Aela Page 7

  ‘I know what we can do. Firstly we need to overpower a couple of the guards, take their clothes and helmets and then sneak through the gate in the wall in disguise, so we can gain access to the Temple,’ exclaimed Ardu.

  Everyone thought this was a good idea, as nobody could think of any other plan.

  Quickly Ardu chose his men and they fell in line with each other, without making a sound. They then took up strategic positions, to wait for the changing of the guard at the nearest gate. Very soon there was a regular sound of marching footsteps and around the corner of the wall appeared a number of guards carrying spears and shields. With a slick action, the guards were relieved and the old guards marched off.

  Immediately they were set upon by Ardu’s men, and expertly disposed of with daggers thrust into their hearts. There was a quick change of clothes and very soon the new contingent of guards were lined up in formation with Ardu at the head of the group. Around the corner they marched quickly through the gate along the main road, towards another group of guards who were situated at the front entrance of the Temple.

  Ardu saluted the officer briskly, ‘I have come to relieve you and your men of guard duties,’ stated Ardu.

  The officer in charge was secretly very pleased to go, as he had arranged to meet his sweetheart as soon as he had finished his duties. He did not question the fact that he did not know this officer and these men. The change was completed in a few seconds and everyone was in place.

  ‘So far so good. Our next move is to get inside the Temple complex and find Rom and the Sacred Sword,’ whispered Ardu.

  Beckoning the men to follow him, Ardu and his men slipped into the Temple and soon they found themselves in the inner sanctum, where glittering before them and suspended in mid air was the Sacred Sword.

  ‘Scout around men you two of my men, Rom must be nearby in a prison cell,’ ordered Ardu. ‘Now how to get the Sacred Sword down quietly? Jah come here, and you Tui get on his shoulders so you are closer to the Sword.’

  Soon Tui was standing on Jah’s shoulders, and with outstretched arms he reached towards the Sword. He grasped the hilt in his hands, with one almighty movement he pulled it in a downwards motion. Tui broke the chain holding the Sacred Sword which was attached to the ceiling. He lost his balance off Jah’s shoulders and came tumbling down onto the marble flagstones beneath them. Both men ended up on top of each other, loudly cursing in gruff voices at each other.

  ‘Quiet you fools, do you want to bring the rest of the guards to find us?’ growled Ardu.

  Picking up the Sacred Sword he thrust it into his belt. ‘Come follow me,’ yelled Ardu as he strode down a nearby passage at rapid speed, with his men closely following behind him.

  He suddenly turned right, then a sharp left, running all the time in front of his men. Just ahead was a huge iron studded door blocking their pathway. How to get through this barrier, Ardu wondered to himself.

  Suddenly the door was thrust open and in charged a number of armed men. There were a clash of swords and shields, as the men collided with each other. Within seconds the fight was over, with many bodies lying on the ground in disarray. Alas, Tui lay prostate on the paved stones, his body lying very still.

  ‘Look to him men, to see whether he is still breathing.’ said Ardu angrily gritting his teeth.

  ‘He is dead,’ said Jah quietly and slowly. A loud sigh was heard amongst the men, as they stared at the prostate figure at their feet.

  ‘Men, we must move on to find Rom. We will come for Tui’s body on our return,’ shouted Ardu, as he rushed through the door, holding his sword up high, he then ran down the passageway. The rest of the men followed him without a word, but with a heavy heart, that they had to leave their dead comrade behind.

  By now they had descended downwards into a cave lit by spluttering lamps arranged around the wall. Which way to go was Ardu’s thought, that went racing through his mind, as he first looked left and then right, all the time feeling very much like a trapped animal. He quickly decided to go through the middle entrance and his men followed him.

  Very soon they came across a small cave where, in the centre, was a rough hewn table and chairs arranged around it. No one was there and all was quiet and still. They noticed that there were doors leading off this room in different directions, each with a huge iron lock attached. But where were the keys? Then they heard shuffling footsteps coming from behind one of the doors. Without hesitation all of the men ducked into the nearest passageway, which was dark and unlit.

