by R D Wolfe
“We’ll be within the foothills by midday, and to the caves by nightfall. We’re making good time.” Her voice was passive, emotionless.
Darien nodded, wondering how he could get her to continue talking.
“I’m glad you decided to stay,” Darien tested her mood.
She turned slightly in his direction, glancing at him from the corner of her eye.
“I wouldn’t have thought so.” She said it so directly, it threw Darien for a moment.
“Why did you stay?” he asked, trying to sound friendly.
“Do you think that Cyprin’s army would stop with the city? Once they overrun the city, they’ll take everything else.” She finished pointedly, clearly still upset.
Silence fell over them again.
“Look,” Darien said insistently, “I didn’t handle that situation in the hallway very well. There was a lot going on. I was—I’m sorry.”
“You disappeared for three days, Darien,” Evatra said, clearly unsatisfied with his attempts to make amends.
He fiddled with some of the leather bindings on his saddle, looking back up and seeing that Evatra was watching him expectantly.
“Well? Where were you?” She was almost yelling at him.
“I was working on making repairs and building the defenses around the city,” Darien answered, almost in a whisper.
“I needed you back with us. We had a lot of work to do and could have used you.” Her tone was earnest and had a special intensity that Darien couldn’t place.
He looked back at her, meeting her gaze, seeing the hurt in her face.
“You needed me?” Darien asked, unsure if he had heard her right.
Evatra looked away. Darien revisited the words she had just spoken in his own mind to be sure he had heard correctly.
“I mean—I meant—we did. Everyone in there did,” Evatra stammered. “We could have used your help in planning how to defend the city. You know, never mind, just forget it. Let’s just get to the mountains and be done with this.”
The two rode without speaking over the next few hours, a mountain of silence growing between them again which Darien wanted to climb but found no holds. As promised, he found himself at the foothills by midday, staring into the rising and falling terrain. This was what he could contribute—he would be able to goad the wraiths out of their caves to fight for him, as the one he had rescued promised. He had to.
The closer they got to the mountain, the more Darien worked to muster up his courage. As they crossed into the shadow of the mountains, the air grew a slight chill. Razor peaks towered over them as Evatra led Darien along an invisible path deeper into the rocks. The green of the meadows had given way to the grey of stone, reminding Darien of the material that Farkland Reach was built from. Studying it closer, Darien realized that this really was where the trolls had gotten the materials to build their city. It had the same texture, color, and feel as the stones used to build the massive castle walls.
Evatra came to a stop. Darien rode up alongside her, looking ahead.
“Just beyond those trees, there’s the mouth of a cave.” Evatra said, pointing at a line of trees in front of them. “Atreya was playing further down where we came from when one of the wraiths came from up here and attacked her.”
Darien stared, listening carefully for any sign of life, but made out nothing.
“I guess this is it, then?” he asked, trying to appear confident.
She looked at him and nodded her agreement.
“It is.” She sounded almost sad, or was it worried? Darien couldn’t tell.
Silence enveloped them again.
“Look,” Evatra said, breaking the silence this time. “Darien, I’m sorry I’ve been so harsh with you. It’s just that I’ve lived with the marauders for so long now, and there’s no one there you can really trust. With you that’s different, I can trust you, and that scares me.” Her voice fell away.
“Scares you?” Darien asked, shocked. “Why would that scare you? I’d think it would be, I don’t know, refreshing after living with people like the marauders for so long.”
“It should be,” Evatra gave him a sad smile. “But it isn’t. Anyway, I’m going to go back down and set up a camp. I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to go in there with you.”
Darien looked at her for several seconds before nodding.
“You’re probably right. I think this is one I’ve got to do on my own,” Darien said, trying to reassure himself about the task at hand. “Have a fire ready when I come out, will you? I don’t know how long this is going to take, but I know we need to rest tonight before going back tomorrow, no matter what happens.”
“It’ll be ready.” Evatra nodded, giving him a worried smile.
Darien thanked her and dismounted from his horse. Evatra tied it off on her saddle and retrieved a torch, which she lighted the same way she had lit all the fires during their travels. Striking a stone against a black piece of what looked like metal, she handed Darien the torch. They paused for a moment, their eyes meeting with a strange intensity. Darien watched as she made her way out of the mountain pass, and back towards the rolling foothills. Turning, Darien moved through the trees until he came the cave Evatra had described. The interior looked to be as black as Rist’s hood, but he knew he had to enter.
There was no turning back now.
Darien walked cautiously into the mouth of the cave, keeping his torch raised in front of him. As he moved deeper into the moist air he felt a chill flow past him. A few times Darien thought he might slip on the soggy rock floors, as water kept them slick, flowing freely from somewhere above. Proceeding with trepidation, Darien went fifteen or so feet into the cave before stopping and calling out.
“Hello?” Darien called into the darkness.
There was no answer, save for his voice reflecting back to him. He continued on, when another fifty steps in, he spotted a wall at the far end of the stone cavern. He hurried towards it, putting his hand against the damp unmoving stone, and realized there was nothing there. The caves were empty. This wasn’t the home of the wraiths. It couldn’t be. It was too small. There were no branches off of the main tunnel. He had followed it straight into this room, which could hold maybe thirty or forty people, at most, certainly not an entire group of wraiths, who, incorporeal as they may be, would assuredly take up more room than this cave allowed.
