INBORN (The Sagas of Di'Ghon) (6 page)

“By the Creator’s eyes.” One of them swore.

“We’re in it now.” Said another.

“We are dead men.”

“Shut up.” Irkhir snapped, one of his axes flying into his hand. “I will kill the first man who deserts the First.”

What were they looking at?

Thaniel grimaced as a horrible feeling overtook the rising bile in the pit of his stomach. Slowly, he raised his head up, letting his eyes track to where everyone but
Keriim was looking.

They had stopped him right under the first arch. It was so wide that, with his eyes on the floor, he hadn’t noticed either of its two bases. Thaniel wanted to be sick. Covered with
the same gut wrenching pattern as the rest of the place, it vaulted twice as high as he was tall. The living pattern made it seem like the arch twisted violently as it shot out of the floor on his right, racing over his head, before it bored back down into the stone on his left. As disorienting as it was, it wasn’t really any different than the rest of the place. The entire chamber, except for the scaled path he was standing on, made him want to vomit.

He felt the blood drain from his face as he noticed what they were all really looking at. It was soft at first, just a faint accent, as if someone had highlighted its fantastic details in blue chalk. But as he watched the sickening pattern, the azure intensified, making it seem like the arch was coming to life.

Thaniel thought he might die when that dra head lit up right in front of his face. But there was something about this arch that seared his soul.  It resonated down inside him, like it was part of him. A deep internal thrumming that made him feel… connected to it on some level he didn’t know existed.

In his peripheral vision, Thaniel took in Irkhir’s head shaking back and forth unbelievingly.

“Take him to the top.” His voice grated like steel being sharpened on a stone.

He was barely even aware of the men that carried him, the back of his boots thudding against the stone steps as they dragged him up the tower. They moved fast, every step a resilient march forward to the inevitable. They didn’t stop below any more aches. Not even when each of them burst into in momentary cerulean light. Thaniel wondered if the soldiers noticed the arches were getting brighter the higher they went. He could tell, even with his eyes closed.

At the top of the tower workers had just finished hanging panels of heavy chain mail from thumb thick iron loops off some sort of iron contraption. The intricate cage butted right up to the heavy stone ceiling ring that encircled the blue dra fresco. Men hastily gathered up their tools and spare iron links, all the while casting nervous glances at the picture of the dra overhead.

Behind the walls of chain, a group of five big men, led by Hobb, the master blacksmith, jerked on the interwoven panels, heaving with all of their collective might. One by one they tested each of them until finally, at his grudging nod of approval, he dismissed them all. The big men wriggled out of
a small flap in the chain that formed the only way in or out, and didn’t waste any time making their way off the top of the tower. One of them literally ran down the path. Hobb muttered a curse when he heard the crash of someone dropping a few tools below.

Thaniel’s eyes followed the scaled path. It led through the two small flaps and spiraled right into the exact center of the top of the tower. There inside the walls of chain and directly under the fantastically painted blue fresco, sat
a large white dais.

Irkhir started explaining what was expected of him when the time came. All Thaniel essentially had to do was go up on the dais and kneel or something. Then, supposedly the dra would come.

Thaniel looked up at the blue fresco. No matter where he stood the dra in the painting looked like it was staring hungrily at him.

Dais

Finally, Lisella Ontar reached the top and strolled into view, resplendent in flowing crimson, a red jewel dangling in the middle of her forehead like a bright red sparkling warf’s egg. Her hair was pulled back into one tight bejeweled braid. Her face devoid of any emotion at all, she regarded Thaniel with a slight nod. Then, with a regal flourish, she turned and peered down over the edge of the tower on all sides.

The entire chamber was filled with crimson clad soldiers.
At the base of the tower men stood shoulder to shoulder. Even the spiraling path was filled right to the top, where men of the First stood waiting.

She
raised her hands.

“I am Lisella Ontar, the
Bloodborn ruler of Ontar Hold.”

