TCO: Chapter Twenty-Six

The last day star of Elsaria had sunk beneath the edge of the horizon as the Xita-7 silently disappeared into a canopy of forest trees and touched down in a small clearing in the Midwest part of Gawl Forest. The forest embraced the western edge of the Ice Mountains and the southeast edge of Mordán's palace grounds.

Jalena, Gyan, and Valora exited the ship in silence, all wearing hooded, black robes.

"I still cannot reach him," said Jalena, breaking the silence, as she mentally attempted to contact Tarak. "We'll have to move through the forest to get closer to the palace. I'm sure they are holding him in the mountain caves as Malik mentioned if he is not inside the palace walls."

"Should we wait until further in the night?" asked Gyan.

"No, the gawls leave the caves to hunt in the middle of the night," Jalena replied.

As if on cue, the three heard a loud screech pierce the air.

"Are those the…" Valora started as her eyes widened.

Jalena nodded. "Yes, huge, nasty birds with claws larger than your head."

Gyan was certain that Valora's shuddering response had more to do with Jalena's description of the gawl than the cold air of the forest.

"We have to move quickly. I don't think there are Vaznaun who still live in the forest since Mordán has given them land of their own, but we should remain alert just in case. Tune into your surroundings so your senses are sharp," Jalena instructed them.

She sheathed her gladaé behind her back, and the team set out at a jog through the trees. By the time the three had made it to the western section of the forest, Gyan could not feel his fingers or toes.

"Tarak is within range," spoke Jalena quietly. "I can feel him now."

"Stop," commanded Valora abruptly. The other two froze in place as she moved slowly ahead.

"Wha—?" Gyan started.

"Shh." Valora held up her hand. Jalena watched Valora closely as she knelt closer to the ground. A white snake slithered near them across the path ahead.

Gyan bent to grab a large knife sheathed at his lower leg, but Jalena grabbed his arm and shook her head in objection.

The snake slid across the ground directly over to Valora and stopped for several moments before making its way into the tall forest again.

"What is it?" Jalena asked Valora.

"A warning," Valora replied. "He is in the mountain caves near the castle, but we must wait until after midnight if we want to avoid more trouble than necessary."

"We must get out of the forest until then," Jalena replied, unquestioningly. "We will go to a local tavern near the outskirts of the palace to warm up and then return to the edge of the forest. I will attempt to contact Tarak then."

Gyan looked back and forth between Jalena and Valora in confusion. "How—how did you know the snake was a warning? And how do you know where Tarak is now?" he called as he jogged to keep up with the two of them.

Valora chuckled. "I just knew."

"Liar," accused Gyan.

Jalena smiled.

"Oh, all right. I can communicate with them," Valora said in a rush. "But don't say anything to the others yet."

"Communicate with what?" Gyan asked, confused.

"Animals."

It was Gyan's turn to laugh. "Right."

"See, I knew I shouldn't have said anything," said Valora.

"She is telling the truth, San Gyan," Jalena said. "She is not the first light warrior who has the ability."

"You knew?" Valora asked.

Jalena shrugged. "I guessed. It generally happens for warriors who feel extra sensitive to nature."

Valora smiled.

"Have you told any of the other masters?" Jalena asked.

"Only Master Asia and Elder Master Syam know. They were walking together in the Grove of Amasu one evening and caught me talking to a black cat."

Gyan caught Jalena's eye.

"She is yours I believe, Master Jalena," Valora added.

"Eclipse," both Gyan and Jalena spoke at the same time.

Valora smiled. "Yes."

Gyan gave Valora a suspicious look as the three entered a dark alley that led to a tavern on the edge of Androsa. Valora shrugged at him but said nothing more.

The three entered the tavern and asked for a back table, keeping their faces hidden beneath their cloak hoods. The tavern keeper—a tall, husky male—watched them cautiously as a woman led them to a table in the back of the tavern. They ordered a light meal to avoid looking too suspicious and ate in silence. After warming themselves, they stepped once more out into the freezing air.

"What about the gawls?" Valora asked.

"We'll only have to be concerned with them if we return to the ship by the central forest paths. They won't bother us if we stay at the edge because they do not hunt near the edge of the forest anymore after the Vaznaun killed many years ago."

The three entered the forest again, each keeping an eye out for the thick brush that marked the entrance to the mountain cells. As they neared the path to the cave cells, the warriors heard voices ahead of them. They dropped low behind a group of large leafy plants, south of the path.

"We should bring her to him now," a gruff male voice spoke.

"He said to wait until morning light."

"I have a bad feeling about this."

"Yeah, well, where were your feelings when we decided to attack the Divakae villagers? Most of our men were killed by the blood traitor."

The two Vaznaun emerged from thick trees off the forest path and continued their argument as they walked away from the mountain caves.

