Chapter 26 Kailin
KAILIN
The road to destiny is carved in stone that crumbles beneath my weary feet, and what seems solid from below becomes treacherous the higher we go.
—From the journal of Kailin Strom
"Break's over," Lysara, our team leader, called out.
I tucked the journal into my backpack and took a small sip of water from my canteen before rising to my feet. We hadn't been told when we could refill and had been advised to conserve.
Hopefully, the organizers were taking health concerns into account and wouldn't let us become dehydrated, but I wasn't sure if I could trust them to do so.
After all, the pilgrimage was the official start of our military training and was considered a rite of passage. Coddling wasn't part of the program.
The aim was to weed out the weak.
It was survival of the fittest. Those who couldn't make it were taken down by the rescue medical teams and later assigned jobs that didn't require demanding physical activities and endurance.
Only the most capable individuals were selected for the combat units, and from those, the best were chosen for the elite forces.
Naturally, the dragon riders were the absolute pinnacle of Elucia's formidable military might.
To outsiders, it might look as if our entire national focus was on our military, and to some extent, that was true.
Defeat was not an option for Elucians. Our enemies didn't wish to conquer and rule us. They wanted to slaughter every one of us. Their aim was our complete annihilation.
We had to win if we wanted to live.
Still, despite the constant fight for survival, we prided ourselves on much more than just our dragon squads and the other branches of our military. We were also innovators, scholars, artists, and philosophers.
Once the compulsory service was done, some Elucians stayed on to pursue military careers, but most continued to pursue their dreams.
I hoped to be in the latter group, but the chances of that were slim. I'd be lucky if I got to keep sketching as a hobby.
With a sigh, I waited for the rest of our group to get in formation.
The initial stretch hadn't been too challenging, a well-worn trail winding up the lower slopes of Mount Hope.
However, we all knew that the terrain would become increasingly difficult the higher we climbed.
The real test of how well I managed my phobia would come when we reached the top section with its narrow ledges and steep inclines.
"Remember to pace yourselves," Lysara called out as our entire group started moving. "This isn't a race to the top, and you shouldn't go ahead of your group or lag behind it. Your goal is to maintain a steady pace and not slow everyone down."
Shovia and I exchanged glances, with me nodding in agreement and Shovia shaking her head. She wasn't happy about having to keep pace with the slowest-moving pilgrims in our group.
"Maybe you can request to be moved up to the lead," I said, adjusting my pack straps.
Shovia shook her head. "First of all, I'm not leaving you behind.
I promised to get you to the summit, and I intend to fulfill that promise.
And secondly—" she glanced around and then leaned to whisper in my ear, "we are being watched, and how we work as a team is as important as our other abilities.
If I asked to be moved to another group, it would indicate that I'm not a team player. "
I nodded. "With how many of us are going, cooperation is a must."
Over a thousand pilgrims were trekking up Mount Hope, and keeping formation was crucial for everyone's safety. Many challenges awaited us and, with them, opportunities for showing valor and leadership skills, where Alar would no doubt excel.
Drak. I shouldn't be thinking about him and how handsome, intelligent, and capable he was or how well my family had received him. Those kinds of thoughts made me breathless, and it was already difficult to breathe while walking uphill in the thinning air.
Shovia hooked her thumbs under the straps of her pack. "I wonder what hurdles they are going to throw our way in addition to the difficulty of breathing further up."
I paused. "Are you saying that they will try to sabotage us?"
Shovia shrugged. "It's all rumors and speculation, but I prefer to be ready for anything, including sabotage."
"You should preserve your energy," Alar said from behind us. "Less talking, more walking."
I cast him a baleful look over my shoulder. He wasn't wrong, but it didn't give him the right to talk to me like that. Still, that one brief look was enough to bring him back into the forefront of my mind, and that wasn't good.
I tried to focus my attention on the auroras above, but between my preoccupation with Alar and the growing steepness of the trail, it wasn't helpful.
So far, I'd been doing well, utilizing all the little tricks I had learned over the years to keep my phobia in check, but just thinking about the growing incline and the sheer slopes below was making me anxious.
