Chapter Eight
The freezing wind was biting into her sides; she could hardly see through the swirling mists of hail, and the snow had soaked through her mittens and boots and her outer layer of clothing, causing her to shiver uncontrollably. But she really didn't care about any of that; it was a good distraction from the feeling of dread that had settled over her soul to whisper it's evil promises in her mind's ear. Its constant chattering was threatening to drive her over the edge of sanity, and it was only the occasional puff of snow that was driven into her face from her brother's boot above her that kept her climbing.
They could see the cave now, a patch of deeper shadow in the face of the hill above them. Roald had roped himself to Kalasin hours before, but now he could feel her weight beginning to lean onto it, meaning that she was tiring. Roald cursed and glanced below him. He was separated from Kally by about five metres, and behind her he could see the mountain stretching back down for miles, sharply sloping away from them. Roald knew that if both he and his sister made it back down without breaking anything it would be a miracle.
"You'll be fine," the strange voice echoed in his head. "Do not worry my son. I know it may not seem like it, but the gods are here with you,"
Roald glanced down at Kalasin again, and saw again in her face the frightening blank look that he'd noticed her wearing after the left the inn with the old nun. He looked away again quickly before she saw him looking, and concerntrated on the shadow in front of him that represented the end of one stage of their journey. It was closer than he'd expected.
"Kally," he called back. "We're almost there Kally,"
She didn't reply, which worried him. "Kally?" he called again.
"I'm here," her faint reply echoed up to him. "Keep climbing Roald. We'll be there soon,"
There was something not entirely right with her voice, something vaguely different from the way things should be. Roald pushed the warnings in his head aside and focused on climbing. Quite suddenly the snow fell out in front of him and he fell into the mouth of the cave. There was a cry from below him, which he vaguely heard, and then the sound of Kally scrambling up the last of the distance between her and the cave.
As soon as she entered the cave her hands fell to the knots that bound their rope around her waist. She wrestled with it for a few moments, but the knot was too tight; it had carried weight for too long, and it would not come undone for her. So she left it, and just collapsed on her knees beside Roald, breathing in choked sobs.
"Are you alright?" she demanded with an effort. Roald raised his head so as to nod, and then rolled over onto his back.
"We made it Kally," he said. "We got here," He closed his eyes.
Kalasin looked at him. "No Roald," she replied. "We're far from making it," He didn't answer. "Roald?" she said quietly. "Not now, you can't sleep now. We have to do what we came here for, and then leave. You can't sleep here Roald; this place is evil,"
He opened his eyes and sat up with a sigh. "I thought you didn't believe in evil," he muttered grumpily.
"I'm not going to argue with you Roald, not here. Now eat please," An indistinguishable piece of food was shoved towards him. He removed one mitten and put it in his mouth. He chewed for a minute and then looked up at Kalasin reproachfully.
"Warn me next time, please. What is it?"
Kally
grimaced. "I think you'd be happier if
you didn't know," Roald glared at her. "You're a knight Roald;
you've eaten terrible food before,"
"I know that," he spat back,
"but you can cook, and I never suspected my own sister would try to poison me,"
Kalasin began to laugh wildly. "If that's truly the case brother mine, then I think you have neither brains nor memory, but don't blame me for the food. I already told you, this place is evil,"
Roald chewed thoughtfully. Kalasin sat on the ground next to him tearing her own food into tiny pieces. Roald let her scatter about half of it on the floor of the cave before commenting, "I know you don't want to know it, but you do need to eat sometime,"
"I know; I will, not now," Kally told him. "Are you finished yet?" He nodded. She stood up. Roald followed suit. He went to reach for her hand but she turned away and walked off into the blackness without him.
"Well," Faithful's god voice demanded of him. "Are you going to follow her or just stand here doing nothing? And personally, because I fear my mistress's wrath, I would recommend option A,"
Roald just looked up at the roof of the cave and then followed his sister, muttering a fire spell as a light-providing afterthought.
