The Descendants Book One: The Broken Scroll

by Kurtis Smith

  The man ushered Davin and the others to join him within the grove. Davin saw that it was one of the men from Habok, Domhnallan.

  “Look,” he said, “I’ve never seen carvings this intricate before.”

  Davin took it all in. The images ran the whole height and length of the wall and depicted everything from people and animals to nature, each one as detailed as the next. In fact, they some of sections that were done with such precision that Davin was sure Driocht had been involved.

  “This is incredible,” Davin said. “Good work in finding this place, Dom. Egan will want to see this.”

  Domhnallan nodded. “I have figured out so far that each in a row almost seems to tell a story. If you pay close attention one image leads into the next.”

  Davin studied this too and came to the conclusion that Dom was right.

  He turned to address the others in his group. “Will a couple of you go find Egan? This is important for him to see?”

  The man called Willard of Swift River, Brax of Lemirre, and Bert of Habok, who was Domhnallan’s nephew, all agreed to go.

  Davin watched them for a moment and then set to studying these pictures. He spent the first little while simply taking in every image. The two hours passed while they were there. Many of the people began to head back at this point, having admired the artistry for long enough.

  “I’m going to stay for a while longer. I want to get as much out of these as I can,” he said when some questioned him about leaving with them.

  Davin discovered with little effort that the top row of pictures was the beginning of time, when the Ancients had lived alone in the world. There were also depictions of when the Ancients ruled with man, and when they split into two sides, the Purists and the Corrupt Ones.

  But there was one set of drawings that Davin found to be rather disturbing. They were of the corrupt Ancients using their power against the normal men of the world.

  And one of these powers looked strikingly familiar. It appeared to be a corrupt Ancient touching an old ruler of men and then that man now using the power of Driocht. Davin had to look at it for some time before he was convinced that he was right.

  Isn’t this exactly what Deverell has been doing? How can that be possible? Could he really be one of them?

  When Egan finally arrived, there were only two left with Davin. Davin asked them nicely if he could speak to Egan alone. He didn’t know them, but they left without any complaint.

  “I was hoping to find something like this,” Egan said, in awe. “Historical proof that they were real and that their stories are more than legends.”

  “How come others have not discovered this by now? It really wasn’t that hard to find.”

  Egan shrugged, still not tearing his head away from the pictures. “It could have just been overlooked all this time. Or…maybe it hasn’t wanted to be found. I imagine there is much about the Ancients’ magic that we still do not know.”

  “Speaking of that, there is something I wanted you to look at closely. Tell me if it looks familiar.”

  Davin pointed to the row he had been studying. Egan examined it for a minute and then looked at Davin, confusion in his eyes.

  “I know what you’re thinking, Davin. But Deverell cannot be a Corrupt One. He does not have our power. Driocht orbs do not glow in his presence, like us. And we can sense when others like us are near, like when we felt each other’s presence that night in Lemirre.”

  Davin was not convinced. “But maybe it doesn’t work the same way with them. Maybe they are different somehow.”

  “We are all still part of the Ancient race,” Egan said firmly. “That doesn’t change when one turns.”

  Davin sighed in frustration. “It doesn’t make any sense. How can he do what he does to his soldiers then?”

  “I don’t know,” Egan said, sounding frustrated himself. “But all we can do now is face him and hope the truth is found.”

  “As much as I want him dead, I will be willing to leave him alive if it means we can know the truth.”

  When midday came, it was too soon. Davin did not feel completely recovered. He would not risk a complaint. There was also a silent tension amongst the fighters and it sat like a weight around everyone. They understood this was the last leg of their journey and were all dealing with it in their own ways.

  As they left the ruins Davin regretted not getting to enjoy them more. He was told that several magnificent structures and statues still stood in some of the fallen city’s farthest reaches. He vowed to return.

  ***

  “Company, halt!” came Druce’s voice from the front of the line of riders. He pointed his sword to the right, high in the air. This was their third day out of the ruins.

  Davin saw what was ahead of them as they crested the hill. A tall, cylindrical stone tower rose in front of them. It appeared to be deserted.

  Davin joined the rest of the leaders. Druce spoke solemnly, indicating the tower. “This worries me. A report has been sent about a sighting, or we have luck on our side and we arrived precisely during the change of guard delay. Either way, the Watchers are soldiers who have received merit for their riding and reporting skills. We do not have long before they know we are here.”

  “There’s nothing we can do now. Let’s just hope it’s the latter,” Egan said, calmly.

  Teague nodded in agreement. “The capital city is not far. Let us head to the tunnels that lead underneath the city.”

  Quickly, the sight Davin had long to see for months loomed in front of him. The metropolis that was the Talamaraon City, capital of the kingdom they called home, held his gaze for several seconds. It was nothing less than a spectacle, stretching miles in both length and width. Hundreds of buildings rose above its walls with one rising above the rest in the center. Homes outside the wall nearly came to the knoll on which they stood.

  Egan yanked Davin hard on the arm and it snapped his gaze away. “Pay attention, Davin!” he said. Davin finally saw what Egan had yelled about. A handful of soldiers were riding full speed right toward them.

