by Kyle West
The leader shouted some more orders, lost to the din of shouts, but it appeared the men were shifting tactics. What was once a single line had formed a V, one side of which faced me while the other faced Isaru.
I backed way; if I allowed the ten or so men facing me to engage, there was no way I could win that fight. The men came forward at a steady pace. On the other side, I could see a similar thing happening, with Isaru backing away from this advancing line. I needed to rejoin him so we could work together, because together we’d be able to accomplish so much more. Separating ourselves had been a mistake.
“Lay down your arms,” one of the men called out, who was the same one who had given out the orders.
“What do you want?” Isaru asked. “You attacked us first, and now you want us to lay down arms?”
The leader raised his hand, and the men came to a stop as a single unit. Despite the two deaths so far, they seemed to be a disciplined troop.
Several of the men parted, revealing one of them carrying what appeared to be a crossbow.
I saw then that his talk was merely a distraction, enough time for him to get the crossbowman into position to take his shot. But before I could do anything else, there was a loud click followed by a whoosh; the shot had been fired. Only, it didn’t seem to come from the crossbowman in front of me. In fact, he was screaming as he clutched a bolt sticking out of his own chest.
What in the world was happening?
But my answer came as the men looked at the cliff above us.
“There’s more!” one of them said.
“A trap!” another said.
Neither Isaru nor I had time to question. This was our chance to take advantage of their confusion. I moved to engage the flank of the formation in front of me. Caught off guard, the troop backed up, raising their shields in preparation for the battle, the men pointing their shields toward the canyon wall as much as at me.
I skirted further to the right, until I’d circumvented the formation and was facing the last man in the line. He was shouting for help, but there was no way the others could help him without exposing themselves to whoever was shooting them from above.
Remaining in Wind, I fell upon the man. His wooden buckler met my first slash, and he countered with a jab of his spear, which I easily sidled. While he was recovering, I swung my leg out, sweeping his shins from under him. As he crumbled, two men in the line came to his aid.
A quick downward stab in the downed man’s abdomen was enough to get him out of the way right before I backed up. More men were now moving to engage me, despite the danger from above, which I couldn’t allow myself to look at. I had to trust that this person, whoever they were, were trying to help Isaru and me and weren’t just taking shots at anybody they could.
At the increased number of attackers, I shifted back into Treeform, just in time for two men to engage me from the high ground. In Treeform, I was able to hold my own as bucklers, clubs, and spears fell on me from all sides. I edged around until I retreated upslope rather than down, having to watch my steps for rocks almost as much as each of the attacks that threatened me. I saw that they kept trying to surround me, but I could prevent that as long as I backed away and used the larger fallen boulders as barriers. The focus I needed to do all of this would have been impossible without Silence, but outside of it, I could sense my energy quickly ebbing.
A quick glance in Isaru's direction revealed him taking on the three fighters of his own, and it was all he could do to fend them off. He was also in Treeform, which was his best, but even that would only last so long. The rest odd dozen were coming after me, while an additional two were forming up behind the three fighting Isaru. Meanwhile, more bolts flew down from above, but so far, none had hit a mark besides the original crossbowman.
That was when another whoosh sounded, felling one of the men that was closest. I stopped backing up, allowing another man, who was isolated and not aware of it, to engage me. He raised his shield to bash and thrust with his spear, a snarl on his face. I dodged right, and moved past the shield far enough to stab him in the side. As he screamed, another man came in from the left side with a slash of his spear. The execution was sloppy, and not hard to dodge. Worse, it left his flank exposed, and slashing his abdomen brought him down immediately.
What men were left – which were still a lot – slowed down, recognizing that if they didn’t work together, they were just going to lose more. That was when another bolt fired down, but this one missed its mark, the man who was closest to me. If I could just survive long enough for this crossbowman to do the work for me, it just might win us the fight. Without their own crossbowman, they had no way of contesting him, and given time, they would recognize that there was no way they could win.
Isaru was still fighting against his five, only managing by constantly backing away and defending for everything he was worth. I had to help him, or else he might not have been able to hold out long enough for the crossbowman to do his work.
I used the distraction of the bolts to sprint in his direction, leaving my attackers behind. I was just a few feet away when Isaru’s attackers noticed I was coming, but it was too late for the one closest to me, who fell to a backstab, even while he had his shield raised toward Isaru. I quickly checked behind to see that my pursuers were coming after me, but only halfheartedly; by chasing me, they were exposing themselves to whoever was firing from above.
With my aid, some of the pressure was being taken from Isaru. Now, we both just had to survive.
Unfortunately, this meant that, even working together, there were about fifteen fighters left. All we could do was knock the spears away. My lungs burned from exertion; every moment, Silence threatened to slip away. Battletrance allowed a fighter to use every resource they had, which made feats of incredible strength and dexterity possible, but it came at a price, since the body was not designed to work at such a capacity. Already, both body and mind were screaming for me to release my hold.
Not yet. We must survive.
