by Ashley Capes
Never joined him and followed the man’s gaze. Far below, where the King’s Road curved around the mountain, lurked the red glow of campfires. Several campfires. “Travellers or something worse, I wonder,” he said.
“Like Jenisan?”
“Exactly.” If it was... well, a curse upon the prince. Or king. And if the ingrate had forced Elina to be part of the chase then two curses upon his head.
“I’d judge them to be two days behind at least.”
“For now.” Never said. “And our path will likely be slower than theirs, so we’ll have trouble staying ahead.”
“What are you looking at?” Tsolde appeared beside him.
He pointed. “Someone follows. My gold is on Jenisan.”
“Then we should keep moving,” she said.
“Not in the dark, we could slip and fall, break something. Or worse.”
“What about your blue-stone?”
“We need rest. We sleep while they sleep and post a watch as before.”
A cold camp and a colder watch; Never paced the perimeter of the trees. He watched the campfires below, but did not let them blind him to other concerns. The night was quiet, the wind had fallen away to reveal only the small sounds of night creatures. An owl overhead – or at least, talons on branches – and creeping things but nothing sinister.
When he woke Luis and sought his rest, sleep was slow to come. He turned often and it wasn’t simply the deep chill to the air.
Something was amiss.
Not like the sea-creatures, not the new unease he’d experienced around Snow – something different yet vaguely familiar. On a whim, he lifted the crystal marble free and held it up to the moon, where a beam slipped through the canopy.
The figure stood with arms spread to each side but the tilt of the head gave no indication of the expression.
“And what are you trying to tell me?” he whispered.
The figure did not move.
He returned the ball to an inner pocket and lay back and closed his eyes. Too bad he couldn’t force himself to fall asleep.
And yet sleep he must have, for his head was heavy and eyes bleary when Luis woke him to darkness. “Never, they’re moving.”
“Who?” Never groaned. By the smeary-stars overhead, only a few hours had passed. He rubbed at his eyes.
“Jenisan. Or whoever it is down there – the lights are climbing the road.”
Never fumbled for a flask, took a drink and started stuffing his bedroll into his pack. “Then so are we. Wake Tsolde, can you?”
Luis did as instructed and Never moved back to the edge of the road. The red glow moved slowly up one of the ridges. Soon they’d be lost as the King’s Road curved with the mountain but something had to be driving them on to take the road at night. They were well-provisioned. By the line of lights, he estimated a score of men.
Disagreeable odds.
“Will they find our trail?” Tsolde asked when she moved to stand beside him.
“Possibly.” He glanced back up at the night sky. “They’ll pass this point during daylight hours and may see some evidence. Whenever they hit the avalanche, I expect they’ll turn back for a thorough search in any event.”
“We’ll be long gone by then,” Luis said.
“Let’s hope so,” Never replied. “Who knows what waits ahead; I’ve not had much occasion to leave the King’s Road often on this side of the ranges.”
Tsolde put her hands on her hips as she turned to face the shadowy trail beside the stand of trees. “Whatever it is we’ll deal with it.”
“Hold on to that stubbornness,” Never said. “I fear we’ll need it soon enough.”
Leading with his blue-stone, which he periodically rubbed between his hands, Never took them up the winding trail. In places, the looming ghosts of calf-high fern lined the path. Rough-cut steps climbed in a long zig-zag. At each landing he paused a moment to catch his breath as the air gradually thinned.
When dawn lightened the sky, they stopped where a mountain stream flowed from the very rock-face. Deep and quite wide, it was also short, the current slow. It soon disappeared beneath stone again. But he bent to drink and refill his flask. The water chilled his teeth and banished the slight haze he’d been walking under. How quickly sleepiness had crept up on him.
“We should rest here,” Luis said. “While there’s no wind or rain.”
Never paused. A moment to ease the ache in his limbs would be welcome... and yet, best not to tempt fate. “Let’s push a little further.”
He appraised Never a moment. “You look more tired than I feel.”
“Now, now, Luis. Mother-Hen doesn’t suit you.”
Luis laughed. “Well, I’m keeping an eye on you just the same.”
He climbed higher. The path was old, disused it seemed, yet it did have the look of something that had once been important. He’d never travelled it before, but there was a chance it would run parallel with the King’s Road long enough to see them safely beyond the slide.
And it seemed likely all the way until noon, when the path ended.
A huge door of stone and steel blocked the wall. The trail had narrowed into a passage, walls surging up around them, but in the shadows with the sickly green and white lichen lay only the great door. Pebbles and shards of stone lay before it. A broken haft of some tool rested beneath it too. Never frowned at the door as he ran fingers over the rough marks on the surface. “Shall I knock?” Nothing about it gave the impression that it had been opened recently and the axe or whatever tool someone tried in the past had certainly failed.
Tsolde exhaled. “Try something.”
He placed a hand against the cold surface. Unyielding. He knelt by one of the large hinges – buried in lichen. There were no symbols carved across the face of the door, no handle either.
He gave it a thump.
A deep boom rang out but the door did not open.
“Something better,” Tsolde said.
“Sound advice, Lady Tsolde,” he replied.
