by J B Cantwell
No. This life I’d found myself thrust into wasn’t a normal one. I imagined the people back in the market in Eagleview. None of them had any idea about the things we were doing out here in the wild. They didn't know how close danger was to their door. What I knew was that it was only a matter of time before Eagleview fell. Zahn was all-powerful, and he ran that kingdom more than the king did. I was willing to bet that this was the case in many of the other kingdoms in our world.
Alys walked quietly next to me for a few moments longer. Then, she let me know the thing that was on her mind, the reason she’d joined me at the front.
"I feel sorry for you," she said.
I looked up at her, confused and not a little surprised.
"Why?"
"Our young, you know them as Tosia and Trina, have a hundred years on you. You, yourself, have told us that you only have seventeen years under your belt. And yet here you are, in charge of a race of people who’ve been around for thousands of years. Why should they listen to you? Why should I? As crazy as it seems, I find that I trust you. Now that Arte’s gone, we need someone new to guide us. The fact that you’re a human is unusual but not unwelcome. Take care of yourself, Bree of Eagleview. I, for one, will do what I can to protect you."
At this, she walked away, back toward her people. I wondered if she was saddened by the death of her friend. Of course, she must've been, but she chose now to display her strength. That was more than I could ask for.
As I walked and looked around, trying to make sure we weren't walking into a trap, I saw with great relief that Trina was flying in our direction. I let go of the barrier for a few moments so that she could land within it. Soon, she and Tosia were embracing one another, each of them laughing. I was heartened by the fact that these girls were able to laugh after all they’d been through. They didn’t, however, go to their mother. Instead, they came to me. I stopped walking, though the others still moved forward, Connell bringing up the rear.
"What happened?" I asked. "What did you find?"
Her smile faded, and though I knew she had not yet told Tosia of her journey, they were connected enough for her to guess.
"It's not good," Trina said. "The tiger has been destroyed, and now she’s surrounded by Creepers who drink what’s left of her Light. There was a man there, but I didn't go near him, and I don't think he saw me."
A cold, hard knot of anxiety formed in my stomach.
The tiger was destroyed. That left only the elephant and the bear. The Keepers were disappearing fast.
Not to mention Phalen in their midst.
"How was he dressed?" I asked.
"He wore a shimmering silver cloak, and the Creepers were congregated around him. He was standing in the middle of the pool speaking to them, but I couldn't make out what he was saying, and I needed to stay hidden. I don't think I was spotted, and I left quickly. The good news is that on my way back, I found several entrances to the mountains. If we can go through them instead of around them, we might have a chance."
"But how can we do that?" I asked. "We have no map. I went through the caves, myself, and when I came out, I was just as lost as I'd been when I entered."
"That's where I might come in." It was Kaelin, surprising me from behind, his face serious.
"How?" I asked.
"I've lived here for hundreds of years," he said. "I've often set off on my own journeys, though many of them have been too dangerous to stay out in the open. Howlers and Creepers and Wicks have attacked me more than once. A while back, I discovered I could hide in the caves effectively, but staying put never seemed like a good idea. So I worked my way deeper into them, discovering a common trait. If you go down deep into the caves, you’ll eventually come to a great underground cavern. It's from there that all of the paths out of the mountain begin. You simply choose another road and climb up the steep walkways toward the top."
"You wouldn't happen to have a map, would you?" Duna asked, joining us, a note of sarcasm in her voice. She was skeptical, and she had good reason to be.
"A written map?" he asked. "No, I'm afraid I don't. But I know my way around these mountains, and I know I can help."
I turned to Trina. "What about this storm? Could you see an end to it?"
"Yes," she said. "About halfway to the pool, this storm stops, right at the edge of the valley. But there are Creepers in the thousands who wait at the end of the storm. They can't seem to break through the outer ring where the rain is raging."
"So they're waiting for us." I turned to Kaelin. "Where is the closest entrance to the caves?"
“Far away, I'm afraid."
"How far away are we from the end of this valley?"
"It doesn't matter," Trina said. "The Creepers will be waiting, and there’s a distance to go before the caves begin."
I sighed heavily, turning to leave, following the group now. Connell caught up to us, and Tosia filled him in.
"One of us should stay at the front," I said. "Tosia, will you take your sister?"
She caught her sister's eye and smiled. "Of course."
"Trina, if anything happens, take off and come to the back to tell us. Be careful not to get too far ahead."
"You got it."
Trina gripped Tosia's hand, and the two of them walked off together.
I turned to Kaelin. "What are we going to do?" I asked. "If you have any ideas, tell us now."
"Well," Duna said. "Looks like we're going to have to fight."
"Maybe not," Kaelin said. "There is a way that we could try, but it's more dangerous than staying on the ground."
"If a thousand Creepers are waiting for us in just a few hours, I suggest we at least consider it."
He frowned, but I was guessing he would let his secret be known, dangerous or not.
"There's a place not too far from here where we can begin to climb. But it will be difficult, especially for some of the elders. Not everyone is in the prime of life anymore."
"I thought giants were immortal," I said.
