Empire's Edge (Path of Light Book 2)

by N. A. Oberheide

  Empire’s Edge

  N.A. Oberheide

  Copyright © 2019 by N.A. Oberheide

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Into the Grey

  The Void

  Changing Tides

  Familiar Feelings

  Far and Away

  The Cover Up

  Blind Trust

  As Above…

  The Revenant

  Into the Grey

  Chaos…Panic…Disorder. My work here is done…wait…no it isn’t. Who are these people? Why am I here? Make it stop…I can’t stand this. More explosions, more running, more hiding, the chase never ends. Oh hell, I can’t breathe…I can’t…I’m going to die…

  “Wake up! Snap out of it!” She shook his shoulders forcefully. He slowly came to, disoriented and groggy. He looked up at her face, which was contorted with a mix of annoyance and concern.

  “Why did you wake me up? I’m tired!” He rolled over, trying to cocoon himself up in his bedroll again.

  “You were thrashing about and groaning. You were having a nightmare again, weren’t you? You keep talking out in your sleep, thrashing about and babbling nonsense about why you are here, moaning as if you’re in pain, I just can’t stand it!” She said with some annoyance in her voice.

  “I don’t remember much of my dreams. I’m tired…need sleep.” He lied, trying to get her to stop bothering him.

  It didn’t work. She grabbed the foot of the bedroll and yanked it right out from under him, forcing him to roll over. He happened to end up rolling over a pinecone that jabbed into his spine. After a foul bit of cursing and flopping around in some pain, he was far more awake than he wanted to be. He strapped his boots on and wrapped up his bedroll and other tackle into his backpack. As he slung it across his back, a cool drizzle started to tickle his face. Great, just what I needed. A cold, damp hike through the middle of nowhere with no end in sight. I didn’t think this would be a wilderness expedition but here we are. He thought to himself as he sighed loudly. He pulled his hood up over his head to at least shield some of the drizzle.

  She set off through the thick coniferous forest that they were in the midst of as she eyed her compass and quickly studied a crude map that she had pilfered from some military archives back home. She pocketed the map into its leather case before it could get too damp. Naurus looked up, trying to get even a glimpse of sunlight but instead was greeted by sheets of bleary greys interspersed between the cone laden boughs of the conifers. Not only was he tired after trekking for three straight days, he was dreadfully bored of having nothing to do but walk, sleep on the cold, hard ground, eat tinned military rations, and shit behind trees.

  “Are we there yet?” He asked with a bored groan.

  “The more you complain, the longer it takes. Look, I already told you I’m sorry our grand entrance into this whole new world didn’t exactly go as planned. We are getting close, but stop asking stupid questions, will you? The more I get annoyed, the less fun I become as I’m sure you’ve noticed by now.”

  “Yeah sure…this is so much fun I just keep forgetting to laugh. Tell me again, what exactly is the objective now? I’m quite certain that going on a sightseeing tour wasn’t exactly the mission.”

  “Shut it, smartass! I know where we are, it’s just been a very long time since I’ve walked these forests. We are closing in on the abode of an old friend of mine. He can help us out, but only if you shut your fat face and march with haste! If you keep slowing us down, we will run out of rations before we get there.” She trudged on, pushing aside a clump juvenile trees and making her way into the dell beyond.

  He couldn’t help but notice the haste with which she moved. It was more than just her idea of a forced march. She moved with much more uncertainty than he was used to. She seemed nervous at times, constantly checking over her shoulder and overreacting to the sounds of the local wildlife. She always had her excuses such as swearing she heard a cougar behind some bush or rock and making sure her charge wasn’t falling too far behind. Indeed, their carefully orchestrated plan to infiltrate Ostragan sight unseen had failed miserably, but not for lack of trying.

