Chapter 16

The ride to the mountain top took several hours and they didn't stop for a break in all that time. By the time they reached the mountain top Sampson's back and buttocks hurt so much that he felt like he was numb from the waist down. They had travelled first and the King and Queen travelled separately in their own carriage. Only a quarter of the knights had stayed behind to protect Toombak whilst the rest had accompanied the King and Queen.

Linshanth and Sampson were alone whilst they waited for the King and Queen and in that time for most of it they remained quiet. Sampson had been clutching onto his growling stomach. He had only missed breakfast but they had been travelling for hours and without food he felt nauseous and like he could barely stand.

He went to sit on the ground the moment they made it to the top of the mountain. He was almost on the ground when his forearm was grabbed and he was yanked to his feet. "What are you doing?". "Sitting down". "Have you not sat down enough on your horse? The ground is dirty, you will ruin your outfit".

"It's only a bit of mud", Sampson retorted. "Have you forgotten the status of the people who are coming to see you today", Linshanth growled. Sampson tugged his arm out of Linshanth's grip and went to lean against a tree instead. The army of souls were far down at the bottom of the hill. He couldn't hear them or see them but he could feel as if they were connected in some way. The closer he neared the bottom of the hill, the more he could their frustration from having lived without a leader for so long. It gave him a strange sense of pity towards them.

"Come away from the edge. We're not to go down the bottom of the hill until my parents arrive", Linshanth muttered. Sampson slowly moved away from the edge. The further he got the more he felt like the connection was severed and he felt pain running through his chest. He blamed it on the lack of food and went to stand next to the tree again.

"How long until they get here?". "They left not long after we did", Linshanth answered. They had been riding their horses whereas the carriage was slow moving, like dragging cattle into a pen that didn't want to go in. Sampson worried they wouldn't get there until nightfall.

"Shouldn't I at least practise before they come?", Sampson asked. He wanted to go down and see the souls without anyone watching him. "No". "But…". "I said no Sampson", Linshanth muttered. He barely spared him a glance before he started sharpening his sword. "What are you doing?".

"I'm going to catch something for us to eat whilst we're waiting. Stay here". The Prince stepped away, moving himself into the woods whilst Sampson waited by the tree. He waited for a couple of minutes before the sound of silence started to bore him. He creeped towards the edge of the hill once more and felt that same connection.

It was as if the souls were calling out to him, waiting for him to come and join them. He promised himself he was only going to take a quick look and come straight back before Linshanth realised he was gone. He dreaded the consequence he might face if Linshanth were to find out he disobeyed a direct order again.

He traipsed down the hill, being careful of where he stepped. The hill looked like it was on the brink of collapse, with the rubble that accumulated at the bottom Sampson guessed there had been a landslide there recently. He checked behind him now and then to make sure the Prince wasn't following him. He worried his act to get food had been a trick just to see if Sampson stayed put like he told him to. They had already made a pact, he would never think to break it if the pull from the souls wasn't as strong as it was.

It was as he neared the bottom did he get his first glimpse of them. They were walking towards the end of the forest but they had far to go. They were slow moving like they had been in the castle, dragging their weapons now they had no one to attack. He couldn't see their faces because their backs were turned to him. He wanted to call out to them but he restrained himself, keeping behind a large boulder that stood at the bottom of the mountain and watching them from behind it.

There was no particular order to how they grouped together, only that there was one soul at the front who looked like their leader. Every now and then he gargled and the souls responded with low groans and harsh sounds. From everything he knew about the souls he had never known they could communicate until that day in the grand hall.

He had got his glimpse of the souls and he should have turned back. He would have had it not been for the loud screech the soul at the front suddenly made. All the other souls stopped and slowly turned their bodies around. Their faces were as ghastly as he remembered but seeing them in the light of the day they looked worse. The flesh of their skin was grey and sunken. It hung off their bones making them look nothing more than walking skeletons.

Sampson shuddered as they neared where he was hiding. But it wasn't from fear, even with their haunting expressions he still wasn't afraid of them. He had that same feeling as he did before like he could feel they meant him no harm.

He started to realise the closer they got that they were coming towards him. He stepped out from where he was hiding, facing the souls. They surrounded him just as they did before and every head bowed before him. They straightened after a while but they didn't move, not even their clothes swayed in the heavy wind.

"What do I have to do to stop you?", he asked. All he needed to do was destroy the souls and then he could leave in peace like he had always wanted. As he expected he received no answer, not even a gargled grunt was let out by any of them.

"Okay, tell me how you were created?". If he knew how the souls were made, he would know the way to stop them. The leader of the souls, the one that had attacked Minnie slowly made his way to the front. He wore different clothes to the rest of them, where they all adorned grey robes, he wore black.

The soul gargled to him like it was trying to speak to him but Sampson couldn't understand. They had responded when he told them to leave Toombak but that had been a basic command that required no communication. Knowing this he changed tactics.

