Sekali, "The Sister City"
Chapter 93
They searched the lower part of the slopes as they fled the approaching Dreganox Wolf. They would hear it once in a while, screaming in the distance, now surely closer behind them as they searched, dreading a confrontation with it.
On they searched as the hours slowly crept by. At one point, they took a minute to catch their breath.
Finyat looked at Uther and whispered. “Isn’t it funny how, when you are comfortable, or happy, the time speeds by like a rushing wind? On the other hand, isn’t it even more hilarious how, when things are miserable, the time crawls? Well, it’s crawling.”
Uther opened his mouth to say something, then shrugged and spun his enchanted axe in the palms of his hands, looking back. Aria hissed at Finyat. The scream of the Dreganox Wolf froze them all in place as Aria jerked her head back the way they had come . . . it was close!
“Shhhh!” Then she continued on as before, searching the hillside as she broke into a slow but steady run.
The snowfall was deep enough to hinder Uther and Finyat, slowing their flight to a jog, which unnerved Sekali badly.
The creature was closing in on them. Every time it screamed, it seemed much closer than before.
Uther and Finyat were more than happy to slow the pace, for with their shorter stature, they were having trouble keeping up. Both had fallen back as Sekali took the lead, forcing his way through the heavy snow, now above his knees. Aria followed Sekali, then Finyat, then Uther, who grumbled something about ice and then cursed.
In this formation Uther and Finyat were able to follow at a slow run. The snow continued to fall, and deepened steadily. As the snow deepened, a wind rose up from the sea, pushing its way inland relentlessly. It seemed to Sekali as though the billowing snowflakes were sent to hinder them; it was too much of a sudden coincidence to be a force of nature. But he was not sure; he was a stranger to this wasteland of ice and snow. He grew suspicious, suspecting the worst; a Veleighen Elementalist Magician. He wondered if one from the ship had spotted their flight and had quickly turned the weather against them with a spell.
On they searched, fearing both the appearance of the Veleighen and the Dreganox Wolf; they feared the latter more so, and this pushed them on toward their goal.
As they jogged, keeping tightly to the mountain’s side in search of the cave, Aria reached into her cloak, with some trouble, and pulled forth a vial of clear liquid. Quickly she bit the cork from the tip and drank the entire content of the vial. After doing this she replaced it in her cloak and began to chant. As she did so, the weariness in their legs and their ragged breathing were lifted from them.
Then they spotted a darker part of the mountain through the torrent of snowfall that marked the entrance to the cave they sought. It was well-concealed by the mountain itself, as a part of it shielded the entrance from view. Had they not been looking for it, they would have easily missed it, and had not Grisham told them where to look, it would have been nigh impossible to find.
They stopped, staring into it, not sure whether to enter, or to use precaution and risk that which stalked them from behind. As they neared the cave they heard the beast snarl behind them. Sekali looked to see the silhouette of the Dreganox Wolf just down the slope from them, and closing in quickly. Without hesitation, Sekali grabbed Uther and Finyat, and with all his might pulled them into the cave’s entrance, for it was not large, being a mere crevice, a slit, that led into the mountainside. Aria followed, pushing them with one hand and drawing her katana with the other. Once they were within the cave, she turned and backed in as the Dreganox Wolf slammed into the mouth of the opening furiously. Its bulk would not let it through and so it began clawing and digging furiously at the entrance, tearing away the snow and rock and soil, causing the cave to shudder and frozen earth to loosen and fall.
“Vessen!” Finyat’s voice was quivering in terror as the cave lit up brilliantly.
The Dreganox Wolf backed away for a moment in surprise and then lunged again at the hillside, great strands of muddied saliva, stained pink with the bleeding of a tooth broken off in the effort of digging, dripping from its great mouth as it tried desperately to get at them.
Had they run any farther in, they might have fallen into a vertical shaft at the back of the cave; the only known entrance that led to the Sister City. As they peered down into the hole, the ground shuddered and part of the entrance collapsed only to be pulled free and excavated by the dreganox wolf digging in a frenzy to get to them.
