To Hold Back The Dark - Chapter Three
Pietr Farachuk listened intently to their warning and story. Several of his men disbelieved the tale, but not Pietr. The ruins of the Naythor Caravan lent an all too real air of truth to the story. He quickly posted guards and headed off the road in the direction of Emeralde. Allanah and Michael decided to ride with them until they felt that the Caravan was close enough to Emeralde to be out of danger.
The Caravan hadn't gotten far from the road when the fear hit like a brick wall. The men on guard trembled violently and others were moved to tears of fear. Allanah used all of her willpower to keep her wits about her, and mumbled a spell that would insulate the Caravan from the fear that currently engulfed it. As soon as the spell took effect, anger replaced the fear - anger that someone would use such magic against them. The wagons were quickly assembled into a defensive circle and they waited for the darkness which they could see sweeping towards them like leaves on the wind. Michael and Allanah used what spells they thought would work in keeping the area within the circle lit and each one prayed that that the spells would indeed work. It was with great dread and trepidation that they waited for the darkness to overcome them and this it did quickly. It swarmed about and surrounded them, but their little area was unaffected. Howls of rage split the air, sending chills down spines, as their would-be attackers realized that this attack had been stopped cold. Allanah peered into the darkness, trying in vain to see them, but even her keen sight couldn't penetrate the black that concealed the evil. She shivered and Michael put his arm around her in a protective and comforting way, as much for himself as for her. She moved closer to him, sharing his fear of what lay out there, but also drawing comfort from his presence, and the fact that they were safe. At least for a little while, for each of them knew that they had to follow this thing to its point of origin. Within minutes the dark was gone and they were once more bather in the natural light of the afternoon sun. Michael immediately searched out Pietr.
"I don't think you'll be in any more danger. Just in case though, you should travel to Emeralde in a tight group. The spells we used will last for a while yet, and that should give you some protection."
"I thank you for your help and advice. I take it then that the two of you won't be accompanying us?"
Michael shook his head, "No, and I'm sorry about that. We came out here to find out what we could about this thing, and right now we have a really hot trail to follow. We'll be okay."
Pietr smiled sadly, "I hope so, my friend, I truly hope so. I'll tell the authorities in Emeralde what you are doing."
"Thank you. Have a fast and safe journey."
Michael walked to where Allanah already mounted, waited with his horse. Once in the saddle, he turned to her.
"Are you ready for this?"
"About as ready as I'll ever be. Let's get this over with before I lose my nerve!"
"You never lose your nerve. Shall I lead, or do you want the honors of being first in line in case of attack?"
"I'll lead," she said resignedly, "Although, I think we should be fairly safe. This...thing, or whatever seems to attack only large groups."
"That we know of."
"It's never been followed before."
"That we know of."
"So, we don't really know what kind of reaction to expect."
"True."
"However, we'll never find out if we just keep sitting here! Why don't we ride side by side?"
"Sounds safe to me."
They led their horses away from the wagons, following the strong trail of magic. They figured that they would have a good trail for quite some way. As each minute passed through, instead of feeling optimistic, Allanah felt more apprehensive. It bothered her that they were unable to see their attackers. It would have been a tremendous help to know what form they were in. The howls had been animal in sound, but then, it was said that demons sometimes sounded that way. She remembered the first time she had ever summoned a demon. When the creature first appeared, the gateway into its world was opened for just a split second, but that was more than enough time for her to feel the evil and disorder present there. Her first time conjuring a demon had also been her last, mainly because she didn't want to feel that again or risk losing control of the creature. Their teachers had told the students stories of magicians who lost control of their demons and thusly lost control of their own souls. There had been one student who laughed at the tales and conjured a demon up from Hell before he could master it. Just thinking about the boys' burned out body still sent an uncontrollable shiver up her spine. For Allanah, demons were best kept in nightmares where they belonged, and not on the face of the earth. Sighing, she brushed all such thoughts from her mind and concentrated solely on the trail which burned with magic before her.
The Hutheir Caravan had reached the Merchant Pass without incident and after a peaceful night, departed for the Elven city of Dari at first light. Even though Allanah and Michael had been told that they wouldn't be waited for, David decided to wait anyway. It was now evening, and there was no sign of either one. Ever since the two had ridden away from Emeralde, David had been regretting his decision to allow them to go out on their own. He should have waited until they had informed King Mark of the incidents and then they would have all gone together to find out what was really out there. But should haves and ought to's didn't add up to a hill of beans after the fact. The meat pie tasted more like sand in his mouth and he gazed into the fire, trying not to think too much on what the pair might be going through. Rhea's voice cut softly through the cool air.
