Emily's Saga

by Travis Bughi

  “I’d like to fly one day. I imagine that’d be something to remember. How much longer do you think it will take for the colossus to reach us?”

  “The last I saw, it was still climbing the ocean floor.” Emily shivered as her foot slipped off the mat beneath them and touched the ice-cold ground. “It’s getting closer, though. Nearly close enough to feel it. Sometimes, if I lose myself, I will daydream and see through its eyes. Not a single night goes by I don’t dream of it. It’s almost crazy, but I swear I feel stronger as it nears, and also colder, like it takes part of my capacity for emotion into its vast emptiness. I think . . . I think it makes me less human. I don’t feel like I used to.”

  Takeo grabbed her by the chin and pressed his lips to hers, kissing her long and hard. She felt his lips part, and so did hers, and his tongue swept in to touch hers. Then he ended it suddenly, breaking off to hover just out of reach.

  “Did you feel that?” he asked.

  “No,” she whispered. “Try again.”

  * * *

  In her dream, she felt the colossus scale another canyon beneath the seas, completely encompassed in both the darkness of the water and the lack of sunlight above. She knew not how it saw, nor how it knew where to go, but it never faltered, slipped, or tripped. Each step and grasp was done with massive strength, infallible stamina, and a complete lack of hesitation. Onwards in silence it traveled, ever working toward the goal its master had set for it. For good measure, Emily repeated her command.

  Come to me, she said. Protect me.

  The colossus did not respond, mentally or physically, in any other fashion than complete obedience.

  With you, I could conquer the world, she thought. If only I was tempted by such things.

  She remembered Katsu once saying that a colossus could strangle a dragon with its bare hands. Thinking back on the melted rock, she no longer believed that possible. While she could hope the angels had covered the colossus in magic that could keep back the effects of such fire, she would not risk it.

  Emily made a silent, dream-bound wish that no dragon would mistake her colossus for food.

  And then she awoke, and all around her the sky rained thick patches of white snow that touched the ground without a sound. The sun had not yet risen, and the cold bit her nose. Takeo breathed heavily as he slept, and she stirred him. They rose, ate, and packed, for the days were getting shorter and the nights longer, and they could ill afford to let the shortening days drag out their journey. They weren’t carrying enough food for that.

  They traveled in the dark until there was enough light to read the map, noting with glee that they were nearing the northern edge of the Khaz Mal Mountains. There were other signs, as well. The mountains were shorter, as were the days, and the nights colder. The snow was getting thicker, too, and not just because it was currently falling from the sky. Emily felt both relieved and hesitant. She didn’t know what to expect in The North, nor was she sure how to reach her brother. In truth, she wasn’t convinced he’d be there at all. He lived a life as dangerous as her own, and she accepted the fact that the only things that might await her were memories and tales of his heroic death.

  “Nicholas will be with me,” Ragnar had said. “We might be out on a voyage, but my steward can put you up until we return. After you pass Khaz Mal, just mention Ragnarson, my family name. People should be able to point you to my land.”

  She could only hope Ragnar’s land was easy to reach. Emily missed Nicholas as much as she did the rest of her family, maybe even a little more if she was honest. It was always her and Nicholas to get in trouble, ask questions they shouldn’t, and fight together against their older brother. When he ran away from home, she wasn’t so much surprised as she was sorry she hadn’t gotten to say goodbye.

  So the thought of seeing him again made her press on through the snow and wind and rocks. Takeo followed, and their conversations were kept to a minimum as they covered their mouths from the icy wind with thick wool. The exception to this came one day when the sun was setting, and the two of them crested another peak and gazed out beyond the mountains.

  A flat, endless expanse of solid white with pale skies greeted their eyes. Not a tree, a rock, or a hill could be seen. Nothing moved except the white snow kicked up by the wind to travel across the frozen desert. The North.

  Emily might have whistled had she not been gasping for air, and she turned back to look at the way they’d come.

  “The climb wasn’t even that far,” she said through ragged breaths. “How am I exhausted?”

