The Silver Arrow (14 page)

“Why was it abandoned?” Samuel
asked, the look of the place now making more sense.

“Wives got tired of losing
their husbands working in what was a very dangerous condition back
then. Help me push,” Harold said, ending the discussion. The corner
around the circle was visibly clean of the muck that was once
around it.

Samuel wedged the stick into
the mound behind them, and they both leaned back and pushed with
their feet against the circle. It took several attempts until it
finally budged. Slowly they pushed it in until it fell, making a
thudding sound.

Harold had sweat on his brow as
he turned to Samuel. “Get everyone over here,” he instructed in a
low whisper.

Whatever was outside was now
directly above them, and they stopped moving.

Elye was standing next to
Celina, and Faray was standing alone, looking up. They stood frozen
in their spots, listening and hoping the intruders moved on.

And then they heard it.
Footsteps. They were moving again. For whatever reason, they had
stopped, but now they could hear them moving. The sounds started to
fade, but before they were completely gone, the branch that was
wedged into the mound came loose and fell to the ground, bouncing
off the hard surface of the slope. It made a single clanking sound
before Harold caught it.

In Samuel’s mind, the single
sound felt louder than their town bell. Everyone held their breath
and Samuel could hear his heart pounding, hoping the sound wasn’t
heard.

Samuel beckoned his mother and
brothers to come over, and, as they did, a single zipping sound
zoomed in through the entrance. It grazed Celina’s left arm. She
raised her hand to look at it when Elye, who was by her side,
dropped to the ground.

Celina turned to look at him
and screamed, seeing the final resting place of the arrow that had
grazed her. It had barely missed her, but struck Elye at the back,
protruding from his chest. The jutting tip was glazed in blood.
Elye began to spasm as Celina dropped to the ground to embrace
him.

Another arrow followed almost
immediately as Samuel and Faray rushed over to their mother,
pulling her and Elye away from the entrance.

A thudding sound followed a
second later, reverberating inside the mine. Something had jumped
onto the ledge and was making its way toward them, then another,
and another, and it kept going.

“Get everyone out of here.
Now!” Harold said in a raised voice, not caring if he was heard.
They had found them and were coming for them anyway; he pulled his
sword and ran to the entrance.

Fear and anger competed for
Samuel’s emotion as he stood there in shock. Faray pulled out his
sword and rushed over to the opposite side of the entrance, his
rage burning away the fear that once held him.

“If you want to help,” Harold
said to Faray, “see that your mother and brother are safe. Get them
as far away from here as you can and follow the dampest parts of
the cave. I’ll join you when it is time.”

“Now go, and don’t wait for
me,” Harold added more gently. Faray knew he was right. He had his
younger brother and mother to protect. Disapprovingly, he returned
to Samuel and Celina.

Samuel could do nothing but
watch his mother try to comfort his dying brother. She brushed her
hand over his hair, trying to soothe him. Elye’s breathing was now
in spurts as blood slid down the corner of his mouth.

One of the bloodless figures
jumped into the cave, but since the entrance was narrow, it had no
time to defend itself against the quick motion of Harold’s blade
that fell on it. It dropped to the ground as another rushed inside,
swinging.

Harold dashed forward, bending
down enough to flip the attacker over his shoulder, and piercing
the monster’s throat as it landed on the ground; its monstrous
cries faded while others continued to make their way inside.

Faray pulled his mother away
from Elye’s motionless body as she tried to hold on. Samuel watched
Elye lie peacefully on the ground with his eyes closed, as if any
minute now he would wake up; but he knew this would never be. Elye
was gone, and that deep sense of realization rippled through every
part of his being. It threatened to drive him insane, but somehow,
Samuel held on to a piece of his sanity that drove him into
action.

Samuel grabbed the burning
stick even as the image of Elye taking his last breath spun in his
mind. He rushed toward the hole, passing his brother and
mother.

He threw the burning branch
into the hole and hurried through.

