Rise of Legends (The Kin of Kings Book 2) (32 page)

“This girl can’t run for very long,” Lori complained. “Who was she?”

“I’ll explain everything later.” But there was something Sanya had wanted to know for years and couldn’t wait any longer. “All those times I came to see you in the spiritual world, could you see me?”

“I didn’t even know I was dead.”

“What? How can that be?”

But Lori shook her head, too fatigued to speak while running.

Eventually, Sanya felt they’d gone far enough and earned a rest. She brought her mother into a nearby tavern, sat her down, then walked up to the owner and used psyche to convince him she was an old friend and needed water. He gave her a glass without asking for money, and she brought it to her mother.

“We’ll start again as soon as I know where we’re going. Can you answer my question now?”

After a gulp, Lori nodded and said, “I think I used to know I was dead and then I forgot, because I remember having some sort of understanding.” She drank her water, then stared at the empty mug. “I know it sounds confusing. But to answer your question, no, I don’t remember ever seeing you.”

Sanya felt her heart drop. It didn’t sound like her mother had missed her. Sanya didn’t let herself think about it further. There were more pressing matters to worry about. “We’ll talk more once we’re safe.”

Her mother nodded firmly, showing she was ready to run again, so Sanya stood and headed toward the door.

“There isn’t much more I could say about death,” Lori said as she hurried to keep up. “I don’t remember much.”

Sanya put her arm on Lori’s shoulder. It was still strange to look into Bliss’ eyes and find her mother looking back, but Sanya forced herself to smile. “I’m just happy you’re here.”

“Me too,” Lori said after a moment. Sanya felt ill with dread—it wasn’t fully the truth.

They’d already gone this far north, so Sanya figured they might as well leave the city in the same direction. The Fjallejon Mountains would block them from going more than a few miles, and there was nothing but ocean to the west. That meant they could veer eastward and head to the Academy, which was suicidal, or they could turn east and find sanctuary in the northern end of Raywhite Forest.

It’s not where we’re going to live, but at least we can stay there until I figure out a better place.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

It had been two days since they’d left the old Kreppen encampment, heading toward the new home to the Krepps, a village in Merejic. Or perhaps the village belonged to Elves only. Basen would have to wait to find out.

With little to eat, no one spoke much during the trek. He, Cleve, and Alabell could walk for twenty miles a day, but Annah wasn’t quite as fit. Her little legs struggled to keep up.

Fortunately, psychics made for incredible hunters, so no one thought of her as a burden. She could sense animals and lure them over to give Cleve an easy shot with his bow. But she had to be in range to sense an animal, and creatures seemed to keep too much distance from their group for them to ever catch as much as they wanted to eat.

By the third day since Jackrie’s departure, they came to the end of the river they’d been following. Now they would have to ration water as well as food. They ventured into a small forest, possibly the last one in Kilmar. Earlier, they’d seen the land from atop a hill and knew they were approaching miles of desert.

To make matters worse, night was coming quickly. When Basen pointed this out to Cleve, he asked Basen and Alabell to gather sticks and make a campfire while he and Annah hunted.

Alone with Alabell, Basen made himself more vigilant. With Cleve and Annah away, it was solely Basen’s responsibility to protect her. He drew out his wand.

Alabell seemed startled by it. “Do you see something?”

“No, I’m just preparing myself.”

“There’s nothing in Kilmar that could hurt us except for snakes and Krepps.”

If she wanted him to put away his wand, it would spark a disagreement. “That sounds like enough of a threat to me.”

“Most Krepps can’t be killed with a single fireball.”

He glanced at her. She paused while picking up a stick, then smiled at him. “I’m just trying to prepare you to shoot twice if we do see a Krepp.”

“You think one would attack us?”

“One, no. A group of them, though…are you going to help me collect sticks and brush or just wait until I’m finished so you can light the fire and feel like you’ve done something?”

“You’ve figured out my plan,” he joked, then began helping her.

The grass grew in square patches with dirt trails around it as if the area had once been a garden. But none of the trees seemed young, and there weren’t any stumps around, so if humans or Krepps had tended to the land, they’d never cleared the trees.

“Do Krepps garden?” he asked Alabell.

“They never did before, but they might now.” She took a long look at the small fields of grass around them. “I doubt it was Krepps that were here before us. This looks too neat. Maybe Slugari came here years ago.”

“It’s worth taking a moment to check and see if whatever was here cast enough spells for me to make a portal.” He’d been feeling for the heavy energy while walking beside the river, but it had been so exhausting trudging up the slight incline for days that he’d mostly given up. He walked over to put himself at the center of where two sandy pathways met.

To his surprise, he felt exactly what he was looking for. “Alabell,” he said with considerable excitement.

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.”

By the look of joy on her face, Basen assumed she knew what this meant. It wasn’t the ability to make a portal
from
here that thrilled them, it was the idea of making a portal
to
here.

They weren’t more than a week away from Tenred. They could return here with the Elves who were in Merejic, hopefully, and then walk to Tenred and recruit more allies.

“Well go ahead and make one,” Alabell encouraged.

“What about Sanya?”

“You care, really?”

“She did spare my life…”

“Only after she killed two of your friends.”

And I’m scared of her as well.
He was thankful Alabell wasn’t a psychic.

“If you’re not going to make a portal, you still need some way to remember this wooded area so you can make a portal to here at a later time.”

“I was just trying to think of a way to do it. Any suggestions?”

