The Destroyer Book 3 (34 page)

"We can't make it down." I could not recall ever being this tired in my life. Everything was soaked through and my legs felt numb with exhaustion and cold. My muscles were spent and I did not think I had the strength to take another step.

"We can jump down. I'll go first and then I'll yell for you to follow." It was difficult to see his face in the darkness. He was going to break his neck on the fall and his body would be swept away in the cold waters.

Then I would be alone.

"No. No. No." I let go of the boulder and clung to him.

"We have to, Jess. We need to escape." He picked me up again and stumbled through the water toward the edge of the small waterfall. I panicked and screamed but the sound of the thunder masked it.

Then I was submerged in icy blackness.

It was hard to feel the cold anymore. I was so tired, so chilled, so empty. Everyone that had loved me was gone. My father was dead, murdered by the people chasing me. My guardian was probably lost at sea with my mother. My handmaidens were gone, Nadea was gone, Kaiyer was gone. Only my uncle remained, and once they found us again and took us to Nia I suspected they would have little use for him. But the Elvens needed me alive for something, I should let myself die here just to spite them. Finally I could be useful and make my mother proud.

You never even bothered to learn how to swim properly.

I laughed to myself because I had learned how to swim one summer. I tagged along with Runir, Nadea, and Nanos when they escaped the castle and played in the Stone River. When my mother found out she had been furious. She tried to take it out on Nadea but my cousin, even as a child, had chosen to ignore the queen like one ignored a small yapping dog. My mother could never chastise Nanos, instead she just punished me by relieving me of my handmaidens and friends for two weeks.

Beltor yanked me out of the water and I sputtered a frantic sigh of regret. No. Today was not the day and this river was not the place. Kaiyer was still alive, Nadea was still alive, my brother, handmaidens, uncle, Greykin, and the people of my country still needed me. My mother was just a terrible and jealous woman. She would always try to shame me. I was never good enough for her. But I was here, fighting for my life, while she just wanted to give up and surrender to our enemies. That should have proved to the Spirits that I was worthy of what I wanted.

The Spirits did not send me a sign to show they agreed with me.

Instead, the rain drove down with fury, intent on washing the skin from our cold, tired bones. Beltor and I struggled on across the edge of the pond, toward an outcropping of rocks. Light emanated from the storm clouds, illuminating everything in a soft orange glow.

“Here.” Beltor found a small opening in the gathered boulders. He stuck his head into the dark hole for a few moments before crawling inside the cave. I knelt down and peered inside. It was impossible to see more than a few inches into the darkness. What if there were snakes, or bears, or some other evil creatures in there? I had grown up hearing tales of monsters that lived in small holes and liked to eat the flesh of young women, especially princesses; although I believe they were known to prefer virgins, so I was safe on that count. Still, there had to be a better place to hide.

“Jess!” my uncle hissed. The rain was still strong, but it was no longer forcing me to my knees with its intensity. I was too exhausted to protest. I crawled into the small cave and told myself I wouldn’t scream if a snake or alligator tried to bite me.

As I crawled farther into the cave the mud gave way to moss covered stone, then dry, smooth rock. It was so dark inside the cave I could hardly tell if my eyes were open or closed. It almost seemed brighter when I did close my eyes, at least then I saw swirly squares of light pulsing behind my eyelids.

"Ehhhh!" I forced myself not to scream when something brushed my hand and continued past my feet.

"Just mice." Beltor's voice was a whisper and the patter of the rain seemed far away. His hand found my face and we embraced.

"Shhhh." He stroked my soaking hair. The comforting sound made me realize I was crying. Then I started to cry more. Why was I crying?

I missed Kaiyer.

I was scared.

"Just close your eyes, Jess. We are safe for now." He sounded tired.

"Are they going to find us?"

"No. Take deep breaths with me."

I tried to match his breathing. It was warmer than I expected in the darkness of the cave and after a few minutes of clinging to my uncle, the chill faded with my fear and I thought about what we might do to get ourselves to safety.

We could probably last here a few days. There was water nearby, and eventually the Ancients would stop looking for us. We could make our way back to Relliat. Perhaps Greykin would still be there, or we could procure another boat and continue to Brilla. It would be a difficult journey back to Relliat without horses, supplies or food, but I knew we could make it back to the Bay of Korono. I could almost feel the salty wind on my cheek and hear the gulls crying as they soared by the cliffs.

Jessmei.

I turned my gaze from the teal of the bay and faced the white homes clinging to the walls of the cliff. Kaiyer stood on the steep road above me. He leaned against the railing and looked down upon me. My heart soared with the gulls. He wore the dark green tunic and matching pants of the Knights of Nia. As he smiled at me, the distance between us seemed to shrink.

"Jessmei." His mouth didn't move, but I heard him call my name. I didn't waste any time and ran up the steep road toward him. I was wearing my favorite cream garden dress and I had to hold onto the edges of the long skirt to keep from tripping. Finally, I made it up the cobblestone switchback to where he stood.

"I missed you." I wrapped my arms around his waist and buried my face in his chest. His arms encircled my shoulders and made my head spin with joy. This was all that I wanted. To be with him, to love him, to feel his love.

Jessmei.

I wanted to see his face again, so I pulled away from his embrace. But instead of the wonderful view of Kaiyer and the city of Relliat, I opened my eyes to find darkness. I panicked and tried to stand, but arms circled me and a hand went to my mouth.

