The Crooked Knight (The Path of Zaan Book 2)

by C. K. Rieke

  Gar came over and gave Lily a hug. “Where in the hell have you been?”

  “Around, I guess,” she said and gave Zaan a subtle wink.

  “Damn fine, damn fine,” Gar said, and Stave motioned for the two of them to go sit at their table.

  Gar went over to Zaan and clapped him on both shoulders. “Hey buddy, haven’t seen you in a spell either. Last I saw you, I was wiping the floor with you.”

  Zaan just smiled back. “Last I saw you, you were getting spanked by the Major.” Gar gave a disapproving grin, then smiled wildly and began pulling them both over to the table.

  Zaan leaned over and whispered into Gar’s ear. “Are you drunk? It’s pretty early still.”

  “No,” Gar said enthusiastically. “Just enjoying my time. This city can be so dull!” Zaan gave a sigh, and looked over at Lily, who gave a shrug of her shoulders.

  ***

  A few hours passed, and the four of them had many laughs, and caught up with each other. They talked about their separate training, and about the things going on in town. Eventually, Gar began to fade, laying his head on the table a time or two.

  “Well, I should be going. I have to see Tilda bright and early,” Lily said, as she stood up. Her lips were stained a lavender purple from the few glasses of wine she had.

  Zaan looked up at her, not sure what to do. Then Gar looked up at her. “What are you doing, it’s not late yet.” Stave put a hand on Gar to calm him, and Gar rested his head back on the table soaked with stale ale.

  “Do you want me to walk you home?” Stave asked.

  “No, that’s okay, I’ll be fine. Thanks though.” She smiled at Stave. “See you later, Zaan.”

  “Okay, see you later,” he said. She lowered her head, turned, and walked out of the tavern. An uncomfortable silence fell over the table. Then Gar shifted in his seat.

  “You are such an idiot,” Gar mumbled while face down on the table.

  Zaan looked over at him, surprised. “What?”

  Gar laughed. “Why didn’t you go with her?”

  Zaan was speechless, and scratched his head.

  Why didn’t I ask to go with her? “Should I go after her?”

  “It’s too late now,” Gar said.

  Stave chuckled lightly, and shrugged his shoulders at Zaan, “He’s right.”

  “What are you . . . I don’t know what you are talking about,” Zaan said, and his face began to flush.

  “We aren’t stupid, Zaan,” Stave said. “She likes you too, we all see it.” Zaan’s eyes lit up. “But Gar’s right, it’s too late now. Here, I’ll get you a drink.” Zaan sat back in his chair on its back two legs, and grinned uncontrollably.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  THEY traversed back through the soft grass of the Auburn plains, and back into the foothills of the Cascades. The last rays of sunlight disappeared as well as the pillars of black smoke from Garmos behind them. At the lead was Gogenanth, strong and tall, followed by Wollen, shorter and wide at the shoulders. Ezmerelda and Yule trailed behind them; she was quick and wry, Yule strode heavily and appeared fatigued.

  “We should leave him,” Wollen said to Gogenanth as they crossed the shallowest part of the foothills. “He will only slow us.” Gogenanth slowed his pace and motioned to Ezmerelda for them to catch up. Yule carried a heavy pack on his back, straps of fur trailing behind. It didn’t take her long to join the two men.

  “We will keep up. Let’s keep going,” Ezmerelda said, shifting her pack on her back, and Yule pulled out a canteen and took a deep gulp.

  Wollen looked over at Gogenanth, looking for an answer in his expression. Gogenanth sighed and looked back up to the peaks of the Cascades. “Well, it looks like we have two choices: we could: travel together, or one of us could travel quickly alone to warn them.”

  The two men thought hard, running the different scenarios through their heads. Truthfully, neither wanted to be the one left behind with the two new companions, as they both wanted to warn their friends in Barrier Cliff. Wollen looked back towards where the forest met the mountains. “What about the White Passage? Is that a possibility?” Indecision passed over Gogenanth’s face. “Would we be able to find it again?”

  “Not sure. It’s invisible,” Gogenanth said.

  “Well, we are wasting time standing here,” Ezmerelda said. “What’s the plan?”

