The Chronicles of Lumineia: Book 01 - Elseerian (20 page)

True to Liri’s word, only an hour passed before they pushed through some brush to find themselves on the bank of a large lake. As he looked across the expanse of water in front of him, Taryn gaped openly in wonder as he took in the view of the Giant’s Shelf and the city of Azertorn.

A sheer cliff stretched at least a thousand feet straight up in front of him and extended as far as he could see in either direction. The massive plateau blotted out the view of the sky and dominated the vista so completely he couldn’t even capture the entire expanse of rock without turning his head back and forth—and yet the city of Azertorn drew the eye far more than the cliff ever could.

Twin waterfalls roughly seven miles apart fell uninhibited the full height of the Giant’s Shelf.  Slamming into the pool of water with tremendous force and sound, they created huge quantities of mist and fed the large body of water that Taryn and Liri faced. From their position at the southwest corner of the lake, one of the waterfalls fell almost directly in front of them and the other almost out of sight to the east. The elven city of Azertorn had been carved from solid rock
in between
the waterfalls.

A bowl of stone had been completely removed to create expanding tiers of rock the higher you looked. Each tier of a hundred feet contained buildings that hadn’t been built but rather sculpted straight from the stone. The lowest and smallest portion of the city began a quarter of the way up the cliff face. Starting there, and in the exact center of the bowl, an absolutely massive tree grew at least five hundred feet high with branches so large they were used as pathways to interconnect the separate levels.

With the last vestiges of sunlight and the countless lights glowing on the huge tree and each of the eight tiers, he was able to see that detailed carvings covered the visible stone sections of the citadel—but most of the rock was blanketed with greenery. Trees, flowers, and other vegetation blossomed over the entire city, creating hanging gardens on and between each level.

Below the first tier, only one opening existed. A single large stone door inset at the base of the cliff led to a flat bridge stretching out over the water to the forest. Above the entrance door two hundred and fifty feet of bare stone separated the lake from the city.

Taryn gazed in open admiration at the sheer beauty of the elven city, but he found himself far more impressed at how defensible it was. Protected on both sides by the waterfalls as well as the cliff, with the lake and the very height of the city to the front, the only real place to attack would be from above the plateau—but even there it would be impossible. Liri had told him that the river that fed the two waterfalls split north of the city, forming a fast moving, ever flowing moat around the walls of the city. In every feature, Azertorn had been built and carved to be the strongest fortress ever created, and he found himself wondering how any army could ever breach its defenses.

Liri cut into his thoughts abruptly when she whispered, “The tree is called Le Runtáriel. The elves brought the seed with them when they migrated from the east and it was planted when the city was carved.”

Taryn nodded but couldn’t respond. He just stared at the magnificent city and tried to comprehend how such an amazing structure had been created.

Without warning the door at the base of the cliff burst open and armed soldiers rushed onto the bridge.

Liri cursed under her breath, “The trees must have heard me. We have to leave—now!”

She grabbed her gear and started to run west, but Taryn caught her arm, spinning her to face him.

“No . . . if you are caught with me then you will be killed for sure,” he said, his voice intense.

She started to object but he cut her off. “If they come here and find you, they will be suspicious but may not even look for me. I will find another way into the city, and I will meet you at the base of the tree tomorrow night.”

Liri hesitated for one precious second before she agreed, “OK, but don’t meet me at the tree. The entire bottom tier is the barracks for the army.” She smiled a tight-lipped smile which he returned. “So meet me at my family’s house. The House of Runya is on the seventh tier, second from the top in the northeastern corner. Look for a crest with an eagle—but how will you get into the city?”

Taryn glanced at the elves which were already almost across the bridge. “I will figure it out,” he said as he grabbed his pack. “If I have to, I will climb the cliff and come from the north.”

Her eyes widened. “But I don’t think that’s ever been done before . . .”

