by Angie West
“What is it?”
“The path I followed her down….”
“What about it?”
“There were ghosts there. Ghost girls. They lined the path on both sides. I’ve never seen anything like it.” I shook my head to clear away the memory.
“The dolls,” Aries breathed. “You’ve seen the dolls.”
“Other people have seen them too?” That was a relief.
“Yes. The woods of Keogh are believed by many to be haunted by the spirits of the children who died there. Or were taken from there.”
“I don’t understand.”
“There was an orphanage in Haelport years ago. It used to sit on the edge of town.”
“Where I found Ashley?”
“Sounds about right, yes. The children in the orphanage began to come up missing. The sad truth is, at first, no one thought much of the disappearances. It was not uncommon for orphans to run away, or to wander off. The children’s homes are not the best places to live, and as a rule, they aren’t very well staffed. But more and more children began to disappear. Sometimes as many as two or three in a week’s time.”
“Where did they all go?” My heart was thudding painfully against my rib cage as I waited for the answer.
“Well, it was never officially confirmed, but there was talk of the brothel owner, Lydia, and her girls, luring the children into that forest. The girls went to work in her brothel. The boys were delivered to Kahn to build his army.”
“Oh Lord.”
“The ghost girls are believed to haunt the forest there to warn people away from the woods. And from Lydia and the Lauhuel.”
“The Lahuel? Who are they?”
“You mean what is it?” Aries shivered in the cool breeze of the mountain. “The Lahuel was a demon warrior who was in charge of delivering souls to Kahn. He was often portrayed as a god of war. But most of the people in the villages just called him the Shadow Man.”
My head snapped up at that last part. “The Shadow Man? Why do they call him that?” I demanded.
“I don’t know. Maybe because of his appearance. Maybe because he operated in secret, in the shadows. Who knows?” Aries eyed me cautiously. “The point is, he’s bad news.”
“I see.” I swallowed hard and made a mental note to find out everything I could on the Lahuel as soon as we returned to Grandview.
“So what happened after you saw the dolls?”
“Why do they call them that?” I murmured, looking up to the clear sky above.
Aries shrugged. “Something about their clothing making them look like dolls. Why do you ask?”
“No reason, I guess. Where was I?”
“You met the dolls on the path.”
“Oh, right.” I nodded. “I followed Ashley down the path and into the woods. She was still just sort of wandering aimlessly. I saw a group of guards not far from us. It’s a miracle they didn’t spot us.” I pushed a lock of hair from my eyes. “My brother was with the guards. They had him tied in the center of their makeshift camp, in a small clearing. When they slipped up and left him unguarded for a few moments, I hid Ashley in some bushes nearby and slipped into the camp to rescue him. For the most part, he was unharmed. We left the woods and drove to Lerna, where Mike had buried his key in the woods…the spot where both of us had crossed over into Terlain from our own world. That’s when everything went bad, so to speak. We were ambushed in those woods, right after we retrieved his key. The guards had us surrounded and we had no weapons, no help…no one even knew where we were to start looking for us. So we crossed back to our own world. And we took Ashley with us,” I finished. Aries was still regarding me in absolute silence.
“I know we shouldn’t have taken her. The original plan was only to bring her back to Bob and Marta. To leave her with them so that they could locate her parents, or at least find her a safe place to stay. I thought about taking her back to Haelport, but I didn’t want her to wander off again. Not to mention, I hadn’t a clue where she belonged. That’s why we decided to take her to Bob and Marta. Then the guards found us.”
“You couldn’t leave her in the woods with them,” Aries agreed in a comforting tone.
“No, we couldn’t. It would have been a death sentence, or worse.”
I was relieved that Aries understood why we had taken Ashley home with us. The first several weeks after we had returned home, while Mike and I were deciding what to do, I had lived in a constant fear of being arrested on kidnapping charges. Which was, of course, ridiculous. But still, the decision to keep her was not one that I took lightly. “Right after we left Terlain, I had planned to take her back, the first chance I could. But then, we noticed the bruises all over her, and she confessed that her parents were dead. Killed by people she called ‘the bad men.’”
“The guards?”
“I’m assuming so, yes. So that’s when Mike decided it was best that we destroy our keys and I adopted her.”
“I’m glad you didn’t destroy your key, Claire.”
“So am I. I just…couldn’t bring myself to do it. I should have come back before now, though. I never said goodbye to Mark, or anyone else.”
“I’m sure he will understand. More than that, I’m sure he will be glad to see you.”
“You really think so?”
“Of course. You heard what Bob and Marta said. He practically tore the lands apart looking for you. He was grief-stricken.”
“Grief-stricken enough to take to the ruins in the mountains and start his own army?”
“I think so. Don’t you?”
“Yes,” I nodded decisively. “Yes, I do. The timing, the description, everything matches up and points to Mark.”
“Right. So don’t be nervous. Are you rested enough to go on now?”
I stood to follow her up the craggy mountain path, my energy restored for the moment. “Let’s do it.”