  The dell was awash with clear spring water, and the duo stopped to refill their canteens and water skins while the opportunity was there. He greedily gulped down what he could before refilling again. The water helped fill him up, stopping his stomach from making angry noises. Their rations were scarce, a consequence of unforeseen problems which led to packing rather lightly. Morra didn’t seem to like to eat until later in the morning, after at least an hour or two of beating feet. He had little room to argue, as her rage was only equaled by her strength when somebody or something proved to be too much of an annoyance or hinderance to her.

  “Care to tell me what you are thinking so hard about?” She looked back at him wryly.

  He didn’t even realize he had zoned out, intently staring at the forest floor which contained nothing but dirt, twigs, and needles.

  “I’m fine, just a bit tired is all.” He blurted out, not sure how to respond.

  “You’ve been much different since our crash landing ashore four nights ago. You haven’t slept well at all either. Are you sure you’re feeling alright? Remembered what I said before we embarked, that I can’t help you if you don’t help me. Work together or die alone, that is our motto!”

  “Yes ma’am, I remember.”

  She wheeled around and firmly placed her hands on his shoulders, boring her tired eyes deeply into his.

  “I already told you once, do not call me ma’am out here. Not now, not ever! You don’t know who might be around. I’m not your commodore anymore. Don’t even think of me as your officer. I’m simply your friend, got it?” Her violet ringed eyes flashed intently.

  “Yes ma—I mean yes I got it.” He looked away, pretending to be interested in the many sights of the wilderness to behold.

  She took the hint and continued marching on with her charge reluctantly following in her footsteps. Her fox fur trimmed cloak swished back and forth rhythmically as she cut through the morning mist. Naurus had no idea what time it was, but they had to be pushing past mid-morning by now. Soon enough the mist let up and peeks of sunlight beamed down in shafts of light through the evergreen boughs. It was nearing noon, as was obvious by the sun being high in the sky. Craning his neck up to look at it yielded a not so obvious result. He snagged his foot on an errant tree root running across his path and before he knew it, he came crashing down to the ground face first. He barely managed to get his arms down to break his fall. A pop and a click rang through his body, originating from his shoulder which was injured in the incursion on the homeland only a few months prior. He rolled over to see Morra looking down on him and snickering, poorly hiding it by covering her mouth.

  “Did a pine cone attack you?” She barely coughed out.

  “No, that would be a much better story though…stupid roots.” He replied. She yanked him up by his pack straps before he had a chance to do anything else.

  He sat down on a nearby rock and took a swig of water.

  “Don’t get too cozy, we still need to cover some good distance today.” She said impatiently.

  “Yeah well, sorry I’m not quite the fan of hiking you are. This whole plan has gone to shit. Where even are we?”

  She came over and sat down next to him.

  “Well, let’s just say were in the Badlands. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a new name for it now, but that’s what we called it way back when. I really wish we were able to take a straight shot up the Kominzee River, I really do. Things just sometimes don’t go as planned.”

  “Clearly…” He took another swig. “I’m tired, I’m hungr
y, my feet hurt, and here we are acting like were being chased and marching like there’s no tomorrow. What the fuck am I even doing here?”

  “Hey now! You were so excited not even a month ago to be on this, as you so described it, ‘secret squirrel mission’. Well guess what? Sometimes you just have to embrace the suck. The night is always darkest before the dawn, after all.” She jabbed him with her elbow, trying to get him to stop looking at the dirt under his feet. He didn’t respond.

  She took her pack off and rummaged around, pulling out a rusted tin. This got his attention, and he followed suit, pulling a tin out his own pack.

  “That’s what I thought!” She smiled and cocked her head back. “A little food does the spirit good. You just aren’t you when you’re hungry!”

  He sheepishly chuckled, but then stared at the rusted tin in his hand.

  “Why the long face? I promise we can find some real food soon enough. Believe you me, I hate tinned rations too.”

  “It’s not that. I’m just…I don’t know. What if we fail? What if this doesn’t work? I’m not sure why I was so excited before…” He trailed off.

  She gingerly wrapped her hand under his chin and turned his head towards her. Her expression was rather sullen.

