Aela (9 page)

Before them, was the mighty Temple of the Sun, with its huge monolithic stones reaching towards the heavens. As the sun sunk slowly down the horizon, directly behind the stones, Ardu and his warriors stared in wonderment at the awesome presence of the huge Temple, surrounded by a thick high wooden wall.

For a second or so they were overcome with the power of the rays of the sun lighting up the Temple before it disappeared behind the horizon. So, each man in unison looked to the heavens for the comforting sight of the moon, their Moon Goddess Athunor, but she was nowhere to be seen. A little sigh and a shudder was heard through the group of men.

Then Ardu was the first to recover from the spell, ‘Lie down men, as we need to take in the surroundings and work out our strategy.'

They instantly obeyed their leader's command and lay flat on the ground. By now the Temple was lit by flaring torches and Ardu and his men could see the sentries placed at regular intervals around this side of the Temple.

Ardu quickly assumed that there would be the same number of guards situated on the other side of the complex. ‘You, Rah and Eno, sneak around the other side to see how many guards are stationed there and report back to me. Also find a gate in the wall where we can gain entry to the Temple.'

Both men scurried off to obey the orders as quickly as possible. Unfortunately Rah, who was well over six foot tall, and who was not so nimble on his feet, lumbered slowly and noisily after Eno. He was a giant of a man, with massive shoulders, huge torso and legs as well as large feet. Rah was slow to think but once he understood a situation or an order from his superiors he never forgot.

‘Come on Rah, follow me,' Eno whispered impatiently and beckoned Rah to follow him.

They carefully worked their way around the other side of the wall and took note of the number of guards and where they were positioned along the fortified wall. Very soon they were back to report their findings to Ardu about the large number of guards situated around the fortifications.

The news was not good for Ardu, as there were so many guards surrounding the complex and they were so few in number. But he realised they had the element of surprise as their advantage and Ardu concentrated his thoughts on this fact, as he planned his next move.

‘I know what we can do. Firstly we need to overpower a couple of the guards, take their clothes and helmets and then sneak through the gate in the wall in disguise, so we can gain access to the Temple,' exclaimed Ardu.

Everyone thought this was a good idea, as nobody could think of any other plan.

Quickly Ardu chose his men and they fell in line with each other, without making a sound. They then took up strategic positions, to wait for the changing of the guard at the nearest gate. Very soon there was a regular sound of marching footsteps and around the corner of the wall appeared a number of guards carrying spears and shields. With a slick action, the guards were relieved and the old guards marched off.

Immediately they were set upon by Ardu's men, and expertly disposed of with daggers thrust into their hearts. There was a quick change of clothes and very soon the new contingent of guards were lined up in formation with Ardu at the head of the group. Around the corner they marched quickly through the gate along the main road, towards another group of guards who were situated at the front entrance of the Temple.

Ardu saluted the officer briskly, ‘I have come to relieve you and your men of guard duties,' stated Ardu.

The officer in charge was secretly very pleased to go, as he had arranged to meet his sweetheart as soon as he had finished his duties. He did not question the fact that he did not know this officer and these men. The change was completed in a few seconds and everyone was in place.

‘So far so good. Our next move is to get inside the Temple complex and find Rom and the Sacred Sword,' whispered Ardu.

Beckoning the men to follow him, Ardu and his men slipped into the Temple and soon they found themselves in the inner sanctum, where glittering before them and suspended in mid air was the Sacred Sword.

‘Scout around men you two of my men, Rom must be nearby in a prison cell,' ordered Ardu. ‘Now how to get the Sacred Sword down quietly? Jah come here, and you Tui get on his shoulders so you are closer to the Sword.'

Soon Tui was standing on Jah's shoulders, and with outstretched arms he reached towards the Sword. He grasped the hilt in his hands, with one almighty movement he pulled it in a downwards motion. Tui broke the chain holding the Sacred Sword which was attached to the ceiling. He lost his balance off Jah's shoulders and came tumbling down onto the marble flagstones beneath them. Both men ended up on top of each other, loudly cursing in gruff voices at each other.

‘Quiet you fools, do you want to bring the rest of the guards to find us?' growled Ardu.

Picking up the Sacred Sword he thrust it into his belt. ‘Come follow me,' yelled Ardu as he strode down a nearby passage at rapid speed, with his men closely following behind him.

He suddenly turned right, then a sharp left, running all the time in front of his men. Just ahead was a huge iron studded door blocking their pathway. How to get through this barrier, Ardu wondered to himself.

Suddenly the door was thrust open and in charged a number of armed men. There were a clash of swords and shields, as the men collided with each other. Within seconds the fight was over, with many bodies lying on the ground in disarray. Alas, Tui lay prostate on the paved stones, his body lying very still.

‘Look to him men, to see whether he is still breathing.' said Ardu angrily gritting his teeth.

‘He is dead,' said Jah quietly and slowly. A loud sigh was heard amongst the men, as they stared at the prostate figure at their feet.

‘Men, we must move on to find Rom. We will come for Tui's body on our return,' shouted Ardu, as he rushed through the door, holding his sword up high, he then ran down the passageway. The rest of the men followed him without a word, but with a heavy heart, that they had to leave their dead comrade behind.

By now they had descended downwards into a cave lit by spluttering lamps arranged around the wall. Which way to go was Ardu's thought, that went racing through his mind, as he first looked left and then right, all the time feeling very much like a trapped animal. He quickly decided to go through the middle entrance and his men followed him.

