27. Trapped

If I could convince Miriam that Hiram’s death wasn’t my…

When the Gem awakens to call a Hero, the world is ill prepared...and its fate is placed in the hands of a 17 year old boy, named Wendell. 

Some will say this is nothing but a tale of fiction.
Let them think as they may. 

After all...I can't fix stupid.

Previously: After Hiram’s death and the loss of Miriam’s trust, Wendell and his party encountered an odd band of fighters who assisted them in bypassing the horde through a secret tunnel.

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All it took was one step into that darkness, and I was alone…again. 

Evan had his own pain and anguish to deal with. Miriam blamed me for the death of her son. These people helping us were complete strangers…yet something felt oddly familiar about them. Then there was Livi. A kind, sweet, quiet little girl who hadn’t spoken a word since her father died.

…who screamed aloud at the death of her brother.

Maybe it was better this way. To deal with my own problems, which seemed to grow without the help of Chuck, Dax, and Alhannah. The voice had stopped, but I could still feel something odd. Something strong and encroaching on me.

An excitement,…even giddiness surrounding me.

The last thing I wanted to do was let t slip that I was hearing voices. And yet...there were moments, as we struggled to navigate the dank, dark tunnel, that I became convinced I heard giggling. Very similar to when I first met King Robert III at Tämä-Un.

It was unsettling.

As the second to last down into the tunnel, I flinched as the lid clicked shut on the hollowed trunk above, sealing us in darkness. It was unusually warm, considering we were underground. A musty smell overlaid with a powerful scent of soil. It made me choke, and I coughed.

The party moved slowly down the narrow incline, which seemed to go on forever. Small fingers reached out from the walls, brushing against and tugging at my jeans. It was startling, having things grab at you, suddenly, in the darkness. My sneakers had a talent for finding stray roots poking up from the floor. It forced me to reach out and run my hand along the wall to steady myself. 

“That’s far enough,” Animal said from behind me. “Let’s have a bit of light, Doc.”

There was a scuffling of feet in front of me and then the faint sound of glass clinking together. There was a lull, and then a long scraping sound. The sound grew louder, followed by sparks. The glow revealed a broad and heavily whiskered face with thick gray brows. Sparks burst into flame. It was only a little fire on the end of a cloth, but it sure made me feel better.

The tunnel was only slightly wider than the shoulder width of two average men. A timber archway every 50 feet supported walls of both stone and dirt, now covered in green moss. When I looked down, the fingers I’d felt in the dark were nothing more than roots that had grown into the tunnel. Rusted metal sconces in the shape of steer heads held black tipped torches along one wall.

Doc snatched a torch covered in cobwebs and held it over the flame. The pitch slowly took and bathed the tunnel in bright, warm light. A second torch was set ablaze and passed back to Animal.

“All right, get moving,” he said, and nudged me forward.

It irritated me, being pushed around and not being told a thing. But then I noticed something odd. 

There was a lack of concern.

Not these people pushing us forward…but my own.

That tenseness, nervousness, even the fear I had felt over the last few days, traveling, dealing with the vallen and such…was completely absent. It was the first time in days that I felt completely at peace with where I was.

Odd.

"Maybe it’s because you’d rather deal with a human problem than giants wanting to eat you?" Doubt whispered. But that didn’t make much sense — I didn’t want to be hurt, period. My hand scratched the seam around the Ithari. Who were these people? That’s what I wanted to know.

How did this “Animal” know about a secret passageway? Thoughts rolled back to the burning village and how the young girl…what’s her name? Kiljua. That’s right. I remembered how she had stared at me when Ithari was exposed. She didn’t seem surprised…or shocked at all to see the gem. Which also seemed very odd. She said she knew who I was.

I tried to catch glimpses of Miriam up ahead. Two of the strangers walked between us, but I could see the gray streaks in her hair poking around the shoulder of the one they called Vista, or ‘Bear’.

My heart ached. She had been so kind to me. Cared for me while I was wounded, shared their food with no expectation of recompense. She had believed in me…and I let her down. The words almost escaped my lips. My shoulders sagged forward under their weight.

