Fallen Warrior (Fallen Trilogy book 3)

by Williams, Tess

  "What do you think?" he asked.

  "I think you could kill yourself doing that."

  He was already shaking his head. "I learned it from my teacher. All Kanthians can do it."

  "This is the same teacher that told you the meaning behind your robes? I'm starting to doubt whether he wasn't over-zealous about who Kanthians should be. How they think, or what they can do."

  "I wouldn't argue with that," Cole replied, his tone sincere, though it seemed like he could also burst into laughter any second. "But it wasn't just Kanthians. He had the same regard for everyone, assuming they could be great. That's why he reminds me of you."

  My brows were already low, but they deepened. "Don't you mean, why I remind you of him? Wouldn't that be the way to say it?"

  Cole didn't answer straightaway. But something about the steadiness in his eyes made me think he was pleased. "Whichever way, princess."

  My frown stayed where it was. "I think I'll be hungry after all," I said, and I moved around him. At the same time though, I thought about what he'd said that I'd passed over. That his teacher had the same regard, high regard, for people and how they could be. That he considered me to be something similar.

  I bent down to reach for the bag of food. It wasn't another few seconds though before Cole knelt beside me, and he took the bag before I could. "Do you know what that means for the people around you, princess?" he said. He unpacked some things, but he was looking up at me, so I met his gaze as well. "It makes them want to be better," he finished calmly.

  I kept my expression strict. Not that it was easy. While it seemed to me as if I could tell what his was like exactly.

  He held out the apple for me.

  I took it, then we ate in silence.

  But so it happened, that when we took off again, with him at the front, I'd only lasted as long as the treetops, and then I'd hugged my arms around him, clinging so tight at first, that I thought it might hurt him, but he didn't even say a word about it. Then I'd pressed my head against his back, and turned my head and closed my eyes. Now that we were nearing the base of the mountains, I'd opened them again to watch the trees pass below, but I hadn't loosened my grip much.

  "Ellia," he said, turning his head a little my direction; I felt his chest rumble as he pointed and then went on. He didn't wait to see if I had heard him; obviously he could tell I wasn't sleeping. "Where the trees break off there, with the river. Isn't that the path to Taelp?"

  I looked to it, craning my head back a little. Then nodded. "Yes." It looked turquoise, the water of it. But from the paintings I'd seen of Taelp, that was how all of their waters were depicted. It was strange that it stayed so even after being frozen.

  "We should be getting close to the pass then. Does Luffie know? I think we're meant to go further east here."

  I shifted around him to look at Luffie. Not that I needed to, our minds being connected; more because I wanted to see her state. I already knew the answer to his question. But when I moved, my hand slipped a little. Cole put his over it in an instant, gloves and all, holding me in place. My throat was thick when I spoke. "She doesn't remember well. She's grown too cold.... I would have her use her fire-breath to warm herself; it helps sometimes, but it might tire her."

  "We could stop again," he suggested, arm still in place.

  I shook my head. "Then we might not make it."

  "It might be worth it though. Before we go up the mountain. Then we could go once it's light."

  I frowned. "This is the whole reason we left early. So that we could make it at once."

  "But we couldn't have predicted how bad the winds were. She's lasted well."

  "I know she has. She's the best flyer."

  Cole grew quiet.

  "It will be too cold to sleep outside," I added.

  "Luffie can make us a fire, can't she?" Cole said. "We could have a bonfire."

  As soon as he said it, Luffie gave a grand flush of her wings and a call. She hadn't needed to for the images she was sending me.

  "She agrees with me, doesn't she?" Cole asked.

  I wormed my lips together.

  "This way you could meet the rulers first thing when we get there. Wouldn't you have to wait if you arrived so late at night?"

  Luffie gave another call, adding in a picture of a herd of turtles, sleeping beside their humans.

  "Alright," I conceded. "Fine. I can't fight you both."

