The Awakening (The Stones of Revenge) (20 page)

“Sit. Warm yourself by the fire. I will prepare another meal then I will see to your wounds.”

Landon had forgotten all about the pain through witnessing this marvelous structure. Aldous’ hideout looked like a shack in comparison. He sat himself down on one of the sets around the fire, and waited for food. The fire felt warm and relaxing on his skin. As he relaxed he began to feel the weight of the climb. Every muscle ached. Eventually Aratus brought food and they ate in silence. When they finished, Aratus laid out the plans for training.

“Tomorrow we will work on your stance. You have a lazy posture which will not serve you well. But before I delve into that, I must know more of this enemy you plan to fight.”

“His name is Gavin. He is the first lieutenant to Lord Malchus. His fighting skills are quite extensive and if I am to believe his stories, he has had many encounters to practice honing them.”               Aratus leaned back at the sound of Gavin’s name. It seemed familiar to her, and Landon was curious to know more about that. “Do you know of him?”

“Aye, and his stories are to be believed. I know of no one else who rivals me with a blade,” she said coldly.

“How do you know him?” Landon asked innocently.

“I was his master.”

Landon recoiled. The same person who had taught Gavin how to kill mercilessly was now teaching him! Was this the reason Aldous had sent him to her? Could it be that he could only defeat Gavin by becoming as evil as he? Landon was unsure how to respond. On one hand, he felt empathy for her. She had been caught up in Gavin’s deceit as well. On the other, he was not sure he could train under her. Though he felt enamored with the place, he somehow felt it was tainted. He did not want it to spread to him. It took him a long while to speak.

“You taught him to be so cruel?” he brazenly asked.

“Nay, I instructed him in the ways of the blade. Once he had completed his training, he was determined to use it to bring glory upon himself. I vehemently disagreed with this approach and we went our separate ways. I have not seen him in a long time.”

“Still, it was by your hand that he learned how to commit all those atrocities.”

“We will leave the past in the past from now on,” Aratus continued sensing Landon’s growing frustration. “Tomorrow we will work to forget our pasts and move forward.”

“Nay, I cannot do so. My past is all too a part of me. You may forget yours, but I will not let mine go. As for tomorrow, I shall rest. I have others who are in need of my assistance and I must decide whether I will stay here or seek them.”

“I strongly advise against this course of action. If your prejudice towards Gavin will not allow yourself to be taught by me, then that is for you alone to decide. But know this, you will not recover your ring without my help. I give you this to nurse your wounds. They will be healed in the morrow. Until then, good night.” Aratus exited the room by ascending the stairs and retiring through a door above the bookshelf. Landon applied the salve then lay down on the long seat next to the fire. He closed his eyes and dreamed about his options.

Chapter
Nineteen

The Last Resolve

Landon walked into the open air. He found the path toward the stables in the rear of the shack. There he found Aquila rested and fed just as Aldous had said. He wondered how she had been so well taken care of since Aldous was hardly out of his sight. He brushed the thought aside and unlatched the mare from the stable. Landon reached out and stroked the mare’s mane. Aquila snuffed with pleasure. He mounted her and slung his pack around the saddle. It had been a few days since he had ridden and the strain on his legs had become noticeable. Not to mention the pain in his knees from saving Gavin in the cavern. He grimaced as Aquila began to trot towards the road, but soon he found a bearable rhythm.

“How have you been, girl?” Landon asked warmly. Aquila neighed in response to indicate she had been well taken care of. Landon patted her side.

They found the path back on to the main road which Gavin and he had ridden to escape the bandits from the Arden. Landon hoped their friends would not be out looking for him. It had already been a few days, and if there were people about looking for him, they would most certainly be close by. As they trotted along the road, Landon looked ahead to study it. It continued further about a thousand feet then climbed steadily toward the mountain. Crisscrossing the mountain, Landon could see, were ruts where the road weaved back and forth as it ascended toward the summit.

The sun was rising over his back showering the Cap with go
lden beams. The trees of the Arden spanned toward the horizon on his right but grouped close together to form a near impenetrable wall. The mountain range to Landon’s left created another barrier funneling him directly towards his destination. With the aid of the morning sunlight, Landon felt excitement stir in his heart and spurred Aquila into a gallop. The cool wind rushed past his face, but this time, in the open air and sunlight, it was refreshing. The ascending path crept closer as Aquila rushed forward.

When the elevation began to change, Landon felt a noticeable difference from the mare. Her gait slowed as the strain on her muscles increased. She took the change in stride and bolted upwards toward the first path up the mountain. Once Landon was ascending, he noticed how barren the mountainside really was. Nothing grew on its face. Massive boulders, some the size of the hut, laid strewn about. The path itself was quite narrow already, which the boulders made even more treacherous. Aquila had great vision and knew exactly when to swerve to keep her
pace and still avoid the rocks.