She trailed off as Taryn bolted west without another word. As he ghosted his way through the trees, he guessed he only had twenty or thirty seconds before they found Liri, and maybe another minute or two before they would come looking for him. He darted west first and then threaded his way through the trees and around the lake to the north. When he reached the cliff, he turned west again and sprinted as fast as he could with the Giant’s Shelf only a few feet to his right. Wind whistled around him as he raced along the flat rock—but he wasn’t running blindly.

His eyes scanned the rock above him, searching the face for a path to climb. He saw plenty of handholds and footholds, but not a route he could scale fast enough. Hiding in the forest was out of the question. The elves would find an intruder in their home quickly and efficiently—and he had no doubt that the consequences would be severe.

A shadow in the stone above him caused him to slow down. Peering up he skidded to a stop when he saw that it was a small crack about a hundred feet off the ground. It looked to be less than a foot wide and only a few feet tall, but it would have to do. He studied the rock below it until he’d planned his route and then continued along the cliff for a hundred yards before turning into the forest, glancing backwards as he disappeared into the gloom.

He didn’t have much time to leave a false trail and get back to his hiding spot before the elves found him—but the pounding in his ears made it difficult for him to remember what to do.
Would he get caught? What would he do if he did?
The questions swirled through his mind, distracting him even as sweat began to bead on his forehead. Woodlore had not been one of his strengths in training, but he did his best to recall what he could, praying it would be enough.

Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to focus and run faster. Rushing through the trees he began touching trees and leaving footprints. Spotting a large tree with strong limbs, he leapt onto the first branch fifteen feet off the ground and scaled the trunk as quietly as he could.

Reaching the top, he stopped and removed anything of value from his pack before stashing it into a crook of the tree. Ensuring that everything was strapped on securely, he dropped to a lower branch. The only thing he had kept from his pack besides his weapons was a rope. Once he was done, he stood and ran along a springy branch before leaping to another. Traveling through the trees, he went only thirty feet before dropping lightly to the ground.

With every sense tuned to the slightest indication of his hunters’ locations, Taryn returned to the cliff below the crack he’d chosen to hide in. Every few seconds he would stop, listen, and check his trail to make sure there were no signs of his passage. Arriving at the wall, he raced forty feet up a tree that grew close to his destination.

A sudden sound forced him to freeze. Seconds later he heard it again—an elven voice calling out to others. They were on his trail. He glanced at the wall and gauged his time frame. He doubted there was enough time to jump to the wall and climb to his hiding spot before they crossed underneath. He could either wait and hope to make it after they passed . . . or go now and risk being seen on the wall. Resolving to wait, he made sure he was well hidden. Not five seconds later a full company of armed elves came into sight to the east. They raced west and followed his trail to where he’d stopped to look at the cliff.

Taryn breathed a sigh of relief when he saw them stop to look upward. He’d made the right choice to wait; they would have seen him for sure. After a moment, most of the group flew west along his trail, each movement smooth and fluid, silent hunters in the night. One elf spoke to those remaining, and three elves separated themselves before sprinting east towards the city.  The rest of them continued to follow his tracks along the cliff.

Their efficiency gave Taryn plenty of cause to admire. This was their homeland and they were stalking an intruder. But it was hard to appreciate with him being the hunted. Waiting until they turned into the forest, he looked at the wall and chose two strong handholds and two footholds to jump for. Mentally he rehearsed how he would land against the cliff several times to make sure he could do it. He had to jump almost twenty feet and catch himself nearly sixty feet off the ground—without making a sound. 

Taking a deep breath he pushed off the trunk, ran along a thick branch, and then leapt through the air. Air whistled in his ears as he flew through space straight at the rock face. The instant his hands grabbed stone he clenched his fingers with all his might and brought his feet in to hook the footholds he’d chosen. Using his arms and knees, he cushioned his forward momentum so he wouldn’t bounce off the cliff face.

