13. Chapter 13
CHAPTER 13
Lucenna
L ucenna covered her mouth as Klyde’s cries for his best friend filled the gorge. Gods…no. Please no. She only wanted to stop the ambush.
“I’m sorry,” she said, her eyes welling. “I didn’t mean?—”
Klyde dismounted and ran to the log jam. “Damn it, Eagon, answer me!”
“Aye, captain, I’m here!” the lieutenant called back from the other side.
He stumbled to a stop, his entire body sagging heavily as if the relief almost knocked him over.
Lucenna closed her eyes, thanking all the gods.
“Is anyone hurt?” Klyde called earnestly. He continued to the barricade and climbed up some of the logs. He reached the midway point, looking through an opening.
“Some injured,” replied the echo of Eagon’s voice, sounding much closer. He must have climbed the wall on the other end as well.
“Any dead?”
The silence was a breath too long. “A few fell in the marshes to the trolls…”
Klyde dropped his head against a branch for a moment. “Climb over, mate,” he said. “Leave the horses.”
“You know we can’t. This log jam is several feet wide. It’s too dangerous for the injured, and we have obligations in Skelling Rise. The men and I were only meant to escort you this far.”
“Can we remove the barricade?” Dyna asked her.
Lucenna checked her Essence. She had drained perhaps half of her power, but her hands still crackled with electricity. She might…
“Not in time before the trolls’ regather,” Rawn said somberly. “The mercenaries’ risk being trapped there if they stay.”
Zev growled and looked up at the ridge again. His ears twitched with sounds they couldn’t hear. More beasts were coming.
Lucenna led Onyx to the wall. “Klyde,” she called softly. “We can’t stay here.”
Klyde gripped the branches tightly, releasing a harsh sound of frustration. His gaze stayed on his friend. “This is Herd, Eagon … it’s like the one that tore through Azurite all those years ago.”
“Aye, I think we grew too confident, Captain. We should have known they were too quiet for a reason,” Eagon said. “Thanks to the girls, their numbers have reduced drastically. We can still fight our way out of the marshes. Now go, and don’t return until you have finished what you left to do. I will take it from here.”
Klyde expression tightened. “Don’t get yourself killed, Lieutenant. I expect you to make it home to my sister.”
There was a pause before he replied, “Aye, you have my word.”
But as firm as his voice was, Lucenna heard the false confidence in it, because he couldn’t promise his life wouldn’t end out there.
Klyde nodded once in acknowledgement, understanding that, too.
“Go with your God.” Eagon’s boots thumped on the sleek logs as he climbed back down.
Klyde watched him go a moment longer. “May he receive me,” he murmured, his voice faint enough that she thought he also said, And you…
The sounds of clashing metal and screeches filled the gorge. The rumble above was getting closer.
“They will be upon us soon, Captain,” Rawn called. “We must keep moving.”
He reluctantly climbed down and mounted Onyx in a smooth leap. Taking the reins, he kicked his heels, and they rode at a fast pace across the creek bed. The water grew deeper until it reached their knees.
“We need to swim from here,” Klyde said, sliding off.
Lucenna gathered her courage and climbed down as Dyna did. She shivered as they waded through the frigid water for several yards. This wasn’t so bad. They had ridden already half the mile through the gorge. They were almost there.
The ground unexpectedly dipped and Lucenna yelped as she sank two feet down.
“We’re at the deep end,” Klyde said behind her. “We’re close.”
She nodded and kept moving, trying to stay calm as the water kept rising to her neck. Dyna hung onto Zev, and Rawn swam beside Fair. Lucenna tried to keep up, but she was walking on toes now and losing hold of the creek bed. She searched for Onyx, but the horse had moved too far to her left. Water sloshed up her nose, spiking her panic.
Magic. Use magic, she told herself.
But her heart was racing, and she couldn’t think of a spell to use. Her satchel. Where was her satchel? She forgot she had a boat in there.
She tried to call out to Rawn but choked on a mouthful of water and coughed violently.