  Into the main room came a heavily built man dressed in coarse tunic and leggings, muttering to himself and generally cursing under his breath. Around his waist was a thick leather belt and dangling rather noisily were a number of large keys.

  Only waiting for a few seconds to make sure no one was with him, Ardu leapt forward and placed one arm around the man’s neck and with the other arm he unsheathed his dagger and plunged it into the man’s chest. The figure fell backwards towards Ardu, who slowly let go, as the body slumped onto the floor.

  Quickly Ardu grabbed the bunch of keys and started trying each lock, in turn until there was a click and one of the doors swung open. There, near the back wall through the light of the lamp, Ardu saw an empty cell but Rom was nowhere to be seen.

  With two swift movements, Ardu strode across the floor, looking left and then right but Rom was nowhere in sight.

  ‘Someone has been here before us and taken Rom away. We must go quickly before we are discovered by other guards,’ urged Ardu. ‘Men there is no time to loose We must get out of here before we are discovered,’ spluttered Ardu. ‘Come with me if you value your life. You will be handsomely rewarded,’ yelled Ardu over his shoulder, as he rushed along the passageway.

  There was a medley of figures groaning, huffing and puffing as well as cursing out loudly as they pushed and jostled each other in their haste to escape from the scene. They were determined that they were not going to miss out on their dreams of riches. Soon they came up against another large wooden door and with a mighty heave from the shoulders of a couple of the men, the door was thrust open and they were once more in the main courtyard of the Temple.

  ‘We must leave this place now, before anyone knows we have been here,’ whispered Ardu, panting all the time, whilst desperately trying to gain his breath.

  He stopped in his tracks, bending his head over his body, in order to take in great gulps of air into his lungs. The rest of the group did the same, all breathing quickly and heaving together. After a short period their breathing became more even and regular and without a word they all fell in line behind Ardu, as they made their way along the back corridors of the Temple.

  Before they knew it, they were outside the Temple walls and were able to make their way into the dark primeval forest.

  ‘Dam, dam’ cursed Ardu. ‘We must find Rom and take him back a prisoner to Eena. But how?’

  Then they came onto a clearing and Ardu called a halt and indicated for everyone to sit down in a circle, with their weapons at the ready.

  ‘We shall have a short rest men, then we must travel very quickly through the forest back to our territory to report back to Eena and the council without Rom as our prize,’ exclaimed Ardu.

  All eyes were on Ardu, who was very miffed at this turn of events. He regretted his statement of a rich reward for his men, so early in the events that had followed, without capturing Rom again.

  ‘Come men we must go now so we will be on our way.’ Ardu ordered rather loftily.

  The party set off through the forest at a rapid pace, every now and again, one of them, looked back to see at regular intervals if, anyone was following them.

  As time passed the men grew weary and started cursing under their breaths, especially as their limbs began aching, with the relentless fast pace that Ardu had set. Ardu was beside himself with frustration that he did not have Rom a prisoner. What was going to be Eena’s reaction when he returned empty handed without Rom? Then he suddenly heard the
sound of a twig being snapped somewhere nearby to where he were standing. There must be someone lurking nearby in the forest thought Ardu and placing his index finger to his lips for silence he motioned for a couple of his men to creep behind the tree where they heard sound.

  There was a loud scuffle and a few curses coming from that direction. Then as they appeared from behind the tree, between the two soldiers there was a dark figure furiously struggling to escape their clutches.

  As they came closer Ardu could recognise the face of Rom and he leapt forward and grabbed some of Rom’s clothing on his chest and stuck his head close to Rom’s face.

  ‘Well, look what we have here, our hero has fallen into our trap. Got you at last and this time you are not going to give me the slip. Men, tie this man up immediately and make sure the knots are very tight. We are now truly triumphant. Eena will so be pleased.’

  The rest of the party started to cheer loudly as they glared and hissed at Rom and thrust their fists in Rom’s face.

