by B. T. Narro
“Use a handle.” Desil pointed at the half rings near the top of the ladder.
Leida crouched near it. “Why are they to the side?”
Desil had never been on a ladder this tall, but he had climbed down mountainsides. Getting his body into place from a ledge was more fearful than difficult, but there was a chance Leida’s pride could cause an accident if she didn’t know how.
“Can I show you what to do?” he asked.
She nodded and moved away. Adriya looked on with a cold stare.
“Keep in mind that you should only move one limb at a time, even when you’re on the ladder.” He came toward the ladder from the side and crouched to grab hold of the handles. They didn’t seem necessary to him, but if they would help Leida feel more comfortable, Desil would show her how to use them. He moved his leg over the opening and down to get on the third rung from the top.
“This is the hardest part,” he told her. “But you’re not going to fall.”
He switched one of his hands to the top rung of the ladder, then he switched his other foot, and finally his other hand. But instead of going down, he climbed back out.
Leida looked over at Adriya. “Are you going to go down?”
“No.”
Adriya was clearly scared. She suddenly seemed more human to him, brought to terror by a ladder and a hole. He didn’t think of her as any less of a warrior. Even Desil was nervous with this precarious setup.
Leida glanced at Desil. “I’m not sure I can, either. Bastial stars, did my mother really do this with my father? She’s not good with heights.”
“The first time is the worst. You can stay here if you’d like. I’ll tell you what I find.”
“No, I want to do it.” She slowly made her way over to the handles in the stone. She crouched, then extended a jittery leg an inch over the hole. She pulled it back.
“It’s harder if you go very slow,” Desil informed her.
She stuck her leg out over the hole again but pulled it back even quicker this time. “Let me see you do it again.”
Desil chuckled in hopes of relieving some of the tension. “You already know what to do. Just move your leg to that third rung. It’s only a few feet away.”
Leida tried again but pulled back. This time she took a step away from the hole.
“Give me a moment.”
“The longer you dwell on it, the worse your fear will get. Imagine the ladder is only four rungs tall. Wouldn’t it be easy to climb down?”
“I suppose.”
“The only difference would be if you fell, which you won’t. You can do this, Leida. And you as well, Adriya. It should be even easier for you because you’re nearly as tall as I am.”
Adriya scowled. “No.”
Leida huffed. “All right. I can see myself doing it now.”
Desil was impressed at how fluidly she got into position and moved her leg over to the third rung. She shifted the rest of her body one limb at a time until she was fully on the ladder.
“This is still scary!” she complained as she hugged the ladder and looked down.
Desil couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re going to be fine. Look straight ahead at the ladder, not down. Brace yourself with your hands and move one leg at a time.”
He waited for her to follow his advice.
“Good. Now lower one hand at a time until you’re ready to move a leg again.”
She did.
“That’s it. Keep doing that and you’ll be at the bottom soon enough.”
Before long she was picking up speed and it was Desil’s turn.
“Are you sure you want to stay up here?” he asked Adriya.
“I’ll come down after you.”
He didn’t believe her, but he nodded and got on the ladder. It was a long way down, and he wasn’t immune to that frightful feeling of falling any moment, but it went away as soon as he started to descend. He had to ignore his own advice to Leida, looking down so as not to step on her hands.
Eventually he looked up and was surprised to find Adriya coming down after him.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Desil took it upon himself to make light for the others so they could focus on their descent. He had to direct the bastial energy in front of him to give both his companions equal light, though it meant he had to close his eyes so the brightness wouldn’t damage them.
Soon yellow light coming up from below mixed into his white glow. Leida must’ve made it to the bottom.
A few moments later, they were all on the ground. He saw they’d climbed down into an enormous cavern. Pillars connecting the lumpy ground to the pointed ceiling blocked most of Desil’s view, though the cave seemed to offer only one direction to go. Adriya took the lead.
Desil saw just how wide the cavern stretched when they navigated around the slabs of rock jutting out of the ground. It required pointing light in one chosen direction to see a distant wall. They took a while moving light around to look for a clue. All they found were more walls and pillars.
“This seems wrong,” Desil eventually commented. “Your father would’ve left you a hint if he wanted you to find something.”
“Are you saying he didn’t mean for us to come down here?”
“I believe so.”
“Here,” Adriya said, ignoring him.
Her light reached into a tunnel branching off from the cavern. They navigated over bumps and ruts and around the pillars, Leida and Adriya taking each other’s hand for balance. All three of them aimed light around their feet, yet they all stumbled at least once on the way there.
The tunnel had appeared narrower from a distance, but it was still thin and tall. Desil felt small and vulnerable within, the feeling made worse by all the dark nooks in the walls. Some appeared to be deep until he directed light onto them, while others hooked and could’ve opened up into another cavern.
“I feel the memory,” Leida said.
“Where?” Adriya asked.
“I’m not sure yet.”
Desil felt the same shortly after. It didn’t call out to him from any one direction. Finding it was more like picking up a scent and then testing different directions to see which made it stronger. In this case, continuing down the tunnel intensified the feeling.
