Rise of Legends (The Kin of Kings Book 2) (26 page)

He could feel his hands slipping and squeezed harder.

Alabell shifted as Basen closed his eyes and tried to remain strong. He could feel her testing her weight as she reached up.

She pulled a rock out of the mountain wall and screamed. It struck Basen in the head, but his adrenaline kept both of them from falling as he took all of her weight onto his shoulder with one arm coming up to support her back. She quickly dug her hands into dents that certainly weren’t deep enough for her to really grab, and even if they were, they were too close to Basen’s now bloody head. She was clearly panicking, and Basen began to feel himself joining her.

“Hold on!” Cleve shouted. “I’m coming.”

But his voice sounded too far away. “Alabell, I don’t think I can hold on long enough,” Basen told her. “You need to find some way of getting your feet back onto the mountain.” She’d adjusted to sit mostly on his left shoulder, her legs trapped between the mountain and his chest. There were two perfect footholds nearby, but unfortunately they were already in use by Basen’s feet. He didn’t see how he could climb down so she could get her feet in them. In fact, she couldn’t get her feet anywhere with them pressed between him and the mountain.

“You need to pull your feet out,” he told her.

“I can’t. There’s nothing to grab onto. Go down to give me room.”

“I can’t.” He didn’t have the strength to explain that his feet were secure where they were, but as soon as he moved one of them, he wouldn’t be able to support her weight anymore.

His shoulder felt as if it was on fire, his fingers burning as well. “Alabell, I can’t hold on much longer.”

She strained with a grunt, and he felt some of her weight come off. But then one of her hands slipped. Basen’s heart caught in his throat and she toppled backward. He caught her legs by pinching his elbow toward his chest, and somehow she stopped falling. Though something else had to have caught her, for he didn’t feel as much weight as he should’ve.

With Alabell upside down and her back pressed against his, his face cut into the mountainside.

Alabell continued to scream until Cleve’s voice rang out from beside Basen. “Don’t let her go. I have her head and shoulders.”

“All right, but now what?” Basen had no idea how good a grip Cleve had on her, but he doubted that even the impressively strong warrior could hold her completely.

“I don’t know,” Cleve admitted.

“We’re here.” It was Jackrie. “Annah, take one of her arms. That’s it. Now Cleve and Annah, shift her to the right.”

Basen could feel them moving Alabell sideways against his back. He slowly let go of her leg as she turned back upright, her hands now on his shoulders.

“Can you hold on just a little longer?” Jackrie asked him. “Alabell needs to climb down you, and then Cleve.”

“Yes, just hurry, Alabell.”

She made her way down, her hands shifting from his shoulders to his hips. Then suddenly her weight was off him.

He waited a moment, then looked down. Cleve was below him, looking down and giving Alabell directions on where to put her hands and feet.

Basen’s limbs were numb yet shaking. He might be able to drop from here and only break a leg. He considered it for a moment, but then decided that he would drop when he no longer could hold on, which certainly would happen soon.

He descended diagonally so he could pass Cleve and Alabell. He couldn’t risk testing footholds but instead put his full weight on his outstretched legs one at a time, moving as quickly as possible.

Then one of the rocks came loose below him. He tried to hold himself with his hands, but it was too late. He began to fall. He took a hard bounce against a ledge on the way, losing his sense of up and down. He regained it with just enough time to get his feet beneath him.

He somehow managed to land on them, though he still fell hard onto his hands and chest. He rolled onto his side and cringed as agony filled his entire body. But at least he was on the ground and alive.

“Basen, are you all right?” they shouted down to him.

He shut his eyes, the pain too immense to speak. His breath was hot and ragged. Sweat or blood dampened his back.

Soon the rest of them had gathered around him on the dry dirt. He recognized Alabell’s touch as she put her hand on his head. It caused a sharp pain. “Where does it hurt the most?”

“Where you’re touching.”

She withdrew her hand.

He sat up, groaning. “I’m all right, I think.”

