The Destroyer Book 2 (16 page)

The next four levels were all the same: empty, dust-free platforms arranged in neat rows. My lungs agonized over their duty and my skin was covered in a thin layer of nervous perspiration. I finally sat down on the step and almost sobbed. I didn't want to go any farther.

It can be the two of us together forever.
I heard Iolarathe's voice in my head that day I met her on the battlefield.

What did you do Kaiyer? You betrayed us all!
Malek's voice screamed in my mind. It bounced around in my brain and became Gorbanni's voice, then Thayer's.

"I don't remember!" I yelled out loud as tears came to my face. The voices grew more urgent and my limbs weighed thousands of pounds.

You won't feel anything again Kaiyer.

He's too fucking tough to die.

I'm so sorry my friend. Why did it have to be this way?

It is a prison. He shouldn't be able to escape.

Now we try to live with what he has done. With what we have all done.

He loved Shlara, didn't he?

She loved him.

My head cleared after what felt like a few minutes and I took the kind of breath I would if I was preparing to go underwater. Tears streaked my face and I wiped them away as I struggled to my feet, fighting dizziness and nausea. I continued up the stairwell past ten more rooms all lined with the stone platforms. Finally, I reached my destination.

It was a room with a high ceiling that extended to what I assumed formed the base of the castle’s foundation. A fine network of etching covered the ceiling, walls, and floors. The detailed art formed a picture of a single tree with thousands of branches and roots. In the center of the room stood a smaller stone platform with a metal globe on a raised, circular dais. The sphere was a little larger than a skull. Etching that resembled the walls decorated its smooth surface. I walked to the middle of room and carefully stepped around the stone dais. Then I sat down on it as I regarded the orb.

"What do you think it is?" Thayer's voice asked after he opened the chest to show Shlara and me.

"Entas would know, but I don't." I frowned when I thought of my dead friend. I often missed him, but the pain was worse during moments like these, where I had only questions and no answers.

"Why does it glow?" Shlara asked.

"Maybe it likes you!" Thayer laughed.

Thayer found one of these devices in the Elven camp. They were old, so old that the Elvens had not even created them.

I reached out a trembling hand and laid it across the metal of the cold globe. The surface warmed quickly and I smiled.

It was still working.

"What the fuck was that?" one of Runir's men squeaked. Our ragtag group of escapees slid to a surprised halt when the sounds of screams echoed through the flooring of the labyrinthine sewer.

"Whatever it was, it sounds far below us," Runir said with a tinge of concern to his voice.

"How deep do these sewers go?" Gerald asked as he pulled his daughter close to him.

"No one knows for sure. The hills that the capital is built upon have many hollow caverns that extend down almost a full mile." I smiled at the small man. "Don't worry though. We'll be out of here in less than an hour. Isn’t that what you said, Runir?" My blonde friend nodded and then pointed in the direction we had been moving. One of his soldiers took the lead. He carried a hooded oil lantern which made a thin stream of light in front of us. Another of Runir's men bore a softer lamp and brought up the rear.

"I feel like we have already walked forever," Inada said in a soft whine. Her father hushed her, but I sympathized with the girl. The king was a benevolent ruler and had not used the dungeons for their intended purpose. But dungeons were built as vehicles for torture and death. It seemed that the souls that suffered here were barely kept at bay by the light of our lanterns. The darkness of the tunnels had been oppressive and we all breathed a sigh of relief when we left them for the stink of the sewer.

The trip also felt like it took forever because I had to swing my lower body forward with each step while my arms draped across Runir and another of his warrior's shoulders. I hated not being able to walk with my own strength, but this alternative was better than waiting for the empress to interrogate me.

"It will be all right, Nadea. We'll get there soon and have more medics examine your thigh," Runir leaned in a whispered in my ear. I gritted my teeth and nodded. He was just trying to help, and I felt thankful that the blonde man was rescuing us, but I didn't want to be reminded about my leg anymore. At first I worried I would lose the limb, and now I wondered if I might never walk on it.

I sighed and shook my head sadly. I really should worry about more important problems. Nia had fallen, the king was dead, killed by his own deceitful son, who also murdered one of my closest friends. The princess had been kidnapped and the Ancients would soon enslave the world. Oh, and the only man who could help had been incinerated and was lost to us forever.

Another scream echoed through the sewer and the group halted in surprise.

"That sounds closer," the warrior in the front whispered. Fear coated his voice like sticky sap.

"Keep walking," Runir said calmly.

The shadows of our bodies seemed to twist and bend around the curves and pipes of the sewer. The dark, ghastly forms made it seem as if we fled from ourselves instead of the sounds of the screams and the Ancients in the castle. I wondered what would happen after we escaped and reunited with the small army that was still loyal. Where would we go? We might garner support from Brilla, but if Nia fell to Losher and a few of the empress's mages, then our southern neighbors would be just as easy to tear apart. I didn't know how far we could run to escape her influence. If Kaiyer's fears were right, then she wouldn't stop until her whole race enslaved us again. Maerc and Runir probably had a plan.

"Did something move behind us?" Gerald's voice was a soft shriek.

"I saw nothing,” the warrior at the end with the lantern said.

"You weren't looking!"

"Neither were you. Keep your eyes front and let me do my job!" the soldier barked. The smell and darkness was starting to grate on everyone's nerves. We probably walked another fifteen minutes, but it seemed as if a day passed. Then the soldier leading turned an abrupt corner and led us down a narrow stone hallway. Half a foot above our heads rusty pipes dripped with what smelled like water, but I didn't want to risk tasting the liquid to find out.

