Path of Kings

by James Dale

  "Let's asked Bkormar what he sees," the Jahrkirin replied, then turned to the grim'Hiru, his voice suddenly rumbling like thunder. "Speak worm! What do you see?"

  "The Jailer!" Bkormar whimpered, backing away from the Jahrkirin, "You look like the Jailer."

  "And these two!"

  "They...they look like two of my own boys. There be Rhegnar." he said, pointing at Jack, "And there be Olluk!" he said, pointing at Tarsus.

  "Satisfied?" Maelcain smiled at the Amarian, "Galen Severa might penetrate our ruse if he looks closely enough, but I do not plan to stop and have a chat with him."

  "I'm convinced." Jack nodded. The fear in Bkormar's eyes when he looked at the Jahrkirin was more than enough proof the power of Yh’Adan's Tears was masking their true identities.

  "Good, then let us be off." Maelcain said, "I cannot hold this Word indefinitely."

  "Right." Jack replied, "Okay Bkormar, it's time to earn your pay."

  "Pay?" the grim'Hiru asked, struggling to his feet.

  "Merely a figure of speech I'm afraid." Jack said, herding the beast-man towards the door. "Ready?" he asked his two companions.

  Tarsus nodded and took a dagger from one of the dead grim' Hiru, placing its point meaning-fully in Bkormar's back. "You stay close to me." he growled, his voice dripping with menace. "One false move and I'll send you straight to hell."

  Maelcain slowly opened the door and peered into the corridor. "All clear."

  "After you Bkormar," Tarsus said, prodding the beast-man out into the hallway at knife- point. "Nice and slow."

  Chapter Five

  Escape from Darkness

  The four moved out into the corridor, Bkormar in the lead, followed closely by Tarsus and Jack, with Maelcain bringing up the rear. At the first intersection they encountered, the grim’Hiru hesitated, until Tarsus reminded him of the dagger at his back with a none too gentle prod. Bkormar sighed with defeat and chose the left-hand passage. It ran straight for several minutes, then slowly began to incline upwards, finally becoming a sharply ascending stairway. When they reached the top the passage branched again, but Bkormar needed no prompting from Tarsus to choose which way to go and turned left once more.

  The first test to the quality of their disguises came soon afterward when they suddenly ran headlong into another grim'Hiru patrol as it emerged from a side passage. Jack tensed as the two startled groups faced each other, but Maelcain placed a restraining hand on his shoulder and pushed his way to the front.

  "Move along worms or stand aside!" the Jahrkirin barked, "We be in a hurry!"

  "Forgive me dread Jailer." their leader bowed quickly, and motioned for his squad to continue on.

  The corridor was narrow and the beast-men were forced to pass through their midst to get by them. One looked Jack straight in the eye as he brushed by, but the grim'Hiru never even blinked.

  "I guess that settles it," Tarsus sighed when they had moved out of earshot.

  "Did you have any doubt?" Maelcain grinned.

  "Me? Not a one." the Amarian muttered, "Move along Bkormar." he said, prodding the grim'Hiru forward again with the tip of his dagger.

  Several intersections later and up another stairway, they came upon a closed, wooden door. Crudely carved upon it was the face of roaring dragon, with two huge, red rubies for eyes.

  "What lies beyond this door?" Maelcain asked warily. The Bahrah'nahir could clearly sense the presence of a dark, brooding evil emanating from the other side.

  "It be the Temple of Gol’gar." Bkormar answered hesitantly.

  "What?" Tarsus hissed, pressing his dagger to the beast-man's throat. "I warned you grim'Hiru!"

  "It be the quickest way out!" Bkormar cringed, "There be a balcony that runs along the upper level gallery of the temple. Once across it there be a stairway that runs straight to the surface! I swear it!"

  "Take a look Maelcain." Jack said.

  The Jahrkirin nodded and slowly opened the heavy door, disappearing inside. He returned half a minute later. "He speaks the truth." the giant nodded, "At least about the balcony. It curves around the top of an open chamber for about fifty yards. On the other side there's another door."

  "What do you think?" Jack asked the Jahrkirin.

  "Do we have a choice?" he shrugged.

  "No. I guess not."

  "One thing." the giant said quietly, "There is a…ceremony taking place. I think it would be best if you did not see what they are doing."

