by Duncan Pile
“What’s going on Gasp?” Taurnil asked.
“This is too weird!” Gaspi said, and again felt a jarring sense of dissociation when the body in front of him opened its mouth to speak. He switched his gaze to Taurnil instead, resolving not to look at himself again. “Can you see me Taurn?” he asked.
“Er, yeah,” Taurnil responded. “You’re right there.” He was pointing at Gaspi’s stationary body.
“I’m hovering by Voltan’s legs.”
“I can see you,” Voltan said. Gaspi spun around once more to find the warrior mage kneeling down and looking right at him.
“I can’t see anything,” Taurnil said.
“Me neither,” Sabu said.
“Can you see it Emea?” Voltan asked.
“Yes I can,” she said. “It looks like the Eye, only very faint.”
“It’s safe to assume then that only magic users can see you,” Voltan said. “Even to my eyes, the sphere is dim. Gaspi, try and release the magic.”
Gaspi did as he was told, willing himself to re-enter his body. Immediately, that shift happened again and when he opened his eyes, he was back on the ground, safely ensconced in his own flesh. “It’s easy,” he said.
“There’s no reason to delay then,” Voltan said. “Off you go.”
Gaspi nodded, closed his eyes and willed himself to see through the sphere once more, leaking power into it in a steady trickle. For the third time, he felt that peculiar shift behind his eyes, and when he opened them again his was seeing through the Wizard’s Eye. “Back in a short while,” he said, and willed himself up into the air.
He shot up past the group and kept going, rising high into the air until he could see what lay ahead of them. Once they passed the switch-back, they would be exposed to anyone looking down from above, but there was no sign of anyone in the pass. Beyond the V-shaped pass the terrain narrowed and then opened up again, and he could just see the tops of what looked like houses a few hundred yards distant. He glanced down and instantly regretted it. He was high in the air with no visible means of support! Feeling suddenly vertiginous, he swooped back down to the ground and flew on up the trail at a more comfortable height. He was amazed at how quickly he could move, zipping over the ground like Loreill!
Resisting the temptation to explore the limits of what he could do, he continued up the trail and came to a stop at the mouth of the pass. Beyond that point, the peaks cast the path into shadow, and there were numerous rocks for thieves to hide behind and lie in wait for unwary travellers. He floated upwards again, braving dizziness in order to look down on any potential hiding places. He stayed up there just long enough to be certain there was no one in the pass, and dropped to the ground once more. He drifting along the path at a pace that ensured he didn’t miss anything, passing the narrowest point of the V. He carried on towards the rooftops he had seen until the peaks fell away on either side, and the narrow pass opened up onto a broad plateau. It was then that Gaspi got his first view of the Broken Ranges, peak after peak stretching away for as far as he could see.
On the east side of the plateau was the trappers’ town Zaric had mentioned, nestled against the wall of the mountain. He approached cautiously, floating slowly towards the first of the houses, but no-one was around. He drifted past the first house and into a clear space between the ramshackle buildings. There was a fire-pit, but it was cold and filled with old, grey ash. It didn’t look like anyone lived there anymore, but Gaspi thought he’d better check inside the buildings anyway. He drifted through a gap in the wooden sidings of the nearest house and quickly explored each room. The fireplace was cold and the beds empty. He moved out from the abandoned house and went into the next one through an un-shuttered window. Once again there were no signs of life, though a meal had been left on the kitchen table, covered in such a thick coating of furry mould that Gaspi couldn’t make out what it had once been.
As a final check, he did a quick search of the inn – a larger building with a long bar and a clutch of tables and chairs. Once more, there was no-one there, so he zipped back outside, convinced that the town was abandoned. His job done, he almost dispelled the magic of the Wizard’s Eye, but then he figured that one last run through the pass wouldn’t harm, just in case he’d missed something. He shot back the way he’d come, moving quickly through the pass and out into the valley beyond. He paused for a moment, looking back along the trail they’d taken. It snaked down the steep slope all the way to the valley of boulders, and then up the other side to the plateau they’d emerged onto two days previously. He could even see the mouth of the canyon that ran all the way back down to Ironhall. They’d certainly come a long way!
