The Guardians (Book 2) (37 page)

Araas snorted and shook his head as he walked away, leaving Oliver to
disturb the young sailor with his own enhancements and additions to the ridiculous legend. He wondered how long it would take for the tale to spread through the entire superstitious crew. As it turned out, the myth was somewhat dispelled by a surprisingly easy passage through the dangerous waters. By mid-afternoon, Kelian, Enri, Araas, Timbul and Milgorry were moving stealthily through the Dark Forest towards East Inlet.

Chapter
45

Cliff Steps

‘
How many?’ Dale asked.

‘
I couldn’t see exactly how many, but enough to obliterate your soldiers, if they should so choose,’ said Eibhear.

‘
And you’re sure they’re fallen?’ asked Dale, wishing he’d seen for himself what was happening within the keep at East Inlet. Eibhear had gone ahead to see if the area was unoccupied and whether it was safe to bring the citizens of Emerald through the ruined city. He spent quite some time hidden, watching the numerous warriors within the keep, and he was relieved to have left the area undetected.

‘
I’m absolutely certain. There are quite a few people I recognize.’

‘
And they’re in the city – inside the keep?’

‘
They look fairly settled in. They might have been there for several days, perhaps a week. They’re in the courtyard and the lowest level of the keep. I couldn’t see if anyone was in the upper levels.’

‘
What does that mean?’ asked Dale contemplatively. ‘Who did you recognize?’

‘
Kolass, Larund, Jerah, Joel, Macardu. Nandul barely lets them out of his sight, so we can take a guess that he’s not far away. It would have been good if I could have moved a bit closer to Larund – if anyone is going to let their thoughts stray it would be Larund. On the other hand, most times I get the feeling he doesn’t want to be anywhere near anyone. Strange that Marlea isn’t with that lot. I wonder if Nandul returned him,’ he mused. ‘Here, let me show you what I saw.’ He placed his hand on Dale’s shoulder and Dale flinched as the warrior’s thoughts flowed into his own. Dale looked at him in surprise when he lifted his hand.

‘
I didn’t think your people could do that.’

‘
We can’t. That gift was reserved for the guardians. But somehow...anyway, now you know what I saw.’

‘
And do you think they know we’re here?’

‘
Are you joking?’ Eibhear raised an eyebrow. ‘They’ve probably had people watching us for days.’

‘
But they haven’t attacked us…’

‘
You haven’t given them cause.’

‘
The fallen don’t usually wait for ‘cause’ before they attack,’ said Dale sarcastically.

‘
Only a few warriors would have followed us, not the entire group who are waiting at East Inlet. The fallen don’t usually attack hundreds of people with a couple of warriors. Even Nandul isn’t that stupid. When he attacks, he’ll have a big enough force to kill everyone with ease. He’d want at least thirty warriors to attack this large a group.’

‘
Thirty?’ said Dale, glancing around at the soldiers. ‘Are you saying the fallen could destroy us with only thirty warriors?’

‘
Not whilst Callian, Rudi, Ben, Lias, Rezon and I stay with you,’ said Eibhear confidently. ‘If you were alone, thirty would be more than enough to deal with these soldiers and citizens.’

‘
And if you were to leave us? They would attack?’

‘
We can’t leave. We need you as much as you need us. We can’t return to Nyinaku. By now Nandul is sure to know we’re not loyal to him, so he’ll be determined to return us. I’m sure he’d have already tried, were we not surrounded by your soldiers. You need us, we need you.’ 

‘
But you’re saying they have more than enough warriors at East Inlet to destroy us. Why don’t they come after us?’ Dale persisted.

‘
They must have some other purpose. If they wanted to destroy you they would be here by now. My guess is they have some other reason for gathering at East Inlet, which is good and bad.’

‘
Explain.’

‘
Good, because if they have other plans; they may not come after us at all, if we avoid them. Bad, because we are within a stone’s throw of the Dwellings. Doesn’t that strike you as ominous? Last time he came to East Inlet, Nandul’s intention was to destroy Tebur. I wonder what he’s up to this time.’

