Rise (14 page)

The rest of the page was faded, and I couldn’t make out any more words. I didn’t know
Heks
were here first and that humans took the land away from them. In Nelebek, we had only two
Heks
. But then again, our kingdom had been shut off from the rest of the continent for the past hundred years.

I rubbed my temples; the stuffy room felt confining. I carefully stepped around Vidar and went outside on the platform. Leaning against the railing, I was still close enough to the medallion for protection. Breathing in the fresh, crisp air, I gazed at the clear sky and the brightly lit stars above. The leaves gently rustled in the soft wind.

“You’re up late,” Anders said as he walked across the bridge toward me, hidden among the shadows of the trees.

I jumped, not expecting to see him at this hour. “I was reading.”

“Anything interesting?” he asked, joining me on the platform. He wore all black and dirt was smeared over his face.

“No,” I said, shaking my head and staring up at the stars. For some reason, being out here alone with the assassin unnerved me. I didn’t feel like talking about the book or
Heks
right now.

“You should go to bed,” he said, leaning against the railing a few feet away from me. “We only have one more day of training before we leave to get your weapon. You’ll want to be well rested to meet whatever challenge awaits.”

“What are you doing up?” Given his attire, he’d obviously been out somewhere. Did Vidar send him on a mission? Did he just kill someone?

“I’d rather not say,” he mumbled, rubbing his face. He sounded tired.

I moved closer to him. “Do you think so little of me that you can’t tell me what you did tonight?” Or was he too ashamed to tell me he’d killed?

He went very still. “Is that what you think?”

“It’s the only reason that makes sense.” I must have been more tired than I realized because I felt like crying.

“Kaia,” Anders said, letting out a deep breath. “You have to understand that I’ve been around for a very long time. Do you know how hard it is to lose a dear friend or someone you love?”

My father’s illness was difficult to deal with. I couldn’t imagine being stuck this age while everyone I knew grew old and died. It would be torturous. “So you don’t even want to be friends with me because I’m eventually going to die?”

“Some deaths are harder to deal with than others. The last time I … lost someone close to me, I decided to never go through that again.”

Not only was he not aging, he wasn’t even living.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

“So am I. If you ever change your mind, I’m here.” We stood in silence for several minutes.

He glanced sideways at me. “Vidar sent me on an assignment.”

I closed my eyes. Anders had promised me no unnecessary killing.

“You have to know,” he said, “part of my curse is that I am bound to Vidar. If he orders me to do something, I have to do it.”

“I don’t understand.” Couldn’t he make his own choices?

He gazed at the stars and sighed. “Vidar is a good man. Even if I weren’t bound to him, I’d still pledge my life to serve him. He’s never asked something of me that wasn’t necessary or for the betterment of the kingdom.” Anders curled his hands around the railing, his knuckles turning white.

I didn’t have anything to say. After all, I was planning to kill Morlet for that very reason.

“What? No retort? No lecture?”

I laughed. “No. Right now, I want to enjoy the fresh air. It’s beautiful out here.”

He shook his head. “I’ve been around for so long that I forget what it’s like to care for someone.” He turned to face me, a small smile spreading across his face, softening the lines around his eyes and forehead. “You remind me of that.” He reached out and squeezed my hand.

My breath caught, and my heart hammered in my chest. “I hope you consider that a good thing,” I said, trying to ignore the sudden awkwardness I felt.

He chuckled. “Depends on my mood.” He reached up and pushed a strand of hair off my forehead. “I’m exhausted. We should both get some sleep.”

Suddenly eager to put space between us, I whispered, “Goodnight,” and hurried back inside. Vidar was still in the same position, sprawled on the ground. Stepping around him, I crawled into bed, my hand tingling where Anders had touched it.

***

“Faster!” Anders ordered. I spun and kicked my right leg, hitting his chest. “Excellent.” He grabbed my wrist. “Now break away.”

Doing what my father had taught me, I leaned slightly forward, toward my opponent, and then pulled my arm up, breaking the hold. I immediately punched his stomach and when he doubled over, grabbed his shoulders, ramming my knee into his face.

