CHAPTER NINE
“Don’t move,” said Ran, slowly drawing his eyes across the multitude of beasts before him.
He heard Jysal snicker. “What on earth gave you the impression I had any intention of moving?”
“Fair point,” said Ran. He’d foolishly resheathed his sword after dispatching the first beast. He wished he had it back in his hands now. But the movement of drawing the blade would no doubt spur the beasts to attack them. And Ran didn’t want to draw them into that sort of action. The odds were not good they’d survive.
But the beasts seemed uninterested in attacking right away. What were they up to? They hemmed Ran and Jysal in on either side and then straddled the game trail behind them. In front of him, Ran could still see the game trail, and it was free of any of the beasts. He thought back to what he’d been pondering: the obviousness of the game trail. It had led them here to this point before Ran had considered that it could be used to ambush them very easily. And now, upon reaching that conclusion and resolving to go off into the bush, the beasts had shown up.
Shepherds.
Ran almost grinned at the realization. It was already too late to do anything about it.
“Jysal.”
“Yes.”
“They’re not going to attack us if we stay on the game trail.”
“How do you know?”
“Think about it,” said Ran. “They only showed up when we thought about going off the trail on our own. They’re here to make sure that we don’t leave the trail and keep going forward.” He pointed behind them. “See? We can’t go back. And either side of the trail is hemmed in.”
“You really think so?”
“I’m betting our lives on it, apparently.” Ran put his hand on his sword, but none of the beasts moved. Their eyes never left Ran, however. Ran could have pushed the issue, but he chose not to. Better to let them think he was being compliant for now. That way, when the time came to escape, they’d be surprised.
He hoped.
“We’re going to keep walking on the trail. Do you understand?”
“We don’t appear to have much choice in the matter.”
“Not unless we want to end up as dinner for these guys,” said Ran. “Otherwise, no, we don’t.”
He felt Jysal’s soft touch on his back. “I trust you, Ran. Remember that.”
He nodded. “All right then. Let’s keep moving.”
Ran might not have drawn his sword, but he kept his left hand on the scabbard as they walked. Ahead of him, the game trail climbed slowly through a copse of trees that shrouded the area ahead in deep shadow. Ran frowned. Not being able to see clearly made him wonder what might be waiting for them. He slowed down and glanced back again at Jysal. “Can’t see ahead. It’s dark under those trees.”
But even as he said it, Ran heard the unmistakable growl of beasts from all around them. Jysal’s eyes widened, and she looked at Ran. “I don’t think they like you slowing down. They’ve been keeping pace with us as we walked, and now you’re not moving.”
Ran frowned. “I don’t like walking into an area like this.”
“As you said before, we don’t seem to have a say.”
Around them, the growling continued. Ran saw the hungry eyes staring him down, daring him to try to make a move. Whatever they were, the beasts seemed supremely confident of their ability to kill Ran and Jysal without too much effort. Ran sighed and then motioned for Jysal. “All right then.” He turned and walked into the tunnel of trees.
Under here, it was significantly cooler. And the farther they traveled, the colder the air got. The thick humidity they’d experienced for the majority of their hike through the swamp and forest was now gone. In its place, Ran could see his breath as he exhaled. The shadows all around them made seeing clearly a difficult task. But Ran knew enough to use his peripheral vision instead of trying to look directly at something. As he did, he saw shapes and movement. But he resolved to keep his head down and keep moving ahead. The memory of the growling beasts still filled his head.
The ground continued to slope upward, forcing Ran to bend slightly forward and put the strain of exertion on to his thigh muscles. Behind him, he could hear Jysal breathing hard. She was clearly struggling to keep up. He looked back, but she only gave him a close-mouthed smile and pointed for him to keep going. One thing was certain: Jysal might have the appearance of a beautiful woman, but she was pretty tough as well. The hike would have taken a lot of sturdier warriors down. But Jysal was still gutting it out. Ran respected her for that.
