By the second day, Akiri was sure that Yarrow must have some sort of hold or influence on Seyla, or at minimum was driving him on. The light dusting of snow that now covered the ground showed that Seyla’s strides were long and sure. And he had not rested. Akiri and Rena should have caught up by now, but they were seemingly no closer than when they had started out.
As the mountains loomed larger, they came upon a worn trail that snaked its way between the rocks. The angle of the climb steepened without him noticing. It took no more effort than walking on the foot of the mountains, but before he realized it, they were already several yards up a much steeper track that led along the incline. The rocks underfoot were coated in a sheet of ice that made them treacherous, but that soon turned into a thin layer of crisp snow that offered more in the way of stability. The path was relatively easy to follow even as it began to rise more steeply.
“This sure is a lot of trouble for a bounty,” remarked Rena, talking to herself.
“Is that why you’re really here?” asked Akiri.
Rena laughed. “Of course. You don’t think I’m here for you, do you? What about you? All this for a boy and a dragon?”
“I don’t expect you to understand.”
“I think I understand some of it,” she said. “Yarrow killed your friend. And Seyla is his son. So I understand why you would want to kill Yarrow. What eludes me is this thing you have with the dragon. I swear, I think you would sacrifice the boy’s life if it would save her.”
“The bond I share with Kyra is special,” he told her, ignoring the remark about sacrificing Seyla. That was a situation he did not want to put to the test. “I can’t explain to you why, or even how it happened.”
“So you don’t understand it either,” she noted. “Interesting. I’ve heard the legends: dragons and humans bonded together in some mystical union. But I thought they were just stories.”
“I think you’ll find that many stories have their roots in truth.” He was finding this conversation uncomfortable, so tried to change the subject. “You never explained why you came. Surely, the bounty alone isn’t worth it?”
“It is, actually. Five thousand gold. Enough to keep me living in comfort for a long time. But I have to admit, my plan hasn’t worked out like I had hoped.”
“You mean you really did have a plan? Getting captured and locked away in Yarrow’s fortress was intentional?”
Rena frowned at the jab. “How else was I going to find him?” After a brief silence, she threw up her hands. “Fine. Maybe getting captured wasn’t really part of the plan. But it got me there, didn’t it?”
“It nearly got you killed.”
“Killed? Me? Never. If I can survive an encounter with the mighty Akiri, Yarrow isn’t a challenge.” She huffed a laugh. “Don’t think I haven’t heard. Death and destruction follow you everywhere you go. People either praise your name or piss themselves at the mention of it. You, Acharian, are dangerous company.”
Akiri could not help but laugh at this. She was right, naturally, though she could not suspect why. The meddling of the gods and their insistence on including him in their designs ensured that those he encountered were risking much by merely talking to him. Rena was an excellent example of this. Had they never met, she would still be serving as Killian’s bodyguard in Galfaria. He was just about to ask her what she had done after they last met, when the path changed, its angle softening considerably.
After a few more hundred yards, the trail ended at a broad plateau. Akiri took a moment to look out over the hills and valley, shielding his eyes against the glare of the midday sun reflecting off the snow. He could see the town, where black smoke still rose from the pyres. Beyond it loomed the stone edifice of the ruined fortress past the edge of the marshland. He took note that the magic that had concealed it was now gone. The rest of the marsh stretched on for many miles. The lake was hidden by the forest, but the other end of the mountain range rose up like a savage god, ruling over a landscape that groveled at its feet. He had journeyed far and in a short time. At the other end of the plateau the trail continued its climb. Soon it would be over.
He turned around, ready to continue the climb to the summit, only to realize that he was alone. His senses came alive and his hand shot to his blade. He called out Rena’s name. The thought that she had been plucked from the mountain flashed through his mind. He called out again, searching the ground. Just as he noticed her footprints, he heard a reply.
“In here,” her voice called, seemingly coming from within the mountain.
