Child Of A Guardian And Of The Free (Book 3) (39 page)

‘
I can feel exactly what you feel Caity. It’s one of the strangest things I’ve ever felt, both beautiful and disturbing.’

‘
So you will take them with you?’ asked Caity.

‘
That’s the King’s Marshall’s decision. But first you must tell him what you feel.’

Caity turned to Danil, feeling nervous.
‘I don’t normally share these things, because people change what they do and things don’t always turn out the way they want them to, but in this case you must know. I saw...no...I
felt
that if you don’t take the Colonel and the Captain with you, there was no hope. You will die - or return as you say. Tiernan will die. And you will die too, Danil. And probably Kelian will also die. Please, oh please Danil, you must take them with you.’ Caity gazed at him imploringly.

‘
Foresight is a strange thing,’ said Tiernan warningly. ‘What Caity felt may indeed be the outcome if we refuse to take Borg and Gil with us, but taking them doesn’t guarantee it won’t happen. Caity may have seen
one
possible outcome of a situation which has absolutely no chance of success, regardless of who is involved. You must understand this Danil.’

‘
I do,’ said Danil gravely. ‘They shall come with us, and we will proceed with even more caution. Now, let’s go and have a look at those ships.’

Chapter
42

Disturbing Discoveries

They stopped
for a short rest before crossing the Alkiran border and moving onto the Ice. Dale and Leslie were wearing warm clothing they had brought from Leslie’s home but the guardians and the free warriors were dressed little differently than their usual garb, other than the fact that all were now wearing shirts with long sleeves, some of which had been provided by Lesley and some they had taken from the farmhouse of an old man they knew was now living in East Inlet. They’d come a long way south before turning west to avoid crossing the mountains, but this did not mean the land was flat. Milgorry was now leading, with Callian walking beside him, Eibhear and Rudiger behind and on either side, and Ben and Rezon some distance back. Dale and Lesley stayed inside the rough circle of warriors, and Timbul and Araas spent a good deal of time hunting. Larund walked beside Dale, giving his wound time to heal properly and discussing Nandul’s movements and other events within Nyinaku. Dale could tell quite easily that Larund knew very little because Nandul didn’t trust him entirely, but was suspicious of his loyalty and certain of his inability to keep secrets safely within his mind. Some of the time they walked in silence, with Larund wondering what would happen to him now, and questioning the wisdom of walking back into Nyinaku, and Dale sifting through every possible scenario he could produce to rescue Kelian without most of them being killed or returned. Now he was sober, Lesley turned out to be surprisingly intelligent and he had a knack for pointing out possible difficulties with Dale’s strategies. Dale was pleased to have his help.

Since listening to Larund
’s mind, Callian had fallen into a dark mood. He paced along beside Milgorry with his mind full of the image of Kelian, lying on the ice as a boot slammed repeatedly into his face. They were close enough behind the fallen now that several times he had sensed that Kelian was still alive, but Kelian’s thoughts were erratic and Callian was sure he was drifting in and out of consciousness. He wondered what else the fallen had done to Kelian, but Larund had moved away from Kelian whilst he was still being tortured, and it was probably a good thing Callian could not see what they had done to him after Larund disappeared. As it was, he walked with angrily narrowed eyes and his lips firmly pressed together. The fury and tension pouring from the Guardian General was tangible and Milgorry found himself glancing at him every other second, disturbed by the intensity of his feelings. Eventually he stopped walking, grabbed Callian’s sleeve and spun him around to face him.

‘
Callian, what in all hell has gotten you into this state? You’re acting like Kelian’s already dead. He’s not. Granted, I don’t think he’s conscious most of the time, but I’m sure he’s still alive.’

Callian
glared coldly ahead but did not reply. His fists were clenched at his sides.

Milgorry glared at him.
‘You don’t agree?’

Everyone else was now standing a little way away uneasily watching the warrior and the
guardian. Timbul walked over and placed his hand on Callian’s shoulder and the Guardian General felt his anger draining away. He sighed heavily. ‘I know he’s alive too, Mil.’ He turned to look at the circle of distressed faces. ‘I’m sorry, I just...you didn’t see...well Larund did but-’ He sighed heavily. ‘If Kelian survives what they’re doing to him it will be a miracle. And I doubt Larund even saw the half of it before he got too far away.’

