Bricrui (The Forgotten: Book 2) (15 page)

The landscape was largely barren, with
patches of short shrubs and a few areas with trees. It was dry, but
not as hot as the open plains. Here there was a lot more diversity
of land, with large canyons and mesas. She had hiked up one to get
a better view of the area to the west and found that her suspicion
that the entire surrounding area would be equally as treacherous
from any direction was confirmed.

So the only option would be to go down the
path, which was heavily guarded. It was a shame that Nathair hadn’t
told her how he had transformed into a dragon before he had died.
Then she could have just breathed fire on the whole area, or better
yet, simply have flown over it all.

But perhaps she could still just go straight
through it, but on the ground. She would need one amazing illusion
to get past all the enchantments and mages, however. But maybe she
could try an illusion that they would not be expecting. The most
obvious one would be to make it so that they could not see her at
all. But pure invisibility would be easy to detect and they would
be watching for it.

Second would be to disguise herself as
something that they would expect to see on the path, like make
herself look like the burnweed itself. But then it was harder to
move.

She mulled this over for a while, watching a
group of children playing in a field across the way from her. They
seemed to be playing some sort of tag, but there appeared to be two
teams rather than a large free-for-all. Katya could remember now
playing tag with Hunter and the other children when she was very
young. But those memories were short-lived. Once she had gone into
the priest’s care she had no longer been allowed to be a child.
Therefore, she didn’t recognize the game they were playing. One
team was trying to get to a center spot where they had placed a
bell and the other was trying to keep them away. Any children that
got tagged apparently had to go to a section they had marked off
with sticks on the ground.

She lost her train of thought and got drawn
into trying to figure out the game instead, frustrated as she was
by the lack of ideas. One boy suddenly shot forward, as though
making a desperate break for the bell, and three of the children on
the other team immediately moved to intercept him. Two others
recognized the feint and peered around for the others who might try
and use this as a distraction. Sure enough, a little girl from the
opposite end moved a split second later and tried moving in around
the commotion. The two other children who had been watching for
this raced after her to keep her away from the bell. The two groups
made a wild chase, zig-zagging all around. A boy stretched out his
arm towards the first boy who had made the break for it and lunged
at him. His fingers brushed up against the boy’s back and he yelled
in triumph as his quarry slowed and threw back his head in
defeat.

They turned to watch the other chase, and a
cheer went up through the protecting group as the girl was also
stopped.

And then the bell rang.

Katya’s gaze turned with the rest to stare at
the center of their play. There stood the smallest child standing
next to the bell, the gong used to ring it poised victoriously over
his head. Katya watched as all the children in the ‘jail’ area
flooded out of it, pounding him on the back. A misdirect within a
misdirect. The children positioned themselves to begin again.

Katya turned her attention back to the
problem at hand. Perhaps she could do something similar. No doubt
they would be watching for the magical diversions. She spent
several hours pondering her course of action before putting it into
play.

Katya positioned herself at the end of the
path, and took a deep breath. She waited until she saw the group of
the guards coming down it. They were almost ending their shift and
she hoped that it meant they would be tired and less likely to see
through her ruse. She set off her first spell. It created an
illusion within an illusion of a person trying to completely mask
their presence and sneak up the trail.

The guards sprang to attention alarmingly
fast. As she expected, they seemed to look around more for
something else going on and she moved forward into her position as
she set off her second diversion. This one was a spell that made
all of the guards look like her, added several more people than
there should be, and she put the same illusion on herself so that
she wouldn’t be detected by the lack of magic on her. She stepped
out of her hiding spot.

This caused the expected confusion and they
all turned on one another. Katya waited for the spell she had
already set off, but which was made to delay a few moments before
going into effect. She hadn’t wanted any of them to detect the
activating spell on her once she was in their midst. She felt magic
all around her and thanked the Three that her own power seemed to
be enough to withstand the barrage that was being sent against her
spells. It didn’t stop them from detecting and breaking them fairly
easily, but they could not trace it back to her.

She implemented the last of her plan, and
several other illusions appeared. She also dropped an illusion she
had on a dummy she had set up in a tree. She had set it just close
enough to one of the burnweed bushes so that soon it should be
going up in flame. When it did so, it was designed to let out a
frantic screaming…

There it was. A shrill exclamation sounded in
the tree above them and Katya released the final spell, making
everyone on the trail invisible. She raced up the path as they
descended on the ‘person’ who had supposedly just caught on fire
and fallen from the tree.

She could hear shouts behind her as they
realized that this too was another tactic meant to confuse them,
and she increased her pace. Hopefully once she reached the other
end of the trail there would be somewhere for her to pause and
regroup. She wouldn’t have nearly as much time to come up with her
next course of action as she had for that little charade as they no
doubt knew where she must be heading.

She burst through the foliage at the other
end of the trail and dove into a bunch of brambles. Luckily, normal
bushes. She peered around her. The evening light made it difficult
to make out the details of her surroundings and she automatically
adjusted her eyes to the dim light magically. One of the benefits
of having been a slave as a child was that it had brought out the
very best of her abilities. She scowled bitterly. When the Dark
King had magically enhanced himself, he had put these improved
properties into his bloodline so that his descendants would be able
to access them, breeding a far superior human. Katya’s time as an
assassin for Karl had taught her to unlock and hone in these
talents.

She blinked her eyes a few times and peered
at the scene before her. She had come out into the section that
held a large mesa in front of her. From her previous vantage point
she had only been able to make out the large canyon wall and see
that what they seemed to be protecting was a gigantic column of
earth that sat in the middle of the fields of burnweed and other
unpleasant foliage.

