The Cloud of Darkness (The Ingenairii Series Book 11) by Jeffrey Quyle Page B
Authors: Jeffrey Quyle
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softly as the pair of them passed an empty cage, one that had a bear as a neighbor on one side, and a pair of surly prisoners on the other. “I didn’t think anything could be any worse, until they took me out there and chained me to that post.”
The two of them moved past the squalid holding pen, and walked on through the hidden space beneath the stands. They got lost once, trapped in a dead end, but then reversed course and eventually made their way out – out of the dead end, out of the filthy prisoner section, and then out of the working area altogether. They stood by a torch lit opening, and looked out at the sun setting over the city outside of the stadium, while crowds of attendees streamed away from the arena after the completion of the last of the contests.
“Where are you going to take me now?” Kecil asked Alec as they stood and observed the crowd.
It was the very question he asked himself.
“I just wanted to save you,” he answered, speaking out loud, but speaking more to himself that to her. “I don’t have a plan.” He looked down at her and considered what to do.
“I can’t just turn you loose here in this city,” he said. “I’ll have to take you some place safe.”
“There is no place safe for me,” she suddenly broke down and sobbed. “Not within a thousand miles.”
Alec considered the simple solution of wrapping his arms around the creature and using his Traveler abilities to carry her back to safety in her own land. But he felt a pinprick of stubbornness and curiosity mixed together; he didn’t want to have to resort to the simple solution, and he idly wondered if the lacerta might become the traveling companion that Kale had failed to be – someone who could be a suitable conversationalist and observer of the world they passed through.
“My road ahead takes me to your homeland, to the land of the lacerta,” he said with only a moment’s hesitation. He had felt relieved to look forward to an unaccompanied trip, and that prospect was about to disappear. But there was no other option. He couldn’t abandon the girl; he couldn’t imagine anyone else he could turn her over to.
“You can’t possibly know what you’re saying. The journey here from my land took half a year!” Kecil exclaimed.
“Who said that?” a guard standing nearby asked, hearing the raised voice, as the two invisible beings grew silent. Alec tugged on Kecil’s hand, and cautiously led her out of the stadium confines. They carefully strolled close to the stadium walls, out of the flow of the departing crowd, and away from any guards stationed nearby.
“I journeyed from this land to yours once before,” Alec said proudly. “I can do it again, easily. We just need to figure out how we can make it possible for you to travel through the land without being taken captive again.” He pondered the question silently, while he watched the crowd grow thinner before him.
Chapter 5
The journey offered a challenge. While he wanted to travel alone, he found a spark within himself that wanted to travel with the lacerta, to find the challenge of smuggling her out of Witten and across the entire width of the empire, and then beyond. It would put spice in the meal, liven the game, make the trip an adventure.
“We can do this,” he muttered emphatically.
“I can’t imagine what makes you want to do this for me,” Kecil replied.
“I think that in fact, I’m doing it for you, and for me. I’ll do this for both of us,” he told her, looking over at her.
“If you say so,” she answered uncertainly, not understanding his meaning.
“Let’s go; the crowd is thinning,” Alec suggested. “Stay very close to me; put your hand here and keep it on me,” he planted her long fingers on the middle of his back, then began to slowly weave his way out into the plaza around the stadium, and into the stream of traffic.
The two of them circled
The two of them moved past the squalid holding pen, and walked on through the hidden space beneath the stands. They got lost once, trapped in a dead end, but then reversed course and eventually made their way out – out of the dead end, out of the filthy prisoner section, and then out of the working area altogether. They stood by a torch lit opening, and looked out at the sun setting over the city outside of the stadium, while crowds of attendees streamed away from the arena after the completion of the last of the contests.
“Where are you going to take me now?” Kecil asked Alec as they stood and observed the crowd.
It was the very question he asked himself.
“I just wanted to save you,” he answered, speaking out loud, but speaking more to himself that to her. “I don’t have a plan.” He looked down at her and considered what to do.
“I can’t just turn you loose here in this city,” he said. “I’ll have to take you some place safe.”
“There is no place safe for me,” she suddenly broke down and sobbed. “Not within a thousand miles.”
Alec considered the simple solution of wrapping his arms around the creature and using his Traveler abilities to carry her back to safety in her own land. But he felt a pinprick of stubbornness and curiosity mixed together; he didn’t want to have to resort to the simple solution, and he idly wondered if the lacerta might become the traveling companion that Kale had failed to be – someone who could be a suitable conversationalist and observer of the world they passed through.
“My road ahead takes me to your homeland, to the land of the lacerta,” he said with only a moment’s hesitation. He had felt relieved to look forward to an unaccompanied trip, and that prospect was about to disappear. But there was no other option. He couldn’t abandon the girl; he couldn’t imagine anyone else he could turn her over to.
“You can’t possibly know what you’re saying. The journey here from my land took half a year!” Kecil exclaimed.
“Who said that?” a guard standing nearby asked, hearing the raised voice, as the two invisible beings grew silent. Alec tugged on Kecil’s hand, and cautiously led her out of the stadium confines. They carefully strolled close to the stadium walls, out of the flow of the departing crowd, and away from any guards stationed nearby.
“I journeyed from this land to yours once before,” Alec said proudly. “I can do it again, easily. We just need to figure out how we can make it possible for you to travel through the land without being taken captive again.” He pondered the question silently, while he watched the crowd grow thinner before him.
Chapter 5
The journey offered a challenge. While he wanted to travel alone, he found a spark within himself that wanted to travel with the lacerta, to find the challenge of smuggling her out of Witten and across the entire width of the empire, and then beyond. It would put spice in the meal, liven the game, make the trip an adventure.
“We can do this,” he muttered emphatically.
“I can’t imagine what makes you want to do this for me,” Kecil replied.
“I think that in fact, I’m doing it for you, and for me. I’ll do this for both of us,” he told her, looking over at her.
“If you say so,” she answered uncertainly, not understanding his meaning.
“Let’s go; the crowd is thinning,” Alec suggested. “Stay very close to me; put your hand here and keep it on me,” he planted her long fingers on the middle of his back, then began to slowly weave his way out into the plaza around the stadium, and into the stream of traffic.
The two of them circled
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