by Eve Langlais
May they be gathered in the Goddess’s embrace.
Hiix stood on the edge of the precipice, illuminated by her amulet of light.
As Agathe moved to stand beside her, she glanced down into the tunneling hole. “I take it that’s where it went?”
“Yeah. I was in time to see the monster drag her into a cave partway down. They haven’t moved since. You can see the slight glow of the girl’s amulet.” Hiix pointed.
Indeed, a faint illumination appeared on the other side of the chasm.
“I’ll circle around and see if I can climb down.”
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”
“I’ll be careful.” She couldn’t do nothing. Not if the girl might still be alive.
Bang. Bang. The soldiers hammered at the door. So much for keeping quiet.
As she edged around the pit, she noticed the dark smears on the stone floor. As if something had been dragged to the edge. No bodies to be seen. It made her wonder if this hole had always existed under the Abbae and had suddenly given in to pressure or if something had dug its way in. The latter seemed most likely after what’d happened with the bugs in their own Abbae.
As she neared the other side, Hiix yelled, “There. Right below you.”
All the noise hadn’t drawn any monsters yet, and Agathe hadn’t decided if that was good or bad. On the one hand, she preferred not having to deal with a horde as she climbed down the rock. Then again, silence didn’t bode well. Perhaps the monsters were waiting for the right moment.
Sigh. The things she did for her Soraers, even the annoying ones.
She shone her light downward and barely spotted the cave. She did, however, catch a glimpse of a ledge in front of it. Wide enough for her to stand. It made a good spot to aim for. She sat on the rim and dangled her legs.
“What are you doing?” Hiix asked.
“Climbing will take too long.”
“Don’t you dare!”
But she did dare. Agathe dangled as far as she could before letting go and dropping, praying the impact of her landing wouldn’t shear the rock clean.
Her feet hit with a jarring thump that had her reeling almost far enough backwards into the open space. Panic fluttered. Leaning forward, she grasped a knobby protrusion.
“I can’t look. Please tell me you’re alive,” Hiix whispered.
“As if there was any doubt.” The stone still shone where it dangled between her breasts. No monster eyes glinted in anticipation. While it didn’t appear in plain sight, she smelled it.
Rancid, moist. Why did monsters have to reek? Even their meat was putrid. A pity because, with their kills, they could have eaten their fill and had some left over.
Agathe pulled out her dagger. “I’m going in. Can you see if the soldiers have any rope?”
“On it,” Hiix promised. “Don’t die.”
“I’ll try,” she muttered. Two paces into the cave showed it taller than expected. Belle lay unconscious on the ground. Alive, according to the rise and fall of her chest.
What of the monster? The light of her stone showed the cave empty of anything but bones—human ones—and scraps of fabric.
Barely a whisper of sound to warn her, and yet enough. Agathe whirled and immediately ducked in time to see the jabbing lance-like leg going through the air where she had stood.
Armed with her dagger, she sliced through the appendage, shoving herself sideways before the ichor could drip on her face. Sometimes, monster blood burned.
The creature uttered a sound to shatter ears, and Agathe grimaced against it. The enclosed space made it louder and more unpleasant than usual. She slashed at the monster as it once more tried to jab her with a needle-like leg. Given it oozed, she imagined it exuded some kind of poison or sedative.
Hacking at it eventually left the creature without a leg to stand on, quite literally. She kicked its twitching body into the hole that went down, and down some more, far enough she didn’t hear it hit bottom.
She glanced around with her solarus stone to see if anything else lurked. Out the hole, up, down, side to side. Nothing but rock. Returning to the girl, she knelt and listened to the heart. It beat steadily. Her breathing didn’t labor. A hand on her forehead showed no clamminess to the skin. Hopefully, just sedated and not poisoned. Agathe dragged Belle to the cave’s mouth as someone bellowed.
“Belle!” Maric hollered the girl’s name.
Agathe peered out and up and saw Maric kneeling on the edge of the crack, his armor glowing silver and outlining him.
