SEARCH FOR THE LOST SOUL (22 page)

Chris looked
to where the apprentice was pointing and frowned. “That ledge looks awfully
small.”

“True,”
Dominic agreed. “But, that is the beauty of the spot. It is higher than the
path and should be easily defensible.”

“Do you know
something I don’t?” Chris asked as he assisted Kelly up to the ledge.

“No,” came
Dominic’s voice from below him. “But, we are very close to where all the
attacks from the stoners occurred.”

Chris looked
around nervously as he hoisted himself up onto the ledge. “So the stoners could
attack at any time.”

“Quite
frankly, I am surprised that they have not done so already.”

Chris was
surprised when Dominic rolled up into his blankets and went to sleep without so
much as a comment to the two of them. He looked at Kelly, now sitting on her
own blankets and staring out at the mountainside. A wave of tenderness engulfed
him; she looked so young and vulnerable.

Chris rose
and crossed to her blankets, lowering himself to sit next to her. After a
moment, he put his arm around her shoulders. “Don’t worry. I won’t let anything
happen to you.”

Kelly turned
her head to look at him.

Chris’
breath caught in his throat; her green eyes held no sign of intelligence.
“Kelly,” the whispered word erupted from his lips despite his effort to
suppress it.

“I’m going
to sleep now.” Her voice was devoid of emotion.

Chris looked
into her face for only a moment before silently rising and returning to his own
blankets. He shivered as he assumed a seated position. He was losing her; she
was falling into that void that Dominic had spoken of. His eyes shifted to her
form under the blankets and then quickly away, how much time did she have
before she reached a point where she couldn’t return.

Luckily,
Chris didn’t have long to dwell on the subject. Even before the sun disappeared
behind the mountains they had already crossed, he saw something pop over the
edge of the ledge. He stared for a moment before jumping to his feet and
yelling for Dominic. He didn’t need the apprentice’s confirmation to know that
the stoners had arrived.

Chris
received a better look than he wanted as his trembling fingers tore at the
heavy twine that held one of the leather bags closed. The stoners were about
four feet high and appeared to be  made of small pebbles held together
with cement. Their faces were dominated by the glowing red eyes that reminded
Chris of fire, but the huge mouth with the sharp fangs were a close second.

As the bag
opened and he grabbed the first rock, Chris found himself wishing that there
was a way he could fight them without looking at them; the more he saw of them,
the more afraid he became. But he didn’t dare take his eyes away; how could he
be accurate if he couldn’t see his target?

He saw
movement all around the edge of the ledge and knew that other stoners were
climbing up but he didn’t stop to count them; he was afraid that the terror
that already threatened him would overcome him and he’d be powerless. That
would leave only Dominic to protect Kelly. Although Chris didn’t doubt that the
apprentice was up to the task, he decided he didn’t want to put him to the
test.

Even though
he hadn’t played baseball since he was ten, he remembered how Coach Jiminson helped
him to concentrate on the ball. It took him a moment to recall the exact words,
but once he did, the exercise came easily.

By the time
he had thrown the third rock, he was able to narrow his focus so that he saw
only the stoner he was aiming for. He smiled grimly as the stone he threw hit
the stoner in the center of what he would call its chest. The stoner froze for
a moment before disappearing over the edge. He turned his attention to the next
stoner.

Chris was so
single-minded in his routine that he didn’t realized he was reaching into his
last leather bag until it was empty and his questing hand found only empty
bags. Panic gripped him as he heard the sound of more stoners climbing onto the
ledge. He quickly felt all four bags you confirm that they were indeed empty.
What were they going to do now?

“Chris,”
Dominic’s voice came from behind him. “I want you to take Kelly and press
yourselves against the side of the mountain. Make yourselves as small as
possible.”

Chris didn’t
argue. He turned, looking around wildly until he spied Kelly standing close to
Dominic, a disinterested expression on her pretty face. He raced to her,
grabbed her hand and retreated to the side of the mountain. He shoved Kelly
against the boulders, pressing his body against hers. He had no idea what
Dominic had in mind but, whatever it was, it would have to go through him to
get to her.

He had
barely gotten into position when he heard a rumbling sound. The ledge
underneath him began to shake. This is a convenient time for an earthquake, was
his thought as he buried his face in Kelly’s hair. The rumbling increased until
the noise was deafening.

Chris wanted
to cover his ears but didn’t dare move. He didn’t think they were safe against
the mountainside but Dominic had said that they should make themselves as small
as possible and if he moved, he’d be a bigger target.

“Let us go,”
Dominic’s voice intruded some time later.

Chris turned
to see the apprentice standing along on what was left of the ledge. Chris
gaped; more than half of the ledge had disappeared during the earthquake.