She’s never going to listen to me. She won’t believe me, even if I told her the truth. She’s seen the Ithari.

The sound of my sneakers scraped against the rocks. The squeak of a rat shot past our feet, scurrying along the wall and into the darkness behind them.

My fingers traced along my cheek and bottom lip, where Miriam had spit on me. I bit my cheek, frowning. Is that what it was going to be like? Letting people down at the most critical times of their lives? Livi’s screams still echoed in my ears. The mute girl, shocked into a voice at seeing her older brother, just a child himself, pierced with a knife.

"Stop it," said Doubt. "Just…stop, Wendell. You couldn’t get there in time. You would have…if you could have.

Would I?

"Yes, you would have," Doubt sighed. "We don’t agree on many things. I even think you’re a coward most of the time. But leaving a kid to his death? You have a good heart, Wendell. You can’t stand bullies, and this was so far beyond a bully, there’s no way you’d let that happen. I know that for a fact. It’s not in your nature."

‘Thank you,’ I thought to myself. ‘I needed to hear that.’

"Granted," Doubt added, "You are talking to yourself and listening to a voice that doesn’t exist. So there’s that. But whatever."

I sighed.

Would I have thrown myself between Hiram and the blade? It was easy to think of what I could have done…but the Ithari didn’t shield me from pain. Could I have done it?

The whole of my muscles ached. My legs suddenly felt like lead and I wished I could stop. To sit down and rest.

Miriam’s words and accusations replayed in my mind, looping over and over until I stumbled over a rock and bumped into the older man with the cane. He looked over his shoulder at me, wide-eyed.

“Careful there, young man,” he breathed. “Plenty of things to trip over, but few places to fall.” The wrinkles around the long face smiled.

“Sorry,” I apologized quickly. “So sorry.”

“Cane,” he chuckled, “and you’re alright. Just watch where you step.”

Cane was slightly shorter than me, broad shouldered but thin. He looked a lot like a walking pear, his belly sloping gradually and swaying as he walked. A long ponytail of gray-white hair swung down his back and swished across his hips like the pendulum of a grandfather clock. His movements were sure-footed and graceful.

Miriam looked back at the sound of my voice glaring.

I gulped and fell silent. She thought I was a healer. That I could actually heal that gaping wound. My mind raced back to the barn in Evans village. Miriam had mentioned that she came from a village that believed in a Gnolaum. What is a Gnolaum? I’d heard it more than once, but no one says what it means. Is that one of the abilities I should have? Is it my title? Am I supposed to be able to heal? I thought I remembered Alhannah saying something about Gnolaum and the gnomes.

It was too much to think about.

It was unwise to linger on the negative thoughts, but I couldn’t let it go. So far, I’ve made a mess of everything! None of this would’ve happened if I had stayed with Chuck and Alhannah and…he bit his lip.

Dax left me.

The thought hit me so hard in the chest, my stomach sank. I couldn’t stop staring at the back of Miriam’s head. None of this would’ve happened if Dax hadn’t left me. I would probably be training how to fight by now, safe in the company of people who knew who I really was. My jaw muscles clenched tight. Dax had pushed and prodded since I’d arrived. The Iskari Council had thrown me into the troll’s lap for who knew how long. Dax had resented it from the beginning.

I grit my teeth so hard my ears hurt.

If I could convince Miriam that Hiram’s death wasn’t my…

I couldn’t wait to give Dax a piece of my mind.

The line suddenly stopped.

“What’s the holdup?” said Animal.

“Left or right?” Keiha called, “I forget.”

Animal shook his head. “You’d think a dwarf like Axon would have included a sign or two in these tunnels.” He grunted to himself. “Right turn.”

“Who ARE you people?” I finally blurted out.

I tried to maintain my pace and not bump into those in front of me, but I was fed up. I’d done too much, been through too much, to be pushed around. Well, unless they were going to hurt me — cause I could be reasonable then — but I was going to push until I got pushed back.

But no one did.

I looked over my shoulder at the irritated leader.

Animal kept the torch high. His thin gray streaks caught the torchlight beneath his long black hair. The corners of his bushy mustache curled up, pushed by his smirk. “If you haven’t noticed, we’re the ones saving your backside.” He pushed me forward.

