Chapter 18

“Wow,” Caleb said as he looked at the sight before him. Never before had he seen anything so high. The Skyfell Mountains seemed to literally scrape against the clouds, towering over the forests that stood before them.

He was not sure what he was most impressed by, the fact that the mountains stretched as far as he could see and were taller than anything he had ever seen or the fact that the entrance to the ancient city of Draesa was only about five miles away.

“We’re going to need to stop for the night,” Katie mused as she sat on her mare next to him. Unlike the first couple days of their trip, they were riding through the forest. No roads led to the Skyfell Mountains, after all.

“Yeah,” Caleb said with a heavy sigh. He seemed to be doing that often as of late. “We can set off in the morning. It’s no doubt safer to go into the mountains early in the day.”

“So what’s your plan from here?” Katie asked as she slid from her saddle to the ground. “What happens when we get the Sword of Kirakath?”

Caleb looked at her blankly as he landed on the ground next to his mare. “What do you mean? I’m just going to hunt down the men that attacked Kirakath. Why would I have some big plan?”

Katie shot him a look of disbelief. “Surely you’ve considered the fact that it will be very difficult to track them.”

“That’s what I have you and Nicolas for, isn’t it?” Caleb asked, ignoring the glare she gave him. “As I recall, you convinced me to let you come with me on the basis that you could help me find them.”

By the look on Katie’s face, it was clear that she recalled her words to Caleb after he had killed the brigands that had taken them both captive.

“Fine, I did say that,” she said, grimacing at the way he used her words against her. “That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t have a plan.”

“My plan is simple,” Caleb said after a moment of thought. “I’m going to find them, and then I’m going to slit their throats.”

With that, he tied his mare up and walked away, leaving Katie shaking her head.

I need to get some firewood again, he thought, trying to forget all about the situation. As expected, such an endeavor was a failure. Why does she have to do this? Can’t she just be happy that I’m not trying to hide how I feel?

Before another thought could cross his mind, an explosion of fire coursed through his veins and he fell to his knees in a quiet scream. The memory of the first time something like that had happened immediately flashed to mind, bringing the sword wielding phantom that he had seen on his hunting trip back to mind.

The pain… it was never this intense, he thought as his vision began to become blurry.

As he became to fade into a state of unconscious, he heard Katie scream, “Caleb!”

* * * * *

Heat was the first thing that he felt as he woke from unconsciousness. The warmth radiating from a nearby fire broke him out of his slumber, his eyes snapping open within moments. He could immediately see that he was laying on the ground in a very small clearing with a small fire a few arms’ lengths away.

“Katie, where are you?” he asked, his voice coming out hoarsely.

As soon as his question came out, he could see red hair whip through the air out of the corner of his eye. A moment later, Katie was kneeling at his side, her eyes filled with worry.

“Caleb, you’re awake,” Katie said quietly, relief filling her eyes.

“I guess I am,” he said groggily as he sat up. “How long was I out for?”

“The sun set a few hours ago,” Katie said, eyes trained on Caleb. It looked as though she wanted to say something but did not know how to do so.

“I wonder what happened,” he muttered, looking down at his hands. The pain had left him sometime in his sleep. The only evidence of the pain was in his memory.

“You don’t know?” Katie asked. A hint of disappointment was clear in her voice. “I saw you collapse after we finished talking earlier. You were unconscious before I could reach you.”

“It felt like my blood was on fire,” he murmured, wincing as he remembered the sensation far more clearly than he would have liked. “It was too much for me.”

“Sounds like sensory overload,” she muttered, looking concerned.

“What’s sensory overload?” Caleb asked curiously, making eye contact with her.

“It’s not the source of your pain, if that’s what you’re thinking,” Katie quickly clarified. “Sensory overload is when something hits one of your senses so strongly that it makes your mind shut down. I’ve heard of it happened as a result of a sight or a smell, but it can happen through any of your senses. That’s the theory, at least.”

He looked at her skeptically as he took in her words. “How do you know so much about things like this? A pickpocket shouldn’t be that knowledgeable.”

“A pickpocket,” Katie muttered darkly. “I’d prefer that you avoid such an unflattering term in the near future.”

“Weren’t you one though?” Caleb countered.

“That’s not the point,” Katie insisted. “Pickpockets are amateurs. I was not.”

“And you take pride in the fact that you were a good criminal?” Caleb asked sarcastically, earning a frown from his companion.

