Black Kerthon's Doom (7 page)

They were Amogrihens, here, now, and Daura was their prey. They did not see him or else the fleeing figure of Daura was too tempting. The tall cat creatures stretched their long toes in front of them like fingers and were noiseless in passing. He stared at their long fangs jutting up over their upper lips. Then he bolted after them but the lead was too great and there was nothing that could catch the lean forms of the Amogrihens from behind. The Amogrihens had been bred for speed and stealth for the nobles of Nantitet. At first the wild creatures were tamed for hunting deer. Then warfare brought adaptations of their use and they were used often and cruelly. They were highly efficient killers. It was rumored they finally died out, yet here were three.

Daura sensed Parean was not with her but there was something behind her and she began to shake. She chanced a backward glance and saw whatever it was behind her had erased much of her lead and was almost upon her. The hair on the back of her neck stood up and she knew they were gaining with every step. She veered from her course and the branches whipped her as she passed. The ground was uneven and jarred her and she stumbled. But she was on her feet again, heedless of her bleeding knees. She found a rope bridge and she ran across without stopping until she reached the other side and her sword severed the bridge supports and it collapsed with her pursuers on the other side. But she did not wait to see what they would do. The sounds of something splashing in the creek the rope ladder had spanned rose up to her. They were across. She headed down a hill and found a gully but she wouldn't be able to reach the top of the other side before they caught up with her. Daura had to lose them. She followed the gully downward faster and faster she ran and she collided with something, another body in the darkness and screamed.

"Who?" said the other, gripping Daura hard. She could not pull away.

"A traveler." Her heart pounded. They looked closely at each other in the darkness. A woman, dressed in dark green, a pouch slung over her shoulder.

"Daura?" asked a familiar voice.

"Cara, is that you?"

"Yes. Sorry I'm late. You gave me quite a fright. What do you have for me?" She patted Daura on the shoulder, but Daura grasped hers and jerked her to attention.

"No time. I think Kaell has someone tracking me. Parean and I separated but I know something is on my trail." She pulled Cara to her feet. They both looked behind Daura, hearing the slight noises in the thicket.

"Something's coming behind you," said Cara. "Is it Parean?"

The tall tuft eared shapes came bursting through the darkness. Both women screamed. Daura turned immediately, her legs churning.

"Amogrihens! Run for your life!" cried Daura as she saw the faint shapes through the trees. She ran without knowing the direction and without a thought for Cara who fell to the ground in terror, unable to run. Daura ran and ran and she would not stop until daylight when she would be safe. She heard the screams of her savior, the messenger from Gareth, Cara. The screams were terrible and Daura could taste the pain in that voice and felt sick to her stomach. She ran and ran. The screams continued and then stopped. Why couldn't Cara have died at once? She tried to push away the images that came to her, but the sounds remained in her mind. Daura was safe. She would not think about Cara. Poor Brice! Who would tell him? She must find the rebels. But she could not go back toward Rhath. She should find Gareth and tell him what had happened. Kaell had never used Amogrihens against the rebels before. Parean would have to return to the High King without her. And if they had been discovered, which was likely, since Kaell controlled the High King's Amogrihens then she could only go to Gareth. Poor Brice! She would not think of Cara. She would not. She wiped the tears from her eyes and ran.

She ran as far as she could before her legs betrayed her and she rested briefly and then moved on toward the mountains and the rebels. But the death cry of Cara would always haunt her dreams.

The chase was short. Parean heard the screams and the terrible silence that followed. It was several minutes before he could bring himself to push aside the bushes. It was worse than he expected. There in the trail were the bloody remains of Daura. He could not move closer. Flesh and clothing red-soaked covered the leaves. He had run in pursuit of Daura's ghost but there was nothing there but her shell, her face was gone, there was nothing to remind him of her. The Amogrihens had moved on and he screamed to them to come and get him. But he found no reply. He cradled his head and wept.

