“Your turn,” he called back as he and Marcus both held out an arm. A loud whistle pierced the air, and an arrow planted itself into the snow just below their hands.
“Don’t move!” a stern voice warned from below.
Dartan looked up at the three faces peering over the snow bank. Marcus and Logan had not moved their arms, and Aliet’s eyes seemed to be working her own magic on him, willing him to move. He shook his head.
“I mean it,” the voice called again, closer this time. “My next arrow will find its mark.”
“Dartan, please,” Aliet pleaded.
He stopped her. “There’s no way this ends well.”
“What do you mean? I don’t under-”
“They will hit one of us and I will lose the focus I need to keep the avalanche at bay.” The wall shifted a bit, and Dartan grunted under the strain of control. “You need to go now,” he said quietly, then lowered his head, waiting for the coming force. “Whatever is up there is more important than me.”
“Dartan, no,” Aliet tried again, although she knew he wasn’t listening.
“Run!” Dartan yelled, and the entire wall moved over half a meter. Two more arrows sailed through the air, landing on either side of Dartan.
“Don’t even think about running,” the same voice called up. From above him, Dartan could hear arguing.
“I’m not leaving him,” Aliet said. “Nothing on this mountain can be more important than he is.”
“We don’t have a choice, and it’s what he wants,” Logan argued.
“Go, now!” Dartan called up to them. He raised his head and caught Aliet’s eyes. Holding her gaze, he added softly, “Please.” When he saw the soft glisten of tears form in her eyes, and her head shaking no, he looked away, unsure he would be strong enough to deny her if she pleaded any more.
“Dartan!” she screamed, her voice echoing down the mountain, and the wall shifted further in response.
“We have to go now,” Logan said, grabbing one arm and motioning for Marcus to grab the other. Defeated, Aliet allowed herself to be dragged away. As he heard their footsteps fade, Dartan dropped to his knees, lowered his head to the snow, and waited. The valley entrance was just over one hundred meters away, through loose snow, and Aliet was most likely being forced to move. He just hoped there was enough time.
* * *
They weren’t going to have enough time. Marcus had no idea how long Dartan could hold back the snow, but he had a good idea how long it was going to take the Northern mercenaries to reach him. Once that happened, the fall would follow quickly. He knew the boy had a plan, but if they couldn’t reach the mouth of the pass he wasn’t sure they would live through it.
* * *
“I don’t know, he doesn’t look like much to me.” It was the same voice that had been calling out commands. “What do you men think?” His answer was a chorus of laughter.
“What’s the matter, boy?” another voice teased. “Couldn’t get over that little pile of snow?” More laughter as the men formed a circle around him. Their leader stepped right in front of him and stopped, his boots close enough to touch. Dartan remained still, head to the ground.
“Guess your friends didn’t think much of you either,” he taunted. “Didn’t take much convincing to send them running. Don’t worry though, we’ll catch up to them soon enough.” His laugh was not echoed by the rest of his men this time. Instead he heard an uneasy mumble near the snow bank. The feet in front of Dartan shifted uneasily, then moved away, closer to the wall. “What’s the problem?” the voice asked gruffly.
“It’s the snow,” one man answered. “Something strange about it.” He tentatively reached out and put a hand against the packed snow.
Dartan’s head raised up, his eyes opened, and he took in a deep, loud breath. The surrounding men made moves for their swords, but Dartan made no further movement. His face framed by his sweat drenched hair and his lips forming a small grin, he simply sat and stared straight ahead.
“What are you smiling about?”
“I’m just glad to see you,” Dartan answered, a small amount of weariness in his voice. “I thought you would never get here.”
“What’s that supposed-” was all he was able to reply before the wall dropped. Every open orifice he had was filled with snow as his body, along with the rest of his men, tumbled to the bottom of the mountain.
* * *
They nearly made it. The kid had bought them more time than Marcus had expected. He was impressed. Impressed or not though, they still weren’t at the top when the snow began sliding beneath their feet.
