by Narro, B. T.
Someone started calling her name from beneath her. The voice was asking if Effie could hear it.
I can hear you, she wanted to say but couldn’t speak. Her voice was too heavy. She couldn’t get it out of her throat. Are you in the mountain? she wanted to ask.
The roar of the waterfall sharpened, transforming into men shouting at each other. Battle cries, she realized her earlier mistake. Get up and help.
Her name was being called in front of her now. “Effie, Effie.” It was the same voice but crisp, no longer muffled by the mountain.
How did you get here so quickly? Was she asking aloud? Effie couldn’t tell if her words came out. Then she heard a voice she recognized.
“Let me try.” It was Reela. Effie could make out her light hair turning away from her like everything else. “Effie, we’ve won. You passed out.”
No, they’re fighting behind you, watch out. Effie still couldn’t tell if her words were coming out.
“That’s cheering you hear,” Reela said. “Drink this.”
She heard the waterfall again, but this time it was pouring into her mouth. She let it run down her throat, surprised she couldn’t feel it crash against the base of her stomach.
“I’m going to use psyche to help you rest,” Reela said. “Alex will carry you inside the mountain.”
Someone put his hands under her knees and around her back, then lifted her.
Effie sat up suddenly, her chest heaving with heavy breaths. Her hand was caught on something. She looked down to find it cupped between both of Reela’s and felt some relief. But then her heart started up again with a frightful thought. Did we lose? Was Reela killed? She put two fingers under Reela’s nose and held her breath. She felt Reela’s warm air against her knuckles and let out an exhausted sigh.
Effie noticed then that she wasn’t on the mountaintop anymore. Somehow, she was in a room made of stone. As she shifted her weight to look around, she noticed a crunch coming from beneath her. She felt the rough sheet that shaped her bed and realized that straw was beneath it, supporting her.
Looking past Reela, she found Steffen sleeping on his back with one arm clutching a bow to his bare chest. He was sleeping next to the gray wall of the cave that was covered with bumps. She turned to her other side and saw Alex asleep on his stomach. The sight of him made her remember the last moments on the mountaintop, Reela’s words coming back to her. “I’m going to use psyche to help you rest. Alex will carry you inside the mountain.”
We’re in the Fjallejons’ home within the mountain, Effie realized. And we’ve won. Though she did not smile with her lips, it felt as if her heart was grinning, sending a warm tingle down to her stomach.
There was a hearth carved into the wall in front of her. The fire within it was nearly dead. Effie turned to check behind her and found a small tunnel lit by one sconce on the wall. She started to remove her hand from Reela’s grasp in order to get up and investigate, but Reela’s eyes popped open.
“You’re safe,” Reela whispered. “We all are, but you need to rest. We have many miles to walk tomorrow and the days after.” Reela sat up, yawned, and then turned toward the fire. She let go of Effie, pushed herself to her feet, grabbed three cuts of wood, and placed them on top of the dying fire. “Could you light this first?”
Effie found her wand beside her bed as Reela came back to sit next to her and watch. Reela had on a black nightgown that would have reached her ankles if she’d been standing, but it fell and bunched around her waist when Reela pulled her knees to her chest. Her skin looked even smoother than usual as the low light danced along her long shins. Reela pulled a blanket up over her bare legs for warmth. A faint glow from the tunnel wrapped around her back, bringing light to the side of her breast. The top of it was bursting out from her nightgown by the light press of her knees.
“Look at you, so pretty. How is it you look like you were never in a battle?” Effie didn’t need a mirror to know she didn’t look the same. She could feel the dirt and oil packed into her hair and face. “How long have I been asleep?”
“A few hours.” Reela smiled back. “I had a bath. They have naturally warm water in some areas of the mountain, but the rest of the mountain is very cold without fire.” She pointed at the wood. “I know you haven’t been sleeping well. I’ll make sure you do after you light it.”
