by B. T. Narro
There was no way all of them could stay hidden as soon as anyone approached and put light upon them, but they needed one or two of the enemies to come. They needed more swords.
“You must’ve heard that,” the first man said.
“I did,” said the second. “Whatever it is, let’s eat it.”
Effie heard the sound of metal as if the men had retrieved their swords. Footsteps approached. A beam of light came out.
“Stop,” the second man said. “Don’t scare it off.”
The light went out.
They came closer, and closer still. Effie risked a look in the darkness.
The Krepps at the front pounced from behind the trees. Steffen joined them, though a bit late, as Annah raised her hands at the three men.
Crim killed one with his sword while Annah took the other two down with psyche. The Krepps used their palms to stifle the men’s screams. Steffen impaled one with his sword as the Krepps stabbed the other with their jagged sticks. He fought until Crim hurried over and finished him off.
The enemy swords were quickly snatched up. One Krepp knelt for the fallen wand, then tossed it away in frustration. He found a knife on the dead mage’s belt and licked his teeth as he took it.
“What was that?” someone else asked near one of the distant fires. Shadows came out from behind tents.
An enemy mage cast his light upon them.
“Krepps!” they screamed.
The creatures screeched right back as they darted toward the enemies scampering for their weapons.
“Charge them!” Steffen yelled from behind the Krepps, Annah sprinting after him.
Juliana ran past Effie as she stood still to focus on gathering energy. Effie shot her fireball well over the heads of her allies. It struck a distant tent, sending out a flaming and screaming enemy.
She hurried to catch up as the Krepps’ superior speed had already brought them in contact with their enemies. The few men who’d had their swords handy were backing away as they waited for their comrades to join them. But they couldn’t get away fast enough, the Krepps knocking them down with powerful swings of their heavy sticks. Other Krepps ripped the swords right out of the enemies’ hands.
Effie gathered energy for her next fireball as more men poured from their tents. She shot at a cluster of silhouettes. Her fireball arced down onto a man just bringing a trumpet to his lips. The start of his blare was interrupted as he was blasted away.
Enemies late to the battle came in behind the Krepps. One already had his sword up, about to plunge it through Crim’s spine as the Krepp engaged two swordsmen at once.
“Behind you, Crim!” Effie shouted, unable to gather energy quickly enough.
He didn’t seem to hear, though Steffen did and dashed toward him. He was too far and wouldn’t make it in time.
Annah! Where had she gone? Then Effie found her, in the heart of the battle, too far from Crim to help.
Juliana intercepted the enemy at full speed, smashing the rock against the side of his head. His feet came out from under him, then he lay still on the ground.
Juliana froze as she stared down at him. Effie had caught up by then and grabbed the soldier’s sword. She put it into Juliana’s hands. Basen’s mother looked down at it, seeming to remember where she was. She gripped it tightly. Two enemies came straight for them, but Steffen jumped in front.
He hopped to the side to dodge their attacks. Effie shot one as Steffen sliced the other man’s leg. Juliana screamed as she came toward the fallen enemies with the sword overhead. She brought it down hard into one man’s chest as Steffen finished the other.
Juliana fell backward as she tried to pull her sword free. Effie helped her up, then wrenched the bloody sword out of the man’s body. Juliana looked exhausted as she took it, groaning just to lift the blade upright. The woman has no stamina after rotting in prison and then walking for days.
“I’ll keep you safe,” Effie said.
Steffen was already back with the Krepps. Annah had turned her focus toward the enemies coming behind them, and in a short time there were none left but those in front.
Effie saw her first Krepp fall as they finally were outnumbered. The female Krepp took a blade to her side. She yelled something to another Krepp, who turned and lopped off the enemy’s head. Effie lost the female Krepp in the crowd, only to find her later, dead.
Others began to fall. Their progression stopped completely as a horde of enemies surrounded them. Effie shot from the rear, but soon there were no more enemies for her to hit without risking burning her allies. She could only stand in the back with Juliana and watch death approach as the Krepps were cut down.
These enemy swordsmen weren’t as skilled as the warriors from the Academy, but there were just so damn many. They’d shown confusion and a great lack of coordination at first, but now they’d been organized by an officer screaming orders from the back of their horde.
Effie tried to move around to the side to get a shot at him. Juliana followed. Effie saw only swordsmen and mages, which meant she didn’t have to worry about getting hit with an arrow as she had in the past. It gave her the confidence she needed to separate far from her group as she came farther around.
More swordsmen coming out of tents stopped her and sent a stab of fear into her heart.
“Hide,” she told Juliana as she tried to get the older woman behind an empty tent. It was too late. They’d been seen.
Three swordsmen charged. Effie aimed her wand. They put up their arms for protection as she let loose the blinding fireball, which struck the grass just in front of them and knocked them on their backs. She grabbed Juliana’s hand and pulled her toward their army, their only chance of survival. The three swordsmen were up and chasing them before Effie had gotten a good lead, and Juliana was slowing her too much.
Bastial hell, even if they did make it back in time, all of her allies were too overwhelmed to help.
“We have to fight,” Effie said as she came to a stop. She aimed her wand and readied more energy, Juliana taking a lackluster fighter’s stance to her side.
