? Throw up your hands in surrender so that the others could escape.” Bre’ach waved his arms in the air in mimicry, and then looked like he wished he hadn’t. He winced and grabbed tighter at his ribs. “Well, that was good of you; very noble.”
“The thought had crossed my mind,” Olg said. He had caught up to Gialyn and raised his chin in response to Bre’ach’s accusation. “You young ones; you’re always ready for a fight; never a thought for what might happen two steps down the road. You’ll learn.”
Gialyn heard Fran closing up behind. The little man tapped Olg on the shoulder. “The girl is getting away from us. Can we save the arguments until after we’ve caught up?”
Gialyn spun his head to the front. There was no sign of Elspeth’s lantern. “Bloody hell, where has she got to?”
Lud laughed. “Don’t worry about that one, boy. She’s no fool; she’ll not leave the path. Let her scout ahead; gold to a copper she’ll be sitting waiting for us at the next junction.”
“You’re probably right,” Gialyn said, but he didn’t like it. “We could do with her lantern, though; that little thing of yours is next to useless.” He nodded at the tiny candle lamp Lud had dangling from the end of his bow.
“It’s good enough, boy,” Lud said, looking at his lamp. “It’s not like there’s much to see.”
Gialyn sighed as they all continued walking. “Maybe so, but still, there could be a chasm three paces in front, and none of us would see it.”
Lud laughed again. “Why do you think I’m letting you lead?”
Gialyn
felt Lud slap him on the back. He didn’t think it was very funny; it would be just his luck to fall down a hole.
Ten minutes passed and shadows formed up ahead. Gialyn thought it was another cavern, but when they reached it, it was a fork in the tunnel. To the right, a smaller tunnel split off from the main shaft, sloping down into pitch dark. Ahead, the main tunnel carried straight on. “Why isn’t she here? She should be waiting here,” Gialyn asked Bre’ach
Bre’ach said nothing. He took the opportunity to sit and rest. Olg sighed. Then he, too, sat down. Only Fran looked remotely concerned.
“She would have taken the right-hand path.”
“I know that,” Gialyn said. He barely managed to mask his annoyance. Stupid girl; why does she always do this? Bull-headed fool. “She was supposed to wait for us, not go on ahead.”
Gialyn looked at Bre’ach. “It’s no good sitting down,” he said.
“I’m done,” Bre’ach moaned. “I need ten minutes. I can barely feel my legs.”
“We can’t stop. What if she gets into trouble?”
“Then that’ll teach her to run off like a foolish child, won’t it?”
“What? That’s no answer. Come on, you can rest when we catch up to her.”
“I’m not joking, Gialyn. I have gone as far as I can for now. Ten minutes, that’s all. I need to rest. Besides, she heard the old man as clearly as the rest of us: ‘Right is right.’ She won’t get lost.”
Fran pushed past Gialyn. “Give me the lamp, Lud. I’ll run ahead and tell her to wait.”
Lud looked reluctant, but he handed over the lamp.
“You sit here and rest, Gialyn,” Fran told him. “I’ll not be long; she can’t be that far ahead.”
Gialyn nodded. He was about to suggest going with him, but he knew well enough that Fran was the fastest, even though he was a good ten years older. “Thank you, Fran. And tell her she’s a fool.”
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