by J B Cantwell
It couldn't be this easy, though, and in a moment, I realized why. From her mouth were born four of her young, fangs out and ready to attack.
I backed up a couple of steps, trying to catch my breath. Suddenly, I wished I hadn't sent Connell ahead. The giants were in grave danger, but so was I, and who would lead them if I were to die?
Stop. You're more powerful than you think you are.
What was a Howler afraid of? What might drive them away?
The queen was clearly in disarray, scrambling to save the fifty baby howlers who were rolling away now, down into the chasm of the mountain.
Maybe she would be easier to ruin than I thought.
But first, her stronger young. They were approaching fast, leaving their mother behind.
Think.
My hands were burning at my sides, and I was filled with anger, enraged by Torin and his weapons. All of his weapons seemed to be alive, not the sort that an average sorcerer or a king might wield. There was no negotiation here; the only way to win was to kill.
The four advanced on me, but I held my ground, lighting my knives and holding them together as one, making the shaft of light so strong that it hit the interior ceiling of the mountain. Again, boulders fell, but this time it was me making them fall. I watched the rocks as they crashed onto the stone path I’d been running upon, one of them taking out the path behind the queen.
I backed up a couple of steps, having made a mistake I hadn't intended. The only way out for the Howlers now was through me.
I looked up again, pointed the beam of light, and brought down several more rocks, one of them close enough to bash into one of the younger Howlers. It pinned him to the ground, and though he wailed in agony, perhaps expecting his brothers to save him, he was ignored. The other three advanced, and this time I pointed the great beam of light right into the heart of the one closest. Its chest burst from the strength of the beam, much more powerful now that I had two hands upon the blades.
I wondered if I were to open my mouth if I could breathe fire as Connell had.
Now wasn't the time for experimentation.
The queen stopped trying to collect her fallen eggs, and a moment later, she looked up at me, her brow furrowing over her many eyes. She howled, and the force of the vibrations that came from her echoed through the mountain cavern as she crawled toward me.
But I still had her offspring to deal with. The last two dropped down, gripping onto either side of the narrow precipice with their sticky arms. These ones seemed to have devised a plan, and I realized something I hadn't noticed before. These were not stupid beasts but intelligent beings sent here on a wicked errand. They didn't seem to care about their fallen brothers, only about me and my destruction.
They got closer and then disappeared, clinging to the edge of the cliff. I started to back up, unable to see them. They were right there, I was certain, but they were invisible, waiting for me to make a mistake.
Before me, the queen approached, roaring, livid. I couldn't see the two young ones, so I focused my attention on her. I held out my hands and broke several more eggs from her belly. But this time, she let them fall and came right for me instead.
It was then that I felt them, two furry arms wrapping around each of my ankles, thrusting me to the ground. I hit my head hard on the rock, and for a moment, I wasn't able to understand what had happened. Then I realized that it was the two hanging off the sides who had wrapped me up like a present for their mother. My legs stretched in either direction until I was practically doing the splits along that narrow path. I felt that soon they would rip me in two.
Think.
If I were to slice one of those hairy black arms from around my ankle, I’d fall to the other side of the path, right into the mouth of the fourth beast. But if I allowed them to keep pulling on me, I’d be dead before I knew it.
I didn't think, I just acted. The only one I could destroy fully was this mother of monsters before me. I focused all of my energy on her belly, ripping away tens of eggs with each moment that passed.
Her footsteps shook the rock, and I cried out in pain as my legs were stretched. I shot another burst of power into her face, but she was not without defenses. This Howler's eyes, which had been easy to target the other night with the other Howlers, were protected by some sort of film. When I blasted them, nothing happened; her anger only increased.
Suddenly, I found I had no choice. I could no longer withstand the pain in my legs, and I spread my arms wide, one knife in each hand, and slit into the piercing beasts' arms that were wrapped around my ankles.
The relief was instantaneous, and I heard the monsters fall away from the cliff, their howls getting quieter as they fell deeper and deeper into the chasm.
It was just the Howler and me now, me and mama bear.
I understood now why Trina had been so frightened. Not all of the eggs had fallen from the path, and several small howlers began hatching. They followed their queen as she made her way toward me, a tiny army of vicious predators poised just to beneath her, ready to attack. It was instinctual, it appeared, for them to fight, and thirty tiny howls escaped their hairy bodies as they approached.
I couldn't decide what to do, suddenly terrified, my bravery evaporating.
Don't give up.
Connell had made it. I could only imagine what sorts of challenges he'd met on his way back to us. And there, somewhere behind the queen, he was fighting to save the giants, fighting with power new to him, new to all of us.
I bet Zahn never expected that out of this boy.
Indeed. Connell had surprised us all.
Now it was my turn.
I jumped to my feet and ran for her. The sticky arms of the lost Howlers still wrapped around my feet, and though their skin was prickly and painful, I paid it no mind. Speed was what I needed more than anything. For a moment, I thought I might go ahead and jump into her mouth, cutting out her throat in the same way that I had defeated the largest monster from the other night. But then I realized she was completely ready for me, ready for anything, her wide jaws open, waiting.
