Stones of Fraine (Legacy of Fraine Book 1)

by Amy Morris

  He’s definitely right. They seem to float around us, flashing gentle light that stays with us for another half hour. I mourn the loss of their light when they no longer appear and fear what’s ahead still in the darkness. But thankfully, not for much longer. We see light ahead, and with that our paddling gains some vigor to reach it before it’s too late in the day.

  By the time we pull the boat ashore inside the outskirts of the dense woods, the sun is sinking behind the western bluff. Night will be upon us shortly, I’m resigned to get a full night's rest before morning. It would seem everyone else has the same idea after a meager dinner of salted fish, which I choke down with no enjoyment. Angel offers me dried dates and trying my best not to inhale the entire bag, I thank him for the treat.

  “Probably best we stay close tonight,” Angel unfurls his blanket next to me.

  “Good idea,” Goss takes my other side.

  “I guess I’ll be cozy between the two of you,” I laugh.

  “Talia, come take my other side so you can protect me,” Goss asks in her direction.

  Talia laughs at this, but still takes the requested position beside her. “Better now?”

  “Yes, thank you.”

  “I guess I’ll take the spot on the end next to Talia,” Rabble walks towards her. “No offense, Angel.”

  “Fine by me, no hurt feelings over here.” He throws back with a small laugh.

  After everyone is nestled in their blankets, I break the silence. “You know this journey started out easy going. From Madera to Renolt Village, not one incident, but that all changed in Renolt. It hasn’t been that calm since, except at the convent. I’m just glad everything’s calmed back down, I guess.”

  Four pairs of eyes turn to me before Talia speaks, “Thanks for jinxing us Abby.”

  I realize right then she has a point, even though the night is quiet with little noise, something could be biding its time. With that thought now stuck in my head, I’m unable to fall asleep as everyone else does without issue. Soft snoring comes from both of my sides to confirm I am now the only one up, too nervous to sleep.

  “No, you’re not,” Rabble communicates to me. “I think we’re good though and to help ease your mind I wasn’t planning on sleeping, anyway.” This information helps, but it still takes a fair amount of time for me to doze off when I do.

  The smell of coffee brings me to. It must still be early by the amount of light I see up river. Two arms are thrown over me and neither one belongs to the same person, I realize. Angel is half over me as if shielding me, but I know from prior experience that he just entombs whoever he shares a bed with. Goss’ arm is just flung out there while she still sleeps on her back. After extracting myself from the two, Goss being much easier to untangle from, I follow the smell of coffee to the small fire Rabble and Talia have built by the water.

  “Morning sleepy,” Talia passes me a cup of steaming liquid. “Might as well break out the bacon now,” as she leaves me with just Rabble.

  “When did we get bacon?” I ask, turning my attention to him.

  “It’s less bacon than its dried pork fat, but we’re hoping after warming it over the fire it might taste the same,” he shrugs.

  Talia returns quickly and lays out slices of pork to cook on our crude metal plate. In hindsight, we should have purchased cooking gear, but the plate Rabble swiped on our way out of Bess’ kitchen has been a miracle.

  As the meat sizzles the smell of bacon seems to waft from it. A shuffling sound alerts us that someone else is now up, coming to join us is both Goss and Angel.

  “Bacon?” Angel sits down across from the three of us with a tired smile on his face.

  “I wouldn’t go that far,” Rabble laughs.

  I pass coffee to the two newcomers as we discuss the plans the earlier risers were already making for the day. “So how much tree coverage do we lose ahead?” Angel nods up river towards the brightening sunlight.

  Rabble shrugs, “Not entirely sure to be honest. Definitely more in the open than we were yesterday. If we stay to the left bank, we should be able to keep some from what I can see.”

  “Alright, any idea when we should reach the cave?” Not caring about talking with food in my mouth.

  “Before dark we’ll reach the Mystic Bluff, but how long we take to get there will determine whether we make the climb today or tomorrow.”

  “Yeah, sounds fun. Might as well get a move on. Five minutes and we shove off,” Angel rises, but I notice the edge in his voice.

