Engraved - The Hunted Warrior

Chapter 30.1 - Ice and Blood

Alam cautiously swung his axe into the glowing ice. The moment it connected a surge traveled along the shaft of the axe. The entire block of ice shattered with a deafening boom into thousands of tiny, glittering shards.

***

"What was that noise?" asked Noldorae.

Emerek, the blood knights, and Xantia came to a sudden halt and peered ahead into the darkness of the tunnel in front of them. They had traveled far enough in a straight line that the broken doorway they had entered was nothing more than a tiny dot of light behind them.

"Tomb raiders," said Emerek. "They sound close." He then muttered a strange word and drew his thumb and forefinger together. The flame on the torch he carried died down to a small, candle-like flame.

"The barbarians," said Drander, the captain. He turned to Emerek. "But you said there is no way in other than the way we have come."

"There is no other way." Emerek turned to Xantia. "What do you know?"

"Nothing, Lord. Even though they are unusually resourceful for barbarians, they are nothing special."

"So says the woman who claims they bested Gretch the Hunter," said Drander. "I think you are holding back information."

"What I have told you is the truth."

Drander stepped menacingly up to Xantia. "That is not the same as holding back information." The captain might not have been as big as Noldorae, but he was big enough. His eyes locked with Xantia's as he stared down at her.

"We do not have time to squabble," cut in Emerek. "Something, or someone, is making noise. Maybe it is the barbarians, maybe it is Gretch, maybe something completely different. It does not change what we will do. We move up quietly, kill the intruders, and then kill the Evara. Understood?"

"You mean send the Evara to our Liege so he may kill her, I assume?" Xantia asked.

Emerek stepped up quickly to Xantia and grabbed her by the throat. He pushed her roughly against the uneven stone wall. Drander's sword rang out of its scabbard faster than a whip. Its tip pointed at her temple.

Breathe.

Be calm.

"Question me again, dispute with me again, and I let her," Emerek pointed to the twin, "kill you slowly. Understood?"

"Perfectly," Xantia replied stony faced.

"Good. You two," he pointed to Xantia and the twin, "scout ahead. Now is your chance to not only prove your loyalty, but also show that you are the excellent assassin you say you are. Drander, you are in the middle. Noldorae, you stay with me at the rear."

***

Alam and Tajar picked themselves up off the floor and brushed shards of ice off their clothes.

"What just happened?" asked Tajar.

"I have no idea," said Alam.

Clarisai's prone form lay on the ground. The two friends approached her. Neither of the men had ever seen an Evara before. They were fascinated by the young woman's angled, slender ears, and delicately featured, calm, angelic face. Her skin still had a pale, deathly cast to it, even in the flickering yellow light shed by the torch.

"Who could wish to harm such a sweet looking girl?" Tajar asked.

Alam removed the rose carefully from its box and gently placed it in Clarisai's cold, limp hands. They watched for any sign that the rose was affecting her.