  “I don’t know.” Takeo shook his head and wiped cold sweat from his forehead. “I feel it, too. It’s like there isn’t enough air up here. Wow, okay, I’m sitting. Does your head feel light?”

  They both sat to catch their breaths—and also to split some hardened bread and a canteen of water. Emily glanced around.

  “Where should we sleep tonight?”

  “I’d prefer at the bottom of this place,” he said. “We’ll need cover from the snow if we don’t want to be buried alive while we sleep.”

  “Sounds reasonable,” she said and smirked.

  She looked back the way they had come, gazing in wonder at the vast peaks that dominated everything in sight. She remembered seeing that same view from the other end, the southern end, and thinking what an intimidating sight it all was. Yet here she was, on the other side of it all, no worse for the wear. She had the dwarves to thank for that—and Takeo for keeping her warm at night. She felt thankful that she could still make friends in faraway lands, although that happened less often than she’d prefer. Maybe one day, if she craved it, she might visit those dwarves again. If nothing else, it would be an excuse to see another dragon.

  And then something caught her eye.

  Amongst the many peaks, she spied a hint of movement, something dark moving against the backdrop of solid white. Emily shook her head before focusing on it. This time, she saw several humanoid looking figures on a distant peak directly south. They were larger, though, certainly bulky, maybe a good fifteen of them in all, traveling in a line.

  Then she realized they were green, and that wasn’t the worst of it. They were climbing the same peak Emily and Takeo had climbed that morning.

  Chapter 7

  “How could they find us?” Takeo called out as he and Emily half-ran, half-slid down the mountain. “It was snowing when we left the dwarves! Our tracks should have been covered!”

  “Well they found them anyway!” Emily shouted back.

  She leapt from one rock to the next, scampered down any surface stable enough to hold her, and didn’t hesitate to slide on her butt when the ground became too steep. Behind her, Takeo followed her every step, jumping and sliding where she did. Snow, pebbles, and dirt came tumbling down past Emily, but she did not stop, not even when they reached the bottom and night was settling in.

  “Do we hide?” she asked, using what little light was left to trudge through the ever thickening snow.

  Steam poured from her mouth as she gasped for air, rising hot and fast to warm and cloud her eyes to the point where she had to blink to clear them. She couldn’t cover her mouth anymore. It was too difficult to breathe with a cover on.

  “I don’t know,” Takeo answered honestly through his own ragged breaths. “They’ll just find our tracks if we do. Not enough snow is falling to hide them quick enough.”

  “Can we double back?” she asked. “How about splitting up?”

  Anything to buy us time, she thought. The orcs are too close!

  “In the dark?” Takeo responded. “How would I find you again? They’ll follow one or both of the tracks, and then we’ll be in the same situation, just separated. The best splitting up will do is ensure only one of us dies. Is that what you want?”

  No, Emily thought but left it unsaid. Neither she nor Takeo feared death. It was the prospecting of living without the other that truly frightened her.

  “Alright, new plan then,” she said. “We make it to
the mountain’s edge, out of these valleys. I don’t think it was snowing there, in The North, did you see? It was just flat and ice covered. I don’t think we’ll leave tracks. We can flee in The North.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “I DON’T!”

  Emily’s voice echoed off the mountains, repeating over and over her inability to form a proper plan. Takeo stopped midstride, and Emily paused, too. She took a deep, haggard breath and bent over until her hands rested on her knees.

  “I’m sorry—”

  “Don’t be,” he cut her off. “You’re right. We don’t have a better option. Maybe our tracks will be lighter beyond these mountains, and maybe we can reach the ice while it’s still dark. That will help. At night, it gets too dark out here for even snow tracks to be seen. Let’s move. There’s no better plan.”

  “You’ll let me know if you think of one, though, right?”

  “The moment I do,” he said and nodded, “and don’t you stop thinking of one either.”

