Ascendant

by Craig Alanson

  "Looks like we could get some rain." Loxa observed.

  "Huh? Why you say that?" Portis grunted, laying backing against a tree, with his eyes closed.

  Loxa pointed to the northwest with the sharpening stone. "Lightning in the clouds, over yonder there. Storm's coming."

  "That's funny looking lightning." Koren said, and hopped on a tree stump to get a better view. "I've never seen lightning like that."

  Portis roused himself to see what was so interesting about lightning. "What the hell is wrong with you two, can't you let an honest, hard-working man rest?"

  Loxa snorted with laughter. "If you were honest, or hard-work-"

  "Quiet!" Portis exclaimed. "That's not lightning, you fool, you ever see lightning red and blue like that? That's wizard fire! The light from wizard fire, reflected on the clouds above."

  "Paedris! He's alive!" Koren shouted excitedly. Now that he knew what he was seeing, he could tell Portis was right. It was wizard fire, glowing off the bottom of the thin, low-lying clouds to the northwest. Glowing blue, and red. That morning, the enemy wizards had thrown red fire, and Paedris blue.

  "Course he's alive all right, the old rascal, alive and giving the enemy hell, by the look of it." Portis said with pride in his voice. "That's our wizard, he is."

  "I never seen wizard fire until this morning," Loxa said defensively. "You seen old Paedris fight before?"

  "Well, sure," Portis said, "wasn't I with him when we-"

  "We need to help him!" Koren interrupted.

  "Help him?! I told you before-"

  "Before we didn't know where he was, or that he was still alive, and fighting. If there's a battle, that means he didn't get away. He could be trapped somewhere. He needs our help."

  "You know where he is, do you, you who never been in these parts before?"

  "He's, he's," Koren waited for another flash of light, "he's over there, somewhere." He waved his hand in the general direction of the light. To the northwest, beyond the village, up the river. "We can follow the light to find him!"

  "Koren, lad, your heart is in the right place, but you need to use your head too." Portis tapped his temple with a finger. "That's on the other side of the river, we can't even get over there." Portis pointed down toward the black, rushing water that was now barely visible in the vanishing twilight.

  "We burned the bridge behind us, for real this time." Loxa added. "No way to get across, that I know. Nearest bridge is leagues north of here?"

  "Aye, listen to Loxa, lad, he's right. Nothing we can do tonight to help Paedris." Portis said. "Best we stay here, and build a barricade, so we can stay behind it until dawn, and some of us can catch a few winks of sleep."

  "No." Koren dropped the horses' reins on the ground. "I'm not in the army, I'm not a soldier, I'm a servant. And I belong with Paedris." And he turned and hurried down the hill without another word.

  "What?" Loxa exclaimed, "You can't just-"

  Portis grasped the younger soldier's arm. "Let him be, Loxa, let him be. This is his first battle, and he's right, he's not a soldier. We'll get these last two trees cut and drag them down to the road. Koren will be back, I think, he can't go far."

  Koren held Thunderbolt to a fast trot, although he could feel the great horse straining to run. The road was dark and unfamiliar, Koren could not risk the horse stepping into a hole and injuring a leg. The moon was half-lit, high in the sky, but ducked behind clouds too often for Koren to see the road ahead with confidence. This road, on the east side of the river, seemed to be less used than the west side road the army had traveled. The road here was more narrow, deeply rutted, with overhanging trees, and in places old stone walls had partly tumbled into the road. Several times Thunderbolt had stumbled and nearly thrown Koren off when the horse stepped on a stone. Even with his excellent night vision, Koren was afraid to let his horse run in the darkness.

