The Raiden

by Shelley Cass

  “I’ve got a good length of rope,” Aiolos called.

  But Thorin frowned upwards at the rock face we huddled against. “There’s nowhere we could tie it,” he said. “There are jagged rocks jutting out, but they’re all too sharp.”

  Kiana had been silent in thought for a few moments.

  “I think I can take care of that,” she said at last, dropping her packs to the side and out of the way. “Pass the rope forward.”

  Aiolos obliged and we passed it from man to man until it reached her and her wings suddenly appeared at her back to lift her high above us.

  We craned our necks to watch as she soared upward and then stopped at one of the bigger rocks jutting out from the wall, which she inspected and ran her fingers along.

  Then I heard gasps and laughs as, without warning, the rock she touched began to grow, widening and lengthening outward from the wall beneath her fingers while its jagged edges smoothed and started to curve upward.

  Satisfied, Kiana withdrew and the rock stopped transforming at once. She looped the rope over the smooth, strong hook she’d just created so that it was securely bound and dangling down in front of us.

  “Kiana, you’re brilliant!” Thorin called up to her.

  “If I was confident enough to create an entire bridge, I would,” she admitted. “But what if the rock I would take to make a bridge came from the rock you’re already standing on?”

  Tane reached out boldly to catch the swinging rope and caught it in his hands, tying a handhold in its length.

  “Wait,” I called, evaluating what strategy would be best for all of us. The rope would certainly hold us, and so would the rock anchoring it. The only danger we would face was the possibility of missing the ledge when we let go.

  “Vulcan,” I called down the line of men. “Do you think you could make it up here?”

  Vulcan considered for a moment, judging the narrow ledge and the deep ravine that would meet him should his foot slip from it. He was about halfway down the line.

  “I can do it,” he answered confidently.

  “I want you to get across first. You have the strength to catch us once we swing, so there is no chance of anybody not landing on that other side.” His bulk would also mean he had the greatest ability to launch himself and weight the rope all the way to the other side.

  Vulcan nodded, assuring me he could do it. But I held my breath as he sidled away from the wall at his back and carefully began to edge around Phrixus, the first man in front of him. Phrixus, and everyone he passed, pressed themselves as flat as they could against the mountain wall, trying to leave him with as much ledge to balance on as possible.

  Vulcan grunted with the effort of squeezing around Cadell’s bulk next, and Cadell took a hold of Vulcan’s belt as he passed, steadying him. Thorin took hold of Vulcan’s belt next, and then the next man copied.

  Kiana hovered beside him, so that she could help him regain his balance if needed, until Vulcan finally managed to edge his way to the front. He wiped the sweat from his brow and shook his shoulders to disband the nervous tension from his body before he accepted the rope from Tane.

  “Careful,” Tane warned as Vulcan tested the rope and took a deep breath.

  Then he leaned back and let his feet launch away from the ledge, grasping the rope grimly as he swung across the deadly abyss and was carried all the way across to where the ledge began again. We all gritted our teeth as we watched him extend his legs to land on the other side, at last standing firmly once more.

  Tane glanced back at me, a little pale faced, and I inclined my head. His turn.

  “You better catch me,” he called across the gap to Vulcan. “Or you’ll hear me cursing you all the way down. And then I’ll haunt you.”

  Vulcan let the rope swing back across for Tane to catch. Then he raised his arms, ready to catch and steady Tane when he came across to land.

  “I won’t let anyone drop,” the big warrior told Tane soberly. “Or I’ll go down too.”

  “I’m also great at catching,” Kiana asserted.

  Tane looked at the rope in his hands, and then stepped up to the edge. “Frarshk,” he groaned mournfully, and let himself swing out across the nothingness.

  Vulcan leaned as far forward as he dared and caught Tane firmly around the waist, dragging him onto the ledge beside him.

  Tane sent the rope back across to Ferron, who was next.

  “Nothing to it,” Tane croaked.