Their enemies were just shadows this far from the campfires. They separated from each other as Effie fired, her fireball striking only one. The explosion forced her eyes shut for a breath. Now with splotches of white clouding her vision, she searched for the two left.
Three shadows again—did she miss one of them after all? But they appeared to be fighting each other. Something flew through the air, an arrow perhaps. It cut through one shadow. Another zipped toward the other shadow, impaling him. Both arrows returned to the third shadow, as if drawn by powerful magnets.
The silhouette of a man came toward Effie. She raised her wand, straining for breath and focusing to gather the necessary energy.
His familiar voice stopped her. “Effie, it’s me.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Basen wasn’t allowed to leave the Elven woman’s house. He didn’t know where she was spending her day, but it wasn’t here. He and Vithos had been escorted back after making a portal for all the Krepps, farm animals, and Elves to Regash Forest. He’d kept the portal open longer than he ever had before, and he eventually would allow himself to be proud that his training had paid off, but he was too worried at the moment to feel much else.
He’d freed his mother from prison, but now it seemed as if he’d become a captive himself. Fatholl seemed to be someone who needed complete control, like Tauwin, because he’d taken Basen’s akorell stone once again to have it charged by his Elven mages. Basen had warned it would take a tremendous amount of energy to have it ready by tonight and that he would be of better use than three of their mages combined, but Fatholl still refused to let Basen anywhere near the stone.
Since their meeting, the only time they’d agreed on anything was over Basen’s plan involving Yeso. Quite amusing considering my plan seemed absurd to me the first time I came up with it. But Fatholl had taken to it immediately, like an animal stalking a kill. That’s what it wi
ll seem like to Yeso, but it’s the opposite. We are the hunter luring the prey.
Basen had been right to assume that Fatholl and Yeso had become enemies. It only seemed natural given their history. Basen could see it in Fatholl’s eyes when he mentioned his brother’s name. Yeso was a threat to him and his ideals, so Yeso must feel the same about Fatholl.
He and Vithos mostly slept as they waited for night. There was but one bed, though it was big enough for two. Basen awoke several times to Vithos’ forearms pressed against his back, the sleeping Elf curled up against him as if seeking warmth. Vithos slept quite soundly, so Basen was able to turn him around to face the other way without waking him.
Basen became confused when he awoke later to find Vithos positioned as before.
He grew up with Krepps and has only recently felt the comfort of a gentler race, Basen reminded himself. He has many years of being unloved to make up.
Basen felt the same about his mother, even though it had been less than a year since his exile. It was as if he needed the rest of her life to make up for the time they’d lost. And the terrible thoughts I had about her choosing Tegry over us.
She should reach the Academy by today or tomorrow. The thought brought him enough comfort to fall back asleep with Vithos pressed against him until someone entering the house roused Basen.
“Wake up, Vithos,” he said, shaking the Elf. Given the chance, Fatholl could kill Basen and keep his akorell stone, and no one would have a chance to retaliate. Terren would never go to war with the Elves over the death of one man, not that Basen would want him to.
“I hope you slept well,” Fatholl said as he came into the bedroom, “because you’ll need all your strength for this.”
*****
Sanya had decided she would end Yeso’s life with the weapon, then throw it into a portal to the spiritual world. Getting Yeso near the akorell metal would be easy. He would want to speak privately to find out whether she’d killed Tauwin’s psychic. She just needed to find the akorell metal within the mountains then get Yeso close enough to it.
She still hadn’t figured out how Ulric would respond, but she expected he’d understand after she explained Yeso’s threat. He tried to force me to run or get myself caught.
No one was going to force Sanya to do anything now that her father was dead. Ulric might lose the loyalty of the Elves with their leader gone, but Ulric didn’t need them to win this war. He would forgive her.
Part of her wanted to kill Yeso in order to give the Academy the chance it deserved, but she had to be honest with herself. She wanted him dead for selfish reasons.
It had been two days since she’d arrived at the Fjallejon Mountains, and night was approaching. The tunnels inside the mountain, some vast and others annoyingly small, would no longer be lit by sconces when it was time for the Fjallejons to sleep. She didn’t want to spend another day here. She had to find the akorell metal soon.
She’d stored the bags containing the weapon near where she’d been sleeping. An alcove there seemed as good as any other place, located toward the middle of the mountain. It made it easier to return after she’d been off searching. Ulric wouldn’t approve of her leaving the weapon anywhere out of her sight, but she couldn’t bear keeping it close to her.
The inside of the Fjallejon Mountains had very little to distinguish one part from the next. Ulric’s men and Yeso’s Elves kept to the upper sections, where man-sized chairs, tables, and beds had been assembled. With little to do as they waited for the siege weapons to be built to take the Academy, much of the army had been hard at work transforming the mountains into a more suitable place for them to live.
It seemed as if at least some of them planned to stay here. Sanya didn’t need psyche to tell that the Fjallejons disliked the humans coming into their home, but what could they do about it? The small beings had proven time and again that they’d choose suffering over aggression if it meant avoiding conflict.
