Techromancy Scrolls: Soras (18 page)

She kept studying me then she inclined her head at me and said, “I trust your judgment of your own people. If we act according to what your heart believes, then I put forth that our best means of egress is to the south, toward Solomon Keep. We are bound to run into actual Solomon patrols far sooner than we could possibly make our way back to the Meeting Spot while being perused.”

Sara looked at me then Rain and asked carefully, “You would risk us all on her gut feeling?”

Ranelle looked at her with sad compassion and asked, “And how would you suggest we escape with Udele? If we assume all of Solomon's defenses are perusing us, then it is unlikely we would make our way back to the People, let alone out of Soloman. We could lay low in hiding for a few days until the search relaxes. But by then, the People will believe us lost and we will go to war.”

She gave me a sad smile. “So I... will follow Laney's heart. And we had dispatched a runner to inform Sora Celeste of our plans before we left. She may well already be on her way here if Solomon indeed is not the culprit.”

She added gravely, “I will not order any of you to follow Laney and me, and neither the People nor I will think any less of you if you choose not to undergo this plan. What say you?”

Roman said instantly, “Aye.”

Penelope was next as she gave me a smile and nod. “Aye, I follow my Sora.”

Then we looked at Sarafine and she narrowed her eyes at me and took my measure. Then she gave a crooked smirk and whispered, “You'd go in there alone and stand against all the enemy to rescue her wouldn't you?”

I looked down at my hands and nodded once.

She chuckled and said, “Aye, I'll follow a crazy woman who doesn't know how to back down.”

I smiled up at her and blushed.

All eyes were on me, I could feel them as they weighed me down. I whispered firmly, trying to keep the waver and tears out of my voice, “Aye.”

Rain grinned and said, “Grand! What a splendid band of lunatics we are.”

We all chuckled at that then she said, “So we go with Roman's plan. We should move the horses to the south and keep them hidden in the wood before we go to retrieve a boat.”

We nodded as a the first drops of a summer rain started to fall, the raindrops chilled my face in the cool summer evening. I would have basked in the rain if I could have, it was such a rare occurrence in Wexbury. By the time we had the horses hidden in a draw a few hundred yards south, the rain had turned into a torrential downpour as Roman led us northwest to the Gypsy dock.

By the time we arrived at the boats, using the light of a torch that burned unnaturally in the rain on the dock to guide us through almost pitch darkness, which was punctuated by blinding lightning and the deafening roar of thunder. Lighting up the land in visceral snapshots.

The outer realms didn't get much rain but two or three times a year, though it is a common occurrence in the mountains. Solomon however, was surrounded on all sides by multiple mountain ranges, and I hear they had all types of weather and the four seasons were well pronounced. They would get these violent rainstorms that helped to feed the Great Sea along with the runoff of the surrounding mountains and the glaciers on Heaven's Gate.

As we arrived at the dock, we were met by a man in brightly colored garb, his skin was a beautiful rich brown. The silly man had just been sitting on the dock in a chair with his fishing pole. Fishing off the dock. He smiled a brilliant smile at us then his eyes bulged wide in recognition and he dropped the pole into the sea as he swung from the chair to take a knee in front of Ranelle.

She laid a hand on his shoulder and smiled at him as he said, “Great Mother.”

She nudged her chin and the man stood. He was well built and muscular, his clothing was plastered to his form from the rain and it left nothing to the imagination. He gave us that bright white toothy grin again, “What can I do for you this fine evening Great Mother?”

She cocked an eyebrow and looked up into the sky. Our group, except for her and me, looked like drenched rats. She asked through a crooked smile, “Fine?”

The man responded as he laid on his odd accent a little heavier, “You'll not be havin' better sturgeon fishing weather.”

She chuckled at the man and said, “What is your name?”

He responded quickly, “Alexi, Great Mother.”

She smiled, inclining her head and repeated, “Alexi. We need a boat, have you one to spare?”

He looked back at the small rowboats of an odd design, they were longer and much slimmer than the boats we used on the Dragontooth. Then he looked at the Great Sea. It was a stark transformation from the calm glassy surface we had seen just hours before. There were violent choppy waves covering the surface that seemed to foam with the relentless strikes of heavy raindrops on their surface.

He looked worried when he looked back at her,. “Aye, but these not be the gentle lapping waves of the tide.”

I asked, “Tide?”

He tilted his head at me,. “I can't quite place your accent young one. You know of tidal forces?”

I nodded, of course, I did. One of the first things about science that mother taught me back in our cottage in the Cheap Quarter is how the earth shifts from the tidal forces from the gravity of the Three sisters as they raced around the planet, sometimes causing earth rumbles.

