“The blankets we were able to salvage from the flood should suffice,” Rin said. “If we cut them into strips, we can create slings with them.”
“And for Jacob?” Wren mused aloud as he surveyed the group. “Perhaps, if we have enough material from the blankets we can create ties. He would be able to tie off with one of us in case he has an issue.” He paused and glanced back at Rin. “I believe Kaedin would be the best choice if Jaeha and Hikaru are both burdened with one of the girls.”
Rin hesitated before an uncomfortable grimace crossed her face. She could not imagine that Kaedin would be too pleased having to assist Jake. “I am uncertain that would be wise, perhaps, he should assist Paige in...” Her voice trailed off when she realized Jake would not like that idea either.
“They shall do what is required of them,” Wren said, his voice sharp. “We do not have the luxury for personality differences. The two will work together if it is of benefit for the group.” When Rin shrugged with another small grimace, he turned his attention toward the front of the cave. It was nearing mid-morning and he frowned. “We shall wait for nightfall before we attempt the climb. Make the needed preparations.”
Over the rest of the day, they worked on cutting the blankets into long strips. Raven and Hikaru used these and braided them together to create strong, thick lines. Most of these were then woven into a sling that would support Paige and Sara’s weight. Once they were finished, Wren had them gather around so that he could explain the plan to them. When he was finished, he could see the concern on Jake’s face.
“Do not worry,” he said. “We shall get all of you to the path.”
“Why can’t you just port us up there?” Paige asked with her arms folded over her chest. “Or let the dragons fly? I mean that would be so much faster.”
Wren shook his head, “Caradthrad’s port block extends this far and if we attempted to fly we would be spotted at once.” He paused with a frown. “I do not wish to harm my people to protect us.”
Paige rolled her eyes before she moved closer to Raven. All this hard-physical activity was beginning to annoy her. Wren tilted his head with a look of disapproval at her reaction before he just shook his head. “It is time to go,” he said, and he motioned for Jaeha and Sara to go first.
Sara tightened her grip on Jake’s hand for a moment before she made herself let go and walked over to Jaeha. She looked up at him when she reached him.
“If you would, Miss Sara,” he said holding the sling away from his body. She stared at it and hesitated. The sling was over Jaeha’s left shoulder before it ran across his back and chest. An open end hung on his right side. She peeked up at him but still did not move. Her face started to flush when she realized everyone was watching her.
“It’s okay,” Jake said as he walked over to her. “You just need to get into the sling and sit down on it.” Sara bit her lip when she noticed she was going to be right up against Jaeha. “You have to be close so that he can carry you. If it’s too loose you could slip out.”
She glanced up at Jake before she moved closer and slipped the sling over her head. Jake helped her pull it down until she was able to sit on it. Once she was secure, he stepped back and looked up at Jaeha. The dragon bowed his head a little before he turned his attention toward the cave entrance. He moved closer to the edge and scanned the woods at the base of the cliff. When he saw no signs of torchlight, he got a firm grip on the stones.
“Hold on to me and try to remain as still as possible,” Jaeha said glancing at Sara. She swallowed hard before she nodded and wrapped her arms around him. He waited until she had a good grip before he started the long climb up the cliff face.
As soon as he was above the cave entrance Rin followed behind them so that she could help in case they needed it. Behind her, Hikaru started up with Paige clinging to him. He made it several feet before he had her adjust her grip so that he could move easier. Raven remained close to them as they climbed.
Wren watched until Raven cleared the entrance before he glanced at Kaedin and Jake. Neither one appeared pleased that they would be working together, and he frowned.
“It is your turn,” Wren said with a tilt of his head. “Kaedin shall start and Jake will follow close enough to keep the lines taunt. I shall be behind you.”
Kaedin raised an eyebrow but said nothing as he started to climb. Jake frowned before he trailed behind him. They climbed at a slow and steady pace for a couple hundred feet before Jake paused with a loud exhale. He just pulled himself up to another foothold and his arms were beginning to shake. Looking above them, his face went blank when he could not see how much farther they had to climb. His gaze went to his hands. They were shaking even though most of his weight was on his legs.
“It is not much farther,” Kaedin called from where he was stopped a couple feet above him with the ties taunt. He could see that Jake was beginning to struggle.
Jake glanced up at him before he nodded and continued to climb. He made it almost another hundred feet before he reached for a grip and his hand slipped off. His face paled with a gasp and he tried again. This time he was able to get a weak grip, but he could feel his hand slipping. He breathed a small sigh of relief when he spotted Sara and realized that the ledge was only twenty more feet above him. Grinding his teeth together, he forced his exhausted body to keep moving and managed to cover the last twenty feet on his own. He reached up to grab the top of the ledge, but his hand started to slip back off. His grip was gone.
Kaedin was still close after making the ledge. He glanced back at the edge and when he saw Jake slipping, he dove across the stones. Wincing when his side scrapped across the rocks, he caught Jake’s forearm to stop his fall. He tightened his grip on Jake’s arm before Jaeha rushed over and assisted him. Between them, they were able to haul Jake up onto the ledge.
“Thanks,” Jake said once he was sitting on the stones.