"Up," Runir commanded the group as we approached a stout looking metal ladder. The man in the lead removed the hood from his lantern, exposing us to a warm globe of light. Then he carefully climbed up the ladder. Once he reached the top he made a clicking sound with his mouth and my friend let go of me so the next person could climb. "Nadea," he whispered and I grabbed on to the handrails and pulled myself up the rungs.

"Keep your leg straight, Duchess!" Gerald seethed. I sighed in annoyance and struggled to straighten my knee. The position made it awkward to ascend, but I slowly climbed my way to the top of the ladder. I could smell a light breeze from the direction I guessed was the exit.

"Just another fifteen minutes," Runir said with a smile after everyone reached the top. Inada's cute face lit up and I smiled along with her. We were almost there.

"Whatever screamed down there won't be following us past this iron." The final soldier up the ladder swung a hefty grate over the hole on the ground. Gerald breathed a huge sigh of relief and then smiled. Runir motioned with his head and we set off on the last part of our escape.

The air smelled cleaner and soon I saw light reflect off of the stone walls in the distance. I could hear birds chirping and feel a cool breeze waft into the sewer. Our pace picked up as the tunnel formed an opening that I almost mistook for the sun because of the beautiful sight of freedom.

Then we were out.

The sun struck painfully bright on my sensitive eyes. How long had it been since I saw daylight? A month? Both of my arms draped around my escorts so I couldn't free my hand to cover my face. Instead I bowed my head and shut my eyes. Inada giggled and skipped away while Gerald chased after her.

"We made it." Runir's shoulders heaved and I felt tension drain from his body.

"I need to tell you something." I cracked my eyelids open to make sure that the medic and his daughter were far enough from us.

"What is it?" He looked at me nervously.

"Alone?" He glanced at the other man who helped holster me up and I was let loose. I leaned on Runir and then staggered over to a boulder near the entrance to the sewer so we might speak in private. I sat down and the sun-warmed rock spread its heat through my body as soon as I touched it. The sensation forced me to recall the bath I shared with Kaiyer. I caught my breath and a lump formed in my throat.

"Nadea?" Runir prodded as he sat next to me. I looked over at him in time to notice him glancing at my breasts, then his eyes turned up to my face and he blushed. I knew my friend had feelings for me and he probably imagined I would thank him for saving me.

"Nanos killed the king. He betrayed Nia and somehow got Losher soldiers inside of the castle. He was working with the empress and also murdered Paug, who was trying to defend me." The words flowed out of my mouth so quickly that I hadn't figured out the right order for them. It was like a torrent of ill rain sweeping over a city and creating a flash flood.

"Wait. Huh?" Runir looked as if I just told him I was a man.

"Nanos, Greykin, the king, Paug, and I were in the main Planning Room after the king received the treaty document from the Ancient." I spoke softly so that no one else could hear and carefully so I wouldn't need to repeat the words. "The king dismissed everyone for a short recess before he spoke to the Council about the terms of the document. Then the alarm sounded. Somehow the Losher army had gotten into the castle proper. Greykin was leading us to the Safe Room, where the queen waited, but on the journey there Paug fell. Greykin held off six Losher soldiers while we fled. We got separated from the king and Nanos. When Paug and I caught up to them, the king was dead and Nanos stood over him with a bloody sword. The asshole gave me some sob story about never getting his way and how he had accepted the empress's treaty on behalf of the kingdom." I paused to gauge my friend's reaction. His eyes opened wide and his jaw hardened in anger. "I fought with him, but I couldn't kill him before more Losher soldiers showed up and sacked me. During the battle Paug picked up the king's sword. He hit Nanos with it but I doubted he did much damage. Then Nanos stabbed Paug through the stomach and the boy died on the ground next to the king."

Tears stung the corners of my eyes. Paug had looked almost as surprised as Nanos when the blade connected. He had hardly even begun to live his life, and now it was over, violently. Images of his dying face flashed in my memory. His eyes had gone cloudy and distant before his body fell to the ground. I wondered what he thought about in those last seconds. I hoped the distant look in his eyes meant he was not aware enough to feel the pain of death. I wished I could have told him what a great friend he had been, how much I enjoyed his company, how much I appreciated the countless ways he had helped me during the mission to find Kaiyer. How brave he was for trying to save me.

"I need to think." Runir put his head in his hands and covered his face.

"Do so on the way to the camp. We need to inform Maerc and then figure out what to do with what is left of the army." The blonde man looked up at me and nodded. His eyes were watery but I doubted he would cry. I knew this story was hard for my friend to digest. Nanos, Runir, Jessmei, and I practically grew up together. My father would take me to visit the capital at least four times a year for many weeks at a time. Nanos had always been a little spoiled and petulant, the kind of child who stormed off in anger if he lost a game, who pouted and gave up if he was not easily the best at something. Still, it was shocking to think of what he had done. It was a grave betrayal, and as much as the prince and I had clashed and argued, I never would have expected such treason and cowardice from him, nor the callousness and cruelty he showed toward me as I hung wretched and dying in his dungeon.

I stood with his help and we called out to the rest of our group. We were in the clearing of a sprawling oak forest. The tunnel emerged from the side of the hill next to a creek that took the runoff from the sewer toward the ocean. My eyes finally adjusted to the sun and I smiled for a split second as a family of squirrels ran across the network of tree branches above our heads.

"My warriors will meet us about three hundred yards into the trees. They will escort us to the camp," Runir said. His eyes looked lost as he tried to piece through my recount of Nanos's betrayal.

The forest was surprisingly thick for oaks and we took about thirty minutes to make it to the meeting location. I was sweaty and exhausted by the time we arrived at the rendezvous. My muscles felt out of shape from hanging so long in the dungeon, and every step sent tremors of shock through my joints. I was thankful that it was winter in Nia and the air was chilled.