Caracara's Hunt

"The lord would like to offer you a work opportunity. If you agree to help, he will fulfill any request of yours that is within reason."

Stunned, Arawn just stared at the soldier. How was it that the lord wanted him and not Sylvester? Wasn"t this a little backwards?

When he glanced at the doctor, Sylvester didn"t even look up. He was eating the last slice of cake with tea and could not look less interested in the proceedings if he tried.

"Should I…"

"Ask him to teach you the blade," Sylvester said from his cup. "Use his resources while you can."

Arawn blinked a few times, then nodded slowly. He wasn"t too sure about what Sylvester was getting at, but he stood up and went toward the soldier. The man inclined his head and led him out.

When they were some distance away, Arawn heard Mutallu stand up. He was out the door when Sylvester spoke to him.

"You"re leaving me without any guard?"

"I"d worry more about the lord than you. Don"t poison him for no reason."

Sylvester scoffed, but did not speak more, and Mutallu left the room. In a few long strides, he caught up to Arawn in a soundless manner. The soldier didn"t even notice it.

They were led outside and a mile or so away from the mansion. A forest stood before them, but soon, it fell apart to reveal a small shrine. Its wooden colons had beautiful birds carved at the top of them, their long tails wounding around the colons.

The triangular-shaped roof hid another carving above the entrance. It depicted a beast standing atop a mountain of corpses and howling at the sky. There was a chilling beauty to its strong posture and majestic bearing.

"Thanks for agreeing to come," the lord said from somewhere inside.

There was no light there, but based on the size of the small building, there couldn"t be s.p.a.ce for more than two people inside. Yet Arawn could hear at least six of them breathing.

When they approached the small shrine, he finally saw how it was possible. On the far corner, right beneath the altar of three sculptures—two of men and one of a woman—was a hatch that led downwards.

The lord was standing on a long ladder, looking up at them with a wide smile. "Come down here. I"ll show you what needs to be done."

He retreated then, and Arawn went down, followed by Mutallu. The soldier that had brought them stayed outside, guarding the hatch.

Once on the ground again, Arawn found himself in a dark tunnel. They walked a few steps toward the light, and then huge hall opened up before them. There was another ladder leading downwards, since they were somewhere in the middle of the wall.

The hall was at least a hundred meters in height and lit up by hundreds of sconces. They ringed the room in five layers, and even then there was a strange dim to the place. The flames danced from the draft, creating faint shadows on the ground.

Some three hundred meters before them, the three sculptures from the altar above were repeated in the wall. Just this time, they were taller than life and more detailed than anything Arawn had seen before. It felt like they would blink at any moment and step away from the rock behind them.

The sculptures had not been painted, but Arawn could see every feature of the three people. The man on the right wore generic ancient warrior"s garb and stared into the distance with a scowl. His hand was on the hilt of his sword while the other held in a tight fist by his side.

The woman in the middle had a gentle smile on her face. Her eyes were curved into crescents, and her hair fell like sea waves around her. She was dressed in a simple linen dress that embellished her beautiful form but did not s.e.xualize it. A bouquet of flowers was in her hands, and a bee as well as a ladybug were resting in the blooms.

The last was a scholarly young man. He wore a long robe and was carrying five scrolls. The sixth was already unrolled in his hands. He did not spare a glance at his surroundings, too engrossed in the words of the scroll. Yet there was a wrinkle in his brow, betraying that he wasn"t happy with the knowledge he was receiving.

All three people were in their late twenties or early thirties, looking dependable and worthy of respect. They exhibited confidence and charm reserved for people that knew what they were doing. Arawn didn"t know how the woman could pull it off despite being as generic as they got, but she did. Somehow, he was sure that she wasn"t just a n.o.body.

Below the three people"s feet was an intricately carved gate. The lord led them there, but stopped before entering it.

"This is my family"s crypt, so I have to demand you to not touch or take anything. If you do, you"ll regret having been born. Understood?"

The man"s voice was joking, but Arawn could see the steel in his eyes. This was no laughing matter to the lord.

Arawn nodded. It wasn"t like he was planning to take anything anyway. If he got food, shelter, and would even be taught something, why would he bite the hand that provided him with all of that?

The gates were slow to open up, and what they revealed was a dim corridor. A few torches lit the way.

Every couple meters, there was a doorway on the side. Most were closed, but Arawn saw one open further down the line. It held four sculptures, one of a woman and three of men. They were not the same people as before, and each one of them stood before a wooden casket placed on a rock altar. The top of the caskets were human-shaped and painted with bright colors.

Upon noticing his interest, the lord quickly closed the door. "That"s not why I brought you here. Come." He quickened his steps, and they soon reached a bend to the right.

There were five people there, sitting by the wall with pickaxes in their hands. Stones of various sizes and shapes blocked their way forward. Some of them were small, but the majority could not be lifted by a grown man or even pulled by a horse.

"There was a cave-in last week," the lord explained. "We"ve tried to excavate it, but this place is somewhat of a secret, and the debris is stone rather than earth, so it cannot be manipulated. I was hoping you could clear it up with the ether?"

"Why didn"t you—"

Before Arawn could finish, Mutallu elbowed him in the ribs. "Just do it. Don"t ask questions."

Arawn sent the kid a wronged look, but Mutallu did not even acknowledge it. He took a step back and leaned against the pa.s.sageway while having everyone in his sights.

"I can try," Arawn said in answer to the lord. "But won"t everything come crashing down from above again?"

"We"ve secured the aboveground already. It won"t fall as long as you limit your destruction to the stones," the lord said with certainty in his voice. "Don"t hit the walls either. My ancestors rest there."

With a nod, Arawn stepped forward and called the ether. It was as plentiful underground as above, and in moments his hands were coated in white. He raised them and sent a couple exploratory ether blades.

They cut through the stones with ease, but their energy was soon exhausted and they winked out of existence. Still, they had traveled at least a couple meters and cut up the impossible to carry stones.

A bit more sure of himself now, Arawn called to more ether and sent a whole storm forward. The blades cut through stone like paper, and the mountain before him rumbled in a disgruntled voice. Then, without warning, it started tumbling down.

Shocked, Arawn stared at it for a moment. Then, his mind entered safety-first mode, and he dashed back as fast as his feet would carry him. A dust cloud chased after him, and the other people shouted out in surprise before starting to run as well.

Luckily, the tunnel wasn"t high, so the stone mountain hadn"t been large. The rocks that tumbled down stopped some five meters away from their origin, and everyone could breathe more easily.

The lord laughed while dusting off his clothes. "Now that was—"

While he was saying that, Arawn saw movement from the corner of his eyes. Mutallu"s dagger struck one of the workers in the chest while he pounced on another one at lightning speed.

Arawn stared at his actions in disbelief. He was about to shout out in alarm when Mutallu raised his head from his second victim, and his eyes went wide. "Duck!" he shouted and threw another dagger, this one straight at Arawn"s heart.

Out of instinct rather than the warning, Arawn dropped to the ground like a stone. He rolled a few times before jumping to his feet and seeing a man get hit in the chest. The dagger lodged itself deeply, but the aim had been off.

The worker"s expression grew twisted, and he chuckled madly with a blade made of earth in his hand. Uncaring of his not-yet-fatal-but-soon-to-be-so injury, he lunged for Arawn with murderous intent.