Could the groeliin have anticipated that Jakob and the nemerahl would shift here?
Maybe not the groeliin, but Raime could have.
Was Raime here? If the High Priest had expected them to come, and had some sort of trap in place for the possibility that they might appear, would he be here, as well, or would he have waited somewhere else?
There was a part of Jakob that wanted to climb from the nemerahl and return to the valley, risking their dark ahmaean, thinking he might not have another opportunity to find Raime. A more rational part recognized that there was no way he would manage to survive against Raime, not with those groeliin there. They still might not even escape.
The nemerahl continued to sprint down the mountainside. As he did, he started to turn, and Jakob looked up, realizing that another dark trail of ahmaean appeared along the valley there.
It was more groeliin.
Jakob stared and counted the groeliin bearing swords, stopping when he reached the twenties. There were too many for them. It was an army of groeliin, and an army that seemed prepared to fight, prepared to do battle with the Antrilii, which he suspected was the intent of the sword bearers. With the groeliin capable of manipulating that much ahmaean, they would be able to counter the Magi, as well as Jakob and the daneamiin.
The nemerahl didn’t think this was Raime, but Jakob couldn’t see how it could be anything other than Raime. This was an army, one prepared to destroy the forces that had stopped them the last time.
We are blocked in, the nemerahl said.
Jakob studied the groeliin and attempted to shift once more, but failed.
There was another possibility for him, but it was one that he didn’t have as much control over, not as much as he needed to in order for it to work effectively.
He focused on the snowpack, and using his ahmaean, he pulled on it, dragging the snow down the slope of the mountain.
It began as a steady rumble that quickly increased, intensifying to a thunder.
A dangerous plan, the nemerahl said.
It’s the only thing I think might buy us time.
He had used a similar tactic in the past. Once in a vision, when he had created a cavern, a massive opening that the groeliin had fallen into. And once when he faced the groeliin in Thealon. That had been the only way that they had survived.
The snow swept down the slope, a sheet sliding down. The groeliin began to panic, the ahmaean around them swirling with agitation.
Jakob realized that it wasn’t agitation. There was intent to it, as well.
The snow changed, steam rising as it melted.
The groeliin were countering his attempt to stop them.
If the snow wasn’t going to be effective, was there another option for him?
He focused on the ground, reaching deep within it, connecting to the ahmaean there, and forced it to split. When he had done the same in the past, pain had lanced through his mind, splitting it as much as the ground had been split. There was some pain, but nothing quite like what he had experienced before.
The ground rumbled, and he thought that it might work, that he might have caused a chasm to open, but then it ceased.
The groeliin were countering him again.
They have learned, Jakob said.
Yes. That is more troubling than anything else.
Why?
The groeliin have never learned from their tactics. They continue to attack, and the use the same techniques, never modifying them. If they have changed this, it means they have changed.
We knew they had changed. The fact that they now carry swords, and that they can control their ahmaean in this way…
Yes. This will be difficult to stop.
When Jakob had fought the groeliin before, he had been able to use his superior sword work and had augmented it by luck, the fact that he could draw upon ahmaean that he was not quite able to control. The groeliin had not been prepared for that, but if they were, if their understanding of how to use their ahmaean had changed, then would he even be able to stop them the way that he had the last time?
The nemerahl continued to race along the side of the mountain. More and more groeliin appeared, and as they did, they forced them back. If they were forced too far back, they would be pushed over the peak of the mountain, which would expose them to the groeliin on the other side.
Jakob would rather fight here than attempt to fight through those groeliin.
He tapped the side of the nemerahl, and the massive cat stopped, allowing Jakob to climb down. This is where I must fight, Jakob said.
There are too many for you to face alone.
There probably are, Jakob agreed, but going back exposes us to groeliin that I cannot defeat. At least this way, there is a chance for me. Will you fight with me?
The nemerahl do not fight.
Jakob smiled and patted his side. That was not you when the Deshmahne attacked when I was with the Denraen?
The nemerahl blinked. I will assist as much as I can.
It would have to do.
Jakob unsheathed and gathered his connection to the ahmaean, pulling it toward him, and jumped. There was power in his jump, and he raced down the side of the mountain, sending his ahmaean deep into the rock, causing it to rumble, preparing for it to fail.
He could feel the groeliin pushing against him and could feel the way they worked against his effort to split the ground, and Jakob pushed more and more.
The earth exploded with a loud crack. Rock spewed into the air.
Groeliin hissed. Jakob roared, pressing power through his sword.
And then he was upon them. He was met by one of the large groeliin, one bearing a sword. He struck, drawing upon his ahmaean, slowing the other creature’s movements. With a flurry, Jakob beheaded the groeliin.
He didn’t dare hesitate. He turned, sweeping through the groeliin, drawing their attack toward him.
The nemerahl leaped into the middle of the battle alongside him.
Jakob nearly lost his focus. The nemerahl was a powerful creature and attacked raking at the groeliin with his claws. He howled, the sound echoing off of the mountains. Another howl came in return, an answer to the nemerahl cry.
