Dark One Rising (17 page)

“You can’t send Conor out, Garreth; he’s just a boy.”

“He’s older than most. He’ll know what to do. I don’t worry about him, but if you don’t get out of here now, I’ll have to worry about you.”

“Did the stranger identify himself or whether he was with Fallon or not?”

“No. Bale said he seemed anxious to find you, but didn’t get any sinister feelings about him. But I won’t take any chances. People would recognize your brother, and since he’s the only one that knows you’re gone, anyone else asking for you has to be trouble.”

“But Garreth…”

“Let’s go child, time is running out. I want you out of the city and into the Dark Woods before first light. Now. Let’s go.”

He grabbed her by the hand, and together they rushed down the stairs and out the back door to the waiting wagon.

CHAPTER 10

G
arreth led Melenthia out the door and down the corridor to some stairs that ran along the back of the building. The only other two people staying in the inn were still asleep, and no one was in the tavern at this time of morning. They went through the tavern, through the kitchen and out the back door. Kya was waiting for them just outside the stables. They went through the stables to a wagon with a tarp covering the back cargo area. Conor sat in the driving seat.

Garreth helped Melenthia up into the back of the wagon. He tried his best to smile.

“Stay covered until Conor tells you it’s clear. He’ll take you to your horse. From there, stay to the woods until you get to the Xanthe. There’s a ferry that will take you across into Isamar. The ferryman is expecting you, and he’s already been paid. Be careful, Melenthia, and God speed.”

She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, then hugged Kya. She then laid down, and Garreth and Kya covered her with the tarps. They were dusty and smelled like tubers, but she hunkered down as best she could and did her best to be still.

“Whatever you do, Melenthia, don’t move. Kya’s cousin knows Conor is coming through and will make sure his pass through the gate is speedy, but whatever happens, stay down and don’t move.”

When she was settled in a relatively comfortable spot, she told them to go; she felt the wagon lurch forward and start down the street. She lay on her back, with the tarps falling on her, the rough surface of them scratching her face. The wagon ride was bumpy and jostled her around quite a bit, but she stayed very still. She thought about what Garreth had told her about the stranger. She knew that if Fallon was on to the fact already that she had run, she would not have time to get enough of a lead on him. She knew he was early, but could he have possibly been that early? There were strange things happening around the kingdom; perhaps he had learned to play with time, too. She admonished herself for being silly but then remembered that people had said he was known for playing around with dark magic. Anything could be possible, she supposed, and the thoughts of what he could do if the rumors were true frightened her beyond sanity.

The wagon plodded along, and soon she was so used to the up and down movement of the wagon wheels on the dirt road, she allowed it to hypnotize her, and she drifted off to sleep.

***

Melenthia awoke to Conor shaking her urgently. “M’lady you must get up, now! Please, Melenthia you need to go.”

She jumped from the rear of the wagon and looked at him.

“What is it, Conor? What’s happened?”

“Someone is taking an interest in you, m’lady. They’re coming back for us.”

She looked in the direction where Conor was pointing and saw three horsemen heading in their direction. They were trotting, not seeming to be in that much of a hurry and thought perhaps Conor was just being paranoid. Until she felt a chill run from the top of her spine all the way down to her toes. She felt somehow violated, like something was digging down into her heart and listening to all her desires. She felt cold and scared. She squinted in their direction. The lead horseman was covered; he was wearing a cloak, and the hood was pulled up. The other two men had on mail and wore the colors of the Rommel house, black tabards over mail with green gryphons embroidered on the front, silver piping along the edges. She suddenly decided Conor wasn’t being paranoid. She scrambled down from the wagon and started pulling Conor toward the woods. He was pulling back.

“Conor, let’s go, we have to run.”

“You have to run, Melenthia. They’ll catch you if you don’t.”

“I’m not leaving you out here.”

“My father made me promise to get you to your horse safely, to make sure you escaped. I won’t let him down.”

If they were not being pursued by enemy horseman she would have swooned with honor, but time was short. She kissed him on the cheek.

“If anything happens to you, I’ll never forgive myself.”

