by D N Meinster
Rikki no longer had so much concern for the Roamers, though. Her thoughts stayed on the mages. If they were close to the mountains, that meant they were close to their dungeon.
She approached Doren and wrapped her hands around his arm as she leaned her lips close to his ear. "I'm going to go save them."
"We will all go," Doren whispered back.
"Right now?"
"No," Doren replied.
"I can shift us into the mountains, then I can shift us into the dungeons."
"Because you know exactly where they all are?"
"Hey, I got us here," Rikki responded, her voice slightly rising.
"What are you two whispering about?" Loraya asked, her attention finally off Aros.
Doren looked at her, but Rikki didn't answer.
"Can we go now?" Aros asked, back on his feet.
Loraya glanced up and nodded. "Quietly." And she glared at Rikki and Doren.
Rikki let out an exasperated breath. If anything was going to cause an issue on this little venture, it wasn't going to be her and Doren's exchanged whispers.
The Lette brothers each took to one of Loraya's sides, but she made sure to make room for Aros to squeeze next to her.
That's what Rikki was betting on causing a problem. Loraya's apparent infatuation with their friend was likely to blow up at some point. It was doubtful Aros was going to notice it, but if Loraya tried any harder, she might just remind him of Leidess and cause another incident. He'd been doing well since they'd left Faunli. It would be terrible to have him relapse.
These Revolutionaries didn't know them well enough to try and get so close. Yet despite their eagerness to provide aid, Rikki didn't get a sense that they were being duplicitous in any way. Even if Rikki hadn't offered to help them, she supposed they would have guided them straight to the Roamers no matter what.
Loraya led the way for only a few minutes before stopping. "Single file from here. Follow in my footsteps."
Her five companions lined up behind her and carefully made to only move within her tracks. As the darkness settled in, the moons lit their way, as did the stars. But the light from above could only show them so much. The brush was but a shadow in the night, and the trees were unsettling giants. With every breeze, they froze and listened to creaking branches and scattering twigs. If one sound was out of place, they'd know someone else was near.
Rikki resisted the urge to light the way as she went. Though the six of them stayed close, it was not too easy to spot the Streamers in front. The Bellish armor reflected some of the light, at least providing a location for her friends.
As they moved through a rather wide patch of trees, the blackness reminded her of the abyss where she'd encountered Ji-Ji. She shivered as she thought back to the boundless soul that had frightened her, and made to pet the denhare on her back to reassure her that it was all in the past.
Doren wanted her to set Ji-Ji free, but he was capable of jumping from her back and running off at any time. If he didn't want to be with her, he didn't have to be. Why didn't Doren understand?
It was the Bellish weapon that had caused Ji-Ji's foul mood and rampage in Belliore. She was certain of it.
They stopped again as they reached the edge of the wood.
"Everyone to my side," Loraya hissed at them.
They all listened to her orders and lined up adjacent to her. "Do you see those lights to the north? Those are the torches from Valiant Keep. As we go forward, make sure you do not go towards them."
Loraya beckoned them forward. Up ahead, there appeared to be a massive wall that swallowed the light from above.
Rikki knew what it was. She had seen them before, though the night hid their majesty.
Her friends gaped and bent their necks up as they realized they were approaching what they’d only seen from a distance.
The features of the Enduring Mountains were lost in the night. They couldn’t distinguish a jagged protrusion from the highest peak. But she was still in awe of its features, even though the best views were in her memory.
As they neared the base of the rock, Rikki wondered how exactly they were supposed to enter the mountains. Was a cave hidden in the dark? Had a staircase been carved into the stone? Or was Rikki supposed to shift everyone only once they got there? She would've liked to ask, but everyone remained quiet as they crept forward.
Rikki eyed the flames in the distance, vowing to return soon to rescue her fellow mages. She so rarely had such hatred for someone she never met, but this Kahar had certainly brought the worst feelings out of her. Only her loathing of Neanthal could even minutely compare.
Loraya had stopped, her hand outstretched and gripping at the rock. "Follow me up," she whispered. "One at a time."
"Excuse me?" Rikki replied, aghast that she was expected to blindly climb the tallest landform in all of Ghumai.
"You have to climb," she softly responded.
"Um...what?" Aros blurted out.
"We can't see," Doren tried to tell her.
"I can shift us," Rikki suggested.
"Climb or we go back," Loraya replied.
Rikki's mouth hung open. What kind of choice was that? Was she not listening? She could shift them. There was zero chance of them falling to their deaths if she did.
Loraya made clear she wasn't being facetious. When no one turned back or objected again, she began the climb.
Rikki watched Loraya make her way up for as long as she could before the night hid her as well. Her brothers followed her up shortly after, leaving only the trio of Kytherans at the bottom.
Doren and Aros both held out their hands. "Shift us?"
Rikki gazed upward, unsure if she could get them to the very top without accidently ending up inside the mountain.
"Rikki?" Doren said.
Rikki placed her staff diagonally on her back, leaving Ji-Ji enough room to remain there as well. And then, reluctantly but surely, she grabbed hold of the concave grips and followed the Revolutionaries up the mountain.
