The Sword of Light: Book One of the Veredor Chronicles (16 page)

‘
We will have to lead the horses,’ he said as he took the
reins and tried to pull his horse forward; the horse wouldn’t move.
Cassiel tried the same; his horse also refused to go on.

‘
They will not enter the chasm,’ said Meara.

‘
Then we will have to kill the draug so they will,’ said King
Ignis, shaking his head in frustration.

The King then
turned and walked into the opening between the two cliffs, holding
his sword up as he proceeded. Eben dismounted and drew his sword
and followed after the King. The others weren’t far behind. The way
was shadowy and full of oppressive gloom. King Ignis strode forward
with confidence. Red caught up to Eben and had his own sword ready.
An overwhelming smell of decay permeated their surroundings.

As they
advanced the distance between the cliffs widened to about forty
feet. Hundreds of feet above they could see the slight gap between
the two cliffs; the faintest light drifted down from above. Eben
could see an object ahead on the ground. King Ignis stopped. A few
moments later Eben and Red were standing by his side. The object
was the skull of a horse. Various other bones were scattered about.
Cassiel reached them and a moment later the others arrived.

‘
The draug is very close,’ said Baftel, his eyes scanning the
rock walls of the chasm. The group looked about and could see
nothing in the gloomy shadows.

‘
Here, old draug,’ whispered Red, attempting to lighten the
mood. A nervous smile crossed his face.

‘
Let’s keep moving,’ said King Ignis. He led them forward a
little further through the chasm. More and more bones were
scattered across the stony ground the further they went and the
smell of death grew stronger. The King stopped suddenly and seemed
frozen in place.

‘
What is it?’ whispered Eben, but King Ignis didn’t answer and
only stared ahead and seemed to be in a trance. Eben looked back to
see that the others were all frozen and staring ahead with glazed
over eyes. Only Baftel was unaffected and he quickly rushed to
Eben’s side.

‘
Eben, listen to me,’ stammered Baftel urgently.

‘
What’s going on?’ asked Eben, looking towards the King who
was still frozen. His eyes darted about, searching for the hidden
enemy in the shadows.

‘
What you see you do not see; what you hear you do not...’
said Baftel. He didn’t finish his sentence

‘
Do not what?’ asked Eben, looking back to Baftel. Baftel
simply smiled. ‘Do not what, Baftel?’ repeated Eben.

Baftel pointed
ahead. Eben looked further down into the chasm, and the gloom began
to disappear. The area lit up with a soft warm light.

‘
Down there, Eben. She is waiting for you,’ said Baftel
calmly.

‘
Who?’ asked Eben, feeling confused for a few moments. He
looked to King Ignis, but the King was gone.

‘
Go and see,’ said Baftel.

Eben stepped
further along the way and could see someone approaching from up
ahead. He stared as the person grew closer. She appeared to him,
and he was taken aback by her exquisite beauty. Her long hair was
blonde and like silk, her eyes like blue sapphires, and her skin
was translucent. She was dressed in a fine flowing linen dress, and
she smiled at him as she approached. Eben felt all his fears drift
away as she grew nearer. Her exquisite beauty set his mind at
ease.

‘
Who are you?’ asked Eben softly, awestruck in her
presence.

‘
Eben, how is it that you don’t know me. I am your wife,’ she
said. For a moment he felt confused.

‘
What! My wife! Am I married?’ he asked, feeling bewildered.
His mind seemed to be drifting in a cloud, and he couldn’t focus on
anything but the woman in front of him.

‘
Of course,’ she said as she beamed at him; her beauty was
like nothing he had ever seen before. Eben looked about and saw the
chasm was gone. An instant later he was standing in a field of long
green grass and the sun was shining brightly. She took his arm
gently.

‘
We must go,’ she said as she tried to lead him
away.

‘
But my friends, I can’t leave them,’ he said. Her smile faded
from her face for a moment.

‘
Your friends are gone.’

‘
Where are they?’ asked Eben, feeling the confusion was
overwhelming.

