“It wasn’t your fault,” he said, pulling me tight. “She made you this. She poisoned you with Natas, turning you into her weapon. All that blood is on her hands, not yours.”
“But I did those things,” I protested. “No matter what, I can never give those people their lives back.”
“No, you can’t,” Zimri acknowledged. “So why dwell on what you can’t change? You’ve given these people their lives back; you can do the same for the rest of the Eisenberge. It is what you do now that matters.”
He was right, I admitted to myself. While it might have been my hand, Katrina bore all the blame. I was a victim too, a product of Katrina’s sadistic tyranny. She had made me this monster but I was going to ensure she regretted.
“Ya,” I said, rage cooling into granite resolve. “And now I choose to kill Katrina. I will make her pay for all that she has done to us.”
Zimri gave me a proud smile. “That sounds like a wise idea,” he said. “Another wise idea is enjoying a good victory celebration.”
I nodded, feeling a smile crease my lips. Looking back at my parents’ grave, I promised myself that I would make them proud.
“Let us go,” I said, taking his arm in mine.
“Try not to abduct anyone this time,” he commented.
Chapter 40-Zimri
“Ugh, finally,” Athala groaned as the trees faded away, revealing a small town on the edge of an enormous lake.
“We’ve only been going for three days,” I commented with a touch of amusement. “It’s hardly our worst hike. It’s certainly been a lot easier than our two-week jaunt through the Berge Wiese.”
“Do not remind,” Athala grouched. “I am used to teleporting, which only takes about three seconds.”
“And one person’s life,” I pointed out.
“I am not saying I wish I were using it,” she returned. “I am just glad that we are almost there.”
“And with provisions to spare, for once,” I added cheerfully. “This Ferry Town?”
“Ya,” she nodded.
There was a couple dozen buildings in front of us, all built around the small cove that served as a harbor. About thirty or so boats, barges and rowboats mostly, were either docked at one of the three piers or coming in or out just beyond the edge of the cove’s entrance.
“Busy,” I commented.
“This is the only summertime, north-south crossing of Long Lake to Masala,” Athala explained, pointing across the lake. In the distance, I could just barely make out the ramparts and walls of a major city.
I frowned. “Why here? Wouldn’t it make more sense to have the crossing on the Branden Fluss, like where it enters Long Lake,” I said.
“No,” Athala shook her head. “The current is too swift most of the year, especially in spring and early summer with the glacial runoff. Besides, the river has no natural harbor that would work. Here boats can safely dock, take on cargo, and then go across.”
I shrugged, supposing that made sense. “And the Eisenpalast is on an island over there?” I gestured vaguely northwest.
Athala craned her neck, trying to see. “Ya, I believe so but I cannot see it from here. It is on the north side of the lake and we should be able to see it from Masala.”
“So we just go get a boat?”
“Ya, basically,” she answered, starting off down the road into the town.
“But I’ll be recognized,” I protested. “Shouldn’t I wear one of the invisibility cloaks?”
“That will not work with boats,” she shook her head. “The boatman will notice the shift in weight and will start asking all sorts of questions.”
“And hiding our gear isn’t going to raise those questions?”
“Fifteen kilos of gear are a lot easier to conceal that seventy kilos of clumsy Alkite,” Athala retorted sharply.
“And me?”
“Put your hood up.”
I shrugged, not having anything to counter with as we made our way into the town. However, the fatal flaw in her plan quickly became apparent. Even with my hood up, it was clear I wasn’t from around here. The cowl wasn’t deep enough to hide my olive skin from anyone who took a second glance, which was pretty much everyone as I was the only person with my hood up on such a warm, sunny day. By the time we made it to the docks, the people we saw were clearing out of our way like we had a plague.
“You will find no passage here, sorceress,” one of the boatmen stepped in front of us, blocking our path to the docks.
“If you know who I am, then you know what I am capable of,” Athala threatened, voice low and cold. That she could no longer use magic was apparently beside the point.