Kaell found him early in the morning. The wizard had brought several soldiers with him and they buried what remained of the body. Kaell frowned at Parean.

"I am disappointed in you. I thought you were a more formidable adversary. But I am in error. Pity Daura was too. You were the only one who could have saved her from the Amogrihens but you hid."

"I came after they had....killed her. I screamed to them to take me."

"Of course they would not return. They only kill once a night. They were no longer hungry. You knew that. You once lived near the Cathtrag Mountains where the Amogrihens are native. It looks like murder to me."

"NO! I tried to save her!" cried Parean.

"They why are you not scratched? I think the High King will frown on this behavior. He was fond of Daura. She almost had him convinced to oppose me. A few more days and the High King might have thrown me out. But that won't happen now, and Gareth loses a spy and a sister. It will cripple him. Come, let us visit the High King and tell him you allowed his favorite lady to perish. Pray that he will be merciful. It is more than you deserve."

Parean screamed at the wizard who had turned away. Two burly soldiers lifted him and carried him to the cart and tied him to it. They climbed up and started back to Rhath.

"Fansot!" called Kaell to one of the soldiers on horseback.

"Yes, sir."

"Take a message to Prosty. Tell him to urge the High King to keep Parean under tight security. I will return later after we have pieced together this puzzle."

"Yes, sir." The page raced to his horse and sped off after the cart and soon passed it and disappeared over a hill. Kaell watched grinning.

The wizard sat on a stump and tapped his fingers on his sword. He smiled at the bloody grass and pulled from his pocket a small flute and he put it to his lips. He played a slow tune that he had learned as a boy about a man who had given everything for the woman he loved only to lose her at the last moment and then miraculously she would come back to him. But Kaell always stopped the song before she came back. He did not believe in miracles. And his experience had always proved him correct.

Kaell was a young man in appearance but his black soul was old and rotten. His thin goatee was trimmed to a point and he filed his teeth that gave him the image of a satyr, which Prosty privately thought Kaell was. Kaell had plans for Parean, but where did Daura go? And who died here? Parean had not Kaell's power and could not know the remains were not of Daura, but Kaell would not tell him.

Kaell picked through the effects and found a green arrow, one of Gareth's peculiarities, evidence enough that the rebels were involved. He smiled and mounted his horse to return to the High King.

Kaell caught up with the High King's van late in the day as he had promised. It moved slowly over the road due to the uncommon size of the wagon that carried the High King. There were several wagons of servants and cooks to keep the enormous appetite of the High King sated. As Kaell rode up to the lead wagon, Prosty climbed out and mounted his horse. He appeared older than his partner and his hair thinned to the top of his head giving him a tremendously high forehead. His body gained weight quickly and the comfortable life they had been living recently bulged under his tunic. He noticed Kaell and rode to meet him. Their voices were low and fast.

"I did not see anyone. I believe they must have met with the rebel before the Amogrihens found them. Daura must have escaped. It was a rebel scout whose body we found."

"But it helps them not," said Prosty. "The messenger is dead and the man is in our hands. Daura cannot reach the rebel camp without supplies and the land is harsh. She will soon perish and one more threat is removed."

"Do you have Parean safely tucked away?"

"I'm afraid our High King has a mind of his own at times. He is trying to extract information from Parean."

"We must alleviate that situation," said Kaell quickly. "We must not have unforeseen events cross us up."

"Let Michak be for a while. He has Parean with him and tries to question him but he will gain nothing. When the High King tires of the game he will return the prisoner to us. So there is no worry. Parean will eventually be executed and it will be nearly impossible for the rebels to plant new spies."

"You speak of only instructions coming to our two spies. What about information going to the rebels?" asked Kaell. "What harm may have been done by Daura's escape?"

"I see your point. I am not sure what they may know. Perhaps we had better question Parean thoroughly."

"I don't mean to belittle the efforts of our High King, but I doubt if he proves to be an effective interrogator."

"That's what we are for. I do hope Parean feels like talking. There is much I want to know," said Prosty.

