Chapter 50 Valenna
Chapter fifty
Valenna
Valenna met Evander and his group at the foot of the mountain.
She wondered if it was appropriate to embrace him in front of the crew, or if that wasn’t decorous for the Botania and a dreadnought captain.
But she was so relieved to see him, she forgot all about decorum, threw her arms around his neck, and kissed him.
He returned the kiss without hesitation.
“Did you find anything?” she asked, stepping back and trying to appear grave and grounded, like a soldier.
“There’s a small encampment in the trees,” he reported. “Maybe a hundred men, possibly with artillery.”
“The dunes and manor house ruin are lightly fortified,” Valenna said. “The first dreadnought will take heavy fire from the bunkers, but the forces on the beach and the fighters that follow will be able to move in and subdue it easily. The key will be destroying the manor house, I think.”
“Why would the first dreadnought face losses at all?” Samara asked, leaning on Giles, her face ashen. “If it’s such a small force?”
“Bunkers are difficult to destroy,” Evander replied. “Their fortifications are in the open. There will be several minutes of flying exposed before a crew is close enough to drop a canister of scattershot.”
Samara nodded thoughtfully. “But we aren’t going in first?”
“No thanks to any of you,” Valenna said sharply. “As it is, you’ll fly in third, and I suspect you’ll be seeing very little action. A good introduction to battle for all of you.”
Evander was gazing up the steep ascent toward a dark shadow in the mountain above. “Let’s get through the crag as soon as possible.”
All eyes turned to him, nervous. Expectant.
“What we’re about to face will take courage, and I have every confidence in you,” he said. “You’re young, but there isn’t a coward among you.”
The atmosphere lifted, almost tangibly, and Samara smiled at Evander. He gave her a half shrug and inclined his head, as if in assent.
At its narrowest point, the strait of Hethria flowed under an arch of the mountain, and so, to return to Sennalaith, one had to traverse over the water and then down the other side via a tunnel known as “The Crag.” Valenna had heard stories of a shadowy horror that lurked in its depths, but very few travelers survived to confirm the tales.
As the moon dipped its chin in the sea, they picked their way over the arch, stopping at an opening on the other side.
It gaped, like a foul, hungry mouth. A narrow, raised path—almost like a bridge—shot through the heart of the mountain, widening beyond the entrance into a cavern.
The chasm that plunged down on either side of the narrow stone path was so deep and so dark, Valenna couldn’t make out the bottom.
The path itself was only as wide as Evander’s shoulders.
“Listen, crew,” Evander said. “We’re going to cross the path in two groups. Ladies first, of course, so Valenna and then Samara, Elspeth, and Rosemary. Samara, can you walk?”
Samara was pale and favored her injured side, but she nodded.
“Alright then, I’ll bring up the rear with Bournemuth, Ignatius, and Giles.”
“I can take Giles,” Valenna objected. “You take Elspeth.”
Evander shook his head. “It’s fine. We can manage.”
She opened her mouth to protest, but he continued. “Some of you have heard the rumors that a dragobat sleeps under the path, and the stories are true. It will wake up as soon as we step into its lair, but it’s easy to pass if you can keep your nerve.”
“What’s a dragobat?” Haldir asked.
“You were a dragon master,” Evander said. “How do you not know?”
Haldir crossed his arms and looked stony.
Evander bent down and picked up a rock. “Dragobats are big—their claws are large enough to wrap around your body. But they are blind and averse to sunlight, so she won’t come out here unless the sun passes behind the clouds.”
At once, everyone studied the sky. Large, fluffy pink clouds drifted overhead, shutting out the new morning sun every few minutes, then sliding away.
“If you make a sound, the dragobat will try to snatch you. Walk single file. Whoever walks at the front of your group will toss a rock as far ahead on the path as possible, and the dragobat will attack the rock. While it’s busy, you move quickly toward it.
When the rock proves fruitless, the creature will slink below, and you will throw the next rock.
Repeat this until you are safe on the other side. ”
He paused, waiting for questions. No one spoke. The conscripts looked ill. Ignatius and Elspeth shifted like they were fighting the urge to run. Rosemary hopped up and down, muttering to herself.
“If you follow my directions, we’ll all make it to the other side and return to camp before midday.
” Evander met their wide-eyed gazes and pale faces with iron calm.
