by B. T. Narro
Fatholl put himself between Basen and the crowd, his teeth gritted as he whispered. “You think you can find out about my family and come here to threaten me? If you ever want to leave this place, you’ll remain silent while I clean up the mess you’re making. Then we will speak about my brother. Privately.”
The Elf put on his false smile again as he turned to the roaring Krepps. “This human doesn’t know me or any of you Krepps. He’s heard rumors…”
Fatholl’s voice trailed off. Basen was ready to interrupt him and point out the Elves with knives surrounding Vithos. However, it seemed that Fatholl wasn’t just searching for the right words. The news of his brother had begun to affect him.
The Krepps were dead silent. Despite how much Fatholl despised the creatures, he’d somehow earned their complete respect.
The Elf looked to be in pain. Fatholl shot a questioning look at Basen, his jaw clenched.
Basen shook his head. “It’s not just rumors,” he said only for Fatholl’s ears. “I know Yeso is there.”
Fatholl lowered his head and squinted, and Basen felt a wave of psyche crash through his mind. It almost took him to his knees, but he held onto his confidence to steady himself. You must face him! Basen screamed in his mind. Don’t run from your brother.
He felt Fatholl rifle through any and all thoughts about him. Then Basen switched his thoughts to the Elves who’d attacked the Academy. He recalled the powerful image of them dashing toward him and his father, the Elves risking their lives to inflict pain. They must be led by someone, and you know better than I do it’s Yeso.
Fatholl brushed his hand through the air at his Elves. “Ready the animals going with them. Basen will still make the portal. Bring the akorell stone.”
“What of your brother?” Basen asked quietly.
“I will speak with him when the time comes.”
“Waiting to speak to him will do nothing,” Basen implored. “He’s already there with his Elves, and they’ve begun to fight. If you let them continue, there’s a good chance they’ll kill us and take Kyrro. You plan to eradicate the Krepps. You believe they will fight against the humans, and the humans will retaliate and kill them all. You might be right. You might even be right about the humans eventually trying to take all of Ovira, once we’re done fighting each other for Kyrro. You should know better than anyone that we will extend our civilization as far as possible and fight each other for land instead of aligning to overcome what’s stopping our further expansion.
“I know that’s what happened in Greenedge. But what do you think will happen when your Elves get in the way? If you’re right about any of this, then Elves and humans will eventually be at war.”
“Psyche—”
“Your numbers will never be enough, even with psyche. Chemists at the Academy are developing potions to resist psyche, no training needed. I’m sure other potions will be developed by the time the first battle comes. You can’t rely on psyche.”
“Stop. Talking.” Fatholl muttered something in Elvish. “You’re so full of words, you look as if you’re about to burst if you don’t shut your mouth.” He started to turn back to face the Krepps as his animals arrived from the outskirts.
Basen grabbed his arm. “Humans remember our history. When we win this war with your help, we will see that the Elves are on our side.”
“Let go of me.”
“Yeso’s Elves are cowards. They choose to take land from others instead of standing with you in Greenedge. You are a hypocrite to put so much effort into eradicating Krepps who have done nothing to you, yet you let your own race destroy life so selfishly.”
“Let…”
Basen released his hold. “I’m not wrong.”
“And that’s the only reason you’re still standing before me instead of crumpled into a ball.” Fatholl sighed. “Yeso and the fools who follow him are a blight on this world. We spent many months in debate. Speaking with him will do nothing, and I’m not stupid enough to confront him expecting anything to change.”
Fatholl leaned closer, lowering his voice even more. “Nor am I stupid enough to face an army of his Elves in which we would be outnumbered.”
“Right. Which is why I have a plan.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Sanya had spoken to no one at the castle since her midnight encounter with Yeso. The Elf expected her to protect Ulric from assassination—to kill Tauwin’s most trusted psychic. She’d spent the last day following the man around the castle, hoping to learn without a doubt whether he really was the king’s chosen assassin.
She’d found out nothing. Not even his name. No one spoke to him when in his company, and no one spoke of him after he left. He seemed to have no family, no friends. It was almost like he didn’t exist.
Almost like Sanya.
His only purpose was to notify Tauwin when someone told a lie, but his very presence behind Tauwin resulted in everyone telling the truth anyway. Sanya couldn’t stomach the idea of murdering him, one ghost ending the life of another.
She was in no rush. Yeso had gone with the majority of Ulric’s army to the Fjallejon Mountains, Ulric as well.
Ulric would be safe from assassination there. Rockbreak would guard him like a loyal dog, and if Sanya couldn’t use psyche against the giant, no one could.
She needed to speak to Ulric, but he hadn’t given her the opportunity. A note had been left for her with his signature.
“The cane of my great-grandfather is no longer sturdy enough to offer support. The temptation of using it has made it become a danger to anyone who sees it. I need you to get rid of it before it hurts someone. You’re the only one who knows where it belongs and the only one who knows how to put it back there. I’m trusting you with this task.”
She knew he was speaking of the weapon. There was only one other person who knew of it—Yeso—and she doubted the Elf would write as delicately. She’d already seen one of his false notes and spoken to him enough times to understand he was much more blunt than Ulric.