“I’ll be fine. Go, now, Melenthia, before it’s too late.”

She let go of his hand and raced into the woods. Her horse was waiting for her just inside the trees, the bags weighted down with supplies. The horse lifted her head when she approached, nickered, and rubbed her nose against her.

“No time for play, Lila, we have to go now.”

She swung up into the saddle and snapped the reins. “Go girl.”

They took off through the woods, heading west. She raced between the trees, zig-zagging around them. She was about a mile when she heard the echo of hoof beats behind her. She looked over her shoulder and saw the three men chasing her. They were still a good way back but they were gaining fast. She had to make it to the river. She couldn’t understand how they had gained on her so quickly. She also prayed nothing had happened to Conor. She prodded her horse faster but realized she was weighed down too much with supplies. She had to make a decision, and fast. She decided she’d rather risk starvation and cold than the hand of Fallon. She took her knife from out of the bag that was tied to the pommel and cut through the ropes that held the other two bags to the saddle straps. They fell to the ground with a
thump
, and she watched as they rolled a ways, then stopped in the dirt. She prodded her horse again and picked up speed. She peered behind her again and found that they were still gaining on her.

“Damn! I’ll never make it to the river with these guys on my tail.”

She raced further ahead and saw a small glen up ahead to the right. When she reached it, she reined her horse and sharply turned, racing ahead through the meadow. If she remembered correctly, there was an outcropping of rocks which climbed up a few degrees and dropped down into the river. If she could get up a ways, there was a cave. She could hide out in there, then leave after they had passed. No, that wouldn’t work. If they were smart, they would figure it out, then she’d be trapped by the cliff and have nowhere to go. She continued on through the meadow then zipped her way through the trees again. The forest was getting denser the further in she got. If she went in too deep, she’d have to slow her pace in fear of running right into the bole of a tree and knocking herself off her horse, or worse, blacking out and falling right into their hands. They weren’t going to get her without a fight. She continued on her pace, hoping if she zagged enough, they would lose her trail, or be confused and have to split up. She rode as fast as she dared, hoping no surprises jumped out at her. The trees here were so dense, she could hardly see the sun (not that the clouds allowed her to before), but it was dark in here, and colder. She pulled her cloak tighter, her hood covering her head, and hunkered closer to her saddle, using the heat that emanated off her horses skin for warmth. She rode on, peering behind her every few minutes to see if she was still being followed. There was another outcropping of rocks ahead of her, and she looked from one side to the other for a way up. She didn’t remember a cliff face this far over, but here it was just the same. She cursed under her breath. Not good. It seemed as though she would be trapped anyway. Well, she thought, she had to get to the river somehow so she could cross it. Maybe from the height, she’d be able to see another way down. She prodded her horse forward, the outcropping looming over her, higher and higher the closer she got. She spotted what looked like the likeliest trail she was going to find and headed in that direction. When she reached it, she tried her best to get her horse to go up, but she kept rearing her head and snorting. The horse was frightened. The only way she was going to get up there was to get off of her and lead her up. She slid from the saddle and tossed the reins over the horses head. She grabbed them and started to pull. The horse wouldn’t budge. She pulled again, the horse snorting and stamping her feet. Melenthia looked around her and could see the men, a ways off still, but not for long. She had to start climbing. She nuzzled her horse and cooed.

“Come on, Lila. I promise I won’t let you fall, girl, but we have to go.”

She rubbed the horse’s nose and tried again to get her to move. She slowly started forward, testing her hooves on the rocks. A few loose stones slid underneath, and that was enough for Lila. She reared again and almost knocked Melenthia off her feet. She looked up the cliff face and decided there was no way a horse could go up that anyway. There were several spots where it was straight up with nothing but scree and scrub to hold on to.

“You’re right, Lila. I understand. I guess I go alone.”

She led the horse backward a bit, into a small copse of trees this side of the meadow to keep her hidden. She tied her reins to one of the smaller trees and untied her remaining bag from the pommel. She flung it crossways over her back and rubbed Lila’s nose again.