Kaedin gave him a small head nod in acknowledgement before he moved to stand beside Rin.
After a short rest, Rin got them on their feet, and they made their way along the narrow ledge. It was jagged and rocky as it wound its way along the mountain’s edge. There were sections that were less than a foot wide. When they reached the first section, Jake got a tight grip on Sara’s hand. Even though he was still spent from the climb, he did not want to risk her falling off.
Sara had her back pressed against the sheer rock face behind her. Her eyes were wide as she tried to keep from looking down. Only the reassuring presence of Jake beside her kept her moving forward. She peeked up at him, but he did not look back at her. His entire focus was on keeping them safe.
Rin led them for what felt like an eternity before she stopped on a section of the ledge that widened. The others came to a halt and waited while she searched for something along the cliff. She ran her hand across the stones until she found a small one that was shaped like a half moon. Pushing on it, a thick stone door swung into the mountain revealing a small pathway.
“This is a dwarven door,” Wren said, his voice wary.
Rin shrugged before she grinned at him, “Baldrim created it for us.”
Wren’s eyebrows shot up. “How did you convince Baldrim to craft this for you?”
“Ronin can be quite persuasive when he wishes to be. Plus, Baldrim has always liked us.”
Wren just shook his head in exasperation. He could not fathom the time and secrecy that it must have taken to build this so no one knew of its existence.
Rin watched him for a minute as her smile widened. Thwarting her brother was something she enjoyed. After a few seconds, she turned and headed through the doorway and down the path. She followed it until it opened into a large cavern. The roof had several large holes in the stones and the moon shone through dimly illuminating the room. There was a large waterfall at the far side of the room and a small river running along the back edge of the cavern before it disappeared back into the stones. The path hugged the left side and climbed up at a steep angle.
“Watch your step,” Rin said. “This is always quite wet and shall be slippery.” She continued along the path with unfaltering steps on the steep slope. The others trailed along behind her as best they could. The path was soaked making the stones treacherous.
Once they reached the top, the path veered to the left away from the river. They traveled for a while before it opened into another large cavern. Before they could walk into it Rin stopped and held up her hand when something on the other side of the room caught her attention. The others quit walking and watched as she slipped forward alone.
She crossed the cavern at a slow jog and followed the path to the entrance of a third and much larger cavern. Crouching beside the entrance, she turned her attention to the footprints she had noticed moments ago. Her face clouded with worry when she realized they were what she feared. She started to ease back when her gaze turned to the cavern in front of her and she froze. There were at least a hundred dark elf males, armed for battle and waiting in the cavern. Rin scrambled backwards until a sudden movement to her right drew her attention. A dark elf was making its way in her direction. Her eyes narrowed when its dark grey skin and black leather armor made it almost impossible to see them in the dark of the cave.
Without pausing to think, her daggers appeared in her hands and she leapt at him. She stabbed the dark elf through the throat in one quick motion. He collapsed to the ground with a gasping gurgle before she stabbed him again. She paused long enough to make certain that he was gone before she spun and sprinted back the way she came.
When she dashed back into the cavern where the others were waiting, Wren’s hand drifted to the hilt of his katana. He knew something was wrong before she had time to say anything.
“There are dark elves,” she gasped as she skidded to a halt. “At least a hundred. They must be going to attempt to breach the city. We must warn Caradthrad.”
A sudden commotion on the other side of the room caused them all to look up. Dark elves were streaming into the cavern with weapons in hand.
“Stay together,” Wren said as he drew his katana. “We cannot run and must fight our way through them.”
Weapons appeared in the hands of everyone but Paige and Sara. Raven pushed them behind him and Hikaru before they prepared as a group to face the flood of dark elves. They were surrounded and within seconds there were bodies strewn across the ground at their feet.
“Keep moving,” Wren yelled over the battle. “We cannot get pinned down. Push forward!”
As a group, they pushed through the elves and made some progress toward the other side of the cavern. Rin spun in place and dropped two more dark elves before a figure moving through the horde caught her attention. The elf making her way through the others was the only female on the battlefield. She wore all black robes with a red feathered snake biting its own tail embroidered on the front.
Rin watched her approach. She knew this was a priestess of Lady Avdotyae. The guardian deity of the dark elves who enjoyed causing chaos within her own people. Rin tilted her head to try and make out the insignia on the sleeve of the robes but could not see it. She frowned when she was unable to determine which temple this priestess called home.
“There is a priestess,” Rin said moving closer to her brother. “I cannot see the temple insignia so watch for others. She will not have come alone.”
Wren glanced up and followed her gaze. He fought to keep his expression blank. This was not a complication they needed when they were already hopelessly outnumbered. Before he could reply, the dark elf priestess stopped in the middle of the cavern and moved her hands in a large circular motion. Rin leapt in front of the group and she just managed to plant her feet as the priestess shot a huge flame stream from her hands.
“Nahdāema,” Rin said. She brought her hands up as if she was catching the spell. It pushed her back several feet, but with a twist of her hands, she redirected the spell into the cavern wall. It crashed into the stones and caused a huge chunk of the wall to split off and come crashing to the floor. The entire room shook from the force.
