ROGUE ANGEL - Book One: The Beginning

Chapter Fourteen - The Battle With The Conthalans

THE AIR was crisp. A short distance away, rolling hills with snow-capped peaks stood majestically before us. A white stream came down from the snows, twisting its way to the placid, deep lake. And the sky was bluest of blue with clouds puffy like cotton candy drifting across it. Any other day I would be utterly charmed by this picturesque spot. But not today.

As soon as we arrived, I puked. Sirius puked too – guess we both shared the same kind of motion sickness. But he did a one-upmanship on me: he was walking like Charlie Chaplin.

“Gross,” Kyra said, her face expressionless. But we heard her chuckling to herself as soon as her back was turned – the bloody witch was having fun at our expense!

She waited for Sirius and me to recollect ourselves before she gestured towards the mountains. “We will begin our search there.”

“Which one?” I asked. “I see at least eight mountains.”

“Nine, it’s called the Nine-Fire Mountains,” Kyra made it clear to me. “We shall take the last one on our left – the Ninth Peak.”

“How do you know Spencer is in that mountain?”

“I sense him.”

Following that, she burned a ring on the grassy ground around us with her magick. “We need to return to this spot to enable Madeline to send us back to our last point of departure. That’s how it works.”

Just before we trooped off, I looked back over my shoulder and saw faint black smoke billowing in the distance. I pointed it out to the rest.

“The smoke is coming from a cottage down below,” Kyra said. Her eyes were sharp. “It appeared to have been razed by a terrible fire. Come, let’s go, it doesn’t concern us.” There was a hint of impatience in her tone.

About an hour later, we finally arrived at the foot of the Nine-Fire Mountains. They were now so near that we could see the row of nine towering peaks with identical, symmetrical snow-capped cones clearly. We halted, staring in awe at their beauty and grandeur.

“These mountains used to be active volcanoes,” announced Kyra, “but they are dormant now, with the last eruption occurring more than a thousand years ago.” She paused, her sight on the numerous paths ahead. “We take the third path on the left; it will get us to the summit of the Ninth Peak.”

She walked briskly towards it, but all of a sudden she stopped. Her forehead furrowed and her eyebrows hooded over her eyes gleaming with trepidation.

“Wrong path?” asked Sirius who was behind her.

“No, it’s the right one,” the witch answered. “But why would Spencer want to take this path? I remember now: the Conthalans, an army of bloodthirsty, mindless lizard-like creatures, dwell in the caves of the Ninth Peak. They kill at the slightest provocation.”

Sirius’s face became colorless – a great sense of dread must have fallen on him. “What did I say about adventures again?” he muttered to himself.

“You said you love them,” I answered him with a wicked smile.

“Y…Yeah, that’s what I thought I said …” he spluttered, biting his fingernails. “Oh s**t!”

“It’s all right, Sirius, you don’t have to follow us if you don’t wish to, I fully understand,” Kyra comforted him, or was she? “But it will be dark in an hour’s time …”

“But it’s only one o’clock in the afternoon,” Sirius interjected, looking at his wrist-watch.

“May I remind you that we are now in another world; time works differently here. And as I was saying, it will be dark soon. Other life forms will roam the night, some even more vicious than the Conthalans. So make up your mind quick: stay or follow?”

“You are enjoying this, aren’t you?” Sirius asked coldly. My sympathy went out to him. Kyra had the irritating habit of showing her humorous side at the most inopportune moment.

“Yes, I am,” she admitted, coolly brushing off an imagined speck of dirt from her white gown. “It keeps my mind off Spencer.”

The three of us followed the path which led us into the heart of the woods. Then it dipped, stretching for many kilometers before it turned eastward, and climbed up once more. Fortunately for them but unfortunately for me, we didn’t encounter any Conthalan along the way. I was in the mood to bash some heads, human or non-human. Was it because it offered me an opportunity to let off some steam about my mess-up life, or was it because I just loved fighting? Honestly I didn’t know.

The sun was setting when we eventually reached the cave’s entrance. Sirius and I wanted to stop here and rest our weary legs, but Kyra urged us to go on, saying we were on the last lap of the journey. Upon hearing this, both of us relented.

It was dark inside. When Sirius took out his torchlight, Kyra stopped him. “No, don’t switch it on. You will alert the Conthalans. Tell you what you can do: hold each other’s hand and let your eyes slowly adjust to the darkness.”

Sirius and I concurred with her. We walked in single file with Kyra leading the way. The tunnel, which was about five feet high and four feet wide, was a tight squeeze. All of us had to stoop while going through it. The winding passage headed downward and went on for god-knows-how-far. The air here was also stagnant and heavy.

“Oh my poor aching back!” Sirius groaned. “One more step and I will become the next Hunchback of Notre Dame. I don’t like this tunnel. We’ve been walking for miles yet I don’t see the end.”