Effie brushed the hair from her face, making sure it all fell behind her back so as not to catch on fire. She pushed the coarse blanket off her lap to find Reela had removed her pants while she was sleeping, leaving just her short underwear. She would have made an effort to cover herself if others were awake, but there was nothing about her that Reela hadn’t seen already.
She lit a fire by sticking her wand under the wood and pushing Bastial Energy through it. She was almost skilled enough with Sartious Energy to create fire without the pellets of it that filled her wand, but spells that required both forms of energy, like all fire spells, would always be easier with the support of her wand, and safer as well. Producing fire from her bare hand was just as dangerous as it sounded.
When the fire spread to the first cut of wood, she returned to the straw bed.
She and Reela lay on their sides, facing each other. Reela reached out a hand, then Effie gave her one of her own to hold. The moment Reela’s touch came around her, Effie’s whole body was blanketed in a heavy comfort, and sleep took her a breath later.
Chapter 58: Safe as Skin
EFFIE
The quiet four days that followed were a welcome change from the recent chaos.
Terren pushed them to walk as far as they could each day, but Effie was used to being on her feet all day, so she didn’t mind. Steffen, on the other hand, was having far more trouble. He suffered in silence as best he could, saying nothing of it, but his body spoke volumes. The bow Zoke gave him was constantly slipping off his shoulder. By the time the sun had begun to set each day, Steffen was huffing loudly. For reasons Effie couldn’t understand, the bag on his back just looked heavier as the day went on. It had to do with the way he carried it, she figured. The first day, after the battle atop the mountain, he wore his bag around one shoulder with the bow over it and his quiver around the other shoulder. He couldn’t walk one mile without something coming loose. As they prepared a fire that first night, Zoke removed the quiver from its strap and fashioned it to Steffen’s belt instead.
Zoke and Vithos were both experienced travelers. That became clear quickly. Zoke reminded her of Cleve sometimes, specifically the way he distanced himself from them like Cleve did when they first met. However, Cleve seemed to do it as a choice, while it was more inherent to Zoke. It made Effie think that was just the nature of Krepps.
Another similarity between them was their power. Cleve exuded strength, so it hadn’t surprised Effie when Reela had told her of his inner strength as well. But even Cleve, with all his inner and outer strength, couldn’t survive two fireballs like Zoke had. When Steffen and Reela told her about it, Effie was thankful he’d lived but even more frightened of what it meant. The Krepps had size, numbers, and strength, yet Kyrro had magic. But if their fireballs couldn’t even kill the Krepps, what was the point?
They did have Vithos, though. That helped to relieve Effie whenever distressing thoughts tightened her chest. Alex told Effie that he, Terren, and Vithos had killed more than fifty men in a minute. No one stood a chance against them. Not one of them had come even close to being injured. Vithos subdued any enemies nearby with psyche. Then, it was just a matter of running a sword through them.
Reela had a similar effect with her psyche, stunning enemies long enough to give Effie a free shot. But from what Alex had told her of Vithos, Reela still had far to go to match his power. Having Vithos with them gave Effie the same hope as if ten thousand warriors had come from Goldram to help them fight had—a fantasy she often went to when thoughts of the war kept her awake. Ever since Reela had told her about Cleve being sent to Goldram, she liked to imagine him coming back with sh
ips overcrowded by men and women ready to fight for Kyrro.
“Cleve will come back,” Reela had led with before explaining everything that she and Cleve had shared during her visit to the castle, including their kisses.
“What was it like?” Effie had asked.
“Strong.” Reela had the same coy smile as the last time they’d spoken about Cleve. “Fierce,” Reela added, then sighed. “Wonderful,” she whispered, half to herself.
Effie found herself wishing Cleve was still in Kyrro. She’d never met someone she could tell was reliable even without ever having had to rely on him. It reminded her of a poem she’d memorized long ago.
I knew a warrior. He smelled of shit.
Skilled with sword but had no wit.