He was about to dispel the magic of the Wizard’s Eye when a flicker of movement on the plateau caught his eye. Had he seen something? There it was again, darting off the plateau and following the trail they’d used to climb down into the valley. His heartbeat quickened. Filled with urgency, he sent his sight out towards the plateau, zipping out over the staggering drop below him without a moment’s thought for his former dizziness. He flew out hundreds of yards in a matter of seconds, but then his vision started to disintegrate, which could only mean he’d reached the limits of the magic’s range. He stopped, drawing back a few yards until his vision was restored, allowing him as near to the plateau as he was going to get. He peered into the distance, his eyes raking the trail for signs of movement. And then he saw it, a dark blur against the stone, moving faster than any man could manage.
The Darkman!
Willing himself back into his body, Gaspi abandoned the magic of the Wizard’s Eye and sprang to his feet.
“The Darkman!” he blurted.
“What? In the pass?” Voltan asked, all urgency.
“No, behind us. It’s reached the plateau and is moving fast!”
“Everyone up!” Voltan said. “Move!” Every last one of them sprang into motion, and in moments the group was running up the trail. “Zaric, can we make it to the Thundering Gorge before sunset?” the warrior mage asked as they ran.
Zaric glanced at the position of the sun in the sky and shared a hard look with his brother. “There are about two hours of light left. At this pace, we could do it in that time, but there’s no way we can keep up this pace.”
“We’ve got to try,” Voltan said. “Gaspi is there anyone in the town up ahead?”
“No, it’s deserted,” he said, already feeling the burn in his legs.
“Zaric, you know the way. Take the lead,” Voltan said. Zaric slipped out in front of him and led them into the pass. Gaspi ran along behind him, his feet thudding heavily against the hard stone of the trail. He was already breathless. How could they keep this pace going for two whole hours? The air spirit took to the skies, keeping watch behind them, and for once the fire spirit abandoned Lydia and took off with noisy flaps of its leathery wings. Gaspi glanced at Emmy, running bravely alongside him. Her jaw was clenched determinedly but her face was white with fear. Gaspi didn’t have a clue how they were going to manage to stay ahead of the Darkman, but he knew beyond a doubt that the next two hours were going to be the most hellish of any of their lives.
Twenty-six
They ran through the pass and past the abandoned town, led by Zaric, who pounded on relentlessly in front of them. He led them along the western wall of the mountain until the ground began to drop away again. For a horrible moment Gaspi thought they were going to have to scramble up and down another deep valley, but Zaric kept close to the rock face, running along a rocky shelf that narrowed until it could only be called a ledge. By necessity they slowed to a safer pace, traversing the mountain face until the path opened out again, and they found themselves on another broad shelf.
They ran across the shelf, then slowed down as it narrowed once again. This became their rhythm, speeding up and slowing down as the trail permitted. Each time they slowed Gaspi had a chance to catch his breath, but each gulp of air stung his lungs and his legs felt weak beneath him. Emmy was findi
ng it even harder, stumbling along as if each step was summoned from some deep, final reserve. The wobbliness of their legs made the narrow ledges even more dangerous, so they clung to each other for extra support in the more treacherous stretches of the path. As they emerged from a particularly narrow ledge, something streaked by them in a flash of light. Gaspi flinched in fear but it was just the air spirit, returning to Rimulth for a moment before taking to the skies again to keep watch on the trail behind them.
The ledge broadened out into another plateau, so Gaspi and Emmy let go of each other and broke into a run once more. His head was pounding and his lungs hurt like hell. He didn’t see how they were going to keep up that pace for much longer. They’d only been running for half an hour or so and he was just about spent! Maybe it would be better to pick a defensive spot and fight?
With a mad scramble and a yelp, Emmy went down next to him, and Lydia tripped right over her, sprawling in a heap on the ground. Gaspi stopped, as did the rest of the group, who gathered round to help them back up. Both girls were bleeding – Emmy where she’d stuck her hands out to stop her fall, and Lydia had a graze on her cheek.
“Are you okay?” he asked, taking Emmy’s hands and trying to help her to her feet. She gripped his hands and he started to pull her up, but she cried out in pain and fell to the ground again.