  “We will take the White Passage,” Gogenanth said. Wollen recognizing the uncertainty on his face.

  Wollen reached over and grabbed the arm of Gogenanth, spinning his back to Ezmerelda and Yule. He then said softly, “I’m not sure we can find it, friend. We have to leave them behind and travel through the mountains, now.”

  “They want to help. We shouldn’t leave them.”

  “Very well, lead the way,” Wollen said, as they headed back down the foothills towards where the mountains brushed up against the Yelden.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  THE rolling waves of the cold Rion Sea brought the tide in as Zaan ran down the overlooking roads of Barrier Cliff. Children ran out in front of him; as quickly as he was running, he hurdled over them without a thought. He had just finished up his lesson with Elindrill; she spoke to him about why clouds form, how old the trees were, and how there were recordings of the Aterax and its ferocious storms from thousands of years ago.

  Zaan had to find Lily before he had his lesson with the Major, and presumably Gar again. She was probably done with Tilda for the day, but he didn’t know where she’d be then. Zaan ran down to Folk’s and popped his head in. The aroma of cooked bacon wafted out at him, so he purchased three strips and ate them with a mug of cool, crisp water. He then ran up to her place and gently knocked on her red-painted door a few times. After a couple of minutes, he decided to leave. He guessed she might be off in the forest for some excursion of her own.

  He walked down the main wide walkways and checked the lilac-laden courtyard for any sight of her golden locks, but had no luck. He just wanted to see her, hear her sweet voice.

  With a slight sense of discouragement, he went back to his room. He unlatched the downstairs door and climbed the stairs to his room. As he opened the door, he noticed an envelope at his feet. He picked it up, and as he held it closely to his eyes, he recognized the writing as his mother’s. Quickly, he walked over to his desk and slid a knife through the seal and laid the parchment out in front of him. He held it up into the light of the window next to him, it left a golden glow on the fading paper.

  Dear son,

  It has been so long since we last lay eyes on you. We miss you dearly, and think of you every single day. Some exciting news, we got another dog, and named her Giddy. A mix of what you recommended and something we liked. She’s a puppy that we found on the street, actually. She sort of reminds us of what Oscar looked like when you first got him. Maybe that is why your father picked her up off the street and took her in. How she barks at Bruno! The poor donkey— always getting nipped at the ankles by her, the ornery dog.

  Well we hope that life is as exciting as you’d dreamed. The world is a big place and we hope you are making your little nest somewhere nice.

  Planting is mostly done for the spring season. We did the usual, but I’m trying an early crop of peas this year. I’m trying to see if I can get a nice, sweet batch. I’ll cook them off with some sage and butter, just like you like. I’ll can some things so that when you get back to see us, I can make you something from this harvest.

  Janos just told me to tell you to bring back some tobacco from up north. But secretly, I’m going to try to get him to quit smoking soon. So don’t bring him any.

  We love seeing your letters come in, so write back, and take care, son. We love you so much, and hope the world is treating you well.

  Love,

  Mom and Dad.

  Zaan folded the top of the letter down and smelled the parchment. He didn’t smell much, as he assumed it’d been on the road quite a while to get
this far to him. A wide grin came across his face, and he stared out his window up to the sky. He thought about a puppy running around the house and yard and his father having to train her to go outside to relieve itself. He laughed, and watched the large, puffy white clouds drift past.

  The thought crossed his mind to pull out a piece of parchment and write a return letter at that moment, but with his training with the Major coming up, he put the letter into his pocket. He changed into more breathable clothing, because he tended to get quite a workout from getting whipped by Gar and the Major, and he left his room.

  Walking down the curving eastern stairway to the Major’s residence, Zaan picked a couple of leaves off a dogwood tree and felt their texture between his fingers. He thought about how old that particular tree was, and what generation of leaves those were. He knew if he really wished to know the age of the tree, he could simply cut into it and count the rings. Ironic, he would have to harm, or kill, the tree to find how many years it has lived. It truly would be incredible if Lily would have the ability to talk to things without thoughts or minds. Zaan’s mind began to contemplate this. How do we know plants don’t have thoughts? After all, it’s not like you can hold a thought in your hand. And who says they don’t communicate with us? It seems the more you know, the more you realize you don’t know. He reached up to scratch his chin. Suddenly; he realized he hadn’t shaven in a couple of days, and he had the beginning of a beard. He looked into some reflective glass of a house nearby, and for a split-second, he thought he was looking at his father in the dark glass.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  “DAMN. Where the hell is it?” Gogenanth said, as he spread his hands and fingers out on the blank canvas of jutting rock, feeling for any sign of the hidden White Passage.

