by Shelley Cass
“What is your son like?” I asked Tane.
“Locke’s like me,” Tane laughed. “If he ever falls over he shall bounce back up with his curls.”
“You’d be worried if he didn’t have curls,” Thorin teased, coming over to huddle next to us after his own snow fight demise. He was dusting the ice from his own hair.
“I’d never be worried,” Tane grinned. “How could my Milara ever love another man after being married to the likes of me?”
“How does Mil not, after being married to the likes of you?” Thorin jested.
“If Locke’s anything like you, that’s great,” I told our most cheerful soldier. “The world could do with more Tanes in it.”
Tane’s face became serious for once. “I pray to the Gods he doesn’t need to be exactly like me. Forced into soldiering.” Tane grew wistful, stroking the handful of fire with a finger. “Locke wasn’t even a year old before I was called to go. Mil was so upset. He hadn’t even called me father yet. I’ve never heard it.” He passed his magic globe to Thorin. “When I go home, after we win this war, I’ll hold them both, knowing that we stand in a safer world. I’ll know then that this lost time has been worth it.”
“That child is the luckiest little one in the world,” Dalin replied. “He misses you now, but he will live without fear in the future because of it.”
We became quiet for a moment, watching Vulcan and Nikon battle for the winning position of the latest snow war while the rest of the men cheered them on.
And finally a white, wet ball engulfed Vulcan’s left ear, and because it would have been a debilitating war wound Nikon’s team roared victoriously while Thale and his men scuffed at the snow glumly.
“I think it’s time we get moving again,” Kiana announced. “The day can’t only be about fun and games after all.”
Chapter Sixty One
Dalin
The men had exhausted themselves after two days of snow antics, and were now lying about in wet heaps, each with their own little globes of white magic.
Phobos looked the most comical, spreading his like a lit up snow hat over his bald head.
Even Noal had tired himself out, having joined Nikon’s team, and he had somehow emerged as the victor.
Agrudek had wandered a distance away to a protected spot, and Kiana and I hadn’t joined their most recent manic battle. I instead sat calmly cleaning my sword, making sure no trace of rust could form on the blade in such a damp atmosphere.
“Join me?” I looked up to find Kiana standing over me. “We can wander and scout ahead. It’s early enough in the day that the others can catch up.”
I took her offered hand and stood, sheathing my blade.
“We’re going to scout ahead,” I repeated, for the benefit of the prone figures sprawled about in the snow.
“Whatever you say, Raiden,” Wolf replied lazily.
“You all have to catch up when you’ve found your warrior strength again,” I warned.
To that, I only got a tired wave from Noal.
Kiana shrugged. “That covers it.”
I followed her lead and we moved off down the trail at a more relaxed pace than normal.
“Are we looking for anything in particular?” I asked her as the others were lost to sight around a bend.
“The end of the path and the edge of a cliff,” she responded easily.
I grimaced. “Are they the same thing?”
“The path ends with a cliff face,” Kiana affirmed. “We’re going to need to scale it without mishap.”
The path closed in again, becoming a winding trail as we followed it, and the cold rock walls pressed in.
I shivered as a cool draught sent radiating chills throughout my body. But then I felt Kiana’s hand take my own again and a smile spread across my face despite the thought of the horrific descent ahead.
Heat rushed from her hand and into mine, spreading along my arm and warming every inch of me.
“You’re ever so kind,” I told her appreciatively.
“I know.”
Kiana squeezed my fingers, and her hand fit comfortably in mine as we walked side by side, our footsteps playing out an echoing rhythm. She began to hum softly in a tune that danced before us as well, and I found myself becoming increasingly enamoured with the idea of the two of us just continuing to walk without finding any fatal drops leading to Jenra.
But much too quickly, we simply rounded a bend that looked like any other, and suddenly found that there was no more path to follow.
“Oh Gods!” I gasped at the sudden lack of ground, and Kiana hurried to pull me backward as I regained my balance.
