Chapter 4
four
. . .
Aten
Zuns, this was a shit plan.
It was the only one I had, and I’d come this far already. Getting back to Ever was the only thing driving me—that was all I needed.
The first step counted on luck, and Aslendrix must have been looking out for me because I got some.
Scouting along the rocky terrain against the rough sea, I found a boat, more like a dinghy, hidden against the rocks.
It was only big enough to carry two people, and one oar was missing, but I took it.
I unloaded the generous pack my father had provided to accommodate my banishment and set Nettle loose. Maybe he’d find his way back over to Kirrasia, or maybe he’d head towards Ever’s home. He couldn’t be my priority right now.
The sea would be risky, but less likely to raise alarm than attempting to cross the border over land, and the only clear route I had back into Kirrasia.
Being spotted would set off the trigger, so I had no choice but to stay out of range.
It would eat up the time, but I trusted that Calix would get to Ever.
The journey was much fucking harder than I anticipated. The current was strong and punishing, drawing me back against the rocks as if it wanted to toy with me. Pretending to let me go before reeling me back in, over and over again.
It took hours just to move past the first outcrop of rocks, and I had miles left.
As I got farther out to sea, my power felt more sluggish, worse than what it was in Estereah. Now it felt like it, too, was fighting against the tide, and I wondered if perhaps the sea obstructed the connection to Aslendrix—not being on solid ground.
It didn’t stop me from trying to shout down the tether that joined me to her.
However, it just echoed in my mind and faded, snuffed out by a gust of wind. I couldn’t let her know I was coming. I had no ability to reassure her or to give her hope.
My focus became putting everything into making the journey up the coast, past The Court, and towards the Jet Mountains where I’d need to find a safe place—a passable place—to come ashore and travel down towards The Court, back to Ever. So, I endured.
As I’d told myself a hundred times over the last two days, this was a shit plan. The view of The Tower, dwarfing the buildings surrounding it, was impressive even this far out to sea. At least my distance meant I didn’t trigger any alarm. But as dusk slipped into night, my progress slowed.
Sleep was impossible; the tide was too strong to stop fighting against it, even for a minute. I’d be at the mercy and whim of the waves, and I couldn’t have that.
Learning firsthand how formidable this is was humbling, and I see why we’ve so rarely ever been attacked from this direction. I had to keep moving.
After the second day, I couldn’t head north any longer; my only choice was to make it to shore, regardless of how far I’d travelled. I was out of water and out of time. I’d never make it farther. And so, my plan relied once again on luck.
But the mountains were another natural defence that gave Kirrasia the advantage. There were no obvious places to come ashore, unless you wanted to climb a vertical face of granite. They were places that few ventured, for many reasons, including their inhospitable temperatures.
But as my body rebelled against the idea of travelling any farther, the boat caught a current and made quick work of hitting the base of a rock formation. It was around the mid-range of the mountains, and a narrow fissure formed a semblance of a path, as slim as the advantage this gave me.
As my foot hit the stone, my power surged, warming and coming alive, and it brought me a sense of relief that choked me.
But no sooner had it re-surfaced, it slipped from my grasp, like smoke in my fist—Aslendrix repaying my earlier luck and my piss-poor timing.
It had been over a week, but I’d lost track of the days, still no closer to getting back to Ever.
And now, for the next passing of the moon, powerless.
Entering Kirrasia under a new moon did mean things might be more level if I ran into trouble. It also meant that everyone in Kirrasia would be at their weakest. Defenceless.
The thought drove me to climb.
Until there wasn’t anything in me to pull on. No energy, no power, just exhaustion. And I collapsed.
The chill over my body wakes me. And I stare up at a menacing-looking overhang, capped with white.
For a moment, I’m right back in that vision.
Snow on the ground, blood pooling around Ever.
My heart ricochets in my chest, and I bolt upright, reaching for my power, but finding nothing except the cold stillness that indicates the new moon.
Ever isn’t here. The vision can’t be true. I hold on to that as the air bites through my clothes, the altitude not helping the temperature, especially after being at sea and caked in salt for the past few days.
She isn’t here. And I will never let it become a reality, I vow to Aslendrix, looking up into the blue sky.
That won’t be her future. “You hear me? That won’t be her fate,” I shout as if Aslendrix is watching over me, and perhaps she is, laughing at my endeavours.
My voice echoes around the rock and overhangs, penning me in and reminding me of my threat in a cruel, taunting way.
While I’m technically back on Kirrian land, I need to keep moving.
Visions haunting me aren’t the only fear here.
Calix and I might have played at scaling the lower peaks as children, but we haven’t ventured this far.
And I have no desire to come up against the Sur’gos that lurk in the frozen caves and shadows.
Novandia is shy, reserving his full strength despite the day growing long, the air lacking any warmth, or so it seems, in the shadows of granite around me. The journey down is hard, my footing unsure and slipping on the loose stones. Every other turn, I come up against nothing but dead ends.
But I continue. Ever needs me to continue. I can rest when she’s safe. When we’re both safe.
