by J. K. Barber
“I don’t like this,” Mala whispered to Sasha beside her, “but if there is a child or prisoners ahead, we must attempt to rescue them.”
“I agree, Mala,” the swordswoman responded, brushing a cobweb out of her face as she walked along next to her mentor. “I share your feelings as I am sure everyone does.” Jared and Katya inched closer, hearing their whispers. Niko and Chyla were roused by the voices, and Niko climbed further up in Katya’s backpack to hear better, while still holding Chyla’s trembling hand.
“Mistress Mala, once we find out what that noise is, I think we should turn back,” Jared offered, glancing about nervously.
“I agree with Jared,” Katya whispered, as she trailed behind her sister and Mistress Mala. “Even though the crystals grow from the ground, I don’t think that it would be quite this deep. Iluak mentioned a singly lit tower last night. It might house a regent left behind to run the palace while the Queen is gone. If we found him, we might be able to persuade him to show us to the crystal. The Empress would have hidden the crystal well, especially since she had this place built.” Mala began to reply, but all of them were silenced when the growl they had heard earlier was repeated, suddenly a roar and much closer. Then, as before, the whimpering began, a mournful crying like a lost child. Mala froze, raising her hand in a fist signaling them all to stop. The troop pulled weapons free from sheaths and, at another signal from Mala, spread out in a “U” shape in the corridor. Not all could fit in the narrow corridor in this fashion, but if something rushed them, many would still be able to strike as it ran into their makeshift corral. They held their ground for what seemed like forever, their hearts beating warm and fast in constant contrast with the frigid air, causing tendrils of steam to escape their lips every time they exhaled.
Finally, the light reflected off of two eyes in the hallway in front of them, and following those eerie orbs a ragged form lumbered partially into the light. Katya’s body went rigid with fear along with most of the troop, prompting Niko to shift back into his raven form and alight upon the sorceress’ shoulder to see for himself what was amiss. Chyla burrowed further into Katya’s backpack, covering her ears and squeezing her eyes shut; she was still traumatized from participating in the fight on the wall above. Jared audibly gasped in horror and disbelief at the unnatural abomination before them. Only Mala and Sasha seemed unaffected, waiting with practiced patience for the approaching beast to show its intentions.
What moved toward them was what used to be a bear, female by her size. Its filthy white fur hung from sickly, decayed flesh. On its right side lay neatly exposed ribs like the fur coat had been surgically cut. Most disturbing was the cracked black crystal that protruded from its skull like a nail that had failed to be fully driven home. The bear stared dully at them with milky unseeing eyes. It stumbled and fell to its side, roaring its frustration and pain.
Jared, apparently, had seen enough. He broke the formation much to Mala’s annoyance, sheathing his sword. Sasha reached for him, grasping his cloak. The woodsman looked back at her with eyes filled with such sorrow that she released him, allowing him to approach the bear his hands palm out to show he meant the creature no harm. With a glance to Katya, who nodded in return, Sasha moved forward with her sword still in hand and her sister at her side. Mala sighed and signaled for William and Martha to accompany her as she pursued the twins.
Jared got to his knees and laid his hands gently on the bear, stroking the matted fur. The bear did not react to his touch and simply lay on its side, its breath foul as it gasped painfully. The woodsman attempted to connect with the bear, despite his instincts screaming for him not to; there was no telling what would happen to Jared’s mind melding with an animal so obviously tainted. He had to try though, if only to help ease her pain, even if it was just finding out what had happened to the creature and he didn’t care that others were watching. There was nothing to worry about though, because where the bear’s mind should have been was simply void. It was like blank canvas; there was just nothing there. Tears slid down Jared’s face, as he also realized what the animal’s body was doing. The Illyander troop surrounded the bear, a bit more relaxed but not by much, because the group still bristled with weapons. No one was the wiser about Jared’s abilities it seemed and took his emotional response as one of a true woodsman, loving all of the Great Mother’s creatures.
“She… she is in labor,” Jared said, looking up to Mala his teary eyes full of horror. His eyes then settled on Sasha, who did her best to send him comfort with a sympathetic look.