He followed her footprints to what initially appeared to be a narrow crevice in the side of the mountain. But as he drew near, he realized that it wasn’t a crevice at all, but rather an overlapping fold in the rock face. He found Rena standing just inside the opening, her eyes fixed on the walls.
“What is this place?” she whispered.
The opening led into a cavern that burrowed deep into the mountain. The walls were coated in a film of ice, which under different circumstances Akiri would have found quite beautiful. The existence of the cave itself came as no surprise; mountains were always a honeycomb of natural tunnels, cracks, and crevices, and these mountains were no exception. An experienced climber always knew how to find them. Even a small recess could be a life saver should a blizzard strike. Many, like those leading to the monastery, were made intentionally. But this one wasn’t there to provide shelter from the inclement weather. There was nothing within to offer comfort against a storm: no fuel for fire, no bedding or feed for horses. This place had a much more macabre purpose. Although the light barely penetrated the darkness within, there was more than enough to expose what lay beneath the sheet of ice: body after body, standing frozen in place.
Akiri peered closer and saw a mark on the flesh of each forearm. The very same mark Seyla bore.
“Do you think they still live?” asked Rena.
“I would say no. But with one such as Yarrow, who knows?”
He took special notice of their features. They were emaciated, their flesh drooping from their bones, as if their lives had been slowly drained away. Was this what he had in mind for Seyla?
“We need to get out of here,” Rena said.
Akiri walked a bit deeper into the cavern. The bodies numbered into the hundreds. How long had they been there? What was their purpose? Vessels, perhaps? Or servants that had outlived their usefulness? He looked closer at a tall man dressed in a soldier’s tunic. The sigil was familiar, though it took him a moment to place it: Zurbia, a small nation in the south. He remembered it from his studies as a youth. They had been the possessors of a great wealth of knowledge, kept safe in an enormous library. But Zurbia had fallen more than two hundred years ago, swallowed by the wars of their more powerful neighbors, and the library burned to ashes. It was the tragic loss of such knowledge that made it stick out in his mind.
Without thinking he pressed his hand to the ice. Instantly the eyes of the body opened. Akiri jumped back, his hand instinctively flying to the hilt of his sword. He was alive! The horror of such an existence shook Akiri to the core.
“He lives?” gasped Rena.
Akiri hadn’t heard her approach. He drew his blade. “There is no way to know.”
“What are you doing?”
“If he is alive, he deserves a soldier’s death.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
She was probably right. But the eyes staring back at him touched something inside, something deep within his spirit. All soldiers shared something unique. A thing only they could comprehend. Friend or foe, it mattered not. A soldier deserved a proper death. Not this… half-life.
The tip of his blade penetrated the ice effortlessly and sank into the man’s heart. There was no reaction – not so much as a twitch of pain. Slowly his eyes closed; this time, Akiri hoped, forever.
Barely had he sheathed his sword when an ear-splitting crack sounded from deep within the cavern, and several large hunks of ice and sto
ne smashed down from the ceiling.
“I told you,” said Rena.
Tiny cracks were forming within the icy prisons as the entire mountain seemed to groan. More rock and debris fell, some nearly coming down on Akiri’s head. As fast as they could, they ran back to the entrance. But even when they were outside, the ground continued to tremble. The entire plateau was being peppered from above with fist-sized rocks and thick sheets of ice. They started toward the ascending path, Akiri receiving spiteful blows to his back and shoulders along the way. Once on the path, though the rocks raining down were fewer in number, the mountain did not relent – as if they were unwanted pests it was trying to shake from its back.
A tremendous boom rocked the mountain, nearly throwing them over the edge. Either the cavern had collapsed, or the entire trail leading from the mountain had. If it was the trail, thought Akiri, leaving might prove to be impossible.
After a few more minutes, the rumbling ceased.
“You are without a doubt the thickest man I have ever met.” Rena’s eyes burned with anger. “Why would you do that? Are you trying to get us killed? If so why don’t you just jump and save Yarrow the trouble?”