"David, we have to leave in the morning. If they were going to meet us here, they would have been here by now. It's time that we pushed on to Tralik. King Mark is expecting us."
He nodded, "We'll head home in the morning. I'm sure they'll meet us in Tralik."
Corin smiled, "You're right, they'll be there."
"How can you be so sure? They could be lying out there dead!", Immediately, David regretted his words.
Corin looked serious, "I'd know if Allanah was dead. I'd know if she was hurt. She is neither. Nor can I allow myself to think otherwise. None of us can."
David returned his gaze to the fire, trying to beat back his own fears. Corin was right, they had to believe that their friends were okay. The rest of the meal was spent in silence. They feelings which they all had were better left unsaid.
The wind howled piteously, wrapping itself around the lean-to as if it too were seeking shelter from itself. Allanah shuddered at the sound and moved closer to the fire that threatened to die out with every blustery gust. But its feeble warmth was better than the little protection her cloak was giving her. She peered out into the gathering dusk, hoping for a sign of Michael, but he was nowhere to be found. Looking up into the sky only made her shivered more, for the clouds that she could see were heavy with snow and she felt certain that they weren't going to make it out of the mountains without feeling the weight of some of that snow. She settled back and tried not to think about the journey that they still faced. She had known from the moment that they split off from the others that the journey to Tralik would not be an easy one, and that they definitely would not be meeting the others at Merchant Pass. She felt totally alone and wished for the thousandth time that Michael hadn't gone hunting, even though the terror they had faced and tracked into the mountains wasn't this far south yet. The memory of that terror was still freshly etched in her mind. She had no trouble dealing with mages and magicians - she was well trained in magic and could hold her own. She also had no trouble handling fighters out to kill her - her sword arm was as good as any. But nameless, faceless terrors scared the shit out of her. She wanted rest and peace far away from these mountains, perhaps a month or two by the sea or on the Emerald Isle. Yes, that was it, she'd take leave and go away. She supposed that she could go home, but even the Elven Mountains couldn't purge the memories that she so desperately needed to shed. It didn't help any either that she would most likely be coming back here later with the others. Maybe she could find a way to get her courage back up before that had to happen.
She felt her heart grow cold as the wind picked up again, even more horribly than before. She pulled her cloak tightly about her body and held her breath as she heard a soft melody above the wind. Or at least thought she heard something. No, the sound definitely grew stronger - it was Michael - finally. She whistled back as loud as she could and soon he was back with her in the small shelter. He smiled and displayed the small rabbit that he had managed to snare.
"Enjoy this, it took me forever just to spot this scrawny thing."
"The animals are probably seeking shelter. It will snow."
"I know. We better eat light and save what we can for the trail."
"If we can keep to the trail in the snow!"
"Woman, you sure are being pessimistic! We'll be out of these mountains before the snow begins!"
"Care to bet on that, McShane?"
"Five silver pieces."
"Done. We better hurry and get this cooked, and the fire banked up. It'll be colder once the snow starts. You clean your great catch. I want to check on the horses, they've been awfully quiet."
"How can you tell in this wind?"
"I can't, and that's why I want to check. They've probably frozen."
"Well, there's no room for them in here, unfortunately. Hurry back."
She left the shelter and was immediately battered by the wind. She had only though that it was cold in the lean-to, but now she knew what cold really was. She felt a little sorry for Michael, since he had been out in it for an hour! She headed directly for the underbrush where they had left the horses, but was unable to see them through the foliage. Not so unusual, she thought. They had left the steeds untied so that they could seek food and better shelter than the bushes. She decided to check the area anyway, but once there, her heart became caught in her throat. There had been a perfectly logical reason why she couldn't see or hear the horses: The two stallions lay upon the ground in steaming pools of blood, their throats ripped open.
Michael had been too shocked and surprised at the death of the horses to do much thinking and had blindly done all that Allanah had told him to do. He found himself coming to his senses somewhere on the trail.
"Where are we?"
"We're still in the mountains. We've been walking for about a half hour. I want to get as much ground as possible between us and that camp."
"We never did get to eat. I'm not hungry though."
"You will be. We'll eat after we find shelter. It'll snow soon and I want to be under cover by then."
She shifted the pack that was cutting into her shoulders. Each of them carried their saddle bags, blankets, water, a little dry wood, and plenty of fresh meat. Michael felt extremely uneasy about the meat as he remembered that he and Allanah had butchered the horses. He thought that they were also carrying the pelts from the animals, but he wasn't positive of that and he sure as Hell wasn't going to ask. He didn't even want to think about what had killed the horses. Allanah was sure that it wasn't wolves, for they would have bothered her too, and they didn't. Besides, most predators would have eaten, and except for their mortal wounds, the horses had been untouched. For the first time, he began to doubt whether they would actually get out of the Azures alive.
