“Come, follow me. Lead your horses carefully,” she said. She spotted a narrow ridge of ice a hundred yards or so ahead.
She guided them to the small promontory, stepping gingerly upon the surface only after the pressure from below eased and the ice was flat again. They made their way slowly and painstakingly across the plain, observing the tormented faces pressed against the frozen water, staring up at them through hollow eyes and pummeling for release from their frozen tomb. They listened to the harrowing screams and the sad pleas for aid, hearing of the wives and children and families left behind, of the lives never lived and the futures never realized.
“It was a horrible death that they suffered,” Alemar said, choking back the tears. “Their spirits have never found peace. Until now, they probably never had a chance to relieve their tortured souls.”
“What will they do when they break free?” Giles asked, knowing that the answer could never be certain.
“Where will they go? Back to Eleutheria to find their loved ones?” Clovis speculated as he watchfully sidestepped a newly formed bulge, concern mounting for his own family, innocent and unaware back home in the city of ice.
“Or will they march against he who imprisoned them to begin with?” Alemar suggested.
“How will they know that Caeltin was the cause of their demise?” Giles asked.
“They will know,” Clovis asserted. “That is not something that they would be mistaken about after all their tiels of imprisonment.”
“We cannot imagine what the spirits feel or know,” Alemar surmised. “We can only hope that in the world of the phantoms and wraiths there is communication of some sort. We will surely find out on our return, if we ever make it across this plain of misery,” she said ominously.
As the time passed, the sun grew hotter and the air moister. The surface was slippery and treacherous as pools of cold water formed in many places, as the snow slowly melted and gathered in the hollows of the plain. Soon, they were unable to even hear one another speak, the moans and cries had grown so loud. The ice muffled the noises and made them seem incredibly deathly and even more detached from the world of the living, yet strong and deafening nonetheless.
“Look upon them no longer. The agony in their eyes is too much to bear,” Alemar shouted. “Beware that the undead do not capture you with their heartache and draw you too deeply into their sorrowful world.”
They followed the ridge of ice as far as they could, and the travelers eventually found themselves very close to the edge of the rocky hills that would lead them up to the Caves of Carloman. The noise subsided here somewhat, as they were no longer surrounded by ice on all sides, but the eerie gloom persisted, blanketing the entire area, and it weighed heavily upon their souls.
“They had come so close,” Giles observed, as the surface even this near to the rocks still bulged and pulsed.
Alemar frowned. “Yes, it seems. Iscaron must have suffered so deeply. What tragedies some are compelled to endure. But, had not Caeltin been cast out, Alicea would probably have died. It is said that he first infected those who were loved the most dearly as he prepared to enter our world. Such is the way of evil. The greater the loss, the greater the pleasure.”
“This must have been where the advance guard of the army was when the ice shattered,” Giles surmised, noticing that they were now standing upon the area closest to the rocky hills that was still inhabited below.
“Iscaron must have fallen near here,” Alemar replied, scrutinizing the surrounding terrain. “He would certainly have been in the forefront of his army, if legend has depicted him accurately. He was not the type to allow others to risk more than he would have himself.”
They finally reached the safety of the escarpment of rock that abutted the frozen sea. With tremendous relief, the three riders guided their horses off of the slippery ice and onto more solid footing. The crescendo of noises still reached their ears, and from the rocks, they could see just how treacherous their journey across the Pass of the Righteous had been. Silently, Alemar, Giles and Clovis gazed back upon the land they had just traversed. The surface continued to rise and fall as if it were alive, the ice continued to groan and creak in response and the bloodcurdling wails and ululations pierced their ears unceasingly.
“We must face this once more when we return,” Alemar said, breaking the pregnant silence.
“If they have not already broken through, and encountered us in the caves,” Giles warned.
“Then we will face the danger as it meets us,” Clovis said.
Alemar raised her chin high. “We must, my friends, or our beloved Eleutheria shall melt away into the void and be no more. May the First guide us through the caverns and lead us to the answers that we seek.”
“Aye to that, my Lady,” Giles and Clovis echoed.
“Come quickly. Let us be off. The heat builds even as we speak,” the Princess said, glancing askew at the burning sun. “Perhaps the caves will provide us with a means of stemming the red tide that is lapping upon our shores,” Alemar concluded, as she mounted Shira once again and led her up the narrow path through the jagged rocks, leaving behind the woebegone undead writhing and screaming and pounding upon the weakening ice.
Chapter Twenty-four
“You are fortunate sister, that we happened upon this spot at just the right moment,” the Wizard said. “I dare not contemplate what would have become of you and your pony had our timing not been quite so opportune.”
