Lady Carliss and the Waters of Moorue (18 page)

“What is it, Ganoaf?”

“You should know that Malco does not keep prisoners long. Just as we are to be executed, so are the rest of the Followers who were captured today—and soon, I fear.”

Carliss became sick in her heart as she thought of Si Kon, his family, and the other members of the newly minted haven in Moorue.

She looked at the empty cells about them. “But where are they kept?” she asked. “Where is this pit Karoshi talked of?”

“Malco’s protection of the esca lizards has caused them to flourish to the point that there is not enough prey for them all. The only way to keep them alive now is to feed them.” Ganoaf stopped to let Carliss come to her own conclusion.

The image that filled Carliss’s mind horrified her.

“The inhabitants of Moorue believe that people overcome by the esca powder eventually walk the bridge into the swamp on their own. Although that occasionally happens, the truth is that they are taken by Malco’s warriors and imprisoned somewhere within the swamp. I must assume that place is what Karoshi called the pit. We have yet to discover
its location, but we know that many have been taken there and lost to the lizards. As the demand for the Waters of Moorue increases in the kingdom, Malco will need more lizards… and they will need to be fed. One vice feeds another.”

Carliss considered Ganoaf’s words carefully. If by some miracle they were able to escape Malco’s castle, she would then be facing a heart-ripping dilemma, for time was running short for both Dalton at Petolemew’s home and the Followers here.

“Ganoaf, is there a swamp lily or am I chasing a myth?” Carliss wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer.

Ganoaf looked at her with sympathy in his eyes.

“I don’t know, Carliss. If there is, it must be a variant of the Life Spice flower that grows only in the Kingdom Across the Sea. I have never seen the lily of the swamp or the Life Spice flower in Arrethtrae, but that doesn’t mean they do not exist. There are some mysteries the King won’t reveal even to his Silent Warriors until it is time.”

Carliss lowered her head in discouragement. She knew the odds of the swamp lily’s existence were slim—especially if Ganoaf didn’t know about it.

“Remember, Petolemew’s book was right about the esca lizard,” Ganoaf offered. “Don’t give up on Dalton yet, my lady.”

Carliss looked at her large friend and nodded, choosing to focus not upon the narrow odds of the flower’s existence but rather upon the problem of finding a way to escape. She and Ganoaf talked long and considered many options before retiring for a few hours of rest.

A SACRIFICE

Malco’s Shadow Warriors didn’t come for Carliss and Ganoaf until early evening the next day, just as Ganoaf had expected. He had told Carliss they would wait until evening, when the esca lizards began their feeding time and were the most aggressive. So Carliss and Ganoaf waited in their cell as the hours crept by once more, and the possibility of saving Dalton’s life seemed to shrink from Carliss’s grasp.

Finally the warriors arrived—four of them. They bound Ganoaf’s hands behind him with rope and walked him and Carliss toward the milking chamber. Carliss gauged by the cautious way they handled Ganoaf that her friend was someone they feared. Although Ganoaf was larger than even the Shadow Warriors, he still seemed severely encumbered by the pain of his torture wounds, and she wondered why their escorts were so wary when she had to help him stand and walk. The guards continually pushed him from behind, cursing with every prod, but his gait was slow because of a severely injured right leg.

Malco was waiting inside the chamber with arms crossed and a superior smirk on his lips. Carliss and Ganoaf were brought before him.

“What a shame to cast such a skilled young knight to the lizards.” Malco mockingly shook his head. “I could have made a great Vincero of you, Lady Carliss.”

Carliss stared into his dark eyes and did not flinch. He turned to Ganoaf, who stood next to Carliss with his head lowered.

“Oh, Ganoaf …what a fool you’ve been. After all these years, one would think you’d have learned something by now. How appropriate for you to play a simpleton!” Malco laughed, and the other warriors joined him.

Ganoaf lifted his head and glared into Malco’s eyes, then quickly tensed his muscles as if he were going to tear Malco to pieces. Malco jumped backward, and the other warriors all thrust their swords to his neck, causing him to hold his place.

Malco’s embarrassment at his own cowardly reaction quickly turned to fury. He leaned forward toward Ganoaf’s face.

“Now I will be rid of you forever, you overgrown lout. Put them both in the cage!”

“My lord,” one of the warriors said. “The Silent Warrior is immune to the affects of the esca lizards’ poison, just as we are. Why don’t we just kill him?”

Malco looked perturbed at being questioned by one of his own men. “That is all the more reason to do it. He will be conscious as they eat him alive.” He looked at Ganoaf. “You will feel every bite and every tiny piece of flesh that is ripped from your body. How dare you enter my castle and try to kill me!”

At Malco’s signal, the Shadow Warriors crammed Carliss and Ganoaf into the cage and locked the door. Carliss could not deny the fear that was rising up within her. The image of the lizards swarming the hog the previous day filled her mind. She looked down from the side of the cage to see a small clearing on the ground of the swamp thirty feet below. Thus far the dusky light still hid the hideous lizards that waited for them somewhere below.

Ganoaf turned to stare at Malco as the winch began to clank its melodic rhythm—a dinner bell for the wretched esca lizards.