Firmly.

That made me mad enough to dish out a nasty come back, but I couldn’t think of a single thing to say. All that came out was, “No.” I looked back at Animal and glared. “Your people who showed up after we dealt with most of our problems and shoved us down a hole in the ground!”

Bear laughed from the front of the line. “Oh, I like him! HAR! HAR!”

The other men in line also snickered or chuckled in support.

I kept trudging forward, keeping my face forward. After the outburst, I didn’t want to know if Animal was snarling at me.

He wasn’t.

“We’re people fulfilling a promise,” Animal said, in a half-civilized tone.

I waited for more, but it never came. Animal kept prodding me forward if I slowed down…but that was apparently the end of our conversation.

Now that I had finally arrived at Til-Thorin, I wasn’t sure what to do. My hand slid into my back pocket and felt the folded letter. I made a mental note to read it over again as soon as I got a chance.

When we stopped again, the torch at the front of the line was doused. Animal pushed past me, torch held high, but he stopped, facing me directly.

"Keep silent," he whispered. "Dead silent. Understand?" His face was calm, but serious.

I nodded.

He grinned and moved to the front of the line.

Then the tunnel went completely dark.

It felt like an eternity before I heard anything…but my ears perked up. There was a scraping noise, faint, vibrating through the stone over us.

A scraping sound.

There was a lull, and then a click.

The air shifted in the tunnel.

“Oh,” said a female voice.

“Built during the Kinslayer Wars, so my family could escape those hunting them,” replied a deep male voice. “Only had use for it once…” he explained.

A faint light appeared at the front of the line. The tunnel had ended, and Animal was standing at the top of a ladder embedded in the wall. Kiljua was on his heels. 

The voice above stopped abruptly.

“Is there something wrong?” said the female voice.

“I taught you better than that, pup,” said Animal through a deep growl. He pushed up through the opening, Kiljua his shadow. “I’m thoroughly disgusted.”

I heard a rustle, then Kiljua jumping up two rungs of the ladder. There was a ‘clang’ and a brief shriek.

Kiljua vanished through the opening and into wherever Animal went above us. “Try that again, and the next one kisses your forehead.”

Bear looked back and grinned widely. He waved us forward.

“Ah-ah-ah,” warned Kiljua.

“What if I’d been someone else?” Animal snapped, shoving the tunnel door wide open. The light of the room flooded the tunnel. “I could hear you clear down the hole, I could — yapping away with this…” he paused, “female.”

“Watch it,” Kiljua hissed.

I emerged into a large horse stall to find King Robert III and the Evolu maiden, Lady Tamorah, facing off with our new companions.

Animal rolled his eyes and punched the King in the shoulder. “The point is, pup — use your senses. Never assume!”

King Robert frowned soberly and nodded like a little child being scolded.

“How DARE you!” barked Tamorah, stepping forward and ignoring Kiljua altogether. “Have some respect for your king!”

The laughter resounded in both the stall and tunnel. Animal was the loudest of all. He stared back at the maiden, but her expression of shock only added fuel to the fire.

“Our King?” he squeaked, wiping a tear from his eye. “Oh, you’re a funny one, child.”

Tamorah’s eyes reflected the flames of the torch. “I am older than I look.”

Animal’s posture sparked, and he closed the distance between himself and the elf maiden in a heartbeat. Tamorah flinched. Brows rolled forward, his thick mustache curling up at the corners. It created a rather sinister expression. “As am I, child," he growled, "so…respect your elders. This boy is no king of ours. We’re freemen, now and forever.”

One by one, the party pushed their way further into the stall. Bear helped Evan steady himself, the blacksmith’s face extremely pale. Diyana had her arm around Miriam’s shoulder and Nyoli held a weeping Livi.

“Freemen, hah," Tamorah snapped back. "Renegades are more like…” Her face softened at the sight of the little girl. 

That’s when she noticed me, in my tattered rags, shivering.

“Wendell?” Tamorah gasped.

I didn’t feel like smiling at the moment. 