“How did you get here so fast?”
“Baer doesn’t carry that mace just for bashing skulls, you know. Stay still. I’ll climb down and grab the girl.” Of course, he would be worried about Belle with her purple eyes.
“Don’t be dense. It would be quicker if you tossed me some rope. Hold on to one end, and I’ll tie her securely so you can draw her up.”
“Shit, I forgot the rope. Give me a moment.”
It was only seconds before she saw his outline moving around the hole until he stood directly overhead. The rope dangled down, loose enough that she could harness it around the girl. Once done, she gave the rope a tug.
“She’s good to go,” she announced.
“Ease her gently off the edge so she doesn’t swing too hard.”
Even going slowly, Belle bumped into the wall a few times. Good thing she was still sleeping. Rather than wait her turn, Agathe edged out of the cavern.
“What are you doing?”
“Climbing.”
“Stay in that cave. I will be done in a moment and return for you.” Maric grunted as he strained.
Wait? No, thanks. Agathe looked for hand and footholds to climb. She suddenly didn’t want to be here any longer than necessary. All the noise, and a falling dead monster, was sure to draw the wrong kind of attention.
Maric hauled quickly and soon had Belle on the edge. “I’m untying the girl. I’ll toss down the rope.”
“Get her out of here. I’m almost there.” Or she would have been if the rock wall didn’t suddenly turn sheer. She had to go sideways.
“Would you stop moving? I’m just about done with your knots,” he grumbled.
“Guess we’ll see who’s faster,” she teased, finding a better section to climb. The echo of falling pebbles didn’t come from her climbing but below. Her sense of unease exploded. “You might want to hurry.” Forget pride. She couldn’t climb and fight at the same time.
“Just about there.”
Too late. The spike-tipped appendage came shooting from nowhere, narrowly missing her calf.
“Damn.” She did her best to half turn and hold on with one hand.
“What is it? Fuck.” Maric muttered an expletive as he noticed her dilemma.
Agathe had no time to spare him a look as she tried to avoid the jabbing monster. If it sedated her and she fell asleep, she’d fall and die.
“Hold on.”
“What do you think I’m doing?” She shifted so her back was flat and her feet braced. A good thing, as she needed both hands to grab the stabbing leg and hold it away from her. It left her vulnerable to the next one that punched. As the tip entered her thigh, she gasped. “I’m hit.”
And so tired. She felt her muscles turning soft. Limp. She blinked as a body dropped into view, kicked the monster, and grabbed her before she lost consciousness.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Agathe woke to jostling because the person carrying her had a rolling gait, a massive shoulder jammed into her gut. Yet the stench fully roused her, not the movement. A man in need of a bath and clean furs. Could only be Baer.
Despite the ache in her leg and her fuzzy head, she struggled. “Put me down.”
The giant placed Agathe on her feet with a grin. “Have a good nap?”
“How long was I out?”
“Two days.”
Two. Days.
She put a hand to her leg, felt the bandage under her pants and the ache of a he
aling wound. “How bad is it?”
“You will live.”
Not an answer, so she took a gingerly step. Then another.
Which was when Hiix and Venna noticed her up and about.
“What are you doing walking?” Hiix admonished.
Venna squealed. “Your wound. You’ll reopen it.”
“I’m fine,” Agathe grumbled, bending the leg to test it. Baer stepped off to the side and pretended he needed a drink.
“Fine?” Hiix yelped. “We thought you were going to die.”
She used Baer’s words. “I had a good nap. Apparently, I needed it.”
Hiix reached out to cuff her, and slow from her ordeal, it caught Agathe on the shoulder. “You idiot!”
“Hey. That’s abuse.”
“That’s for giving me a fright.”
“Sorry.” She really was. “Can we talk about what happened while I was sleeping?” And why the general knight had yet to notice that she was awake? She saw him up ahead, his stride steady, even though he appeared to be carrying someone.
Someone that wasn’t Agathe.