“Move it!” Marcus yelled over his shoulder, unsure he could even be heard over the sudden thunder of the avalanche. He had been steering them towards a stone outcropping since leaving Dartan behind, and now it marked their only hope of getting out of the snow’s path. He felt a tug of resistance on his hand. Aliet. Not that he could blame her, he could feel hesitation in his own steps, but giving in now would kill them all. He pulled harder and received some help in the back from Logan. He thought he heard Aliet calling out to Dartan again, but they were too close now to stop for anything. Ignoring everything except his desire to keep them alive, Marcus pushed Aliet and Logan under the narrow opening of the rock overhang, then dove in behind them. A sheet of snow poured over the rock as Marcus tucked his feet in, sealing them in the dark.
Their breathing, ragged and heavy, slowed to a normal pace as the rumbling surrounding them gradually quieted. Only Aliet’s still had the occasional hitch and sniff as she thought of Dartan.
“We have to look for him,” she finally managed in an even tone.
“Of course,” Marcus replied. He had no desire to dig through the snow searching for the twisted remains of the broken boy, but he knew Aliet would not budge from the mountainside without looking.
“Don’t worry,” Logan said cheerfully. “He’s fine.” Had he been next to Marcus he would have received an elbow solidly in his side. As it was, Marcus was too far away to deliver it, so he just ignored Logan.
“I think it’s safe to go out now,” Marcus said after several minutes of silence had passed. He moved through the darkness towards the covered entrance and carefully dug away at the snow.
The smooth blanket of pristine snow gave no indication of the deadly force responsible for spreading it. We’ll never find the boy, Marcus thought, failing to even be able to pick out where they had been when it started. Aliet moved out next to him, anxious to begin her own search. Marcus had already given up when something caught his eye. Aliet spotted it at the same time – smoke rising from what looked like a hole in the snow.
“Now what do you suppose that could be?” he mumbled to himself.
“Magic,” was Logan’s surprising reply from Marcus’s other side.
‘What’s that supposed to mean’ was the question on his lips when Logan said with a grin, “There’s our wizard now.” Turning back, Marcus clearly saw a hand reaching out of the hole. It planted itself in the snow around the top and another appeared across from it. Between them Dartan’s head slowly rose over the edge of the hole. He pulled himself up to his waist, then fell forward and rolled over onto his back. It was then that Marcus realized what he had mistook for smoke was actually steam, and it was rolling off of Dartan in waves.
“Woo-hoo!” Logan called out triumphantly. “You alright?” Dartan’s answer was a weak thumbs up. Logan turned back to Aliet and Marcus with a smile. “See, I told you he was fine.”
“He will be,” Aliet said, brushing by Logan. “If someone doesn’t bring the rest of the mountain down on us with their big mouth.” He held up a hand to reply, but Marcus stopped him with a shake of his head. She wasn’t interested in an argument with Logan, she was already half-way to Dartan and had not looked back once.
Dartan lay still with his eyes closed, but a smile came over his face when he heard Aliet approaching. It quickly began to fade though when she spoke.
“What were you
thinking?” she scolded as she stood over him. Dartan opened his eyes, but didn’t move.
“I think I was saving your lives.”
“Well, who asked you to?” she huffed, and sat down next to him.
Dartan sat up, meeting her eyes. “So, I should have just let all of us die here? And then what happens to whatever we’re supposed to find in the pass?”
“But Alain picked you for this quest,” she argued. “Marcus and I are just tagging along. Whatever he has planned, you are an important part.” Dartan opened his mouth, but Aliet put a finger on his lips, silencing him as well as sending a small shocking memory of his dream through his mind. “I love that you were thinking of all of us, but don’t forget that you are our future king.” She suddenly pulled her finger back and exclaimed, “You’re burning up!”
“Of course I am,” he said, lying back down in the melted snow. “How do you think I made that?” He pointed lazily towards the hole his feet still dangled in, and Aliet cautiously peered over the edge. The walls were smooth ice and the bottom was covered in rock and singed grass. The resemblance to an open grave made her shiver, reminding her how close she had come to losing him.