“What? How could she even be alive like that?” Mistress Mala replied, her swords leveled at the bear’s throat should swift action need to be taken.
“I don’t… I don’t know,” the woodsman all but whispered as he continued to stroke the bear’s side. Katya averted her eyes from the sight in disgust; Jared was stroking fur but it was filthy and covered in puss from festering sores. She silently hoped that he would simply throw his gloves away after touching the horrible creature.
Niko squawked once and jutted his avian head to the passageway from where the bear had come. Katya raised her light higher so that its radiance stretched a little further, allowing her to observe more clearly what the Nhyme wanted her to see. Behind the bear was a trail of birth blood; Katya had seen something similar when she witnessed a horse give birth in Snowhaven’s stables. However, this trail was wider in several places where several deflated gelatinous sacks lay, and the line of them extended beyond the radiance of her orb. Katya’s breath caught as more reflective eyes regarded her from close to the ground. These were different from the bear’s agonized stare; these were hungry eyes that were preceded into the light by salivating fanged jowls, dripping drool. Again, the sound of a whimpering child came, and it originated from down the corridor and not from the mother bear. Everyone’s attention turned down the hall, and Katya’s globe revealed what the bear had been continually birthing as it had staggered along as well as the source of the whimpering sound. Hairless cubs, their skin twisted like old burns, inched further into the light. Their eyes glowed bright purple and their unnaturally long claws clicked disturbingly against the stone floor. Within a matter of seconds, at least fifty sets of eyes clustered in the hallway, their wariness of the light fading rapidly as they edged forward. Katya’s jaw dropped.
Without a second thought, Mistress Mala severed the head of the mother bear using both her blades to accomplish such a difficult task. Jared started to protest her rash decision, but the Master Swordswoman hooked her arm under his, jerking him to his feet and silencing him with her sense of urgency.
“Run,” Mala spoke in a voice of forced calm so as not to startle the beasts into a charge. Yet she herself did not move, instead planting her feet and raising her weapons to the oncoming horde. Seeing that Mala was going to stay and fight, her soldiers and friends stayed put raising their own weapons. “RUN,” she yelled this time, turning angrily to her companions.
“No, we are in this together, Mistress,” Sasha spoke calmly, placing herself shield forward and in front of Katya in a typical warrior-sorcerer pair defensive stance. Jared pulled his weapon free of its sheath again and maneuvered himself into an appropriate position at Katya’s exposed side. The sorceress began to hum, drawing power.
Mala cursed at the stubbornness of her troops, but also at one of the cubs that lunged at her. She dispatched it quickly with a sword into its chest. The remaining cubs growled deeply, their lavender orbs on their fallen sibling and their muscles tensing for the Great Mother only knew what. “At least attempt a fighting retreat or these foul creatures will be the last things you see,” Mistress Mala called as a score of cubs bounded forward. The troop held its ground for the first wave, Katya letting loose a panicked fork of lightning into the rushing bears. She had fought men and ice orcs before, but nothing as vile as these tainted cubs. She was scared and her spell carried that emotion as it arced wildly down the hall. The passageway flashed white for a moment as the lightn
ing passed through, blinding the bears but the Illyanders as well. Niko flapped his wings wildly with fright on the sorceress’ shoulder; the Nhyme man had never been quite this close to the explosive raw power that Katya could command. He clawed his way down her back and dove into her backpack. The raven-haired woman danced in pain as his talons accidently dug deep into her skin, but she did not try to stop him, the danger to her friends still demanding her full attention.
William was overwhelmed on their left flank, the bears scurrying up his legs with razor sharp claws, and he fell to the floor screaming as they ripped open his throat. Martha screamed and managed to kill three at once, stabbing her sword straight through the trio, the weight of the strike carrying into the wall behind them, but it was of no use; her friend was already dead. Her sword went limp in her hands, as she fell to her knees sobbing by his side. Johnson rushed over to the middle-aged woman and finished off the remaining two bears before they preyed upon her in her moment of weakness. One bear bit deeply into his thigh before he could knock it away and stab it. When the bears were dead Johnson took Martha in one arm, while keeping his sword raised defensively, awaiting another wave.