The priestess eyed Rin with narrowed eyes. It was obvious that she was unaccustomed to having someone stop her spells. Rin moved closer so that there was more distance between her and the group. The other dark elves stopped fighting and watched their priestess. They were certain that she would be victorious.
“General Rilavaenu,” the priestess said, her voice dripping with disgust. “I heard rumors that you were capable with the arcane arts.” When Rin said nothing, a look of anger flashed across the priestess’ face. Her daggers appeared in her hands and she leapt toward Rin.
Wren kept a close eye on his sister while he led the others around the edge of the cavern. While the rest of the dark elves were distracted, they had to keep moving. They made it more than halfway across when he paused. The priestess had launched at Rin again and Rin leapt to the side as she brought her daggers around. The priestess blocked them and slashed at Rin with her own. Rin blocked them before the two began exchanging blows with movements too fast to see. Their deadly dance continued until the priestess spun and her dagger connected with Rin’s shoulder leaving a deep stab wound. Rin did not acknowledge the wound as she twisted to the right and plunged a dagger into the priestess’ side while she caught her across the face with the other.
With a howl of rage, the priestess leapt out of Rin’s reach and the daggers disappeared from her hands.
“Phanumura,” she shrieked. An ice bolt flew from her hands and Rin was forced to jump out of the way. “Phanumura!” Another bolt of ice shot from the priestess’ hands and Rin spun in place as she brought up her hands.
“Ksāetras,” Rin said, her voice still calm. A force wall appeared in front of her and blocked the ice bolt.
The priestess continued to throw spells at Rin, and it appeared Rin was on the defensive while she dodged or blocked each spell. She remained calm as she waited for an opening.
“Āega bulāe,” the priestess yelled. A fireball shot from her hands and flew toward Rin. Instead of blocking it, Rin leapt to the side.
“Phanumura,” Rin said, and ice streamed from her hands.
The priestess was just able to jump out of the way with a furious glare. She once again planted her feet and moved her hands in a large circle. Rin frowned and got into a grounded stance. She could see the spell would be large this time. Raising her hands like before, she waited for the priestess to act.
“Jhyōta!” The flames that were created were so large that they were almost twenty feet across.
“Nahdāema,” Rin said as she brought her hands out to the side. She pushed them back together causing the flames to condense into one spot before she caught them. Pouring her own magic into the flames to strengthen them, Rin fought to keep them under control before she twisted her hands and redirected the flames back at the priestess. The priestess was so shocked that Rin redirected the flames that she did not have time to move. She was incinerated in seconds and there was nothing left when the flames subsided. Rin sank to a knee breathing heavily. The last redirect had almost been too much for her.
The dark elves around her were frozen in shock before a furious howl ran through them. They leapt toward Rin with unconcealed hatred. Kaedin managed to reach her first and jerked her back to her feet. He stepped in front of her and began to engage the first dark elves that reached them. Rin glanced toward the exit of the cavern as she backed up until she stood back to back with Kaedin. She saw her brother and the others start attacking the dark elves from the other side in hopes of drawing some of them away from her and Kaedin.
Returning her attention back to the battle, she and Kaedin moved together with movements that meshed seamlessly. They soon had several dark elves lying dead around their feet.
“We must move,” Rin yelled over the battle. She was beginning to tire and could sense that Kaedin was as well. Kaedin reacted to her without saying anything and started to move toward the others. They made it almost halfway before they could
go no further. The dark elves were pressing in on them from all sides and Rin knew if they did not get a break soon they would be in trouble.
“Āega bulāe,” she said as she raised her hand. A large fireball dropped all around them and killed several more dark elves. Rin paused to catch her breath and noticed there were still many dark elves left in the cavern but the flow into the room had slowed. She glanced over her shoulder and Kaedin tilted his head toward her brother. They started moving again without a word.
***
Jake had the girls backed up against the wall behind him when he stepped forward to meet the rush of dark elves coming their way. He spun the staff in his hand before he brought it up to block a blow from the first dark elf. With a quick sidestep, he spun it back the other direction to bring the blade around and stabbed it into the elf’s side causing him to stagger backwards and fall. Jake managed to take out several more before he found himself surrounded. Spinning the staff in a wide arc, he forced several of them to step back and he used the opportunity to drop two more of them. He glanced back over his shoulder for a second and his face paled. Several dark elves were behind him and moving toward Paige and Sara. He cursed under his breath and tried to make his way back over to them. The momentary distraction was all the closest dark elf needed and it lunged at him. It brought its katana around and caught Jake in the side. He gasped and staggered to the side when it left a long, deep gash. Twisting around, he swung the staff over his head before bringing it down and stabbing the large blade into the elf’s shoulder. The dark elf cried out in pain but before he could move, Jake brought the staff around again and killed him.
Spinning in place, Jake looked toward Paige and Sara and saw that Sara had somehow managed to get a weak force wall around them. He could tell she could not hold it long as it started to flicker under the barrage of attacks from the dark elves’ blades. He again tried to get back over to them but before he could move he was surrounded.
Whispers of Time Page 37