Jakob had never heard a sound like what he heard now. It was a steady howl, a repeated cry that echoed through the mountains. There was a mournful tone to it that he felt compelled by, drawn toward the sound.
The nemerahl repeated his howl.
Once more, an answering call echoed.
Were there more nemerahl? Jakob hadn’t expected to find others, certainly not in the mountains. If he were to find them, he expected that he would discover them in the Old Forest, if anywhere.
He pressed out with his ahmaean, and the ground rumbled softly.
The groeliin attempted to resist, and Jakob pushed again, determined to overwhelm their capacity to stop him.
His head throbbed from the effort of using his ahmaean in this way. He hadn’t fought—really fought—in quite some time.
As he battled the groeliin, he missed Brohmin. There had been something comforting in having the Hunter with him, and having him by his side, and knowing that Brohmin could rescue him were he to need it. Jakob felt that way even after he had come to grips with the fact that he was more skilled than Brohmin.
There were so many groeliin. Those that he trapped when he split open the ground disappeared, only to be replaced by others. They streamed in, the size of the horde rivaling what he had faced in Thealon. In Thealon, there had not been any groeliin capable of fighting with the sword. These creatures were violent, and each time he stopped one, another appeared, taking its place and posing a new threat.
The nemerahl continued to fight, and he was a flurry of claws and fangs, all managing to push back the groeliin.
Jakob tried shifting again, and as before, he failed.
Whatever was holding him and the nemerahl in place remained. He wasn’t exactly certain what power they used, but it likely had to do with the twelve groeli
in he’d seen on the other side of the mountain. Were they able to influence him from there?
How long had they been aware of his presence?
It was possible that they had known the moment he’d appeared. They were certainly skilled with utilizing their connection to the ahmaean, so Jakob had to believe that they could have recognized his presence. Did they use some connection to teralin much like they had tried to in the daneamiin lands?
If they did, he probably would not be able to find it in time to reverse whatever effect they employed.
Somehow, they had to get past these groeliin so they could make a run for it, or he would be forced to attack the twelve.
The nemerahl howled, and Jakob recognized pain in the sound, and he spun.
The creature was surrounded by two of the sword-bearing groeliin. The nemerahl couldn’t attack easily. Each time he tried, each time he darted forward, the other pushed back, attacking with the sword that left the nemerahl bleeding from multiple cuts. In spite of that, the massive creature continued to fight on Jakob’s behalf.
Jakob bellowed out an angry battle cry and raced toward the groeliin.
He pulled on his ahmaean, ripping it from within his mind, forcing his mind to open as it had in those earliest of days.
Everything slowed. The groeliin fought against it, but Jakob had control of the ahmaean, and he demanded that it hold.
He cut the groeliin down, not giving them a chance to counter, and paused a moment to check on the nemerahl. He was injured, and Jakob suspected the nemerahl would continue to fight, but should he?
Go, he said.
You can’t handle this fight on your own, the nemerahl said.
You’re injured. If you remain, you will only end up dying. Jakob fought back five groeliin, slicing through them quickly. He pushed outward, creating a barrier around him using his ahmaean in a way that he had not attempted before. The groeliin beat upon it but were not able to penetrate the barrier of ahmaean.
Could he use that to help protect them?
He continued to fight, pushing the barrier in front of him, signaling the nemerahl to follow. They moved carefully, winding down the mountain slope.
More and more groeliin continued to appear, coming in numbers that they would not be able to withstand.
The nemerahl howled.
There came an answering howl, the same as he had heard before. Several other voices echoed it, crying out against the daylight.
What are those?
They are the merahl.
Merahl. Jakob had seen them with the Antrilii but had not witnessed them fighting. He knew from Roelle that they were capable of seeing the groeliin and fighting them off, but there were too many for them to do anything here.
He pushed again, drawing on as much ahmaean as he could, and forced the barrier out more widely. It began to strain his capacity to hold it, but he maintained it, creating an opening for him to pass through, trying to move more quickly.
Jakob glanced back and noted dark ahmaean coming down the mountainside.
As he did, he saw one of the massive groeliin that had control of his ahmaean coming with it. The groeliin began beating upon Jakob’s ahmaean, and he resisted. It forced him to constrict his connection once more, demanding that he withdraw until he had little more than a narrow band of ahmaean around him as a buffer.
They had to move more slowly. They continued carefully down the slope, and he allowed himself the hope that they would escape.
He sensed the nemerahl was growing weaker, and that he wouldn’t be able to maintain the current pace for long. As soon as they could get free, he would shift them, and find some way to heal the nemerahl.
Darkness flickered in front of him.
Jakob looked up as one of the twelve massive groeliin suddenly appeared.
Not just appeared. Shifted.
Another joined it. Then another.
Three of the massive groeliin. They pressed their dark ahmaean against his, and his connection to it collapsed, leaving him exposed.
As Jakob prepared to fight, the nemerahl roared and lunged forward.
