The Hunter (36 page)

But what to do with the time? Braldt thought about scouting ahead, seeing if he could discover where the corridor led, maybe
there was something important lying just around the corner. But then Keri turned in his arms and raised her face to his and
all thought of leaving vanished from his mind. The corridor had been there waiting for a long time. He could see no harm in
letting it wait just a little bit longer.

As they slept beside Batta Flor, wrapped in each other’s embrace, the tremors, which had never ceased completely, increased
in strength and frequency. Beast, who had wedged himself firmly between them and refused to be ousted, wakened them with a
litany of terrified whimpers as he tried to crawl farther under their bodies.

Braldt opened his eyes with a rude curse and was startled to find himself looking directly into Batta Flor’s eyes. The Madrelli
had regained consciousness. “How are you? How do you feel? Are you hurting?”

Braldt was concerned for all their sakes for he was worried about the constant movement of the earth. He was torn between
the desire to fulfill his promise to Auslic and fear of the mountain. It seemed likely that the entire thing would soon collapse
around them; Braldt knew without a doubt that they should be directing all their
efforts at escape. They could do no good for anyone if they were dead.

“I am feeling nothing, no pain at all,” Batta Flor said in a strange tone and his dark eyes appeared troubled. Braldt offered
him a handful of the red berries, which the Madrelli scooped out of his palm and ate one by one with a distracted air.

“That’s welcome news indeed, my friend! We did the best that we knew how. Do you think that it will heal correctly? How does
it feel?”

“You don’t understand,” said Batta Flor, turning his gaze upon Braldt. “I feel nothing, nothing at all. No pain, no soreness,
no aches. Nothing, nothing at all.”

“How can that be!” Braldt exclaimed. “The ear was nearly separated from your head. The damage was significant. You must be
feeling the shock of the wound. The medicine is good but not that good!”

“No, my friend, the medicine is not at fault. I’m sure you did your best and for that I thank you. It is something quite different.
You might just as well have removed the ear while I was unconscious, or let me bleed to death for all the good it will do
me now.”

“What do you mean?” Braldt asked fearfully, disturbed by the Madrelli’s calm air of resignation.

Batta Flor sighed and then spoke. “I told you once before, my friend, that we Madrelli are different from you Duroni. Our
pain centers are located in our ear crystals. The crystals are fragile things, capable of being damaged and broken with the
slightest blow. We are taught to protect them from our earliest days. But they are more than receptors for pain, they control
all sensation, our balance and the flow of our sensuality as well.”

“I—I don’t understand,” stammered Braldt.

“It is quite simple, really. I feel no pain at all. I am no longer capable of feeling anything, the touch of Sytha Trubal’s
lips upon my own, the little one’s fingers grasping mine, or a sword thrust to the heart. They will all feel one and the same
to me, nothing. Nor will I be able to sire
children of my own. I am worthless to Sytha Trubal, to the tribe, to myself. I would be better off dead.”

“But you have two ears and the other ear is undamaged!” cried Braldt, seizing upon the only positive aspect he could think
of, deeply shocked by the ramifications of his friend’s injury.

“No, it doesn’t work that way,” relied Batta Flor, looking down at his fingers as though he had never seen them before. “It
is a delicate balance of the fluids, an interchange between the two sets of crystals. If one is broken and the fluid lost,
everything is lost.”

“Surely they can be mended. Someone must know how!” cried Braldt. “I cannot believe that such a thing cannot be reversed!”

“Perhaps the masters know, since we are their creations. Probably they do. But since we have blocked their entry to our world
the question is moot. Nor, should they somehow manage to reappear, do I envision them as falling over themselves in an effort
to help me. After all, you forget that I was one of those responsible for the destruction of the chamber. No, there is nothing
to be done. I am useless.”

“Do you really think so?” asked Keri, startling both Braldt and Batta Flor for neither had realized that she was awake and
listening to their conversation. She sat up and took one of Batta Flor’s immense hands in her own.

“Do you think that if Braldt were injured, even as grievously as you have been hurt, that I would cease to love him, stop
wanting him for my mate? Could my people do any better than take him for chief? The answer to all those questions is no. I
would love him under any circumstances, no matter how badly he was injured. It is he I love, and not his looks or how many
children he can sire. Nor could a better chief be found among all the Duroni.

“You put a cheaper price on your being than those who know and care for you,” said Keri. “You also do Sytha Trubal and your
people a grave injustice by making their choice for them and not doing them the honor of knowing that they would choose you
above all others. Do you think that Sytha Trubal’s love is so weak or so shallow that she
could not love you in any state other than perfection? I am angry with you on her behalf! Shame!

“Braldt and I need you. Did we not follow you into this place? Have we not entrusted you with our lives? Furthermore, the
life of our chief depends upon you and the future of this world as well. I’d say that was a fair amount of caring, my friend.
Now, will you stop feeling sorry for yourself long enough to get us out of here? If you do not, then the entire mountain will
probably collapse on top of us and far more than your ear and your feelings will be destroyed!”

Batta Flor looked at Keri with his mouth open, amazed at her sharp words, for Keri had always been the epitome of gentleness
and tact. But her words, pointed as they were, had been right on target and Batta Flor was unable to stifle a rueful grin.
He bowed his upper body toward Keri. “Well spoken, fair lady, you are right as always.” He looked around him, seeming to notice
the quaking mountain for the first time.

“It would seem that you are right about the mountain as well. It would be best to leave this place. I have hopes that this
corridor will intersect with others that are better known to me and that we will be able to find a way out. Come, let us be
on our way.”