  And we swung across one by one, each of us braving the sickening swing across the void to be caught by Vulcan until only Thale and the ever withdrawn Agrudek remained.

  “Should I try to swing him across with me?” Thale asked with doubt.

  The scientist had been thrown and caught or carried for every rock pile climb we’d faced so far. But the drop beneath the rope was a new problem.

  “I can carry Agrudek myself,” Kiana said then, and my eyes shot across to her. “I will fly him over. He’s light and it won’t be for a great distance.”

  “No,” Thale argued stoutly. “If he is too heavy for your wings to support then you both could fall. I will carry him.”

  Agrudek just stared miserably at the rocks at his feet, clutching a globe pendent around his neck for comfort.

  “The same risk applies to you,” Kiana stated. “But if you should fall, you have no wings to save you. And,” she firmly cut his next protest. “We can’t afford to waste more time arguing, or we won’t find shelter before the sun goes down.”

  Thale frowned with anguish at the watery globe of light hanging above us through the mist.

  “Thale,” I called as he glanced desperately from the sun to the rope. He looked at me. “Swing now,” I told him. “Trust in Kiana. She will take Agrudek.”

  His shoulders slumped, but when Vulcan held out his arms for the last time Thale grudgingly swung across the deadly drop below, and we all turned nervously to watch Kiana lightly land back on the other ledge in front of Agrudek.

  “Hold still,” she warned the small man sternly. “I’m going to shoot across fast.”

  I heard him whimper faintly and saw him squeeze his eyes tightly closed as she stepped behind him and wrapped her arms under his. She braced herself, and then in the blink of an eye she had launched off the ledge to speed towards us.

  Agrudek dangled in her grasp, before they appeared on our side of the path in a flash, where Vulcan caught hold of them before they careened into the rock wall.

  When Vulcan let them go, Kiana released the stunned, pale looking scientist from her vice-like hold, and he staggered to the wall and clung to it.

  Yet Kiana simply floated lightly back, picked up her packs, unhooked the rope, and flew to head our line again.

  Chapter Fifty Two

  Dalin

  “Frarshk. Again?” Wolf’s voice carried downwards. “You’ll never guess what I’ve found now,” he growled, scrambling back up his side of a pile of boulders to shout down to us.

  “I don’t think I really want to,” Nikon grunted, hoisting his pack and armour into a less sore spot on his shoulders.

  “Surprise, surprise,” Wolf cried sarcastically. “We’ve been blessed with another gap in the path, right at the foot of this pile of boulders. A double catastrophe.”

  “Great. So now we get to climb and swing,” Purdor gasped, leaning against the massive boulder he’d just scaled and looking up at the others he had to conquer next. “At least now we don’t have to do them separately. We get to do one after the other.”

  Our strength was flagging after being continuously met with one setback after another.

  “FRARSHK!” Thorin’s voice rang back to us when he climbed up next to Wolf to observe our next obstacle. “FRAAARSHKFRAAARSHKFRAAARSHK!” we heard his echoes rebounding musically through the mountains.

  “You seem disgruntled,” Noal commented blandly.

  “The next gap in the road is MASSIVE,” Thorin called down darkly.

  Thale sighed. “We al
l hate the gaps, but we’ve got past them before, and we can again.”

  “This one is three times the size of the others we’ve faced,” Thorin continued.

  The smile dropped from Noal’s face. “Three times?”

  “But this time I can see what’s at the bottom,” Thorin added. “And it’s not very nice.”

  We waited for a moment. Weighing up if we really wanted to know ahead of time.

  “What’s at the bottom?” Purdor gave in at last.

  “Sharp rocks,” Thorin supplied. “Very jagged. Very, very far down. Perfect for impaling warriors on.”

  And we soon got to see the monstrous challenge for ourselves, after carefully lowering ourselves from the boulders to gather on the small space of intact road at the edge of the drop.

  “The Gods seem set on placing every possible challenge in our way,” Phrixus moaned, but Kiana shook her head.