The pathway led straight to the cliff face
which loomed above her. It ended at a huge arching doorway, with
two marble white columns on either side. In the cliff face
surrounding it, there were four cave openings on either side.
Besides a bit of a ledge sticking out from each, and each
connecting sets of two together, she couldn’t see that they led
anywhere in particular. She turned her attention to the two
columns. They were intricately carved and polished to the point of
gleaming, even in the dimming light, and at the top of both was a
burning flame. She backed up a pace to try and see where it was
emanating from, but it appeared to be a simple oil bowl. She
examined the stone with physical and magical sight, but she could
see nothing else distinctive about them. Katya edged closer and
could see that there was another, smaller door within the massive
one and she turned her examination to this.

She sidled up to it carefully. There was no
door handle. The larger door was covered in runes, which Katya
found surprising, and she even noticed one that was the same as the
mark upon her neck. Or at least what the mark looked like before
she horribly disfigured herself while taking off her slave collar.
She had seen it lots of times on Layna. She scrunched up her
forehead,
why would the tribes have runes
? They seemed to
despise everything about the Dark King and blood-magic.

She looked closer and traced a finger over
one of the symbols. It looked like a picture of a flower. That
didn’t particularly seem like a blood-rune. Another resembled a
rainbow. Katya had never before seen something such as these. There
were only eight such runes on the smaller door, but she could see
no way to indent them as though unlocking the door through them,
nor did they light up or make any other indication that by touching
them in a specific order would accomplish anything.

The sun was setting at her back and as she
stared at the door, words suddenly shimmered into view. She read
them quickly, “The wind from the east, the ground and water under
our feet, magic at our fingertips, and the sun on our faces.
Together they protect us all.” It faded slowly as the sun set
farther on the horizon.

Was it some sort of clue to opening the
door?

All of a sudden, several stone around the
door burst to life and sent rays of light towards her. She backed
away hurriedly, throwing shields up around her, but they did no
good. Whatever the magic was, it penetrated them easily. Katya
waited for something to happen, to start feeling a burning
sensation or dizzy, or something, but there was nothing. The light
beams wandered around her body for a few moments, and then they
disappeared, the stones dimming.

Nothing happened for a few long moments. Then
the door swung open suddenly. Katya peered around.
That was
unexpected
. She stepped forward cautiously, not quite as eager
to enter through the door which had so willing invited her in.
Somehow it seemed more ominous that way.

Shouts sounded behind her, however, forcing
her to a decision. It was now or never. She threw herself through
the opening and the door moved of its own accord once more behind
her. It slammed closed with a resounding thud.

CHAPTER 8

Natalya urged her horse to go faster. Dust
was being kicked up ahead, and it could be Lord Morven’s party. Her
excitement spurred the other horses into action as well and their
troops nearly flew down the lane.

Trees whizzed past them on either side, but
she ignored her surroundings, intent on the speck on the road in
front of them. She kept her eyes glued to it, squinting in the
diming light to try to make out its form. They finally neared
enough that she could make out three separate shapes. A larger blob
in the middle – most likely the lord’s carriage – surrounded by
guards in front and behind. Natalya strained her eyes to separate
the guards so she could see how many.

She could make out at least five in either
section. So at least ten total. Would Lord Morven give up her
sister without a fight? She thought back to his haughty attitude
and sense of entitlement that he displayed so outspokenly.
Probably not
. Even with the Queen’s authority behind them,
he thought he was better than everyone. And besides, he had to know
that he would be thrown in jail for his involvement in the
Faithful’s activities – there would be a fight no matter what.

Their quarry slowed and edged to the side of
the road, obviously under the impression that their party was only
looking to pass them. Natalya reined in her mount with Sir Ruawn,
the rest of the Knights following suit. They surrounded the
now-stopped carriage and stared down the guards who were eyeing
them suspiciously and drawing their swords.

Sir Ruawn held up his shield which was
emblazoned with the emblem of the crown. The guards did not put
down their weapons.

“Stand down, in the name of the Queen,” he
ordered.

Still they held their ground.

The curtains in the window of the carriage
were shoved aside roughly and Lord Morven’s pinched face glared
out. “What’s going on out there?” he asked.

His dark almost-black eyes scanned the lot of
them. Natalya fought down a shiver as they briefly held hers. His
white face paled even farther as he caught sight of the emblem on
their livery and he clamped his mouth shut. He just stared for a
moment.

Sir Ruawn spoke. “Lord Morven?”

The man’s eyes darted this way and that, and
Natalya wondered if he wouldn’t deny who he was. His pride
apparently wouldn’t let him, however. He sniffed indignantly and
put his pointed nose in the air. “That’s right. And what is the
meaning of this? I have important places to go, you know.”

Sir Ruawn ignored this. “Do you have a young
lady with you?”

“Young lady?” Lord Morven asked with false
innocence. “There’s no young lady here.”

Anyone with half a brain could see that he
was lying.

“We’re going to have to take a look inside
your carriage, I’m afraid, sir.”

“You will do no such thing,” Morven’s haughty
voice rose a pitch, making it sound more frantic than
commanding.

Sir Ruawn gestured to the Knights and several
moved forward. They threw open the door to the carriage and Natalya
strained her neck to see inside.

It was empty, aside from the lord. Her heart
sank. Looking to Morven, a chill ran down the back of her spine. He
was grinning at her evilly.

“You’re one of Lyam’s little whelps, aren’t
you?” he addressed her.

Sir Ruawn moved to stand between them. “You
will not speak to the lady.”

Morven spat, “She’s no lady; her father is a
dirty, common baker. She could have been…” his voice grew strangely
wistful.