"What do you mean a black veil?" Tagan was confused and he shifted from foot to foot. They had been squatting for some time now and his legs were getting tired.
"I don't know how to explain it." Braulor shook his head, then looked away and sighed. He had revealed to Tagan what he saw on the river’s edge after they had found Grawton. How a black shade had appeared to slip away from Grawton’s body.
"Maybe it was a shadow playing tricks on your eyes."
Braulor looked at Tagan with one eyebrow raised, unconvinced by his argument. He had been over and over it in his mind and he was certain this was no shadow.
"Well, if a cloud drifted by at the right time or a bird or the shadow of a tree shifted. It may have caught your eye and that is what you saw."
"Your right, I suppose it could have been." Braulor nodded his head but deep down he didn't want to let go of what he saw. He was positive that it wasn't a shadow or anything else for that matter. Something about Grawton wasn't right and one way or another he was going to find out what it was.
"We've been gone a while. We should get to collecting wood for a fire." Tagan looked around, unsure what to make of the information Braulor had shared with him.
They both stood up and hurried about, collecting as much dry wood as they could find until their arms could carry no more and headed back to where they had left Grawton.
"What were you two talking about so much anyway?" Braulor referred to the lengthy discussions that Grawton and Tagan shared.
"So many things. It's tough to remember it all.' Tagan screwed up face trying to think of where to start.
"Did you find anything out about him?"
"Like what?"
"Like maybe a little more information about where he is from or how he got to be over here on this side of the mountains."
"You know, I asked but now that I think of it, he never really answered. He would always kind of turn the questions around so I was doing the talking."
"He did?"
"Yeah, like I tried to ask him if he had any family back home but I ended up telling him about my family."
"What exactly did you tell him?" Braulor knit his brows. This was getting his interest in Grawton piqued once more.
"Well, he was interested in my mom and dad.” Tagan stumbled over the words, remembering Kenok was Braulor’s dad too. “He enjoyed our escape from the Citadel. He asked me many questions about the Citadel and the ruler and how all the laws work."
Braulor looked at Tagan with a look parents reserve for their children when they don’t listen but pushed aside his desire to point out how suspicious it all sounded. Tagan didn't bite on his ideas about Grawton earlier so no point in trying to sell it anymore.
When Tagan mentioned his dad, Braulor realized that in this whole mess he hadn't had the time to find out more about him. He and Tagan had shared a few brief discussions about his parents but up to now, they had been so busy running and trying to stay alive, the idea his father was not who he thought and was still alive didn't have time to register. It felt like ice had dropped in his stomach.
"Tagan, we haven't talked about dad. Can you tell me…" Braulor glanced over at Tagan and his voice trailed off.
Tagan had stopped walking and was staring ahead with a confused look on his face.
Braulor followed the path of Tagan’s gaze and spotted the same thing. Grawton was lying in the clearing where they had left him, on his back, facing up toward the sky. But something was wrong. Grawton's skin was a mottled grey color and he wasn’t moving.
Braulor dropped the wood he was carrying and ran toward Grawton. He heard Tagan's wood land on the ground with a thud behind him as Tagan followed suit and they both fell to their knees at Grawton's side.
Tagan was aghast as he looked at Grawton’s still form and began shaking his shoulders and calling his name.
Braulor looked Grawton’s body up and down for any sign of attack. An arrow, a sword slash, a stab wound but there was no blood anywhere. He switched his gaze to the nearby woods, wondering if there was someone hiding in there, getting poisoned darts ready for himself and Tagan. He couldn't see anything overt. Braulor looked at Grawton's face once more and gasped. He did recognize Grawton. Only it wasn't Grawton, it was Draax's face he could see; as plain as day. Draax. He hadn't seen Draax for a long time but he never forgot a face. He had been right along and this time there was no shadow to obscure anything. No quick flip from one thing to another. Whoever Grawton was, this wasn't him.
"Tagan, look at his face." Braulor felt vindication.