“If you’re already being sarcastic, you must be in good health,” Katie said with narrowed eyes. “I’m going to get some sleep in the meantime. You can keep watch and make sure that we don’t get attacked during the night. I’m sure you’re not tired anymore.”

With that, Katie walked to the other side of the fire and laid down on her bedroll. All the while, Caleb cursed himself for the way he had spoken to Katie.

I can never catch a break, can I? he thought as he stared into the fire.

An answer was not forthcoming.

* * * * *

The next morning, Caleb was leaning against a nearby tree, prepared to get a move on.

“You’re already ready?”

He glanced over his shoulder at those words, taking in Katie’s appearance. She, too, seemed ready for the day ahead of them.

“Yeah, I’m ready,” Caleb said as he stepped away from the tree. “Let’s leave the horses here and finish the trip by foot.”

Katie looked at him, surprise clear in her eyes.

“Are you sure about that? It’ll slow down our progress,” she asked, clearly concerned. It did not sound like the type of thing that he would have suggested.

“Knowing my luck, the horses will get eaten if we take them straight there. That would make our trip back even slower,” he said with a sigh. “The horses will be safer in the forest.”

“What if they are attacked here?” Katie asked, still skeptical.

“The forest may have wolves,” Caleb said with a neutral expression as he turned to face her. “But the mountains have griffins.”

“The mountains have griffins?” Katie asked, even more skeptical.

Caleb nodded without a hint of doubt. “Absolutely,” he replied. “My mentor told me about them. They avoid people, but they have no such qualms about horses.”

“You mean they’re real?” Katie asked in disbelief. “I thought they were just something that was made up for the tales that bards told.”

“They’re real,” Caleb said with a small smile. Hector’s face flashed to mind as he remembered all of the tales that his mentor had told him. “They’re not too common anymore though. My mentor told me that the only ones that are still left in Arcadia are in the Skyfell Mountains and the Shield Mountains.”

“Your mentor sounds like a knowledgeable person,” Katie remarked, starting to get over the initial shock of hearing that griffins were real. “If I may ask, what happened to him?”

“We can talk while we walk,” Caleb said, turning back north.

After a few minutes of walking in silence, he spared a glance at Katie.

“My mentor is still alive,” he said with a sad smile. “I don’t know where he is right now though. On the day of the Summer Solstice, he left Kirakath. Apparently, a messenger had come to him the night before. He never told anyone what news he received, but he told us that he had to leave to go on a personal hunt. We haven’t heard from him since.”

Katie looked nervous as she asked her next question. “Are you sure that he’s still alive?”

Caleb laughed at the question. The sound of his laughter caught her off guard. She could not remember a single time that he had laughed since they met. It seemed odd that he would do so at that moment.

“Hector is still alive. I can feel it deep down,” Caleb replied as he managed to gain control over his vocal chords again. “I have faith in him, and I have to admit that it’s nice to be able to have faith in something.”

Katie seemed to digest that information for several minutes before speaking further. When she did finally speak, Caleb winced. “Are you and your mentor the only survivors of Kirakath?”

“No one that was there survived,” Caleb said quietly, pushing the image of a raven haired young man to the back of his mind. “Let’s just get a move on.”

Katie shot her companion a worried look as they made their way through the forest and to the nearby mountains. It was clear that she had hit a nerve

About an hour later, they had reached the mountains, though they were not actually climbing one of them. Instead, they were walking through the forest that was framed by three of the mountains in the range. The one directly in front of them was their actual target.

“You’re sure that the ruins are built into that mountain, right?” Caleb asked, still a little skeptical of the prospect that a city could be built inside a mountains.

“Yeah, I’m sure,” Katie said with a nod of her head. A moment later, her feet came to a stop, stirring up some of the fallen leaves that she had been careful to avoid until then.

Caleb’s eyes narrowed, still focused on her. “What’s wrong?”

“Is that what I think it is?” Katie asked, pointing ahead nervously.

Caleb looked at where she was pointing and immediately cursed. With the body of a lion and the head of an eagle, Caleb could have convinced himself that it was not what Katie thought it was. The eagle-like wings left no doubt though.

A griffin stood about a hundred yards in front of them and its eyes were trained on them.

“Get your knives ready,” Caleb said as the muscles in his legs tensed and his hand went to the hilt of his sword.

Seeing the griffin’s muscles tense, Caleb immediately dashed towards it with his sword drawn.