The air lightened around them as they plodded up the hill. On either side, the trees still loomed close, their twisted, gnarled trunks a slate gray wall. But ahead, the shadows retreated. Ran could see things now.
He stopped.
Waited.
But no growls chased him.
Ran smiled and then turned as Jysal stumbled into him. “Why did you stop?”
“They’re gone.”
“What?”
“The beasts. They’ve left us.”
Jysal took a big gulp of air into her lungs and then turned, looking around, but then looked back at Ran. “When did they vanish? I could have sworn they were with us every step of the way.”
“I think that was their job,” said Ran. “To make sure we didn’t stray from the path and to make sure that we entered that tunnel of foliage.”
“But why? What was the point? And why did the first one attack us?”
Ran turned back and stepped forward. He waved Jysal closer to him. “Perhaps it thought we were easy prey, and once we killed the leader, the rest came to herd us.”
“Herd us where?”
“There,” Ran replied pointing to the west.
In front of them, the ground broke into an open plain devoid of any sort of cover for hundreds of yards in every direction. As Ran scanned the ground, he could see no place where they could hide and observe the massive stone fortress resting in the center of the plain.
It might have been built from giant stone bricks, but from the distance they stood, it looked as if it had been vomited straight up out of the earth in some sort of molten geyser before cooling to a dull, lifeless gray appearance. Spires jutted toward the sky, which had grown as gray as the fortress. Arrow slits pockmarked the walls, and the ramparts looked more like rows of serrated teeth than they did proper fortifications.
“It’s terribly ugly,” said Jysal. “Who would have created such a terrible castle?”
“Kan-Gul,” said Ran simply. “I think we’ve arrived at his home.” He shivered unintentionally as a cold breeze blew over them.
“And what happened to the warm air?” asked Jysal. “It’s gone frightfully cold.”
Ran set his jaw. The answer was as obvious as everything else that had happened to them since they’d been cast ashore in this horrible place. “Sorcery.” He spat on the ground.
“You don’t like magic practitioners?”
Ran edged his sword an inch out of its scabbard. Just being in this place reminded him of another sorcerer he’d dealt with recently. “Their quest for power has a tendency to corrupt their souls. And they forget their place in the universe, seeking instead to dominate all those they consider beneath them.”
“Not all sorcerers are like that,” said Jysal quietly. “Some of them help people.”
Ran’s frown deepened. “I have yet to see any evidence of such things. The sorcerers I have known have all been cruel men, best put to the sword before their evil ways could fully manifest.”
“Would you see all sorcerers put to death so readily?”
Ran eyed her. “Until such time as I see proof that not all magic users are evil, yes.”
Jysal glared at Ran. “Well, perhaps you shouldn’t make such sweeping generalizations. You might be surprised to learn that there are good sorcerers in this world. And you might also be surprised to learn that the good sorcerers are just as disgusted with the evil ones as you are.” She pushed past Ran and stepped out onto the plain.
Ran grabbed at her arm, but she twisted away and walked on.
“Jysal, wait,” said Ran. “We don’t know what’s out there. They could have spotters looking at us right now.”
“I don’t really much care,” said Jysal. “The company I currently keep isn’t exactly up to my standards.”
Ran frowned. She’d obviously taken great offense at his opinion of sorcery. But that was his experience so far. He didn’t think it was entirely fair that she judge him on it, considering he didn’t know all there was to know about the field of magic.
Jysal strode on across the plain and then abruptly stopped. She raised her right hand and held it palm out toward the fortress. Ran heard her chanting something under her breath, a type of singsong series of words he could not understand. After a moment, Jysal’s body swayed slightly, and he thought she might fall to the ground. But she managed to stay upright and then finally turned to stare at Ran.
“Our friends are inside.”
Ran cocked an eyebrow. “And just how do you know that?”
Jysal sighed. “You know, for a warrior as adept as you are, you certainly seem to lack an ability to grasp the obvious.”
“Now you’re insulting me?”
Jysal lowered her hand and shook her head. “I am a sorceress.”