  Druce looked quickly to the sky and then back at the soldiers. He spoke intensely to Davin and Egan. “It is a change of the guard at the south watchtower. They haven’t seen us, but they will if we don’t stop them before they can alert the City Guards.”

  Davin dismounted and Egan followed suite. They pulled out the Driocht orbs and stood ready, waiting at the top of the knoll.

  Druce addressed the fighters behind them. “Weapons at the ready in case the soldiers get through!” A clinking of metal and setting of arrows sounded noisily for a moment, and then quieted again.

  The soldiers were at the base of the hill now. Any second they would see Davin and Egan standing in their way. The clopping of hooves was all that Davin could hear, waiting for the soldiers to meet them on the crest. He rolled the orb in his hands in anticipation.

  “Do it,” Egan cried, just as the eyes of the soldiers met their own. Davin called forth the earth and it rumbled underneath him for a moment. He threw his arms outward, watching the land perform the command of his mind and the dark matter in the orb.

  Seeing that Davin and Egan were hostile they raised bows and fitted them with arrows gracefully. A half second later the arrows were loosed and Egan swatted them with a whip of wind power. They fell away harmless, halfway to their intended targets.

  “Arrest these sorcerers, men!” one of soldiers yelled, and they raised their swords just as Davin’s ten foot wall of earth came sliding at them and slammed the middle of their ranks. All but two were thrown from their horses. Those two continued riding toward Davin and Egan.

  “I have them,” Egan said, raising his hands and slamming them into one another. Suddenly, a wall of wind took the soldiers grips from their horses’ reigns, and slammed their bodies into each side of the wall of earth. Egan let go of the magic and they fell to the ground like dolls.

  Davin let the wall fall back to the ground. It left a great mound as it finished. />
  “Let me have that,” Egan snapped. He grabbed the fire orb out of Davin’s hands. Davin looked shocked.

  “Hey, what is the –,”

  Davin was cut off by two tiny balls molten liquid, shot from Egan’s fingers. Davin turned the direction they were flying. Two soldiers had risen from the mound and started to come at them again, swords flailing. Egan’s bolts hit each of them squarely in the head, leaving a smoking hole where the bolts had entered the skull. The soldiers fell to ground, dead.

  Druce called the fighters up to join Davin and Egan as they remounted their pookas. As Druce and the others approached, he said, “It will not be long before those men will be discovered missing. The army keeps a tight time schedule.”

  “Then we must hurry if we mean to remain with surprise on our side,” said Egan.

  “Let us continue to the city then,” said Teague, excitedly. “The tunnels are our destination. I will lead the way.”

  Governor Seamus addressed the crowd, “We make for the tunnels!” And a loud roar erupted in approval.

  Chapter 29 Beneath the City

  The leaders and their fighters raced down the hill, speeding along as fast as their animals could carry them. The farm houses they passed blurred by, and no one in the group paid any attention to the confused land owners. There were very few left anyway. Most had already entered the walled cityscape for the execution ceremony.

  Teague rode at the lead with Davin and the other leaders just behind him. The loud clopping of hooves made it hard to hear anything else, but Teague tried to communicate anyway. “When we reach the wall, we will ride east to the city’s left side! There is a tunnel that lets out near that place!” he yelled over the noise.

  They came up on the wall swiftly. As they reached it, the leaders veered left and indicated the fighters follow by pointing their sword arms in the same direction. Like a flock of birds, everyone changed course in one smooth movement.

  Now they rode parallel with the wall. From this close range Davin’s head couldn’t lift high enough to view the top without paining his neck. The stone blurred gray, threatening to become one solid mass at their haste, rather than individually shaped rocks piled one on top of the other.

  A river could be seen coming into view a few hundred feet beyond the end the capital city’s wall. A grove of trees encompassed a wide area surrounding the river. The trees shared the space with great boulders that were strewn about as well.

  Teague addressed the other leaders. “Stop just before the river and wait for everyone to gather!” he shouted.

  A thought occurred to Davin as they thundered alongside the wall. “People are going to hear all this noise we are making and let O’Hara know. We’ll be found out,” he said over the clomping of hooves.

  Teague answered him, seemingly unworried. “These walls keep the majority of sound out. It was their intention when they were built and also the reason they are so high. You could stand just on the other side and have trouble hearing us.”

  “What of the City Guards on the wall or those farmers back there?” Davin pointed back the direction they had come. Farmers and field hands had watched them come.

  “We will be well into the tunnels when the next guard changes,” Druce assured him. “And those farmers won’t find anyone important to inform before we are gone.”

  Davin didn’t feel completely satisfied that no one would notice them. It looked to him that they were making quite a scene, but he rode on in silence. Whatever came, he would be prepared for it.

  They passed the end of the wall and within another minute, came to a halt within the grove by the river. The leaders dismounted, with the rest of the fighters doing the same. Everyone waited for Teague to show them how to enter the tunnels. He rapidly began looking around, whispering to himself.