Darien cursed and stared back the way he had come. The pinpoint of light from just outside cave’s entrance felt so far away. He would have to find Evatra, tell her that there was nothing here, and then begin searching the mountains for the true home of the wraiths. They didn’t have time for a prolonged search before Cyprin’s army reached Farkland Reach. Maybe, if they spent the rest of the day looking, they would come up with something to show for it, but Darien wasn’t feeling particularly hopeful. He knew they couldn’t afford to go back empty-handed.
A piercing screech, ripped through the cave, echoing off of the solid stone walls, magnifying its effect. Darien went to protect his ears, and his torch hit the floor, rolling over the wet surface before coming to a stop, its flicker of a flame barely alive in the damp air. Darien felt a shudder in the ground at his feet, and the point of light that was the entrance vanished from view, a large stone falling from the roof of the cave to seal the passageway.
Trapped, Darien ran forward, pushing against the block that had locked him in. It didn’t budge. Turning back, he reached down to pick up the fallen torch, using its light to find some crevice he might be able to slip through in order to escape.
“Do not touch your fire.”
An eerily familiar voice reverberated around the cavern. Darien paused, his eyes trying to adjust to see the cavern walls around him, unable to make anything out in the faint light of the torch at his feet.
“Where are you?” Darien called out.
“We are here.”
“I don’t understand,” he answered back, trying to see through the encroaching darkness and
strange shadows cast by the flickering light of his dim torch.
“You came into our caves, you disturbed our home. You walk the lands, free to be within the world. You were free to go anywhere, and you chose here. You were not invited, and for that, you will die.”
“Wait! Wait! No! I came to ask your help.”
Silence. Darien continued speaking, taking the fact that he wasn’t dead as indication to go on.
“Listen, I’m one of the Four. I helped save one of you, a wraith. She, I mean, it, went inside me. It looked at my memories, and I let it stay inside me while I took it to the edge of camp and let it go. It said to come find you when I needed help. That’s why I’m here, I need your help!” Darien pleaded as earnestly as he knew how.
A sound, almost like the scurrying of a thousand tiny mice echoed around him. The wraiths were there, they were talking to each other. The hissing voice came back, somehow even sharper than before.
“You lie! None here have touched you before,” the voice replied venomously.
“No, I promise, it’s true!” Darien said hurriedly.
Darien was panicking now. Was this a mistake? Was the wraith lying? Had the one he had spoken with not made its way back to the caves? Were these different wraiths?
“We tire of this talk. We would not help one of your kind. This is pointless.” The voice sounded irritated.
“Listen, what if I’m not lying,” Darien scrambled to find his words. "What if I’m telling you the truth? Do you really want to risk that? What if another wraith made a promise, because of what they saw, or felt, or whatever, when they were inside my head? You can’t risk that? Can you?” Darien said, hoping it would be enough to peak their curiosity.
The scurrying went around the dark cave again.
“What do you propose?” the hissing voice asked slowly, curiosity driving away the irritation.
How could he prove to the wraiths that he wasn’t lying? He didn’t have anything with him that would lend credence to his story. All the wraith had said was that they would help him when he needed it. Then, the answer hit him, it was obvious.
“Examine my mind. You possess people, right? Now I’m giving you permission. Go inside me, see if what I’m telling you is true. I am one of the Four. You’ll find whatever the other wraith saw in me.”
He knew the others would think he was crazy when he told them what he had just suggested, but it didn’t matter. What choice did he have? It was either let them in willingly, or die.
Silence fell over the cave, save for the same scurrying sound as whispers rose around him.
“It is…. agreed.”
Darien sighed. Maybe he’d make it out of here after all.
“Okay. I’m ready.” he said, unsure if he really was.
Darien braced himself and felt the rushing cold enter his body. This time was far more painful than the last. Unlike the wraith before, this one did not isolate the painful chill that spread through him. The extra consciousness now sharing his mind was callous as it examined his memories, each one visualized by Darien as they inspected it all, even the memories that he couldn’t recall on his own, and the unfamiliar faces that he had never seen before. Kara, Chorrun, Philip, Evatra, Trey, and finally Master Whyn flashed before his eyes, the image if Whyn lasting longer than any of the others. The process lasted much longer, and Darien found himself losing focus on the images flashing through his head, focusing instead on trying to block out the pain.
After some unknown time, Darien felt the wraith leave his body, screaming as it ripped itself from him. It was as though the wraith left unwillingly, having dug its tendrils into various points of his consciousness, refusing to let go until finally, he felt alone in his own mind again. He collapsed onto the wet floor of the cave, gasping for breath, hands clutching the sides of his head. As the pain subsided, he became vaguely aware of the scurrying noise once more echoing from the walls of the cave, but Darien didn’t pay any attention to them, simply trying to recover.
“You are not lying. And something is… different. This Cycle turns in a new way. Our kin did not lie to you. However, this battle you must fight, we cannot join.”
