Feel the Burn (16 page)

A loud yell from the back of the group made everyone twist.

‘Don’t swing your tail!’
yelped Nesha.

They paused and a number of quick shouts travelled from the front to the back of the group, establishing that no-one had been injured by Sito’s enthusiasm.

The dragon sounded embarrassed.

‘Whoops.’

‘It’s a narrow trail, Sito! No wagging unless all is clear, or it’s the enemy,’
Nesha scolded.

Sian laughed and turned back.

*~*~*

Chapter Eleven

Loi leaned forward and clenched tight with both thighs to rise in the saddle. Not quite a saddle, she thought, bracing herself on the molded pommel but it allowed a better seat—if you weren’t wearing chainmail. Thighs of steel at this rate, Loi thought, bracing herself when they rounded a corner. The focus to keep her balance stopped her hearing the odd murmurs at first and when she rested back in the saddle, the track leveling out, the voices chimed through again.

Welcome Earth one.

We’ve been waiting for you.

‘Did you hear that?’ Loi twisted to glance at the others.

Beside her on Oomoth, Kassie asked in a confused voice, ‘Hear what?’

‘A murmuring?’ asked Cat from the other side of Loi. Sian on Chaieth, in front of Belsesus, leaned back to look past Cat at Loi with a quizzical expression. Exchanging concerned glances the centaurs all stopped and Larvaste threw an arm up, the line behind them drawing to a halt.

‘Yes,’ Loi said to Cat. ‘Voices, they said they waited for us.’

The Lieutenants gathered around the girls tensed.

‘A trap,’ hissed Rashid, drawing his sword and the others followed suit.

‘Wait!’

We wish you no harm, Elemental. We’ve waited for your return.

My return?
Loi thought back.

Yes, we were here when you came eons ago.

Who are you?

Cat gasped and sat straighter when the leaves and plants around them rustled though no breeze blew.

We are part of you.

We live within you.

‘The trees, the plants,’ breathed Loi aloud.

Yes. Welcome home.

I couldn’t make out all the words but the sense of them came through.

‘Home?’ I said in astonishment. Loi sat slack-jawed on Larvaste while everyone stared at her. The rustling of the leaves with the lack of wind felt a little creepy.

Loi stammered, ‘I…I think I was born here.’

‘Wow,’ said Kassie softly, a hint of envy in her tone.

‘Let’s keep moving,’ ordered Rashid. ‘We need to reach the caves.’

With a low sharp whistle he started the line moving again. I reached out to the girls in my mind. We linked easily and I listened in fascination while the plants around us spoke to Loi; they seemed delighted to see her.

So bizarre, I thought and the three of us listened while Loi communed with them. The centaurs kept climbing and the terrain grew steadily steeper and rougher, the trees growing sparser in numbers and tangled low bushes appeared. Around mid morning everyone paused for a drink and I hopped off Belsesus’ back, needing to walk and stretch my aching thighs. The couple of weeks with little exercise on the ship meant my leg muscles felt it now and I walked with that uncomfortable cowboy walk. Loi laughed at me when I tottered then went quiet, her eyes vague and the touch of a smile as she talked with the plants.

They remember the last time we were here,
she thought to us.

We’ve never been here before,
Kassie pointed out.

No, they remember the previous Elementals. They regard us as the same.

So much for being special,
Sian thought in a wry tone.

But most these plants can’t be that old,
I protested.
How can they remember?

The earth itself remembers and welcomes us back. The plants are part of it.

Weird, I thought to myself then turned at Leseach’s query. She offered a strip of dried meat to each of us. While I chewed mine I climbed the steep side of the path we followed to get a better view. The other side of the path fell away and you could see all the way out to the ocean in a breathtaking view. I couldn’t see the inlet where the ships were moored but we’d walked so far already this morning that I wasn’t surprised. In the distance before that glimpse of ocean, bare and craggy mountains with sparse forest scattered below the snow line filled the gap. The snow at the tops wasn’t thick with visible areas of sheer rock face and I shivered, imaging the freezing wind. I liked climbing mountains about as much as I enjoyed caving and neither of them rated high on my list of fun things to do. Tramping in beautiful bush like in New Zealand was a challenging pleasure; scrambling around on rocks hundreds of meters above or below ground, didn’t excite me. I made a face at the mountains.

‘Who are you scowling at?’

I turned away from the stunning view and peered at Loushka further down the track.

‘The mountains and the thought of the caves.’

‘Humph. Try being this size and having wings when stuck in a cave.’

‘Guess we’ll both be glad to reach the castle.’

‘Right. From one hell hole to another.’

‘Good mood gone, huh?’

