CHAPTER THIRTY TWO
Gwendolyn shouted as she went flying through the air, off the side of the Ridge, reaching for the rope dangling before her as she gripped Krohn in her other arm. Gwen managed to just barely grab hold of it, as Kendrick grabbed hold of the rope beside her. As she did, she swayed wildly, grabbing on for dear life, her palms burning as she began to slip at full speed down the side of the Ridge, Krohn clutching her with his paws.
All around her, Gwen saw the survivors sliding down ropes, too, among them, Kendrick, Brandt, Atme, Koldo, Ludvig, Kaden, Brandt, Atme, Kaden and Ruth, along with dozens of soldiers of the Ridge, all descending at dizzying speed, all that was left of the fighting force that had made a stand against the Empire invasion. They descended so quickly that Gwen could barely catch her breath, and as she looked down, she saw they still had hundreds of feet to go. She was feeling optimistic, when suddenly she heard shouts all around her.
Gwen looked over to see one of her men cry out, and she was shocked to see an arrow in his shoulder; he lost his grip and plunged down below, flailing, all the way to his death.
She looked up to see Empire soldiers standing at the edge of the cliffs, firing arrows straight down at them. She watched one whiz by her head, then heard another cry and looked over to see another of her people fall several hundred feet, down to his death below.
Gwen slid faster, her heart pounding as spears, too, were being hurled down at her, flinching each time as they just missed, praying one did not hit her. All around her, her men were being picked off as they went, their numbers diminishing. Her stomach plunged as she forced herself to slide faster, almost in a free-fall.
As they neared the bottom, still a good fifty feet away, Gwen heard more shouts, and she looked over in horror to see the Empire were now chopping the ropes. Several of her men clutched onto their ropes, now useless, as they tumbled and fell to their deaths.
Gwen looked down and saw the ground fast approaching, littered with corpses. She tightened her grip on the rope, trying to slow her descent, despite the pain in her palms, not wanting to break her legs. She began to slow, and was about twenty feet from the bottom—when suddenly, she felt her rope cut out from under her.
The rope lost all tension, and Gwen went flying, flailing with Krohn, right for the ground. As she did, she took aim for a heap of corpses, hoping to cushion her fall.
Gwen landed on the bodies, the wind knocked out of her, feeling again as if she’d cracked her ribs. She tumbled, rolling over them and onto the hard ground, stirring up a cloud of dust and dirt, and finally coming to a stop on her back, Krohn whining nearby.
All around, she saw the others landing, too, their armor clanging as they rolled.
Gwendolyn slowly came to her hands and knees, feeling as if her ribs were broken, and she knelt there, breathing hard. Krohn came over and licked her face, and she reached up and petted him.
A spear suddenly landed in the ground beside her, and as Gwen looked up, she saw the rain of weapons had not ceased.
She quickly gained her feet and began to run, scrambling to help Kendrick and the others up, back on their feet, and to get them to run with her. Slowly, they all rallied, and hobbled, then jogged, away from the deadly cliffs. It pained her to leave behind so many dead comrades, but they had no choice.
Gwen looked up and saw the lake before them, and she and the others ran for the boats. They jumped in, all of them still covered in dirt, piling into several boats, and disembarked.
They all began to row, to distance themselves from the cliffs and from the Empire soldiers, some of whom were already beginning to follow them down on the ropes. Gwen looked about at the shore, saw all the empty boats, and suddenly, she realized.
“Wait!” Gwen called out. “The other boats!”
Kendrick, in the closest boat, turned with the others and realized, and he stopped his boat, turned it around, then stood. He hurled a spear, and Brandt, Atme, Koldo, Ludvig, Kaden and Ruth stood beside him and hurled their spears, too. They punctured the boats, one at a time, and their soldiers followed suit; some hurled spears, while others rowed next to the boats and wielded flails, smashing holes in them until they began to sink. Gwen watched in satisfaction as they sank.
They turned and they all rowed faster, gaining distance from shore, the Empire arrows still falling in the water all around them. Soon, though, they were a good hundred yards from shore, and the enemy arrows and spears fell fruitlessly in the water behind them.
Gwen turned and saw the Empire soldiers already reaching the beach—but standing there, stranded, all the boats sinking. She had, at least, bought them some time, time enough, she prayed, to rally the survivors in the capital and to try to convince them to evacuate.
