The Old Ways (28 page)

“Flattered,” Jerico said, and he was, though he also felt uncomfortable. All that adulation...did Jerek forget they actually lost that fight? “How far is the tunnel?”

“Not far,” Jerek said, guiding him through a minor valley between two hills. They all looked the same to him, and the castle was growing disturbingly far away. It certainly explained why no one had located the entrance like the others. His guide glanced back, then swore.

“Get down,” he said, grabbing Jerico’s shoulder. The two fell to their bellies. Jerico shifted about so he could look. Two men on horses rode perpendicular to their path, torches held aloft. They looked like strange phantoms, just black shapes outlined by fire.

“Can they track us?” Jerico asked.

“Depends on how good they are,” Jerek whispered. “It’s dark, but you’re not too light on your feet.”

“It’s the armor.”

“If you say so.”

Jerico’s hand drifted to the hilt of his mace for reassurance.

“Don’t worry too much if we’re spotted,” he said. “Two against me? They’d need a lot more men.”

“Like that many?” Jerek asked, pointing. Seven more riders joined with them, and they crisscrossed the spaces between the hills.

“Yeah, that’d do it.”

“Looks like Sebastian’s men remember you as well as I do,” Jerek said, getting to his feet. He kept his back hunched and his body low. “We stay here, they’ll find us eventually. Follow me, and for the love of the gods, don’t put so much weight on your heels when you step.”

“You an elven scoutmaster now?” Jerico grumbled, doing his best to stay low and follow the man. Jerek tapped the slender bow slung over his shoulder.

“Best hunter Arthur’s ever known. Said so himself. Now hurry!”

They rushed on, and this time Jerico joined Jerek in taking worried glances backward. But true to his word, they were not far, though Jerico could hardly believe it when they arrived.

“Here we go,” Jerek said, stopping at a strange circle of yellow mayflowers.

“Where’s the tunnel?”

Jerek gave him an amused grin.

“Right here,” he said, standing in the flowers’ center. “
By Karak’s bearded ghost!
”

The man dropped right through the ground and vanished. Jerico blinked and lifted an eyebrow.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he said. He stepped into the flowers and stomped a few times. No give. Nothing loose. Sighing, he shook his head and repeated the words, foolish as they were.

“By Karak’s bearded ghost?”

He went from standing on grass to air, and he dropped with a surprised yelp. Dirt passed over his eyes, and then he was in pure darkness. His feet hit ground, and the landing jarred his knees. He started to fall, then his body halted as it struck stone. A thousand curses ran through his mind, and he wanted to yell all of them.

“What was that?” he asked instead.

“Arthur had all our tunnels dug and worked by us,” Jerek said, his voice a few feet ahead of him. “All but this one.”

Jerico pulled his shield off his back. At his touch it lit up, revealing his surroundings. He and Jerek were in a cramped space cut out of dirt and stone. Before them was a small tunnel, so long that his light could not reach its end. A foot above his head were planks of wood, and he pressed against them with his hand, still surprised by their solidity.

“Magic?” he asked.

“Believe so. This was back when he and his brother first had their fallout. Brought a wizard all the way over from Veldaren, if you’d believe it, some queer looking man in yellow. Arthur wanted someone not associated with the council.”

“The activation phrase?”

Jerek shrugged.

“Wizard’s idea. Most of the other tunnels have been found, but not this one.” He frowned. “Going to be a tight fit with all that armor.”

“I’m not taking it off.”

“You might get stuck.”

Jerico looked at the cramped tunnel ahead. While he could currently stand, going on ahead would involve crawling on his hands and knees. He thought about what it might be like to be stuck in such a claustrophobic space.

“I’ll manage,” he said, trying not to sound worried. He was the hero of the Gulch, after all. Hate to disappoint the hunter.

Jerek shrugged, then fell to his hands and knees and began crawling. Jerico swallowed, took a deep breath, then wondered where the air was coming from. Reminding himself others had used the tunnel plenty of times before, he slung his shield onto his back, returning them to darkness. Using his hands to feel ahead, he crawled into the tunnel after Jerek.

His armor scratched and creaked, and he didn’t want to imagine the damage he was doing to it. Probably take all day to bang out and polish the dents. In the tight space, the noise was tremendous.

“Hey, Jerek?”

“Yeah?”

He stopped a moment to catch his breath.

“Can anyone hear us above ground?”

“Normally I’d say no, but damn you’re making a ruckus.”

Jerico laughed.

“Let’s hope they have no shovels, then.”

Progress was slow, one hand after the other. So far there seemed to be no turns, but he feared banging his head against one when they reached it. The tunnel had a very steady slope downward, which helped a little. Often he had to shift his weight one way or the other as a piece of his armor or an edge of his shield caught a rock. The ground itself was wet and cold, which explained Jerek’s appearance when they had first met. As the minutes wore on, Jerico felt the weight of the earth above him growing more present in his mind, and it seemed he could not catch his breath.

“One of these days,” he muttered. “One of these days, I’m going to enter your lord’s castle through the front door, just to say I did.”

“What’s that?” Jerek called out. His voice was disturbingly far away, and Jerico pushed himself along faster.

“I asked how long does it normally take to get to the castle?”

“An hour, but at your rate, I’m thinking three.”