Akiri wanted to say that he would not be questioned by her. Being scolded like some raw recruit was not a thing he normally tolerated. But the truth was, she was right. It had been foolish. Still, he met her gaze firmly. “I did what I thought I should; what any soldier would do.”
“I hate to be the one to point this out, but you’re not a soldier. Not anymore. So you had better forget all that nonsense about honor and duty. This is survival.”
Her words expressed the very argument he had been having with himself for some time now. But it would not be resolved atop this mountain. And at this moment, he was being prideful and stubborn – a trait he often chastised in others.
“Forgive my impulsiveness. You would have to have served under the shield to know what seeing that poor wretch did to me.”
Rena shook her head and heaved a sigh. “For all your strength and skill, you are just a simple soul, aren’t you? Just try not to do anything stupid until we’ve done what we came to do.”
Akiri bowed his head. “You have my word.”
Rena cracked a smile and shoved him lightly up the trail. “How someone can kill that many people and still be innocent is beyond my understanding.”
Akiri laughed in spite of himself. “Is that what I am?”
“I don’t know what else to call it. Only the gods know how many men you’ve slain. And still you try to see the world in absolutes. How long has it been since you left Acharia? Two years?”
“A little more.”
“And still the world has not shown you the futility of honor.”
“I see no futility in honor. Without it, we are no better than animals.”
“That’s what I mean. You see yourself as somehow better than others. You, my friend, would make a fine noble.”
That Rena could get beneath his skin so easily was maddening. It was as if she knew precisely what to say to infuriate him. And yet he could not find a hint of fault in her words. “Nobles live selfishly,” was all he could think to say.
“And you don’t?” She poked his ribs. “Tell me, Akiri. That day you saw me in the back of the wagon after the Hunari had captured me: was it your idea to charge in and try to save me? Or was it your dragon’s? Be honest. You’ve told me how she behaves like an idealistic youth. Was it Kyra who wanted to free me, or you?”
“You didn’t need saving,” he pointed out.
“Don’t avoid the question,” she pressed, her tone playful.
“It was Kyra,” he admitted. “She charged off to save you. I didn’t want her presence known, so I told her that I would do it if she stayed out of sight.”
“That’s what I thought. Remind me to thank her when I see her again.”
Akiri grunted irritably. He preferred watching her fight to their conversations.
The path wound slowly around the mountainside, rising ever upwards. At times, the angle of the incline steepened sharply, but mostly the rise was gradual, making the trek less taxing than when it began. Still it was treacherous, its width barely enough to accommodate a single person, often so narrow that they had to turn their bodies sideways to avoid falling to their deaths.
It was well into the afternoon when, rounding a sharp bend, Akiri spotted a massive structure a short distance ahead. A temple. It had been carved directly into the living rock of the mountainside. A broad staircase led to a massive archway. Columns spanned the façade, above which was a frieze depicting the god of death, Xarbaal himself. Clad in his spike-covered armor and wielding a massive claymore, he was casting the legions of the dead, their faces twisted in agony, into the pits of fire. Such a place would be outlawed in most kingdoms. Worship of the old gods was forbidden. Likely this place was long-abandoned, perhaps even its existence forgotten, now used by Yarrow to conduct his foul magic away from the notice of the world. It made perfect sense that a necromancer would worship the death god. Who else would abide such vile corruption?
That he was once again in the shadow of Xarbaal made his skin crawl. If Yarrow knew that Kyra was aware of the location of Xarbaal’s scepter… Akiri banished the thought. There was no way for him to know. Not unless Yarrow could hear her thoughts. And even then, it was not something she would willingly reveal to anyone. Not even Akiri knew where she had hidden it. He made sure of that, lest someone find a way to pry it from him.
