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“Then you understand his power,” Morik said. “He wields great influence amongst my people. His word is law in this land, and for reasons unknown to me, he changed his favor to Erag.

“Perhaps he senses the vulnerability of your lands at this time, yes? If we work together, we can eliminate them both, and I will reclaim my place as Chief. I will then disperse the war band, and we will no longer be a threat to your people.”

“Good enough for me,” Aiden agreed after only a moment’s hesitation, smashing open the lock with ease.

Morik emerged from his cell. He wore only tattered rags, but from the way he moved, he was clearly an experienced warrior, and carried numerous scars on his body to prove it. He reached down and picked up a short battle spear from one of his fallen people, then looked at the pile of bodies around them with something akin to regret in his eyes.

“Colt, if you’re able to fight, grab a weapon,” Aiden suggested. “Pace, help Nellise get moving. We can’t stay here any longer.”

“I won’t leave her side,” Pacian agreed, speaking more to Nellise than anyone else as he held her steady with one arm around her shoulders, her hand still clasping the symbol of her faith.

“Which way do we go?” Aiden asked Morik.

“There are stairs down, beyond the next room,” Morik replied courteously. “But he has personal guards protecting him.”

“Let me deal with them,” Aiden responded, his voice heavy with determination and purpose. With Morik and Colt right behind him, the group set out along the passageway.

At the bottom of the stairwell was a large, open area, with several passages leading off. Morik pointed to the correct one and they moved in that direction, hearing the sounds of heavy, booted feet from up ahead after barely a minute of walking.

Aiden could see as well as if it were daylight down there, but the others were stumbling along the corridor, struggling to see where they were going. The lights from up ahead helped, but unfortunately, they were being carried by a horde of their enemies.

Once they reached the next large chamber, Aiden raised his arm to stop the others and unfurled an arcane scroll. The warriors turned at the sounds of their footsteps and quickly readied their weapons. They never had the chance to use them.

Aiden began reading the scroll, raising his free arm to point at the group as he finished the incantation a heartbeat later. A massive ball of fire materialized in front of him and shot towards the assembled warriors, flying for nearly twenty feet before it detonated in the centre of their group, shaking the very foundations of the tunnels and blasting Aiden and his companions off their feet with a wave of fire. The effect upon the Akorans was far more pronounced, sending charred bodies crashing against the walls as the force of the blast shattered bones and ended lives.

Aiden surveyed the effects of the ancient wizard’s incantation with cold disdain before moving onwards. Morik pointed in the direction they should travel and urged them to keep moving, carefully avoiding the blackened bodies of formerly-loyal warriors scattered around the stone floor.

The passage they traveled opened out into a large chamber filled with an assortment of packages wrapped in deerskin. “What is all this?” Pacian asked.

Morik didn’t even take a closer look before answering. “Dried rations, water skins, spare axes, bandages — everything a war band needs to keep fighting,” he said. “Erag must want to reclaim the lands of our ancestors, for there are enough supplies here to feed a thousand warriors.”

“We should destroy all of this,” Pacian hissed. “We’ll see how well their invasion goes when their bellies are empty.”

“This food was taken from the rest of my people. If we destroy it, the people will starve before the thaw,” Morik warned. “They may choose to attack out of starvation.”

“We have our target,” Aiden decided, moving through the large piles of supplies. “Leave the food; it won’t matter once their leadership is dead.”

Morik nodded his agreement and immediately pressed on through the chamber. Before Aiden could move to follow, the sounds of battle echoed from down the hallway Morik had taken. Cursing, Aiden and the others moved as quickly as they could to support their new ally, for if he perished, any plan to bring peace to this region would surely fail.

Chapter Nineteen

As Aiden rounded the corner, he saw Morik being attacked by three powerful adversaries armed with spears and axes. When Aiden moved in, he gained the attention of one, and stepped inside the reach of his great axe to engage him in close quarters.

He shrugged aside the heavy axe and cracked his scepter right between the man’s eyes, crushing his skull in an instant. Morik ended the lives of the other two men with quick work from his spear, but he had taken a hit during the fight.

“I will survive,” he grunted, noticing Aiden grimacing at the vicious cuts. “Erag will be ahead, and he will be ready for us, thanks to your loud entrance.”

“The loud ones are the best,” Aiden remarked, feeling unstoppable. “Are there any other corridors that lead to his chambers from here?” Morik shook his head.

“Sy, are you there?” Aiden called, and was about to say more when the hair on the back of his neck stood upright.