  An hour after seeing the wizard fire in the sky, Koren was doubting whether he had been right to run off to rescue Paedris. What was he going to do, by himself? After he had run down the hill and found Thunderbolt, he had ridden away as fast as he could, pausing only to lean down from the saddle to snatch a bow and quiver of arrows from the ground next to a sleeping soldier. Koren had let loose the reins, Thunderbolt had surged off into the night, chased by a chorus of shouts from the alarmed soldiers. Koren had urged Thunderbolt onward, to bolt through the last gap in the almost-finished barricade, then they were gone, Koren barely hearing the shouting behind him over the wind whistling in his ears. Soon as they were around the first bend in the road, where the light from the campfires and torches of the royal army was blocked by trees, they were plunged into sudden darkness, and Koren had pulled back on the reins, and held Thunderbolt to a brisk trot since then. At first, Koren had been afraid of Captain Raddick sending men to pursue him, but in the confusion of setting up barricades and preparing for a night defense, no one thought much of the wizard's servant riding out of camp on his horse; the few soldiers who noticed him going assumed Koren had been sent on another errand by the healer.

  He had gotten away, he had a strong horse, a bow, a quiver of arrows, his short sword, and no idea how he was going to rescue the court wizard. No idea how he was going to get to Paedris, to even get across the river. When the road ran through farm fields, where Koren could see the sky to the west, he would sometimes see wizard fire reflected off the clouds, so he had a very rough idea of the direction he needed to go. The river, however, was still an impossible barrier. Once, when the road ran close to the top of the bluff above the river, Koren had gotten off Thunderbolt and walked to the edge. When the half moon peeked out from behind the clouds, he saw there was a steep drop to dark, rushing water. White foam boiled around the rocks, the river was still in Spring flood, there was no way Thunderbolt could get across, and Koren would be gambling his life to swim across, even without weapons.

  He stared down at the river, at the swiftly-flowing black water, and doubted himself. What was he doing, in the dark, all alone? What did he hope to accomplish, one person, with a single quiver of arrows and a short sword, against enemy wizards and scores of battle-hardened soldiers? Maybe he should ride back to camp, tell Portis he was right, and do whatever he was ordered to do.

  Give up? Give up, and ride back to the safety of the camp, where he could chop wood, and boil water, safely surrounded by the royal army? Give up like a coward?

  Koren had not been angry during the battle, he hadn't had time. After, he was in shock, and scrambling to follow the healer's orders. It was only now, alone with his thoughts in the darkness, that he was free to consider what had happened since the morning, a perfectly pleasant Spring morning. And he was angry. The battle was still a blur in his mind, the fighting so unexpected, so brief and intense, that he only remembered bits and pieces, such as when Dartenon fell, and the look on the face of that enemy soldier on the bridge, when Koren's arrow caught him in the throat. He wasn't angry about the battle, he was angry that Captain Raddick had called him a coward.

  Koren may be a jinx, may have been cursed by God, may have been a terrible son, may have been abandoned by his parents. But he was not a coward. And he was going to prove that, or die trying.

  He sprung to his feet, ran back to Thunderbolt, and continued north on the road, anger fueling his determination.

  They were nearly past the crossroads before Koren realized another road led off to the left. He dropped to the ground, and walked carefully along what he thought was the center of the road, feeling grass and weeds brushing against his legs. This road, wherever it led, had not seen much traffic in a long time. He waited for the moonlight, the clouds were thinning and ragged, he should soon have some light to guide him for a few hours, until the moon set over the hills to the west. When the clouds slid aside, Koren got a decent look at the road in front of him. It was overgrown, with brush crowding the sides, a downed tree blocking the way. It looked like someone had made an attempt to chop the tree in half, to move it, but then ha
d given up. The road didn't appear to be a promising way for Koren to get across the river.

  Unless-

  That morning, he had ridden past another little-used crossroads on the west side of the river, and one of the soldiers who had been in the area before said the road to the east led to an old bridge, which was not used because the center span had fallen in the river. That road had also been overgrown. Maybe the weed-choked road ahead went to the old bridge. Even if the bridge could no longer carry wagons, or horses, it might be possible for Koren to somehow use the bridge supports to cross the river.

  The moonlight helped Koren see at least the outlines of the road, and any trees that had fallen across it, but after Thunderbolt stumbled twice on objects unseen under the weeds, Koren dropped down and walked, leading the way. By the time they reached the bridge, the moonlight was steady, and Koren could just barely see wizard fire, not reflected on the scattered clouds, but as a flickering glow on the western skyline, through the trees atop a hill. He must be getting closer to the wizard!