  "Why?" Jack asked.

  "Trust me Jha’ak," Maelcain replied gravely, "Some things in this place are better left unseen. Even for men such as you. I will lead the way. Cross slowly and keep to the back wall. I do not think they would look kindly upon an interruption. Even from the Jailer and a trio of grim’Hiru." And with this foreboding statement, he stepped back through the door.

  "Okay Bkormar," Tarsus growled, removing the knife from the grim’Hiru’s throat, "You're next. Keep it quiet. Remember, I'm right behind you."

  Jack was the last to enter, closing the door behind him. He was immediately struck the choking odor of a charnel-house. The thick, coppery smell of blood and burning flesh was heavy in the air, stinging his nostrils and making his eyes water. The balcony was narrow, perhaps three or four feet wide, with stone railing running along its edge. Jack began to move along it, hugging the far wall as Maelcain had suggested, not wanting to catch even a passing glimpse of what was causing the terrible smell. He had made it only about halfway across however, when a piercing scream drew him involuntarily to the railing. The sight meeting his eyes as he glanced down to the temple below would haunt his dreams for many days to come.

  Set back against the far wall of the temple was a raised dais on which rested a low alter of black stone. Behind the altar was an open pit where a hot fire burned, sending up clouds of thick smoke toward the ceiling high above. At each corner of the stone slab stood a dark robed figure, holding down the spread-eagle form of a frantically struggling, naked woman. At her head stood a figure dressed in bright scarlet who held a long, ceremonial dagger in his upraised hands while, kneeling at her feet was another robed figure, his head bowed as if in prayer.

  The scarlet robed figure began to chant in a coarse, guttural dialect that made Jack's hair stand on end. The foul words were an affront to his senses, threatened to coat his soul with filth just at their hearing. As his voice rose to a crescendo, the flames in the pit behind him flared with angry life, then began to wax and wane in concert with the cadence of his voice. Through it all, the women held down on the alter screamed on with pitiful, whimpering terror. Mercifully, the scarlet robed man finished his chant, pausing for a brief instant to revel in the woman's fear. Then to Braedan’s horror, he plunged the dagger deep into her chest, forever silencing her screams. With the sickening precision of a surgeon, he tore open her chest, then reached casually into the gaping wound and withdrew her heart.

  Jack staggered forward, gripping the stone balustrade with white knuckled rage as he watched the scarlet robed man lift his bloody trophy skyward and approach the cloaked person at the dead woman’s feet. The kneeling figure lifted his face so the other figure could drain the blood from the woman’s heart down on his face. With a satisfied nod from the scarlet robbed man, the man kneeling at the slain woman's feet rose eagerly, opening folds of his robe as he stood. Then unbelievingly, he began to defile the slaughtered corpse. Jack clenched his teeth, struggling against the bile rising in his throat, but he could not turn away. A force beyond his control held his gaze on the abomination taking place below, willing him to witness the gruesome rite to its unholy fulfillment. Finally, mercifully, the necrophilic ravisher threw back his head in orgasmic ecstasy and the hood fell away from his face, revealing his features. Jack gasped in horror as he recognized the man illuminated by the roaring flames. Kiathan Ellgaer!

  Suddenly the words spoken by Nalon-Lox rang in his ears like the tolling of a death bell. "With my agents already at work in the palaces of Dorshev and Brydium, the w
est will not last three months when the Black Banner of Grethor rises again." The Duke of Raashan was one of those agents! The Swordmaster of Aralon, the chief advisor of King Ellgenn Ellgereth, the man who stood but a heartbeat away from sharing the Ivory Throne of Doridan with Annawyn was in unholy alliance with the dark-King!

  Trembling with rage, Jack gripped The Talon of the Hawk tightly and prepared to launch himself from the balcony when he felt a heavy hand on his arm and Tarsus was at his side.

  "What the hell are you doing?" the Amarian hissed into his ear.

  "It's Kiathan!" Jack whispered furiously, "He's down there! He was...he...!"

  "I saw what he was doing."

  "I'm going to kill him."

  "And I'm going to help you!" the Amarian said, dragging him away from the balcony's railing. "But not here. Not now!"

  "But..."

