Nightfall: Book Two of the Chronicles of Arden (40 page)

Joel glanced back, but in the low light, he couldn’t make out his mentor’s face. Did Cenric even believe his own words? Joel wasn’t sure, but his desperation made him choose to believe.
We’re all right. We’re going to be all right.

He had nearly convinced himself to calm down when he bumped straight into Hasain’s back. Flailing to catch his balance, Joel frowned. “What’s going on? Why did you stop?”

Hasain didn’t offer to speak. Pointing to the front of the line, the Radek lord leaned aside to allow Joel to see for himself.

Up ahead, the path forked. Kenisha had stopped and was looking back and forth between the two halls. Koal questioned her impatiently but all she did was shake her head. “I wasn’t told about this.”

Koal sighed and folded his arms over his chest. “We haven’t the time for delays. What are the odds of them both leading to the outside?”

“They may very well both lead outside, Seneschal.” Kirk’s voice shook when he spoke. “But if we take the wrong path, then who knows where we’ll come out?”

“Does anyone else see the frivolity of this venture now?” Liro snarled. “We could be comfortably resting in our suite, preparing for the morrow when we would return to Arden the way we originally planned.”

Koal waved his hand, dismissing his eldest son’s complaint. “Too late now. Stay quiet. We have to think.”

Joel held his breath, willing his pounding heart to slow. What would they do if they couldn’t figure out which way to go? They were losing time standing here, but if they chose wrong and exited the catacombs in a bad place, then they had no guarantee of making it anyway. He hoped his father would come up with a solution—and fast.

Before any suggestions could be made, however, angry shouts began to echo off the walls. Joel’s blood froze in his veins as he whipped his head back in the direction they’d come. Everyone fell silent as they took in the sounds of boots slapping on the damp floor, resonating all around them. The voices grew to a deafening crescendo, and one rose above the others to demand “the cowards” be found. Joel gasped and fell back a step, bumping into his mentor.

Koal let out an angry hiss. “We’ve been missed!”

“Which way do we go?” Hasain’s choked cry sounded like that of a scared child, but Joel couldn’t find fault with that. He felt much the same way.

At the head of their group, Kenisha gasped and pointed to the right. “This way! The air feels like it’s moving faster from this side.”

Behind them, Joel could see the faint glow of torchlight. Time was up. With a lurch, the envoys moved as one down the selected corridor. Dignity forsaken, Joel gasped for air with no concern for how loud he was being.

“More steps! Take care!” Koal called back to them.

The stairwell was short this time, but when they reached the bottom step, all of their taller members were forced to duck. The low ceiling only added to the claustrophobic feel of the tombs, and Joel dug at the neck of his robes, feeling as though he was being strangled.

“There’s standing water in there!” Koal shouted. “We won’t be able to see what we’re stepping on!”

Kirk urged them forward. “We haven’t a choice now. They’re gaining on us.”

Joel looked back and had to cling to the dampened wall for support. Kirk was right. The light was getting brighter. He tried to suck in a deep breath but only managed to wheeze. The soldier’s angry voices clouded his mind with terror, making it difficult to think.

“We have to move on, Seneschal,” Cenric insisted, his tone oddly calm despite the dire circumstances.

They were on the move again. Joel followed along blindly. Hasain pulled on Joel’s arm while Cenric pushed from behind, forcing Joel to keep lurching ahead. The walls seemed to close around him as he tromped through black, ankle-deep water. He slammed his eyes shut despite the danger of it. He couldn’t look. He couldn’t see their tomb for what it was.

The farther they went, the less sense Joel could make of anything. Blood roared in his ears, and it took all he had just to keep up with the others. He could almost feel the Imperial soldiers at his back, breathing down his neck. They were losing their lead.

His feet slid away from one another and he fell to his knees, but Hasain dragged Joel back up almost instantaneously. Pain shot through his legs as he staggered forward, but he knew he had to keep going.
I can’t die here. I won’t
.