Suddenly he realized where they were. This was a piece of the abandoned Slugari colony, known to be enormous and intricate. The intelligent creatures had left Kyrro long ago, leaving no clues as to where they now dwelled in fear that word might get to the Krepps who preyed on them. But that was just a rumor. The headmaster must’ve known about this part of the colony to have tunneled down into it. Could he have some idea where the Slugari had gone? Could they be involved in his plan to stop the war? Desil hoped all of his questions would be answered with this next memory.
Soon they came to the spot.
“May I experience it as well?” Desil asked.
“Yes.” Leida put up her hands. Desil did the same and fell into the dreamlike experience.
The headmaster stood in this very spot. A lantern with a dim glow sat on the ground, creating eerie shadows on his face. He paced back and forth, his cloak wavering behind him. He wore two bracelets glowing with energy, one on each wrist. Basen Hiller looked like a man prone to careful planning, capable of changing the fate of Kyrro. If Desil had never met him, he would’ve assumed from this glimpse that the headmaster could be dangerous.
A woman who Desil figured was the headmaster’s wife, Alabell Kerr, stood beside him. With auburn hair a shade darker than her daughter, she appeared to be just as nervous as Basen as she alternated between crossing her arms and rubbing her brow.
“She’s never late,” Basen muttered.
“I know,” Alabell said. “How long do you want to give her?”
“I don’t know. If she betrayed us, the king will come for us no matter if we’re here or not.”
“So we might as well give her a while more.”
Basen drew in a slow breath as he nodded.
&n
bsp; It was silent for a few moments before Basen spoke again. “I’m getting a bad feeling.”
“I am, too.”
They stepped in to embrace each other. “Are you still prepared to do what we must if she betrayed us?” Basen asked.
“Yes, I’m completely with you. Thousands will die in both Tenred and Kyrro if we do nothing, and one of them could be Leida.”
“If Annah told the king, it’s going to be even more difficult. We’ll need some help.”
They finally parted. “She has. I’m sure of it.” Alabell wiped away a tear.
Basen took in a shaky breath. “So am I.”
“Over here!” yelled a man.
Leida’s parents jumped.
“Basen and Alabell Hiller!” It sounded like Beatrix. “Do not run. The king only needs to speak with you.”
The sound of many boots stomped toward them.
Basen lifted his wand as if he might shoot a fireball down the tunnel. Instead, there was a burst of light, and a sphere exploded out of nothing. It sounded like the air ripped as the sphere tore open wide and tall enough to fit even a Krepp. It roared as wind rushed into it, whipping Basen’s cloak and Alabell’s hair. The sphere enclosed a wavering image of a forest. Desil had been to many throughout his life, but he saw nothing among these trees to identify which one he was looking at.
“If you run, it will be treason!” Beatrix yelled as she and her troops closed in. “Don’t do it. Come back with me to figure this out.”
“She’s probably lying,” Basen told Alabell. “Go in.”
“You promise you’ll be right behind me? You’re not going to take this upon yourself!”
“I’ll be right behind you.”
Alabell hurtled into the portal. Basen jumped in after her, one of his bracelets no longer glowing.
The memory ended the moment the headmaster went into the portal.
But instead of returning to the present, Desil felt himself pulled somewhere deeper. It felt as if water was carrying him backward. He got flashes of the same cavern only full of glowing flowers and Slugari tending to their crops. The image was gone as soon as it came, but he’d recognized the shimmering green creatures from his mother’s tales. The Slugari were long and short, about half the height of a human. There must’ve been thousands of them squirming around, their plump bodies jiggling with every movement.
Desil jerked back into reality and stumbled backward into someone. The glow disappeared, leaving them in complete darkness. He lost his balance and fell, worried he might injure whoever it was behind him, but a pair of strong arms caught him from beneath his arms.
Leida made light in front of him, which meant it was Adriya hoisting him back onto his feet.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Leida said, “At least now I know how my mother got down here. They probably took a portal every time.”
“Leida, did you feel something besides the memory?” Desil asked.
“Like what?”
“A glimpse of how this colony used to be.”
She showed him a look as if worried he might be going insane. “No…”
“Do you ever experience something else besides the memory?”
“No.”
Desil could tell she didn’t want to talk about this right now as she glanced at the ground. He let it go and focused his thoughts on their new problem. Her father had left her no other clue.
Desil had never seen a portal before. His mother had told him about them, but seeing one was far more incredible than hearing about it.
It had limitations, but the possibilities it created more than made up for them. The headmaster of the Academy was the only known portal maker. No wonder the king had so much trouble finding him.
“I don’t see what we’re supposed to do now,” Leida muttered.
“What did the memory tell you?” Adriya asked.
“Not much,” Leida said. “My mother and father were waiting here for Annah, but she betrayed them. Beatrix and guards of the king showed up instead and warned them not to run, for it would be treason. They escaped in a portal anyway.”
“Who is Annah?” Desil asked.
