The Edge of Shadow, page 26
part #5 of The Kin of Kings Series
He took a few breaths to gather himself as he tried to recall the Slugari colony without putting himself there this time. Shutting his eyes, he started with something that reminded him of that interminable darkness. He was in the entrance tunnel again…he opened his eyes as he felt himself falling into the memory, flinching as if he’d slipped on a stair.
He got the idea to pinch his leg to keep his mind grounded. Squeezing hard, he felt pain he couldn’t ignore. He closed his eyes again and raced down the entrance tunnel. Half his mind remained on the pain, telling him he was still in the basement, while the other half waded through the darkness.
There was a gap of time he couldn’t account for, and suddenly he was beneath the akorell metal. It was a fraction of what it used to be, just a subtle glow. He focused on the pain until he snapped back into the basement. He stumbled forward and started to fall but Steffen caught him.
“I’m fine,” Basen said before anyone could ask. He broke the sartious casing on the next akorell bracelet and replaced the used one with it. “No one is there,” he told Steffen. “Wait for Cleve and the others in the cavern. They know to come for you.”
“How can you be sure they aren’t there already?”
“I don’t know how to explain it right now. Let me focus on making a portal.”
Basen withdrew the energy and created the gateway to the cavern. Steffen had already memorized everything he needed the forest team to accomplish. Basen’s only fear was that Cleve, Vithos, and the Krepps had been caught.
Steffen ran into the portal, and Basen let it close with relief.
He felt as if he’d spent the day running in circles. He stumbled over toward his side of the basement.
“Are you all right?” Sanya asked. He hadn’t seen her join the group.
“I’ll be fine. I’m going to sleep.”
“You need a healer.”
“I just need quiet.”
He hoped Sanya would take the hint to leave him alone, but she followed him over to his bed of clothing.
“It’s time I started practicing portal making. You need help.”
“I can’t disagree, but we don’t have any akorell stones to spare yet. All of them will be used tomorrow. If you waste one, it will cost us many lives. I need to sleep, Sanya. Please.”
She huffed as she left.
Basen closed his eyes and lost himself. Three different images stuck to the back of his eyelids: the training grounds at the Academy, the abandoned cavern, and Worender training center. They overlapped, as messy as three paintings spliced into one. He fell into them to stand in all three at once. Panic set in as they started to separate.
Pressure built in his head as each location dug a corner into his brain and tugged. Finding no escape, he could only fight against them. He wrapped his mind around each location and tried to force them together again. They fought back with such force it was as if the turn of time was against him.
The harder he wrestled, the more his body materialized. He grabbed hold with arms and legs. The locations threatened to rip him apart, but he couldn’t let go now. There was nowhere else he could exist. It had to be here in all of them.
He collapsed his body in on itself, bringing all together. There was a small pop within a loud crash.
Everything red. Hills, ground, but no sky.
Nothing but bursts of light.
Thoughts couldn’t fully….bad. Stuck. Bad!
SPIRITS! DEATH?
Death?
death…
peace.
Basen took a breath. He looked down at his hands. There was no flesh, no bone, only energy. It sizzled without sound as it took the shape of his body. Was he really dead?
He bent down and touched the ground. Ripples of blue and white undulated out from him. He felt a sudden surge of control over this place as he stood, the spirits skittering away as if afraid of him. He waved and a living image of Basen, dirty and hungry, was created in a trail behind his hand. All his power went into each slam of his hammer as he worked beside his father.
Basen brought his hand back, and the image disappeared. He waved his hand toward him, and Alabell appeared walking in his direction. He reached out to touch her, but his hand passed through her, freezing Alabell midstride. He backed up, and soon she began walking toward him again. He moved out of the way so as not to disturb her. A medical cart appeared in front of her as she began to wheel it toward the fence of Worender training center.
Basen saw himself within the training center and could feel Alabell drawn to the image of him in the same way he could feel the cavern was empty before sending Steffen there. Basen watched himself try to cast a fireball only to create a red tear within the training center. This whole world of energy jerked toward it for a blink, then eased back as the rip dissolved.
Something began to pull him, the real him. He slid into the training center and stood in front of Jackrie.
“Go ahead,” she urged.
He looked down to find himself holding her wand.
Everyone in the training center had their gaze on him.
“I’m not supposed to be here.”
They all went completely still as if Basen had given the wrong line in a play. The fence began to fall. The ground curled. The blackest of holes opened in the middle of it all. It started to gain color as it sucked in Jackrie and the others.
Basen ran. He jumped over the undulating ground as it turned red, but a gust of wind with the strength of a hurricane whipped him into the hole.
He fell into the Dajrik Mountains, the sea of lava hot behind him. Annah lay unconscious with her head on Alabell’s lap. Cleve towered over Basen. “Where’s Peter?”
“I have to get out of here.”
They froze. Another hole opened. Lava began to flow toward it. Basen tried to run, but his legs were numb. The lava came up in a wave so high it nearly touched the roof of rock.
