First Comes The One Who Wanders (64 page)

Each cell they visited was the same. All the crafters were beyond saving. Perhaps the arrows had something to do with keeping them alive as well as the ghouls tending them. Knowing he was losing valuable time, nonetheless, Joshuas helped move the bodies to one of the central chambers and lay them side-by-side.

There was no wood in the Echoes, but there was lamp oil and torches. As they lit the pyre, Trion began to sing. Ariel joined in, then Joshuas. The voices in the Echoes quieted as they sang. "We'll come back to honor you," Ariel said to the voices when they had finished, "when we know how to help you find peace."

"Now what, Joshuas Greyanson?" asked Trion, rising wearily from the floor. "I believe we must rely on you for guidance, for now."

"I've been sent to recover the arrows that brought these crafters to this fate." Joshuas pointed to the smoldering pyre. "It's vital to the existence of the Jovanulum in Solea." He pulled the two arrows from his quiver. "I recovered only two. Yours."

Then there are eight to be found?" asked Ariel. "What has happened to them?"

"The ghouls have them," said Joshuas. "I must follow them."

"We must," said Ariel. "Since you chose to save us, rather than go after the ghouls when you realized they took the arrows."

"I could do no less," replied Joshuas. "But I'll accept your offer. There are a hundred main chambers, plus cells like the ones we've already investigated. And who knows what we'll find in the hallways that lead to the cells."

"Then let’s begin," said Trion. "We need some weapons."

"Your weapons were in your cells," replied Joshuas. "I don’t think Rengailai thought anyone would ever find you, much less rescue you."

"I’m beginning to think he was very close to correct," said Ariel. They went back to the cells and retrieved the old weapons. Then Ariel studied the tracks carefully. "They went this way," she said at last and started through the Echoes main chambers heading south. The three moved quickly, stopping only occasionally to check the faint trail left by the ghouls. The further they moved into the Echoes, the newer the trail seemed to be. The trail suddenly veered to the right and ended mysteriously at a wall.

The voices in Joshuas’ head rose to a frenzied pitch. Ariel and Trion appeared to be listening and comprehending what the voices were saying. "There's a door here," said Ariel. Joshuas began searching. "Can’t they tell you how to open it?" He asked as he moved his fingers over the wall.

"It’s not like we're having a conversation," retorted Ariel. "More like disjointed words."

"Yeah, I got that too. But all I understood were your names."

"They're speaking in the common tongue," said Ariel. "But perhaps it's changed over time," she added as an afterthought.

Joshuas thought he felt a small indentation and placed the tip of his knife in it. Wiggling it around, he finally felt the mechanism trip. Stepping back, he watched as the portion of wall swung inward. They found themselves looking into a pitch-black hallway that seemed to be of a cruder construction than the main chamber of the Echoes.

Joshuas stepped through first, torch in hand. Trion followed, then Ariel. The footing was rough and their progress slowed. This passageway went east of the main hallway for almost a mile before it opened up into a room. The room made Joshuas shudder. In it were the remains of many hundreds of people, victims of the ghouls. They had found their hole. Sliding his sword from its sheath quietly, Joshuas moved into the room. As soon as the three were in the room, ghouls rushed from the openings leading into the room. Facing outward and standing back to back, the three crafters began fighting for their lives. They were outnumbered, but were far better fighters and were holding their own against the guards of Rengailai’s prison. As he fended off attackers, Joshuas began to speak a spell. Then yelling to the others to drop to the ground he spoke the final words. Flames flew out from his hands and encompassed the enemy. Their screams echoed in the room, then the room fell silent and they were alone.

"Well done," said Ariel, looking around. "Let’s hope that’s all of them."

"I’m guessing this is the direction we need to go," said Joshuas, starting toward the door to the right.

"Let’s separate," suggested Trion. "That way we can cover more ground. We will meet back here in an hour."