  ‘We should kill him now, Ardu, after all the trouble he has caused us,’ shouted one of the soldiers.

  ‘No, at this stage he is more useful alive rather than dead,’ exclaimed Ardu.

  With renewed energy the party began to walk through the forest singing a victory song, with Rom positioned in the middle of the scrum.

  Soon they were in familiar territory, they recognised a stream, a rock shape, a tree and other well known features. With a victory cry the men ran towards, the huge rock cave, which was their home. Their loved ones came out to greet them, as everyone was overjoyed they were home, safely at long last. In the midst of the wild greetings Rom tried to slip back into the dark forest again unnoticed.

  ‘Not so fast my friend’ whispered Ardu in Rom’s ear, ‘I am taking you straight to Eena now.’

  Rom was standing before Eena and the Council with Ardu positioned triumphantly behind him.

  ‘Well we meet again,’ said Eena rather testily. ‘You have caused us a lot of worry and problems after you disappeared. But now you are returned to us again.’

  Turning to Ardu, Eena happily exclaimed. ‘You are our hero, the man of the hour. You and your men will be handsomely rewarded. Guards, take Rom away and place him in the dungeons for the time being. Ardu, come with me and tell me in great detail, how you and your men fared in Juno’s territory and brought Rom back to us. Bring the Sacred Sword with you. I and the Council must decide what to do with it and how to use it to our best advantage in our war with Juno.’

  As Rom was led away, all he could think about was, that he was back where he had been only a few days ago. He was no further advanced in his quest to have in his possession the Sacred Sword and to discover the power it held within its shimmering blade and bejewelled hilt.

  CHAPTER 4

  The Awakening

  Back at the Temple of the Sun there was pandemonium, Juno was furious that Rom was gone but worse that the Sacred Sword had been stolen. He now feared his hold on the people would wane, as his power and popularity rested on the fact that he was the custodian and keeper of the Sword. He must not let the people know the Sword was no longer situated in the inner sanctum.

  He devised a plan to have heavy golden curtains erected around the inner sanctum, so that only on very special occasions the Sacred Sword would be revealed to the eyes of the general public for them to worship. In his mind he envisioned that the people would look towards him with even more admiration and respect.

  In the meantime, he ordered the goldsmiths to make a replica of the Sacred Sword and have it suspended by a golden chain, like the original one, so that nobody would detect that it was not genuine. Quickly his orders were carried out, as nobody wanted to lose their lives and by sunset all was installed.

  He inspected the workmanship closely, all the time thinking how clever he was and wondered why he hadn’t thought of this action before. Juno sensed that he now had greater power over the people and his numerous enemies amongst the council. But he must organise his plan to retrieve the Sword and recapture Rom to whom he considered the cause of all his troubles.

  ‘Prepare the best warriors to go forth, to sneak up on the Temple of the Moon, seize the Sword and bring it back here. Also Rom must be recaptured and brought back alive. I appoint, you, Tet to lead the men and do not return until both aims have been accomplished. Otherwise, death to you all awaits on your return, if you fail in this mission. But if you return victorious with the Sacred Sword and Rom as a prisoner, bountiful rewards will be bestowed on you all. Go now with my blessing and may the sacred fiery sun give you the courage to carry out my orders,’ Juno shouted at the warriors, then sweeping up his bejewelled cape, Juno strode out of the room.

  Whilst back at the cave, Eena, was particularly pleased with herself that she had in her possession the Sacred Sword, as well as Aela and Rom in her safe keeping. She would continue to prepare them for the ultimate test.

  ‘Guards bring Aela to me immediately,’ commanded Eena as she stood motionless near her throne.

  In a matter of a few minutes Aela was standing before Eena, who in turn was wondering what was going to happen to her next. With a wave of her hand, Eena dismissed the guards and the two women were alone together in the Assembly Cave staring at each other. Above them were situated many glistening stalactites hanging down from the ceiling, looking like a conglomerate of twisted branches sticking out in all directions.

