by Imogen Elvis
They crept along in the shadow of the wall. The north gate wasn’t far from here and if the soldiers were watchful, and everyone was alert after this attack, there was a chance someone might spot them. Briar could only hope the guards were distracted, or tired enough that she and Kade could slip by without being seen.
“How much further?” Kade asked.
“Almost there.” Briar pointed to a small ridge of stepped stones sticking out of the ground at crazy angles, which wound down the side of the tumbledown. “That’s our path.”
“You’re not serious?”
“Unless you want to go all the way round to the road and risk every soldier in Osman seeing us. Getting down there is possible. It’s just not easy.”
“I could believe that.”
Briar bristled at the tone of his voice. “Well, you were the one who wanted to come with me. If you don’t like my path, you can find your own.” She turned abruptly and strode on ahead. It wasn’t like she had to bring him.
“Hey, you. Stop there.”
A soldier stepped out of the north gate just ahead of them, his hand on his weapon. Briar hesitated. The path was right there, so tantalisingly close. It lay between them and the soldier. Could they make it if they hurried?
Kade grabbed Briar’s arm. “Go.”
Briar shook his hand off and darted to the head of the small path. To the unfamiliar, this bit probably looked just as dangerous and impassable as the rest of the steep hillside. “The bigger stones are pretty safe. Step on those.”
“Got it. Keep moving.”
The soldier shouted at them again to stop. Briar glanced back before plunging down the treacherous path. A second guard followed the first, and they both picked their way cautiously towards the tiny track. Briar leapt from rock to rock, finding a rhythm between her hops from one point of safety to another. Keep ahead of the soldiers. Keep moving.
Down
Down
Down they dropped, coming ever closer to the tangle of boulders at the bottom. The closer Briar got, the larger they grew, most of them much taller than she was, their edges sharpened by the gales that often poured down the hillside.
“They’re gaining,” Kade said, his voice tight.
“We might be able to lose them in the rocks.” Her words came out as a breathless pant.
“I hope you’re right.”
Briar hoped so too. She could only imagine what would happen if the soldiers caught up. She leapt down the few steps and onto the slightly more level ground at the bottom of the slope, right on the edge of the boulder field. Here, she hesitated for a moment. Which way now? The road was east, but with the soldiers so close, that might not be their safest option.
“Come on.” Kade brushed past and headed into the boulders.
Well, alright then. Briar scurried after him. The rocks rose around them, blocking out her view of their pursuers as she and Kade ran deeper into the labyrinth. They went left, then switched suddenly right, doubling back on themselves over and over until Briar had very little idea of where they were.
“Stop.” Kade grabbed Briar’s shoulder, pulling her into a small space between two towering rocks, which leaned together forming a little nook. Shadows surrounded them as they squeezed as far back into the niche as possible. The space was so small Briar was pressed up against Kade’s chest so that she could feel his breathing, short and uneven. She turned her face away, the awkwardness of being so close to a total stranger making her breath catch in her throat.
She could hear voices growing louder and louder. Any moment now, the soldiers would walk right by their little hiding spot. Briar pressed her hand against the cool stone behind her and closed her eyes. Could Kade feel how fast her heart was beating?
“Sairth. Where’d they go?”
“We’ll find them.”
Someone kicked a stone. “They could be anywhere by now.”
“Why don’t we split up? I’ll go this way. You check over there. We’ll stand a better chance of picking up their trail that way.”
Boots scrunched on the loose rocks. Briar shifted, and her foot knocked against a stone, sending it skipping away with a rattle. Her heart leapt into her mouth. Stupid, stupid. Kade grabbed her shoulders. ‘Keep still,’ he mouthed.
“What was that?”
A moment’s silence. “I can’t hear anything.”
“I thought I heard a rock move. Come on. They must be around here somewhere.”
The footsteps started again, slowly fading as the soldiers trekked deeper into the maze. Briar drew a shaky breath. That was far too close.
“Let’s go.” Kade squeezed out of their hidey hole. Briar followed him more slowly, her heart still pounding. “You said the road is east of here?”
She nodded. Kade squinted up at the sky, then led off again. Briar was happy to follow in his footsteps. She’d been through the tumbledown before, several times in fact, but she hadn’t needed to get to the road for so long. It was impossible to be sure how far it was, but they had to be getting close by now.
“Stop right there.” A soldier stepped out from behind a boulder, his sword drawn.
Briar froze, then looked closer. “Darin?”
Kade cast her a glance. “You know him?” His fingers closed around the hilt of the sword he wore at his waist, though he didn’t draw it yet.
“What are you doing out here?” Darin looked genuinely confused.
“I have to find my sister,” Briar said, willing him to understand. “Please, Darin, just let us go. We’re not hurting anyone.”
Darin hesitated, conflict written all over his face. For a long moment, Briar hoped he might let them go. He knew how desperately she wanted to find Ava. But then Darin shook his head and steadied his sword. “I’m sorry. Rules are rules. The captain said no one is to leave Osman until reinforcements arrive.”