My breath came in ragged gasps and I heard cascades of stones and snow falling from where they had been loosed by my boots, sent to hurtle down along a cliff face.
“I thought we still had a few more turns to go,” Kiana mused. “It’s fortunate we’d kept our wits about us.”
“Fortunate ...” I agreed weakly, my head swimming as we stood on the brink of the monstrous cliff.
“It’s an even bigger drop than I remember,” she commented, leaning over the side and peering downward. “It’s fortunate we didn’t come upon this bit when we were stumbling around nights ago.”
“Yes ...” I put a hand to my forehead, swallowing thickly.
Kiana turned to face me. “Look beyond the drop,” she urged. “Look at Jenra!”
Screwing up my face in an effort to make my head stop swirling, and clutching her hand tightly, I stepped back toward the edge and peered out.
“Fine,” I admitted, calming a little as I was drawn by what I saw. “Apart from the lethal fall beyond our toes, the view that has so suddenly opened up is breathtaking.”
“I feel as though I stand before one of the most detailed paintings ever created,” Kiana replied appreciatively, eyes on the sprawling valleys of glorious green, and towers that sprang majestically from the mountain peaks themselves. And beyond the City towers that had been carved into the mountains, there was the expansive blue ocean, rolling and lashing in the distance. It looked as though it would reach to the ends of the world, and I could only just make out the surging white foam of the waves.
I felt Kiana’s hand pull at mine, this time more gently, and I tore my eyes from the land to focus on her smiling face instead. She beckoned for me to sit with her, and we both slid down with our backs against one of the rock walls.
“Can you see those people farming below?” Kiana asked after a moment, and I strained my eyes to pick up on any moving shapes.
“I can’t see anything that suggests the mountain City holds life,” I said in consternation. “What can you see?”
“I can make out lots of specks working away down there,” she answered.
“Sharp eyes,” I complimented her in surprise.
Then I noticed an expression of curiosity cross her face, and that was the only warning I was given before a shot of tingling magic surged from her grip, bolting up my arm and seeming to shoot straight up to my head.
In a dizzying, abrupt lurch, my eyes felt as though they were exploding and burning, and my vision seemed to refocus so that everything became sharper, brighter and closer, and my eyes picked out movement as I saw people moving below.
“Woah!”
In confusion, my head whipped back, connecting with the rocky wall, and I dropped Kiana’s hand as if I had been stung.
At once my vision snapped back to normalcy.
“Kiana!” I groaned, clutching my head to still the sickening spinning.
“Dalin, I’m sorry!” she gasped, sounding truly aghast.
I felt her fingers rub the back of my head, but I was focusing on stifling sick waves of nausea that had begun to grip me.
“Dalin?” Kiana asked more quietly, and I forced myself to peer at her through my fingers.
“It’s alright,” I mumbled dazedly. “Just a surprise. I had your eye sight for a moment. You let me see them.”
“I promise I will
not experiment on you again without your permission,” she told me earnestly.
She held out her hand, and I gingerly took it in mine once more.
“Definitely not without warning,” I chided.
“Definitely not,” she affirmed with a gentle half smile that played subtly on her lips and that warmed her brilliantly blue and gold flecked eyes.
I floundered for a response and again felt quite breathless. Our faces were incredibly close together, and I hardly registered myself impulsively leaning forward to swiftly press my lips against hers and then away again.
Then we both stared at each other. Our eyes were wide and my mouth tingled from the contact, prickling with her magic.
I tried to make myself breathe properly as she looked away from me with raised eyebrows, but she kept my hand firmly in hers, continuing to keep me warm.
“Kiana ...” I said softly. “I am sorry ... I … I promise I will not experiment on you again without your permission.”
She regarded me for a moment, and I waited in distress for her answer.
Then finally: “definitely not without warning,” she chided.
“Definitely not,” I affirmed with a grin.
