Jenever's Archives

Archives

Home

Credits

Out of Karadon

The Hunter had hauled himself up and was leaning over the railing - glaring down at them with his single eye. "Take them alive!" he suddenly shouted, pointing to Lynx and Oliver, who were racing desperately to the maelstrom that had taken the others.

The guards hesitated, looking up for confirmation - and this gave the escaping prisoners that fraction of time they needed. Oliver pushed Lynx ahead of him to where Lazarus was standing on the very brink of the whirlpool.

"Save her!" he shouted - and Lynx stumbled forward - her hand stretched out to Lazarus.

Lazarus whipped his head around at the sound of Oliver's shout. He reached towards Lynx with both arms, beckoning her to jump to him. "Come on!" he called above the din of the whirlpool. The wind plastered his hair to his blood-speckled face, and a trickle of blood ran from the corner of his mouth. She reached out - caught at him - and was in his arms.

And then Oliver shouted - a roar of rage. A guard had grabbed him and was hauling him forward - even while Oliver used his smoking bloody blade to hack at the guard's leather armour. Another joined him ... Seth - too deep in the whirlpool now, weighed down with Haakon's body, could only look back before he slipped into darkness ... Morgan too was whipped away ...

Jenever was fighting her way back ...but the whirlpool had her fast ... Lazarus was closest - one arm held Lynx close to him - but his other hand stretched out and clasped Oliver's.

But there were two guards holding him now - and even fiercer was the pull of the dark whirlpool. Their hands locked for a brief instant - and then began to slide ... till only their fingertips touched ...

And then there was no touch at all ... nor any sensation - for any of them. A strange stretching ... an elongation - as they had seen with Simon and then ...

Nothing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For each of them, individually, it was the birdsong - open, free, careless. And the warmth of the sun on their exposed skin ... where it showed through the ragged clothes they were wearing.

And then ... they became aware that they were somewhere ... other.

A meadow high in the mountains, with grass and small alpine flowers of vivid pink, blue and a dazzling white. As well as the birdsong, they could hear the faint tugging of the wind, and, more distantly, the clonking sound of goat bells as the animals made their way across some lower pasture. The sun was shining - the bright pure light of morning, of early summer in the mountains. They were, they saw, in a valley - with a great blue green glacial lake at the bottom and stretching up behind them and opposite them, a ring of ancient snow capped mountains. Just down from where they were sitting was a small village, with ancient wooden chalets, built either side of a narrow stone road.

They were lying on the grass ... or starting to sit up now, dazed, disoriented ... and aching with the aftermath of their treatment in Karadon, their escape from Karadon ...

And then they became aware of other voices. A woman, weeping and a man's voice, speaking - a voice some of them knew.

"Agneta ... I'm sorry. There was no way we could save him. The Hunter ... "

It was Flaubon, who had pulled himself up on one elbow, and was watching a dark haired woman who knelt, head in her hands, beside the corpse of Haakon. Although pale and clearly in some considerable pain from his ribs and neck, Flaubon - unlike Haakon - was alive.

To one side Lynx was sitting, her arms around her knees, rocking backwards and forwards, her eyes dark with remembered horrors and her face blank.

And Lazarus, of them all, was awakened by frantic licks at his face from a small disreputable mongrel ...

"Hah! That's a good fella!" Lazarus sounded almost happy. "You did well, my old friend... you did well." Lazarus tilted his head and used his shoulder to wipe some of the blood from his face, as he began to scratch and pet the dirty-white mutt. "I owe you big time, Virtue. When things are settled, I promise you a nice thick steak."

Opal slowly sat up on the grass near Flaubon, shaking her head. "Oooohh... Where are we?" She stopped as she saw Haarkon. She slowly pulled the scarf from her head, revealing a face with no makeup except for her bright red lips. She looked at the body for a long moment, her face frozen, not saying anything.

Lazarus turned a hard eye towards Simon, "You, are on thin ice. I'd behave myself if I were you."

Opal turned towards Lazarus, took a breath to say something, then stopped and shook her head slightly. She took the pale cream hat off, letting her blond hair fall around her face.

Simon, for his part, was already standing, a pale shadow somehow diminished by the warm glow of the sun. At Lazarus' words, he gave the other man a short glance, but said nothing, seeming instead to shrink into the cloak that surrounded his slender frame, shying away from the bright dawn rays. Slowly, he turned, drifting over towards Lynx, where one pale hand crept out from under his cloak to rest on her shoulder. But there was no response forthcoming, and so he continued on, gliding past Haakon's bloody corpse and to the shadows beneath one of the tall oaks that rose up out of the meadow around.

"Fardles," Lazarus murmured as he squinted up at the morning sky, his skin looked even more pale in the bright light of day. "Flaubon, you're in no shape to do it but we obviously need to make proper arrangements for Haakon. Is there any way we can cover him up?" he asked. "At least 'till we recover a bit ourselves?"

