The Path of Light 1.03

‘I think they’re not following us anymore,‘ Eíssa said, looking back the way they came with narrowed eyes. They hadn't seen a sign of pursuers since they left the city, but just to make sure, they travelled under the shroud of the forest, but still relatively close to the road.

Celebiel just let out a sigh. Eissa turned and faced her.

‘Tired?’ she asked.

‘Yes, actually.’ Celebiel slumped down on a rock at the roadside and sat quietly for a moment. ‘You know, I’ve been thinking about what happened in Berilis. I just don’t get how those people could ever believe me to be an assassin!’

Eíssa just shook her head. ‘I can’t figure that out, either. I guess we’ll get some answers in Ongur.’

Celebiel leaned forward inquiringly. ‘Now, which way are we going to go?’

Instead of a response, Eíssa just sat down her backpack, retrieved a map and unrolled it.

‘Look,’ she said, pointing to the southwest of the continent, ‘we’re here, west of the great lake Ophis. If we take the southern route around it and continue eastward like this,’ she traced the road on the map with her finger, ‘we’ll get to Ongur.’ She jabbed her finger on the marking that indicated the border.

Celebiel looked at the map thoughtfully. ‘Wouldn’t have the northern way been the quicker route?’

Eíssa nodded. ‘Yes, that’s why we go south.  I doubt that Eric Polach will take his time thinking about which way we might be going and just take the quickest route to Ongur. Considering the planning of his traps, he can’t be all that intelligent, can he?’

Celebiel cocked her head. ‘If you say so…’

'Well, at least he won't be in our back anymore,' Eíssa said while putting the map back. Though I'd prefer it if we didn't run into him, either, she added in her thoughts.

They continued their trek through the forest as they had the days before, Eíssa leading the way and Celebiel trudging behind. Rain had set in several hours ago around midday and both were thankful for the cover the trees provided. Celebiel was just about to ask for another break, when she heard a soft creak, the sound of stone scraping over stone. She looked around to locate the sound, but couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary. She was just about to take another step when, suddenly, the ground under Eíssa’s feet gave way. With a scream of surprise, she managed to jump just in time before she went into free fall. Where a second ago had been solid ground now was a hole about a meter in diameter, Eíssa hovering directly over it. Only a few seconds later did Celebiel realize that her friend had grabbed a branch overhead. Eíssa swung back and forth a few times, let go, landed on the other side of the hole and, after making sure the edges wouldn’t give in as well, bent over it to look down.

Her heart still pounding, Celebiel stepped closer as well. The cavity wasn’t deep, that much she could tell at first. Dust still filled the air below and settled only slowly.

She looked up again.

‘Eíssa? Are you okay?’

Eíssa gave her a mocking smile. ‘I’m fine. That was just a little exercise for me.’

‘I would’ve fallen down there and shattered a leg or something at least,’ Celebiel told her friend.

Eíssa contemplated for a second and just said ‘Then you should be glad I was walking in front, ‘cause I don’t fall down manholes.

‘Anyway, I think we should climb down there.’

Only after a second Celebiel understood. ‘Down? There? Why?’

Eíssa sighed. ‘Look at the walls. No one would build a simple trap like that with brick walls. Besides, it seems that’s not a pit or a well at all.’

The dust had settled and now Celebiel saw the brick walls, too. And the other thing Eíssa had mentioned as well. They stood atop an underground walkway.

Celebiel just shrugged. ‘So there are ruins buried here. Should we climb down to find shelter for the night? But it’s still a bit early.’

‘Gold,’ Eíssa just said.

‘Gold?’ Celebiel asked.

‘Coins. Treasure,’ Eíssa replied.

‘Huh?’

Eíssa gestured toward the hole. ‘It’s likely there’s treasure hidden down there, either by some local bandits or the former inhabitants. And we sure are in need of some coin.’

Celebiel just gave Eíssa a thoughtful look. ‘But wouldn’t that be stealing?’

Eíssa growled under her breath. ‘Fine. I’ll go alone and you stay up here.’

She made to climb down into the stone corridor while Celebiel just looked on, biting her lips. When Eíssa’s foot touched the floor with a slight click, Celebiel’s head appeared in the opening above her.

‘Wait. I’ll come, too.’

It was chilly underground. A thin sheet of grime covered the walls, glistening wetly in the torchlight. On more than one occasion Celebiel slipped on the unsure footing, but caught herself in time. Eíssa slowed her pace somewhat after realizing just how much trouble she was having.

‘Just how can you walk so well on this ground?’ Celebiel puffed behind her.