It was a frightening and laborious process. After finding one place to hold on to, she'd have to reach out blindly for the next. And as she went up, she had to drag her foot along the rock to make sure it found the place her hand had deserted.
She could hear Doren and Aros fumbling below her, occasionally letting out anxious squeals. But not once did they ever indicate that they were falling. Otherwise, she would have lit up the area and saved them, even if it gave them away.
It took an hour, perhaps longer, before Rikki reached the top of the cliff. She felt a hand on each of her arms as she got close, and Loraya's brothers pulled her the rest of the way up with ease.
It was brighter up here, and Rikki could make out Loraya's smug expression in the moonlight. Climbs like this were probably second nature to these Streamers. They had probably been waiting a while for their Kytheran compatriots.
"Do you have an aversion to magic?" Rikki asked.
"Hardly," Loraya replied. "I just trust my hands and feet more."
Rikki didn't know what to say to that. So she took her staff from her back and leaned on it while she waited for her friends to catch up.
Kyer and Yayne eventually lifted Doren from the side of the mountain, subsequently followed by Aros. Both of them appeared paler and out of breath, though the former could've been explained by the moonlight.
"Kwee kwee," the purple fuzz ball at Aros' waist yelped.
"I'm with you," Aros replied. "Never again."
Loraya giggled before giving further instruction. "We'll head deeper in and then make camp."
"Can we have a minute?" Doren asked, inhaling deeply.
Loraya's eye roll was noticeable, and it infuriated Rikki.
"We're not all used to climbs like that," Rikki growled.
"Kytherans must've grown soft in the last three hundred years," Yayne responded.
Everyone turned to glower at him.
"What?"
"Don't mind him," Kyer said. "We're used to c
limbs like that since the revolution started. Not all Streamers could do it. We're the ones who carved those holes you just used."
"More useful for an escape than an attack," Yayne noted.
Rikki looked back the way they’d come. She imagined the view must be magnificent in the daylight, though it was little more than a black ocean at the current time. Not even the mightiest tree was visible, and the lights from Valiant Keep were only distant specks.
"Ready?" Loraya asked, and she made to move on without anyone giving a response.
"How can you see where you're going?" Aros asked, trying to catch up with their leader.
Doren reached for Rikki's hand in the dark, though he accidently grabbed onto her elbow. Rikki slid his hand down to hers, and they proceeded to walk side-by-side, even as the path narrowed.
"Can Streamers see in the dark?" Doren asked in a hushed voice.
"Don't remember reading anything about that," she answered. But based on how well the Revolutionaries were navigating, it was one of only two reasonable explanations. The other was that they had the whole area memorized.
An eerie quiet had settled amongst them as they went, with only the occasional kicked pebbles stirring up a clatter. The light faded as well, and the shadows of adjacent cliffs blended in with the night sky.
"Can I light my staff?" Rikki asked as it became impossible to see anyone in front of her. She only knew Doren was there because his hand had not left her.
"Soon," Loraya whispered back, but they kept going without any hint that their sightlessness would be relieved.
"Loraya," Aros whined, the darkness finally getting to him. "My armor lights up."
"No," she replied.
When Rikki banged her arm into a jutting rock, she decided she'd had enough. They were far enough from the edge of the mountains that they wouldn't be seen. With a flick of her staff, the channeling crystal came alive and lit their surroundings in a dull green.
The mountain pass was incredibly narrow, and it was amazing that Doren and Rikki had managed to navigate it side-by-side. As she studied the rock walls bearing down on them, she noticed chunks of the stone moving on their own volition.
"Do you see that?" Rikki asked, pointing out the patches of moving rock to Doren.
"There, too," Doren said, indicating the other side of the pass.
The mountains seemed to be alive, though it was oddly quiet as the narrow boulders crashed and turned on each other.
"Put that out!" Loraya demanded, smacking the staff toward the ground.
Rikki's momentary anger dissipated as soon as a piece of the mountain fell off and nearly hit her. When she tried to get a better look at where it came from, Loraya tackled her as another rock fell.
"It's too late!" Yayne bellowed. "Run!"
Standing over her and Loraya wasn't some misshapen boulder. It was a creature with a stone torso and eight accompanying legs. Its eight eyes were staring at the two women, with the pincers in its mouth clicking together in a horrifying way.
Rikki looked past it, realizing that it wasn't the mountains that had been moving alongside them. It had been these spiders.
Ji-Ji whistled in panic as the spider snapped at them, but a bronze shield collided into its face and repelled it.
Doren stuck his hand out and helped Rikki back on her feet.
Two clawblades slashed into the creature's eyes as Aros arrived to aid Loraya.
"I told you!" Loraya screamed as they tried to make it past the spider as it viciously snapped.
"Not the time!" Rikki replied as she jabbed her staff forward. The spider flew backwards and landed on its back, leaving it struggling but unable to chase after them.
The other stone spiders turned their eyes on the travelers as they hurried to vacate the pass. Boulders seemingly fell from the peaks, but would then spread eight legs and let out horrifying clicks.
"This is worse than an avalanche," Loraya moaned as a boulder narrowly missed them but then started to pursue them.
