The Adels-Part 4
The Adels-Part 4 has been posted.
Tales of the TawsheThe Adels-Part 4There wasn’t any conversation between the men as they traversed the cave. Ramos led the way with Gerard behind him and Bray at the rear. The villagers were thinking about what might lay ahead of them, and trying to remember the lessons they had received about using a sword. Bray was listening carefully. He thought he had heard a sound ahead of them some time before, but he wasn’t sure. Although Ramos and Gerard were not talking, their passage through the cave was noisy. They brushed against the walls in the narrower places. Their swords brushed rocks and walls almost constantly. If there was something ahead of them in the cave it was doing a much better job of moving silently.Most of the cave they traversed was like a narrow tunnel. In places it widened into galleries, branched off into other channels, and in two places it had been joined by a stream that appeared from and disappeared back into the cave’s wall.After some time, Gerard pointed to a mark scratched in the wall and informed Bray, “Half way.” The mark was barely visible in the pale glow that emanated from the walls. Bray had expected to have to use torches for light, but the walls gave off a weak luminance that made it possible to see without the use of fire. Bray had asked about it, but his companions had no answers.They had travelled perhaps half as far again from the half-way mark when Ramos stopped suddenly. Ahead of them, where the cave curved to the left they saw the back of a person stepping out of the gloom. It was a woman and she was moving slowly and softly backwards towards them. Although he couldn’t see her face, Bray could tell by her posture that she was terrified. He dropped his pack silently to the ground. He was going to string his bow, but there wasn’t time as an echoing roar sounded ahead of him. The young woman spun around and ran towards them, as a huge, wild looking dog sprang into view. Its eyes were red rimmed and full of hate. There was blood on its chest and saliva dripped from its jaws. The cave was too narrow for swords, so Bray grabbed his knives as he screamed “down!” to those in front of him. The dog sprang. The young woman, who Bray had recognized as Adel, fell to the ground and curled into a ball. The beast’s leap carried it over her. Directly ahead of Bray, Gerard had dropped face down to the ground. Ramos tried to pull his sword, couldn’t, and at the last moment tried to turn away. The dog’s jaws clamped onto his shoulder. Bray heard the sound of bones breaking and flesh being torn as he ran along Gerard’s back and slashed a knife downward across the dog’s face, barely missing Ramos’s head. The dog released his hold with a howl of pain. Ramos crumbled to the ground. Bray sprang forward; both knives flashed in short arcs, too fast to follow. The dog opened its mouth to scream its anger. Bray drove a knife up from under the jaw into its brain. The dog collapsed. Bray’s second knife went in through an eye, followed by a circular movement that maximized damage — habit more than necessity.He withdrew both knives, cleaned them on the beast’s coat, and returned them to their scabbard before he turned to Ramos. Gerard was already attending to him, so Bray turned his attention to Adel who remained curled in a ball on the cave floor. She flinched when he laid a hand on her shoulder.“It is alright, girl. The beast is dead. You are safe, but what are you doing here?”“I have to go with you,” Adel said as she climbed back to her feet.“You have to go, why?”“I don’t know why, I just have to. There is a compulsion on me that I don’t understand,” Adel admitted.Bray didn’t question her about it, but rather turned to examine Ramos’s injuries. It didn’t take long to realize that he would have to be returned to the village. Gerard was of the opinion that Adel should take him, but she was physically unable to support him, so the task fell to Gerard.“You should accompany them, Adel,” Bray suggested, but she refused.“I have a part to play in finding Grandmother. I can feel it. I have to go, if you don’t take me with you I will just follow behind.”Adel didn’t understand that Bray would never leave her on her own. It was something he was incapable of doing in the same way that he couldn’t abandon the search for the old woman. Not abandoning a person or a promise made, was ingrained in him through circumstance.“As you wish,” he said as he gathered up his pack, “but do as I say, and we will travel without talk until we are out of this cave.”
They travelled silently and carefully for the first while until Bray was certain there were no more surprises waiting for them. Then they picked up the pace. As they walked, Bray wondered about the men who had abducted the older Adel. Releasing the dog into the cave was clearly an attempt to stop anyone from following them, but they had a substantial head start on any pursuers, so why go to the trouble. You don’t get a dog into the state that animal had been in by simply releasing it into a cave. Clearly the animal had been tortured and starved for some time before it was let loose. That suggested forethought, planning, and more time than was available after the abduction itself. Furthermore, it suggested more men than had been so far identified. While three men had been involved in the abduction there had to be more dealing with the dog. That was the only way the timing worked. How many men he would be dealing with was unclear, but the fact that they would be close by was obvious. The attempt to stop the pursuers suggested that. You don’t go to that bother if you are planning on putting great distance between you and your pursuers.