“I am very grateful to you both,” Tamara responded, unsure of just whom she was addressing. “I agree. I do not know what would have occurred had you not arrived when you did.” She walked over to Hector and calmed him with her gentle strokes. “What brings you here, sir, if I may be so bold as to inquire?” she asked, while she backed up slightly, creating some distance between herself and the others.
“Many things, sister. Many things,” he responded evasively, it seemed to her, and he was clearly aware of her discomfort.
“If you do not wish to confide in a stranger, I can understand that,” she commented. She had never been a woman who remained silent about her feelings. “May I go then?” she asked.
Premoran laughed quietly.
“Why would you think that you are not free to do as you please? You are a bold woman. Why do you fear me, my child?” he asked, his thick eyebrows raised high.
“I do not even know your name, but I do not feel that you will harm me. I have very good instincts. You did not save my life just moments ago in order to sacrifice me. Yet you could not have spoken truthfully before, and still not be a danger to me now,” she said carefully.
Premoran gazed upon her quizzically .
“I will not harm you. Of that you can be assured,” he said smiling. “And my name is Premoran. You were referring to my reference earlier to my brother?”
“I am Tamara,” she offered, though she suspected that he already knew that. “And yes, I was. It is certainly untrue, as I suspected at once,” she assured him.
“No, in fact it is quite true,” the old man replied.
Tamara jumped back a pace, shocked by what she just heard. “You are kidding? Are you not?” she asked, on edge.
“No, I am very serious.”
“How could my senses have deceived me so? You do not feel evil to me.”
“But, dear woman, I most certainly am not.”
“I am sorry, but I do not understand,” Tamara said honestly. She was thoroughly perplexed, though she still was not feeling any sensations of danger. “How could that be possible?”
“There is much that we do not understand,” he answered. “Colton is my brother as surely as the sun will rise tomorrow morning,” he continued. “We are as less alike as any two living things could be, though. He may be my brother in blood, but our commonality ends there.”
This was all very difficult for Tamara to absorb in such a short time. She was unaccustomed to being outside the walls of the tower to begin with, and the events of the last few hours should have caused her more concern than they seemed to be causing. For some unknown reason, she was dealing with all of this very calmly. Yet to be standing before the brother of Colton dar Agonthea was almost too much to so readily accept.
“I feel like a child who cannot fathom the conversations of the adults around her, though I am strangely undisturbed. Perhaps it is simply foolishness on my part and I am not bright enough to understand the consequences of what you say,” she said. She still felt totally comfortable in the stranger’s presence, despite his astounding declarations.
“You are more astute than you give yourself credit for, Sister,” the wizard replied. “It would require more time than either of us presently have in order to satisfactorily explain these revelations to you. Perhaps another time,” he said.
“I look forward to such a moment,” she responded, though still bewildered.
The strange man-boy that arrived with him was wandering around while the two adults conversed. He seemed interested in all of the leaves and debris that lay upon the ground, more so than he was in the conversation. His body was delicate and his skin appeared almost translucent in the late afternoon sun. Tamara could not help but stare in wonder at the gossamer folds that lay beneath his arms, barely visible to the eye, yet there nonetheless.
“I have never seen such a one as he,” she said to the wizard, gaining confidence with each passing moment. “Where does he hail from?”
“He comes from across the great sea. But do not be deceived by his youthful appearance,” Premoran said, glancing at his friend. “Teetoo is older than you would imagine.”
“He looks like a child,” she commented.
“He is a child. Still, he is not young. The different races measure time otherwise than we might.”
“Where are you headed, sir?” she inquired after mulling upon his answer for a moment.
“To Seramour, my dear. And we have tarried here longer than we should have,” he replied without any hesitation this time.
“I am going to see the great Lalas, Oleander,” she stated, and she lifted her chin proudly.
“Ah, are you now?” Premoran replied, not surprised by her declaration. “I would love to accompany you, but it seems that there are others who need me more right now.”
“So you knew already where I was headed?” she asked, blushing.
“Yes, I did. Rest assured, you do not need anyone’s assistance on your journey,” he responded matter-of-factly.
“Would that I had the confidence in myself that you seem to have in me,” Tamara replied, arching her eyebrows and sighing a deep sigh. “What else do you already know about me, may I ask?”
“All that I need to, and no more,” he replied.
“You speak like one of the Sisters,” she laughed.
“It is an art, my dear. One learns with age how to say as little as one must and no more than one should. The fabric weaves of its own will. It is not for me to alter the pattern unnecessarily.”