She didn’t search for anything to burn as she considered his question, putting her entire focus into it. The more Basen had gotten to know Alabell, the more he realized she was like this with everything. He’d seen her hold the untied laces of her boot while discussing the best route to Merejic, remaining hunched over her knee and frozen by thought. Finally, when the group had come to a decision, she’d made a quick knot and popped up, seeming as if she had no idea how long her fingers had been waiting for her orders.

“My most vivid memories are of the places I’ve visited the most often,” she said. “Like my room when I was a child, the dining hall when I was at the Academy, and my quarters at the castle.”

“Very fine advice, except I need to remember a place where I’m only going to spend one night.”

“You haven’t made many portals, right?”

“Right.”

“Then practice making them here. When it comes time to make another, you’ll remember these surroundings easily.”

He frowned at knowing she needed to hear the truth. “I don’t want to anger Sanya.”

This seemed to surprise her. “I thought you didn’t fear anything. You weren’t afraid of your old instructor’s invading army, yet you fear a single woman?”

“I’m being cautious.”

“You’ve already made two portals.”

“And maybe she’s on the way here to kill me, and the only way she’ll find me is if I make more portals.” He went on as Alabell opened her mouth. “I realize I sound like a coward, but the truth is that I would be putting you and the rest of the group in danger. There must be another way for me to remember this place.”

“I don’t think you’re a coward.”

“Good.”

She paused again and then began to nod. “You’re right. There must be another way for you to remember this place.” She folded her arms, and her usually gentle and caring face took on a dark look. “Part of me wants Sanya to come for us, I suppose. I think it’s the only way we’ll see her again.”

“She’ll show herself eventually. And before then I’d better learn how to resist psyche.”

“We’ll have Annah teach us.”

“Agreed.”

They went back to collecting fuel for the fire when a thought struck Basen.

“We can make something memorable happen here,” he suggested. “I’ll never forget the battle within the Fjallejon Mountains, for example, so I’ll always be able to make a portal back there.”

“I hope you don’t need something that memorable.”

“I was thinking of something else. Something we can do.” He let his gaze linger on her. They’d only shared one kiss, and it was right before Alex had been killed. There was no connection between the two events, but Basen couldn’t help recall Alex’s throat being cut whenever he remembered the feeling of Alabell’s lips. The best way to disassociate the events was to kiss her again, but the mood had never been right.

Her mouth twisted nervously, though there was a hint of a smile as she looked him square in the eyes. “What did you have in mind?”

He had a swig from his water pouch to moisten his dry lips. “I can’t tell you because the surprise will be part of what makes it memorable.”

She blushed as he approached. It was hardly a surprise now, but that wasn’t going to stop him. He set down the sticks and dry leaves he’d collected, then dusted off his arms and shirt. She set down her collection and did the same. She closed her eyes and awaited his lips, but as he leaned in, something caught his eye—a gray creature as tall as Cleve but with even wider shoulders and chest.
God’s mercy, a Krepp.
His yellow eyes shined under the shade of the tree he seemed to be using to spy on them.

“Kirjek!” the creature bellowed. His vocal cords thrummed low as they held the last syllable, his claws slicing through the air in a sign of aggression.

Alabell’s eyes came open, and then she glanced past Basen and gasped. He began to turn, but she grabbed him and started to run. He tripped, then hopped back up and ran with her. An arrow flew by and broke against a tree. Two Krepps burst out from a thick wall of bushes in front of them. They hissed, baring their sharp teeth.

Alabell yelled for Cleve as Basen got his wand up. She yanked him toward her before he could shoot. Another arrow zipped by.

The Krepps shouted in a throaty language as they chased after Basen and Alabell. He sped up and took the lead, running in the direction Cleve and Annah had gone.

But soon, two more Krepps came out from behind the trees and blocked their path. Basen halted and drew in energy. The Krepps seemed to recognize the sight of a wand, jumping back out of view before he could fire. He let the energy disperse and took the sword from his sheath.

“Come on,” Alabell shouted as she took a sharp turn. She had her dagger in hand now as Basen trailed.

They weaved through the trees, but the Krepps stayed with them, running alongside with only a few rows of trees separating them. The muscular creatures were startlingly fast, their thick legs moving at a blurring speed.

Alabell and Basen couldn’t run fast enough, and soon the Krepps had circled them, staying near the trees so Basen couldn’t get a clear shot. He and Alabell ducked behind trees of their own, for Kreppen archers behind them wouldn’t hesitate to shoot.

“What do you want, Krepps?” Alabell screamed.

Several of them yelled back, though if any had given a response in common tongue, Basen couldn’t understand it. Their words were like grunts of anger, their voices deep and raspy.

There seemed to be five of them as they quickly closed in. Basen got a fireball off and hit one in the chest before he could jump out of the way. Basen then ducked back behind a tree before he had a chance to see if he’d killed the Krepp.

“Cleve!” Alabell screamed again.

A Krepp yelled out in anguish. Basen peered around the tree to see one of the Kreppen archers staggering with an arrow stuck in his chest. Cleve ran toward the other archer, dropping his bow and drawing his bright sword. Annah trailed behind, a look of fear on her face. She held out her hand at the now fleeing Krepp, and he tripped and fell over his feet. Cleve stabbed the Krepp through his head, hardly stopping on his way to Basen and Alabell.

Basen ran out ahead of Cleve to face the three remaining Krepps, none of them with bows. He aimed his wand and prepared a fireball, but they scattered instantly, disappearing behind the trees. One had a black and red chest from Basen’s fireball, but he didn’t seem any slower than the other two. The Krepps yelled to each other in what sounded to be anger.

“Wait, Basen,” Cleve said softly.