They didn’t seem to believe him, each wearing the same concerned expression.

*****

Alabell checked him for broken bones and any other injuries that might threaten his life or prevent him from walking. Eventually she deemed that he was indeed “all right.”

“I told you I’m fine,” he said and rose to his feet. His legs wobbled. She reached out to catch him, but he caught himself first.

“So he’s ready, then?” Jackrie asked.

“He is,” Alabell confirmed. “Though we will need to travel slowly because of his injured leg.” She blinked as she glanced at the open land around them. “Where are we going?”

“Well, we still need to get to Tenred.” Jackrie faced the western mountains and then tilted her head up toward the darkening sky. “We won’t get far today.”

Basen decided to sit if they weren’t ready to walk yet. “At least we’re on the northern side of the Fjallejon Mountains.”

“Jackrie,” Cleve said, “it isn’t much farther to Merejic from here.”

“And what’s there besides miles of forest?”

“Elves,” Alabell answered for him with a hint of excitement.

Jackrie frowned. “No, Alabell, they left twenty-five years ago.”

“There’s a new group there now.” Cleve spoke with unenthusiastic certainty, which seemed to be common for the big man. “Most of them are psychics as well. If they join us, we might be able to take back our cities from Tauwin.”

Basen asked, “How do you know all of this?”

“Because I was on their ship from Greenedge. They let me off at Gendock with my horse—”

“You have a horse?” Jackrie interrupted.

“Probably not anymore,” he said morosely. “It was being taken care of by Kerr’s staff, so Tauwin has it now, along with Reela’s. But her brother should still have his horse with him. He remained on the boat with the Elves, disembarking at Merejic with them.”

“He’s an Elf, right?” Alabell asked. “Reela’s half-brother?”

“Yes.” Cleve seemed surprised she would know that, but he didn’t mention it. “His name is Vithos,” he told the rest of them. “He was raised by Krepps, so he knows their language fluently. He went with the Elves in hopes of keeping the interaction between them and the Krepps in Merejic peaceful.”

Annah’s face flushed with fear. “There are Krepps there as well?”

Cleve pushed out his hands to calm her. “Yes, but they’re the Krepps who abandoned the army because they didn’t want to fight. I don’t think they’re like the others.”

“There was nothing in the Kreppen book about that,” Annah complained. She seemed confused when everyone stared at her. “No one else has read it?” She looked annoyed when nobody answered. “
A Krepp’s life during the great war of Ovira.
It was written by Nebre, the Krepp who translated for Tegry Hiller. Anyone? It’s famous!”

“I’ve heard of it,” Alabell offered.

Annah huffed, then continued, “Nebre believes that even the Krepps who didn’t fight in the war might attack humans on sight. They usually avoid us because we’re harder to kill, but that doesn’t stop all of them. Some look at us like they do an animal, hunting us for meat.”

“Even if most of them are like that,” Cleve said, “not all of them are. If they didn’t attack the Elves, who came to take back the homes their ancestors built in Merejic, then they probably won’t attack us.”

“Is this what happened when you went to visit them?” Alabell asked. “The Krepps moved out of Merejic without a fight?”

“I’m not sure. Reela and I never found the Elven village.” Cleve spoke quickly to head off their concerns. “But I’m confident we’ll find it this time. I already know where not to look.”

“There are stories about that forest,” Annah said. “Sights and sounds of ghosts. Many believe it’s the Elves who were slaughtered there.”

“Ridiculous,” Basen remarked. “If ghosts were real, there’d be proof.”

“Did you hear or see anything while you were there, Cleve?” Annah asked.

“I might’ve. I can’t be sure.”

Annah sucked in a deep breath. “I don’t want to go there.”

Jackrie had been silent until then. Her sigh drew everyone’s attention. “Cleve, what are the chances these psychic Elves would help us?”

“I’m fairly certain we could get at least a few of them. Many are more powerful than Annah. It’s worth the time it would take to get there, which shouldn’t be more than a couple weeks.”