W
hen they reached the hut where Kelian’s torture had begun in earnest, the evidence of Larund’s handiwork was everywhere. To Larund’s grim satisfaction, there were three dead bodies on the ground and there was vomit everywhere, and much of the vomit contained blood. He could vividly remember what had happened, and as he didn’t trouble to hide his mind, the guardians and the free warriors also knew what had happened. Callian walked around the hut several times, studying the walls and the utensils and taking a cautious but interested sniff at the old stew pot which had fallen onto the floor spilling the remainder of its contents, and then he moved outside and checked that each of the bodies was indeed dead. His eyes fell upon a patch of ice that looked dirtied, and he recognized it from what he had seen in Larund’s mind as the place where Kelian had laid on the ice. He bent forward to take a closer look then he fell to his knees in abject horror, his mouth opening and his heart imploding with rage and despair. His breath came in quiet gasps as he failed to contain the pain and shock of what he knew had happened. Timbul and Araas rushed to his side and they too fell to the ice and knelt staring at the horrifying sight. Milgorry’s attention was caught by the waves of fury emanating from them and he walked to Callian’s side and crouched beside him. He drew breath sharply as he saw what the three guardians were staring at. Covered in blood and frosted with ice, were the severed tips of three fingers.

‘
Keep him away!’ Milgorry growled as Dale walked curiously towards them. Eibhear grabbed him by the arm and pulled him backwards, feeling appalled but not surprised by what he saw in Milgorry’s mind.

‘
What is it?’ asked Dale. He didn’t struggle, but trusted that Milgorry would have a good reason for not wanting him to see what they were doing.

Callian
reached out to pick up the three finger tips then withdrew his hand sharply. He clenched his teeth, closed his eyes and breathed slowly in an effort to control the pain of failure pulsing through his entire being. Neither Timbul nor Araas moved, and Milgorry could feel similar emotions coming from each of them. He picked up the finger tips and walked away. He went some distance before he found a deep crevice and then he dropped them into the crack before returning to Callian. The three guardians were kneeling exactly where he’d left them, excepting that now Eibhear, Ben, Rudiger and Rezon had joined them and were standing around with grim expressions. Dale and Leslie stood aside, looking extremely anxious. Larund leaned against the wall of the hut, feeling guilty for his failed attempt to take Kelian away from the camp.

Milgorry
walked across the ice. He could see bloodied boot marks leading away across the ice and he wondered if the fallen had been too ill to even bother to hide their tracks. He found the sight disturbing, not that the footprints were bloody, but that they were visible. He followed the footprints for a short distance then walked back to Dale.

‘
If you had just abducted the King of Alkira and tortured him, would you leave a trail of your bloody footprints across the ice announcing where you were going? I mean everyone would assume you were heading home, but it’s not in the nature of my people to make it so easy for someone to follow them.’

Dale said nothing
, wondering why they had tortured Kelian and feeling miserable and distressed that he had not been able to stop this happening.

‘
You know, I’ve had a funny feeling about this since we left Starly Forest,’ Milgorry continued. ‘They moved
too
fast, like they knew Callian was on their tail and if they hesitated they’d have to face him, yet they left blindingly obvious trails through Emerald. Dale?’

‘
We need to move on, Mil. We can’t stay here.’

‘
Don’t avoid the question.’

‘
If you are wondering if I believe they are deliberately leading us into Nyinaku; then yes, I do believe that. I think Nandul’s up to something, and he wants to drag the guardians into Nyinaku. I don’t know why, but I’m certain he’s using Kelian as bait. It makes little difference. We have to go. How could we not go after Kelian?’

Milgorry gave a snarl of fury and turned on Larund who jumped away from the wall of the hut with a look of fright as Milgorry leapt towards him. A split second later Milgorry lifted Larund from the ground with one hand and flung him against the
door of the hut with a roar of rage.

‘
You knew, you bastard, didn’t you!’ he growled. ‘You knew all along they meant for us to follow them, you stinking traitor!’

‘
Mil! Stop!’ Callian’s shout fell on deaf ears as once again Milgorry picked Larund up by the front of his tunic.