So I didn't jump into that particular trap. I even suspected that somehow she knew what I might do. I'd heard that bees were able to communicate over long distances. I wondered if that was what had happened now, if she'd somehow been warned.
I acted without thinking, avoiding her teeth and slipping beneath her. The bites of thirty little monsters ruined my skin, but I paid them no mind. I lifted my arms, gripped onto my knives, and unleashed everything I had into her raw underbelly. It was the only part of her that was vulnerable, and I had guessed right. Her insides split open, her sticky blood covering me, choking me. She roared, bucking with the pain, until she too succumbed to the depths of the mountain.
Chapter 23
The tiny howlers all skittered away, some of them plunging to their deaths as they followed after their queen, others spreading out in all directions in an attempt to flee. They knew somehow the danger they were in, and perhaps those who hung back were the smartest of the group, preserving their own lives as they’d watched their brothers fall into the great abyss.
I tried to roll over, to get my knees beneath me so that I could crawl to standing, but it was then that I realized how much pain was about to descend upon me. The blood from the howler's belly burned my skin, and it felt like I had a thousand tiny bites everywhere my flesh was exposed. I flopped onto my back again, barely able to move.
"You need to get up," Connell said. He reached out one hand for mine, and I took it. But when he walked around to try to help me to my feet, I found I wasn’t able to find the strength to even sit up. He let go of my hand and drew from his pocket a small vial of Light.
I opened my mouth, unable to do much more, as my hands were shaking too severely to even hold the vial. He poured it down my throat. Soon, the slimy blood was slipping from my skin as if it were melting away, and I became able to sit up once more.
“Thank you,” I choked. “What happen
ed to you? I was certain you were dead."
He held out his hand again, and this time I was able to grip it and get to my feet easily.
"We don't have time," he said. He looked around at the huge cavern, his eyes nervous. "We need to get back to the others."
Immediately, I started off in the direction toward the caves that led to the outside of the mountain, back toward the giants.
"You can't go that way," he said.
I turned, confused.
"Why? What about the others?"
"Hopefully, they're alright. In any case, we need to go. Who knows what kind of monsters Torin has left for you? And the giants have only Duna and Tosia and—"
"What about Trina? And Carden and Lesley?"
"Trina has flown away to watch over the group from above," he said. "And Carden and Lesley don't yet know the full force of their power. They're nervous and will require training. Everyone is panicking, and I think them especially."
"But what happened to the cave? Why can't we go that way? Have they moved?"
"We can't go that way because I blocked it off when I saw the Howlers coming your way. I killed a few of the small ones in the caves, but I didn't truly see the danger until I came out here and found you." He allowed himself a small smile. "You really did a number on that queen."
"Which way do we go?" I asked urgently, irritated by the delay.
"Back to the edge of the cavern," he said. "There are different tunnels that lead out of here. The precipice is dangerous but passable."
I picked up my knives from where I'd dropped them onto the stone during the attack.
"Let's go then. You can tell me what happened to you on the way."
He turned and led the way back toward the precipice, and within minutes we were on the edge of the cavern, balancing our way along the thin path toward a nearby spoke of the stone wheel. I was grateful I'd learned how to grip onto stone, as it was serving me now. I spread my fingers wide and plastered them to the rock face as I walked. I was lucky; all Connell had was his balance. It was hard to watch him without holding my breath, but he made his way along the path as if it were something he did every day. Clearly, his confidence had returned.
When we finally made our way to the next spoke, though, the reality of what we had just done turned his face white. He blew out his breath and whistled.
"That wasn't nothing," he said.
"Could've fooled me. You looked like you do that sort of thing all the time.”
"I don't. Come on; this is the way."
I fell into step beside him, letting the fire from my knives lead us through the tunnel.
"Well?" I asked. "Tell me."
He took a moment to catch his breath, then began.
"It was just five Wicks and me; I thought I was a goner for sure. I fought them, even killed one, but soon they had me cornered inside the cave, and the Creepers circled me like hounds. I was running out of time, but as fear overtook me, my powers lessened. Soon I realized I was completely on my own. I waited for death. But then I was saved."
"Saved? Who saved you?"
"You're not going to believe this. It was Arte."
I frowned.
"You're kidding me. This is no time for joking."
"I'm not kidding you," he said.
"So Arte has power now? Is that what you're trying to tell me?"
"That remains to be seen. But no, he was only the one who found me, and he alerted the other giant to the danger I was in."
"What other giant?"
"Angus. His brother"
"What?"
"It's true," he said. "Somehow, they found one another, and I think it must've been your power that attracted Angus to us because he knew exactly where to go."
"How is this even possible?"
“Angus did everything that Arte told us before he abandoned us, but Angus didn't die. That part was wrong. It turns out that when Arte left us, Angus was watching the whole time. He waited until Arte was alone before showing himself."
