24. Chapter 24
24
T he Creaic Gap was more daunting than I had imagined. Its jagged gray cliffs jutted into the air like towering pillars, merging into the carved-out mountains still capped with snow. The fading light seemed to cling to the fog swirling in the air as the clouds loomed overhead, refusing to break formation around the Gap. The chill in the air intensified, coursing through me with a shiver. I exhaled slowly, stretching my legs one last time before we set off to find the inn that Levon had said was hidden within the mountain itself. The entire landscape felt stifling as if the atmosphere was thick with the same dread enveloping me.
The bright oranges and pinks of the sunset finally succumbed to the elements, giving way to an inky sky. To the right of us was a sea of farming fields that stretched on for miles, broken up by scattered large trees that blew in the breeze. To our left was the towering mountain carved out to form a jagged wall.
I took a deep breath, the cooling night air sharp in my lungs, and felt grateful for the long sleeves I had opted for.
"We shouldn't be out this late. Let's get moving," Kaizen grumbled, walking past me and climbing into the driver's seat.
Levon helped me back into the carriage, and we rode along the tall wall, passing a few inn outposts gleaming with lanterns as the sun faded further, turning the sky a deep indigo. Only the light of our lantern guided us now, casting an eerie glow that illuminated the fog swirling around us before we finally came to a stop.
"I need to go let them know we're here to open the carriage entrance. I'll be right back," Levon said, stepping out of the carriage and vanishing into the darkness. The carriage remained still, and knowing that Kaizen was still with me brought a sense of calm. I watched the line of lanterns flicker on the wall through the window, casting shadows against the large wooden door Levon walked through.
The carriage swayed, and the door slammed open, startling a curse out of me as Kaizen gripped the sword at his hip.
" Move. Now, " he hissed, extinguishing the lanterns. Fear gripped my heart, compelling me to stay close to him. He clutched my arm, guiding me until we were between the carriage and the horses, who also stood frozen, their ears twitching, listening to whatever Kaizen had sensed.
"What is it?" I whispered urgently. He clasped my mouth with his calloused hand, his face inches from mine as his vibrant amber eyes scanned the surroundings.
I slowed my breathing and strained to hear what he had detected—a series of eerie clicking noises that slithered and swayed against the chirping of crickets, which stopped intermittently. My heart pounded in my ears as I searched his wide eyes for answers.
We stood frozen as the clicking grew louder, the rustling moving closer until a sharp click sounded to our right, only mere feet away. Kaizen let go of my mouth and shoved a dagger into my hands.
"When I say run—"
Laughter erupted from the mountainside as a cascade of lights broke through the darkness, blinding us, indicating the inn opened the carriage opening. The clicking instantly stopped, vanishing along with the shadows.
Levon came into view, standing frozen, looking to Kaizen's unsheathed sword and then to my fearful eyes. Several large men behind Levon approached the back of the carriage and took our trunks. I stepped back from Kaizen, forcing my trembling to subside and finding my breath again. I quickly placed the dagger behind my back and regretted not wearing my leathers.
Levon paced towards us, exchanging a worried look with Kaizen. Kaizen subtly nodded, and stepped forward, gripping the reins, and led the horses and carriage toward a large opening that had appeared in the mountainside, with stalls and other carriages stowed within.
I steadied my breathing as Levon peered into the darkness, guiding me to the front door of the inn. He kept a constant watch over his shoulder, keeping me close until we were safely inside. The door closed firmly behind us, sealing out the night.
Inside, the warmth and light were a welcome contrast to the cold outside. Levon's breathing was ragged with fear and anger, drowning out my thoughts amidst the chatter, the clinking of dishes, and the smack of cards.
I turned to find several groups gathered around tables, laughing and enjoying themselves. They guzzled down golden liquid, played cards, and savored their meals. My stomach grumbled at the enticing aroma of food, prompting me to move closer, hoping to ease the tremors of fear within me.
Levon reached for my hand and pulled me into a quick embrace, breathing in as a shuddering breath escaped his lips. "Eat first, then we'll talk."