A few more minutes, I’d be too worn down to fight any longer. Dropping dead from sheer exhaustion was a true danger if one stayed in Battletrance too long, and it was only in a life or death situation like this where it was necessary.
But the bolts from above kept coming – bolts which were me and Isaru’s only hope. They sometimes found their mark, and they sometimes didn’t
“Her eyes!” one of them shouted.
“They are the demons of the east,” one said. “They fight like they are fifty men!”
They were breaking. My mind wanted me to use this as an excuse to release Silence, but I held on stubbornly – even dangerously. Without Battletrance, I would not be able to fight off ten or so men, even with Isaru’s help. His eyes, too, were glowing now, which only happened when one reached deep meditation. Usually, it only happened with highly skilled Champions, or those with especially strong connections to the Xenofold.
And I didn’t know how, but Isaru and I managed to hold as, one by one, men were pierced with bolts from above. Within the space of minutes, they were half as many as they were at the beginning. I had killed four myself, and the sniper from above had at least a few kills.
“Retreat!” the leader called out. “Retreat, damn you, run for your lives!”
The men needed no further encouragement; they were only too glad to back away with shields raised. Now, they only focused on the sniper from above, and now was my chance to look up and see who it was.
But the only thing I saw was a shadowed figure aiming down.
“Retreat!” the leader called out again. “Orderly, now, shield wall raised. Stay together, we survive.”
I could only speculate as to who the men were; some gang out of the Ruins, likely, who had spied us and hoped to enslave us. But now they were routed. I looked at the cliff above to see the figure, still standing like a silent sentinel, though now his crossbow was lowered. He only watched.
Below, I could see how the men had caught up so quick
ly; four large canoes were on the riverbank. The men filled them, even leaving one of them behind in their haste to get away.
It was only here that the mysterious man turned away, before I could even call out to him.
“He’s gone,” I said.
“He saved our lives,” Isaru said.
Even though it was an obvious statement, it felt good to hear it acknowledged. Though Isaru and I could easily best even a group, under such conditions, we would not have lasted long without the sniper’s help.
“We have a guardian, I think,” I said. “How else could he have just happened on us?”
“I don’t know,” Isaru said. “We need to get down to that canoe, however. It’ll take us far upriver and away from them. I doubt they will try again, unless they come in even greater numbers. They would truly have to want us dead to do that.”
“What about getting out of the canyon?” I asked. “The Red Wild can’t be far from here.”
“We need to make sure we’re safe first. We need someplace to lay our heads for a while. That battle...took a lot out of me.”
Just Isaru mentioning that fact made me realize my exhaustion. If I wanted, I could lay down right there on the rocks and be asleep instantly.
“Let’s move, then,” I said. “As far as either of us can stand.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
WE PADDLED UPRIVER UNTIL THE sun broke over the eastern cliffs. Despite our sheer exhaustion, the only break we allowed ourselves was to eat a quick meal. We pushed ourselves beyond what we thought possible, knowing that stopping could mean death. We didn't want to risk anything; we thought we had gone long enough last time, and it had been the worst mistake of our journey so far.
At the forefront of my mind was the sniper. I racked my mind for someone it could possibly be, even wondering if one of the priests had come along, hiding his presence. That didn’t make much sense, and I was much too tired to think coherently, anyway.
“Look,” Isaru said, ceasing his paddling and pointing ahead.
At first, I didn’t know why he was pointing. But when the sun’s morning rays slanted through the clouds and cast the canyon in a fiery glow, I knew the canyon, on its own, wouldn’t have been able to produce such a color.
It was xen.
“We're nearly home,” Isaru said.
I wouldn't have used the word “home” to describe wherever it was we were at the moment, but it was at least something more familiar. I allowed myself a smile; even if we weren’t planning on going into the Red Wild itself, it was good to see signs that we were getting closer to it. I immediately felt safer. Outsiders often had a fear of the Red Wild, and that fear might keep any potential attackers away.
“How deep in the Wild are we going?” I asked.
“I don't know. If we were to pass the Selvan fully, we’d be deep into Annajen territory.”
I got the feeling Isaru meant we’d be too far in, but I was too tired to keep talking. We paddled in silence as the sun rose ever higher, until it was several handbreadths above the rim of the canyon. With its ascent, the sky transitioned from pale pink to blue, and the air started to simmer with heat.
Still, we kept going, and were rewarded when we began to see larger patches of xen as the river wove back and forth. Soon, small twisted plants grew from the larger patches, which formed networks that carpeted the ground thickly. It wasn't long before there was more xen than there was rock. The river took on a silvery sheen, which I realized was coming from the xen growing beneath the current. I couldn’t have said why it made the water appear silver, though; I noticed the same phenomenon in the Red Wild.
“Too bad we can’t go the fast away,” Isaru said. “With this canoe, we could be in Laston within a couple of weeks, even going upriver. From there to Mongar, across the mountains, and straight north to the Crater. Probably a month if we go as fast as possible. But we’d have to make it past the Roots.”
“The Roots?”
