The Chosen, Kris Kramer [reading e books .TXT] 📗

The carvings etched into the stone conjured more memories from the last few days with Ruaidhri. Déjà vu forcefully struck Eilidh, visions of the cave collapse appearing far too real. The pain of separation welled up, renewed in its vigor by her weakened state of mind.

“What’s wrong?” asked Fionn.

The druid put a comforting hand on Eilidh’s trembling shoulder, but she felt no respite.

“This is where I lost him,” she mumbled.

“We’re close to one of the old shrines. It’s at a major intersection, so maybe you’ll remember the way that you went from there?” asked Shela indifferently.

Eilidh glared at her leader, but said nothing. Shela turned her hands up in a surrendering gesture.

“Look, we all have a stake in this. We’re trying to find your friend, and we’re trying to locate my brother. Help me out here,” Shela said.

Eilidh looked to Fionn, and then to Liam. Both returned her gaze with sympathy. The elf, Aelfraed, stood behind the group, seemingly apathetic. Bob shuffled his feet across the dusty floor, his eyes finding the cracks in the ground quite intriguing.

“I’m not sure,” Eilidh finally admitted.

The realization hurt to vocalize. What was she doing? She had no idea where Ruaidhri could be. He was almost certainly dead, lying under a pile of collapsed stone. Alone.

Shela walked off, not looking back to offer a kind word.

Fionn produced a piece of scented cloth and wiped away the tears forming in Eilidh’s agonized eyes. Slight reassurance eked through the darkness fogging her mind. They silently fell into step behind the more assertive druid sister.

They reached a large crossroads, one great hallway terminating into the middle of another. In the center of the junction stood a pillar of polished stone, glinting in the uneven light of the torches. It was barely taller than Eilidh. She peered closely at the series of intricate runes carved into the crafted rock. Fionn lowered her head and whispered into Eilidh’s ear.

“We call these markers, but we’re not sure what they do.” Eilidh looked at her as Fionn ran her fingers across the stone’s markings. “They could’ve been magical once, but not anymore.”

Moving past the small stone pillar, Eilidh looked up into the great space attached to the crossroads. On the left wall stood what she was sure was once a great monument to a god of some kind, but none that she recognized. Now all that remained were ancient scorch marks where someone had presumably burned everything associated with the religious site.

“So now that we’re here at the shrine, and we don’t have a clear path to take, how deep do you want to go?” asked Bob, speaking up for what seemed like the first time.

“What do you mean?” replied Shela, exasperated.

“I mean that we are looking for two people who could be anywhere in this damned place. I’m not sure how far you’ve really gone to explore here, Shela, but I can assure you that we will not just randomly run into your brother, or her friend,” he said, sticking a thumb in Eilidh’s direction.

Shela now looked troubled and Eilidh sensed an irritation growing in the woman. Shela spoke through clenched teeth.

“So what do you suggest?”

“I suggest that we skip this level of the maze altogether and drop down towards the submerged sections.”

“Why would going deeper get us any closer to locating our lost ones?” asked Fionn.

Bob turned to her and explained, “We know the general area that Eilidh lost Roory or Rory or—”

“It’s Ruaidhri,” Eilidh interjected.

“Yes, right, Ruaidhri. If our young friend followed her path back out towards the higher levels of the caverns, then that means that her companion had to delve deeper into the darker sections.”

Now a deep silence covered the party as they each thought about the nuathreen’s suggestion.

“I agree.”

Everyone turned to face the elf.

“Had he survived the ceiling collapse, he would have been forced downward. That is where we should now go,” Aelfraed stated.

“And I suppose you know a shortcut, Bob?” Shela asked.

“Yes, as a matter of fact, I do,” he replied smugly. “Follow me, please.”

Eilidh could see the fire in Shela’s eyes, but the druid fell into step behind the nuathreen as he approached a large cylindrical pillar of stone that supported the high ceiling.

“You see, there’s a crack under this support,” Bob said, pointing at the base of the pillar. “We can slide right down through this section of the floor and jump down into the level below us.”

“How far of a fall is that going to be?” asked Fionn.

“Nothing that you cannot fix, good druid,” Bob said with a reassuring smile.

That didn’t sit well with Eilidh.

“Hold on a minute. You want us to jump down and what, break our legs?” she asked.

Bob kept smiling, but had a truly inquisitive look on his face, with no hint of condescension.

“You have the makings of a true druid, my dear. You’re more than capable of healing yourself afterwards.”

Could she hold her concentration long enough to perform a healing spell if she had two broken legs? This didn’t seem like a good idea at all.

The group clambered up onto the square base of the gigantic pillar and edged around to the backside, hidden from view from the main chamber. Eilidh followed close behind Bob as he easily slunk into a fissure formed between the back wall and the base of the pillar. He paused in the gap for a moment and turned back to Eilidh.

“Just watch your step here. It’s a bit slippery.”

Before Eilidh could respond, he took a single step and disappeared from view with a shout of what sounded like genuine excitement. The noise of sliding gravel echoed out of the slim space and then she thought she heard a sharp cry of profanity.

“Get on with it, Eilidh,” Shela urged.

Eilidh stepped down into the crack and saw utter darkness inside. She couldn’t tell how steep the decline was, even when she slipped on her first step and slid uncontrollably down into the dark hole. She screamed and reached out her hands and feet, desperately seeking purchase, but the crack widened dramatically as she fell. Looking down at her useless feet, Eilidh saw a dim, bluish light growing beneath her quickly until she was enveloped in it and freefalling through the air.