  Everyone scatters to clean up breakfast, use the restroom or roll up blankets for repacking. Within five minutes we reload us and all of our packs onto the boat, then start to make headway up river towards sunlight. The sun feels good against my face as I stare skyward musing about what adventures still lay ahead for us, a waterfall and scaling a cliff. Not wanting to bring anyone down, I challenge Goss to a game of spy, which she happily obliges to. Before too long all five of us are in on the game, making jokes about clues and laughing at silly suggestions. The canyon takes a sharp turn to the east up ahead, but none of us pay much attention to it while the game continues until we arrive closer. And everyone grows concerned as the current picks up a bit.

  Paddling hard along the smoother side, when we bend east with the river we notice the loud noise ahead. “Tell me that roar is not water ahead of us,” Angel yells from behind.

  “Fine, then I won’t,” responding to him as the falls come into view. “I thought it was a little step thing, not this.”

  Standing from his position on the last bench, Rabble lets out a small laugh. “They are steps at least, won’t know until we’re closer if we can scale them carrying the boat though.” From my view at the bow, the rushing water takes on the look of an ascending staircase, but still daunting.

  After a quick debate, we row as close as we can to the falls before pulling the boat ashore. Climbing onto dry land to survey this obstacle closer. The view from up close is exhilarating. Thoughts of a quick dip and jumping from the first level make more sense than scaling this thing with a boat on my back, that’s for sure. The overall height is roughly sixty feet, so if we make it up this thing than that cuts out a chunk of the climb we need to do later. Each level is staggered as they crisscross the entire length of the canyon, each step seems to be anywhere for two to twelve feet in height.

  “Any suggestions?” I yell at the group over the loud water.

  “I’m open to any,” Goss stares slack jawed at the falls.

  Angel turns to Rabble as we regroup by the boat where the noise level is lower. “If the ropes are long enough for two of us could climb up first, then pull the boat up empty. The others can scale it with the packs.”

  “Good idea,” Rabble nods. “Besides you, am I the other part of the pulling party?”

  “Yep,” Angel can’t hide the smirk on his face. “Think you can handle it or should I take Talia to the top with me?”

  At the jab, Rabble’s face reddens a touch. “Nope, I think we can manage together, Angel.”

  “Might as well just whip ’em out and measure,” Talia shakes her head and retrieves the packs from the boat. After digging through two packs, she finds what she’s looking for. “Here’s the rope. It should be close to long enough to keep a good forty feet between you and the boat. So you must pull it in to reach the next tier.”

  Angel ties an end of the rope around his waist. “Sounds good, girls if you would please carry what you can on your backs. We can strap what’s left to our backs to keep from losing anything inside the boat on the way up.”

  Now it’s Goss’ turn to mutter under her breath. “Just because you’re a guy doesn’t mean your any stronger,” she hoists two packs along with two bows and a quiver onto her back.

  “Remind me not to piss her off,” Talia whispers as she helps me tighten two packs onto my back.

  “No kidding,” I laugh.

  “So how do the men want to do this?” Goss yells back at them from the base of the falls.
They both give her blank looks, “ok in simple terms then. Do you want us to lead or follow in case there is an issue?” The attitude in her voice is something I’ve never heard, but it’s amusing as hell even though I do all I can to keep the smirk off my face.

  “We’ll lead and pull the boat up each tier, keep it simple. If the boat comes loose, grab it to save it or just keep from getting knocked over by it,” Angel proceeds ahead of her.

  “Fine,” she huffs at his back, giving him a rude hand gesture.

  “They normally like this?” Rabble asks, coming alongside Talia and I.

  “No, but now is not the best time for them to exhibit sibling rivalry to be honest,” I mention.

  “I don’t think that’s it and you shouldn’t either, Abby,” Talia quips following Rabbles lead toward Angel.

  I ponder Talia’s comment as we follow the boat up the first three levels without issue. The system they’re using seems to work and the distance between these lower tiers is easy to overcome, it’s higher up that looks more daunting from down here.