  “I crossed this once, and it has not grown much. It can be done – and must be done.”

  “But there isn’t enough rope this time,” Phobos protested.

  “We wouldn’t reach the other side. It is too wide to swing across,” Nikon agreed.

  “We brought more than one rope,” Kiana scolded our downhearted responses. “And surely if I can extend small bits of protruding rock, I can also create larger protrusions too.”

  Her wings flickered and whirred into action to carry her up to the rock wall, and she pressed a hand to the rough surface. As she drew her hand away from the rock it again seemed to follow – bulging and stretching outward towards her fingers.

  She swept back down to us, scooped another rope from Roth’s belt, and with a thought, she confidently fused the ends of the original rope and the new rope firmly together as if they’d been one length all along.

  Then with only a little hesitation, sweating nervously and praying to the Gods that we would live, each of us again managed to swing across the colossal break in the road before sinking down on the other side as if our bodies had turned to water.

  Our nauseous reverie was only broken when Aiolos looked over at Kiana. “Was that really there when you came this way?” he asked weakly, his voice wavering.

  The soldier beside him, Rendor, had a green hue to his face.

  Kiana, who had already recovered after carrying Agrudek safely across – looked up from where she was sharpening her dagger.

  “Yes,” she answered Aiolos simply.

  Cadell wetted his lips and focused on her, keeping his eyes from the fall we’d all just escaped. “How did you cross?” he asked. “You didn’t have your wings.”

  She shrugged, putting the dagger away. “I climbed.”

  Thale choked on the water he’d been sipping. “What do you mean you climbed?” he managed, the water dripping from his beard.

  “It was all I could do at the time,” she said, as if that explained everything. “And not crossing was not an option. I was on a Griffin hunt.”

  “How could you possibly climb that?” Phrixus husked. “There are no handholds that wouldn’t have sliced your hands to ribbons, and surely it is too far to scale that wall all the way across to the other side …” we were all waiting for some sign that she was in jest, but there was no trace of humour about her face.

  “Surely even you wouldn’t survive a climb like that, it would be torture. It would take too long!” Phobos exclaimed.

  Now her eyebrow arched. “It wasn’t an easy night.” She showed us the palms of her hands and her fingers, which were lined with the many scars that came with her trade. She calmly traced some of the longer ones that would have been quite deep, but that were now faint upon her skin.

  “I had wrapped leather strips cut from one of my packs around my hands to protect them. But after a span of time spent clinging to razor sharp hand holds, the leather wasn’t tough enough to protect me fully.”

  We all stared at Kiana in silence before she stood once more.

  “Let’s move,” she said then. “Our next challenge will be finding shelter.”

  Chapter Fifty Three

  Asha stared intently from her perch amongst a cluster of sparse wasteland bushes, forgetting how nauseated she felt within Krall’s borders. Instead, she was enthralled by the sight of so many big people in one location – lumbering about and gathering together in their camp.

  They were assembling as a vast group to hear the Awyalknian King, Glaidin, deliver a morale boosting talk. And the Lady had helped Asha to time her arrival so that she could hijack his speech and address everyone at once too.

  When Glaidin got started before the massive crowd – all shifting and listening loyally – a glittering grin of pointed pearly teeth covered her face.

  She launched herself easily from the bushes and soared effortlessly towards the massive crowd.

  Conall was standing at Glaidin’s side as he addressed his men. And with all soldiers focused on the King, Conall was the first to notice the shape hovering over the army.

  Glaidin faltered when Conall spluttered, and then the King himself choked on his own inspiring words to gawk upwards.

  When the masses cringed and peered skyward though, expecting perhaps that the fabled Agrona had appeared … they found that a small child with floating red hair was flying over their heads.

  It was an image of such incredibility, and a being that exuded such wholesomeness compared to the foulness in Krall – that the crowd remained almost stock still instead of bursting into shocked pandemonium.

  Asha just adored attention, especially on a mass scale.

