SWNOVELS Iceblade: Chapter 6
USUALLY IT IS THE GREY light of dawn that wakes me as it softly illuminates the silvery stalactites of the cave roof. Not this time. My eyes open to black night and the ghostly sound of hunting bats not yet lulled to sleep by daylight. Deris is gone, his side of the wolfskin cool and empty. He must have departed some time ago, as soon as I slept.
My sleep-fuddled brain suddenly notices what had jarred me awake. One hell of a ruckus is going on in the courtyard outside. Shouts and curses, mixed with the heavy slap of punches and the clattering and scraping of hooves as at least one horse tries to avoid the human fray.
I hurriedly shake off sleepy cobwebs, scrambling to my feet and dragging myself into clothes and harness. My first muzzy thought is that we are being attacked, that Farang has discovered Maratic and brought the Rapathians with him.
By the time I’m heading for the cave entrance and the cool night air starts to wake me up properly I can tell this is not the case. There are no screams of agony, no sharp hiss of drawn crysteel. This sounds more like the sort of scrap that erupts outside an alehouse when the occupants have stayed too long and drunk too much.
I sheath my blades and step outside, still wary.
The moon is behind the clouds and I can barely make out the shadowy forms wrestling with someone on the ground. I can’t see faces but by now I am familiar with the way the Eldrin move and fight. Seems like half a dozen of them are trying to subdue someone without killing him and they are finding it difficult.
A shadowy figure emerges from the tunnel.
“Stop!”
Deris. Using his gift of command. I can feel it jolt through me, freezing me momentarily where I stand. I watch the momentary pause in the action and a final scuffle, before the struggling bodies rearrange themselves into a pattern that starts to make sense. The victim is hauled to his feet, his hands bound behind him.
Deris manages to find and light a lantern and the flickering yellow flame reveals Trengar’s bulky form, his face bloodied and bruised. The others drag him to the tunnel leading to the training cave when suddenly something clicks into place in my head, a jolt of the weird connection I started to feel with the formidable warrior ever since I sensed something strange in our practice session last night.
“No don’t!”
Everyone turns to me in shock. I hesitate. I am relying only on feelings and intuition.
“Um, I think it might get worse for Trengar on the other side where the power is stronger.”
“I think she might be right.” Deris speaks calmly but with an edge of resignation that tells me he is guessing the same thing. “Get him into Ariel’s place and tie him. I’ll see if he needs medical help.” He follows them through the bat-fluttering entrance and I run along the tunnel to the terrace, wondering where I can find Marin.
I try the training cave first but it’s empty. I get back to the terrace, face to face with Marin and Jantian as they emerge from the living quarters, pulling on mail and harness. Marin stops dead as soon as he sees me.
“What happened?”
Deris appears from the tunnel. He hesitates for a moment and I can tell he is reluctant to put it into words.
“Trengar. He has been nursing his need for revenge ever since he learned that Lania had been killed. Spending every available moment in the training cave… I didn’t figure soon enough that he has been hatching plans to go back to Corinium and kill as many Rapathians as he can. The lookouts caught him saddling his horse, trying to slip away under cover of darkness.”
Marin looks baffled. “I don’t understand. We have all lost people we love, but we’re trained to use the pain as an incentive to work even more closely together. It’s the only way to succeed against such a powerful enemy. Rushing off on an individual vendetta––that is more like…”
He suddenly looks at me and the awful truth seems to drop on him like a deadweight. Jantian gives a snort of impatience.
“I should have seen it! I missed the obvious when I checked Trengar after Ariel healed him. I was searching for the same cold ruthlessness and self-interest that taints Shadowblade adepts and it wasn’t there. Ariel doesn’t have so much of that aspect and it seems she does not pass it on.”
Marin frowns, puzzled. “So what did happen?”
“I’m guessing the healing connection she gave Trengar has allowed him to draw on the raw power of Maratic much faster than the training regime that everyone here has been following. It has grown ahead of his ability to control strong emotions.”
Deris sits heavily on the stone parapet, his shoulders slumped in defeat.
“And because I didn’t see it, I failed to stop him spending the whole day grabbing even more power and making it worse for himself. What can we do now?”
“I’ll go and talk to him. Ariel, with me.” Jantian strides into the tunnel and I follow him round to my alcove in the cave of bats.
Trengar is kneeling on the pile of straw, each hand bound to a stalactite pillar. Brac has just finished cleaning the cuts on his face and arms but Trengar still looks restless and angry, mixed with a terrible guilt at breaking his commitment to the Order. He looks up as Jantian approaches, tugging furiously at his bonds.
“Jantian, I don’t want to cause trouble. Just let me go and do what I have to do.”