In response, the chamber reverberated with the thumping of axe and spear handles on stone.

“Today we are all equals, equals in that destiny has chosen us all to stand here today as the Caller’s witnesses.” More thumping.

“The dawn of the glory of Ontar will be a
night remembered,” she paused to look around again, “for a thousand generations.”

The stone beneath his feet actually vibrated with the hammering of thousands of battle axe handles and short spears.

She waited, head high, until the applause subsided before she continued. Lisella Ontar pulled a necklace over her head. A bejeweled key, as big as her hand, swung back and forth in her grasp. She bent over and shoved it into a hole Thaniel hadn’t noticed before that moment.

Hobb
, the master blacksmith, cringed when she had to use two hands to twist it. The man didn’t breathe until a metallic clang sounded throughout the chamber. Bits of ice shook off the tower and great domed ceiling, making it seem like even the great chamber offered its blessing on the momentous occasion. As every eye watched, the center of the ceiling where the blue dra fresco stared down at him, separated into ten equal parts and slid back into hidden recesses.

“Who here will be worthy of the blood of Ontar?” She screamed it over and over as the
receding panels revealed a starlit night sky. She ran around the top of the tower, looking every bit the leader of a bunch of axe wielding warriors.

Her soldier’s response was deafening. A battle cry raged from every man in the chamber. It sounded like one of the nine hells had disgorged its contents into the room.

Lisella Ontar spun and signaled to Irkhir with a nod.

Two soldiers immediately wriggled through openings in the walls of chain. One held a long pole in place for the other to climb up on. Armor and all, the nimble man was up the pole and through the hole in the ceiling in a flash. He p
oked his head back over the edge and waved a looking glass from the opening.             

“Last chance for your kiss, Caller.” Irkhir bellowed over the deafening roar of the men. He bent over and said something in Elycia’s ear before he shoved her towards him.

Thaniel caught her before she stumbled to the hard stone. His eyes immediately slid away as she nearly flinched when he touched her, as if she preferred to fall to the floor instead of endure his grasp.

Thaniel glared at Irkhir and gently let go of her arm, motioning for her to go back.

“I have to do this.” Elycia squeaked. Her eyes flitted back to a smiling Keriim before she looked him in the eyes.

“What are you doing? No.” He heard himself say.

“Yes, I do.” She said as she turned and grabbed him by the shoulders, forcing him to face her. She was trembling, heart hammering, and nearly ghostly white. Yet, still she leaned into him. When she closed her eyes a single tear ran down her cheek.

Thaniel stared at her. She was, even like this, beautiful. Lifted by the icy wind as it raced across the window to the heavens, a strand of her hair brushed his cheek. The long blonde curls seemed to capture every bit of the
starlight that streamed down from the circular opening overhead.

He had thought of little more than this moment, this kiss, for about the last six months. It had kept him awake more nights than he could count.

She was so close that the warmth of her face seemed to wash over him, cleansing the taint that he knew must stain his soul for even thinking of kissing her like this, when instead of her wanting to, she had to.

Thaniel tried to shrug off her grip. Her eyes popped open in alarm, and relief.
             

“Not like this.” He whispered. “Never like this.”

“Irkhir told me that if you don’t kiss me, he will give me to him. Please.” There wasn’t any need to tell him who
him
was.

His heart felt like it would rip out of his chest on the spot. But what choice did he have? He didn’t doubt they would follow through with their threat. He couldn’t let them give her to
Keriim. Thaniel glared at Irkhir, Lisella Ontar, and finally at the smiling Keriim. He hated them all. He hated them for taking her from him. This kiss would be their first, and last. After this there would be nothing he could do to win her back.             

Thaniel swallowed, not able to hold back his own tears as he closed his eyes and leaned in. When her lips touched his Thaniel wanted to scream. Scream because, in spite of everything her soft touch sent a shiver of energy radiating from his lips out to every inch of his body. Scream because this would be the last time. Scream because right then the tower, the chamber fil
led with battle cries, all of it, just melted away. Nothing existed but the two of them. Even time itself ceased its relentless press forward.

