“Nor have many others,” Nicholas said. “But I think that’s about to change.”
The man, whose name was Lacarus, explained that he was a farmer miles outside the southeastern border of Kargoth near the Drusala River. “It seems like years since I was plowing my land, but I’m not entirely sure. The last thing I remember was watering my horses along the river while transporting a load of hay. I bent down to cup some water for myself, and then…” He stared at Nicholas and Ivy. “I don’t remember anything more until just now as I stand here between the two of you. What has happened?”
“More than we can say,” Nicholas said, briefly telling him about Vellan’s spell upon the river and of the recent war. “And since the spell has apparently been broken, something tells me that this conflict might be over, too.” He glanced south toward Del Norác and his eyes widened. “Look!” he said, pointing at a distant white line snaking its way through the city. “A thick fog covers the river.”
“It’s both ghostly and beautiful,” Ivy whispered in awe.
“Indeed,” Lacarus said, turning to them in a daze. “I am far from my family and home. May I now leave and seek them out?”
“Of course!” Ivy said. “You needn’t ask our permission. You belong with them.”
“Go at once,” Nicholas insisted, “though you may first want to stop in Del Norác for provisions and information. We shall do the same. I suspect lots of people will soon be traveling in all directions to reunite with their loved ones.”
“Then I’ll be off,” he said, thanking them for their kindness. Nicholas picked up his knife and handed it back to him with a smile. Moments later, the man hurried down the dirt road until he disappeared into the distant trees.
Nicholas and Ivy looked at one another with joyful amazement, their minds and bodies on the verge of exhaustion, yet their hearts and souls as warm and light as a summer morning. With uncontainable smiles, they walked the last few steps between them and collapsed into each other’s arms. They sobbed and whispered loving words long held in their hearts during a separation that seemed to have gone on for a lifetime since first meeting in the evening shadows in Castella’s backyard in Boros.
Nicholas gazed into Ivy’s eyes and touched her soft hair as she stood with the moonlight behind her, knowing that her presence wasn’t a dream but at last a glorious reality. When she smiled with his same blissful wonder, he couldn’t help but smile in return, knowing they had walked through fire and darkness to reach this moment in time. Holding each other tenderly, they kissed in the cool mountain air. The rushing stream flowed past, its waters imbued with the glow of the Fox and Bear moons rising above the snowcapped mountains in the east on their long trek together across the starry sky in search of the far horizon.
CHAPTER 112
A City of Tents
“I feel as if I’m dreaming,” Ivy whispered. She held tightly to Nicholas in the moonlit woods, listening to his calming heartbeat and never wanting to let go as her spirit soared to joyous heights.
“You are not dreaming,” he assured her, looking deeply into her eyes. “And I promise this will never happen to you again.”
“Never?”
He kissed her and smiled. “I’ll always be at your side, Ivy, to protect you and share your life.” He chuckled. “You’ll probably grow tired of seeing my face.”
“That will never happen,” she replied, suddenly shifting her gaze beyond his shoulder. “Though his face I wouldn’t regret never seeing again.”
“Hmmm?” Nicholas turned around as three figures strolled down the dirt road toward them. He grinned with relief upon seeing Leo and Carmella walking alongside the stone wall with Mune a few paces behind. He took Ivy’s hand and hurried over to greet them, guessing that she would be less than pleased that he and Leo had made an alliance with Mune to rescue her.
“You’re both safe!” Carmella exclaimed, rushing forward and wrapping her arms around Nicholas and Ivy at the same time. She and Ivy had become fast friends during their imprisonment in the mountain.
Leo gave her a hug as well. “It’s good to see you again, Ivy, and under better circumstances than last time,” he said, recalling their adventure along the grasslands. He started to remove the amulet from around his neck, planning to return it to Nicholas. “I think it’s time this went back to its rightful owner.”
“Not so fast,” Nicholas said, preventing him from taking it off. “Though the color has returned to your face, you are far from cured. Keep that amulet close to you until we’re fully certain. At the very least you shall wear it until after dawn tomorrow. If not for your sake, then for Megan’s.”