"But that's insane," I said. "Why would he want to help us at all? He was one of Torin's pupils, turned evil by his master."
He shrugged. "I'm not sure. We didn't have a lot of time to talk. But they saved me, both of them. And just when my power seemed gone forever, Angus hit me with a bolt of power so strong that it brought back my own abilities. I’d been so close to giving up, but now I feel like it'll never be that way again. Whether I have power or not, the idea of giving up couldn't be farther from my mind."
I picked up the pace. "I don't believe all that for a second," I said. "How could Angus have suddenly turned good? And you say the other giants are with them now?"
He frowned. "Are you saying I'm lying? Because if that's what this is…"
"I'm not accusing you of lying," I said, breaking into a run. "But I do think you've been tricked."
He stopped walking, and I turned to find him standing still in the middle of the tunnel.
"Are you coming?"
Suddenly, I was filled with a new resolve, the fear that I would reach the others clinging to the edge of the mountain, their lives in great peril. I turned and continued without him.
"You should wait," he said.
I shrugged it off and continued on. "If you want to tell me more, you're going to need to catch up!" I called.
But the farther away I got from him, the more nervous I became. It wasn't until he was up and running alongside me that I let myself think that maybe he wasn't as naïve as I’d feared. Angus returning? One of the evilest sorcerers this place had ever seen? Not to mention Arte, the leader who had first lied to and then abandoned his tribe.
All I could think about was the danger the giants were in now. I readied myself for a fight, for Angus to finally attack. I found it unlikely that any of the giants were even still alive. It was Connell's mistake, leaving them behind.
"Believe me or don't," he said. "But it's true. He’s returned, and without them both, I'd be dead."
I still couldn't believe it. I trusted Connell, but not the people he was talking about.
"Come on," he said, speeding up. "They're not far from here."
He ran up ahead, and though he seemed certain, I readied my knives for an attack while I was running behind him just in case.
It took us a while to make it to the exit of the cave onto the mountainside. These paths through the mountain were long and steep. The Light had boosted my power, though, and I was able to keep pace with Connell easily. My anger at Arte and worry about Angus meant I kept silent most of the way.
But as we neared the end of the tunnel, I asked my questions.
"How far up ahead are they? I thought you said they were close."
"They were." He squinted, trying to see what lay ahead in the dim light. "They must've gone back to the others."
For the briefest moment, I wondered if I should trust Connell. I’d never believed he had a bad bone in his body. Yet still, if he was telling the truth, danger awaited us up ahead. I tried to shake off the worry I felt, the scenes of potential violence that were taking over my mind. I thought about the dream when Torin, himself, had told me that those in his army were there by choice. I tried to imagine Connell joining him, but the idea didn't fit, didn't seem right.
"Here they are," he said as we rounded a corner, sounding relieved.
I steeled myself, waiting for the fight to begin, but as we approached, relief could be seen on their faces as well. They’d brought the whole tribe, and most people were sitting up against the cave walls.
This confused me. I’d thought with some measure of certainty that we would find the giants massacred. And yet here they were, as healthy as ever.
"Bree of Eagleview," the one giant I didn't recognize said. "We've been waiting for you. I see that you're well, and I’m glad my magic extended so far as to protect you. I’m Angus."
I frowned.
If Arte was tall, Angus was absolutely gigantic. He couldn't stand all the way upright without hitting h
is head on the ceiling above.
"I thought you two were twins," I said. I took a quick glance around, but nobody seemed worried despite the danger in their midst. "You don't look very much alike."
I tried to get a read on him, tried to decide whether or not to trust him as the others clearly did. But it was difficult. He seemed to radiate power, but I couldn't tell anything more about him.
"That would be because of Torin," he said. "All of us were made bigger by our association with him and by the exceptional powers we all possessed."
"I don't believe you," I said flatly.
From behind them, I could see Duna walking in our direction. She looked angry, but her wand was not raised as she approached.
"What don't you believe?" she asked, coming to stand by my side. "That Angus is telling the truth? Yeah, that's a tough one."
Her irritation was palpable, and yet she didn’t attack, and she made no moves to get ready for an altercation, either.
"I think we should go sit down," Arte snapped. "You'll be offering us your allegiance shortly."
I bristled. "I don't think so." I looked over at Connell, and I found him frowning in my direction. "If you want my allegiance, you'd better start talking."
Arte scowled, but Angus didn't seem surprised.
"What would you like to know?" he asked.
"It seems to me you have a story to tell,” I said.
"We all have questions,” Duna said. Clearly, she didn't trust him as some of the others did.
"Get your wand out," I said softly.
"As if," she said, and I suddenly understood.
She had no wand.
"What happened to it?" I didn't bother lowering my voice.
"He took it, now didn't he?"
I raised my knives, joining them together, readying them to attack.
Arte raised his hands and moved in front of his brother as if he could protect him from my magic.
But then, Connell did the same.
"It's not what you think," Angus said. "Just hear me out."
"Give her back her wand," I snarled.
"I can't do that."
