Giants (17 page)

Joash shook his head. The horrid enchantment of this place was too strong. A thousand Niflmen had long ago fled these hills. How many thousands more had been slain? How many had died where he now stood? Joash hoisted himself up after Adah. Arioch the Archangel had sealed the
bene elohim
Draugr in a cave hidden somewhere near here.

Joash paused. Was it possible Draugr Trolock-Maker still lived? No, that was impossible. Joash had learned as a child that the Shining Ones had defeated the
bene elohim
. Their spirits had been taken off Earth and sealed in prisons. Some called that prison the Gulf of Tartarus, and others called it the Lake of Fire. Surely, if Arioch had sealed Draugr here, the Archangel would have made certain that in the end, the
bene elohim
had perished. Arioch would also have insured that the evil spirit had been borne away with the others.

Joash scrabbled onto a new and hotter ledge. Adah hurried along a narrow trail that seemed to curl around the rocky hill. Joash followed, although like the animals, he hated these hills. He also pondered all he’d heard. Hadn’t the Singer said trolocks had been sealed with Draugr? Trolocks were piles of rocks, according to Adah, animated by the spirits of the damned. Joash shivered with horror. Trolocks sounded loathsome. Yes, perhaps a treasure really was in this cave, but horrors and old terrors would be there as well.

Joash turned the corner, climbed another ledge, and saw a mini-plateau stretch before him. At the end of the plateau, were Herrek, Elidad, and Gens. Adah hurried to catch up to them.

What had it been like when the Shining Ones had tracked down the
bene elohim
? How many times had steel rung against steel, how many times had warriors screamed as they fell to their deaths, or shouted in triumph because at last their hated foes had fallen? It seemed, faintly, that Joash could hear the old cries, hear the clangor of battle, and the last desperate shouts of trapped champions. He nodded. The evil enemy would have set ambushes. Boulders would have been rolled upon the unwary. He looked around. The hills were more like a complex of traps, ledges, and high points, rather than natural stone. There would have been bitter melees. Joash was glad the Shining Ones had completed their task. Remembering Mimir’s size and strength, he was appalled at what the giant’s grandfather, a
bene elohim
, must have been like.

What was in Draugr’s Cave? An ancient treasure, obviously. But why were they being lured toward it?

Then it came to Joash. If a cave had been sealed up for ages, and if Draugr Trolock-Maker had perished in the cave, trapped as he was with trolocks that were animated piles of rocks...maybe Mimir and Tarag feared what was in the cave. Maybe they needed someone else to see if any of the old dangers still lurked in this place of horror. For hadn’t the trolocks been fashioned in the dark caves? And hadn’t Adah once told him that old people, those who had lived for hundreds of years, were very careful with their lives? If patriarchs like Lord Uriah, seldom left the safety of their holdings, what were even longer-lived beings like Tarag like? According to Adah, Tarag had been born before the ancient war had even begun. Wouldn’t Tarag be even more cautious than Lord Uriah was?

“Stop!” Joash shouted, cupping his hands and yelling. His voice was weak, and the others paid him no heed. They strode onward, oblivious to their fate. “No!” Joash shouted. He forced himself to run to Adah. The small Singer strode fast, her eyes straining, her mouth worked into an eerie smile. Her skin had a green cast, and veins that he’d never seen before had surfaced near her skin.

“Adah!”

She didn’t look at him.

Joash grabbed her arm and forced her to stop.

She hissed and slapped him across the face. He released her. She rushed forward.

Joash shook his head, and then dashed after her. “Adah! Wait! You must tell me more about Draugr.”

She didn’t listen.

Joash stopped from sheer exhaustion, sat down, and uncorked his own small water-skin. He sucked the hot liquid as sweat soaked his clothes. He watched Elidad climb a rock and jump out of view. It was impossible to keep up with them.

Would they truly dare fight Tarag?

Of course they would dare. As he was now, Herrek would face anyone.

