Soul Under the Mountain (Legend of Reason Series) (17 page)

Alana checked the edge of her blade as Vohl walked over to the window. He clasped his hands behind his back as he stared in silence. Although she could not see much of his face from where she sat, she could see that something was bothering him. It was odd to see such a regal, noble man weighed down by emotion. She had known him long enough to know that something within him had changed. He had always been rather serious and somewhat formal, but there was always a lighter side. There was a genuine friendliness and a spark to his soul. She could always see the kindness in him, even though she needed to avoid direct eye contact. Lately, it seemed, he was hiding his inner self for some reason. He was shielding her from some secret boiling inside him.

"What is it Vohl? What has changed in you?"

"My Lady?" he
said as he turned to face her.

"What is wrong with you? You seem very different to me lately. Is something wrong?"

Vohl sighed and rested his fingertips on a nearby table. "The more appropriate question would be to ask if something is right. There are many things that are wrong. Discussing those things would take too much time."

She wrinkled her nose at him. "That's a silly answer. Something is bot
hering you and for some reason you won't tell me what it is. Have you told Rommus?"

"I am sorry my Lady, but I cannot tell anyone. It is a burden that only my own heart must bear."

"Why? We are all friends here. We are here for each other. I know you spent a lot of your life alone because of those jerks you call your cousins, but those times are over now. We're like a family."

"I appreciate your concern Alana, I truly do. But I must ask you to leave me to my own thoughts on the matter. You cannot help me with this."

He used her name. It was the first time she could remember him calling her anything but "my Lady". It
shouldn't have been a big deal at all, and in reality, it was only a word. But it rolled off his tongue in such a way that it immediately drew her attention. It was as if he was nervous about saying it, and had practiced it over and over before attempting it in front of her. On one hand it seemed staged, and on the other it seemed like a slip of the tongue.

His slight accent made the slip up all the more charming. She suddenly sensed his nervousness, which was different than the unease he was showing
before
. He always did her a favor by not looking directly into her eyes, but as he looked away this time, it was not because he was trying to be polite; it was because he couldn't look at her. Something was really bothering him—and she had something to do with it.

"Have I done something wrong, Vohl?"

"No, not at all, my Lady. You have done nothing whatsoever to bring about offense. This problem lies within me."

"No problems are solely within us, Vohl. We are humans. We react to emotions; not our own thoughts."

"My Lady I cannot put words to these thoughts. Doing so would unravel bonds that have formed. And even if there was no danger, words are but an arbitrary measurement of emotion. It is pointless to even offer up the words, for they will do my heart no justice."

Then suddenly she understood. She wasn't positive, but she had seen enough aching hearts in her day to know what troubled the man. He had feelings for her. There wasn't anyone else it could be.
She sat silent and stunned, unable to believe that she had not picked up on it e
arlier. But h
e had always worked so hard to mask his emotions so as not to manipulate hers with his power, and in that mess of hidden feelings some spark had roared to flame within him. She had totally missed it, and she had no idea what to do about it.

It floored her that he was willing to set his emotions aside. He was doing so for his friends, and his devotion
to
that friendship was
much
stronger than his own personal desires. It was an admirable trait. In all his long years he had most likely seen nations rise and fall because of men giving in to their selfish desires. For him to ignore his own feelings, and sacrifice happiness for others was estimable to say the least. It cast Vohl in a new shade of heroic light
that put most other men deep in shadow.

She jumped when Song cleared his throat behind them to get their attention. "Am I interrupting something?"

Vohl straightened his jacket and stood tall. "No, Song. Please join us. What have you learned?"

"I wasn't able to get much information out of Uritus. I told him everything Rommus told me to tell him, but he never revealed much about where he plans to keep the book."

"Well there has to be some information you can tell us," Alana said.

"Yes, I bring some news. Where is the map?"

Vohl walked over to a shelf and retrieved a rolled up map. He laid it out on the table and Song began to draw additional hallways and rooms.
In addition to the new areas, he marked off sections with X's.
After a moment he had finished, setting the quill aside. He
looked over the entire map, scrutinizing every line.

"That's everything. That's everywhere I have been in the maze under Brinn. It's not perfectly to scale, but it's not too bad."

Alana tapped the map. "What are these areas you have marked with X's?"

"Those are the areas I know you have visited. These places will have guards posted. He expects the both of you to enter the labyrinth in one of these areas and he intends to intercept you there. He wants to use Vohl to translate the book for him since you can read it easily."

Vohl laughed a short laugh as he crossed his arms. "Why on earth would he ever think I would cooperate? I would sooner sit in for eternity imprisoned in a cell."

"He wants to capture both of you and he thinks that he can use Alana to make you do his bidding. I assumed he meant that he would lock her up or torture her. Anyway, I told him that you were certain you knew where the book was, and he said that it was impossible. It is in a place where you have never been. So, the book is somewhere on this map where there is no X marked.
"

Vohl ran a finger over the map and clasped his chin in thought. "Or a place that
you
have never been. There is no telling if this map is complete."

Song nodded. "I thought about that. My guess is that you are probably right. I have already been looking for it in all the places I would expect to find it and it's nowhere to be found. He probably has it in a secret room I have never seen."