Chapter Twelve
Jakob raced after the nemerahl, not wanting him to face the groeliin on his own. The nemerahl was injured and would be unable to fight for long, certainly not against creatures that size and with such control over their ahmaean.
The ahmaean struck the nemerahl but washed over it.
Maybe the nemerahl would not be harmed.
He hurried forward, joining the nemerahl, and pulled on his connection to the ahmaean, probing forward as he had when he had faced Raime, lashing out with it in a way that would hold the groeliin.
Against these creatures, his connection to the ahmaean did nothing.
Their dark ahmaean rippled, exploding his connection, leaving his head throbbing from pain.
Jakob struck again, once again pulling his ahmaean around him as a barrier, and then probing outward, trying to push back the groeliin. He needed to slow them, and attempted to use the connection to the ahmaean the way that he had before, but it didn’t respond. There was pressure, and the groeliin used their ahmaean to fend him off.
He was left with only his sword.
The nemerahl reached the nearest of the twelve groeliin. He lunged, slashing at the groeliin, but the groeliin was quick, responding in ways that Jakob could barely follow.
The nemerahl howled, the sound a pained cry.
Jakob reached the attack. He struck the nearest groeliin with his sword, but the groeliin grabbed the blade, stopping his attack. Jakob jerked back on his sword, freeing it from the groeliin’s grasp.
The nemerahl lunged, and the two of them caught the groeliin between them.
Jakob struck, and this time, the groeliin didn’t manage to catch the blade. He caught the creature along the chest, bringing a line of blood.
He spun, preparing to attack again, when the groeliin flickered, disappearing.
Jakob swung around, preparing for the next of the massive groeliin.
The creature waited, and he readied his attack, but as he struck, the groeliin shifted, also disappearing.
The rest of their group disappeared, as well.
Jakob turned, expecting to face the rest of the groeliin army, but it was gone.
Had these twelve only come so that they could get the rest to safety? Had they engaged him simply to draw him away?
He turned, looking to the nemerahl, and found him lying unmoving.
That wasn’t entirely true. The nemerahl was breathing, but his breathing was slow, coming in deep, gasping breaths.
Jakob hurried to the nemerahl. How badly are you hurt?
Badly enough.
Jakob looked up but saw no sign of groeliin. He grabbed the nemerahl and attempted to shift. Thankfully, he succeeded, and they appeared at the heart of the Great Forest.
Jakob drew upon the ahmaean within the Forest and pressed it out from him and into the nemerahl.
That will not work.
Why not?
That is not how I draw power.
How can I help you?
There is no helping.
Why?
The nemerahl draw strength from the fibers themselves.
Jakob frowned. How was he supposed to help nemerahl if their connection to power came from the fibers? Was there anything that he could even do?
That is why there are so few nemerahl. We spawn from the fibers themselves, drawing strength from that connection.
How is that even possible?
The nemerahl regarded him with his golden eyes. You have seen what you have and done what you have done, and yet still you question how things are possible? There are many things that seem impossible, but they are what they are. It is much like you, damahne. You have power that you never had before, and that power comes from the Maker.
The nemerahl rested his head back and closed his eyes. His breathing began to slow. If nothing happened, the nemerahl would perish. Jakob had yet to deter
mine whether this nemerahl was the last of them, or if there were others. If this was the last, Jakob had to do everything that he could to preserve and protect him.
But if he drew power and abilities from the fibers themselves, how could he?
Jakob had moved back along the fibers and had done so more thoroughly than others before him.
Was there some way that he could use that, some way that he could use his connection to the fibers to help the nemerahl?
He had never attempted to bring others with him, but when he had faced Raime and restored the fibers, hadn’t he stepped outside of them, as well?
Jakob had to try it.
He pulled on his ahmaean and realized that would not be enough. He took a deep breath, pulling in the ahmaean from the Great Forest. He held it deep within himself and stepped backward, drawing himself into the fibers.
This time, he focused on the nemerahl, pulling the great cat with him. The connection pulled him, and pulled the nemerahl, and they appeared outside of the fibers.
The fibers of time were a physical thing, and they were as real as anything he had experienced. It was an unusual sensation stepping outside the fibers, being aware of time itself. He could tell where Raime had injured them, and could see where he had restored them, smoothing them over. He could even see how he had sealed Raime off from the fibers.
“You should not have done this,” a voice said.
Jakob turned and saw the nemerahl as a translucent haze of energy.
There was an ethereal quality to the great cat that seemed augmented by the connection to the fibers. Jakob stared around him, trying to understand all that was taking place.
“I couldn’t leave you to die,” Jakob said.
“For the nemerahl, there is no death. There is only a return.”
“Would you have been able to return?”
The nemerahl didn’t answer, so Jakob tried a different approach.
“What do you mean by a return?”
“We are a part of time, and separate from it.”
“How are you separate from time?”
“We have been here from the beginning. We are the beginning. We are the end.”
The Last Conclave (The Lost Prophecy Book 6) Page 10