He righted himself, breathing hard. “Good job,” he said, his voice a little higher pitched than usual. “Just remember we’re practicing. You don’t need to hit so forcefully.”

“Trust me,” I said, smiling. “That was gentle. If I wanted to hurt you, I would have.”

The corner of Anders’s mouth pulled up. “With that attitude, you’ll make it through your trials and receive your weapon without a problem.”

After working together all morning, we finally stopped to rest. I sat on the ground, stretching my legs out before me. Somehow sparring with Anders was easier than talking to him. I learned to fight at such an early age that it was second nature to me.

“Here.” Anders handed me a leather pouch with water inside. I took a sip and gave it back to him. “Your father trained you?” I nodded. “Where did you practice?” He plopped down next to me.

“In our apartment, even though there’s hardly any space. There are only two rooms, and it’s cluttered. But Papa doesn’t care. He says it’s more realistic since I have to move around objects. I’ve learned to use my environment to my advantage. My father is always rearranging furniture to keep it interesting.”

Anders took a sip of water from the pouch. “My training was very similar to yours. Only, instead of a loving father, a master assassin taught me.”

“Was he at least kind to you?” Probably not, since he’d bought Anders and only intended to use him to kill.

Anders leaned back against a tree trunk and closed his eyes. “Working for him was better than being a slave. But I was never … happy.”

“What about your family?”

Anders shrugged, keeping his eyes closed. His cheek twitched, haunted by some memory.

“Did you live with the assassin?”

“Yes,” he said. “His house was high in the mountains. There was no one around for miles.”

“This is the first time I’ve been outside the capital.”

“I’m surprised your father kept you so close to the king’s castle. Wasn’t he afraid someone would discover you’re a Kriger?”

“No, because I hadn’t come into my power yet.” Although, now that I thought about it, he rarely allowed me to leave our apartment.

“Still, I’m surprised your father risked being in the capital.”

“Have you ever come face-to-face with Morlet?” I asked.

His eyes darkened, and he glanced away. “Our paths have crossed several times. When Morlet first took the throne, he personally hunted down the Krigers. He’d kill them, drag their bodies back to the castle, and put their heads on spikes at the front gates. That was before he realized that when one Kriger died, a new one was born in his place. Once Morlet understood the only way to defeat the Krigers is to kill them when their powers are linked together, he’s been putting them in prison.”

A thought occurred to me. “Can Morlet kill us if I don’t have my bo staff?”

“No, because your power can’t link with the others without your weapon. But once you have it, and all twelve of you link together, he can kill the Krigers. No more will ever be born.”

“I thought you two were training!” Vidar called out as he approached, his eyes darting between the two of us.

I jumped to my feet. “We were just taking a break,” I said, brushing the pine needles and dirt from my pants.

“Well the break is over,” he said with a roguish smile. “You both need to go and pack. We depart tomorrow at daybreak.” Vidar started to leave.

“Why are the two of you cursed?” I asked, crossing my arms and waiting for him to answer.

Vidar raised an eyebrow. “I think we’d all like to know
why
. Now hurry up. There’s a lot to be done before we leave.” He turned and strolled away.

***

We set out early the next morning, each of us carrying a sack with food, water, and blankets. Anders led the way, followed by me, and then Vidar. I pulled my knit cap over my ears, trying to stay warm in the crisp, cool air. Walking in silence, we made our way through the forest.

After a few hours, we reached a narrow path that skirted alongside a steep hill. I needed a moment to myself. Stepping off the path, I allowed Vidar to pass by. “I’ll catch up with you in a minute.”

“We stay together,” Anders insisted, stopping to wait for me.

There was no way we were doing
this
together. “Then wait here,” I said. “And face the hill.” Suddenly realizing what I was about to do, Anders’s face reddened, and both men quickly turned their backs, giving me privacy.

I went down the slope, wanting to go far enough so they couldn’t see me relieve myself. I stopped, about to loosen my pants, when something jumped off a nearby tree, startling me. My feet slipped on the steep incline littered with pine needles. The stupid squirrel darted away as I tumbled down the hill, unable to stop myself. Up ahead, the ground suddenly dropped off revealing treetops below. This wasn’t good.