‘
I guess that means we won’t be spending the night inside the old keep,’ said Dale. ‘It’s probably best if the people head south of the city. There are some old tracks leading into the hills and a few places to shelter for the night. We can decide tomorrow how we approach the Dwellings. Callian will know the best path for us.’

‘
Do you want me to go back down to East Inlet and try to find out what they’re up to?’

‘
It’s too dangerous. You were lucky they didn’t see you the first time,’ said Dale, shaking his head. ‘I can show you a far better way to sneak into the keep.’

‘
Dale, there was something else…’ said Eibhear cautiously, ‘two other things actually, or three. No, four.’

‘
What?’ Dale asked, turning to look at Eibhear’s face as he noticed the wariness in the warrior’s voice.

‘
When I was hiding in city I could feel the strangest thing. It was like they were all celebrating some great triumph. They were almost giddy with arrogance. I have no idea why. They hid their thoughts well enough; I just couldn’t help noticing they were all gloating with excitement.’

Dale stared down towards the city which had once been his home.
‘I wonder if they’re planning to use East Inlet as a base to attack the Dwellings,’ he mused.

‘
They’d be fools to attack the Dwellings. Tiernan would wipe them out.’

‘
Do you think he’ll try?’

‘
I think he’d wait until he had cause. The guardians never attack without good reason.’

‘
They’re camped in our city!’ 

‘
That’s not a good enough reason. We were camped in Alkira too,’ he pointed out.

‘
True,’ Dale conceded. ‘But I doubt the bunch at East Inlet would care if I fell out of a tree and broke every bone in my body.’

‘
Actually, I didn’t care either,’ Eibhear lied smoothly, ‘I was just afraid Danil might return the lot of us if we left you down on the ground for the Nailmarni to eat.’

‘
You didn’t even know Danil was-’ Dale broke off indignantly as he caught Eibhear’s grin. ‘I’ll go down to the city and take a look,’ said Dale. ‘I can get in without anyone seeing me.’

‘
Are you mad? Of course you are,’ said Eibhear not waiting for Dale to respond. ‘Are you planning to be killed?’ He studied Dale’s face for a moment. ‘Do you want to go now or after we take all these people up into the hills?’

Dale turned away and
signaled to Captain Levin who hurried towards him. ‘I want you to take the people further away from the city.’ He pointed south. ‘Head that way and follow the tracks for a couple of hours, then make camp. I’m going down to East Inlet with Eibhear and Rudiger to have a look around.’

‘
Yes sir,’ Captain Levin acknowledged. ‘Be careful sir,’ he added looking worried.

‘
If we’re not back by sunrise of the day after tomorrow go north and get everyone into the Province of the guardians. Then make for the Dwellings as quickly as you can. Callian is staying with you, so you shouldn’t have any trouble finding the best path. Lias, Ben and Rezon might not want to go to the Dwellings, and they are free to leave whenever they choose. I’ve asked them to personally guard Lerise and Jade, at least until they reach the guardian’s territory and they’ve agreed to do so. Please don’t take that as an insult to our soldiers-’

‘
I understand,’ said Captain Levin. ‘Trust me, I appreciate their help.’

‘
Remember, when you get near to the Province, they are free to come or go as they please. Raline will probably wish to stay with Rezon, and she must be allowed to do so, regardless of where he chooses to go.’

‘
Yes sir. If that’s all, we’ll move on,’ said Captain Levin. He turned and gave a signal and one by one, the carts began to move south.

‘
What were the other things you wanted to tell me?’ Dale asked Eibhear.

‘
There was a soldier hanging from a tree near the gates of East Inlet. I have no idea where he came from, but you can be sure he didn’t hang himself by the neck from a tree. It’s a warning.’

‘
Against what? Entering the city?’

‘
Against interfering in any way. He’d been messed up badly before they hung him up, too.’

‘
Messed up?’

‘
Well, a lot of his uniform was missing, along with quite a few bits of his body. And there was a lot of blood. They didn’t want him to die quickly.’ Eibhear rubbed his forehead wearily. ‘They must have tried to find out where he was from and what his was doing.’