I nodded as he led me toward a pale-skinned man with a beard as dark as night.
"Well, isn't it little Alder all grown up, yet somehow still looking as youthful as the first day we met," the man said, grabbing two large wooden plates and walking back to the large stone oven, where several pots and pans were simmering. The warmth and rich smells filled the air, thawing my frozen fear. We both managed to smile.
"And isn't it little Jucam all grown up, looking more like an old man with that beard?" Levon replied with a tease, which made the man full on belly laugh. He returned with the plates, setting them down before us, piled with delicious food, which made my stomach ache with hunger.
"How long has it been? Mam's been so upset you never returned and has waited every fall and winter for you," he said, scratching his beard.
Levon's smile became genuine as he shook his head. "A few years. I wanted to come back, but plans changed," Levon stated, glancing at me.
Jucam's raven eyes skimmed me and smiled.
"Eliah, this is Faren Jucam, owner of this fine inn and the best cook around," Levon said.
I gave him a tense smile and a curt nod, trying my best not to glance back at the large wooden door, praying it was strong enough to hold whatever was out there. Levon squeezed my hand, bringing me back to the present.
"Nice to meet you, milady." Jucam pushed the plates forward, "On the house. Just make sure to tell Mam hi before you leave, or she'll have my hide."
Levon laughed in agreement and nodded his thanks. He took the two plates and guided me toward an empty table farthest from the door. He pulled out a chair for me and then sat down himself.
"Eat first," he reminded me, touching my shaking knee.
Inhale.
I took a bite, hoping my grumbling stomach wouldn't attract attention, and was hit with an explosion of flavor that instantly distracted me from my fears. The lemon and onion potatoes, seasoned with some exotic spice, danced on my taste buds while the juicy roast warmed my belly and soul.
Levon laughed, breaking me out of my trance.
I covered my mouth, still chewing. "This is amazing."
"Jucam was in the Royal Cookery before he left to come here," Levon explained.
"I'm sure King Thealor was not happy about that," I remarked, taking another juicy bite of the shallots mixed with fiery greens, perfectly spiced.
"He wasn't. But Jucam became a father, and the king knows the importance of family," Levon said before taking another bite.
"The king?" I said, sneering slightly. "I don't know if I ever thought King Thealor to be a family man."
He only laughed as we both finished off our plates with satisfaction. He wiped at his lips with his thumb, a gesture that sent a thrill of butterflies bounding in my chest. I found myself unable to meet his gaze, instead wringing my hands with the urge not to reach out and touch him, refusing to allow myself to harbor such feelings for him. But deep down, I knew that he was nothing like Jesri or those pompous men, that he was kind, and he was trying the best he could to help me obtain my dreams no matter what bind he was in.
I stood. "We've eaten."
He nodded and grabbed the plates, walking back toward Jucam to express his thanks before returning and taking my hand. He led me down a long hallway lined with moss and scattered doors, stopping at one deep within the mountain. The cold air sent a chill down my spine as he opened the door. Kaizen was sitting on the large bed at its center, eating his share of the savory food. He seemed unbothered and continued with his meal as we entered.
Levon let go of my hand and locked the door behind us. I scanned the cool, stone room. Our trunks sat at the far end of the wall, where a narrow hallway led to another small room with a single bed. My surprise surpassed the novelty of an inn carved out from a mountainside, and I was impressed by the decent accommodations.
Levon walked to a closed door on the right and opened it with a smirk. "It looks like you're blessed and will be able to relieve yourself during the night," he teased, a faint echo of our first night at that inn weeks ago. Despite the tension in the air, I managed a weak smile.
I brushed off the awkwardness, noticing Kaizen's confused face, and walked toward the smaller room on the left, glancing inside.
"I don't know if I should be called blessed with a potential bounty on my head, let alone the Spellcasters hunting me," I remarked, the weight of my situation settling heavily on my shoulders.
"We are safe here," Levon retorted, his voice carrying a hint of defiance, while Kaizen finished off his plate with a stoic expression. I shot a glare at Kaizen, demanding answers.
"We are," Kaizen reiterated, his tone unwavering.