“Patient, Sirius,” advised the witch, panting. She was feeling the strain too. “We shall be out in the open very soon. And keep your voice down.”

But the “very soon” took another half an hour before we felt a cold but fresh draft blowing at us. Here, the hole was no longer small and all of us could finally walk with straight backs. Then, against the sullen darkness of the tunnel, we saw a faint yellow light at the far end, the wondrous sight filling our hearts with relief and great joy.

We eventually found ourselves in an empty cavernous hall. Massive stone pillars stalked the center and the four corners. Right across the marble floor, two big torches of fiery light hung on both sides of the huge open metal door; the wind that we felt came from there.

After a short rest, we rose and headed for the exit.

“Where are the inhabitants?” Sirius inquired, as he took a last glance at the hall. “This place looks deserted.” He had hardly spoken those words when the sound of many running feet were heard. It seemed to be coming from all directions. The pillars trembled, and the flames began to quiver.

“Quickly now, follow me!” Kyra ordered, speeding across the marble floor. “We must get out of this hall!”

“Lead the way, Kyra!” I shouted back, chasing after her. Sirius was behind me.

As soon as we passed through the door I noticed, beyond the fire of the torches, swarming black figures. There appeared to be dozens of Conthalans, some with bows and arrows while others were brandishing swords. When they finally emerged from the shadows, I was quite taken aback by the foulness of their looks: green-scaly skin, protuberant eyes, and long, clinging fingers and toes.

We ran faster towards the east, passing through another huge door. There, a guard of lizard-men tried to block our path, but they were felled by Kyra’s magick. I looked behind us and saw the other lizard-men were in hot pursuit. The next instant, arrows came whistling in. One pierced Sirius’s pack, another shot through his jacket, nicking him on the waist. I didn’t like what I saw so I stopped running, unloaded my pack, and charged back at the enemy. Despite being unarmed, I managed to subdue three of them with my bare fists. Then grabbing one of their swords, I slew the others.

In the end, more than thirty had fallen. The rest fled shrieking. I thought that was the end of it, but I was wrong. A harsh horn rang out. Seconds later, another horde of lizard-men returned, this time they numbered in the hundreds. I stood where I was, a grin, a rascally grin to be exact, splitting my face – God, I am enjoying this!

It was Kyra who had to drag me away. “Let’s go, Alison!” she commanded.

“But I want to fight!” I protested.

“Our job today is to find my husband, not fight with the enemy! Now move!”

With much reluctance, I obeyed. Grabbing my pack, I followed her and Sirius. Soon we came to another tunnel. Without hesitation, we went inside and raced along the wide, echoing passage. From time to time it descended a flight of steps to a lower level. At one point the tunnel forked. However, Kyra seemed to know the way and led us to the desired one. By then, there was no sound of pursuit, neither tramp of feet nor any voice.

“The Conthalans have stopped chasing us, thank God,” said Sirius, his hand on the left side of his waist. “Can we stop for a breather, please?”

“Wouldn’t mind,” agreed Kyra, halting.

Sitting beside Sirius, I took out the bottle from my pack and took a few gulps – I was dying of thirst from all that running and fighting. When I saw him cleansing his wound with his bottle of water, I asked with some concern: “Is it serious?”

“Nah, just a scratch, it’ll heal,” he replied, smiling. “You were so brave fighting off the lizard-men back there. And you looked fierce too; I could see fire smoldering in your eyes. It certainly scared the s**t out of them!”

My face reddened. “Honest to God, I don’t know what came over me,” I murmured. “I seem to enjoy fighting. Even more baffling was that I knew all the nifty moves too.” I paused and looked at Kyra. “Am I some sort of a martial artist?”

“Yes,” Kyra replied, nodding. “You are the top kung fu fighter in The 128 Immortals, a criminal organization whose chief rival is The Fellowship. For your info, apart from hunting down witches, they are also involved in vice activities.”

Sirius’s eyebrows shot up.

My jaws dropped six inches.

“And because The Fellowship ambushed and killed your lover who was also your boss, you bear an intense hatred against them,” she added.

My jaws dropped a further six inches.

“I heard stories about the Immortals having a fearless female fighter,” Sirius remarked, looking at me in awe. “They say she’s so good that they nicknamed her the She-Bruce Lee. Never for one moment did I suspect you to be that woman. I mean, really? You just don’t look the type!”

“Tell me about it,” I groaned, clasping my hands behind my head. I just couldn’t believe that I was one of the bad guys, a crook.

Kyra got up. “Okay, enough rest, let’s go. My senses tell me Spencer is very near us.”

“Where exactly are we, Kyra?” Sirius asked. “I find the Conthalans’ retreat rather odd, as if they were afraid to come here.”

“You are right; they fled when they saw this place,” replied the witch grimly. “We are in the lair of Rong, the fire-breathing dragon!”