Sanya spent the rest of that day searching for the akorell metal. If she didn’t find it by the end of the next day, she might need to alter her plans. Ulric and Yeso would return to the castle soon enough to seize it from Tauwin.
Where was that damn akorell metal! Sanya started back to her little alcove after another long day of searching.
She suddenly felt a portal opening not far away. Basen had returned to the mountains. The idiot—thousands of enemies were here! She grabbed her weapon of death and ran down the dark hallways.
*****
Basen worried he’d forgotten the location of the akorell metal in the Fjallejon Mountains, but it turned out he couldn’t forget this place. It was as if the battle here against Abith and his countless men was just yesterday. Pillars of warped stone were blackened or cracked. One had crumbled after Basen blasted it twice with fireballs, and the rubble remained.
As he’d predicted, no one was here. All should be sleeping now.
A few of the Elves who’d come with him had wands, like Basen, though he’d convinced Fatholl to give him a sword as well. They would be fighting together, after all, before possibly fighting each other. There had been no reluctance as Fatholl had ordered an Elf to fetch a sword of fine steel for Basen. But he wasn’t foolish enough to take that as a sign of peace to come.
Basen had pocketed the akorell bracelet after being the last one through the portal. The disorienting travel had hit him as hard, if not harder, then the other times he’d gone through. It might have to do with the great distance he’d just covered, from Merejic to Kyrro, or perhaps the many portals were starting to take a toll on his body.
The lead Elf was a woman whose beauty was almost a distraction, especially considering the cut of her shirt showed most of her bosom. It didn’t make sense to Basen until he realized she would be the one taking the role of questioner in his plan. Psyche and beauty, it was bound to work so long as the first troops they encountered had any interest in women.
As Basen had expected, the caverns within the mountain were black as pitch. But most of the Elves had come with lamps, their swords in their sheaths for the moment. First they needed to figure out how to get out of here, as even Basen didn’t know, then they could fight.
He stayed close enough to the front to give directions to the Elven woman but far enough so that when they encountered someone, he could hide in the shadows along with the rest of their small army. He had her lead them back the way he’d come with Jackrie, or at least he tried. It didn’t take long for him to feel lost, as the tunnels and caverns looked the same.
Vithos stayed toward the back, and the separation made Basen nervous. But there was a small chance someone might recognize the Elf who’d grown up with the Krepps and realize this group wasn’t with Yeso. They already were taking a huge risk with this plan, so they couldn’t afford more.
So much relied on the Elves who’d gone with the Krepps through the first portal. Fatholl didn’t seem worried about them, though, which allowed Basen to relax a little.
Fatholl barely spoke, his hard features never changing. Basen expected nothing less severe, as Fatholl had the face of an Elf ready to kill his own brother.
The Elves soon sensed the presence of life above them as well as below.
“We need to go up,” Basen said. He remembered encountering only enemies on the way down here, not Fjallejons. And those disgusting rodents.
After following the inclining tunnels, they finally began to sense people ahead of them. The woman at the front said something in her language and everyone stopped.
“What?” Basen asked.
“Someone is coming toward us,” Fatholl explained. He put out his hand. “They’re going the other way now. It might be a psychic who detected us.” He transitioned into Elvish to converse with the others.
Soon they plodded on. Basen still hadn’t gotten used to being here. Moments ago, he’d been in Merejic. A few days before that, he’d been in Tenred, and before that he’d been at the Academy. A surge of dizziness struck him as each locatio
n spun around in his mind. It was as if he was in all three places at once. He reached out to steady himself and grabbed Fatholl’s shoulder, but it wasn’t enough to keep him on his feet.
As he fell to his knees, Fatholl grabbed his arms to hold him up. “What’s the matter with you? Stand up!”
Basen focused on the Fjallejon Mountains, knowing he was there now. However, all he could see was the sand of the Group One training grounds, the shelves of the castle’s kitchen, and the grass of the Elven village, all swirling together fast enough to make him sick if it didn’t stop.
Fatholl squeezed his arm hard. “Focus!”
The dancing shadows from everyone’s moving lamps took over. Basen managed to stand.
“You will be left behind if you can’t keep up,” Fatholl warned.
There was no doubt in Basen’s mind that Fatholl was being completely honest. The plan would go on whether or not Basen could make it. Still reeling from the spell, he held his stomach and pushed onward.
Slowly, his mind began to clear. Whatever connection he’d made to these places, it felt as if they were part of him now, more than just a memory.
Eventually their group happened upon a large cavern where many men slept in makeshift beds. Basen stayed back with the others while the beautiful woman approached the closest one.
“Excuse me,” she said. “Can you help me?”
“What’s wrong—oh.”
Basen could almost feel the moment when the man noticed her beauty. No doubt psyche was involved as well. It was probably keeping the others asleep, as her voice did seem loud enough to wake them.
“I’m sorry to bother you, but I’m looking for Yeso.” She had just a trace of an accent.
“He and your Elves are that way. Stay to the right. They aren’t far. How did you get lost?”
“I just arrived with some others, but we’ve already confused our route. I don’t want to show up in front of Yeso without knowing where I am. How do I get to the top of the mountains?”