He said, “Those same forces pull against the sea itself, causing it to rise and follow the Sisters through the sky like a long lost love seeking embrace. The level of the sea can change almost six whole inches in an ebb and flow each day.”

Wow, I would never have thought it. I smiled, feeling like I was learning from a scholar. I loved knowledge and devoured it wherever I could. That is why the library of the Techromancy Scrolls was like a carnival wonderland to me.

Rain said to the man almost teasingly as she kept one eye on me, “Forgive Sora Laney, she is yet young and has not learned all the wonders of our world.”

His eyes again bulged and he bent at the waist, giving a flourish with his hand, similar to what Dru does when he is being charming. “Sora, forgive me for not knowing who you were.” His eyes lingered on my hip as I realized he was looking at Anadele. I sighed. Had those exaggerated tales reached even Solomon?

I just smiled at the man and then he stood and looked back at the boats again. “Would morning after the storm passed be better?”

Rain shook her head seriously at the man and explained why we were there. He was shocked at the abhorring tale. Word had not reached this far into Solomon yet nor the call to the Meeting Spot for the war council.

He almost spit out, “The Altii overstep themselves!” He looked back at the boat and said, “I will captain you over myself. I know this Sea, she is my mistress, and I can guide you safely.”

Roman nudged his head toward me and Alexi quickly added, “Not all Altii of course, Sora.”

I rolled my eyes and grinned at the man who returned my grin with a toothy smile.

Ranelle said, “Then we must make haste if the dark of night is to conceal us.”

We all boarded one of those long rowboats, Alexi gallantly offering a hand to me to steady me until I sat. Then he offered a hand to Penelope, who shot him a coy wink and just hopped off the dock and landed deftly on the stern, balancing like the boat wasn't rocking in the violent waves. He smiled back at her with a little something extra. Mother Luna, they were flirting and we were on a life or death mission here. I will not admit to smiling at their antics.

Roman helped Ranelle in and we all settled as Alexi hopped in as gracefully as Pen did. Then he unhooked the line from a post on the dock and pushed us away with a deft shove by a long oar. He placed the other oar in a lock and started heaving with mighty strokes as we started rocking violently. The boat slowly moving through the water.

He grinned at Roman. “Feel free to assist at any time.”

We all chuckled as our archer looked embarrassed and said, “Oh.” As he slid forward a seat and placed another set of oars in some oarlocks. Then our slow progress quickened as Alexi guided us out into the sea. It was pitch black as the lights from the shore faded. I would have thought us lost if not for the more frequent lightning strikes lighting up the island like haunting snapshots in time, off to our right.

We were giving the island a wide berth. I noted that water was up to my ankle as the rain and waves inundated us. I saw a little bucket secured to the boat by a small chain, and started bailing as the men kept pulling us forward with powerful strokes of the oars.

I dropped the bucket in surprise when in the flash and rumble of a lightning strike just overhead, froze a monster just beside me, leaping from the water. It was a fish like no other. It was bigger than me by at least a foot. I must have squeaked because Alexi looked back at me with his big toothy grin as he yelled, his voice being swallowed by the rain and the waves, “Sturgeon. They thrive on the west banks of the sea.”

I heave heard of and read about sturgeon, of course, the largest freshwater fish to have survived the Great Impact. But I hadn't reconciled what I read with what I had just witnessed. The largest fish in the Hawktail are Rainbow Trout and a few Bigmouth Bass, but they were tiny compared to the beast jumping out of the water near the boat.

I looked around and caught a great many of them diving out of the waters around us, frozen in the lightning that seemed to be questing for us. He said as a bad feeling started coming over me, “The rain drives them to the surface, they think the droplets are insects striking the waves.”

Another bolt of lightning struck just a few feet from the boat as we circled behind the island, my ears hurt from the roaring of the instant thunder as the boat rocked. Leaving my ears ringing and me half blind.

I yelled out in a panic as I realized what was happening, my body was buzzing with my power, “Electricity likes me, the lightning is questing for me and my power is rising to meet it!” I saw everything as bright as day, amber sparks were dripping from my eyes as amber power coursed across my form in rivulets to drip down into the boat.

Ranelle and Sara seemed entranced looking at me. I saw their power raising in them, Sarafine a dim, misty glow, and Rain a beacon in the night as blinding as the lightning.

Penelope said, “By the gods in heaven, she's a lightning rod! Get us to shore now!”

