Far Horizons: Tales of Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror. Issue #14 May 2015 | Page 65

the chains but would they kill her before he had the
chance to stop them?
As they finally removed her chains and Damitri considered making his move, the shadow in the centre
of the chamber seemed to shift as it took the form of
a single figure; a figure whose two swords rang out
in unison, cutting the guards heads from their shoulders; a figure that both Damitri and Selina recognised.
“Davaldion?”
“Listen to me carefully,” Davaldion whispered, “they
are waiting for her and more will come looking for her
soon.” When Damitri went to object Davaldion waved
him down. “You have no reason to believe me as mere
hours ago I would have seen you all dead,” he quickly
turned to Selina, “but you did something to me that removed his hold over me, for when I awoke I had this.”
Slowly Davaldion produced the small crystal from his
pocket.
“It can’t be,” Damitri said, a look of awe upon his
face, “a soul stone; no one has seen one of these for
over a hundred years.”
“Indeed,” Davaldion replied, turning back to Damitri,
“and he will know it’s gone, which is why we must
get you out of here now.”
“And how do you expect us to trust you, regardless of
what you say?”
Davaldion paused for a moment. “Look at it this way,
you have two options: wait here and die because they
will come back for her, or take a chance that I am
telling the truth and at least have a fighting chance of
getting out of here,” his tone now carrying a greater
sense of urgency.
“Then I guess we have no choice other than to trust
you,” came Damitri’s dejected reply.
“No, I guess you don’t,” Davaldion responded as he
cut Damitri’s chains and handed him his sword belt.
“You will need this; I’m not expecting this to be a
walk in the woods.”

Davaldion turned to help to Selina to her feet and as
she shifted away from him, he said “I know why you
fear me and there is little I can do to change what
I did to you, but I can use whatever time I have to
make amends for what I have done.” He knelt down
before her and showed her the burns on his hands.
“The world makes a point of offering second chances
sparingly and I do not intend to waste mine, therefore
I swear you will see the light of day before this day
is through.” It was with these words that Davaldion
showed her the crystal and, as he did so it glowed with
a perfect bright light. “Even the gods cannot make a
soul stone lie,” he whispered as he offered his hand.
“Please M’lady, we need to go.” Selina glanced at
Damitri who nodded and she slowly took his hand.
“This way and keep close, they have all been drawn
for the sacrificial meeting so for the most part the tunnels should be clear.”
“Where are we?” Damitri asked.
“Deep below the forest,” Davaldion replied without
looking.
“Does the hive spread this far?”
“You would be surprised what festers beneath the
world,” came Davaldions response.
With the guidance of Davaldion they were able to
quickly move into an outer tunnel where they found
themselves moving away from the main concentration
of chambers and Damitri began to feel a little more
comfortable, even if he still didn’t trust their benefactor.
“Wait here a moment,” Davaldion said suddenly, “I
need to slow them down.” He quickly drew one of
his swords and cut a support holding a segment of the
ceiling in place causing it to collapse, blocking the
tunnel behind them.
“How much longer?” Damitri questioned.
“An hour if we’re lucky, it depends on how long it will
take for them to get through this,” came the reply.

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