  “Look, I know this isn’t quite what you expected. But believe it or not, I’m willing to die for you. You told me the same, and we took our Blood Vows together which made sure of it. You think I’m not scared too?”

  She showed the scar on her palm for emphasis. He didn’t answer.

  “Well I am. Believe it or not I have feelings too. We must keep looking forward though. We made some mistakes, and that’s inevitable. But you can’t just sulk like this. There is no turning back now. Once we meet up with our contact here this will be much smoother. It’s good that he’s an old friend of mine too. I’m sure you two will get right along. I’m hungry too, let’s eat!”

  She flipped out a pocket knife and dug it into the top of the tin. Naurus followed suit, and soon both cans were open. The tinned biscuits looked just as exquisitely bland and dry as all the previous days cans. Morra suddenly squinted hard, and just as quickly her eyes bulged open and locked onto something behind him. He followed suit and didn’t see much of interest, so he looked back at her only to see a smile cracking across her face.

  “Boysenberries!” She cried out, running over to the bushes that Naurus didn’t notice until now.

  She greedily ripped berries off the bush until her hands were full, and by that time Naurus had joined her. The reddish-purple berries were quite fragile and stained their hands before they even made it back to their sitting rock. They gleefully crushed the berries into the tinned biscuits. The dry bread soaked it all up and then some. By the time the carnage was over, their mouths and hands were covered in dark purple juice and berry pulp. The sweet-tart flavor was a welcome respite in the world of tinned edibles and perked up their sprits. They pocketed what few berries they could and continued their march. The evergreens and conifers filled the valley down a gentle slope as the duo followed a creek down as their guide. Evening started setting upon them as they approached the floor of the valley. Ahead of them a wide swath of patchy woods interspersed with lakes and streams cut through the landscape. The sunlight was slowly coming to be blotted out by ominous looking clouds, and an unexpectedly cold breeze raced down the slope and pushed them from behind.

  It wasn’t long before the first drops of rain fell. The slow, heavy drops crashed through the silence of the forest as they made their way down slope with some haste. The light was fading quickly, and not much around looked promising in terms of shelter. Morra suddenly perked up and scanned around precariously. Several seconds of silence punctuated by the pitter-patter of rain followed.

  “Is something wrong? We can’t stop here, we need to—”

  “But that’s where you’re wrong!” She cut him off. “I just had some serious déjà vu…I know where we are. If my memory serves, there is a cave nearby here. Follow me!”

  He kept quiet and obeyed, barely managing to keep up as she bounded through thickets and saplings with a razor sharp focus. Soon it became apparent that this cave appeared to be littler more than a small den hollowed out in a rockface that edged the valley. She suddenly stopped and stuck her arm out to make sure he did too.

  “Why are we stopping now?” He asked impatiently.

  “Because wolves are around. And that cave looks like it might have some new occupants.”

  “Who cares about a few wolves? We’ll flash our blades and they’ll skitter on off!”

  “Damn you are so green. You see around here it’s not just mangy old wolves. They are dire wolves.”

  “What in the name of the old gods do you mean by that?”

  “They are wolves, but they are dire! Shush now, follow me closely.” She said, lowering her voice to a whisper.

  Creeping up to the hovel of a cave, nothing was heard except for the increasingly heavy rain. Even worse, cold rain. Morra didn’t waste much time in picking up a nice chunky rock and winging it into the cave. No baleful howling or growling was heard. Not a single living creature showed itself. Only the sounds of rock smashing against rock echoed from within. She motioned for him to follow and they peeked around the edge of the den. It was just wide enough to fit one at a time. She handed him a rock, and he hurled it in without needing to be told. Still nothing living stirred within. Deeming this to be a good sign, she motioned for him to follow her in.

  “Ow! Shit!” It didn’t take him long to stub his toe on a rocky protuberance.

  “Hold on before you hurt yourself even more, corporal clumsy.” Within seconds, a dancing ball of light flitted above her palm, illuminating the rocky chamber.