"What was that outside?" I snapped, still looking to Kaizen, waiting for an explanation as my heart pounded with anticipation.
Kaizen took a deep breath. "I believe it might have been a Breva, but I've only heard of their lore," he said, wiping his mouth. Levon's expression grew pale as I awaited further explanation.
Rising from the bed, he moved with a sense of purpose, setting his plate near the door as his cloak trailed behind him with regal elegance. "They're blind," he explained, his voice carrying a hint of urgency, "and rely on echospotting to navigate. It allows them to sense objects and blend into their surroundings. If I hadn't been on edge and noticed the subtle slithering, I might have mistaken the clicking sounds for insects."
I tried to push the horrifying image out of my mind. "Are they similar to the Miehja? Are these creatures bred by the Spellcasters?" I asked, wrapping my arms around myself for comfort.
"The Miehja are bred to kill," Kaizen paused, his gaze flickering to Levon before continuing. "The Breva are bred to capture and report. They attack by striking with a poison, paralyzing you and slowing your heartbeat to barely a breath while they swallow you whole and slither back to deliver their report." His voice darkened. "But whatever you do, do not let one take you. Run away as far and as fast as you can. Because if they take you—" he stopped abruptly, shaking his head, unwilling to entertain the thought.
Bile coated my throat as I shivered at the thought of one of us being attacked—taken. "The Spellcasters know where we are then?" I whispered, feeling a chill run down my spine. Levon came beside me and squeezed my hand in silent comfort, though it felt more like an apology.
"I suspect one was lurking nearby and caught your scent," Levon replied with a hint of disgust. "We'll have to be on high alert as we pass through the Gap."
"My scent?" I echoed, a knot of fear forming in my stomach.
Kaizen nodded gravely. "Each neurological pathway holds a scent and can serve as a beacon to…specific beings. And since you've already had dreams through the 'Caster's anomalies, they have most likely identified your scent or aura to their creatures." His words sent my mouth dry as fear crept over me, feeling disgustingly exposed.
"Perhaps now," he said mockingly, his gaze drifting to where Levon's and my hands were clasped together as his face turned angry. "You'll finally start fighting instead of hiding." Anger surged within me, and I shot him a glare that could cut through steel, confused at his abrupt change. "But perhaps that would never be in your nature."
I struggled to swallow, feeling the weight of his words pierce through me, knowing that all I'd ever done was live in submission.
Levon glared at him as Kaizen walked to the other room, forcefully closing the door behind him. I forced the growing anger laced with fear down as I sat on the bed, holding my head in my hands. The bed shifted to the right of me, and Levon's body slid next to mine. His warmth was tangible in the cool room.
"I've been so na?ve, Levon," I confessed bitterly. "Maybe it would have been better for me to wallow in self-pity at Jesri's estate—forever a pet to him. I didn't know that the world was this…evil."
His hand shifted onto my back, stroking lazy fingers down my spine, but his touch brought me no solace.
" Don't wish for that . You're not na?ve; you've just been kept in the dark, like everyone else," he explained, his voice tinged with sympathy.
"How do you know all this?" I shot back, frustration bubbling up within me. He looked at me with haunted eyes as he flexed his scarred hands. I palmed my eyes in exasperation, leaning into him as fear and anger churned within me.
A metallic twang sliced through the air, jolting my senses. Levon snapped his hand back as if stung, his eyes ablaze with an emotion I couldn't quite decipher.
"Eliah," he began cautiously, holding up his hands and rising from the bed. "Calm down."
The world seemed to spin as the metallic scent of blood invaded my senses, setting my nerves ablaze with rage and fear. My vision blurred with fury, my mind clouded by irrationality.
" Calm down ?" I scoffed, the laughter ringing hollow as I relished the surge of anger coursing through me like wildfire. The door swung open, revealing Kaizen with a dagger at his side. His amber eyes burned with intensity, but I refused to cower under his gaze. Instead, I met his fiery stare with a snarl, allowing the wrath within me to ignite like a storm of dark, icy flames.