His smile returned. "True. But after many hundreds of years, even the best of us slow down. So maybe you could say that we’re not immortal, exactly, but are likely to live for a very, very long time."
"So, if we make it up the side of this mountain, where do we go from there?" I asked.
"There's a cave hidden in the darkness. If what Trina said was true, the enemy will be distracted, waiting for us to meet them on the other side of this storm."
"We've been set up," I said, gritting my teeth. "Phalen knew this would happen all along."
"We didn't have any choice," Duna said. "We needed to flee. It's just bad luck that we fell into his trap."
"It was stupid," I said. "I was stupid. I should've known better. We should've headed out of the mountains and back toward the Wild Lands. That way, you all could've been free, and I would've figured it out from there. Now, look what I've gotten you into."
"It's not your fault we were attacked the other night," Kaelin said. "We're used to such things. The thing that was different then was that there were three Howlers, not one, which is two more than we've ever faced in the past. But nobody blames you."
I looked at the giants walking in front of me, taken from their homes, and I wondered if that was true. Why hadn't they been attacked by a group of Howlers before now? Before my arrival, they'd only ever experienced one at a time.
It didn't matter, and blaming myself for everything was going to have to stop.
I may have been a flawed person, but I wasn’t the one setting the traps.
Chapter 20
Within an hour, we reached the beginning of the trail that would take us up high up onto the mountainside, and the rain eased the higher we climbed. There might've been grumbling for the few minutes that it took everyone to agree to follow the trail, but eventually, they all came. Duna had made sure that the plan permeated the group in hushed whispers. This was no time for me to get up and make a speech. If we were discovered, I could hardly imagine the mi
sery that would await us.
Like before, I went last, Duna beside me. Kaelin had gone up front so he could lead us to the cave. But I worried about him up there, so I sent Connell to keep him company. Lesley and Carden needed a rest from their magic, so they were walking within the group, ready to defend them but not the only ones to do so.
Trina had taken it upon herself to float among the Giants, sending out instructions and generally keeping the crowd calm. As we climbed, I found that Kaelin had been right; some of the older giants were falling behind. I couldn't leave them, so I took it upon myself to wait.
Finally, though, there were two giants who were having real trouble. They frequently stopped, holding onto their backs, breathing hard, and eventually, they sat down right in the middle of the path. I thought it was interesting that they were so tired when Arte, who was arguably much older than they were, had been in such good shape. It made me think of Duna.
"You must get up," I said. I turned to Duna. "You need to help them."
"We don't need your help," one of them said. "We've lived this long without the help of that witch."
Anger flared within me.
"Shall we leave you behind, then?"
"We may as well," Duna said. "If they don't want my help, there's nothing I can do about it."
"Please," I said. "You must let her help you, or I will have no choice but to leave you. I fear it will be the death of you."
I might've done it myself, but I knew that using my own magic for healing would weaken me at the worst possible time.
Duna and I exchanged glances, and I shook my head in defeat. Then I raised my eyebrows and indicated them with a nod of my head.
She understood.
She walked up behind the two, who were paying attention to me, not her. She placed one hand on each shoulder and let her power surge into their bodies.
At first, they turned, irritated and doing what they could to remove her hands from their shoulders. One of them even tried to scratch her. But soon, they realized just how healing her magic could be. Each of them tilted their heads back in relief, relief from who knew how many years of pain.
The man stood up and opened his arms as if to hug her.
She spat in his face and turned to leave.
"You kind of had that coming," I said to him.
I would've helped the woman to stand, but she was as sprightly as a young one might've been. She clearly didn't need my help, and a moment later she was already on her feet.
"You know, I think we owe that woman quite a lot," the woman said.
The man wiped Duna's spit from his face with the back of his sleeve. He didn't seem to agree with her, but I had a feeling he would come around.
"It's time to go now," I said. "They've gotten too far ahead."
In fact, I could no longer see them walking in front of us. Had they found the cave? What had happened? They seemed to have disappeared.
Suddenly, I was alarmed. I took off running up the trail, not bothering to wait for the two elders. Duna tried to follow me at first, but she couldn't match my speed, and I had to leave her behind, too. Because at that moment I heard a sound that made my blood turn cold.
Creepers. Screaming, slimy, white-fanged creepers.
We were now through the edge of the storm, and they stood waiting for us.
I could barely see, but I could hear the screaming of a giant as he fell off the precipice, his body a shadow in the darkness as it slipped into oblivion.
I ran for it, trying not to push the giants out of my way as I moved toward the front. It was lucky that I was so slight, not to mention short, by comparison, as it allowed me to make my way through the crowd without bumping anyone off the edge of the cliff.
Ahead, I could tell there was a massacre in progress. Someone had a wand or a staff or a knife that lit up the night with power. This might've made me feel better, but for these unknown sorcerers to use magic so advanced, so necessary, was not a good plan.
Trina was hovering above me, and I found myself stuck in a crush of Giants who were trying now to retreat.
"Take my hands!" she yelled. "I can get you there!"
I wasn't excited about the prospect of flying so high up off the valley floor, but I had to trust her and trust my own magic, too. As she lowered her hands to take mine, I recalled the ability that I had to scale slick, vertical walls. I used this magic now to grip her hands as tightly as I could.