“And why not?” Darien asked through clenched teeth, pushing himself up onto his knees.
“We will need to find a way to leave these caves. Individual members of our kind have been able to venture out only after finding suitable hosts We will need to devise a way to leave our home behind. Until we find that answer, or until we find willing enough hosts whose minds we can subdue, we will be unable to aid you.”
Darien sat back on the heels of his feet, desperation filling him.
“We can’t beat this army! It’s twice the size of the city it’s attacking, and not everyone there knows how to fight. What kind of promise is it that? You’ll help when you find a way? How long will that take?” Darien cried out, despair filling him at the thought of fighting without the wraiths.
“We do now know, but be assured that once we find that answer we will join you, and assist in your task to kill Cyprin. Beyond that, we can promise nothing. Now, leave us.”
The stone that had locked Darien in the cavern began to move, shaking the whole room and knocking several rocks loose from the ceiling. He picked up his torch to try and see what was happening, shielding his eyes and covering his head from the falling stones. The massive stone block was sliding smoothly, effortlessly back into place above the passageway that led to the cave’s entrance. The path he had come down was dark, which told Darien that night had fallen. He had been trapped inside for hours. Darien tried to plead with the wraiths for several more minutes but, getting no reply, began walking back towards the entrance of the cave.
Outside, Darien saw the two moons of Olympus overhead. He guessed from their position, it had been at least six hours since he and Evatra parted ways. The wraiths had been inside him much longer than before. His muscles shook from the effort of moving his body down the mountain slope, the toll of the wraith's inspection had made him incredibly weak. After about a hundred or so steps, he saw the dim light of a campfire on a ledge overlooking the fields they had crossed over the last day and a half. Darien walked, using rocks and trees he found along his way as rest stops or handholds, shocked at how much strength he lacked after his encounter with the shadowy forms.
Eventually, Evatra heard Darien coming and rushed out to assist him. She lent him her support as they made their way back to the camp. He sat, enjoying the warmth of the fire, thinking he could still feel the cold of the wraith’s presence within him. He closed his eyes and took several steadying breaths before meeting the grey face that sat across from him, watching him eagerly.
“I failed,” Darien said simply.
The sentence hung between them.
“Failed? But how? The wraith before promised…!” Evatra cried.
“That wraith wasn’t there,” Darien answered, shaking his head wearily. “They had to examine my memories and they were very… thorough. They came to the same conclusion that they would help us but—”
“Then how did you fail? You got them to agree to help!” Evatra cried, grasping at any chance of keeping the hope of another ally.
Darien paused several seconds, taking a drink of water out of his pouch.
“They don’t know how to leave the caves. Not without possessing people. I can’t think of anyone who would willingly give themselves up to let a wraith use their body, can you?”
“No,” Evatra resigned.
Darien sat in silence, allowing her to check him over for injury, all the while insisting that he was alright. Finally, she knelt down in front of him, and held his face in her warm hands, staring into his eyes. Darien started back, reminded for an instant of Kara. Losing himself in the angular features, he leaned forward, pressing his tired lips to hers. She welcomed the contact, her hands never leaving the skin of his cheeks as she pulled his face into hers. She broke away, clearing her throat and moving to sit across the fire from him. They sat in silenc
e for several seconds, listening to the crackle of the fire
What were you thinking?
Evatra cleared her throat before mercifully breaking the quiet.
“Well then, I guess we go back?” she spoke slowly.
She sounded as if she hoped Darien would have a different answer. He didn’t.
Darien kept his eyes carefully averted from hers as he took a deep drink from his water pouch.
"We go back," Darien paused. "And we hope we have enough to win."
Chapter 19: The Duel
Darien and Evatra began their journey back north, traveling with very little urgency, compared to before. He was thankful that they were able to slow their pace. Sure, they needed to make it back to the city and help prepare for the battle, but the toll of the wraiths the day before was making it hard for him to push onwards. For whatever reason, this interaction with a wraith had taken much more from him than his previous encounter. His muscles ached, and his mind felt sluggish, as if he was thinking through a fog. The two of them had tactfully found ways to ignore the kiss they had shared he night before. By unspoken consent, they both acted as though it had never happened.
“Are you sure one of them didn’t stick around in your head like last time?” Evatra asked him after a few hours of silence.
“No, you know when they’re there,” Darien said, rubbing weariness from his eyes. “It’s like knowing there’s a dream you want to remember, but not being able to pick out the exact details you remembered when you first woke up. I’m just tired, I’ll be fine.”
The two of them rode on, discussing unimportant topics in an effort to keep the mood light. They carefully avoided acknowledging the fact that they would be coming back empty-handed, and what that meant for fighting the army approaching Farkland Reach. If the scout’s estimates were correct, Cyprin’s beasts would reach the city in just five days. At the pace they were going, Darien and Evatra would be there in three, leaving them just enough time to rest and get fitted for the battle. Darien kept his mind distracted. Though he had gotten a taste of combat while raiding with the marauders, he had never fought in a real battle before. The thought of it filled him with terror.