by Ayer, T. G.
At last, the cloak moved off the small shelf of ice on which I waited. By now I could see a clear break, a crack that ran around me in a jagged circle. I didn’t need to look behind me to know the circle would have completed at some point. The instability of the piece of ice was enough to confirm it was free-floating.
The soldier bundled the cloak in his arms and got to his feet slowly. The general waved him off, and he moved backward until he stood at least fifty feet away.
“Get onto your stomach. It will be a less precarious position and require less balance on your part.”
I frowned but did as I was told. My first instinct would have been to make a running leap for the solid ice and hope for the best. But the way the general spoke, I sensed he had more than sufficient experience with black water ice rescues, and my common sense said I should trust him. I lowered myself to my knees, then spread out on the ice, keeping as still and straight as I could. I’d instinctively reached out in front of me, fingers forward. A part of me assumed that would be the best position in case I needed to grab for the stable ice shelf if mine tipped over.
Then Wren spoke and his voice echoed strangely on the quiet ice. “I will begin to pull you now. Try not to move. And remember, if you do fall in, we will pull you out as fast as we are able. Just don’t breathe in any of that water. I’d suggest you shut your eyes as well. I believe you humans have very sensitive skin covering your eyes.” I didn’t bother to confirm that his species assumption was incorrect and that he was not conversing with a human.
Now was not the time.
He began to pull and I felt myself slide a foot across the ice. It creaked strangely and my heart twisted, but nothing happened. The general repeated the move. Another foot and still safe. My breathing was ragged with fear and nerves, and the entire front of my body began to ache with cold. Another pull, another slide a foot forward, and still I remained on the ice.
I was beginning to believe things would go well and that I would get out of this predicament without a dunking in poisonous water, when I heard another sharp crack, loud enough that even the general gasped. My heart began to race and I sucked in air way too fast. If I didn’t control it, I wouldn’t have the lungs to hold my breath underwater. So I calmed myself, forcing my breathing to slow down, forcing my heart to stop its rapid pace.
The general’s voice echoed toward me, and I was surprised to hear the nervous timbre. “One more time. Are you ready?” His tone could almost be described as gentle.
Almost.
“Ready,” I said, speaking as loudly as I could without raising my head.
He pulled slowly and I slid another foot. I chided myself when I discovered I was holding my breath again. Stupid.
But before I could do anything else but admonish myself for my own stupidity, the ice began to tilt.
And I knew one thing with absolute certainty.
I was going head first into the poisonous waters of the Black Lake.
***
Chapter 20
The ice shelf tilted, the end behind me rising high. It didn’t stop until the entire section was almost vertical. I stared at the black, sludgy water in front of me, knowing it was inevitable I would soon sink into the dangerous icy liquid. I slid forward, listening to the shouts around me. Someone tugged at the rope and I was pulled farther. But this time all it did was move me dangerously closer to the water.
The soldiers were relentless. Another pull and I went sliding straight into the inky black sludge. The icy cold water hit me like a blow to the gut. I forced myself to take a deep breath before the surface of the water closed over my head and the lake claimed me. Although I wanted to open my eyes, I remembered the general’s warning. Now sightless and breathless and slowly freezing to death, the experience was more terrifying than I had ever experienced. My heart threatened to stop, my lungs to explode. My mind was screaming at me. I was going slowly crazy.
I hung in the water, suspended in darkness, with my breath slowly running out, when I felt a tug on the ropes. I wanted to scream at them to hurry, but that would be another chalk up on my list of stupid. My chest hurt with the effort to hold in my breath. I knew I could expel it slowly to remain comfortable, but I was terrified that letting go of one breath might open my nose to the liquid poison around me. So I continued to hold it.
My lungs rebelled, pulsing hard against my ribs, screaming for air. I ignored them. Someone tugged on the ropes, pulling me upward. With my eyes shut, I had no sense of direction and I hoped I wouldn’t slam head first into the stable ice shelf above me. More pulling and I rose a little farther.