“Oi.” Klyde grabbed her waist, holding her up. She sucked in gulps of air, and her shaking hands gripped his coat. He turned her around, staring at her. “Are you all right?”
Lucenna was shivering so hard, she wasn’t warm enough to blush or even have the energy to be angry that he caught her. “I-I can’t swim,” she admitted between her chattering teeth.
“Why didn’t you say so?” he growled.
Before she could answer, he swung her around, bringing her legs around his waist. She quickly latched onto his neck.
“Keep your head up.” He sounded colder than usual. He must be upset with her over the jam.
The guilt already growing in her chest weighed heavier.
After another ten minutes, they began to rise out of the water again, thank the gods. Soon they were back in the shallow creek, and she slid down Klyde’s back.
“Thank you…”
He nodded without looking at her. They came up past another curve of the path and at last reached the cascades. It crashed down in a small, beautiful pool on the bottom, a soft mist brushing against her cheeks.
“This way,” Klyde told them as he recovered Onyx’s reins.
They followed him on a path of moss curving against the wall to come behind the fall of the water and found a narrow cave opening. It was dark, but there was light ahead. The exit was covered with a curtain of vines.
Klyde pushed them aside. He went in and Lucenna went next. They entered a thick, vibrant forest. It was bright with sunlight, peaceful, as if they had not fought their way through Death’s Gate to get here.
Slowing down, Klyde stopped in the glade with his back to the gorge. His clenched fists shook at his sides, his posture rigid. He wanted to go back.
They will be all right, Lucenna wanted to say, but it wouldn’t be welcomed from her.
“Come.” Klyde turned away. “We have a ways to go before we can make camp.”
Klyde lead them through the forest for several miles before bringing them to a stop on another ridge. He dismounted and said it was safe now. Lucenna sighed with relief. The day had drained her.
Opening up her satchel, she called out her tent with a twirl of pixie dust. It spun out, enlarging as it went. They were quick to set up camp and light a fire. Lucenna and Dyna went into her tent to change out of their damp clothes first. When they came out, Rawn went in next. Zev laid by the crackling campfire in his wolf form, already dried.
But Klyde was missing.
Dyna went to the pot hanging on the spicket and stirred the contents, filling the air with the scent of mushroom soup.
“The captain?” Lucenna whispered to Zev.
The wolf pointed his nose east.
Lucenna went in that direction, passing by a crop of bushes and coming out onto a clifftop. Klyde stood there, staring at the edge of the gorge in the distance. The brisk wind blew against him, rustling his hair and coat.
“Klyde,” Lucenna called hesitantly. She twisted her hands together. “Are you all right?”
“No,” he said gruffly.
She lowered her gaze at his tone.
“I am not angry about the log jam,” Klyde muttered. “You likely saved our arses. I am angry with myself for being so arrogant. I never expected…” He rubbed his face. “I lost men today. The weight of that fault lies on me alone. Now I don’t know if my best mate made it out. But I believe in him. That must be enough.”
He turned around and glowered at her. “However, I am angry that you didn’t tell me you couldn’t swim until you were guzzling down water. For what? Pride or because you simply refused to accept my help. Is that worth drowning for?”
She glared back, ignoring the flush filling her face. “Why would I tell you that?”
“Stubborn woman,” Klyde growled and stormed to her, taking her arms. “Why is it so hard for you to ask for help, Lucenna?”
She stared up at him, taken back by his eyes. They were so scorching blue they simmered. His hands were firm and warm on her arms. But instead of restraining, they felt supportive. Holding her up as if she might fall.
That only infuriated her more because Lucenna didn’t need support. She stepped out his hold. “You were raised with family and friends there to watch your back. I didn’t. I have relied on myself since I was a girl because there was no one there to ask for help.”
Klyde’s anger softened. “And now? You’re not alone anymore, Lucenna.”
She looked away to the ground. “I know…but…”
He sighed. “But habits are hard to break?”
Lucenna closed her eyes. She made herself strong because she needed to be. She had friends now, but it felt too incapacitating to rely on anyone, though she knew it shouldn’t.
“It’s difficult,” she admitted faintly.
“Because you think it makes you weak.”