Tagan stopped shaking the body and looked into its face. The eyes flicked open but were black and vacant. Tagan's lips peeled back in horror as he realized this wasn't Grawton and let go of the shoulders. The body flopped back to the ground with a smack and lay still.
"Get some rope." Braulor grabbed Grawton’s arms, pinning him to the ground.
Tagan snapped out of his shock and ran to his pack. He yanked everything out piece by piece looking for his rope, tossing aside anything that wasn’t. His rope was at the bottom. He grabbed it and ran, his pack flipping in the air as he sprang away. With rope in hand, he scurried back to Braulor who was still the holding Grawton’s arms.
"Tie the legs first."
Tagan grabbed both legs and started to wind the rope around each ankle and finished it off with a slick knot that tightens the more you pulled on it.
"Ok, his hands now."
Grawton’s body started to quiver, a slight tremor at first that was building in intensity.
Braulor and Tagan both stopped and stared.
"Hurry. There isn’t much time." Braulor screamed.
Tagan pulled the rope to where Braulor held Grawton's hands and started to wind it around the wrists.
The body was convulsing now, almost bucking them off like a Brahma bull. The legs were kicking as it tried to sit up.
Tagan worked as fast as he could and produced the same knot as he had for the feet and then he and Braulor fell back and watched in terror.
Grawton's body was flailing around, bouncing up and down from the ground, but the knots Tagan made held tight and then Grawton went still.
Tagan looked at Braulor with eyes like saucers.
Braulor only shook his head and looked back at Grawton.
Grawton sat straight up and his head panned from Braulor to Tagan and back again. "You got these on in nick of time I would say." He lifted his arms in reference to the rope now binding his wrists. His voice was deep and raw. It seemed like it wasn't even coming from his mouth but echoing from some unseen depth.
Once again Grawton flailed and wrenched on the ropes. His muscles were flexing and pulling hard and he groaned a horrible sound as he strained. With a nauseating crack one leg broke at the shin but the rope didn't slacken. Grawton seemed unaffected by this development and his face bore a curious look. He glanced down at the floppy foot dangling from the end of his leg with a childlike smile on his face and then frowned. He wiggled his leg making the foot loll around in a sickening motion.
Tagan felt like he was going to throw up.
Braulor drew his sword and inched farther away.
"No matter. I wasn't going to need this body much longer anyway." Grawton shrugged.
"Who are you?" Braulor was determined to have his answers.
"My true name is unspeakable in your language. But you may know me as Karuuk’ul, the shadow keeper."
Braulor didn't recognize the name. "What did you do with Draax?"
Grawton laughed; a low chuckle that was filled with mirth as if he were remembering something with great fondness. "You needn't worry about him Braulor. Draax is right where he deserves to be; serving penance for all the fun he had with this body. Pity I wasn't around to help him. We could have ruled this realm he and I."
Now it made sense to Braulor. The shadow keeper was an old legend that referred to the one who presided over those souls that committed evil deeds during their lives. He had heard the tales but n
ever took them seriously. He never had need to. Braulor had seen many men die and never had they done anything more than drop where they were. Their bodies left looking like a marionette whose strings had been cut; crumpled and withered as if the master had removed his hand from the puppet. For that reason he had never feared dying; the finality that came with it and all your worries and concerns with it. "How did you get here?"
"That is a story we don't have time for right now my dear boy. Our paths will cross again soon enough but I would like to leave you both with a little souvenir, something for you to remember me by.” Then he closed his eyes and lay back flat on the ground. He didn't fight or tug at the ropes; he lay there, still as any other piece of ground. But you could feel energy building. Tagan and Braulor didn’t know what it was but it was emanating from his body and pulsated like a heartbeat. Faster and faster it went. A scream escaped his lips and Grawton's body exploded outward, cracking right down the middle from chin to groin, spewing heart, lungs and intestines in a gruesome pattern around the body. A black form shot out from the chest cavity at the same time and hovered in the air above Draax’s destroyed body, red eyes twinkling in the daylight. It looked at both of them. "Yes, we will meet again soon enough." And it disappeared into itself, shrinking down to a tiny dot and was gone.
Chapter 25