"That doesn't help us much," Alana said.

"Sure it does. I can pretty much eliminate every room on this map. That doesn't leave very many places it can be. I'm sure I can find it."

"We cannot afford to let you roam around underground very long, Song," Vohl said. "We will be in great danger the entire time."

Song scratched his neatly-cut hair on his chin. "Well, going down there was her idea, not mine. If you want me to keep looking for it on my own, I can do that."

Alana laid her knife on the table and set the sharpening stone aside. "No, Song, if we serve as a diversion, it will lead you to the book. You said that it was not in a place where I have ever been, and Uritus expects
Vohl
and
me
to look only in those areas. That means that most of his guards will be in those areas. But he isn't foolish enough to leave the book unguarded, so there will be somewhere else in the labyrinth where you will encounter more guards. Wherever you see them is where the book is kept. If Vohl and I don't go, then
the guards
can't find us
. If they
can't find
us,
then
there's a good chance they are going to find
you
."

Song took in a deep breath and let it out slowly as he thought. "I suppose you're right. I certainly can't be caught stealing that book again. Uritus has already threatened to send me to the void if I do not help him. He wouldn't hesitate to kill me and send my soul there if he knew what I was doing."

Alana smiled at the young man. "I don't think you're going to end up in the void, Song."

"No? How can you be sure?"

Vohl laid a hand on Song's shoulder. "Erratus, my friend, someday soon we all need to sit down and have a chat about your destiny."

Chapter 21

Alana took a hard punch to the jaw. Little lights sparked in her vision, even in the near darkness. She licked the blood from her lip and spit at the floor before thrusting her knife into the chest of the Mage attacking her. It stopped him immediately, and as he staggered backwards, she followed, twisting the knife as she glared at him.
He offered no words as he fell; only a wet, gurgling cough.

It was the third Mage she had killed. So far, none of them were even armed, which she found odd. She knew that they were expecting her and Vohl, so it made no sense that they would not have weapons. It was possible that the Mages thought the snow outside had gotten too deep for them to attempt to enter the labyrinth, but it was only about half way to her knee. It seemed as if she was right and most of the Mages were buffoons. None of them were ready even though they had plenty of warning.

She noticed that Vohl was not as eager to clash with any Mages. He kept to the darker areas, but always only a step or two away from her. Instead of looking up and down the dark corridors, he kept his eyes on her. He had killed one Mage, but he was not searching for them like she was. He was being protective, and he was doing a poor job trying to hide it.

She spoke to the shadows where Vohl stood. "They are going to have to find us, you know. That's the whole
idea."

"My Lady, for them to see me while I wear this cape
in the darkness
, I would have to walk up to one of them and smack them in the face. The burden of discovery and capture is on your shoulders."

"I forgot about that cape. I guess that's why I am having a hard time seeing you myself. Do you know where we are?"

"I have a mental picture in my head, yes, though I do not know how to describe it to you. I believe we are a few hundred paces west of the Emperor's Hall. If we continue down this corridor, t
here should be a right turn.
After that, there should be a curved hallway with five open rooms, each larger than the next
."

"Well that's no good. I've never seen anything like that. We have to stick to the areas I have been to, remember?"

"Yes, my Lady. I hate to double back, but I suppose if our intentions are to be seen, it is a wonderful way to see that it happens."

They crept through the long halls, touching the wet walls for reference and balance. In some areas, there were torches, but they avoided light whenever possible. After all, it wouldn't be very convincing if they strolled though the labyrinth where they could be easily seen. Their mission had to appear covert or else they might endanger Song.

Song was the one in the most danger. While there was a chance that harm would come to her at the hands of a Mage or even Uritus himself, she was confident that she could handle herself. Vohl was
an immortal, so there was no threat that he could be killed. Song was the one who was truly risking his life. If Uritus discovered that he was looking for the book he would not hesitate for one second to send the poor kid's soul to the void.

But Alana saw his bones in the crypt with her own eyes. She knew that he would live out his life centuries in the past, and help to found the nation of Medora. With that line of thinking, she deduced that Song was invincible in a sense. No real harm could come to him if his destiny was to survive and go back to live in the past.

But then something struck her. The whole idea behind the
Book of Eternal Wisdom
was the idea that no matter what anyone tried to do to alter history, the events would still occur. It might be a completely different path to the events, but the events
themselves
were apparently unalterable. On one hand, that idea solidified her argument, but on the other hand, it sent chills down her spine. The book was written by Song, but there was no way of knowing if it was Song who was the
only
one wh
o could write it. It was possible that if Song were to die, that some other person would write the book instead. History would write itself into existence in whatever way it saw fit. It didn’t
need
Song.

The enormity of the complexities of time and fate made her head swim. She was suddenly very worried that the plan that they had worked out was built on sand and not stone. If they failed in their diversion attempt, and Song was killed, there was no telling what it would do to the fabric of reality.

Vohl's gentle voice snapped her out of her thoughts. "There are more Mages over there in that vaulted area. Shall we kill these men or is it your desire to be seen and have them report back to their commanders?"

"We should keep killing them. We don't want them all on high alert and coming at us from all angles in a panic. If they all know we're here, they're going to catch us for sure."