  "Come on!" Tarsus insisted, pulling him toward the door at the other end of the balcony, "If he sees us up here we'll never get out of this place alive!"

  Maelcain was waiting for them when they reached the far side.

  "Did I not warn you Jha'ak?" the giant said sadly, when he saw the pale look on Braedan's face. "Ah well...what is done is done. Remember what you have witnessed this day Son of Bra’ Adan. The sole purpose of your birth was to put a final end to such blasphemy."

  "I will remember." Jack replied in a shaking voice, the sight of the woman's slaughtered, defiled corpse burning like a wildfire that threatened to consume his mind.

  "Here be the stairway." Bkormar interrupted with a whine, "I done my part of the bargain. Now let me go! They'll kill me if'n they find me up here."

  "Yes." Jack nodded, his rage kindling anew, "You've kept your end of the deal. But I can't just let you go."

  "You promised you wouldn't kill me!" the grim'Hiru cried pitifully.

  "And I won't." Jack growled, "But if someone else does, that's a different matter entirely. Sleep now pretty boy." he said, and struck Bkormar with all his pinned-up anger. The grim'Hiru dropped to the stone floor as if he'd been poleaxed. "Let's go." he said through clenched teeth, and pushed by passed Maelcain and started up the stairs.

  They traveled in total blackness, navigating the stone stairway by feel alone. Up and up it wound through the dark, climbing several hundred feet, until finally, many minutes later, they reached the end. Jack searched about the inky gloom, found the door, and lifting the iron bolt, slid it back with a rusty squeal.

  "Have a care." Maelcain whispered, "There may be guards."

  Jack pushed the door open slowly, letting his eyesight adjust to the sudden influx of light, then peered carefully outside. A heavy, wet snow was falling, and the outer grounds of the Iron Tower was covered by almost a foot of snow.

  "This isn't good." Tarsus muttered, looking over Braedan's shoulder.

  "On the contrary." Maelcain disagreed, watching the snowfall with obvious delight, "It will cover our tracks nicely."

  "It will like as not cover our frozen bodies nicely as well." the Amarian replied gloomily.

  "You forget you have a Jahrkirin with you." the giant said, "To me this seems but a warm spring day."

  "That's all well and good for you." answered Jack, "But we are not Jahrkirin."

  "I have not led you from the heart of the Iron Tower to freeze to death Son of Bra’Adan. I know how to survive such weather."

  "We've not escaped yet giant." Tarsus said, "First we have to make it over that." and he pointed across the courtyard to the forbidding wall surrounding Gorthiel.

  "How are we going to get over the wall?" Jack asked, "It must be over fifty feet high."

  "We are not going over it." Maelcain grinned. "We are going to walk right out the front gate."

  "What?" Tarsus sputtered, "Have you lost your mind?"

  "You forget our disguises. To the guards we will appear to be the Jailer and two grim'Hiru soldiers."

  "Will they let us just walk on through without even a by your leave?" the Amarian asked.

  "We shall see." the giant shrugged, "If they do not, then I suppose I shall have the privilege of witnessing first-hand the fighting skills Jack Braedan claims you possess."

  With that ominous statement, the three fugitives began to make the long trek across the snowy courtyard. It was several hundred yards to the outer wall from where they exited the Iron tower, and in the time it took them to cover the distance. Their broad shoulders soon grew white with falling snow and their hair was plastered wetly to their brows. They encountered no one as they made their boldly across the open ground, but as they grew near the iron portcullis, Jack had the unshakable feeling their every step was being closely monitored by unseen eyes.

  "Act naturally." Maelcain said quietly as they approached the base of the tower flanking the gate, "I shall try to bluff our way through."

  "How does a grim'Hiru naturally act?" Tarsus asked.

  "Just scratch yourself or something." Jack muttered.

  "I can’t stop scratching." the Amarian replied darkly, "Olluk's cloak seems to be the home of a rather large family of fleas."

  "Ho! In the tower!" Maelcain bellowed, cutting off Tarsus' complaint. "Raise the gate!"

  "On whose order?" a voice inquired from above.

  "Why don't you come down and see worm!" the Jahrkirin roared, and Jack could not stop himself from cringing at the similarity of the giant's voice to that of his dead brother.