Immediately, it became obvious that taking me for a little flight wasn’t something that was easy for her. Sure, her magic might’ve been pure, but it was hers alone. She could barely hold my weight.
"Put me down!" I yelled. "I don't want you to fall, too!"
She was straining with the effort of holding me.
"It's right up here!"
"I'm too heavy!"
Finally, she seemed to understand.
"I'm going to throw you as far as I can!" she called. "Can you survive it?"
"Yes!"
Of course, I had no idea if I would be able to survive being tossed by a flying giant, but it seemed to be the only option that was on the table.
A moment later, she swung her arms violently, releasing my hands and letting me fly on my own down to the path and right into the mouth of the beasts. It was a clean landing, and I rolled until I got my feet under me. Immediately, I fetched my knives and thrust my power through the night and into the hearts of the Creepers.
Both Connell and Tosia were putting up a good fight. After I'd taken one large swipe at the slimy beasts, sending nearly a dozen of them flying off the cliff, I thought we had enough time to strategize.
"Where are the others?" I yelled over the Creepers’ screams.
"I don't know!" Connell called over the din of the monsters.
They were coming at us again. There wasn't much time.
"Tosia, you come with me! Watch my back!"
She nodded, looking terrified.
But sooner than later, we discovered her job was absolutely essential. Creepers quickly filled in the gaps of those I’d already destroyed, and we found them advancing upon us by the dozen.
I held my knives out, and with each swipe, ten more Creepers would find their ends at the bottom of the mountain.
"It's in here!" Kaelin shouted. All was chaos.
"Get them in there!" I yelled.
It was at this moment that a Creeper launched himself at me and bit its shining, jagged teeth into my thigh. I screamed in protest, and Tosia took him out from behind with a large bolt of power. She looked at me, horrified.
"Don't stop!" I yelled.
I had so much adrenaline coursing through me that I didn't feel the pain at first. But as we picked off the Creepers in groups, eventually I became unable to stand. The venom of the beast radiated out from the bite mark, and I soon found myself stumbling, losing consciousness. There were bubbles in my mouth, an odd sensation. Why?
Around me, the battle raged, and I tried to keep my eyes open, tried not to get stepped on. But soon, I felt the strong arms of a giant lifting me from the rock and bringing me inside the cave.
I thought I recognized voices. Some were shouting. Some were calmer. It became difficult to understand people. I heard Duna, and I thought that she might've been the person who'd carried me in. Whomever it had been, I had been left behind now as they all sought to secure our place in the cave.
Connell shouting.
Tosia screaming.
Duna thundering.
Malcolm singing.
Regan laughing.
Something seemed wrong, but I couldn't put my finger on it. It seemed that all of these people were with me now, and yet I couldn't see them. Was it dark? Even with the light of our magic? Maybe we had failed.
Malcolm's song went on.
I felt hands again as things began to quiet. I looked up and realized that Duna had placed both of her hands on my back. Immediately, relief came. Her magic flowed through me, coating me in her light.
I sat u
p, grateful for her efforts. But when I looked down at my leg, at the torn fabric and the blood from the bite, I knew something was wrong.
It still hurt. Terribly.
Duna stood up, misunderstanding. She offered me her hands, but I shook my head and didn’t take them. She frowned and knelt back down, placing her hands directly on my leg now. But it was no use; this injury was not unlike others I'd had, others that had required Light to heal.
I lifted up one of my knives up and let my power course through it, hitting the ceiling of the cave, breaking great boulders that smashed the Creepers. Several crawled over; they seemed not to care about leaving their brethren behind.
I was fading again. It was only a matter of time before the poison from that bite took me. And would it be so bad? So much responsibility would fade away, come to rest on another's shoulders. It was going to take an immense effort on my part to fight. So, in my twilight, I decided not to. I laid my head back and let myself fade away. The noise lessened. The screaming stopped. And soon, I found I had a vial held up to my mouth. Some liquid was being poured into me, but I was too tired to understand what it could be, to try to place the taste in my mouth. Water?
No. Melon.
The effects were immediate, and as I looked down to investigate the injury as it healed, I could hear the bashing of Torin's army coming up against the wall of granite I’d loosened. The Creepers, while small, were having a hard time slinking through the rocks. But it wasn't long before they weren't the only ones trying to get through.
Like every other time I'd had Light, I immediately felt invincible, full of life, ready to fight. I didn't even bother to look down at my leg now; I knew it was healed.
I picked up my knives, immediately lighting them aflame.
"Did everybody make it?" I yelled to Kaelin.
"I don't know!" he shouted, and he lifted up a long, pointed spear and continued his attack on the beasts.
I moved forward to help him, and I found that not only was I healed, but I was more powerful than before. The combination of Duna's healing and that of the Light was enough to catapult me into a whole different magnitude of power.
As before, I slashed my knives through the air and watched as the resulting bolts cut the Creepers in half. I could hear the screaming again now that I had been healed. But I found I was haunted by the voices of Malcolm and Regan; haunted by those who’d left me.