The world tilted with agonizing pressure as the coppery surge of rotted blood stifled my nostrils and pulsed through my veins. I blinked, trying to reconcile myself, as a pit deep within me boiled and retracted as if afraid. I tried to swallow, but my mouth was as dry as the desert. Fury speckled my vision and muddled my fearful mind, instantly snapping my control to succumb to the irrational, moving my body.
"Stand down, orphan, " he taunted as a wicked smile crossed his lips. Levon's bright eyes dimmed, brimming with anger at Kaizen, but he backed against the side wall.
"Kaizen, no, not here!" Levon ordered, yet no words came from his mouth.
I cocked my head with confusion but before I could think, a torrent of shimmering rage surged through my veins like a relentless inferno threatening to consume me whole. Despite my efforts, I could only choke a twisted laugh through clenched teeth as the seething anger roared within, fighting back against an oily presence that invaded my core. I grappled with the rage pulsating throughout my body like suppressed ripples. A chilling pressure bore down on me, worming its way deeper into my skull as it surged through me with an unyielding force, compelling me into submission and driving the tendrils of darkness deeper into my shaking soul. I struggled to breathe as my body seized.
" At least I'm broken enough to realize I'm nothing more than an orphan !" I snapped, seeing right through his rugged and dark stature.
Kaizen only clapped and grinned, sickening my soul even more, and relished with each tormented part of me.
I wrestled with the relentless pressure, struggling to fight back with each surge of force that threatened to overwhelm me entirely. With a snap, the tumultuous storm of darkness engulfed me, unleashing a torrent of memories that tore through my mind like a tempest.
I saw the cruel lash of Jesri's whip and felt the sting of his malicious words searing into my core. The relentless training, day in and day out, the hunger gnawing at my insides as I pushed myself to the brink. The self-hatred, the doubt, the excruciating pain that I buried beneath layers of determination, driving myself forward through sheer force of will.
Each failed test of the dagger and setback absorbed the torment of my wretched soul, fueling the flames of my fury. Nights drowned in salty tears, my body bruised beyond healing, my once untouched hands now calloused and scarred. Rumors, like poison, coursed through my veins, clotting my blood with each passing memory, each reminder of my past.
It seemed endless, the relentless flood of memories, each one a painful reminder of my past, my agony, my fears for parents who never returned. The bitterness welled within me, fueled by the resentment I harbored towards that wretched tree that never granted my childish wishes but seemed to heed the golden-eyed boy I adored time and time again. He was everything I was not—carefree, confident, everything that stirred up jealousy in my pathetic, wretched life.
A waste.
A sudden flash of light shattered the darkness of my thoughts, and I found myself back in Jesri's study, barely feeling the plush rug beneath my feet as I hung my head, the bruises on my arm throbbing in protest. My face burned from the recent confrontation, the echoes of Calum's voice reverberated off the closed door, his desperate pleas and cries filling the room.
"It was my fault! She didn't do it!" His voice grew more frantic with each passing moment, the sound of grunting and hurried footsteps drawing nearer. "Uncle, please. No!"
The door crashed open, and Jesri's piercing gaze bore into me, stealing the air from my lungs. I averted my eyes, focusing on the plush rug beneath me, my fingers absently tugging at the torn fabric of my shirt from the branches that had broken my fall.
Without warning, Jesri seized my arm, dragging me roughly from the chair and toward the door. Tears welled in my eyes as his grip tightened, sending waves of pain shooting through my injured arm. I glanced back at Calum, his eye swollen shut, with his face marred with scrapes mirroring my own. He collapsed to his knees, his cries echoing through the room.
I'm sorry, Calum mouthed as Jesri dragged me out the door. I noticed the line of staff watching, their faces numb with worry as he took me toward the foreboding woods, now frosted over with a bitter cold that had swept through, causing the humidity to amplify the cold air surrounding us.
He threw me into a bush that further bloodied my already pained body.
"Jesri, please," I gasped, trying to contain my trembling that would only cause more punishment.
"When I expect you to be a part of my house, I expect you to keep all the rules," he hissed out through gritted teeth. His anger radiating like a warm fire on the cold ground. The sun was darkening against the murky clouds as small wisps of air puffed from each breath.
