“Hannil and his riders come with torches!” she gasped, pale and obviously frightened. “That sleek varaina of his leads them, pointing the way with glee! You can be sure she means us no good!”
“Then we shall have to disappoint them,” I said, looking about myself. “Were you able to see the torch when I entered the largest of the nooks, the one over there?”
She followed the gesture of my finger, her face lighting, her head ashake. “No,” she breathed with a small laugh. “Not even when I stood directly beside it. Shall we return there?”
“At once,” I said, hearing the voices and footsteps of many males grow louder. I hurriedly led the way into the nook, Famira following after, finding little room for the two of us together in the slight, wrapped-around place. I knew not what had made me run from the males rather than stand and face them, yet I felt no doubt about the wisdom of my choice. To run was not a warrior’s way, yet the cavern we had found stood all previous doings in a new light.
“Are you certain she came this way?” said a voice not far from us, muffled by the stone yet Hannil’s—without doubt. “I see no light ahead.”
“I am completely certain,” came Deela’s voice, oily with satisfaction. “She seeks to bring Sigurr’s vengeance down upon us, of that I am equally certain.”
“Perhaps she went ahead, to the far end of this corridor,” said another male voice. “The wench seems as foolishly without fear as Ceralt himself.”
“We shall see,” said the voice of Hannil, and muffled footsteps began again. Famira and I waited, the torch held high above us, till no further sounds were to be heard, then did we edge carefully from where we had hidden. Many torches could be seen at the far end of the corridor, yet before I could decide upon either following the males or returning to the cavern from which we had come, new torches entered the crevasse.
“Jalav, what do you do here?” demanded Ceralt in a hiss, Lialt and Telion beside him, his riders, with torches, in his wake. He strode to us with anger clear upon his features, yet Famira did not hesitate.
“We do that which you should have done!” said she, placing small fists upon rounded hips. “We search for another exit from this cavern, cousin. Had Hannil’s wench not sought harm to Jalav, we would have called you long before now.”
“What harm?” rasped Ceralt, then listened as Famira described that which we had found, and then that which we had heard. A murmur arose among the males, yet Ceralt silenced it with a motion of his hand.
“It is clear we must see the thing for ourselves,” said he, gazing toward the flickering torches in the distance. “And also see what Hannil is about. Let us proceed.”
He and the others moved ahead, up the corridor, leaving Famira and myself where we had stood. Famira hurried toward the crevasse, obviously pleased to be away from the doings of males, yet I could not dismiss the goings on so easily. Silently, with as little noise as possible, I followed the track of the males.
I came up behind the males as they paused in the entrance to the farther chamber, struck by the sight of the carving seated within it. I could not easily see beyond their shoulders, yet soon found the problem solved for me. A hand touched my shoulder then reached for the torch I carried, and I turned my head to see a disapproving Telion. The male was not pleased with the fact of my presence, yet chose not to make an issue of it. His broad hand pushed those before us aside, and I was able to see within the chamber again.
Hannil’s males moved about the chamber in search while Hannil himself stood before the carving, lost in contemplation of it, his female atremble behind him. The male seemed fascinated by the carving, lost in it till one of his males spoke.
“There are other corridors, yet none seemed tenanted, Hannil,” said the male. “Shall we continue to search for the wench?”
“Has a wench been lost?” asked Ceralt before Hannil might reply, causing the males to whirl to face him. “Should you need our assistance, we would be pleased to give it.”
“We search for our freedom!” rasped Hannil, angered at having been discovered. “Your wench seeks to bring Sigurr’s wrath down upon us, and when we find where she has hidden herself in this chamber, we shall offer her up to Sigurr!”
“Ceralt’s wench has not been in this chamber,” said Telion, drawing Hannil’s eyes to himself—and to me. “She has been engaged in a task I, myself set her, and now stands among us. How could she have entered first, when here she stands, having entered with us, behind you?”
“She did enter first!” shrilled Deela, beside herself with fury. “I, myself, saw her enter here, and followed to be sure! She entered here first!”
“Hannil, see what we have found!” called one of the males, and Hannil, in a fury of indecision, turned from the grins of Ceralt, Telion, and the rest to examine what his male had found.
At the base of the stone carving, below the figure and its chair, were letters sunk deep in the stone and covered much as the symbols upon the floor. It was to these letters that Hannil’s male pointed, and Ceralt and his males moved forward, the better to see the message written therein. I, too, moved forward with them, overcoming a great distaste to do so, and presently gazed down upon the message others read with such ease. I struggled with each letter and sound, fighting to bring sense from them, and at last succeeded in doing so. The males had remained silent the while, considering what they had read, for the message, black upon gray, went so: “I am Sigurr, the Dark God, and to me belongs what I would take. Offer up the first among your females or feel my wrath.”
“It now seems clear why yonder wench so insists upon having followed Jalav,” said Telion when none other spoke. “Were she to convince us she followed another, she would not be first.”
“I have not lied!” insisted Deela from where she stood, having been left behind with the advance of the males. Only she had failed to read the message on the carving, her next words proving her ignorance. “And I am first among all the women, not only that Jalav! Jalav is used by many men, Deela used only by Hannil! Who, then, is first between them?”
“Perhaps the savage wench may read the words first,” muttered Hannil, not yet caring to comment upon his female’s insistences. “She would then be wise enough to hide her prior presence from us.”
“The thought is logical,” nodded Ceralt, meeting Hannil’s eyes. “Unfortunately, Jalav is unable to read. Lialt strives to teach her her letters, yet her resistance is incredible in its strength.”
“Then she could not have known,” said Hannil, his voice weary with defeat. “It is Deela herself who is demanded of us, on pain of punishment for refusal.” His voice, and Ceralt’s, had been held low, yet now he raised it. “Deela, you are indeed first among the wenches. Come here and join us.”
Upon hearing these words the pretty female smirked and preened herself, then came forward with swinging hips. She glanced a look of triumph toward me, then passed to stand herself beautifully before Hannil. This male placed his hands upon her shoulders, then turned to show her the inscription. Deela read the words more rapidly than had I, and suddenly her breathing quickened to frightened gasps.
“No!” she moaned, attempting to back from the inscription and the male who yet held her shoulders. “He does not wish me! It was Jalav who was first! Jalav!”
“And yet you stood and declared yourself first among all the wenches, Jalav included,” said Hannil, closing his fingers the tighter upon the female. “How else were we to know the first among our women, save that that one spoke out in our need? It matters not who came here first. She who was chosen was made to speak out.”
“No!” screamed the female, truly frantic with terror. So strongly did she struggle that two others of Hannil’s males came to assist in the holding of her.
“What do you propose to do?” asked Ceralt of Hannil, drawing that male’s eyes to him. Ceralt’s voice was disturbed, and he had moved to stand beside me.