“The hour grows late. I really do not wish to be traveling during the evening, yet I must reach my destination as quickly as possible,” she realized, her concern growing with the fading sunlight. “Will you leave for Seramour immediately?” she inquired.
“I must,” the Wizard responded. “My ‘suspicions’ have been confirmed regarding the need for my presence there. I have really lingered here far longer than I should have.”
“Well then,” she said, reaching out her hand to the old man. “Perhaps we should be on our separate ways?”
“Aye, we should,” he answered. He held out his hand and clasped hers firmly within it.
Immediately upon coming into contact with his skin, her entire body warmed considerably, and she felt a wave of comforting sensations waft over her. Although she never really had any doubts about this strange man and his beautiful friend, Tamara was now absolutely certain that she was correct in her prior assumptions.
“Goodbye,” she finally said, and she reluctantly released his hand. She felt strangely less fatigued now than she did only moments ago.
“Farewell, good Sister. May the Gem of Eternity guide you through the darkness always,” he rejoined.
Tamara gently climbed atop of Hector’s back and clicked to him to walk ahead. The obedient pony immediately started forward. She turned around to watch the two strangers as she walked, but to her great surprise, there was no trace of them anywhere any longer. They had both vanished as if they had never even been there to begin with. She bade Hector to turn around, and then she scanned the entire area with her eyes, searching the terrain for a sign of the wizard who had saved her life and the strange boy who accompanied him.
“May the First help me if I imagined all of this,” she said out loud as she shook her head back and forth, though she knew in her heart that she had not. For some reason her eyes drifted upward and she saw a small speck high in the southern sky. She watched it as it moved rapidly away from her. Tamara rubbed her eyes with the backs of both of her hands, shrugged her shoulders and then proceeded on her way.
Chapter Twenty-five
Ruffin regained his consciousness for a brief moment. He was being dragged behind a huge war horse, with his hands and ankles bound by a coarse rope. The parts of his body that were not already numb from the pain, ached uncontrollably. He barely cared any longer what happened to him, as he was so thoroughly exhausted that thinking itself was difficult. He closed his eyes once again, and faded into the oblivion that he preferred to the reality that he had earlier embraced.
As the rider and her captive approached the black, granite walls of Sedahar, they appeared to expand and grow in stature, and the city’s hideous beauty made it seem alive and aware. The ground was perfectly smooth, defying nature, and it sloped precariously upward to the massive gates. The doors lay open and exposed. Colton had no fear that anyone would trespass upon his premises unbidden.
Flocks of large, raven beasts flew in wide circles in the dreary sky, and they pierced the air with their vociferous shrieks. The soil itself was bereft of all growth. It was parched and hard, forbidding and treacherous. The air was heavy and rancid. Breathing was difficult, and each inhale caused the throat to constrict in response. The smell of death was rampant everywhere. Steam shot out in bursts from great rifts in the earth, accompanied by loud explosions that seemed to propel it high into the still and caustic atmosphere.
Adrianna pulled hard upon the reins of her mount. When he finally came to a standstill, she jumped from the saddle and quickly untied the rope that she had attached to it. Winding it carefully around her arm, she approached her captive and pulled sharply up on it. His head jerked off of the ground in a spastic lurch. She pulled again. This time, Ruffin opened his eyes.
“Stand up, you fool,” she hissed at him. “We are finally here. You cannot greet the master this way,” she said, pulling him to his feet.
The elf was filthy, bruised and bleeding. Adrianna waved her right hand over him quickly and a sphere of greenish light appeared just over his head. She moved her hand down and the light followed it, bathing him in its glow. Ruffin cringed at the touch initially, but soon he relaxed and allowed it to lap over him.
When it reached the ground it dissipated, and then it was gone completely in an instant. He felt refreshed, and he immediately noticed that he was clean again and that most of his injuries seemed not to hurt as much.
“Make no mistake about it, elf. I did not do this out of concern for you. You should know for now and evermore that your troubles are meaningless to anyone here.”
She loosened the ropes and slipped them from his hands and feet, releasing him once again. “Do not even think about running. There is no place to hide. The sooner you accept your position, the easier it will be for you,” she said, while she walked back to her horse. “Or perhaps I am mistaken. It will never be easy for you again, but you will love him and you will be grateful to him for all that he does,” she laughed. “But, have no fear. Colton needs you now. He will allow you to live in some form or other, at least until he gets from you what he requires. He can be gracious, in his own way.”