What- His train of thought came to an abrupt halt when he was halfway to the spot where it had been standing. It was only a few feet away from him though. It had closed the distance too quick for him to even see, and its wings were spread out at their full length.

Before he could raise his sword to strike, the griffin’s wing came crashing into his chest, throwing him a dozen feet away. He hit the ground in a roll, throwing his sword from his hands and causing him to hit a tree.

As he hit the tree and winced in pain, his eyes went to Katie. She was standing still, motionless as the griffin approached her.

Why isn’t she moving? The question plagued him as he rolled over to his stomach and pushed himself up into a crouch. She should be able to at least hurt it with those knives of hers.

He glanced from her to the griffin, anger welling up inside of him as it approached her. The thought of it attacking her while she was too stunned to react set a fire within him ablaze.

Without a single thought in mind, Caleb dashed towards the griffin, grabbing his sword from the ground mid-run. Amazingly, he did not lose his balance as he picked up his weapon.

A mere fifteen feet stood between Katie and the griffin, but only ten feet stood between it and Caleb.

Leaping through the air with the sword held in a back-handed grip, Caleb made his move.

Katie and the griffin both turned their attention to Caleb just as he was a foot above the griffin, bringing his longsword down with both hands.

The griffin let out a loud squawk as Caleb’s sword sliced through its back, imbedding the blade all the way to the hilt.

With his sword pinning the deadly beast, Caleb released the hilt and removed the knife from his belt. As he brought the knife from its sheath and swung it towards the griffin’s head, a sickening crunch resounded through the forest.

His sword buried in the griffin’s back and his knife embedded in the griffin’s skull, Caleb blinked. Taking in the sight before him, he jumped off of the creature and backed away. He fell to the ground as he moved backwards, shocked at what he saw before him. There was no doubt about it. The griffin was dead. He did not need the lack of breathing, the blood covered head and back, or the silence of the griffin to know that.

“Caleb, you saved me,” Katie said quietly, shocked by her own words. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Caleb said. He had no intention of admitting that he was doing his best to resist emptying his stomach at that moment.

What happened? His eyes were trained on his hands. Is that what Dad was talking about when he told me about bloodlust?

The memories of what he had done were clear in his mind, but he could not remember thinking anything during it. His actions had been mechanical.

No, that wasn’t bloodlust, he thought with a frown. If it was, I’d have thought something. I remember thinking that I wanted to stop the griffin before it, but then it just went blank.

“I’m sorry that I froze,” Katie said quietly, looking at the dead griffin. “I don’t know what came over me. I just saw it and couldn’t make myself move.”

Caleb knew what he wanted to say to that. He wanted to tell her that it was normal for someone to freeze up when faced by a mythical creature. He wanted to tell her that she reacted perfectly natural. He wanted to tell her that he forgave her.

In all honesty, he could not find it in him to say anything but that last part though. After all, he had not frozen up. He had gone straight in and tried to attack it. His lack of tact had almost gotten Katie killed though.

“Don’t apologize,” Caleb said as he rose to his feet. “Just try not to do it again. That wasn’t exactly easy.”

He barely suppressed a frown at that last part. It had been easy. Lying was not something that he liked to do. In fact, his father had always told him that it was wrong. Still, he could not bring himself to explain what had actually happened. It was too strange for even him to fathom.

Caleb took a deep breath as he walked over to the griffin’s corpse. He firmly gripped the hilt of his sword and pulled it from the beast’s back, revealing the blood covered blade.

Once the sword was free, he removed the knife with a little more effort and looked towards Katie. “Are you ready to go?”

“Yeah, I am,” she said with a hint of nervousness in her voice.

Nodding, Caleb pulled a piece of cloth out from the inside of his tunic and wiped both blades clean. Once they were clean and sheathed, he tossed the cloth to the side.

“Let’s go,” he said as he began to walk towards their destination once again.

* * * * *

“This is Draesa?” Caleb asked quietly, his eyes focused on the large stone doorway before them. It was carved straight into the mountainside. Like the two large stone doors that it framed, the doorway was made of faded white stone, making it appear to have seen quite a few years.

“Yeah, I think so,” Katie answer, her eyes focused on the massive doors. “The legends say that Draesa was built during the wars between the Calian Empire and Tiberia.”

Caleb glanced at his companion suspiciously. How would she know anything about this place? She was just a pickpocket.

