Soldier Scarred Page 19

  He reached the main corridor and hurried along it. As he did, he could see the glowing from the fountain of fire in the distance. It glowed more and more brightly as he went, and Endric hurried toward it before hesitating.

  If there were others in the temple with him, he didn’t want to let them get past him. What if they had already moved deeper into the temple?

  “I don’t know if you have others here with you, but you should warn them.”

  The woman stared at Endric before nodding and racing off. Endric looked over at Urik. “And you. Whatever you did, you will need to make amends for. How many were there?”

  “No more than six who captured me.”

  “But that’s only who captured you. How many more were you aware of?”

  “I don’t know how many more there might have been,” Urik said. “They weren’t alone. There would be others with them.”

  “And we need to take some of them alive to find where they took Tresten.”

  He reached the entrance into the fountain of fire and stood shadowed behind one of the sculptures. It felt strange to stand near a sculpture of the gods, but it felt equally strange to think that he might be close to getting in a battle this deep within the mountain with lava pouring down from above.

  “Are you going to fight me?” Endric asked Urik.

  “I think we’ve both learned that I don’t have a chance against you.”

  “Do you intend to try to attack me?”

  Urik stared at him before shaking his head.

  “Good.”

  He looked up along the path that led out and around—the stairway through fire. He saw no movement along it.

  They had been within the temple long enough that others might have arrived already, and if they had, they might have taken up positions deeper in the temple.

  “Watch here and warn me if anyone comes.”

  “You would trust me to do that?”

  “If you intend to learn anything about the Conclave, I would trust that you would do that.”

  “I know the secret of the temple—”

  “And I have the help of Brohmin and Novan. How many members of the Conclave have you worked with?” More than that, Endric was the son of Dendril, who was also a part of the Conclave, though Dendril no longer served as willingly as it seemed he once had.

  “I will warn you if anyone comes.”

  Endric held Urik’s gaze for a moment before slipping off into the darkness. He was thankful for the reflected light coming out of the fountain of fire, but it would reveal his presence just as much as it would reveal the presence of others. He needed to move carefully and quietly, and though he thought that he could, he had no idea what the capabilities of those Urik had intended to serve would be. Would they be able to move just as quietly in the darkness? Would they be able to see in the darkness much as the priestess had been able to see?

  He had to think that they would not. If they were not within the temple often, hopefully they didn’t have the same ability as the priests and the others who were here more frequently.

  Endric reached one of the side doors and hurried inside. Once inside, he kept his back against the wall, wanting to prevent the possibility that someone might sneak up on him from behind. He slipped along the walls, and as he did, he became aware of movement.

  Endric lunged forward.

  The movement startled whoever was in the middle of the room and they spun, a sword unsheathing.

  Their swords clattered together. The sound was loud—far too loud for the confines of the room—and he feared that it would draw the attention of others, but he had no choice. If nothing else, maybe he could draw the battle here.

  The other person was skilled with the blade, but they were no match for Endric. They flowed through a series of catahs, but none of them were complicated ones, and Endric quickly defeated the man, striking him with violent force on the side of his temple so that he crumpled to the ground.

  He turned and noticed movement near the doorway.

  Endric darted forward and met the next attacker. His sword collided with the other’s sword, and he pushed back. This fighter was more skilled than the last and was able to keep up with more of Endric’s catahs, but was no match considering Endric’s ongoing training. He had fought with Dendril and Brohmin and with many of the Antrilii, incorporating all of their fighting styles together so that he could have a different technique, one that was a combination of all of them.

  Much like with the last person, he caught the man on the temple and he dropped.

  Endric dragged the man into the room. When he had the two together, he watched the doorway as he tore strips of cloth off their cloaks and bound their wrists and ankles. He pulled them apart, separating them so they couldn’t help each other if they came around. Hopefully in the darkness, they wouldn’t see the other and would think that they were alone. As he thought about it, he quickly took a wrapping of cloth and stuffed it into their mouths, binding it in place with another wrap. It wouldn’t do any good for them to call out to each other and alert the other that they were there.

  A figure appeared in the doorway.

  Endric waited, remaining crouched.

  The newcomer entered slowly, and Endric caught a flicker of light off a blade.

  Endric jumped, spinning in his attack.

  The other person caught his sword and spun, deflecting his blade. There was an almost lazy power and grace to the movements, and Endric realized that he had started to believe that none of the swordsmen would pose any sort of challenge. Endric fought, but found that this person had much more skill than what he had expected.

  With another twist of his blade, he pushed off and danced back into the room.

  The darkness made the fight more challenging, but it didn’t seem to slow the attacker.

  Could he see in the dark?

  Endric had to rely on his training and instinct as he slashed forward, twisting at the last second and bringing his sword around. He caught the man across the belly, and he grunted. Endric spun again and caught the man on the arm, and he dropped his sword.

