Deke Brolin Rhol (26 page)

Immediate
ly Kaelyn yelled to the Lealians. “Defense! Return to defensive tactics!”

There was no
hesitation. It made the Lealians sick to think they could be responsible for the death of another.

“Issa please let the Pegapi…….”

“They have already been instructed,” Issa said watching the Pegapires swoop in leaving in their wake one Lealian after another standing there as if frozen in time. In just over an hour the Nightstalkers all stood there, silent.

Kaelyn looked at them with tears welling up in her eyes. They were slowly losing this battle. Solharn had returned and she was now at a loss for what to do.

“Palto can restore them Kaelyn. It was the only way to contain the Nightstalkers without killing them. You made the right decision,” Issa reassured her.

“Yes, but where is Palto? Where are Oisin and Jayden?
”

“I am right here Kaelyn.”

Kaelyn turned to see Oisin standing behind her. “Oisin, you live! You are here. Where did you come from?”

“Jayden and I were caught in a fight with Solharn’s camp while making our way here. Orulla was able to pull me to safety just in time. I had her get a message
to Issa about the Nightstalkers.”

“But how did you know?”

“It is a long story, but basically I knew through Jayden.”

“Jayden is with you? Where is he Oisin?” Kaelyn asked excitedly. She suddenly felt a weight being lifted from her.

Oisin looked toward Orulla whom he had sent to see if Jayden had somehow made it back to the camp. Orulla just shook her head telling him that he had not.

“He was lost in battle.”

Hearing this, Kaelyn turned and slowly walked away, dragging her sword behind her. Oisin followed.

“Kaelyn!” he shouted. “He was my leader too
, and more importantly he was my friend. He once said that you might be the one to replace him should he die. Well, that time has come! Do not walk away defeated.”

“We need him, Oisin. I am not a leader.”

“Jayden thought you were and that is good enough for me.”

“But not for me,
” Kaelyn responded.

“Then for who, Kaelyn? You have been leading our people since you left Jayden in the tunnel. We have not lost yet!” Oisin yelled.

“I cannot make life and death decisions any longer Oisin. It is not in me!” Kaelyn said loudly.

“There cannot be life without death, Kaelyn and it is not you who decides either. You are a leader. These people follow you because they want to, because they want to f
ight for their world. It is they who choose the path of their life and they already know that death will eventually come no matter what path they take. They are simply looking for you to guide them down the best one.”

“He is right, Kaelyn. We must lead like we have been
doing. Palto chose us to be together for a reason. He knew we were capable of succeeding even if we had to do so without him and Jayden,” Issa said.   

Kaelyn knew they were right. She could not come this far just to abando
n the cause because of her insecurities.

“Enough!” Oisin shouted
. “Solharn’s armies move toward us as I speak and there is much you need to know before you decide on what strategy we will take.”

Oisin’s outburst brought everybody back to the reality they currently faced.
The three walked to the edge of the cliff, out of earshot of anyone else. Oisin told them everything he knew about Solace, the death of Kiran, Solharn’s camp, about Deke, Deo and Mary and about Palto and Phanthus. He saved the knowledge that there was a traitor amongst them for last, and knew instantly it was neither Issa nor Kaelyn. The anger on their faces told him all he needed to know.

The remaining Nightstalker
s had finally found their way back to the camps. Kaelyn was elated to see that they were safe. Toltad was happy to see her as well but had mixed feelings when he found his men, the unfortunate warriors that had not escaped Solharn’s camp, were mere statues under a Pegapire’s trance. Kaelyn explained to him the circumstances behind her order, but he did not want to believe that his men would ever turn against their own. After a lengthy standoff between the two, Oisin intervened and became the voice of reason. He   explained to Toltad what Jayden had seen.

Toltad insisted that the hypnotized warriors be treated with the utmost respect
, and that they be safeguarded at all times. However, there was no need for him to insist, Kaelyn had already made these arrangements. Two Pegapires and two Lealians would stay with them at all times.

Toltad was a little embarrassed when he realized
that Kaelyn now led the Lealians. He was unaware that Jayden had not escaped Solharn’s armies. He apologized for his tone with her but there was no need. Kaelyn understood his loyalty toward his men.

“Warriors
of Rhol, Lealians and Pegapires alike, we are going to move on Solace. Phanthus holds our people captive inside the Sacred Realm by blockading the entrance and breathing fire down the tunnel. Phanthus is perhaps our most fearsome enemy aside from Solharn. This will not be an easy battle but it is one we must win if our quest is to be successful. Join together and gather as many weapons as you can carry. We fight Phanthus today, and if it goes as I expect, Solharn will meet our blades and arrows tomorrow.”

Oisin was pleased to see that Kaelyn had her confidence back. She had just ignited the entire brigade with a twenty second speech while sitting poised on top of Issa. Although he could
not hear Issa, he had no doubt that she, too, was driving home the importance of this battle to the Pegapires.

Duffy could see the light beaming into the tunnel from above. He was almost there. His arms were so tired from the climb it felt like they could fall off at any moment. He had not taken a break for nearly two hours. Nothing could stop him now. Several minutes later his hand reached out of the tunnel, followed by the other. He had made it. Using his last bit of strength, he hoisted his body up and over the crest of the opening. 

Only his legs remained in the passageway when the ground shook beneath him
, causing him to lose his grip, and slide helplessly back into the hole that had defeated him ten years ago. Not this time, Duffy thought, as he grasped at vine after vine. He finally managed to grab onto one and slow his descent. Duffy tightened his grip. The leaves slapped his face as they were torn from the vine. Finally, he came to a stop. His hands were bleeding from where the vine had sliced into them, but that would not deter him. He began to climb back up the vine which now resembled a rope. He had more strength than ever now. Nothing would deny him the chance to avenge his family.

