Chased By Fire (Book 1) (31 page)

“At the least I should thank you for finding this. You saved me much searching.” He looked around the cavern. “I must say the ancient warriors, though,
were
creative. This,” he said, waving his arm around him, “is impressive. I would ask you how you managed to reach the artifact, but you seem predisposed.”

He smiled, watching Roine struggle. The flame sank closer to his flesh.
 

Roine closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. Tan felt the huge surge of energy followed by an explosion. The fire circling him disappeared. His arms were free. Hatred dripped from his gaze as Roine opened his eyes.

Lacertin only smiled.

“Theondar. Perhaps I
should
give you a bit more credit.”

Roine shook his head. “I would rather you underestimate me.”

Lacertin took a step forward, still cloaked in shadows. “The artifact. I will have it.”

“You will not be able to use it,” he said. “It was crafted by the ancient warriors and only one with their gifts can access its power. For all that you may be, even you are not gifted like the ancient warriors, Lacertin.”

Lacertin only laughed again. It was a dark sound and haunted. “You cannot begin to know what I am capable of doing, Theondar,” he answered. “Now. Give me the artifact.”

“You know I will not.”

Lacertin took another step closer. His hands twisted in a complex pattern and Roine fell backward, pinned to the ground. His face twisted in pain as unseen lashes struck him over and over, too fast for him to avoid and too powerful for him to hide the painful effect.
 

Lacertin stepped closer, nearly upon Roine. “Know, then, that I will simply take it.”

Something changed on Roine’s face. “Come and try,” he whispered.

The cavern erupted in thunder. A huge bolt of lightning streaked down from the sky, striking the ground where Roine lay. When it passed, Roine was gone.

Lacertin looked up through the crack in the cavern exposing the daylight and a dark smile twisted his shadowed mouth. “Theondar,” he whispered. He turned, eyeing Tan and Amia darkly, and then another bolt of lightning shot down from the sky, striking Lacertin, and he disappeared.

Overhead, the sky thundered. Lightning ripped through the bright sky, tearing it apart with repeated blasts. Tan was forced to look away.

“What now?” Amia asked.

As much as he hated it, Roine was right. They needed to get the artifact to the king. Whatever else, Incendin couldn’t have it. He slipped the artifact into one of the pockets of his pants. It was heavy and felt awkward, but he thought it safe. “We need to leave. Make for Ethea.”

They both heard something then. It was a low and quiet, barely more than rustling leaves.
 

Tan sent out his awareness, questing toward the trees and grasses around them. He could almost see them in his mind and sensed the disturbance, knowing what they’d heard.

“The lisincend,” he said.

Amia’s face showed no sign of fear, just firm resolution. “Then we must go.”

They stepped quickly away from the clearing, sliding away from the pillars and the barrier and into the trees. Tan was vaguely aware that something about the barrier was different, weaker. When they reached the protection of the trees, he turned to look.
 

The huge stone pillar, the most physically solid of the pillars, sank into the stone, slowly disappearing. Where the pillar of wind had blown, whipping the leaves and branches of the nearby trees, now was very little movement. The pillar of fire had stopped sputtering and was completely silent, blowing itself out at some point during all the commotion.

Only the pillar of water remained. The nymid still held their end of the bargain.

Water flowed from an unseen opening in the ceiling of the cavern, cascading down and through the floor of the cave. The water held just a hint of a pale green light, only noticeable because Tan knew what to look for.
 

In the center of the clearing, the pool of the thick, silvery liquid also receded, slowly pulling away from the edge of the pool, creeping backward and disappearing. Tan didn’t know where it went.

“What was in that pool?”
 

“The power of the Mother.”

“How could the ancient warriors trap the power of the Great Mother?” he wondered, not expecting an answer.

“They couldn’t. That power was given freely.” Amia watched the disappearing liquid. “I think it’s but a tiny drop of her power. Maybe no more than a drop of a drop.”