Now lightheaded, I saw tiny specks of light behind my eyelids. My instinct made me want to blink, but I tamped down the urge. Another tug and I was lifted a little farther. My chest hurt like the blazes, my neck muscles throbbed, and my head pounded worse than my usual headaches ever did.
I was suspended in the water, but something drifted to my ears. It sounded like a shout. Dear Ailuros, let that mean I am close to the surface. I spread my hands out, trying to push myself farther upward through the icy water. Another shout above me confirmed I was very close to the surface. And the next moment, my head popped out of the water. The rope was taut and I felt myself being pulled farther along. I wiped at my face with my hands, felt no burning sensations, and was relieved.
Floating on the surface, I wiped hard at my nose and mouth and eyes, hoping to free it from the black poison, but I found that with my gloves on I couldn’t feel a thing. I kicked hard to keep afloat while I tugged the gloves off. They’d sink, soaked as they were but I didn’t care. I wouldn’t be able to use them again any time soon unless someone produced a Wrythiin tumble-dryer. Fingers free I scraped away the water from my face as best as I could.
The level of noise rose around me, but despite my curiosity, I didn’t dare crack an eyelid until I was certain I’d gotten rid of as much of the water as possible. The last thing I needed was to allow leftover droplets of poison to seep through into my eyes and kill me only after I’d been rescued.
At last, I was confident enough to open my eyes. And saw what had caused the shouts and commotion I’d heard while underwater.
My hands glowed bright gold, as if a light were inside my body.
I shivered as I floated in the water.
“Stop gawking and keep pulling that rope. Do you want her to die in that poison?” Wren yelled out, and suddenly the rope began to move and I was pulled along the surface so fast it took my breath away. I reached the edge of the ice and I held my hand out for someone to pull me up, but nobody grabbed onto it to help me.
Of course they wouldn’t. My hands were still glowing gold, and by now the entire regiment would have known when my hands glowed, the Wraith I touched would die. It was silly because I knew it took more than just a mere touch to kill a Wraith.
The general was yelling and the group of watching Wraiths parted as he shoved them aside to reach me. He stuck out his hand, and I grabbed hold with both of mine, trying to be careful about where I touched him. I wrapped my hands around the leather braces that were tied around his forearm. Likewise, he grabbed onto my forearm with both hands and I allowed him to heave me out of the water and drop me onto the ice. I coughed as I landed, then lifted myself. “Stay away. I’m still wet.”
“I do not believe it is the poisoned water that frightens this lot.” The general scoffed as he dusted his wet hands on his pants. I noticed he still wore his gloves. A smart man, he’d kept his gloves on the entire time, allowing him the confidence to touch me without fear of the poisoned water or the golden glow.
“They don’t need to be afraid of the glow. It takes more than a mere moment of touching to kill a Wraith,” I said as I pushed myself to my knees. And then struggled to my feet. My water-logged clothing weighed me down, but I bore the burden and kept my face free of any indication of my struggle.
The general’s eyes raked me from head to toe, and I resisted the urge to shudder. “I would suggest dry cloth
es. We cannot build a fire on the ice, and you will need to get warm as fast as possible. We are still only halfway across.” Then he turned and stalked off, yelling at his men to stop staring and get moving and that any man who straggled would be tossed into the black water. Wraiths scrambled and the sound of conversation died out almost immediately.
Cassandra and Anjelo hurried over to me as the column began to move, and we resumed our position in the line. Cassandra held my fur cloak out to me and asked, “Do you have dry clothes?”
I nodded as I swung my satchel around to my front. Then my heart fell like a stone. My bag was soaked and stained with black water. And everything inside was equally sodden. My spare set of clothes was soaked. Thankfully, the first aid kit was inside a zip-lock bag. I sighed and grabbed the first aid kit, unzipping the bag and fishing around inside for the thermal blanket. I handed it to Anjelo, who ripped the plastic and dusted the blanket open. I handed my satchel to Cassandra, then grabbed the cloak from her and proceeded to remove my wet clothes while trying to keep up with the moving line at the same time. It was tough going, and I almost fell flat on my face twice. Upper clothing was easy enough, but my leather pants were soaked and difficult to remove, especially with having to remove my boots as well. By the time I got myself naked, I was covered in a sheen of perspiration from the effort.