“FALL BACK,” Mistress Mala yelled over the din. Katya’s lightning had struck the ceiling as well and it began to crumble loudly. The troops fell back to a safe distance farther back up the hall. Sasha pulled her sister back, scooping her shield around the sorceress while stabbing a bear that threatened to bite Katya’s ankle.
The fight was over as soon as it started, the far part of the corridor collapsing. The ground shook as plummeting chunks of rock impacted with the floor, causing three Illyanders to lose their balance and fall. A few cubs managed to bound away back the way they had come, but the majority were crushed under the falling rocks. Coughing at the chalky rock-debris-filled air, the Illyanders regrouped, sheathing weapons and helping those who had fallen back to their feet.
“Is anyone injured?” Mistress Mala asked looking over her soldiers. Johnson had the deep bite on his thigh, which Jared was bandaging for him, but the rest were uninjured by the bears. Most of the wounds they bore were from the fight on the walls outside. They were a tough lot though to have come this far; she did not doubt that they still had plenty of fight left in them, all but Martha. Mala had never seen a soldier of Aeirsga break down like this before.
“Too much death,” Martha sobbed into Johnson’s shoulder. The old soldier did his best to console the weeping woman before gently prying her arms from around his neck. Jared had finished tending to the older man’s leg wound, so Johnson pulled the soldier to her feet.
“Martha, listen to me, we’ve all grown closer on this long journey, and I know of the feelings you shared with William,” Johnson spoke aloud, raising several eyebrows with half-interest at the revelation of a relationship between the two soldiers. Sasha slipped her hand into Jared’s with a knowing look. “Now is not the time to grieve him though,” Johnson continued, his tone soothing at first but then hardening. “You have a mission to complete, soldier. Pull yourself together!”
“Why should she!” Katya shouted, turning everyone’s attention towards her. She was dabbing at Niko’s claw marks in her shoulder with a handkerchief, but the sorceress’ expression was twisted in anger. “The purpose of this mission was vague at best to begin with,” she said shaking the crimson speckled kerchief at Mala with an accusing finger raised. “It was a long shot that we’d even get here. We marched in here with a fraction of the men we left Aeirsga with and we have NO idea where we are in this labyrinth of tunnels. No map, no compass, and no real plan once we got inside. What did you think was going to happen?” Katya pointed to the crushed corpse of William, half buried in the rubble. “The majority of your men lie dead at your feet, Mistress Mala. Tell me this wasn’t a dim-witted idea to come here!” Feeling the weight of so many deaths under her leadership, Mala’s eyes fell in a defeated fashion to the stone floor. The rest of the Illyanders said nothing, seeing their leader so deflated. Only Sasha stood tall, her expression one of shock. Katya continued, “How I am supposed to reverse the spell that the Ice Queen, who has centuries of experience over me, put on the crystal here? Magus Lucian himself couldn’t even figure it out!”
Anger flashed across Sasha’s visage, and her hands tightened into fists. Jared stepped between the red-head and the sorceress, thinking he may need to keep the swordswoman from striking her sister. “Katya, how dare you speak with such disrespect? You were there at the planning meeting. Also, you have been silent and moody this entire trip. You have had plenty of opportunities to voice your concerns and suggestions and yet said nothing.”
Katya reached into her backpack, causing the scared Nhyme to dodge out of the way of her grasping fingers, and pulled out Lucian’s journal. She threw it to the floor at her twin’s feet. “You figure it out then. There are Magus Lucian’s notes on the Ice Queen’s ritual. I’ve read that book cover to cover a dozen times, and I still have no solution. Magus Lucian and the rest of the Aeirsgan Royal Council sent us here on a fool’s errand.” Her mind and frustration fully vented for all to hear, Katya let her hands fall to her sides, her heart pounding with adrenaline. Sasha now looked defeated, at a loss as to what to do. Jared took the swordswoman’s hand, massaging her fist open until she entwined her fingers with his. He lent her what comfort he could. Several moments of silence passed. Mistress Mala finally raised her head, her eyes filled with renewed light.