  "I can see well enough from up here Jailer," came the wary reply. "No one is allowed outside without the Warden’s expressed orders. On account of those flaming Amarian bastards roaming the hills."

  Amarians? Jack’s heart leapt with hope. Tereil was here! “That has to be the Galekindar!” he whispered excitedly.

  “Quiet,” Maelcain hissed, giving him a warning glare. “Do I look like I’m worried about a few witless barbarians?” the giant shouted, turning back to the tower. “Raise the damned gate!”

  “Not without orders from the Warden,” the speaker insisted, finally appearing at a lower window. He was a swarthy looking sort, with dirty, unkept hair and a scraggy beard.

  “It may not be long until there is no Warden,” the Jahrkirin replied, thinking quickly. “Nalon-Lox has finally worked up the courage to challenge him.”

  "So that’s what all the ruckus is about in the Tower?" the man asked curiously. “Who’s winning?”

  "Does it matter?" the giant snorted. “One wizard is the same as the next. Their duel is starting to get…heated. We thought it best to make ourselves scarce until the matter is settled."

  "I don't much care for Nalon-Lox,” the man muttered. "Unless of course, he somehow manages to win."

  "You are wise for a human." the Jahrkirin laughed.

  "It was getting heated you say?"

  "Indeed."

  "I could stand a little heat," the man sighed, "It's bugger all freezing out here."

  "I would be happy to direct you to where I saw them last?" the giant volunteered. "The very stones were burning when we decided to depart."

  "No thanks," the man shuddered, "Better to shiver out here than get blasted by a stray blast of hell fire."

  "My point exactly." Maelcain agreed. "Now are you going to do as I ask, or…shall I come up so we can discuss this in person?" he asked menacingly, thumbing the edge of the tremendous axe he carried for emphasis.

  The man considered his options for several seconds, then turned and nodded to unseen companion. "Raise the gate Uwgel."

  "I say again, you are wise for a human." the giant grinned wickedly, "If anyone should ask, you never saw us."

  "What's in it for me?" the man asked.

  Maelcain muttered under his breath about the greed of humans and reached into the fold of his tunic, tossing several gold coins onto the snow at his feet.

  "Saw who?" the man grinned, "No one left the Tower on my watch."

  "You will go far in the coming kingdom," Maelcain laughed.

  "Where'd you get those?" Jack asked quietly, his voice
masked by the rumble of the slowly rising gate.

  "I borrowed them from Bkormar." the Jahrkirin replied, "He didn't need them any longer and I thought they might come in handy.

  "You mean you stole them." Tarsus grinned.

  "A Bahrah'nahir does not steal." the giant replied, offended. "I will pay him back. Should we ever meet again."

  "Hurry!" the gate-keeper cried from above, "Before someone sees!"

  "My thanks again human," Maelcain saluted, then motioned to the two men, "Quickly, before he changes his mind. And before he comes down to collect his coin and discovers they are worthless coppers and not the gold he believes he saw."

  Suppressing the urge to run, the three passed beneath the gate. Jack expected the gate to come crashing back down once they were inside the tunnel, where they would be neatly trapped. But it didn't and soon they stepping out the other side to freedom. Against all odds, they had escaped from the Iron Tower of Gorthiel!

  "That was easy enough," Tarsus sighed, once they were safely on the other side of the wall and out of earshot of the gate.

  "Don't be so sure my friend." Maelcain replied, "Once he discovers he’s been tricked he'll likely send a runner straight to the Tower."

  "How long do you think we have?" Jack asked, glancing back over his shoulder.

  "Perhaps half an hour," the Jahrkirin surmised, "But it will not matter if we can only reach those hills yonder. They are riddled with caves."

  "You're not suggesting we hole up for the winter within sight of Gorthiel are you?" Tarsus asked fearfully.

  "Hardly." the giant snorted derisively, "Once they discover we have escaped, these hills will be swarming with grim'Hiru. But they will be safe enough for you while I hunt for the supplies my companions and I cached before we were captured. You would not mind stopping long enough to recover some food, would you, before we go looking for your kin?"

  "I think we can stop long enough for that." Tarsus grinned, "It's going to be a long walk to... uh...where are we going?"

  "Jack Braedan?" Maelcain asked, looking to Braedan, "The decision is yours."