Eíssa turned and gave her another mocking smile. ‘One of my forebears was a cat, obviously.’

Her mismatchingly colored eyes sparkled while she said that, almost making Celebiel believe her words for a moment. Then she winked at her and strolled ahead, leaving Celebiel to hurry after, almost slipping again.

Then, Celebiel’s shoe scraped over stone. At the sound, Eíssa stopped dead, as did Celebiel. Eíssa waved the torch around in a slow circle. In this part of the tunnel, the grime had been removed and a faint light emanated from a source far off and behind a slight turn.

‘Good, there’s someone here,’ Eíssa just said.

Celebiel tapped her on the shoulder. ‘Shouldn’t we go back out now? You said we were just looking for something left behind, not going to rob people.’

Eíssa turned her head slightly. ‘We’re not gonna rob people. We’re just gonna look who those people are and act on what we find.’

At that, Celebiel furrowed her brow. ‘Isn’t that a bit vague and risky? I still say we should head back out.’

Shaking her head, Eíssa turned to her fully. ‘Going to Ongur and trying to disprove your false accusation, now that’s vague and risky. Aren’t you at least a tiny bit curious who’s hiding over there?’ She poked her finger into her belly. ‘Don’t be a chicken now, please.’

Celebiel took a step back, starting to feel heat gather up at her cheeks. ‘I-I’m not a chicken!’

‘Yell just a little louder. They might have missed it.’

They went silent for several minutes. When nothing happened, Eíssa motioned for her to follow. Still feeling anxious, Celebiel followed, fingering the hilt of her sword.

After a few moments, a spitting torch appeared around a corner, casting vivid shadows from the wall were it was hung. Opposite of it was an old wooden door. Eíssa sneaked up on it and, after listening for a short moment, pushed the door open a bit, to take a peek inside. She pulled her head out almost instantly again and quickly returned.

'There's an orc in there,' she blurted out in hushed voice. 'And there's also a prisoner!'

Celebiel was aghast. 'Such vile creatures! We have to help!'

The orc was rather abruptly woken from his nap by the loud bang of the door being thrust open. Inside the frame stood a tall elf with silver hair, wearing armor and shield and holding a long sword in her slightly trembling hand.

Still dizzy, he just muttered a surprised grunt and fingered for his weapon, his dog-like ears put close to his head. When he had finally drawn it, the elf girl hadn't moved. Instead, she raised her blade now and said 'In the name of Rithum, I challenge you!'

The orc just grinned and replied in a guttural voice 'So girl thinks she's a man? Come, then!'

The blades rang when they collided.

Meanwhile, Eíssa had sneaked inside and to the corner of the room, where the prisoner was sitting on a filthy layer of straw, chained to the wall with big, rusty manacles. He didn't look good, but not as bad as she had expected. His cheeks had sunken in a little, but he didn't look weak. He was watching her approach out of the corner of his eye. Crouching next to him and pulling out her lockpicking set, she addressed him.

'This appears to be your lucky day, my friend.'

She set to work on his manacles while he just nodded and watched the fight.

Big and muscular, the orc was too slow for Celebiel. She dogded to the side when the orc tried to land a mean overhead swing, and took the opening. With a quick stab, she put her blade through his heart. The green monster grunted, toppled over and lay still.

With a sigh, she looked at her bloodcoated blade and, after looking the room over, wiped it clean on the orc's shirt.

'Thanks, you two,' the prisoner said while he struggled to his feet.

He wore just a ragged loincloth, but he didn't seem embarrassed being rescued by two elven women.

Celebiel sheathed her sword and folded her arms. 'Could you tell us your name and why you've been a captive of this... creature?'

The man shrugged and brushed a strand of his light brown hair out of his face.

'My name's Nis Wolfsbane-'

He stopped short when he saw Celly and Eíssa looking at him with wide open eyes.

Eíssa managed to find her voice again first. 'You mean, THE Nis Wolfsbane, the criminal we heard about?'

Nis furrowed his brows. 'Who told you that story? I'm no criminal... Though my grandfather was. And, unfortunately, my parents thought it wise to name me after him.'

Eíssa relaxed. 'Well, Jamilso did say he'd be dead by now.'

Celebiel thought about it a moment longer, then took her hand off her sword hilt, just now realizing she had put it there on an instinct.

'Thank goodness,' Nis said. 'It wouldn't have been nice being killed because of a misunderstanding just after my rescue.' He sighed and stooped to pick up the dead orc's rusty broadsword. 'Anyway, there's still other orcs here, including their leader. A really smart one named Rashek Bloodblade.'

'Are there other prisoners?' Celebiel asked.

