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Tarek pulled Alyra along, managing to lose their pursuers once they reached a patch of scraggly brush trees. Issah had told him to get to the cliffs. This time he intended to listen and do what he’d been told. Or try, anyway.
The land was rough and rocky, causing one or the other to catch a toe and stumble into the other. Finally, through the growing darkness, the wall of stone appeared. He stopped and gazed up at the cliff. Now all they needed to do was find a trail leading upward.
Worry pinched Alyra’s brows. “None of this looks familiar. I’m sure we climbed down somewhere north of here.” She looked around with a shake of her head. “Can you see anyone else coming from the city?”
Tarek found a sturdy tree and managed to climb up a few feet. Nothing but a sea of black spread out around them. He couldn’t even see the horsemen anymore. “We need to keep moving. North, you say?” He hopped down and reached for her hand again. “Let’s keep along the foot of this escarpment. Hopefully, we’ll run into some kind of trail soon.”
Alyra jerked her hand from his. “I’ll need that for climbing. Don’t worry, I can keep up.”
He squeezed his fingers into a fist. “Fine. Let’s go then.” Their trek did require two hands to manage the rocky terrain they had to climb over. Tarek took the lead but made sure to not get too far ahead of Alyra who seemed to be keeping up rather well.
She had every right to be mad. He’d wanted to explain but now wasn’t the time. They kept up their swift pace as they moved over the craggy terrain. If only he could cast a bit of light. Except he didn’t want to alert anyone of their whereabouts. He wasn’t sure if the soldiers pursuing them had turned back or were just over the next rise.
They walked in silence for a good distance before Alyra let out a gasp. “Do you hear that?”
Tarek stopped to listen. The pounding of hooves came faintly like a brisk wind. She hopped up a couple of times, trying to get a better view, but to no avail from her frustrated sigh. He looked up at the rocky wall. The swollen moon gave off enough light for him to make out some of the formations. “I think we need to start climbing. It’s not more than forty, maybe fifty feet up. And the slope should help.”
Alyra started to shake her head when a piercing scream ripped through the night sky.
Human or beast, Tarek couldn’t tell.
She dug her boot into the rocky wall and began climbing. He let her get a little ahead of him before he followed begging Shaydon’s aid and hoping neither would slip and break a bone. Thankfully, she seemed to be holding her own, and the ascent wasn’t nearly as difficult as he first feared.
“Here it is!” Alyra exclaimed, scrambling over the edge of a flat plateau. “I think it’s the trail we used to walk down.” She turned around and reached for him, her face earnest and full of relief.
He didn’t want to unsettle her, so he made his way upward and had his hand on the ledge when the rock beneath his foot gave away. Before he slid too far, Alyra scooted closer and grabbed his arms. “Hold on, Tare. I’ve got you.” Her fingers dug into the cloth of his shirt, pulling him along as he managed to gain a better hold and push himself over the top.
Once he sat securely on the ridge, she wrapped him in her arms laughing, of all things. He sucked in a deep breath to steady his racing heart. “Just what do you find so funny?”
“I was struck by a memory. You pulling me up over the edge of a cliff. One I was intent on leaping off of.” Her golden gaze locked on his.
“Do you regret that I pulled you back?”
She shook her head no.
“Good. Despite everything, I don’t regret it either.” He rested his forehead against hers. “You’ve pulled me back from the brink a few times, as well, love.”
Her arms circled his shoulders as she pulled him into a hug. Against his ear, she whispered, “I’m still miffed at you, but I’m so glad to have you back.”
He returned her hug, realizing just how much he’d truly missed her. They’d promised to stick together. He’d needed the time spent in Aloblase and didn’t regret that separation. But he should have come for her before trying this risky idea. Or rather, a foolish idea. Pointless if he was honest with himself. “You have every right to be miffed. I should have asked you to come with me. Or I should have waited, I supposed. But—”
Alyra pulled back so they could look at each other again. “But...? Why did you come here?”
He shrugged. “Vesia. I had to tell her about... everything.”
Sympathy filled Alyra’s beautiful face. “Oh. Did you get to speak to her?”
The muscles in his jaw tightened as he gave a single nod.
Alyra’s shoulders sagged. “She wouldn’t listen, would she?”
He shook his head and turned toward the valley below that lay in black shadows. He could no longer make out what might be happening in the town that was nothing more than a dim, hazy glow in the bowl of the low-lying mountain range.
Pressing a kiss on his cheek, Alyra said, “We better keep go—” her voice trailed off as she hooked her finger around the chain circling his neck. Pulling his medallion from his shirt, she held it up, lighting the palm of her hand just enough to make out the engraving on the disk. “It’s similar to mine. But you have a sword. That’s because you’re more... because you’re an Empowered Illuminate, right?”
“Right. I can blow things up.” He snorted a laugh. “Most things.”
He wondered what had gone wrong with those creatures. He’d pushed out enough energy to turn them both into dust, but he’d only succeeded in irritating them more.
What were those trollish things, anyway? Then he realized he really didn’t want to know. “I can’t protect people as you can. Nor offer strength and healing.”
She blinked a few times. He knew what she was thinking, and she was dead wrong. His ability wasn’t any better than hers, and she needed to see that. Her wobbly smile offered a bit of hope that his words were getting through.
“Guess that’s why we need to stick together then.” She rested her head on his shoulder.
They did need to keep moving, but his body ached from the flight and the rough handling of the guards.
