Chapter 28
TODAY WAS THE DAY.
According to the map, we were almost to the reaches of the Southern Mountains and the waterfall that marked the entrance of the invisible realm of the Elder Beast. That should have been the only thing on my mind as I saddled Bluebell and readied our group to finish the quest.
It wasn’t.
Aven’s kisses were a solid second occupier of my thoughts. But we had agreed that whatever was to happen between us needed to wait until after I had the Elder Beast’s horn in my hands and had freed Zig from the mages. Then we could talk.
It was nice to live in this pretend bubble, imagining a future with Aven.
A future that would never really happen.
Because when we eventually talked, I would have to tell the truth about…
everything. But that was for future Ellinore to figure out.
Present Ellinore had to focus on navigating the tricky terrain of the foothills.
“If we find the next river,” Farrah said, trailing her finger over the map, “and follow it toward its source, we should find the waterfall.”
I agreed. “That sounds like a good plan.”
Farrah’s eyes twinkled with pride as she grinned. “Yeah, it is.”
I clapped my hands to get the group’s attention. “Okay. Listen up, friends. If the map is correct, we’re finding that waterfall in a few hours. And as much as I hate to admit this, there is no way I’m going to defeat a primordial alone. So be ready when we get there. We’ll need all capable hands.”
Farrah gave me a determined nod, her fingers clutching her quarterstaff.
Zig didn’t look well, but he had the pilfered short sword strapped to his waist, and I knew he had at least one knife hidden up his sleeves.
Rylan grasped Zig’s shoulder; his other hand was tucked in his pocket, his expression serious.
It was no secret that I hadn’t wanted any of them to follow me on this quest, but I was glad they were with me now as we headed into the veritable realm of the beast.
“We’re with you,” Aven said softly. They hooked their pinky finger with mine in a quick, reassuring gesture.
“I know. Let’s go.”
We found the river easily enough, a winding shimmer of clear snowmelt that weaved through the hills, swiftly following the path of least resistance toward the Southern Sea.
We rode upstream along the bank for several hours, and just as I began to question our plan, a roar in the distance chased away my doubts, and soon I spotted the rising mist of crashing water.
The waterfall.
Bluebell must have felt my excitement that we were so close to our goal, so close to finding the prize and ending the journey, because she danced beneath me, galvanized by my own energy. I clicked my heels and took off at a gallop, outpacing the others, even Mouse.
My pulse thumped in my temples as I leaned over Bluebell’s neck, her mane whipping in the wind.
I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed this part of questing, the thrill of approaching the finish, the knowledge that there was only one more piece of the puzzle to find and there would be a win at the end—be it a purse of gold, a bouquet of flowers, or in this case, the ability to save my brother’s life.
I was almost there. So close. Just around the next bend and—
The river spilled over the craggy top of a plateau in ribbons of whitewater, splashing into a large, clear pool below, before rapidly continuing downstream in the carved bed. Tears welled in my eyes in utter relief.
The waterfall was the tallest I’d ever seen. Thousands of gallons of water poured over the falls daily, traveling down from the mountains to feed the farmland and the towns all the way to the coast.
“We made it,” I breathed.
Aven pulled up beside me. “So did someone else,” they said.
I whipped my head around and my heart sank. Lord Ethan’s retinue was on the other side of the river.
“They beat us. How did they arrive before us?” I can’t accurately describe the combination of despair and loathing I felt at losing to him a second time. But whatever that emotion was called, it left a bitter taste in my mouth.
“It doesn’t matter,” Aven said, clambering down from Mouse, whose sides were still heaving from the climb. They looped their quiver around their body and grabbed their bow. “We didn’t come this far to be defeated by a haughty lord.”
I jumped from Bluebell and clipped my sword belt around my hips. “Just so you know, that was unfairly attractive of you just now.”
Aven shook their head. “Flirt later. Now it’s time to win.”
“If we win, there will be much more than flirting later.”
Aven’s face turned beet red. “Ellinore.”
“What? Just speaking facts. That said, let’s go.”
Like the previous time I faced Lord Ethan, this called for a direct confrontation.
Glancing at his camp, I saw only a few of the organizational members milling about—cooks, scholars, even a bard—but there was no sight of Lord Ethan himself or his squires and guards, which meant that his team was already behind the falls.
A slippery ledge jutted from the face of the rock cliff above his camp, providing a route to whatever lay behind the wall of water.
I only hoped that Lord Ethan had not found the entrance to the invisible realm yet and that we could somehow get to it first. Or if we’d truly lost, then I would fight Lord Ethan and take the horn by any means necessary.
Unfortunately, there was no outcropping or path to the backside of the waterfall on our bank of the river. But no matter, there was another way in.
“Can you swim?” I asked Aven, knee-deep in the water already.
“Passably,” they said, splashing as they entered the pool. “I’ll keep up.”
The stream was freezing as it lapped at my waist. Goose bumps covered my arms, and I had to fight every instinct I had that wanted me to curl into a ball and try to get warm.
I shivered as I half walked, half swam until the water came up to my shoulders.
The clear water was deceptively deep, and once I was up to my neck, the bottom dropped away, and my toes lost touch with the smooth rock floor.
It was terrifying. The things I did for my brother.
Speaking of, both Aven and I were treading water before the rest of our group arrived. They hurriedly dismounted behind us and ran to the bank.
“What do you want us to do?” Rylan called.
“Feel free to join anytime,” I said, teeth chattering. Ancients, this was frigid. Colder than the cave. “We’ll have to swim under the falls, so meet us on the other side! But be careful!”