  They ran through the night, as fast as their legs could carry them through the snow and as fast as their feet could find purchase in absolute dark. The snow continued to fall around them, blocking out the stars and any chance of the moon’s light granting them aid. Emily fell more than once, but Takeo stayed close enough to grab her when she did. Exhaustion might have taken her if she hadn’t been so practiced at fleeing. This wasn’t the first time she’d had to charge on through the night to escape pursuing enemies, and she even dared hope it wouldn’t be her last. It also helped that her sleep had been so thorough the previous nights with no lingering dream this time around to keep interrupting her. She had slept long and hard—and eaten well enough, too. There was also the fact that they weren’t moving very quickly. Darkness kept their pace slow, as they both feared twisting an ankle in such uneven terrain, so there was no need to stop for rest.

  The cold, though, Emily was convinced that it might kill her. She hadn’t truly realized just how cold it could get without the sun’s meager rays. Despite their constant movement, her teeth were chattering the entire way, and her fingers and toes were almost too numb to feel. Her nose and ears hurt so bad it made tears form in her eyes, but they froze upon her cheeks before they could fall from her skin.

  To make matters worse, they couldn’t consult their map. Sheer mountains rose out of nowhere, completely invisible until Emily or Takeo stumbled into them, and they had no way of knowing whether the rocks were passable. They made more than one unfortunate mistake, climbing too high only to find their progress checked, and then they’d have to double back and try another route. They hoped it might confuse the orcs come morning. It was hard to tell, though. With no light, they could hardly trace their previous path, let alone their previous footsteps.

  “We should have been clear of the mountains by now,” Emily whispered, unsure of why she did so. “We should have already passed into The North.”

  “Were it still daylight, we would have,” Takeo replied, not whispering. “I’ve been thinking.”

  “I’m listening.”

  “How many arrows do you have?”

  Emily stumbled and heard the tumble of rocks and snow beneath her feet. They were descending into yet another valley, and Emily listened carefully as the rocks bounced until they hit the bottom.

  “Takeo,” she replied sternly, “I saw fifteen orcs.”

  “How many arrows?” he repeated.

  “Twenty-five, but you’re not hearing me. I can’t kill fifteen orcs before they reach us, not even in an open field. If they so much as jog, the best I could do is perhaps eight. You and I can’t take the remaining seven alone, not if they’re orcs. If they were akki, or goblins, then we’d stand a chance, but these orcs are like ogres. It’ll take more than an arrow in the leg to incapacitate them. You saw the dwarves fight them.”

  “I did,” Takeo’s voice grew louder, “and I’m not entirely convinced it’s all orcs. Some might be goblins.”

  “You want to take that risk?”

  “If we reach the mountain’s edge by daylight, then yes. I would rather we set up in a place advantageous to us than die running in an open ice field. If you shoot and kill enough of them quickly, maybe the others will hesitate.”

  “I still don’t like it.”

  “Neither do I,” Takeo agreed. “That’s why I’m only suggesting it if daylight comes and our first plan doesn’t work.”

  As if summoned by Takeo’s words, the sun began to rise.

  It lit the world slowly thanks to its terribly slow ascent. The landscape lightened at a rate that was hardly noticeable, to the point where it didn’t dawn upon Emily that the morning was coming until she looked up at the sky and realized she could once again see the clouds that rained snow upon her. Once she did, she frantically pulled out her map and consulted it on the run, glancing at peaks and ridges and trying to trace the path they’d most likely used.

  “No,” she whispered, “Damn it! NO!”

  “What?”

  “We’re using your plan,” she said and pointed ahead.

  Through the narrow valley they traveled, one end tapered to a crevice between two mountains. As the sun rose and they approached, the hint of a flat land covered in ice became visible through the crevice. Emily swore.

  “Damn it!” she said. “What perfect timing.”

  “Emily, it’s worse. Look behind us.”

  She did, and atop the crest behind them, an orc climbed up to the top. Its green skin was a stark contrast to the white, and even at this distance, she could see it tense as it saw them. A flash of light gleamed off the old metal of the gigantic cleaver it held, and it started to howl. Suddenly it was joined by another orc, then another, and another, and they came barreling down the hill toward the valley floor.