"Damn! Allanah, I loved that stupid horse!"
"He wasn't stupid! Those horses were highly trained, efficient fighting machines. I'm sure that they would have gotten away if the could."
"I didn't mean that I thought he really was stupid.", Elves sometimes were too literal, he thought.
"I know what you meant. I loved Burt, too. I know you guys thought I was dumb to name him that, but he seemed to like it. Pick up your speed, we need to make the best time we can now that we're on foot."
"I could make better time without all this meat on my back."
"That meat is going to keep you alive in the days ahead."
"I can't eat my horse!"
"Then eat mine! Look, they would have understood. Now walk!"
She picked up her pace and he had no choice but to follow at her speed or be left behind. Miserably, he trudged through the gathering gloom, trusting in her keen eyesight to lead the way and mourning the death of a creature that had been like a friend to him.
The minutes had stretched into hours and the hours ran together until Michael had lost all sense of time. It was way past dark and a fine snow had begun to fall. Allanah still walked on, seemingly oblivious to the dark and wet. Michael followed her mindlessly, keeping his eyes riveted to her back. When she finally stopped, it was so sudden that he nearly ran over her.
She pointed to her right, "There's a cave or overhang of some kind up there.", she started up the incline and he dutifully followed.
They paused at the entrance to the cave. "Well, it certainly looks like enough room! Put your pack down and see if you can scrounge up some wood. We'll need to stockpile all the wood we can get. This snow will only get worse."
"It's just a flurry."
"For now."
He went on and did as instructed. When he returned with an armful of sticks, she had rigged up a horse hide covering over the entrance and had a small fire started. She was cooking some meat, and meat that was already done lay on a plate nearby. He sat down amazed that she had remembered to pack a plate and he wondered what else she may have fit into the packs when he wasn't looking.
"Most of the wood is wet, but it'll dry out quick," he looked at the door, blood still glistened on the pelts, "I really don't think I can stand to look at my horse up there."
"Then don't look. Here, eat.", she handed him the plate and he looked at it with suspicion.
"It's the rabbit.", she assured him.
He bit off a chunk, "So, how long do you plan on us staying here?"
"All day tomorrow and tomorrow night at least."
"You really expect it to snow that long?"
"I sure do. We won't be in bad shape here. We have food and can get more water easily. We passed a stream right before I spotted this cave."
"I don't remember seeing a stream."
"You weren't looking. We'll be safe and warm here. We've put a lot of distance between us and that camp."
"So, what do you think did it?"
She chewed thoughtfully, "Well, I've eliminated wolves. And, I've pretty much ruled out whatever that "thing" is that we tracked. We would have felt that. There are a lot of legends about this part of the mountains. Huge creatures that appear out of nowhere and kill with one sweep of a giant claw. Probably just grizzly bear sightings blown all out of proportion. Then, of course, there are trolls."
"There's no such a thing! Trolls, like Wood Elves, exist only in legends!"
"Legends usually have a basis in fact. A trip to the Royal Library might help us out, or the story tellers in Dari might know."
"Do you think we'll even make it that far?"
"I've never doubted that we'd make it to Tralik. Just that we'd make it in one piece. Now that the horses are definitely not in one piece, I can relax. We may be attacked on the trail, but I think we can handle it."
"I love the way you shift from being the voice of doom to being too hopeful! I wish I could switch that fast!"
"You did it too, but only in the opposite direction. You'll feel much better in the morning. Right now though, we need more wood."
"I brought in a whole armful."
"So you did. However, we'll need lots more. I want to dry out this meat and stay warm. You go and get wood and when you get back, I'll go and get water."
"I can get that too."
"Michael, I know where the stream is and can see to get to a little bit better than you can. You just concentrate on keeping us from freezing to death."
"Yes, ma'am! You just give me some more of that meat there and I'll be off.", he stuffed his mouth with a few more pieces and headed out. The snow was no longer a mere flurry and Michael was beginning to think that Allannah's prediction was right. He hurriedly gathered wood, keeping his eyes peeled for grizzlie bears or trolls. After several trips he had built up a rather large pile just outside the cave entrance. He started to shift the wood inside while Allannah went for water and had just finished arranging it when she returned.
"I want to get some large rocks to hold down the bottom of the hides. If the wind shifts around too much, the biggest fire won't do us much good if it gets in here."
