Rojuun (37 page)

He flew to the waterfall where the camp had
been, but didn’t see anyone. Vevin turned and glided to the tunnel
leading to Garrrn Cavern. Just before they reached it, he landed.
Then he lowered himself, holding his leg out as a ramp.

Liselle climbed down the leg without needing
to be told. Upon reaching the claw, she stepped down to the ground,
only to have her knees buckle. She fell to the ground before Vevin
could react. A second later, he was in human form, kneeling next to
her. Vevin’s eyes swirled with concern. Liselle tried to stand, but
dizziness overwhelmed her and she blacked out.

Chapter
34

Tathan was lying on his back and couldn’t
see. He tried to reach for his sword, but something was on top of
his body, holding him down. “Unghh . . .”

“It’s alright, Master Tathan. You are safe
now.” Sir Danth’s voice was everywhere, rattling through Tathan’s
head.

“Sword . . . need . . .” Tathan couldn’t be
without the sword. It was a part of him and he needed it to fight
off the danger. He tried to open his eyes, but they were crusty and
stuck together.

“You want your sword?” Sir Danth’s voice
came from just to the right of Tathan. It still rattled in his head
though. “Your sword was recovered and I have kept it near. Here you
are.”

Tathan felt the pressure holding him down
lessen a bit. Then the hilt of his sword was placed in his hand. He
couldn’t lift it, or even do more than weakly squeeze it, but that
was enough. Tathan felt consciousness leave once more.

***

The first thing Tathan felt when
consciousness came back was the sword lying in the crook of his
arm. He tried to move, but every part of his body ached miserably.
A low moan came out of his throat.

“Ahh, there you are, Master Tathan,” Sir
Danth spoke quietly. “Take your time, but it is important that you
wake up,” he said ominously.

Pain shot through his head when Tathan tried
to sit up. His body felt terrible and he wondered if he was even
still alive or if this was some sort of afterlife punishment for
his transgressions. When he tried to open his eyes, he discovered
that something covered them. This experience didn’t seem to be
going well and he was getting cranky about it.

“You were badly injured, Master Tathan. Your
body has received healing, but your senses were damaged and they
are still recovering,” Sir Danth explained. “Here, I will help you
sit up and we will take the bandages off your eyes.” He pulled down
the covers and moved the sword aside for a moment. The knight
lifted under Tathan’s arms until he was in a sitting position,
leaning on pillows against the headboard.

Tathan realized that he was in bed back at
the suite. Sir Danth had been as gentle as an individual in
plate-mail can be. Tathan lifted his hands to remove the bandages
from his eyes. It seemed like his arms had lead weights in them and
it took an enormous effort to raise them.

“Let me help,” the knight said. Tathan felt
the bandages being taken off. Sir Danth didn’t make for a gentle
nurse, but he was doing his best.

Tathan squinted against the glare. He kept
his eyes narrowly open in order to give them time to adjust. The
light gradually dimmed and the pain in his skull settled. Sir Danth
was sitting next to him in a chair, watching him worriedly. The
lights in the room had been turned down as much as possible, but it
was still hard on his eyes.

Alarm ran up his spine as Tathan remembered
the last parts of the battle. “Liselle . . .”

“Vevin brought her in this morning,” the
knight reassured Tathan. “He stumbled to the gate with her
unconscious body in his arms. We still don’t know what happened.
They are asleep in Lady Liselle’s bed.”

“She’s alive then,” Tathan said with relief.
He paused for a moment. “They’re asleep in her bed,
both
of
them?” That was not what he wanted to hear.

“Yes, when Vevin moved away, she woke up and
yelled for him,” Sir Danth explained. “Your cousin grabbed Vevin
and told him never to leave her. They fell asleep together with
their clothes on if you need that comfort.”

“No, it’s fine. I’m just glad they’re both
safe,” Tathan replied with a light wave of his hand. “Nothing went
right in that battle. There was something driving them and they
took Liselle for a reason,” he said with a frown.

“I agree. Lady Liselle will have the answers
I think, but the Council of Elders wants answers now and they are
not happy that I will not respond to them without you. The council
has been insisting on speaking to us since all of this happened
yesterday” Sir Danth told him in a solemn tone.