Moments later he stood on the mountain looking at what was transpiring in the sky
, but more importantly, what was lying on the ground just feet from him. It must have been what had caused the ground to shake. It was Preta, lying motionless on the grass and bleeding profusely from her wing. Duffy ran toward her hoping he was not too late to help.

When he got to her side she was conscious but in a daze
. “Preta, get up! You must move,” Duffy screamed as he shook her.

Preta managed to get to her feet but was too shaky to make it any distance. Duffy could only think of one way to get her to safety. He would have to get her to the passage which they had just struggled to get out of.
It would not be easy for her to maneuver down the hole, but he had survived the fall ten years ago so she stood a fighting chance. It was her only hope.

He walked alongside Preta and guided her toward the hole. They were halfway there when he realized they would not make it. Phanthus had seen the movement and was advancing on them. Palto and Solko were doing everything they could to change the dragon’s course but it was not working.

If he only had his Cortuc he would be able to do something. He struggled to remember that fateful night ten years ago. What had he done with it when he woke up and ran to find his family? He had not had it when he fell into the hole. Leaving Preta he ran toward the area where the Cawlaway had attacked him and his family. He soon saw the bones Palto had described. They lay scattered around the ground. He struggled to control the pain that he felt coursing through his body as his eyes scoured the ground for the Cortuc.

The Cortuc was the
Brawltug’s most cherished possession. There were so few remaining, that only one was entrusted to each Brawltug family. The Cortuc was given to the eldest male in each clan. It was a formidable weapon used for both attack and defence. It resembled a staff of sorts, measuring about one inch in diameter and six feet in length, and was said to have been forged from stone obtained from the very core of Rhol. A square piece of metal that resembled pewter adorned one end of the staff, and a round metal piece the other. The round end was used to attack, the square to defend.

The Cortuc used the energy of Rhol as its main source of power
. The energy came from the ground itself. When the square end was placed on the ground, the round end would shoot currents of electricity, much like a miniature lightning bolt, in the direction in which it was pointed. When the round end was placed on the ground, the square end would produce an electrical shield that was nearly impossible to penetrate. The Cortuc was useless in the hands of anyone other than the Brawltug who possessed it.

If it was taken or stolen from a Brawltug
, it would become nothing more than a fancy walking stick. This was one of the reasons the Cortuc had become so rare an item. Greed had often led to the Cortuc being obtained in devious ways which would quite literally destroy its powers. The second reason for its rarity was that only the Brawltug that possessed the Cortuc could pass it on. The passing of the Cortuc involved a simple ritual, but if it was not followed exactly, the Cortuc would not retain its powers. In the ritual passing, both Brawltug would hold the Cortuc while its owner gave one simple chant “haf broinko pe broinko” which simply meant “from brother to brother.” Many Brawltug died in the wars of Rhol before they could perform the ritual. As a result, many more Cortuc’s became obsolete. 

No one really knows how the Brawltug obtained the stone from the core of Rhol
, nor how they came to develop it into such a useful weapon. If they did, they were not saying. Either way Duffy was one of the few Brawltug that still possessed a Cortuc or at least he had a decade ago.

Duffy stopped suddenly in his tracks. He became overwhelmed with a feeling of guilt and
regret. Tears rolled down his weathered cheeks leaving a noticeable line as they rinsed away the grime that covered his face, before disappearing into his tangled beard.  He was staring at a large rock. It was the rock he had used to keep watch over his family that fateful night. Over the past ten years he had convinced himself that the story he had told Palto was the truth, but it wasn’t. Not completely. The rock reminded him of the one little piece of the story that his mind had slightly changed in order to protect him from the guilt and torment of the actual event. But the rock, the rock brought the true memory flooding back to him.

He had not switched watches with his brother that night. He had fallen asleep on top of that very rock and his family
had been killed because of him, because he fell asleep when he should have been keeping a close vigil.

He was aw
akened by the screams of his family as the Cawlaway attacked them. The memory haunted him as he recalled the horrific event.

He had run toward them in a panic. He was the eldest in the family and he alone possessed the Cortuc that could have saved them from the vicious attack, but in his haste he had forgotten it atop the rock. He had stood there helplessly watching his family being ripped to shreds.

Grabbing his hatchet, he ran toward them. In a desperate bid to save them, he lunged at the Cawlaway, but he missed his mark and stumbled to the ground. The Cawlaway turned on him digging one of its claws into the side of his face. The weight of the Cawlaway on top of him must have caused the ground underneath him to crumble. The Cawlaway flew up and away as Duffy fell through the hole. Perhaps it was fate. Had everything not transpired exactly the way it had, he would have died along with his family. Right now, at this moment he wished he had.

“Duffy. Are you there?”

He looked back to see Preta wobbling around aimlessly, still dazed from the fall she took. Phanthus was almost upon her. Duffy ran to the rock. He had not saved his family, but he could save Preta. He climbed to the top of the boulder as if it was a mere pebble in his way, and found what he had been searching for. Lying on top of the rock, exactly where he had left it ten years ago, was the Cortuc. Grabbing it, he leapt down and ran toward Preta.

Ω

Solko realized now that his sister was going to die. He told her one last time that he loved her, while watching the flames exiting the dragon’s mouth. He hoped she was close enough that she would receive his message, and his apology for not protecting her as he should have.

Seconds later he could no longer see her for the
inferno that surrounded her. He watched the grass turn from green to black as the blaze lit the ground on fire for hundreds of yards around where he had last seen her.