Morgan released Jenever and Tobias, staggering until he could find something to lean against. He looked out at the others, and sighed. "Not to spoil the wonder of the escape, but how long does anyone think we have before they start looking for us?"

"Immediately, I would guess," Opal said quietly. "Especially since they will find all of your plantaxies missing from their vault." She stood carefully, wobbling slightly as she stood, then walked over to Lazarus. From her sleeve she pulled a plantaxy. "It was the only other one we could retrieve..." she said, holding it out to Lazarus on its chain.

Lazarus opened his mouth, but no words came out. His hand started to reach for the crystal but then fell limp to his side. Silent, Lazarus averted his gaze.

Seth roused himself from his tired panting, and shook his head. "Don't...don't worry about Haakon," he said. "If you're dead set for it, I'll help with a cairn until we can move him...but I can carry him until we reach a better place." He looked at the bloody body. "He took on the Hunter. Smart or not, it helped my own bolt fly true. He was brave. Another...another person dead, while I live. I'm beginning to wonder if my luck has a price, after all."

"OK," was Lazarus' muted reply. He glanced at Seth and gave him an uncomfortable smile.

Slowly, he looked up at the plantaxy dangling from Opal's hand, and his face twisted with memory and pain. "Ayesha's crystal." He looked at Opal. "We might have a respite...the Hunter's hurt and the Lady's not stupid enough to take us all on herself. What happened to the other plantaxy?"

Opal's shoulders slumped. She looked at Simon walking towards the oak trees, then to Seth. "We managed to get into the vault. But there was already someone else there.... Another thief." She took a deep breath, then released it, looking somewhat lost.

"He... knew how to open the final barrier," Opal said in a quiet voice. "I didn't. He gave us our plantaxies. It... amused him to do so. I... convinced him to give us this one as well. I thought if I was going to get one more, it should be Ayesha's..." She frowned slightly, crinkle lines appearing above her nose. "He... whoever he was, knew Ayesha. He agreed to give it to me." Opal looked away. "He took the others..."

"Did you know him? Did he have the look of the Rulers of Karadon, or of the Auburni?" Jenever paused. She was seated on the grass, loosening her clothes. She couldn't stop looking at Haakon's face... "Seems to me the Hunter and the Lady have a few more troubles than they expected. Good."

Opal shook her head. "I don't know," she replied, looking over at Jenever where she was sitting. "I'm not sure if I've seen the Auburnii, so I can't tell you. But," Opal glanced at the tree where Simon was, "he knew Simon, even though Simon didn't know him. He'd been in the shadow Simon came from. That may be of some help."

"It may," said Flaubon. "You need to tell us everything that happened - including ... " He looked at her almost sternly ... "Including how you came to be separated from the rest - and how you ended up going into what must have been the most dangerous part of Karadon."

"Someone help me up ... "

"Opal... we... we were worried about you," Lazarus struggled to put words to his thoughts. He raised his eyes and managed to look at her as his shaking hand reached for the Plantaxy.

Opal didn't say anything, but looked slightly away as Lazarus looked up at her.

As he finally took the chain and crystal from Opal he looked towards Seth, but avoided eye contact. "I'm sorry Seth..." he said softly, "I know this must be hard for you after... everything." Lazarus slowly slipped the chain over his head and tucked the crystal behind the filthy shirt of his prison garb.

Virtue, the scruffy mutt, chose that moment to sharply bark three times and begin to paw at Opal. His little tail wagged with his hopes of a possible scratch from the lady.

Opal glared down at the dirty little white dog. "You... are in trouble," she said sternly. "You should have known it was me in the plaza, and spared all of us a great deal of trouble."

Virtue looked up at her with melting brown eyes and whimpered placatingly.

Morgan looked over to Opal, ignoring Simon. "Not to sound ungrateful - I was on the edge of bloody-minded despair until you opened that whirlpool - but while you were thieving did you happen to manage to liberate any of our other gear? Looking around here, I'd say that's a 'no', but you seem to have planned ahead fairly well, so I thought I would ask. If not, then our first order of business, after seeing to Haakon's body, must be to find a way to re-equip ourselves. Especially if we are to go hunting after a thief whilst we run from the Hunter and the Lady."

Jenever grimaced. "Not an appetizing idea, I must say. How attached are the rest of you to your crystals? Personally, as much as I paid for mine, and as sick as it makes me to think of someone else with it, I'm not in the mood for a wild-goose chase after an unknown who might be anyone - and I don't understand any of this world-travel anyway..." Her eyes kept returning to Haakon, "And then again, perhaps we ought to finish with the Hunter, and that might require the plantaxy... I don't know. It has been so long since I made the right decision I'm not sure if there is any such thing."

