The Ascension Trial

by CJ Embers

  As the army forced me down the steps, villagers down below had gathered to watch. I couldn’t make out their expressions from where I was, but as the stretch of steps ended, I could see there was a mix of worry, relief, and triumph.

  Resentment stabbed me in the gut, and I refused to give them the satisfaction of looking at them any longer. How dare Helis allow me to be captured? By not appearing, and allowing me to be herded out of the palace like a sheep, he was letting the villagers and Marnori win.

  I was traipsed through the village to get to the entrance. In the outskirts, many horses were waiting. I was shackled with my hands behind my back and a couple of men heaved me up onto the back of one of the horses.

  When I saw Kain’s limp body being thrown on the back of another, I struggled until someone put a sword up to me.

  “What’d you do to my wolf?” I demanded through clenched teeth.

  “Your mutt is unconscious, not dead; keep struggling though, and he will be.”

  Without another word, I fell quiet and stopped fighting.

  As the army set off, I desperately wanted to look back upon my betrayers, but I was too disgusted and angry. All my efforts and work, gone, just like that.

  What are you playing at, Helis? Why are you refusing to appear?

  His silence alone hurt more than the betrayal of the villagers, being stripped of my crown, and being shipped off to Marnori. I had put my full trust in him, and he shattered it. As the hot sun beat down upon us, tears filled my eyes. Helis’ absence was a festering wound in my chest.

  What did I do to drive you away?

  I fought to keep calm as my vision blurred and my throat tightened, making it near impossible to breathe. The horrible feeling of abandonment by the one who said he would protect me, and the mind-numbing shame of being stripped of my crown and dragged out of my village made me want to die.

  I wanted to know how Oren was faring, but my shame prevented me. I didn’t want him to see his leader, the first female Adeptus, barely holding it together. Instead, I kept my head down and stared at the back of the warrior in front of me.

  When we eventually stopped for the night, I was pulled from the horse and pushed to a thick stake in the ground. I was shackled to it, then left alone. I finally had to nerve to look for Oren, but I couldn’t see him anywhere.

  The men of Marnori spent the next couple of hours setting up tents. When they were done, one of the men came up to me and knelt beside me.

  “This is why we don’t let women become Adepti,” he said. “Ever since we left Shekri, you look like you have yearned for death. It’s pathetic, and a stain on the Adepti legacy. Shame on you for lying about our god and pretending to be under his protection. I hope you get executed.”

  I spat in his face, and the man recoiled in disgust before slapping me. My cheek stung fiercely, but I simply glared at him. He unshackled me from the post and dragged me to a tent. Inside, he tethered me again, then left after shooting me an angry glance.

  I had been hoping Oren was in here, but it made sense to not house us together. A leader and her second in command would lead to a lot of scheming.

  As night fell, I stared up at the top of the tent, unable to fall asleep as I kept ricocheted between anger, shame, and grief. My eyes closed, spilling tears down my temples.

  Sometime later, a strange noise interrupted the quiet. I lowered my breathing, trying to hear it again. When I recognized the sound of Kain’s snarling, my eyes shot open.

  I hadn’t seen him since the army had stopped to set up camp and didn’t even know if he was actually alive. Hearing him now made me both relieved and tense. I was glad he was alive, but what were they planning on doing with him?

  The snarling continued for a few seconds, then yelling tore through the air, making my heart pound. As the ruckus continued getting louder, dread filled my veins. Pulling at my restraints, I tried desperately to get them to break.

  The metal cut into my skin and blood dripped down onto the grass. Ignoring the pain, I heaved again, willing the shackle to snap. When I heard a sharp yelp, rage filled me and I yelled out for them to leave my wolf alone. A moment later, the growling and yelling started back up.

  The tent’s flap whipped aside, and a man came in, looking beyond angry. “You’re under orders to calm that mutt down. If you can’t, we’ll slit its throat.”