“Basen!” It was Alabell’s voice. Somehow he knew she was trying to help him.
“Where are you?”
“I’m here with you in the basement. You need to wake up.”
“I can’t. I’m in some other world.” The same gust of wind carried him toward the hole. He screamed as he came down into it just as the lava crashed down on top of him. He pulled his arms and legs in as he expected agony. To his surprise, he only felt something cold and hard against his palms.
“Everyone who threatens the Elves will die.”
Basen rolled over to find Fatholl standing over him. He could feel himself back in the Elven village, but this wasn’t a memory like the others. The sounds were cleaner, the colors more vivid. He ran out the door as Fatholl chased after him.
Alabell’s voice came from the clouds. “Basen!”
“I can hear you.”
“Then wake up!”
“I don’t know how.”
He came to the hill with stepping stones beside the waterfall. Something touched his cheek but not here in this world.
He started to float off the ground, picking up speed.
“Can you feel that?”
“I think so. Whatever you’re doing, do more.”
The warm feeling of comfort filled his face as the same sensation came to his other cheek. He floated higher and soon started to fear he might fall.
When he felt her lips press against his, he rolled out of the dream and back into the real world, taking Alabell with him and coming to a stop on top of her.
“Thank you.” Overjoyed to return, he showed his appreciation with another kiss. Then his strength gave out and he rolled off her and onto his back. “God’s mercy, I thought I would be stuck there forever.”
Sanya spoke, “You were in the spiritual world.”
He sat up. “How did you know?”
“I could feel it. I tried to get you out with psyche but it was like you were behind a solid wall.”
“How well have you been sleeping?” Alabell asked him.
“About as well on a pile of clothes as you could imagine.”
“Come with me.”
She helped him up and took him to the tavern. He followed her into the same empty room where they’d last spoken. She pointed at the bed. “Sleep.”
“I don’t want to take a bed from someone else.”
“You won’t be because I’m going to be right beside you.”
Basen lay on his back and closed his eyes.
Something started to pull him back into the nightmare. He sat up and shook his head. “It’s going to happen again.”
“Don’t think about it.” Alabell lay beside him and took his hand. “You’re not going anywhere. Relax.”
Focusing on her touch, he closed his eyes and slowly slipped into slumber.
He awoke later and realized he hadn’t dreamed; his mind had stayed put. It was dark out, still night.
His confidence returned when he realized he could now fall asleep soundly again. But first he spent a few moments enjoying the moonlight coming in through the window to illuminate Alabell’s sleeping face.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Basen had to make his first portal of the day before lunch. He feared the same splitting of his mind would occur, so he asked Alabell to be there with him. She grounded him the most of anyone. It was her effect on both his mind and body that did it, for every time he saw her, he felt as if this was exactly where he needed to be.
Relief came over him when he opened the portal to the cavern without a problem and the entire team he’d sent to the forest came through. No one appeared to be injured as they rose up and shook off the dizziness.
“What’s happening in the forest?” Basen asked.
Cleve took it upon himself to answer. “They continue to hunt and beat their drum. There are allies still out there, but we haven’t been able to find them.”
“How many beats have you heard?”
Vithos answered, “Three.”
“We kill ten for every one,” Rickik said, looking proud.
“You killed thirty of them?” Basen asked Nebre for confirmation.
“Thirty-one.”
Hopefully Ulric still believes we’re all in the forest, but it’s best to make sure.
“It’s time for our first battle.”
The Krepps hissed and smiled at one another, even Nebre, though he didn’t share the same level of enthusiasm. Steffen came over to Basen’s side and whispered, “They won’t agree with your plan. They expect to fight.”
“Rickik,” Basen said. “You will have your chance to kill our enemies, but only if you help us during this battle by staying back.”
“No, Krepps fight. Humans spy.”
“We need your Kreppen eyes, and you know the forest now better than any of us here.” He wasn’t sure of this, so he looked to Steffen, who nodded.
“We know where they go when they’re not hunting us,” Steffen said. “Most of them still return to the camp they’ve set up along the northern end of the forest. Others sleep in groups throughout the forest, but fewer of them do that now that we’ve killed thirty-one enemies during the night. I believe all of us should monitor their northern camp during the attack.”
Rickik stomped his foot. “And we kill when we can.”
“It’s important that you do not let them know you are there,” Basen said. “No light, no sound, and certainly no killing. We don’t want them to think we’re coordinating between the cities and the forest.”
Rickik looked confused, so Basen tried again.
“We don’t want them to know the truth about where we are and what we’re doing.”
Rickik didn’t agree, only glowered.
Cleve told him, “We will continue to surprise them. We kill more this way. We kill all.”
“Yes,” Rickik said. “But I fight next battle after!”
“You will.”
*****
When night came, Basen brought every akorell stone with a decent charge into the Slugari colony. Cleve’s forest group had been given half the day in the city, the Krepps confined to the headquarters. Construction had begun, but Basen pulled Neeko away to join them for this attack.
