On cue, the boulder shifted. It was only a finger’s width of movement, but the weight and power of the massive stone was unstoppable.
“We have to do something. All those families down there!” Alronna planted her feet and leaned against the boulder. Strain filled each word. “You have to go warn them.”
“Lamorun is out there.” Lakhoni added his strength to his sister’s. “I have to help him. And this is pointless.” He shouted as loud as he could. She had to understand. Had to agree. They needed to get out.
“What are you two doing?” Simra grabbed Lakhoni’s shoulder. “Let’s go!”
The stone shifted again, a fraction more this time. Lakhoni felt himself pushed back.
Alronna stepped back and looked the boulder up and down. Two fissures on the far end of the cavern belched steam noisily. The thick, cloyingly hot air was impossible to breathe in.
“Come on!” Hilana snatched at Alronna. “Once this boulder moves enough, that wall’s coming down. We can’t be in here.” She tried to pull Alronna away.
Alronna shook Hilana’s grip off.
Lakhoni grabbed his sister and spun her around. “This is foolish. We are leaving.”
She met his eyes. A moment of quiet passed as her expression changed and her eyes softened. She gave a tiny nod.
Lakhoni’s breath caught in his chest.
In one smooth motion, Alronna drew the Sword of Nubal, raised it high, then slammed it into the ground. Right behind the enormous boulder. The blade pierced the stone and drove a hand’s width deep.
“What are you doing?” Lakhoni’s throat was on fire from all the shouting and the awful air.
Alronna set her jaw as the boulder shifted another finger’s width, bending the Sword ever so slightly. She pushed on the Sword’s hilt, keeping it anchored in the stone. “I am giving you time to save those people.”
“No.” Lakhoni tried to shout, but all that came out was a ragged whisper. “Leave the Sword.” He reached for his sister and tried to pull her back. She shook his hand off and shoved him away.
Lakhoni’s heel caught on a ridge in the cavern floor and his calf twisted. Pain jolted up his leg. Not fully healed. Steam eruptions filled the air with sound and heat. Lakhoni surged back toward Alronna. This was not happening.
Alronna turned her attention to Simra and Hilana. “He’s still hurt. That will make him slow. You have to go warn the people. Get them to high ground.”
Simra’s lips were parted, her head shaking. “You can’t stay in here. You’ll die!”
“If we don’t do this now, we’re all going to die!” Alronna sucked in a breath, visibly trying to calm herself. The block rumbled again and the water at their ankles rose fractionally. Alronna leaned on the sword hilt, straining against the pressure. “You said it yourself.” Her arms were shaking. “There are families. Children.”
Hilana looked back and forth from Simra to Lakhoni. “You two have lost your minds.” She lunged at Alronna and grabbed her around the waist. She pulled as Alronna clung to the sword hilt. “Get her arms and legs.” Hilana jerked hard and Alronna’s hands came loose.
Simra caught Alronna’s arms, but the taller woman was stronger and yanked free. Lakhoni rushed in and got hold of one of Alronna’s flailing legs. She kicked at his chest and arms, trying to get herself free. “Stop! It’s going to—”
The loud, earth-vibrating rumble came again, cutting Alronna’s scream off. The sword began to bend as the noise shook the cavern. Water surged above Lakhoni’s ankles. Crackles and steam exploded through the air. A tremor ran through the entire floor as the rumble continued. At the cavern wall, a tall crack became visible, even from ten paces away. Water trickled through. Alronna tore herself free and threw herself at the sword. She got hold of the hilt and pushed.
The rumbling stopped.
Lakhoni, his right arm smarting where Alronna had kicked him, stared at his sister. “How is that working?” He looked for a place he could push on the sword and help, but there was nowhere. Alronna held the hilt and the blade now, pushing with every ounce of strength. She looked so small compared to the massive boulder she was holding back. But in that moment, he expected the boulder to move back toward the wall.
“Leverage.” Alronna’s voice was tight. “Go. We’re running out of time.” Sweat dripped from her face and arms. “Go!”
Lakhoni stood frozen. This could not happen. She couldn’t stay. He had to pull her away. But if he pulled, she would cut her hand on the blade of the sword. But she couldn’t stay.
He would stay. He would help her. Then he wouldn’t have to lose her again. He stood next to his sister and leaned on the boulder, jamming his foot at its base. Alronna looked up at him. Her lips were so tightly drawn that they were invisible. She shook her head.