"Sir?" said a page who had just joined them.

"What is it?" snapped Kaell.

"The High King said to tell you that he is through with the prisoner and if you wish to question the prisoner he will be sent to your tent."

"That is exactly what I want," replied Kaell. "This may be exactly what we need. Talk to Michak, find out what he knows. I doubt if I shall be long with Parean."

Daura was tired and fell down in the long grass and tried to fend off sleep. Although the Amogrihens had made their kill they had been known to follow prey until their feeding frenzy fell upon them again. She would not feel safe until she was in the rebel camp. She had wandered for miles and was not sure of the exact direction in which the camp lay but she would not give up until her strength failed and she had continued to walk towards the mountains. She had no water and the few berries that she found did not provide much moisture and they were difficult to swallow. Her stomach rumbled.

She rested for a time and then pulled herself to her feet. It was far too early to give up. She had to have covered half the distance.

"Come on, girl. There's nothing that can stop you. The rebels must be around somewhere. The way Kaell talks you'd think they were everywhere."

She was ten miles north of Rhath where the Salden and Wythe Rivers meet to form the Elihu River. The water flowed fast through the gorge but there was an old bridge spanning the Elihu to the western side. When it was built was no longer remembered and its last repairs were also in the remote past.

"Don't look down," she said to herself. "Just step out and hold on. Don't look. Don't look." She repeated the liturgy over and over until it suppressed the roar of the rapids below. She stepped out and felt the slight tremor in the old structure. Each step was a test of the ancient wood and hemp. She was over half way across when the wind began to cause the bridge to sway. Her foot slipped through a space in the planks and her thigh was pinched and bruised where the remaining planks stopped her fall. The bridge started to twist under her weight and she tugged at the rope to pull herself up. Her leg came free but the bridge twisted, her hips sliding over the edge. She held on with one hand on a rope and the other on the planks. The wind gusted strongly and she waited for it to subside.

"You can make it, you said. I wish Parean was here. No, what good would that do? He'd probably fall into the river and I'd lose him. That would be just like him."

Inch by excruciating inch, she pulled herself up on the bridge again, muscles burning, and she waited for the next gust of wind to pass. Then she crawled across the remainder of the bridge, her hands grabbed the ropes and slid over them, careful not to lose contact with the hemp. She concentrated on her progress and did not think of rebels, Amogrihens or Parean. When she reached the other side she sat down against a tree stump and tried to relax. Her hands were raw and she wiped the blood on her legs. Suddenly, she remembered the Amogrihens. The smell of blood would drive them crazy. She would have to move quickly. She found a broken branch and she broke off the smaller branches and tried it for weight. At least she would not be unarmed.

Daura was across the river. She remembered one messenger had mentioned that he had passed the ruins of a tower on his way to meet them. The Tower. Kerthon's Tower. But it was the only way she knew. It was by the river near the mountains and she decided she would follow the river until she found it. A few miles beyond it she expected to find Gareth and the rebels. She would try to pass it in daylight. She collected nuts and berries as she found them along her trail. She was unsure of what she would find in the coming days and ate until she thought she would burst.

By dusk the following day she could see the outline of the tower. It had a parapet which surrounded several buildings attached to a tower now much in disrepair. Part of the top had fallen away and there were deep dark shadows where the moonlight could not penetrate. She had not made the time she had wished and the clouds began to drop rain on her. She was cold and needed shelter. Gareth would call her foolish, but she had no choice. She tried to forget her aching muscles and looked forward to a dry place to sleep.

She crept forward to find shelter among the buildings and held her stick in front of her. She moved slowly because she was unfamiliar with the area and did not know what creatures might lurk about. But the tower seemed empty if not secure and she would try that first.

"Slowly. What is inside I do not know and I do not wish to find out the hard way." She found a deep doorway and decided that was as far as she wanted to go. "This shall do. Parean, pray for me. I do not know where I go and I am not sure why. This is my course and I shall follow it to its end."