"We have been given orders from Mordán to send for her in the morning. You heard what Kar said Mordán would do if we disobeyed him."

The smaller of the two Vaznaun abruptly stopped walking and stood directly across from where the warriors hid.

Gyan, already on alert, slowly unsheathed the knife near his boot.

"What is it now?" the other Vaznaun complained as he turned back. "I want to rest so I can return to the caves early and continue what we started with the traitor." He cracked his knuckles.

"I smell warrior." The smaller Vaznaun turned up his nose and sniffed the air, a scowl lighting his features.

"It's just your hands…from hitting the warrior traitor."

The Vaznaun looked down at the dried blood upon his hands and said nothing. He looked at the area where the three warriors hid for several moments and then continued along the path to the palace.

Gyan sheathed his knife once more as the Vaznaun disappeared. Releasing a breath slowly, Jalena closed her eyes and reached for Tarak mentally.

***

Tarak, barely conscious, hung suspended in a large cave cell, his arms chained above him. He jerked his head up as he heard a voice in his mind calling his name.

Tarak? Jalena said.

Tarak shook his head back and forth, believing that he was hallucinating.

Tarak, I know you can hear me…it's Jalena. I need you to speak to me so I can help you get out of the caves.

"What?" he said aloud, his accented voice hoarse and weak.

A Vaznaun guard sitting nearby, outside the cell, turned to Tarak and banged a heavy metal rod against the cell bars. Sparks flew from the ends of the rod. "Shut up or I'll bring them back."

Tarak began to shift his weight but stopped immediately as the pain intensified in his ribs. Blood dripped down his face from a cut above his swollen left eye, the result of his refusal to give the Vaznaun any information concerning contact with the light warriors.

You don't have to speak out loud for me to hear you, Jalena continued. I will be able to hear you in my mind. It is one of our abilities. Now, if you can see them, tell me how many guards surround you.

With great effort, Tarak lifted his head and squinted in the direction of the guards. The movement made his head pound in pain. He stifled a groan and answered Jalena mentally. Two inside. I…do not know if there are any outside the cave…they led me here…blindfolded.

Never mind that. We will take care of the ones outside. I will contact you again in a moment.

Jalena turned to the others and asked them to open their minds mentally. "No more voices. We can't risk being overheard."

Gyan and Valora nodded, and the three continued their conversation telepathically.

Tarak is too weak for me to guide him out, Jalena said. They have tortured him too severely for his energy to regenerate effectively, so we will have to go in and get him.

I thought his powers would be triggered in an emergency, so why doesn't he just use his ability to break the chains? Gyan asked.

Not only is it difficult to create light when you are weak, but lack of belief can reduce the degree of your power also, responded Jalena as the three stood and walked down the path leading deeper into the forest. He doesn't know his full capacity yet since we have not had a chance to inform him of his abilities. He has not had our years of training nor has seen much evidence of his ability.

As the brush thickened along the path, Jalena slowed, eventually stopping before two large bushes that joined at the top. She crouched to peer through the lower portion of the bushes. This is the entrance to the path leading to the caves. She stood again. I will give you a sign when it is clear to follow. She turned and pushed through the brush.

Gyan's heart rate increased at the thought of Jalena moving ahead alone. He forced himself to remain patient and stifled the desire to dive into the brush after her.

Valora and Gyan made their way through the brush entrance when Jalena gave them the signal, and the three warriors continued cautiously along a narrow path that steepened the closer they came to the Ice Mountain caves. The density of the forest trees surrounding the path decreased, and Jalena slowed her pace when a rocky clearing came into view. As they reached the edge of the clearing, the three warriors spotted the cave entrance jutting out from the surrounding mountain. They knelt out of sight behind two large spindle trees growing on both sides of the forest path.

Two Vaznaun guards sat on each side of the cave entrance between several torches aligned along the side of the mountain.

Tarak, we have reached the cave entrance. We are coming to get you. Gyan heard Jalena's voice in his mind as she spoke to Tarak.

Tarak did not respond.

Jalena turned to Gyan and Valora. We'll go off-path and use the trees on the sides of the clearing to mask our way to the cave entrance. Gyan and I will provide a distraction for the guards. When the cell guards come out, slip past them, Valora, and try to locate Tarak. Tarak said he spotted two Vaznaun guarding his cell but remain alert in case there are more.

Valora nodded.

The three crept swiftly through the trees, making as little noise as possible. They reached the cave entrance undetected, Gyan and Valora on one side and Jalena on the other.

Gyan casually stepped out in front of the two Vaznaun with his hand on the hilt of the knife at his belt and smiled. "Hello friends," he said loudly. "I believe you have something that does not belong to you."

The two Vaznaun jumped to their feet in surprise and reached for their swords. By the time either sword had cleared a sheath, Gyan had covered the short distance between him and the guards. He hit one of the guards hard in the nose with his fist. The guard dropped his sword and fell back into the side of the cave entrance, unconscious.

