7. Chayil

 “The boy is the problem,” Kara snarled, digging her knife into the map in front of her. “He can sense when we’re coming or going.”

“So why not just flood the cave with paladin?” Aryl suggested. “Surely it won’t matter what he senses if he’s outdone by numbers.”

“So you’d think,” Kayrn said with a shake of his head. “We tried that and he brought half the landscape down on Kara’s head. He can do a sight more than just sense us.”

“So he is a rebel lord,” Aryl surmised. “What about his accomplice?”

“She has no Words that we can tell, though the boy has never let us get close enough to be sure.”

“Then assume the worst,” Midan rumbled. “The girl may be the most dangerous of all.”

Kara stabbed at the map again. “If only there was a way to approach their stronghold! I may be at full strength again, but my force is useless in that maze of a cave!”

“Speaking of force, how did you manage to get such a vast number of beasts?” Aryl asked. “The Ke’etz are normally never so generous.”

“I wasn’t dealing with a particularly bright Ke’etz.” Kara shrugged. “I talked him into raising a whole army for me in the name of ‘cleansing the trees.’ Didn’t even realize he was killing himself until it was too late.”

“Warcry won’t be happy about that,” Aryl chided and Kara shot him a frosty glare. “We have a treaty with the Ke’etz. Your actions will cause problems.”

“Yes, well, one problem at a time,” Kayrn replied, stopping Kara from making any foolish retorts. “We must deal with these rebels first and foremost.”

“And how do you propose we do that?” Kara snapped.

Kayrn ran a hand under his chin in thought. “A trap.”

“A trap?” Midan stared at Kayrn with a dubious look. “And just what trap would you suggest?”

Kayrn took a charcoal stick from the tray beside the table, sliding over the map that Kara had been stabbing and drawing a circle around the Caves of Crace.

“Withdraw the watch from the caves,” Kayrn said, scribbling four arrows all pointing to the circle he had made. “Then, when the boy comes out to see why the post is abandoned, we hem him in.”

“But surely he’ll sense us,” Aryl argued. “If he has ties to the rock, it will be impossible to approach without his noticing.”

“We won’t approach from the ground.”

Kara grinned as understanding dawned on her. “A Cloud,” she purred. “Oh Kayrn, you are the clever one!”

“Why have you not tried this clever solution earlier?” Midan rumbled, clearly skeptical.

Kayrn smiled. “I did not have the advantage of numbers,” he explained. “With four lords strong, cutting off the boy’s retreat will be simple. And once we’ve dealt with him, it will be safe to enter the caves in search of his accomplice.”

Midan grunted. “Three.”

Kayrn raised a curious eyebrow. “Three what?”

“Three lords strong,” Midan clarified and Aryl looked at the man incredulously.

“I can still fight,” Aryl said, leaping to his feet. Well, perhaps leap wasn’t the correct word. It was more like stumbling upright quickly, in Kayrn’s opinion.

“You are injured and need to rest,” Midan replied and his tone brooked no room for argument. “You will stay here.”

“Lord Midan, I—”

“This is not for discussion!” Midan barked and the temperature sharply rose. “Is that understood?”

Aryl nodded, swallowing thickly as Midan pinioned him with a meaningful glare. “Yes, Lord Midan,” he replied, and slowly sank back into his chair.

“But the plan won’t work with just three lords,” Kara complained, oblivious to what had just occurred. “It leaves one avenue of escape uncovered.”

“If we cut off his retreat back into the caves, three lords should be sufficient enough,” Kayrn said, glancing at Midan.

“I will see to that,” Midan growled.

Kara frowned, still not quite satisfied.

“Well, you should probably get a good look at the cave’s entrance then,” Kara said, standing and strapping her Casting Blade onto her back. “It won’t be an easy task for a single Lord to block it.”

Midan stood, Kayrn hurrying to do the same. Aryl remained seated, his eyes fixed to the table.

 “You can rest on the bunk near the fire,” Kara offered Aryl. “It’s more comfortable than the bench, though not by much.”

Aryl nodded his thanks and Kara swept out. Kayrn and Midan followed, Midan closing the door and facing it for a while, not moving.

“Lord Midan?” Kayrn asked.

Midan grunted. “Let’s go.” And he bypassed Kayrn to where Kara was waiting for them on the shore.

 

______________________________________

 

The journey through Crace Caves was dizzying. Very early on David lost all sense of direction, time, and orientation. He had no clue if they were going up, down, sideways, or backwards as he followed Hadriel through the dark and winding tunnels. Hadriel seemed right at home in the rocks. Navigating forks and offshoots as if following a map, he never once paused to wonder if he were going the right direction. He just knew.

David was relieved when dim sunlight lit up the path ahead. There was a sharp bend in the rocks and Hadriel paused at its edge, peeking cautiously out. David, curious, decided to do the same.

On the other side of the bend was a short incline that lead to the exit of the caves. It was a rough half oval shape, sort of like the open mouth of a whale and maybe nine or ten door lengths wide. Standing just outside of the caves were two men dressed in bright red.

“Only paladin,” Hadriel murmured. “This will be simpler than I thought.”

“Paladin?” David whispered, gripping Chayil’s hilt. “Won’t they use that Voice stuff on us?”

 Hadriel gave David an annoyed roll of his eyes. David resisted the urge to slap him in the back of the head.

“Stand back,” Hadriel commanded as he put one hand against the wall and another on the ground and closed his eyes. “Mowcadah tsur.”