  I said only, “Fine,” and stayed still as the man undid my binds. He kept a dagger pressed to my back as he led me from the tent. The camp was quite large, and it took a few minutes to get to where they were holding Kain.

  The man ordered me to go inside, and I complied, pushing aside the flap. Kain was facing away from me, the fur around his neck bristled as he stared down a different man who was holding a muzzle. He was chained to a thick post in the center of the tent.

  I said my wolf’s name, and he immediately perked up. He turned to see me, and the fur on his neck lowered. The man with the muzzle stepped forward, and Kain immediately switched back to being aggressive.

  “Get back!” I ordered, getting in between the two. I grabbed the muzzle from the man and threw it to the ground. “Did you even think this through? You realize you would have to take this off every single time he needed to eat?”

  Kain lunged at the man who had led me here, stopping just inches from the arm holding the dagger as the chain reached its limit. He snarled viciously, saliva dripping from his mouth.

  The man with the weapon ordered me to shackle myself to the same post as Kain. “It’s your responsibility to keep him calm during the trip to Marnori.”

  I didn’t bother arguing. Once I was tethered to the post, the two men left. Kain calmed once again and we both settled down next to each other.

  Now that I had my wolf, a spark of energy lit inside of me, and I shifted around to inspect the post. Pushing it on was futile; whatever they had used to shove it into the ground had done a good job, and there was no way I would be able to budge it or dig it up in time.

  They had put a metal collar around Kain’s neck, presumably when he was still unconscious. I checked each link of both his and my chain, but there was not a weakness in any of them.

  The thick eye that held the opposite ends of our chains was attached to a metal ring that was wrapped around the post. The weakest part of the whole setup was the wooden post itself, and I didn’t see any way I could saw through it, break it in half, or dig it up; the mark of the Adepti didn’t provide superhuman strength, just heightened strength, and that wasn’t enough for this.

  Realizing I still wouldn’t be able to escape, the small flicker of energy went up in a puff of smoke, and I lay down on the ground beside Kain.

  Even with my wolf beside me once again, I couldn’t seem to grasp any more motivation to think of a way to escape. The shame and betrayal stung too fiercely.

  The night was long, and when the dawn finally came, I was exhausted. As I lay there, I listened to the sounds of the Marnori people waking. The scent of food seeped through the fabric of the tent. I knew I was hungry, but my stomach churned at the smell rather than grumbled.

  When someone came in to bring me a bit of fruit and meat, I turned away. He left it nearby, but I couldn’t bring myself to touch it. Another person arrived shortly after, an entire wild sheep haunch grasped in his hands.

  The man tossed it to Kain before leaving, and I silently watched my wolf rip into the raw meat. Watching him eat, knowing the army was taking care of him, once again surfaced relief and worry.

  If they had wanted to kill him, they would have done so already, so I likely had no need to worry about his life as long as I could keep him under control and prevent him from attacking any of the men.

  But what was their end goal? By keeping him alive, surely that meant they had plans for him? Would he be beaten into submission and forced to serve the Tehji of Marnori? Or would they use him for the army’s purposes and get him to fight alongside them?

  My musings were eventually interrupted by the sounds of
the army packing up. The tent Kain and I were housed in was disassembled sometime later, and I kept a hand on my wolf to ensure he stayed calm as the men worked around us.

  When it was finally time to go, we were both unshackled and the post was left in the ground as we started off for another long day on horseback. This time, instead of being forced up onto a mount, I was ordered to go on foot with Kain, and I found myself feeling thankful I hadn’t chosen to wear a dress the day I had gotten captured; making such a trek in a flowy gown would have been a nightmare.

  I was the only one without a horse, but I knew there was no other way with my wolf beside me, as the chain connected to his metal collar was too short for horseback to be feasible.

  As we walked, I tried looking for Oren. For a while, I couldn’t see him, but then I thought I caught a glimpse of him through the army. He was only visible for a split second before being submersed into the group again.

  I looked around at my surroundings, hoping to spot a place where Kain and I could make a run for it. Although I hated the idea of leaving my second in command behind, the chances of me being able to dash through all these people to get to him, then escape, was pretty much impossible.