“The bottom of Haven. It’s a system of docks that are built from the roots, and trust me, nothing goes by without paying the toll. It’s a huge source of Haven’s income.”
“I see,” I said.
“You didn't see it when we were there, but the river is where most of Haven's traffic filters through. There's no question that traveling upriver would put us into contact with too many people. It isn’t worth it.”
We fell into silence after that, and kept paddling. The human body can only be pushed so far, and we reached that point by early afternoon. Without a word, we paddled for the right riverbank, and as our canoe slid onto the xen, we stepped out and pulled the craft out of the water. It seemed to take all my strength to do that. My legs were stiff and weak while I could hardly even feel my arms.
“There’s some shade under that cliff,” Isaru said. “We can eat and sleep.”
First, we dragged the canoe further up the xen, hiding it behind some rocks where it would remain out of sight. Then, we sat in the shade behind those same rocks, drinking our water and not holding back on the food that Markas had given us; after the battle, and all the running, we needed to eat before we slept. Without that, we wouldn’t be able to recover our strength properly.
And when I finally did get to sleep, it was as if I were dead.
WHEN I AWOKE, IT WAS dark and cool. There was no sound save the low wind and the gentle flow of the river, not too far from us on the other side of the rocks. I kept my eyes closed, not wanting to move. If my pain yesterday had been bad, today I was in agony. I could barely move any of my muscles with sharp pains shooting through my arms, legs, and lower back. Even my neck was stiff.
I turned on my back, despite my aches, to see that a thin sliver of moon hung high above, along with a multitude of bright stars and familiar constellations – the Hunter, the Gourd, the Lion, and the Hydra. Jupiter and Saturn were both clearly visible.
I got up quietly and left the outcrop of rocks behind, heading for the river. I had nothing with me but my sword and the clothes on my back. My legs felt as if they would collapse under me at any moment, but after all the sweat, blood, and fighting, nothing sounded better than immersing myself in the river.
I stood at the riverbank for a moment, looking up and downriver to make sure it was clear. I even took hold of Silence, tentatively, to feel if there was anyone nearby. I detected Isaru, but no one else. I let go immediately; even trying to hold it for a few seconds felt draining.
I removed my boots and socks and stepped into the river. The water was pleasantly cool, and the xen underfoot was soft and pleasant on sore feet.
I waded in further, the silver water rising until it was up to my neck. I lowered my head beneath the surface, and was soon surrounded by refreshing coolness. Besides the feel of the water, there was also a curious warmth, an aura, that I could sense being projected by the billions upon billions of silver particles dancing in the river, as dust dances in sunbeams. These were not like dust; they were organisms that lived in symbiosis with the underwater xen. They seemed to be drawn to my skin, collecting on it until it was glowing silver. At the same time, I felt the burns given to me by the harsh sun, go away.
I lay suspended underwater for as long as I could, looking at an entire world probably no one had ever seen. From the xen below grew clumps of multicolored kelp waving in the river's gentle current, while bioluminescent schools of fish swarmed through networks of multihued coral. The water's clarity made it easy to see far up and downriver, the view only broken by the river's meander. Though the water wasn’t too deep, it was enough to hide wonders.
The need for air sent me back to the surface, and I was surprised to see Isaru standing beside the river. As I caught my breath, he seemed to hesitate for a moment before removing his own boots, after which he walked into the water himself. He came to a stop not too far away, dipping his head below water, before reemerging a moment later. The color of his hair blended with the river water, seeming to become a part of it. Like me, the silver “motes,” or whate
ver one would call them, gathered around his form, causing the area around him to glow brighter.
“What are they?” I asked.
He glanced my direction before returning his attention to the motes. “Aquaras. They are said to reside in remote parts of the Wild, where human activity hasn’t killed them off. They are hardly ever found near Haven, and certainly not like this.”
“I seem to feel better,” I said. “Less aches and pain. Even my sunburns are going away.”
Isaru nodded. “They are capable of rejuvenating those of Elekai blood. Other forms of them live in ichor itself, though they can’t be seen because ichor is too bright and packed with other organics. Aquaras are fragile, however. Just to think they are dying, even as they heal us.”
“They're dying?” I asked.
“It's not a problem as long as more are being born than there are dying. With the two of us in here for just a few moments, it’s not bad. It’s why they can’t survive in areas with lots of people. Of course, it’s not just people they heal. It’s the plants and animals who live in the water, who in turn provide the nutrients for new Aquaras to be born.”
“They are selfless, then,” I said.
“No one knows what directs them to do this, what they gain from it. They have been studied, of course, but no one knows why they kill themselves to heal others.”
A sudden darkness overshadowed the river. A multitude of shadows were flying across the sky.
“Dragons,” I realized.
Instead of running for the riverbank, Isaru quickly swam over and pushed me underwater. I hardly had time to draw breath before we were both suspended underwater. Given the clarity of the water, and the brightness of the aquaras, it was hard to imagine how the dragons wouldn’t be able to see us, especially when they were famous for their eyesight.