Petrified, Dawn stood and stared, afraid of moving a limb. What was the queen doing here? And where had she come from? Obviously, there was a secret passage beneath the stone figures, and the queen or Saida, as she had formerly been named, knew about it.
The queen closed the aperture and scuttled through the entrance hall to the great doors, her spiked legs clicking loudly on the floor, disturbing the eerie silence of the huge hall. Dawn heard her muttering to herself as she passed her by.
“Where is she? I know I felt her presence.”
Was the queen looking for her? It seemed illogical, she could have no reason to suspect Dawn was here in the city. And yet, had she herself not dreamed of the queen and her actions in the past? Those dreams hadn’t simply been nightmares, of that she was sure now. What kind of connection did they have? Had the failed ritual, when the queen had tried to sacrifice Dawn, left something behind? Did the queen, perhaps, dream of her?
The queen stood waiting at the great doors now, great body motionless, her red markings standing out vividly against the grey stone. Dawn could only hope her companions stayed hidden and silent in the side-room. It turned into a waiting game, Dawn standing in the hall as if she was a statue herself, not daring to move a muscle. The queen, waiting at the great portal doors for who knew what reason. After a seeming eternity, the queen moved again, her spiky legs working at the side of the portal. Slowly, almost imperceptibly the great stone doors began to move, opening outwards in total silence.
It was dark outside. Clearly, night had already fallen. Dawn could hear the whisper of the wind against the cliff walls to both sides of the broad passage leading to the portal. A rustling sound came up and grew louder and louder against the overall silence. As the sound approached, she realized a group of spiderlings drew near, flowing down the ancient street and converging on the queen, who greeted them eagerly.
“How you have grown, my darlings. You’re doing sssplendidly. Such wonderful prey you have brought me. It will strengthen you. Sssoon we won’t need to hide here anymore.”
The swarm of spiderlings entered the hall and streamed along into the direction of the passage to the lower levels. The queen was still waiting at the doors, finally turning around and following her offspring, muttering to herself once again. Dawn could only make out pieces of what she was saying.
“...still hiding… I will find her.”
The queen once again opened the floor in front of the stone figurines and vanished down the secret passage. It closed with a click, the floor appearing smooth and unblemished once again.
Dawn let out a deep breath, at last daring to move again. She ascertained all demons had left, then turned to the side chamber and called softly.
“You can come out now, they’re gone.”
Ankou appeared, leading the Kharlins out into the open hall. The great stone doors had begun to close themselves once again and Dawn said.
“We have a chance to get out, but we need to run.”
Nestor nodded and the Kharlins moved quickly running to the doors, even Nuala kept up. They just made it out before the doors closed completely. The Kharlins gazed at the surrounding cliff walls with their ornamental designs and huge stone pillars in wonder.
“Strange,” said Nestor. “I must have been hunting in these mountains for hundreds of times, and I never knew this passage was here, or the city.”
“It is not that strange, if you consider the fact that the demons probably killed all those who approached their lair.” Dawn stated grimly.
“Kharma told me his tribe had declared some areas around their village off limits. It was forbidden for members of his tribe to hunt there. So, obviously they knew there was some danger around this place. We need to move away from here as quickly as we can. There are no places to hide here.”
Falling into a quick trot, Dawn led the Kharlins down the ancient street, Ankou roaming in front of them and acting as their scout once again.
They were moving in silence, at length turning around the corner and continuing to the big rock fall that impeded the passage down the gorge. Dawn studied the Kharlins intently. Nuala was breathing hard, her ears drooping against her head. She was clearly exhausted. Dawn cast Nurture on her, hoping it would aid the old woman, but she knew from experience that while her healing spell was powerful, it didn’t help against simple exhaustion.
“We need to climb over here and then follow the gorge for a while. We can reach the abandoned Kharlin village in a few hours and take shelter there, given that we won’t encounter any more demons.”
She explained to her companions. Niko looked doubtfully at Nuala, gauging her condition.
“She needs to rest.” He protested.
“I know, Nestor. But we can’t afford to stay out here in the open. We might encounter more demons at any moment.”
“I will keep up.” Nuala chimed in with her throaty voice.
They clambered up the rock fall one by one, Dawn concentrating fiercely on the surroundings, trusting her perception to alert her if anything moved. When they had overcome the obstacle, she breathed a sigh of relief. They followed the gorge, but Nuala was starting to flag more and more, in spite of willing herself to keep up. At last, Niko decided to carry her on his back. He and Nestor treated the Kharlin woman with a deep respect bordering on deference.
The party continued along the gorge and later climbed up and followed the way to the Kharlin village, passing by the dead and partially eaten horses of Aaron’s men at arms. As they entered the hidden village, Dawn felt a big part of her tension falling away. The whole party looked bedraggled and exhausted by now. Even Ankou seemed worn out.
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The men busied themselves with starting a fire. Dawn took out her two remaining fish and looked at them a bit dubiously. If shared, these would only be a mouthful for each of them. Still, she supposed it would be better than nothing. Perhaps they should have taken some of the remaining meat from the dead horses, but she hadn’t been sure if that was still edible or if the demon’s venom had ruined it for consumption. Shrugging her shoulders, she started to prepare the fish. The male Kharlins were roaming around the village, fetching water for Nuala and finally returning with some tubers they had found in one of the abandoned huts.
So they breakfasted on grilled fish and tubers, washed down with well water and finally laid down to sleep in one of the huts at daybreak. Dawn passed out the bed-rolls and blankets that she had stored in her ring. By silent agreement Nuala got a bedroll and blanket of her own, while the males made do with a blanket. Dawn bundled up in her cloak and cuddled up to Ankou, deeply grateful for his company once again.
