Chilled by an unusually cold wind blowing from the north, the three rode along though the Arm, uncomplaining. Only Feor felt the excitement of the new day. He pranced excitedly at the head of the group while Jerrid struggled to get a steady look across the grasslands.
“What do you think, Rendel?” he asked. “Are those the peaks that surround Aradith?”
“I can’t imagine there being another set of three so close together. My guess is that we’re about six miles from the entrance to the canyon. The city is said to be a couple miles further upland. We should be there in a few hours, especially if Feor keeps us at this pace.”
Jerrid laughed, trying to ignore the pit of anxiety that knotted his stomach. “You know him, always eager to run. I’ll hold him back. Maybe that will help us relax a little.”
Grudgingly, the stallion stopped and waited until the other horses passed.
“We’ve a long way to go yet,” Audain said. “After Aradith, we’ll be riding through these Plains for a long time.”
Later that morning, they wound their way through the canyon Rendel had mentioned. The route followed an old roadbed. Its once smooth surface was now cracked by neglect. Along one edge of the gorge, a small stream flowed south, heading past them and into the grassland. The closeness of the walls made Jerrid uncomfortable. It reminded him of being hemmed within the narrows below Deluge.
With a sense of relief, they exited the canyon and entered the bowl shaped area formed where the base of each of the three mountains converged. Squinting into sudden brightness of the late morning sun, Jerrid was surprised by the size of the open expanse ahead. Two miles across at its widest point, the flat rocky ground was covered by thin grass and patches of brush.
“They must have grown crops here, a long time ago,” Rendel surmised as he led them further into the open.
Jerrid still brought up the rear. “These mountains really bear down on you. I feel like they are watching our every step.”
“It’s like we are in a giant room with walls so high they never seem to end,” Audain whispered. “It’s beautiful, but it makes me feel small and out of place.”
A short time later, they reached the top of the grade. The ground leveled off there, exposing the darkened ruins of numerous buildings. Jerrid prodded Feor past the other horses. Guessing that the main palace would have been near the center of the city, he headed that way. The other riders followed. When they reached an area containing a greater concentration of rubble, Jerrid slipped off Feor’s back.
“I see some small pieces of marble, that’s about it,” he said while looking closely at the ground ahead.
As Rendel and Audain turned away, to explore other areas, an odd reflection of light from atop a nearby mound caught Jerrid’s attention. He decided to head toward it. When he reached the top of the heap he stumbled and nearly fell when an unstable area gave way. When he regained his footing he noticed that a hole had opened up in the debris. He poked at it with his foot and another section of broken rock collapsed. When the dust cleared, he realized that he was looking down into a narrow gap formed between the remnants of two old walls.
The opening was only about three feet wide. In the bright sunlight, he could not see to its bottom so he dropped another brick into it. The thud he heard confirmed that the pit was not overly deep.
“There’s an opening here!” he yelled over to Audain. She was picking through another mound about one hundred feet away. Rendel had moved on and was nowhere in sight. “I’m going to slip down and see if there’s anything interesting at the bottom.”
“Be careful, there’s no telling what you could find in a place like this.”
Jerrid sat down. At first he dangled his feet into the pit, and then started to slide down. The walls were about three feet apart. By wedging his back and legs between them, he managed to lower himself slowly. At a depth of about a dozen feet, he realized that he could stand on the loose rubble piled below.
The walls were made from heavy brick, tightly interlocked without mortar. To study them better, he picked up some pieces of debris and tossed them out of his way.
“Hey, watch it!” he heard someone yell. “You almost hit me with that.”
“Sorry, Audain” Jerrid replied. He looked up and saw her silhouetted against the blue sky at the far end of the eight feet long cavity. “I didn’t realize you were up there. I think there’s an arch in this wall. I’ve got it opened up a little. It could be a passage of some sort.”
Audain was lying on her belly, hanging her head down as far into the opening as she could. “It’s hard to see that far. All I see is a bunch of bricks in your way. Even if it is an archway, it’ll take you days to uncover it. We don’t have time for that. There is something wrong with this place. I don’t want to be here that long.”