Joshuas didn’t like the idea, but he had to agree it was probably the best idea. "I believe we need to find all eight arrows. Be careful and I’ll see you in an hour."

Ariel went straight ahead and Trion took the door on the left. Joshuas took the door to the right. Unlike the main chambers of the Echoes, these chambers were eerily quiet. No voices invaded his head. Although it was a relief to have the voices gone, Joshuas wasn’t certain this quiet was any better. He moved forward, sword in hand.

The room he entered appeared to be some kind of prison chamber. Chains swung on the walls with human remains hanging from them. The bodies were in varying states of decay. The sickly smell of decomposition almost overwhelmed him. Covering his nose and mouth, he began searching the room.

It seemed odd that there were no instruments of torture in this prison room. Then it occurred to him what it really was and he was almost sick. These were the remains of the people the ghouls had been using as food. Looking closely at the bodies, he could see gouges and teeth marks. As he was studying the gruesome sight, he noticed something odd about one of the bodies. It had been slashed from neck to abdomen, after the person had been dead for some time. It was a jagged cut, as if inflicted by the hands of the ghouls.

Quelling his revulsion, he took his knife and began to investigate the wound. His knife hit against something that wasn’t flesh or bone. Taking a breath, he opened the rotting flesh and peered inside. There, hidden from most eyes, were the arrows, or at least several of the arrows. Reaching into the body, he pulled the arrows from the oozing flesh.

Swallowing to keep from vomiting, he wiped the arrows on the tattered rags covering the body. When he’d finished, he pulled at the chains to loosen them from the wall, but they were securely attached. Clenching his teeth in determination, he cut the hands from the bodies hanging there and placed all the bodies in a pile. Then he set fire to the bodies as he began to sing.

When he returned to the first chamber, he could hear Ariel and Trion singing. So, he hadn’t been the only one to find the ghouls’ spoils. While he waited for the others, he pulled what was left of the ghouls into the second room and started a funeral pyre for them. The smoke was beginning to be too thick to tolerate when Ariel and Trion appeared, each carrying arrows. They both grunted their approval of his treatment of the ghouls. They would probably insist they stop on the way out and send the others off properly.

Leaving the fire burning, they returned to the main chamber. Pooling the arrows together, they looked with satisfaction at ten black, carved shafts with black barbs attached at the top. "One for each eye of the gaunt masters," said Joshuas, placing the arrows in his quiver.

"For each eye?" asked Ariel, as they retraced their steps back toward the main entrance of the Echoes.

"Right eye, to be exact," said Joshuas. "According to Cephom, they don’t have hearts, not that you can find."

"These gaunts are threatening Preterlandis?" asked Ariel.

"They are," replied Joshuas, seriously. "As we speak, they threaten to overrun Barat."

"That's a city in Solea?" asked Trion.

"I need to get back there as quickly as I can. But first," said Joshuas, nodding his head at Trion’s question. "I need to get the two of you to the masters of Sky."

"I would prefer to go and fight for Solea," said Ariel.

"And I’m sure you will, before all is said and done," replied Joshuas. "But first, we’ll talk with the council."

"I'll go talk to them," she said. "But I'm Solein’s Warrior and I do his bidding. I'm not bound by your council or by this treaty you've told us Greyan imposed."

"It's all I ask," replied Joshuas.

Ariel bowed her head in acquiescence. The voices had begun to harangue them again once they'd entered the main chambers of the Echoes. Joshuas took a deep breath, steeled himself against the insidious attack and headed in the direction of Dirthstone Manor.

They encountered only the lost souls as they walked through the Echoes. As he suspected, Trion insisted they stop and send the undead to their graves properly. But when they returned to the cell where they'd left the bodies, they were gone. Joshuas glanced around uneasily, his hand on his sword, but there was no sign of their enemy.

"I imagine they'll come again when the time is right to fight again," said Trion. "I'd have liked to have sent them to their rest."