“Take cover!” he shouted, crouching to leap aside as a stroke of lightning coursed through the charged air, hitting all four of them and knocking them to the floor. They didn’t have time to recover before the terrifying visage of a giant man, his head obscured by a fearsome visored helm, roared a battle cry and drove a six-foot battle spear towards Aiden’s chest.

He barely had the clarity of thought to bring his shield across to block the attack, but he managed to do so just in time. The shield, however, was destroyed by the force of the impact, sending a shower of blue sparks into the air and leaving his spectral armor to absorb the rest of the strike.

Aiden rolled away as the spear was drawn back by this new assailant, giving him a moment to regain his footing. During this time, Morik had risen from the floor, ignoring his wounds, and stabbed at their armored opponent with all of his might.

Erag spat out a phrase in his native language, his helm rendering his voice hollow and cold. The only word Aiden recognized was Morik, who replied between stabs with his short spear.

“Watch for Tald; he’s here somewhere,” Aiden warned the others as he moved in on Erag’s left flank. Together, he and Morik combined their efforts to take on the chieftain with a series of powerful blows.

Aiden’s unnatural strength allowed him to slam the scepter into Erag with immense force, again and again, but each time it was parried harmlessly away, showing Aiden that more than brute force was needed to defeat such an experienced adversary. When he dodged one of Morik’s blows, Erag was exposed as a clear target, and Aiden seized the opportunity to invoke the scepter’s power, scorching the chief with a blast of light. Astonishingly, he seemed to ignore the searing burns across his body as he lunged at Aiden.

The shaman, Tald Black-Tiger, had so far remained out of sight, but after witnessing Aiden’s crippling attack, he spoke for the first time, from darkness behind the fight.

“You are wielding borrowed power, boy,” he rasped, slamming the butt of his rune-covered staff into the ground. “I shall strip it from you, piece by piece.” Aiden felt a wave of coldness wash over him, and his supernatural strength drained from his muscles.

Somehow, Erag still had the strength to remain standing after the scepter blast. Looking at the big warrior, Aiden could see why. Even as he watched, Erag’s wounds were slowly healing over as a faint, misty green light danced around his body, a light that seemed to be emanating from Tald’s staff.

Erag was suddenly engulfed in Sayana’s flames, blinding him momentarily as his howls of agony echoed through the caves. It was at this moment that an enraged Pacian appeared behind the blinded savage and drove both of his daggers into Erag’s back, finally dropping the hulking warrior.

“Insolent upstart!” Tald cried out, dismayed at the loss of his powerful ally, and raised his staff in retaliation. Aiden cringed in anticipation of another stroke of lighting, but aside from a few sparks crackling from the tip, nothing happened.

An arrow sank into the shaman’s shoulder, staggering the old man backwards momentarily as Colt, armed with his longbow, limped into the battle.

Nellise was behind him, clad once more in her breastplate. With tears streaming from her blackened eyes, she clutched at her crystal and whispered her prayers, holding back Tald’s attempts at summoning the elemental forces of nature. This seemed to enrage the shaman even further, and he slammed his staff onto the ground once more in an attempt to overpower Nellise’s efforts.

“No, you shall not,” she uttered with determination, again dispersing the build-up of power that threatened to end their lives, a nimbus of white light surrounding her. Colt loosed arrow after arrow at the shaman, who fell to his knees, bleeding profusely from the assault.

It was Sayana who finished him off once and for all, embedding her thrown axe in his chest. The near-silence of the cave was broken only by the sounds of their heavy breathing, the fight having taken all they could muster.

Aiden grimaced as the adrenaline began to dissipate, and the pain from his wounds became more noticeable. Then, overwhelmed by the sudden realization of how many people he’d slain, he fell to his knees and vomited.

When he was done, Aiden was trembling like a leaf, feeling weak and mortal once again. This wasn’t the time to dwell on what he’d just done, however; they were still in danger, and somehow had to find a way out of here.

After wiping his mouth, Aiden threaded the scepter into his belt and staggered over to Morik, who was lying against the wall, his breath coming in shallow gasps.

“Don’t you dare die on us,” Aiden cautioned him.

“I wouldn’t dream of going back on my word,” Morik replied, a half-smile on his lips. “If you would be so kind as to put my blood back inside me, I would be very grateful.”

“We’ll see what we can do,” Aiden muttered, hiding his true feelings as he looked down at the wounded man. Colt made his way over to Morik and began wrapping a tourniquet around him to staunch the bleeding. Turning to look over at Nellise, Aiden could see that she was sitting on the floor, her face covered by her hands as she continued to weep. He had no idea what sort of strength it had taken for her to join in the fight after what she had witnessed.

Aiden limped over and crouched down beside her, wanting to give comfort, and feeling awkward about having to ask for more from her.