***
It was several hours later and pitch dark when we stopped for food and sleep. We were nearly to the top of the mountain and the ruins. Had it been daylight, we probably could have pressed on rather than stopping for the night. But the dark made the mountain treacherous and difficult to navigate, for me at least. Aries seemed to have better night vision than I did. What a surprise.
“Chicken or beef?”
“What does the chef recommend?” I asked her wearily.
“Honestly? Neither.”
“Chicken it is.”
“Fine. I’ll take the beef.” She smiled and sat cross-legged in the brush across from me.
“Where do we sleep?” I questioned between bites of cold chicken. It actually was not all that bad for canned chicken.
“Over there.” She pointed to a thick spot of brush. “Tuck yourself underneath it as far as you can. It should provide adequate cover. I’ll be on this ledge keeping first watch.”
“You’re taking first watch? Are you sure?”
“Yes. Get some sleep. I’ll wake you if anything happens, don’t worry.”
I didn’t tell her that waking me if anything should happen was the least of my worries. Her not being able to wake me was what I was more concerned about. That didn’t exactly make for a decent night’s sleep, or a decent few hours’ sleep, I should say. I dozed on and off for about three and a half hours before I gave up and took Aries’s spot on the ledge.
I heard the faint scratching sound close to three in the morning. I knew it was three in the morning because the faint shimmer of dawn was approaching; the sun rose earlier here in the mountains. I had been thinking about the Shadow Man—Lahuel—and how three in the morning was considered by some to be the “witching hour.” So the hairs on the back of my neck were already standing up by the time I heard the rustling to my left. Well, technically, I didn’t have hair on the back of my neck. I waxed every six weeks.
The point was, I was already on edge, so I thought I had possibly imagined the scratching sounds.
“Aries, wake up.” Better safe than sorry, I figured
as I knelt down to rouse her from her spot under the brush.
“What is it?” She was instantly alert.
“I think I heard a noise. It came from—”
“Right behind you!”
“No, actually, it was a little to the left around the—”
“No, behind you! Get down!” In one fluid motion, she shoved me aside and rolled out of the brush.
“Stay back, Claire!”
My eyes widened in an equal mix of shock and horror when I saw the bird. At least, I thought it was a bird. It was big, easily twice the size of an ostrich. Its coat was jeweled in a rich myriad of colors, and it was angry. Or hungry. I swallowed and scrambled for my gun as the thing lunged at Aries. The thin gray light of day was beginning to creep over the mountain and chase away the shadows; I could see a dark substance stained the bird’s claws and razor-like teeth. Blood. I fired the gun twice before the creature fell to the ground in a shiny, feathery heap. Aries had fired a weapon of her own into the thing—a lethal-looking bronze-tipped arrow.
“What the hell was that?” I gasped, feeling unsteady on my feet.
“Aragazzi.” She handed me my pack and slipped into her own.
“Aragazzi,” I repeated dumbly.
“It means, ‘guardian of the mountain.’”
“It had blood on its claws and teeth…should we go check if anyone is hurt?”
“No. We should get moving. Right now.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. They travel in packs. We have to get out of here now.”
“Enough said. Let’s go.”
Chapter Eight
The Ruins
The fog was thick. I watched his shadow move through the mist. There were others with him, and I drew in a sharp breath of thin mountain air, staying still and silent in the gloom. I knew we were hidden from view of the group that danced before us…warriors that moved in such a way as to be termed beautiful. Most carried a sword or what looked to be kendo sticks. It was difficult to see much more than basic outlines at that distance.
“Aries, that’s him; it’s really him.” I couldn’t drag in enough air. I couldn’t seem to help the sudden case of nerves. “It’s Mark,” I whispered. She didn’t respond and I didn’t look back at her. It seemed I couldn’t take my eyes off the man in the shadows.
I would never be able to say how I knew it was him, but I did. I had dreamed of him, of the moment I would see him again, for so long that I half expected to wake up at any second. I would find that this had all been a dream. The sunlight would be streaming through the tall windows and spilling over the Navajo rug in my bedroom like it always did. Ashley would be snuggled at my side because she’d had another bad dream and had climbed into bed with me sometime during the night.
But when I opened my eyes, Ashley was not there and neither was my bedroom. I blinked hard against the fog. The ruins rose majestically in the distance where the men had ceased their practice. I took an instinctive step back, nearly bumping into my companion. Mark was advancing through the mist, and I hastily turned around and pushed Aries toward the path that lay behind us.
“He’s coming, let’s go!” I hissed.
“We came to find him,” she reminded me.
“Well, now we have. Let’s go.”
“No.” She turned me around and gave me a gentle nudge toward the ruins. Toward Mark. I gulped and took in a pair of muscled legs clad in dark leather, a nude chest, and finally, a pair of eyes that held all the warmth of ice as they stared back at me.
“Claire.”