Animal rested a hand on the King’s shoulder. “Now that we got the pleasantries over with, I have some news you’re gonna want before this shindig heats up.”

The king sent servants for help. Within minutes, we were given blankets, bits of food and water,  and soldiers had a wooden stretcher on the ground. Animal and the king talked just outside the stables, while the rest of us huddled around the entrance.

Evan had lost consciousness. He looked so frail, laying there on the stretcher, his wounded leg wrapped in a bloody bandage. At first glance, he looked like he was on his way to be buried. The wound looked like it had bled heavily during our journey from Woodside.

It was weird, watching him, the frozen smily face t-shirt on his chest. A smirk forced its way to my face. It really did look out of place in comparison to the clothes worn by everyone else.

“Wendell!” Chuck cried, pushing his way through the servants. Dropping to his knees, he grabbing Evan’s pale hand. “Speak to me, son! I’m here for you — just speak to me!”

“What do you want me to say?” I replied, hovering over Evan.

Chuck looked up. His brows jumped up and down, rolling across his forehead as his face battled between confusion, shock, and anger. He looked back at the unconscious young man on the stretcher. Upon seeing the smiley face T-shirt, he glanced back up at me. He dropped Evan’s hand and stood upright with a bounce.

“That’s not funny.” He jabbed a finger toward the blacksmith. “And he doesn’t look like he’s appreciated your joke either, young man. Very poor taste indeed.”

“WENDELL!” Alhannah shouted with glee. I turned around just in time to have the gnome bounce off the handle of the stretcher at my face. Before I could react, she’d flung her arms around my neck and squeezed. “I was so worried!”

I hugged her back, then pat her on the shoulder. “Can’t…breathe…,” I gasped.

She dropped to the ground with a grin. “Sorry.”

“Well, look at him,” beamed Dax. All the servants shifted from his path as he approached. “Survived the wildlife and made it to Til-Thorin without us altogether!” He shook his head in disbelief.

I walked around the stretcher.

…and punched him square in the face.

There was a crunch upon impact and I screamed out. Not in anger, but in pain. Punching Dax was like slugging a brick wall. I could feel the broken fingers in my hand. I grit my teeth, sucking back the pain as Dax stumbled backwards.

“Wendell!” Chuck cried, dashing in between us.

“HE LEFT ME BEHIND!” I bellowed. Like a flood, the anger and frustration and fear of the past two weeks poured out. I gripped my broken hand tightly against my chest. Holy hand grenades that hurt! So badly, my eyes watered from the pain — but my gaze stayed glued on Dax. “I TRUSTED YOU!” I yelled, even louder.

“Take the boy to the Great Hall,” King Robert commanded the soldiers.

I ignored the group as they followed the stretcher like a funeral procession, eventually leaving me alone with Chuck, Dax, and Alhannah. The gnome folded her arms and remained silent while Chuck fidgeted nervously.

“Let the kid be, Chuck,” Dax whispered. He wiped the blood from his bottom lip. “He’s right. I abandoned him.”

My chest continued heaving as if there wasn’t enough air in the world.

“Take another shot, kid,” Dax said flatly. He held his arms out to his sides. A trickle of blood dripped down from his unusually small nose. “If it makes ya feel better,…do it.”

We stood at odds for a brief eternity, staring at one another, until Alhannah walked past me. She spun Dax around and pushed him away without saying a single thing. When I tried to follow, Chuck stepped in front of me.

“I’m sorry you’re upset, son,” he said, “I really am. Shame you had to experience something uncomfortable.”

My gaze shifted from the back of Dax’s head to the wizard. “Are you mocking me?”

“Oh no,” the wizard said dryly, “I’m trying to teach you.”

I blinked.

“Your guardian had to make a choice. A hard one.”

“Really,” I said.

Chuck reached up and grabbed the forearm of my broken hand. He twisted his grip in a shearing motion and pain exploded through my wrist and fingers. “Really!”

For the second time since I’d met the wizard, Chuck’s expression morphed. One moment I was consumed in anger, the next, I felt cornered, unable to escape the gaze of the mägo. I tried to back away, but the wizard’s grip on my arm intensified. The pain made me rise onto my toes.