  Cole showed his approval by tightening his grip around my hand. Luffie took a leap up in the air, dropping her wings, so that we were suspended un-flying, for seconds, then as she began to drop, she dipped her head forwards and dived down. Cole scrambled for the harness, to keep a grip. I stayed hugged around him, all my weight pressed forward, laughing at her sudden maneuver.

  "She must not have been so tired after all," I told Cole. Though I was only joking.

  As soon as we neared the trees, Luffie caught the air with her wings, then we dropped down beside the river.

  CYRIC:

  Flying. Why had I pretended not to mind it? There must have been, more than just Cyric who didn't like it. Would it have really been giving something away for Cole to say that he was terrified of flight. But then, I didn't really care about keeping any of that a secret now. Then again, I didn't mind the flying much either. How was I supposed to mind when it meant being so close to Ellia? If I'd just thought, when we were younger, that riding her dragon would have meant being close to her, wouldn't I have tried harder?

  I didn't know. I only knew that things were better now than I ever thought they could be again. She'd let me come for one; just that alone. Now we were to be together for how many days? And she wouldn't be able to leave me. From the mere fact that she'd had me come, wasn't that proof that she didn't want to leave me?

  Granted, when Luffie had pulled her sudden drop down to the river, I hadn't been sure whether I'd make it past. Then I'd heard Ellia laughing, and that had changed. Now we were set up around a crop of trees, Luffie's bags and harness all deposited in the snow. And after pains taken between Luffie and I, we'd knocked down a number of branches, which Luffie had subsequently roasted into smoldering flames.

  "When you said bonfire, you weren't joking then," Ellia said, from the ground below me.

  I was standing on a low branch. Luffie was walking in a circle, inspecting her work.

  Ellia tipped her head over, still covered by a hood, her arms crossed. "Aren't you worried about calling attention. If there are any Akadians about, we're sure to be attacked."

  Luffie tipped her head up, then huffed a snort, and dropped down to rest.

  "Akadians here? In a frozen forest? Take it from me, they'd rather avoid the cold."

  "Take it from you. Take it from you," Ellia repeated. "Cole, sometimes you speak as if you know everything without possibly being able to know it."

  "Well, they live in the desert, don't they?" I countered quickly. Then I measured the distance down carefully. It was just when she pressed her lips into a pout that I landed behind her.

  She spun into me. I reached up to drop her hood back. "I think it's warm enough now," I said, smirking for the roiling flames behind her.

  "Warm enough?" she repeated, then she frowned, maybe realizing this was about the tenth time she'd copied my words—ever since Luffie and I had begun to build the fire. She added, a little less vehemently, "You'll light the entire forest on fire..."

  "Princess, why don't you ever wear your hair down? You know it looks nice like that."

  Ellia's features turned very dark, very quickly. She took a step back, making me frown. Then she scoffed. "Do you know what would happen if I let my hair down before a trip like that through the air. It would be an absolute mess."

  "In Kanth, women never put their hair up. It's considered more attractive when it's gone wild."

  Ellia narrowed. I only had a few seconds to consider I'd completely made that up, and hope it never came back to haunt me. "How would they leave their hair down inside robes?" Elli
a asked skeptically.

  Maybe it would come back to haunt me sooner than I'd thought. "I already told you. Theirs are different. Longer, you know." I gestured to the back of my head, where mine wrapped tight around my neck. This at least, was true. But, for all I knew, maybe women in Kanth did never put their hair up. Silos and I had never discussed it.

  "Well, I'm not from Kanth," Ellia said. "I'm from Shaundakul. And there it's better to braid it."

  "Really?" I challenged. "Because I thought— because Minstrel told me that some of the women used to do this thing, where it was only braided at the top, and then it fell the rest of the way, like," I turned again, gesturing down my back.

  Ellia's narrow turned sharper. "Some of the women," she repeated. "I'm not some of the women. I'm the princess."

  I frowned, then turned back straight, letting my hands fall to my side. It was a little hard to resist, so I only lasted a few seconds. "Do princesses of Shaundakul really just put it in one braid like that, then? I thought there would be hundreds of them." Actually, I knew there were. It was how she'd always done it at least.

