“No, Karrak, what you want is the Elixian Soul, do you think me that naïve?”
“Well that might be useful I admit but all I need is the location, its acquisition would be my problem. Come on, Schnepp, I’m going to get it anyway, name your price.”
“Your head, on a plate you maniac, now are you going to open that box or not?” shouted Schnepp.
***
The companions had now all been brought to Cheadleford village, apart from Grubb who had insisted that he would not leave Buster or the horses unattended. “Look, just go and do what ye have to do, leave me here, I’ll catch up later. Besides, all the food and things are on the wagons and we can’t do without those,” he protested.
The others, along with Emnor and the boys were now gathered in The Hangman’s Noose. A few waves of a wand had repaired enough tables and chairs to accommodate them all, as they sat awaiting whatever dire news Emnor was about to announce. Derrin’s rudimentary funeral had taken place during the transportation of the companions, with Lodren taking the initiative of banging a headstone into the ground with a gentle tap of his hammer.
“Derrin was a senior member of the Administration and there is no reasonable explanation as to why he would be here in Cheadleford. I personally, have not seen him for weeks, but if there were something of importance here, I’m sure he would have informed me. That leads me to believe that he was brought here against his will.”
“But there’s nothing here, Emnor,” said Jared.
“Exactly, so no witnesses. This was always a rough village, full of thieves and bandits. Decent folk avoided it and only travelling merchants of dubious character would venture here. Secrets would be easy to keep.”
“Karrak’s beasts were here, I know that for sure, I can smell them,” said Faylore.
“So Karrak was here, Derrin was here and those beasts were here. This is worse than I feared,” said Emnor.
The door to the inn opened and closed in a split second, and there stood Lawton and Poom.
“Did we miss anything?” asked Poom.
“Only that they’ve decided that the sorcerer and his pets have been here. Oh, and they found a dead body,” said Lawton.
“How do you know all that?” asked Lodren. “Have you been listening outside?”
Lawton sighed, “Well there’s a strange scent in the air of an animal I don’t recognise, you said something about the villagers being turned into some kind of beasts so therefore it must be them, that means the sorcerer must have been here. There’s a freshly dug grave on the outskirts of the village, it hasn’t rained and the ground is dry and grey but the soil on top of the grave is damp and black, so it can only just have been dug. On top of that there’s a headstone that’s been carved too neatly to have been done with tools so that means magic has been used and on top of it there are some slight cracks as if it has been knocked in with a hammer, that hammer at a guess,” and he pointed at Lodren’s hammer.
Lodren smiled and clapped his hands. “He’s very good isn’t he? Do another one,” he said.
Lawton was astonished that the Nibby thought that his deductions were some kind of trick.
“As I was saying…” continued Emnor, slightly annoyed at the interruption, “… it looks as if Karrak has taken to kidnapping senior members of the Administration in a bid to acquire information.”
“But what information could he hope for? He knows more magic than most of the Administration put together,” said Xarran.
“He’s not looking for more magic… he’s looking for the Elixian Soul!”
The source of the announcement was unexpected. Had Emnor spoken these words it would not have been surprising, but it had been said by Alexander. The room fell silent as all eyes turned to face him. The most questioning being those of Emnor. “Tell me, Alexander, what do you know of the Elixian Soul?” asked Emnor.
Alex made light of his comment and gave a nervous laugh. “Only that it’s a myth, Master Emnor, you know, like buried treasure stories.”
“It’s not a myth, Alex, and you know it’s not…” said Xarran, “… because you told us that one of the seniors mentioned it to you once, and that someone, was Master Derrin.”
“Yes, I did say that, but I never believed it. I just thought you might find it a bit of fun. He wouldn’t mention something like that if it were real would he, not to me. It was just a laugh, like ghost stories told in dark halls at night, things that go bump in the night, a powerful stone that would bring about the end of the world, it can’t be real, can it?”
“What would you say, Alex, if I told you that not only is it real, but that it has been protected by the Administration for centuries in the bowels of Reiggan to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands?” asked Emnor.
“So that’s why you warned us that our lives could be in danger? Karrak wants to find the Elixian Soul in order to rule the world!” Harley had at last fitted all pieces of the puzzle together.
“Yes and if my brother does get his hands on the Soul, he will show no mercy. He’ll destroy anyone who dares stand in his way,” said Jared.
“We’d better kill him quick then, where are you keeping this, thingy Soul?” asked Poom.
