Chapter 22
Visit to Gatong
The four elves huddled in the small cave near the mine where Eltor was rescued. MistyTrail cast another healing spell on Caldal, and he opened his eyes and stared into MistyTrail’s face.
“Who are you?” Caldal asked with apprehension.
Eltor slid swiftly across the floor of the tiny cave until he was at Caldal’s side.
“She is a friend,” smiled Eltor as he reached out and grasped Caldal’s hand. “Her name is MistyTrail. We were afraid that you would not recover.”
“I have no right to recover,” groaned Caldal as he struggled to sit up. “How did you get me out of the Chamber of Horrors?”
“I assume that is what you call the place where you were held captive?” interjected Mistake as she moved closer to the wounded elf. “I am Mistake. The three of us snuck into the temple and rescued you.”
“I must be still dreaming,” Caldal said as he closed his eyes and reopened them. “Nobody returns from the Chamber of Horrors.”
“You are not nobody,” grinned Eltor. “I told Mistake and MistyTrail that I would not leave this island without you. They promised to rescue you, and here we are.”
“Just where are we?” asked Caldal as he tried to peer further into the darkness.
“We are in a small cave,” answered MistyTrail as she cast another healing spell. “It connects to a mine. That is how we found Eltor. We rescued him from the mine.”
“This makes no sense to me,” frowned Caldal. “How can you go around rescuing elves? Why are you not in the mines or the temple? How is it that you are free?”
“They are not from this island,” explained Eltor. “I know this is confusing to you as it was to me, but I will explain. Their ship crashed off the coast of the island. Somehow they managed to get ashore without being detected. They hid in this cave and accidentally discovered the mine that connects to it. When they saw me, they decided to rescue me. I demanded to rescue you before we fled this island.”
“Flee?” croaked Caldal. “We tried that once already. I will not dare it again. I will never return to the Chamber of Horrors. I would rather die in this cave.”
“That is the gratitude we get for risking our lives?” scowled Mistake. “We rescued you, and we are taking you away from here. I will not hear any more about this Chamber of Horrors. It didn’t seem like anything more than a prison to me.”
“A prison?” retorted Caldal. “You could not be further from the truth. You have no idea what goes on in that room.”
“Tell us,” MistyTrail said soothingly. “It would be good to get it out of your system. There is nothing worse than harboring your fears deep inside you. Tell us all about it.”
Mistake frowned, but Eltor nodded encouragingly. Caldal swallowed hard and nodded almost imperceptibly.
“I do not know if I can adequately describe what causes the fear,” Caldal said softly. “It was not any one thing, but a combination of things that tore your soul from its body. They did things in that room that are hideous and evil, things that man was never meant to witness, but we could not turn away from them.”
“What do you mean you could not turn away?” interrupted Eltor. “Surely you could have closed your eyes or turned away?”
“We could not,” Caldal shook his head. “By whatever magic they used, each of us was forced to watch. Our eyelids would not close, and our heads would not turn away.”
“What were you forced to watch?” MistyTrail prompted when Caldal’s eyes shut tightly and he stopped talking.
“They sacrifice people there,” Caldal replied after a moment of hesitation. “They do not just kill them. They devour them alive.”
“Alive?” gasped Mistake. “You can’t be serious.”
“I wish it were not true,” Caldal replied as tears welled up in his eyes. “I saw them eating a man’s heart. It was still in his chest and beating. When they bit into it, the blood spouted into the air. It was…”
Caldal shut his eyes again and began sobbing.
“Maybe this is not such a good idea,” Eltor said softly to MistyTrail. “It is bad enough to have endured such things, but to be forced to retell them is to relive them.”
“It will help him in the long run,” MistyTrail replied as she wrapped one arm around Caldal in a soothing fashion. “You will never have to return there,” she said to Caldal. “I will pledge my life on it. Get it out of your system.”
Caldal nodded slowly and opened his eyes. He smiled weakly at MistyTrail.
“There were other things that I did not understand,” Caldal continued unsteadily. “They summoned demons. They were hideous beasts, all black and foul smelling. They would bite into a victim’s throat and drink his blood. We could hear the cries of the victim grow fainter as his lifeblood drained away.”
“I apologize,” Mistake said softly. “I had no idea what you were forced to endure. I am sorry.”
“Perhaps the worst,” Caldal continued as if he was afraid he would never finish if he stopped talking, “were the kruls. They were allowed to fight over a chosen victim, perhaps merely for the entertainment value. Maybe as a treat for some good behavior. I just don’t know. The victims were literally torn apart limb from limb as the kruls squabbled for ownership. Sometimes the victims remained alive for half an hour as they tore him apart.”
“Enough,” Eltor said with authority. “I do not wish to hear more. This talk will only demoralize us further. Our time is better spent planning what is to come.”
“I agree,” added Mistake. “There will be time later to cleanse Caldal of the demons that haunt him. We must continue to heal him so he is strong for the journey home.”
Caldal turned and stared into Eltor’s eyes. “I am never going back there,” he said with determination. “Take the girls and flee if you wish, but leave me with a knife. I would rather die than return to the Chamber of Horrors.”
“I doubt that we can flee this island,” Eltor responded. “While the garlic did put the kruls off our scent, the mountains are crawling with soldiers now. We dare not show our faces outside this cave.”
“They will not search forever,” interjected Mistake. “We will wait them out until it is safe to travel. We have plenty of food here. Sooner or later they will give up the search.”
“Do not be so sure of that,” warned Eltor. “Every search that I have heard of ended with a capture or death. These people do not give up.”
“Neither do we,” MistyTrail said adamantly. “We will leave this island, and we will all leave together.”
“And where will you get a boat?” retorted Eltor. “Do not rule our lives with impossible dreams. Trying to escape is what got Caldal sent to Chamber of Horrors in the first place. Do not tease us with the unobtainable hope of our homeland.”
“Nothing is impossible,” countered Mistake. “We will get the boat from the same place that we stole the uniforms.”
“Where did you get the uniforms?” Eltor asked with curiosity.
“There is a lone house along the beach,” explained MistyTrail. “It is just past the edge of the jungle. I think it is a lookout for stray vessels. They have a boat that is larger than the one Mistake and I lost off the coast.”
“There are only four guards stationed there,” added Mistake. “I am sure that we can surprise them.”
“But what about the sails?” Caldal asked as he sat up with interest. “Surely, the stolen ship will be spotted by other lookouts? They will pursue us with a vengeance.”
“I haven’t worked that out yet,” admitted Mistake. “If it were not for the reefs offshore, I would suggest leaving at night. That would cover us until we were far from the island, but those reefs would destroy our boat before we got started.”
“We shall ask Kaltara for help,” shrugged MistyTrail. “He has not let us down yet.”
“I still find it strange every time you mention the elven god,” commented Eltor.
“Why is that strange?” asked Caldal. “Kaltara watches over every elf.”