“I am sorry for your frustration, Katya,” the swordmistress said. “Perhaps we should have thought this mission through more and gathered more information before we began it. I see that now,” Mala stated coolly, looking around at her troops. “However, we are here, doing the best we can with what we have. There was no time to gather any additional information than the few scraps we had. I disagree with you that this was a fool’s errand. King Morgan would never send his people into danger if he didn’t think we could succeed. I think we can succeed.” Mala strode over to Lucian’s book on the floor and picked it up. She dusted it off and extended it to the young sorceress, who took it tentatively, satisfied that their leader at least acknowledged that she was partially right. The attitude of the troops seemed to improve with the accepting gesture. “Magus Lucian believes that you can do your part, Katya, that you can reverse the Ice Queen’s hold on this place. I believe in you, as well.” The therianthrope woman then turned and addressed everyone. “I ask of you to have faith that the Great Mother will lead us through this place of nightmare. I ask you to have faith that that we can succeed in our mission here and live to see tomorrow’s dawn.” Mala raised her blooded gauntlet before her, a symbol of strength to breathe courage back into her men. It was successful; determined smiles formed on their faces. Even Martha wiped her tears away, looking encouraged. Mala shouted, “We are not defeated yet! For the King! For Illyander!”
Caught up in the rallying speech, those gathered, including Katya, raised their fists as well and echoed Mala, “For the King! For Illyander!”
Mala nodded proudly, “Now that that is settled, let’s head back up this Mother forsaken tunnel and find that blasted regent’s tower. We will persuade him to show us the way to the crystal, and also with his assistance we should be able to avoid any more of the Queen’s ‘surprises’ she left for unwelcomed guests.”
Backtracking and exploring various side tunnels, the Illyanders finally opened a door and found a lit torch in a wall sconce. The fiery timber was a cheerful sight and warmed the chilling memory of the bears from their thoughts. It was also a sign that someone had been here recently. They traversed the hall until it emptied into a large rectangular room. It was a crude barracks with bunk beds along the walls, all empty now. Katya figured they had already met its inhabitants on the wall above. There were a few personal items on a bed here and there, but nothing of interest as the Illyanders walked past. There was a food-laden table with a single lit candle at the end of the room and then an open doorway, where stairs could be seen through the ope
ning. Katya felt her stomach rumble at the sight of the bread and meat on the table, but her attention was drawn to the candle itself, which stood out oddly. It was fairly fresh and had only been burning maybe an hour. Mala raised her hand, her eyes also on the candle, signaling the troops to come to a stop in the middle of the room. They immediately took up defensive positions in a tight circle facing outward. The Master Swordswoman then signaled to the Illyanders to keep alert with two fingers held up to her eyes. Katya spared a few moments to peek at her friends and their small militia. Isabella, a muscular mail-clad soldier, held her weapon so tightly that her leather gloves squeaked on the wooden haft of her two-handed axe. Matthew, a sandy-haired youth laid a calming hand over hers. She relaxed her grip and nodded her thanks to him. Johnson and Martha stood near Jared and the twins, their weapons also at the ready. The remaining three Illyander soldiers were more grizzled, salt-of-the-earth men, brothers not by birth but in arms who chose to keep their graying facial hair in full beards. They were older, yet still hearty men. They had fought in previous Illyander campaigns against the Eastern Kingdoms, before the two countries had established tentative peace and trade relations. Their names were Jeremy, Sam, and Charlie and all wore matching steel plate armor as well as fought with a sword and shield. More than one jaw in the group was clenched with tension. The room was silent.
Something is not right here. We can’t have killed all the guards on the wall, Katya thought, while gently patting her backpack to reassure the Nhyme that all was well. Having witnessed Chyla’s mental state earlier, the sorceress considered herself lucky that Niko had emerged to help with the bears at all; her little friends were mentally and physically exhausted. There would be no more help from them in any fights to come. Katya glanced about the room again. The sorceress’s eyes narrowed quizzically, noticing what had simply looked like tapestries hanging on the wall at first glance were actually curtains hung over four side passages, two on each side. The curve of an arch over what she now recognized as doorways gave them away if one happened to look up. Katya put a hand to Sasha’s forearm to point it out when a woman stepped into the far doorway. The sorceress’ heart skipped a beat.