  Endric kicked it across the room. From the stink of his spilled bowels, the man wouldn’t be long for the world. “Who are you?” he hissed.

  “We are the Conclave.”

  “No. The Conclave would not attack like this.”

  “You know nothing, Endric son of Dendril.”

  Endric tensed. They knew him, but did they know him because they were part of the Conclave, or did they know him because of Urik and the fact that he might have revealed who he had come with?

  “Where is Tresten?”

  “He is where he can’t—” The man coughed and convulsed.

  “What did you want with the temple?” Endric asked, needing to get the man to answer before he died.

  “You have shown us how to reach it. Do you know how long we have searched?”

  “I didn’t show you anything.”

  “Ah, but you will.”

  “You are not part of the Conclave. What do you intend to use the temple for?”

  The man coughed again and started to speak, but blood burbled from his mouth and he said nothing.

  Endric caught motion at the corner of his eye.

  Two shadows moved toward him.

  They came from the back of the room. Could it be the men he had already defeated?

  Endric scanned the room but saw that they were still confined, lying motionless. This meant two new attackers. That made a total of five, and if Urik was right and there were six, he would only have these two plus one more. Yet Endric feared that there was something he had missed. It was possible that there were others. Not only possible, but likely.

  He positioned himself in such a way that he could watch both of the oncoming attackers. It wasn’t the first time that he had faced two at once, but in the darkness and as dehydrated as he was, he felt that he was at something of a disadvantage.

  The men said nothing as they approached. Endri
c decided to use the fallen soldier as a secondary barrier and positioned the man so that they would have to step over him in order to reach Endric. If nothing else, he could slow them.

  If they were fighters like the first two, Endric was at an advantage. If they were like the last man, Endric might need all the skill and luck that he had in order to be successful.

  Before he gave the men a chance to get set, he attacked. It was better to go on the offensive rather than allowing them a chance to get their positions set and attempt to get to him. Endric sliced forward, catching one of the men on the sword, and he blocked Endric’s blade. Endric twisted, spinning toward the other man, before feinting back.

  One of the men started to step over the fallen soldier, and Endric lunged toward him, forcing him to jump back.

  The plan worked as expected and the man stumbled, catching one of the fallen soldier’s feet.

  Endric didn’t have a chance to take advantage as the other attacker surged toward him, slicing at him with his sword.

  Endric blocked and kicked at the same time, trying to pull attention away from the attacker, wanting to keep his opponent from reaching him. He flicked his sword, spinning around, and thought he drew blood. The man never slowed, continuing to attack.

  The other man, the one who had tripped, now pressed forward.

  Endric positioned himself again, placing himself in such a way that he could block both men, but wasn’t sure that he was effective. They were more skilled fighting together than he had expected.

  He needed to slow one of them, then he could face them one on one, and then he would have the advantage.

  Endric took a calculated risk, dropping in a roll as he spun his sword around. He caught one of the men on the leg and tripped, falling down. He spun his sword around, jamming it into the man’s stomach, and then spun back away. As he did, he jumped to his feet, readying for the next man’s attack, but none came.

  The man was gone.

  Endric looked around the room, but the other two remained bound and motionless. There were two dead and at least two remaining.

  Endric hurried to the doorway, but saw no movement outside. Wherever the man had gone, he had done so quickly.

  He went back into the room and reached one of the bound men, removing the gag and shaking him until he started to awaken.

  “Who are you with?” Endric asked.

  The man blinked groggily before shaking his head. “You have already failed.”

  “Because you found the temple? It doesn’t do you any good if you all die in the process,” he said.

  “Because you led us to what we have sought.”

  “I led you nowhere. That was Urik.”

  “And who led him?”

  “Where is Mage Tresten’s body?”

  A soft scraping on the stone cut Endric’s attention and he jerked to his feet, spinning around.

  As he did, an arrow streaked past him, narrowly missing. It sunk into the chest of the man he had been talking to, and he grunted as he died.

  A strange sense radiated from the arrow and it took Endric a moment to realize what it was.

  Negatively charged teralin.

  Endric raced forward, trying to reach the archer before he had a chance to ready another arrow. As he got to the man, he brought his sword around, catching him before he managed to nock another arrow.

  The man blocked him with his bow and Endric jabbed with his sword, getting through his defense, and stabbed him in the belly.

  Five were now down. That left the one man who had escaped. And then however else many there were remaining.

  He glanced back to see what he might be able to ask of the other man he’d only knocked out, and saw that an arrow stuck out of the side of his neck.

  There wouldn’t be any questioning him, either.

  Endric clenched his jaw and raced into the hallway. He paused, listening for sounds of movement. This was a strangely coordinated attack, and there seemed to be little concern for the loss of the men who had made it. Why were they so willing to sacrifice themselves?