‘
They might have stopped torturing him if he’d told them what they wanted to know,’ said Dale sadly. ‘Perhaps he wouldn’t talk.’

‘
I doubt they would have stopped. They probably just wanted to hurt him,’ said Eibhear grimly. ‘If I had to make a guess, I’d say it was Nandul’s handiwork. He doesn’t need an excuse to make someone die in screaming agony. I’ve seen it time and time again. The only thing Nandul would have felt was disappointment when the man died and he couldn’t torment him any longer.’

‘
There’s not a lot of challenge in killing one lone human soldier,’ said Dale disgustedly.

‘
Nandul would have killed him whether he was a soldier, a farmer, a woman or a tiny child. It’s not about challenge. It’s about power. It’s about pain. It’s about revenge. A small child might scream for mercy, which would be just what Nandul would want to hear - for a very long time. For as long as he could draw out the pain.’

Dale shook his head. He couldn
’t understand someone gaining pleasure from another’s pain, yet it seemed all too common amongst the fallen. ‘The third thing?’

‘
There were quite a few human bodies within the keep,’ said Eibhear.

‘
More soldiers?’

‘
No,’ Eibhear turned away and stared into the distance.

‘
Who were they Eibhear?’ Dale demanded.

‘
Women,’ said Eibhear shortly. Dale didn’t reply. He felt sickened by the thought of innocent women being dragged into the keep to be abused and killed. He swallowed hard, feeling more determined than ever to get the citizens of Emerald safely through to the Dwellings. Eibhear shrugged. ‘Once Tiernan knows that, he might just decide to wipe them all out after all. Someone’s going to have to do something about them.’

‘
And the last thing you wanted to tell me?’

‘
She’s still following you.’

‘
The fallen woman?’

‘
Yes.’

‘
But you’re not letting her reach me,’ Dale stated, wishing with all his soul he could bring himself to ask Eibhear to free his heart and allow the woman to find him. The sensation of her searching his heart was something so unique and intense, and so incredibly pleasurable, it was all Dale could do to keep his mind on his task and not go running off to find her. He pictured her as a little bird, flitting along happily as she followed him through the trees.

It was
late afternoon before the last of the carts left the road and moved up the southern track. Dale waited until they were out of sight amongst the trees, and then he, Rudiger and Eibhear started towards East Inlet. Dale led them towards the city along the northern cliffs. He remembered several hidden approaches to the keep, and he sincerely hoped things had not changed too much. As it turned out, nothing had changed with the route he chose. The keep was built on the very edge of the massive cliffs which looked over the inlet after which the town had been named. Dale led them to the brink of the cliffs then startled Eibhear and Rudiger by sliding confidently over the edge. They followed him and found themselves standing on a rough ledge. Dale climbed boldly along the face of the cliffs, using small ledges and cracks in the rocks for support. Rudiger and Eibhear said nothing as they followed him, but they were surprised by the ease with which Dale scaled the rocks in the darkness. As they neared the walls of the keep, Dale began to climb towards the ocean. He eased his body over a strangely shaped protrusion then he disappeared entirely. Rudiger and Eibhear exchanged glances before scrambling after him. It wasn’t until they slid over the peculiar rock formation that they could see where Dale was hidden. He was sitting comfortably at the bottom of a deep niche in the rocks. Stairs had been cut into the rock face, and they rose almost vertically, disappearing into a hole in the rocks above their heads. On the seaward side, the cliffs angled outwards so it was unlikely anyone would see the steps from any direction, unless they could grow wings and fly across the cliff face. As soon as they reached him, Dale stood and began to climb.

‘
Where do the steps come out?’ Eibhear called up softly to Dale.

‘
In the lowest room beneath the keep. There’s a trapdoor at the top of these stairs, but I have to release the locking lever before we can raise it. It’s hardwood with iron banding, and it’s very difficult to move, even if you are lucky enough to know the secret to releasing the locking lever in the first place.’