I flew off the edge and into the air, squeezing my eyes shut, afraid I’d be impaled by a tree. My body violently jerked, and I screamed, dangling midair. My sack had gotten stuck on a branch, and it was the only thing keeping me from plunging to the ground. I wondered if I should yell out to Anders and Vidar for help, but decided against it. If they saw me like this, they’d never let me go on my own again. I had a couple of minutes before they came looking for me. My only option was to disengage myself from the sack and drop down. It appeared to be about fifteen feet. Taking a deep breath, I squirmed free and fell, rolling when I landed to avoid injury.

There weren’t any low branches on the tree, so there was no way I could climb back up to retrieve my sack. Luckily, there were several large rocks and bushes along the cliff, which allowed me to easily scale it to where I’d fallen from. Then I retraced my steps back to the path where Anders and Vidar stood waiting for me.

When I reemerged, Vidar burst out laughing. “What happened to you?” he asked. “You’re covered with leaves and twigs.”

I plopped on the ground, trying to catch my breath. “Nothing,” I said, realizing I still had to relieve myself.

“Let’s go,” Anders said. “We need to reach our next location before nightfall.”

“Don’t worry,” Vidar said, noticing my missing sack. “I have plenty of food.”

We hiked the rest of the day and into the evening among the gigantic, towering trees. When the sun set, the temperature rapidly decreased. The scenery also changed as the trees thinned and massive boulders rose out of the ground.

“Are we nearing the edge of the forest?” I asked.

“Yes,” Anders replied. “The mountain range straight ahead is where your weapon is located.”

“For now,” Vidar cut in, “we’re going to that cave.” He jerked his chin toward a boulder.

Heading that way, I searched for the entrance in the fading light, not finding it. Smiling, Vidar pointed to the ground. At the base of the boulder, there was a three-foot-wide hole. Anders squatted and grabbed a branch, wrapping dry leaves around the top of it, and lighting it on fire. “Wait here,” he instructed, sliding his legs into the opening and dropping down.

I peered into the hole. Light from the makeshift torch bounced off the rocky walls. “All clear!” Anders hollered.

I mimicked what he did and dropped about six feet into the cave, landing on my feet. Vidar threw a pile of wood down after me and then gracefully jumped in. Anders arranged the logs and lit them on fire, the smoke exiting through the opening. There were notches on the wall so we’d be able to climb out.

I eagerly sat and removed my boots, stretching my legs out before me, exhausted from being on my feet all day.

Vidar pulled out two chunks of cheese, handing one to me. I took a bite, noticing him staring. “What?” I asked.

He smiled, shaking his head. “You have pine needles stuck to your knit cap.” He reached out, plucking them off for me.

Anders made a sound of disgust as he unrolled his blanket. “Do you have to flirt with every girl? Kaia is a Kriger, not some barmaid.”

“You can’t tell me you don’t think Kaia is pretty,” Vidar said, folding his arms and pointedly staring at Anders.

My entire body prickled with heat. “Don’t talk about me like that. Especially when I’m sitting right here. It’s insulting.” And extremely embarrassing.

The corners of Vidar’s mouth turned up. “Here,” he said, handing me a loaf of bread. “For the record,
I
think you’re beautiful. A little short, but pretty nonetheless.”

My fingers curled into a fist. A thought suddenly occurred to me that might be more effective than punching him. “Why thank you,” I cooed. “I think you’re mighty pretty, too. A little tall, lanky, arrogant, and conceited, but handsome nonetheless.”

Anders laughed, the sound echoing in the small cave. “I think you’ve met your match Vidar. She’s not going to let you get away with anything.”

Vidar smiled and scooted against the wall, leaning his head back. “Speaking of getting away with things … do you know how Morlet came into power?”

My interest rose. “He killed the king and queen and seized the throne,” I replied. “However, I’m not sure why he did it.” The book Vidar had given me didn’t contain any clues as to a motive. It never occurred to me that Vidar might have firsthand knowledge of events. I ate my bread, waiting for him to shed some light on the past. Anders remained quiet, sharpening a dagger.