At the end of the first path, where travelers turned to the next, lay three large rocks. Aquila slowed her pace to safely turn the corner. As she did so, loose gravel made her slip and almost slam into the boulders. Luckily, she was able to regain her footing just in time to continue on up the path. Landon spurred her again into a gallop. As they climbed the next path, Landon remembered Gavin explaining his desire to acquire mules to make it up the mountain safely. At the time Landon was unsure as to why, but in this moment, he knew. Aquila’s build and stamina made her excellent in the open fields and on flat land, but on these tiny mountain roads, she wasn’t as skilled. A couple of times Landon noticed her lose her footing and skid to a halt before continu
ing on the path. She was meant for a quick pace, not a slow and steady climb. Eventually, the desire for urgency gave way to safety and they slowed to a walk.

By this time, they were on the fourth path up the mountain and Landon could see, over his
left, the giant trees of the Arden below them. He saw them stretch out for miles.  Past the green canopy, Landon saw a tall, spiked building in the distance fading in the mists. He recognized it as the church tower in Camsbury. Further beyond that, he could faintly see the rim of the Eastern Mountains which created the valley in which Camsbury lay. The view was majestic and breathtaking all the while frightening. Landon knew they had to be nearly half a mile in the air, and with one false move, the two of them would plummet to their deaths.

The sun had now risen above the mist and was burning it away. Below at the base of the mountain, though, Landon could barely make out the path from which they had come. A loud yell echoed off the mountain. A group of ten men were charging up the mountainside. Though it was hard to tell, their appearance reminded Landon of the men in the forest. His heart began to beat faster. The men at the base of the mountain hooted and whooped as if chasing something. Then Landon realized the men weren’t chasing so
mething, they were chasing him.

He looked ahead to the path they were on and realized there were several more paths to ride until they reached the summit. At the end of their path stood one large boulder which seemed to bar the way ahead. As they approached, it was obvious they could go no further. Frustrated, Landon brought Aquila to a halt and carefully dismounted. He strode up
to the boulder to gauge its foundation. He discovered that the rock was not bound to the cliff in any way and must have come to rest there. He wondered if it would be possible to move it from its spot. He pushed lightly to see if it would move and it did not. He pushed with more force and noticed it roll slightly. He decided to give it a full shove.

Landon knew that there was a danger in the boulder rolling down the path and crushing him and Aquila, but there was no choice. He either had to move the rock, or travel back down the mountain, somehow get past the ten men after him, ride the five hundred miles or so south around the Western Mountain Pass, then back up north to approach Ellington from the west. He refused to accept option two. Thus it was that Landon pushed against the rock and caused it to roll up the next path. His strength was put to the test, however, when gravity began to push back on him. As he carefully and slowly rolled the stone upward, it became more difficult. He soon realized he could not move it enough out of the way to give Aquila space to walk past. He slowly lowered the rock back to its original position. He knew he had to act quickly. The men were moving up the mountain
fast.

Thinking of a way to solve the puzzle, Landon realized that gravity was his answer. He knew that if he were to simply let the stone roll away from him, he and his horse would be crushed. But, if he could somehow create a gutter for the boulder to roll through, it would roll off the cliff possibly slowing the men below. He looked at the path and pondered ways to dig a trench. The rock was mostly solid with a bit of dust on the surface. He had no way to dig into the ground because it was too hard. If it was a little softer, I might be
able to -. Then, it struck him.

Softer.

Landon needed to soften the rock. He didn’t have enough water, but it was possible that enough heat would make the rock brittle and crumble easily. The voices were audible now.

“You are gonna pay, boy!” One man yelled. Another shot an arrow at his position, but it struck on the ledge below him.

Landon focused on the ground just below the boulder, then, closed his eyes. He pictured the toy horse in his mind, then, concentrated on creating fire. He knew a fireball wasn’t going to solve anything. He needed to create heat. He wasn’t sure if he had enough strength to melt the ground from within, so he sought another power source. Opening his eyes he saw nothing around. The only thing producing heat was the sun.

The sun!

It was the greatest source in the universe, but Landon was unsure how to redirect its power. Suddenly, he felt the sun’s rays burn through the fog and land on his back. Then it was clear. The sun was already heating the ground; he just needed to consolidate the heat into one area. He closed his eyes again and felt the warmth from the sun fall over him. He imagined pulling it off of his back and pouring it like water onto the ground just below the stone. He could feel the heat move like a current over him. He opened his eyes and saw that it was working. Heat waves were rising from the ground and the boulder was slowly rolling towards the spot.