Finyat turned and knelt retrieving a blowpipe from within his cloak as another section of the cave fell. The ground shook as rocks blocked up the entrance, only to be ripped out of the opening by the powerful claws of the monster. They all steadied themselves as it began pawing frantically at the debris, gaining ground on them slowly, but steadily. Finyat raised the blowpipe to his mouth steadily as he balanced himself with his free hand and focused evenly upon their assailant.
“Uther!” He shouted. “Wound it!”
Startled greatly, Uther glanced at Finyat as though he were mad.
“Wound it!?” He looked back at the Dreganox wolf, a worried expression upon his face.
“Here!” Aria handed Uther a blade she pulled out of her storing pack.
“We found it in the Hunter Dragon’s lair. Use it!” Uther dropped his axe and gripped the hilt with both hands and raised it back over his head as another part of the cave collapsed. Uther staggered, steadied himself and . . . he lowered the blade as the Dreganox Wolf backed out of the cave, turned its head and snarled. A sudden volley of arrows struck it in the face and neck, piercing it many times. Uther turned to Sekali, a sudden look of trepidation twisting his face.
“Oh, no.” He hoarsely whispered.
A battle abruptly raged outside the cave, startling them all. Aria reached into her storing pack and began pulling out rope.
“Help me pull these ropes out Sekali!” She yelled above the din of the battle outside, as the impaled and chewed remains of a Veleighen struck the opening of the cave, falling just within the entrance.
Sekali grabbed the rope and pulled as quickly as he could.
“Quickly, give me the end!” She shouted.
Sekali did as she commanded, handing her the end of the rope as she pulled another rope’s end from the pack, and tied it swiftly to the other.
“Pull, Sekali, pull!”
Sekali listened to the sounds of flesh tearing and bones splintering between powerful jaws, of man and beast screaming in pain and fury as the battle intensified. He could hear many voices calling out orders outside. He knew the Veleighen had a number of soldiers battling the terror that had pursued them. As he pulled out another end of the second rope, Aria reached in and quickly pulled out another. This was repeated a number of times as the battle raged on, the Dreganox Wolf sending many into the next world.
“Okay, that’s the last one!” Aria looked for a place to tie it off, but there was none.
A sudden silence seemed to take over the small cave, although Sekali could still see movement outside, mingled with the terror of mortal combat.
Aria looked at Finyat as she wrapped the rope about her waist and lodged her feet into a crevice in the stone floor and lay back.
“The pack is yours, Finyat, unless I return to claim it, understand?”
Finyat looked shocked and surprised, shaking his head, but Aria nodded and screamed at them all.
“Just go! Go! Save my city!”
Finyat burst into tears as he violently kicked the rope down the shaft and reached down to grab it. Without looking at anyone he began to sob and lowered himself into the shaft, vanishing from sight. Uther growled, threw the blade down, and picked up his enchanted axe. Just before he lowered himself he turned and looked one last time at Aria.
“Try to follow!” Then, Uther vanished after Finyat.
Sekali saluted Aria, with a twisted look of grief spreading across his face, and followed his two companions into the shaft.
As they descended, they could hear Aria grunting with the strain of the weight. They descended the rope into the darkness, until at last they reached the bottom. Once the three were at the bottom, they looked up hoping beyond hope that she had somehow found a way to tie off the rope and follow. But all that descended was the entire length of rope, snaking its way down into their midst from above, coiling into a massive pile.
The three stood there looking up and listening to the echo of the battle raging far above them. Then, abruptly, there was silence as the three stood still as stone, listening, just listening. Sekali looked at Finyat, who was looking up and weeping silently, gritting his teeth.
“Uther, Finyat, come, we must finish this for all our kindred . . . for Aria!”
Finyat turned without a word and led the way. As they began to leave the area, a body struck the rocks behind them with a bone-splintering thud, and then another, and another. They looked back as Finyat held up the little ball of light Aria had lent to him. They were Veleighen.
Finyat suddenly screamed in rage and withdrew a thick glass bottle from some inner pocket and threw it at the base of the hole. It shattered upon impact, releasing its contents all over the rocks. Shaking his fist at the dead Veleighen he screamed, “Forever, I hunt your people!”
He turned and, again, took the lead through a cavern tunnel that began to slope downward into knee-deep salt water. It was not a difficult journey, but it was cold. The water that soaked them, numbed their legs as they traveled quickly and silently through, as they were assailed by the horror of what they knew had become of Aria.