A shadow swept across the wall, as the light flicked on the enchanted torch. Jaxom was amused that whomever had enchanted those torches had decided to emulate a flame so perfectly that it even would sway under a slight breeze. The flame itself would never actually put off heat, and had more of a bluish hue than a normal torch. Even Gailin could tell it was magical just by looking at the color of the flame, the flame that would burn forever; only magic could extinguish those flames.
They were far from silent, as Aeric bashed open doors as they proceeded down the familiar hallway, searching for Barek, or some sign of him. Gailin seemed frantic as he continued down the hallway ahead of the rest, acting more like a hound that had caught the scent of what he was looking for, than a holy warrior.
“There’s something down this way. The evil of this place is like a fog, and it feels like it’s coming from around the corner,” Gailin mumbled as he proceeded toward the end.
“Wait up Gailin, you’re gonna get yourself killed, and the rest of us with you, if you don’t stay with the group.” Raen yelled after the Paladin, who was caught in his own zeal. “This isn’t your fight alone.”
“Well, if you guys would hurry up, that wouldn’t be a problem.” Gailin said, as he spun around on a heel, to address the group. “I’m telling you, whatever we’re looking for is coming from down here. Whatever took Barek is this way, I can feel it; its overwhelming. I almost feel like I’m being choked by it. I’ve only felt this kind of evil once before,” he said, glancing quickly toward Veridean, who was scratching at the amulet around her neck. “This is different though, it’s not as concentrated, its as if it’s trying to escape from somewhere. We have to get to it, where-ever it is, and stop it, before it finishes whatever it’s doing.”
“You can’t fight this by yourself Gailin, no matter how much you want to.” It was Aeric speaking this time, ducking his head down, coming out from another room; wiping his forehead clean of sweat. “This is our battle too, and you need to remember that. Whatever is here, I want it just as bad as you do.” His eyes gleamed just a bit, as the big warrior finished his words. Aeric loved the battle a bit too much at times.
“Well, then let’s stop talking about it, do something. This is one of those times when talk is cheap, and action is what is required.” Spinning back around, Gailin’s sword scraping on the wall as it passed, emitting an awful noise, he continued on his way.
“He’s gonna get us killed this time, I just know it.” Jaxom muttered under his breath, as everyone, but Veridean and Raen, rushed to catch up with the overly zealous Paladin.
“Are you alright Green,” Raen said, looking toward Veridean; concern hovered in his eyes. “You look a bit pale, even for you. Perhaps you should stay away from this one. If Gailin is even half right about the evil of this place then it may be best if you waited for us.”
“And let you boys have all the fun.” She breathed, sounding a bit winded. “If Gailin’s right, then this is more my fight than anyone else’s. I’m not gonna let that big fool have something else to look down on me about. I’m a big girl, I can take care of myself.” She pushed Raen back a bit; her green eyes seemed a bit more luminescent than usual. Determination struck from within her as she picked up her pace. “Besides, I’d like to find out what this Barek has been up to.”
Gailin stopped toward the end of the hallway, looking toward the left as it split off into yet another hall. “By Aesia!” he proclaimed, stumbling a bit forward, his eyes trying to focus on something further down. Holding his hand out to the side indicating to the others that they should stop. “We’ve been deceived!”
“What are you talking about?” Aeric burst out, continuing further toward Gailin; ignoring his obvious signal to stop. “Deceived about what?”
“ . . . Barek . . . That bloody bastard!” Gailin mumbled, breaking into a full out run down the new hallway, not even giving the others a second thought; or a chance to catch up.
“What is that idiot talking about this time?” Jaxom said, as he approached Aeric, who was staring toward the end of the hallway that Gailin had rushed down. “What are you looking at? What’s going on . . .” He couldn’t finish his statement as he looked down after Gailin, who was standing at the edge of a stairway, staring at a banner above him.
The banner itself was about fifteen feet tall and five feet wide. It was hung just above the stairs, and was made of a dark red material. It had no writing on it, and was comprised of a single image, a black disk, with light radiating from behind. It was an eclipsing sun, the symbol of the god Naresh.
“I can not believe I could have been so naive. How could I allow Barek to fool me like this?” Gailin stumbled to the side a bit, leaning against the wall with one hand. “I should have listened when you all said that I was putting too much faith in his word.”
The others hurried to the stairwell, where Aeric placed a hand on Gailin’s shoulder. “We’ve all been fooled into trusting the wrong people before. At least now we know who the real enemy is.”
“I told you not to trust him. I told you he was bad news, but you were to focused on me, and what I hold inside.” Veridean’s words cut into Gailin, fury screaming through her eyes. “You never look toward what’s obviously ahead of you. You think you do, but you don’t. All of us could tell that this Ashton was up to something, but you were too focused on the fact that he seemed to know, not only Dean, but your father as well. Perhaps if you had trusted us in the beginning we would have never gone on that foolish quest of his. Maybe then your brother would still be here. At least Danyelle knew how to judge a person’s character properly. I never quite understood how you two could be brothers, especially twins. Apparently he got the brains, and you got the . . . well.”
Gailin almost fell over at that. Finally he understood what everyone thought of him. He was just a fool, too caught up trying to be righteous. Hope fell from his eyes, despair quickly rushed in to fill the gap.
Raen quickly jumped toward the front. “Stop it you two, this is no time to fight. We can talk this out later.” Raen’s gaze moved down to meet Gailin’s, but was shrugged off as the warrior pushed his eyes toward the wall. “Gailin, this isn’t the time to cry over past transgressions.” He sounded almost like Calahir, Aldaric Verdain’s general, Gailin’s old instructor. “You made a mistake, you’re human, it happens. Now you know not to make that mistake again. What I need from you now is the warrior. I need you to fight as you always do, there will be time enough later to regret the past, but as you so aptly stated before, action is what we require right now.”
Gailin’s eyes shifted up a bit, sadness intermingled with determination, as he turned around to address the group. “I’m sorry. I should have showed more trust before, and for that I apologize. Perhaps it is my fault, all of it, but that is for later. Now what we need to do is stop Barek from doing whatever it is that he’s attempting.” Slowly strength returned to his eyes until the sadness was washed away, and his shoulders and back straightened. Looking over toward Veridean, a part of him wanted to shudder, but he suppressed it. “To you I apologize most. I kept telling myself that I trusted all of you, but obviously I was wrong. I hope you can all forgive me.” He turned toward Aeric, “perhaps you should lead the way. You have keener eyes then I could ever hope for.”
With a nod, Aeric patted Gailin on the back and grinned, “it would be my pleasure.” Pushing his torch ahead of him, he headed down the stairs, with Raen directly behind. A satisfied smile passed Veridean’s lips as she followed the group down. |