Kade started to draw his sword, but Briar grabbed his hand, stopping him. “Wait,” she murmured. Too many people had died in the last few days for her to let anyone else get hurt. She drew a deep breath. There was one other option, but she wasn’t supposed to do this. Still, it was better than the alternative.
Briar reached for Darin’s life song. It was harder to touch across the distance, and unanchored by a physical connection. Still, Briar grasped it, letting magic flood through her voice while Darin’s life song pulsed in her ears.
“We’re not dangerous. You don’t have to protect Osman from us.”
She could feel his confusion as her magic rushed through his song. A multitude of thoughts flickered across Darin’s face. Then, slowly, he nodded. “You’re not dangerous.”
“If we’re not dangerous, you don’t need to stop us, do you?” Briar poured more magic into his song, feeling the burn in the back of her skull.
The conflict was stronger this time, her magic waging war with his conviction and soldier’s sense of obedience. Briar pressed harder. He didn’t quite believe that he had to bring them back. There was a quaver of doubt and Briar pushed all her magic into that. If she could only persuade him…
The point of Darin’s sword wavered, then dropped. “You can go.”
Briar breathed a silent sigh of relief, although there was no feeling of victory, just the hot burn of exhaustion. “Thank you.” She grabbed Kade’s arm and pulled him away, leaving Drain standing there with his sword trailing in the dirt, a look of stunned confusion on his face, until he was lost to sight.
CHAPTER TEN
The main road wound its way northwards through the rock-littered landscape like a fat, lazy snake. To the south, it skirted the walls of Osman, while to the north, it headed straight through the hills like an arrow. With the sun shining brightly, the soldiers behind them, and the road almost beneath their feet, Briar finally allowed herself to relax a little, and to hope that the worst was behind them, at least for the moment. She was out of Osman and almost on the way to Trava. Things would surely get easier from here.
“What did you do to that soldier?
” Kade asked. It was the first thing he’d said since they left Darin and the question took Briar by surprise.
“I convinced him to let us go,” she said after a moment.
“I understood that much. But how? You talked him down so easily.”
Briar hesitated, then stated the simple truth. “With magic. I don’t tend to make a habit of it though,” she added quickly. In fact, there was a small knot of guilt sitting in the pit of her chest. That was not how a magician was supposed to act. But surely, considering the alternative, it might be acceptable in this case?
“They actually teach you how to manipulate people?” Kade’s lip curled.
“We’re not taught to manipulate anyone.” Briar bristled. “We are trained to help people. This is just another part of our magic. As I said, I don’t make a habit of it. But the alternative was either we went straight back to Osman, or one of you got hurt.”
“You really think he could kill me?” Kade’s fingers tapped on the hilt of his sword.
“I don’t really care.” Briar scowled at him. “You might have killed him, and I don’t like that outcome any better. Besides, he already pretty much believed he should let us go anyway. I just gave him a push.”
“How would you know that?”
“I could feel it. And besides, I was able to persuade him fairly quickly. The less a person believes something, the harder it is to convince them. I just gave him a nudge in the right direction.”
“By manipulating his mind.”
Oh, he was impossible. She may as well give up trying to explain anything to him. “I’m sorry for trying to get us away without hurting anyone. Next time I won’t bother.” Briar hitched her bag higher and stalked on ahead.
Kade followed her in cold silence. Briar squared her shoulders and refused to look back. He could think what he wanted. They would be going their separate ways as soon as they reached the road, and then what he thought didn’t really matter.
When they reached the road, Briar turned north and was surprised to find that Kade followed suit. When he offered no explanation, she broke the tense silence to ask, “Where are you headed?”
“North.”
Well, that much was obvious. “Where north? I’m going to Trava,” she added when it didn’t seem like he was going to answer.
“I’m headed that way too,” Kade said after a moment’s pause.
Well, that was interesting. Briar hadn’t expected them to be going in the same direction for such a long way. In fact, she had fully expected them to separate the moment they reached the road. “We’ll be travelling companions for a while then.”
“So it seems.” Briar couldn’t tell if Kade was displeased by this. Soul singer or not, she found him exceptionally hard to read. There was another pause. Then, as if Kade didn’t want to fall into another awkward silence, he cleared his throat. “So, uh, why are you going to Trava?”
Briar hesitated. “I’m following the Nameless Ones,” she said at last.
“Nameless Ones? Where did you hear that?”
She blinked at the sudden intensity of his voice. “One of the song councillors called them that. Why?”
“No reason.” Kade’s reply came too quickly. “But after everything that just happened, why in the name of the Tree would you follow them?”
“They took my sister.” Briar lifted her chin, pressing her lips together in an effort to hide how much her chest ached when she said those words.
“And you think you can rescue her.”
“I think that no one else is going to help her if I don’t.”
“They will kill you if they catch you.”
“That’s a chance I’m willing to take.” Memories of the Nameless Ones chasing them through the streets still haunted her. But she couldn’t abandon her only sister just because she was afraid.
“That is, if you even make it to Trava.”
“Thank you for your belief in me.” Now it was Briar’s turn to speak sharply, as if that could stop him from saying more. Kade hit on every doubt that lurked in the dark corners of her mind and it weakened her already fragile belief. “I’ll be perfectly fine.”
