The King's Ring (The Netherworld Gate Book 2) (20 page)

“Do you think you could endure the pain if we quickened our pace?”

Kai lifted his shirt to reveal the large bandage with yellow and orange stains. “You did see the burns, right?” Kai asked.

Seldaric nodded. “If you could endure the pain while we ran to Tantine, it would help us make up the time we will lose when we stop to see the priestess. It shouldn’t do any actual damage to your body.”

Kai arched a brow and folded his arms. “What did you have in mind?”

“My friend, shall we go for a run?”

This is the other reason horses aren’t used on these islands, Kai thought to himself sourly. He knew that the elves on these islands liked to run almost as much as they enjoyed walking. It came natural to them to spring through the lush, dense forests as nimbly and quickly as the deer. Kai, on the other hand, had never been overly fond of running if he thought walking could get the job done just as well. Kai looked to the road and sighed. He hoped he could keep up.

“I assume you can run,” Seldaric pressed.

“I’m not an elf,” Kai shrugged, “but I can go for a few miles.”

“Splendid,” Seldaric said with a grin. The elf adjusted his belt and took off down the road.

“Curse the pointy-ears and their running,” Kai grumbled. He made sure his sword belt was secured and then jogged after him. The ex-Ranger tried to focus on the scenery around him, but even the beautiful landscape did little to occupy his mind as the miles dragged on beneath his feet. To his credit, Kai kept pace with Seldaric. Neither of them slowed their gait, except to water a few flowers when nature called on them.

*****

Kai and Seldaric made good time, resupplying in Tantine and then off onto the road by the second day of their journey. The Kruk priestess was able to heal all of Kai’s wounds and was pleasant enough to spend a day with, although she was extremely quiet the entire time Kai was under her care. To make up for additional time lost the duo ran in the mornings, and then from mid-day until it was too dark to see their way they walked. Kai could see Seldaric’s impatient glances, but there was nothing the human could do to keep up with the spry elf any longer than the first portion of the day. He had never run so much in his life. The desert never leant itself to such exertions. Even the criminals that ran from Kai in Rasselin city knew better than to run for very long, else they would suffer heatstroke.

The Elven Isles were much cooler, and the air was easier to breathe, but that didn’t help lighten Kai’s legs and feet. He could run farther here for sure, but his endurance just wasn’t the same as Seldaric’s.

He was more than ready to stop running once the sun reached its apex in the sky on the third day. Unbeknownst to either of them, the walking would be good for them as they would soon need their strength.

They ate their bread and fruit, which the Kruk priestess had been kind enough to give them for their journey, as they walked along the bumpy dirt road. They noticed several carrion birds circling the sky further down the road, off behind a bend to the south.

“Look there,” Seldaric called out as he pointed upward to the birds. “Monk vultures.”

Kai nodded. “I see them.”

Three of the black birds circled lazily, tilting their wings as they drifted. One of them dropped down below the tree line and out of sight. The other two continued to circle.

“Can you see through the trees?” Kai asked.

Seldaric shook his head. “The foliage is too thick. Come on, let’s investigate.”

Kai swallowed his last bite of the apple he was eating and then tossed the core to the side of the road, where it smacked against a tree and broke apart. He took in a deep breath and begrudgingly urged himself into a light jog. The curve in the road took them about fifty yards to the south, and then it curved back out to the east. As they rounded the last bend they caught a grizzly sight.

Four of the large vultures were pecking at a pair of corpses along the road. Crows and other birds squawked and hopped around the large, domineering vultures, trying to sneak bits of the meat away for themselves.

Kai kept to his steady jog while Seldaric quickened his pace and scared the smaller birds off with a wave of his hands. Three of the monk vultures reluctantly took to flight, but the fourth stayed and splayed its wings as it hissed at Seldaric. The raptor’s wingspan was at least three feet longer than Seldaric was tall, making for a most impressive display.

Seldaric pulled his scimitar out and poked it at the bird. The vulture snapped and hissed, but ultimately it flapped its wings and leapt backwards into the air, flying low along the road for a while until it rose up to light upon a thick branch overlooking the scene.

Kai caught up with Seldaric and looked down at the ravaged bodies. “Can you tell how long they have been here?”

Seldaric shook his head. “The birds have picked them over fairly well,” he said as he indicated the large hunks of missing flesh. The elf bent down to one of the corpses and scanned the remains. “Can’t tell what got this one,” he said after a moment.

Kai bent next to the other one. This body was taller than the other, but more of it was missing. Kai could see the ribs in one place. As he inspected the body, a pair of yellow jackets emerged from a cavity in the corpse’s chest and hovered around over the body. Kai shook his head and looked to Seldaric. “No idea what got this one either.” Kai then moved to the wagon. He grabbed hold of the side and pulled himself up. “Where’s the horse?” Kai asked as he pointed to the front of the wagon.

Seldaric moved around the wagon and studied the ground. The dirt road was well compacted, so only trace hoof prints could be seen, but it was enough for him to know the horse had been taken. “Looks like someone killed them for their horse.”

“Then why not take the wagon too?” Kai asked. “And what about the boxes of stuff?” Kai bent down and opened a small wooden crate to see it full of apples, cheese, and smoked meats packed in cloth. “The food here is still fresh, so the attack must have been recent.”

“My guess is only a day or two at the most,” Seldaric said. “This road is patrolled by guards on a routine basis. I should imagine they will be here soon.”

“How often?” Kai asked.

Seldaric shrugged. “I believe the unit patrols from one end of the island to the other. So they should cross over any given spot at least once a week.”

“It was him,” Kai said as he hopped down from the wagon. “He killed these men for their horse. He left them and the wagon because he needed speed.”

Seldaric nodded. “I was thinking the same thing.” The elf sighed and looked back to the bodies. “We should move.”