Jerico pressed his forehead against the back of his hands as he took another deep breath.

“It would’ve been easier to fight my way through Sebastian’s army. More exciting, too.”

Jerek’s laughter echoed from up ahead, urging Jerico on. After what felt like an eternity, his fingers brushed against the first turn. Following it, his stomach lurched as the path downward steepened tremendously.

“If you’re covered with enough mud, you can just push yourself down and slide,” Jerek told him, having waited there for his arrival. Jerico jumped at the sound of his voice so close, and was glad the darkness hid the descent.

“I don’t think I’ll be doing much sliding,” he said.

“I think you’ll be surprised.”

He heard the sound of skittering rocks, and then silence. Jerico followed, crawling along. His blood rushed to his head, but movement was certainly easier. He pulled himself along for ten more feet or so, then found himself at an even steeper decline. Deciding to give it a shot, he dug his fingers into the dirt and flung himself forward. The following sensation of speeding down a drop in pitch black was something he never, ever wanted to endure again.

At the bottom he heard steps, and then an arm grabbed his. To his surprise, he was able to stand, and removing his shield, he lit the space up with its light.

“Welcome to the deepest cave,” Jerek said, gesturing. It was about thrice their height, though the stalactites were long enough that Jerico could reach up and brush them with his fingers. The walls, floors, and ceiling were wet, and water dripped constantly from above.

“I thought it’d take an hour,” Jerico said as he glanced behind him, seeing that they’d emerged from a manmade tunnel into the natural cave.

“It will. Never said we’d be crawling the whole way, though.”

Jerico clenched his teeth together.

“There’s many, many things I want to call you right now,” he told his guide, who only laughed.

“Come on,” he said. “And step lightly. The ground is slick, and with all that weight, you might take a nasty tumble.”

Slick floor or not, Jerico was just glad to stand, and have the light of his shield once more. Jerek led the way, and he followed, once more admiring the beauty of the cave. He had no idea whether or not it connected to the others that he and Kaide had used, but it wouldn’t have surprised him. The minutes passed as they made their way carefully through the cave. Many times they encountered sections where the floor had been carved into steps, or passageways had been widened. The ugly marks of pickaxes and hammers ruined the beauty, but at the same time, after his weary crawl, Jerico felt glad to not have to do it again.

At last they reached the end. Above them was a tall ladder, at least twenty feet high, and above that, a trapdoor.

“Guests first,” Jerek said, gesturing.

Jerico put his shield on his back, returning them to darkness. Grabbing the rungs of the ladder, he tested their strength and found them thankfully strong, without an ounce of give. Climbing until his head bumped against the top, he felt against it with a free hand.

“There a latch?” he asked.

“The side closest to you. You’ll find it. Push up.”

Jerico finally did, and when cool, fresh air blew against his face, he felt happy enough to cry. Crawling out, he found himself in the center of Arthur’s courtyard, emerging from a hole. Rubbing his eyes, he looked to his left and saw a bench and realized he and Arthur had sat and talked mere feet from the tunnel exit.

“If a siege ever went sour, this is where Arthur would flee, isn’t it?” he asked as he helped Jerek up.

“That’s the idea,” Jerek said, closing the trapdoor behind him. The top was covered with sod and grass, and Jerek did his best to smooth it out. The two looked at one another, both covered with mud. Jerek gave him a grin.

“I think you look fit to meet a lord, don’t you?”

Jerico pointed at him, his finger an inch from his nose.

“One day,” he said. “Just...one day.”

Jerek smirked, then led him into the castle. He didn’t make it far. Men in armor Jerico had never met before waited in the next room, and they slapped his back and congratulated him. Jerico couldn’t tell if it was for surviving the Green Gulch, or just the travel through the damn tunnel. All of them looked tired, their strength sapped by the controlled rations and constant stress. His presence buoyed them, and Jerico did his best to smile and accept their greeting graciously.

At the door to Arthur’s room, Jerek knocked several times, then stepped aside. As it opened, Jerico knelt in respect and dipped his head. His knee smeared mud across the floor, and a chunk of dirt fell from his red hair and onto the carpet.

“Milord,” Jerico said, grinning up at Arthur’s stunned expression. “I heard you could use an extra shield on your walls, and I’ve come to offer mine.”

Arthur embraced him, either not noticing or not caring that he dirtied his expensive bedrobes and left his hands wet with mud.

“That I could, paladin,” Arthur said. “That I could.”

V
alessa walked through the walls surrounding the Blood Tower to the empty land beyond. The silence was blessed to her. With a sigh, she let her armor and cloak vanish, adopting the image of how she had always been, plain clothes and all. With Cyric remaining in Willshire, along with half his men, she’d assumed his mantle of leadership. Not that the lions didn’t have their say. Kayne and Lilah were always about, patrolling, watching. They spoke little, but when they did, they were obeyed without question.

Night had fallen, and while most guards slept, Valessa would not. She looked to the clear sky and tried to ignore the burning red star shining in the distance, mocking her, always reminding her of her failure, her unfinished mission.

Soft footsteps padded behind her. She looked back, saw one of the lions there. She held back her grimace. Over time she should have grown more comfortable in their presence, but so far she had not. Her nocturnal visitor was Kayne, the male, slightly larger and with a fiery mane about his neck.