The Silver Arrow (25 page)

“Then let not body and mind
bind the way,” she said, moving toward Samuel. She touched him at
the center of his chest with one of her fingers, and then she was
gone.

The room became dimmer again,
but the pool was still lit, and the aura around Samuel became
brighter than before. Samuel’s eyes became open from the keeper’s
touch. He could see patches of green close to a mountainside, as if
looking through a window, and he recognized the place as
Amito-Mountain.

He closed his eyes and felt
everything around the room shift. When he opened his eyes again,
they were all standing outside.

Samuel looked out onto the
rugged plain as a gentle breeze blew past his face. He knew exactly
where they were; they had made it.

“We are here,” Samuel announced
to the Ackalans, who stood in a circle still holding onto their
companion’s shoulder. While they may not have understood it before,
they now saw the wisdom in Samuel’s request that they hold onto one
another’s shoulder as they flashed out of and back into reality.
One of the men in the circle threw up from nausea. As everyone in
their own subtle way were reassuring themselves of the reality of
their new position, Tremay, who seemed unperturbed by their
experience, broke away from their circle and walked over to
Samuel.

It was still dark out, but the
moon provided enough light for them to see the sparsely forested
area around them. The air was warm and dry for the time of day, a
reminder that they were in the desert.

“Something is wrong,” Samuel
thought, and it wasn’t that he could sense Iseac close and far at
the same time, as if there were two of him.

“We need to be vigilant; there
are living and non-living moving around this place,” Samuel
announced before they began moving.

They walked quietly to the
right of Amito−Mountain when they saw a fog appear in the distance.
Even at a distance, something about it did not look right. They
watched it drift toward them till they were enveloped by it. The
fog held the rancid smell of things that were decaying as they
moved cautiously along. The mist wasn’t extremely dense, but it
impeded their view slightly. Just a few feet in, they heard it: the
faint sound of something approaching. While they could see nothing,
the sound was getting louder as it drew closer.

“Everyone, stay here,” Samuel
said in a voice that was almost as godly as the gatekeeper. In the
mist they could see his glowing figure as he darted away with
inhuman speed, disappearing into the mist.

Samuel stopped about a hundred
yards away from the Ackalans. He took out an arrow, nocked, and
pulled, watching as figures appeared in the fog. As their
impression became clearer, Samuel could see that they were Qui-Mas,
creatures denied the peace of death. The Qui-Mas were charging in
their direction, weapons drawn, pulled by the scent of blood.

Fifty yards from his position,
Samuel released a string of arrows in rapid succession. As each
silver arrow took flight, it split into a dozen, with each hitting
its intended target. The force from each arrow was like a lightning
bolt, striking two or three at a time. The creatures dropped to the
ground, pilling the earth as they rolled to a stop with dust rising
around them. Those that were struck immediately started decaying
until they crumbled into dust.

One of the creatures slipped
past Samuel on his left flank while the others slowly halted,
screaming from their positions as they waved their weapons in the
air. They could all see the glowing figure in the distance with bow
and arrow drawn and unmoved by their screaming. With so many dead
around them, they decided after several minutes to retreat. Just as
they had appeared with the mist, they faded away.

Just as the mist was beginning
to disperse, Tremay saw a creature twice his size appear with its
blade raised, ready to strike him. Tremay’s sword was already drawn
when a flash of silver zipped overhead. The creature squalled as it
dropped to the ground and immediately started decaying.

“They are called Qui-Mas, or
cursed souls,” Samuel said. “They are people stuck between our
world and the next. They possess and reshape the bodies of wild
animals, and they will be back.” Those words drew everyone’s
attention back to Samuel.

“Normal steel is useless
against them. Anything they touch before withering to this state,
they can possess, till the thing or person is killed.

“We better get going,” Samuel
said in his normal tone with the brightness in his eyes slowly
diminishing. He began walking back the way he had come, with Tremay
following beside him.

“I may have found our
entrance,” Samuel said. “Those mounds are underground vents; they
were crafted to look like natural rock formations, but if you look
closely, you will see that they are too evenly spaced to be
sporadic. Whoever did this did not want to be noticed, even in the
desert. Hopefully we will leave as unnoticed as we came.”

Samuel pointed to one of the
mounds among the vast numbers spread across the land.

“That one,” he said, and three
of the Ackalans placed their hands underneath the exposed part of
the disk-shaped mound, tipping it on its side to reveal a hole the
size of a cart wheel.

Samuel dropped one of his
arrows into the hole, counting until it hit the ground. Since it
wasn’t deep, he jumped in and called for the others to join him,
which they did in succession, calling for the next person once they
were out of the way.

The first thing they noticed
inside was the rancid smell that clung in the air. The area around
them was covered with broken tools and dirt mingled with human
remains that were pushed against the corners of the cave.

“He is here,” Samuel said. From
what he could see, they were enclosed, except for a small section
that appeared to be boarded.

He walked over to the boards,
not completely sure what to do, but he placed his hand on the wood
and concentrated. Nothing happened at first; then he saw a subtle
ripple as the boards suddenly expanded and collapsed into
shreds.

Samuel grabbed a handful of the
pieces of wood. They turned silvery and stretched out into perfect
arrows that he placed in his quiver.

Behind the boards was a
passageway, as Samuel had hoped, and he walked into the dark tunnel
with the Ackalans following. For several minutes, they walked in
pitch blackness.

“Thousands of people are being
held here, and we are not to be seen or noticed,” Tremay said,
making it clear that their purpose was only to get the
Anamerian.

Staying within the shadows,
they made their way through areas that were partly lit, unnoticed
until they came to an open exit. Samuel raised his hand, stopping
everyone behind him. He peeked into a vast canyon and spotted three
armed figures with wolfish eyes on the opposite side of a suspended
bridge. A dozen armed Agoras were crossing the bridge and heading
their way.