“Reiggan. We returned it to Reiggan Fortress, the last place he’d think to look,” answered Emnor.
“You hope he doesn’t…” growled Hannock, reaching for the golden crossbow that now hardly ever left his side “… but I hope he does.”
“Well there’s nothing we can do right now. We shall stay here overnight whilst we decide what our next steps should be,” said Emnor.
“But it’s barely midday, Master Emnor. We could cover a lot more ground if we continue immediately,” said Xarran.
“And what of Grubb, do we leave him behind? Do we also leave His Royal Highness and his companions? Do you not think that a little selfish?” asked Emnor.
“I could fetch Grubb, there and back in ten minutes, then we could go on ahead,” suggested Drake.
“Could you also bring the carts and horses?”
“Yes, if we do it in pairs,” replied Drake.
“I’m a bit worried about Mr Grubb, out there all on his own,” said Lodren.
“Worried about him!” exclaimed Hannock, “You’ve witnessed his transformations, Lodren, who would want to mess with that?”
“All the same, Mr Captain, I want to go back and get him, make sure he’s safe,” replied Lodren, holding his hammer and tapping it against his free hand.
“There are the Hissthaar to consider. They always travel in packs and if they do happen upon Grubb, they will attack,” advised Lawton.
“They’d be in for a shock if they did,” laughed Hannock.
“Harley, Xarran, return to Grubb and escort him here would you? Let us not take any risks,” ordered Emnor.
“I’ll go with you, Mr Grubb can be … difficult … with strangers,” said Lodren.
“What? Dear old grumpy Grubb. Are you thinking of the right person, Lodren?” asked Hannock, laughing again.
“He wouldn’t be so grumpy if you didn’t keep teasing him, Mr Captain,” Lodren snapped.
“Oh dear, looks like it’s contagious, you’ve got it now, the curse of the grumps.” Hannock it seemed, was back on form. Admittedly his goading of Lodren was uncalled, for but it was good to hear him laughing again.
“I shall accompany you,” said Faylore. It was quite obvious to all that this was not a request.
“As you wish, Your Majesty,” said Harley with a clumsy bow.
Alexander and Drake stepped forward, it had become obvious that this was a major operation to retrieve Grubb.
“And we’ll join you shortly,” said Poom, “Still need to stretch my legs and another sprint will do me good.”
Lawton looked at Poom with half-closed eyes, “What do you mean we?” he asked.
“Oh, alright then, Fatso, you wait here if you like,” replied Poom.
“I shall, and don’t go too fast will you? Too strong a
breeze may dislodge more of your mangy fur.”
The pair growled at one another in jest and with a gust of wind, Poom was gone.
***
The two young wizards, along with Lodren and Faylore, appeared just a few yards away from Grubb who, now used to the appearances and vanishings, barely turned a hair.
“What have you come back for now, all that magic making you hungry? Need some food off the cart?” he grumbled.
“No, we’re here to help keep you safe, Grubb,” said Lodren.
Grubb stopped dead in his tracks and looked about him. The open plains stretched for miles in every direction and there was no movement save the birds in the sky. “From what!?” exclaimed Grubb.
“Well you never know. You might get bitten by a snake or something, then you’d need our help,” suggested Lodren.
Grubb shook his lowered head and sighed in disbelief. “Come on, Buster, if we ignore ‘em they might bugger off and leave us in peace.”
The relocation of the horses and carts had not been as easy as they had first envisaged and, many hours later, they were all gathered in the village. Poom had joined them and, wanting to stretch his legs had spent most of the return journey running in circles around the carts before they were spirited away. Satisfied by his exercise, he now lay flat on the limb of an overhanging tree panting, his tongue hanging from the side of his mouth, looking very pleased with himself.
Not surprisingly, a large campfire had been built at the far end of the main road through the village. Consideration had been given to using one of the buildings as temporary lodgings but none of them could bear the discomfort they felt within, especially when re-entering The Hangman’s Noose. They discussed the risk of alerting nearby enemies of their presence before lighting the fire but decided that, if in fact there were any, they would surely have been detected by now.
A huge smile came upon Lodren’s face as he saw the firelight and he wasted no time in grabbing for his pots and pans. “Is there any water nearby?” he asked. Lawton pointed at the well located on the other side of the road. “Never even saw it, got a bit excited I suppose,” said Lodren and dashed across to it.