“Alronna.” Simra reached for Alronna, gently squeezing her shoulder. “You don’t need to stay here. Please come with us.”
“Simra.” Alronna looked over her shoulder. Her voice was strained. The massive boulder rumbled and Lakhoni felt it move. Far less than the previous time. “Sister. Save them. You already did that for us.” Tears mixed in with the sweat on Alronna’s face. “Stay alive. Make a life with my idiot brother.”
Lakhoni’s chest clutched and squeezed hard enough to snap. No. He grabbed at Alronna’s arm. He wouldn’t let her do this. She was not going to die here.
“This is foolish!” Hilana made for Alronna again, but Simra caught her.
“She’s right!” Simra’s words caught Lakhoni’s attention. He stared at her, betrayal filling him. “She’s stopping it. But not for long. We have to go!”
“You are wasting time!” Alronna growled and screamed wordlessly. Her fiery glare caught Hilana and Simra. “Go!”
“No!” Lakhoni’s fingers tightened on Alronna’s arm and he tore his gaze from Simra’s and found Alronna’s eyes in the red glow of the dying cavern. “I looked for you.” For a moment, he felt every wound, every step, every fight that he’d gone through in his search for her. “I found you.” Tears ran hot down his cheeks. “I found you.”
She nodded. The boulder rumbled and the stone around the sword’s embedded blade crackled. Alronna pushed harder. The rumbling stopped. “Thank you. Please. Find peace with her.” Her face crumpled, even with the strain she was under. She looked down. “I won’t.”
Lakhoni reared back. “That’s no reason to do this!”
She shook her head. “That’s not why.” She spat at the boulder’s base. “We can save them.” Then she looked back at Lakhoni, her eyes aflame. “And you go after Gadnar. End him.”
Simra bent close, screaming to be heard. “She’s right.” She cocked her head backward, toward the entrance to the cavern. “Hilana and I will warn them.”
He needed to go with them. Make sure Simra stayed safe. But he needed the right words, the perfect thing to convince Alronna to leave.
And then there was Gadnar. Lamorun out there fighting him alone.
Simra’s strong, soft hand cupped his cheek. In the heat and confusion of the cavern, it felt like home. She met his eyes. “Go. She’s made her choice.” Simra pressed her lips to his and pulled away after a moment. “Go.” Her voice was a whisper that lingered as she spun and sprinted with Hilana across the cavern floor, disappearing almost instantly behind the clouds of rolling steam.
The ground trembled and shook. Sulfur and steam and dust filled his nose and mouth and eyes. Lakhoni set his shoulder against the boulder. He wasn’t going to lose any of them.
“No.” Alronna’s voice was like the blade of a sharp sword. “You can’t help.”
Lakhoni fought the physical need to drop to his knees, grab her by the ankles, and beg for her to change her mind. Tears spilled down his cheeks, his chest tight. Not after all this time. Not when they were so close. He forced a breath down. “Alronna. Please.” A shudder wracked his body, his mind spinning around a single word. No.
As another rumble cleaved through the cavern, shaking it as
if it would all fall apart, Alronna leaned into her embedded sword, straining. She turned to him and he saw it in her eyes.
Lakhoni had to try. “Don’t do this. Come with me.”
Alronna gave a small, strained smile. “Too late.”
Lakhoni searched the cavern. There had to be a way. He found her eyes, glimmering in the gloom. “I can’t—” The words wouldn’t come.
She released the Sword of Nubal’s hilt with one hand and grabbed Lakhoni, pulling him into an awkward embrace. Her whisper was soft, but firm. “Go be the Sword.” Then she pushed him. Harder than he thought possible.
Stumbling back, the world spinning, Lakhoni sought his center. He found his sister’s eyes again. “You are the strongest person I’ve ever known.” He forced a breath through his clutching, broken chest. He planted his feet. The stone underfoot trembled, but he breathed again, slowly in and out. Her cheeks stretched in a real smile. His swirling thoughts slowed. “The best sister.” His vision snapped into place, clearing.
As another deep rumble filled the cavern, Alronna leaned in. Her shout slashed through the clouds of steam and murk between them. “Finish him!”
Lakhoni took one last look at his sister, holding back a mountain and a river, and he turned and tore up the slope to the outside.