Leo nodded appreciatively and placed the amulet beneath his shirt. “Understood. I’ll wait to see what tomorrow brings. But in the meantime, where shall we go?”
“Straight down the mountain,” Carmella said, pointing along the road. “When I arrived here with Caldurian and Mune, we entered the mountain through a lower doorway perhaps another mile below. There’s a patch of flat land nearby with stables and a row of smithies. Hopefully, my wagon is still there in one piece.”
Mune, meanwhile, stood uncomfortably in the background, averting his eyes whenever Ivy looked at him. Nicholas intervened to defuse the awkward situation.
“We all have questions we can answer on our way down, but I think Ivy needs to know now why Mune is walking freely with us,” he said.
“Instead of being bound and gagged?” Leo joked.
“Very amusing,” Mune dryly remarked. “Especially after I guided you out of Minakaris before it crashed in on itself.”
“That is a point in your favor,” he admitted.
Nicholas told Ivy how Mune had set off the chain of recent events by killing Vellan and explained how he had led them to her. Ivy was more than understanding, though her distrust of Mune remained unchanged. When she learned of Madeline’s fate, she expressed sincere condolences to Carmella despite the hardships that the woman had caused her.
“Liney proceeded down a dark and twisted path many years ago,” Carmella said with deep sadness, “though unfortunately I wasn’t able to reach her in time and turn her back. But she is at rest now, though I shall miss her despite her deeds.” She wiped away a tear. “But we should move on, luckily with the moonlight to guide us. So follow me. It’s quite a hike to the bottom of the mountain.”
When they reached the stables in a large clearing, Carmella found her wagon alongside one of the smithies just as she had left it several days ago. A few horses grazed freely among the grass, but not a soul was around. After Vellan’s spell had been broken, Nicholas guessed that everyone had probably left to return to their homes after releasing the animals. Leo chose two sturdy and cooperative horses to hitch to Carmella’s wagon, and after Ivy insisted on bandaging Nicholas’ wound, they were soon back on the road following the course of the stream. Mune served as Carmella’s driver, saying it was the least he could do after all he had put her through. But after only a few minutes, he reined the horses to a stop, having caught sight of something along the stream bank to their left. Mune jumped off the seat and ran to the water.
“What’s he doing?” Ivy asked.
“I’m not sure,” Nicholas replied.
They stood with Carmella near the horses, waiting for Mune to return. Leo was resting in back of the wagon. Nicholas eyed Mune through the shadows and saw him drop to one knee near the water’s edge, frantically signaling everyone to join him. They did so, shocked at his discovery.
Mune, with head buried in hand, knelt somberly next to Madeline’s body which had washed up onto the bank along a stony section of the stream. Nicholas, after giving him a moment to compose himself, helped him carry her body away from the water and set it on a tuft of tall grass and weeds. Ivy wrapped a comforting arm around Carmella as they stood over her cousin’s body a short time later to pay their respects. After letting Carmella grieve for a time in private, Nicholas and Mune buried the body beneath a white birch tree and marked the gravesite with a ring
of stones gathered from the edge of the stream.
“May she find rest and peace here,” Carmella said while standing near the burial site. She dabbed away a few tears with the remaining beige glove that she used to wear. When she was ready to leave, she noticed Mune leaning against the birch tree with one arm. “Are you all right?” she softly asked, walking over to him.
Mune looked up, his eyes red and his face damp from crying. “I’m going to stay here a while longer,” he said. “And after that, I…” He sighed, shaking his head in sorrow. “I shall leave in the morning, I suppose, and go where the road takes me. But right now I just want to sit here beside Madeline’s resting spot and spend some time with her, if you have no objections. To be honest, I need to have a long think with myself.”
“I have no objection,” Carmella said, patting him lightly on the shoulder. She and Ivy returned to the wagon, leaving Nicholas alone with him.