Lucenna looked up at him, embarrassed and surprised he understood.
Klyde gave her a half smile. It was faint and kind. “Far from it, lass. I think it makes one brave to admit they need help. Even if you can’t admit it to the others yet, I hope you will come to me whenever you need to.”
As Lucenna studied the Captain of the Skelling Mercenaries, she found there were many sides of Klyde. The ridiculous part. The solider part. The calculative part. The part that was violent like a rogue tidal wave. And then there was this unanticipated soft side she had only seen in these stolen moments when their walls unexpectedly dropped around each other.
She arched an eyebrow. “Free of charge?”
Klyde’s smile widened into a grin, and he winked. “Only for you, love”
Lucenna rolled her eyes, pretending she wasn’t glad to see him in a better mood. “I’m not your love.”
“Right.” At his nod toward the trees, they headed back to camp together.
“I am sorry about the gorge though,” she said. “The mercenaries won’t be able to cross into the west now.”
Not without a full force to fight back to those beasts.
“It’s a good thing they won’t be leaving Troll Bridge while I’m gone,” Klyde said as he moved a low hanging branch out of her way. “They will be taking the year off to build new homes in Skelling Rise and prepare for the refugees coming from the Magos Empire.”
She halted. “What?”
“Your people are going to need places to live, lass. The manor will be used as a command center for them to gather, with rooms for them to stay meanwhile. The log jam was a fortunate accident as it assures outsiders won’t be making their way in, and those damn beast won’t escape either.”
“But how will you get back in with Onyx?”
“I suppose I will figure that out when the time comes.” His casual statement seemed too indifferent towards how he reacted before.
Was it to hide his worry?
“Why did you offer to take my people in for free?” Lucenna asked instead. “The truth.”
Klyde sighed and came to a stop, facing her. “I couldn’t accept any sort of recompense, for my reasons are not entirely unselfish.”
Lucenna had suspected as much. She braced herself for whatever he was about to say.
“Opening our doors to outsiders is something I should have called a town meeting to discuss first. But I chose this because when you cried about the suffering of your people, I couldn’t stand not doing whatever necessary to make it stop.” His hand reached for her cheek, but he caught himself and pulled back. “But I must admit … I do have another reason. Our population has not grown much because there are more men than women in Skelling Rise.” When her eyes narrowed, Klyde gave her a look. “You know what kind of town I run and the laws we have in place, lass. I assure you, your people will always be respected, valued, and protected.”
Lucenna crossed her arms. “What if I told you sorceresses and mages are not permitted to mix their bloodlines? To have a human love-mate is unheard of and very unlikely to happen.”
Sighing, Klyde shrugged. “Well, we hold no expectations. Most of the men have resigned themselves to never have a family, and the life of a mercenary tends to be a short one. Every day our town survives is a miracle. We hope opening our doors will bring in a new strength to continue that survival, even if it’s only with magic. And if by some slim chance, a sorceress should choose a mercenary for herself, they would consider it a blessing from the gods.” She stared at him, and he smiled, making those damn dimples appear. “Did you expect me to change my mind? We are stubborn folk if you haven’t realized it yet.”
Her heart dipped at the way he was looking at her, sensing there was a double meaning behind his words. “I have noticed,” she replied faintly.
Klyde chuckled as he continued, and she watched him go.
Choose…
The word circled her mind over and over.
Her people would have the right to choose in Skelling Rise. They would have rights . To use magic if they wanted. To marry who they wish or not marry at all. To choose how to live their lives, no longer fearing that the Archmage and his Enforcers would come to take it from them.
They would be safe in their own sanctuary.
She did that.
With his help, but she did it.
Lucenna looked up at the cloudy sky, wishing her mother was here to see it.
“Are you coming, lass?” Klyde called from up ahead, passing through the bushes. “Or do you need me to carry you again? Please say yes.”
Lucenna snorted. She blinked back the wetness in her eyes and quickly wiped her cheek. “Relish that moment, depraved fool. It’s the last time you will ever feel my body pressed against yours!”
His warm laughter drifted to her, and she secretly smiled.