Joash snapped his fingers. They had bewitched the others so they’d discover if trolocks still lived. From Adah’s description, trolocks seemed like creatures even Nephilim or First Born might fear. Then what could a human hope to do against them?

Joash groaned. Should he try to drive a chariot back to Hori Cove and alert Lord Uriah about the horrors Nephilim attempted to release? The others were doomed.

Joash shook his head. He didn’t truly know what awaited them in the cave. But he wasn’t bewitched. Therefore, he must save them. A shrewd warrior would try to ambush the ambushers. Joash chewed his lip as he readied his spear. This was beyond his skill, but perhaps if he cast the spear at just the right moment...

Joash rose and followed the others. And he strained to catch a sound or a sight of the enemy. One thing seemed certain. If animals couldn’t come to these hills, then Tarag would be without his sabertooths.

A sound alerted him. Joash increased his pace.

“Here,” Herrek shouted from ahead. “Here is the cave.”

Chapter Eleven

The Cave

...They will set up the abomination that causes desolation.

-- Daniel 11:31

Joash hurried. Then he slowed, glancing to his right and then to his left. In a moment he ducked behind a rock and waited. He heard the others arguing, but he couldn’t see them yet because they were on the other side of an outcropping of stone. Beyond the outcropping rose a cliff. Above the cliff towered a lichen-capped peak.

Their voices rebounded off the cliff and reverberated into the hills. If Nephilim followed, they’d hear the voices. Joash listened for the scrape of Nephilim sandals or for the clatter of falling rocks. The wind moaned, the sun blazed its heat, and a fly buzzed past his ear. Joash brushed away the fly as sweat dripped into his eyebrows. He didn’t move, didn’t twitch, and didn’t even breathe deeply. The others depended on him for survival.

A rock clattered. Joash froze. The sound came from where he’d been. The tumbling rock smacked to a stop and made no more noise.

No animal had caused that. For the first time, Joash had proof that someone else was here.

Joash stared at the ledge he’d just climbed, waiting for Mimir or Tarag. Just as he was about to go look, he heard a leathery sliding sound. His heart pounded. He looked at his spear. One cast would be all he had. But his hands shook. What if he froze as he had against the young sabertooth? Joash grabbed his spear and scrambled up the outcropping to join the others. A cliff-face loomed before them.

“There you are,” Elidad said. “Help us tear out this damnable wall.”

Elidad’s spear, sword, and shield lay on the ground beside his cloak, and beside a growing pile of rubble and rocks.

Adah peered at her parchment, then at the cave-mouth. She shook her head, muttering. Gens and Elidad tore at the rocks in the archway entrance. Herrek stood to the side, frowning. Despite the heat he wore his helmet. Although his skin was yellow-tinged, his eyes blazed. He clutched his spear and the huge auroch-hide shield.

“Hurry,” Elidad said.

Joash saw that the entrance had been mortared. Most likely this was Arioch the Archangel’s work. But if Shining Ones had made the wall to hold
bene elohim
and trolocks, how could they tear out the bricks and stones?

“Work,” Elidad shouted, grunting as he heaved a rock.

“Someone follows us,” Joash said.

Herrek swiveled his head at him, interested.

“There isn’t anyone else in these hills,” Elidad said.

“Might Nephilim be trying to use us?” Joash asked, looking at Adah.

Her forehead crinkled thoughtfully.

“Groom,” Elidad said, grabbing him. “Clear the rubble.” He shoved Joash at smashed stones and bricks.

“Our enemies await us within,” Herrek said slowly. “I yearn to slay them.”

“Secrets lie in the cave,” Adah whispered.

“Then why aren’t you two digging?” Joash asked.

Herrek tightened his grip. “The enemy is near. I feel him. He waits for us to drop our guard. Instead, I’ll feed him a shaft-full of steel.” He grinned. “Herrek, Champion of Teman Clan, will not be taken unawares.”

“What about you, Adah?” Joash asked. “Why aren’t you digging?”

“Work,” Elidad told him.

Joash grabbed a rock. He shuffled to Elidad’s pile and dropped the rock so it hit with a clack. “Well?” he asked the Singer.