"Were you created by the Vahda tribe?". The soul moved it's head, up and down slowly. Every time it lifted it's head it exposed it's neck. It was a truly harrowing sight given the flesh had rotted away leaving only brittle bone. "I take that as a yes", he murmured. "What happened to the Vahda tribe? Why were they killed?". He didn't expect the soul to answer but it screeched again so loud it made his ears bleed. He bent down and clamped his hand around his ears until he stopped.

He faced the soul once more when it did. The soul had extended it right hand between them, it was missing three fingers and the other two were half rotted away with a flap of flesh covering his thumb. The soul kept his hand straight whilst Sampson waited for it to do something but his hand barely wavered.

It was as if the soul wanted Sampson to take his hand. Sampson gingerly reached his hand out to touch the soul. Their fingers merely brushed and he felt shooting pain run through his arms, running straight to his head. He could see visions of masked men dressed in all black and screams of pain. He saw fire and blood splattered with the sound of swords clashing.

The man in black cloaks were rounding up the village people and killing them one by one, slaughtering them whilst they begged for forgiveness. The vision slowly faded and when Sampson came to, he saw the soul had wrapped its hand around him. It clung on violently, even as Sampson tried to tug himself out of it's grip, it held on. That pain that he felt running through his head made it's way into his body. His stomach lurched and he coughed out blood that was as black as the night sky.

The soul was trying to kill him yet he could feel no violent intent, almost as if it wasn't trying to do anything at all. His legs weakened suddenly but before he fell to the ground a strong arm wrapped around his waist. He only had to smell that familiar jasmine scent to know he was in trouble.

Linshanth pulled his arm away from the soul and before it could react, he pulled Sampson up by his waist and flung his body over his shoulder. He ran back up the mountain, only putting Sampson down until they were at the top. "Are you so intent on not listening to a word I say that you would have yourself killed?", he growled, his eyes were dark shades of brown.

Sampson rubbed at his mouth that was still dribbling blood. He had felt bad before he had gone down to see the souls and now he felt utterly miserable. "Lucky for you my parents won't be coming till tomorrow". "Tomorrow?", Sampson murmured, resting his head back against the tree. "It's not safe to travel at night. They'll be here first thing tomorrow". Sampson roughly nodded but all he could think about was the soul.

He hadn't been trying to kill him, he knew that but it had been trying to do something. When it had gripped onto him, he felt like it was trying to channel dark energy into him. "Linshanth when I touched the soul".

"You are never to touch a soul again, do you hear me?", he fiercely barked before Sampson could finish his sentence. "Why not? What happens if I do?". Linshanth looked away but it was clear on his face that there was something he was hiding. "What happens if I do?", Sampson asked again. "Nothing happens. But you shouldn't get too close to them".

Fine, I'll find out for myself". Sampson stood. There was a reason why he told Sampson not to touch the soul and he wasn't going to stop until he found out the reason. He made it three steps before something hard clamped over his wrist. He looked down to see the Prince had fashioned the Poraine string around both their wrists, binding them both together. The Poraine string was fashioned by magic, it meant it couldn't be severed without a spell.

"Remove the string", Sampson snapped. There was no use in trying to tug their tightly bound wrists away from each other but Sampson still tried. "You shouldn't struggle, you've put your body under enough strain". It was true, Sampson felt light headed the longer he struggled. In the end he slumped his body down on the floor where the Prince had lain out blankets.

Linshanth sat down next to him, Sampson turned his head away from him, blowing out ragged breaths of annoyance. He wanted Linshanth to know how he felt without having to tell him. "Are you a mule? Why are you breathing so loud?", Linshanth taunted. Sampson ignored him, crossing his one arm that wasn't bound to the Prince over his chest.

The longer he stayed sat the worse he felt. Even the knots in his back started to wreak havoc and make his stomach churn. "I couldn't catch anything, we'll have to wait to eat when my family arrives". Sampson's mood only darkened at hearing this.

"We should move. If the souls know you are here they'll be coming for you". "They're slow, they won't make it up here until the morning", Sampson spoke. It was for his own benefit, he couldn't move right now and he didn't think Linshanth would only think he was making it up if he told him that. Sampson could only pretend he didn't feel the way he did.

"Even so, it is better we go". "Then you go and I'll stay here", Sampson muttered. He was hoping his refusal would cause Linshanth to remove the string that bound them together and stopped Sampson from escaping but he did nothing of the sort. He reached down and in one movement threw Sampson over his shoulder just as he did before.

"Linshanth", Sampson shrieked but Linshanth paid him not attention. He carried Sampson deep into the woods before setting him down on his feet. "I am not a child. You do not need to carry me", Sampson spat. He was actually grateful Linshanth had taken him because he felt too nauseous to stand, it was just horribly embarrassing. If anyone were to have seen them they would have thought Sampson had become so big headed that he even had the Prince carting him about.

