Jalia and the Slavers (Jalia - World of Jalon) (6 page)

BOOK: Jalia and the Slavers (Jalia - World of Jalon)
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“Get some torches,” Marcus shouted, “And I want everybody not guarding the wall or gates down here to search. “Tell the guards on the wall and gates to kill the trader or his women if they see them.”

The guard was leaving when Marcus called him back, “Tell them to kill anybody trying to leave the city, anybody at all.”

8.
      
Monsters

 

Daniel led, wading through the water with a torch held high while Jalia walked behind him carrying the unlit spares. The natural tunnel they were travelling in was widening and the amount of water running through it increasing. The extra water came from small fissures in the rock, sometimes cascading in from high up on the walls. The water was warm rather than hot, but it was still causing steam to rise around then. They were standing in six inches of fast flowing water as the tunnel descended deeper into the Earth.

They had been walking for at least two hours and Daniel suspected it must already be light outside. Both were tired as they had been up for close to twenty four hours.

“Why exactly are you in the front?” Jalia asked, irritated by the awkwardness of the load she carried and from staring at Daniel’s back.

“So that when a cave monster eats me, you’ll get to see it before you die.” Daniel turned his head towards her and gave her a radiant smile.

“I think I’d prefer to be eaten first.”

“That has always been true, certainly for as long as I have known you,” Daniel replied solemnly. The next few moments lost them two of their spares to the river as Jalia attempted to pummel Daniel to death. After a short, but loud argument, they switched places and Daniel took the job of carrying the unlit torches while Jalia stalked on ahead, lighting their way.

The noise in the tunnel had been steadily increasing. It sounded as though somewhere ahead there was an incredible amount of rushing or falling water. They followed the left hand wall of the tunnel and it had become difficult to see the right hand side, because the tunnel was so wide. Jalia slipped and only just caught herself on the wall.

Holding the torch low to the water, she saw fronds of algae covering the uneven stones of the river bed. Daniel was holding onto the wall and as a consequence had been less affected than Jalia. The spare torches were strapped onto his back using his scabbard straps, so he had both hands free.

As Jalia stepped forward the river bed fell away and she began to fall. Daniel snatched at her and managed to grab her free hand while he desperately sought a handhold on the wall. Jalia was pulled down and away from him by the force of the water.

Jalia had accidently walked over the edge of a waterfall and large quantities of water washed over her. The water dragged the torch from her hand and they were plunged into darkness. As the torch hit the water below the waterfall they heard the sounds of thrashing in the water as something, or more likely several something’s, attacked it. Jalia’s desire to hold onto Daniel intensified as did his own to stay on his feet and not be dragged over the edge.

Daniel was being pulled closer to the edge by Jalia and his left hand slid along the wall finding nothing to hold onto. Just as he thought he was going over, his hand found a metal ring embedded into the wall. He held fast to it and managed to swing Jalia free of the water and over to his side.

Jalia found her feet on steps cut into the side of the wall of the cavern. She recovered her footing and Daniel was able to let her go.

“That was close,” Jalia said.

Daniel groaned with exhaustion. “I’m sure you’re putting on weight. I think I’ve pulled a muscle.”

“I am not putting on weight.”

Daniel was sure Jalia had her arms folded in annoyance. It was pitch black, but sometimes he didn’t need to see her to know how she was acting. She was probably pouting too. He tried to control his breathing as the ache in his arm became manageable.

 

It was some time before Daniel attempted to light another torch with his tinderbox. The air was damp and it took an interminable time before the torch lit, letting them see again.

They could still see almost nothing by the light of the torch. Its light vanished into a vast darkness. The river they followed poured down a waterfall to a pool fifteen feet below. A set of steps were cut into the side of the wall leading down. Iron rings were cemented into the wall so people could traverse the wet steps without falling. There appeared to be a ledge cut in the wall about twelve feet down that looked as if it was designed to be walked along.

Daniel lit a second torch from the first and when it was burning brightly threw it out into the cavern as far and as high as he could.

The cavern was enormous and they only saw a small part of it before the torch hit the water. It was a place where drainage tunnels ended up. Each of them poured water into the deep dark lake. Before the torch hit the water, they saw long dark shapes in the water, gliding ominously towards the torch. After it hit the water there were sounds of vigorous thrashing, as if those shapes had attacked each other in their eagerness to get to their kill.

“I think we had better follow the steps down to that ledge and keep out of that lake,” Daniel observed dryly.

“Not quite yet though. Could you hold my hand again, as I need to lean out over the edge of the waterfall?” Jalia bounced up towards where Daniel stood.

“You want to have another go at falling in?”

“No silly. I just need to place my last gold bar where it will do most good.” Jalia had in her hands one of the gleaming gold bars from the vaults. “We don’t want our false trail to go cold before our pursuers reach the lake, do we?”

“Why have you been carrying that around all this time? No, never mind. Don’t tell me, I don’t want to know.”

Daniel helped Jalia lean out over the edge of the waterfall to place the heavy bar so anyone walking down the tunnel would see it gleaming in the water.

“That is possibly the most evil idea you’ve ever had, Jalia al’Dare,” Daniel scolded, but the touch of admiration in his voice rather spoiled the impact.

“Wild animals are an important part of our world. Daniel. They need to be fed too.”

 

Back at the hotel, Marcus had gathered his men. He ordered thirty of them to guard the city walls and gates as if their lives depended on it. Every other man was going to go into the caverns to locate the missing gold. They had all eaten a hasty breakfast and put on clothes suitable for the caverns.