  Before I can think any more happy thoughts, the rope around Angel’s waist snaps, almost taking Rabble down to the previous area with the boat. Thankfully, Angel took hold of his arm in time to save both Rabble and the boat from a hard fall.

  “Now what?” Talia asks from below, “You want another rope?”

  “No, we should be good with the one. It’s been easy going enough,” Rabble yells tying a loose end back around his waist.

  “You’re both my witnesses,” Talia points to Goss and me, “I offered.” And with that the two men struggle the next few tiers with only one long rope and another shorter one. “Stubborn,” she quips as they almost lose the boat again.

  “I’m rethinking our position of following them,” Goss mentions as I help give her a boost to a taller level.

  “You and me both,” I hoist myself up next to her.

  We don’t run into anymore issues the rest of the way up, the only problem we all seem to have now is being drenched. For Goss and I it’s a quick remedy by changing into our new pants and shirts, Angel changes as well but for the other two baking in the sun is the only way to get dry. Talia mutters about clammy skin for some time. Finally, her spirits lift as we paddle ashore by a blue stone marker Rabble points out along the shore.

  Standing on rock we all stare up towards what is possibly a crevice one hundred feet above us, gods I hope that’s the cave. “It is,” Rabble confirms next to me. “Might as well make camp for the night. We don’t want to make the climb in the dark.” We all agree on that since none of us including Rabble has much climbing experience. That part I wasn’t aware of until he mentions it while we lay out things to dry in the setting sun. “I’ve only ever repelled down, or done the short climb back to the top of the cliff,” he shrugs.

  “Not reassuring,” I let him know as we sit to eat by a fire Talia built. “So how do we know we can even make it up there?” Gesturing towards the crevice we can barely see in the fading daylight.

  “I asked earlier, Abby. There are supports and hooks built into the rock by others who have made the climb. Should be simple enough to latch onto each and make our way up.” Angel offers between bites.

  But to me this isn’t an easy feat ahead of us. No one else seems to worry around the fire during dinner or even after. I feel like the only one concerned as I tuck myself under the blanket and stare up to the stars above. “You’re not alone,” penetrates my brain as I drift to sleep. I can’t see Rabble from where I am laying, but it’s easy enough to know it’s him. Knowing he has concerns as well somehow helps me to fall asleep, I’m not crazy I decide and the others are probably worried just not voicing it.

  14

  “How high up am I now?” I yell towards Talia on the ground below me.

  “Ten feet,” she informs me, “about ninety to go Abby.”

  “This isn’t funny so you better not be laughing,” I holler at her pulling myself at least two feet higher. This is more difficult than I imagined, and as a bonus I seem to be the worst at it. Rabble took the lead to free climb until finding hooks secured to the stone above us, then I followed, securing my harness to the first rope. Angel and Goss started after me following Talia’s offer to come up last since she had the most climbing experience after Rabble. Both of them passed me easily after I took a break at around six feet of the ground. “I’m really not good at this,” I try to send that mental note to Rabble’s mind but no response. Great, he’s probably laughing too hard to respond.

  “How much farther up do you want me before you start?” I ask Talia.

  I can hear her snort, so obviously I’m still pretty close to the ground. “About forty more feet so I don’t wear out my arms waiting behind you.” Well, that’s not nice. I tell myself as I grab another hand hold to hoist myself higher.

  Scanning the rock above me, I can see Rabble almost to what I assume is the crevice way at the top. Goss isn’t that far behind him with Angel right on her tail, great I’m really bringing up the rear on this one. Mumbling to myself about not getting there until dark, I keep going at my slow pace until I finally find a rhythm. Feeling as though I may have gotten somewhere during my mental tirade that helped push me along I look down. Big mistake I realize quickly, I’m higher than forty feet. Talia is now watching from just a few feet below me, hanging by her tied off rope leisurely.

  “Move along Abby, move along.” She encourages me the best way she knows how during this without flat out yelling at me to move it.

  “I thought I was gaining some ground now,” I throw back at her.