"Quiet." Beltor's voice was softer than a whisper. Memories of our frantic escape through the lightning storm came back and I almost cried again. Kaiyer had just been a dream. Maybe the whole memory of our time together had been a dream as well.

"Jessmei!" someone yelled for me in the distance. It was hard to tell how far away they were but it was loud enough to bounce into the cave where Beltor and I hid. The voice called again and I gasped. It was a man's voice and I thought I recognized the timbre.

"Kaiyer?" I asked my uncle. I couldn't tell for sure if it was his voice.

"Is it Kaiyer?" Beltor asked in disbelief.

"I recognize the voice. Do you?" I raised my voice a little above a whisper.

"Jessmei!" The shout was louder now. I could see nothing but blackness.

"No. I don't recognize the voice," Beltor said cautiously.

"Jessmei!" he yelled again.

"In here!" I yelled. Beltor's body tensed next to mine and I wondered if I had made the right decision. I didn't think the voice was an Ancient's, but I could be mistaken.

"Jessmei?" The voice rang louder and I crawled toward what I thought was the exit to the cave.

"Here! Here!" I yelled after I slithered to the mouth of the cave. I heard my uncle crawling behind me and saw a faint glow of light ahead.

"They are over here!" The accent sounded like it could have been from Nia or Brilla. My hopes rose as I got closer to a soft yellow glow.

The storm clouds must have dissipated while we hid in the cave. The opening was awash in painful sunlight cut by the shadows of legs. When I got within a few feet of the exit, a friendly face peered in at me.

"Iarin!" I screamed and squirmed faster to get out of the tunnel. It had been almost a year since I traveled with the woodsman, Nadea, Paug, and Greykin to wake Kaiyer from his magical sleep.

I was embraced warmly by the tall skinny man. It was almost too bright to see, but he looked as I remembered: dark hair as long as mine, big blue eyes, and a smile that was half smirk on a weathered face. He was accompanied by four men and one woman. They were muscled and powerful looking, their faces hard and unmoved by my tearful reunion with Iarin. Each wore leather armor and their long hair was braided with feathers and pieces of bone. I recognized none of them and upon closer inspection I noticed that they all had matching tattoos on their shoulders of two bears standing upright.

"Iarin?" Beltor's voice questioned from the cave. I broke my embrace with the woodsman so that he could help my uncle out of the tunnel.

"Duke! It is good to see you," Iarin said with a smile.

"Aye. Well met Iarin. So you attacked the Ancients?"

"We took care of them." The five warriors had deep cuts and bloodstains on their armor. "They were the empress's Elite Guard," he said after he noticed me inspecting his companions.

"We will leave now," one of the men behind Iarin said. His voice was deep and reminded me of Greykin's when he woke from a night of drinking.

"Yes,” one of the other men said. He was bigger than the rest, as tall as Iarin but wide across his shoulders. They all seemed to be made of muscles, veins, and various tattoos of claw, teeth, and bear art. Even the woman must have weighed as much as my uncle.

"I still think I should go. He trusts me," Iarin said to his companions.

"No. I've met the empress and her generals many times. That is more important. The Pretender will come with me now that we have collateral," the man with the deep voice said.

"I know you do not believe me, so I will not continue to hammer the point. Just consider the possibility that he is actually the Destroyer and guard your words and actions accordingly." My tall friend crossed his arms and looked annoyed.

"Your faith in my combat prowess would be insulting if I cared for your opinion." Iarin didn't smile but the other men and the woman snickered.

"Fuck it then." The lanky woodsman sighed with exasperation and shook his head. "He's killed a dozen of Fehalda and Alatorict's soldiers with ease, but I'm sure you alone will have no problem dragging him from the empress's camp."

"Kaiyer?" I guessed out loud and they all turned to me. They may have forgotten that my uncle and I just crawled out of the cave, because they looked surprised that I had spoken. "Do the Ancients have him?"

They laughed.

It was a weird laughter, as if I was the court jester and I had just fallen on my face. I felt my cheeks turn hot and I stepped a bit closer to my uncle. His arm wrapped over my shoulders and I stared down at the ground, away from the strange people with the odd mannerisms.

I looked back up when the man with the deep voice turned around and jogged away with another man and the only woman following close behind him. At first they moved carefully around the edge of the pond, but then the trio gained speed and moved between the boulders on the other side of the water. They jumped up them with almost no effort, and by the time the group had ascended the hill toward the road they were running faster than even a horse could.

"What is so funny?" Beltor rested his hand on my shoulder and I felt pressure in his fingertips pull me closer to him. Suddenly I was afraid again. I knew Iarin, but the other people with him seemed alien. How could six humans defeat four of the empress's guards? I had heard that a single Ancient could kill ten of our soldiers because of their speed and strength. The way they moved reminded me of Kaiyer.

"We laughed because you called them Ancients,” the largest of the remaining men said. "We call them Elvens. We are actually the Ancients."

"Why do I have the feeling that I shouldn't be thanking you for our freedom?" Beltor's voice was grim and he fully slid in front of me.

"Relax, Duke Beltor." Iarin held his hands up, palms facing us, and smiled. The warriors standing behind him gave a cold stare. "You are safe here."

"As long as the empress gives us the man claiming to be Kaiyer,” the large warrior said with a smile. His eyes looked hungry when he gazed at me.

They all laughed again and the sound made me shiver harder than I had in the storm.