David was nearly knocked flat by the ground shifting out from under him. The rocks rolled up into a miniature tidal wave of pebbles and dirt, sweeping out of the cave mouth like ripples in water. The two men noticed it too late. When the wave hit their feet, huge sheets of stone suddenly shot up, folding around them in an impressive ball of rock.

“Hurry,” Hadriel said, running to the stone prison he’d apparently just made. “See that nothing was heard.”

David moved automatically and glanced through the trees and bushes that marched down the steep hill that led to a sandy campsite below. Other men dressed in red were completely clueless, still going about their morning routine and having what looked and smelled to be breakfast. The strange black creatures were upset though, jerking and swaying and occasionally screeching in high pitched sopranos.

“Cether.”

David turned around just in time to see the stone ball sink back into the earth, Hadriel watching it with a grim smile of satisfaction.

“Those guys were in there,” David remarked dumbly.

“Paladins would consume children simply for the pleasure of using their accursed Voice. Save your pity.”

David said nothing as Hadriel came to look at the camp on the other side of the tree line.

“I have the upper hand now,” Hadriel muttered to himself. “We will be free of these lords by nightfall.”

“My, my, my,” an irritating voice laughed. “How fortunate that our rat has already come to greet us!”

Hadriel launched David into the bushes and out of sight just as three figures dropped down from the sky. One was a scrappy looking red head with a sword over her shoulder, another was a short man with a lazy smile, and the last was a huge black man that looked like he could break David in half with his pinky.

“Kara and Kayrn,” Hadriel growled. “And I see you’ve brought a friend.”

The black man’s eyes bored into Hadriel. “Surrender and perhaps I will make your dying quick,” he rumbled.

“Well isn’t that an attractive offer,” Hadriel laughed. “Awfully confident of your skills.”

The black man charged and Hadriel crouched, touching the ground.

“Shur so!” Hadriel cried and a rock wall suddenly rose up, separating him from the charging man. But the big man screeched something unintelligible and in a swirl of black fog, he burst through the wall, grabbing Hadriel by his neck and lifting him two feet clear off the ground.

“I am in no mood for games,” the big man growled, Hadriel trying to pry the man’s hands from around his throat. “Boy! Show yourself!”

David gripped Chayil tighter and didn’t move.

“Quickly! Before I snap his neck!”

With an ultimatum like that, David had few choices to pick from. He walked out of the bushes to stand in full view of the giant.

“Well I showed myself,” David said, holding Chayil with both hands in front of him. “Now let go of Hadriel.”

“The Blade!” the woman hissed and took a step back. “How is he holding it!?”

 “More importantly, he is not one of the rebels we chased in here,” the short man said, his smile gone. “And he is dressed strangely.”

David glanced down at his tattered jeans and tee-shirt and Hawaiian flip-flops. It was a fair statement, when compared to everybody else’s clothing. Hadriel gurgled painfully, still trying to claw the black man’s hand from his neck. David tightened his grip on Chayil.

“Let him go.”

“Drop the Blade and surrender,” the woman snarled.

“Right, like that’s gonna happen,” David shot back.

The woman swiftly drew her blade and screeched, just like the giant had done when he’d broken through Hadriel’s wall. The sound solidified into a black ball and with a swing of her sword, she chucked it in David’s direction. David threw up his arms out of reflex, not sure what that black ball was but knowing it couldn’t be good. Searing heat exploded all around him, eating at his skin like acid. He collapsed, screaming with mindless pain. David caught Hadriel’s eyes for just a moment; the guy was horrified, and it was then that David knew he was toast.

Chayil glowed. But it wasn’t the gentle glow that David had seen back in the caves. This time it was a bright and shocking blue. David’s whole body tingled and the pain dulled as the black fire surrounding him pulsed violently. The light from Chayil was swallowing it.

 “The Blue Fire.” The black man finally dropped Hadriel. “It cannot be.”

David stared at Chayil, not quite knowing what was going on but certain that it was all the blade’s doing. If this sword had just saved him from that acid fire, then maybe it could save them from these three. But how?

Act and trust in the Great Heart.

Aunahbel’s words sprang into David’s mind. Well, he was already holding this thing like a bat. Perhaps it was time to act the only way he knew how.

“To me!” the short man snapped as David positioned Chayil over his shoulder.  The man screeched and a black fog emerged beneath him, roiling and spreading under the other two and lifting them skyward.

But David had already swung.

In a roaring explosion, blue fire raced from the sword in a wide sweeping arc. But it wasn’t just blue fire. It was every color. A rainbow of purples and reds and yellows and greens. David felt the awesome heat coming from it but it didn’t burn him as it engulfed the entrance of the caves in a whirling tornado. The flame rocketed down to the camp, a host of screeching followed by panicked screams ringing in David’s ears before they were swiftly choked off. No one survived, the fire howling past the shore, past the wide waters of the canal, and out of sight.

The silence hurt David’s ears as he stood, Chayil still against his shoulder with the wind swirling ash and sand into a grey cloud of dust below.

“Hadriel! Sir David!”

Aunahbel came running full tilt out of the cave. Hadriel was nursing his bruised throat but he waved a hand to show he was alright. She turned to David and her eyes went wide with shock.

“Sir David!” Aunahbel cried. “Sir David, you are not well!”

David forced his arms to bring Chayil down, every part of him stiff and tired. He wasn’t well? No kidding. He’d been barbecued by black fire; not something normal people walked away from.

“But they’re gone now,” David murmured, trying to smile. “They…”

And he passed out face-first on the ground.

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