“Do not
stand there with your mouth open like a fish,” Dominic’s voice cut through his
astonishment. “Grab the blankets. We will roll them as best we can as we
travel.”

Numbly,
Chris obeyed, swinging his backpack onto his shoulder and grabbing his and
Kelly’s blankets before pulling the reluctant Kelly towards the ragged edge. He
threw the blankets over his other shoulder to leave his hands free so he could
help her down to the path, his mind unable to grasp exactly what had happened.

He didn’t
start trying to roll the blankets until they were well on their way. The task
was made even more difficult because he had to keep watching where he was
placing his feet to keep from straying off the path in the darkness and prod
Kelly every few minutes to keep her moving. He was finally able to get it into
some semblance of the desired form. He slung his backpack around enough so he
could awkwardly tie the unwieldy roll onto the bottom of it.

He grabbed
Kelly’s hand, figuring that it would be easier to lead her than to keep
prodding her. Several minutes passed before he felt he could talk. “That
earthquake was fortunate, wasn’t it?’ his voice sounded strange to him but he
couldn’t determine why.

“There was
no earthquake,” Dominic’s voice sounded as calm as ever. “I used magic to
dislodged boulders from higher up on the mountain.”

The
explanation took quite a few minutes to penetrate the fog of his brain. When it
finally did, Chris felt anger welling up inside. “Why didn’t you do that
earlier?”

“It was an
act of desperation. Once the boulders had been dislodged, I could not control
where they went. They could have taken us off the ledge as easily as they did
the stoners.”

A shiver
went down Chris’ spine. He decided that he didn’t want to know any more about
that incident. He changed the focus of his question. “Did that kill the
stoners?”

“I have no
way of knowing. But I would doubt it.”

Chris
swallowed hard and fell silent, vowing not to question the apprentice further;
he didn’t like the answers he was getting.

They were
all exhausted as morning broke over mountains yet to be crossed but Dominic
refused to let them sleep. Chris wearily put one foot in front of the other,
pulling Kelly along behind him. She hadn’t said a word but, if he let her go,
she would instantly stop and try to lie down, supposedly to sleep. As more
light sufficed the area, Chris began searching for rocks to fill his empty
bags; he feared they would need them again.

Dominic
refused to allow  them to rest until nightfall, selecting an exposed spot
for them to slumber. Dominic didn’t unroll his blankets. “Get some sleep
Christopher.”

“But, you
need your sleep so you can protect us with your magic.”

“I have gone
long periods without sleep during my training. You, one the other hand, are so
tired you cannot even hold your head up. In your current condition, you would
not be able to fight the stoners if they were to attack.”

Chris
decided not to argue further. He wanted to, but his mind refused to form the
argument. He followed orders and laid out his blankets, falling asleep almost
as soon as he crawled inside.

Chris had
never felt so weary in his entire life. Dominic had them up and ready to travel
before sunrise, pushing them until sunset as he tried to cover as much distance
as possible. Even though Chris heard sounds that he was certain were the stoners
returning, they had only been attacked once since leaving the ledge; easily
beaten off through the prudent use of their throwing rocks.

Even so,
both men remained alert, with one of them awake at all times. The grueling pace
that Dominic set was wearing all of them down. Chris lacked the energy to ask a
question that had occurred to him: how were the disciples in the monastery
protecting themselves from the loose souls.

Even had he
asked the question, Chris doubted that the apprentice would have answered it.
Dominic had retreated back into the silent, solemn semblance of a man he had
been when the quest began. He rarely spoke unless he was giving terse orders,
given in his halting English and turning away from Chris as soon as he was
finished.

Chris avoided
looking at Kelly as much as possible. She no longer raised her eyes when he
tried to talk to her and would do nothing on her own. Dominic would watch as
Chris fed her at each meal, gently coaxing her to take a bite and swallow it.
Chris often wondered what Dominic was thinking but his dark eyes were
unfathomable. Chris never asked him; he didn’t want to hear the apprentice
accuse him of causing her condition.

It was
midmorning on a gloomy day when three men suddenly stepped from behind a
boulder, blocking the path. Chris, in the lead, immediately recognized the man
who had attached them while they were aboard
The Deoiridh
, Baltsaros.
Standing to his right was a large man with stringy brown hair that hung past
his shoulders, brandishing a sword. On his left stood a wizened old man;
wearing robes similar to those that Terrill had worn, except his were clean.

Chris
instantly felt a wave of wariness as he eyed this man. His long, hooked nose
and small eyes gave him a hawkish appearance. But, it was the way he looked at
Kelly that made Chris’ blood run cold. He dropped his hand to the hilt of his
sword, praying that he wouldn’t have to use it; practicing was one thing,
attacking a living human being was something else entirely.