Cassandra took my clothing from me one by one and wrapped them together before shoving them into my satchel. “I have a hoodie you can use once you’re dry, if you like,” she offered.
I gave her a grateful smile and said, “Thanks, that would be a lifesaver.”
I maneuvered the blanket beneath the cloak and managed to wrap it around me. I’d kept moving, and it didn’t take long before I began to warm up. The only thing I could do nothing about was my sodden hair, soaked and heavy with the poisoned water. And then I stiffened.
“I’m still alive,” I said softly. Both Anjelo and Cassandra walked closer, giving me strange looks. “What I mean is the poisoned water had no effect on me.”
Anjelo shrugged. “It could just be that you closed your eyes and mouth and nothing got inside you.”
I shook my head. “It makes no sense. Think about it. Water gets into your skin, everywhere. Ears, skin, nose even when you hold your breath. And I’m seeing no effect whatsoever.”
“That must mean you’re impervious to the effects of the poison,” Cassandra said, nodding. “Perhaps it has something to do with your ability to kill Wraiths. Perhaps your power extends to Wraith world organic matter too.”
“Exactly what I was thinking.” She’d hit the nail on the head. I could kill Wraiths with my bare hands, and now Wraith poison had no effect on me. I frowned. “Anjelo? Have you ever gotten the dark water on your skin?”
He nodded. “Yes, on the last trek through this place, one of the soldieries slipped and I tried to grab his hand. Another solder had managed to grab the guy’s cloak as well, but both of us were splashed as the guy’s feet hit the water. We saved him, but I got a few splashes of it on my neck.” He lifted his hair to reveal a group of burn scars just below his left ear.
I winced at the sight; they still looked red and angry, but Anjelo seemed unaffected as he covered his scars. “It’s fine now. Hurt like hell when I got the water on me.” Then he fell silent for a moment. “But, Kai, that only means one thing.”
“Yeah. I know. It’s not a Walker immunity. It’s just me.” I sighed. What other abilities did I have?
“Seems like you have an immunity to anything to do with Wraiths. Have you tested it out on other demons?”
I laughed. “Yeah, did I forget to mention I can kill demons too?”
Anjelo’s jaw dropped. “Demons too? Wow, Kai. You’re way more powerful than we could ever have imagined.” He sounded awestruck, and I understood exactly what he felt. I was pretty amazed myself.
I was warm soon enough and grabbed Cassandra’s hoodie. I slid the blanket down and wrapped it around me like a skirt. I rolled it up around my waist and crossed my fingers that it wouldn’t fall off. And when I looked up, I sighed in relief. We’d reached the other edge of the Black Lake valley.
The only problem was we’d also reached the Black Mountains of Wrygos.
And to my eyes, it looked pretty much un-climbable.
***
In the failing light of day, the regiment gathered at the base of the mountain and we were already beginning to feel the change in temperature. Or maybe it was just me, considering I was the only one bare-assed under my cloak.
But Anjelo’s teeth began to chatter beside me, and he said, “We really need to get you some proper clothes. You can’t get over the mountain wearing nothing.”
I nodded and turned to Cassandra. “You think those clothes will be okay to wear?”
“Absolutely not. I dare say you will catch your death wearing them as soaked as they are.”
Footsteps came hurrying toward us, and a Wraith soldier appeared from the crowd. “General Wren’do has commanded we set up camp. With nightfall, it will be too dangerous to attempt the climb.” With that, he spun on his heel and disappeared into the mass of bodies.
I glanced at Anjelo and raised an eyebrow. “Either he really means for the regiment to rest, which is strange since the last time we also arrived in the dark and still climbed over the mountain, or—”
“Or the general doesn’t want to be responsible for your death,” Cassandra said happily. “I knew there had to be some speck of goodness to him.”