Loushka didn’t answer and I left her to it, watching all those on the track below me. The General Guard soldiers mingled with the allies and centaurs, crowding close to the griffons and Sito. By the sounds of the ribbing those on the griff’s were getting, I guessed they would switch with others for the next stretch.

Sian slid down from Chaieth after wolfing down the strip of meat, belly already demanding more, and made her way through the crowd of soldiers to Daron, Nesha, and Sito.

‘Hey guys,’ she said, smiling up at the goblin laden creatures.

Daron grinned and stepped over to embrace her.

‘Hey, Pix.’

The goblins hooted at the couple and they broke apart from their kiss with a laugh. Leaves crunched behind and Sian twisted in Daron’s arms to smile at Loi when she walked over to Sabyn and Tomiar.

What a view from up here, she thought, and pulling loose from Daron’s arms, walked to the edge and peered down.

‘Don’t fall,’
warned Sito.

‘I won’t.’

The unusual formations in the rock faces and mountains were different to any she’d seen before. Lengthy hexagonal columns that looked carved into the rock but formed that way naturally, evident from the variations and positions. The hill they climbed wasn’t made of the same rock and when she balanced on the edge, looking further up, she could see steep shingle shoals fanning down from the track all the way to the narrow valley floor.

‘Pix,’ growled Daron.

Sian stood neatly back onto the solid path.

‘What?’ she asked innocently. His brown eyes narrowed and he reached an arm out for her. The chainmail covering his arm shimmered and she ran a hand down it then giggled.

‘Your hair pokes through!’

Daron gave her a look when he pulled her in, rolling his eyes.

‘Porcupine,’ she sang teasingly.

Daron tugged her pony tail.

‘Brat. Why haven’t you got your hood on?’

‘Do I need it?’

‘You never know when you’ll need it. Is it on Sito?’

‘No, on Chaieth. I’ll go grab it.’

Daron nodded then stood taller, peering over at Cat and Kassie and then gave Sian another of those exasperated looks.

‘Tell the girls to put theirs on too.’

Rumal and Oomoth conversed quietly when Sian came skipping up. Kassie couldn’t help smirking at her blond friend. That flirty little skip in a full suit of chainmail with the dark red rapthna leather plating made the perfect contradiction to her petite form and delicate features; and Sian knew it. She delighted in doing that sort of thing on Earth too, like when she bought a white Hilux fully kitted out for proper four wheel driving and zoomed around town in it like it was a tiny three door hatch with reckless disregard for the famously obnoxious pedestrians in Wellington.

‘Kassie,’ Sian sang out making Rumal and Oomoth pause. ‘We need to put our hoods on.’

‘Me too?’ Cat came around from where Leseach and Rashid stood.

‘Yup.’

Kassie went to Oomoth’s side and swirled her energy underfoot, lifting herself high enough to rummage through the saddle bag. It lay at the bottom, naturally, and it took a few moments of wrestling past other items to drag the small bit of mail out.

‘Here,’ said Rumal. ‘Let me.’

Kassie turned, watching Oomoth do Sian’s while Rumal worked at hers.

‘Leseach, would you mind?’ Cat asked the question a hint too loud and walked quickly to the Northerner’s side. Ignatius, in the midst of stepping forward to do it, caught himself and frowned, eyes perplexed. Kassie bit her lip to stop a smile when she heard and felt Rumal’s quiet snigger.

‘Lean your head forward, love,’ he said, dragging her ponytail through the slit in the back of the hood. ‘There you go, all set.’

The mail hood felt cold against the back of her neck and ears. Kassie wrinkled her nose. It didn’t block her view—skimming close to the outer edges of her eyes—but it gave a sense of it. The front came down like a widow’s peak, arching over each eye with a narrow section that started down her nose and clipped solidly over it.

‘Ugh,’ she grumbled and shook her head. ‘It feels horrible.’

‘Better than a blade in your skull,’ Rumal said dryly.

With the hood in place Kassie accepted another strip of meat and chewed away while staring up the side of the mountain they climbed. Trees clung with exposed roots to the sparsely occupied rock face, their trucks gnarled and the scrawny, twisted branches outstretched toward their neighbors. Further up it appeared to plateau out, the mountain side disappearing back. At the blast of a centaur horn everyone started moving, making their way back to their appropriate positions. Kassie turned to climb onto Oomoth’s back when she heard the plants murmuring through Loi’s energy. It still didn’t make any sense to her, but the tone sounded different—urgent. Kassie looked for Loi and spotted her standing amongst the troops, still, with an expression of shock. Cat’s voice broke through the general noise everyone made.

‘Loi! What are they saying?’

It sounds wrong,
Cat emphasized through their link.

Shhh!
Loi snapped.