The Blood Witch (The Blood Reign Chronicles Book 1) (40 page)

The moment of hesitation was all Jak needed and he strained hard against the chains until they finally snapped. The momentum carried him forward, and he toppled onto the other Vashi crashing hard to the floor. The two grappled for moments before Jak grabbed the Vashi’s head and smashed it hard on the stone floor several times until it broke open with a crunch.

Jak jumped to his feet and made his way quickly to where Nicoldani was chained and bound. Taking a hold of the chains, he strained and pulled on them, but to his dismay they would not give way. He was still too weak to break them on his own.

Looking around the small cell he tried to find something to help him……anything, but there was nothing in the cell except the prisoners. Moving to the door he peeked out, and scanned the length of the hallway.

At first glance, there seemed to be nothing, but then he spotted the long metal rod than had been used to bar the door. As he was picking up the bar, muffled scuffling sounds of commotion echoed from further down the passageway. There wasn’t much time before there would be more Vashi upon them.

He rushed back into the cell to where Nicoldani was bound, and using the bar for leverage was finally able to break him free. With the release of his bonds, the big man slumped forward to land on his knees.

Jak’s heart sank when he saw how weak and exhausted Nicoldani was. This was going to be harder than he thought. Everyone else was very weak from the long sleep and lack of food, and he wasn’t sure if they could make their way out on their own, let alone fight off any Vashi they would surely encounter.

He quickly moved to Benjim and Gin, and was happy that they were only bound with ropes, not chains. As he was removing the ropes and the blindfolds, the sounds of approaching Vashi began to sound very close.

“Can you walk?” Jak asked anxiously to no one in particular, hoping at least someone would be able to make it out on their own. The big man stood slowly, and said that he could walk. Gin assured Jak that she could walk on her own as well. Benjim was having trouble keeping his feet, but said he should be able to make it out with some help. Nicoldani moved to the old man’s side and steadied him with an arm around his back. “We can make it,” Nicoldani said resolutely.

“I don’t know how many of them there are,” Jak said in a rush. “But they are almost here. We need to go now!”

“Get me outside the door to the corridor where I can see them,” Benjim said wearily.

They moved out of the cell through the doorway and peered down the long corridor. There were multiple shadows moving through the torchlight, and shouting echoing off the stone walls. The Vashi were perhaps thirty paces down the hall and coming fast.

“We are trapped,” Jak said, “what do we do now?”

There were at least ten, or maybe fifteen of the Vashi swarming down the corridor. The bar from the door was still in his hand, but didn’t think he had enough strength left to fight them all. Not knowing what else to do he turned to Benjim and noticed the old man had a look of concentration on his face and was mumbling something under his breath that Jak could not understand. But Jak had heard similar from the old man when he was instructing Gin and Mortikus in the ways of magic.

The Vashi were now less than fifteen paces away, but approaching cautiously when they saw the four prisoners were free of their cell.

Slowly, Benjim began to raise his right hand with an effort. When the Vashi saw the old man’s gesture, most of them stopped in their tracks. Some of the creatures at the rear even turned and began to run back down the corridor the way they had come.

Suddenly, fire exploded from Benjim’s hand and raced down the passageway to overtake the Vashi. Screams of pain echoed off the walls as the fire overtook the Vashi and consumed them. It was only a moment before the flames winked out and everything fell silent. The old man slumped to the floor in exhaustion. The flames Benjim had produced had taken all of his remaining strength. Nicoldani reached down and lifted the old man, cradling him in his arms. “I will carry him the rest of the way out,” the big man said resolutely.

The acrid stench of burned Vashi was strong as they made their way out the corridor. Burnt bodies littered the floor, and putrid smoke hung thick in the air. The burnt bodies of the Vashi crunched and squished underfoot as they picked their way through. Jak tried to avoid them, but couldn’t help but step on a few. He choked and gagged on the thick sooty smoke that half-filled the corridor, and struggled to go faster just to get out of the stink. Finally, they emerged from the cave into the light and fresh air. Jak took several deep breaths to clear his lungs and noticed the others doing the same.

Apparently, any remaining Vashi if there were any, had fled, along with Mortikus when the prisoners broke free. Jak was angry that the little man had been able to escape. He wanted the tiny man to pay for what he did, but there were no signs of Mortikus or any other Vashi.

There was however, a small camp that had been setup just outside the mouth of the cave. From the look of the camp, it was used regularly for this very same purpose of holding captives before they were delivered and eaten by the Vashi.

Thankfully, Jak and the others were able to find most of their belonging and some of their food that the Vashi had discarded as useless. Apparently, the Vashi did not have an appetite for beans or dried meat.

Nicoldani seemed particularly troubled over not being able to find one of his saddle bags. After much more searching, the big man was finally able to locate the saddlebags, but apparently whatever it was that he sought inside had been taken. Nicoldani was not happy about that at all. From the look on his face, you would think he had lost his most valued possession. From what Jak could remember, it was just a rolled up black cloth or something similar, and didn’t really understand the big man’s distress.

Jak continued to search through the rubbish and scattered belongings collecting more of their things that they could possibly use. He was surprised and relieved to find his dagger, but wondered why Mortikus hadn't taken it.

After a time, he saw a rolled up bundle a few paces off under a pile that seemed to be mostly garbage. Picking it up he turned and walked back to where the big man was standing. When Nicoldani saw what Jak was carrying, he snatched it from his hands quickly before turning his back to examine the bundle. The big man then placed it safely back into his saddlebags before turning around to face Jak. “Thank you for finding this,” he said sincerely.

“It seems important to you. What is it?” Jak asked.