“You’re so stubborn.”
“Thankfully. Or I wouldn’t be here.” She lifted her chin.
“You really are determined to do this, aren’t you?”
Briar met his gaze. “If it was your sister, wouldn’t you do the same?”
“That would be different.”
“Why? You’re no more capable of taking on the Nameless Ones than I am. Anyway, there’s no one to care about Ava but me.” That was a sadder thought than Briar had expected, and she swallowed hard. “I have to go after her.”
“So you won’t consider returning to Osman?”
“No.”
The silence stretched out for a long moment. “What will you do when you get to Trava?”
“I don’t know yet,” Briar said honestly.
“You don’t know what you’re going to do. You don’t know how far you’re going to have to go, and you know that this could end with you dead. And you still want to keep going.” Kade shook his head. “I don’t know whether to admire, or to pity you.”
“You can do either.” Briar fixed her eyes on the horizon. “It doesn’t make a difference to me.”
Kade let out a heavy breath. “I can’t just leave you on your own like this.”
“Why not?” Why was this such a big deal to him?
“It’s just-” Kade hesitated. “Look, we’re both going to Trava. Travel with me. I can get you there safely at least.”
Briar paused. The rush of thankfulness that swept through her at this offer was alarming. Part of her wanted to refuse and stubbornly hold on to her independence. She didn’t need his help to get to Trava, especially when he was so determined to find fault with all her plans. The other part, more sensible than the first, said that this was only going to increase her chances of rescuing Ava. She wanted to be proud and refuse. But this wasn’t about her. Still, Briar couldn’t help asking, “Why do you want to help me?”
“Because I don’t want to see you die.” At Briar’s sceptical look, Kade added, “Consider this payment for getting me out of Osman if you like.”
Helping him leave the town was far too little to warrant this kind of help, but Briar couldn’t afford to pass it up. “Thank you,” she said at last. “I’d like that.” It hurt her pride a little to accept, but the company would be nice, and the security that travelling with Kade would bring was more than she could have hoped for. And in the end, this was about saving Ava, and there was nothing Briar wouldn’t sacrifice for that.
Midway through the afternoon, Kade turned from the wide north road onto a smaller side track that ran west into the rolling hills. This wasn’t the way to Trava. Briar knew these hills, and none of the smaller paths led anywhere near there. At least, not in a hurry.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“We’re meeting someone.”
“Out here?”
“There’s an old watchtower not far off. Some friends are meeting me there.” Kade glanced back as if to reassure her. “We won’t lose much time.”
If it were just Briar, she would be walking that north road as quickly as she could, but with Kade, she had to remember that he had his own journey. The delay was frustrating. But if she wanted his help, she had to bear the consequences. Still, as the sun sank slowly through the sky, it hurt to know that the Nameless Ones were getting further and further ahead while they took side trails and wasted precious time.
The golden glow of the late afternoon sun faded slowly towards pink, and a fresh breeze sprang up, raising goose bumps over Briar’s skin. She shivered and rubbed her arms. The cold metal of Mistress Rhosmari’s medallion and the little sliver of stone resting against her chest weren’t helping either. Still, the silhouette of a watchtower rose against the colourful sky ahead of them. That had to be their destination.
There were plenty of watchtowers in the
hill country, all of them unused for decades. No one knew exactly what they were built for, but there were plenty of tales about them. Some said they were made to keep out invaders from the west, though the western border was a long way from here. Others said they were built as far back as the Song Wars. Everyone had an opinion, but no one knew the truth. Whatever the towers were made for originally, they had been empty for as long as anyone could remember, left to decay under the force of wind and rain.
Kade pointed to the tower. "We’ll make camp there for the night.”
“This is where your friends are meeting us?”
“They should be.”
Should be. That was comforting. “What if they’re not?”
“Then we’ll wait for them.”
Briar hoped these friends were already there then. The less time they spent waiting around, the better.
As they drew closer to the tower, Briar made out the details clearly for the first time. It wasn’t an inspiring sight. The whole top section had collapsed a long time ago, and the stones lay scattered in the grass. They’d been there so long that thick moss grew over them. Weeds and wildflowers sprouted out of the spaces in the walls that were still standing. In places, some of the stones had crumbled away entirely, leaving gaping holes.
“Hello?” Kade called as they approached. Silence answered him. Just the sound of the breeze riffling through the long grass. He frowned. “I’m going to check it out. Wait here.” He disappeared inside without giving Briar time to answer.
Briar bit her lip. It seemed doubtful that his friends were here yet. It was too silent and still. But it would be nice to have shelter for the night at least. And who knew? These friends, whoever they were, could still arrive before night fell. There was a little time yet.
Kade reappeared. “It’s safe.” He didn’t look pleased. No friends then.
Briar followed him inside. The fading light lit up a crumbling interior. At one point there must have been a staircase leading to the upstairs room. But that was little more than a sloping pile of stones stacked towards the roof now. Meanwhile, parts of the back wall had crumbled away, leaving a hole that was bigger than the doorway Briar entered by.