“What’s the last thing you remember?” Venna asked.
“Thinking I was going to fall because that monster stabbed me in the leg.” She rubbed the spot. It ached, but not as much as she expected. Maybe it hadn’t pierced her as deeply as she thought.
“You’re only alive ‘cause the general knight saved you. It was a sight to see.” Venna clasped her hands. “He got his man to hammer the door until he made the hole big enough to go in for the rescue.”
“How did he stop me from falling?”
“He jumped off the edge just in time,” Hiix stated.
“No way.” Agathe shook her head even as she kind of remembered it.
“He did. I saw him do it! The man is insane, but brave,” Hiix added. “He saved your life.”
“Because he is a hero,” Baer stated, suddenly choosing to join them. “We should move before they get too far ahead.”
“She shouldn’t be walking,” Hiix declared.
“I’ll carry,” Baer offered.
Agathe waved him off. “I can walk.” To prove it, she took a step. Then another. The stiffness in her body protested the movement. Two days of sleeping had taken strength from her at a time when she could ill afford to lose any. But at least she lived. She wondered about everyone else, though.
She pointed to the receding party. “We seem to be missing quite a few people. Did we suffer casualties?”
“Just you,” Baer replied, which stung.
“What kind of answer is that?” Hiix admonished him. Then she turned to Agathe. “A bunch of the Soraers decided to stay at the Fifth Abbae.”
“We’re already past it?” For some reason, she’d not grasped the fact that they followed a true road and not the cliffside one.
“Yeah. We left it behind at dawn.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t leave me with them,” Agathe grumbled.
“You’re easy to carry,” Baer scoffed.
“Have you been toting me around this entire time?” she asked.
“Nah. Just today.”
Then who had carried her before?
“If there were no casualties, then where’s Belle?” Because while she saw Korra and Neelie, there was no sign of the girl she’d gone to save in the first place.
“Belle is playing the martyr,” Hiix declared.
“Despite not having any holes, she’s not doing as well as you are. Insists Maric needs to carry her.”
“Because she’s hoping he’ll carry her to his bed when we get to town,” Venna impishly declared.
“And he, of course, wouldn’t say no to a young, nubile woman,” Agathe muttered aloud, regretting it immediately.
Especially since slow Baer caught on quickly. “Ye sound jealous.”
“I am not!” Indignation colored the words.
“It’s okay. Happens all the time. Maric’s got a pretty face, and I hear he’s hung almost as good as me.”
Agathe blinked at Baer, but it was Xaav who suddenly appeared from nowhere and cuffed him. “Did no one ever teach you manners? You don’t talk to a Soraer of the Shield like that.”
“How about no woman at all?” Agathe interjected.
Baer shrugged. “In my village, men speak the truth.”
“He’s from the marshes,” Xaav explained as if that were all Agathe needed to know.
At times, she forgot how big the Valley spanned. Living in the cliffs tended to restrict one’s view. And to think, Maric claimed there used to be more places like the Valley. The sheer size of it boggled the mind.
“Better the marshes than the gutters of the city.” Baer didn’t let the insult pass.
Before the fighting could continue, Hiix grabbed Baer by the arm. “The marshes, eh? I have a question for you about some mud.”
Venna sighed. “That woman and her obsession with poultices. I should check on the girls. Are you okay for the moment?” she asked Agathe.
“Fine. If I’m not, then I’ll tell someone.”
Venna snorted. “I highly doubt that. Keep an eye on her.”
“Of course,” Xaav said with all seriousness.
Venna increased her pace to catch up to the group, aided by the downhill momentum. Hiix and Baer strode together, talking animatedly about mud.
“Where are we?” A glance around showed them heading down the rim’s slope, following a wide, if rutted, road. Tufts of grass and weeds grew on either side. Sheep grazed in the distance as the suns edged lower in the sky, making it late afternoon. A few hours until nightfall. Did they have a secure destination?
“We are on the road,” Xaav announced brightly.