“Why would you say that?” I asked, a little snappish.
“Because any creature capable of deep affection is clearly capable of deep emotion.”
“You mean like serial killers?” I asked, still not ready to allow myself to be impressed with the general’s decision.
Cassandra snorted and Anjelo let out a bark of laughter. “We’d better start helping with setting up camp before someone decides to kick us out.” Anjelo tilted his head at me. “You can just wait to one side.”
I huffed. “What the hell do you mean? I can help.”
“Not unless you want to accidentally give our Wraith friends here an eyeful. The wind is beginning to pick up. Can you help pitch a tent and still hold on to your blanket at the same time?”
Seeing the wisdom of his words, I remained silent. I’d wanted to protest so badly, purely because I hated being the one to sit on the sidelines while everyone else was working, but Anjelo was making sense and I couldn’t resist without looking childish.
I left them to it and moved aside to watch from a small alcove in the rock face. The sight of the Black Lake made me shiver again. And that brought me back to the one fact that didn’t sit so well with me right now: I had General Wren’do to thank for my life. I would have been dead without him. I gritted my teeth and pushed out of the lee. Pacing suited my mood far better than hiding.
Soldiers were allocated one tent per six men, so we could be sharing with three other Wraiths. I wanted to laugh. Considering how afraid of me they were, I wouldn’t be surprised to find we’d miraculously managed to get a tent to ourselves.
They made short work of the shelters, and Anjelo was already huddled over the fire before I made it to his side. I watched in silence as he swiveled a stick against a piece of wood. When I looked up, Cassandra was hurrying toward us. She crouched down beside Anjelo and held something out to him. I suppressed the urge to laugh out loud. He took a bright-red lighter from her and flicked the button. A flame sprang up almost immediately, and he grunted. “I often wondered how you were always among the first to build your fire.”
She grinned. “Pays to have modern technology at your fingertips.”
“Now, if only you could have brought your microwave over with you.” He snickered.
She hit him on his forehead. “Don’t be a smartass.” She sprang to her feet and headed into the tent, hurrying back within seconds. Then she handed him a small bag.
“What is that?” he asked, a little worried to touch it.
<
br /> “Don’t worry. It won’t bite. It’s a microwave.”
Anjelo’s eyes widened. “No kidding?”
Cassandra was about to speak when a soldier came to stand beside our fire. “Your rations, Anjelo,” he said, handing him a small linen bag.
Inside was what looked like a fresh chicken, some strange-looking spices, and a skin of water.
Dinner was on.
Cassandra instructed Anjelo on how to insert the fowl into the microwave bag. Then they fussed with the meal, deciding on how to spice it and how long to cook it. While they kept busy, I dragged out my wet shirt and pants and set them on the rocks that bordered our little area. Each tent was pitched within a small crack in the side of the mountain, a naturally sheltered spot hugged by outcroppings of jagged rock.
Soon my clothes were drying and our food was ready. And after our meal, we found we had our tent to ourselves. Surprise, surprise.
I grinned to myself as I slipped into my dry-ish clothing, then crawled into the fur cloak, which doubled as a blanket.
I closed my eyes and waited for sleep.
As far as I was concerned, tomorrow couldn’t come fast enough.
***
Chapter 21
The troops were roused in the early hours of the morning, well before the first grey light of day began to bleed into the ebony skies. Within minutes, we broke camp amidst the darkness of predawn and began marching up the side of the mountain. Every misstep sent loose gravel skittering down the path behind us and made my heart jump. I glanced up at the morning sky and huffed. No surprise at all that there wasn’t even a hint of golden sunlight. The dull sky seemed to hang low over our heads, and I suspected it meant snow. If not, then the skies of Wrythiin were certainly not to my liking if they were always this grey and cheerless.
The way over the mountains was faster than I suspected and within an hour, we were up on the ridge, huddled at the northern edge overlooking the Widd’en stronghold.