Samuel had been calm up to this
point, but that disappeared when he saw the Agoras that were
heading their way. Distinct memories of Elye dying, with an arrow
in his chest, flooded his mind. The loss of his father and brothers
to these monsters pushed him over the edge, and with an
uncontrollable rage, he stepped out into the open. He reached for
an arrow, but there were now only shreds of wood. One of them
pricked his finger, but he felt nothing except anger. The glow that
was once around his eyes was gone.

The Agoras seemed surprised,
but before they could react, Tremay and the Ackalans leaped into
the open from the corners where they were hiding, as if from thin
air. Within minutes, the Agoras were all brought down.

Samuel stood there, angry for
not being able to take revenge for his family. His emotions drove
away any concern about their mission or the advantage of stealth
they had just lost. His anger burned like hot steel against the
world. He did not care about his ability failing. They had been
spotted by the three armed figures who were charging across the
bridge to meet them. Six of the Ackalans rushed to meet the
Norians, their weapons still covered with the blood of the
Agoras.

“Are you all right?” Mosley
asked Samuel, who was still enraged.

“I’m not sure.”

“We need to go,” he said,
tapping Samuel on the shoulder. His touch pushed Samuel into
motion, and he ran after Mosley toward the bridge.

All this time Samuel thought he
had control, but seeing the Agoras brought the memory of his loss
back like a wound reopen. Across the bridge, Samuel’s rage was
still subsiding as he walked past two Ackalans that were pulling
away one of the dead Norians. The second Norian was being moved to
a dark corner of the cave, away from the entrance that they were
once guarding.

As Samuel walked into the
tunnel, he remembered initially spotting three. Where was the
third? They hadn’t traveled far when he spotted the last Norian
sprawled on the ground. He drew his eyes away from the
creature.

Tremay called to him as he was
unlocking a cell.“Over here.”

Samuel rushed down the slight
slope to a cage built into the wall. Inside the cage was a man
covered in dirt, but he recognized the face immediately. Iseac.

His hair was tangled in dirt
and his cheeks hollow, with his eyes sunken. His clothes were in
tatters and he looked at them in shock.

He walked inside. “I did
it.”

“Samuel,” Iseac said, his voice
rusty, “I wasn’t sure if the connection I was feeling was true
until I saw you standing there. I guess I’m not as crazy as I
thought. Help me up. There is someone I need to find. She is being
held here because of me.”

“We will come back for everyone
else later,” Tremay said, “but first we must get you to
safety.”

“No!” Iseac replied with as
much strength he could muster, trying to pull away. “I would rather
die than leave her here,” he thought.

“I know where she is,” Iseac
said instead, as he leaned against Samuel. “Follow me.”

In the dark from behind iron
bars, eyes stared at them. It showed the faces of people who had
lost all hope, too frightened to act on their own. No one reached
out or cried for help; they just stared in silence.

They made their way through an
open area. In the center, steps rose into what looked like an altar
at the top, all made of marble. The Ackalans scanned the area as
they made their way around it.

“Two guard her door,” Iseac
said before they turned into the hallway.

“Wait here,” Tremay said,
signaling for three of his men to come with him. It wasn’t long
before they heard the thudding sound as the monstrous charge they
could hear was cut off.

“Now,” Tremay said and they
made their way to a thick wooden door. One of the Ackalans unlocked
it with the key he had taken from one of the creatures and pushed
the door open. Iseac let go of Samuel and walked into the room.

“It’s me, Iseac,” he announced
as he leaned down to help Elena, who looked at him, surprised. She
took his hand for support and they walked out of the room. She was
younger than him, from what Samuel could tell, and like Iseac, she
too was covered in dirt.

“Do you know a way out of
here?” Tremay asked.

“No,” Iseac replied.

“Then we head back,” Tremay
said, turning when Elena spoke up.

“I know a way, and it’s not far
from here,” she said.

“Show me,” Tremay said in that
commanding voice that demanded absolute obedience, and they made
their way back, taking a different exit at the grand room with the
marbled tile.

As they hurried through the
tunnel, Samuel couldn’t help but wonder if his brother and mother
were here, too, and alive.

The part of the tunnel they
were now taking was different. The farther in they went, the more
spread apart the fire posts became until they were in complete
darkness.

At the end of the tunnel was a
heavy wooden door inlaid with iron. They only needed to use the
pulley to roll the chain up in order to open the gate. Two of the
men ran over to begin opening the gate, and that was when they
discovered the missing piece. A single rod that locked the chain,
which held the pulley in place, was missing. Without it, they were
at a dead end and needed to find another way.

It was obvious that they could
not use this exit unless they had the rod, so they began making
their way back. As they passed the first sets of cells, which had
five sections, Samuel thought he heard the faint voice of someone
calling his name.

“
Must
be my imagination,” he said to himself. Then he heard it again. It
was weak, but he did hear it. He knew only someone from his town
would recognize or know him by name.

He turned and began frantically
making his way back in the general direction they had come as
Mosley and another Ackalan ran up after him. Samuel hoped that
whoever it was knew something about his family and where they might
be. He searched through the faces in the first cell he came to.

No one looked familiar, so he
hurried to the next one, but again he did not recognize any of the
faces. Was his mind playing tricks on him? He was beginning to
wonder as he moved to the third. No one there looked familiar,
either; resting both hands on the iron bars, discouraged, Samuel
looked down and saw a young man with dark hair.

“Who called my name?” he asked,
not caring that his words were projecting, his tone edged with
frustration.

No one answered. As he turned
to leave, someone spoke up.

“Him,” the person said,
pointing to a figure on the ground. The person on the ground raised
his head and the expression on Samuel’s face changed.