“She’s been the king’s psychic since before I was born, but she was friends with my mother and father before that.”
The king’s psychic—so she was his lie detector. Now he also had his daughter to help him whenever he wanted the truth.
“Your parents must’ve used Annah to get information about the king,” Desil assumed. “Perhaps she was forced to betray them. She might’ve been caught by Beatrix. If we could get to this Annah, we could find out—”
“There’s no way,” Adriya interrupted. “We can’t walk into the castle and request an audience. It would be too obvious that we’d come down here and figured out what happened.”
“Perhaps she leaves the castle sometimes, and we could speak to her in private,” Desil suggested. “I know it’s risky, but it’s our only option. Otherwise we have to consider the possibility that this is as far as we go, and I’m not ready to accept that.”
“I’m not, either,” Leida agreed. “But we know nothing of where we could find Annah other than in the castle. Even if we did get her alone somehow, she has no reason to tell us what my parents are doing.”
They thought for a while in silence.
“I still believe we’re missing something,” Desil said. “Your father wouldn’t send us down here just for that memory, which gets us no closer to him. I suggest we walk around more to search for another.”
“Might as well,” Leida said in a defeated tone.
They continued down the tunnel, this time checking the alcoves along the way. Every alcove ended after a turn or two, making them easy to search, but soon the tunnel came to an end and they had to go back.
They returned to the enormous cavern and separated to cover more ground as they searched, Adriya sticking with Leida. Desil tried to figure out how they could determine where Basen and Alabell were going next, but there was something that continued to make no sense. Basen had directed them here because he wanted to see his daughter, possibly even use her help. But nothing they’d found had given them any idea where to meet him.
Does he expect her to wait here for him? It didn’t seem likely.
They spent what felt to be an hour searching the dark and vast cavern. There were no other memories. Eventually Desil came back together with Leida and Adriya.
“Have you thought of anything?” he asked.
“No,” Leida answered.
“As their daughter, there must be something you know that I don’t.”
She paused before answering. “I already realize this is my responsibility, and I’m already mad enough at myself for not figuring out what to do. I don’t need to hear it from you.”
“I’m sorry,” Desil said. He felt just as frustrated.
There was an awkward silence.
“It’s been a long day,” Adriya commented. “We should get back to the Academy.”
And then what? Desil barely refrained from asking. He worried this would be the end of his involvement if he didn’t ask them to come to Kayvol when they knew something, but hadn’t he proved himself enough already? He could feel his frustration building into anger as he met Adriya’s untrusting gaze.
“I’m sorry, Desil,” Leida said to his surprise. “I do appreciate all the help you’ve given me, but I’m not myself right now. I feel one breath away from crying, and one tear away from breaking.”
“I understand that. When I lost my father, I was like that for months. But yours isn’t lost. I’m confident we’ll find him.”
She smiled. “I actually believe you.”
“Let’s go back up,” Adriya said. “I can’t think in this cavern any longer.”
Desil and Leida agreed.
Climbing up the ladder would’ve already been difficult, but after running to the Kreppen encampment and back and searching everywhere in the da
rk, Desil had trouble mustering up the strength he’d need. He was equally as hungry and thirsty as he was tired. Then he thought of Leida. Unlike him and Adriya, she spent no time that he knew of strengthening her body. All of her magic was done with the mind, and she already seemed so defeated by the potential loss of her parents.
When they came to the ladder, she looked up and sighed, then sniffled as if she might cry. “I don’t think I can make it up right now.”
“Yes you can,” Adriya told her. “I’ll be right behind you in case you need help.”
“And I’ll be ahead of you making light,” Desil added.
“Thank you…both of you.” Leida seemed to let out some of her tension with her next breath. “Finding my parents would feel impossible without the two of you.”
The climb back up took twice as long as the climb down. They took several breaks as a group, each of them weak from the long day.
It wasn’t easy getting back on the ground from the top of the ladder, but Desil had thought of this at the bottom when he’d volunteered to be first. He had nothing to grab hold of. There were the handles built into the stone around the opening, but reaching over to grasp them wouldn’t help him get out. The best he could think of was to lean forward and put his hands on the stone itself. He still felt as if he could fall backward when he bent his knees to get one leg up at a time, but he convinced himself he wouldn’t and soon crawled up onto the ground. Leida’s not going to like this.
She was right behind him, poking her head up and looking around in fear. “How do I…?”
“Take my hand.”
“I don’t want to let go of the ladder.”
“Do you want me to grab your arms while you’re still holding on?”
She thought for a while, glancing at the handles to her side. “Well, I’m definitely not leaning over to grab hold of those and…” She looked the other way. “Oh my stars, there’s some daylight already.”
“Leida, can you hurry up?” Adriya complained from below.
“Grab my arms, Desil.”
He took hold and gently pulled her as she climbed the rest of the way out. As soon as her feet were on the ground, she surprised him by leaning into him for a hug. But she pulled away too quickly for him to return the embrace. Adriya poked her head up soon after.
