Morlonn thought of what seemed to have been Gartan’s warning to Alaezdar that he would be a crucial part of the world’s salvation or demise. Alaezdar had made a habit of denying his part in this grand plan of the realm, but regardless of that, Morlonn knew, it seemed that Alaezdar possessed some form of this magic, whether he believed it to be true or not.
Standing up, Morlonn became determined to find Alaezdar and not leave the catacombs. He saw Tharn and Rivlok running to the wall, but he could not see where they might be going after that. He needed to catch them and rally them to find Alaezdar.
By the time he reached them, they were standing at the rock face and looking again for a secret entrance.
“There is no way out from here!” Rivlok shouted at Morlonn. He was clearly frustrated with the situation. “We need to find Aaelie and help her. Tharn, what do we do?”
Before Tharn could answer, a cloud began to swirl out of reach just above their heads. Morlonn pulled an arrow and shot through the cloud with no result, but as the arrow disappeared, four wraeths in the form of elves materialized out of the cloud and stood before them. They were armed with shields and short swords and immediately attacked.
Two elves were on Morlonn before he could drop his bow and draw his sword, but Tharn, realizing that Morlonn needed more time, took his sword and attacked one of them.
Morlonn jumped back, dodging a blow from one of the elves which nearly missed his head. He took the few seconds gained by Tharn’s attack to withdraw his sword and return with a swing to the elf’s head. He was slightly off balance and his swing came up missing his target.
Rivlok, Tharn and Morlonn soon found themselves in an all out melee of attacks, blocks and counter attacks. The fourth elf continued to attack Morlonn, but Morlonn was able to block the blows from either elf, but they prevented him from taking any more offensive action.
All seven sparred for a few moments and then, without notice, the elves turned back into their wraeth mist and floated away, dissipating in the distance.
Confused, the three just stood and looked at each. They had no idea why the elven wraeths left. Morlonn then noticed the two chroks approaching.
“Why would the wraeths be afraid of the chroks?” Morlonn mumbled to himself.
“Why did you leave us?” Rivlok asked as the chroks approached. He held his sword chest high, pointing it at them. “You shouldn’t have come back. I would like to kill you both right now!”
“You were supposed to follow us. We came back to get you to where you wanted to be,” the smaller of the two answered.
“No matter. We have to get out of here!” Rivlok protested.
“We can do that,” the larger chrok answered, his eyes wide with anticipation.
“Not just yet,” Morlonn chimed in.
“What do you mean?” Rivlok asked. “We most certainly do have to get out of here.”
“He is right, Morlonn,” Tharn added. “We have to get out here,”
“We can’t leave without Alaezdar,” Morlonn said.
“I don’t think we have much of a choice,” Tharn began and shook his head, regretting having to make that decision. “We need to get Aaelie. If we take time to find Alaezdar, it may be too late. We have to choose one of them. If we wait, Aaelie is surely dead. We can always come back for Alaezdar.”
“You should go then,” Morlonn said. “I will stay and look for Alaezdar.”
“That would not be a good idea,” Protested Rivlok.
“You don’t understand. We need him and I think he needs us. There are two chroks. You take one and he will show you out. I will take the other and look for Alaezdar. Igs and Smack, can you do this for us?”
“Yes, we can,” Igs answered and Smack nodded enthusiastically.
“I will take you deep into the catacombs,” Igs said, smiling through his furry teeth.
“Then it is settled. You need to hurry and find Aaelie. I will catch up to you as soon as I have Alaezdar.”
“How will you be able to find us? We will be too far ahead. Not to mention that none of us really know where we are going,” Rivlok said.
“Don’t worry about him, son,” Tharn said and put his hand and Rivlok’s shoulder to guide him away. “Morlonn is a tracker. He can find his way to a rabbit hole in a rain storm.”
Before they could say any further goodbyes, Smack walked down the cliff face a few paces and slipped in between a crack in the wall which could only be seen if someone hugged tightly along the cliff wall.
Morlonn watched them disappear and wondered if he would see them again, or if he really would be able to find them.
“Okay, Igs. Where are we going?” he asked once his friends were gone.
“They will be keeping him from seeing the Guardian. The wraeths do not want him to see the Guardian, so I think they will be trying to entomb him. So, we will be going deep into the catacombs. There we should find him.”
“Well, then, lead the way, my furry friend.”
Chapter 21
Kunther awoke from a fitful sleep. He was thankful to have a cot, but it was stiff, uncomfortable, and noisy. It creaked every time he moved, always waking him up. The cell smelled of urine and mold. The walls looked like they were moving from the wet dew dripping from within. It was dark save for a small candle provided by the guard outside. They told him he was a guest, but they placed him in the dungeon and locked the door.
Granted, he wasn’t treated like a prisoner in the sense that he had been well fed the night before and the cot was brought in with a pillow and he had more blankets than he needed, so in all those respects, he was comfortable.