He never let me be alone.
Said I couldn’t be on my own.
You are too beautiful, he would say
Trouble will come to you one day.
I’ll take my chances, go away.
You are the source of my dismay.
With that he left, and all was good,
Until a man came masked in hood.
He stole my money and broke my bones
No one was there to heed my groans.
I realized then what I know today
Which to you I will convey
A warrior’s kiss is never missed,
Eventually he’ll get the clue
But in his fist that you dismissed,
Was a sword protecting you.
Every so often in bars, Effie would hear the last four lines chanted by a group of warriors who’d been drinking too much.
Cleve was little like the warrior she imagined in the poem, though. While his massive stature wasn’t her type, he was still pleasing to the eye and certainly didn’t smell like shit. In fact, if anyone had an unpleasant odor, it was Zoke. There was a musky smell he seemed to produce that had similarity to stale beer and sweat. The way it seemed to always be there, even after they washed themselves with the water of the Satjen River, made her believe it must be a natural odor of all Krepps.
It had taken some convincing before Terren agreed to let them stop at the river for a quick bath yesterday. It was Reela who eventually persuaded him with the argument that they wouldn’t lose an extra day by taking the time.
The men stripped down to their underwear like they were undressing in the privacy of their own rooms. They were sitting in the shallow river and rubbing water over their backs and onto their faces before Effie and Reela had any clothes removed.
Reela grabbed Effie’s hand and ran about a hundred feet down the river before she stopped and started unbuttoning. “I’m going naked, and so are you,” she said.
“Am I?” Effie replied with a shocked grin.
“I don’t want to walk hours with wet cotton against my lady parts, and you don’t either.”
“You just don’t want to be the only one,” Effie said, removing her pants. She looked behind them at the rest of the party. She caught Alex’s eyes darting away. She knew he liked her but figured it was just a physical attraction. His eyes often were on her already when she’d give him a glance. “They can see us, you know.”
“Let them look. They’ve killed people in close combat. Our breasts can’t be worse than the sight of that.”
When they were both in their underwear, Reela counted down from three. They slipped off their tops and drew down their bottoms, then locked hands and ran into the cold water with a giddy scream. They threw water onto their own faces and each other’s, laughing and screaming hysterically. Effie forgot all about the men up the river.
The moment Reela started splashing Effie, it reminded her of the last time she’d had the same innocent fun. It must have been at least three years ago, when she and Reela were still swimming in Lake Kayvol. They always went at night and stripped down to nothing. The bite of cold water mixed with the thrill of being exposed created an excitement that couldn’t be achieved through anything else nearly as simple as jumping into water.
But as they got older, the urge seemed to burn out. For Effie, it was replaced with boys. She’d never known what replaced it for Reela. The young psychic would often leave with her mother and her journal for days at a time, never saying where they were going. Effie always figured that, whatever it was they were doing, it was Reela’s way of finding the same innocent fun. Reela always had more of a sister-like relationship with her mother than Effie did with hers.
“Let’s make camp here,” Terren said, swinging his bag off his shoulder. “Rise early and we’ll reach the Slugari in northern Satjen by midday tomorrow.”
“Zoke, shoot a few arrows with me?” Steffen asked.
The Krepp nodded and walked to him without a word. They set off to find a good target. Effie noticed that Steffen was using the bow any chance he got, which was usually only when waiting for someone in the party to relieve him or herself, in the mornings if he rose early enough, or at night as others gathered sticks and leaves for a fire.
When Zoke wasn’t answering questions about the Krepps, or explaining why he and Vithos had left the tribe, or showing Steffen how to shoot, Effie could hear him teaching Vithos words in common tongue. The Elf had learned quickly. Like Steffen, his ability to memorize was uncanny. Along with hundreds of words, he even knew many short phrases now.
“What’s the plan for the Slugari?” Alex asked Terren while they cleared small rocks to create a smooth surface for sleeping.