Celina was held by Faray, who
was unsure what his mother would do, knowing that at this moment
she would rather stay and die with her youngest son.

“Come on,” a voice said from
inside the hole said as Faray backed in after their mother. He
could hear monstrous screams and the sound of steel blades.

“He has to make it,” Faray said
to himself, fighting the urge to go and help his father as he
dropped down deep inside the mine.

Iseac walked down the stairs
dressed for travel with two envelopes in his hand. He placed one of
the letters at the front desk before stepping out of the healer’s
clinic. The air outside was nice and cool as he looked up at the
sky.

“The sun is going to be rising
in another hour,” he thought as he looked out into his
once-so-familiar surroundings. Iseac closed his eyes and took in a
deep breath of the fresh morning air. This place—his home—held so
many wonderful memories of his past. He let the thought linger for
a minute before opening his eyes again. In his heart, Iseac knew
there was a chance he would not see this place again, but before
leaving, he needed to do one more thing.

Mosley, who was already
mounted, watched as Iseac got on Durack.

“Follow me,” he said to Mosley
as he sent Durack into a trot.

A few people were already up
preparing for the day, and those who were out took notice as they
made their way through side streets, staying away from the major
roads. Soon they were on the main road, surrounded by an open
field. They veered right from this road into a narrow trail, and
fifteen minutes later, the wooded trail opened up into a farm. At
the edge of the farm was a single house.

The home was lit inside, which
could be seen through the window as they brought their horses to a
halt several yards from the house. Iseac got off Durack, pulled the
other envelope from his saddlebag, and walked over to the house.
Trying not to make any noise, he wedged his second envelope in the
door.

Mosley was watching Iseac from
his horse as he did this; while he did not exactly know what was in
the envelope, he suspected this was probably where Iseac grew up,
his home.

“We head for Bayshia,” Iseac
said as he got back on Durack and they rode off, the farmhouse
slowly fading behind them.

That morning, when
Elena arrived at the clinic, no one was on the main floor as
she looked around. She had begun making her away upstairs when
someone called her name. She turned her head to look over her
shoulder and saw Gina standing at the foot of the stairs.

“I have something for you,”
Gina said, moving to the shelf by the stairs. She pulled out an
envelope wedged beside a bottle of medicine.

Gina had walked out from the
storage room at the corner of the main desk, drawn by the sound of
footsteps.

“He is gone…but he left this
for you,” she said as she extended her hands out with a sealed
envelope.

“Thank you,” Elena said behind
a stab of anger at Iseac for leaving without saying good-bye.

“Is his room occupied?” Elena
asked.

“No, it’s still vacant.”

“Could I have a few minutes
alone up there?” Elena asked.

“Of course you may,” Gina
replied.

“Thank you again,” Elena said
and she made her way upstairs, trying not to appear too eager.

Once alone, Elena broke the
seal that had her name written in front and began to read.

*******************

My Dearest Elena,

Words cannot express how
marvelous it was to see you again.

The desire to stay that I might
see you once more shook me to the core and threatened to split my
heart asunder, for it will not be consoled.

I leave with this void and hope
soon my path will lead me back to where it might find rest in
you.

The course I now have to take I
must take alone, as fate has chosen a different path for me.

My hope is that my presence
here has not endangered these people. I do not know when I will
again return, and do not expect you to wait.

You deserve better, someone
that will be there and care for you, someone you can raise a family
with and live a normal and happy life.

I’m sorry for the pain I’ve
caused you.

Iseac

********************

Elena sniffed as she wiped off
the tears from her eyes. There was nothing else on the note. She
knew that Iseac was being trained by a Patron in Bremah, which
required him to travel, but this had been the longest he’d been
away from home. His knowledge and understanding of the four
Kingdoms seem to ground him even more, and this was one of the
things she loved about him. She enjoyed listening to him bring
history to life when he spoke of events centuries ago as if he had
seen them in person.