"Good idea. What's it like out there?"
"I think it's turning into a blizzard."
"Should I get more wood while I can? I can pile it up just outside the door. Make a little fence of sorts."
"That's a great idea. Let's hurry though."
They both went about their respective tasks as quickly as they could and were soon secure. It was now warm in the cave, and they were able to take off their cloaks. They spread their blankets near the fire and then curled up side by side, sleeping near each other for additional warmth, using their cloaks as covers.
Sleep was quick for Michael, but not so for Allanah. She stared up at the stone roof, watching as the fire cast a pale reddish glow against the white rock and tossed the shadows about with careless abandon. She sat up and fed more wood to the demanding flame, afraid of what might happen should the fire die. Her nerves were too jumpy for sleep so she remained sitting. The wind blustered outside, pushing against the hides and blowing traces of snow around the edges of the hides. Without them, they would have been exposed to the elements and frozen by now. In her mind's eye, she could see the new snow pounding into that which had already fallen. The wind was blowing in every direction, and Allanah was fairly sure that they were safe from being trapped in their cave by the snow. She thought of her brother and the others, by now well on their way to Tralik. By God, how she wished they were all together on that road! There was no guarantee that they hadn't been followed by something or someone. A quick glance to her left assured her that Michael slept soundly.
"Oh, Corin," she thought, "We're still safe. Don't worry."
Michael quickly woke up at the smell of food, smoke and horse-hide. Sitting up he saw that Allanah had even fixed coffee and was warming the meat she had smoked earlier.
"Good morning!", he smiled at her, "If it really is morning."
She grinned, "Morning it is!"
"How's the weather?"
"Still snowing, but not as fierce as last night. There's a lot of snow on the ground."
He reached over and grabbed a piece of meat from the pan. As he began to chew, he took the time to look her over and he noticed with concern that she looked a little frayed around the edges.
"You didn't sleep at all last night, did you?"
"No. I tried, but I just couldn't. I just felt that someone needed to be on watch."
"Well, you get some sleep now."
"I plan to!"
"You better! The last time you had any sleep was our last night in Aluntaa. At least I assume that you and David were sleeping in his room!"
"It was your room too, and of course we were sleeping! What else could we have been doing?"
"Nothing I guess.", he wondered if she was just joking with him or if she really had no idea what else they could have done. They ate in silence for a minute.
"Michael, I'm a little scared."
"Me, too. But we'll soon be in familiar territory and far from here, so try not to be too scared."
"I keep telling myself that we'll be in Tralik soon, and David will be angry with us for being so late."
Michael laughed, "That's the spirit! Worry about the important things, Annah! Hell, we can handle magic, monsters, and cut-throats! It's David that we need to save our strength for!"
She joined in his laughter and he gestured toward the blankets, "You sleep now. I'll be here."
She curled up under her cloak and was soon asleep. Michael cleaned up what mess there was and then went to the door. Parting the hides slightly, he peered out into the white world. They were still in a blizzard, but as Allanah had said, it wasn't as bad as it had been the night before. He decided that they had plenty of wood to last through the next day if need be, although he hoped to be gone by morning. He stood gazing out until the cold got to him and then he returned to the fire. Sitting down, he tried to let his thoughts go blank, but unbidden memories wouldn't leave him alone. They had had an easy time tracking the Farachuk Caravan's attacker or attackers, and soon they were in the mountains, but far south of where they really wanted to be. Further and further they had traveled into the mountains until it was nearly dark, and that was when it finally struck out at them. The terror curled in their stomachs like a fist, and it was all they could do to keep themselves together, let alone keep the horses calm. Somehow they managed to do both. Michael was sure that the Brooch was somehow partly responsible for helping to shield them both from the worst the thing had to offer. Despite their growing fear, the pair was never physically attacked and with grim determination, they were able to plow on until they were through the area of fear. As they reached the next rise, the fear was gone, much to their relief. However, when they entered the next valley, it returned again, much stronger than before and this valley was shrouded in darkness. They trudged on and Michael felt a bump against his leg. Reaching out, he grabbed hold of what felt like a human hand. He pulled the person up in front of him and they continued on their way up and out. When they finally emerged from the valley, they were astonished to find that the sun was rising, but they had lost all sense of time and didn't know if it was the next day or even later. Michael was relieved to find that his passenger was a human male, but he was now unconscious and lay slumped against Michael. Even though they wanted to get out of there as fast as possible, they knew he had to be looked after. Dismounting, they made a small camp and tried to revive the young man.
