Silent Running
There was no moment of confusion as he woke. There was no way he could forget where he was, the dank smell and the damp air couldn’t be ignored. Within a few seconds of waking, he forced his eyes open, even knowing what he would see.
It was still dark.
The darkness was overpowering; it was suffocating, it was never going to stop and he was never going to figure out how to get them free of these infernal caves. They were just going round in circles.
The Cavalier could hear the soft shallow breaths of his companion. Somehow she knew he was awake even though he hadn’t moved, so Uni snuffled against his hand, begging for more attention. She was still shivering. During the past days in darkness, Eric had managed to keep going, with the occasional prod from the Unicorn. But he was getting weaker.
The Shield was just beside him, and he concentrated on it, trying to summon its power enough to get a little light. Slowly, a pale glow came from the weapon, but there was barely enough light to make out Uni's faceas she sat next to him. It was just another sign that he was getting weaker. The first time he’d tried, God knows how many days ago now, the light it had given off had cast full shadow over the wall of the cave. This time, he couldn’t see further than the end of his arm. The rest was still pitch black.
‘You ready to try again?’ he asked. His voice echoed around the walls,even though he'd spoken in a hoarse whisper.
Uni closed her eyes for a few seconds, and a familiar expression crossed her face. Then she shook her head.
‘Great,’ he muttered. ‘So we’re walking.’
But secretly, he was relieved. Teleporting hadn’t helped; every time they’d ended up still in the caves, with even less of an idea where they were. And every time they sensation of teleportation made them both feel worse. He hadn’t been sick, but that was only because he’d not eaten since the evening before going to the Orc camp. Now he was beyond hungry, he was beyond tired as well. They’d managed to find a few puddles of slimy water, but that was all. There was nothing else.
Eric pushed himself to his feet, holding on to the cold cave wall to keep steady. The armour and Shield were impossibly heavy. Even when he’d first arrived in the Realm, all those years ago, the armour hadn’t been this much of a burden.
He almost couldn’t move this time. He hadn’t realised it before, but he was close to giving up for good. After all the Young Ones had been through, after all they near misses and failures, he had never stopped believing they would get back home.
Until now.
Uni might eventually get out, once he was gone. It had taken him a few days, but he’d realised that trying to take him teleporting as well was too much for such a young unicorn. She knew he knew, but she still wouldn’t try to leave without him.
Her loyalty touched him in a way he could not explain. Even though he’d been a constant jerk during most of the time they’d known each other, she seemed as loyal to him as she’d been to the Barbarian, even after he’d wanted to leave her to her fate with Kelek. But it was still the painful truth that she could have been free of these caves without him.
He’d tried reasoning with her, and shouting at her, but at both extremes he’d gotten the same truculent look (the one she’d picked up from Bobby) and she’d refused to listen.
She shuffled along beside him, even now, keeping her head low as he walked forward, keeping a tight grip on the wall.
For the first few days, he’d kept thinking about his friends, hoping they were close, and trying to think up clever ways of attracting their attention in the darkness. But that had slowly changed to fear, then grown to full-blown panic, and finally, as his strength drained away, resignation filled him. It didn’t matter and he didn’t care. He was never gonna get out.
But this time as they walked, there was something different. Uni seemed restless. She kept looking round and then pausing for not reason. This was such a change from before, that Eric slowly began to get worried.
Eventually, he stopped. By the thin light of the Shield, he watched her.
‘What’s wrong?’
The unicorn looked round, her expression unchanged.
The Cavalier followed her look, and waited. Someone was coming, someone Uni didn’t recognise, or didn’t like. He smothered the sudden fear that Venger had found him. Even if it was the Arch-Mage, it still didn’t matter.
He waited, his monotonous, rasping breaths the only sound.
Perhaps Uni was wrong.
Perhaps…
A light flickered in the distance, throwing high shadows across the walls. Eric glanced down at Uni. She wasn’t going anywhere. And neither was he. They’d just have to wait.
A curious sense of unreality crept over him. He was too tired to feel elation, and after all that darkness, he didn’t really believe his eyes. The group of men that appeared made no impression on him, and he watched calmly as they approached.
The tallest of them, their leader, walked straight up to him with a cautious expression, and when Eric didn’t move or speak, he finally grew tried of waiting for a reaction and swung the pommel of his sword across the Cavalier face. A light tap would have sent him to the ground, but this made Eric crumple like a paper bag. Laughter spread round the group.
The stinging pain across his jaw helped rouse him from his dark-induced stupor, and he managed to glare up at the men. It was real. How often had he hoped?
The leader had the familiar sneer that the Orcs did, but behind the eyes was a harsh, pragmatic look that was purely human. He reached down to pull the Cavalier standing.