Luis was prodding different parts of the wall and the door itself with the butt of his spear, but there were no hidden switches or levers. Despite the absence of the five-pointed leaf, Never pricked his finger with a dagger point and pressed against the door.
Nothing.
He drew the symbol – and nothing again.
“Why did you do that?” Tsolde asked.
“Just in case. It worked often enough on the Isle.”
She glanced over their back-trail. “If this is useless, shouldn’t we hurry and take that other path you mentioned?”
“If we can reach it.”
He led them back down, unease growing within his gut. The closer they came to the King’s Road, the greater chance they had of running into pursuit. It all depended on whether Jenisan had reached the avalanche and turned back. Who knew when or even whether they’d stopped to rest?
The sun began to set as they neared the rush of the stream, where he paused to drink the cold water – the chill once again waking him a little.
“I’m going to scout ahead again,” Luis said, dumping his pack.
Never waved a hand as he sat against a stone and unhooked his own pack. Tsolde continued to pace, one hand on the dagger her father had left her.
“You’ll wear it out,” he said.
“What?”
“The mountain,” he replied. “Why don’t you stop the pacing and take a moment.”
At first she seemed to be about to retort, but she only shook her head. “I cannot go back, Never. I won’t. We have to stay ahead of them somehow.”
“We’ll find a way.”
“And if we don’t?”
“Then pretend we captured you. You’ve never met Jenisan, have you?”
She shook her head.
“Then the new King won’t know any different. Simply tell him we took you from some village and he’ll have you returned.”
“Good plan, Never but there’s a flaw. You’d be captured. Or w
orse.”
He grinned up at her. “True, and I’d hate that – we’ll have to avoid it.”
Footsteps approached – someone moving swiftly. Never stood and Tsolde narrowed her eyes in the growing darkness but it was only Luis. His eyes were wide and his chest heaved.
Trouble – hardly surprising, really.
“We have royal company I take it?” Never asked.
Luis shook his head, sucking in a breath of air. “Worse. It’s Elina, Never. She’s the one leading the hunting party.”
Chapter 5.
“She looks furious,” Luis added.
Never began to pace, echoing Tsolde. Was Elina furious at being forced into the position of chasing him down, or just furious with him? Hard to say with her; she seemed to have strong feelings for the King and no doubt Jenisan had been quick to exercise leverage over her. “How close?”
“They’re moving slowly, in case of ambush, but we need to do something.”
“Damn.”
Tsolde caught his arm. “Think of something, Never.”
“Did you think I was writing a ballad?”
“Of course not!”
“Listen. We cannot pass them and there is nowhere to hide. The door is sealed – that leaves negotiation. She will spare the two of you if I surrender,” he said.
Luis shook his head. “No. That’s not a solution.”
“It is, my friend – just not one you were hoping for,” he said. “I won’t have either of you hurt on my account.”
The treasure-hunter muttered a curse. Tsolde resumed pacing, twisting the ends of her braid.
The clicking of stone on stone broke the silence.
A rock-turtle was climbing from the stream, its heavy feet clacking across the path. The name was deceptive – it was no true turtle, but its slow gait and stony skin gave it enough similarities. The creature stood no taller than a turtle but its head was broader, flatter – the hard ridges of its mouth were used to crush tough beetle shells and crack the scales of fish.
In the water, it was far more agile – on land it was slow, four feet gripping the stone. But its rock-like skin allowed it to blend in. He’d once sat upon one by accident, something it didn’t appreciate if the rasping growl had been any indication.
Tsolde waved to the creature. “Look – a Tremasch. We’re saved.”
He frowned. “How?”
“They often live in pods, under rocky streams like this.”
“I can’t hold my breath very long, you know.”
She shook her head. “No. Listen – they only choose safe places, always two exits. It stops them being caught by mountain-trappers.”
Never brushed aside the question of why anyone would hunt such creatures. “How can you be sure?”
“Just trust me,” she said. “If we swim down, there will be a way out.”
“But how far?” Luis asked. “What if the other exit is halfway across the mountain?”
“I’ll check,” she said.
Never frowned. How dangerous was it? The echo of voices from below drifted up. No time. “Quickly, then.”
Tsolde dropped her pack to the stone and stepped into the stream, diving below with a muffled cry at the cold, no doubt. Never strode forward, bending by the edge. Tsolde’s figure swam down into the murk, a pale smudge.
“We’re running out of time,” Luis said. “If she doesn’t find anything...”
“I can still surrender.”
Luis only glanced over his shoulder to where the voices had died down. Never followed the man’s gaze but no-one appeared – yet. Back to the water and Tsolde was breaking the surface.
“There is a way – I see light,” she said. Her lips had already turned faintly blue.
A shout rose from their back trail.
“Go,” Never cried, dragging Luis toward the water. The spearman fell with a splash. “I’ll hold them off then follow,” he added when Luis surfaced, eyes wide.
“Never, wait,” Tsolde said.
“Don’t waste it,” he hissed. She clenched her teeth but took a deep breath and ducked below the water.
“Swear it,” Luis said, his mouth a firm line.
“I swear.”