Cenric’s strained voice rose behind them. “We’re about to have company, Koal!”

Everyone stopped moving, and a moment later, Koal pushed past, sword already drawn as he made his way to the back of the line. “You all need to keep moving.
Now
!”

Joel bleated and reached for his father, but Hasain was already pulling on Joel’s arm again. He struggled against the vice-like grip. “Stop! Let me go! He can’t face them alone. He’ll die. Let me go!”

The shouts of the Imperial soldiers swelled to fill the cramped corridor as they rounded the corner. Joel froze in the midst of his fight to escape, staring in abject horror. There they were—too many soldiers to count—rushing toward the envoys, with their bronze armor and drawn longswords.

He struggled against the hold again and was surprised, when this time, he broke away. Behind him, Joel could feel Hasain pooling his magic once more, and a defiant streak of hope fluttered within Joel’s chest. NezReth had also turned to face the oncoming soldiers. The mage’s expression was set in a grim mask, and his power crackled dangerously around the tunnel.

Again, Koal waved for them to fall back. “I said keep going! Get the hell out of here!”

“No. We’re not leaving you.” Joel didn’t even recognize his own unwavering voice. The panic from a moment before was entirely forgotten as he flexed his mage energy. It surged to him like never before. He could do this. He hadn’t been sure earlier, but now he knew without any doubt. If those heathens tried to hurt his father, they would pay dearly.

Koal frowned back at them but had no time to argue. The soldiers were closing in. The one to the front of the group shouted above the rest. “Envoys of Arden, halt! By order of His Grace, Emperor Sarpedon, you are to drop your weapons and return with us to the palace!”

Squaring his shoulders, Koal didn’t budge from his spot. “Nay. Tell your emperor that our negotiations are over. We’re leaving. Now.”

“Stand down, Koal Adelwijn! You’ve lost!”

Koal gripped the base of his sword and held the weapon before him. “I’ll stand down when you cut the legs clear off my body—if you aren’t dead first.”

The soldier’s face twisted in animalistic rage as he launched forward, blade aimed at Koal’s throat. The seneschal readied himself, but he didn’t need to. Joel had already called a surge of power to himself and blasted it at the soldier. The blow hit true, searing into the man’s chest and knocking him off his feet. Joel didn’t have time to dwell on how much damage he’d done. The other soldiers were already diving forward to take their fallen comrade’s spot, and Joel was pooling his magic again.

Another burst of crackling blue fire shot forth, this bolt from Hasain. A second man collapsed to the ground with a splash. “There’s too many of them to take out like this!” Hasain gasped. “More are turning the corner even now.”

Despair pressed dangerously on Joel’s heart, but he refused to give in. He opened his mouth in the hope that brave words would come tumbling out, but NezReth beat him to it. “
Fall back! All of you!
” The Blessed Mage darted past them. Blue energy crackled and flowed down either arm as he raised them over his head.

They didn’t have enough space to properly do as they were told. Joel was tripping on Hasain, who was tripping on Cenric. They had only managed to back away a few precious paces when NezReth unleashed his wrath in a bolt of blinding sparks and fury. Joel slammed his eyes shut, expecting to hear men screaming in agony—yet all he could hear was the low rumble of cracking stone. He dared to open his eyes.

The Imperial soldiers stood frozen with wide, elevated eyes. NezReth’s bolt had seared a hole into the ceiling above their heads. Even now, as Joel watched, deep lines were forming at the site of impact and trickling away from the crater like water escaping a pond. Again came the rumble of crumbling rock, a low, devastating reverberation worse than any thunder Joel had ever heard. Fine, gritty sand rained down through the cracks, and then entire pieces of the ceiling began to drop.

The soldiers
did
shout then. Their voices were laced with terror as they clambered over each other in their attempts to fall back. Joel watched as chucks of mortar and stone plummeted from the ceiling.
One. Two. Three
. Joel lost count as the entire ceiling bowed under the pressure of the loose rock. A sickening feeling clenched his heart.
Oh no
—

“It’s going to go!” NezReth screamed above the torrent. “Get out of here!”