“So,”
Dominic’s voice held no emotion. “I see you have shown yourself at last,
Vasilis.”

The name
sounded familiar to Chris but it took him a moment to place it. His mouth went
dry as he recalled that Dominic had said that this was a sorcerer. Sure,
Dominic had claimed that he was a low level sorcerer, but he knew enough about
magic to not take anything for granted, despite Dominic’s claim that Vasilis
was not much of a threat.

Chris’ eyes
shifted to the third man, the one with the sword. Was this another sorcerer
and, if so, how much power did he control? Of course, he might be just a hired
hand, and that posed an entirely different list of problems.

Chris
decided that he had to leave the two sorcerers to Dominic and concentrated his
attention on the third man. Even through the animal hide shirt he was wearing,
Chris could see the muscles bulging in his arms. He shuddered as he imagined
the force that would be behind a sword swing. Swallowing hard, he moved so that
he was squarely between the man and Kelly.

A slight
smile appeared on the man’s face as he returned Chris’ stare. Resentment rose
in Chris as he realized that the man considered him nothing more than an insect
to be swept aside as he pursued his target. He moved his hand to wipe his
suddenly sweaty palm on his jeans before returning it to the hilt.

The smile
disappeared from the man’s eyes as he advanced, replaced by a calculating look.
Chris withdrew his sword, taking a deep breath as he recognized the look of a
professional soldier; he had seen enough war movies to identify that look.

The man
laughed as he eyed Chris’ sword. “You would have better luck using that for
spearing fish.”

Chris hoped
that what he’d been told about the Dragon Sword proved to be true; left to his
own devices, he didn’t stand a chance against this man. His only hope lay in
the sword itself and the possibility that the other didn’t recognize that this
was no normal sword.

Chris gasped
as his sword met the other’s; the vibration thundered through his arm and them
down his body, all the way to his toes. None of his parries during his training
with Johan had produced such a sensation, which made him wonder if Johan had
merely been holding back or if this man was that much of a superior warrior. He
suspected the later, his stomach contracted with fear.

“Oh, ho,”
cried the other in a booming voice. “So, you are not as inept as your grip on
the sword would suggest. Prepare to defend yourself, runt.”

Chris
swallowed hard. “Dragon Sword, do your thing,” he whispered. Chris was certain
the tingle he felt in his sword hand was his imagination.

The warrior
reached behind his back and pulled out a battered shield that didn’t look like
it was made of metal but Chris was certain was as strong as iron. His next
thought was: why he hadn’t been supplied with a shield.

He didn’t
have time to ponder this question for long as the warrior’s sword came at him
again. Time stood still as Chris concentrated on the sword. The warrior’s sword
came at him from every imaginable direction, forcing him to dance as fast as
his feet would move to keep out from under it. The warrior drove him backwards
until his back was against the trunk of a tree.

Great, Chris
thought as he tried to dodge away, each move he made blocked by the warrior.
The warrior began to laugh loudly, obviously toying with Chris. Sword, Chris
thought at it, we’re running out of time.

From behind
him, he heard noises that he couldn’t identify. Chris concentrated on the
warrior, hoping to thrust the sounds from his consciousness; they were too
distracting. He quickly realized that this would be unsuccessful and worked to
convince himself that they weren’t as important as the warrior in front of him,
which was true. He longed to turn and look; perhaps identifying the sounds
would help him to ignore them.

Suddenly,
the sword began to move on its own, pulling Chris along with it. A startled
expression crossed the warrior’s face as Chris now drove him backwards. The
expression remained for only an instant, replaced by a look of determination
that Chris found frightening.

Once again,
Chris lost track of time as he and the warrior fought. Chris looked at the
sword, aware that it was doing all the work; he was nothing more than an
instrument that the sword was using at this moment. Sweat was streaming down
the side of his face and his arm but he couldn’t stop, even if he’d wanted to.

He raised
his eyes to the warrior’s face. The man’s eyes were narrowed in concentration,
his mouth set in a firm line. Sweat was streaming down his face but his arm was
clean, a cloth bandana around his bicep catching everything that might
interfere with his grasp on the sword.

Chris
wondered how long he could keep up this activity; his arm already felt like a
lead weight was attached to it. But, the sword showed no sign of ceasing. He
sighed; when he woke tomorrow, he was going to be sore.

The noise
behind him increased to the point that Chris’ need to know their source became
a burning desire. Figuring that the sword was doing most of the work anyway, he
turned to look.

Chris’
breath caught in his throat as he saw the two sorcerers and Dominic surrounded
by a multitude of bright lights. Although most of the lights appeared to be
yellow or orange in color, there were the occasional blue, green or purple
lights. The sound he kept hearing was caused by the appearance of the lights.