“Zlekic!” Gaspi called, but the warrior was already there, kneeling down so he could take Lilly out of the harness. Gaspi lifted Lilly out and placed her next to Emmy on the ground. The otter nudged at Emmy with her nose, and Gaspi felt elemental magic well up in him. Surrendering his lips, he allowed magical speech to flow from his mouth, and healing power flowed out into Emmy. There was something different about the flow of the magic this time, but he couldn’t figure out what it was. Frowning, he concentrated hard until he realised what it was. Lilly’s power wasn’t just flowing into the Emmy – it was reaching out and touching every person in the group. The flow of magic slowed and then stopped, and Lilly drooped on top of Emmy in obvious exhaustion.
“What just happened? Zaric asked, holding his arms out and looking at them as if they belonged to someone else. Baard was patting himself all over.
“She healed the whole group,” Heath said. “It was a considerable sacrifice.”
Gaspi helped Emmy to her feet and Taurnil did the same with Lydia. Emmy bent down and picked Lilly up, looking intently into her weary eyes. “Lilly,” she said in quiet concern. She glanced up at Heath. “She’s exhausted herself!”
“I know,” Heath rumbled. “She is weak now, perhaps in danger.”
“Let’s not waste that sacrifice standing around,” Voltan said.
“You’re right,” Heath responded. “It was her choice, and we must honour it. Let’s get going.”
“Right you are,” Zaric said, and in moments the party was in motion again, running along the trail with renewed vigour.
…
Half an hour later it was as if it never happened. Every breath sawed into Gaspi’s lungs, every step jarred his aching knees and his legs were dangerously unstable. He knew he couldn’t carry on but somehow he made himself, lurching from one foot to the other. They were only halfway between the pass and the Thundering Gorge – there was no way they could make it. Daunted by the scale of the challenge, Gaspi stopped thinking about their destination, and concentrated instead on the next ten paces, and then the next ten, and then the next. He stumbled on and on, his head pounding painfully with every lumbering footfall, pressure building at his temples. His lungs felt like they were being seared with every breath. He felt sick, nausea rising up and gripping him by the throat. He felt like he was going to faint, fall and be sick all at once, but which would come first? And then suddenly all those feelings diminished, pain and exhaustion flowing from him and his legs strengthening beneath him. As energy returned to him he realised Emmy was singing, elemental magic flowing from her lips. Lilly was healing them again, replenishing their depleted reserves until they were fully refreshed.
“Is she okay?” Gaspi asked Emmy when the healing power stopped flowing.
“I don’t know,” Emmy cried, tears staining her face. “She feels faint. I want to see her.” She sped up, but Heath took her by the arm as she tried to pass him.
“She is giving us a chance,” he said. “It is not ours to question the elementals’ wisdom. If we stop now to check on her, we make a mockery of the gift.”
“But Heath!” Emmy said.
“He’s right Emmy,” Gaspi said. “You can still feel her right?”
“Yes,” she said miserably.
“Then let’s just keep running.” Emmy didn’t say anything in response, but she dropped back beside him and didn’t make any further attempt to move up the line. She looked thoroughly miserable! For Lilly as well as the rest of them, salvation lay at the Thundering Gorge. It was a waterway after all, and the elemental could heal herself there. Until then, they had to push on with everything they had. Without a doubt, they wouldn’t have got this far without Lilly. They’d have had to stop and face the Darkman – perhaps they’d already be dead.
They ran on and on, Lilly’s gift of energy fading into memory as exhaustion returned, worse than ever before. They were finally forced to stop when the ground became too treacherous to continue at pace. The ledge ahead of them narrowed until it was less than a foot wide, clinging to an overhanging outcrop of the mountain. They had no choice but to pass it one by one. Zlekic went first, hugging the cliff face and inching his way along while the wind tugged violently at his clothing and tried to cast him from the mountainside. Zaric went next, and then Voltan. Gaspi was too exhausted to summon a shield, or do any other type of magic, so when it was his turn, he shuffled around the narrow ledge with his heart in his mouth, a sheen of sweat breaking out on his face as he desperately tried not to look down. Each tentative step felt like it might send him tumbling down into the rocky valley, thousands of feet below. Vertigo seized him then, his senses reeling uncontrollably, and for a moment he thought he was going to fall, but then arms reached out and took hold of him from the other side of the outcrop and pulled him to safety.