I turned my attention to the churning froth of the falling water. Aven joined me, their shoulder touching mine, the ends of their hair wet and clinging to their pale skin.
“Ready?” they asked.
“Let’s go.”
I took a huge breath, preparing to dive beneath the surface, but a sudden wave slapped me in the face and pushed me away from my destination. A wave that shouldn’t have been in the pool at all. A wave that had emanated from behind the falls.
I inhaled water in a surprised gulp. I coughed, choking and freezing. Another swell followed, then another, as if something large had dropped in and the ripples were spreading out, pushing Aven and me toward the current of the river.
Crap. Crap. Crap.
We couldn’t get sucked in and swept downstream. We’d certainly lose to Lord Ethan then and potentially drown in the process. I reached for Aven’s hand and grasped their frigid fingers, both of us struggling for the shore.
Screams and shouts erupted from the bank, though I couldn’t see why with the water smacking me in the face every few moments.
Using all the strength I had, I yanked Aven close to me in the water, my biceps straining, and looped my arm around their waist. I hauled us to where we could find our feet, and then we stumbled for the shore, slipping on rocks.
I banged my knee and cut my hand as I scrambled out of the freezing pool.
Farrah offered the end of her staff, and I took it gratefully, using it for balance. Rylan and Zig had Aven, pulling them out as well.
Before I could even ask, Zig answered my question.
“Um… a few people just ran downstream screaming,” he said.
As I watched the chaos on the other side of the river, dread settled in my stomach. The squires and guards who’d made it out of the pool were on the bank with their weapons drawn, others were in the river, struggling to reach the shore, while the rest had been swept downriver. What was going on?
My armor was waterlogged, my hair was plastered to my neck, and everything was unpleasant and heavy and so cold that I could barely breathe. But it was all the least of my worries.
A roar split the air, so piercing, it almost burst my eardrums. I flinched as another followed, clapping my hands over my ears as stabbing pain infiltrated my senses.
The ground trembled, throwing us all off balance. I fell to my knees, the others staggering around me.
Then the waterfall parted, like curtains peeling away, to reveal an utter nightmare.
Even with the height of the falls, the monster needed to duck its head to emerge from its lair.
Aven grasped my arm as the first head was followed by another.
And another. I felt Aven’s grip tighten as I lost track of how many heads there were, all of which sat atop long necks that merged into one snakelike torso, which slithered out from behind the falls.
“That’s not the Elder Beast,” Rylan whispered.
Stone-cold fear lodged in my middle. It certainly was not.
This wasn’t the correct primordial, the one we were meant to find. It was literal death, the stuff of bad dreams and fairy tales that warned of dangers in the water.
Which meant we had failed. I’d failed. In the most crucial moment of this quest, when I’d decided just to be Ellinore for once, to trust my gut, to follow my good quest instincts, I’d made the most egregious error of all. A mistake that may have condemned my brother to death.
One of the heads roared again.
It hurt. Like being stabbed in the temple. Well, at least Zig wouldn’t die alone, because that thing would easily destroy us all.
The many heads bobbed and surveyed the area, whipping around and snapping at the frightened horses of Lord Ethan’s retinue.
They reminded me of dragons’ heads, with the same type of snout and nostrils, filmy eyes, and rounded ears, but they sat atop long, serpentine necks.
The scales were a deep blue at the top and transitioned into black as the necks merged at the torso and continued to the snakelike tail.
I’d never seen something so large, so literally monstrous, in all my quests, in all the parchments I’d read.
It was truly a creature from before the concept of time.
“What is it?” Farrah asked, voice shaking.
“It doesn’t matter,” I said. “It’s not what we’re looking for, so let’s get out of here before it notices us.”
“Agreed,” Aven whispered.
We had unconsciously moved backward as a group as we watched it in awe, but now we really needed to retreat strategically. As in, run.
“That foolish asshole,” Aven spat.
I dragged my gaze from the monster to the shoreline.
Lord Ethan stood there, his squires and guards at his back, brandishing their weapons at something they could never hope to vanquish.
His archers had arrows nocked and ready.
A few squires wielded long pikes, but nothing that would pierce the scaled armor of the monster.
Aven shook their head. “He’s going to get them all killed.”
The primordial glided out farther, the movements of its snake tail pushing another wave of water downstream. It lowered one of its many heads and released a soul-shaking roar at the other shore.
“Ellinore,” Zig said, tapping my shoulder, “there’s a town downriver. If that thing has been awakened, what’s to keep it from traveling and destroying anything in its path?”
Fuck. It was a primordial being, which meant it had shaped our world. It had probably created the river, or hell, the entire coastline, maybe even the width and breadth of the seas. It could easily level anything in its path and reform our world anew.
“We wouldn’t have to kill it,” Rylan added. “Only drive it back to its lair.”
Aven sighed heavily. “And maybe keep the king’s vassal from meeting his unnecessary demise.”
“If there aren’t people trying to kill it, it might even just go back to sleep or whatever it has been doing for the last several centuries,” Farrah said, ever the optimist.
One of the monster’s heads swiveled in our direction, while another’s teeth clacked, and another huffed water from its nostrils.
I shivered with cold and with fear. “I don’t know,” I said.
Every instinct screamed at me to run, to take my friends and ensure their safety, and damn whoever might be in the monster’s path, as long as my brother and Aven and Rylan and Farrah were protected. Ellinore the person wanted to run.
“Ellinore, I don’t want people to die because of me,” Zig said quietly.
Damn. I had really come to hate Ellinore the Brave. “Fine. Keep away from its teeth. Rylan and Aven, distract it. Zig and Farrah, let’s go save folks.”