“I promised you in the market that I wouldn’t hold things from you again. Now I get to fulfill that oath." His grip intensified. "Dax had to choose between you and me. The advantage being, you had that little crystal in your chest and I had squat.”

My gaze dropped.

“Look at me!” Chuck’s voice shook, but I could tell it wasn’t anger. “What you don’t know, son, is that every single morning since you’ve been gone, Dax ported back. Back in the wilderness to look for you!” He released my forearm, and I almost feel to my knees. “From sunrise to sunset he searched for you before returning home.”

“Well,” I stammered, “he should have.”

I never saw the slap coming.

Chuck hit me so hard it made my head whip to the side and I fell back against the stable wall.

“How dare you!” he snapped. “You have no idea what porting does to that child. It uses his life force! Taking days for him to rest enough, to save enough energy for him to perform such feats safely. But no,” he glared at me, “he pushed himself every morning, EVERY night!” He swallowed hard, gulping air. “I stayed up with him, trying to stop the bleeding, while Altorin mixed potions to ease his pain!”

I had nothing to say. No excuses. I clenched my eyes tight. 

Chuck lifted my chin, forcing me to meet his gaze. “Believe it or not, Dax does care. More than he would ever admit out loud. It’s just not his way. It tore him up to leave you — but we had one shot to escape. Escape or die, son. We all had to rely on the Ithari to bring you to us.” He took a step back and attempted a smile, “And lookie, lookie — here you are.”

High overhead, Til-Thorin’s alarm sounded. Trumpets flared through the night air.

“For what it’s worth, my boy,” said Chuck in a lighter tone, “I’m overjoyed you’re back, and even more so that you’re safe.”

I just…nodded.

“Now it’s time to be the hero,” the wizard chided gently.

I flinched as the bones in my hand shifted back into alignment. Still wasn’t used to this process. I did my best to ignore the pain and Ithari did her regeneration trick.

Chuck led me to a gigantic set of stairs that wrapped up and around the front of the Keep. Sacred, frozen, and wounded women and children quickly flooded the courtyard. Servants were guiding small boys and girls up the steps and into the main double doors.

“What’s happened?” I asked aloud, tugging at the wizard’s robes. Soldier stood on the walls at attention. No one was fighting, but many of the children had wounds. A few of the women were bloody themselves.

“Ambush,” Alhannah said coldly. She stood at the bottom of the steps, directing the wounded.

A little boy limped past me, holding his side. His dingy tunic ripped and stained red. He followed the guidance of a girl only a few years older than him.

My stomach sank. How old is he? Four…maybe five years old? “Where are these people coming from?” I asked.

“The pass,” answered Dax. He handed a set of blankets to a servant, who promptly started wrapping them around children. “The people from Woodside. Thule’s men slaughtered those trying to flee this battle.”

My fingers twitched incessantly. I stared at Dax…wanting to say something. I should have said something, but ever since I had been separated from Chuck and Dax, I had messed things up. Hiram was dead, Miriam hated me, Livi’s traumatized and Evan will probably want my head soon. I watched Dax shift uncomfortably from foot to foot.

I quietly sighed to myself.

Of all the people in this world, I can’t drive a wedge between my…

Then it hit me.

What were Dax and the old wizard?

I looked over at the gnome, who acted a lot like a protective sister. There was already a deep trust between us. I could feel it, and I knew Alhannah felt that too. But we’d only know each other, what, less than a month?

It puzzled me, and I almost laughed out loud.

Could it be that this was some strange version of my…family? 

Huh.

I actually liked that thought.

Chuck gave me a gentle nudge with his elbow and leaned close. “It’s never too late to say you’re sorry,” he whispered, “even if it’s just to say you’re sorry.”

He was right. Painful as it was, and as much as I hated to admit it. 

"Oh, just get it over with!" Doubt chided.

I looked over, opened my mouth and…

Dax shook his head. “Don’t,” he grunted.