"Are you sure you're not a child? Because you're acting just like one to me", Linshanth spoke, his tone and his expression were deadly serious". "Linshanth you…". He never got to finish his sentence when a shooting pain ran through his back. He flopped down on the ground, utterly exhausted. "What is wrong with you now?", Linshanth murmured. "Nothing. I'm tired that's all".

"Get up, we need to collect firewood". "It's hot already, we don't need to start a fire". "It will be colder at night". Linshanth brought his wrist up so Sampson had no choice but to scramble to his feet.

Linshanth began walking in a stride instantly, he was only slightly taller than Sampson but he took bigger steps and so Sampson was half running to keep up with him. "Linshanth slow down. You're going too fast".

"It is you that is going to slow", he barked in response barely sparing him a glance before quickening his pace once more. Sampson was running so fast to keep up with him he took no notice of where he was stepping. He felt water running into his shoes and mud coating his legs.

Linshanth finally came to a stop by a tree that grew thick branches. Most of them were on a higher level and they would have to climb to get too. "What are you waiting for? Start climbing", he ordered. Sampson looked up at the tree sceptically. The sun had started to set causing the sky to darken and so the tree looked nothing more than a massive shadow looming over him.

"It doesn't look safe. Why don't you climb up and I'll stay here?". "So you can run back to the souls". Prince had forcefully ripped his hand away from the soul he had completely forgotten about the vision he had, had before Linshanth arrived. "I saw something when it touched me". "What did you see?". There was wariness in his tone that Sampson couldn't help but detect but he ignored as he continued.

"I think I saw the Vahda tribe being slaughtered". There was no mistaking the screams and the gruesome sounds of the tribe being tortured. "It was like I was there, actually there. I could feel my heart beating so fast", Sampson recalled, his hand slowly travelled up to reach his chest where he laid his palm flat against his heart. He had been terrified but he made no sound, it was almost like his lips were glued shut preventing him from doing so.

"If I can touch the soul again, I can find out what really happened to the tribe". "We know what happened. The chief got greedy and had the souls kill the tribes people. My father killed him on the battlefield when he declared war against Toombak". Sampson knew the story well but in his vision the people weren't being killed by souls but by men dressed in large black cloaks, concealing their identity from him.

"I don't think it was the army of souls that killed them". "Then who did?". "There were people in black cloaks. It didn't look like the souls". "Then what you saw was false". "How do you know it was the souls that killed them. It wasn't like anyone was actually there", Sampson argued. The vision had been so real, there was no way it couldn't be the true, unless the soul was trying to trick him but for what reason.

"Forget it Sampson. You are looking for answers in the wrong places". "I asked the soul to tell me what happened to the Vahda tribe and it showed me that vision". "Souls can't think for themselves. They are mindless slaves who only obey the Vahda tribe. They would slaughter their own people if commanded to and they did. Do not go delving into things you have no business in". The clear warning for Linshanth made Sampson think there was something he was trying to hide.

Sampson kept his mouth shut for now. He would find out what it was Linshanth was trying to hide from him and the best place to start would be those books about the tribe that were hidden away. Linshanth hadn't wanted to show him and Sampson was starting to figure out why.

"You will climb the tree and I will catch the branches", Linshanth muttered abruptly changing topic. "Why do I have to climb the tree? I can catch the branches". "You can run again whilst I am in the tree and besides these branches look heavy. It would be better if I caught them". Sampson would have argued but he knew Linshanth well enough now to know he would only be wasting his breath.

"You have to remove the string first", Sampson muttered, holding up their bound wrists. Linshanth whispered an incantation under his breath and the string broke, dropping down to the floor. He was quick to pick it up and place it in the pocket of his robes.

Sampson stared up at the tree once more before he decided to start climbing. He had climbed lots of trees in his lifetime, at times he had used their high branches as a way to stay hidden, away from the knights that would slit his throat if given half the chance. With how he felt his movements were slow and cautious and the irritated sigh from Linshanth wasn't doing anything to help.

"Must you be so slow. I want to start a fire before nightfall". "If you have such a problem you should have climbed up here yourself", Sampson snapped back down at him. When he got up as far as he could he stopped. He tore small branches from the trunk and dropped them down for Linshanth to catch.

"I have enough you can come down", Linshanth muttered after some time. At hearing his words Sampson looked down at him where he suddenly realised just how high above the ground he was. The Prince looked like he was miles away from him, carrying an armful of tree branches and a stern expression. Sampson began to feel terribly sick again.

"What are you waiting for? Don't think I won't come up there". Sampson's head felt fuzzy and his vision was starting to blur. He should have told Linshanth that Master Duncan had eaten all of his food and he was starting to regret not doing so. "Sampson". He didn't hear the rest of what Linshanth said because he had already lost consciousness and his body began to sway with the wind. It only took one strong gust for his body to fall from the branch, with nothing to stop him from falling to the bottom.