Carra had no challenge seeing the beauty and grandeur of the
Spirit’s presence in this magnificent landscape. At the same time, the splendor of the day
made it nearly impossible for her to comprehend the monstrous threat of the
Valkea’s existence at the roots of the mountains, a presence growing and
spreading like a canker in the darkness.
Somewhere beneath the loveliness of sun, snow, rock and sky was an evil
underworld of staggering dimensions.
From what she had been told, it was a two-hour ride to the
place where Wehgert routinely dropped off his supplies to the horde. He had confessed there was a cave entrance
hidden by an overhang of rock just inside one of the side valleys. The Valkea shielded this entrance from
discovery from prying eyes so even though it wasn’t far from the road, it had
never been seen or its existence even suspected. Carra knew that many of the soldiers assumed
that they would be attacked near or at this place. If that were so, they had but an hour
remaining before they would be attacked.
She felt a heightening of tension in the pit of her stomach,
but wasn’t afraid of the emotion for she was playing a vital role and was proud
of her contribution. When the Valkea
took the offered bait, she would surface, exposing herself and her hellish
horde to the powerful forces of Unaya.
The Valkea would face complete destruction, for Carra had absolute faith
in the King and Queen’s ability to overwhelm their opponent. Then they could turn their attention to the
Valkea’s lair and cleanse the world of the unholy offspring she was producing
and nurturing deep within the bowels of the mountains. She and her dark world would be destroyed and
it would be done in a manner that wouldn’t endanger the King’s life.
Her thoughts lingered on the vision of the nest of monsters
being incubated in the nursery somewhere beneath them. She had listened intently to the report
Leitho and the King had given in the council and had picked up on the horror
and revulsion in their words and demeanors.
They had spoken of King Meldh’s experience with similar inhuman beasts
in his time and she thought of the nightmare reality that these monsters were
here already, here in her time and in her world - in truth just miles away.
Fear and loathing started to inch their way into her
thoughts and unconsciously she stopped repeating the Queen’s chant while she
remembered what the King had said and in her imagination she pictured the
reptilian-like offspring of human mothers.
She shuddered in revulsion at the vision of beasts with human
intelligence, all under the control of the Nameless Ones. They were creatures born of human mothers but
designed to destroy humanity.
Her thoughts drifted to the stories she’d heard about the
altar and the hideous rites of darkness and violence the Valkea had
orchestrated there. If something went
wrong with their plans and if the wild throngs of the enemy overwhelmed her
escort, she might find herself facing the bite of a sacrificial blade and the
ultimate profanity of cannibalism after her death!
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