Ran felt like she’d punched him in the gut. He swallowed. “Oh. Sorry about what I said back there. It’s just that I’ve only known—”
Jysal’s hand came back up. “Forget about making excuses. You said what you said.” She took a breath. “And honestly, it wasn’t fair of me to act like that. In truth, I’m not a full-fledged sorceress yet. That’s what the temple is for. I’ll get my full training there. That’s why Neviah was accompanying me. It’s her job to make sure I make it to the Temple for my education.”
“I had no idea.”
Jysal smirked. “Obviously.”
“So . . . what can you do?”
“What can I do?”
“Yes, what sorts of spells or incantations are you able to do?”
“Didn’t you just hear me? I’m going to school at the temple to learn how to do that sort of thing. For now, my power is just raw and untempered. I don’t have any real control over it.”
Ran pointed at the castle. “But you just told me that you could somehow tell our friends are inside there.”
“They are.”
“Yes, but how do you know? Exactly, I mean.”
Jysal shrugged. “It’s a basic technique I’ve been able to do since I was a very young girl. I can close my eyes and see things. That’s really all it is.”
“And what about that spell you just muttered while you were doing it? What was that all about?”
Jysal smiled. “Oh, that.”
“Yes, that.”
“That was me making you feel bad while I stood there saying a bunch of nonsense.”
“That was nonsense?”
Jysal nodded. “Total gibberish. I don’t have any idea what those words meant.”
“And the upraised hand?”
Jysal laughed now. “Did you like that part? Was it effective?”
“Very.”
Jysal sighed. “Well, that was fun. But really, I can see our friends in my mind’s eye. I’m confident they’re in there.”
“You’re sure about that? I’ve often heard that desires and ego can sometimes interfere with what we think we see or feel.”
Jysal eyed him. “Have you really, now? That’s not the sort of thing I’d expect a warrior of common background to know much about.”
Ran said nothing.
Jysal grinned after a moment. “Still not going to share it with me, hmm? Very well.” She nodded. “But you’re correct about our personal whims sometimes impacting what we can sense. Those who are able to acknowledge and then subjugate their ego will find their vision is truer than it would be otherwise. That’s one of the hardest things to attain, mind you, but it can be done.”
“And you’ve done that, have you?”
“I have,” said Jysal. “Not that it was easy. It was, in some ways, the most difficult thing I’d ever attempted while I was growing up. But eventually, I found the clarity that I sought.”
Ran squatted by the ground and ran his hand over the dirt. Particles of hard, packed earth came away in his hand. He peered at the castle, and his eyes went to the walls themselves, trying to spot a weak point he could exploit to somehow gain entrance.
He saw nothing.
The single portcullis of thick, spiked iron barred their way. Otherwise, the shortest distance from the ground to an arrow slit was at least forty feet. He would be hard-pressed to find a way in. And from this distance, the walls themselves seemed almost marble smooth. He couldn’t free-climb that without risking injury, perhaps death if he fell from too great a height. If he died, what good would he be to his friends trapped inside?
“It looks quite impressive,” said Jysal.
“It is,” agreed Ran.
“Can you find a way inside it?”
He glanced at her. She only smiled at him.
Ran shook his head. “Not from this vantage point. As far as I can tell, it’s largely impenetrable.” His teachers had always stressed that even the most impregnable fortresses still had weaknesses. But he didn’t want to reveal that to Jysal. At least not yet.
“There’s got to be some way inside,” said Jysal. “But I suppose it’s a matter of getting up close and seeing for ourselves, eh?”
“We’ve already been seen,” said Ran. “There’s not much point in trying to hide and observe the structure in secret. They know all too well that we’re out here.”
“Who does?”
“Them,” said Ran, pointing ahead at the castle. And even as Jysal turned to look, he could see that if the beasts had seemed wholly unnatural, the warriors striding toward them across the plain seemed even more so. But one thing seemed certain: Ran and Jysal were going inside the castle.