Epic Of Ahiram (Book 1) (63 page)

“He did what?” Soloron could not believe his ears. “That oaf is storming the castle on his own?” Frajil had thrown away Soloron’s carefully crafted plan and was forcing him into action. “Wait until I lay my hands on him; I will teach him a lesson he will never forget.”

He looked at the messenger who was standing before him.

“Are you absolutely sure that Frajil is storming the castle? This is very important. Are you absolutely sure?”

The messenger took a step back. “Yes, master, I am sure. I saw Frajil going up Royal Road followed by a large band of men with sticks, swords and torches. Many of them were yelling, ‘Death to the King. Death to the traitor.’ Frajil was shouting, ‘To the castle, tonight we roast the chicken,’ which I personally found odd, but many of Frajil’s utterances are mysteries. This is when I ran to inform you.”

“Mysterious, indeed. Fine. Frajil wants to roast the chicken. We shall join him. Sound the alarm. We move now.”

King Jamiir surveyed the hall where they were supping. It was half empty. Outside, a brooding storm was giving signs of imminent rain. Lightning, increasing in frequency, filled the night. When the black sun appeared today, almost all the participating teams had asked to take an early leave to return home. Hiyam and her surviving teammates—now a team of five—were the only ones that stayed. The royal court was present, but the King could feel they were here mostly out of duty. The black sun was a bad omen. Tanios was sitting at the royal table but had hardly touched his food. The King had changed his mind and requested his presence, even though Tanios had asked to be excused. The commander obliged. Suddenly, they heard a commotion outside the halls, followed by screams and tumbled dishes. A man came running into the hall holding an empty bowl, the content of which was now dripping onto his clothes. “An insurrection! An insurrection, Your Majesty. Men are storming the castle. We are being attacked.” Tanios stood up, but the King prevented him from taking another step.

“Tanios, do not worry about this. I will personally take care of it. To you and your Silent, I entrust the safety of the high priestess and her daughter. If anything happens to them, there is no telling what Babylon will do. Take them to the port of Mitriil and do not leave them until they are safely on a boat sailing toward Baalbeck. This is an order. Go.”

Tanios looked at the King as though wanting to say something. Then he turned abruptly and went over to Hiyam. “You and your men, follow me. Now.” They got up and followed him out of the hall, walking quickly until they reached Bahiya’s quarters. Tanios was surprised to see her dressed in black with a sullen face and tired features. He could have sworn she had been crying.
With women such as these, one cannot tell where the truth ends and the deception begins
, he thought.

“The castle is besieged. By order of His Majesty the King, I am to escort you, your suite, your daughter and her men to the port of Mitriil. I ask that you follow me at once.”

Bahiya nodded imperceptibly and left the room, her silver box in hand. Tanios saw that she was ready for travel. Her maidservants had already packed. He wanted to ask her how she knew but refrained from doing so. At this point, he was executing the King’s order. He escorted them down the Lone Tower to the second floor and into his quarters.

“Master Habael, you are here. I was getting worried.”

“I came up to check on the Silent. What is the cause of your worry, my friend?”

“The castle is besieged; we are facing an insurrection.”

“What is she doing here?” Tanios had barely the time to stop a raging Banimelek from laying his hands on Hiyam. “Have you betrayed us also, Commander Tanios, that you bring these vipers to laugh at our sorrow?”

Jedarc tried to stop his friend by saying, “She was following orders,” but Banimelek shoved him away and ran toward Hiyam and met his commander, who sent him tumbling through the air. Quick as a cat, he adjusted his posture, landing gracefully on his feet. Tanios drew near the Silent, raised his hand to slap him, but stopped at the last minute. Lightning filled the air and powerful thunder shattered the night. The rain came pouring down.

“By order of the King,” he said, looking at the Silent, “we are to escort the high priestess, her daughter, and their suite to Mitriil. We must guarantee their safety. Is this clear?” No one answered. “Master Habael, you are coming with us. Banimelek, Jedarc, Sondra, and Thurun, you will scout ahead via the Garden Tower, then through the soldiers’ garden into the stable. Everyone else, take as many horses as you can, go down into the horses’ run, then walk your steed to the narrow gate. You are the Silent. The insurgents are our people. If they are manning the gate, they will listen to you. We ride through the night and take shelter beyond the great pass. Have I made myself clear? Move, we have not a moment to lose.”

How long had Ahiram been climbing? He could not remember. He had lost track of time. Only his stamina and his will to live prodded him, forcing him to continue his arduous ascent. He blindfolded himself to stop his weary eyes from straining to see in the complete darkness. The passage was still narrow, and at times, had threatened to close in on him. There were moments when he thought he was trapped underground, left there to die slowly as though buried alive. Yet, by patiently applying all that he had learned from Commander Tanios, he escaped the stony grip and kept moving with the stubborn assurance that this serpentine passage would eventually lead back to the mine. The passage turned and twisted so many times that he could no longer tell if he was traveling up or down. Dragging himself into this narrow space was difficult regardless of the direction. Could it be that this crack in the depths of the earth would lead him back to the river?
No
, thought Ahiram,
air
is
coming through this passage. It must lead somewhere.
I’m
going up…
I’m
going up…
These last words became a litany that he repeated regularly to give himself courage.