“He does,” a voice spoke from behind us. We turned to see a soldier, officer by the clear look in his eyes and normal voice, standing casually there, flanked by a dozen soldiers on either side. They already had the shield wall in place, spear points bristling at us.
“He is wise enough to fear the Mistress more than you,” the officer added, an arrogant gleam in his blue eyes.
“How’d that work out for Aidan and Miner’s Home?” I retorted, drawing my blade.
“How long do you think their ‘freedom’ will last?” he snorted. “Take them. The Mistress wants the Alkite alive.”
“Make for the boats,” I told Athala as I started backing up, deciding for once that discretion was the better part of valor. Suddenly I felt a strong hand clamp down on my shoulder.
“You are not going anywhere,” the boatman said, holding me firm.
I sighed. He was big and strong, but clearly had no martial training and I could easily slip from his grasp. Plus, I had a sword.
“Why aren’t you helping us?” I asked, warily watching the soldiers advance on me. “Don’t you want to be free of them and Katrina, like Miner’s Home?”
“I want to live,” he said simply.
“Look, I don’t want to hurt you,” I said. “Just let me go and we’ll ferry ourselves across.”
The man’s grip didn’t relent, earning another sigh from me and I prepared to twist free.
Suddenly, he let out a blood-curdling yell in my ear and collapsed to the ground, holding his left leg. Behind him stood Athala, bloody knife in her hand.
“What?” she snapped at me, glaring. “We need to go. NOW!”
With another glance over my shoulder at the advancing soldiers, I decided not to question or argue and we both bolted for the nearest pier. A pair of soldiers tried to ambush us but they hadn’t formed a shield wall yet so I fairly easily dispatched them. But it slowed us down.
Another ten meters and a couple boatmen made a grab for Athala. She slashed one’s hand while I knocked the other down with my shield. By now the soldiers were less than five meters behind and we took off running again. Pounding down the wooden planks of the nearest pier, we frantically searched for a boat.
“You know how to sail?” Athala asked as she started for a fast-looking sailboat.
“No, you?”
“No,” she changed course. “I guess we will have to make due with one of the rowboats.”
Inwardly I groaned at the prospect of rowing all the way across Long Lake but at least this way we could go where we wanted to go. At the far end of the pier, a man was just now tying up his boat and we sprinted for it.
“What in the…” he started as he saw the two of us barreling towards him.
“Sorry!” I called in advance, just before I launched him into the water with a shield blow.
“HEY!” he shouted a moment before crashing into the cold lake.
“Hold them off while I load our stuff and untie the boat,” Athala instructed.
I raised my shield while bending my knees, lowering my profile while the soldiers slowed to a steady advance. They could only go two-by-two on the docks, which helped me although I didn’t have much room to maneuver. But I just had to keep them back.
The first pair lunged at me in sync. I deflected one with my shield and the other with my scimitar. Al
though wide-open, I was able to land a hard kick on the left one, sending him into the lake. Then I whipped my shield around to strike the other across the side of the head. A concussion wouldn’t phase him much but it did knock off-balance enough for me slash open his throat. A moment later, his body slid into the water.
“ZIMRI!” Athala shouted behind me.
I jumped into the boat, nearly knocking us over. Once we righted ourselves, I shoved off and went to take the oars from her.
“No,” she shook her head. “I row, you fight.”
I stood up shakily in the boat, noting that the soldiers were boarding nearby boats.
“We’ll go faster if I row,” I pointed out.
“Not fast enough,” Athala grunted, straining to put her all into each stroke.
“I just hope we don’t tip,” I grumbled as they started gaining on us.
Annoyingly, Athala was right. I might’ve been able to outpace the rowboats but the two sailboats were gaining far faster than I could row. And to Athala’s credit, she actually did a good job of keeping pace but she couldn’t keep it up forever, certainly not long enough to get us across.