“They want answers?” Tathan asked
incredulously. “I thought they owed us answers.”

“Well . . .” the knight replied, trailing
off.

“What?”

“There is the fact that the sstejj with the
gems, especially that large one, didn’t exist until we showed up,”
he said. “Then Vevin went full dragon on them and destroyed most of
the sstejj with a single blast. He did leave a few for me to kill
for which I was grateful. I didn’t want to get bored after all.”
Sir Danth gestured casually. “They are more afraid of Vevin than
the sstejj at this point though and they’re not happy that we
didn’t mention the fact that he is a dragon.”

“I see.” Tathan sighed. His strength was
starting to come back, but he felt as though he had been rolled
down a mountain . . . then kicked a few times after reaching the
bottom. “So they want us to explain Vevin.”

“They also want to know why the creature
took Liselle instead of one of the Rojuun,” Sir Danth told him in a
worried tone. “There was some sort of misshapen creature that rode
the sstejj and took her. It killed seven Rojuun easily.”

Tathan frowned as he tried to stretch his
muscles enough to get up. “There was a creature driving them then?
I remember seeing some of the sstejj run away, which didn’t seem
normal.”

“Yes. It was riding those creatures with the
gems in their heads. There were four or five smaller ones in
addition to the goliath you killed,” the knight said. He put a
gentle gauntlet on Tathan’s shoulder. “That was superb work you did
in killing the goliath, and very brave.”

“Brave?” asked Tathan in surprise. “I just
did what I had to,” he said with a shrug. “So the creature took
Liselle. Do we know what happened to her after that?”

“Doing what needs to be done is brave at
times,” Sir Danth said philosophically. “After that, you passed
out. Vevin transformed into his natural self and took off after
her. The rest of us fought off the sstejj that survived.” He hung
his head sadly. “Vevin’s trainee tried to rescue Liselle, but was
killed by a black liquid that dissolved his body. It was horrible.
He has been marked as a hero. Marrraa’s sister, Turrr also died in
the battle as did others.”

“I’m very sorry to hear that, friend,”
Tathan said consolingly. “Did Aaruulaa survive? I really like
her.”

“Yes. She is very capable and also
considered a hero.” Sir Danth nodded approvingly. “After we fought
off the rest of the sstejj, everyone else retreated back to the
tunnel while I went to search for your cousin. Aaruulaa insisted on
traveling with me.” Sir Danth hung his head. “We went down the
tunnel they had taken Liselle, but I didn’t feel as though I would
be able to assist and I was concerned for you and the rest of the
building party.” He looked Tathan firmly in the eye. “You
must
believe I felt Vevin better suited to saving your
cousin.”

Tathan put his hand on the knight’s metallic
shoulder. “I do, and I believe that you did right. Thank you for
that, my friend. It’s not a decision I’d have wanted to make.”

“Are you feeling well enough to see the
council?” Sir Danth asked hopefully. “I will carry you if I must,
but I don’t think I can hold them off much longer.”

“Are they trying to break down the door or
something?” Tathan asked with concern.

“No. They are being very polite, but they
insist someone talk to them and I hate talking. I hate explaining
myself more than anything.” If a helmet could blush, Sir Danth’s
would have done so. “I will fight anything you ask me to, but ask
me to speak in front of any sort of council . . .” He
shuddered.

“Oh,” said Tathan, nonplussed. “Alright, I’m
getting up.” He sat up and braced himself to swing his legs over
the edge of the bed. Sir Danth pulled the covers down the rest of
the way.

Tathan was dressed in a dark green robe the
Rojuun had made for him. It had black and white patterns in it that
were striking. He gingerly put his feet over the side of the bed.
With Sir Danth’s help, he was able to stand, though he gasped in
pain a few times.

Tathan stood still for a few minutes so that
his head could stop swimming. He wondered how badly he had been
hurt before the healers had used their magic. The knight steadied
him and stayed beside him until Tathan was ready to go.

Sir Danth kept Tathan stable as he shuffled
forward. When they opened the door, there was a council
representative with his fist up to knock on the door. “Oh. There
you are,” he said in surprise. “The council of elders insists upon
seeing you and will not accept any further delays.”