Luis followed Tsolde and Never stood to fold his arms. Men climbed the trail, slowing and spreading out as they noticed his figure standing in the near-darkness. The lead soldier, a stout fellow with a heavy beard, signalled to those behind him. The Hanik men bore bows and short swords but did not draw.
Though the leader’s words were in Hanik, he’d obviously sent for Elina.
“Long night, eh?” Never asked them.
No-one spoke. Some of the men shifted their feet as they waited. One knelt to ready a lantern, its warm glow soon spreading over the rocks. What were their orders? Still no-one had made a threatening move but how long would that last? Perhaps they were afraid of his curse. More likely, Jenisan wanted him alive – a public execution seemed the man’s style.
A shorter figure approached, resolving into Elina, her hair tied into a plait and her bow gripped in a gloved hand. Dark rings of weariness circled her eyes. Her expression was one of surprise. “Never? Where’s Luis and the girl?”
“I sent them back down the mountain,” he said. “It was safer.”
She shook her head. “We didn’t pass anyone.”
“Must have been while you were napping.”
“You know why I’ve come.”
He took a chance. “I know you were forced into this.”
Elina pressed her lips together. She nodded to one of the men behind her. The fellow brought forth a net with weighted points. “Never, I want this to be peaceful. Don’t make me hurt you,” she said.
He spun a knife into his hand, slipping it from an inner sheath, and held it poised over his palm. “I make you the same offer.”
“Each of these men have families, Never. People who care for them. Many have children – I know you won’t hurt them.”
Never smiled a sad smile. “Only if you force me.”
Silence fell between them. One of her men swallowed and Elina cast her bow down where it clattered across the stony trail. “Damn you, he won’t accept failure, Never. Even from me. Surrender.”
“And walk merrily to my death?” There was no-one to protect now, Luis and Tsolde would have had time to escape. Giving up might have kept Elina from following them, but giving up also meant giving up on answers. No. He’d searched too long.
And there was still Snow to confront.
Time to make his own exit.
“I can try and convince him, Never. He will listen –”
“His Royal Highness does not care for my kind, Elina. He would kill me no matter the accident that led us here.”
She glanced away – was it shame? She knew she couldn’t convince her King, knew her words had been empty; he saw it in her posture. But when Elina turned back, her eyes had hardened. “You’re not leaving me any choice.”
“True.” Never grinned as he sheathed his blade. “Careful if you follow.”
Confusion registered in her eyes. He spun and dived into the stream. Cold enveloped him, numbing his hands and face, and darkness ruled. He swam down, kicking hard with hands outstretched as he searched for the opening. Distant cries faded above as his fingers closed over the rim of a narrow opening. Never dragged himself into the tunnel, scrambling for hand-holds. He pulled himself along, kicking until his lungs began to strain.
But there was light.
It glowed above, streaming down in pale green.
Never reached for it, fighting the pain in his chest and exhaling a stream of bubbles as he neared the light source – and exploded forth with a gasp.
He blinked water from his eyes.
A luminous cavern surrounded him, a high roof covered in glowing stone shapes. Something in the stone possessed its own glow, he’d seen it before; an eerie light. The pool he treaded water within was lined with more of it and he swam over to a gap, pulling himself free where
he lay across the stone, shivering a moment.
“Never?”
He looked up. Luis and Tsolde, both miserable-looking and drenched, rushed around from one of the green columns. “Who else?” he said with a grin, unable to stop his teeth chattering.
Chapter 6.
“Where are we then?” he asked. He brushed a finger across the nearest stone and it came away with a faint glowing powder. Nearby, a groove in the ground revealed recent scuff marks – the dwelling of the rock-turtle?
“An underground cave of some sort,” Luis said. “Bigger than I was expecting, that’s for certain.”
Tsolde jerked a thumb over her shoulder. “The Tremasch has a path, it leads outside – I can feel the air further along.”
“Elina?” Luis asked.
“She’s up there with a dozen men, maybe more. I doubt anyone will follow at first, but we should hurry. If they all swim down they’ll probably stage then set out together – they’re afraid of me,” he said. And why shouldn’t they be? Yet he kept most of the bitterness from his voice.
Tsolde led them quickly between the green columns to the sound of their boots squelching. It echoed in the cavern until the faint stirring of air met his face and Tsolde brought them to a halt. She knelt by a small opening – again, something they’d have to crawl – or wriggle – through in order to reach the other side.
“I’ll go first,” she said, sticking her head into the tunnel.
“Careful,” he said.
“I know, I know.”
Once Tsolde was through, Luis followed, pausing at one point. “Trouble?” Never asked.
Luis shifted and dragged himself forward. “It gets tight in the middle – just take a deep breath.”
Never sighed but when he reached the narrow part of the passage he was able to reach for handholds ahead, suck in the night air and haul himself through with little difficulty, and only a moment’s discomfort as what seemed to be the weight of the entire mountain pressed upon him.
And then Luis was helping him to his feet on the banks of another stream, this one empty of water, and only a jumble of rocks beneath. New starlight softened the hard edges. The scent of pine drifted across from the opposite bank.