***
Later that evening, having enjoyed a hearty meal, they all sat around the campfire.
Emnor had spoken with Jared a little earlier and they had decided between them that a formal meeting should be held in order to ascertain what part, if any, each was to play in the continuation of their quest.
“My friends, I thank you all for your participation in what has become a most arduous task so far but I fear that any who may remain in our company…” began Jared.
“Look we don’t need any of your fancy speeches,” interrupted Grubb, “What ye want to know is, who’s staying and who’s going, right? We might be killed, we might be burned, bashed or blown up, right? So who wants to carry on? Raise your hands if you do and bugger off now if you don’t.”
Jared stared open-mouthed at Grubb who now had his hand in the air as, one by one, the rest of the now large gathering, followed suit.
“Right, that’s that out of the way, so what’s the plan, Your Highness?” asked Grubb smiling! Grubb… smiling?
“Ever thought of writing speeches for a living, Grubb?” asked Hannock.
“Captain Hannock, Sir… get stuffed,” replied Grubb, still smiling.
***
The companions, along with the wizards and Gerrowliens, discussed their plans at length with only one objection being raised, by Hannock.
“You know that if he gets his hands on the Soul you won’t be able to stop him,” he said.
“But we must make sure that he doesn’t,” stated Emnor.
“No, what you’re saying is that you’re going to try to stop him. If you can’t, you might hesitate if there’s only one conclusion, kill him. But I won’t hesitate, you need me with you.”
Emnor had to resign himself to the fact that Hannock was right. The slightest hesitation could easily result in the death of any one of them. “Very well, I concede. I admit that the last thing I could bring myself to do is to destroy him, but I also admit that his destruction may be our only option,” he sighed.
“I could kill him,” Alexander said quietly, then, realising that he had said it out loud added, “If one of us was in danger, I mean.”
“We leave at dawn, Captain Hannock, make sure to drink at least a pint of water before we depart,” said Emnor.
“A pint of water? Why do I need to drink a pint of water?” asked Hannock.
“Just do it, soldier boy, unless you want to arrive looking like our friend there,” snapped Drake and pointed at the freshly dug grave.
***
The following morning Drake approached Hannock and thrust a water pitcher toward him. “Drink up,” he said.
“Thank you…” said Hannock, then lowering his voice added, “… and the next time you call me soldier boy, I’ll take your head off… boy.”
“If you say so, soldier boy, if you say so,” smiled Drake.
The wizards, along with Hannock appeared in the mouth of the cave in which the companions had first met Grubb so long ago.
Confusion swept across Emnor’s face as he sniffed the air. “Do you smell that, Hannock?” he asked.
“Smoke, and a lot of it. Not merely a campfire, I suspect,” Hannock replied.
“Gentlemen, ready your wands,” instructed Emnor.
“Ready your what? What’s a one?” asked Hannock.
“I’ll tell you later, Captain, oh, and it’s a wand.”
Emnor headed along the trail with Hannock at his side, flanked closely by the others. Rounding the familiar curve they saw the gates of Reiggan Fortress, fully open, smoke billowing from them.
“This is worse than I feared, we are too late,” said Emnor.
They hurried forward and on reaching the gates, headed through into what was once the magnificent courtyard. Not one of the marble statues remained intact, parts of the walls were missing and everywhere was charred and black. Hannock raised the golden crossbow in front of him, prepared for the worst.
The boys’ mouths fell open as they witnessed the horrific scene. The corpses of many wizards littered the courtyard, some still smouldering having been burned alive, others crushed by falling masonry.
“Try not to look at them, boys, stay on your guard,” said Hannock. He had witnessed carnage before and knew that his words were meaningless to them, these were not battle-hardened warriors, just boys.
Emnor half walked, half stumbled across the courtyard. These were his friends, friends he had known for decades and in some cases, centuries. His heart skipped a beat. The secret staircase, it was open.
He rushed forward and descended, almost falling in his haste. He paused at the foot seeing that the chamber doors too, were open. He stood in the doorway staring at the pedestal and then at the wall behind it where the body of Schnepp had been pinned with crossbow bolts through his wrists, the words ‘my thanks’ burned into his chest.
Emnor turned to Hannock.
“He has it. Karrak has the Elixian Soul… His ascension has begun.”
They must now become…
THE BANE OF KARRAK
The Ascension of Karrak (Karrak Trilogy Part One) Page 31