As my vision blurs, and I stumble for what must be the dozenth time, I hear another noise. Rubble, maybe. Footsteps? My hand reaches for the knife at my back, and I clench my fist around the hilt as I flatten myself back against the rock.
It isn’t the monster I first thought of that appears around the corner.
It’s General Aster.
He locks his gaze with mine and trails it to the knife that is now fully drawn and resting comfortably in my hand. On any other day, I might have a chance, but today, when I can barely stand, he’ll be able to overpower me and take me prisoner with no doubt.
But his eyes soften as he sees me, and his stance relaxes.
“Put the knife away. Here.” He reaches to his side and closes the distance between us before handing me a waterskin. I gladly accept and guzzle the water in several mouthfuls. The water quenches my dry throat and washes the lingering burn of salt from my lips.
“Thank you,” I gasp. The refreshment eases a dormant fear inside of me that I might not be able to do this on my own. And that my banishment might hold, cutting me off from my home, my family, and everyone I know, including Ever.
Looking around, my options are limited, and my path blocked. I look back, and struggle to formulate some semblance of a plan, but…
“Don’t, Aten. I am no fool.”
“No, General.” I pause, realising that anything from this position would be a failure, and I can strategise that without any help from Aslendrix. “Where was I spotted?”
“You weren’t. Crimson told me what you’d asked, and what she thought you might do. Before you judge her too harshly, you might want to hear her side of the story.”
I ball my fists, my teeth threatening to break my own jaw, despite how drained I feel. “What about Calix? What about Ever?” I ask, swallowing my anger.
“Calix is…” He takes a steadying breath. “He’s in the infirmary. Recovering. Perrin is doing what he can, but that is limited until Aslendrix returns to us.”
“What happened? Is Ever safe? Did Calix get her out?” My questions fire off, running over one another.
“She is why he is wounded. Badly. According to Crimson, he risked his life. They both did.” General Aster’s voice reverberates off the planes of stone as if to make his point, and it knocks the fight out of me.
“Is he okay?” The General only turns away, the silhouette of his broad frame edging into the shadows.
“He will live.”
I sag, the air deflating from my chest with relief.
“And Ever? Where is she?” The temptation to push my power to tug on the tether between us is right there, regardless of the new moon or not.
“She… escaped.”
“Bullshit.” My eyes narrow on General Aster as he turns back to face me.
“She ran the last time there was a new moon,” he points out.
“That was different.”
“Aten, she is a Fifth. Don’t give up everything for a girl you barely know.
” He storms towards me, full of all the might he’s always had.
He willingly gave his power to Calix, ensuring he was as powerful as he could be, and it hasn’t cost him.
He is still a formidable man, commanding the same respect from his Warriors as before the Transference.
I think of my mother and the toll the Transference has taken on her in comparison, and rack that up against my father’s faults alongside his need for secrets and ultimate control.
This is bigger than my personal grievances. “Don’t aimlessly go along with what the Orders have fed you. The first attack didn’t make any sense. Are you telling me these aren’t related? How did Ever escape? She’s been in that cell, what, a week, a little more?”
“You are banished, Aten. You have no say here. You shouldn’t even be here.” His tone is full of authority, and he crosses his arms as if barring me from travelling farther.
“Who attacked Calix? What did Crimson say?” I shift my weight, the itch in my hand to grab for my knife again, distracting.
“I will not take banishment as a punishment for protecting Ever. For protecting a trainee. You know the rules. So why did my father allow it? Come on, Cetus. You know something else is going on here.” It’s a risk.
General Aster is my father’s third and the commander of the armies, so his loyalties should be with him.
But he is fastidious about protocol. And rules.
And that’s what I’m counting on to get me back to The Court, or at least to check on Calix and find out what the Zuns happened to him and Crimson.
Nobody should have been able to take them down together.
“The mountains will be full of Warriors. They are searching the coast. You’ll never go unnoticed.” General Aster ignores my questions.
Searching for me or for Ever? Cetus might be looking, but would he dispatch a whole squad for me, or is it a bluff? His face remains emotionless. No tells to give him away. “Help me. Let me speak to Calix and Crimson, find out what happened and where Ever is, and then I’ll leave. You have my word.”
He turns away again, as if weighing the options, and it’s his indecision that tells me that I’ve got him. If he didn’t have doubts, I’d be bound and detained by now.
“I won’t be able to get you into The Court, even under a new moon. You are too recognisable. Ever’s escape is the Warriors’ priority. How she got free and where she went, but that won’t assuage your own position.
“You can’t see Calix. Not until he is healed. We’ll need to hide you where you won’t be seen or found. Then we can talk about de-briefing.”
“Where do you suggest?” I ask. If he’s agreeing to this, he’ll have a plan. Hopefully, one that will allow me to rest and eat without the fear of being eaten myself.
“The Transference stone. There’s little light left today, and you should be safe.
Tomorrow, we will come to you—with food, and supplies, judging by the look of you.
” He casts his eyes over my salt-stained tunic.
“But after tomorrow, I hold no promises. You will explain. My family will explain, and then you will return to Estereah.”