Chapter 40
Chapter forty
The Road North
Iwas already moving before I consciously decided to do so, hopping off the horse and running to Darion’s side. Elena was right behind me.
He lay on the ground and looked up at me, eyes half lidded, awake but not fully there. At least he was conscious. He made an effort to stand, then fell hard on his rump.
“Hold up,” I said, grabbing his shoulder.
Jask had run over to check on Kael. “He’s breathing steadily, but he’s out cold. That must have been one hell of a fight that I didn’t even see.”
Horns blared from far away, but not nearly far enough. The Royal Guard was on alert. The massive amount of Ember Darion and Kael had used must have been like a blinding beacon for any Sentinels in the area.
“We have to go!” Darion pleaded, finally able to speak.
Working together, we managed to get Darion onto my horse behind me. Jask hastily tied a rope around our waists. I wasn’t entirely confident that if Darion lost consciousness and fell over, he wouldn’t take me down along with him. But we made do with what we had.
As we galloped away, a few townsfolk gathered around Kael. It was a gamble leaving him, but we couldn’t take him with us, and with the Royal Guard closing in, we couldn’t risk staying around.
I watched for pursuers as we left the town, but as far as I could tell, no Sentinels or members of the Royal Guard had spotted our hasty getaway.
Just a bit north of town, Jask guided us off the main road and onto a less-traveled trail with better tree cover.
She explained that this was the remnant of an ancient road from a long-gone civilization.
I could make out the occasional stone border wall amidst the overgrown grass.
A worn marker sat by the side of the road, its carvings long eroded.
After a long while of hard riding, when it became clear no one was following us, we paused.
Elena spoke first. “Would somebody tell me what in all the hells is going on? What happened with Kael back there?”
“Kael’s contact at Pyrehold betrayed me,” I said. “And Garrick warned me there was a traitor in the Order. I fear he is a spy.”
Darion had regained his wits enough to speak somewhat coherently. “And given what just happened—the way he tried to stop us, and the way he attacked me—it seems we might have confirmed it.”
Elena scrunched up her face. “But he was so nice. I trusted him.”
“How did you end up on the road alone with him?” I asked Elena, “And why the East Road?”
“Oh, that was probably my doing,” Elena said. “When everybody started evacuating the Order, only Kael remembered me. He helped me escape. I told him that you and I had agreed to meet at our old farm, so he was helping me get there.”
That was the only plausible explanation I could think of that didn’t implicate Kael. If it had been his idea to take the East Road, it would have been very suspicious. I’d almost hoped he had so the issue would be settled, but instead I now had a seed of doubt in my mind.
On the other hand, Kael had attacked Darion, so maybe there was little left to discuss.
“You didn’t tell Kael exactly where the farm was, did you?” I asked Elena. “Or mention anything else specific, like the wishing well?”
“No, just that our farm was near Meadowrun,” she said. “That’s it.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. But even still, I feared the area might be swarming with Royal Guards if Kael had fed them that information.
Zephyra, who had been circling overhead, dove down and landed on my shoulder, and I let my Ember flow.
Little Cas, the people place is swarming with Royal Guards, but none have followed us.
“That’s good news,” I said, then turned to the others. “Zephyra thinks we aren’t being followed.”
“Thank dust,” Darion said.
But Zephyra must say something important.
“What is it, Zephyra?” I asked. She normally just got straight to the point, so the statement got my attention.
Zephyra stayed to help little Cas get Elena.
“Yes, and I appreciate that. You’ve been a great help.”
But Zephyra must go now.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” I said, stroking her head. “Is everything okay?”
Everything is very okay. Zephyra is with egg and must nest for many sunrises.
“Oh. Ohhh! That’s great news,” I said. I envisioned several little Zephyras and couldn’t hold back my smile, though it was bittersweet.
“She’s having chicks,” I said for the benefit of the others.
Everyone cheered, and she even let the others gather around and pet her, which she had never done before.
“Zephyra, I can’t tell you how very much you’ve helped. I’m forever in your debt for helping me get Elena back.”
Remember, little Cas helped Zephyra escape that nasty cage.
“I remember,” I said, choking up a little bit at the memory. “I’ll miss you.”
Zephyra will miss little Cas, too.
With that, she took to the sky and flapped away, heading north. Apparently she wasn’t one for long goodbyes. I truly would miss her and hoped I’d see her again soon, perhaps with little birds in tow.
Since Zephyra had assured us that we weren’t being followed, we decided to pause for a while.
Darion was wrecked after using his Ember for so long, and most of us hadn’t had any rest since we’d left the Wind Runner many hours ago.
We found a well-shaded grove of trees with a stream running through it, and we let the horses drink their fill.
They happily grazed on the grass that grew along the bank.
I tended to Darion as Jask and Elena scouted the immediate area.
“Ouch!” Darion cried as I dabbed a cold wet cloth on the cut over his eye. It had already started swelling.
“Hold still,” I said as Darion squirmed under my very gentle cleaning.
It wouldn’t be long before Darion’s intensive use of his Ember caught up with him, so I only had a bit of time to question him before he was lost to exhaustion.