Aliet moved closer to Dartan, pulling him to her, while ignoring the almost uncomfortable heat still emanating from him. She squeezed hard and breathed deep, smiling when she felt him squeeze back. She pulled her head from his shoulder and rested her forehead against his, staring into his eyes.
“Try anything like that again,” she whispered, “and I’ll kill you.” He smiled and nodded. “You’ve been a part of my life for so long. I really can’t imagine it without you.”
“And I can’t imagine this world without you being a part of it,” Dartan said. “So, you’ll have to forgive my seemingly rash decision to keep you in it.” Aliet smiled and found herself unable to maintain the intense stare they were sharing. She looked down at the ground, admiring the pools of melted snow now gathering around Dartan’s sinking body. She had something funny to say about it when she looked back up, but the thought was lost when she found him patiently waiting for her. His eyes were drawing her close and when she broke from them this time, her eyes lingered at his lips. She felt her own lips part slightly, her face moving close to his. Her eyes closed and she held her breath.
“Ahem!” came from behind them, and Aliet shot to her knees, hand on sword. Above her stood Marcus. “I know I’m interrupting,” he said with a face red enough to rival Aliet’s own, “but if we don’t move it along, we’re going to lose Logan.” He nodded his head towards the top of the slope where Logan was about to disappear from view.
The pull. Now that Dartan could think of something other than stopping an avalanche (and Aliet), he could feel it tugging at him as well. “You’re right,” he said, getting to his feet. He moved cautiously, expecting weariness in his body, but the strain had been almost completely mental, and even that memory was fading. “We’d better get moving.”
Without a second glance back he started making his own way towards the entrance of the pass. It was all Aliet and Marcus could do just to keep up.
Chapter Twenty-four
It certainly wasn’t very impressive. Just a wide gap of relatively flat, snow-covered ground, carved between two steep mountainsides. Regardless of how it looked, Dartan reminded himself, somewhere along this path, perhaps even among the rocks of the sides enclosing it, was hidden the source of that pull. Whatever Alain had sent them for, it was here.
Logan wasted no time, but his search seemed almost frantic. He bounced from one side of the valley to the other, uncertain now where he was being pulled. “It’s coming from everywhere,” he mumbled, peering absently behind a boulder. He stood staring towards the far end of the valley, hands in his hair, when the rest of them entered the valley.
The Gateway. He had no idea how he knew it, but that was the only word that came to Dartan’s mind when he saw it. He was also certain it was the source of his own pull. It was well over one hundred meters away, yet was the first thing he had seen. From this distance he could make out almost no detail, just lines and angles rising from the ground to a height of two or three meters, but it was enough to hold his attention. Even the sight of a harried and confused Logan was registered as little more than an afterthought.
“I’ll be right back,” Dartan said to no one in particular as he wandered off towards the strange structure.
Aliet barely heard him. An almost unbearable screech pierced the air upon setting foot in the valley. “What is that noise?” She spoke loud enough to be heard over the shriek while holding her hands over her ears.
“It’s the Gateway,” Marcus answered. “This is about as close as we want to get.”
“Why’s that?”
Marcus shrugged. “I’m just assuming you’d rather not have blood pour out of your ears, nose, and eyes.” Her eyes widened in surprise.
“And you just let Dartan go?” Despite the almost painful noise, she turned to pursue Dartan. Marcus stopped her with a hand on her arm.
“It’s not affecting him,” Marcus pointed out. Aliet wasn’t listening, and simply pulled at his hand, but Marcus held fast. “Look at him,” he commanded her. It was a tone she rarely heard from him, but had always reminded her of their father. It made her stop and look back at Dartan.
He moved dream-like, drifting almost, towards a distant structure she had assumed to be some ancient stone shrine. He wasn’t holding his ears, or displaying any signs of discomfort. Most relieving – no blood.
