The Guardians (Book 2) (29 page)

‘
Lias,’ a voice said weakly and Lias spun around to see that Callian was still lying along Leon’s back, but his eyes were open.

‘
Callian!’ Lias exclaimed. ‘I was a bit worried about you for a while.’

‘
Didn’t I tell you to leave me at the cliffs and take Dale to Emerald?’ Callian mumbled. ‘Didn’t you give me your word?’

‘
I gave you my word that I would take Dale to Emerald,’ said Lias. ‘I never gave my word that I wouldn’t bring you along for the ride.’

Callian
stared at Lias without moving. ‘Thank you,’ he said eventually. ‘Dale has a bad influence on you Lias...if that’s possible.’

‘
I guess you’re not strong enough to come for a swim,’ said Lias dubiously.

‘
I wish I was,’ Callian admitted. ‘But I’d most likely drown.’

‘
You could sit under the waterfall with Dale,’ Rezon suggested. Callian’s head dropped forward and his eyes closed, and he seemed to fall asleep, but Rezon ignored this and lifted him from Leon’s back. He dragged Callian’s body over his shoulder and made his way awkwardly to the water’s edge, and then he knelt and placed Callian on the ledge of rocks beside the water. Ben and Rezon slid into the pool, and then Rudiger and Eibhear moved Callian into the water. He regained consciousness for just long enough to stare at Ben in alarm, and then he closed his eyes and relaxed. They had no trouble swimming across the water supporting Callian between them, and once they reached the other side Dale helped them to haul him onto the rocks. Dale pushed Callian into a sitting position and did his best to make him comfortable.

‘
Why didn’t you take his clothes off him first?’ asked Dale. The warriors looked at each other and Rezon shrugged.

‘
That would have been a good plan, I suppose, but he won’t take long to dry in this weather, and this way his clothing is washed.’

‘
Good idea!’ Lias’ voice came from above and a pile of dirty clothes dropped into the little rock pool. ‘Do you want your dress washed, Raline?’

‘
Yes please,’ said Raline politely, as she swam across the water. ‘Could you help me up please?’ She reached towards Rezon. He leaned over the rocks and lifted her bodily from the water and placed her in front of him so the cold waterfall splashed over her head and ran down her face. She laughed in delight and lifted her face upwards to catch the torrent of water. Rezon watched her contentedly as she played in the water.

They camped beside the water for t
hree nights, happily accepting Lias’ excuse that Callian needed time to recover. Everyone was glad for the rest, and Callian regained his strength. Eibhear took the time to hunt and Dale and Raline were both pleased with the steady supply of wood ducks. As the sun rose on the fourth day, they packed their gear and headed across the fields of flowers towards Starly Forest.

Chapter 34

Egression

‘Do you feel like we’re being watched?’ asked Eijelin uneasily, peeping over the rocks. Her pack was far too heavy for her and her back was beginning to hurt, so she eased it from her shoulders and put it on the sand beside Elliot’s and Aithne’s. She moved awkwardly, unused to the knife in the sheath she had belted around her waist, hidden under her tunic. Elliot had insisted they all carried knives, and though she knew it was a practical suggestion, she felt strange and uncomfortable with the weapon at her side.

‘
Do you sense anyone, Aithne?’ asked Elliot, sounding just as worried as Eijelin felt. They had managed to sneak all their gear from the buildings without being noticed, but he wondered if anyone had seen them climbing over the rocks at the hidden end of the beach.

‘
No. But I’d only sense them if they were human. If one of the guardians is watching, I wouldn’t be able to tell,’ Aithne replied.

‘
We need everyone to think we’re just playing down here on the beach,’ said Eijelin.

‘
Alright. But at low tide we have to go,’ said Aithne. They scrambled over the rocks and played in the sand in sight of the guardians. Elliot watched the water until he saw the waves had reached their lowest point. He stood up and started to move towards the rocks, bending over now and again to pick up shells. Eijelin and Aithne followed him and soon they were hidden from sight.

‘
Let’s go!’ Eijelin urged, glancing in all directions and seeing no-one.

‘
Follow me,’ said Aithne. She led them through a maze of rugged rocks to where the base of the cliffs met the sea at the northern end of the sandy beach. The waves crashed against the cliffs sending spray high into the air. Eijelin nervously watched the rough water.

‘
I hope you don’t mean for us to swim, Aithne. We’ll probably drown.’

‘
No. We don’t need to swim. Just stay close to me and keep your head down so no-one sees us.’ Aithne knelt on the sand, crawled behind a rock and disappeared. Eijelin and Elliot exchanged surprised looks, and then they copied her. In the gap between the rocks and the cliff face was a strange crevice. It faced towards the ocean, and Elliot supposed that it would be hidden by water at all times other than low tide. The crevice was barely wide enough for him to slip through. He had to turn his shoulders sideways to fit, but with a little wriggling he managed to follow the girls and he was pleased to find the crevice opened out a little as he moved through.