Pangs of guilt stabbed into his heart as he knew this was all a sham for her. Nothing more than a way to dodge the obvious rape
Keriim had waiting for her. But then, as he was sure she could stand it no more, as he was sure she would rip away from him and take his beating heart with her, her grip on his shoulders tightened. Ever so slightly, even if it was for an instant, she leaned in closer, her mouth open a little more. Before he knew what he was doing his arms encircled her, holding her tightly. He kissed her with his lips. His arms. If it was possible he kissed her with his soul. He wanted her to know that no matter what she thought of him now, he would love her for all time.

Finally, when he realized that he needed to breathe or die, Thaniel reached up and brushed back her hair with his fingertips.

“Maybe there is hope for you yet, Caller.”
Irkhir’s grating voice cut through time, bringing back the horrid world with it. Even with the meaty hand resting on Thaniel’s shoulder, he couldn’t take his eyes of Elycia. She wouldn’t look at him. Wouldn’t confirm if she felt the same thing he did. Her eyes were riveted on the scaled path beneath her feet as she backed away.

“She’s depending on you, Caller.” Irkhir shouted above the din, momentarily stepping in front of her, purposefully eclipsing his sight of her with his massive bulk. Thaniel wasn’t sure if he was talking about Elycia or Lisella Ontar. He was pretty sure they both were now.

Thaniel slipped through the flaps in the chain walls. The scaled path wound to the exact center of the top of the tower, stopping at the dais. It was carved in the same eye bending wind pattern as the rest of the huge chamber, but if everything else was nicely done, the dais was exquisite. If it wasn’t stone he would have sworn he was looking at a real whirlwind with a serving table perched on its head, as if the wind itself was offering up a sacrifice to the dra.

Thaniel glanced back at Elycia through the walls of heavy chain. For just the briefest of all instants he caught her watching him. Their eyes met briefly. There was no mistaking the hurt he saw there. His mind raced… going over the past few minutes in a desperate effort to reconstruct every instant of it.

Dread poured into his heart like a flood of rancidness. Had he wanted her to love him so badly that he imagined her wanting him? Was it possible that she stumbled closer to him, or had someone pushed her? Had she gripped his shoulders in an effort to push him away while someone shoved her into him? Maybe he shouldn’t have kissed her. Not like that. Not there in front of all the soldiers.

Before her eyes slid away, Thaniel sent every bit of apology he could to her then, and with a lump in his throat that was easily the size of his heart, he turned to face his fate.

Step by agonizing step, he made his way along the scaled path and started up the dais, his feet feeling like dead weights. Finally, he stood at the top.

Nothing happened.

“Caller.” Lisella Ontar stood close to the wall of chain. “Look at her.” There wasn’t any doubt who she was talking about. “Do you love her?”

How could she ask that after what she had done to him?
Elycia’s hair hung over her face as she stared straight down. There wasn’t any chance he would be able to get past today.              

“Leave her alone. I’ll do whatever you want. Just…”

At a nod from Lisella Ontar, Irkhir, with a fist full of her blonde hair, pulled Elycia’s head up where he could see her. Tears streamed down her face.

“I said I’ll do whatever you want! Get your hands off her!” He screamed.
             

“Call the dra! Or the girl gets a new kiss.” Lisel
la Ontar, her chest heaving in and out with every word, yelled over the wind. Her cold eyes never revealed whether she cared one bit either way.

“I’m here. I’m on your dais. Nothing is happening.” He raged at her, Ontar or not. Irkhir had explained it all well enough. Once the Ontar finished her speech
, all he had to do was get on the dais. Then wait for the dra and get out of there before it ate him, or not, his choice. Thaniel was on the dais. He’d done his part. They couldn’t hold her responsible if the whole thing was a farce. Could they? Well, would they?