Jalena, her gladaé drawn, had already emerged from where she hid on the other side of the entrance and was standing behind the other guard. She brought the hilt of her gladaé down on the soldier's head from behind, and the second guard dropped to the ground.

They are coming. Tarak's faint voice entered Gyan's mind.

Jalena and Valora nodded to Gyan, indicating they heard Tarak's warning.

The two Vaznaun guarding Tarak's cell emerged from the cave entrance and shouted at the sight of Jalena and Gyan. Valora slipped into the cave behind the guards as Jalena and Gyan moved in.

One soldier, holding two electrical metal rods, swung a rod at Jalena's head. As she dodged, the soldier swung his second rod around, which Jalena blocked with her gladaé. An electrical current surged through the rod as it contacted the gladaé, and sparks of light shot out around both weapons. The soldiers' eyes widened as the electrical current reversed up the rod and into his hand. He dropped the rod in pain just as Jalena jumped vertically in the air and kicked the guard in the head. The guard crumpled against the side of the cave entrance.

Gyan blocked several strikes from the other guard before slamming the hilt of his knife into the side of the guard's head, knocking the soldier out.

Easy enough, Gyan said as he and Jalena raced into the cave.

Let's hope it stays that way.

Gyan smiled, glad that Jalena was by his side, even if the current situation did not exactly match the ideal scenario he often visualized them to be in.

Gyan sensed Jalena reach for Valora mentally. Have you found him?"

I—I'm not sure…I am at one of the end cells…I think it's him.

Jalena and Gyan passed a dozen cells, most of them empty.  They rounded a corner to find Valora, torch in hand, in front of a cell with her mouth open.

Tarak hung motionless; his head drooped toward his chest.

"Tarak!" Jalena called.

Tarak stirred but did not look up.

"That's him?" asked Gyan. Gyan stared at Tarak with a skeptical look.

"Yes."

"But he is Vaznaun."

"Not now, Gyan. I'll explain more later when we get him to the ship."

Jalena sheathed her gladaé and grasped two of the cell bars before her. She concentrated on the bars. Her eyes and hands began to glow as she pulled the bars apart, making a large opening into the cell.

"Quickly," she commanded the other two.

Valora and Gyan climbed through the opening in the cell.

"Valora, break his shackles. Gyan, I will need you on the other side of him to support his weight as the clasps break. His ribs may be broken." Jalena had already put an arm around Tarak's waist.

Valora grasped and focused her gaze intently on Tarak's irons. Her eyes lit up as she snapped them in half.

Tarak gasped as his eyes opened wide. His face contorted in pain as his arms dropped.

Jalena and Gyan supported Tarak's weight and lowered him gently down to the floor. Gyan looked down and felt pity for the newfound warrior. Tarak's eyes were shut again, his face swollen. The cut above his left eye and several wounds across his chest were still bleeding.

"We will have to transfer some of our energy."

Gyan and Valora looked at Jalena in confusion.

"What do you mean?" Gyan asked.

"You have the ability to transfer your light into another. Give just enough so that he has the energy to make it back to the ship. It will also help mend some of his injuries until Asia and Malik can see to him."

Jalena ignored the confusion on their faces. "Hurry. It's just like connecting in group meditation. Surround him."

Valora and Gyan got on either side of Tarak, with Jalena standing at Tarak's head.

Focus your mind on him and see yourself giving him light. Continue until I tell you to stop.

The other two did as she commanded. A stream of white light began to emerge from each warrior's chest, forming a sphere in the middle of the three, just above Tarak. Another beam formed and traveled downward, connecting the light sphere to Tarak's chest.

Within seconds, Tarak gasped and his eyes flew open. The swelling in his face and the cuts on his body instantly began to reduce in size.

"That's enough," Jalena told them, "or we won't have the strength to leave, either."

Sure enough, when Gyan broke his connection, he felt fatigued. He noticed that Tarak's right leg was still swollen just above the knee. "Can you walk, Tarak?" he asked.

"I think," Tarak said hoarsely.

Gyan noticed Tarak's green, red-haloed eyes for the first time as he reached out his hand to help Tarak up. He tried to keep any shock from appearing on his face as Tarak stood to full height.

Wow, he said to Valora.

She smiled as the four of them made their way out of the cave.

Just as they cleared the cave entrance, a deep voice rang out from across the other side of the clearing.

"I knew I smelled warrior."

The Vaznaun they had seen leaving the caves earlier emerged from the trees and stood directly in the middle of the forest path with a sword in hand. He sneered at the four warriors as a half dozen more Vaznaun joined his side.

"Sound the alarm," he said to his comrades. "Four light warriors instead of one. It's our lucky night."