She blinked once as the fire lit up the cave around her. Roald appeared by her side holding a small torch in one hand.
"Where are we going?" he asked.
"I don't know exactly," she replied, "But it's here, and that's enough; We'll find it,"
"And then…"
"We'll do what we came to do,"
Roald looked at her. "Alright…"
"I know; I will, not now," Kally told him. "Are you finished yet?" He nodded. She stood up. Roald followed suit. He went to reach for her hand but she turned away and walked off into the blackness without him.
"Well," Faithful's god voice demanded of him. "Are you going to follow her or just stand here doing nothing? And personally, because I fear my mistress's wrath, I would recommend option A,"
Roald just looked up at the roof of the cave and then followed his sister, muttering a fire spell as a light-providing afterthought.
She blinked once as the fire lit up the cave around her. Roald appeared by her side holding a small torch in one hand.
"Where are we going?" he asked.
"I don't know exactly," she replied, "But it's here, and that's enough; We'll find it,"
"And then…"
"We'll do what we came to do,"
Roald looked at her. "Alright…"
In the middle of the chamber an immense stone slab rose out of the ground. A mist clung to this alter, hiding whatever lay on it from view. Roald stared at it for a moment, and then turned to catch Kalasin, who was collapsing next to him. He knelt down on the floor next to her and captured her face in his hands. Piercing blue eyes stared back at him, but they were not those of his sister, and when she spoke her voice was raspy and unnatural.
"This is where the end begins and all else ends," it told him. "Here is your last choice, the last choice. You can still turn from this path, but if you do your gods will lose all power to affect what may follow, and all that will happen is a repeat of what has happened before and everything must be lost so that everything will stay the same,"
Roald looked around him. In the end his eyes settled on the pale alter and the body that lay atop it, revealed by a part in the mist. It seemed to him that the distance between them was vanquished and he was staring down at the dead face that had been taught to him as the very incarnation of what was evil, though the resemblance it shared with his father, and sister, was so strong that it frightened him.
"There is no choice," he whispered.
Kalasin stood up. "No there's not," she agreed. Roald zoomed back into his skin in time to stop it from jumping back in shock.
"Are you going to help me?" he heard his sister ask. She was already kneeling over the body.
Roald didn't speak, just moved to her side and reached out for her hand. She gripped it tightly and looked at him.
"I'm scared, just so you know," she said. Roald nodded. Kally closed her eyes and bit her lip, and reached out towards the body, tears beginning to flow from her closed eyes.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered as Roald felt energy begin to flow from her body into that of the corpse. He unconsciously twitched in anger at this thing that had made Kalasin cry, and reached out to protect her with both arms, adding his magic to hers, even though he wasn't a healer.
Kalasin began to whisper a spell and the rush of power got stronger, and stronger, until all their magic was gone and the power had to come from another source.
"Well and here I thought I was bringing news," George whistled. "But the prince and princess being missin', and all this talk of apocalypse with the Gods, not to mention that damn cat being back, that's quite the tale, begging your Majesty's pardon,"
Jonathon smiled. "I should have known you'd make this all seem less terrible George," he said. "I feel better already and you've hardly been here an hour,"
Alanna glanced up at the king from under her lashes. His eyes flickered onto hers for a split second, before turning back to her husband. "So what was it you had to tell us anyway?" he asked.
"Nothing of importance Majesty," George replied, and Alanna could have sworn that his eyes flickered over her too. Hairs rose on the back of her neck, sensing that there was something being hidden from her. "Just some reports on the Scanrans, that sort of thing,"
Alanna got to her feet. "George," she demanded. "What is going on?"
George's eyebrows rose. "And what makes my lovely wife think that all of the king's news is necessarily her news too?" he queried lightly. Alanna glared.
"If the king's news includes information on her daughter it most definitely concerns her too!" she snapped.