  "By the..." Ellia locked her hands to fists. "Are we really standing here talking about my hair? How long has it been? This is why I didn't want to stop."

  Luffie made a noise, causing Ellia to turn around. Probably they exchanged thoughts, but I was looking at Ellia's braid, frowning, giving up on what I thought might have been an easy victory. At least, I knew since I was staying with her, she would have to take it out eventually. This prospect gave me fresh energy as Ellia turned around. And I grew a smile she couldn't see. "Would you like to see something else I can do?" I offered to her. "Not with trees this time. I learned it on my own."

  "Is it another attempt at killing yourself?"

  I shook my head as I backed up, then frowned, and corrected. "Probably not. Either way, it'll be impressive."

  She frowned as I turned around and started walking towards the river. It wasn't more than a few dozen yards from where our fire was. It was turquoise, and frozen, and misted with snow. "Cole, you know, you can begin to act differently from time to time. Just when I think you're the most serious sort..."

  "Trust me, I'm serious about my abilities." I tested the ice with my boot, listening carefully for any sounds of cracking. But as I guessed, it was much too cold for that. I put my whole weight on it. "Especially when it means entertaining you."

  "Oh so, that's what this is for."

  "I told you, there's only so many things I can do for you while I'm here. I won't be talking to the rulers of Genbu, will I?" I turned around, now fully on the ice, sliding back a little as I held my hands out for balance. "Unless you want me to."

  Ellia scoffed, throwing her head into it. "If I wanted to confuse them, or maybe..."

  I raised my brows, though she couldn't see it. Still sliding a little from left to right.

  "Are you actually on the ice? You should know if you're trying to entertain me, that's not the way at all."

  I laughed a single, "ha," sort of laugh, as I turned to face the river. "I think I know how to entertain Ellia Solidor." If she heard this, or if she reacted, I didn't see it. I only took a few wary steps into the river. Then I measured the distance ahead of me. It was dotted with rocks, but there was a clear enough path. I glanced over at her, only to see that she was still watching. Of course she was, she had her arms crossed. Her brows were high. She should have been wearing a dress.

  With that picture in mind, I looked ahead, then I picked my feet up and started racing across the ice, barely moving at first, but then I got going, and once I was running almost full speed, I landed my boots, and slid across. I had to hold my arms out wide, and I almost hit a rock, but I managed to turn around to face her as I slowed to a stop. Best of all I didn't fall.

  I mocked a bow.

  Ellia scoffed. "What do you think— You've done this before?" she shook her head.

  I frowned, supremely disappointed that she wasn't praising me, or laughing at least.

  "Don't you know, you can't get any sort of grip when you're running on the ice like that. You looked perfectly silly."

  I put my hands on my hips. It took a few tries to get my voice to come out. "Do you even know who I am? Do you know how fast I can run? I outrun, everyone. No one could do that as well as I just did."

  "Watch me do it just as well now, and it'll have nothing to do with speed." She started pulling off her cloak. Then she walked back to the fire and threw it beside our things. From what I could see, Luffie was asleep, but our fire was still going strong. I started walking a little closer to the bank while Ellia approached in her Warriors' garb and coat.

  "Are you ready to see it right?"

  "There's no chance," I countered. "I'm just worried that you're going to hurt yourself."

  "I was keeping well and safe long before you came around, Cole from Kanth."

  I grew a grin, feeling I'd accomplished my goal no matter what came next.

  Ellia looked ahead. She was still some feet from the river. She gripped her hands to fists, then looked up at me and smiled, then she turned back down and started running. She tore through the snow, and once she hit the ice, she landed fluidly, bringing her hands up to balance, a lot more than I'd had to, but still, she slid across, just as well if not better than I had. She slowed to a stop a few feet from me. Only at the end did she start to tip a little, falling into a run, lifting one foot and the other to get her balance until I caught her outstretched hand and steadied her.

  She leveled out quick with a grin. "So, what do you think? Have you really done it before?"

  "You caught me," I said, shaking my head. "I'd never tried it."

