Blades of the Banished - Robert Ryan Page 0,16

her time, she tilted it into the cave and peered inside. Evidently she saw nothing that disturbed her, for a moment later she squeezed through the crack.

Lanrik now stood alone in the dark. He did not wish to leave the horses; they were escape and life in this vast land of enemies. But they were securely tethered and would not wander off. They were also far enough away from the road that no one should find them, even if someone came this way.

It worried him that should he and Erlissa never return no one would untie them. Although if that was the case, eventually thirst would likely drive them to break free and make their way back to the water in the Azan village.

After a final glance at them, he slipped through the crack and joined Erlissa. What they would find, he did not know. Whether they would actually free Aranloth, he could not guess. But one thing about this night was certain: nothing was going to be easy.

6. A Sea of Death

It was warmer in the cave. The light from Erlissa’s staff cast strange shadows over the nearby walls and ceiling. They stepped forward cautiously along a narrow and rough passage.

Debris covered the floor. Lanrik trod carefully, picking a path through sand, scattered rock and what he took to be bones.

He squatted down and examined the latter. That some were human, he did not doubt, though how they had come to be here he could not be sure. But many were gnawed and splintered, the tooth marks of a large animal obvious even in the dim light.

He stood up. Something had lived in here. Or some group of things. But these bones were old. They had lain in the cave for decades, or even hundreds of years, although whatever made the path from the rock face into the thicket lived here now. Such a path would not survive beyond a few years if not refreshed by frequent use.

Erlissa continued, walking slowly but with confidence, and he followed. Soon the cave widened. The floor smoothed out, and the bones and other debris disappeared. What stood out now were smoke stains on the ceiling. He saw the remnants of fire-pits in the middle of the floor. Flames had lit this chamber, long and often.

Soot was not the only thing that stood out. The light from Erlissa’s staff flared a little brighter and revealed wall paintings. They covered the dull stone with bright images in yellow and red ochre. Many were of strange creatures: beasts, birds and trees shaped like none that he had ever seen or imagined. Whether they were real or legendary he did not know. It was a strange land, and he was not swift to classify the unknown as impossible just because he had never seen it in the flesh.

Other things he recognized. There were images of elùgroths with their wych-wood staffs, massive lethrin and bow-legged elugs. But mostly, he saw the desert dwelling animals of these high mountains.

“They look fresh enough that they could have been painted yesterday,” he said.

“So they do,” Erlissa answered. “But they’re as old as the drùgluck sign outside – or older.”

They paused a little, looking about them in wonder at so much detail and so much accuracy in the seemingly simple paintings. But they did not linger long. Soon, they moved ahead.

The cave narrowed again. For a good way they walked in the near dark. The floor slanted downward, but the angle was not steep. After several minutes, Erlissa’s shuffling feet came to a stop.

Before them the tunnel forked. One path, veering a little to the left, continued at the same slope. The other, turning somewhat to the right, plummeted steeply. It gaped like a dark pit before them.

“Which way?” he asked.

Erlissa hesitated. Her head swiveled from side to side, but her eyes were closed. What senses she used, he did not know, but they were different from the ones that he relied upon.

The steep tunnel frightened him, though he did not know why. A faint smell of bad air drifted from the other.

“We’ll take the steep one,” Erlissa said. There was no doubt in her voice.

She led the way forward again. The angle was significant, but the floor was smooth and hard, without loose rock or sand. They made good time. There was no sign of life here; no paintings or fires or dried grasses blown in from outside. There was nothing but a tunnel that drove into the dark heart