When Dawn woke up again, the male Kharlins had already left the hut. Nuala was still sleeping, looking exhausted even in her sleep. When she stood up, Ankou rose too, stretching deeply and padding out of the hut on silent paws. He sent her an image of a big cat on the hunt for fowl on his way out. Dawn smiled a bit, because the cat in the image was huge in comparison to his prey. Clearly, Ankou was convinced of his prowess and thought nothing of modesty. Well, if he could catch some grouse, she wouldn’t say no. Her stomach felt hollow in spite of the breakfast she had eaten scant hours ago.
Dawn brushed her hand through her hair and grimaced at the greasy and tangled feel. Her braid had come halfway undone and she supposed she looked like a dirty scarecrow at the moment.
She muttered. “Seriously, I need a bath in the worst way. What I wouldn’t give for a cleaning spell.”
“I absolutely agree with you on the necessity for a bath.” Nuala had opened her eyes as she said that.
Dawn smiled at her.
“I’ll fetch some water from the well. We’ll have to make do with a thorough wash, I’m afraid. I haven’t found a bath tub here yet.”
It took some time before they had finally cleaned up to their satisfaction. Dawn had washed her hair, leaving the wet mass hanging loosely down her back for once.
When they arrived at the common area in the center, the men had already built up the fire and had a kettle with hot water ready. Ankou returned too, awkwardly carrying two grouse.
Dawn and Nestor started to prepare the birds for their lunch. Nuala was resting on the bench, still looking deeply exhausted, despite a few hours of sleep. While the birds cooked, Dawn sat down next to her and once more cast Nurture on the old Kharlin. She was a bit concerned about the woman, but Nuala just patted her hand and told her.
“Don’t worry about me. I’m old, and age is not something you can fight with your healing.”
“Probably not, but I don’t want you to die of exhaustion after rescuing you from the demons.” Dawn said.
“I’m grateful we have gotten out of there. I may be old and near to death anyway, but I wouldn’t want to die in such a manner.” Nuala shuddered slightly.
“I absolutely understand. When the queen appeared in the entrance hall before we could get out, I was deathly afraid she would catch me - us all - again.” Dawn said, looking down and folding her arms.
“Yes, the queen.” Nuala said thoughtfully, staring at Dawn with piercing golden eyes.
“She did something to you, she changed you. I think you have become aware of that.”
Dawn nodded unhappily. “You are right. When the demons caught me, I think she tried to sacrifice me, like she did with some of the Kharlins. But something distracted her, and the ritual or whatever it was, stayed unfinished. Then there was the cave-in and she left the room I was in, and I finally got the chance to flee. Since then, I have dreamed of her and her brood several times. At first, I thought the dreams were simply nightmares, but now I think what I see is real.”
“What I see is that she forged a connection between you. I’m pretty sure such was not her intention, but it has formed all the same.” Nuala stated solemnly.
Dawn rubbed her nose. “I’m afraid of what she has done. She herself was changed in some blood magic ritual. Her husband thought he could save her from a deadly sickness that way. But something went wrong and she changed from a woman into that spider-creature she is at present. And now she has done something to me. What if I begin to change into some monster, too?”
Nuala laid a comforting arm around her shoulders.
“You won’t change into some monster, Dawn. Of that, I am sure. I told you I have the ability to see the truth in all things. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean I have all the answers. The interpretation of truth is subjective after all. You have a connection to the demon queen now, but it was not forged with your consent. Consent and intent matter in magic, as in all things. As long as you act with kindness and decency, the connection will not hurt you. But beware of your anger. Don’t try to push it down too much and speak up for yourself if something angers you. Expressing anger directly can be a safety valve, but if you swallow it down for a long time, it will one day erupt in uncontrolled rage. You might try to learn some technique for meditation, that could also help you in that regard.”
Dawn nodded, thoughtfully and shrinking into herself, confessed.
“You are right. I did something once, attacked some hunters, in uncontrolled rage. They were talking of taking the pelt of my friend Kharma and of course I was angry, but my reaction was over the top and I endangered myself and my companions with it. I was deeply ashamed of myself afterwards and couldn’t understand where the rage had come from so suddenly.”
Nuala smiled slightly.
“I would expect you felt powerless often, when you left to live in the wilderness, encountering beasts and demons, and not being able or strong enough to fight them. These feelings may have contributed to that situation. But as long as you are aware of it, you can try to manage your anger, so there will hopefully not be a recurrence of that situation.
Sadly, there’s a problem that might not so easily be solved. I have taken a deeper look at the queen when we encountered her in that great hall. It seems she spent centuries more or less half-aware and content to live in the caves with her brood, only snatching up prey that ventured into her narrow sphere of influence. That situation has thoroughly changed now. She is active, she is intent on growing her brood and her influence. And she is completely mad. Blood magic is widely forbidden and knowledge about it is kept under strict restriction for a reason. There never comes anything good of it.
Your connection to the queen will almost certainly mean that she will hunt for you. She won’t forget you and she won’t give up. And I fear, after hearing how she came to be what she is, that she is practically immortal. It doesn’t mean that she can’t be killed, but she won’t die of old age or sickness. And she is very strong, far stronger than you or me.”
Dawn grimaced.
“I can’t fight her. Even without the mass of her children. I just started to learn a bit of sword fighting. I’m neither strong enough nor trained enough.”
“Then you will just have to change that. You need to learn to fight, and you need to study her and find out her weaknesses.” Nuala said calmly and implacably.
“You once said it was never your intention to stir up the demons and their queen. But it was your actions that did it, and the demons are catching and killing people and enlarging their own numbers. So you are the one responsible for fighting them. You will need help, yes, but this is primarily your fight, Dawn, and there’s no getting out of it.”