  “It’s here somewhere,” Wollen said, his hands doing the same.

  “What are you looking for?” Ezmerelda asked. “If you are looking for a big rock, you found it.”

  Gogenanth gave a frustrated grunt. “All the rocks around here look the same.” He turned his back to the wall and rested, looking up to the top of the mountain looming above them.

  “Why was it so easy to find the last time we went through it?” Wollen asked, kicking the rock wall.

  “We didn’t find it. Zelestiana and Gildur were the ones who found it. We just walked through,” Gogenanth said.

  Ezmerelda walked over to the wall and began to feel a different area with her hands. “What will it feel like? What are we looking for?” She held her ear up to the mountain, as if to listen to its insides.

  Wollen gave a low chuckle. “I like that one— she’s got spirit.” He took a few steps over to her, and he had to look slightly up at her. “Hey girly, when you find it, you’ll know.”

  “Girly? Whose girly?” She looked down at him and pointed an outstretched finger to him. “Don’t start with me, Shorty, we’re with him,” she said, pointing at Gogenanth. “You’re just along for the ride. If you've any problems with me, you can take it up with him.”

  Wollen looked over at Gogenanth, who gave him a surprised and confused look back. Wollen began to laugh hysterically. “This one. I like this one! Way to go, girly. You are going to do real well with this troupe.”

  Ezmerelda’s face began to well up with anger, and Yule walked over slowly behind her, placing a hand on her shoulder blade, as if to calm her. She took a deep breath and looked back down at her feet. Gogenanth continued to check the walls, and Ezmerelda joined back up.

  “Ugh, we should have just taken the mountain path,” Gogenanth said, his brow furrowed, and teeth clenched. “We need to make it back to Barrier Cliff.”

  “Aye, but we made the choice to be here,” Wollen said. “Looking for this damned door that is just supposed to be somewhere in a mountain, where everything looks the damned same.”

  “Is this it?” Ezmerelda asked, and the two came running over.

  “What? What did you find?” Wollen asked.

  “This.” Ezmerelda took her finger and touched a knobby stone on the rocky wall. She had wide eyes that asked for a response, trying to turn the rock in the cliff with her hand like a doorknob.

  “No, that is not it,” Gogenanth said, and returned back to a new section of wall.

  “Hmm,” Ezmerelda said. “Well, it’s hard to look for something when nobody tells you what the hell you’re looking for.” She looked over at Gogenanth, who walked down the long stretch of rock feeling the wall all along the way. Wollen sat over on a bank of marble rocks, and lit a pipe. He inhaled deeply, and when he exhaled, the smoke blew back in his face and wild hair. “Hey, where’d Yule go?”

  “Yule,” she called out and turned behind her. “Yule, where you at? Where did he get off to?”

  Wollen looked over and stood up. “What’re you doin’?”

  “You seen Yule?” Ezmerelda asked him.

  “No, awful hard to lose such a big guy though. I’m sure he’s around, and probably off in the woods doing his business,” Wollen said, and took another puff off his pipe.

  Gogenanth saw the commotion and came back over to them. “What’s wrong?”

  “Yule’s gone. He was just here,” Ezmerelda said, now concerned. “Yule. Yule, where are you?” she yelled out. “Maybe we should spread out.”

  “We are wasting time,” Gogenanth said. “Every moment we’re out here, Zaan and everyone in Barrier Cliff . . . We need to . . .”

  Before he could finish, Ezmerelda put a finger up to his mouth and gave a shushing sound. “You hear that?” The three listened closely, hearing a faint call in the wind. They heard a muffled call for ‘help’.