A sudden exclamation of "Aly?" from outside turned her attention to the door. George sprang to his feet and reached out for the handle, then stepped outside.
"Your Highness," he noted, ushering Lianne inside with the back of his hand. The princess bowed to her father and then looked around sheepishly.
"Mama wanted to know if you needed anything," she explained. "I was just…"
Alanna looked at Jon and saw that he was smiling. "It's alright Lianne," he told his daughter. "No harm done," Lianne gave a sort of half nod and then ran to embrace her father. Jon smiled. "And you can tell your mother we don't require anything, except for her presence if possible. And you could go and find your cousins to tell them their father is here,"
Lianne bowed again, smiled at George, Alanna and Myles, and turned to go. Suddenly she stopped, and shrieked as a noise that wasn't really a noise echoed through the room. Myles looked around in confusion; it had only affected him a very little bit, but the rest of them, all possessing the Gift, felt some massive warping in something they were hardly aware of most of the time.
Alanna sank down onto her chair, aware that her knees were about to give way. She could hear George cursing, Lianne crying, and Myles asking her what was wrong. She became aware of Jon's eyes on her face, and opened hers to look at him. He had Lianne in his arms, and was absently brushing back her hair with one hand. His skin was coated in a light sweat. Alanna looked away from him and ran a hand through her own hair.
"Faithful?" she called, instinctively looking up. "Faithful?"
"You called?" a feline voice inquired, and Alanna saw the black cat materialising by the table.
"What was that?" Alanna demanded. "What just happened?"
Faithful rolled his eyes. Something that nosy little mortals don't need to concern themselves with," he replied. George made a soft growling sound in the back of his throat.
"But Faithful," Alanna continued, putting a hand out to quiet her husband, "the last time that happened…" she trailed off.
"The veil between the worlds vanished," Jonathon finished. He glanced up at the door, where Numair had just appeared.
"What was that?" the mage demanded.
Alanna looked at Jonathon. "We don't know," she answered simply.
"What did we do?" Kalasin whispered, crying as Roald pulled her away from the now living body of Roger of Conte. He just hugged her fiercely, fighting the urge to cry as well.
"You have done your part," a voice announced. The sound of feet padding across the chamber preceded the appearance of a large ape creature, carrying a black iron sword. Roald frowned and gripped Kalasin tighter. His action dragged her back into consciousness and she looked up at the monkey. Then she turned to see Roald's face.
"Chitral," she said happily. Roald's frown deepened, wondering if she had turned simple, before he remembered one of the stories they'd been told in their youth, about Alanna when she rescued the Dominion Jewel. Chitral was the elemental creature she had fought to prove her worthiness. Alanna had said that he had worn the form of a rock ape for their fight.
"Yes," the ape thing told them. "That's the name I wore when I walked here last,"
"What do you want with us?" Roald demanded.
"For the purposes of this game your Gods cannot come here, and nor can their adversaries. So I am here in their place to tell you that you have completed the task set to you," Chitral explained.
Roald looked from him to Roger, still unconscious, to Kally, twisting one of her mittens in her hands. He nudged her gently.
"You ok Kally?" She smiled up at him.
"Mhmm," she replied lazily.
"Good,"
Chitral interrupted them then. "You must go now," he glanced at Roger. "Before he awakes. Return to your home immediately," His tone was dangerous.
Roald got to his feet and lifted Kally so she stood by him. She looked at him quizzically and then held her twisted mitten up. Roald raised his eyebrows and led the way back to the entrance of the cave. Kally followed him, pulling her mittens back onto her hands and her hood onto her head.
They walked down the mountain side by side. The chill wind that had gotten stronger and stronger the closer they got to the cave had abated, and the snow had stopped. Neither of them spoke; they were too busy concentrating on where their feet were going.
When they found themselves outside an inn Roald roused himself from the half stupor he'd dropped into and tugged on Kalasin's hand. She nodded without even looking at him and followed him into the inn.