"We can’t help all those who choose evil," remarked Ariel. It seemed to be a familiar conversation between the two, as if they'd spoken these same words often in the past.

As they climbed the broken stairs into the lower passages of Dirthstone Manor, they left the voices pleading and wailing endlessly behind. Joshuas led them to the door behind the tapestry and stepped into the hallway that led to the council chamber. He didn’t see or hear anyone, so he signaled for the others to follow. The three moved quickly through the passages heading for the ruined East tower.

The guard appeared without warning. Joshuas reached for his sword, but Ariel had run him through before his sword cleared his sheath. Unfortunately, he was only the first of a squad moving through the hall. Joshuas and Ariel were soon in the thick of a fierce battle, their swords finding flesh with almost every blow. The skirmish was over almost as soon as it began. Soldiers lay strewn around their feet.

"We need to hurry," said Joshuas, lowering his weapon. "We're almost to the safety of the school. Their people will sing for them," he added when Trion hesitated. Trion nodded brusquely and stepped over the bodies to follow after Joshuas. "It's difficult to fathom we're at war and appreciate these people are enemies."

"I envy you that difficulty," replied Joshuas.

They didn’t encounter any other resistance, though they heard the alarm sound. Joshuas spoke his name at the door, placing his emblem in the indentation carved to receive it. They were soon inside and heading down the stairs. A group of armed crafters met them at the bottom. Ariel raised her sword in preparation for another fight, but Joshuas stopped her.

"They're on our side," he said placing his sword in its sheath. "Welcome to the School of Sky." He turned to the young crafter blocking their way. "I need to speak with Master Manchu immediately." The young crafters simply stared at him, their mouths agape. "As in right away," he tried again. "And our guests could use some food."

The eldest of the students recovered from the unexpected sight of Joshuas and these two amazing looking crafters dressed in outdated clothing. "Yes, Master Greyanson," said the boy, "at once." He motioned to one of the younger boys to go fetch the master. The young boy stole one more glance in their direction then scurried off through one of the many doors. "They said you were dead," said the first student, not quite sure if he was talking to a ghost.

"Not quite yet," replied Joshuas, patting the boy, "although quite a few people have been trying to get me to that state lately. Apparently, I still have work to do."

"That sounds like something Sylph would say," remarked Trion. "He was forever sending people on quests. I believe I was on one of his quests when I fell."

"You've spoken with Sylph?" asked the boy leading Trion, Joshuas and Ariel to the same rooms Joshuas, Leilas and Erion had used when they came to the School of Sky’s stronghold. Joshuas had to admit he was interested in the answer, too. These two crafters seemed to come from the beginning of Preterlandis, before the treaty, maybe even before the Cataclysm.

"I served in the court of the King, so I talked with Sylph often, as well as to the others who served Jovan," replied Trion.

Joshuas was impressed that Trion had already accepted that he'd missed many years. If he was able to save only two of the crafters imprisoned by Rengailai, he was glad it turned out to be Trion and Ariel.

"Which king was that, sir?" asked the young crafter, stopping at the first door.

Ariel laughed a deep, throaty laugh and every head in the room turned. The beautiful crafter didn’t seem to notice. "I think, my friend," she said to Trion, "this is a question you're going to be asked often."

Trion laughed as well. "How good are you at history?" he asked the young student.

"I'm first in all my studies, sir," he answered seriously.

"Then you should see if you can find any mention of King Lehric in your records. He was the king I served."

"I haven't seen that name, but I'll begin a search," replied the lad. "This room is for the lady," he added, looking shyly in Ariel’s direction. He opened a door that led from the main hall. Ariel bowed gracefully and stepped inside. "The food will be ready when you are. I’m afraid our fare is quite simple."

"I'm used to simple food–," she cocked her head as if listening, "Colin, I think. You're gracious to offer it to strangers."

The boy reddened, "Colin it is, my lady."

Trion bent near the boy’s ear. "When she's hungry, she can be ready in five minutes."