Ellas - A dozen years ago

Kane

Over the days that followed, I ranged far and wide from the stones in an attempt to intercept the troop of Nargu that I knew must come. They would come directly from Setia’s village, I guessed, but I took no chances, and covered all approaches.

Days passed slowly under the hot, blazing sun, but at least I occupied myself scouting.

The night were chill, sometimes very cold, but I dared not light a fire – such a thing would be a beacon for miles in the barren wasteland that was Achra.

So I huddled in my blanket, steeling myself against the cold, but less successfully holding back my fears of what I would see on my day of capture, and how I would react.

Ten days into my vigil, I sat cross-legged below the ridge of my hilltop slowly chewing some of the dried beef supplied to me so kindly by Mae.

My thoughts as I ate were of the night spent with them and their generous sharing of their food and company.

Faint sounds carried on the wind, reached through my reverie bringing me to full alertness in an instant.

I knew them for what they were without thought for, even at a distance, there is no mistaking the guttural bickering of Nargu.

I crawled to the top of the hill and slowly raised my head to peer down toward the stones and the desert beyond.

At first nothing was visible, even though the noise they made increased considerably without the hill to dampen its effect – that I had heard them at all with the hill between where I sat and their approach, spoke volumes for the noise they made, and hence their confidence that there was no need for any form of stealth or caution.

Moments passed, and then, a mile or so away, figures came into view as they crested a ridge.

Four of them as I expected, but were they the ones that captured me? I had no way of knowing how many times Dar’cen had sent Nargu to capture one such as I before I was finally taken.

Setia had said that after my escape, numerous troops of Nargu had made their way to Achra before Luke was taken.

Was it the same with my capture, or were they lucky enough to land their catch with their first cast? Was this even their first attempt?

I sighed as I slid back down to my bedroll and my dried beef. The way the Nargu dragged their feet, I had ample time to breakfast before they drew near.

Ten minutes later, I again peered over the crest of my hill. The Nargu now sat, still bickering, with the stones surrounding them on all sides. They were the same four – despite the terror of that time I would never forget those creatures, and besides, I had later disposed of two of them when they took Luke – and I was now sure that this was when I would be taken, for he would not send a troop more than once, for those that failed him would not live to be sent again.

Strangely, despite all the horrors that my life had endured, my heart pounded, my skin grew cold and clammy, and a fear gripped me near to that which Dar’cen brought. I took deep breaths in an effort to calm myself and drive away my irrational fear.

This has already happened, fool, I thought. Watch and be calm, or leave. There is nothing here for you anyway. What happens here, this memory, holds only pain. Leave now!

But I knew that I would not. I had to watch, and besides, there was Dar’cen – if I could but endure what I saw they did to me, there was a chance we might learn where he now hid. ‘No,’ I muttered to myself, ‘My life, this life, began here… I must know that it was as I remember.’

Hours later, one of the Nargu stood, Belhag was his name – strange that I should remember such a thing, I had only learnt the creature’s name years after I was taken – and bellowed at the others.

Slowly they all stood to face to him. Belhag spoke to each of them in turn, quieter now, but his harsh, guttural tones still loud enough for me to hear his words – he gave each orders, directions for where each should stand, where they should place their hands, and what each should do when he gave his final command.

One, a brute even by Nargu standards, spat at Belhag’s feet and laughed as he hurled a torrent of abuse at his leader.

What is this? Such actions amongst Nargu were a direct challenge, and almost always end in bloodshed and death. This cannot happen. Four took me. It must be four!

Below, Belhag’s hand stroked the viciously spiked war-hammer hanging from his belt, while the other, the brute, continued his tirade of abuse, a huge grin on his face and his hand firmly grasping the hilt of his sword – even from my hilltop vantage I could see the confidence in his bearing; he would win this fight, I knew.

I had to stop it. Three could not come for me, it had to be four. What effects would ripple outward from such a change? A small change to be sure, but such could turn the whole world on its head if unchecked. I could not allow them to fight. I had to stop them. But how?

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Below, weapons were drawn, and the two combatants circled each other, jeers and taunts filling the air from the two spectators.

Belhag lunged forward with tremendous speed, his war hammer whistling as it flew toward the brute who had challenged him, but the hammer found only empty air, the brute having calmly stepped aside from it, whilst lunging forward toward Belhag with his sword. Belhag parried the sword easily with the steel shaft of his hammer.

They both then backed away, and slowly circled each other.

I had only seconds, I knew. I had to do something to stop this. Command them to stop, something whispered in my mind. Command, and they will obey. ‘The voice, of course. The voice,’ I whispered.

Keeping low, I cupped my hands to my mouth and with all the force of the evil that Dar’cen had gifted to me so long ago, I projected my voice, the voice, ‘On your knees, worthless ones. You dare to squabble when I have sent you forth?’