“We traveled out of our way to get here,” Jerrid replied. “It’s worth taking some time to see if we can learn anything.” He tried not to allow his voice to betray a slight feeling of frustration.
“Learn what?” Audain pressed. “There’s nothing here but broken bricks.”
Jerrid tried to ignore her uncharacteristic impatience but realized that she had a point. A physical search was not only going to take a long time, it was likely to miss anything of importance.
“Audain, I think you’re on to something,” he called.
“What are you talking about?” she replied.
“There is nothing to see on the surface. But we have senses that allow us to see in other ways. Go find a place to relax, let your Emerald loose. Maybe you’ll notice something. I’ll do the same from here. Our earth powers should uncover a lot more than our hands will.”
Grudgingly, she pulled herself up and walked back to a grassy ledge she spotted earlier. Settling into its softness, she began to relax, feeling everything she could with her Emerald. At first, she noted the sense of comfort such contact always brought. As she delved beneath the grass, she pictured the city as it was two hundred years earlier when a mixed race of Foedan lived there. Gladness lightened her mood as she pictured them. Refreshed but no closer to unraveling the mysteries of the ruins, she returned to herself and lay there watching as clouds drifted past.
Jerrid, meanwhile, was testing his own enhancements. Though the hole where he lay was not particularly comfortable, he endured, for he wanted to be in contact with an undamaged remnant of the former city. He rested one hand against the far wall and the other upon the rounded archway, and then willed his Amber to blend into the surroundings. Gradually the vision of an opened doorway took shape in his mind. Behind it, a cobblestone road lead through a green courtyard to a tower made of white stone.
Traveling up the tower with his gaze, Jerrid noticed a gleam of piercing golden light. It seared at his vision. Forced to withdraw, he opened his eyes and found himself looking downward at the archway where he had been digging earlier. As if responding to the probe of his Amber, a faint light glowed from gaps amid the loose rubble. With his Shaping tools in hand, he worked to remove as much material as he could. The bead of gold on the haft of his chisel began to glow in a way that he had never seen before.
With his adrenaline surging, Jerrid reached out and grasped pieces of the broken marble and pulled them away. Gradually, he created a narrow tunnel. The points of light below seemed to withdraw reclusively, urging him to deepen the shaft. Slowly he snaked his body downward. When he could no longer freely move his shoulders, he forced one remaining section of brick forward. A clattering noise told him that he had pushed through into another cavity. He crawled through the opening. His pulse raced as he realized he was in a chamber of some sort. He was just about to stand up when he heard Audain calling again from above.
“I’m down here,” he yelled back up the tunnel. “Give me a minute.”
He was just starting to look around when he heard a scuffling noise. He looked in surprise when Audain poked her head from the tunnel.
“What do you think this place is?” she asked. “Does it g
o any farther?”
“I’m not sure yet. I can’t see much detail in the dark. But my Amber has me intrigued.”
“Don’t go far. I’m going to get Rendel and then come back down. I won’t be long.”
Trying to stay relaxed, Jerrid focused harder on his Foedan senses. The chamber was about eight feet across and equally high. Its walls seemed to be made of polished brick. As he pushed his senses outward, he realized it was a passage. This probably was one of the main routes into the palace, he thought. Beneath his feet, the cobblestone floor was littered with several inches of loose brick and sand.
Forgotten briefly in his excitement, Jerrid recalled the faint light he had seen earlier. Dropping to his knees, he began to feel around on the floor. Finding nothing of interest, he was about to check on Audain when he placed his hand on a round object about the size of a small melon. He lifted it. On the floor beneath, several points of light sparkled.
Jerrid stooped closer. Carefully using his chisel, he scraped up several small chips of a wafer thin substance that looked like gold. Immediately he thought of the vision he saw while at the Summit.
“Could this be the same dust the King’s daughters found here?” he asked himself. He flicked the small flakes onto his hand and studied the beauty of the light they emitted. As they were warmed by his body heat, the glow began to increase, slowly at first, but it soon reached a whitish intensity.