“Why is the city no longer in use?” he asked, genuine curiosity entering his voice.

“Draesa hasn’t been in use since two hundred years before the Arcadian Rebellion, so I’m not entirely for sure,” Katie admitted. “I never heard what happened to the city, but there’s something superstitious about the place.”

“And it doesn’t bother you that there is something superstitious about it?” Caleb asked idly, trying to figure out how to get the large stone doors open.

“I’m not superstitious,” she said as she studied the doors.

“That’s good to hear,” Caleb remarked as he drew his sword from its sheath, immediately catching Katie’s attention.

“What are you doing?” she asked as he began to walk towards the doors.

“Watch and see,” he said as he stopped directly in front of the massive stone doors. And then, he stabbed the sword into the small gap between the doors.

Katie’s eyes widened considerably at the sight of the action. “What are you doing?” she asked in shock.

“Just watch,” Caleb said as he grasped the hilt of his sword with two hands turned so that his left side was facing the doors. Before Katie could process what he was about to do, he pulled on the hilt, using the sword to pry the right door open.

Katie was absolutely floored as the door slowly opened. All the while, Caleb’s sword gave no sign of snapping, despite the fact that no sword should have been strong enough to pry such a heavy door open.

Unless….

“That sword is magic,” Katie said quietly, surprised by the revelation.

“So I’ve been told,” he said as the door opened enough to allow him to slip through it. At that point, he could tell that there was no way to use his sword to pry it open any farther. He would have no leverage if he tried to.

“Help me out here,” Caleb said, motioning towards the door.

Understanding immediately, Katie slipped past him into the ruins. Through the sliver of light that was allowed through the narrow opening of the door, she could see a stone floor, but her focus was entirely on the door.

“On three,” Caleb said as they both braced against the door, reading to push it open when needed.

“One… two… three,” he counted, throwing all of his weight against the cold stone door as he spoke the final number. With Katie’s assistance, the door completely opened, moving slowly but surely.

His eyes focused on the door as it was fully opened.

That door didn’t open like it had been shut for a hundred years, let alone seven hundred, he thought suspiciously.

He shook his head away from such thoughts. As curious as the observation was, it was unimportant in the grand scheme of things. The only thing that mattered at that moment was getting through the ruins and to the throne room where the Sword of Kirakath resided.

Caleb turned his eyes to the room that stood before them. The sight before him was truly surprising.

Is this really a mountain? he thought as he took in the sight of the room that stood before him. Despite the fact that it was inside a mountain, it seemed more like a giant stone room with an outer appearance of a mountain than anything. It was as if the mountain was hollow there.

“Let’s go,” he said as he began to walk forward through the large room. With the help of the light that came through the open door, he was able to see that there was nothing in the room between the door that he had come through and the two iron doors that were a quarter mile ahead.

“Why didn’t you tell me that your sword was magic?” Katie asked as she walked alongside him. “Why do you hide so much from me?”

“Now’s not the time to talk about this,” Caleb said quietly.

“And when will the time for that come?” she asked with a sharp glare. “You won’t explain anything.”

“I only explain what matters,” Caleb said without even glancing towards her.

Katie sighed at the blond’s words. It seemed that a certain level of distrust would always remain between them.

In silence, they walked through the empty room, reaching the iron doors within a few minutes.

Taking a deep breath, Caleb grabbed the doors by the metal large rings that hung from them at chest height, and pulled them open. They opened up even more smoothly than the outer door of the ruined city.

What lied on the other side of the doors truly threw him off.

Basking in sunlight, a castle of dark gray stone stood before them. It appeared to be rectangular in shape with a tall tower standing at its center, and it was standing at the other side of a bridge that connected the front gates of the castle and the doors that he had just opened.

Caleb’s eyes immediately shot up, surprise filling them as he saw the open sky. It seemed that a large tunnel had been dug into the mountain, and the castle was built at the bottom of it. It hid the castle with ease.

“So that’s Castle Draesa,” Katie said quietly. “I’ve heard stories about it, but I never imagined that it would look quite like that.”

“It’s impressive,” Caleb commented as he began to cross the gray cobblestone bridge, walking towards the castle. His eyes occasionally glanced to the tall grass on the ground at each side of the bridge. It was nearly as tall as he was.

He barely heard Katie say, “He doesn’t stop for anything, does he?”

At that moment, he could not find it in him to care about her words though, so he pressed forward regardless.