‘
No! I-’ Larund’s words were cut off as Milgorry smashed him against the door. The door behind him splintered and he went flying backwards into the hut. Milgorry snatched up a piece of the broken door and swung it towards Larund’s head. Larund ducked far too late and it caught him on the side of the cheek, sending him reeling. Milgorry followed him across the room and a knife seemed to materialize in his hand.

‘
Mil!’ Callian shouted as he sprinted across the ice and flung himself into the hut. He grabbed Milgorry by the arm and the back of his shirt and threw the warrior bodily towards the doorway. What little remained of the door was smashed from its hinges as Milgorry’s body slammed into it and went sailing out onto the ice. He crunched to the ground, tumbled over and came to a crouch, with knife still in hand and looking murderously at Callian who was now standing over him glaring furiously.

‘
If you move, I’ll snap your spine,’ Callian whispered viciously. ‘Go on...try me.’

Milgorry gave a hiss of anger as he felt the muscle
s in his back contract. He didn’t move and Callian didn’t look away.

‘
Araas, get Larund and make sure nothing’s broken and if he’s broken, fix him.’ Araas disappeared into the hut. ‘Now answer me! Have you completely lost your mind?’

‘
He must have known what they were doing! He must have known Nandul was luring us back into Nyinaku! You saw what they did to Kelian! I swear I’ll return the bastard-’

‘
No you won’t!’ Callian cried angrily. ‘I picked through his mind with the zeal of a starving chicken and I missed nothing! I searched his thoughts so deeply that for a while I wondered if I’d damaged him. But it was necessary. No. He knew they were after Kelian and that Kelian is being taken to Nandul, but he had no idea Nandul is trying to make us follow. Or that Kelian is being used as bait.’

Milgorry
rolled from his crouch to his knees. With deliberate care, he slid his knife back into its sheath. He stared down at the ice as a feeling of shame came over him.

‘
Mil, we’re all a bit edgy,’ Callian began but Timbul’s sarcastic snort cut him off.

‘
Are you joking, Callian?’ he said, lifting his hands questioningly. ‘I think that reaction was a little more than ‘edgy’.’

‘
Funnily enough, I think for Mil it was probably closer to edgy than to angry. I don’t look forward to the day he gets really cross.’

‘
This is coming from someone who’s just yearning to snap my spine.’ Milgorry shuddered slightly. ‘Can you stop doing that?’

Callian
gave him one last glare and then blinked and relaxed. Milgorry felt the muscles in his back gradually loosen and he slowly stood.

‘
Larund?’ said Milgorry cautiously, without turning to where the warrior stood shakily beside Araas.

‘
Face me,’ Larund ordered. Milgorry turned around, feeling more than a little guilty.

‘
If you want to scrutinize my thoughts I’ll not object. Even I’ll admit no-one seems to have difficulty doing that to me. But find out the truth before you return me Mil.’

‘
I’m sorry.’

‘
That’s not enough.’

‘
What do you want? Oh.’ Milgorry sighed as he caught Larund’s angry thoughts. ‘You have the right.’

Larund drew back his fist, and Milgorry flinched, waiting for the blow to come. Larund lowered his fist. He looked warily at Milgorry for a few more seconds, then his face reddened and he turned away. He walked back to the little hut and leaned against the wall then slid down until he was sitting with his back against the wall. He cross his arms and rested them on his knees, then leaned his head on his forearms.

Milgorry turned to Callian in confusion. ‘What just happened? I thought he was going to hit me. He certainly wanted to.’

‘
I guess he changed his mind.’

‘
Why?’

‘
He’s far too intelligent to be deceived into thinking that hitting
you
would solve anything,’ said Callian. ‘And he’s entirely terrified of you,’ he added quietly. ‘He thinks if he hits you he’s going to look pathetic after what you did to
him
. He’s not a fighter and he feels...inferior.’

Milgorry
’s mouth opened and then closed again. ‘Well that makes me feel worse than I would have done if he’d beaten the life out of me in vengeance.’ He looked shrewdly at Larund. ‘He knew that too, didn’t he Callian?’

‘
Definitely, but don’t be fooled. He’s a very intelligent man, but his fear of you is not an act. He’s managed to survive this long purely by brains and courage. He’s just scared because he knows if it comes to a physical fight with any other warrior, he doesn’t stand a chance.’

‘
And you’re absolutely certain he’s not a traitor - please don’t snap my spine for asking again - I just need to know. I need to be absolutely sure.’