Three lisincend burst into the clearing. Fur was among them, sliding confidently from the trees, radiating heat that made the shaped forest wilt from its presence. In spite of the haze surrounding them, Tan saw them clearly. He wondered if the power of the cavern allowed them to be seen.

They reached what was left of the barrier and paused. Fur sniffed, sensing something amiss, before shoving one of the other lisincend through. The creature slid through the barrier with a hiss, then turned and stared at Fur with fiery eyes.

“Nothing,” it said.

Fur nodded and he and the other lisincend slid across the barrier. Once inside, they looked around, smelling the air. “She was here.”

Then the power of the barrier surged.

Tan was not sure how he knew, but it strengthened. Nothing like it had been before, but enough that the lisincend would be trapped within it.
 

Could the nymid be helping them again?

With the thought, he heard a soft command whispered in the back of his mind, like a gentle touch, a gentle rain, different than the nymid.
 

Go,
the voice commanded.

Tan pulled Amia and they hurried around the edge of the trees, keeping the clearing in sight as they moved. When they were partway around the clearing, the lisincend saw them.

“There!” one of the creatures hissed.

Tan looked back as Fur threw one of the lisincend forward, into the barrier. The creature hit the unseen wall, pressed forward for a few steps with a triumphant look upon its face. Then, suddenly, it dropped to the ground, screaming and hissing. Steam rose from its thick hide. It crawled forward, trying to get through the barrier. By the time it reached the other side, much of its hide had peeled back, leaving it bloodied.

Fur screamed. The horrible sound echoed off the walls of the cavern.

Fur turned toward the pillar of water. With a furious shaping, he threw all of the energy he had toward it. The water was no longer a match for the fury of the lisincend. Twisted fire turned the flowing pillar of water into a trail of steam.

Tan felt the barrier fall.

The injured lisincend staggered back toward Fur, flailing its arms, and tripped, sliding into the remnants of the silvery pool, only to disappear with a loud hiss.

Fur roared in anger, splitting the cavern with his furious cry. “I smell you, girl,” he hollered. “I know your scent so I can find you wherever you go. I will enjoy the hunt.”

Amia’s turned to Tan in fear. He grabbed her hand, not sure where to go. Tan quested out with his mind, searching the cave for the way out. He tracked the cave entrance as he once would have tracked deer or a wolf, letting the subtle changes to the air and wind flow serve as his guide.
 

They ran. Tan followed what he sensed. Trees thinned and became more stunted the farther they moved, soon growing no taller than shrubs. When he saw the strange vines upon the walls, he knew they went in the right direction.

“They’re behind us.”

Tan let his senses search behind him. The two remaining lisincend were near the edge of the trees and they headed toward them.

“They’re frustrated,” Amia said.

“Can you do anything to make it worse?” he asked.

“I can try. I don’t know if it will work.”

“We only need a delay.”

She nodded and closed her eyes.
 

Tan felt the building pressure as she worked her shaping and felt it slip slowly, subtly, into the trees. He sensed the lisincend struggle, wandering off course a bit.
 

“They may not even know you did anything.”

She narrowed her eyes at him, biting back a question. “That was my intent,” she said. “How can you tell?”
 

He led her down the cave at a quick jog. “Since you shaped me,” he started, “I’ve been able to feel it when you perform a shaping. I feel the energy. I don’t understand, not really.” He glanced at her. “With that shaping, I felt you slowly release the energy and knew it was a gentle touch.”

“Can you feel others shaping?”
 

“It is different. Each shaper has a different energy, almost like a signature. I think it started when you shaped me. Does that mean anything?”
 

She shook her head softly. “I don’t know. It’s unusual, I think.”

The cave grew darker the farther they got from the cavern. Tan sensed behind him, quickly reaching back. The lisincend had found their way once more. Fur tore the strange vines from the wall in his rage and some of his muted shouts echoed through the cave.

“I can’t see anything,” Amia said, reaching toward one of the lamps.

Tan grabbed her wrist. “I don’t think we should let the lisincend see us.”