Jerrid cringed as a burning pain grew in his palm. Instinctively, he called up his Amber, concentrating its force to protect him. He tried to brush the flakes but they seemed to have dissolved into his calloused skin. Within a few minutes, the pain subsided, though his eyes sparkled wildly and his senses reeled. Fighting against the surge of energy, he struggled to regain control. He did not notice Audain when she emerged from the tunnel with a torch in her hand.
“What happened?” she shouted, seeing the wild look in his eyes. When he did not respond, she grabbed his arms to shake him. He turned his head toward her. The thin smile of recognition on his face hardly eased her alarm.
“I’m okay,” Jerrid stammered. “I feel this surge of earth power. It’s unlike anything I’ve felt before. Rendel is waiting, the horses too.” He pointed upward before looking down the passage. “There’s a pile of debris blocking off the route not far ahead. Beyond it, the hallway is open. It seems to intersect with a wider corridor. On one side I see an opening where daylight streams in. The other connection descends. It seems to twist and turn as it delves beneath the palace.”
Jerrid stopped a moment and shuddered. Audain felt a sudden sense of unease, a feeling of dread she likened to that which she felt nearly a month earlier, on the last day of spring planting.
“Something is not right,” she said in alarm, “let’s get out of here.”
With a conscious effort, Jerrid turned from the corridor and looked toward her. His eyes were so bright and flitting that she looked away.
“You’re right,” he answered before looking around the passage one more time. He noticed a few specs of light still glowed from the floor by his feet. Taking the chisel, he knelt down and began using its blade to scoop up small amounts of sand and put it into his coin pouch.
“What is that?” Audain said as she watched.
“I’m not sure. In the vision I had on the Summit, the King’s daughters seemed to collect something like this. I think I have most of it.”
“There’s still a little left,” she added. “It looks too fine to scoop up like that.”
“I’ve got an idea.” Jerrid flipped the chisel upside down. Using the golden bead on the end of its haft, he slowly moved the tool back and forth through the sand. The bead acted almost like a magnet, gathering up the sparkling dust.
“That’s good enough, Jerrid. We should go,” Audain said. She was growing more anxious. “There’s something oppressive about this chamber. Come on, let’s get out of here.”
He continued working, meticulously sifting through the sand.
“Hurry up, I mean it!” Audain shouted. “I’m heading back up.” She vanished into the small tunnel. Hearing her call for him again a few seconds later, he shoved the chisel beneath his belt and followed. In a moment, they stood with Rendel, squinting against the blinding light of the sun. Audain was still distressed, feeling a pit of dread growing in her stomach.
“I feel better,” Jerrid said, trying to ignore her. “I sensed something, a darkness maybe, but it’s passing now, driven away by the sunlight. That tunnel where we just were, I think there’s another opening.”
“I don’t think it’s around here,” Rendel said while motioning with his arm. “I’ve been all over.”
“Come on, Jerrid,” Audain pleaded. “There’s nothing here. Let’s get going.”
“I just want to take one more look,” he answered stubbornly and began walking to the northwest, heading toward another large pile about two hundred yards away.
Though Rendel followed, Audain felt they were making a mistake. Grudgingly, she brought up the rear. She checked her bow and quiver just to be sure she could get to them quickly, and glanced at the horses. They remained where they were, eating grass from the overgrown gardens.
A half hour passed before the search ended. Outside the ruins, hidden by a crevasse within an outcrop of red sandstone, was the opening to a cave. The exposed bedrock appeared to be part of the foundation upon which Aradith was originally constructed. The passage seemed to widen as it disappeared into darkness.
“Yes, this is what I saw,” Jerrid said to his friends. “I didn’t realize it was so far away though. It must run back beneath the city.”
“It almost looks like it has been used recently,” Audain replied suspiciously. “I don’t like it. We’ve learned enough. If we left now, we could be well away from here by dark.”