"I'm sorry—"
"Sorry doesn't cut it, you foolish girl," he howled, sending the birds flying away. I sucked in a sob wishing I could fly away with them. "You sleep here for the night—"
"I'll freeze," I whimpered.
"Make that two." He took hold of my chin, rippling the pain deeper. "I don't want to see your pathetic face on my grass until then. And don't make me regret this— I need you alive." He shoved my face to the side and left, leaving frozen steps in his wake.
I shuddered in the cold, tears freezing on my cheeks until my well of sorrow ran dry, leaving me hollow beneath the ebony black sky dotted with bright stars. Gathering what little strength I had left, I forced myself to find the tree, my only solace. I steadied my chattering teeth against the damp air and stumbled forward, heedless of lurking creatures that might see a vulnerable girl as easy prey.
I stumbled onto the cold, mossy ground beneath the wishing tree, desperate for it to remember—a plea not to forget the pathetic girl too angry to follow the rules.
" Please," I begged, collapsing against its trunk, overgrown with gnarled roots that stuck up and shielded me from the cold. "Please."
The air stirred, swirling frost before me as a blinding light hissed out, shooting skyward and raining shimmering sparkles around me, thawing my frozen, aching body until I fell into a deep sleep, only waking with a warm wool blanket over me.
I jolted back to the present, a snarl escaping my lips. I struggled to shake off the icy chill gripping me, feeling as though I was staring out of my own eyes but somehow locked deep inside. Memories flashed by, some forgotten or forced into oblivion until now. Exhausted, I returned to the present, a blinding pressure building within my head.
Worried amber eyes came into view, and instantly reignited the anger, my hands curling as I was lunging for Kaizen, no longer in control of my body. My fingers wrapped around his tanned throat and squeezed as hard as I could. The veins in his neck bulged as his eyes flickered with darkness.
I screamed, but no sound emerged, and I fought against my own hands, desperate for them to release their grip. Levon was on me in seconds, tearing at my arms, his voice joining mine in frantic cries to stop. Kaizen's amber eyes were bright with concern as he grabbed my fingers, attempting to wedge his own between mine to break the hold.
I wailed as pain shot through my skull, sending my vision spinning with dizzying intensity. An oily blackness crept up my spine, suffocating me. The familiar sensation of spidery fingers wrapped around my throat, squeezing until a loud snap echoed in my ears, jolting me back to reality. Agony erupted from my fingers, radiating up my arm and side. I fought against the darkness with a violent thrash, clawing for control as my vision slowly returned.
Kaizen's worried eyes met mine, and realization struck. I abruptly released my grip, feeling guilt flood in as pain radiated through my trembling hand. Levon pulled me away, and Kaizen coughed, clutching his neck as he leaned against the wall, struggling to stand. I collapsed to the ground and sucked in a breath, seeing my little finger dislocated and jutting out at an odd angle.
" Kaizen, enough, " Levon warned, shoving him harder against the wall and pinning him there. " Enough. "
A tense exchange of silent words passed between them before Kaizen shoved Levon off.
"Remember your place!" Kaizen hissed, pushing away from the wall and slamming the door to the small room shut, the sound echoing off the stone walls.
I closed my eyes, letting my heart swell back into my soul and drive the memories away.
Inhale.
Exhale.
"This is going to hurt." I felt Levon's hand take my dislocated finger as I grounded myself on the cold stone floor.
Inhale.
"One, two—"
I yelped, quickly stifling the cry as more pain jostled up my arm. Levon wrapped a small bandage around the injured fingers, then lifted me onto the bed, holding me close as the tears fell. I let the fear, the pity, the hatred, and the anger consume me until darkness overtook everything.
"It is attainable, Xaldruk," the oily voice hissed, barely audible, as the surrounding darkness pulsed, sending tremors through the earth. The mountains trembled, and the rivers roared in response.
Cheers erupted from below, their echoes bouncing off the blood-stained sky.
"Good," the shadowy voice snarled.