The Awakening (19 page)

“Treestar will be terribly disappointed,” Robyn commented as he observed the anxious elf. “I will advise him of Elion’s departure from the group as soon as I can. It will be difficult for him to abide, I fear,” he said downcast.

As the guards jumped from the platform and approached the visitors cautiously, the travelers began to move forward slowly, not wishing to alarm them unduly under the uneasy circumstances.

Robyn raised his hand in greeting, while he cautioned his companions in a hushed voice, “Prepare yourselves, my friends. The purpose of our ‘coming’ is finally upon us.”

Chapter Twenty-three

Alemar pulled lightly upon Shira’s reins and the mare came to an instant stop. She stood up tall in her saddle and peered ahead, a troubled look in her eyes. Giles and Clovis pulled up alongside of her and rested for a moment as well. They had been riding for most of the morning and afternoon, and they had covered a considerable amount of ground.

“What is it, Princess?” Clovis questioned.

“I am not sure, but I thought I heard a sound ahead, and it did not seem to simply be the wind blowing through the snow.” She put her gloved finger to her lips and raised her chin high. “Did you hear it?” she asked the others.

“I did, my Lady,” Giles said immediately. “At least I heard something. I do not know what.”

“So did I,” Clovis said. “And it had a distinct animal quality to it. What would be here, so close to the pass?”

“Are we that close?” Giles asked. “I thought the Pass of the Righteous was surrounded by more ice and snow than this,” he commented, scanning the horizon around them.

“It was the last time I ventured out here,” Alemar responded. “Things have changed, I fear.”

“Well, at least it will make our approach a bit easier,” Giles commented. “I cannot say that I was looking forward to fighting our way up the hills and through the dunes.”

“Better that we had to struggle to reach the pass than to have discovered just how badly it has deteriorated,” Alemar said, pointing to the surface ahead. “Follow me, but tread lightly. Make no sudden moves,” she warned, as she urged Shira ahead.

The other two followed close behind, making certain that they did not increase their pace and disturb the snow any more than was absolutely necessary.

Alemar lurched to the left. “Did you hear that?” she whispered.

“Yes,” they both responded simultaneously.

“It was a voice, I am certain,” Alemar said.

“I agree, my Lady. But where was it coming from? There is no place here to conceal oneself, particularly now, with the snow barely as deep as it is in the southern hills,” Clovis asked.

“I can practically see the ice beneath our feet,” Giles said, staring through the snow beneath him. “Are we not traveling upon rock, my Lady?” he asked.

“No Giles. We are not. In fact, this entire area was once a great sea, the scholars think. It has been frozen over since time untold. But the Tomes refer to the Sea of the Righteous a number of times, and the location seems to be the same as that of the Pass. Do you not remember being taught about the army of Iscaron?”

“Iscaron? The name is vaguely familiar. I was never too good a student,” Clovis answered.

“Neither was I, but I remember Iscaron. Was he not the elfin King who sought out the caves of Carloman in order to save his ailing daughter?”

“Yes, that was he. He had three sons before her, but Alicea, his youngest, was the love of his life. He cherished her and adored her, particularly after his wife died of the sleeping sickness. His obsession with her grew and grew with time. The Tomes say that he even believed that she embodied the spirit of his dead wife. He lived only for her, and denied his other children his attention,” Alemar recounted, treading lightly upon the snow-covered ground.

“When his daughter came down with the same illness as Kala, his deceased wife, he was beside himself. He beseeched the trees to help him, but he was met with only silence. He approached the Chosen, Emment, but he too offered no assistance. Iscaron grew embittered, and soon he began to panic. He would not accept what was happening and he lost his senses. In desperation, he sought out the Caves of Carloman, thinking that he would find a cure amongst the holy places therein. His wife had been a religious woman, and she had always spoken of the caves as a place of great magic, an abode where the gods convened. Meanwhile, his daughter was growing weaker and weaker with each passing hour.”

Alemar glanced upward momentarily, and then she removed one glove from her hand. She raised her palm to the sky and collected a few droplets of water upon it. “It is so warm, I do not even believe the moisture is coming from the clouds. It seems as if the snow is evaporating and insinuating itself into the very air.” She put her glove back on, and returned to her narrative as they walked across the snow strewn plateau.