“Why can’t he hear it?” she asked, her body relaxing. Marcus released his grip and shook his head.
“I know more about women than I do wizards,” he admitted with a small grin. Having never heard him speak of women, Aliet grinned back.
“How exactly do you know less than nothing about something?” She couldn’t ask it with a straight face, laughing a bit before she even reached the end. Marcus merely grunted.
“What about Logan?” It was the first time she had looked at Logan since entering the valley. He looked confused and agitated, but there was definitely no blood on him either. Dartan was nearly half-way to the gateway when he passed Logan, and neither man seemed to take any notice of the other. Nor did Logan seem to have any interest in the stone structure. Aliet looked back at Marcus, who could only shrug.
“I don’t think Logan hears anything besides his own voice,” he offered.
* * *
Where is he? Dartan stood silently in front of the gateway, waiting. Two smooth polished stone pillars rose from the ground to just over three meters, topped with a third stone between them. There was power in them, he was sure, and the way they shimmered reminded him of the spellstone he had seen in Alain’s hand. This was it. This is what had guided him here. Now, what was he supposed to do with it? Instead of Alain showing up with all of the answers, as he had expected, he had been left to stare into this window to another world.
Window. It was a good word, he decided, as it was framed and the two sides were so different and distinct, they surely must be separated by something physical. But, which side was he on? In or out? They both seemed hostile environments in their own right. His side, a snow covered valley flanked by steep, rocky sides. The other side, scorched and barren rocky ground, and what he had first taken to be falling snow, he now recognized as ash. Standing in the cold snow, he almost wished himself on the presumably warmer side. Only one thought gave him pause – over there be dragons.
Did the valley exist on the other side as it did on his own, he wondered, and so stepped closer. It quickly became clear, what he could see of the other side was what fell into the pool of light spilling across from his own side. Even moving closer, he could still see no further. He leaned even closer, a thought forming. What if the thing Alain had sent him for is on the other side? The more he stared, the more sure he was his was the wrong side.
As his eyes adjusted, the sky was the first thing to materialize from the gloom. It began as a swirling lighter
grey among the pitch black. Then highlights of red appeared, flickering and chasing each other as the smoky sky boiled, making him wonder if he was watching a sunset filter through, or flames. Perhaps if he got even closer, he thought. That’s when it happened.
Focused only on what lay beyond, Dartan’s mind lost all perspective on the gateway itself. His body, however, could not deny its presence. His feet were inches from the threshold, on ground free from snow, melted by the heat radiating from the other side. The feeling was most pronounced in his torso where, beneath his jacket, sweat rolled down his chest, while the flesh on his back was nearly frozen. Protest as it did though, the mind ignored the body. So it was when he tried to take one more step closer, the body rebelled. Unfortunately, it was not a full rebellion. Only his feet refused to move, sending the rest of his body tumbling forward into the open window.
It was solid. Staring at his hand braced against empty space, he thought again of a window. The thought was gone almost as quickly as it came, drowned out by the sound. He looked instinctively to the sky, as it sounded like the scream of a thousand eagles carried on a gale of wind howling through a canyon, but the sky was empty.
It would have to ring out again before Dartan would realize where it was coming from, but Aliet and Marcus knew almost immediately. The instant Dartan’s hand touched the gateway, the noise Aliet and Marcus had been assaulted with ceased. What followed, while undeniably terrifying, was not orifice-bleeding loud and easily pinpointed even though it lasted only a few seconds. Most concerning to them both, it was coming from below them. After a moment of silence, it shrieked again. It was moving. But where?
“What is that?” Aliet asked.
“That,” Logan turned to her and said decisively, “is the reason I’m here.” Every bit of confusion and dismay had left his face. “Wait here,” he said. “I’ll be right back.”
* * *
The far side of the valley narrowed into a path that curved to the left, leading to the border between Pavlora and the Northern Kingdom. Dartan had never seen it, but he imagined one would pass over it without any knowledge. Until, that is, you were caught by Northern guards.
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