“They see fine in the dark,” she answered. “They sense our heat. We’ve never known how good their eyesight is during the day, but we’ve always known they have an advantage at night.”

They ran down the cavern with Tan leading, sensing his way through the darkness. He was able to feel the pressure off the walls and the ground and used it to keep them roughly in the middle of the cave. Occasionally he would sense behind them.
 

The lisincend were gaining.
 

He said nothing to Amia, only urging her faster.

Then in the distance he saw the hint of light. They were close. They couldn’t follow the same path they’d followed up from the lake. The climb down the sheer rock face would be too slow and the lisincend would be upon them in moments. What way would they go?

As they emerged into the bright light of day, the sky thundered ceaselessly, like a heavy drum. Frequent bolts of lightning attempted to tear apart the sky. The air sizzled with the energy of the lightning, almost crackling with it.

Roine and Lacertin battled.

Tan knew he could not pause to watch, wishing that he could. Overhead, an epic battle between two powerful cloud warriors raged, and he was witness to it.

They reached the split in the trail. Tan hesitated before pulling Amia off the main path, veering to the left and down. If they could reach the lake and the nymid, they might find safety.
 

Behind him, Fur roared as he left the cave.
 

They wouldn’t reach the lake in time.
 

“We need to hide,” he told Amia.

“Fur will find us.”

“You have his sword,” she said, motioning to Roine’s sword hanging from Tan’s waist.

“I’ve never used a sword. And my bow…” Had he not lost it, he might be able to try something, anything. Instead, Fur would catch them. They would die.

Amia squeezed his hand. “Neither have I. We make quite a pair.”

Tan laughed in spite of himself.
 

They half stumbled down the path, practically sliding. The trail was steep and more than once, Tan reached for a handhold to catch himself or Amia as they slipped, sensing danger at the last instant.
 

At the bottom of the trail they reached a grassy base. A wide river ran through here. Tan hoped it ran around the mountain and into the lake. Maybe even the one the nymid had widened to slow the lisincend. If that was the case, could he reach the nymid?

He glanced back. The lisincend were close. “We have to jump.”

He squeezed her hand and jumped into the river with her. When the cold water hit him, the air left his lungs. Amia flailed in the water, struggling against the current. He pulled her forward with powerful kicks then he dipped underwater, letting the current pull them along.
 

He sensed the opposite shore close by. Another kick and they reached it.
 

Tan pressed his head above the surface of the water, turning to look for the lisincend as he did. Amia came up from the water at the same time, gasping for air. They kept low in the water, not daring to show themselves.

The lisincend stood nearly a hundred paces across the river and down the shore. They hadn’t seen them yet. A particularly bright bolt of lightning split the sky. Tan used the distraction to pull Amia from the water and they stumbled toward the trees, moving quickly and keeping as low as possible.
 

Once hiding in the cover of the trees, he peered out at the lisincend. “The water won’t stop them,” he said, remembering what Fur had said to Roine.

“No,” Amia said. “It may slow them.”

The first lisincend stepped into the water, sniffing the air. Suddenly it motioned in their direction. Fur smiled. It was hideous and unnatural and full of venom.

“You will be mine, girl,” he hissed.

“Tan—” Amia started.

Tan didn’t answer. He closed his eyes, focusing his mind as he reached for the nymid.

We need help!
 

He sent the thought as a shout, praying the nymid would hear.
 

No answer came.

Both the lisincend were in the water now, moving toward them, unfazed by the water.
 

They needed to move—to do something—or else the lisincend would reach them. But even if they ran, it would not matter. Not now. The lisincend were too fast. Too powerful.
 

Without the nymid for help, they would be caught. Tan would be burned, like Amia’s mother. And then the lisincend would be free to do whatever they wanted to Amia. The artifact would be theirs.

Please! We need your help.
 

He sent the plea with the last of his fading energy. His vision blurred from the energy required sending the thought and he sagged toward Amia.