The men heaved and the boat turned sharply to the shore as another bolt of light, energy, and sound struck just beside me in the water. The proximity would have fried my companions had the immense static wave from the bolt not sought me out to be devoured by my Adept abilities. I could feel myself warming up as I absorbed the energy, I needed to dump it into the earth soon or it would damage me. I can redirect energy but storing it is not one of my strong points.

Twenty feet from shore, the boat struck some of the jagged rocks and ground to a halt. I yelled, “Everyone stay back!” I fell into the water, finding my footing on the uneven rocks and I waded to shore, the waves slapping me and pushing me against the rocks. I felt like I was being battered in a sparring match with a dozen Knights.

I stumbled onto the shore as a lightning bolt struck a rock just where my hand had been a moment before. Shards of rock stung my face and I felt more energy start to burn me from inside. I pulled Anadele and stifled a scream as I slammed her into the ground, I could feel another massive buildup in the clouds above.

I released all the built up energy and my own through Anadele. I could feel her heating up even through the glove. Then the world went virtually dark again as my vision faded back to normal, and the heavens unleashed the lightning randomly. No longer seeking me. I collapsed keeping myself propped up as I sat on the ground by leaning on my trusty blade.

I whispered to her as I panted, “You saved me again, girl.” I looked to my comrades who were now slogging to shore. Alexi waved at us and started moving away from shore.

A concerned Ranelle crouched by my side. “Are you alright Laney?”

I nodded, still gasping and said, “Just give me a minute.

She nodded and said, “Alexi will loiter offshore by the old collapsed pier to the south, where there are fewer rocks, and wait for our signal.”

I nodded back and smiled weakly as I forced myself to my feet and pulled Anadele from the ground, wiping the blade between my fingers. The mud just sloughed cleanly off my blade and my silk glove. Then I slid her back into her scabbard, she had earned a rest.

I said with a chuckle, “I hope the storm has passed by the time we get back out.” This got me some cheesy but worried grins in response.

We quickly made for cover, in case they had a patrol walking the island perimeter, then we ghosted along the shadows of a crumbling wall of the fortress, me more literally than the others as I left a misty trail of afterimages behind as I tried to calm my power.

Before long, the ancient pier came into view, nothing more than a few rotted posts sticking up from the water. So we spread out and all started looking along the wall. I thought about that as I ran my hand along it. That would be too obvious. The idea of a bolthole is for it to be hidden and keep the royalty safe, giving them a chance to escape.

I looked back at the pier. Where the boats would be boarded and the enemy could not follow into the Great Sea. I glanced at my Greva, then darted from cover to cover toward the pier. It didn't take long until I came to an opening overgrown by nature. It looked like a sewage outlet, barely six feet around. An old iron gate with a lock was rusted to its core, but the significant thing was that it was rusted open. Something... someone, left here when the castle fell to the rumble.

I rejoined the others and said, “I've found it.”

They looked hopeful suddenly and I motioned with my head to follow. Then we moved swiftly from cover to cover until we reached the stone orifice.

I pointed and they all looked at it. Roman grabbed a stone and the ancient mortar holding it crumbled and the rock came loose in his hand. “It is unstable. Time has weakened the structure.”

Ranelle took a deep breath, nodding once and stepped inside. An eerie white glow illuminated the interior. I looked inside and saw the light came from her blade which she had drawn. She was lighting it with just a wisp of power.

The others followed her and I took up the rear, drawing my blade and pulling just the slightest amount of my power to me, and the world lit up as bright as day again. The stone walls of the circular passageway were ancient and unmaintained. The slightest touch made mortar crumble, the walls were on the verge of collapse. If not for the circular shape lending equal pressure from all sides, I had no doubt it would have collapsed a long time back.

We stepped over rubble and dirt from some breaches and had to carefully clear away enough stone from a collapse. Water dripped freely into that section of the tunnel as the rain seeped through the ground. Roots hung down like a veil, the most likely culprit in the collapse. Whatever man could build, nature could take back as her own in less time than imaginable.

More dirt fell as Roman started to hack through the wall of roots. Ranelle put a hand on his shoulder and made him get behind her. She brought her power up inside her and she drew a rune in the air. It held its shape as it drifted in front of her like a specter, then she blew across her hand like she was blowing a lover a kiss, and the mist drifted forward and seemed to bond with the roots.

Nothing happened at first, but I could see the roots feeding upon the rune as they lit up in my Techromancer vision. Like they were gaining sustenance from the magik. Then they slowly started moving and parting. They wove together like a mesh and flattened themselves against the wall and ceiling of the tunnel, lending it their support.