Nis nodded with a surprising grimness to his face. 'Yes, my wife and daughter. I got myself into this mess while trying to rescue them.' He motioned toward the door with the blade. 'Please, we need to get out of here and free them!'

'Couldn't you have said that sooner?' Eíssa just asked incredulously.

After passing through the short rest of the passageway, the three of them arrived in a small natural cavern. More torches lit the room, turning flickering shadows to orcs jumping out from behind stone pillars, grating away at their composure slowly, but steadily. They breathed sighs of relief when they finally arrived at the other side without being attacked. They faced two possible ways to continue. Eíssa and Celebiel looked at Nis.

'Sorry, they only took me through this once and blindfolded. I have no idea where the exit is,' he said, raising his hands in an apologetic gesture.

Eíssa put her hand on the handle of the door closer to her. 'I guess we'll have to use trial and error again.' She pushed the handle down and opened up the door. The hallway behind was again entirely artificial. After a quick investigation of the adjoining rooms, Eíssa returned, shaking her head.

'This is a dead end. But look what I found!' She held up an old-looking gold coin.

Nis glanced at the coin and then looked back at the other door he had been watching.

'Is this really the time to be looking for treasure?'

Eíssa winked at him. 'You can never have enough gold!' She took on a more serious expression after seeing his annoyed face. 'I'm sorry. Let's hurry.'

Behind the other door, the path continued inside another natural cavity. To their right, an underground river ran in its rocky bed, shimmering greenish in the torchlight. Eíssa bent over the edge to take a closer look at the water, scooped up a handful and tasted it.

'Appears to be fine,' she said and they quickly refilled their waterskins before continuing.

They walked beside the river, the sound of their footsteps drowned out by the gurgling of the water as they neared the other end of the narrow and slippery pathway.

They stepped through a breach in the wall to set foot on worked stone again and find themselves in a wider twin of the hallway from earlier. In fact, this hallway was wide enough to be supported by stone pillars. Those pillars bore an eroded, but still impressivley intricate vein-and-leaf design.

The party looked at each other to discuss which way they'd go. Before anyone could say a word, a  soft sound caught Eíssa's attention, but before she could react, something zipped past her head and buried itself with a soft thud somewhere behind her. She spun, just to see an orc running past her, pushing her into Celebiel while he passed.

'We have to go after that bastard!' she yelled.

'Not so fast, girl,' a voice, unmistakably that of an orc, said.

Eíssa and Celebiel spun their heads towards the voice. Three orcs stood there, two holding broadswords and one a longbow. The one closest to them stabbed the air in front of him.

'How did you get in here? Throw down your weapons and we'll take you to Boss Rashek!'

Eíssa took a step away from Celebiel to give her more room.

'And if we don't?'

'Then we'll cut them off you and take you to him. Attack!'

'Well, damn it,' Nis muttered behind her. Eíssa shot him a quick glance and only then realized that the arrow from earlier had ripped a gash in his left shoulder. Thin lines of blood trickled down from the wound, but he still held his sword firmly, though a little awkwardly and had a determined look on his face.

Then the orcs were on them. Eíssa ducked under the first swing of the orc and pulled her short swords out in the same movement. She tried an upward thrust, but her opponent simply sidestepped it and swung again. She caught the blade aimed at her head between her blades, deflected the blow upwards and stabbed at the orc's unprotected belly. He managed to jerk back in time, so she was only able to give him a shallow scratch. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught movement behind the orc in front of her and realized that the archer was taking aim at her. She tried to hide behind her opponent, but he saw what she was trying and angled himself to expose her again.

Next to her, Celebiel was locked in a concentrated duel and didn't seem to pay too much attention to her surroundings.

If he shoots, I won't be able to dodge! Eíssa thought, close to panicking. The orc grinned at her and swung his blade with new strength, trying to put her up against the wall. Eíssa managed to defend herself well enough, but each time her blades stopped his, the impact jarred her and with each blow, her arms seemed to become heavier and heavier. She heard a short plick and then Nis attacked the orc with a mighty bellow accompanying his two-handed sideswing. Surprised, the orc wasn't ready to block the attack, Nis' blade caught him at the waist and the orc's eyes widened as he collapsed in a short spray of blood and entrails.

As Eíssa started forward to take care of the archer, she nodded her thanks to Nis and saw that he had  a series of new cuts, probably from arrows he had narrowly dodged. His skin seemed more red than its natural color now and he was breathing heavily. He gave her a nod in return and then set to hide from the archer and helping Celebiel, should the need arise.