  It certainly wasn’t much of a cave, but at least the only water in here was a trickle of mineral water running down the wall on the opposite side. Scattered about the smooth rocky floor were various sticks, stones, animal bones, and pine cones.

  “Well, this is home for the night!” She exclaimed, setting her pack down and snapping her fingers to set the ball of light floating above her head.

  He followed suit, laying out his bedroll and starting to feel tired enough that the thought of sleeping on a rock might not be the worst thing after all. Morra made busy collecting all the sticks and anything that even looked remotely flammable, which wasn’t much. She set about collecting it all into a pile in the center of the chamber. As she did this, he noticed that the ball of light flitting above her head was gradually becoming dimmer and it didn’t take long before it fizzled out entirely.

  “Ow! Damn it to hell!” She cried out.

  “Why don’t you summon your light again?”

  “Shut up, smartass. I’m getting too old and tired for this shit. I can’t keep it going forever, especially not after barely sleeping or eating for days in a row.”

  “How old are you anyway?” He asked into a chamber of darkness.

  “Didn’t your momma teach you anything? There are two things you never ask a woman: how old she is, and how much she weighs. Men these days, I swear—”

  “It’s not my fault! She tried but—”

  “Shut it! I don’t want to be drowning in your excuses in this godforsaken rock all damn night. Still have your flint?”

  He rummaged around in his pack. Even in the darkness it wasn’t hard to find the flint and steel striker. He didn’t waste time in lighting off some sparks, each flash helping both of them get to where the kindling was piled up. After several showers of sparks, an ember finally lit beneath the sticks.

  “Yes…yes! Quick, blow on that.” She ordered while she bunched up the kindling into a tighter pile.

  Soon the ember was a flame, and fire was had. Naurus never thought he would be so glad to be sitting around a fire. The chamber of their humble hovel lit up with a warm orange glow. She started stacking rocks behind the fire, making a small wall of sorts.

  “Why are you doing that?” He asked.

  “
It helps reflect some of the heat back at us. Nifty isn’t it?” She replied with a snarky smile.

  “Yes indeed…but we don’t have much wood.” He mused.

  “Good point. Let’s get out there and see if we can find anything half dry before the rain picks up even more.”

  Thus, they set off back outside, and it wasn’t long before they loaded up an armful of sticks and branches that were varying degrees of damp. She laid a few fungus infested sticks over the small fire, resulting in a thick and earthy smoke that permeated the chamber.

  “Well, that’s as good as we’re gonna get. Let’s eat!” He said, digging through his pack and pulling out what he realized was his last tin.

  They enjoyed their meager dinner of ancient biscuits and fresh berries nonetheless. The hovel was home for now, and soon fatigue overtook him. It was only when he backed away from the fire and into his bedroll that he realized a sharp, cool draft was flowing in. She laid another damp branch on top of the fire as he curled up under the thin fur covering and wrapped himself up in his cloak. The cold permeated through, unpleasantly prickling every time the draft running close to the ground picked up. Just another day in paradise. I can’t wait to see a real bed again. He lamented in his head, disappointed at the fire which was more of a smoldering coal smokestack at this point. He tossed and turned, trying to get warmer and more comfortable but it was a battle he just couldn’t seem to win.

  “Why are your teeth chattering?” She asked.

  He thought she was sound asleep by now. “They aren’t, it’s nothing.”

  “It is a bit drafty in here, isn’t it?”

  He was only now aware of his quivering teeth and the uphill fight to stop them chattering.

  “Yes…yes, it is.” He figured complaining more wouldn’t do any good.

  “Let’s do something about that.” She said, getting up and dragging her bedroll over next to his.

  Soon enough, it became very apparent what she had in mind. He found himself cuddled together with her as she wrapped her arms around him from behind. Suddenly, the draft didn’t matter nearly as much anymore. She was warm. Very warm. Unnaturally so. The fire smoldered as the embers glowed pitifully.