“And then weeks more to get back,” Jackrie said to herself. “I don’t think it’s worth being away from the Academy for that long. Tauwin could attack soon.”

“It’ll take a couple weeks to get to Tenred, anyway,” Cleve argued. Then he looked straight at Basen. “If you could make a portal back to the Academy, then we could go straight there from the Elven village in Merejic. The Elves are more powerful than any number of men we might get from Tenred,” Cleve told Jackrie. “And we must admit to ourselves that the chances of recruiting soldiers from Tenred are slim. These men were our enemies months ago. Just because one of Kerr’s men came to lead their territory doesn’t mean they’ll listen to him when he commands them in battle.”

Jackrie regarded each of the young men and women she was responsible for, finally looking like a leader. “How much water do all of you have left?”

Collectively, they had less than one full pouch.

“Then we’d better take a trip south to the river we saw from the Dajrik Mountains.”

Basen got up and followed Jackrie silently with the rest of them. But as they walked and she offered no other words, he realized she had absolutely no idea what to do after they refilled their water skins.

“If we’re going south anyway,” Annah said, “we might as well go a little farther, past the river and into the old Kreppen encampment. There, Basen can test making a portal to the Academy to make sure it’s possible.”

Basen had told Annah and the rest of them how his portals worked, but it seemed as if she’d forgotten one important detail.

“I can only make them where bastial energy has been pulled into a cluster enough times,” he said. “Krepps don’t use bastial energy, so I doubt there will be a place in that encampment for me to cast a portal. And it’s not a small encampment, probably about the same size as the Academy. It would take days to walk around the entire thing feeling for a spot to make a portal.”

“Krepps can’t manipulate bastial energy, yes, but their Slugari leaders did.” Annah looked at the abandoned Kreppen encampment with awe, as if it were a castle she longed to visit. “They burned Krepps with fire as punishment. Nebre says so in his book. The Krepp being punished would stand against a stone wall so the fire spell couldn’t damage the rest of the encampment if it missed. We just need to find that stone wall.”

“Even so,” Basen said, “I don’t think I could make a portal big enough for any of us without using energy absorbed by akorell metal.” He glanced back at the Dajrik Mountains. “Should’ve made one in there to test it, where there was plenty of akorell metal.” They’d been too focused on getting out quietly to worry about testing portals back to the Academy.

“And it’s about a day out of the way,” Cleve complained. “The Academy might be attacked soon, like Jackrie said. We need reinforcements as soon as possible.”

“Spending one day is worth it.” Jackrie reached into her bag and pulled out a hardened sartious block. “We need time for the akorell stone to charge completely, anyway.” She waved her hand and the sartious energy became a verdant cloud. The glowing akorell bracelet fell from its center, landing on her palm.

“Why didn’t you tell us you had it with you?” Basen asked angrily. No doubt it was the same one Alabell had brought to the Academy from the castle, then had given to Basen to keep. He hadn’t stopped thinking that it belonged to him.

“It was Terren’s decision,” Jackrie replied apologetically. “Apparently, Penny gave him the idea that you might not be able to follow my orders about when to use the energy from the stone, so it was better if you didn’t know.”

Basen scoffed. But Cleve looked him square in the eyes. “You did almost kill us both on the Academy’s wall.”

Before Basen could complain, Jackrie surprised him by handing him the bracelet. “It will only be used for portals and when I say so. Understand?”

“Don’t you at least want to see what kind of fireball I can make with this thing? I sure do.”

Jackrie held out her hand for him to give it back. He showed her his back but told her what she needed to hear.

“All right, I understand. Only when you say so.”

*****

Parts of the wall around the Kreppen encampment had been knocked down, most likely by Krepps as they’d left, Annah surmised. It granted their party easy access, and soon they were inside. Everything that could be carried already had been scavenged, leaving only dilapidated huts with angry rips and flaps dancing in the wind.