“I’ll tell King Justin what you did inside the mountain,” Nicholas told him. “I no longer have Vellan’s head wrap or the knife that killed him, but with all the resulting signs of destruction, I don’t think the King will need much additional proof.”
Mune offered a vague smile. “I suppose I can’t ask for more than that,” he said, nodding with thanks. “Have a safe journey now.”
“We will,” he replied, then turned and walked away.
As they started down the road with Nicholas at the reins, Carmella cast a final look at her cousin’s gravesite. She took comfort that Mune was holding a silent vigil by the circle of stones among the thick shadows, his shoulders trembling, his head bowed to his chest, and a hand, wet with teardrops, pressed to his face.
They traveled at a leisurely pace. Nicholas, guiding the horses with Ivy at his side, was happy not rushing someplace or fleeing someone as he had done for the last six months. Life had been a whirlwind, but now he savored this tranquil moment with her, their arms interlocked as they shared quiet and heartfelt words. He glanced at her from time to time as the wagon rattled on, reassuring himself that she was not merely part of a restless dream like the many he had had over the past several weeks.
“Don’t worry, Nicholas. I’m not going anywhere,” she said when catching him gazing at her. “Unless, of course, it’s with you.”
“Glad to hear it,” he replied playfully. “I’m tired of chasing you all around Laparia.”
Moments later, she rested her head upon his shoulder. “I missed you,” she whispered before closing her eyes to sleep. Nicholas focused on the road ahead, a contented smile upon his face.
When he glanced at Carmella on the opposite end of the seat, he noticed that she had closed her eyes as well, exhausted from her many adventures and overwhelming grief. Nicholas guessed that Leo, too, was still sound asleep in back of the wagon, hoping that Frist’s magic would heal him.
He guided the wagon through the silvery light of the dual moons, happy to watch over his friends. He would gladly forego some much needed sleep to get them safely down Minakaris. Despite all the hardships he had endured in recent months, Nicholas believed that his three traveling companions had suffered the most lately and deserved this brief respite before their journey home.
He thought of Kanesbury and all the complications he had left behind after fleeing during the Harvest Festival. But he harbored none of the fears that had plagued him earlier. He was now armed with new information, and more importantly, the support of new friends, and looked forward to returning and clearing his name. Nicholas sighed as he gazed at the Fox and Bear moons through the branches, hoping that his friends and acquaintances back home looked forward to seeing him return as well.
After reaching the bottom of the mountain early that evening, Nicholas stopped along a stream near some trees and built a fire. He, Ivy and Carmella shared a meager dinner from the provisions inside the wagon. As Leo hadn’t yet stirred, they decided to let him be, knowing that a recuperative slumber would serve him well. Soon afterward, they drifted off to sleep themselves.
Nicholas awoke at sunrise and sat up yawning by the cold embers while wrapped in a blanket. A faint mist hung over the distant river, though it was much diminished from the night before. In the gaps between the western peaks, he watched as the Fox and Bear moons dipped below the horizon. After breakfast with Ivy and Carmella, he decided that it was time to wake Leo and then drive into Del Norác to see how their friends had fared.
“He should be rested for the next three days,” he joked to Ivy. Nicholas opened the wagon door and let in the morning light. He gently prodded Leo’s shoulder as he lay on his side bundled in several blankets, his breathing steady and his complexion fair. “Time to rise and roll,” he said. “Better hurry before the kitchen closes.”
Leo forced his eyes open and greeted them with a perplexed stare. “Is Hobin waiting for us?” he asked. He slowly sat up and dangled his feet over the edge of the wagon as the blankets dropped off his shoulders. “I can’t climb another mountain today.”
“There’ll be no hiking, Leo. You’re in Kargoth,” Ivy said with a warm smile as she brushed back his tousled hair. “And you look quite healthy after all you’ve been through.” Leo appeared confused as remnants of sleep still overwhelmed him.
“She means that you’re not dead,” Nicholas said, pointing at his chest to indicate the amulet beneath his shirt. “Vellan’s spell, remember? I guess Frist showed him a thing or two. But now Megan will have to live with the consequences of you surviving.”