  Leaving Thunderbolt behind, Koren cautiously walked out onto the bridge. It was narrow, only wide enough for one wagon, but substantial, being built of stone. Leaning over the railing, he could see the bridge was a series of stone arches, soaring high above the river below. Each arch ended in a sort of tower, rising from the river, white rapids glinted in the moonlight around the base of the towers. The gray stone surface of the bridge ended after four arches, replaced by a wooden bridge in the center, which at one time reached across to the stone tower on the other side. Some time ago, the wood structure had sagged and tilted to one side; it still reached almost all the way across, but many deck boards were missing, and the other end of the wood bridge deck was below the stone road surface on the other side. Someone had tied a sturdy rope all the way across, Koren tugged hard on the rope, it felt safe. Safe enough for him, carrying his small pack, short sword, bow and arrows? He edged out onto the sagging bridge, feeling for steady footing, holding tightly to the rope. Halfway to the other side, he felt the bridge shift and sway under his weight. With his legs shaking, he inched his way back toward the security of the stone arch. He could gather up his pack, sword, bow and arrows, and make it across. Even if the floor of the bridge gave way, he could hang onto the rope. There was no way for Thunderbolt to get across; the wood bridge sagged so much there was a gap half as high as Koren was tall at the far end. Surely not even Thunderbolt's legs could jump that high.

  "Good horse, good boy, Thunderbolt." Koren hugged the horse's neck and stroked his shoulder. He left the saddle on, but took off the bridle and reins, tucking them into a saddlebag. "You know your way back to the army, right? You'll be fine, you'll be fine." He said, more to convince himself than to calm the horse. Koren hated to leave his horse alone, but didn't know what else to do. "Now go, go, good boy." Koren gave the horse a swat on the rump, and Thunderbolt trotted off the bridge, then turned and stood, watching and waiting. "Go! Go away!" Koren shouted, but Thunderbolt simply snorted, stomped his feet a few times and flicked his tail nervously.

  Shrugging his shoulders, Koren turned and ran to the edge of the stone arch, taking a firm grip on the rope. Knowing what to expect, he was not alarmed when the wood bridge swayed and sagged. Trying to keep tension in the rope, so it could take his full weight if the wood structure of the bridge fell, he walked carefully across, feeling for a solid surface before he placed his foot down on the wood deck. There was little wind that night, he could hear the roar of the water rushing under the bridge, and the creaking of the timbers, and the blood pounding in his ears. When he reached the end of the wood structure, he had to climb up to the stone road surface, hauling himself up on the rope. The stones at the edge were loose, the first time he tried to pull himself over the edge, the stone crumbled and he fell back onto the wood deck, which lurched to the side with a cracking sound. Koren held tightly onto the rope, taking his weight off his feet, but he could feel a strong vibration, and then the entire wood bridge was swaying wildly. With a loud clatter of hooves, Koren swung around on the rope to see the now-panicked horse racing across the bridge toward him, lurching from one side to the other as the wood surface gave way beneath Thunderbolt’s weight!

  Koren was about to shout for Thunderbolt to go back, then he saw in a flash that the horse’s only chance to survive was to keep going, as fast as he could. Desperation gave him strength, and Koren heaved himself up the rope to roll onto the stone surface of the arch. He barely spun around in time to see Thunderbolt, eyes wide open in terror, launch himself into the air on his great legs, with the wood bridge span rocking and sagging beneath his hooves. Koren rolled aside just before the horse crashed down belly-first on the stone bridge surface, legs splayed out front and back. Thunderbolt’s back legs were hanging in the air, hooves scrambling as the stones on the edge of the bridge broke loose underneath him. Koren flung his arms around the horse’s neck, and felt himself being dragged over the edge, when Thunderbolt rolled on his side, almost crushing Koren, but managing to get his back legs onto the bridge. Still terrified, Thunderbolt scrambled up and raced off toward the other end of the bridge, one hoof glancing Koren’s leg and slamming him back into the stone bridge railing, and almost over the edge. He had his own split second of terror as he hung out over the river, before pulling himself back from the edge, because even the stone bridge began shaking as the wood span splintered and began dropping into the river. On hands and knees, and then running so fast his feet barely touched the bridge, he followed his horse until they were both safely on solid ground.

