The Carnelian Legacy (9 page)

Darian had no time to stop and check if Arrie was still alive. Lunging with his sword, he stabbed at the creature hovering over Arrie while the other monster attacked him from behind. Fighting one of these creatures was already a challenge, but defeating two of them was nearly impossible. He screamed loudly at the beast attacking him, which seemed to confuse the creature temporarily. But then the monster realized it was just a bluff and resumed his attacked, swiping at Darian with his massive claws.

Just as Darian felt his strength beginning to wane, his blade finally found its mark. He stabbed the growling creature in the heart, and it fell away dead. But it was too late. Before he could strike at the other beast, it was already lunging for him.

Shhhh
wwwoooooop
!

An arrow split the air and struck the creature’s back. The hairy monster yowled in pain and fell sideways, badly wounded but still alive. It gnarled and snorted, swiping at Darian and only narrowly missing his left leg. But before Darian could kill it, another arrow split through the forest. This time it struck the creature under the rib cage, and it stopped moving.

He sprinted back to where Arrie lay still on the ground. His arm had been wounded and he was unconscious, but Darian sighed with relief when he discovered his friend was still alive.

He scooped up the red-headed young man, draped him over his saddle, and grabbed the reins of both horses as his eyes scanned the forest. They had to get out of there before more beasts could arrive.

Startled to see the towering warrior glaring down at her, Marisa felt her waist for the dagger, but it wasn’t there. She spotted it on the ground just a few feet away and quickly scampered over the grass toward it, but it was already too late.

The soldier seized her arm and twisted it behind her back. Then he grabbed the other one and bound them both together with a piece of rope. Lifting her up as easily as if she were a rag doll, the warrior held her at eye level. As he sneered cruelly at her discomfort, she noticed that he had one gold tooth in front.

She had heard fairy tales about giants, but she’d never seen anything like him. Although she was nearly six feet tall, she only reached the height of his belt.

“
Lawraken er rynchen omon id defin?”
the giant bellowed.

Terrified, Marisa shook her head. He was too powerful to fight, and she didn’t have the strength or will at that point to resist. The man dropped her down to the ground and let out a low whistle. Three more warriors emerged from various hiding places at the edges of the forest and approached them.

Each of them was incredibly muscular and just as big as the gold-toothed warrior. They were outfitted in sleek bronze breastplates, sturdy boots, and bronze helmets. Three of them had bows strapped across their backs, and the gold-toothed warrior carried a sword and a large shield.

As the warrior eyed her suspiciously, she decided her only chance of staying alive was to keep her mouth shut. She listened quietly as the men discussed something among themselves in their own language.

A man’s voice shouted from the edge of the forest. She saw Darian and a fifth warrior emerging from the clearing. Relieved to see that he was unharmed, her heart sank as soon as she saw Arrie slung unconscious over his horse. After all the tragedy that he had already endured, she prayed that he wouldn’t be doomed to die a terrible death too.

When Darian saw that Marisa’s hands were tied behind her back in submission, he became enraged. He shouted at the lead warrior as he pointed angrily at Marisa. Reluctantly, Gold Tooth untied the rope and released her. Darian hurried over to Marisa, his face a mixed expression of anger and concern. Without a word, he gently but firmly steered her toward a large grove of trees.

Only when he was certain that they were out of earshot of the others did he speak to her. “Are you all right, Marisa? You are not hurt?”

“I’m okay. Just a bit shook up, I guess. Is Arrie going to be okay? What were those nasty things in the forest? And
who
are those very big men?”

“There’s no time to explain. You must just trust me—”

“Trust you? Wow. Didn’t you just lecture me on all the reasons why I can’t be trusted? And now I’m just expected to trust you, no questions asked?”

He said nothing but just stared at her, frustrated.

“I’m sorry, Darian. I should be thanking you for saving my life. Forget I even said it.”

“No, no—you’re absolutely right. I suppose I deserved that,” he said, looking a bit sheepish. “First of all, you can rest easy as Arrie will recover. He has sustained a minor flesh wound, but it isn’t life-threatening. Those ‘very big men,’ as you call them, are warrior guards sent from Abbadon.”

“Warrior guards?”

“Yes. They had specific orders from Savino to escort us safely through the woods, but the company arrived too late. The older warrior with the copper-colored hair is Talvan. I’ve known him all my life and he can be trusted, but the other men are loyal only to Savino.”

“I’ve never seen anyone so big in my entire life.”

She shook her head and wondered how much more of this craziness she could take. Her life back in Jacksonville seemed pretty darn tame compared to all this.

“Marisa, please, this is extremely important. Did you say anything to the warriors?”

“No. I didn’t even get the chance. They—”

“Good! From now on until we arrive back at Crocetta, you must not utter a single word in the presence of others.”

“What! Why?” She stared at him in disbelief.

“Savino must not know that you are from Earth. If anyone in Abbadon discovers the truth, it will get back to him and that would be bad.”

“Well, how the heck are you gonna explain me, then?”

“We shall say that you are a mute. You can hear, but you cannot speak. Do we have an accord?”