Weapons were dropped instantly, the fight forgotten as all four Nargu fell to the floor and prostrated themselves; the two combatants whimpering and cringing as they waited for the punishment that would surely follow.

‘Do my bidding. Find what I seek and I will be merciful. Fail and…’ I let the threat hang in the air.

‘Up! Do as I have commanded!’ I said, no more, and silence reigned for at least a few moments before Belhag finally raised his head sufficiently to look around. Slowly, he raised himself to his knees and then stood.

The others, including the brute, still had their faces held flat against the hard stony floor.

Belhag again bellowed orders to the others, his voice trembling and betraying the fear he still felt. All three leapt to their feet at his command and stood facing Belhag as still as their trembling bodies would allow.

I knew the fear they felt at that moment. I, too, had stood as they, afraid to move, afraid to look up in case my eyes fell upon him, and brought his attention down on me. I would have felt shame at what I had done had it not been for what I knew these creatures were about to do to my life.

Again Belhag barked out his orders, and this time the Nargu leapt to obey – a far cry from the normally lazy and sloth like creatures that Nargu usually were.

In moments they were all in place. Belhag stood in the centre of the stones, the exact centre it seemed. A few Dersium crystals lay on the floor between his feet, their their violet hue glistened in the sunlight.

The three others each stood facing their own stone, their hands laid flat on the stone’s surface in front of them, but in odd, awkward, unnatural positions.

They each hold different symbols, I thought. Specific symbols to take them to my world.

Then, as I strained to see the symbols they held, Belhag quietly spoke words in a tongue I did not know, and before I even had a chance to consider what their meaning, he stamped down violently on the crystals with his iron shod boots.

Nothing happened, nothing at all. Belhag stepped back, his hands coming up to his ears, and I knew somehow that his eyes were tightly shut. Too late I realised, and the explosion of light and sound that followed, took all my senses from me.

For more than a moment, I could see only a violet after-image of that light before my eyes, and my ears hissed and rang as if a tone deaf piper played his tune within them.

Slowly my sight returned, and crashes of thunder replaced the piper in my ears. Lightening streaked from the now black sky to the stones, and each of the stones the Nargu had stood at was struck repeatedly. Between strikes, I could see that the Nargu were gone, all of them, Belhag included.

I counted a dozen strikes at least to each of the three three stones. And yet, despite the ferocity of the lightening, no damage seemed to be caused to the stones at all.

They seemed to absorb the energy of the lightening, glowing a faint violet colour between each strike. The lightening continued for almost a full two minutes. Then, just as suddenly as it had began, it stopped, and apart from the ringing in my ears, complete silence filled the air.

The blackness that had blotted out the sky only seconds earlier was gone; gone as if it had never been.

I wanted to walk down to the stones, examine what was there and look for signs of what had happened, how it had happened. But I had done that once before when the young boy, Luke, was captured, and found nothing.

Besides, I had no idea of when they might return. And for them to find me there in their midst when they appeared with my former self as their captive, was not what I wanted; it was not at all what had happened.

So I stayed on my hilltop and waited and watched for what felt an eternity, but in reality was only a few hours.

Then suddenly, they were there. No lightening bolts, no peals of thunder, the Nargu just appeared amid the sounds of guttural laughter.

The four stood as if each were at the corner of a ten foot square, and in the centre of that square, lying face down on the stone floor, was a man.

A man I knew all too well.

My heart tightened, and again irrational dread took me, as one of the Nargu leaned over the man and lifted his head. Despite knowing what I would see, I gasped as my face, eyes closed, mouth hanging open, looked up at me.

The Nargu grunted some words and then let the head fall onto the floor. Another Nargu kicked the man hard in the ribs, and I heard the groan of pain as the unconscious man’s body shied away from the blow.

I knew that the man, the man that I had been, did not consciously feel the pain. Not yet, anyway. Two more kicks were aimed at the prone body on the floor, and then seeing that he was not about to awaken any time soon, the Nargu settled down around him, each laughing and praising themselves for their catch, and the rewards their master would heap upon them.

I followed the Nargu at a distance, always out of sight but never so far behind that I could not catch them in moments. Almost always I could hear them, their taunts and jeers as they took their sport with their captive.

Even now, I remember those first few days, whilst the latter were a blur as I was overcome with exhaustion.

I watched on the night of my attempted escape, crouched no more than a few yards from where the Nargu slept.

As I watched the one I was, rise and creep from their camp, the desire to kill the four Nargu was almost unbearable.

The thoughts I entertained at that moment of how different my life could have been, might still be, all but swayed me to act.

Only thought of Anna held me to my purpose. For though I had suffered, would suffer from this day forward, I could not forsake her. She had given so very much for this fight, and for me.

No, I would not act out my fantasies. I would follow and observe… and if God, or perhaps the destiny that Anna so often talked of, willed it, I would find where it was Dar’cen hid.