But then she leaned forward. And this time it was Kiana that brushed her lips against mine – before, in the distance, the sound of our approaching comrades carried along the path towards us.
Kiana pressed my hand and released it before standing as the Krall warriors, Agrudek and Noal rounded the bend in the path.
“Hello lads,” she greeted them, her voice steady, and I stood too, dusting the damp from the seat of my trousers.
“Did you find something?” I heard Thorin call from the back of the crowd.
“Not another gap to swing across?” Tane’s voice carried forward too, full of disdain.
But the men at the front had stopped short, taking in the epic descent and the City below with gaping awe.
“We’ve found the end of the Pass,” Vulcan exclaimed to the men at the back. “To get down though, it looks like we have to freefall from the top of this cliff.”
“Oh.” Tane’s voice was a little more subdued this time.
“Welcome to Jenra,” Kiana told everyone. “The next stage in our battle with the Jenran mountains is about to begin.”
Chapter Sixty Two
Noal
The path had opened up to give us a spectacular view of green valleys at the basin of Jenra, and the wide open ocean beyond the mountains on the other side. The City itself was also colossal – with spiralling towers of rock built into the mountainous cliffs opposite to us, their pointed tops making a jagged outline against the clear blue skyline.
“Gods,” Tane breathed through chattering teeth, breaking our stunned silence as we stared at our first view of anything other than mist and stone.
“Imposing,” Thorin commented with an enormous smile. “I like it.”
“We’ve got to climb our way down there?” Thale swatted the snow from his beard in agitation as he glanced down from our great height. Cadell stood beside him and he had a decidedly green pallor.
The quieter group of the sodden soldiers – Rendor, Roth and Aiolos, grew even quieter after having peered down too. While Gideon and Lydon had simply chosen not to look.
“I feel so well prepared for such a descent,” Nikon commented sarcastically, his clothes saturated and his heavy pack making him hunch.
“I feel the opposite of ready,” I grimaced, trying to shake the snow from my trouser bottoms but instead feeling the wet material clinging back to my backside.
“This kind of feat is becoming daily routine though,” Phrixus hit me across my wet back with a friendly, loud slap.
Purdor paused in biting his nails. “Kiana, this is impossible,” he said fretfully. “We don’t have wings if we fall.”
Kiana was unbothered. “I managed to scale my way down before I had wings. But you will all have me hovering close in case you need catching.”
“We’re not you,” Nikon told her seriously. “I don’t think we can do it. Not with our packs, with our little skill in scaling, and with so few safe handholds. We just won’t be able to hold on for so long.”
“Plus,” Phrixus groaned as he flexed his fingers, “I’m so frozen I won’t be able to grasp the rocks.”
Kiana regarded us all earnestly. “I’ve been contemplating this part of the journey carefully. And I believe I can make it possible for everyone to make it.” She lowered her packs to the ground and let her wings appear so that her feet lifted effortlessly from the path. “We know I have some ability to manipulate rock, so I can make handholds and ledges in the rock face for you to use. But not only that,” she lifted higher into the air, her hair being plucked at by the wind as she closed her eyes in concentration.
Then suddenly her hair became still.
The wind stopped tearing at her and instead buffeted us as a satisfied smile played across her lips and she opened her eyes, having somehow changed the direction of the gale force gusts. “I’ll make this wind act like a support for you, so you can practically float all the way down.”
There was an uncertain silence as we all apprehensively contemplated the drop.
“I swear I will catch anyone who should fall,” Kiana promised, her face unflinching.
“Alright,” Thorin told her begrudgingly. “We trust you. You’ve got us this far.”
And there were groans of both assent and dread as everyone resigned themselves to the impossible task.
“Good,” Kiana smiled. “Now you need to flex your fingers, kick the snow out of your boots and warm your arms and legs up,” she ordered before disappearing downward to examine the cliff side.