Very soon they came across a small cave where, in the centre, was a rough hewn table and chairs arranged around it. No one was there and all was quiet and still. They noticed that there were doors leading off this room in different directions, each with a huge iron lock attached. But where were the keys? Then they heard shuffling footsteps coming from behind one of the doors. Without hesitation all of the men ducked into the nearest passageway, which was dark and unlit.

Into the main room came a heavily built man dressed in coarse tunic and leggings, muttering to himself and generally cursing under his breath. Around his waist was a thick leather belt and dangling rather noisily were a number of large keys.

Only waiting for a few seconds to make sure no one was with him, Ardu leapt forward and placed one arm around the man's neck and with the other arm he unsheathed his dagger and plunged it into the man's chest. The figure fell backwards towards Ardu, who slowly let go, as the body slumped onto the floor.

Quickly Ardu grabbed the bunch of keys and started trying each lock, in turn until there was a click and one of the doors swung open. There, near the back wall through the light of the lamp, Ardu saw an empty cell but Rom was nowhere to be seen.

With two swift movements, Ardu strode across the floor, looking left and then right but Rom was nowhere in sight.

‘Someone has been here before us and taken Rom away. We must go quickly before we are discovered by other guards,' urged Ardu. ‘Men there is no time to loose We must get out of here before we are discovered,' spluttered Ardu. ‘Come with me if you value your life. You will be handsomely rewarded,' yelled Ardu over his shoulder, as he rushed along the passageway.

There was a medley of figures groaning, huffing and puffing as well as cursing out loudly as they pushed and jostled each other in their haste to escape from the scene. They were determined that they were not going to miss out on their dreams of riches. Soon they came up against another large wooden door and with a mighty heave from the shoulders of a couple of the men, the door was thrust open and they were once more in the main courtyard of the Temple.

‘We must leave this place now, before anyone knows we have been here,' whispered Ardu, panting all the time, whilst desperately trying to gain his breath.

He stopped in his tracks, bending his head over his body, in order to take in great gulps of air into his lungs. The rest of the group did the same, all breathing quickly and heaving together. After a short period their breathing became more even and regular and without a word they all fell in line behind Ardu, as they made their way along the back corridors of the Temple.

Before they knew it, they were outside the Temple walls and were able to make their way into the dark primeval forest.

‘Dam, dam' cursed Ardu. ‘We must find Rom and take him back a prisoner to Eena. But how?'

Then they came onto a clearing and Ardu called a halt and indicated for everyone to sit down in a circle, with their weapons at the ready.

‘We shall have a short rest men, then we must travel very quickly through the forest back to our territory to report back to Eena and the council without Rom as our prize,' exclaimed Ardu.

All eyes were on Ardu, who was very miffed at this turn of events. He regretted his statement of a rich reward for his men, so early in the events that had followed, without capturing Rom again.

‘Come men we must go now so we will be on our way.' Ardu ordered rather loftily.

The party set off through the forest at a rapid pace, every now and again, one of them, looked back to see at regular intervals if, anyone was following them.

As time passed the men grew weary and started cursing under their breaths, especially as their limbs began aching, with the relentless fast pace that Ardu had set. Ardu was beside himself with frustration that he did not have Rom a prisoner. What was going to be Eena's reaction when he returned empty handed without Rom? Then he suddenly heard the sound of a twig being snapped somewhere nearby to where he were standing. There must be someone lurking nearby in the forest thought Ardu and placing his index finger to his lips for silence he motioned for a couple of his men to creep behind the tree where they heard sound.

There was a loud scuffle and a few curses coming from that direction. Then as they appeared from behind the tree, between the two soldiers there was a dark figure furiously struggling to escape their clutches.

As they came closer Ardu could recognise the face of Rom and he leapt forward and grabbed some of Rom's clothing on his chest and stuck his head close to Rom's face.

‘Well, look what we have here, our hero has fallen into our trap. Got you at last and this time you are not going to give me the slip. Men, tie this man up immediately and make sure the knots are very tight. We are now truly triumphant. Eena will so be pleased.'

The rest of the party started to cheer loudly as they glared and hissed at Rom and thrust their fists in Rom's face.

‘We should kill him now, Ardu, after all the trouble he has caused us,' shouted one of the soldiers.

‘No, at this stage he is more useful alive rather than dead,' exclaimed Ardu.

With renewed energy the party began to walk through the forest singing a victory song, with Rom positioned in the middle of the scrum.

Soon they were in familiar territory, they recognised a stream, a rock shape, a tree and other well known features. With a victory cry the men ran towards, the huge rock cave, which was their home. Their loved ones came out to greet them, as everyone was overjoyed they were home, safely at long last. In the midst of the wild greetings Rom tried to slip back into the dark forest again unnoticed.

‘Not so fast my friend' whispered Ardu in Rom's ear, ‘I am taking you straight to Eena now.'

Rom was standing before Eena and the Council with Ardu positioned triumphantly behind him.

‘Well we meet again,' said Eena rather testily. ‘You have caused us a lot of worry and problems after you disappeared. But now you are returned to us again.'

Turning to Ardu, Eena happily exclaimed. ‘You are our hero, the man of the hour. You and your men will be handsomely rewarded. Guards, take Rom away and place him in the dungeons for the time being. Ardu, come with me and tell me in great detail, how you and your men fared in Juno's territory and brought Rom back to us. Bring the Sacred Sword with you. I and the Council must decide what to do with it and how to use it to our best advantage in our war with Juno.'

As Rom was led away, all he could think about was, that he was back where he had been only a few days ago. He was no further advanced in his quest to have in his possession the Sacred Sword and to discover the power it held within its shimmering blade and bejewelled hilt.