“I’m going to check it out,” Jerrid replied. He prepared another torch using a dirty shirt that he wrapped around a stick. “You two can stay here. I shouldn’t be long.”
“I’ll come with you,” Rendel replied. “I didn’t get to see the other chamber.”
“No way, I’m not staying here alone,” Audain said adamantly. “If you two go, I’m going too.”
Jerrid nodded and started toward the cave with Rendel right behind. Silencing the alarm in her mind, Audain forced herself to follow. The passage ran straight for some distance. Jerrid’s eyes adjusted quickly. Ever since the gold flakes had burned into his hand, his enhancements had been intensified. He carried the unlit torch for his friends, hoping to wait as long as possible before lighting it.
“Grab the back of my belt and I’ll lead until it gets harder to walk,” he said. “The floor is pretty straight and even.”
“No, Jerrid,” Audain hissed again. “This is crazy. We need to leave here now.”
“Concentrate on your enhancements,” Jerrid replied. “Use them as a point to focus and expand.”
He began to creep down the passage. It descended fairly sharply. Audain and Rendel bumped along, using him to slow their descent and prevent stumbling. They continued in this manner for several hundred yards. The rough walls of the cave made several turns as they progressed. Sensing through the stone, Jerrid realized that they were nearing the outer ruins of the palace. After passing another turn in the long cave, he stopped. There was a red light burning ahead.
Jerrid looked back at his companions. He was relieved to see Rendel’s eyes gleaming with white, while Audain’s carried a steady green. “We’ve got to be really careful,” he whispered. “Audain, maybe you should go back. I just want to see where that light is coming from. Then I’ll follow you out.”
“I’m coming too.” She motioned him to continue.
Moving slowly, they crept along. The light appeared to be a reflection off another sharp bend in the cave wall. Jerrid sensed that a large cavern opened up beyond it. He peeked cautiously ahead. The cavern was about fifty feet wide and it had a high ceiling. A large pile of broken sandsto
ne lay just within. It blocked much of their view. The path of the cave seemed to continue along to the right side of the chamber, progressing at a slight slope downward.
They took shelter behind the pile of rocks. Jerrid waited a moment to gather his nerve, and then pressed his hands against the sandstone. Immediately, his instincts reeled with alarm. With great will he overcame his reflex to withdraw. Instead, he advanced his mind until he felt the warmth of a small fire. It burned within a forge about a hundred feet away. With his senses whirling and barely under his control, he searched around the chamber until he touched the source of the shadow he felt.
While Jerrid paused to stabilize his confused senses, he did not notice Audain climbing up the rocks. She wanted to get a look of her own. She saw the fire and noticed a pile of red ore nearby. Straining to see more closely, she noticed a metallic object resting on the ground in front of the forge. It seemed to be a large helm, possibly made from iron. A moment later a man walked into the light. He was overly tall, Audain thought, and his barrel-shaped torso looked inhuman. Involuntarily, she gasped.
The figure below turned and began to look about the chamber. Its eyes glowed with a deep red though the rest of its face was obscured by the dim light. The eyes seemed to focus on the rocks where the three Foedan were concealed. A moment later, the man began to walk toward them.
Audain panicked as she realized that they had been discovered. She forced herself to relax, grabbed her bow and pulled an arrow from her quiver. Rising to her knees, she fitted the nock to the string and engaged the familiar wood. Carefully, she drew the arrow back. The wood creaked under the force.
Abruptly, the creature looked directly at her. It engaged her green eyes with its own glowing coals of red. Her senses heightened by Emerald, Audain clearly saw a disfigured face that may have at one time belonged to a young man. Startled, she let her arrow fly. Though she had been aiming for the chest, a nervous release caused her to pull the shot. The arrow pierced the black skin that covered the creature’s shoulder. A second later, the scream of anger echoed throughout the chamber.
Audain turned and stumbled back up the main path, a look of terror on her face. Jerrid reached to restrain her but she slipped past. The creature, seeing her now at the upper end of the cavern, quickly moved forward. She realized that she could not outrun it and stopped to notch another arrow. Meanwhile, Jerrid, still hidden behind the rocks, crept closer to the path and prepared to ambush the charging Sortiri.