To Gadnar. To finish him.
Lakhoni threw another look into the cavern just before breaking into the dimming light outside. Roiling clouds filled the cavern. Eruptions of steam and rock added to the turmoil. He forced a calm, slow breath in, then out.
He raced out of the cavern and scoured the bowl valley, pelting toward the Water Pure and the tree with its island. He kept his eyes wide to help them adjust. The pain in his leg slowed him, but he willed himself to push on. He saw nobody. No fight.
How long had it been? How long had Lamorun been facing Gadnar alone? It felt like he’d been in the cavern for a lifetime, but it couldn’t have been more than a few minutes. He slowed to a careful jog, mindful of his leg. Still nothing around the Water and the tree. Where had they gone?
Lakhoni stopped before he got lower into the valley. He turned full circle, scouring the gentle, green slopes of the bowl valley, seeking movement in the trees.
There. On the ridge a ways up and off from the river. Fifty paces north of where the river fell to the rocks far below, two figures closed and traded blows. One was taller and swung a heavy club. The other, with something appearing to grow from his back, fought with both hands, one holding a long sword and the other moving fast. A dagger flashed and glinted in the failing light.
A rumble from deep in the cavern shook the earth. Not yet! He needed more time. Simra and Hilana needed more time.
Lakhoni threw himself back toward the ridge, searching for a way up so he could get behind Gadnar. Had the women made it back to the village? It wasn’t that far and they were fast. They had to be close. He caught sight of a rocky area twenty paces behind Gadnar. A way up to the ridge.
Gadnar darted forward as Lamorun’s swing went wide. Lamorun’s bellow of pain and fury filled the valley.
Rage burned hot, jolting Lakhoni into an angry run. Not his brother. He would not lose his sister and his brother in one day to Gadnar’s evil. Ducking into the trees to stay out of sight, Lakhoni’s breath came ragged and stuttering. He drew his dagger and ran, bumping around trees and shoving small branches out of his way. The wicked man had to die. Lakhoni envisioned his dagger plunging into Gadnar’s chest, watching the life leave his treacherous eyes.
He bounced off another trunk and glanced up the ridge. Bright green leaves and heavy branches obscured his view of Lamorun and Gadnar. Another bellow came from Lamorun. He was losing.
Lakhoni forced himself to go faster, ignoring the pain in his leg. He angled himself to get out of the forest to open ground. These trees were slowing him down.
He ducked a branch, his shoulder scraping on its underside. He was too slow. Too slow!
A memory surged bright and desperate. Another time that he had run through the forest, too slow to save his village.
The Dance. Rage pulsed in his core, pulling his focus. Stop! Still running, Lakhoni slowed his breathing. What had Gimno said? Anger was not for fighting, but for putting in your soul. Your core. Fueling the fight. Mentally berating himself, Lakhoni got control of his breathing and sheathed his dagger. He forced his tense shoulders and legs to ease and released his senses, sending them outward.
He lengthened his stride, feeling the trees all around, their roots, their branches. He let his instincts take over and felt his right hand move before he understood why. Grasping at a branch, he pulled himself over a small bush, then flowed under the next branch, never breaking stride. Breathing evenly, Lakhoni twisted around another tree and used a thick trunk as an anchor to turn with, shooting up toward the rocky path to the ridge.
He let the Dance with the Forest carry him to the trees’ edge and loped up the ridge. Images of his village returned to him. The feel of Mother’s form in his arms. Lowering Father onto what would be his pyre. The rage in his core pulsed and flared. Lakhoni drew its heat into his legs and arms and started up the rocky ridge. He feather-leaped off the first stone, danced off the next, then sprang off the final one, twisting in the air and landing lightly on the ridge.
Lakhoni ran along the ridge toward Gadnar and Lamorun, pulling his dagger free and settling it comfortably in his grip. To his left was a nearly sheer rock face that led to the porous mountainside he and his family had crossed earlier. To his right, the verdant bowl valley.
As he approached, his steps light and careful, he watched Gadnar and Lamorun, gauging their rhythm. Gadnar had his back to Lakhoni, but Lakhoni knew better than to underestimate the man. As Lakhoni approached, Lamorun swung his cudgel wide and Gadnar darted in for a strike at Lamorun’s side. Lamorun’s left hand flashed out and grabbed Gadnar’s dagger wrist, slamming it down onto Lamorun’s knee. The dagger flew off the ridge and disappeared down the mountainside. “Not this time, snake!”