  Endric glanced toward the fountain of fire and saw that Urik remained there. At least that much was going well.

  He started away, deeper into the temple once more. When he reached another side chamber, he saw movement inside.

  Endric hurried in and immediately realized his mistake.

  Three men surrounded him. It was a skillful maneuver, and Endric would be lucky to escape without injury. He doubted that he would be that lucky.

  He surged through a catah designed to test for the defensive capabilities of his opponents, and attacked the weakest of the three. One of the men had a slight delay to his reaction time, enough that Endric thought that he could get through to him. He caught him on the shoulder and the man dropped his sword. Endric twisted, kicking and driving the man back where he wouldn’t pose a threat.

  One of the other attackers almost reached him, and Endric brought his sword around barely in time, deflecting the blow.

  He continued through the motion, flowing through the catah, and jerked around, catching one of the attackers across the back. He went sprawling forward.

  Rather than pursuing, Endric focused his attention on the man still standing.

  With one attacker remaining, Endric darted toward him, but the man had skill. He brought up his sword, deflecting Endric’s attack, and bounced into a series of movements that Endric had not seen before. It was a complex catah, and Endric could immediately see how effective it could be. He had experience countering unknown catahs, and was thankful for that.

  The man grinned at him, a tight smile that spoke of his confidence.

  Let him have that confidence so that he would make a mistake. It was better to have someone like this—someone who was overly confident—than someone who was cautious and would force him to expose himself.

  There were strategies for handling a man with an abundance of confidence, and they were all strategies that had been used against him. There had been a time when Endric had been the overly confident one, and he had experienced the strategies many times.

  He remained on the defensive, moving carefully, each step that he took an intentional one meant to beat the man into a mistake. All he needed was a single opening.

  The man was careful and calculating. He was cautious enough that he didn’t risk himself quickly. Endric appreciated his technique and continued to block, watching for a mistake.

  One didn’t come.

  Maybe the man was even more skilled than Endric had realized. If that were the case, then Endric would need to force him into a mistake. He thought about ways that his father had baited him into mistakes over the years, and slipped into a form that his father would have attempted on him.

  The man’s grin widened.

  Endric faked a stumble.

  The man lunged.

  That was the opening that he needed. Endric spun his sword around and grazed the underside of the man’s arm before he could react. He dropped his sword and Endric kicked it out of the way.

  Without missing a beat, the man surged forward, trying to drive his shoulder into Endric.

  Endric spun, twisting out of the way so that he would not be crashed into. The man went spinning past him, careening into the wall.

  “Who are you?” One of these people had to reveal themselves to him.

  “We are you.”

  “No. You’re here for something. It has to do with Mage Tresten, somehow, and a search for power. What is it that you think you can gain from the temple?”

  “There is what we think we can gain and what we know we can gain.”

  “I will stop you.”

  “You are one man. You may be talented, but that doesn’t change the fact that you are only one person. We are many and we have what you lack.”

  “What is that?”

  “Faith.”

  With that, he bit down and one of his teeth crumbled, dissolving into a froth. The man convulsed and then fell back,
dead.

  23

  Endric moved through the temple, searching for evidence of other attackers, but he found none. The softly glowing light from behind him, that which poured down from the fountain of fire, guided him. His eyes had adjusted, allowing him to see more clearly. When he had made a path, he returned to the first chamber where he’d left the bodies of the fallen. How could there be none left alive?

  Endric took a moment before hurrying off and reaching Urik. “I need you to come with me,” he said.

  “I thought you wanted me to watch for evidence of the men who sent me.”

  “I just took care of the men who sent you.”

  Urik’s eyes widened. “All of them?”

  “There were at least six. There was the promise of more.”

  Urik nodded and followed Endric. When they reached the chamber, Endric motioned to the men. “Are these the same as those who had forced you here?”

  Urik crouched next to the first man before shaking his head. He moved through the room, looking at each man before standing. “None of these were with them.”

  “None of them?”

  Urik shook his head again.

  Endric guided him to the other room, where the man who had poisoned himself remained. “What about these men?”

  Urik looked at each of them before stopping at the man who had poisoned himself. “This one. I saw him.”

  “Was he leading them?”

  “No. There was another.”

  Endric sighed. After all of this, he still wasn’t any closer to understanding what was taking place. All he knew was that there was some sort of defiling of the temple taking place and he suspected it had to do with Urik and the soldiers who had sent them here, but why? And how did that have anything to do with the steady rumbling of the tremors?

  “You must have heard something when you were traveling with them.”

  “All I heard was that they claimed to be with the Conclave.”

  “And you believed?”

  “I have no reason not to. They came and identified Mage Tresten. What would you have done?”