Sanya now had to make some decisions that were sure to change her life.
She made her way to the dungeons and found that the tower of enormous rocks had been toppled. Someone had propped the weapon against the wall, its imposing black spheres beckoning Sanya toward them while she fought the urge to run away.
The last time she’d used this weapon, a portal had shot out and ripped the life clean out of Alex and Lori’s bodies, but the portal had opened and closed too quickly for her to have any hope of controlling it. There’s no way I could discard the weapon into one.
She needed an akorell stone, but there was only one she knew of, and she had no idea where Basen was now. He’d been making many portals since they’d last met, and the most recent one was far to the north.
He doesn’t seem to be spending much time training at the Academy. Sanya supposed now that he was a portal mage, he would be used for more important tasks than hurling fireballs at enemies.
In his note, Ulric had mentioned nothing about stopping an assassination attempt. Either he wasn’t aware of Yeso’s threat or he was careful not to even hint at it in a letter that might be seen by others. A day wasn’t enough time to determine whether Ulric was actually in danger from this psychic, and she figured Ulric would understand her delay.
Yeso’s probably whispering in his ear that he can’t trust me. But Sanya trusted Ulric. Their bond had become strong, while it appeared Yeso’s bond with him was getting weaker.
She decided to remove a threat after all—a threat to herself. Yeso could be disposed of at the same time as the weapon. She carefully moved around the boulders until she came to the heavy staff. The cold bit her skin while the dense energy of the black spheres caused a terrible ringing in her ears. She shoved the weapon into a cloth bag as fast as she could.
Some relief came once she closed the bag, but she still felt the weapon draining her energy. She carefully dragged it out of the hidden room, using the bag’s long leather strap to keep her di
stance. She fit the bag into a larger one of leather. It was the second largest bag she could acquire, the first being the final one she used to hold the other two. This one had an even longer and sturdier strap so, while dragging it, she could keep the weapon at an even greater distance from her body and ultimately her heart, which ached worse than her head.
It wasn’t too long ago that she’d felt Basen open a portal somewhere in the Fjallejon Mountains. Knowing that Fjallejons had little control over bastial energy, it was probably akorell metal within the mountains that had allowed Basen to form the portal. If there’s enough there for him to make a portal, there’s enough for me to make one to the spiritual world. She would show Yeso what kind of mistake he’d made by threatening her.
Yes, she was liking this plan better the more she thought about it. But what would she do after she got rid of Yeso? Would his Elf army disband after he was gone? None of that mattered to her. The only thing that did was what Ulric would do with her when he found out.
She would have plenty of time to figure that out on the way there. She was taking the weapon to the mountains no matter what. Whether she would use it on Yeso before getting rid of it was the only question.
*****
The next morning, Sanya acquired a horse and carriage from the castle’s stables. Many of the majestic animals had come with Ulric from Greenedge, yet there wasn’t a use for all of them here. The stablehand thought her to be a Takary, so it was easy for her to point at something and receive it without question.
She’d gotten more used to her silver mask. It no longer caused her forehead to itch, and she’d taught herself to breathe through her mouth so she didn’t have to hear the annoying windy sound of her breath coming in and out through her nose.
The stablehand asked if she knew how to drive a horse carriage. Although she didn’t, she figured psyche would make the task simple. She nodded as she put the bagged weapon in the carriage and climbed upon the animal’s back. As predicted, it was as easy as walking.
Once she was clear of the capital, she gladly removed her mask and hood and told the great animal to gallop faster. The wind stole her next breath as the land became a blur. She laughed with joy.
It would take less than a day to go around the Academy and into the Fjallejon Pathway, but she was tempted to ride east instead. She could just keep going and never return. Eventually she’d turn north and find out why Basen had made a portal to the other side of the continent. There had to be some kind of life for her there, but what? Only Elves had lived that far north, and they had abandoned their homes many years ago.
She had to ignore her curiosity. In the bouncing carriage behind her was death itself, now her responsibility. She had to get rid of it.
Yeso would want to speak with her in private when she arrived to make sure she’d killed Tauwin’s psychic. It would then just be a matter of getting energy into the staff, aiming it at him, and…but what if he pained her and she dropped the weapon? He was too strong to resist, and she couldn’t destroy the bastial energy in the air without making the weapon useless.
If she was able to rip the life from his body, no one would know how he died. No one except Ulric. He wouldn’t want anyone to know of the weapon, which would be back in the spiritual world. So he’d either keep me around and be forced to trust me, or he’d have me killed. I could sense it if his feelings turned hostile. But then what?
Everything had become so complicated since Tauwin’s plan to take Kyrro in a day had failed. Now Ulric taking over the Academy and eventually taking control of Kyrro from Tauwin was the only way she could get some semblance of the life she’d planned. It was still possible, more than possible, really. Yeso was the only one standing in her way.
And if I don’t kill him, he’ll ensure I’m executed or exiled. She couldn’t blame him for being suspicious of her. She was dangerous. Soon he’ll see just how right his suspicions are.