  Perhaps it was the shock of nearly dying and losing his beloved horse, but Koren found himself falling to his knees, hugging Thunderbolt’s left foreleg, and laughing out loud, laughing uncontrollably. The image frozen in his mind was of Thunderbolt, the mighty terror of the royal stables, flying through the air to flop down awkwardly, sprawled on the bridge. Koren had never seen a horse land on its belly, and he didn’t think Thunderbolt had either. When he could stop laughing, he walked around the horse, checking for injuries. With Koren’s hands touching him, Thunderbolt quickly stopped shaking and panting, and playfully nipped Koren’s hair. “You stupid, crazy horse.” Koren muttered. “What were you thinking? You’re smarter than that!” The ground shook as the wood span broke loose from the stone bridge on the far side, and crashed into the river with a tremendous splash.

  “I guess we’ll not be going back that way, huh, boy?” Koren said nervously. Now he was committed, effectively stranded on the enemy’s side of the river. He took the bridle out of the saddle bag and put it back on, then swung himself atop Thunderbolt. “Let’s get out of here. If the enemy is within a league, they surely heard that bridge fall into the river.”

  Koren urged Thunderbolt into an easy trot, feeling whether the horse was limping, but everything seemed to be normal. He urged the horse into a slow gallop, trusting Thunderbolt to find his way through the weeds on the road in the half moonlight. He shook his head in amazement at his horse. That the horse could jump off a collapsing bridge, jump higher than Koren was tall, was amazing. That any horse could land so awkwardly, and not only not be seriously injured, but be able to carry a rider at a gallop; Koren didn't know what to think.

  It was no more than a mile to the crossroads Koren had ridden by that very morning, which now seemed a lifetime ago. He recognized the pair of tall, old oak trees that stood on the northwest side of the main road. Behind them stretched a hay field, the patchy hay barely tall enough to reach Koren's knees, the field ended in a line of trees atop a hill to the west. Through those trees came flashes of light; wizard fire, much brighter than he had seen before! He must be close now. Excited and scared at the same time, he guided Thunderbolt along a slight depression in the field that led up the hill. The depression must have been an old road, a very old road. The crossroads at one time had gone four ways. Wherever the abandoned road went, it was in the same direction as the wizard fire, and that was where Koren was going.

&nb
sp; The ancient road used to go through the trees, but trees had long ago grown tall and filled in the gap. What he saw from the top of the hill made him unbuckle the guard around his sword, and take the bow off his shoulder to hold in his left hand. The line of trees was thin, maybe fifty yards deep, on the other side of the trees was a field that sloped down to a shallow valley, with a stream shining in the moonlight. And the tumbled-down stone ruins of a small castle, where the wizard fire light was coming from. A dozen or more riderless horses stood outside the castle walls on the far side, the wall closest to Koren had mostly fallen down, with brush and trees grown up between the stones. There was a section where only a few stones lay on the ground, half buried, that was probably where the castle gate used to be. Thunderbolt could jump over one of the large stones, and then they'd be in the courtyard of the ruined castle. With the enemy.

  And then what?

  Then he'd find Paedris, and help however he could. Captain Raddick was right, the wizard had given Koren magical fighting skills to serve as a personal guard; where he belonged was with Paedris, not taking shelter with the royal army.

  Koren realized with sudden clarity that he wasn't afraid of dying. His life for the past year was a gift. He could have died alone in the woods, from illness, cold, starvation, snakebite, a thousand things could have gone wrong for a boy alone in the wilderness. Or he could have drowned in the raging river, when he was trying to hang onto a girl he didn't even know. He could have been killed by the bandits, or by Duke Yarron's men, or he could have fallen off the roof of Yarron's palace. He could have died that very morning, in battle, despite Paedris' effort to send him away to safety. He could even have died that very night by falling into the river, when his inexplicably foolish horse had insisted on following him, even at the risk of his own life. Thunderbolt. He was not afraid for his own life, but he regretted risking the horse's life. "I'm sorry to bring you into this," he said as he patted the horse's neck, "this isn't your fight. But if Paedris is hurt, I can't carry him out of there all by myself."