Lamorun’s roar was cut short as Gadnar slammed his sword pommel into the back of his head. Gadnar stepped back and angled his sword, cutting down.
Lamorun wavered from the powerful blow, but got his arm up and bumped Gadnar’s sword arm, sending the slash wide. He twisted and brought his cudgel around, aiming it upward to catch Gadnar in his side. Lakhoni willed Lamorun not to show any sign of noticing him, if his brother had noticed him at all.
Gadnar danced backward out of the club’s upward arc. His dagger hand, now empty flashed upward to grab on the Rod strapped to his back. He moved like Gimno, but with more power. Lakhoni shook the memory of his fight with Gimno away. As the mountain rumbled again, Lakhoni, darted forward aiming for the back of one of the man’s knees as Gadnar took one more step back.
Suddenly Gadnar spun and swung the now-free Rod, aiming directly for Lakhoni’s head. Surprised, Lakhoni dropped to the ground. The Rod whistled above his head. The moment after it passed, Lakhoni flung himself up, eyes fixed on Gadnar. He snapped a kick at the man’s knee, but Gadnar simply turned his leg and Lakhoni’s foot bounced off a rock-hard thigh.
Lamorun pressed his attack. He swung his cudgel back and up and around in a complicated form. Gadnar dodged each blow, whirling the Rod in a blur at Lakhoni to keep him too far away to attack.
Gadnar laughed. A pale cut on his face was recently closed, along with deep slashes on his legs and chest. He had made it to the water. “Two simple brothers who don’t know when to quit.” Somehow he stopped a whistling swing of the Rod and reversed direction, nearly smacking Lakhoni across his head. Lakhoni twisted away desperately. He was so fast. “And you think you can stop a god?”
“You are no god.” Lamorun grabbed his cudgel at both ends and caught Gadnar’s sword against it. He shoved hard, bulling Gadnar off balance.
Gadnar yelped, his sword arm flinging outward. The Rod wavered for a moment and Lakhoni spun past its reach and slashed a cut along Gadnar’s arm. Blood welled up.
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Lamorun drove in as Gadnar sought to recover control of his sword. He crashed into Gadnar’s chest with a shoulder, shoving the man backwards and more out of control. Lamorun brought the cudgel around to break ribs.
Gadnar dropped the top of the Rod to the ground. His sword arm came around faster than the big man could see. Lakhoni saw the tension in Gadnar’s legs and Rod arm. “Lamorun!” He blurted a warning and leapt at Gadnar, clutching for his sword arm.
But Gadnar had used the Rod as leverage. He pushed off the ground so hard that Lakhoni was left clutching air. Lamorun’s swinging cudgel was too long and Gadnar was suddenly too close for the cudgel to do any good. Fast as a snake, Gadnar twisted in the air and brought his sword down, cutting deep into Lamorun’s leg. Lamorun’s leg collapsed, unable to hold his weight.
Lakhoni darted after Gadnar, but the powerful man was still spinning. He brought the Rod around in a sizzling arc that smashed Lamorun on the side of his head as Lamorun dropped. The Rod skipped off the top of Lamorun’s head, since the tall man was already falling.
“No!” Lakhoni flung himself after Gadnar, slamming into his back before he could land a killing sword stroke on Lamorun, who lay senseless on the ground. Gadnar stumbled a few steps forward as Lakhoni pushed as hard as he could to move the fight clear of Lamorun. His brother lay still, his cudgel lay across his silent form. His back moved slightly as he took a breath. He lived still. Relief flooded Lakhoni. He needed to get Lamorun to the Water Pure again.
But now was not the time. Lakhoni forced his attention from his brother to his enemy.
Gadnar turned. Lazily. “Do you still snore loud enough to wake the dead?”
Lakhoni ignored the taunt, studying Gadnar. The man was far wider and stronger than him, although Lakhoni had a slight height advantage. He had a divot in the middle of his chest, where Alronna’s arrow must have hit.
“You can’t really think you can beat me.” It was a statement, not a question. Laughter dripped from Gadnar’s voice. “You’ve followed me across the world, you must know I am… more.” His dark brown eyes glinted.
Red Prince Page 29