Sentinelspire - Mark Sehestedt [69]
"You have it?" she said.
With one finger Sauk pulled at the fine silver round his neck, and the medallion emerged from the loose sackcloth shirt he wore. The medallion was only slightly larger than a coin, plain and unadorned save for the image of a broken ram's horn carved into the middle.
"Keep it on you at all times," she said. "And don't let the boy out of your sight."
"On the mountainside, I can see a long ways."
Talieth frowned at Sauk. "You're taking him to the woods. When you're out there, if you can't see him, you've gone too far. Understood?"
Sauk nodded and dropped the medallion into his shirt. "Anything else?"
Talieth glanced over her shoulder to make sure Lewan wasn't listening. He didn't seem to be. He had one hand protectively over a leather pouch at his belt, the other held a walking staff, and he was staring at the tiger, who was staring right back. The boy didn't look happy to see Taaki.
"One thing," whispered Talieth. "You recall our conversation on the mountainside?"
Sauk gave her a flat look. "Yes."
"Be on your guard out there, Sauk," she said. "Just because you're this close to home doesn't mean you're safe. He mi-" Her breath caught in her throat. She swallowed and finished. "He might still be alive. If he comes back, if he finds the boy out there…"
"Talieth." Sauk towered over her. The top of Talieth's carefully braided hair did not even reach to his chest. Looking down into her eyes, he saw more than a little of the young woman-no, she'd barely been more than a girl then-who had fallen in love with Kheil so many years ago.
"What?"
"I saw the earth swallow him. He's dead, Talieth."
Talieth's eyes went cold, and for a moment Sauk considered reaching for the long knife he had sheathed behind his back.
"You've said so before," she said, her voice still low. "He's proved you wrong once. Do not let your guard down, Sauk. Not for any reason. You or your damned tiger."
"You know me," said Sauk. "I never let my guard down."
Talieth watched him for a moment, perhaps searching his face for any hint of impudence or sarcasm. Apparently satisfied, she nodded at the long, thin bundle Sauk carried over one shoulder. "What is that?"
"Something between me and the boy."
Talieth's eyebrows rose.
"Nothing like that," he said. "He's safe from me." When Sauk said no more, Talieth shrugged and told him, "Let me know what happens out there." "I will."
"The moment you return."
Sauk grunted and walked past her. "Neye, Taaki!" he called. He passed Lewan without sparing him so much as a glance and walked into the yawning tunnel through the canyon wall that marked the gateway out of the fortress. "Come along, boy," he said. "Some of the things in the shadows are just statues. But some aren't. So stay close."
Behind him, he heard the boy scramble to catch up.
+++++
That walk past the main gate was one of the longest Lewan had ever taken. Thirty paces in, and the darkness encased him. The open gateway behind was a great panorama of light, open air, and greenery. But before and all around him was only blackness, thick and close. Lewan walked blind, wedged between the half-orc in front of him and the tiger behind. Taaki nudged him once or twice with her muzzle, urging him closer to Sauk.
The farther they walked, the closer the air pushed on him. He could feel the stone closing in around them through the many twists and turns and down shallow steps. He could tell by the varying echoes of their footsteps that they sometimes passed corridors to either side. Occasionally they took one,
Sauk never hesitating or slowing his pace. Once, Lewan heard something skittering away before them-something that sounded like the feet of an insect, but far larger. Lewan wondered if any of the great spiders out of the Khopet-Dag had ever made it this far east.
"How much farther?" he whispered.
"A ways," said Sauk. "We'll be in the Gallery of Stone Faces soon. Stay by me. I'm warded to pass, but if you stray…"
Sauk didn't finish the thought, and Lewan wasn't sure he wanted him to.
"C-can you see?" Lewan could not, though