The Dark Path (13 page)

"Did that bird just nod to you?" Duncan asked.

"Yes," Gen stated and rode off down the trail following the crow.

"One of the Crow Order's familiars," Thomas said quietly to Duncan.

"Familiar?"

"An animal bonded in a way to a magic user. They can communicate through them among other things," Thomas answered.

Duncan shook his head baffled. All this seemed like one big dream. His hand gently stroked the handle of the great axe he carried. It was soothing and made him feel strong and powerful. He nudged his horse to follow Gen and the party continued on its way.

The party traveled in the hazy morning for a few hours before Gen called a rest to eat lunch. The crow, astonishing Duncan again, flew back to sit on a nearby branch while they ate. Their lunch was quick and no one spoke. There seemed a lull on the party's mood today. Meeka seemed withdrawn and hadn't spoken at all. Gen stared at the nearby crow and tossed it pieces of bread from his lunch. Aaron still hadn't woken completely and took the lunch break to sleep again. Thomas ate while reading his spell book. The group finished eating and quickly resumed their journey. By the time evening was upon them, they saw a great temple in the distance. Duncan stared wide-eyed at the building as it kept growing bigger and bigger as they approached. Their crow companion, at the site of the temple, flew off toward it cawing a farewell. It took them another hour to reach the outer walls of the temple and by then night was almost upon them once more.

The gates to the temple loomed before them. They stood black, ominous, and ancient. Gen dismounted and walked calmly up to the gate. "My name is Gen Hothman." He called aloud. "I have come from the mage Schola to the south. Headmaster Nethaf has sent me and my friends to deliver a message to the elder of your temple." With that said, Gen walked calmly back to his horse and mounted it waiting. After a few moments, the gates swung slowly and silently open. Gen took off without hesitation and the others followed slowly. Duncan was the last to enter and the gates closed with a clang behind him. The sound filled Duncan with fear. He panicked and felt trapped. His hand slipped to the handle of his axe and a peace fell over him. He felt strong and powerful, as if nothing could harm him as long as he held it.

The party traveled along a path between two tall out buildings. Suddenly, a figure dressed in a stark white robe stood before the party. Gen pulled his horse to a stop and dismounted. The figure was short, his head met Gen's chest and his skin was very pale. His eyes were almond shaped and his hair was black and had crow feathers woven into it. Meeka gasped a bit at the site of his ears. They were small and came to points at the top. The man bowed low before them and walked over to the horses. Grabbing the reigns of Gen's horse, he looked back to Gen expectantly. Gen frowned for a moment then turned to the party and motioned for them to dismount. When they did, the man gathered the reigns of the remaining horses and then pointed to the huge temple at the end of the pathway. Then he walked off down a side path leading the horses to the stables.

"What a strange man," Thomas stated. "Why didn't he say anything?"

"This is not like a town or the Schola. People are different here. They devote their lives to study and prayer," Gen responded, then walked off toward the black temple before them.

When they reached the huge obsidian doors, Gen reached up and, using the huge door knocker, knocked three times. He then stepped back calmly and waited. A long moment passed and then the door on the right opened just wide enough for them to enter. Gen strode boldly into the opening and disappeared into the darkness inside. Meeka hesitated a moment then followed. Duncan was last in and the door clicked shut behind him. Once again his hand went to his axe and he felt comforted. The party entered a great hall of obsidian. It was lighted every six feet by torches that burned with a blue fire. Gen didn't seem fazed in the least and he kept walking boldly forward. Meeka lagged behind until she was walking beside Duncan.

"I don't like this place," Meeka whispered to Duncan.

Duncan grunted in agreement and unstrapped his axe from his back. It felt good in his hands and the blue fire of the torches played beautifully off the runes engraved along its head. Meeka stared at the weapon and was filled with a sudden dread. "I hope you won't have to use that." Meeka breathed in a voice barely audible. Then she walked back toward Gen. She reached his side just as he reached another door. This one was a normal sized door and made of dark wood bound with iron. Gen stared straight forward. His eyes looked glazed for a moment then he shivered a bit. He walked up and opened the door. The group followed into a small room with five over sized pillows on the floor. It was well lit with the same blue tinted torches.