“Hello, Mark.” If I had hoped that Mark would be glad to see me, I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Because Mark didn’t exactly look thrilled at my presence. If anything, he looked quite the opposite. I felt like something under a microscope as he continued to stare me down in silence. It was hard not to think about turning around and walking back down the mountain, but I quickly discarded the idea. For one thing, I knew that Aries wouldn’t let me. Not to mention I was tired and not at all eager for another run-in with God only knew what on the treacherous mountain trails. Besides, Aries was right. We had come to find him. More than that, we had traveled a long way to find the Warrior of the Ruins, and for good reason. I thought of Ashley and the fences, and of Bob and Marta, and I met Mark’s eyes with a steady gaze of my own.
“You look good, Mark.”
“What are you doing here?”
“I came to find you. We came here to find you,” I explained, gesturing behind me to Aries.
“It’s been over a year. You’re the last person I expected to see here.”
Now what did I say to that? Memories of the two of us standing together in Marta’s kitchen the morning we had been separated stood between us; a lifetime had lay ahead of us. I could still see his eyes as he told me he would be back soon. As he asked me if I thought he could ever belong in my world. Or better yet, if I would stay in his. He left that morning expecting...
“I asked you what you are doing here, Claire.”
Aries stepped forward then, effectively saving me from having to answer Mark’s question.
“There have been some changes since you left Grandview. The attacks are becoming more frequent and the fences are failing, Mark.”
His eyes cut to her immediately and I could feel the tension that surrounded the three of us.
“Bob and Marta?”
“Are doing fine,” I was quick to reassure. “The fences are still intact in Grandview. So far. But failures have occurred further south from Coztal to Bellview. Grandview will be next, Mark. Along with a lot of other places.”
“How did this happen? Where are the Matrons?”
“We don’t know. But we need your help. And the help of your men.” I gestured to the ruins behind Mark where his men had gathered, watching and patiently waiting.
“Will you go back and fight with us?” Aries didn’t bother to mince words.
“What of the towns that were left unprotected?”
“Lives were lost,” she told him quietly. “Some of the people are believed to have taken to the woods or the cliffs in hiding.”
“But they won’t last long without help,” I added.
“We leave tonight, as soon as the moon rises. Come on, you can rest in our camp until then.”
Was it my imagination or did his voice thaw a degree? Imagination, I decided as he turned swiftly and led us through the ruins and across a flat, grassy plateau. The area was more narrow than wide, and the only foliage looked to be little tufts of crab grass scattered across the ground. He nodded to his men as we passed them, and they automatically turned to follow us.
“How many men have gathered here?”
“More than one hundred were already here when I arrived.”
“One hundred men will be of great use.” Aries nodded her approval.
“We have since recruited two hundred more.”
“Three hundred men,” I gasped, astonished. A quick glance of our surroundings revealed maybe fifty men tops, and I wondered where the other two hundred and fifty were hiding. The mountain didn’t look all that big.
“Yes. Three hundred men.” It was hard not to miss the contempt in Mark’s voice as I swung back to him.
“For the battle, of course,” I quickly added. One of the men behind us snickered, and Mark and I turned as one to glare at him. Aries seemed to develop a sudden fascination with her fingernails.
“Camp is this way,” he bit out, and our procession through the flatland continued.
We stopped at the edge of the mountain, where a narrow opening was partially hidden by coarse brush.
“Watch your step and stay close together,” Mark warned us. “The cave cuts to the left, and there are two sets of steps that will take us around the side of the mountain and down to the camp.”
“Do you wish us to change guards now, boss?” one of the men questioned from the entrance.
“Yes. Full staff at the ready. We leave tonight. Be
ready,” he emphasized and turned to lead us through the wide opening in the side of the mountain and through a crudely cut tunnel that probably would have incited claustrophobia in most of the broad-shouldered soldiers that occupied the camp, had they been the sort to let such things bother them. As it was, I was willing to bet that Mark’s men didn’t let much of anything get to them. Mark himself had grown a hard shell since the last time he and I had been together.
I remembered with startling, vivid, bittersweet clarity the young man who’d rescued me from lake monsters and slain demons in my honor. Well, maybe he hadn’t actually done any demon slaying, but he would have, had there been any. He had rescued me from danger more than once, though, and had offered his aid—and repeatedly put himself in danger—when he really hadn’t been required to do so. And…he was sweet. At least he had been. This new Mark, who led us through set after set of steeply winding stairs that cut through the interior of the mountain, looked more like the demon than the gentle-hearted slayer who had occupied my dreams for the past year. There didn’t appear to be any softness in him now. He was bigger, harder, and…meaner than I remembered. I didn’t know what I had expected to find, really, but the almost imperceptible nod from Aries as we continued our descent told me that I probably shouldn’t have been all that surprised to find…well, a warrior.
My mind struggled to come to grips with the past thirty-six hours. It was true—the Warrior of the Ruins was Mark. Of course he had changed, I tried to reason, my eyes squinting against the darkness that rendered the single torch Mark carried all but ineffective. Time had passed, hadn’t it? I had changed, Aries had changed. Of course Mark would have changed as well. Still…he seemed so different, such a polar opposite from the man I had once known. And loved.
Well...
I lifted my chin and looked straight ahead for a brief moment before once again fixing my gaze on the narrow stone steps in front of me, concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other. There didn’t appear to be any tender feelings in Mark at all now, let alone when it came to me.