The archer tried to take aim at her, but she changed course at the last moment before he loosened and the arrow zipped past her harmlessly. Before he had time to redraw, Eíssa gutted him, taking care to ensure his death would take a while. That she owed him for his tactics. Only faint gurgling noises could be heard as he fell backwards and landed propped up against the wall. Slowly, his hand raised to cover the would in his belly. He seemed to be about to lose consciousness. Eíssa took a quick look behind, saw that Celebiel was pressing the orc, and turned toward the fallen archer again, sheathing her weapons. She went down on a knee beside him and gave him a quick slap to wake him up once more.

'You, orc. Now where's that boss of yours taken the other prisoners?'

Her enemy just grunted. This time, she punched him hard, breaking his nose.

'Hasz taken thsem to hisz chambersz...' he grumbled.

'Which way?' Eíssa started to peel the orc's hand off his wound.

The orc started to sweat even more as he grasped what she was threatening to do, his stinking sweat making Eíssa want to reel over and puke. But she forced herself to keep her composure.

The orc nodded faintly and weakly pointed down the hallway. 'Thsere... at... end.' His bulky hand fell down and he lay still, the last of his consciousness faded.

Eíssa got up again, wiped her hands and turned towards the others. The last orc standing was doing so just barely, but it appeared he was too stupid to run away. He tried a last swing and the took Celebiel's sword, toppled over and lay still.

'I wish I had you with me when I was first coming for these guys, we would've just taken care of them like this then,' Nis said.

Celebiel shook her head, her face showing a new, more grim expression. 'Don't think about it. These creatures will pay for what they did to you and your family.'

Eíssa beckoned for them to follow her when she headed in the direction the orc had pointed. 'This way, we'll take them head on.'

They went down the hallway, coming past open doors leading to abandoned quarters filled with an odd mixture of ancient and much more recent (but at the same time much cruder) furniture. No orc crossed their way and they dared hope they would encounter Rashek alone. Finally, they arrived at a wooden double door. If this door had been painted, it had cracked off long ago. Now, only dark wood and rusted metal spoke of the passage of time.

'I...think I should hold back a little from now on,' Nis said softly. 'Those arrows didn't hit anything vital, but my head's swimming a bit.'

Celebiel and Eíssa nodded to this and Celebiel  grasped the doorhandles while Eíssa and Nis readied their blades. The door swung open and revealed a big room, probably an entrance hall, Eíssa thought. The wings had not even finished their movement before the three adventurers were adressed.

'We've been eagerly waiting for you, elves. And you, too, Nis Wolfsbane.'

The tattered and faded remains of a carpet led straight ahead to a set of stairs, above which stood the speaker, the biggest orc Eíssa and Celebiél had ever seen. Orange glow from the setting sun seeping in through a broken circular glass window in the middle of the ceiling illuminated him and intensified the tense mood. He wore a breastplate that was much better cared for than those of his underlings over a matching set of fine long-sleeved shirt and pants. A decorative garment of small parts of leather, hide and feathers arrayed on a string was slung around his upper body and fastened on his shoulders, an odd concession to orcish traditions on the otherwise very civilised looking Rashek. Though the fangs protruding from the corners of his mouth, the sickly green skin color, glowing red eyes and of course the two-handed greataxe he held set hilt-first on the ground beside him did subtract a bit from that impression.

About ten of his underlings flanked the path to their leader and grinned, some of them half-hidden behind the pillars that supported the high ceiling. Some of those pillars were broken and their remainslay toppled in the room.

'Oh damn,' Nis muttered under his breath as they stepped through the door. Eíssa silently agreed. The three noted a great half-open gate through which trickled a thin stream of sunlight.

Celebiel stepped forward, only her left hand holding her scabbard. 'You are Rashek Bloodblade, I presume?'

The big orc bared some more of his teeth in a parody of a smile. 'You are ahead of me, since I do not know your name, little dove.'

Celebiel's eyebrows furrowed just a little from being adressed like this. 'Celebiel Lunaris is my name. I am a paladin of Rithum and as such, I shall see to it that you receive your just punishment for abducting this man's family!'

Rashek kept on smiling his creepy smile. 'Ah, so you came to rescue those poor, poor villagers who were to weak to defend themselves? But it appears you can rescue but one of them, for the others have perished already.'

All of Rashek's speech betrayed just a hint of his upbringing, a random snarl after an S, or clicking K sounds. If you didn't see him, you could believe it was a highly educated human speaking.

But Celebiel and the others didn't care for that at the moment.

'What did you do to them, you monster!' Nis bellowed, furiously swinging his blade.