It took several minutes to bring him back to consciousness, and then he was confused and disoriented. Looking wildly about at his surroundings, he finally erupted into hysterical laughter, which Allanah promptly put a stop to by a firm slap. After a few minutes, he calmed down, and after looking down at his ragged clothing, apologized.
"I'm sorry that I'm not dressed appropriately for company. I'm afraid that I've been traveling rather hard and keeping my clothes neat hasn't been a priority."
Michael looked at Allanah with concern, "There's no need to apologize," he assured him, "We understand. Who are you?"
"I'm Kasim Naythor. Our Caravan was attacked...I have no idea how long ago it was. I was captured along with everyone else."
"What happened after you were taken captive."
"We were herded into the mountains. I passed out and I guess they left me behind, thinking that I was dead. When I awoke, I tried to follow the others, but I became lost. I wandered for a while until I came to that valley.", his voice lost all expression, "Then it came back again. That fear and blackness. I thought I was going to go mad. I walked about, reaching out for anything. That's when I felt your horse. I thought it might have been one my captors, but at that point I didn't care. I just had to get out of that."
"Did you actually see your captors?", Allanah asked.
"Not really. They had forms, and they rode horses, but I never saw any features. They were covered from head to toe in black clothing. They might have been human, I have no idea. They never talked, they just pushed us in front of them. One time, several of us tried to resist them, but then the fear came back and we stopped. I have no idea where they took my family."
"They'll be found. Right now, we need to get you rested and get out of here. The sooner we reach Tralik, the sooner help can get out here.", Michael looked up at the sky and took note of the sun's position, "We're way south of Merchant's Pass and it'll be some time before we make Tralik, so we'll have to travel as fast as we can. If we head straight east from here, we'll hit Trayille faster and can get a message to the King."
Allanah and Kasim murmured their agreement, and then Kasim sat bolt upright, "No! It can't be! It's following me! No!", he screamed once and then fell back to the ground. Michael looked to where the young man had been pointing while Allanah tended to him.
"Allanah, that darkness is heading for us. The damn thing is moving!"
He turned to her, and she looked up at him, pale, "Michael, he's dead. He's just dead. He seemed so afraid."
"Well, there isn't much we can do for him now, except bury him."
"Do we have time for that?"
He glanced back down into the valley, "We'll make the time."
By the time they left, the darkness was nearly to the top of the rise and still moving, so they decided to keep heading north some more before striking east. They had given up all hope of meeting the others at the pass. The best they could hope for was getting a message to the King. Both King Mark and Richard, the young King of Marille had a lot of hard decisions to make and would need all the information the pair could provide.
Michael shook his head as if he could shake off the memory of Kasim's face when he died. He shifted position, mostly to relieve the discomfort caused by a too full bladder. "Well, here goes nothing. I just pray that nothing vital freezes off!" He stepped outside and soon returned, having relieved himself in record time. Shivering, he returned to the fire. Allanah still lay sleeping, her face free from the worry and care it had shown earlier. "Sweet dreams, girl. You need some small reprieve from the horror."
His own dreams had been riddled with monsters and darkness and young men dying from fright. His own death held no particular fear for him, what he really feared was the death of his sister or friends. He enjoyed arguing with David, and Corin was always ready to go with him to the taverns of Tralik for some ale and fun. Rhea was the only family he had left, and he couldn't bear to lose her, too. And Allanah, well, Allanah was the only one who felt the same was he did about magic. She alone knew his feeling and moods and left him alone when he needed it. She alone...Michael quickly looked away from her as he felt his eyes water. The feelings he had for Allanah were better left alone. Declaring how he felt about her would only confuse matters and had the potential to cause tension among their group. Besides, she was Elven nobility, and was most likely fated to wed an Elven Lord, not someone like himself. But he did find himself wondering just how highly Elves regarded virginity.
He looked back to her and was startled to find her staring at him. As if she could read his mind, she drew her cloak back, "Won't you join me? I don't think we're in any danger of attack in this storm and I'm still so cold."
"I suppose I could hold you. They say that two bodies together is much warmer than one person alone."
"I want you to do more than hold me. I want you to love me."
The desire in her eyes was all the invitation he needed. He couldn't believe that the moment he had just been thinking about was really here. He thought that the Elves must not put too much stock in virginity if she was so willing to give herself to him. He then thought that maybe she wasn't a virgin, but her hesitant moves as she tried to undress him told him otherwise. He expertly loosened her shirt and found her breasts, full and soft and warm. His gentle caresses brought soft moans of pleasure from her. Their lips touched and their kiss made the world ablaze with a heat that the fire could never come close to duplicating.