Ruffin was still in a daze. He could not determine how much time had really passed since he left Lormarion, but the bitterness of Aramela’s betrayal was fresh upon his memory. He hated everything he had ever cared about in the past. Aramela was just another example of how badly he was treated by his own people. In a strange way, he was anxious to reach his new destination, despite the warnings and admonitions Adrianna kept providing. He could tell that she was in love with Colton herself, and he envied him for it. She spoke badly to him, but in his twisted mind, he believed that she cared for him. She was his refuge in this storm of emotion that overwhelmed him.
“What does Colton want with me?” he asked, choking on the name he had always dreaded.
“Everything you have and everything you are,” she whispered.
Ruffin’s entire body tingled at her response, but whether out of fear or anticipation, he could not determine. The Dark Lord’s influence was already making itself apparent unbeknownst to him.
“You have given yourself willingly to him. Get used to this, boy; you belong to him. You will love him with all of your heart and all of your soul. Everything he does to you, you will be grateful for, and everything you do for him will never be enough. Your one purpose left in life is to please him, to aid him in any manner that you can,” she said, her eyes blazing with fire as she spoke.
The elf soon found himself longing for the opportunity to help his new master. Her words swathed him in desire, titillated his soul and set fire to his ardor. He embraced the idea fully in so short a while, and the thought of helping Colton began to possess him and appeal to him like nothing else ever had. The stone that had become his heart, pumped with the blood of passion and yearning.
“Colton,” he whispered to himself. “I will make him glad I am here,” he vowed. “If only he will look upon me, gaze at me for a moment,” he began to think. “I barely had a life before, and whatever it was is now gone forever. Here I can create a place for myself. For some reason, he needs me.”
Ruffin had completely lost his senses by this time. He was able to convince himself that he could be an ally to Colton, a friend even. He had no idea what the Dark Lord was going to do with him, nor even why he wanted him in Sedahar, but he plotted and planned in his small mind with his limited and certainly stultified powers of reason.
They finally reached the monumental gates which had changed in appearance, or so it seemed to him, many times as they came closer. Their color and their shape shifted. Now as they stood before them, they beckoned to him, seemed to call his name, and he gladly and willingly passed across the threshold of Colton’s home. His wounds were healed, and his clothing was clean and no longer ragged and worn.
“Follow me,” Adrianna ordered without looking back at him. “Keep your eyes forward, and do not say a word,”
Ruffin obeyed her without question, so anxious now to be in Colton’s presence. He could not explain the yearning that dominated his thoughts. He felt like a child, waiting for the person he admired most to acknowledge him and to bestow meaning upon his life once again. Just being inside the castle filled him with the sense of power and a hunger for more. He was as excited as he had ever been before, his memory swept clean of fear for the moment, while his entire body pulsed with anticipation.
The hallway was incredibly long and wide. It defied reality in its appearance.
No building could be this enormous, he thought.
The floor was as black as night, and he could see his own reflection in it. He appeared to himself to be handsome and strong, just as he felt. The walls, when he dared to glance at them, were as white as white could be, and they stood in stark contrast to the darkness beneath his feet.
They walked for quite some time, never seeming to near the end of the hall. Door after door marked their progress, yet each one appeared exactly the same as the last one they had just passed. Adrianna never hesitated or broke her stride, and the elf followed obediently behind.
Suddenly as if out of nowhere, a stairway appeared before them. Ruffin could have sworn that it was not there a moment ago. All he did was blink and there it stood no more than ten yards ahead. At the top of the broad steps stood a figure that looked to him to be larger than life, impossibly tall. His heart beat faster as he followed Adrianna up the long stairway. The figure loomed in the distance, and the young elf felt chills run up and down his arms.
Could this be Caeltin?
he thought to himself. He was so handsome, so regal, Ruffin was mesmerized by the image before him.
“You have done well,” an incredibly soothing voice boomed from ahead. “I see that you have brought me what I asked for,” it continued.
Colton descended a few of the steps, and Ruffin immediately thanked him in his heart for being so gracious as to walk toward him. Everything that he did was wonderful and awesome. His speech was melodious and seductive. He loved him at once and completely—
“Go to your chamber, Adrianna. I will call for you later,” he said with such kindness that Ruffin wanted to cry.
Adrianna backed away, down the stairs, unwilling to show her disappointment at being dismissed before she had even spoken to her master. She did not allow the regret to show, though it pained her so.
He will summon me tonight
, she reassured herself.
I have pleased him. If only now the elf gives him the information that he desires, I will be his favorite
.