“I’ll come back for you, girl.”

She could hear the sword calling to her as if warning her not to leave it behind, but she shook the feeling off. Climbing with a sword on her hip would be difficult. “
I will come back for you
,” she promised in her mind. The sword must have believed her because it hummed no more.

Melenthia trudged to the outcropping and looked up. She swallowed. It was high. Maybe they wouldn’t follow her up. “Keep telling yourself that and maybe you’ll believe it. Up we go.”

She started the climb up the outcropping. Some of it was easy, but at times she could barely find a flat enough spot to put her feet, and the loose rocks and dirt constantly kicked up dust that got in her eyes. She slid back a couple of times, moved forward a couple more. It was slow going, but she was halfway up when she heard the echo of her horse’s nickers below her. She looked down and saw the men below and frowned. She wondered if they were going to climb or try to come up on horse back. The leader started forward on his horse, the other two reluctantly following. I guess that answers that, she thought. She picked up the pace and climbed higher, faster. She could see the top from where she was and didn’t want to look down unless she absolutely had to. It was a long way down, and the altitude made her a bit dizzy. She continued forward, the cliff getting shearer as she got closer to the top. The three men were gaining on her more than they had on flat ground, and they were almost on top of her. She cursed again. She reached for a handhold, a root in the rock face. She pulled herself upward, using the root for security. Her foot slipped, and she gripped the root tighter. She hung like that for a couple of minutes then tried again to get a foothold. Her foot slipped again. The men were only a le-vel below her. She tried again to find a foothold. She found a semi-level spot and pushed her boot into the crevice stabilizing herself. She pushed with her leg and was able to move upward. She grabbed another root and pushed some more, her foot balancing on the previous root she had grabbed a few moments before. There was a small tree growing out of the side of the outcropping. She grabbed a hold of it to pull herself the last few feet. The tree started to bend; she hoped that it would hold her weight. She pulled and the tree creaked a bit, but held. She scrambled up and over and lay on the top for a quick moment to catch her breath. She stood up again and ran to the other side of the cliff. She looked down, the dizziness coming back. She breathed deep. She had to find a way down. She looked from side to side and saw a small trail that led down the far side. She headed that way, and as she was reaching it, one of the horsemen popped his head over the edge. She was startled. How did they get their horses up the shear face of the outcropping? She ran to the trail now, afraid that she would be caught if she did not get moving. She approached the trail and looked down. It wasn’t much of a trail, really, just dirt and rocks winding down the side, but there was a landing some feet below, where she could rest a moment and assess her next move. She started down the rock face, her feet slipping and sliding under her. She squatted and slid down on her behind, the dust and dirt choking her. She coughed but kept on. She risked a quick look up and saw the men climbing down after her. The third man, the leader, who was now climbing behind the other two, looked down at her. His hood was tight on his head, but she could see red eyes looking down at her. She shivered, feeling a chill all the way to her very soul. She was all of a sudden more frightened than she had been in the last two days. She slid further. She was almost to the landing. From there she didn’t know what she’d do, but she needed to figure it out soon. The two men were gaining in speed, sliding down behind her, kicking up more dust, which stung her eyes and coated her mouth. She finally reached the landing, jumping down onto it and almost going right over it with the impetus of her jump. She flattened herself up against the cliff wall, breathing hard, calming her racing heartbeat. She stole forward a bit to look down the side. She was about a half mile up from the raging river below. That river was her escape, because over that was the province of Isamar. If these guys caught up to her, she’d never get away. She looked up. One of the men was scrambling down toward her. He lost his footing and started to fall down to the landing. He hit the flat spot, rolled with the momentum toward the edge. He grabbed her bag’s strap to catch himself and pulled her off her feet. She slid with him toward the edge. If she didn’t loosen it from around her, she would end up going over the cliff with him. She tried to find a foothold as she slid closer and closer to the edge. She wiggled and twisted, finally getting the strap over her head and letting it go. The man kept going and disappeared over the edge, screaming on the way down. She scrambled backwards, panting. She flattened herself against the wall again, then heard a voice.