Adah tried to speak. Then she looked down and shuffled her feet.

“You know that we’re being tricked, don’t you?” Joash asked.

“Work,” Elidad said, cuffing him across the back of the head.

Joash staggered, but caught himself before hitting the ground. He went back to work. Now wasn’t the time to fight Elidad. After he had carried several loads, however, he dared ask, “What will we use inside the cave for light?”

With white mortar powder on his face smeared by sweat-runnels, Gens pointed at a pile of torches. Each was tarred with black resin.

“Were those already here?” Joash asked.

Gens nodded, and went back to prying out stones.

When Elidad no longer glared at him, Joash walked near Adah. “Isn’t it strange that torches have been left here for us to use?”

She stared at him.

“I think this all has something to do with Elidad’s emeralds.”

“Groom,” Elidad said, bounding beside Joash and grabbing him by the front of the shirt. “Do not talk about these.” He thrust the icy-green emeralds into Joash’s face. They radiated evil power and tried to work their magic upon him. Joash turned away. With his thick fingers Elidad forced Joash to stare at them.

“Hundreds more await us in the cave,” Elidad hissed. “Dig and you shall own some. Then, you will be rich. Then you can buy your own chariot and hire a weapons-master to teach you any skill you desire. But, if you speak more traitorous words, I’ll knock out your teeth and watch your lips swell to three times their size. Then you’ll be speechless. Do you understand?”

Joash glanced at Herrek.

Elidad slapped Joash, and a ring cut his cheek. “Do you
understand
?”

Frightened, Joash nodded.

“Dig,” Herrek told Joash. “I must defeat the foes awaiting us within.”

Elidad grinned at Joash.

“Wait,” Adah said.

The two warriors turned toward her.

“Something... Something is wrong,” she said. “Something...” She pulled out the parchment and poured over it, muttering to herself.

“Work,” Herrek told Joash. “We must enter the cave and slay the hated foes.”

Joash worked. Together with Gens and Elidad he dug into the pile of broken stones. Joash didn’t recognize the type of bricks. They seemed to be old and very hard. He knew they were heavier than anything else this size. Ah. The bricks had been Shining One-made. They had been made to hold a
bene elohim
. What could have destroyed these bricks and possibly leeched their angelic power?

They paused later for water. Elidad drained his water-skin and demanded Joash’s. Elidad drained that, too. Gens only had a little left in his skin. Herrek and Adah didn’t respond when asked about their water-skins, but veins rose on Adah’s forehead. She kept striking her thigh, muttering to herself.

“Something is wrong,” she said. “Something...”

With his hands hurting, Joash lifted yet another stone. Then he heard a bizarre sound.

Elidad pushed him from behind. “Work,” the warrior said. He sounded tired.

“Didn’t you hear it?” Joash whispered.

Elidad glared at him.

Joash dared Elidad’s wrath and put his ear against the wall. He heard the sound again. It was like a millstone grinding grain, or two large rocks rubbed together.

Terror wormed into Joash’s bowels. Trolocks. They—

“Work,” Elidad said, hitting Joash between the shoulder blades.

Joash fell. Elidad kicked him. Joash curled up, trying to protect himself.

“You lazy slave!” Elidad shouted. “You’ve dared disobey me.”

Adah laid a hand on Elidad’s forearm. “Do not cripple him.”

“He is lazy,” Elidad said.

“How will you carry all the emeralds home unless you have bodies to move them?”

“Ah, I had forgotten.” Elidad said, as he pried a rock out of the wall and carted it away.

Adah squatted beside Joash. “Are you hurt?”

He rose to a sitting position, his body a giant bruise. He looked into her glazed eyes, but it seemed they were less glazed than before. Maybe his words had an effect, or perhaps her will was finally breaking the bewitching spell. Or maybe she liked him, and despite her bewitchment, she couldn’t stand to see him hurt.

“Something moves behind the wall,” he said.

Adah nodded.

“Is that the secret you’ve come to learn?” Joash asked.