Tales of the TawsheThe Adels-Part 4There wasn’t any conversation between the men as they traversed the cave. Ramos led the way with Gerard behind him and Bray at the rear. The villagers were thinking about what might lay ahead of them, and trying to remember the lessons they had received about using a sword. Bray was listening carefully. He thought he had heard a sound ahead of them some time before, but he wasn’t sure. Although Ramos and Gerard were not talking, their passage through the cave was noisy. They brushed against the walls in the narrower places. Their swords brushed rocks and walls almost constantly. If there was something ahead of them in the cave it was doing a much better job of moving silently.Most of the cave they traversed was like a narrow tunnel. In places it widened into galleries, branched off into other channels, and in two places it had been joined by a stream that appeared from and disappeared back into the cave’s wall.After some time, Gerard pointed to a mark scratched in the wall and informed Bray, “Half way.” The mark was barely visible in the pale glow that emanated from the walls. Bray had expected to have to use torches for light, but the walls gave off a weak luminance that made it possible to see without the use of fire. Bray had asked about it, but his companions had no answers.They had travelled perhaps half as far again from the half-way mark when Ramos stopped suddenly. Ahead of them, where the cave curved to the left they saw the back of a person stepping out of the gloom. It was a woman and she was moving slowly and softly backwards towards them. Although he couldn’t see her face, Bray could tell by her posture that she was terrified. He dropped his pack silently to the ground. He was going to string his bow, but there wasn’t time as an echoing roar sounded ahead of him. The young woman spun around and ran towards them, as a huge, wild looking dog sprang into view. Its eyes were red rimmed and full of hate. There was blood on its chest and saliva dripped from its jaws. The cave was too narrow for swords, so Bray grabbed his knives as he screamed “down!” to those in front of him. The dog sprang. The young woman, who Bray had recognized as Adel, fell to the ground and curled into a ball. The beast’s leap carried it over her. Directly ahead of Bray, Gerard had dropped face down to the ground. Ramos tried to pull his sword, couldn’t, and at the last moment tried to turn away. The dog’s jaws clamped onto his shoulder. Bray heard the sound of bones breaking and flesh being torn as he ran along Gerard’s back and slashed a knife downward across the dog’s face, barely missing Ramos’s head. The dog released his hold with a howl of pain. Ramos crumbled to the ground. Bray sprang forward; both knives flashed in short arcs, too fast to follow. The dog opened its mouth to scream its anger. Bray drove a knife up from under the jaw into its brain. The dog collapsed. Bray’s second knife went in through an eye, followed by a circular movement that maximized damage — habit more than necessity.He withdrew both knives, cleaned them on the beast’s coat, and returned them to their scabbard before he turned to Ramos. Gerard was already attending to him, so Bray turned his attention to Adel who remained curled in a ball on the cave floor. She flinched when he laid a hand on her shoulder.“It is alright, girl. The beast is dead. You are safe, but what are you doing here?”“I have to go with you,” Adel said as she climbed back to her feet.“You have to go, why?”“I don’t know why, I just have to. There is a compulsion on me that I don’t understand,” Adel admitted.Bray didn’t question her about it, but rather turned to examine Ramos’s injuries. It didn’t take long to realize that he would have to be returned to the village. Gerard was of the opinion that Adel should take him, but she was physically unable to support him, so the task fell to Gerard.“You should accompany them, Adel,” Bray suggested, but she refused.“I have a part to play in finding Grandmother. I can feel it. I have to go, if you don’t take me with you I will just follow behind.”Adel didn’t understand that Bray would never leave her on her own. It was something he was incapable of doing in the same way that he couldn’t abandon the search for the old woman. Not abandoning a person or a promise made, was ingrained in him through circumstance.“As you wish,” he said as he gathered up his pack, “but do as I say, and we will travel without talk until we are out of this cave.”
They travelled silently and carefully for the first while until Bray was certain there were no more surprises waiting for them. Then they picked up the pace. As they walked, Bray wondered about the men who had abducted the older Adel. Releasing the dog into the cave was clearly an attempt to stop anyone from following them, but they had a substantial head start on any pursuers, so why go to the trouble. You don’t get a dog into the state that animal had been in by simply releasing it into a cave. Clearly the animal had been tortured and starved for some time before it was let loose. That suggested forethought, planning, and more time than was available after the abduction itself. Furthermore, it suggested more men than had been so far identified. While three men had been involved in the abduction there had to be more dealing with the dog. That was the only way the timing worked. How many men he would be dealing with was unclear, but the fact that they would be close by was obvious. The attempt to stop the pursuers suggested that. You don’t go to that bother if you are planning on putting great distance between you and your pursuers.
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