‘
They left you, Eben. Don’t you remember? They no longer have
any need of you. You are a simple villager. Adventures should be
left for heroes. Surely all you want and need is here with me,’ she
said, smiling at him reassuringly. Again she tried to lead him
away.

‘
They wouldn’t leave me,’ said Eben, resisting her. She looked
back and frowned.

‘
They had to go. They are glad you decided to leave the
important things to them. You know you could never be a hero. Eben,
it is your right to be here. You deserve to be here with me after
all your suffering and pain. You have had such a hard and lonely
life. Look at the beauty of this place. You deserve all
this.’

Eben thought
of Red and Stella. He thought of Cassiel, Meara, and King Ignis. He
wondered why they had left him and felt deeply disturbed. He could
feel his sadness growing.

‘
I need to go back to them and say one last goodbye. They are
my friends; I can’t desert my friends. They need me,’ said
Eben.

‘
You can’t go back,’ said the beautiful woman, her voice
becoming firm.

‘
Why?’ asked Eben, feeling his sadness growing even
stronger.

‘
Because your parents are waiting for us,’ she said as she
tried again to take him away. Eben felt a sudden sense of joy at
hearing the news and the sadness melted away.

‘
My parents are here?’ he asked as he felt his happiness
growing again.

‘
Yes,’ she said smiling. ‘They want to see you so much. We
must hurry before they leave,’ she added.

The world
around him shimmered and she faded. A flickering shadow replaced
her for a moment. Eben felt like he was about to wake, but a moment
later she returned.

‘
What was that?’ he asked as he looked about the beautiful
meadow.

‘
Nothing,’ she replied and smiled appealingly. ‘Absolutely
nothing,’ she added, trying to reassure him.

Suddenly the
shimmering happened again. Her smile quickly faded into a sneer.
This time the world around Eben started to collapse and dissolve
like smoke being blown away by the wind. He looked about and could
see the rock walls and gloom of the chasm again.

Eben could
hear the gasps and moans of the others as they all woke from the
illusion. He looked back and saw they were all in shock. Meara sat
down and King Ignis stood looking down at the ground gravely.
Baftel lay beside Eben on the ground. The old wizard had aged many
years and the irises of his blue eyes were almost completely white.
His hair had also become as white as snow.

‘
Eben...’ he muttered. ‘Eben,’ he repeated in a soft and weak
voice.

‘
I’m here, Baftel. What happened?’ He took Baftel’s hand and
helped him to sit up. Meara came to their side and had regained her
composure.

‘
I vanquished the draug. It fled into the mountains and is now
little more than a harmless shadow,’ said Baftel with a croaky and
weak voice. ‘But it took much of my life essence and my eyes. I
will never see again.’

‘
What happened?’ asked Meara calmly.

‘
The draug set a trap for us. It tried to lead us all into an
illusion of what it believed was the fulfilment of our deepest
desires. My ability to see beyond such lies saved me from falling
into the illusion. I didn’t have time to warn you properly. My will
locked with the will of the draug in a fight to the death. I had to
sacrifice much of my life force to defeat the monster. I had to
show I was prepared to lose something of myself to save you; it was
the only way I could overcome the draug.’

‘
Then you saved us,’ said Meara. King Ignis walked over and
joined them. ‘Baftel destroyed the draug.’

‘
You did well, Baftel,’ said King Ignis as he knelt beside the
frail old man and tried to help him to stand up. ‘Never have I seen
such things as the things I have just seen.’

‘
What did you see?’ asked Eben.

King Ignis
looked at Eben with deep sadness in his eyes. ‘I can’t speak of
what I saw,’ he replied sorrowfully. ‘We should move on from this
cursed place.’

The company
slowly recovered from the dream illusions of the draug. They
collected their horses from the southern entrance to the chasm and
then moved along the way heading north toward Scaldonia.

