Long, Dark Road

by Bianculli, Susan

  Chapter 30

  When we entered the tunnel mouth a breath of cool, springtime scented air blasted us in the face. We sat down abruptly, and I breathed it in with huge gulps of appreciation.

  “Breathe, Lise. Breathe, Jason. Breathe, Dusk. I have created a bubble of herbed air to help cleanse the poison out of our systems. Let it do its work,” Auraus said with weary relief at our entrance.

  I was only too happy to comply. Looking around me, I could see Heather and Ragar sitting nearby and already looking much better. Then a hand intertwined with mine.

  “You gave me quite a scare there, chica,” Jason said with a touch of anxiety.

  “Yeah, well, I was scared myself,” I tried to say back lightly, but the quiver in my voice gave it more depth than I’d wanted.

  Jason enfolded me in a big hug, cradling the back of my head with one of his hands. “You are going to live to get out of here. We all are. And we are going to eventually get home. Those are my final words on the matter,” he said fiercely.

  I rested my head against his chest. Going home was a comforting dream. The next mist gate that could do that for us, the last one for him and me since it would be gate number three, was supposed to be opening somewhere around Summer Solstice. That is, if the guess I’d made before about their timing after we’d rescued Jason was right. I’d lost track of how long we’d been underground this time, but I was pretty sure we had days and days left before then, which meant we had plenty of time to rescue Arghen and get back to the Surface.

  Or did we? I wondered all of a sudden as panic gripped me. What if Jason and I had to go back through the gate that brought us here? He and I had first come through a mist gate way back in Oakalyn the dryad’s woods, which was somewhere in the area which would correspond to New York City on the human side. But Heather had come through in the Catskill Mountains, which were called the Garrend Mountains here. And those two places were over a hundred miles apart. Caelestis had told she would hold Heather’s gate for me so I could choose to use it to go home instead of rescuing Jason, but what if Caelestis had been wrong? She hadn’t been a Goddess when the Disjoin was created. What if Heather, Jason and I each needed to go back through the gate that had brought us to this world? If that were true, that meant all those days and days I thought we had were not such a comfortable margin anymore. It had taken quite a while for Jason and me to get from Oakalyn’s woods to the mountains, and maybe not even a magic carpet would be able to get us back in time. And I didn’t want anybody paying a price to Frelanfur for us. I couldn’t ask that of anyone. If we were going to go home, then we had to do it ourselves.

  Jason, feeling the sudden tenseness in my body, tilted my chin up so he could look at me. “What’s wrong, chica? You’ve gone stiff as a board. It’s not because I’m holding you, is it?” he ended playfully.

  “It’s nothing that’s important right now,” I said, forcing myself to relax. “What’s important now is to move on. Arghen needs us.”

  I made myself switch gears and think about my friend and mentor. Poor Arghen. I wished there was a way to let him know that we were coming for him. Focusing on him helped push back my worries.

  “How is everybody feeling?” I asked, standing up out of Jason’s hug with only a slight stumble.

  Everybody more or less said they were all right. Auraus advised us all to have a quick bite to eat and to take a sip from our small wineskins of the pep-me-up potion, as I privately called it, before we continued on. As soon as the combination of food and liquid energy coursed through my system I realized just how tired I had been, compared to what I felt now, and resolved to remember to sip the pep stuff more often.

  Auraus said, “Maybe we should leave some sort of message to let the Kelsavaxians know that we, ah, disarmed a trap for them, and that the way forward is safer.”

  “Good idea,” I said.

  “But what if Chirasnivians see it before the Kelsavaxians do?” asked Dusk.

  I paused for a moment at that thought, then shook my head. “I am going to assume that the Chirasnivians will not be returning from that battlefield.”

  “Even though we witnessed them retreat when they kidnapped Jason?” asked Dusk.

  Jason’s face went still, and I frowned. Dusk hadn’t had to remind Jason of his captivity, I felt. But then, Dusk’s words were meant for me, not Jason.