Joel took another step back. The entire corridor trembled—above him, around him, beneath his feet. He felt as though he was trapped inside a box, being violently shaken with no means of escape. All around him, rocks were careening to the floor, pelting his skin and face like massive hailstones.
Oh gods, the entire ceiling is giving way!
Letting out a terrified cry, Joel tucked his head and squeezed his eyes closed. If this was the end, he didn’t want to see it.
Chhaya, please, be merciful. If we’re to die, let it be swift
.

The sound of falling rock drowned out all other noise. Joel held his breath, waiting for the final blow, waiting to die—but Death never came for him. The tempest passed and the angry shards of rubble falling from above subsided. He opened one eye tentatively.
Am I alive?
His heart skipped a beat.
Is anyone else alive?

He breathed a sigh of relief when he heard his father’s voice nearby. “Is everyone all right? Sound off!” Murmurs rose above the silence, music to Joel’s ears as each and every member of the group called their name. It seemed their party had made it through the rockfall relatively unscathed. He stood up, brushing dust from his soaked robe, and cast a wary glance in the direction the soldiers had been. A barricade of rubble blocked the way.

Hasain gripped the wall as he climbed to his feet. “We better hope this passage leads
somewhere
, seeing as there’s no way back now.”

NezReth stepped closer to the mountain of stone, titling his head to the side. Joel paused too, listening for any sign of life on the far side. Nothing. He couldn’t hear a damned thing.

“I do not hear them,” the Blessed Mage confirmed a moment later. “But it is safe to assume that at least a handful escaped.”

Koal sheathed his sword as he returned to the head of the party. “Then we need to keep going. If they don’t already know about this supposed drainage opening, it won’t take them long to figure it out.”

Up ahead, Kirk leaned shakily against his sister, eyes wide as he stared at the fallen rubble. He whispered something into Kenisha’s ear and her face pinched. Placing an arm around his shoulder, she murmured soft words back to him.

Joel made his way over to them. “Are you all right?” he asked, placing a hand on Kirk’s trembling shoulder. He hadn’t been injured, had he? “Are you hurt?”

“N–no,” the trainee replied, shaking his head. “It’s just—they saw me. And Keni. They saw us both. They
have
to know we’re helping you escape.”

Joel flinched as he realized the implication of Kirk’s words.
Daya
.
They can never safely return to Teivel now
.

“There’s no going back,” Kenisha said, her voice a whisper in the shadows.

A strangled whimper pushed its way from Kirk’s chest all the way to his lips. “I don’t know what we’re going to do.”

Joel narrowed his eyes. “I do.” He swung around, scanning the dark tunnel until his eyes landed on Koal. “Father, we have to bring them with us.”

Liro snorted. “Don’t be ridiculous. Our ‘noble’ king would rather feed newborn babes to hungry wolves than allow
two
Imperials into the realm.”

“Liro!” Joel gasped.

His elder brother shrugged and turned to smirk at Koal. “Am I not mistaken, Father? Am I wrong in my assumption?”

Koal let out a defeated sigh. He could barely meet Joel’s pleading eyes. “Joel, Arden is no place for Imperial-born, no matter how sincere they appear to be.”

“
How can you say that?
” Joel demanded. He pointed sharply at Kirk and Kenisha. “They’ve risked everything to help us escape!
Everything
! We can’t just turn a blind eye now! What would it say about
us
if we abandon them in their time of need?”

Koal rubbed the back of his neck. “King Rishi won’t approve it. You know that.”

“Then you can return to Arden without me!” Joel replied, blood rushing to his face, turning his cheeks an angry scarlet. He crossed his arms over his chest and set his jaw defiantly. “Either we
all
go, or I’m staying. You can tell King Rishi why I didn’t make it when he asks.”

Koal’s face was nearly as red as Joel’s. “This isn’t a time for games, Joel—”