“What exactly happened with Kael back there?” I asked.
“You saw most of it. He tried to stop us. I didn’t let him.”
“Do you know why he tried to stop us?”
“There was no time to ask.”
“I wish we could have talked to him so we could understand why he did what he did.”
“He wasn’t in a talking mood,” Darion said flatly.
“I didn’t know he had Chronothene.”
Darion nodded. “He and I are among the very few who have it and don’t live in the clock tower.”
Something wasn’t sitting right with me. It didn’t seem like Kael had been holding Elena captive. He’d taken the East Road at her request. I really wish we could have talked to him. But ultimately, he’d tried to stop us and had attacked Darion, so that was about as definitive as it got.
While we waited for Jask and Elena to return from their scouting trip, I asked Darion to show me how to do the sparrow call he had used back in Grey Spit to attract Jask’s attention. It seemed like an excellent tool to add to my skill set.
“The first trick is cupping your hands right,” he said as he showed me with his own hands. From there, he showed me the proper blowing technique and how to mimic the pitch and fluttering. Before long, I was singing just like another sparrow.
“It’s really not fair how quickly you pick things up,” Darion said with a smile.
“I have a good teacher,” I said.
Darion taught me a few other calls he had developed to convey basic information to people who knew the code. I learned the signals for danger, safe, fan out, and other tactical maneuvers.
For a moment, as we talked, things felt back to normal. I longed for that feeling to continue, but reflexive mistrust hung over me like a storm cloud.
Soon Jask and Elena returned from their scouting with little to report—there was no sign of anyone as far as they could see. So we all took a well-deserved rest, acting as lookout in shifts, except for Darion, who was sleeping like the dead due to his Ember hangover.
When it was my watch, Elena walked over and sat next to me.
“Thank you for rescuing me, brother,” she said as she leaned her head on my shoulder.
“You’re the most important thing in the world to me,” I replied.
“And you are to me,” she said back.
I put my arm around her.
“Can I ask a personal question?” she said.
“Of course.”
“What’s wrong with you and Darion? You’re both acting strange.”
This girl was wise beyond her years. In the rush of things, there was so much I hadn’t explained. So I told her the entire story of what had happened at Pyrehold, including about Darion and Orlik. She deserved to know.
After I finished, Elena was quiet for a bit. Finally she spoke. “That’s…a lot. I’m not sure how to feel.”
“Yeah,” I said.
“But back at Pyrehold, he didn’t give you up. And today he saved us both. That matters.”
“It does.”
“And I feel like he’s the same person he was before. I’m not scared of him,” she said.
I nodded, glad to hear that. I wasn’t scared of him in the traditional sense, but I was scared of what would happen if I let him in again and he betrayed that trust.
By the time we’d all had a good rest, it was midafternoon. Jask stood up. “Well, it’s probably time for me to head back. Don’t want to get Rook too upset.”
I was secretly a bit disappointed. Jask had been invaluable, and I had hoped she might consider staying with us for longer, but I understood that she had her own responsibilities.
“Of course, and thank you,” I said. “I’m indebted to you for your help. You can take one of the horses back. We’ll make do.”
“No need,” Jask said. “It’s just a couple of hours’ walk back to Grey Spit. I should make it before nightfall. Besides, I’d rather not show back up in town on a ‘borrowed’ horse.”
“Hey, I paid for these,” Darion said with feigned offense.
Jask gave Darion a dubious look.
“And Cas, you’re not indebted to me,” Jask said. “You paid us for the job. It’s cleaner that way. Sometimes jobs just get a little more complicated than you expect. Nature of the business.”
“Fair enough,” I said. “But I’m grateful nonetheless.”
Her response was a tight nod. “If you still plan to head north, this trail continues for the next twenty miles and will keep you away from the main road. Then you’ll come to Bitterridge Keep. It’s abandoned, isolated, and has a commanding view. It’s a good place to camp.”
“Where do we go from there?” I asked.
“You can take a trail east, back to the main north-south road. Or, if you’re willing to take the risk, this trail continues north through the mountains.
It’s less traveled, but it’s treacherous.
Many parts of the path are in disrepair.
You’ll have to cross Titan’s Span, an ancient stone bridge over a chasm.
It was standing the last time I was here years ago, but no guarantees. ”
“Thank you, Jask,” I said.
We said our final goodbyes, and Jask strode off down the trail.
“I like her,” Elena said after Jask was out of sight.
Darion and I shared a glance and a laugh.
“So do we,” I said.
“Well, what next?” Elena said.
“Meadowrun is north,” I said. “I’d like to go to our old family farm, see what there is to see.”
“We still have two horses, so we can go our separate ways if you want,” Darion said. “But I’ll be going north to get to the Order of Emberlight rendezvous point anyway.”
I considered it. Darion stood next to Elena, and for a moment, it was like all the other times the three of us had spent together, when we’d felt like a family. How I longed to get back to that. Only time would tell if it was possible.
“For now, we’ll ride north together,” I said.