“I think you’re right, love. Forgive me? Maybe someday I’ll learn to not be so hasty in my decisions.”
She laughed out loud. “We’re a pair in that matter, as well, Tare. Shaydon help us both.” Her fingers brushed his chin as she turned his face toward hers. “Yes, I forgive you.” She pressed her lips to his, and he responded by deepening the kiss until a shadow swooped past, blocking out the moonlight.
Alyra quickly pulled away, a worried frown creasing her brows. “We better go. Who knows what prowls around here at night? Soon as we reach the top, I’ll try to write Stitch.”
Tarek thought that was wise advice and helped her to stand. Keeping her before him, they followed the ridge upward. He hoped whatever had flown overhead was nothing more than a large bird. The sooner they were away from Darnel’s reach, the better. He dared a glance toward the west, and to his consternation, the mountain of Racah loomed in the distance, glowing like a blaze of fire spreading across a dried field of grass.
So close to his mother, yet unable to do anything for any of his family. Instead, he set his mind on getting Alyra and himself back to safety.
The trail finally leveled out, and Tarek let out a breath of relief.
Unfortunately, Alyra gave an anxious groan. “I don’t recognize anything. But at least we’re at the top of the crest and back in the woods. Maybe we can hide in the shelter of the trees while I try to find out where my brother is. Issah will know how to find us.”
“Good plan. I need a moment to catch my breath and—”
A rush of wind hit them amid the pounding of wings swooping low over their heads. “There you are,” spoke the resonating voice from above. A voice he didn’t recognize. “Don’t move. Either of you!”
* * * *
No matter what Stitch did, he could not find a way past the guards patrolling the city gates and watching over the land between the wall and the place he needed to reach. Ethan’s hand clamped tighter on the hair growing down the middle of his back. Stitch tried not to complain about the lad pulling his hair, but with being parted from Little Miss and unable to get to safety, he was losing his patience.
“You up for walking yet?”
Ethan slid off his back. Once he landed on his feet, he stumbled and nearly fell before Stitch caught him by the arm.
“Doesn’t look like it.” He checked the small gash on the side of Ethan’s head and cringed. “We need to stop and tend to that. Get back on. I’ll have to find somewhere to hide until those henchmen give up and return home. Then we can attempt to cross the plain.”
Ethan waved off his offer and moved on ahead, though his steps remained wobbly. “I’m fine. Soon as it stops bleeding, I’ll patch it with some of the bandages Alyra put in my pack. She usually makes me carry some of her Healer supplies. I’m sure there’s something in her kit I can use.”
Stitch trotted to his side. “At least use me as a support.” He uncorked his water bag, took a swig, and then handed it to the lad. “This will help. The streams around Marya’s house have healing properties in them. It’s like the waters that flow from Shaydon’s throne.”
“It is the same water.” Ethan took out his own water bag and wet down the rag he’d been pressing against his head before he gulped down a bit. “Thanks for reminding me. It does help. My thoughts are a little scattered with the pounding in my brain. If we can stop soon, I would certainly appreciate the chance to recoup.”
Stitch’s heart went out to the man. He must have suffered a harder blow than Stitch thought at first. Of course, humans weren’t nearly as tough as centaurs. He’d need to keep that in mind. Patting Ethan’s shoulder, he pointed toward a shelter of trees a few leagues ahead. “Let’s hide over there. It’s in the opposite direction than we need to go, but we can rest there until the land clears. Maybe the morning will reveal another way, or maybe Issah will come to find us.”
“Any idea where he went? I can’t even remember us leaving the city.” The water seemed to revive him as his steps grew a little steadier.
“No. After he threw you over my back and told me to run for it, everything became a blur. Those people were so angry. Well done, Messenger.” He pounded Ethan’s shoulder again and almost knocked him off his feet. “Sorry.”
Ethan cast an irritated glare his way then ducked his head. “I lost it when I saw that statue.”
“Well, I think you managed to chip off the nose. A great improvement, though I wish you’d have knocked off the head. That would have been something.”
They’d reached the cluster of trees, and to Stitch’s delight, he also found a small stream. But when Ethan bent and cupped some into his hands, he took a sniff and cast it aside. “Do not drink that. There’s a foul smell to it.”
Stitch brought a palm-full to his nose and recognized the scent of Racah. The muscles in his flank twitched. Looking through the brush, he searched the land surrounding them. “Oh, blast and double blast!”
Ethan found a fallen log to sit on. “What?” He searched through his pack, mumbling about wishing his sister was there because he couldn’t see a thing in the growing darkness.
Stitch rubbed at his tired eyes and blinked, making sure he was indeed seeing what he feared he was seeing. “When I see Tarek, I might break the nose off his face. Why in all of Alburnium would he come here to the foot of the very place we all hoped to never return to again?”
Ethan moved to his side. His eyes widened. “Is that—?”
“Yep. There’s Racah, home of that traitor king, Darnel.”
He removed his Ledge-o-graph. “I better check to see where she and that... well never mind what I want to call him. I want to know where they are. If he ends up getting them captured—”
“He won’t,” Ethan defended. “Tarek knows it’ll be instant death for him. He’ll keep Alyra safe, I have no doubts.”
Stitch opened to a blank page and scribbled, “Where are you?” Then he tried his best to describe where they were hiding. Maybe she was with Issah, and he could send someone to get them. But as he stared at the mountain city glowing in the growing darkness, another thought began to niggle at his heart. Katrina was somewhere up in that horrible castle. If only there was some way to sneak in and rescue her. If only....