  ‘My warriors have recaptured Rom from Juno at the Temple of the Sun and they have brought him back to me,’ blurted Eena staring at Aela with a triumphant smile.

  Aela looked startled at this news, and relief as well as concern flitted across her face, ‘Rom is all right? He is not injured in any way? Take me to him now. I want to see for myself he is alive and well,’ commanded Aela.

  ‘You are in no position to order me around. You are my prisoner and I am in charge of you. You are to do as I say, otherwise all will not go well with you and Rom,’ stated Eena in menacing terms. ‘Guards, bring Rom to me this instant, so I can deal with both of them together,’ shouted Eena as she paced up and down in front of Aela.

  With Aela and Rom standing before her, Eena stopped her agitated walking and she turned to face them, ‘Both of you are to take my instructions very seriously, you Rom, are to refine your warrior skills.’

  Then pointing her finger directly at Aela, ‘You, Aela must hone in on your spiritual powers and by the next full moon, stage one of my plan will be executed.’

  Whilst Eena was talking, Aela and Rom were exchanging significant looks between each other, trying to send messages to the other with the lift of the eyebrow or mouth the words, so the other could lip read. Realising that her words were not being listened to, Eena, lost her temper with the duo, ‘Guards take them away, before I regret what I may do to them. I have no time or patience with them.’

  Both were hustled away in different directions, Rom back to his prison cell and Aela was marched by the guards and escorted to her room. Sitting on a chair and feeling very despondent, Aela was desperately thinking of what she could do to escape from her predicament as a prisoner.

  Suddenly, a thought flashed into her head, she would meditate and send messages to Rom in her mind through the air to him. Closing her eyes she began to concentrate, allowing her mind to be emptied of everyday thoughts. Relaxing her body from the head down to her toes, Aela was very soon lifting her energies to the higher plane of consciousness.

  Her spirit then began to travel through the atmosphere to the place of everlasting peace and all encompassing love. She heard herself calling out Rom’s name as her spirit soared, ‘Rom, Rom listen to me. We must escape this place as quickly as possible, I do not like Eena and her plans for us. Rom can you hear me? Can you hear me?’

  In the meantime Rom was sitting on the floor of his prison cell thinking very dark thoughts of how he would like to run a sword through Juno’s, Brude’s and even Eena’s bodies. All he wanted to do was to seize the magical Sacred Sword,
take it back to his people and for them to benefit from it in some way.

  Then somewhere in his mind he heard Aela calling his name, he looked around but she was not there in the dark dank gloomy prison cell. Where was she? Then the voice called again for him.

  He replied saying out loud, ‘Aela, Aela where are you? Come to me, come to me.’

  Then a picture came into his mind of Aela sitting in a chair calling his name. ‘I can hear you Rom. We must think of a way to escape from Eena and her warriors. Come to me in your thoughts at sunset.’

  Then it was quiet again and Rom could hear his heart thumping loudly in his chest. But how to escape this prison cell fully occupied Rom’s thoughts as he was sitting on the stone floor with the rest of his body leaning against the wall.

  Soon he heard footsteps stamping along the corridor outside his cell and they abruptly stopped in front of the prison door. There was a scraping noise of a key being inserted in the lock and then turned. The door was flung open and in strode Ardu, resplendent in his bejewelled tunic and sword at his waist.

  ‘Well, we meet again. This time you will not escape or be spirited away by Juno’s men. Come follow me immediately we have much work to do.’

  Rom was pushed roughly by a number of the guards who were determined that this time he would not escape. He soon found himself in a large cavern, where there were several men working at various tasks making and repairing swords, shields and other equipment for war.

  ‘Come here Rom, and choose your sword and other weapons as the lesson must start immediately. We have no time to the waste,’ ordered Ardu.

  Rom picked up a sword and a shield and faced Ardu ready for any further instructions. In his mind Rom decided he would fight as though it was a true life combat and not as if it was a lesson. Ardu, sensing the change of mood in Rom was doubly on his guard. Both men faced each other trying to find an advantage to thrust their sword into the body of the other.