Kai nodded emphatically. “I can run a bit more,” he said.

They turned to begin heading eastward again, but then they spotted a group of four riders coming toward them from the east. Kai and Seldaric stopped where they were and looked at the newcomers.

“The guards?” Kai asked.

Seldaric shook his head. “No. These are human riders.”

The riders pointed at Kai and Seldaric and shouted something. The four riders pulled weapons and began charging.

“I think they think we attacked these men,” Seldaric said.

Kai drew his sword. “I caught that,” he growled.

Seldaric turned to Kai and pushed the man back around the wagon. “Into the forest, go!”

Kai nodded and the two made haste for the trees.

The pounding hooves thundered toward them. The men shouted and cursed. One of them fired a crossbow, but the bolt slammed into a tree well behind Seldaric and Kai. The riders leapt from their horses and followed after Seldaric and Kai on foot.

“The forest is too thick for the horses to enter. We will be on even terms here if we need to fight,” Seldaric said.

“If?” Kai repeated skeptically. “I don’t know about elf traditions, but where I come from, shooting a crossbow is not a friendly greeting.”

Seldaric shot Kai a sidelong glance and then turned to hide behind a thick oak tree covered with moss and ivy.

Kai crouched in a group of ferns at the base of a hillock, his sword out and ready.

“Come out!” one of the riders shouted. “We know you are here.”

“Who sent you?” another rider yelled.

“No one sent us,” Seldaric called out. “We only happened upon these two men and their wagon a few moments before you arrived.”

“Right,” one of the riders mocked. “And I suppose you want me to believe that you don’t know who these men are?”

Seldaric glanced toward Kai. The ex-ranger could see the confusion stamped across his elf companion’s face. Kai shrugged. The movement rustled some of the ferns he was hiding in.

“There he is!” the crossbowman shouted.

Kai heard the tell-tale click of the firing mechanism and knew he had made a mistake. He rolled out to his right as a steel bolt tore through the green plants and bit into the dirt behind where he had been crouching. He came up behind a tree and looked to Seldaric. The elf held a finger up to his lips.

“Hey, the money is gone!” a man called out from near the wagon.

Kai and Seldaric looked to each other and Kai silently mouthed, “What is going on?”

Seldaric shrugged and silently readied his sword. Kai nodded. It was obvious that these men were not leaving without a fight.

“Killed Governor Kimmel and stole our money did ya?” one of the men shouted.

The voice was close. Kai closed his eyes and concentrated on the rustling foliage underfoot and the
whoosh
of swinging branches. Within a moment he heard the scrape of pine needles as they dragged across fabric. One of the riders was close enough to strike.

Kai wheeled around the left side of the tree and struck out with a quick thrust of his sword. He caught a wide-eyed, black-bearded man through the heart. The man dropped his sword and opened his mouth as if to scream, then he fell backward silently. Kai continued the spin until he was safe behind a nearby tree.

A crossbow bolt zipped through the space near him and slammed into a tree just a few feet farther away.

One of the men called out to the crossbowmen, giving his position away to Seldaric. The elf leapt out from behind his hiding spot and slashed the man’s throat. He then dropped into a somersault as the crossbowman fired at him. The shot missed. Seldaric came up and gracefully launched his scimitar. The blade spun end over end until it sunk deep into the crossbowman’s chest.

Kai saw his moment. He rushed out from behind his tree. He ran through the brush and darted around the many trees until he reached the fourth and final rider. The final enemy had only just leapt down from the wagon by the time Kai slammed into him. The ex-ranger drove his sword up through the man’s abdomen at such a sharp incline that the blade protruded out from the man’s upper back and bit into the side of the wagon. The man groaned and slowly turned his eyes to lock with Kai’s

“Who…” the man didn’t finish his question before his strength left him and his body went slack.

Kai removed his sword and wiped it on the fallen man’s clothes.

Seldaric emerged from the forest and went to Kai. “You alright?”

Kai nodded. “Never better.” He glanced back to the woods and then slid his sword into its sheath. “We should go,” he said.

The two of them started running down the road, trying to put as much distance between themselves and the battle sight as possible.

They ran for almost two miles before Kai had to stop. There was a pain in his side that had him nearly doubled over and heaving for breath. “I’m sorry,” Kai said. “I can’t run anymore today.”

Seldaric ran a few more yards before he was able to slow himself down to a stop. He jogged back to Kai and placed a hand on Kai’s shoulder, pulling him upright. “Put your hands on your head, it will help open your chest and you will breathe better.”

Kai nodded. He stretched upward, but then quickly felt the sharp, cramping pain in his side. He shook his head and dropped to a knee.

“Kai, we have to keep moving,” Seldaric urged. “Come on, at least walk with me.” Seldaric reached under Kai’s armpit and hoisted the man up. Kai shook his head in protest, but the elf wasn’t willing to consider stopping. He dragged Kai along until the ex-ranger started moving his feet with stumbling steps to keep pace. “We must press forward. According to the map, there will soon be a turnoff with a smaller road leading to the tower. Once we have gone onto that road for a bit we can rest, but as long as we are on the main road, we run the risk of being caught by the patrol. If they see what we have done, we will not be able to complete our mission.”

“I thought…” Kai began between gasps for air, “that agents were above the law?”

“Keep moving,” Seldaric snapped.

They hobbled along for a few minutes before Kai was able to walk without the stitch in his side. However, they never found the turn off.

After they had walked for another mile something caught Seldaric’s attention and he turned to look behind them.

“We are discovered,” Seldaric said. The elf stood and turned around. Kai turned and saw a group of seven running toward them on foot. Some of them had spears, while others wore scimitars upon their belts. Two of them stopped and brandished fine bows, nocking arrows and pulling the strings back.