"We are to wait here until we are sent for," Gen said as he sat upon one of the pillows.

"How do you know?" Meeka asked uneasily.

"I've been speaking with the elder here."

"What do you mean? We haven't encountered anyone but the strange, short man outside."

"The elf," Gen corrected. "He has been speaking to me mentally. His people are in a time of silence right now and cannot speak. The silence period ends tomorrow. The elder will see us tonight when he is done with his duties."

"Why didn't you tell us that earlier?" Meeka asked him. She didn't like the smug way Gen was acting. She wondered what had gotten into him. Or was she just still paranoid from her dream last night? She shook her head to clear it of those thoughts.

"I didn't want to break the silence these people here have been under for the past four months. It seemed rude. We are allowed to speak, as is the elder, but the followers must not be distracted. The elder comes now," Gen replied. As Gen's last words were finished, the door to the room opened silently. A white robed woman entered the room and closed the door silently behind her.

"I am elder Llynanyn. You may call me Lyn," the woman stated and sat down cross legged on the bare obsidian before the group.

"Excuse me," Gen said awkwardly. "I thought you were a man. I heard a male voice in my head."

Lyn laughed a bit. The sound was nice and lifted the lull that had been over the party. "Oh that. Well you see I'm so used to using a male voice when talking to strangers that come here. Most won't listen to a woman telling them to leave. So I must use the deception. I had forgotten that the spell was still altered when I spoke to you." Her smile remained and her amusement seemed to emanate from her to the rest. Gen felt himself grow happy and smiled himself.

"My name is Gen Hothman, Let me introduce you to my companions," Gen said through his grin.

"This is Meeka Arata." Meeka bowed low. Her face did not smile.

"My good friend, Thomas Aranus." Thomas bowed low, a silly grin across his face.

"My fellow student, Aaron Glormad." Aaron nodded slightly, looking a bit intoxicated.

"Our new companion, Duncan Kerridwin." Duncan bowed his head slightly. His eyes never left the woman's and his knuckles grew white on the handle of his axe.

"A pleasure to meet you all," Lyn said and then turned back to Gen. "You said you had a package for me?"

"Yes. Just a moment." Gen removed his shoulder bag and withdrew the package and letter from it. "Here you are."

"Thank you," Lyn responded. "I hate to end this, but I must get back to my duties and I am sure that you are tired. Rooms have been cleaned for your use. I ask you sleep here tonight and join us in our great ritual tomorrow night." With that said, she got up and quickly left the room. After a few confused moments, the same elf from before entered the room and bowed again to them all. Then he motioned for them to follow.

The group quickly followed the small elf. He led them down a maze of halls till at last they came to their rooms. There were four rooms and the small man opened all the doors and handed them the keys. Then he walked silently down the hall and disappeared around the corner. Gen shrugged his shoulders and grabbing Meeka's hand pulled her into the first room. The room was about twice the size of their rooms back at the Schola and had a bath with strange metal tubes and knobs attached to it. The same type of tubes and knobs adorned the sink as well. The bed was big and looked soft. There was no window and the only light in the room came from a chandelier of the same eerie blue flamed candles that lit the rest of the temple. The walls and floor were made of obsidian and it was highly polished to be a mirror. The effect was amazing and disturbing at the same time. Gen was astonished with the room. Meeka shivered with cold chills and goose bumps.

"I feel uneasy here," Meeka said.

"What’s wrong with it?" Gen asked. Finally noticing that Meeka was shivering. "I'll run us a hot bath. That will warm you up and then you wont feel so bad."