In only a few seconds the creature reached Jerrid’s position. With a short sword in his right hand, he lurched out at the beast. His eyes glittered wildly.
The Sortiri carried a heavy iron bar. When it saw Jerrid, it swung the bar with both arms. The young man ducked beneath the onrush and the iron struck heavily into the stone wall. As the creature’s momentum carried it forward, Jerrid lunged in with his drawn sword. Slightly off balance and still moving, the Sortiri was unable to block the thrust. The blade buried itself deep into the black chest. The oncoming mass of his opponent knocked Jerrid to the ground.
Oblivious to wounds from arrow and sword, the Sortiri drove toward Audain. The light in its eyes was now brighter. Suddenly, it staggered into the wall. An arrow now protruded from its left eye. Screeching out in pain, it lurched forward again. Its right arm managed to grasp Audain.
In a blur, Jerrid rose to his feet and ran toward her. The monster reached for her head and forced her face toward its own. Audain’s eyes were clenched shut yet still she felt a force, sharp and cruel as a knife, thrust into her mind.
Jerrid scrambled onto the back of the Sortiri. He locked his left arm around its neck. His arms, strengthened by years of Shaping stone, crushed hard against the exposed throat. The creature stumbled and released Audain. Her limp body slipped to the floor. With his sword still in the creature’s chest, Jerrid drew his Shaper’s chisel with his right hand. The bead of gold in its handle glowed brightly as he poised the blade to strike. The Sortiri, struggling against the grip around its neck, suddenly threw itself backwards into the solid wall of the cave. The weight of the impact caused Jerrid’s grasp to fail. When he slipped to the floor trying to catch his breath, the creature spun and seized him. Sensing the danger, Jerrid used his rage to will his Amber to its fullest power. His eyes glowed with an intense golden yellow as he met the full gaze of the Sortiri’s single eye. The chisel in his right hand displayed a bright cast, also ready to meet the challenge.
The young stone cutter concentrated to fight off a growing sense of panic. With his hand clenched tightly around the hilt of the chisel, he thrust it, aiming for the remaining crimson eye. Just in time, the Sortiri turned its head. Jerrid’s blade missed its target and embedded itself into a heavy cheekbone. Struggling and nearly face to face with the creature, Jerrid felt the energy of a strangely familiar enhancement probing into his consciousness. As he shuddered against the onslaught, he remembered a time years earlier when he connected briefly with one of the Sortiri as it retreated from Garth. Jerrid realized that this was the same creature. What he felt was similar to the normal Foedan powers, but mutated as if by an unknown virus. Instinctively he rotated the fields of his Amber in defense. Concentrating all his energy, he smashed against the mutation, causing the creature to withdraw. Sensing an opportunity, he lashed out a second time, driving Amber into the mind of the Sortiri while simultaneously drawing force from the gold bead glowing within the chisel he still grasped.
Rendel watched in shock. As the struggle ended, both Jerrid and the Sortiri fell to the ground. Summoning strength from his Opal, Rendel ran to Audain. Her body felt light as he lifted her onto his shoulder and stooped to grab her bow. Carrying her, he went to Jerrid’s side.
“Let’s go, Jerrid,” he said. He grabbed the stone Shaper’s wrist in his free hand and began to pull him up the path. “Come on. You can’t leave me. We have to get out of here. I can’t carry you and Audain both.”
Rendel took a few more steps, dragging Jerrid along. His heart leapt when his friend pulled back against his grasp.
“I’m okay, but I can’t see,” Jerrid said groggily and stumbled to his feet. “Remember you said you were my guide when we left Gladeis? Use your Opal now to lead us out of here. Draw upon the power Boreas told you about.”