  “How?” she stammered, eyes wide. “That can’t be possible. How did they do that? How could they gain on us like that? Can they see in the dark?”

  “Don’t ask. Just run!”

  Emily turned and bolted through the snow, Takeo catching pace and falling in step beside her. They heard another lone, beastly howl, first from behind them and then over and over as it echoed across the valley. Suddenly more howls joined in like a chorus of war cries, hounding after them as they sped through the valley toward the crevice.

  Emily risked a glance over her shoulder and was shocked to see the orcs were already nearing the valley’s bottom. They ran in a scattered line, leaping from rock to rock and occasionally pushing off with their huge arms to plunge fearlessly into the darkness beneath them. The ground they covered was astounding, and their pace did not slow when they hit the valley floor. To Emily’s shock, they ran with all four limbs, swinging on their long, huge arms like pendulums.

  It was terrifying, but Emily and Takeo had a head start.

  “We can make it!” she said, looking ahead.

  “I’ll guard the entrance,” he said. “You have that bow ready?”

  “I will.”

  Emily hoped the crevice would be small, but to her dismay, it was large enough for several people to run abreast through it. Takeo would be at a great disadvantage. As they sprinted on, they slid as their feet left snow-covered dirt for snow-covered ice.

  Takeo gave a cry as he stumbled and fell face first into the ice. Emily skated along, swinging her arms widely, but maintained balance.

  “Damn!” Takeo said, picking himself up and steadying his feet. “I’ll have to fight them in the crevice. Can you still shoot?”

  “Yes,” she replied, dropping to her knees.

  Emily had slid far enough away to shoot her bow. She dared not move further, fearing that she wouldn’t be able to reach Takeo in time once the orcs entered into the melee with him. Damn was ice slippery! She’d encountered it first in patches along Khaz Mal, but never in so large a place as this. It stretched everywhere, and she’d never stepped on anything like this.

  Takeo stumbled and slid back toward solid ground while Emily dumped her pack
and brought out her bow. She ripped off her gloves and tried to string it, but the bottom slid along the ice.

  I should have strung you the moment I saw those orcs, she cursed.

  From the valley, the howls grew louder, and a new chill ran up her spine.

  “Hurry!” Takeo called.

  She steadied the bow’s bottom end on her boot, bent back, and strung her bow. She couldn’t feel the string because her fingers were so cold, but the movement was so engrained that she did not need to. Numb, yet pained, her fingers knew what to do, and Emily stood up and nocked an arrow, her hands shaking uncontrollably.

  I can’t shoot two arrows like this, she realized, gritting her teeth. I’ll hardly have the accuracy to shoot one.

  Ahead of her, Takeo drew his katana and ditched his pack. He held the sword at the ready, snow blowing around him, and Emily noticed he’d also dropped his gloves. His bare hands gripped the handle so hard they went bone-white, or was that the cold? Emily shook the question from her mind, the movement making her ankles twitch as they tried to hold her still.

  Ahead, the orcs were charging on all four limbs, barreling through the snow like it wasn’t even there. They screamed and howled, drawing weapons and switching to a two-legged run as they neared. They wore hardly any clothing, and their green skin clashed strongly with everything else around them. When they were close enough for Emily to see their red eyes, she let loose her first arrow.

  The orc in the lead garbled a scream as an arrow pierced his left cheek, striking something vital and sending forth red blood to stain the white snow. Emily cursed her shaking hands, hating herself for missing the orc’s eye by so far, but taking no more time on her next shot. There was no time to be picky.

  Numb fingers drew an arrow she could hardly feel and pulled back on a string she only knew was there by sight. The arrow released, sliding across her fingers as it went and causing enough pain to jolt her body awake and cease the shaking in her hands. As for the arrow, it found a new home in the next orc’s nose, killing the creature so quickly that it didn’t scream like the first one had. Emily pulled back for another arrow, only dimly aware that her fingers were bleeding.