  “Oh, you are, but not near enough to make up the gap created between us and the rest of the group,” she snorts. And that’s all I need to put me in another frame of mind, how dare they leave me and finish the climb without me. I’m the heir of a prophecy, I’ll be damned if a climb up a stupid rock ends me. I keep flailing myself mentally as I climb from one spot to another. Retying my harness to another rope for the next section without thinking at all. And the funniest thing happens, I pull myself over a ledge without realizing I’m at the top and my other three companions are standing around waiting on us.

  “Bout time,” Angel smirks, but the look I shoot his way peels the smile right off his face.

  “I knew you could do it,” comes mentally next from Rabble.

  “And you,” while pointing my hand at him. “Need to slow down and remember others don’t know what they’re doing.” But it doesn’t end with my statement, my blood is up and while pointing at him a blue spark flashes from my hand to connect with his shoulder. “Oh shit,” I mutter as he grasps the wounded area. “I didn’t mean to do that.”

  He holds his other hand out to me as if in surrender, “It's ok Abby, just stings a little. I just need a minute.” Gods, I need to learn better control with this zapping ability. But before I can apologize farther, Rabble and Angel are on the ground, with two large bodies now covering theirs.

  “What the,” is all I’m able to manage as I see four more people descending to our location. We’re under attack and I don’t know what to do.

  “Hit them,” resounds in my mind from Rabble. I look at the ground around me and see nothing I can use for a weapon. “Zap them,” comes next from him. Oh, right I think as I pool as much anger as I can into me, sending a flash towards the man on top of him then concentrating on the one over Angel.

  It works, both attackers roll off them semi incapacitated, I take aim next at the four approaching us from above. Three of them fall from the ropes they are using, but only one lands on the ledge we occupy, the other two fall farther to the shoreline below us.

  Between Rabble and Angel, the three on the ledge with us are out cold or worse within seconds. “Good job,” Angel mutters after his own hard won victory, but he’s cut short by the fourth man holding a blade to his throat.

  “She comes with us now and I don’t slit his throat,” the man holding the knife demands. “I serve my sovereign well. I wi
ll receive riches for her, besides you helped cut the shares down by a few for me already,” the man sneers.

  “How about you go now and live,” Rabble yells at him. I notice he doesn’t have a weapon in hand. Fear for what might happen to Angel consumes me.

  The man’s laughter continues when he realizes the threat from Rabble is probably as empty as his hands. I wish Talia was here to right now to take this man down, she’s the one in the group I know who could. But before another thought enters my head, blood spurts from the offender's neck with an arrow protruding from it.

  “Holy hells,” Talia draws my attention her way as she pulls herself over the ledge. “Good shot, Goss!”

  “I’ll second that,” Angel stares at the body laying still at his feet in shock.

  “I didn’t mean to kill him, I just wanted to protect Angel,” she mutters in disbelief at what she’s done.

  “Well, you did that Goss,” Rabble throws his arm out to steady her, but she pushes him away.

  “Don’t,” she edges away from him. “All I could think was that I have to save my love, I mean Angel from him.” But the words are out, she can’t take them back now. Many things make sense now from the recent past, her genuine feelings towards him exposed for the first time.

  Goss turns from the rest of us sheepishly while Talia approaches Angel to confirm he’s uninjured. “You did what we needed, Goss. Don’t fret about the results,” she encourages her.

  She stands shaking as I turn to face her, bow still in hand with another arrow ready just in case. “Goss, it's ok,” I murmur to her, she quickly pulls me into a firm embrace.

  “I didn’t mean to kill anyone,” she sobs into my left shoulder.

  “It’s ok, it had to happen or we would have lost Angel. Just remember that,” I tell her, giving her a quick squeeze to accentuate my point.

  She pushes me to arm’s length, then looks me over. “Dear gods, I think I proclaimed my love him Abby, did I?” She asks in such a way that lying to her would be impossible.

  “That’s a possibility,” I admit in a whisper. “But who knows you could always play it off as sibling love Goss.”