Yet evacuate to where, and how, Gwen still had no idea. After all, the city was surrounded by this lake, and while that deterred attackers, it also made escape impossible. And even if they did, there was the Waste beyond it. It seemed impossible.
As they rowed and rowed, Krohn at her feet, her mind whirling with flashbacks of the battle, Gwen began to see the capital city of the Ridge ahead. She could hear the bells tolling, could see the people milling about in the harbor, and she realized there would be a tough road ahead for them all—if they even survived.
Koldo rowed up beside her, with Kendrick and the others, and as he did, Gwen turned to him.
“Your father once asked me to help evacuate his people,” Gwen told him, “if that day should ever come. But he is dead now, and you are firstborn, and that leaves you in command. These are your people. I do not wish to step on your toes.”
Koldo looked back, serious, with a look of respect.
“My father was a great man,” he replied, “and I respect his wishes. He knew it was you who was meant to lead us out, and it is you who shall. I can lead my men, and you can lead the people. We can lead together.”
Gwendolyn nodded back, relieved; she had always had a great deal of respect for Koldo.
“And yet, where can we go?” she asked. “Did your father have a route in mind?”
Koldo studied the shore as they all approached, getting closer to the city, and he sighed.
“There has always been an escape plan for the Ridge,” he said, “for the day that we were discovered. There lies a tunnel, concealed beneath the castle. It leads beneath the water, beneath these lakes, beneath the Ridge itself, and all the way out to the other side of the cliffs, into the Waste. From there, we would head north, through the Waste, for the rivers, which lead, if we are not discovered, out to the open sea. From there—it is anyone’s guess. But at least we can escape—assuming we can rally all of our people in time. And assuming they are willing.”
Gwendolyn nodded, satisfied with the idea.
“Show me,” she said.
*
Gwen raced through the chaotic capital of the Ridge, bells tolling, horns sounding, its citizens screaming, running in every direction. It was outright pandemonium. With the Ridge never invaded before, its citizens had no idea what to do. Many were hoarding food, carrying it with both arms, while they brought it home, barred doors, and locked themselves into their homes. Gwen shook her head. If they really thought a few simple locks could keep out the Empire, they had no idea what was coming for them on the other side of the Ridge.
Gwen had already spotted Empire soldiers crossing the water, having constructed two makeshift barges. They were slow moving, wide, flat boats made of planks of wood tied together, carrying tons of soldiers—they were moving, though, pushed by long poles, and soon enough, they would be here. Soon enough, all that she saw here in the Ridge would be wiped out forever.
Gwen continued to run, crisscrossing the city with Kendrick, Brandt, Atme, Koldo, Ludvig, Kaden, Ruth, Steffen, and Krohn, all of them splitting up and trying to corral people toward the castle—beneath which, Koldo had told her, the tunnel lay. Some of the citizens had listened to her—yet Gwen was distressed to see that most did not. They ignored her, some in denia
l, refusing to believe that the Ridge could ever be discovered, invaded; while others thought they could defend, or wait it out. Still others gave up all hope, seeing no way out, and sat where they were on the streets, refusing to budge. How differently people reacted in times of distress, Gwen realized, was an endless wonder to her.
Having finished corralling a group of several hundred citizens, the best she could do, Gwen led them toward the castle. As she reached the entrance, though, meeting up with Kendrick and his group of citizens, she stopped at the door, remembering.
“What is it?” Kendrick asked.
Gwen realized she had one mission left before she could leave.
“Jasmine,” she explained.
Gwen knew she would find Jasmine deep in the bowels of the library, oblivious to all that was going on here; she probably had no idea. Gwen could not leave without her.
“I shall return,” she told Kendrick.
Kendrick looked back with concern.
“Where are you going? We have no time.”
Gwen shook her head, hurrying off.
“There’s one more left I need to save.”
Gwen bolted, having no time to explain, and she ran across the royal courtyard, burst through the streets, set her eyes on the library, and ran for it.
Suddenly Gwen felt herself jolted, and she turned to see a citizen in a panic, an oversized man, desperation on his face, stopping Gwendolyn and trying to grab the purse of coins off her belt. He held a dagger out and scowled at her, showing missing teeth.
“Give me what you got before I slice your throat!” he ordered.