Rendel nodded and began heading up the path. Jerrid followed, keeping one hand on the left shoulder of his guide. With the Opal helping to give Rendel strength, they moved quickly. Knowing that they would need the horses, Jerrid let out a sharp whistle. As if in reply, they heard an ominous call, the sound echoing from the cavern below. Ignoring the noise, they pressed on.
Jerrid’s senses began to recover. They passed another bend and he saw the brightness of daylight at the end of the final stretch of the tunnel. His pulse quickened. Relieved not to have heard any pursuit, he still remained anxious to get out into the sunlight. He knew Rendel was especially exhausted after carrying Audain all the way from the depths.
With only a hundred feet to go, Rendel slowed abruptly. His thighs ached with pain. Audain was still draped over his shoulder though Jerrid now carried her bow and quiver. The irregular shape of the exit was becoming more pronounced. Suddenly, as if emerging directly from the sandstone itself, a dark figure appeared before them.
“Something is there, Jerrid,” Rendel said. “I think it’s another Sortiri.”
Sure enough, a large creature stood directly in their path. It blocked their escape though they were just thirty feet from the end of the cave.
The sight before them made both men shudder. Jerrid had recovered some of his strength but he knew he was not prepared to take on another one of these creatures so soon. Slowly, he drew the chisel from his belt, knowing that the comfort of power he felt in its hilt was not enough for this challenge. Seeing no other option, he drew upon his enhancements and pushed ahead of Rendel, meeting the glare of red with eyes of Amber.
Jerrid continued to move toward the daylight that beckoned beyond the dark shadow
blocking the tunnel. He knew that reaching it was their only hope of escape. The Sortiri stood its ground for the same reason. As Jerrid approached the still figure, a sudden realization struck him to the core. The aged and blackened face before him was one he recognized. Though obscured by shadow in the vision he saw at the Shrine, Jerrid had no doubt. The evil that confronted him was none other than Toldor, the treacherous son of King Arthis.
“Toldor,” he stammered, thinking he spoke to himself though somehow the name leaked out. “How can that be?”
Rendel noticed his friend’s hesitation, sensed his doubt. Who could blame you, he thought. His Opal rose up again to add to the adrenalin coursing through his veins. “I’m here,” he whispered and put his hand on Jerrid’s shoulder.
“No one has called me that in years uncounted,” a voice as dry as death replied. “You should not be here,” it continued more forcefully. “Now, I will make sure you never leave.”
The evil responsible for destroying Arthis two hundred years earlier took a step forward. At that moment, another large shape appeared at the very entrance to the cave beyond Toldor. Blocking out most of the daylight, it advanced quickly and was soon close behind the Sortiri. Confused by an unexplained presence, Toldor turned to look over his shoulder. As he did so, the massive shape rose up and lashed out at the Sortiri leader, striking him squarely upon the chest and shoulders and knocking him to the ground at the side of the cave. It was Feor, his hooves struck with nearly fifteen hundred pounds of mass.
Poised and waiting with his Opal at the ready, Rendel lurched forward as if propelled by an unseen gale. He pushed Jerrid before him and pulled Audain behind. Feor turned and unleashed a kick with both his rear legs. The force knocked Toldor against the sandstone wall. As he tried to recover, the three Foedan shot past. Rendel tossed Audain onto Feor’s back and helped Jerrid climb up behind her. The powerful animal wasted no time. Gaining speed in just a few strides, Feor carried them out. He did not slow until they reached level ground a few hundred yards from the cave’s entrance.
“Jerrid,” Rendel said excitedly as he slipped off Feor. “Did I hear you right? Was that monster King Arthis’s son?”
“Yes, but there’s no time now,” Jerrid answered heavily. “We need to see if she’s alright.”
She seemed to be wakening slightly but was still unable to sit up without support.
“No, not here,” Rendel answered. He jumped onto Tara and grabbed Arum’s reins. “There’s no time. You must hold her. Who knows what’s behind us? Follow me.”
THE END
Thank you for reading.
The story concludes with The Shrine of Arthis Book Two: The Power from Forgiveness.
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The Shrine of Arthis Book One: The Power of Denial Page 13