“Nel, I know you’re hurting right now, but we’re in pretty bad shape,” Aiden whispered soothingly, not sure if she was even hearing his words. “I think Morik may be dying, and we need him to pull his people back from the brink of war. We need you to heal him — do you think you can do that?”

Nellise didn’t respond immediately, but sat clutching at the symbol of her faith with all her strength. Slowly, she nodded, sniffling back her tears and wiping her face with a piece of her robe. She held the crystal in her hand and began whispering her prayers. Aiden picked himself up and limped over to check on Pacian, who was sitting with his back against the wall.

“I don’t think I can do any more killing today, Aiden,” he remarked absently, sounding strange through a broken nose. “Can we go home now?”

“That’s the plan,” Aiden mumbled, practically collapsing next to him while they awaited Nellise’s healing prayer. The faintest hint of a summer breeze wafted through the air, and everyone present took stock of what they had survived. Aiden stared at nothing, watching the images of himself during the fight flit through his mind as if he were an outsider to his own actions.

A few minutes passed, and Nellise finally slumped as the healing was completed. Aiden hoped it was enough, for they could ask no more of her this day.

“We’ve really got to get Nel back to town,” Pacian said, truly concerned about her. “She’s been through hell down here.”

“Why don’t you go and take care of her,” Aiden advised. “I’ll check on Morik.” Pacian nodded and went to Nellise, while Aiden hoped their ally was ready to take over the leadership of his people.

The chief, however, had more pressing concerns. “You and your people need to leave as soon as possible, for I cannot guarantee your safety until I have solidified my position as chief.”

“Will they even accept you, considering you helped kill Erag?” Aiden inquired.

The chief answered this by moving over to Erag’s burned corpse. He shifted the head with the toe of his boot, then swung his axe to cleanly sever Erag’s head from his body. “Yes,” Morik said flatly, placing the head on the ground for the time being.

“Don’t forget this one, too,” Pacian remarked, pointing down at Tald’s prone form.

“I don’t think we’re going to make it out past the camps outside,” Colt grunted as Morik did his grisly work. “Could you talk to them before we leave?”

“No, but there is another exit you can take in the rear of the caves. Come, I will show you.”

They followed him down the corridor and through to the next chamber, a smaller area than the storage room, and with many chairs strewn around the floor. Inside was a large wooden table, on which was a platter of meat and ale, along with piles of equipment taken from the Aielish forces.

A fireplace with a metal pipe funneled smoke from the roaring fire through a square hole in the ceiling. Visible behind the smoke was a metal ladder embedded into the wall itself.

“That ladder leads to a hidden entrance, above us, on the side of the hill,” Morik explained to Aiden as Colt gathered up some essential gear from the pile. “From there, you can travel northwest, avoiding contact with my people and returning you to safety.”

“What is all this?” Sayana asked, leafing through papers upon the table. Aiden leaned forward and saw what appeared to be a crude map, drawn in charcoal, with scrawled notes written in Aielish on accompanying sheaves of parchment. It was clearly a battle plan to take over the region, complete with supply drops and withdraw locations so extensive hit-and-run tactics could be employed.

The mountains they were currently in were on the southern part, with a large circle around what would be the Akoran encampment. A simple drawing of a house was sketched in where Coldstream would be, and to the left of it, another representing Bracksford.

A large arrow pointed from the Akoran base to both towns, clearly depicting their planned path of attack. From what he could discern in the notes, the battle was going to start in only a few days’ time, after another tribe of warriors arrived to support the effort from the north.

“If we’d left this much longer, they’d have stormed through the entire region,” Aiden muttered to himself, rolling up the battle plans and tucking them in under his tunic. “I think we’re done here. I hope you can settle your people down, because we really don’t need another war right now.”

“I will convince them of my legitimacy, I can assure you of that,” Morik said, giving Aiden an appraising glance. “For a warlock, you seem honorable enough, though I would one day like to see your prowess without the aid of spectral forces. My people have no love for your kind, but I thank you for your aid this day, and hope that our paths may cross again in the future.”

“Warlock? I’m not a...” Aiden started to protest, and then considered how he looked striking down their enemies with beams of light. “Okay, maybe I dabble in the arcane arts a little, but as Tald mentioned, it is borrowed power. The only real sorcerer here is Sayana, and you should be thanking her as well, particularly since she was once one of your people.”

Morik look startled and gave the red-headed girl another shrewd look, then spoke a few words to her in his native language. “Kerik White-wolf,” she replied to his question in Aielish, “though I’m sure he believes I am dead. Do you remember the elven lady he took as a wife?”