**

The chasm
opened onto a stone platform that was about a hundred foot wide and
long. The view of the mountains was magnificent. They could see the
Kingdom of Scaldonia in the distance. A vast plain extended as far
as they could see. A stairway, much like the Sky Steps they had
ascended, led down the far side of the mountains. The company said
very little. The trauma of being offered such temptations had
shocked and tested them all.

‘
We will be in Scaldonia soon,’ said King Ignis. ‘From there
we will ride quickly to intercept my army before they attack
Orelin. I hope that we are not too late.’

The day was
slowly drifting into night. They found a place to camp in a valley
between two mountains. Cassiel and Meara managed to make a fire
from magic alone as there was no wood to burn in the mountains, and
the night was icy cold. They sat around the warm fire in silence
and rested. Baftel was now dependent on others to lead him
onward.

They rested
that night and very little was said. The following morning the sky
was blue and there were fewer clouds. They all felt like a shadow
had passed, and a renewed hope grew in their hearts. They set off
and by midday the pass was leading them out of the mountains. Lush
grass plains stretched out into the distant horizon. Scaldonia
looked to be mostly flat with few trees.

They came out
of the mountains and into the plain. King Ignis increased the pace.
Baftel’s frail condition kept them from galloping; at best they
could move at a slow canter. The King was growing impatient.

‘
My army will be moving ever closer to Orelin.’

‘
You should ride ahead,’ said Meara. ‘Baftel is in no
condition to move so quickly. I will stay here with him and come to
meet with you at Orelin.’

‘
I don’t want to leave you here alone on these cold plains,
yet I fear that if we do not ride like the wind our mission will be
in vain.’

‘
I will stay behind with Meara and Baftel,’ said
Stella.

‘
So will I,’ said Red, obviously not wanting to go ahead
without Stella.

‘
And you, Eben?’ asked King Ignis.

‘
I will come with you,’ said Eben.

‘
I’ll also go with you, Your Highness,’ said Cassiel. ‘If we
ride quickly we will reach Orelin in a matter of days.’

‘
Good. We will take the three fastest horses and ride as
quickly as we can. If everything goes to plan we will meet with the
four of you in Orelin.’

They all
agreed to the plan and exchanged horses. The swiftest steeds were
given to the King’s company. The three of them then rode out across
the flat grass plain, galloping into the northwest. For many miles
they rode at a dashing pace.

‘
No hills, just horizon,’ said Cassiel. He stared out into the
distance. The flat plain stretched onwards as far as they could see
with nothing but grass.

‘
Only Scaldonian nomads live in these cold grasslands. I
admire them for making their lives out of this bleak land,’ said
King Ignis, his strong dark eyes scanning the distance.

They continued
riding as quickly as possible.

CHAPTER
TWELVE

Eben, Cassiel,
and the King rode until the day was too dark to continue. They set
up a basic camp. Cassiel created a small fire with his magic. The
night grew cool; an icy wind constantly blew across the plain. King
Ignis woke them before sunrise and was eager to continue.

‘
We will rest when we come to my army.’

The King led
them onward. They pushed their horses to their limits, galloping as
much as they would allow. Later in the day they reached the end of
the plain. The land gradually grew more undulating and rocky. Small
birch trees were scattered about. They crossed several crystal
clear streams, and by mid-afternoon they came upon a road that led
north and south.

‘
This is the road from the Iron Gate Pass to Orelin,’ said
King Ignis. The road itself looked muddy and well-trodden with
fresh wagon, horse, and boot tracks. ‘My army came by here not long
ago. We must ride with haste!’ he cried. They turned their horses
and galloped northward along the winding road.

The landscape
around became more hilly and the trees more numerous. As the
evening approached they came to a rise in the road, and when they
reached the top of the ridge they could see out across a large
basin dotted with stone farmhouses. In the centre of the basin was
a walled town. Camped on the southern side of the town, about half
a mile from the wall, was the Ortarian army. Hundreds of tents
dotted the fields to the south of the town, and a multitude of
banners flew above the army depicting the red flag with the golden
lion of Ortaria.