  “I think the chance of it being the Kelsavaxians is higher than it being the Chirasnivians. So let’s do it,” I said finally, though not as firmly as I might have liked.

  Dusk nodded acceptance, then cautiously stepped outside the bubble to sniff the air a couple of times. He waved his hand to let us know it was all right to come out. We ran back quickly across the cavern and flaked stone chips off of columns and stalagmites and used them to form the words, “Safe to cross now—from Surfacers”.

  “Maybe that will shorten the paranoid time the Kelsavaxians will spend searching when they get here,” Auraus said with a wry smile.

  “Or slow down any retreating Chirasnivians because it is definite proof that enemies have gotten behind their line,” said Dusk soberly.

  The six of us headed back across the cavern and down the tunnel towards the next killing field.

  “Maybe we should stick the Conductivus with a bill for clearing out that trap for him,” Jason joked as we trotted along.

  “We may have done the Kelsavaxians a favor that their Conductivus does not yet realize,” Dusk mused. “Hopefully we can use that as a point in our favor should we come into conflict with him over some unforeseen circumstance in the future.”

  We came to the next killing field, which looked a lot like the first one. Once again Auraus used her magic to find out if there was anybody waiting to ambush us, and once again the answer was “no.”

  Dusk frowned. “I wish you had a way of detecting traps, Auraus. I do not think the Chirasnivians would be using a poison trap again if there was one, so I do not think Ragar’s nose would be helpful here, Lise.”

  “What do you think is there?” I asked him.

  Dusk shrugged. “It could be nothing this time, but because the Under-elves are suspicious they will not trust that and will take their time checking before crossing. The Chirasnivians may be banking on the Kelsavaxians to be like that.”

  “Why would they do that?” Heather asked.

  “Because it is a delaying tactic. The Kelsavaxians would not think there is nothing, so they would waste time looking twice as hard for something that is not there. If there is truly nothing there.”

  “Let’s find out, Lise,” Jason suggested. “If there isn’t, we can leave the Kelsavaxians another note or something letting them know they don’t have to waste time looking.”

  Dusk sighed, but he didn’t say anything about his thoughts that the next set of Under-elves from behind us could be Chirasnivian.

  “All right. Let’s try out the cavern,” I said.

  We spread out into the second of the three killing fields, sweeping slowly across the cavern in a line and checking for traps this time. I smiled to see that Ragar, despite’s Dusk’s words, was still busily sniffing as he walked. But Dusk was right again. There wasn’t anything to be found. Or at least, we didn’t find anything when we reached the other side. We went back and left the Kelsavaxians another message of safety before heading toward Chirasniv again.

  “There are only two places where the next ambush or fighting force can be,” said Dusk as we trotted along. “Either Chirasnivian military will be in the last killing field, or they will be massed in front of the gates they cannot close.”

  “Are we sure about the gates?” asked Jason. “I mean, I know we said that to the Conductivus, but ….”

  “Frelanfur gave his word,” Dusk interrupted him. “A dragon’s word is his bond.”

  Jason gave a shrug.

  The Miscere Surface-elf went on, “Which place the Chirasnivians choose to make a stand will depend on who is leading them. If their leader is someone who likes a
n all-out fight, then they will be waiting for invaders in the killing field. If they are going to be more defensive, then they will be waiting in the area before the gate. Or they may choose to split the difference and have forces in both places.”

  “Hold up!” said Heather, pulling up short. “Aren’t we forgetting about someone?”

  “Who?” I asked her as we stopped, too.

  “The Conductivus of Chirasniv,” Heather reminded us. “The real one, not the apprentice one. She will have to be with the enemy troops up ahead, right?”

  I quirked my face. “Yeah, most likely.”

  “Which means that she probably has her souls out scouting right now, right?”

  Uh-oh. I saw where Heather was going with this, and I didn’t like it because I hadn’t thought about that. And as leader I should have, especially since I’d seen the Kelsavaxian Conductivus and Venire do stuff like that with souls.

  “What should we do, then?” asked Auraus. “Wait here, go ahead, or go back?”