And after all this time away,
he still held her heart.

“Mother used to say that men
are hard to understand. I now see what she means, and even though
she might be right, he is the only one for me.” She folded the note
and tucked it into her bodice.

After taking a second to
compose herself, Elena walked out of the room.

***********************

Iseac and Mosley, on the other
hand, rode through most of the morning. By midday, the clouds had
gathered into a grayish blue; it was about to rain.

“It looks like we are going to
be riding in the rain for some time,” Mosley commented as he pulled
his hood over his head, the wind carrying his words.

“Stay by my side,” Iseac said
in reply, not wanting to talk too much; his side and head still
throbbed with pain.

Concentrating, he cast a spell,
and the air above them shifted in a twirling motion. A second
later, it settled into a transparent shield just before the first
raindrop hit the ground and it began to rain.

Iseac pulled the hood of his
cloak over his head and they rode at a canter with the rain
bouncing off the invisible shield. This, however, did not stop the
draft from the wind.

The rain broke through several
times as they rode due to Iseac’s wavering concentration, caused by
the mounting pains in his side. Durack’s continued motion
exacerbated his still-healing wounds.

Throughout the day, there were
occasional breaks from the heavy downpour; by dusk it had
diminished into a drizzle, but Iseac didn’t feel like spending the
night in the open.

He knew there was a cave about
a mile from their location. The question he was debating was
whether it was still there. He sometimes second-guessed himself
when it came to things like the landscape. His knowledge of this
cave could have been from a more recent predecessor, or over a
hundred years ago.

He could see why before and
after his unlocking, Gabram was insistent that he study the more
modern maps of the Kingdom, which helped to confirm his knowledge
of the past.

They veered left off the main
road as Iseac released his spell and they rode at a trot through
the woods that became more sparsely separated the farther in they
went. They stopped at the base of a hillside. Iseac stepped off
Durack and started walking along the corner of the hill.

Mosley recognized the place,
but he wasn’t sure what Iseac was looking for.

“Can I be of any help?” he
asked, stepping down from his horse.

After a long pause, Iseac spoke
as he continued searching for something. “I’m not…” and that was
when he saw it.

“There!” he said as he parted
the shrub that was hiding what he was looking for, a board that was
old and weathered. It was the entrance to a tunnel that was about
five feet tall, with a thick wooden frame mostly covered in dust
and cobwebs.

Gritting his teeth, he kicked
the board in, splintering the wood around the area were his feet
landed. Iseac leaned forward and began pulling off the remaining
planks with his hands.

“We should be dry in here
tonight, but stand back. “He motioned for Mosley to move to his
right. When he was satisfied that he and the horses were a safe
distance from him, he raised both hands over his head and moved his
arm around almost in a circular motion. Something above him began
to stir; as he swung his hand forward, a gust of air swept in
through the entrance, making a hollow swooshing sound as it brushed
the fore-walls of the tunnel, fading into the distance.

“That is better,” Iseac said,
rubbing his wet hands together as if cleaning them. His wet hair
that had been pushed forward by the wind fell back into place.

Iseac was glad to be on his
feet again; the jarring motion from their ride had left him sore
more than he’d thought. Looking around, they gathered as many dry
twigs and wood they could find−which wasn’t much−and they got a
little fire started, which provided little warmth. As they sat
inside the cave away from the wind, Iseac closed his eyes and
placed his right hand on the ground, the palm raised so only his
fingertips were touching the ground.

Concentrating, he touched at
the core of his mind, causing the amulet on his chest to unlace
itself, revealing the fuchsia crystal within. Now that the crystal
was open, he placed the image of a human at the core of his mind,
which sent a vibration from his fingertips to the ground. The
images of a human-like shadow formed within a fog that appeared in
his mind. It returned no human form a mile around them, outside of
Mosley, which it picked up immediately. All of this took less than
a minute. When Iseac opened his eyes again, he began to speak,
explaining where they were going and what they needed to find.