‘Looks like we’ve finally caught up with you,’ he said with a smile.
He looked down at the armour with distaste, then raised his knee swiftly into Eric’s groin. The Cavalier doubled up with a cry and tears came to his eyes, but the leader didn’t let him fall.
‘That was for leading us round in circles, and keeping us in the caves’ the man said. ‘You sorry?’
Eric couldn’t speak. He got another blow across the face, then he his arm was twisted behind his back and he was forced to the ground, his bloody cheek pushed hard to the stone.
‘I asked if you were sorry.’
Eric grunted, and tried to nod.
It was enough.
‘Good,’ said the leader. ‘Now, let’s go!’
His arms were tied behind his back and he was pulled up off the ground. One of the men had caught Uni by the horn, and was dragging her forward. All her kicking and pawing was to no avail. Finally, a sickening kick in the side made her go limp.
The group made no delay, and the Cavalier was made to walk. The pace was quick, as if the men didn’t want to spend another moment in these caves now that they had found him, and it was clear that they knew which way was out.
His head was spinning, and he was too disorientated to reason. But the fact they were looking for him, specifically, and here specifically wasn’t good. But he couldn’t think of any answers to the question, so he concentrated to walking instead.
Eric managed to stay upright for a long while. With proper torches, there was no more worry about falling down pits, or slipping and breaking his leg. But the exhaustion and lack of food, as well as his brand new injuries had taken their toll. One moment he was on his feet staggering forward, the next he was back, face down, on the ground.
There was shouting around him, which made the thump in his head more. He vaguely wished he could just slip back into the darkness… He would be safe there…
‘Hey, c’mon wake up!’
Eric recognised the voice of the leader, even though it sounded tinny and distorted.
‘He just collapsed, Ranyar,’ said another voice. ‘One moment upright, the next…’
Eric was pulled over, to find Ranyar staring intently at him.
‘Shit, she’s going to lynch us if anything happens to him,’ he muttered. ‘Why didn’t you keep your eye’s open?’
Ranyar looked up at the other man, a fierce glare on his face. But the other man made no reply.
‘Well, pick him up then,’ he told the others.
Eric was hauled upright, and he tried to stand up unaided, but he couldn’t even take his own weight.
‘Shit,’ said Ranyar again.
From his pack, Ranyar brought out a small flask. With a surprising gentleness, Ranyar cupped his hand behind Eric head, and brought the flask to his lips. The Cavalier expected it to be something terrible, like that Orc stuff, or maybe even something alcoholic, but there was no smell. Tentatively, Eric took a mouthful.
It was like being thrown into cold water. A chilling, pure ache filled his mouth and throat, but it felt so good to have something real to drink that, even though he could hardly breath, he gulped down as much as possible. Ranyar let him finish the flask.
‘How long you been in here?’ asked Ranyar.
Eric shook his head. He had no idea. His stomach had gone cold too, and he was shaking.
The man glanced down at the empty flask.
‘Must have been a long time. We searched the caves for seven days until we found you.’
Seven? Had it been seven days? Seven days of darkness. Was that all?
He looked up into Ranyar’s face. The man seemed genuinely surprised that Eric had survived.
The others were looking at him too, and out of the corner of his eye he saw the grubby white unicorn staring at him. Seven times they’d tried to teleport out, seven times. Now, with everyone’s attention on him, he realised what she had to do. It had to be time to teleport again. She could do it. She could get free. As much as he hated to admit it to himself, she was his only hope. Funny how, after all this time, it should come to this…
But she still hesitated.
Go Uni, he whispered to himself. Go while you have the chance. Get the others. Find them and get help. Please, just go!
He didn’t dare look at her properly, for fear the men would notice, and do something, drastic, or painful, or terminal. They had already shown they could be violent if necessary. But he couldn’t let the opportunity pass.
Eric risked a quick glance at the unicorn, hoping that would be enough to persuade her to take her chances. He glimpsed the look on her face, and saw her brief nod.
Uni, go! GO!
Just as the tip of her horn started to glow, Ranyar turned, following Eric’s glance.
‘The unicorn!’ he shouted.
It was a fraction too late, and Uni disappeared before any of the men could get to her.
‘Forget it!’ snapped Ranyar to the others. ‘We’re late, and we’ve still got the one we came for.’
‘But she was worth a lot of money,’ said another.
Ranyar gestured at the Cavalier.
‘This one’s worth more. You think she’ll let us live if we don’t get back in time!’
The other men seemed to agree with this, and though there were murmurs of annoyance, they started to move forward. But before he turned away, Ranyar grabbed the Cavalier’s throat, with a snarl.
‘That was a clever trick,’ he said. ‘But you’re going to live to regret that, boy!’ The grip tightened. ‘I’ll see to it. Personally!’
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