Suddenly, a shadow leaped before him. He recoiled.
What was that?
the Silent thought.
How is it that I can see? What happened to my blindfold?
Ahiram felt his face and did not feel the cloth.
It must have fallen off and I didn’t even notice. Am I losing my mind? Was that a shadow?

The shadow was gone. He looked again and there it was. Ahiram waited, wondering if a beast haunted this wretched place, but no; there was no one else. Cautiously, he inched along and felt the passage turning left. Emerging from the turn, he saw the shadow again, but it was not a shadow. It was an area that, although dark, was a shade lighter than his immediate surroundings.
I am getting closer to a source of light.

This thought galvanized him, and he moved forward with renewed energy. He dragged himself through the narrow passage and continued without interruption. He could see something ahead; he must have been nearing the exit. Now he could see his left hand gripping the rock ahead of him. The difference between shadow and light sharpened further, and the contour of the exit appeared: a ragged circle beyond which light flickered. He drew closer and finally managed to push through, landing on a smooth, flat surface.

To his left he saw a wall whose wide door had been condemned by rocks, standing precariously. He looked to his right and would have jumped from fright if he could, for a dragon, jaws wide-open, was inches away from him. Ahiram retreated inside the hole so quickly that he scraped his elbows against the rocks. He expected the mighty beast to roar and scorch him to death, but nothing happened.

What is it doing?
he wondered, as he waited for the fiery breath.
Why is Tanniin not…
then a thought hit him.
What is Tanniin doing here in the first place? Have I reached the abode of the god?

This thought struck him as incongruous, for the rocks around him looked and felt like ordinary rocks. Cautiously, he moved forward and glanced at the face of the beast. It had not moved.
A statue. It’s a statue of Tanniin.
Relieved, Ahiram chuckled silently and derided his own gullibility.

He wiggled out of the underground passage one more time. He tried to stand, but his aching muscles would not obey. He lay on his back not knowing who to thank for his incredible fortune. He could not shake the feeling that someone was watching over him.

The dragon’s face belonged to a statue of bronze. The dragon was crouching on the marble face of a plinth, while his elongated neck dove down, curling completely around the pedestal so that the head lay on the ground. Oddly, the extended wings were too short for the huge body.

I have not been in this part of the mines before
, thought Ahiram.

He felt something poking him in the back, touched it, and smiled.
Master Habael,
he thought unbuckling his belt,
I cannot thank you enough for what you have done for me.
Wearily, Ahiram managed to sit down and examined his belt. The pockets had weathered the water rather well. He remembered dropping the pouch of flour and salt Master Habael had given him during the Game of Meyroon, but the two vials were still with him, and they were intact.

So that’s what was pushing against my back
, he thought as he pulled them out of the snug pocket. He drank the content of the first one, and the special mixture of assin and timrand rejuvenated him. The second contained a dark, thick liquid. He took some and rubbed it on his aching shoulder. Soon, he felt his strength come back. He rose and forced himself to pace. As he did so, his eyes caught sight of a monumental door left ajar. A flickering light was seeping through.

There are burning torches here
, he thought as his mind cleared.
I must not be alone.

Quickly, Ahiram locked his belt in place, and staying in the shadow of the wall, moved forward. As he examined the cave with renewed attention, he realized that he was standing in an underground temple dedicated to Tanniin. The statue he had seen faced an identical statue across what must have been the main body of the sanctuary. As he walked toward the massive door, he reached a second set of statues, much bigger than the first two, and he saw a side altar with a basket and an open jar.

Someone worships here
, he thought, shocked. He realized then that the Temple of Baal had not managed to eradicate the worship of other gods, and he wondered if this was something unique to Tanniin, or widespread across the land.

As he drew closer to the door, he saw four red blotches on the four corners of the door and he knew it was blood.
Someone performed a blood offering here?
he thought, dumbfounded.
Who, and for what purpose?

As he crossed between the statues, he saw a smaller open door. He peered inside, but saw only the beginning of a path slanting upward. He inspected the ground and noticed that the door had rapped against the tiles, pushing back the dust.

This door has been opened very recently.
So, whoever made this offering must have come through this passage, and since this door is still open, they have not left.

Silently, Ahiram reached the large door. The handle was shaped in the form of a dragon with two bullhorns sticking out of its tail. Something throbbed inside the room; something that made his heart beat a little faster. He peeked inside, and seeing no one, walked into a hallway hewn out of the rock and left unfinished. Six burning torches lit the narrow passage. The walls were jagged and coarse, and the floor was partially covered with slabs. Otherwise, the hallway was bare. Seeing footsteps, he knelt to examine them.

Two men, one with a heavy gait were here
,
and a woman. These imprints could only have been made by shoes worn by a member of the royal court. She fell, and I can’t make out what else happened here.
He backtracked, chiding himself for walking over the footsteps. Still, he figured out that one of them left in a hurry, and the other carried the woman away. He stepped back out and examined the ground around the smaller door.
They left the way they came.
Wait, what are those?
Bending a knee, he examined a fourth set of imprints he had noticed before.
Judging from their position, this fourth person did not come with the group. I don’t recognize this pattern, but they belong to either a woman or a small man
.