“Good one,” he replied with a smirk that quickly transformed into a yawn. “Now where can a guy get a hot meal around here? I’m starving.”
They ate breakfast and then moved southwest toward the fields and farmland on the northern border of Del Norác. As they pulled away from the trees along Mount Minakaris and headed into open land between the mountain and the city, they were shocked to see a massive pile of stone and melting ice that had been deposited at the southern base where Vellan’s stronghold once existed. The debris rose higher than the nearby pines. Even from a half mile away, Nicholas thought it was a surreal sight.
“That explains all the noise from last evening,” he said as they stopped to stretch their legs and absorb the astounding view.
Carmella put her hands to her face in disbelief, the pumpkin color on them completely gone. “Imagine, Leo, if we had still been inside the mountain when it let loose,” she said. “We wouldn’t be having this conversation right now.”
“I think Frist was watching out for the two of you,” Nicholas remarked.
“I think he was watching out for all of us,” Ivy said, gently taking his hand.
Soon they neared the northern fields. Scores of gray and white tents had sprouted up there overnight and also in the eastern field after the supply wagons had arrived, having kept their distance during the fighting. The war dead and injured had been brought to the tents and tended to by hundreds of soldiers who had traded in swords for bandages and balms. Nicholas thought about the friends he and Leo had left behind seventeen days ago when they bid King Justin farewell, wondering who among them might still be alive. They were the grimmest of thoughts beneath a clear blue sky and a brilliant rising sun.
They stopped at one of the nearest tents, now a beehive of activity as men scurried about the bonfires where water was being boiled, meals prepared and bloodstained clothing laundered. After climbing off the wagon and waving down a young soldier from Harlow, Nicholas learned that this particular station housed some of the men with only minor injuries who were expected to make full recoveries.
“But there are so many of them,” the man said. He rubbed his shirt sleeve across a sweaty brow. “Even in victory, there is much hardship.”
“Your efforts will not go unnoticed,” Nicholas told him with heartfelt gratitude, amazed at the organization among the smoke-filled and ember-crackling chaos. “But if you have knowledge of King Justin’s whereabouts, we’d be more than grateful for your assistance. We have information for him.”
/> “The King’s quarters are set up along the eastern border of the city,” the soldier replied, pointing southeast beyond the field. “But I must inform you that the King–”
“–doesn’t have time to be your guide!” a familiar voice called out. “But I do!”
Nicholas spun around, seeing a man walking briskly toward them through the drifting white smoke, his whiskered face, aqua-colored eyes and easy smile as pleasant and familiar as a crisp autumn morning. “Hobin!” he cried out with relief, greeting him with a hug. “It feels like ages since Leo and I left you behind at Deshla.”
“Maybe one of these days I’ll forgive you for disappearing,” he joked.
“It wasn’t on purpose,” Leo said, hurrying down from the wagon to say hello to his former guide.
Carmella and Ivy walked up and Nicholas took Ivy’s hand. After Carmella greeted Hobin, Nicholas, with a beaming smile upon his face, at last introduced him to Ivy.
Hobin looked upon the young woman with fatherly affection. “So this is the beautiful lady who Nicholas told me so much about during our travels,” he said, giving her a hug. “I’m glad he found you safe and sound, dear,” he whispered into her ear.
“Thank you,” she replied.
As Hobin stepped back, he smiled at Nicholas. “She’s worth every day of your search, so don’t lose her again.”
“I don’t plan to,” he said, again taking her hand. After the soldier departed to continue his duties, Nicholas and Leo gave Hobin a brief account about what had happened after they left him in Deshla. “But we could stand here for hours talking about that. Tell us what you’re doing here, Hobin.”
“I was seeking out you two, of course!” he replied. “When you never returned from your search for Cale, several of us tried to track you down through the tunnels, but with no luck. We assumed there was a secret exit, but we never found it.”
“There was,” Leo said. “But it’s tricky to find.”
Nicholas Raven and the Wizards' Web (The Complete Epic Fantasy) Page 181