One hundred and twenty two men gathered together in the paneled room and corridors beyond. It was still a tight squeeze as they were all carrying unlit torches.

“We split into two groups, one going up stream and the other down. When we find branching tunnels we will split the groups up evenly so we can follow every trail. If you reach a dead-end make your way back to the hotel and await instructions.”

Marcus paused, “If you find the trader or either of his bitches, kill them on sight. We know the gold can’t have gone far as they haven’t had the time to move it. If you find the gold, stay with it and send one of your team back to the hotel to report.”

Marcus realized he would need to leave someone back at the hotel to relay any messages. He pointed at two of the men near the back, “You two stay here and guard the gold as it comes back. Follow me, men, we have work to do.”

 

Marcus led sixty of his men downstream, the way that Jalia and Daniel had travelled, while the other half went upstream. Within the first half hour, they found the gold bars that Daniel and Jalia dropped to convince them the gold had been taken that way.

Those bars were taken back to the hotel. The men carrying the bars back were told to return to the tunnel as soon as they finished. Marcus expected to find the rest of the gold bars quickly and would need all his men to carry it. The gold was far too heavy to have been moved much further than they had gone. He laughed with pleasant thoughts of what he would do to Daniel and Jalia when he finally located them and the gold.

 

Jalia and Daniel descended to the narrow ledge cut into the rock. It was three feet above the water and they saw more dark shapes moving in its depths, attracted by the light of their torch. They edged along the narrow ledge carefully and soon found themselves facing a torrent of water from above. The ledge had been cut to create a passageway under the waterfall, the waterfall itself having been undercut by whoever cut the ledge. As they edged their way under, the flow of water was only inches from their noses. It was difficult to inch their way across and keep the torch alight.

As they eased out from the far end of the waterfall, Jalia, who was ahead of Daniel, abruptly stopped, “Daniel there’s something with us on the ledge.”

Daniel leaned out to have a look, taking care not to fall. Just ahead of Jalia, sitting on the ledge was what looked like a boot.

“It’s somebody’s old boot, kick it in the water.”

“I will, but I recognize that boot as belonging to the bald guard we killed in the Gathering Pool, and what’s more Daniel…”

“What?”

“It still has what’s left of a man’s foot in it.”

Jalia kicked the boot into the water. Instantly, a swirling frenzy of action began with two reptilian saw toothed mouths gaping out of the water and missing Jalia’s legs in their sweep by inches. A second later, a scaled tail, at least eight feet long swept the edge of the ledge beyond them as the fight for the boot and the foot continued.

The waters churned for minutes as Daniel and Jalia clung to the wall and prayed the creatures would not venture out of the water. Eventually the churning stopped and the lake went still.

“Next time I ask you to kick something in the water, please tell me where to go.” Daniel whispered.

“I will, with considerable pleasure.”

They made their way along the ledge, taking care to be as quiet as they could.

The next waterfall they came too had steps cut into the wall beside it and Daniel and Jalia climbed them. Daniel looked into the darkness of yet another tunnel with a river running through it.

“Chances are it leads to another hidden entrance in the city, and I would like to point out we are running out of torches.”

“Lead on, Daniel. Anywhere is better than this lake.”

They started walking upstream in the hope it would lead them to a way out.

 

Marcus and his men filled the width of the tunnel as they marched along looking for gold. The men who had taken the first gold bars back to the hotel rejoined them. As the tunnel widened, the men spread out across it so that they could locate any gold or other tunnels. The moving wave of men was three men deep and twenty wide when one of them saw the gleam of gold in the river ahead. He shouted and everybody ran to get to the gold first.

The first man was falling over the edge of the waterfall in front of twenty of his companions before they realized what was happening. By the time they did, it was too late, and their momentum carried all sixty men over the falls and into the lake.

For a few moments nothing happened. Marcus was treading water in darkness wondering how they were going to find a torch when the screaming started.

The creatures in the lake had never had such a bountiful harvest. It was in their nature to kill without regard as to whether they had need or not and in the next ten minutes, all but one of the men were dead. Bits of their bodies floated in the pool as the creatures nibbled on the tastier bits and spat out the rest to eat later.

A lone survivor lay on the ledge on the wall and panted with exhaustion from his efforts. He had trodden on his men to climb to this spot, but then Marcus al’Tren was a born survivor.

At that moment, he recognized he had lost and would never see the gold again. The other members of the Association would lynch him when they found out what had happened. He had just lost half his men and suspected the other half would meet a similar fate in these damnable tunnels. In some ways, it was fortunate he was the only Mine Owner here as it would give him a chance to extract revenge on the people of Brinan who had helped the traders.

He had good evidence Karn a’Debal was involved with this trader and his bitches. He was going to go back down the tunnel and make sure that Karn died nastily. But only after he saw his daughter raped and slain before his eyes. After that Marcus would go back to the hotel and take care of Patrus a’Bran and his family.

The thought of multiple rapes and bloody murder sustained Marcus as he dragged himself to his feet. His clothes were torn and he bled in a few places, but nothing mattered to him but to go and find someone to kill.

Marcus found the steps up to the tunnel by groping in the dark. He climbed them, and set off back up the tunnel. He was unaware how lucky it was that he had chosen the right tunnel. As far as he was concerned, many people were going to die horribly, and not one of the dead was going to be Marcus al’Tren.

BOOK: Jalia and the Slavers (Jalia - World of Jalon)
6.94Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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