“Which road?” Four main ones led from the rim, bisecting the land with little deviation, all leading to one ultimate place.
“Forested Rim.”
Meaning they were on the way to Forest Fort. It was impossible to get lost. Every place had a name that described it because each one was unique. It made her wonder. In fairy tales, towns, cities, and even roads often had grand and intricate names like Celitiana. A palace of white light where a female ruler lived until someone betrayed her in the story.
Agathe didn’t know any stories that had a pleasant ending. Bleak and without hope. It was a wonder anyone bothered making an effort. With that kind of encouragement, more than a few citizens preferred to toss themselves to the Abyss. Fairy tales made it seem as if any effort would end in failure. Remembering her past, Agathe would agree that they might not be wrong.
As she stretched out her kinks, she eyed the approaching pillowy tops of the trees with their spreading and concealing branches. “Do you get many incursions past the rim?”
“More and more all the time,” Xaav replied. “It’s all we can do to keep up.”
“Do you know why it’s happening?” Just because Maric didn’t offer a clear answer didn’t mean his men didn’t have theories.
“If you ask Baer, he’d say it’s ‘cause the gods are mad.”
“Which gods?” she asked. She only followed the Goddess.
“According to him, all of them. Wind God. Rain. Cloud. Suns.” Xaav ticked off his fingers.
She rolled her eyes. “None of those are gods.”
“Agreed. Gods don’t exist.”
He was partially right. The Goddess didn’t show herself to men.
“What do you think is causing the mist to rise?” she asked.
Xaav shrugged. “Don’t know. Don’t care. I just fight where and when I’m told.”
“Sounds dangerous.”
“Beats being a gutter rat, begging for scraps. Life expectancy is about the same, but one comes with the occasional bed and better food.”
“So, you were born in the city?”
“As far as I know. Don’t remember much of my childhood.”
“Is that where we’re going? King’s City?” she asked to confirm.
“We are. Don’t know your plan.”
That caused Xaav to snort. “They’re children.”
“Does the general knight know that?” she asked, her gaze on the man’s broad back. He’d not once turned his head to look at her.
Why would he? It wasn’t as if he cared. Yet hadn’t he saved her in that pit?
“That man’s got more honor than most of us can hope for.”
Men of honor didn’t always do the right thing, though. She only had to remember Baree. Sent by the King to steal a young girl and murder. Maric wasn’t any different.
She changed the subject. “How many days until we reach the King’s City?”
“Too many if we stay on foot. But we have horses stabled at the fort.”
“Horses?” Rare and owned by the King alone. He must truly value this squadron if he allowed their usage. “Are there enough for all of us?”
“Nope. We’ll have to double up.”
It sounded unappealing to the extreme, but refusing meant abandoning the girls to their fate. The alternative was to travel with the soldiers to the Citadel and possibly confront the King.
Perhaps it was time. Time to make a little noise and object to what the King did with the purple-eyed. Blessed? Hardly.
Night fell as they entered the forest. Agathe’s senses tuned outward, vibrating with tension. Alert to the extreme. She’d seen no sign of danger. No hint of mist. This wasn’t the cliffs, where death befell those who foolishly confronted the night in all its dark glory.
The trees glowed as they passed them, the trunks covered in a moss that had spent the day charging in the suns. It did a good job of dispelling the shadows and did much to ease her tension about being outside at night.
“We’re here,” Xaav announced, having kept pace with her.
Baer and Hiix trailed behind them, the pair of them with their heft weapons leaning on their shoulders. Huh. It was kind of cute, not that she’d tell Hiix that. She might clobber Agathe.
The here Xaav referenced was Forest Fort, and as its name suggested, it was literally a civilization nestled in the boughs of a massive specimen. The tree spanned so wide she would probably need a good hour or more to go around it. The bole of it held hollows, some big enough for a few people to walk inside. Others were smaller, more window-like, with various textures from leather stretched taut to what appeared like cloudy glass.