The trail rose for several feet, putting them at eye level with the archway and revealing a wide chasm separating the trail from the temple stairs. A pair of stone posts marked where a bridge had once stood, but it was long since collapsed. In its place, a new bridge had been fashioned from wood and rope.
Rena approached the precipice and peered over the edge. “Sweet Mishna.”
Akiri stood beside her and saw the meander of a river cutting through the valley floor, hundreds of feet down. “Are you afraid of heights?”
“No. I’m afraid of falling.” She backed away and threw up her hands. “Why can’t anything be simple? Because I’m with Akiri, bringer of doom, that’s why.”
“Seems simple to me.” Akiri was enjoying this. “One foot in front of the other. What could be easier?”
“Cracking your thick skull, for one thing.”
Akiri chuckled. “Don’t worry. I’ll lead the way.”
Rena looked as if she would strike him at any moment. She took another quick glance over the edge and steadied her nerves. “Let’s get this over with.”
Akiri gripped the ropes and took the first step. All humor left him instantly. The wooden boards that provided the platform for the bridge were every bit as slick as the sheen of their icy covering suggested, made all the more perilous by the fact that the whole construction dipped in the center of its long crossing. This meant that not only was the surface beneath their feet covered in ice, but they were walking downhill for the first half of the crossing.
Rena stayed close behind. He could hear her rapid breathing. As much as he had teased her, her fears were more than justified. Several times, Akiri thought that he was going to lose his balance as gravity tried to bully him into moving faster. He refused. The bridge was narrow enough for him to hold the supports on either side at the same time, slowing his descent. But frayed ropes bit spitefully into his palms, and the entire span swayed beneath him with every step he took.
The planks looked rotted and in desperate need of replacement. Each step was answered by the cracking of ice and the groaning of wood as it bent beneath his weight. Akiri considered telling Rena to turn back, but the trembling in her breathing suggested that she was already at the limits of her courage. Akiri smiled inwardly. Overcoming deeply held fears was admirable. But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t have fun at her expense later. Assuming they lived through this.
A fresh bluster of wind whipped in off the mountains, threatening to unbalance him, forcing a brief halt un
til the swaying of the bridge diminished.
Once past the half-way point, he struggled through the climb using mostly his hold on the rope, the sheet of ice on the planks offering very little traction. The going was slow. But at last relief washed over him as he reached the end and took a step back onto solid ground. He turned to see that Rena was still a few yards back, her face twisted in pain from the ropes digging into her palms.
She was about to take the last few steps when the wind picked up in earnest, causing the entire bridge to lurch violently. Rena’s foot slipped and her left hand lost its hold. Quickly she wrapped her other arm around the rope, letting out an involuntary and uncharacteristic scream. Her knee struck the plank hard, splitting it in two. In desperation, she tried to regain her footing, but the rocking of the bridge along with the ice coating the planks had her flailing wildly. Akiri moved to the edge and extended his hand, unable to suppress a smile.
“You seem as if you’re in need of rescuing,” he said.
Rena shot him a furious look. “Unless you want me to cut that hand off…” She strained against the ropes, hauling herself back up. Upon reaching the end, she fell hard to the ground, panting and spitting curses. “That does it. I’ve decided. I’m killing you the moment we’re away from here.”
A hollow voice laughed, echoing from the mountainside. This time Rena did not refuse Akiri’s hand as he jerked her to her feet. Both had swords at the ready in an instant.
From somewhere within the archway, a ball of flame shot forth, striking the bridge dead center. The explosion rocked Rena from her feet and Akiri dropped to one knee. The flames tore through the rope and wood in seconds. As it separated in the middle, the weight dislodged the wooden stakes on either end, pulling the entire structure down into the canyon. The sound of crashing timbers rose for more than a minute as the bridge finally struck bottom.
Akiri turned toward the temple. Rena was at his side, snarling with anger.
“I was afraid you might leave,” called the voice. “I hope I didn’t startle you.”
Akiri: Dragonbane Page 23