Aros swung his blades at the legs of a nearby spider, but it didn't even slow it down.
Doren followed up by smacking it with his shield, which barely fazed it.
Rikki succeeded their attacks with a green projectile aimed directly at its eight eyes. That finally stopped it, but the other spiders merely climbed over its body when it stopped.
"You can put those away!" Loraya told Aros.
As soon as he did, he began to fiddle with his arm. The Bellish armor came alive with a grid of lights, and he played with them until a blue-white beam shot from his hand and hit the spiders.
Doren copied his companion, and all three of them were soon shooting projectiles at their eight-legged pursuers.
Loraya jabbed an arrow into the eyes of a stone spider as it landed in front of her, but she was immobilized by another that fell directly on top of her. Two more spiders landed on the Kytherans, temporarily disabling them all.
The spiders clicked in victory, but as one went to take a bite out of Rikki, it found that the armor she wore could not be penetrated by its pincers. It kept trying, though, until Rikki let loose a green bolt from her staff that cracked the stone spider in two.
Rikki got back up, her eyes aglow and her staff lit, and from it, she let loose a horrible lightning storm that struck the spiders and shattered them like they were made of glass.
Piles of dirt fell around them as the electrical discharges stretched out and eradicated the unsuspecting creatures.
"Whoa," Doren said, wiping the remains off him as he got back on his feet.
"I cannot condone what you've done," Loraya whispered, though her face clearly indicated how in awe she was of the mage.
The remnants of their brethren scared off any remaining stone spiders, and the four of them were left alone to gawk at the destruction.
Rikki remained aglow as she cleared the carcasses from the path, giving them a clear way forward. "We better catch up with your brothers."
Aros poked at a decapitated spider head with his clawblade. "And I thought these things were the scariest thing in the mountains."
"So did I," a voice said, materializing from nowhere.
"We were wrong," said another.
Two cloaks spun into existence beside Loraya. Though their colors were difficult to make out in the dim light, it was evident that one was yellow and the other was half white and half black.
Chapter Seven
A New Weapon
10 D.R.
The Bellish no longer received the comforts Neanthal had once offered them. They lived with more amenities and attention than any other citizens in Ghumai, yet the brazen scientists had tried to expel him and his Massku from their kingdom. He'd brought them prop powder for their research, but they decided to try to use it on him instead of for its intended purpose. It was a choice Neanthal made sure they regretted.
For two years now, every Bellish had been bound in chains. They no longer got to rest in their homes but were forced to sleep on top of each other in warehouses or even outdoors. The food they received was tasteless and difficult to digest. The water was always tarnished with dirt or blood. Neanthal had burned a brand into every one of them and kept burning them if they disobeyed his commands. There were at least a dozen whose bodies were entirely scarred over from the constant branding.
Contrary to the widespread belief in Belliore, Neanthal did not get pleasure from watching them suffer. He'd treated them well for nearly eight years. But he would not put up with open defiance. He was king and Aergo was dead. It didn't matter how many times they painted that ridiculous T-shaped symbol or branded his own warriors with it. The man that they had worshipped was dead, and the Goddess was powerless to stop him.
Neanthal looked out from the top of Belliore's tallest building. The entire structure was basically deserted, as were all the others within his sight. The Bellish had to work where they could be seen and monitored. They would never be allowed the same freedoms they once had. He did not trust them e
nough for that. Perhaps there was a reason King Monodriel had exiled the scientists all those centuries ago. He'd never seen the purpose of expelling the smartest of man until his arm had been blown off by their trickery. Fortunately, he was more than capable of re-growing limbs. They must not have taken that into consideration when they’d intentionally set half of Belliore ablaze in their botched conspiracy.
Staut Mair had three brands: one atop his bald head and one on each cheek. He was always on his knees in Neanthal's presence, his chin tucked against his chest and his brand in full view. He whimpered occasionally but said little unless he was questioned.
Next to Staut, dressed in a red robe, was Jient, Neanthal's favorite pet. He would often make him roam Castle Tornis and sing, as his voice was unusually melodic and incredibly uplifting. The mood of the entire castle would change whenever they heard the tender notes coming from his lips. A dour afternoon could easily be improved by the soulless puppet he'd engineered. And to think he'd only thought Jient would be a useless manservant.
Neanthal whipped back around, his braided ponytail scraping against Staut's cheek. The Bellish leader did not react, as usual. Neanthal squatted down, rubbing his triangular goatee and staring at him with his fiery eyes.
"I've given you all eight years," Neanthal stated. "Eight years. Amelia readies her final plan. They mean to overthrow me! If you had this ready sooner, I could've dealt with every person on those damn islands. Instead, I've had to rely on my Sinful Three to try and take them out. Their success rate is disappointing."
Staut didn't dare respond or even look at him.
"I will wait no longer. You will show me the latest prototype and if it fails, you will die."
This time, Staut glared upward.
"That's right, Project Head."
"Coordinator," Staut mumbled.
Neanthal couldn’t help but cackle upon the pathetic correction. "You are what I say you are."
Staut moved his head down once more.
Neanthal snapped. "Take my hand."