Then, Landon focused the energy in a straight line from the rock to the edge of the cliff. The boulder began to move forward, the earth groaning from its weight. Finally, with one last surge of strength the boulder lunged forward while the path below it crumbled causing the giant stone to roll over the cliff. In its path lay a shallow groove. A large boom echoed off the rock. Landon looked down and saw the boulder had taken out part of the path in front of the men. It could take them hours to get around it. Hopefully, it would be enough for Landon to arrive safely at Ellington. He mounted Aquila and they turned the tight corner onto the fifth path. The next few paths were quite unadventurous. More dust, more boulders, more slow moving. Finally, Landon saw the end in sight. Up ahead were three more paths. But a commotion from below urged him
to quicken his pace.

He paused to look over the cliff. What he saw amazed him. The men had moved the boulder quicker than he thought and were on the path just below him. Arrows whizzed past his head clanking harmlessly against the rock face above him. He knew he needed to hurry. He attempted to spur Aquila to a trot, but the horse refused to move faster than a walk. They were nearly a mile in the air, a
nd Aquila did not want to fall.

“Come on, girl. At least a little faster?” Landon encouraged her. The horse still kept her pace. “If we don’t go faster, we’ll be dead either way!” he cried. She cocked her head to the side as if analyzing his argument. Then, it seemed to make sense to her because she moved into a trot.

“Atta girl,” Landon cooed.

The men below were still gaining, however, and Landon was still dodging arrows. He and Aquila made the next turn. Two more paths until the city gates, but the bandits were turning onto his path. One arrow, nicked Aquila’s heal causing her to rear up. Landon held onto the reigns with his full strength while his body swung over the edge. He knew the dangers of letting go. Aquila set her hooves to the ground and started into a gallop. There was no turning back now. They would either slip off the cliff, be killed by the bandits,
or make it safely to Ellington.

At the end of the last turn, Landon decided to give himself an advantage. He could see the end of the last path and the town in sight. So, behind him, he focused his will on the wall of rock hanging above the last turn. He motioned the heat towards the rock and began to disintegrate it. As the face softened, dirt began to pile. Landon continued to direct the sun’s heat against the mountain. Little by little the pile began to grow. All the while, Landon trusted his steed to get them safely to the gates. Eventually, the rock wall fully dissolved leaving a mound of dirt the height of two men blocking the way. The bandits arrived just as Landon put the finishing touches on his work. A large chunk of rock fell beneath the loosened sand and smashed onto the pile creating a capstone. The bandits were stuck while the city gates of Ellington blurred past Landon. His body began to sway from fatigue.

Riding through the city, Landon felt very uncomfortable. There was something strange about the people who lived in the town. He could not understand exactly what it was, but he knew something wasn’t right. The city of Ellington was laid out in a circle with three main walls running through the center. At the epicenter of the town was the Lord’s Palace. The walls ran from the palace to the outskirts of the town. Posted at several distinct locations along the walls were guard towers. Below the guard towers were carved massive stone archways allowing the citizens freedom to move from one section of the city to another. Each section had a distinct purpose. The first section, closest to the east gate was the market district. Moving northward in the circle was the housing district.  This was followed by the faith district closest to the west gate. Landon knew he needed to head for the center of the city. There were few people about, so his ride through town was quite easy.

As he approached the palace doors, two guards stood at attention on either side. A hitching post lay outside to the west, and Landon tied Aquila to it. As he walked toward the doors, the guards crossed their large spears.

“The Lord will not see visitors today,” the first guard said.

“This is with re
gards to his daughter,” Landon said. The two men looked at each other, then, studied Landon. They seemed unsure of him, but must have concluded he was not lying for they unbarred the way and stood back at attention. The first guard opened the door for Landon.

That was relatively easy, he thoug
ht.

As Landon entered the Palace, he was struck by the magnificence of it. The inside rose hundreds of feet into the air. It also spread forward for at least a thousand feet. Upon the walls hung tapestries intricately woven to depict scenes from the city’s famous history. One on the left showed a picture of the volcano erupting. The picture was so real, it seemed almost lifelike. On the opposite wall hung a picture of the town being built. Landon could almost feel the excitement bustling within the image. Above the rows of tapestries hung balconies running the entire length of the walls. Above them and rising into the air was the greatest stone craftsmanship Landon had ever seen. Myriad faces were carved into the structure in concentric rings rising toward
the top.

At the end of the long room, two guards in full array stood on either side of a throne upon which sat a man dressed in grand finery. His robes were of bold russet trimmed in an intertwining of gold and scarlet. Embroidered across the cloth were interlinking circles which ran around the Lord’s body toward the ground. Upon his silver head was a thin crown of gold studded with orange garnets and rubies. Lord Dawson’s face was finely chiseled. His brown eyes held wisdom and age, while his square jaw sat firmly in place. Landon wasn’t sure if his face held a smile or a frown,
but he approached nonetheless.