“What do we do, Ganoaf?” Carliss asked, as she set to the task of untying the ropes that held his massive arms.

“Stand back,” he said without taking his eyes off Malco. The top of the cage was now even with the floor of the chamber above, but they could still see Malco.

Ganoaf filled his lungs with air, tensed all his mighty muscles, and grimaced. Carliss watched as the ropes about his wrists strained; then individual strands began to snap. Ganoaf yelled, and all at once the rope gave way. Carliss saw Malco’s eyes grow wide in apprehension.

“Faster!” the Shadow Warrior ordered.

The sound of the clanking winch doubled as Malco and his minions disappeared from view. Ganoaf turned to face Carliss. She had never seen such a fierce look on her friend before.

“This cage was built for Arrethtraens, not for me. Are you ready, Lady Carliss? We won’t have much time.”

The sound of hissing lizards began to reach Carliss’s ears, and she shuddered. She steeled herself. “I am ready.”

They were now fifteen feet off the ground. Ganoaf grabbed two of the bars of the cage and pulled them apart until one ripped loose from its socket in the floor. He quickly yanked the upper portion of the bar until it too came loose.

Carliss could hear shouts of exclamation from above.

“Reverse the winch!” Malco ordered.

Before the winch could change direction, Ganoaf had opened the bars far enough for both of them to escape. Still nearly ten feet off the ground, they were now close enough to make a jump for it.

Ganoaf jumped with the bar of iron in his hand and tumbled to the ground. Carliss saw him wince from the pain of landing on his injured leg. The sound of the lizards grew louder, and Carliss felt the first clank of the winch lift the cage upward. She saw Ganoaf below using the ground to straighten the bar he had pulled from the cage.

Carliss jumped and rolled as her feet hit the ground. Her tumbling took her close to the edge of the clearing, and she froze in terror as she found herself face to face with a three-foot-long esca lizard. Its yellow eyes bulged, and its mouth opened wide as it hissed viciously. The forked tongue licked the air just inches from Carliss’s face, while the poisonous barbs lay back on its neck, ready to strike.

Thunk!
The powerful blow of Ganoaf’s iron weapon instantly crushed the skull of the six-legged fiend. Ganoaf lifted Carliss to her feet.

“After them!” Carliss heard Malco scream to his Shadow Warriors.

She looked up and saw the trapdoor to the circular staircase open. Two warriors hesitantly began their descent. Carliss looked about for some sort of weapon but saw only splintered bones from the poor creatures that had been fed to the lizards—nothing hefty enough to be effective as a weapon.

The sound of the lizards seemed to come predominantly from one direction, the same direction from which she could now see a dozen yellow eyes peering.

“This way!” Ganoaf shouted.

They broke from the clearing on the opposite side and ran beneath the massive structure of Malco’s castle until they entered the thicker vegetation of the surrounding swamp. Carliss could hear the shouts of the warriors behind them, and the hissing of the lizards seemed to come from all around. She focused intently on navigating the ground before her and covering as much distance as quickly as possible. The vines, trees, and marshy ground were challenging, but she quickly fell into a rhythm that worked.

She looked behind her and saw Ganoaf struggling to keep up, his injured leg holding him back. He paused, looked back toward the castle, then up to the canopy above. He put his fingers to his mouth and whistled an ear-piercing screech that startled Carliss. Then he turned to join her, but an esca lizard leapt from a nearby tree and attacked him from behind. Carliss immediately spun about to help him.

Ganoaf reached for the lizard but could not lay hold of it. Once again Carliss was amazed at how quickly the lizard could match Ganoaf’s tunic in color and texture. Just as the lizard opened its jaws wide to latch onto Ganoaf’s back, Carliss grabbed the tail and yanked it from him, smashing the beast solidly into the ground, then casting it behind them.

The light of day was virtually gone, but Carliss could still see that the foliage around them was fast becoming a moving mass of camouflaged reptilian predators.

“You must go, Carliss.” Ganoaf looked up to where the sky peeked
through a break in the overhanging canopy. “Spirit will help you.” He made a gesture just as the cry of a hawk penetrated the swamp. The hissing of the lizards instantly subsided, but only momentarily. “If you keep moving, you may be able to stay ahead of them. I will fight the Shadow Warriors.”

Carliss gulped. She had nearly forgotten about the Shadow Warriors, but now she realized they were just a few paces away and coming quickly. One of them screamed, and Carliss didn’t need to see to know what had happened.

“Ganoaf,” she exclaimed, “I can’t leave you here!”

“You must, Carliss. Trust me and go!”

Ganoaf turned and readied his rod of iron just as the first Shadow Warrior attacked. Carliss forced herself to flee, racing as fast as her feet would carry her. The distraction of the fight behind her seemed to confuse the lizards, allowing her enough time to put a few strides between herself and them.

The sound of clanging steel diminished with each frenzied step she took, and her heart broke for the friend who was sacrificing his life to save hers. Even if he was able to defeat both Shadow Warriors, he could never survive the esca lizards. She heard him yell, and the tears that welled up in her eyes made her flight through the darkening swamp more difficult.