She took the eastern road around the Academy. The camp at Lake Kayvol was still abandoned. Tauwin would have everyone in his army working on the catapults if they weren’t keeping the cities under control. From what Sanya had heard in the castle, news of the Academy coming through the cities and recruiting thousands had reached the ears of even the most secluded commoners on the edges of town. Apparently, rebellion was growing at a faster rate since those who’d gone to the Academy and then come back were being rewarded with extra food.
The citizens were angry that the Takarys would take their crops and their tax money and give them nothing in return. Sanya had heard Tauwin’s excuse for this too many times. “I’ll give them the best version of Kyrro they’ve ever had once this is over. First, I’m taking back what belongs to me.”
No, first you’re taking what belongs to them, Sanya had always wanted to say.
*****
Sanya made it to the Fjallejon Pathway with many hours of daylight left. She gave the horse a needed break, petting him where he seemed to enjoy the feeling the most at this moment, down his mane. She valued his strength and loyalty and told him this through psyche. He nuzzled her with his tremendous head, then rested it on her shoulder.
It had been a while since she’d crossed through this pathway from Tenred to Kyrro. Last she remembered, there was no flat path in the bowl-shaped passage between the mountains. Many loose rocks sitting on uneven ground had made the trip treacherous if it wasn’t done with care, but now there seemed to be a path beaten down enough for her horse to trot through without her worrying about the animal twisting an ankle.
So much had changed in her lifetime. Two wars, multiple takeovers of the Fjallejon Mountains, two massive and ugly trenches stretching from Trentyre to the ocean, three different kings of Kyrro, and three of Tenred once the new ruler came to power.
All the use of energy had left the spiritual world misshapen as well. It was quickly forming pocks and scars like the body of a veteran soldier. But wasn’t she as much to blame as anyone else? It wasn’t as if she’d stood with the Academy to stop this greedy takeover. She was one of many who’d sided with Tauwin in order to get a better life when this was over. She and her mother were supposed to be happy by now. Instead, she was miserable and her mother was dead.
It was a boring trip through the passageway between the mountains. Gone were the days when Fjallejons stood in the way of travelers, demanding to know their business before letting them pass. A message would be sent to Kyrro’s castle by pigeon if the traveler was coming from Tenred—an agreement set decades ago between men and Fjallejons. In exchange, men would leave the mountain to the smaller beings, who treated the land with more care. This agreement meant nothing anymore. The Fjallejons must despise humans by now.
How much longer will it take the Krepps and the Elves to feel the same way?
It was night by the time she’d made it through the snaking chasm between the mountains. From here, there were a few paths up the mountain now available to her and the horse, but she wouldn’t risk guiding the large animal up in the darkness. Instead, she led her tired mount into Corin Forest.
The animal seemed to want to stay on his feet. It took a considerable amount of psyche to make him feel safe and relaxed enough to lie down, his sturdy legs folding beneath him. She curled up and closed her eyes. It took even more psyche to get herself to sleep, thanks to all the safli potions she’d taken to reach her mother in the spiritual world recently. With that journey now over, Sanya felt a sense of peace.
There was no resolution for the murders she’d committed at the Academy, nothing she could do to right her wrongs. Except to turn myself in. Her pulse quickened as she dreamt of entering the Academy. Would they shoot her on sight? Capture her? Certainly one of the two. Would they even let her speak before they strung her up by her neck? If they gave me the chance, I could explain why I did what I did. I could tell them what I’ve done to help the Academy since then…
It wasn’t much, though.
She couldn’t get the image out of her mind of going to the Academy
and facing everyone she’d wronged. Is this what guilt was, wanting to face punishment?
She suddenly knew what to do. She would help Ulric become king and convince him to spare the lives of the people of the Academy. That meant she could follow through with her plan to eliminate Tauwin. She wanted to be the one to do it. She owed it to Kyrro.
Eventually morning came. After breakfast, she set out again with her horse. The trip up the mountain wasn’t long. She noticed several archers looking down upon her, but none drew their arrows. Her horse made it obvious she was with Ulric, in case they missed her silver mask.
“Ulric is on the other side of the peak,” one of the men informed her when she reached the top. “What’s in the bag?”
She’d left the carriage at the bottom of the mountain and was dragging the weapon behind her. She felt none of its effects yet, though she knew it was only a matter of time before the piercing cold would get through the thick bags.
She looked at the archer for a while, catching her breath. He had to know she couldn’t speak, so he must be expecting her to open the bag. He started toward it, but she stepped in front of him and shook her head.
One of the other men approached. “Let him go through.” It seemed she was being mistaken for a man here, just like in the castle. “Do you need help carrying that?”
She shook her head again and hurried off.
It won’t be easy to keep the weapon from being seen. She had to get into the mountains and find somewhere to hide it until she found the akorell metal.
After the short battle a few nights ago, Academy scouts must’ve seen the Elves going north to this mountain. At this point, everyone knew where their enemies were. The army at the Academy couldn’t go anywhere without Ulric hearing of it. Except Basen. Ulric and Tauwin still knew nothing of his ability to make portals.
She wouldn't mind him making another to these mountains. It would be difficult to find akorell metal without a hint, though he would be a fool to come here now with most of Ulric’s army present.