"I'm not sure if I can answer that and be honest about it," Seth said. "I think my life is more important. That's why I'm here, instead of Karadon. But beyond that...I was attuned to mine. It's literally the source of everything. Travel through shadow, protection, elementals...everything. If I can't find another one, then I have no choice but to go looking for it." He grimaced. "I don't much enjoy the idea of being carted around shadow like some kind of invalid. I'm a bit more independent-minded than that."

With that, he turned to Lazarus. "I can't...the only way I can resolve the situation is to focus on her sacrifice. It was a gift to you, to save you. That's the way she was. It hurts to see it, yeah, but it also reminds me of her, and how she would act. Attuned or not, it's still a piece of her, still alive. I'll think of her that way. It's the only way I'll be able to stay sane." After a moment, he added, "You being apologetic...means a lot. Thanks. I've misjudged you." Looking at Flaubon, he said, "Simon, too, I guess. I thought you were dead."

Dot was comfortable, lying in deep green grass. As everyone else stirred, she collapsed into sleep.

"So did I for a time," said Flaubon with a slight grimace. "It was, however, effective - and gave me time to open the songline. Although someone should see to his hand - he snapped his bones to make my strangulation sound convincing."

He pulled himself up into a sitting position, wincing again.

Tobias gnashed his teeth in frustration, but tried to keep his eyes from blazing. "You did more than the rest of us could do, Opal... Don't blame yourself. But tell me... What did this man look like? What did he say? And what were these 'barrier's'? And, oh, yes... Who is this Ayesha...

"And where in the bloody name of Stellamaris are we now?"

"It's a Shadow Agneta found," said Flaubon. "Just over that hill .. there's a small chateau. We'll be safe here for a few days - And we can make plans."

The dark haired woman by Haakon's corpse looked up. Her face was tear-stained, but she was clearly making an effort to control her feelings.

"It is called ... Lohengrin. I have tried to mask it - not completely ... but to hide the presence of your power here. Flaubon warned me ... "

"I hadn't expected quite so many," said Flaubon, a little plaintively. "Seth, Lazarus, Miladi ... and Dot we had an idea of. Haakon of course ... "

Agneta looked down at the corpse again, then suddenly bent forward and stroked his hair back from his forehead, before bowing low to rest her lips there briefly.

"We shall bury him here in the mountains," she said softly. "He always loved mountains ... "

She turned away from them, her head bowed. After a moment she spoke again, in a muffled voice, "Come. I shall take you to the chateau."

Seth nodded at this. "Okay...but something occurred to me. What if the Hunter wants his axe back? Is it something special? Will he be able to track it?" He stood, and gave Flaubon a hand up. "I wanted to leave it somewhere...with a note...but we should find some way to dump it if he can use it to find us."

"I doubt he'll be tracking for a few days," said Flaubon drily. "By then we'll be gone - and we can do something imaginative with the axe.

"I fact ... I think I know the very place ... and so does Opal." He gave her the ghost of a smile.

Opal started slightly, then nodded. "That would probably work," she answered Flaubon.

He looked at Tobias. "Whatever else gets said, you deserve an explanation. I'll tell you about Ayesha, when we get there. Right now, I think I have some crow to eat and some bones to set." With that, he turned towards the trees, where Simon had gone.

Opal watched Seth start over to where Simon was, then turned and walked over to Lynx. She knelt down in the grass next to the rocking woman. "Lynx? We have to move now," she said softly. "We're going someplace where we can rest. It's not far..."

Lynx stopped rocking as soon as she heard Opal speak. If anything, she hunched further down, after one quick, scared look up.

"Yes, Lady," she breathed.

Opal started at that.

Opal reached into her mouth and pulled something out from between her lip and her gum. It flashed in the morning light. She dried it on her sleeve, then slowly held it out to the traumatized young woman. "Here... Why don't you take this back and come with me? Where we can rest for a while..."

Lynx held out her heand, her head still lowered, as though she was scared to look Opal in the face. As the tiny plantaxy dropped into her palm, she gave a convulsive shudder, as though the stone had burned her. But her hand snatched tight over it, and she drew it into her body, pressing her hand to her chest.

Her breathing slowed - as though she wa calming. But she still shrank away from Opal.

Opal slowly stepped away from Lynx. "Would... someone please help Lynx?" she asked slowly, her face showing a trace of distress. "I don't think I can..." Opal glanced at Flaubon, then walked away from the group, towards the tree where Simon and Seth were.

Even in the mountain air, Lazarus had begun to perspire. He looked terrible; pale, dirty, speckled in blood, and now his mess of hair once again was plastered to his face. His posture reflected how he felt... completely exhausted, emotionally and physically.

"Wake up Dot," he softly called to the sleeping girl. "It's time to move on."

As much as Lazarus wanted to help with Haakon's body, he couldn't. He just didn't have the strength. He fell in step behind Seth, as they made for the chateau.

Copyrights & Credits

Designed by Aethereality.net
Images © Index Stock
Textures © The Blooming Effect and Hybrid Genesis
Brushes © Relished.net and Cirratus.org and Roshiweb.com