  “The entrance is covered,” he explained at last, to a thoroughly confused group of people. “There are ten boulders in this grove. Their purpose is to be brought together in one spot, and their combined weight will break the seal on the entrance. Then we will be able to enter.”

  “I can’t believe the army never knew about these,” said Druce, in awe.

  “They were reserved to move the Royal family to safety if capital city was ever taken. Only a handful of my family’s personal guards and the king’s Advisors were ever told,” answered Teague.

  Teague showed the leaders a place where the grass was a little browner than the rest. It was roughly circular in shape and about twenty feet in diameter. Some of the fighters were instructed to move the boulders. After a short period of deciding how many people were needed to push with ease and how many could realistically surround each boulder and still be helpful, the rocks were brought together.

  Underneath the rocks, the sound of cracking and splitting began. It easily resembled the cracking of a broken bone. This made Davin’s skin crawl. He tried not to let it bother him.

  Everyone waited patiently, staring at the boulders for signs of movement. After another minute, the ground began to shift beneath rocks and the boulders dropped slightly.

  “It is about to give in,” Teague said, and everyone took a cautious step back instinctively.

  Suddenly, the last of the wood snapped and the boulders dropped through a hole, slamming into each other at the bottom of the pit. The resulting sound was that of fireworks exploding in the sky all at once, and left Davin’s ears ringing afterwards.

  Twenty feet down sat a stone opening in the pit that led in the direction of the city. The pit extended farther downward for the space that was needed for the boulders to fill. The top of the boulders met level with the bottom of the tunnel entrance. No doubt it was a well-designed escape system.

  “There you are, friends. This is one of the tunnel exits from the Capital,” Teague said, smiling in a proud way. “There is a chamber not far into the tunnels that should be able to hold all of us. It will be a good place to organize before we continue into the city. I will lead the way.”

  “Let’s move then, I don’t want to be out in the open any longer than we have to,” said Davin, warily. They had already made quite an entrance, and he still didn’t quite believe that they weren’t seen.

  “Yes, let us make this as quickly as possible, if we could,” Governor Seamus added, not sounding as confident as he had previously. He turned to the crowd. “We have arrived at the entrance to the tunnels, good people. I request that you merge into a line so we can get underground as soon as possible. These tunnels will not fit more than that at a time comfortably. Once you are below, follow the tunnel until you arrive at a chamber. We will gather there and plan our next move.”

  A man’s voice emerged from the crowd. It was Brax. “What does Davin say about this plan?” Every eye fell upon Davin.

  He knew that some people from Lemirre were going to be stubborn about who gave them direction. To them, Davin was their leader, not the governor. But once the fighting started, they would have to be willing to take commands from any of their leaders.

  He answered without hesitation. “I agree with the other leaders. This is the best plan.” Brax said no more, so Davin accepted he was satisfied.

  Niahm spoke up. “We should have the Descendants at the fore and the rear for protection in case we are ambushed.”

  “Couldn’t agree more,” said Egan. He turned to Davin. “Davin if you will head down with Teague at the front, I will come at the end. Does that work for you?”

  “Yes,” said Davin, already on the move. “Now, I’m not wasting any more time. Teague, if you will join me.”

  Teague said nothing more. He simply followed Davin as they dropped down into the pit. The last image Davin witnessed above the hole was their fighters assembling into a thin line.

  Teague led the way into the tunnel, which was swallowed up by darkness not far down the passage. The tunnel was tall enough for them to stand without hunching and the walls were smooth. Davin said nothing and they kept on moving deeper. It wasn’t long before the darknes
s became absolute. Still, neither of them said anything. There were only the sounds of people moving behind them, probably as uncertain about the darkness as he was.

  After they had gone quite a ways, the level of darkness began to change. Davin noticed himself able to see Teague and the walls around him clearer the move they moved. Davin felt that his eyes were merely adjusting, but at last they arrived at the source. A torch was lit at a three-way crossroads that spread light into the surrounding tunnels.

  “Halt here, for a moment,” Teague said.

  The torch provided enough light for Davin to finally get an image of what the tunnels actually looked like. What he saw surprised him. They were perfectly rectangular stone hallways running about ten feet high and four bodies wide, not mere tunnel passages carved out of the earth. They did not shift in size or shape and any change in depth was gradual, not sharp. They couldn’t have been much different than the castle’s hallways itself, with the exception the darkness and their relatively narrow nature.

  As Davin took in this place his eyes fell upon the wall symbols. He stepped closer to them. Each set of them were two shapes put together. At this intersection there were a triangle and a circle indicating one direction, and a square and a triangle for the other. Davin had no other how this would tell them where to go.

  Teague said, “This is the start-or the end, if you will-of the labyrinth that was created to confuse enemies that might have gained entrance to the tunnels.” He pointed to the sign. “The symbols only make sense to those who were to know of the tunnels existence.”

  “It is a good thing we have you along, then,” said Davin, genuinely appreciating Teague’s presence for his knowledge of this secret place.

  Teague nodded and continued down the left passage. A short time later they arrived at another fork in which Teague went to the right. Twice more they arrived at a crossroads where Teague led them left and then right again consecutively. Over an hour had passed before Teague stopped completely again.