“After the King tried every method he could to heal his precious daughter, and after each and every one failed, he grew despondent and angry. Finally, Iscaron rallied his army, and in his twisted mind, he thought to march upon the Gods themselves and impel them to save Alicea. Unwilling to accept her fate, he emptied Eleutheria of its soldiers, and marched out the gates and across the plains. Spring was approaching, and a great thaw had already set in. The snows were still heavy, and they blanketed the countryside, but the surface of the sea was thinner than ever before.”

“What of the women and children left behind?” Clovis asked.

“He abandoned them in his anguish, never thinking they were in harm’s way, sealed inside Eleutheria.”

“Did the army follow him willingly?” Giles questioned.

“Reluctantly, it is said,” Alemar noted. “But, they were loyal to their King, and they all recognized his enormous distress. They held the banners of Eleutheria high as they marched from the city.”

“What became of them?”

“You two really do not know your history at all,” she commented, surprised. “When the army was midway across the frozen sea, disaster struck. A burning rock fell from the heavens, and burst through the surface upon which they trod. Already undermined by the unusually warm temperatures, the entire plain of ice cracked like a broken mirror, and Iscaron, along with everyone who accompanied him, fell into the still freezing water. As quickly as it shattered, the surface re-froze, trapping the thousands of warriors beneath, where they all died a horrible and untimely death. Strangely, the weather returned to normal with the sinking of the stone that fractured the ice, as if it was the cause of the change to begin with.”

“I do remember one thing that I was taught, although it was my father who afforded me this knowledge, not a teacher,” Giles recalled. “Was not Caeltin’s casting from the council described in a similar manner? Did he not appear as a burning rock tumbling out of the sky”?”

“Ah, that you would not forget,” Alemar responded. “It would be hard to, I imagine. Do you not remember that too, Clovis?”

“Yes, I think so, my Lady. But my memory is unclear. Certainly, I recall Caeltin D’Are Agenathea being spoken of as a ball of hell fire. I never thought it was meant literally though,” he answered.

“Well, what Giles remembers is true. The day that our ancestor’s armies were lost beneath the frozen surface of the Pass of the Righteous was the very same day that the Tomes recorded Caeltin’s fall from the council.” Alemar hugged herself with both her arms for a minute, seized by a momentary chill. “I doubt that it was a mere coincidence,” she said seriously.

“You think that it was the Evil One who shattered the ice and caused the drowning of Iscaron and his men?”

“I always did. Even as a small child. And, I am not alone. The timing cannot be entirely coincidental. The fabric weaves of its own will, my friends. One occurrence can merely change the sheen or hue, or it can alter the entire cloth. His enmity for those stirred by noble emotions, along with his bitterness surely found fulfillment when he drowned that desperate man and his army beneath the ice.”

Clovis turned a serious face to the Princess.

“What became of Alicea?” he asked after a few moments of silence, almost afraid to hear the answer.

“Miraculously, with the return of the temperatures to normal, she recovered from her illness in a matter of days.”

“And he never knew,” Clovis said as if to himself.

“No. He must have died thinking she was doomed. It was all such an improbable tragedy.”

“What became of her and her people when the army did not return?” Giles questioned, quite interested now.

Alemar hesitated before she answered, absorbed in her own thoughts. She glanced from left to right, her beautiful features marred by a troubled expression, before she responded to her friend’s inquiry.

“They survived,” she said softly. “The boys grew up faster than they would have otherwise, and the elders governed until the others were of age. Many maidens married young, and the city was repopulated in time,” she answered.

“Did his daughter ever come to rule? After all, she survived the loss of her mother and her father? Was it too much for her to bear?” Clovis inquired.

“No. She was strong, even as a child,” Alemar said, full of pride. “Yes, she ruled. In fact, she sat upon the ice throne for longer than any Queen before her. My great, great, great, great grandmother was an unusually gifted woman,” she concluded preening, with a coy grin upon her face.

“Ah, I should have known,” Giles said, looking sideways at Alemar. “The Ice Queen’s legacy is one to be proud of. I just never knew her name was Alicea, though I know the stories well. I did not have to listen in school to learn of her exploits. My mother never stopped drumming them into me. I have to admit, though, I did enjoy hearing about her. She must have been quite a lady, Princess. I envy you the blood you share. It has always been obvious to me that you were most nobly born, forgetting the titles for a moment.”