Henry’s struggle for political power was put on hold as he led his few hundred allegiant men into the cavern with Basen. They didn’t have more than a dozen shields between them, but those would have to do. Not only did this attack need to happen, but Basen had to survive. The rest of his plan couldn’t come to fruition without him. Others must’ve realized the same thing, for they looked at him as if he was ill and trying to sneak out of bed when he readied to join them.
“You don’t need to be with them,” Henry reasoned. “At least wait in the cavern for us to return.”
It’s what everyone else had expected. “If there’s trouble, I know I can help,” Basen insisted.
In the end, Basen didn’t convince his father to change his mind. He just made Henry realize that arguing was pointless.
The sense of danger trilled in Basen’s chest as he walked with his team of mages through the dark forest. Penny led, with Henry beside her. Henry had claimed to be able to get them to the western wall of Oakshen, but he and Penny had to stop several times to look at a compass and consult a couple of their soldiers.
Their army consisted mostly of Henry’s troops and mages from the Academy. A surprising number of mages were of Group One. Basen was glad to see so many had survived the battle when the betrayal had come to light. There was no denying that Penny had done a marvelous job training them, and their coordination with each other would be needed now more than ever.
It took longer than Basen would’ve liked, but eventually they reached the wall of Oakshen. The wood was built up taller than the Academy’s wall, but this one lacked strength. The guards stood on an unseen walkway. They appeared as mere shadows, most resting their forearms on the thin top of the wall as they slumped over.
Basen moved back into the shadows. The rebels wouldn’t have to see the wall from where they shot. There was no way to miss it.
Henry’s soldiers with shields positioned themselves between the trees. Basen stood behind them with the line of mages.
“Fire,” Penny ordered.
They shot their fireballs over the heads of their comrades. As fire bombarded it, the wall complained with squeals and cracks.
The guards began to scream announcements of an attack as they moved away and disappeared.
Although there was urgency among Basen and the other mages, he could feel that they were just as calm as he was as they continued to cast. Penny joined in as they all fired away, shooting without challenge from their enemies.
Fire soon blanketed the wall and climbed up to dance above it.
Basen shot his enormous fireballs one after another. They beat against the wall as he began to tire. Some of the mages beside him stopped as they huffed for breath, but Basen didn’t relent. His fireballs grew in size as his training took over. When was the last time he’d casted without pause like this? It had to be in Penny’s class, a lifetime ago.
As soon as chunks of the wall started to come down, the mages gained momentum. They cast bigger and faster fireballs. There were still no enemies in sight. Basen listened for the sound of an order, but all he could hear was the whoosh and crash of each fireball.
More of the wall came down, then huge chunks began to topple.
“Hold!” Penny ordered.
There was no more wall left in front of them, only the shanties on the outskirts of Oakshen. The rest of the wall still surrounded the city, but this gaping hole would hurt Ulric’s army more than they could possibly realize.
Time to run.
Penny and Henry took the lead while Basen waited to put himself in the back. Neeko took to his side. The screams of his enemies finally reached his ears. Basen looked over his shoulder to see them charging out of the city.
They were too far behind. Basen’s allies could easily win this race, but getting to the Slugari colony first would win them nothing. They needed to make sure not a single enemy saw them go into the colony. Otherwise, their disappearance would raise questions.
“Pick up the pace!” Basen yelled to the front.
But to his horror, they began to stop in front of him. Before Basen could ask why, his father was shouting to turn north. It must be to avoid more enemies.
Basen took the lead as he came to realize what was happening. Ulric’s soldiers had come around to drive them north, straight into the enemy camp at the edge of the forest. Thousands of enemies were probably leaving the camp to surround them.
Basen ran until all enemies charging from the city and those who’d come around to intercept were on the same side. Here he stopped.
“Get beside me,” he told the others. “We fight here.”
They created the same formation as before, shields in front and mages behind. Neeko stayed to Basen’s right and pulled his swords from their sheaths. Penny and Henry took their spots on opposite sides of the lines.
“Fire to keep them back,” Penny ordered.
The onslaught of fireballs turned this into the only type of battle that Basen and his allies could win, one of combat at range. All enemies tried to take cover but many were too slow to get behind the trees. Basen hadn’t yet seen the men on horseback until he heard the sharp cry from one of the animals. Of those Basen spotted, they dismounted to take quicker cover as their horses darted off.
Basen and the others shot wave after wave of fireballs. These were the best mages in Ovira. They would not be out-cast. No enemies got a chance to shoot back.
There was still one problem.
“They’ll be coming from behind soon,” Basen announced. “We have to advance.”
“March on my order!” Henry yelled. “One, two, one, two!” His men moved in stride. Basen and the mages walked behind their armored allies as they continued to burn all the forest in front of them.
“Face them!” yelled a familiar baritone. When he came out from behind a tree, fear broke through Basen’s concentration and forced him to a complete halt. Rockbreak had a shield taller than any man or Krepp and wide enough to protect him from every angle Basen’s allies could reach.