  They all looked at me.

  I gulped.

  Chapter 31

  What should we do? I wondered. There are pros and cons to each of the choices Auraus mentioned.

  Going ahead we could definitely find out one way or the other if the forces were waiting in the last killing field ahead. Of course, that would also mean they would see us, and being surrounded by even a small part of an army wasn’t something I particularly wanted to experience today. Or any day, for that matter. Waiting here could have the souls who were perhaps spying on us telling the Chirasnivian Conductivus where we were, resulting in a detachment being sent to deal with us one way or another. Going back was probably the best option, but it seemed like a waste of time to have come all the way here hoping to slip into Chirasniv ahead of the Kelsavaxians just to go back again. And that assumed we didn’t run into retreating Chirasnivians, which Dusk had reminded us more than once could happen.

  “Realistically, there is no way we can sneak past the Chirasnivians without help,” I said reluctantly. “I think it would be stupid to go back if we don’t have to, so let’s see if there is anybody in the last killing field up ahead. Auraus? Can you do that searching-for-people spell again?”

  The Wind-rider nodded. “I can, but I should let you know that I am running out of casting abilities. I may only be a conduit for divine energy, but even a conduit gets tired and unable to function.”

  “Doesn’t the energy drink pep you up and make you energized enough to cast more magic?” asked Heather.

  Auraus smiled. “It is not so much matter of physical energy as mental energy. My mind can only do so many things before I find it hard to concentrate, no matter what the state of my body. Have you not ever felt like that?”

  Heather and I both nodded. I wasn’t sure what Heather was thinking about, but for me that would be going back to school after a morning field trip someplace educational. When you got back, your body was wired from being away from classes, but your brain was tired from everything the teachers had tried to stuff in it while you were out. Getting your brain back into regular school mode for the rest of the afternoon was nearly impossible, or so I’d found.

  “But I digress. Let me see what there may be,” Auraus finished. She cast her spell and in a couple of minutes said, “There is no one in the cavern up ahead, either.”

  “Then that’s where we wait,” I decided. “And hope that souls haven’t been peeking at us. Let’s hide out among the rocks along the sides of the cavern where Ragar had been webbed to the rocks. Sorry, Ragar,” I apologized to him as he stirred uncomfortably at that reminder of Bascom’s magical attack on him, “and maybe we can cat-nap there until the next battle happens.” I grimaced, looking at the mountain-cat-elf. “Sorry again, Ragar.”

  “Cat-nap?” he asked.

  “Uh,” I stuttered.

  “She means sleep lightly and on guard,” Jason said, jumping in.

  “Ah. Cat-nap. I like the sound of that,” the mountain-cat-elf said, pleased.

  Heather, Jason, and I smiled.

  We snuck into the last cavern, which again sort of resembled the last two killing fields, and hid out in the place where Auraus had kept our mounts the last time we’d been to Chirasniv. It was a sort of pocket kind of place surrounded by boulders of varying sizes on one of the sides of the cavern, but the grey and black speckled stones had been tall enough to hide the mounts from casual view last time. I thought they’d be good for us this time. After cleaning up the place a little by sweeping horse poop into a pile against one of the boulders with the corners of our cloaks, I broke us up into short watches. I put Ragar on first since he seemed the most awake of all of us before I curled up with Jason to sleep. It didn’t seem like all that long before I was woken up for my shift, and I reluctantly slipped free of Jason’s arms. Jason briefly opened his eyes to make sure everything was okay. When he was satisfied it was, he dropped back off almost right away again.

  “Nothing going on?” I asked Dusk, who’d woken me.

  “No. Which is almost as suspicious in and of itself,” came the reply.

  “Maybe Caelestis and Quiris have figured out a way to combine their powers to help hide us?” I suggested hopefully.

  “We can only hope.” He yawned. “I will go rest now.”

  Dusk made himself comfortable against Auraus, and I, stretching and yawning myself, went to stand on watch by peering out between gaps in the boulders, and hoped nothing would happen. Not much later I found out that those hopes were futile.