Despite his efforts, his right foot slid free—but he somehow managed to catch himself just before the rest of him followed. After he’d regained his balance, he began climbing the wall with a speed that would have astonished any viewer. Hands and feet reached for the knobs and holes he’d chosen from below, so he didn’t have to stop to look where he was going.

Within ten seconds he’d climbed the forty feet to the crevasse and without hesitation squeezed himself into the protective darkness. Cramming himself into the small space, he froze when he heard light footfalls from the east.  Peering out of the darkness he watched another score of elven hunters follow his trail underneath him. Realizing he had been holding his breath, he slowly exhaled in a long sigh of relief—but he still didn’t move a muscle until the elven hunters disappeared into the forest. Once he felt it was safe to move, he began to maneuver his body into a more comfortable position to watch and wait. 

Throughout the night his hiding place turned out to be an excellent vantage point, albeit uncomfortably close to the action. Taryn began to wonder if he would have to stay in his hiding spot all day, but a couple of hours before dawn none other than Liri came into view. Accompanied by a small group of elves, she was led along the cliff face to stop five paces east of his hiding place. Suddenly an elf bounded into view with Taryn’s discarded pack in hand. By their behavior, Taryn couldn’t tell if Liri was a prisoner or not, but at least she wasn’t bound . . . or dead.

One of the elves grabbed the pack from the newcomer and spoke sharply to Liri. As the elf leaned in to ask his question, the moonlight glinted off his light blue armor. Although Taryn couldn’t hear the question, it was evident that he wanted Liri to explain the source of the pack. Liri shook her head with a fairly convincing bewildered look. At first Taryn thought the captain would explode in anger, but for some inexplicable reason he visibly cooled his feelings before responding. For several minutes the two of them argued back and forth until another elf cut in timidly with some comment.

The leader seemed angry with the younger soldier, but Liri responded to whatever the young elf had said with another shake of her head. Her response must have calmed the captain somewhat, because he paused for a moment and then gave out some quick orders to several of the elves. As they jumped to obey, Taryn noticed that they appeared to avoid Liri—and not in a bad way. Almost like water slipping around a rock, they flowed past her, giving her a wide berth. The odd behavior spoke of deference, rather than suspicion or fear. It reminded him of the recent conversations they had shared, causing him to consider for the first time that Liri had kept far more from him than he’d originally thought.

Who was Liri?

The next sixty seconds were a blur of activity as most of the patrol returned east towards the city with Liri in their midst. Several of them remained and took up positions along the base of the cliff and, Taryn assumed, in the forest as well. Unfortunately for Taryn, one of the elves decided to stand almost directly below where he was concealed.

Unnatural silence returned to the forest below within seconds of the elves departure, leaving Taryn alone in his fissure with several alert elves spread out below him. Relief flooded through him as he realized that his ruse had been successful. On Sri Rosen, the lessons on tracking had been . . . difficult for him, and despite his best efforts to practice, he’d never once been able to track someone down. But he
had
managed a passable effort at evading capture. He still considered his efforts to elude the elves more luck than skill though, and hoped his luck would hold.

But as more time passed, he began to think he’d made a mistake. The elves below him gave no sign of leaving, placing him in a difficult situation. Considering what to do, he took a few minutes to weigh his options and wonder at the elven leader’s actions. The blue-armored elf had done almost exactly as he’d expected right down to bringing Liri to the trail. What surprised him was the fact that he’d left guards. There was no way an intruder would return on the same route by which he had escaped, so why post the sentries?

After a few minutes of considering it, Taryn realized that the elf had left guards because he didn’t know what to do—and the strange fear affecting everyone had pushed him to do
something
, even if the action didn’t make sense.

Whatever the reason for the sentries, it sharply limited Taryn’s options. With the coming of dawn his hiding spot would be revealed for any wandering eyes. He could either risk staying through the day, or start his climb right now and try to make it most of the way before the sun came up. Glancing down at the elves, he made his decision. He would have to make his attempt immediately. At least the sentries were facing into the forest and weren’t likely to turn around unless he broke the silence.