When she reached the last step, she turned and began the long walk back, though the hallway had shifted and changed once more. All she could do was begin to walk and follow the movements of the building. It would lead her to her rooms. She dared to look backward once more, but when she turned, her master and the elf were no longer in sight. A solid wall of white stone stood directly behind her where the hallway ended and the steps had previously begun. She turned in dismay and allowed herself to be led by the shifting walls and changing pathways.
“Come closer,” Colton urged the frightened elf. “I have not had one of your race here in many tiels,” he said, and he stretched out his right hand and curled his index finger, urging Ruffin forward. The young man obeyed, inching toward the stairs atop which Colton majestically stood. “It has been a long and arduous journey for you, I am sure,” he said softly. “You have lost so much.”
Tears welled up in the boy’s eyes as Colton spoke. He could not control his feelings at all, he was so overcome with gratitude for the Dark Lord whose sympathy he overtly felt. It was as if he had entered his mind and assuaged his pain instantly. He was prepared to tell him anything, to do anything he asked. Those he left behind were merely images and memories now; images of hate and criticism, painful memories of betrayal and asperity. Seramour was no more than a prison and the obvious cause of all of his troubles. He despised the tree-top city and all of its inhabitants, particularly the feeble, young human who precipitated everything.
“What is it that torments you, boy? Your rancor is almost tangible. Come, let me share your burden and lessen the load,” Colton enticed him forward.
Ruffin took the few remaining steps freely, anxious to give himself over to Colton’s vast power. The man before him was beautiful, the most beautiful person he had ever seen. His qualities were almost elfin now, and he embodied all the characteristics that Ruffin ever imagined a perfect being to have. His eyes were shining black orbs. They radiated strength, powerful and focused, yet they were immensely kind and tantalizingly magnetic. His arms were graceful and muscular, the fingers long and flawlessly shaped. The sheen upon his dark hair rivaled the sun’s light streaking in from somewhere above, and he appeared impossibly tall and princely, the image of excellence and perfection. His clothing was luxurious, draping his vigorous body like a glove and making it appear as if it was his second skin. A long cape of ebony and scarlet flapped gracefully behind him, although no wind stirred the chamber.
Colton wrapped his arm over Ruffin’s shoulder and a scintillating chill coursed through his entire body immediately upon the contact. It spread from the first point of touch, as if through his veins, straight to his heart where it burst within him into a searing heat. The contradictions were rampant inside of him. The pain was excruciating, but it engulfed him with pleasure as well. He felt incredibly powerful and totally helpless all at once. He loved Colton with all his heart and all his soul, yet he was more frightened than he had ever imagined he could be in his entire lifetime.
Colton entered his mind and entered his body. He ravaged him from within, leaving no tiny space untouched. Ruffin felt him everywhere and he gave himself totally and willingly, relinquishing all control, all sense of independence and of self. There was nothing he would not do for Colton. He would never be the same again.
“So the boy is in Seramour after all,” Colton said, as he withdrew his arm from around the elf’s trembling back. “He has probably been there all along. And to think that I wasted an entire army in Pardatha, all because some incompetent old witch believed the heir was there.”
The Dark Lord laughed, and the laughter grew in intensity, echoing off of the stone walls, building and building until it seemed like there were hundreds of others sharing the joke and laughing along with the master of Sedahar. Ruffin had to cover his ears with the palms of his hands in order to protect his eardrums from bursting from the sound, it was so loud.
“You should be very proud of yourself, young man. You have provided me with the news that no others have been able to.”
He turned away and walked up the steep steps, leaving the elf alone at the bottom. When he reached the top, looming over Ruffin like a giant, he smiled again. The boy’s entire world lit up from that smile, and he felt complete and whole instantly.
“I will not forget you,” he said, and his words echoed in Ruffin’s mind repeatedly. No one could ever have said anything more inspiring or more wonderful. His elation was overwhelming.
The Dark Lord then turned his back on the elf, rose a few inches off the black, stone floor and gracefully moved down the vast hallway until he disappeared into the distance.
Ruffin stood alone. At first, ecstasy dominated his very breath. Then, fear slowly began to creep into his heart once again, and he perceived it on the fringe of his consciousness. Though he fought to keep it at bay, he could not. He felt suddenly so terribly alone. He felt abandoned and isolated, as if a part of him had been withdrawn. Once Colton had entered his soul, it would always feel empty without his presence. He would eternally suffer from loneliness and longing, from disappointment and lack of fulfillment. He would always be afraid and insecure in his absence. The ties that bound him to the Dark Lord were incredibly strong, and his physical yearning was an addiction. He loved him with all his heart and all his soul, and he would do anything required of him, from now until forever, to please him.