  “Raise weaponless hands over your head,” said a harsh voice out of nowhere.

  My hand, which had been idly half-gripping my saber’s handle, almost of its own volition half drew my sword as I spun around to look at my companions and whatever was behind me. I was aghast to see an Under-elven war-spear in steady pale hands pointed at me, and that each of my friends had a spear or sword pointed at their necks by Under-elves dressed in armor and wearing the Chirasnivian red sashes we’d seen on the last battlefield. They had appeared out of nowhere, as far as I was concerned, and I kicked myself for it. How had we been noticed? I saw that Dusk had woken up, probably when the warrior had started menacing me, but the Miscere-elf lay unmoving as he looked steadily at the Under-elf above him; recognizing the disadvantage he was at. I reluctantly shoved my blade all the way back into my sheath before I raised my hands to only shoulder height in a small show of rebellion.

  “How did you invaders get all the way to here?” The warrior holding me at spear point, a Sub-leader by his marks of rank, asked me in his rough voice. Then he peered at me closer, something like anxiety shadowing his dark amber eyes. “Are you ill with something? You do not look healthy.”

  The thought that I might be sick seemed to scare him, and it flashed in my mind that one thing an underground society must fear would be a plague or sickness that spread fast among its inhabitants.

  “Answer me!” he said, shaking his weapon at me a little as if to emphasize his need to know.

  I debated with myself a short moment about answering “yes,” but figured that he would probably just kill me right away if I did, and probably for good measure the others, who were starting to stir to an unpleasant wakefulness. But answering truthfully might throw them for a loop, allowing us some sort of advantage.

  “No,” I said loudly. “I’m not sick. I am a Surfacer who isn’t a Surface-elf. I’m just wearing a disguise, Sub-leader. Makeup, you know. Most of us are,” I said, nodding to indicate my companions.

  “A Surfacer?” he said, sounding astonished.

  Murmurs of surprise and disbelief came from the double quad of rank-and-file warriors he led.

  “Yes,” I replied.

  “If this is true, this would be a big coup for us, Sub-leader!” said one of the female warriors.

  The Sub-leader, eagerness poorly hidden on his face, demanded of me, “Prove it.”

  “There is a special solution I need to get out of my pack to get this stuff off my
face,” I said. “Otherwise it doesn’t come off easily. I can’t just wipe it away.”

  “No pack,” he insisted. “Wipe whatever it is away with your sleeve or something.”

  “Look, Sub-leader ….”

  “If you are a Surfacer how do you know my rank?” he asked, suspicious again.

  “Because I have had some interactions with Under-elves before,” I admitted reluctantly.

  “How?” he demanded.

  “Because we’ve been to Chirasniv before,” I said even more reluctantly.

  “Were you some of our escapees who are ill-advisedly returning for the others?”

  “No.”

  He paused for a moment, then asked me, “Are you the cause of why we have been put on active duty?”

  I remained silent. I’d been answering his questions because I’d been trying to rack my brains for a way out of this mess, but if I answered that one straight out, I’d be signing all our death warrants. The Sub-leader grew impatient when I continued to stand there saying nothing.

  “Answer me!”

  “It is obvious that they are,” said one of the Sub-leader’s subordinates.

  “Unless they are lying in hopes of stalling us,” said another.

  “But she has not admitted that yet,” said the first speaker.

  “But if they are, why is this advance force so small?” asked another.

  Heather, lying on the floor, all of a sudden said, “Yeah, we’re the cause. And if you don’t want to end up like all your other soldiers, you’ll back away slowly right now!”

  I mentally face-palmed myself. While I appreciated her trying to help, that was not it.

  “What do you mean by that?” the Sub-leader demanded, turning to look at Heather.

  I flashed a quick questioning look at Dusk while nodding fractionally at the Under-elf in front of me, and Dusk gave back a quick head bob.

  “Haaaaiii!” I screamed as I threw myself in a football tackle at the Subleader under the wicked spear tip.