“Zoke says Vithos can demonstrate to the Slugari that we’re there to help,” Terren answered. “Steffen knows some Slugaren, so he’ll translate.”
“But how are we going to get to them once Vithos senses their colony below us?” Alex wondered. “We can’t just dig and hope to fall somewhere safe when we break through their roof.”
“Zoke and Vithos have thought about that,” Terren replied. “Vithos will charm an animal to dig for us, test the water, so to speak. Once it digs through to them, we’ll call from above so the Slugari can come up and show us how to get down there. Then we’ll bury the hole and follow them through whatever secret passage it is they use to go between the surface and underground. It’s the best plan we’ve got.” He spoke the last words as if they tasted sour.
Alex hummed discouragingly. “No one knows how they go from above ground to below?”
“No one in Kyrro.” The pitch of Terren’s voice rose, as if to demonstrate he was open to suggestions.
“How do we even know the Slugari ever come up?” Effie butted in.
“There have been sightings,” Terren replied. “Not that I’ve seen one myself.”
Vithos came over and dumped a pile of sticks in the middle of them. “I find rocks now,” he said with his Kreppen accent. It gave his words a rough sound, like he was forcing them out with his stomach.
“I’ll help,” Reela said, placing her hand on his arm and walking off with him.
Supine, Effie lost herself among the stars in the pure black sky. Thoughts of her family in Oakshen came to her. She nearly had their letter memorized by then but decided to pull it from her pocket anyway for another read. She unfolded it and held it in front of the stars. With her other hand she produced a white glow of Bastial Energy.
We’re so happy you wrote to us. We have heard the announcement about the treaty being declined. Everything’s fine here except we miss you, especially Gabby! She also wants you to say hi to Steffen for her.
Even though you didn’t seem scared in your letter, we are. If the Academy is attacked, will you have to fight? We wish we’d known that war was even a possibility before we let you sign that contract. As soon as you’re allowed to leave, come home and we (your mother) will make you whatever you want to eat.
Love you. Keep yourself safe.
—Mother, Father, and Gabby
She’d been wondering how she would answer the only question they asked. She was required to fight, even had killed people already, but would they really want to know that?
I do
n’t think they would.
Chapter 59: Hidden
EFFIE
Effie remained awake long after everyone else. As had happened so many nights before, the moment her mind began to transition into sleep, the realization she was finally drifting off would wake her again with a quick jab of excitement to her heart. The only way to make the transition complete was to distract herself with pleasant thoughts. She tried to think of some, but none would come. All just caused more despair.
Turning to her back, she noticed her heart’s sporadic beats changing from rapid to normal to rapid again, every few breaths. It would not relax. She slid both hands between her breasts to suppress it.
Why does this happen to me? And why now? Could I be worried about the Slugari tomorrow? With that thought began the familiar feeling of someone sitting on her collarbone. Her right hand moved from her heart to the base of her throat. With a gentle touch, she pressed her fingers there. The inability to breathe properly was always slightly relieved as she rubbed around the top of her chest, but the moment she stopped, it would return.
Just sleep, just sleep, Effie repeated in desperation. She hated this inability to find a breath of relief no matter how deeply she breathed. She wanted to fight it but didn’t know how.
As if to torment her, when her mind finally succumbed to sleep, the dream it produced was a nightmare.
She was back on the mountaintop. A man was stomping on something, his head low and focused. The sudden urge to stop him came over her. She saw why a breath later. With the soles of his thick black boots, he was flattening slugs as they slowly tried to crawl away to safety.
“Stop, those are Slugari!” she yelled.
He splattered two more. “I know,” he uttered back through clenched teeth.
She cast a fireball. It exploded into his stomach, ripping his black and red Tenred tunic into a hundred pieces that were blasted away into the sky. All that remained was a charred skeleton. But his boots stayed on and his head stayed low, unfazed. He slammed his boots down onto another Slugari, and then gave a sinister cackle.