Gasping for breath, he sank to the ground and waited for the shakes to pass. The others were coming around the bend one by one, several of them with faces as white and sweaty as his own. Baard found it the hardest of all, his huge bulk difficult to manoeuvre around the narrow ledge. He cursed and scraped his way along until he reached the narrowest point of the path, where he was forced to cling to the cliff face with white fingertips, most of his body hanging out over empty space as he took one tiny step after another. He made it past the narrowest point with much huffing and puffing, but just as hands reached out to grab him, his foot slipped and he teetered backwards, arms wheeling madly. Without thinking, Gaspi drew on his powers and formed a magical net, catching the giant in mid-air and scooping him in to safe ground.
“My god!” the big man said, falling to his face and lying unmoving.
“Well done Gaspi,” Voltan said, his face drawn and tense. “I had nothing left.”
“Yup, nice catch,” Taurnil said.
Gaspi said nothing, gulping in lungfuls of air. He was too exhausted to be doing magic, and drawing on his powers had cost him dearly. He desperately needed to rest. His heart was labouring and lurching in his chest, its rhythm irregular.
“Lilly!” Emmy wailed, surprising everyone. She staggered to her feet and stumbled over to Zlekic, reaching into the harness he wore and withdrawing the water spirit.
Gaspi’s heart lurched again, and suddenly he was toppling over, a massive pain erupting in his chest.
“NOOOO!!!!” Emmy wailed even louder, and then she was chanting, elemental magic bursting from her lips in a mighty shout. Healing power flooded Gaspi, eradicating the pain and weakness of the previous moment. He pushed himself up onto his hands, looking at Emmy, who was holding Lilly and sobbing unrestrainedly.
“Lilly!” he cried, scrambling to his feet and rushin
g over to the elemental. He placed his hands on her, trying to sense if she was alive. Her eyes were closed and her body limp. “Emmy is she…?”
Emmy closed her eyes and went still. The rest of the group gathered around, silent and solemn as they waited. Emmy opened her eyes. “She’s alive…just.”
Gaspi breathed a huge sigh of relief. If Lilly had died on his account, he didn’t know how he would have lived with himself.
“What happened?” Baard asked.
“Gaspi nearly died,” Emmy said, a fresh sob causing her breath to hitch in her throat. “He hadn’t got the strength to perform magic, and his heart nearly gave out. Lilly saved him, but now she might die herself.”
“Sheesh,” Baard said. Awkwardly, he extended a hand to Gaspi. “Thanks Gasp,” he said. “I owe you a big one.”
“Just make sure you save my life later okay?” Gaspi said with forced jocularity. He rounded on the group. “Nothing’s changed. We need to get to the Thundering Gorge as quickly as possible. Lilly will be able to recover in the water there, and we’ll be safe from the Darkman.”
“Do you think we can we make it?” Sabu asked, directing his question to Zaric, but it was Voltan who answered.
“We have no choice. We’re too exhausted to fight. Our only chance is to escape and recover our strength.”
“It’s only another half hour till we reach the gorge, but this time Lilly won’t be able to help us and we’re all pretty tired already,” Zlekic said.
“Give her here,” Baard said, reaching out to take hold of Lilly’s harness. “It’s my turn.”
“Thanks Baard,” Zlekic said, taking off the harness and fastening it to Baard’s broad back.
“I’ll take Loreill,” Sabu said. Soon enough both harnesses were in place and the group was ready to move again.
“Okay let’s go,” Zlekic said. He turned around and started across the shelf, leading them onwards at a steady jog. Gaspi knew he was in the best shape of everyone, having received a big jolt of replenishing power from Lilly, but even for him it wasn’t long until his breath was laboured and his knees were hurting again. There was nothing for it but to keep going. If they made it to the gorge they were safe. He didn’t want to think about what would happen if they didn’t.