As Chris
watched, one of the purple lights streaked towards Vasilis, striking the
sorcerer on his right shoulder. Vasilis cried out in pain and sent a blue light
streaking towards Dominic. The blue light met one of the yellow lights,
disappearing with a sound that Chris likened to the sound to that of a burning
ember striking water. Shivering, Chris looked away; this was some sort of
magical fight and he had no desire to see any more of it.

His thoughts
turned to how this contest would end; it was obvious that either he or the
warrior would be dead. From the way the sword was behaving, Chris suspected
that it would be the warrior. He didn’t want to kill the man, but he doubted
that he’d have any control over the outcome. He could take some small comfort
in the knowledge that it was the sword that was doing the slaying, but would it
be enough to allow him to sleep at night.

The warrior
fell abruptly, tripping over an exposed outcrop of rock. Chris felt the sword
descend in a killing plunge, aiming for an unprotected section of the warrior’s
neck. Chris tried to halt the descent but could do nothing but watch in horror
as the sword plummeted. He closed his eyes; he had no desire to see blood spray
from the wound that would result.

Unexpectedly,
Chris heard a word spoken from behind him. In the fog that his brain had
become, he was unable to understand the word, but the sword did. It halted,
mere inches from the bare throat. Chris breathed a sigh of relief as he opened
his eyes to find the warrior gaze on him, a look of surprise on his face.

Chris stood
over the warrior, uncertain as to what he was supposed to do now. Luckily,
Dominic touched him on the shoulder. “Lower your sword.”

Chris
obeyed, the sword dropping until the point buried itself in the loose dirt. He
turned to face the apprentice, gasping for breath as he wiped his forehead with
an edge of his cape. “What happened?”

Dominic
smiled grimly. “I see that you found the acceptance of the sword.”

Chris
frowned, “What?”

Dominic reached
down and loosened Chris’s grasp on the hilt of the sword, sliding it back into
its scabbard. He glanced at the fallen warrior. “Go to your employer.”

Chris shook
his head as he shifted his eyes to where the two sorcerers were standing
motionless, a look of fury on their faces. “What happened?” embarrassment
coursed through him as he realized that his voice was barely above a whisper.

Dominic
didn’t look at the two sorcerers, choosing to keep his eyes on the warrior.
“Even together, Vasilis and Baltsaros do not have enough power to overcome me.
They thought they had developed a plan that would surprise me, but I have
studied Vasilis’ history and knew the type of attack that he would devise.
Obviously, I was not surprised and I was successful in defeating the two of
them.”

“Why didn’t
you kill them?” Chris felt relieved that his voice appeared to be returning to
normal.

Dominic
frowned. “Have you learned nothing by your contact with Loren and myself? We do
not kill unless it proves to be absolutely necessary.”

“But, if you
let them go, won’t they just attack us at some future date?”

Dominic
shook his head. “They will not have time. We are less than a day’s climb from
the monastery we seek. Once Kelly’s soul has been returned to her, they will
not be able to control her as they wish; there is no reason for them to
attack.”

“You mean
that Kelly will be safe once her soul is returned?”

Dominic
shook his head; his eyes focused on the warrior as he rose and slowly made his
way towards the two sorcerers. “Kelly will not be truly safe until she has been
fully trained. Once we locate her soul and I call Loren to us, he will return
her soul  to her body, Loren will transport her back to his castle where
she can be easily protected.”

Anger
coursed through Chris. “Why didn’t Loren just transport all of us this
monastery and save us all this trouble.”

Dominic
shook his head. “Chris, you understand nothing.”

“So, explain
it to me.” Chris clenched his teeth together to keep from cursing all the
sorcerers in the world.

Dominic shot
him a quick glance before returning his attention to his prisoners. He sighed
deeply. “I suspect that I will get no rest until I do so. But, you will have to
wait for your explanation until I have dealt with our foes.”

Chris fumed
as Dominic walked over to the three men who were watching him closely. He began
speaking to them in a language that Chris didn’t understand, which made Chris
even angrier. He stalked over to where Kelly was standing, dispassionately
watching the scene. Chris was so angry that he felt the compunction to hit
someone to relieve some of it.

Fearing that
he would hit Kelly, he clenched his hands into fists and glued them to his
side; it wasn’t her fault, it was his. And, there was no way he was going to
compound his transgressions by striking the one he had already endangered.

Dominic and
Vasilis exchanged words for several minutes before the three adversaries
abruptly vanished in a shower of spark. Chris breathed a sigh of relief that
they were gone; now he would get the answers he desired. He stalked to where
Dominic was standing. “Alright, they’re gone. Now, talk.”

“I must
first be certain that they are truly gone and not merely out of sight, waiting
for us to let our guard down before attacking us again.”