The Jewel of Turmish - Mel Odom [49]
How can Borran Kiosk be returned? Through Malar's design.
When?
Tonight, the quiet voice said. While you were sleeping. We have to do something.
Be at peace, Brother Tohl. We are doing something. I followed my own designs to you, to the thing that binds you to Borran Kiosk.
But there is nothing.
You have made the tales of Borran Kiosk your life's work, Brother Tohl, the quiet voice said. I have made you a watchdog of sorts over the mohrg's uncertain captivity. Malar found a way to reach through the protection I wove through my priests. Borran Kiosk has been roused, and he is feeding on the life's blood of children even now.
"No!" Tohl couldn't hold back the startled cry that burst through his hps. Sour bile burned in his throat.
Borran Kiosk turned in the marshlands, looking back across the marshlands and up the hill that led to the lower regions of the area. The horrible face grimaced as if the ragged nose that clung to the mohrg's features could scent an unwelcome stench.
"Human," he snarled. "Find him and kill him."
Tohl hunkered in the brush. Desperation flooded the priest as he searched for a way out.
It's all a dream, he told himself. Nothing but a dream. But he knew that wasn't true.
It's time to wake, Brother Tohl, the quiet voice told him. Staying here is dangerous for you.
The zombie army spread out then began making their relentless way toward the priest's hiding place. Brother Tohl held his position a moment, then had to flee as the first of the army pushed through the brush to get at him. He turned, slipping on the mud, then caught himself on his hands and shoved himself forward. Even after he broke cover, there was no clamor or cry that broke out behind him. The pursuit by the undead remained silent, and they made better time than he did over the broken terrain.
Let go of the dream, the quiet voice urged. I'm trying, Lady.
Tohl clawed through brush and pushed himself up a number of times when he stumbled over the knobby tree knees that projected up from the water-soaked ground or the ones that lay covered by the dark water.
You must. It is the only way you will live.
Brother Tohl ran uphill, thinking that the high ground might offer him some kind of advantage. He avoided part of one of the streams that he thought looked deep, and stepped through another just to plunge into the Water up to his waist. He kept falling, submerging for a moment and getting a mouthful of foul water before he pushed his head back up above the surface. He tried to step out of the water but discovered that a submerged tree or rock caught his foot.
Help me, Eldath!
I can't, the quiet voice replied. This place is beyond my reach, Brother Tohl. Time here is unfolded somehow, the past accessible through you. I can't extract you from the powers that have drawn you there.
Please!
Frantic, Tohl watched as the zombies came closer. They had trouble with the uphill grade and the mud, but they never stopped coming. The priest closed his eyes and tried to awaken. In the dim recesses of his mind, he heard the excited cries from someone in his sleeping chambers within Eldath's temple in Alaghфn. He focused on the cries, trying to draw himself back along the sound of the voice.
Let go, the quiet voice said.
I'm trying, Lady! I swear to you that I am trying!
Brother Tohl's breath came in ragged gasps. Tears wet his cheeks. He was more afraid than he'd ever been in his life. He watched in frozen horror as the shambling zombies descended upon him, thick as a murder of crows.
One of the zombies grabbed Brother Tohl's arm. The priest felt like a vise had gripped him. He screamed.
"Brother Tohl, you must wake!"
Tohl felt someone shaking him. His breath caught at the back of his throat. Unable to keep his eyes closed any longer, he opened them and stared into the eyes of the young priest shaking him awake.
"Brother Tohl," the young priest said. He looked bleary and disconcerted.
Tohl peered around his bedchamber, discovering he was back within Eldath's temple in Alaghфn. No zombies had followed him.
"Brother Tohl," the young