  If I could escape with Kain, I would be able to gather my bearings and think of a way to save Oren. Even without the help of my supporters in Shekri, it was possible I could sneak into Marnori and find my second.

  But looking around, I couldn’t see any way for just me and my wolf to escape. We were surrounded by riders on all sides, and many of them noticed me looking around; their body language shifted just enough to let me know they were keeping an eye on me even more so now.

  According to what I had learned in Shekri, Marnori was about a week away by horse. It would take a bit longer now that everyone was forced to go a bit slower thanks to me.

  The warm morning sun turned into a swelting heat as the day moved on. Kain was panting heavily, and I was covered in sweat, my clothes sticking uncomfortably to my skin. The riders around me looked hot as well, but they only had a light sheen on their foreheads; being able to simply sit there instead of trudging around on foot must’ve been nice.

  By the time everyone stopped for lunch, I was exhausted and dehydrated. I sat by Kain, resting my sore feet and watching as everyone handed out food and water.

  I was provided for last, and only given enough for a few mouthfuls. After taking a bite of the bread, I tossed the rest to Kain. I wanted to chug the water, but I took only a few small sips before slowly pouring it out so my wolf could lap it up.

  When we got started again, my feet felt even worse than before after getting a taste for rest. They burned from the chafing of constant walking, and I started limping shortly after.

  By the third day, I was holding up the entire group as I struggled to walk. Blisters had formed on my heels, making every step agony. I tried telling the men that Kain would follow me without the lead, but they refused to believe me.

  However, when the fourth day came and I physically couldn’t walk without bursting into tears, they were forced to take my word for it and ordered me to take off his collar after tossing me a key.

  My trembling fingers grasped the small object and slid it into the lock. As soon as the metal fell from my wolf’s neck, he gave himself a shake. I noticed some chafing had been happening to him as well and gingerly moved aside the fur to get a closer look.

  I was interrupted by a man telling me to get moving. He held out a hand and I pressed the key into his palm. After pocketing the small item, he helped me up onto the back of a horse. I called Kain, and he came trotting up.

  Someone nearby let out a shrill whistle and the army started moving again. Being able to sit was a huge relief, and I could barely stop myself from slumping into the rider sitting in the saddle.

  These past few days had wreaked havoc on my body, and I often found myself wishing they had just cut me down in Shekri; it wasn’t like I had anything but bad waiting for me in the capital anyway.

  Helis had still not responded to my calls, and I was trying to reach him less and less often. I didn’t know why he was ignoring me, but it was clear he had no intention of answering.

  My appetite was basically gone at this point; the only reason I kept eating and drinking at all was because I needed to take care of Kain.

  I had given up on trying to find a way to escape. All hours of the day, I was fully surrounded by the men, and they were always keeping an eye on me.

  * * *

  The great city was visible on the horizon, perched atop the edge of a cliff like a sentinel guarding the land below. It would have been a beautiful sight had I not been under the hold of the army. Throughout the entire journey here, I had barely slept, eaten, or drank, and I felt like death. I had spotted Oren a couple of times, but our captors made sure to keep us away from each other.

  Sometime later, we got to the huge gate. The clip-clop of the horses’ hooves on the cobblestone and the panting of Kain was the only sound I heard for a while. When I heard whispering, I looked up to see some of the Marnori people staring at me.

  I dropped my gaze, not having the energy to react or look around the city. It almost seemed like I had passed out, because next thing I knew, I felt someone grab my arm and pull me off the horse.

  Unable to muster up the strength to support myself, the man put one of my arms around his shoulders, then helped me into a building.

  “Where’s Kain?” I croaked out.

  “He’s no longer your concern,” was all the man said.

  I didn’t have the energy to argue. I knew by now that at the very least, they wouldn’t kill him.