‘
Hold hands,’ Aithne ordered.

‘
I doubt we can get lost in this tiny crack,’ said Elliot drily.

‘
It’s just a bit scary because it’s dark and it’s a long way to the other end,’ Aithne explained.

‘
We’re not scared of the dark, Aithne!’ said Elliot indignantly.

‘
I am,’ Eijelin admitted sounding embarrassed.

‘
I’m scared of the dark too,’ said Aithne. ‘Once when I was a slave I was sent to do an errand at night and I got lost and…’ Her voice trailed off as she remembered how terrified she had been.

‘
Move over,’ Elliot ordered, squeezing between the girls. ‘I’ll hold onto both of your hands since I’m the only one who’s not afraid of the dark.’

The crevice widened in some places, but for the most it remained very narrow. A
t the southern end, where they entered, it was filled with sand and shells forming a little floor, but as they moved higher into the rocks, the crevice narrowed below their feet and they had to find foot holds to prevent them from jamming their feet into the crevice and becoming trapped. It was very tiring and they stopped frequently to rest. 

‘
How far does this go on?’ asked Elliot.

‘
Not much further,’ Aithne assured him, still clutching his hand tightly.

‘
Good. What’s at the other end?’

‘
The stream above the waterfall,’ said Aithne, referring to the stream which flowed from the nearby mountains towards the Dwellings and formed a waterfall which fed the lake. ‘I haven’t been very far, but on the maps Lord Tiernan has, the stream goes past the cliffs and down to the sea. Only some of the water comes over the cliffs into the lake.’

‘
Aithne, you don’t want us to swim down the stream, do you?’ asked Elliot worriedly.

‘
We’ll just follow it north until it comes out at the sea and from there we have to go west. That’s what it looks like on the maps, anyway.’

‘
Fine. Listen, I’ll go first to make sure it’s safe at the other end,’ said Elliot.

The climb became steep and the crevice began to lighten
. The children hurried towards the light. Elliot stopped. Just ahead of where they stood, the rocks opened and he could see blue sky above. He made his way forward, climbed upwards and gingerly lifted his head above the rocks. There was no-one in sight so he climbed out of the hole. Aithne and Eijelin scrambled up beside him. The walked across the warm rocks and sat down to rest for a moment.

‘
Right beside the stream,’ said Aithne thankfully. ‘It looks shallow enough here to cross without wetting-’ She stopped speaking and her heart sank. They had left their gear back on the beach.

They sat watching the flowing stream for some time before Elliot spoke.

‘I have to go back,’ he said practically. ‘You should hide at this end of the tunnel and wait for me.’

‘
You can’t carry all our gear by yourself, Elliot,’ said Eijelin. ‘We’ll all have to go back. But now the tide will have risen and we probably won’t be able to get out of the other end of the tunnel.’ She was feeling terribly disheartened by the setback in their plans and for the first time she considered just how difficult it might be for them to find Kelian. They had no idea where Kelian was, or what path, if any, he might be following, and whichever path they chose there was the chance they would end up walking right into a Nailmarni nest.

A shadow flashed across the ground and
Eijelin leapt to her feet and fell into the hole in the rocks. Aithne let out a scream of terror. Elliot gave a panicked shout, grabbed Aithne and shoved her into the hole, then he leapt in beside her, but it was too late. Five Nailmarni who had been hiding in the rocks had seen and heard them and were racing towards their hiding place. Four were quite a distance away but one was almost upon them. There was a thud as it toppled into the hole and landed on top of the children. Aithne gave another shriek of fright as the arrow sticking through the Nailmarni’s chest scraped her arm, leaving a long bleeding wound. The body had fallen across the entrance to the crevice and even working together the children were unable to remove it. A shape appeared above them. Everyone screamed in panic and then cried out in relief as they recognized the newcomer. Daibhi threw the Nailmarni’s body from the hole and pointed to the crevice. ‘Get back to the Dwellings,’ he ordered, ‘and don’t come back here for anything! No matter what!’ he added, and then he leapt from the hole. He shouldered his bow and drew his sword.

‘
No!’ screamed Eijelin, seeing that Daibhi intended to fight the remaining four Nailmarni. ‘You have to come with us!’

‘
I can’t fit through,’ Daibhi called back to them. ‘Go!’ He ran towards the approaching Nailmarni who slowed warily at his approach. Then seeing he was alone, they fanned out around him. He concentrated on each of their positions, knowing in his heart that his situation was hopeless. He swung around, holding his sword ready as they closed in. Then, in a moment of sheer horror, he saw all three children climb from the hole. Each child was holding a knife. Without hesitation he leapt towards them, taking down the Nailmarni nearest to the children with one stroke then the remaining three were upon him. His sword moved so quickly the children found it almost impossible to follow his movements. Their intentions had been good, but the reality of the situation was too much for them and they stood frozen on the rocks, far too terrified to be of any use to Daibhi.

