Chapter 43
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
I’ve never trained harder. My powers have grown, and I’m ashamed to admit, it scares me.
—Journal of Isla Jasira.
The southern range of Lumerians squatted in gray clusters against the dim horizon, the foothills bare by comparison to those near Aedrialis. Rocks and shrubs provided little shelter for the various packs of coyotes and thin deer trudging through the hills.
Our flight took a few hours before we neared the split in the cliffs that cut through the Lumerian mountain range.
Skyscape Pass was wide enough for a caravan to traverse, but rocky in parts and known to flood.
The Rising forces needed this route to march to Aedrialis if they were to avoid Saros’s forces camped at the Rellenor Fields.
Whatever threat hid in these rocks needed to be dealt with.
Vienah’s clouds dissolved into wisps as we flew farther from her magic, but the sun had set, night gracing us with its cover.
Tiberius landed on a wide strip of a bordering peak.
He clomped to the edge of the cliff overlooking Skyscape Pass.
Small cave openings and holes dotted the walls of the rocky cliff on either side, stretching sixty miles from one end to the other.
We flew most of the night, making two rounds on the entire stretch of the pass before returning to the small landing we came across, spying nothing out of order.
Maybe we need to go down there, Ti said after chomping through an apple I brought along for him. White foam lined his black lips as he chewed sloppily, letting bits of it drop to the ground. I stared at him for a moment, allowing my amusement to pass through our bond.
I’m still a horse, he quipped. I don’t have human lips.
Thank the gods for that. I laughed, rolling my eyes. I tripped forward as his giant head nudged me from behind.
There seems to be no threat from above, but something feels off out here...
We flew to the center of the pass, and as Tiberius thundered down the rocky road, an arrow whizzed past us. He slammed on his hooves, reeling backward as I did my best not to fly from his back, a second arrow whipping past my face.
I threw my palms to the side, an orb of transparent darkness materializing around us. I squinted in the night, the darkness of the shield making it difficult to see through. I stretched it, widening its diameter, as small shadows dropped from holes in the walls of the rocky pass.
Get ready, agrippa, I murmured, as the dark shadows circled us, hundreds of them now closing in. I rallied my powers, ready to strike as a small voice called out from behind the line of creatures.
“Lyvia?”
My heart stopped. Mumbling gurgled from the strange creatures as they parted for the girl as she approached.
What the fuck is Evony doing here?
I dropped the shield, my powers siphoning back into the chasm as I stared at the creatures whose beady black eyes reflected Renova’s blue light seeping in from miles above.
Those creatures… I’d seen one before.
I tensed, waiting for the intrusive grinding voice of the Stone Witch as I prepared to get Evony the hell out of there, taking out as many of these wretched creatures as I could.
The black, membranous wings of the pig-nosed beasts hung limp at their sides, but they were dexterous little things, many of them swinging down from the sides of the cliff on makeshift ropes of aged vines.
The short, humanoid creatures bared sharp, yellowed canines at me as they approached, carrying small weapons of their own. Jagged rocks, broken shears, makeshift spears… Anything, it seemed, they could get their hands on.
I flexed my hands, ready to release the Obscura as soon as I got a clear view of Evony.
We need something precise, so we don’t hit her, Tiberius’s voice commanded.
I dismounted, letting the darkness pool in my palms in a small black cloud. I nodded, facing the direction of Evony’s voice, waiting to get a clear view. Ti’s tail swished as he turned to face the creatures circling us.
Arrows, I murmured back.
Evony escaped the tribute ship just to end up in the hands of the Stone Witch. A fierce, protective force of energy seemed to fuel the power pushing against my palms.
“Lyvia!” she called again.
I followed the voice as movement caught my eye. I urged the Transcindiel to join hands with the Obscura, transforming the swirling cloud of darkness into four lethal arrows. I flipped my palms, floating them into the air, poised at the creatures shuffling about.
Evony’s hand shot up in the distance, and I slowed my breathing, ready to release, when the creatures parted for her.
“Oh, gods! Lyvia, is that you?”
The arrows of darkness quivered a moment, tugging on their leash. My heart stuttered in its hammering.
Evony shoved through the crowd and called to the creatures, “Stand down! She’s a friend!”
What in Tynan’s Hell…
Ti’s responding snort echoed my disbelief.
The small beasts looked up at her in irritation but obeyed. They clamped their mouths shut and stayed their weapons.
Evony’s bright blue eyes shone in the light of Renova, widening with disbelief as she choked out a sob and raced for me. I reined in the darkness, the Obscura mumbling its disappointment as I forced it back down.
Evony slammed into my chest, knocking the wind from me as she wrapped her arms around my waist and wept into my shoulder. I released my breath, taking her in my arms and squeezing as hard as I could.
I ran a hand over the back of her head before pulling her face away and giving it a good scan. Evony’s long, curly brown hair had been plaited in tight, coiling braids that hung past her shoulders. A few scratches lined her cheeks.
“Where is she?” I asked, doing my best to hide the panic in my voice.
Evony blinked. “Who?”
Hundreds of beasts continued to gather in the pass. They filled the space between us and both cliffs, many still hanging down from branches or ropes.
“The Stone Witch,” I breathed, still uncertain of our safety.
Evony frowned at me, following my gaze.