No tears, no sneers, no mockery, not even a smirk. Just the cold, unemotional expression I was used to. Dax’s tone, however, lacked any hint of anger, ridicule, or sarcasm. “You were right to be mad, kid. I woulda been.” He looked away, scratching the scruff on his chin. “The fact is, I letcha down when it mattered most." He paused, then cleared his throat. "Won’t happen again.”

He stared up at me, eyes red and his teeth clenched. “Not if I get ta choose.”

Alhannah leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

I stood there, feeling…well, awkward. What do you say to something like that? Any words I did have seemed inadequate. So I folded my arms across my chest in as manly a fashion as I could and blurted, “Right.”

Ungh. That sounded stupid. I cleared my throat. “I mean, good. Ok then.” Great, now I sounded arrogant. I huffed.

Dax smirked and walked off to collect more blankets.

Chuck threw me a smug look of his own. “I bet that didn’t hurt a bit, now, did it?”

“Shut up,” I said.

Alhannah giggled.

Chuck smiled. “I’m just saying…”

King Robert strode across the courtyard, accompanied by Lady Tamorah and Animal. “We have a new challenge, old man,” he said aloud, guiding the wizard by the elbow, away from the steps and out of earshot of the women and children.

Me and Alhannah followed.

“The pass has been completely closed off.” The lines in his forehead deepened. “Thule apparently had this planned from the start. He sent soldiers up over the mountain range before we could evacuate the town.”

“To cut off our escape,” breathed Chuck. His eyes glazed over in deep thought.

“I can send a few out to test the ground,” added Animal, addressing to the wizard.

“They’ll be slaughtered,” challenged Tamorah, but the mountain man ignored her. His eyes stayed on Chuck.

“I don’t think this just has to do with escape,” I butted in.

When everyone looked over at me, I realized what I’d been thinking had actually popped out of my mouth.

“Why would you think that, Wendell?” asked Alhannah.

“Well,” I shrugged, now feeling self conscious, “it just doesn’t make sense, does it? From what I’ve seen, these creatures, the Vallen — happen to be flesh eaters. They’re almost psychotic about it. Obsessed.” My stomach twisted at the memories of Livi hanging from the vallen’s fist. “Just hours ago, they tried to eat a little girl…hungry for,” I gulped, “younger, softer flesh.”

I looked around the group and found blank stares.

“Oh, come on! Think about it,” I prodded. “The only ones left are women and children? When that’s what these things love to eat? Not like a five-year-old can outrun or outfight a giant. Right? These kids were meant to make it back here.”

“It puts more stress on us,” Alhannah sighed. “Shift our focus, maybe? Make us careless?” She looked back at the last of the children being led into the Keep. “So, they all ran back here without help?”

“Not…exactly,” said King Robert. “They were led back by a young lady. A girl. Tough,” he added, “Fought side by side with the men at first. When she saw the battle going ill, she drove the women and children back to Til-Thorin as the men held off the enemy.”

“Wow,” breathed Alhannah, “now there’s someone I’d like to meet.”

“You will,” answered the King, “because she asked for you specifically, Alhannah.”

The gnome frowned. “She…wha—huh?”

Lady Tamorah motioned to a girl amidst a sea of little children. “There she is now.”

“Well, I’ll be,” laughed the gnome. Alhannah’s leather glove flicked out and slapped Chuck across the calf. “Oh, you’re good, old man.” She shook her head in disbelief and shock, then laughed even louder. “Too good.”

Chuck grinned widely. "Of COURSE I’m good, child. I’m a wizard, after all." Then he hesitated. "Remind me again,…why I’m too good?"

My heart beat so fast, I thought it would burst through my chest. Striding across the courtyard, her long, dark, curly hair bounced across her shoulders. She was the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen in my life.

The girl of my dreams.

“Gentlemen,” smirked Alhannah, “I’d like you to meet Lili.”

<— Read Previous Chapter | Read Next Chapter —>

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Author Notes

It’s always been a challenge to write the scenes about loss, and dealing with that loss.

The guilt felt when something bad happens in a person’s life and we accept the blame,…even when many times, we had nothing to do with the actual event.

Yet the perceptions of others, whether true, skewed, or false, affects us.

…always.

Jaime

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