Braldt looked at Keri in amazement, astonished that she had been able to turn the Madrelli’s fatalistic mood around so easily.
Keri looked up at him and grinned as though she had read his thoughts. Slinging her pack over her shoulder, she stood there
ready to leave, as though chiding them for moving so slowly.

Beast was more than anxious to be on his way and ran back and forth between them, dashing a short distance ahead and then
returning, clearly unwilling to venture forth on his own. The ground continued its steady shaking, ceasing for a moment and
then beginning anew. It was so constant that the infrequent lapses of inactivity and silence felt strange and unnatural.

As they continued it became apparent that they were entering an area that had been more severely affected by the
movement of the mountain. Destruction was apparent on all sides. Panels had fallen from the walls and the ceiling and even
the floor was dislodged in places. Footing was treacherous, the ground slick with oily viscous fluids dripping from the multitude
of broken coils. Steam and noxious gases spewed into the air in numerous locations and Beast suffered a scorched back and
singed tail when he did not heed their directions and rushed headlong through a dangerous stretch of corridor. The lights
had been extinguished in many places and they were forced to depend on their torches, which burned fitfully in the bad air
and added unwelcome clouds of noxious black smoke to the air.

They picked their way through the debris noting the strange glyphs inscribed on plaques where corridors intersected. Batta
Flor studied them carefully and made his choices. It appeared that they were descending farther, rather than rising, a fact
that did not reassure Braldt, but he held his silence for it would serve no purpose to express his doubts. Surely the Madrelli
knew what he was doing.

“Is it my imagination or is it getting hot?” Keri asked as she set her pack down and wiped her face with the end of her skirt.
“It’s getting harder to breathe too.”

“It is not your imagination.” Batta Flor swung his own pack down from his shoulder and settled himself on a rock. The black
skin that framed his features was dotted with beads of perspiration that he brushed away with the fur of his forearm. His
ear jutted out at an unnatural angle, giving him a rakish air. It was as though a child had molded his head of clay and done
it poorly.

Braldt wrenched his thoughts away from the Madrelli’s ear and addressed the matter at hand. “Have you noticed the odd glow
between the broken partitions? And the ground feels hot as well. I do not know what is the cause, but I do not like it. Are
you certain that we are going in the right direction? Where is it that we are going? Do you recognize any of the glyphs?”

“Yes. I have noticed the heat and the glow as well,” Batta Flor replied. “And yes, I think I know where we are. It is a section
of corridors that I have never traveled before.
I do not know anyone who has. These are old corridors, driven by my ancestors, when the masters first came to this place.
I did not know that they still existed or were still maintained. They serve no purpose but to get from one level to another.
If I am reading the glyphs correctly, I believe that they will lead us to the level of the chamber that is the only exit I
know other than the way by which we entered.”

“But how can we do that?” Keri asked in dismay. “That level is flooded. How will that do us any good? What about the entry
to the launching pad? I thought we were going to try to reach that chamber?” For the first time since losing Carn, distress
was clearly evident in her voice.

“The launching pad and the control chamber are side by side on the same level,” Batta Flor explained in a calm tone, holding
Keri’s hand in his great paw and stroking it gently to calm her. “I do not know if the entire level is flooded. I only know
what happened inside the chamber after the river broke through. We will have to see. It is our only hope unless you wish to
return the way we came.”

The mountain began to shake violently, rumbling and growling beneath their feet as though it were alive. The entire corridor
shook spasmodically from side to side, shedding panels loose with the same ease that dogs shook water from their pelts. Keri
shivered and shook her head. “No, I could not do it, could not go back the way we came. I don’t want to see those things again.
The monster…the place where Carn…” Her voice trembled and faded away.

“Good.” Batta Flor smiled grimly. “Our only hope is to go forward. Come, we are not advancing ourselves by sitting here.”

But before they could go any farther, it was necessary to fashion another pair of leather wraps for Beast’s feet. He had long
ago chewed the others free, and the floor of the chamber was too hot for him to go on without some form of protection.

Batta Flor led them to the next intersection of corridors and turned right once again. No sooner had he done so than
the sound of running water was clearly heard. This new corridor was a ramp that led upward at a steep angle. The sound of
the flow did not decrease as they climbed but grew steadily louder until it was impossible to be heard unless they shouted.
Keri and Beast were clearly frightened and even Braldt had a difficult time keeping his fears in check. It was all too easy
to envision the race of water pouring past them at a dizzying rate of speed, held back by only thin walls of rock and broken
metal panels. Many of the walls glistened with water, almost appeared to be sweating. It was not in the least bit reassuring.

And then, suddenly, Batta Flor came to an abrupt halt. He raised his hand and pointed. They followed the direction of his
finger and saw, glowing in the distance of the darkened corridor, a bright red light, shining at them like the single wicked
eye of a predator gleaming from the depths of its dark lair. There was an unmistakable feeling of menace in the air.

Keri cried out and clutched Braldt’s arm. He held her to him in a tight embrace and together they stared at the ominous red
glow. Beast sat on Braldt’s feet and whined, then rose up on his hind legs and scratched at Braldt’s arm. He too wanted to
be held. Braldt stroked the pup’s head, knowing that his fear was justified. He turned to Batta Flor for an explanation. The
space beside him was empty. Braldt looked behind him, wondering, but the Madrelli was not there, either. Braldt held his torch
high and looked in all directions. But nowhere did he see anyone or anything. Hard as it was to believe, Batta Flor had disappeared.