Regarding Nis with an indifferent glance, he just said, 'you did escape, Nis. So I killed your wife. A tragic loss, indeed. But-'

He was cut short by Nis' roar of anger and disbelief. He was about to storm forward and tackle Rashek, but Eíssa grasped his arm before he could gather momentum.

'What are you doing, idiot! That's what he wants you to do,' she told him in a hushed voice.

Nis calmed down again, but it took him some visible effort.

Rashek had begun to smile again. 'You've got quite the temper on you! Almost orc-like...almost.' He chuckled a little. 'As I was about to say, one person is still alive. And it's your daughter, Nis! Isn't that splendid? And she's perfectly safe with me, because I have a policy of never harming children.'

'Show us proof,' Celebiel demanded.

He motioned to one of his underlings and he moved behind Rashek, opened the door on the far end of the room and a few moments later came back , carrying a small girl of about four years. She seemed to be too afraid to move and as the orc put her down beside Rashek, she just stood there. As her little green eyes fell on Nis, she began to make faint crying noises.

Celebiel drew her sword. 'I guess it's settled then. I challenge you to a duel!

Rashek lifted his heavy axe off the ground and took it in both hands. An expression of grim readiness settled on his face. 'Let's see what you are capable of, Celebiel Lunaris, paladin of Rithum. Make way,' he ordered his subordinates and they retreated to form a circle, separating Celebiel from Eíssa and Nis. Rashek descended the stairs and the circle closed behind him as well.

When the blades collided first, Eíssa heard Nis mutter 'this is utter madness' under his breath.

Eíssa turned her head. 'Why?'

Nis grimaced. 'I was defeated in a one-on-one duel before I was put in chains. It's a thing for Rashek to defeat the strongest opponents himself. That way, he says, he can best esteem their monetary worth .'

Eíssa took a moment to realize what Nis implied. 'That guy's a slaver?' she asked, incredulous.

'Ah, I guess I forgot to tell you.'

'No help crying over spilt milk. But if that Rashek is as good at duels as you say, I guess I should go on a little trip,' Eíssa whispered.

Nis turned his head to watch the fight again. Celebiel just jumped away from one of Rashek's wide swings and the orcs started to cheer for their boss.

'To where?' Nis asked, eyes fixed on the duel.

'I'll get your daughter. That way we might just do something even if Celly loses,' Eíssa replied, slowly slipping into the shadow of one of the pillars. Nis only nodded.

While she slowly made her way across the room, staying near the wall, behind the pillars, the situation worsened for Celebiel.

She panted heavily. Her shield felt like it weighed tons. Her arms had already gone numb from the heavy blows she had parried. Rashek didn't seem to tire.

'What's up, little dove? Tired already?' he would tease her while he battered her.

The conclusion she had finally arrived at was that this fight was a fight for survival. Never before had she fought such a formidable opponent. But only the dull remains of an inner voice told her that there hadn't been any real adversaries in her life thus far, only weapon's training with Master Caine.

Her train of thought was disrupted as she caught another blow on her shield only by instinct. Rashek seemed to be a little off balance because he had swung too recklessly. He probably hadn't thought she would block this one.

Now! It screamed inside her head and she lunged.

Sparks flew from Rashek's armor and he made a surprised grunt.

I missed, she thought. Looking at the scratch in his armor and then back to Celebiel who struggled to regain her balance after her desperate try, Rashek began to smile and raised his axe.

'No!' Nis screamed.

The orcs cheered.

Eíssa bit her lip as she picked up the girl whose hair was the same sandy color as Nis'.

Rashek's blow caved in the front of her armor,forcing her breath out of her.  Gasping, she went down first on one knee, her lungs screaming for air and she trying to answer that scream, but failing, then she swayed and fell.

As soon as Nis saw that, his eyes flicked up to his daughter. Eíssa had her and she was starting for the exit. And so did Nis.

'Hold them!' Rashek bellowed somewhere behind them.

Eíssa ran blindly for the door, cradling the unmoving girl in her arms. She heard noises behind her, the noises of a pack of orcs going after her, preparing to do things to her she didn't even want to imagine. Time seemed to stretch as she neared that thin line of sunlight. She could almost count the motes of dust flying undisturbed in the light. Each of her steps was a soft thunder in her ears. A louder thunder was the sound of her rushing blood, but utterly drowned out by the sound the orcs made. Then came the twang. And another. And yet another. Such odd sounds, she thought, and then, arrows!

She didn't feel pain as her body lurched forward, hit by several strong forces at once, propelling her towards her goal, but also deriving her of any means of controlling her movement. She thought only of protecting the girl and clutched her harder. Darkness coiled around her consciousness, but before she gave in, she felt an arm catching her mid-flight.