Daibhi stepped backwards, desperately trying to defend against the relentless attack and the three children heard his thoughts in their minds, pleading with them to return through the tunnel. This time they obeyed and they ran towards the tunnel. One of the Nailmarni who was attacking Daibhi broke away and rushed after them and Daibhi knew immediately that he would
return them before they could reach the crevice. He gave a shout of anger. Then to Daibhi’s astonishment an arrow flew past him and drove itself right through the Nailmarni’s body. The sword fell from its hand and it slammed onto the rocks and lay still.

Daibhi
ducked as a second arrow shot past him and embedded itself into the shoulder of one of the remaining two attackers then another took the same Nailmarni in the left of its chest. It fell to the rocks and the last Nailmarni turned to run. There was a flash of movement and Daibhi recognized Borgulnay. The soldier threw himself towards the escaping Nailmarni, driving his shoulder into its stomach and hurling it to the ground. A knife appeared in the Borgulnay’s hand and seconds later the Nailmarni was dead.

Daibhi dashed
across to the hole in the rocks and sighed with relief as he saw the frightened faces of all three children looking up at him. He started as there was a movement in the nearby rocks, then relaxed as Timbul, Danil and Milgorry came towards him. They lifted the children from the hole and seconds later Araas appeared, leading Prince Kelian, Elena and Immosey.  Right behind them came Gilgarry and Enri, both looking warily around as they made their way across the stream.

Eijelin gave a shriek of delight and sprinted towards he
r brother. She flung herself at him and he caught her in his arms and lifted her high in the air before holding her tightly. She sobbed with joy as he hugged her and he blinked rapidly as he stroked her hair. Eventually she calmed down and turned to where Aithne was rushing between all the people she knew and hugging them delightedly. Last of all she hugged Borgulnay and Milgorry then she stood between them, holding a hand of each.

Daibhi waited patiently then turned to Kelian.
‘We need to get back into the Dwellings right now.’

‘
You won’t get anywhere near the cliffs north of here,’ said Danil. ‘But there is a way into the Dwellings that won’t be known to the Nailmarni.’

‘
The steps under the waterfall,’ said Daibhi. ‘That’s the way I came when these three little rogues tried to sneak out.’

‘
Sneak out!’ said Kelian, looking at Eijelin incredulously. Eijelin blushed deeply and stared at her feet. ‘What were you thinking of?’

‘
I had to find you, Kelian. No-one even knew if you were alive!’

Kelian
’s face softened. ‘Oh Linnie, if Daibhi hadn’t come after you, you’d be dead!’

‘
I know.’ She turned solemnly to the guardian. ‘Thank you Daibhi.’

‘
How did you know where we were?’ asked Elliot. ‘We snuck out when no-one was watching!’

‘
Hmm…’ said Daibhi, pretending to think hard. ‘If I hadn’t almost fallen over the enormous packs of gear which had been accidently left behind, I might never have noticed the three little sets of footprints which disappeared suspiciously behind a certain rock at the base of the cliffs.’

Elliot
’s face reddened. ‘So you knew about the crack through the rocks?’

‘
Fortunately I knew where you would come out, but I haven’t been able to fit through since I was about ten years old, which is a very, very long time ago.’

They made their way towards the waterfall and were relieved to
find no Nailmarni nearby. When they reached the edge of the cliffs, Daibhi helped everyone to climb over the rocky edge onto a ledge overlooking the lake. From this position their heads were below the level of the top of the cliffs and they were hidden from any watching spies. Daibhi led them sideways along the ledge, towards the waterfall. To their surprise, the ledge ran under the waterfall and turned into steep, slippery stairs. The stairs had been cut deeply into the stone and they wound back and forth as they descended towards the lake. The gap between the stairs and the pouring water was minimal, so everyone became very wet. At the bottom of the waterfall the stairs ended abruptly beside a heavy wooden door set into the rocks.

‘
I would never have imagined these stairs were hidden here,’ said Kelian, looking at the door. It had a steel bar attached horizontally across the wood about a hand span from the top of the door.

‘
You’re the first humans to know of their existence,’ Timbul replied.

‘
Really? Why is that?’ asked Enri, raising his voice over the thundering water.

‘
We’d prefer the fallen and the Nailmarni didn’t know of their existence, and human thoughts are far too easy to take. It’s safer if no-one knows,’ Araas explained. He grasped the steel bar and pulled and the door swung outwards towards the lake. Inside the door was a portcullis, but it was currently in its raised position. Daibhi stood aside and waited until everyone passed through the door. Kelian walked forward and his jaw dropped in astonishment. He was standing on a wooden deck in an enormous cavern. The underground portion of the lake stretched as far as he could see into the darkness.