We made it about halfway before the first boat caught up to us. For the first time in my life, I wish I had a bow and knew how to use it. Athala was shaking with exhaustion and couldn’t turn out of the way quickly enough and the larger vessel slammed into us, smashing the stern.
Quickly I leapt onto the boat, striking down the first soldier in my way. Thankfully, the mind-controlled automatons were even less adept at naval warfare than me. The next two in my way couldn’t get their balance were easily dispatched. Only the master of the boat was left.
“Hey, it’s okay,” I told him, lowering my scimitar and approaching slowly. “Can you—”
He dove over the side of the boat.
“Or you could do that,” I grumbled. “Come on, quick!” I called to Athala, who tossed our gear bag and then scrambled aboard as our first craft sank from under her.
“Well, this isn’t much better,” I muttered. “Any clue at all how to steer this thing?”
“No,” Athala shook her head. “I will handle the rudder.”
I went to the sails and tried to figure out what the ropes were for. It was arguably the most confusing thing I’d ever witnessed, even more confusing than Athala’s absurd explanations of magic. Experimentally, I tugged on a few, trying to fill the sail with wind. It wasn’t very effective.
“They are gaining!” Athala shouted from the rear. “DO SOMETHING!”
“Like what?” I shot back as I continued to mess with the ropes, trying to get something to work. “Any suggestions would be useful!”
“Well, stop playing with the anchor rope!”
“Oh.”
I looked up at the sail which still flagged. The wind was blowing from our side, so I supposed I needed to turn the sail to catch it, but I had no clue. Grabbing a rope attached to beam under the sail, I pulled. The sail turned and suddenly caught the wind.
“WHOA!” shouted Athala as the rudder was nearly wrenched from her hand. “That is a little much.”
“You really think I can control this thing?” I retorted.
We careened around more or less in the correct direction as Athala wrestled with the rudder.
“Switch!” Athala called, panting.
I ambled towards the rudder while Athala staggered towards the center, both of us feeling slightly nauseous. The rudder nearly threw me into the lake as I wrestled it into place, trying to direct us more or less north, towards Masala. The wind, apparently, had other ideas, trying to push us east.
“Get that sail under control!” I shouted.
“It is not easy!” Athala retorted as she wrestled. “How did you—”
The rope snapped from her grip and the sail filled, blowing us almost straight east, despite my best efforts.
“Keep us steady north!” Athala ordered sharply as she jumped around, trying to wrangle the rope.
“Keep the sail under control!” I shot back as I pushed back against the rudder, desperately trying to get us back on course.
I’m guessing this had something to do with the fact neither of us really knew what we were doing. But I sort of won the fight against the rudder. It bent under my strength as the weight of the ship wanted to push us east while I was determined to drive us north. Then it shattered, sending splinters everywhere.
I just stared at the ruined rudder and Athala stared incredulously at me in silence for a long moment. Reluctantly, I looked to see our pursuers once again begin to gain on us while the ship turned from Masala.
“Any ideas?” I asked, hoping to skip the inevitable lecture.
Athala sighed heavily. “A bad one,” she answered.
“At this point, I’ll take it,” I replied.
The former sorceress dug the invisibility cloak and threw one at my face. “How good a swimmer are you?” she asked.
I glanced at the shore. “You’re joking, right?” I said. “The shore’s at least a kilometer away. That’s a hard swim without our gear.”
“It is that or stay here and fight off the soldiers,” she said, wrapping the cloak around her and pulling up the veil, all but disappearing.
I considered it. They weren’t far behind now but there was at least a half-dozen boats in pursuit, none of them particularly large. Probably not more than a couple dozen soldiers, divided up. I actually could take them.
Then I heard an echo of sharp twangs as several arrows rained down. Most were well short but a couple did strike the deck. Point was made; I could fight soldiers hand to hand, but no way I could fend off a bunch of archers too.
“Let’s go,” I growled, wrapping the cloak around me and jumping off the side.