“Arghh! This is crazy,” she groaned, covering her face with her hands. “I don’t understand anything that has happened since yesterday.”

Darian looked at her patiently, still waiting for an answer.

“Okay, I promise—mum’s the word. I am only going along with all this hoping that it will turn out to be some elaborate dream.”

“Good, thank you.”

“But can I still talk to you and Arrie?”

“Yes, but we must be extremely cautious. You may only speak when we’re confident no one else can hear.” He noticed her gloomy face. “It will only be for a couple of days. You’ll be able to speak freely once we’ve left Abbadon.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Marisa mumbled. She turned to go.

“Wait a minute,” he said, stopping her. “I have something for you.” He fumbled around inside his uniform before finally producing an oval-shaped, transparent device no larger than an almond.

With his thumbnail, he pressed a green button several times and gave it to her. “Here—put this in your ear.”

“What is this thing? It looks like a tiny hearing aid.”

“It’s a language translator. It will allow you to hear every conversation in English.”

“Really? Wow—that’s pretty cool!” She pushed her hair behind her ear and carefully inserted the device.

“If you put it in your right ear, you’ll hear a simultaneous translation of whatever you’re listening to. You’ll still hear the foreign language in your left ear, but you must learn to block it out.”

“Won’t that drive me crazy? Like watching TV and listening to the radio at the same time?”

“After a while, you will become accustomed to it. Just concentrate on what is being said in your right ear. If you cover it with some hair like this, no one should be able to detect it. All right, let’s try it out.”

As Darian spoke to her in Crocine, Marisa could hear a man’s voice translating the words into English.

“Ha—it actually works!” She was amazed by the tiny piece of modern technology. “Where in the world did you get such a thing?”

He smiled mischievously at her. “Actually, the correct question to ask is ‘in
which
world did you get such a thing?’ Do you remember Arrie saying there are four known worlds that can be entered through a vortex?”

“Yeah?”

“Well, this little instrument found its way into our world from one of the other three dimensions. It is extremely valuable, so whatever you do, please don’t lose it. Now, come—we need to return to the others.”

She gave him the thumbs-up that she could understand what he was saying, but remained silent as she followed Darian across the meadow to where the warriors waited.

Although she hadn’t seen much yet of this strange new world, one thing was for certain—life in Carnelia certainly wasn’t dull.

CHAPTER 7

TRUCE

“
NOT
TO
WORRY
,
SHE
’
S
all right now,” Darian said loudly as they crossed the meadow. “Talvan, find a spot to set up camp.” The copper-haired man gave him a quick nod and hurried off.

Marisa spotted Arrie lying on the ground several feet away and saw he was still unconscious. She desperately wanted assurances he was going to be okay, but she didn’t dare ask about it in front of all the other men. Keeping her mouth shut was clearly not going to easy.

The tawny commander returned within a couple of minutes and ordered his men to set up camp on a flat, grassy terrace not far from where they stood. It was a strategic location that would allow them to observe anything or anyone approaching the camp, and there was a river where they could get fresh water just a few hundred feet below.

Marisa led Siena down the hill to a bucket of drinking water and removed her satchel. Exhausted and emotionally spent from their terrifying afternoon, she sat down on the grassy, sloping hillside and breathed deeply, glad for a few minutes alone. She watched the men up at the campsite as they hurried about, completing their preparations to settle in for the night.

With a minimum amount of effort, two men cleared the area and pitched the tents. Another warrior got a fire going within just a few minutes and began to make some stew. The gold-toothed warrior stood guard high on the hill above them, but there was no sign of the lead commander or Darian.

The temperature dropped as the sun slid down over the horizon. Marisa shivered and pulled her cape tightly around her. A wave of relief washed over her as she realized armed guards would be watching over them during the night.

She lay back in the grass and watched as the clouds slowly changed from their orange, pink and purple hues the further the sun disappeared. The view was spectacular, and she tried to remember the last time she’d actually taken the time to watch a sunset. It had been a long time ago—too long, in fact.

It was just starting to get dark when she spotted Arrie reclining against a dead tree stump closer to camp. Relieved to see that he had regained consciousness, Marisa stood up and led Siena back up the hill to the others. She plunked down next to Arrie and stared bleary-eyed into the smoky fire. As it crackled and hissed, she listened to the comforting roar of water rushing somewhere below them.

“You look as if you’ve had a rough day, milady,” Arrie said, smiling weakly.

Completely forgetting Darian’s instructions, Marisa opened her mouth to speak but quickly closed it again as soon as she remembered. Noticing Arrie’s puzzled expression, she giggled softly. She tucked her hair behind her ear, tilted her head toward him and pointed to the small device before subtly raising her finger to her lips.

Arrie nodded and smiled in understanding. Together they sat in silence and watched as the soldiers organized the camp according to their standard military procedures.

When Darian and Talvan finally returned, the warriors gathered to sit around the fire as one of the men passed around plates heaped with food. Marisa avoided the gold-toothed warrior by sitting as far away from him as possible. She tried to eat in a ladylike manner but her hunger made it difficult not to gulp the food. She practiced using the translator by listening to the men’s discussions.