  "I'd never tried it either, but look and see who did it better."

  "Do you think I live under the delusion that I can do anything better than you?"

  She scoffed. "This coming from the same one who was just bragging about how fast he was, you really are changeful, Cole."

  I smirked, then took her hand and moved it around her so that she turned in a spin. She laughed, stopping only when I put my other hand on her waist. I leaned in close to her ear. "Shall we try ice dancing now?" I asked.

  Her body went very still, her breath cutting out in an instant. I felt my own body tense in response. But it also wasn't willing to let her go. She was too frozen to move from me, and I took advantage, leaning closer to her. "You know what you said about dancing?" I asked, my voice a whisper. "How it can change things, just with one dance, in no more than a moment."

  She stayed there, hardly breathing. There was more I thought to say, but I realized I was still too afraid. Not for myself this time. I didn't know anymore what it would do to her if I told her. I was afraid what it would do, if it would hurt her. I thought of her going to the perfect Cyric in the cave, and I didn't even know whether she would want to know I was this way now.

  Her throat caught suddenly, and her voice came out short. "I'm just a little girl, Cole. I think I'm not. But I am, still. Please be careful with what you do."

  I narrowed, my features straining, feeling as if I'd just been hit by a blow. Her breaths came short now, like some frightened animal, a real deer as I'd thought her eyes had resembled earlier. I wanted to hold her closer, I wanted to hold on to her forever. If she was little, then I was too, and I didn't know what to do. But I knew some things at least.

  "I'm not ever going to leave you," I promised her. And it was true. Because even if she didn't want me, I would never go again.

  Her hand tightened against mine for a moment, then I released her waist as it seemed she wanted me so badly to.

  #

  "Princess, can I ask you something?" I said, sitting with my knees bent, in front of our fire.

  It had grown dark. The forest around us was all pitch black, even by Ellia's account, not only mine. Our fire had burned down to a manageable size, and I'd kept it up with branches. Beneath me was a pile of half our extra furs and coats. Ellia was far to my side, still in fro
nt of the fire, but leaned back against Luffie for warmth. The golden chimera was stretched sideways to absorb the fire's warmth, and still sleeping; or at least seeming to. Ellia was bundled with just as many covers, as I had, and more since she shared Luffie's harness. Her hair was still in a braid.

  "If you like, Cole," she answered, staring at the fire, "though I think I will sleep soon."

  "I don't have to ask you now," I corrected quickly. "I'll ask tomorrow."

  "No," she replied. Then she looked at me, eyes as turquoise as the Taelpian water. She'd taken her crown off; it sat beside her. "I'd rather talk of something before sleep. Then I might dream of it."

  "I'm not sure that it will be worth your dreams."

  Ellia blinked at me, smiling weakly. "You are my friend, Cole. If you are there, it will be worth my dreams."

  I studied her a moment, then looked at the fire, then back to her, holding up my hand. "When I tried to touch you, back in Yanartas..."

  Ellia frowned, so that I was sure she realized I was speaking of her disappearing power.

  "It wasn't just then. Minstrel had told me something about it."

  Ellia's brow dropped sharp. She jerked her head, whispering Minstrel's name like a threat.

  "I don't understand," I said honestly. "It's useful, isn't it? Why would you try to hide it from me?"

  She muttered something again, then said to me, "It isn't just you. I don't talk about it with anyone."

  "But the war," I said, "surely you use it then."

  "Didn't we fight in Karatel together," Ellia countered. " I use it then?"

  I narrowed. I didn't understand this. Minstrel had told me it was something that she didn't like to speak of when I'd first asked, after he'd almost mentioned it at my first Cirali dinner. I knew the rest for myself. "I wasn't with you the whole time," I replied. "I thought you might not have needed to often, because the battle went so easily."

  "That's a fine thought," she said, then added, "You're right. If it was a matter of life or death, I would use it." Her brow dipped after she spoke this, and she looked to my hand, as if she were remembering using the power to get away from me. I frowned then spoke on.