Jantian lays a hand on Trengar’s forehead for a few moments, reading the restless energy pulsing through his body even as he tries to calm it. I can feel it from here and I know how demanding and distracting it can be. Ice and lightning together, grating through nerves and tissue like jagged steel. After what seems an age, Trengar relaxes a little.
“Jantian? What…” The question trails off as Trengar starts to see more clearly what has been happening with him. He bows his head. “I’m sorry. I know the penalty for what I’ve done.”
“It’s not your fault.” Jantian’s voice is unusually gentle. “But I can’t change things. I have no choice but to let you go.”
“No!” I catch Jantian’s arm. “You can’t! He’ll just go and get himself killed. This has happened because of what I did to him. I know what it’s like––”
The Master of the Eldrin doesn’t answer. He takes my arm and leads me back to the terrace where Marin is waiting.
“Listen, Ariel. I already told you I can’t give or take away this power, beyond the temporary calming I gave to you and to Trengar. We’re having enough trouble training you to overcome your lack of control over the amount of raw energy you can use. We might have been able to do the same for Trengar if we had seen it starting and found a way of helping him before it was too late. Before he broke his commitment to the Eldrin.”
“But it’s my fault! I did this to him. I didn’t mean to––”
“Haven’t you wondered why we keep training and testing you and breaking every precautionary principle we have ever had by involving you in what we are doing but still not letting you take your vows and join the Order?”
I open my mouth to say no––and then it dawns on me that this question has been in my mind for the last few days. In between things moving too fast to even think straight.
“Yes. I have sort of wondered. I kind of imagined that becoming fully engaged with Eldrin discipline might help me get control of this power, but then I thought perhaps I needed to do more to earn it. Maybe you had better tell me the real reason.”
He looks me straight in the eye, waiting to test my reaction. “Because once you swear that oath of allegiance, it is a commitment for life. Literally. To break it is death. You have to be confident you can live with that commitment. The rewards are great, but it comes with a cost.”
“So… by letting him go, you are giving Trengar a way out?”
“Now you understand.” Jantian walks back inside the cavern, his shoulders hunched with sorrow. I have not seen him like this before. My legs suddenly don’t want to support me and I sit heavily on the stone parapet, no longer caring about the dizzying drop below.
“Feels like I’ve killed him as well as Lania now.”
Marin lays a hand on my arm. I know he’s trying to offer comfort but it can’t break through the cold sense of hopelessness descending on me. I seem to damage everyone I touch.
“Ariel, we knew we were taking a risk when we decided to train you. It doesn’t give you a free ticket to be irresponsible and it is your duty to do your best to succeed, but if there is damage along the way, it’s down to Jantian and myself as well.”
I try to gather my thoughts in the sea of conflicting emotions.
“You were actually risking your own life when you disobeyed the order to kill me?”
He hesitates. “Lania and I were being trained to lead so we were expected to make our own decisions if we really felt circumstances justified it. It was sometimes difficult to tell the difference between justification and hubris. But yes. The risk was there.”
“I would have thought that kind of penalty hanging over you would make it almost impossible to make decisions.”
He doesn’t answer. Perhaps it is just too complicated. There is too much about to happen right now to have time to look back.
“So now what?”
“We ride back to the city. Help Trengar get in position to do the most damage he can to the Rapathian military. Confer with Kashia on how to use the intelligence we gathered at the hunt to disrupt the Emperor’s plans. Then we get you set up to contact your sister again.” Marin heads for the entrance to the living quarters and calls over his shoulder. “Get Sahan ready. I’ll find the others.”
I stumble back to the stables and saddle Sahan. The others don’t arrive straight away so I slip back into the cave and kneel beside Trengar.
“Trengar, I am so sorry. I had no idea this would happen.”
He looks at me through bruised eyes. “Jantian is letting me get out of this mess with honour. That is far more than most oathbreakers would get.”
I’m still feeling anxious about how far he has been able to take his new ability. “Did you really draw on enough power to fight off six Eldrin warriors just now?”
It is almost a smile of triumph on his face but it disappears so quickly I almost miss it. In that brief moment I saw the same flash of arrogance I have seen in the Shadowblade… and in myself. And I know how alluring and dangerous it can be. Trengar gives an exasperated shrug, back in control once more although I think we both suspect it will only be temporary.
“If Deris hadn’t intervened I think I would have killed several of them, even without weapons. And brought shame on my whole family. Ariel, if you really do feel bad about your part in this, remember the training. Use it as incentive to keep the discipline and not let your friends down.”
“I’ll do my best.” I can’t meet his eyes as I scramble to my feet and flee to the blessed relief of the fresh air outside. The others arrive and ready their horses. Marin draws his knife and goes inside to cut Trengar free. A few moments later they join us and we ride down the twisting trail together.