"Look at Morek," Shovia said, nodding toward our friend who was practically bouncing up the trail while talking to the girl walking next to him. "You'd think he was going on a pleasure hike."
I was glad that he had overcome his obsession with Erona and was pursuing someone else, but I was envious of how easy the trek was for him.
"Unlike me, he's having fun," I murmured under my breath.
A grunt of discomfort from behind made me turn. Alar was starting to show signs of strain, which was worrisome. The air would become much thinner the higher we climbed, and if he was already having difficulty, he wouldn't make it to the top, let alone have any hope of becoming a rider.
Not that I believed he'd had even a sliver of a chance even before seeing him struggle so early on. The poor guy was setting himself up for disappointment, and so was his cousin, even though he seemed to be faring better.
"How are you doing?" I asked.
Alar managed a tight smile. "Getting used to the air up here is tough."
It occurred to me that his pinched expression was the result of worry more than difficulty. He'd never experienced altitude sickness before, so he might assume that the shortness of breath was a sign of its onset.
I slowed down and waited for him to fall in step with me. "We haven't climbed high enough for you to experience altitude sickness. You are just out of breath."
He cast me a questioning look. "I thought shortness of breath was part of the sickness."
"It can be, but there are also other symptoms. Do you have a headache? Do you feel dizzy or lightheaded?"
"I do, but I've felt like this since I woke up. It must be the lack of sleep. Or maybe I drank too much of your grandmother's tea."
I frowned. "How much did you drink?"
He patted one of his canteens. "It was Codric's idea to fill one of them with it."
I shook my head. "Stick to the water from now on. Staying hydrated is important."
The problem was that we had a limited supply, and Alar had stupidly filled one of his canteens with tea. I hoped we would get to a water source soon so he could dump the tea and fill both of his canteens with water.
"You are such a flatlander," Shovia teased him. "Better not let Lysara see you struggling."
As if on cue, our guide dropped back to check in on us. Her stern face showed no emotion as she assessed Alar.
"Try to keep up, Elurian." She must have concluded that he was fine.
"Doing my best, ma'am."
Shaking her head, she produced a small packet from her vest. "When you start to get dizzy, chew these leaves, one at a time."
I recognized the deep green hue and purple stem of the herb she handed him—another of Gran's remedies for altitude sickness.
The fact that our guide carried them suggested that Alar and Codric hadn't been randomly assigned to her party.
Most young, healthy Elucians didn't need herbs to handle the altitude.
What Lysara had given Alar was potent, but so were the side effects, which was why Gran hardly ever prescribed it, and I wondered whether our team leader had given it to him not to help him but to hinder his progress.
Many Elucians were purists who were opposed to allowing Elurians with just traces of Elucian blood to join our pilgrimages, and Lysara could be one of them.
"Thank you," Alar said, popping a leaf into his mouth before I had a chance to stop him.
His face scrunched up at the bitter taste.
"You are welcome." She gave him a crooked smile that held a hint of cruelty in it. "So that you know, there are some unpleasant side effects."
When she moved ahead to check on other pilgrims, he turned to me. "What side effects?"
"You'll feel them soon enough." I patted his arm. "They are nasty, which is why Gran gave you the tea instead. You should have waited to check with me before putting the stuff in your mouth."
Behind him, Codric shook his head. "That would have been the smart thing to do. What were you thinking? What if the woman is an assassin? Many of these people don't like Elurians."
"No one is trying to kill us, Codric." Alar groaned, pressing his hand to his stomach. "Or maybe they are." His face turned an interesting shade of green. "Oh, drak," he muttered. "I think I need to—"
"Over there." I pointed to a cluster of bushes off the trail. "We'll wait."
While Alar disappeared behind the bushes to empty his stomach, I took the opportunity to check on others in our group. Most were doing fine, but a few showed signs of fatigue. I encouraged them to take small sips of water and offered a few words of encouragement.
There wasn't much more I could do.
"You're good at this," Shovia observed when I rejoined her. "I mean, the nurturing healer thing. Maybe that's what you should do if you don't get to be a rider."
I shrugged. "Gladly. Anything is better than riding a dragon."
Codric snorted. "I beg to differ. It's the other way around. There is nothing better than bonding with a dragon. That's the ultimate experience."