  “Sorry to interrupt,” the Nymph beamed delightedly down at the mortal King, who blinked back in bewilderment.

  She swept down to his level and bowed before she held out her hand for him to take as the mortals did. He automatically raised his own and bent over her tiny one.

  “Well met …” he stammered with uncertainty.

  “Asha,” she supplied. “Well met King Glaidin. Good choice of location, great audibility,” she congratulated him in the Awyalknian tongue, and then turned purposefully to face the gigantic crowd. “I’ve come with an important message.”

  She spoke in her battle field voice, but there was no need, as every astounded man listened raptly.

  “You have no need to fear me,” she reassured them unnecessarily, holding out cherubic little palms. “All I ask is that you listen and believe.” The silence continued to grip the crowd of wide eyed soldiers as they hung on her every word. “I am a Nymph of the Great Forest sent as a representative of the Forest dwellers and the Lady of Sylthanryn herself.”

  Asha felt divine shock ripples spreading through the crowd, and wonder filled murmurs at last broke the spell of silence.

  “Your stories are all true. I am proof that pure magic is real – despite the Sorcerer’s best efforts to drive good magic to extinction. But,” she paused for dramatic effect. “While I represent the beings of the Forest, I have in fact come to you on behalf of another,” she soared a little higher. “Prince Dalin of Awyalkna wanted his people to know that hope is not dead.”

  Murmurs grew into exclamations and cries of surprise, as many Awyalknians had come to believe that Darziates’ Sorcery had done away with the heirs of the royal line.

  Asha saw the Warlord by Glaidin’s side catch his swaying King. Glaidin’s legs seemed to have lost their strength.

  “Prince Dalin and the companions accompanying him have become very dear friends to the Nymphs and Elves. But they have moved on from us now to continue with their Quest, which has been prophesied to be the Quest that will even the balance between Awyalkna and Krall,” Asha continued.

  And she went on to revel in the undivided attention of the mortals as she briefly described the Three’s mission. She floated in various positions of comfort before her captive audience, sometimes even elaborating with a show of lights and shapes to depict the scenes she spoke of.

  “And so, brave warriors, do not despair for your country. This is not a war you will face alon
e, because Awyalkna’s victory means the safety of all lands. We will march together with united banners, and, if the Three are successful, Darziates will face a threat as great as his own.”

  She leant back in the air to rest then, crossing her legs to await a reply.

  And after only a momentary pause, the crowd erupted with feverish, fierce cries of shock, relief and joy that made the entire camp rattle.

  Asha turned to the two stunned Awyalknian leaders as the army rejoiced.

  “King,” she said. “Speeches make me thirsty. And I have more to tell in private.”

  Glaidin straightened shakily. “Of course friend, follow me to my quarters.”

  Conall wasn’t entirely sure that this dazzling, babe sized creature was old enough to be drinking a strong brew, but Asha was watching Conall pour her a goblet of wine with anticipation. He was less sure of the safety in denying the request of a magical creature sent by the Lady of Sylthanryn.

  He tried not to stare at her as he handed her the cup, but he was greatly disconcerted by the sight of her floating above the chair that the King had pulled out for her.

  “You’re just as dashing as the Raiden, even with that stunned expression,” Asha told the King while Conall sat down.

  Conall saw Glaidin make an effort to draw himself together to address the Nymph. “Please, if you can pass on any news of my sons, I would be grateful.”

  “Oh yes,” she told him knowingly. “I have some incredible things to tell you about those two young men …”

  As Asha described the exploits of Noal and Dalin – or the Raiden – Glaidin felt as if his entire world was being rocked. Even knowing they had lived had stunned him to his core, though beyond that, he was hearing tales of his boys that he could hardly process.

  “And now the Raiden is leading the Krall warriors with him to Jenra,” she was saying matter-of-factly. “He has earned their respect, and because of the One’s magic, they have undergone a dramatic change.”

  “What kind of change?” Glaidin asked in a husky voice, trying to concentrate on the facts at hand.