“Aye,” Clovis reiterated. “A legacy to be proud of. It comes as no surprise to me,” he said, challenging his friend.

The blonde-haired warrior bent his head sheepishly as if embarrassed by not having guessed at her glorious heritage.

Alemar’’s face reddened. “Would that I were nearly as brave as she,” she responded.

“Your time may yet come to prove yourself, your highness,” Clovis interjected. “I, for one, have no doubt that you will rise to the occasion no less courageously than your ancestor.”

Giles jumped. “Did you hear that?” he asked, interrupting the somber mood of the other two.

Alemar and Clovis focused their attention upon their companion. “Hear what?” Clovis asked.

“I do not know. It sounded like a voice,” Giles replied, sitting up high in his saddle, his head shifting from left to right.

“It is the same sound I heard when we first trod upon this ground,” Alemar responded, listening intently herself. She urged Shira carefully ahead, and searched the landscape for a sign of life. “Be careful,” she warned. “The ice grows thinner as we speak.”

“Do you see the glow as I do, Princess? The ice appears almost orange in color,” Clovis remarked.

“The heat flows from the south,” she said, surveying the area. “You can almost see it radiating.”

Alemar yanked upon the reins, leapt from her horse and knelt upon the frozen ground. With her gloved hands, she cleared away the loose snow on the surface beneath her, rubbing the ice in order to see it more clearly. Just as suddenly, she stood and jumped backward, her face stricken with fear.

“Below the surface. Look. I swear on the First, I can see faces,” she exclaimed to the others.

Giles and Clovis dismounted as well and rushed to the Princess’ side. Giles moved a little to her left, and he used his heavy boot to push the snow away from the area upon which he stood.

“Here too, my Princess.” He jumped back a pace.

Clovis echoed the others in a matter of seconds. Astounded by the discovery, they were momentarily mesmerized. They stood their ground and looked closely at the ice, trying to determine if what they thought they saw beneath it was reality or illusion.

“Now do you hear the noise, Clovis? It is voices and they are calling out for our help,” Alemar cried.

The ice was vibrating gently now, as if something were pushing upon it and unsettling it. All three of the travelers felt it simultaneously.

“Look closely. These are elfin faces below. How can this be?” Giles blurted out.

“It is the army of Iscaron,” Alemar concluded. “Their spirits haunt the Pass of the Righteous, and with the thinning of the ice, they are trying to get out,” she said, fear replacing astonishment.

The pounding grew louder and the surface seemed to be moving more visibly now. They could also hear the voices clearly, crying out in the ancient tongue for help. Everywhere they turned, there were frightened countenances staring up at them, their frozen expressions, twisted and contorted beneath the ice. The cries grew louder and louder, and the vibrations grew stronger. The entire landscape was pockmarked with domes of pressure thrusting up from below. The plain upon which they stepped was alive with this grim activity, and the intensity thereof grew with each passing moment.

“We must flee quickly,” Alemar warned. “If they break through, we’’ll fall into the icy depths ourselves.” Her eyes sought a way of escape. “Come, follow me carefully. Walk your mounts, do not ride them. And tread cautiously,” she advised.

She directed them to a still snowy knoll, hoping that the ice would be thicker there if it had not yet been exposed to the heat of the air. All around them, they could see the plain rising in convex semicircles, first here and then there, as if it was being pushed upward from below. The dome-like protuberances would last for a moment and then ease back. They could also hear muffled voices coming from all directions, each agonizing in its tone, rising in volume with the caps of ice, and dissipating slowly as they disappeared.

From the small rise that they now stood upon, the three riders surveyed the entire area around them. As far as they could see, the ice was in motion, burgeoning and slumping, dancing to a macabre rhythm emanating from somewhere below. The ice began to creak and groan with each push from the dark depths, and the discourse grew louder and louder until they were forced to cover their ears to shield themselves from the sounds.

Giles drew his spear from the side of his saddle and readied himself for a confrontation, though he knew not where or how it would originate. Clovis, too, unleashed his bow and set an arrow to the string. Alemar scanned the area with her strong elfin eyes for a route upon which they could make their escape to the imposing hills ahead. She feared that if they stepped upon the wrong spot, the entire surface would collapse, what with the warmth from above coupled with the spirits from below.