“We’re coming,” Tathan replied. “I’m moving
slowly though. My body isn’t fully recovered.”

“Of course,” the Rojuun said. “I’ll go ahead
and let them know you are on your way.” With that, he left at a
quick pace.

Sir Danth and Tathan followed at a slower
rate. Tathan’s body began to move a little easier as he worked out
the stiffness in his muscles. His head hurt and any bright light
made him squint. Sir Danth kept his arm out, which Tathan used as a
brace to keep steady. After a few minutes, they were at the council
chamber.

Once inside, they were given chairs in the
middle of the floor. All of the seats were full and quite a few
Rojuun stood around the edges in order to listen in on the
proceedings. A low murmur of voices filled the chambers. The sound
soothed Tathan, making him want to fall back to sleep. A Rojuun
girl brought them wine to drink, which Tathan thought was a good
sign. He eagerly took a glass and sipped from it in hopes of
calming his head.

“Tathan Human and Sir Danth Human,” said the
council leader who had addressed them in previous meetings. “We
have questions regarding the sstejj attack on the builders
yesterday. It was our hope that all of you would be able to make
it, but we understand the health of your companions is poor. Is
this correct?”

Tathan stood. When he began to fall over,
Sir Danth caught and steadied him. The Rojuun in the chamber all
gasped in alarm. Tathan took a couple of deep breaths before
speaking. “That is correct. I don’t yet know exactly what their
experience was. I promise that as soon as I’m able to speak with
them, you’ll have that information. For now, I’ll tell you what I
can.” Even though it wasn’t his favorite activity, he was very good
at speaking in front of people. In fact, he had stayed out of jail
a few times that way.

“We will accept that,” the speaker agreed.
“Now I will ask questions and you will answer.” It was definitely a
command, delivered in that pleasant way that all Rojuun seemed to
possess. “Tell us of the sstejj with gems in their head. You killed
a very large one said to be immune to magic. There were also
smaller ones.”

“The large one definitely had a gem in its
forehead,” Tathan responded. “When I saw that spells didn’t kill
it, I ran up its legs to the body and thrust my sword into it.”

Tathan realized he had left the sword back
in the room and a cold sweat enveloped him. He didn’t like being
without it. “My sword didn’t kill it as it would have any normal
sstejj,” he continued. “When another spell hit the sstejj, I
noticed that the gem in the beast’s head flared with light. I
thought it might be the key to the barrier blocking the spells. I
ran up and rammed my sword into it. That action destroyed the gem
and the sstejj.” Tathan explained all of it matter-of-factly. “It
resulted in a magical charge being released in a violent manner
that hurtled me through the air. My vision and hearing were
temporarily lost as well as my consciousness.”

The council members exchanged looks and
there were murmurs in the audience. “Your feats of skill in combat
have been remarked upon and your statement verified by others. You
tell us that you ran up the creature’s legs so casually . . . It is
impressive, I will admit. I have not heard of such feats being
accomplished by humans.”

Tathan responded by shrugging and holding
his hands out to the side. He didn’t really care what they thought
of his abilities. “As far as the smaller sstejj with gems, I didn’t
see very much of them and what I did see was their backs as they
ran off.”

“Sstejj have never been known to run away.
They only kill with lust and never retreat,” the council leader
stated.

“That is my understanding as well,” Tathan
agreed. “I was having a hard time focusing at that point though, so
I can’t tell you much more. The backlash from destroying the gem
knocked me out awhile and made it hard for me to tell what else was
happening.”

The council leader continued with the
questions. “A dark, twisted creature riding the monsters with gems
in their head took Liselle Human. I believe she is your family
member, a cousin?” he asked, looking at a piece of parchment with
writing.

“She is, and that’s what I’ve been told. I
didn’t personally see her being taken,” Tathan admitted. With
genuine relief, he said, “Truly, I’m grateful that she’s
alive.”

“Why would the creature take your cousin?
What purpose did it have?” the Rojuun asked with a frown. He leaned
forward. “Why would it take a human rather than a Rojuun? That is
difficult for us to understand.”