Not able to sleep another minute he rolled over and placed his feet on the cold stone. Mumbling to himself, he found his boots and put them back on. He could smell his own stink and his clothes were damp, even though he had never removed them before falling asleep.
“Guard, what time is it?” Kunther yelled as he rubbed the top of his head.
“About an hour before sunrise,” the scruffy guard outside the door answered.
“Can I have breakfast?”
No response came from the guard.
“Coffee then?” Kunther asked, knowing no response would come.
“I have to piss.”
The latch on the door squeaked before being pushed open.
“Thank you,” Kunther said as he walked out. The guard followed. “Are they going to leave me here very much longer?”
“I hope not. You are a pain in the ass. I am not accustomed to being a hand servant to my prisoners,” he responded.
Not the answer Kunther wanted, but it was the one he expected. Time was running out, and he needed to get back on his horse and head back, hopefully in time to help Alaezdar rescue Aaelie. Walking back to his cell, he began to feel even more anxious about the fact that he might already be too late. He had been gone for about a week now, and they would have to hurry back at a blistering pace to make it back in less than that time.
How did Alaezdar expect us to make it back in time, he wondered. Alaezdar would have to stall his effort, but he knew Rivlok would be pushing them to hurry at every moment, and Rivlok would probably be right in doing so. It seemed to Kunther there would be no good outcome in this whole effort. If he succeeded in bringing the Renegades back to Alaezdar, they would surely kill him.
As the guard was about to close the door on him, he heard footsteps coming down the stairwell.
“Where is the traitorous rat’s friend?” a voice rang out as he entered the hall.
“He is here. He just finished pissing,” the guard responded a little timidly, which surprised Kunther
given this guard had seemed to be such a brusque soldier.
“He is wanted upstairs,” was all he said and he turned around and marched back up the stairwell.
“I guess you need to escort me one last time,” Kunther said to the guard, smiling to himself.
“Shut up, rat,” he said as he grabbed Kunther by the elbow and guided him around the corner and then pushed him in the center of his back repeatedly as he walked up the stairs.
When they reached the top of the stairway, he was met by a group of warriors dressed in red and black leather battle armor. Though they did not wear helmets, they did carry shields upon their backs.
“Here is your rat,” the guard said as he bowed his head in humble respect. He turned around and went back down to his damp and dark duty station.
One of the warriors grabbed Kunther by the arm and led him through the castle without saying a single word until they passed the mess where servants were preparing the morning meal.
“Grab’m a roll!” one of the warriors yelled to one of the busy kitchen staff, but he did not stop walking. They continued at a brisk pace, not stopping to wait for his morning roll. They came outside and entered an open bailey as the sun’s morning light began to crest over into the fortress.
Seven horses were standing there, loaded and ready to go. They had some protection on their chest and legs, but nothing covering their barrels except small bags. It looked like they were prepped more for speed than combat. Only walls surrounded the area except for a large double door wooden gate that was being swung open as they walked in.
“Mister?” a small timid voice came from behind.
Kunther turned around and a young boy held out a piece of bread for Kunther to take. Kunther looked at one of the warriors as if to ask permission to take the roll.
“Take it, you fool!” he said to Kunther as if disgusted that he hadn’t taken it already. “Get out of here, you mutt!” the soldier yelled to the boy scurrying him along.
The boy wasted no time in turning about and heading back to the kitchen.
“Get this boy suited up!” came a loud voice behind them. A large strong man with red hair and a tightly shaven red mustache. Kunther could tell that this warrior was their leader and was strong and in better shape than all of the others who were subordinate to him.
Quicker than what Kunther thought possible, he was given a leather vest and a shield. His sword and scabbard, which had been taken from him before he was locked up, were returned to him.
He buckled the sword to his waist, strapped his shield over his head and walked over to where the warriors were congregating by the horses.
The warrior with the red hair extended his hand to Kunther. Kunther took it and shook it. The man had a grip so firm that it almost hurt his hand. As Kunther looked into his eyes, he noticed that he had a scar above the left side of his face that started above his lip and went down to his chin. His lip was slightly deformed from the scar tissue.
“My name is Blade. You will address me and only me. If these other nucks talk to you, you may answer, but do not strike up conversation with any of them. Do you understand?”
Kunther shook his head, but promptly received the back of Blade’s hand.
“You will not respond to me by rattling your brains! Let’s try this again. Do you understand?”
“Yes, I do,” he answered and felt his lip beginning to swell.
“Get on that horse and wait,” Blade said, pointing to the smallest horse It looked more like a pony than a horse to Kunther. He did as instructed, ran to the horse, and waited respectfully while Blade whispered a few instructions to his men before mounting up and heading out the gate.