Chapter 41-Zimri
It was dark by the time we dragged ourselves on to shore. Everything ached but the bone-chilling cold of the glacial lake kept me shivering past the point of cramping. As I lay just out of the water, panting, I knew I needed to keep moving but my muscles absolutely refused to cooperate. Even literally lifting a finger was too much. Never in all our insane adventures had I been this tired or cold.
“Athala?” I croaked out finally.
“Ya?” she replied from somewhere to my left.
“I think I’m going to die. And you know? I’m okay with that right now.”
“Your princess will be disappointed,” the ex-sorceress commented, summoning the astonishing will to rise up. “Come on, we need to get warm.”
“How?” I said, forcing myself to move. “Everything is soaked. We can’t even build a fire!”
But to my great discomfort, she was already stripping.
“You too,” she instructed through chattering teeth. “You will freeze to death if you stay wet.”
The thought of moving made me groan but I forced myself up. It was agonizing but I managed to drag myself away from the water and get out of my clothes.
To my horror, I found myself staring at Athala as she worked to lay out our soaking clothes and gear on rocks to get what little sun they could before night fell. I couldn’t help it; she was just so beautiful.
Wait, when did Athala become beautiful?
Granted, she’d always had a good figure, if not the curviest. She was tall and lean, built like an elite athlete. But Athala was also covered in those twisting scars. The first time I’d seen her when we first met, I couldn’t help but be revolted by the grotesque mutilations. Now, not only didn’t they bother me, I found they enhanced her beauty.
I knew Athala better now. Her physical scars were emblematic of the emotional and spiritual scars inflicted up on her by her so-called mistress and the demonic deity that had possessed her, robbing her of her humanity. Yet through all of it, her will had never been broken. The scars told a story of an incredible woman, a woman who had survived the worst kind of hell. She had fought back against everything Katrina and Natas had tried to make her, coming out the strongest person I’d ever met. She still
had a long way to go in reclaiming her humanity but her strength and will would get her there.
“Is it a violation of knightly honor to stare at a naked lady?” Athala’s voice cut into my thoughts.
Heat bloomed in my face as I realized I’d still been staring and she’d caught me. Yet she wasn’t embarrassed or angry. In fact, she’d raised a mischievous eyebrow as she regarded me.
“Sorry,” I mumbled, forcing my eyes away.
“It is okay,” she shrugged. “It is unavoidable. Besides, I am just glad you are not staring at me like I am one of my experiments gone horribly wrong. You do seem a lot more comfortable with the nudity, though.”
“I’m too cold and tired to care right now,” I shrugged, shivering as I laid my own clothes out.
“No, it is more than that,” she said. “You are more comfortable in your own skin, and more comfortable with me in mine.”
“I guess I’ve gotten used to it,” I replied. “Besides, after nearly dying together at least a dozen times in the last two and a half months, being naked together seems rather mundane.”
“Do not get too comfortable with it,” she answered with a smile.
“So,” I said after a bit of a pause. “What’s next? How are we getting to the Eisenpalast now?”
Athala shrugged in response. “I do not know.”
I frowned. “But we have not boat and I doubt we could sneak into Masala,” I said.
“Perhaps we will,” she calmly replied. “But one thing at a time; let us focus on not freezing to death first.”
“Perhaps I might be of assistance with both your problems.”
Our brains were so addled by the cold, for a long moment, neither of us responded to the newcomer’s voice. Instead, we stared in shocked horror at the old man who’d so easily managed to sneak up on us, apparently without trying. Then, our muscle-memory kicked in and we sprang into action. I quickly reached for my scimitar, two rocks over while Athala scrambled for her knife.
“I mean you no harm!” the man quickly protested, dropping to his knees and extending his hands to the air. “You are Athala the sorceress and Zimri the Alkite knight, ya? The ones who freed the Immergrün?”
The Sorceress's Apprentice Page 27