As we all obediently began performing half hearted stretches and nervous flexes, Vulcan approached Agrudek. “I can carry you down,” the large warrior gruffly informed the quivering scientist.
“Th … thank you,” Agrudek replied warily.
So while Kiana was working her way down the cliff wall, creating hand holds, Thorin and I used Aiolos’ length of rope to tie Agrudek to Vulcan’s back. The tiny man was barely the height of Vulcan’s waist, and he could have been mistaken for a bag.
The rest of the men began bundling everyone’s packs together with another rope so that Kiana could bring them down after us if we managed to survive.
“Right,” Kiana shot back up, panting slightly. “I’ve created handholds for about a quarter of the way down, and then made a massive ledge at the end of that where you can rest while I start on the next quarter.”
Wolf’s shaggy hair was wind swept as he peered over the edge nervously. “How long do you think it will take before we make it to the first ledge to rest?” he asked.
Kiana’s expression softened. “You’ll be too busy concentrating on your hands to notice. And you won’t take as long as I did because you don’t have to search for places to grip, and it isn’t dark. We’ll get this done.” She regarded us a moment. “I’ll be ready when you are.” Then she launched herself a distance away from the cliff lip and hovered in the air as we milled towards the edge in a nauseas looking bunch.
“I’ll go first,” Dalin said resolutely, and made his way forward.
Chapter Sixty Three
Dalin
The palms of my hands were prickling as I stood at the brink of the cliffy mountain, and then, praying silently to the Gods to let us survive, I lowered myself over the edge of where the Midroone Pass ended.
“Be well everyone,” I said gruffly, and then gripped the first perfect handhold, lowering myself down along the mountain wall.
I gritted my teeth against the first burst of wind that tore at me and huddled into the rocks, but then the air seemed to settle around my form as Kiana fought to stop the wind from tearing me off the mountain while I descended.
I immediately followed a rhythm to lower one foot down after another, and moved one sweaty hand after the other. I refused to think about how the only thing keeping me from p
lunging into oblivion were the little rock holds and kept my eyes on the rough cliff surface in front of my nose, only glancing up once to make sure Noal was above me. When I saw his ankles I quickly refocused on the descent.
“Frarshk, oh Frarshk, oh Frarshk,” I heard Thorin above Noal as he began his descent too, and already my own arms and fingers felt tortured.
I paused momentarily to wipe the sweat from my eyes and felt my innards leap with fright when I accidentally caught sight of how far we still had to go before we met solid ground. The grassy Jenran plains were still so far away that they swirled blearily in the distance and my stomach churned. But I forced my mind back onto moving, swallowing my terror with a great effort.
“Dalin?” I eventually heard Noal’s thin, wavering voice carry down to me.
“Yes?” I panted back.
“You remember climbing down the Gwynrock Wall on that rope?”
“Yes … I do.”
“Well,” he grunted with the strain. “This is worse.”
“This isn’t so bad,” I lied, flexing my stiff fingers.
“I’m trying not to lose my lunch,” Noal’s voice groaned mournfully.
“Keep trying,” I wheezed up at him testily. “I’m right below you.”
Then everyone froze when we heard a sudden cry from above.
My eyes whipped upward as I registered sickly that the voice had been Tane’s.
My dread only eased when I realised the cheerful warrior hadn't yet plunged past me, and at last I heard his voice.
“Thanks Kiana,” he called in a croak. “I was cramping and lost my balance.”
As we continued grimly on, fearing that every slip of a finger would be the last mistake we ever made, I felt Kiana softening the blow so that the wind hardly plucked at us, and when I lost my balance once, it seemed as if the air was pressing me back towards the wall so that I soon recovered.
“Your feet are just about to touch down on the first ledge,” I heard Kiana call out at last, just when I was beginning to fear that my arms would rip away from their shoulder sockets.
I let go of the last holds and muttered “thank the Gods,” as I sank against the wall.