Morik looked at her with disbelief. “You are the child who was lost to us years ago?” he breathed. “I heard you had wandered off on a hunting expedition.”

A tear trickled down Sayana’s cheek as her emotional dam burst. Moments later, a chill wind filled the room as Colt scaled the ladder above the fireplace and found the trapdoor Morik had spoken of.

“One of the hunters saw me performing some minor sorcery, and he struck me over the head and left me to die,” Sayana sobbed. “He said something about having kept an eye on me in case I turned out like my mother.”

Morik nodded slowly, then turned his head at the sounds of approaching warriors. “You must go, now, but we will meet again. That, I can promise.

“I will somehow make this right with you, Sayana, when things are peaceful again. Please, leave before you’re discovered.”

Aiden hastened over to Nellise, who was still lying barely coherent on the cushions. “I will take her up through the secret passage,” Sayana declared, wiping tears from her eyes as she stepped forward to lift the exhausted cleric over her shoulder.

She struggled with the weight, but with Pacian’s help, managed to lift her over to the base of the shaft, where the wild girl somehow found a hidden reserve of strength and simply levitated them both upward through the opening.

Although it had been cold down in the cave, the freezing air was still a slap in the face as Aiden emerged from the top of the shaft into the bleak, frigid wasteland of the High Plains. The wind had died down a great deal, and stars shone through the clouds as the foul weather slowly broke up.

Colt pressed ahead silently, with Sayana leading them out through the rocky hillside they had used to approach the camp in the first place.

They traveled for well over an hour before Aiden felt they had left the Akoran camp far enough behind them, feeling fortunate they had encountered no more patrols on their way out. Colt called for a quick break, and they gathered under the sparse trees that provided a modicum of shelter on the plain.

“I think we should cut across land to Bracksford,” he advised breathlessly, leaning on his greatsword as one would a staff. “It’ll save time, and Olaf and Sergeant Tara should know what’s happened as soon as possible. We’ll send word to Coldstream from there.”

“A fair point,” Aiden agreed. “All right, northwest it is, then. We’ll find a place to rest in a couple of hours.”

With his adrenaline rush gone and the incantations dispelled, Aiden felt very, very ordinary as they continued onward. Soon, the ordeal of the past day began to catch up with him, each step forward becoming a struggle to stay upright.

They found a small clearing in amongst the trees to set up their camp, and everyone except Aiden collapsed as soon as it was decided this was where they’d rest. Thanks to the goggles, he was able to quickly gather kindling and build a campfire by the faint moonlight above. After nearly a minute of unsuccessfully trying to light it with flint and steel, flames suddenly sprang forth from the tinder, startling Aiden, who was quite certain it wasn’t his doing.

“You might have warned me,” he admonished Sayana, who was lying on a bedroll a couple of yards away, barely visible from underneath her heavy winter cloak, with one hand extended towards the fire.

She didn’t reply, instead closing her eyes and taking a deep breath as she drifted off to sleep, leaving Aiden to stand watch alone until morning.

* * *

It was a testament to how worn out the others were that they slept right through the most beautiful sunrise Aiden had seen in months. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and the faint heat of the winter sun was enough to warm his face as he closed his eyes and bathed in the light.

It had been a quiet night, without any sign of patrolling Akorans or wild animals, and Aiden was looking forward to getting some rest once they arrived at Bracksford. As the dawn brightened, he noticed they had made camp next to an old graveyard, now overgrown with vines and almost unrecognizable, save for the entrance to a mausoleum in amongst the foliage.

It was made of stone, and despite its cracked and weathered exterior seemed to be mostly intact. The clearing was a curious place to camp, and given the choice, not the location Aiden would have chosen.

He noticed Nellise was awake and peering at him with an inscrutable expression. Aiden suspected that questions concerning his apparent return from the dead would be forthcoming, and he was not disappointed.

“I saw you die,” Nellise said quietly, the first words she had spoken since they left Akoran lands.

“You saw me injured and knocked out, perhaps,” Aiden conceded, unwilling to tell anyone about his otherworldly experience.

“You were struck right in the head, Aiden,” Nellise pressed. “Nobody survives something like that.”

“I’m not going to contest that point,” he shrugged, poking at the fire with a large stick. “But I have a perfectly reasonable explanation for my reappearance.”

“There’s no need to explain it; I already know the answer.”

“You do?”

“Yes, God sent you back to save us.”

Aiden blinked, caught off guard by her answer and unsure if he should attempt to correct her. Then he realized what the look had been about — absolute faith. She thought she was looking upon an angel, or something similar, sent by God to pull them out of hell, and it was this knowledge that was allowing her to deal with the ordeal she’d endured.