  “Yule? Yule, where are you?” Ezmerelda called out. Gogenanth and Wollen armed themselves. They listened and heard the calls for help, as they walked closer to them. They inched along, quietly and low. As they walked along the outstretch of wall, the calls got louder. At a point though, the calls grew further away, and they realized the calls began to come from behind them.

  “What the?” Ezmerelda asked. She listened for a moment. “Is that . . . is that a . . . laugh? Is that Yule laughing?” They backtracked a bit, until they could hear Yule clearly laughing. “Is this?” she said as she reached towards the sound of Yule’s voice and her arm slowly disappeared into the rock.

  She stuck her head into the rock, and saw Yule, standing there, lit on both sides by glowing torches and white rock. She walked through, and Gogenanth and Wollen followed. She looked back at the entrance and realized Yule had been looking at his reflection in the entrance, laughing.

  “Good job, Yule. You found it,” she said. Yule gave out a big grin, and Gogenanth entered the passageway and rushed past.

  “Time to move,” he said, and began running. The others quickly followed. “We don’t have much time.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  “CONCENTRATE.” The word echoed again in the back of his mind. “Concentrate hard . . . Focus.” The words built up to a roaring echo in Zaan’s head. His eyes were closed, but he could see it. It illuminated a misty blue in the distant dark black. As he focused his mind on it, he began to feel its weight. It felt like he was holding a full-size man in his arms. Zaan’s feet pushed harder into the stone floor, and his knees began to ache.

  Zelestiana looked out onto the cold Rion Sea, hovering slightly over it was the rising golden sun. The sea looked as white as the caps of the Cascade Mountains in a cold winter’s grasp. Centered perfectly in the bright gleaming reflection of the sea, was a boat. It was manned by two individuals, who looked quite normal at the moment, but that was about to change. It was a one-mast sailboat two men had taken out from the shore early to beat the other fisherman to the catch.

  In his mind, Zaan saw the boat, and the two men. They both sat idly on either side of the vessel, drinking a warm beverage as they sailed out little by little. Zaan cupped his hands with his palms open.

  “Focus, feel the weight of it, anticipate its next move,” Zelestiana s
aid, still eyeing the boat. The sea reflected its warm light off her unwavering eyes.

  The image of the boat made of blue mist grew brighter and more vivid. He saw his own hands reach out, and they were covered in blue flames. The words of Zelestiana seemed distant, but powerful. This is it. There it is. He clenched his hands under the ship in the distance. He counted. Three . . . Two . . . One . . . With all his might, and what felt like five hundred pounds, he lifted with his back and his knees.

  As the boat lifted from the water, the two men stood up startled, and quickly fell to their backs as the uplifting of the boat knocked them clean over. Zelestiana looked on at this. “Yes,” she said with a curled lip. “Okay, you have it, Zaan.”

  Zaan felt the boat, and held it, as it hovered slightly over the passing waves of the outgoing tide. He continued his strong focus, as he didn’t want to drop it; he wanted to be deliberate, and delicate.

  “Hold it . . . Steady . . . there you go,” Zelestiana said. “Now, Zaan, I want you to raise it up three feet more.”

  Zaan’s brow began to perspire. “I . . . can’t, it’s too heavy.”

  “You lifted an object that weighed twenty times that. Do it.” Zelestiana looked at him, and he felt it. “Think about what drove you to drop that fallen, great tree on Reizenthrōgz when he wanted to kill your friends.”

  “Reizenthrōgz,” Zaan said with an icy tone. Inside of his pocket, he felt the idle weight of the red stone. He clenched his teeth and with a low grunt, pushed his feet into the ground, and lifted the boat another foot . . . Then another . . . And then, with a loud grunt he lifted it the last one. Off in the distance, he heard the cries of the two men.

  “There you go, well done, now turn it back towards shore and set it down as gently as a leaf falling into grass.”

  His shoulders and back relaxed, and he felt the weight come off of his knees. He rotated his hands and the boat slowly spun with them, as he laid the boat back on the water. At the last moment, it dropped quickly a couple of inches and let a ripple sing out into the water from the boat. The man remaining inside let out a loud sigh and clapped. He dragged his partner back into the boat.