Twelve warriors in all mounted up and waited for Blade to take command. Proud and strong, they respectfully sat atop their horses, perfectly still, awaiting Blade’s next command. All of the warriors had different armor and shields for they all came from different areas and different backgrounds. Each shield had different decorations, from dragons on a blue field to dark mares spitting fire on a white field to a blue pixie flying on a green field.
They did have one thing in common. They all had the symbol of red eyes on a black background in the upper left corner.
Only five were archers, and Kunther noticed that their shields were strapped upon their horses instead of their backs, but on their backs were long wooden bows that were more elaborate than he anything he had ever seen. They looked to be elven bows, although Kunther had never seen either an elf or an elven bow, but if he could imagine what one would look like, these would be exactly that.
As soon as they crossed the gate, Blade gave the command to pick up their pace and the horses charged forward, running at a blistering pace down the road. They continued with that pace for many miles before slowing slightly to a quick gallop. The riders all continued without comment until the sun went down and they allowed the horses to rest. They ate a few rations, drank from their skins, and continued again down the road, but this time they allowed the horses to walk.
They continued in the dark with only the starlight to guide their path. The Doreal air began to chill the evenings. Kunther enjoyed the slow pace, even though the faster pace during the day made him feel better about his plight about getting back to Alaezdar. Now, though, he was beginning to tire from holding on to his horse as it ran on its little legs trying to keep up with the group.
They rode in the dark for many hours until Blade dropped back and stared at Kunther in the dark.
“How did you come to meet Alaezdar?” he asked.
Kunther began to feel intimidated by his gaze.
“He just arrived in the village one day.”
“Oh, he did, did he?”
“Did he ever tell you who he was?”
“No, not until after the raid on the village.”
“Did he tell you who he really was after that?”
Kunther paused as he remembered what Alaezdar had told him about knowing this information could cost him his life. He also remembered to use this information as leverage for keeping his head intact, even though he really did not know any more about Alaezdar’s whereabouts than what he had already told Carsti Balron.
“Do not worry, young man. I do not intend to kill you. Though you are recognized as an enemy to the guild, it is more of our intention to watch you for the time being rather than kill you. So, I ask again. What did he tell you about himself?”
“He told us that he was a swordsman for hire with Rager’s House of Renegades and that he was on the run for a bad thing he did,” he said quickly, hoping to avoid the big man’s wrath.
Blade laughed so loud that the others in front of him turned around in their saddles.
“Eyes front!” he snapped.
He did not say another word for about an hour. Kunther could feel his rage as he watched him squirm in his saddle.
“I will tell you what he did,” he said, breaking the long awkward silence. “He killed my best friend, and I believe he is not done killing. He will kill all of your friends before he is done, because that is what he was trained to do…he is a killer. That is what he will always do.” Blade paused, and turned on his horse to face Kunther. “He is not to be trusted, he has his own grand plan, and you small people do not matter anything to him. Know this, young Kunther, he is not your friend.”
“Oh,” was all that Kunther could bravely muster.
“Yes. I suppose that is all I could expect from you. You don’t know anything about my friend. Yes, it is also true that if Alaezdar had talked about my friend, it would not have been positive as they did not like each other. I didn’t like him much either, for that matter. Alaezdar came into our guild as young
rat such as you, but for some reason he moved up within the ranks more quickly than any newbie accepted into our guild. He attracted the attention of our guild seer, and ever since, he became untouchable from all of us. I think that is what was the hardest to swallow, the fact that it didn’t matter that he was good with the sword or that he had earned his way by surviving missions where others had died, but that he was elevated to the elite just by the word of our seer, according to his own plans. Though, I will admit, he was very good with the sword. Then they gave him that sword that was supposed to be magical…” Blade laughed cynically and was silent for a few more minutes before resuming. “Yes, he murdered my friend, and, trust me, I will get my vengeance.”
“How did he kill your friend?” Kunther blurted out without thinking, but he was very curious.
Blade stiffened, took a deep breath, and rode silently, listening to the creaking of his leather saddle for a few minutes before answering. Kunther felt it was almost as if he were talking to himself.
“We were on a mission to finally put an end to our main adversary, Reikker-Kol. We invaded his castle late one night when he was away. His elite guard and most trusted warriors were striking a bargain with the Kingdom of Triel to help them with protecting their merchants who were having problems in a mine in the Goblin Tribes Forest, not far from where we are headed now. By doing this he left the castle to be protected by lowly, inexperienced, shall we say, scum. It was just too easy how we were able to sneak into his castle, enter his children’s chambers and hold them hostage. Carsti Balron sent another runner to give a message announcing our demands to Reikker-Kol before we had even left for the raid. This of course had to be timed perfectly so that we would raid his fortress and secure his children as hostages at near the same time that he would return. The demand was that Reikker-Kol surrender himself to us and that we would leave his castle, unharmed, and take him to Daevanwood to be executed.”
The Warrior's Bane (War for the Quarterstar Shards Book 1) Page 28