  We went down a flight of stairs, and when the ground flattened out again, the area was dim. Lanterns were doing a poor job of providing light. I was helped to a jail cell, and the man removed my arm and pushed me inside. I stumbled and fell, the stone scraping at my legs and side.

  I didn’t move after the cell door was locked and the man disappeared. The floor was cold and grimy against my cheek. A shadow fell over me and someone came into my vision shortly after.

  The person was dirty, clearly a prisoner for a long while, and I found myself hoping she was here to shank me. Instead, however, she knelt beside me with a look of concern on her face.

  “Are you okay?” she whispered.

  “Do I look okay?” I managed to get out.

  The woman left and returned a moment later with a cup. She held it to my lips, but I pushed it away.

  “It’s clean, don’t worry,” the prisoner said. “It’s from the last meal.”

  I just wanted to let myself wither away, but I had a feeling the woman would not let that happen, so I drank. The water soothed my parched throat somewhat.

  “Do you need help getting to one of the beds?”

  I grunted, and she seemed to take that as a yes because she pulled my arm and helped me get to my feet. Once I was on the bed, she sat on the edge and asked what I was in for. “If you don’t want to answer, that’s okay,” she added quickly.

  “What are you in for?”

  “For what seems to be the usual for us female ‘criminals’: trying to deny having a child,” the woman said.

  “Marnori jails those don’t want to contribute?”

  “Yes and no. We are jailed for some time until we either change our mind or refuse to. If it’s the latter, then we’re shunned.”

  A quiet snort left my nose, my thoughts drifting to Syida. “Shekri immediately shuns us.”

  The woman looked surprised. Then, she said, “So… So why are you here?”

  “I stole a man’s chance at Ascending and Ascended in his place,” I answered, pushing up the sleeve of my shirt to show her the mark.

  The prisoner’s jaw dropped, and she couldn’t speak for a moment. “Wow… I didn’t expect that. No wonder you’re here.”

  I gave her a look, and she quickly added, “I’m not saying I agree with it. Just that it’s not surprising.”

  “Yeah… But t
hat’s not all, either.”

  “How could there be more than that?”

  I lifted one shoulder in a small shrug as I pulled the ratty blanket farther up and nestled into the pillow. I was too exhausted to want to talk, but maybe once I was done explaining things she would leave me alone.

  “I was about to be executed for my crime when Helis saved me and said I was under his protection. The Tehji, in their reverence, offered me leadership as recompense. I accepted, and killed the Tehji. Tried giving the people more freedom, but they turned against me. I’m here now because they betrayed me and sent word to Marnori.”

  The woman was speechless once again. She was silent for a bit, looking like she was digesting the sheer amount of insane story. “S-So, you’re the first female Adeptus, first female leader, and under Helis’ protection?” She rubbed the back of her neck, looking overwhelmed. “I feel like I should bow to you.”

  A sigh of defeat left my body. “Don’t bother. Helis apparently abandoned me, and clearly I’m no longer leader of Shekri.”

  “But… But you accomplished everything women like me ever dream of! What’s your name?”

  The tone of awe in her voice would have irritated me if I weren’t so bone-tired. “Kena.”

  She repeated my name, her eyes full of the same awe. “I’m Nala.”

  “I need to rest, Nala.”

  “Of course, of course! I’m sorry for disturbing you.”

  The prisoner left and went to her corner of the cell.

  Food was brought at what I assumed was the end of the day, but I still had no appetite. Nala thankfully didn’t come to bug me and ask me to eat. Somehow, I managed to fall asleep, and I had a dream about Helis scarring me with his words and abandoning me.

  When I woke, my cheeks were sticky with drying tears, and it felt like my chest was on fire as the festering wound of the deity’s absence ate away at me like acid.

  “Helis, please…”

  My whisper faded away into the darkness.

  “Please,” I cried.

  The moonlight filtering through the bars of the tiny window in my cell dimmed and my pulse jumped. Was he really coming, or was it just a cloud passing by? My silent question was answered when the air shuddered. In an explosion of chaos, the Trial deity was here.