Her body rotated of its own accord as she looked down and saw the watery floor rushing up towards her. She must’ve fallen from a height at least ten times her own. No air left in her lungs, she panicked and tried to scream once more, but failed. She righted herself as her feet crashed into a shallow stream of water, barely a hand’s breadth deep.

Pain rocketed through her legs and she cried out, her face partially submerged in the dirty water. Powerful hands gripped her shoulders and pulled her up. Her vision filled with a terrible sight as she saw her battered legs dragging behind her, shattered and bleeding everywhere. Bone protruded in every direction as she screamed fearfully, her mind completely blank with terror.

While she watched, her legs glowed brightly, covered in ribbons of white and blue light, and she could feel the soothing words of Fionn nearby. She closed her eyes and listened as Shela’s quiet song joined her sister’s calm voice. The sounds faded away and all she could hear were feet sloshing and people talking.

“She’ll be fine,” she heard Shela say, a bit indignantly.

“Shut up, druid. What are you doing down here with such an inexperienced girl?” demanded a new, unknown voice.

Eilidh opened her eyes and stood up to find a giant of a firbolg towering over Shela’s defiant form. Shela’s eyes shifted for a moment to look at Eilidh and the firbolg followed her gaze.

“I mean no disrespect, girl, but this is a dangerous place for you,” he said.

Despite not appreciating the contents of his words, Eilidh could sense genuine concern in his deep voice. Why did he care if she suffered? Even Eilidh could see that this firbolg stood amongst the strongest of King Darren’s soldiers, and his scratched and dinged armor was nothing short of spectacular. Only his eyes and chin were visible behind his dark blue helm. A matching tunic displaying the silver tree of Andua covered layers of scale-mail and chainmail, and a blue cloak draped majestically across his broad shoulders, also emblazoned with the Tree of Rebirth. An enormous two-handed broadsword protruded from a sheath on his back and just the sight of it both terrified and intrigued Eilidh. Who could effectively wield such a weapon?

“I’ll be fine, thank you,” she replied uneasily. After taking a moment to right herself, she added, “We’re searching for my—”

The words caught in her throat as she realized the dark shape looming next to the firbolg wasn’t just a trick of the poor lighting.

“—lost friend.”

The firbolg squared his shoulders towards Eilidh, giving her his full attention. Eilidh retreated a few steps as the solid shadow glided around to stay by his side. She hoped the look on her face didn’t betray her fear.

“I can only tell you that I’ve been here a couple of hours, and I’ve not seen any other Anduains. Only the guardians of the dracolich roam these halls,” he explained.

Timid, but determined to find Ruaidhri, Eilidh asked, “Will you help us?”

Without skipping a beat, the mighty firbolg responded flatly, “No. I have other business here.”

“And exactly what might that be, Captain?” demanded Shela. “Sparring with yourself?”

Eilidh guessed that the druid could also see the strange shadow standing by the firbolg, but she didn’t seem worried at all, so Eilidh forced herself into a calm state. She wondered if Shela had overstepped her bounds, because the soldier was visibly irritated by her question.

“My business is my own, druid,” he stated. He pointed a large hand at Liam. “This man looks like a decent enough Thorn, so you’ll be fine.” Liam’s face lit up with abject smugness at the partial compliment.

The firbolg carefully examined each of the group members and seemed satisfied with his decision to leave them to their own devices. Eilidh once more considered why this firbolg even cared to justify his actions in this case.

When his eyes reached Bob, his gaze narrowed, but the firbolg said nothing. Once more, the nuathreen was shuffling his feet and staring at the waterlogged ground.

A high-pitched scream pierced the air from downstream. The firbolg immediately sprinted in that direction. He moved with incredible litheness for such a large fellow. Over his shoulder, he yelled back at them, “I’ll handle this.” After a pause, he slowed and faced them for a moment, the strange darkness swirling by his side to keep up with the sudden turn. “You should leave. Now.”

Eilidh and the others exchanged confused expressions as the firbolg charged off without them. Shela climbed up out of the shallow stream and pointed at a gouge in the blue-green tunnel walls. The floating reflection of the dingy water on the walls captivated Eilidh as she followed Shela.

Shela paused at the opening to the crack in the wall and turned to address the group.

“Forget about him. We’ll move on with our quest, and we’ll be fine.”

Fionn and Eilidh shared a worried glance as the group moved into the fissure behind Shela.

Liam pulled up behind Eilidh and whispered, “Is she trying to reassure us? Or just convince herself?”

Eilidh’s eyes widened at the Thorn’s strangely sage words, but Liam quickly smiled in that overly charming way of his and added, “Do not fear, Eilidh. I shall protect you.”

She nodded and followed him into the dark.

Chapter 35

 

The weary Anduains rested in the shadow of the narrow slice in the thick wall. Inexorable sounds of ceaselessly dripping water grated on nerves as they sat in silence. Eilidh wanted nothing more than to find sleep behind her tired eyelids, but closing her eyes caused the awful thoughts of Ruaidhri’s fate to intensify. They’d had no real direction to begin with, but now thanks to Bob, they’d traveled far too deep into Teekwood Caverns.

Ruaidhri, why did we listen to him? Will I ever escape this place?

A frail sense of peace settled over Eilidh. The feeling proved short-lived as sudden nightmares jolted her awake.

“I see that Eilidh has decided to join the rest of us in the land of the conscious,” Shela quipped irritably.

Eilidh frowned. “What? I just closed my eyes for a moment.”

Most of the members of the group stifled a chuckle at this. Eilidh stood up frantically.

“What’s so funny?” she demanded, her face reddening.

Liam placed a hand on