There was a look of relief and pain in the big man’s eyes as he said, “It is something……….that I’m not really worthy of. But just the same, it is important to me. It’s a reminder of who I once was,” when it was clear Nicoldani was not going to say any more about it, Jak turned and walked away to continue his searching.

To Jak’s relief, it turned out that the Vashi had not killed all of the horses. Hofsi, Gin’s little mare, and Nicoldani’s war horse were still alive and unharmed. Gin was overjoyed to see Hofsi, and ran to the little mare to throw her arms around its neck and hug it tightly. The little horse seemed almost as happy to see Gin, as she was to see it. It made Jak a little sad that Gandur, his father’s horse was dead. But with everything else that he had lost, the pain of the loss was becoming like and old friend.

With the loss of the horses, they would have to take turns riding now since only two horses remained alive. But on second thought, Jak knew they would have to use Nicoldani’s horse to carry their belongings and all of them would be forced to walk, except for Gin. The prospect of walking all that way left Jak feeling even wearier than he already felt. But at least Gin would be spared from having to walk the long ways back to Yilavo City.

Nicoldani had laid Benjim down and given him some water while he recovered a bit. The old man was now regaining a little strength, and was sitting up on his own.

“What do we do now?” Jak asked.

Nicoldani spoke up first, “We gather what we can of our supplies and anything that we can use. I don’t know if those things will come back for us. For that matter we don’t want that annoying little gnome sneaking up on us during the night and putting his spell on us again.”

“I do not think he would do that,” Benjim interrupted. “He is a man of low character and opportunity. I doubt he would risk trying to take us again unless he was absolutely certain he would be successful, or not unless he had a great many others with him to help overcome us. I am sure he will assume that we will be ready for him this time.

My guess is he is long gone by now. But I agree we need to gather anything that can be of use, especially water skins and food. We should not stay here just in case the other Vashi return. But I fear I cannot travel far. We need to find a place close by to hide ourselves for the night. Rest and food is what we need now before we can attempt the Jaharian Desert on foot.”

Jak was the least exhausted of the party, so he began to scout around for a safe place to stay for the night. After a time searching he found a spot not too far away where there was a small spring and some large trees. He thought they would at least have water here. However, when he told the others of the place Nicoldani and Benjim both dismissed the place since it would be the most likely spot for the Vashi to look for them if they did return.

So Jak set off in search again. After some time of wandering around, he found a narrow gorge to the south which he hoped would work for them to hide for the night. The gorge was not very wide but it was deep, and it was big enough to hold them all as well as the two remaining horses. The rock was eroded at the side of the gorge wall making an overhang almost like a shallow cave where they would be able to shelter beneath. He didn’t think they would be able to be seen from a distance at this location. There were many such gorges and washes in this part of the mountain so it would take searchers a substantial amount of time to search them all, if they chose to return and search. Someone would have to walk up the winding gorge and be almost on top of them before they noticed that they were there.

Jak wished he knew where Frog was. If the dog were here, Jak could have set him to watch the entrance of the gorge. But as it was, he didn’t even know if the dog were alive or dead. Perhaps the Vashi had killed and eaten him. The thought made him even angrier than he already was, especially with Mortikus since this was all the tiny man’s fault. If Jak ever met Mortikus, again he feared he would kill the little man.

Jak hurried back to the cave entrance where the others were located to tell them of the potential campsite he had found. From his description, they agreed it should be a good spot to hold up for the night. So they collected all their belongings and made their way over some ridges, before finding the entrance to the gorge. It was a little further than Jak remembered it being. Benjim was so weak that he almost had to be carried the last several hundred yards to the campsite.

Once they got all their things settled and the two horses staked out, Nicoldani abruptly left. Jak wondered where the man was going since Nicoldani had left without saying a word to anyone. Perhaps the big man was just making sure that they had collected all the useable things from the Vashi camp. But after a short while, Nicoldani returned carrying two large chunks of horse meat.

“Do you expect us to eat that?” Benjim asked, his lips pursed in a look of disgust. “You would not even eat it in the cell when Mortikus was trying to force you to eat of it.”

“I wouldn’t eat it then because that pompous little man wanted me to eat it,” Nicoldani said gravely. “But if it is needed in order to survive…..then I
will
eat it. There really isn’t much of a choice, is there? We don’t have many supplies left and need to conserve what remains. Besides, we don’t have to eat it raw now either, we can cook it first. All of us are very weak and will need our strength in the coming days. Not much food remains, and we will need to ration what we have in order to make it across the desert alive. This meat we have here and now, and it won’t last long in the heat before it spoils, so we can’t take it with us. Better if we make use of it now while we are able. We should be fine with a small fire as long as we put it out when we are finished. A fire burning after dark would be a beacon to anyone around and easily give our position away. But we still have a few of hours before dark.”

That was the most words Jak had ever heard the big man speak at one time.

Gin was very reluctant to eat the horse-meat and wrinkled her nose at the thought of it. For that matter, Benjim didn’t really want to eat it either. But everyone was very hungry and once the meat started cooking, and the juices dripped on the fire they began to come around. The aroma was not the best Jak had smelled, but at that moment, it was very appetizing. In the end, they all gave in to their hunger and ate greedily until they were full. After the meat was cooked, they put the fire out as not to draw unwanted attention.

The sun was almost down, as Jak looked out over the Jaharian Desert from his elevated position in the foothills of the Mountains of Kaal. From here the desert seemed to go on forever. His heart sank at the sight of what seemed like an endless expanse. The road back was going to be long and hard, made even worse by the fact that they would have to walk the whole way. Just the thought of it made him tired. He returned to the back of the gorge where the other three were already fast asleep. He was very weary as well and once he lay down he fell asleep almost immediately.