Meeka nodded and sat upon the bed. Gen walked over to the tub and looked in puzzlement at the knob and tube arrangement at the front of it. He turned the knob on the left of the tube and was surprised to see water pour out of the tube. Steam rose from the water and once again Gen was amazed. He filled the tub and then turned the knob back the other way. The water stopped instantly. He turned to ask Meeka what she thought of this amazing invention when he saw that she was staring off into nothing and hadn't even witnessed the event. He walked slowly over to her and waved his hand back and forth in front of her face.

"Are you all right?"

"I'm going to meet my death here," Meeka mumbled, her eyes still unfocused.

Gen shook her shoulders and stared at her. "Come out of it!"

Meeka's eyes focused and she looked at Gen's frightened face. She forced a smile and stood up. Then slowly stripping off her clothes, she walked over and climbed into the tub. Gen shook his head and quickly followed her example. The bath felt wonderful and soon Gen and Meeka were relaxed and laughing. They enjoyed the bath till the water grew too cold. Then they got out and toweled each other dry.

"You are so very beautiful," Gen said and his eyes filled with tears as he looked upon Meeka. She walked over to him and they embraced and kissed. The kiss was very passionate and Gen was taken aback by the fire it held. She pulled him to the bed and they crawled under the sheets. Their kisses grew more and more passionate, and once again, Gen was shocked at Meeka's sudden fire and aggression. She slid on top of Gen and their bodies pressed together made Gen groan in love and want. They had gone pretty far before but had never made love to each other. Gen thought that she had been saving it for their wedding night. He had never pressed her to go farther than she wanted to go. He cleared his mind and returned her passion. He gave himself completely to her. Their love making was pure, passionate, wild, and lasted for hours. Afterwards, Meeka lay sleeping and Gen stared at the blue light dancing upon the obsidian walls. What had happened tonight was running over and over in Gen's mind. Why had she chosen tonight? Why had she not waited? Was he wrong to let her? Had he let her down by not waiting? He loved her with every part of his being. He would do anything for her. He had no doubt that he would never love anyone else. He made up his mind to ask her to marry him when they got back to the Schola. With his mind eased, he fell into a contented sleep and didn't even wake up when Meeka got up and left the room.

Meeka hardly noticed the phantom draft that chilled the hallway outside the bedroom where she and Gen had slept. Her mind raced with visions and questions that promised to drive her mad if they were not reckoned with soon. She was running out of ideas.

She'd had the dream again. She was so sure that peace would find her sleep this night, and it had been soiled by the horrors once more. The only thing that was keeping her sane in this world was her love for Gen, but even that didn't seem to stop her nightmare. She was so tired of waking up with such a fear of being left alone. The emotion was crippling, and Gen was her crutch. Tonight, she had given her whole self to him, hoping that perhaps the dream would finally cease. But to her dismay, it did not. She was thankful that she hadn't disturbed him when she had awakened in terror. She couldn't bear to upset him after the wonderful night they had shared, so she left in silence. She needed to think. Something had to be done.

Slowly, she wandered down the hallway, guided by a torch that flickered at the end of it. The firelight danced dimly against the reflection of the black, stone walls. She had no conscious thought as to where she was going, but she couldn't very well stay put. There were no answers where she was, and that's what she craved. So naturally, she needed to move.

She folded her slender arms tightly across her chest, taking in a deep breath. This was not the first time she'd been awake at night, alone and afraid. Her usual remedy to the matter was to mix a calming herbal tea and let her thoughts drift away from the dream and towards Gen. The mere idea of him was often enough to calm her back into a reasonable sleep. He was her life. She knew she would never love another man for as long as she was alive. Or even in death, she thought. She longed desperately for his embrace at that moment, but knew that she could not run back this time. The cycle needed to be broken once and for all. But the question also remained: How?

XVII

The Summoning

Morning came quietly. Gen woke slowly and reached over to caress Meeka. He woke up suddenly when his hand fell upon the pillow. Looking at the foot of the bed, he saw that her robes were gone. Wearing a frown, Gen climbed out of bed and donned his own robes. He was walking toward the door when he heard a knock. He pulled the door open suddenly, hoping to see Meeka. Thomas stood a bit startled on the other side of the door frame.