Hidden Enemies. Steve Reilly
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mountains. Walk easy from here.” He turned and walked deeper into the fissure and in moments he was lost in shadows. She stood and waited, and shortly after he reappeared to ask, “Are you come?”
“I could not see you,” she complained. “I do not know which way to go.”
“You want Aiyu carry?” he asked but the expression on her face told him no. “I help,” he said and held out his massive hand. Camille’s hand was engulfed in his enormous yet gentle fist and with him guiding, she followed the auch into the darkness. The ravine cut deep into the cliff and as her eyes became accustomed to the dark Camille began to make out some of the shapes around her. They seemed to be climbing and the ground under her feet was reasonably clean of obstructions. The trail was about three feet wide, wide enough for a horse or an auch. To her right the rock rose in a vertical wall while on her left the ground was cracked deeper than she cared to think. She could not see the bottom but the sheer rock wall on the other side of the fissure stood about ten feet away. Ahead she could hear the roar of falling water. The two climbed further up the trail, around a bend and onto a rock platform. She stood transfixed by what she saw. They were standing inside a rock shaft stretching from sunlight to the depths of the land below. On the far side of the shaft water cascaded from the world above crashing and bouncing off the rock walls, disappearing into the darkness. Mist and spray shattered the light and sprinkled it over the walls where ferns and moss clung precariously to tiny footholds. Looking up, Camille could see a kaleidoscope of lights reflecting all the colours of the rainbow.
“It’s beautiful,” she said.
Aiyu allowed her only a moment to admire the sight before announcing, “Time to go.” He walked to the far end of the platform. She just wanted to enjoy the beauty of this place. When Camille reluctantly followed she saw a hidden cave in the rock face behind the falls. Aiyu walked into its mouth. The cave was a little taller than Aiyu, about nine feet, and about half as wide. It struck her that the cave was very square. She saw the hammered marks on the wall: this cave was man-made, or at least auch-made. It curved to the right in a shallow climb. After some time she thought that they must have walked at least a full circle, yet still the cave curved upward while her legs burned and she fought for breath. When they finally emerged onto a lush green plain, stretching ahead of her were acres of verdant grassland interspersed with short healthy trees. A small river wound its way out of the valley ahead, cutting a path through the grasses before disappearing into an enormous sink hole about a hundred yards to her left. Below that must be the rock platform, she thought. She saw that this end of the cave was actually a simple stone structure erected to protect the entrance. It consisted of two great slabs of rock on edge while a third slab sat on top forming a roof which sloped from the opening height to ground level at the end furthest from her, fitting the walls so neatly that no joint was visible. The entire structure was covered with intricate carvings of plants and animals.
She turned to ask what the markings meant but Aiyu was striding across the grass and she was forced to run to catch up. They were headed straight towards the valley ahead, tracking closer to the river’s edge as they walked. They had not gone far when Camille saw a lovely cottage nestled amid a grove of willows on the riverbank. She had not seen anything like it before. The home was built on a base of six sides with a steep thatched roof reaching to a central peak which was open and covered by its own roof, allowing a plume of delicate smoke to trail into the sky. The walls were a mixture of black stone and grey timber with open windows for ventilation and light. Shutters sat ready to fit over the openings in times of poor weather. The walls had been brought back under the roof line on the side facing the river, providing a comfortable veranda to sit and relax on the two large chairs it held. In one of these sprawled another large blue auch. “Bhata wait,” Aiyu told her with a broad smile, showing his fierce-looking teeth. As they approached the cottage Camille saw a large six-sided shed hidden among the trees and the gardens spread out along the river. The gardens were packed with vegetables, some of which she recognised, many she had never seen before.
Bhata waited with hands on hips as they approached. To Camille she looked just like Aiyu with her bald head and solid body. She also wore an old hide wrapped around her middle and she gave off a similar aura of blue. The only difference Camille could see at first glance were the small tufts of hair growing from her ears and the leather lace hanging around her neck. A green stone carved in the shape of a tree hung on it. When they reached the steps Bhata held up one hand and pointed at Camille. “What this?” she asked in a grumbling roar.
“I come back,” said Aiyu with a big grin.
“You come back? Bhaa,” she spat. “You go find another stray. That what you do.”
“Bhata, that no fair.”
“You go work garden. I look up. You gone. You come back next day with stray. What no fair?”
“Bhata. Holdbori come. Tell me go to Edge. Tell me find her.”
“Holdbori tell you? Bear-dung. How you know what Holdbori want? You no can talk to spirits.”
“Please,” pleaded Camille, “I do not want to cause trouble. I will go.”
“Stay,” growled Bhata. “No your fault. Men do anything get out work.”
CHAPTER 3
Xavier crouched staring into the small camp fire, deep in thought. They had tracked the girl for many weeks now without success but his instincts told him that they were close. He had seen the signs of her passing. Now they had come upon an impassable cliff that stretched beyond sight in each direction. She could not have climbed it so she must be nearby. After that night in Thistledowne when the girl had escaped, he had not expected that he might need to return without news of her death and did not look forward to giving the boss a report of her escape. He took pride in being able to complete any job he was asked to do and he had not failed before. But he could not understand how a girl on foot, alone and without supplies could elude them.
The others sat around waiting for the evening meal to be cooked. They were good loyal men, proven fighters too. They would keep riding until he called for the chase to end. His second-in-command approached and crouched beside him. Jaimz was a man he would trust with his life. The man was the son of a swordmaster, his best friend for the last five years.
“We’ll find her soon,” Jaimz promised.
“I hope so. It isn’t helping either of our careers if one young girl can escape us so easily.” Xavier sat silent for a few minutes before asking, “Why are we chasing her?”
“Because she is a witch.”
“But she has done nothing wrong.”
“Do you doubt the wisdom of the Council?”
“I am a loyal Society member but I can’t help but wonder at the decision to hunt down all witches.”
“It is not our job to wonder, only to obey.”
“Of course I will obey, but have you never asked yourself what we are doing?”
“When I try to make sense of our orders and cannot, I tell myself that I do not have all the facts available to the Council.”
“I suppose so.”
“Why should it matter to you if the witches are all killed?”
Xavier thought about his reply. “It doesn’t, but I would like to understand why we do these things.”
“When you returned after your mother’s death you were lost and I took you to hear Piaz speak. He showed you the evil of the witches and what they were doing around the land. That was when you became a member and devoted yourself to our ideals. Why do you now doubt your choices?”
“I never told you about Redhill, my home town. This chase has me thinking about my childhood again. My father was a drunk and used to beat me just because I was there. My mother tried her best to protect me. She would take me to see Jehane, the town witch, when I was badly hurt. Jehane would take the pain away and always had sweetcakes or such to comfort me. When I could bear it no more I