Silence rippled through the pass at my words. A scrape and thud muffled to our left, and the vibration of Tiberius’s massive hooves hit the ground as he flanked me.
“She’s okay,” Evony said to the one-legged creature whose knit trousers had seen better days. “She’s safe. I know her.”
The creature narrowed its beady eyes at me.
“Gork,” I murmured, remembering the name the Stone Witch had used last year in Crown Peak.
The creature mumbled something in its own language before looking at Evony. His malevolence dissipated as he turned his attention to the girl.
“Gork,” Evony said, turning to him. “Is that your name?”
He nodded his response before turning away and barking a command at the others, who retreated up the cliffside. He stopped, turning and motioning us to follow.
“Come with me,” Evony said, gripping my hand.
We sat in a small, damp cave. I’d sent Tiberius back to Demon’s Door to communicate who and what we’d found at Skyscape Pass with Aquila. He would return with Vienah the next morning.
A makeshift cot sat in the corner, with mountain goat fur draped over the edge and a small sack of straw for the pillow at its top. And though Evony seemed at ease, even pouring a minty tea into a cup carved from birch bark, I couldn’t shake that sense of otherness.
“Dad’s face started showing up on wanted posters shortly after he left for Odessa,” she said, sipping out of her own bark cup.
“I was already up at Mum’s haven when the soldiers came, but I’d run down to the house on occasion to grab more supplies.
They must’ve been staked out for some time because they caught me on my trek down one day. ”
My stomach churned. “But Dad had built in a couple of traps along the path, ones I knew to avoid. Problem was, they’d seen where I went in. So, I had to leave.”
“And you went deeper into the mountains?” I asked, noting how her warm, light brown skin seemed pale in the light of the flames.
Evony nodded and popped a couple of dried berries into her mouth. “Mhmm,” she murmured, matter-of-factly. “And then I ran into the Ganels.”
I blinked. “The what?”
She shrugged, nodding at the beastly creatures that shared the network of caves beneath the mountain.
“Ganels. Angels, in old Votruvian. Mum spoke it, and I know a fair bit. Anyways,” she said, now grabbing a chunk of mountain goat meat and shoving it into her mouth.
“They don’t speak the common tongue, but they can understand it.
I have no idea who the Stone Witch is… There’s been no one else since I joined them. ”
Relief escaped my lips in a sigh, still unsure whether the Stone Witch was a true enemy or not, given the magic used to escape Kayj last year and whatever she did during the Battle of Odessa.
I shook my head, baffled as I digested what she’d said. Angels would have been the last name I’d have given the creatures bustling about the tunnels.
“Gork,” she mused, staring at the wall. “I’ve been calling him Stefan.”
“Stefan?”
She swallowed a large mouthful of meat before nodding. “Yeah. Like Stumpy Stephan from Fabia’s Fables. You know, the boy who lost his leg because he didn’t—”
I snorted and held a hand up, nodding. “Yeah, my father used to read them to me as well.” My lips tugged up in a small smile as I shook my head.
“Anyways, I found them, or rather they found me after a few weeks of wandering. There are miles of tunnels and caves in the Lumerians. They were kind, so we decided to stick together. We made it to this pass about a month ago. A band of soldiers arrived… I thought they were Rising soldiers. And I went to ask about my dad and Ez… Ezrich was supposed to meet me in Mum’s cave, but the kingsguards came too soon. I have no idea where he is.”
I opened my mouth, but Evony grew quiet, setting her cup down, a shadow forming beneath her eyes. “I went down to meet the soldiers, to see if I could get a message out to either Dad or Ez, and…”
Her voice quivered, and she swallowed, her nails biting into the skin on her arms as she wrapped them around herself. Pools of liquid formed at the corners of her eyes.
“And what, Evony?” I asked, my tone quiet and soft, trying my best to keep the edge of fury from seeping into it.
She blinked, sending a small tear rolling down her cheeks. She rocked and shook her head. “Well, I don’t know if they were Rising soldiers or a group of bandits, but they took everything I had, and then they…”
Her voice broke, and she bent forward, as if coiling within herself. The blood in my veins stilled as my powers rumbled. They surged forward, ready to rage against my palms, but I reined them in with quiet wrath.
Evony wiped her face and took a shuddering breath.
“Nothing happened,” she said at last. “Stefan—Gork, I mean—and the rest took care of them before they could get what they wanted. Another group of them came through a few weeks later, and the Ganels killed them all. I didn’t even know they’d shown up until I found them all slaughtered.
I burned their bodies.” She finally looked up and pinched her brows, tilting her head at me.
I swallowed a dry lump.
“Your eyes…” she whispered, glancing between them.
“I have a lot to share, too,” I murmured, looking away. “But before I do,” I said, taking her hands in mine, “Nothing that has happened has been your fault. None of it. You are strong. You are brave. You are smart. You are safe now. I will keep you safe.”
My heart squeezed for her. Morwyn’s scream often pierced my dreams, accompanied by the look on Evony’s face as her mother was cut down before her eyes. “Evony, you’ve endured more than any fifteen-year-old girl should ever have to.”
A small smile formed on Evony’s lips as she squeezed my hand back. “Sixteen now,” she corrected.
I did my best to return her smile. “Well then,” I said, “I suppose I have a belated name day surprise for you then.”