“All you need is courage, and every one of you has enough of that to fuel an army. You can make it through this, and you will.” He hesitated and then added, “I trust you.”
Once Valenna had filled her arms with stones, she lined up her group behind her and faced the entrance. She felt like a mother duck leading a row of ducklings through a fox’s den.
“Let me see them,” Evander said, indicating the rocks she held in her arms.
“They’re fine, Vander,” she replied, squaring her shoulders and trying to fake confidence.
He blinked rapidly, a muscle in his jaw fluttering. “Remember what I told you. Don’t panic and run, don’t try to fight. Keep your group calm. Don’t make any noise …”
“I’ll be fine,” she said. “I’m worried about you, with Haldir and Giles.”
She nodded toward Haldir, who was wiping sweat from his brow. Giles sat staring into the middle distance, his knee jogging up and down so fast, she thought he might start a landslide.
“Giles is showing some promise, and I can handle Haldir. Now, move slowly. The path is narrow, so don’t lose your balance. Don’t let anyone touch each other—if one person falls, we can’t have them taking the whole group …”
“Vander.” Valenna smiled bracingly. “We’re wasting time.”
Afraid he would stop her if she lingered, she kissed him hastily and stepped through the opening.
The darkness squeezed around her like hands gripping into fists. The cavern was unnaturally warm and damp, and the reek of putrid feces and rotting flesh burned her nostrils. Valenna wanted to cover her mouth and nose, but her hands were laden with stones.
She reminded herself to breathe and tossed the first rock. It struck the bridge with a hollow clatter that echoed from wall to wall. The echo faded, and then silence. Valenna glanced over her shoulder at Evander, and he raised his hands, signaling for her to wait.
A hog-like squeal made her jump as scabrous black talons curled up from the edge of the path. They clawed at the loose dirt with a nauseating scraping like a knife drawn across slate.
Valenna stood rooted, every instinct urging her to run, to get away from this place.
She swallowed her fear and forced her feet to move across the bridge.
The others followed, their boots hushing.
The claws searched for a victim, scrabbling where the rock fell, and then the creature below let out a shriek like a burning witch and vanished over the edge.
Valenna held up her fist as she stopped running, and the girls, distracted by their terror, blundered into her.
She lost her balance. The darkness yawned like an open throat, and she accidentally dropped the stones into the bottomless nothing as she wind-milled her arms. Elspeth caught the collar of her jacket and yanked her back onto her feet.
Trying to stifle her frantic breathing, Valenna glanced over her shoulder and glimpsed Evander already two steps past the entrance. He paused, his chest heaving, and then slowly backed up.
Valenna shrugged off her jacket, balled it, and tossed it ahead on the path. It landed with a soft thump.
The dragobat’s shriek sent a shiver vibrating down her spine, her arms, up her neck to the base of her skull.
The talons clamped over the path again, and Valenna ran toward them, the girls pattering behind her.
She got so near the claws this time that she could have reached out and touched them.
Unsatisfied, the dragobat slunk out of sight.
Sunlight streamed in dusty beams onto the path only a few strides ahead.
Valenna felt along her belt and in her pockets for something to throw. A knife, a canteen, anything. Her hand found her knife, and she started to draw it, but it made a faint “shing” as it left the sheath, and the creature below shifted, chittering.
Forcing herself not to turn and look at Evander, who she knew would be in the middle stages of an impressive panic, she began to unfasten her belt. It made a clicking sound, and she froze, holding her breath. Drops of water echoed off the walls, and the dragobat grunted.
With nothing left to throw, Valenna had two terrible choices: risk taking the time to remove her boots, or make a break for the exit. It was only six strides; it might as well have been a fathom.
Evander had said not to run, but the conscripts behind her were growing restless. She could sense the rising floodwaters of their fear. She didn’t have time to be cautious.
She cast an ill-advised glance behind her. Evander was shaking his head vigorously.
Valenna looked over her shoulder at the girls and mouthed, “We run.”
They nodded.
Valenna took a deep breath and plunged toward the light, trying not to think about how far the drop, how narrow the path.
Any second, she expected to be caught up by the dragobat and borne away to some nest or dropped into the void, but when the scream came, it echoed behind her.
She couldn’t afford to look back. She dove into the sunlight.
The conscripts thudded beside her, panting.
Samara. Elspeth. Rosemary. All here. All safe.