Gwen was too horrified to react, realizing she had been caught off guard, as she felt the blade pressing against her. A moment later she heard a growling noise, and Krohn appeared, launching himself on the man and sinking his teeth into the man’s cheek.
The man screamed and cried as Krohn pinned him down to the ground, shaking him until he finally stopped moving.
Gwen stroked Krohn’s back, his hair still sticking up.
“I owe you,” she said, as grateful to him as ever.
Gwen continued running, Krohn at her side, blood dripping from his fangs, until they finally reached the royal library and burst inside.
It was dark and still here, catching Gwen off guard, shutting out the worries of the world. It was deceptively peaceful, and a part of Gwen felt she could just close the doors, forget her worries, and pretend the world outside was peaceful.
But she knew it was an illusion. There was death and war outside these doors, even if one could not hear it in here, and it was coming for them all.
“Jasmine!” she shrieked.
Her voice echoed in the empty halls of this solemn place. Gwen looked up and down the aisles, at all the books stretching forever, and saw no sign of her. Her heart momentarily fluttered in panic: what if she didn’t find her?
“Jasmine!” she yelled again, and began to run through the halls. She could not leave her behind—whatever the cost.
Gwen barely turned a corner when she suddenly stopped short, running into Jasmine, who stood there looking up at her in surprise, a book in her hand.
“I heard you,” she said. “I was reading. What is all the panic anyway? I was just in the middle of a volume on—”
Gwen grabbed her arm, turned, and began to run with her.
“There’s no time,” she said, “we’re under attack.”
“Attack?” Jasmine echoed, surprise in her voice.
Gwen continued running, dragging Jasmine with her—when Jasmine suddenly pulled away from her grip and ran over to a stack of books.
“Where are you going!?” Gwen asked, exasperated.
“Those are my favorite books,” she called out. “I cannot leave without them!”
Gwen sighed.
“This is your life,” Gwen exclaimed, exasperated.
Jasmine ignored her, running down the hall while Gwen waited impatiently, until she finally snatched two small leather-bound books and turned and ran back.
“Books are my life,” Jasmine countered, as the two turned and began to run again.
“I’m sorry,” Jasmine added, as they ran. “But I’d rather be dead than without them.”
Together the two of them burst out of the library doors and into the bright, noisy, chaotic streets. Gwen saw Jasmine’s face fall as she saw the chaos all around her.
“What has happened to my city?” Jasmine asked. “Could a people really be this scared?”
Gwen took her hand and the two of them continued running, weaving their way in and out of the crowds, Krohn keeping pace with them as they ran toward the castle.
As they neared it, Gwen saw its massive doors already halfway closed, kept open only by Kendrick and Steffen, who stood there, looking out, waiting impatiently for her return. Their faces lit up at the sight of her, and as she burst through the doors with Jasmine, they quickly closed them, slamming them behind her with a reverberating thud.
Gwen found herself in a huge mob of people crowded inside, and she cut through the crowd and reunited with Koldo in the huge castle corridors.
“I didn’t think you’d make it,” Koldo grinned. “We couldn’t have waited much longer.”
Gwen grinned back.
“Nor would I want you to,” she replied.
“Where’s Mother?” Jasmine demanded of Koldo.
Koldo looked at her and blinked, as if just realizing.
Gwendolyn, too, suddenly remembered the Queen, and her heart lurched in panic.
“We can’t leave without her,” Jasmine declared. “She must be in her chamber. She would never leave her chamber, especially in times of distress.”
Jasmine suddenly turned, bolted through the crowd, and made her way for the grand staircase.
“Jasmine!” Koldo called out.
But she was already gone.
Gwen knew she could not leave her, or the Queen, and without thinking, she took off after her—Krohn joining at her heels.
Gwen bolted with her up the marble steps, taking them three at a time, down twisting corridors, until finally they burst, breathless, into the Queen’s chamber. Gwen was surprised at first to see that no one was standing guard, the door ajar—but then again, she knew she shouldn’t be: everyone else had already evacuated by now.
Gwen was shocked as she burst in and found the Queen sitting there, her touched daughter in her lap, by the window, stroking her hair. The Queen had tears in her eyes.
“Mother!” Jasmine called out.
“My Queen!” Gwen chimed in. “You must come now! The Empire advances!”
But the Queen merely sat there as they rushed for her.
“My husband,” she said, softly, her voice filled with grief. “He is dead. Killed by my son’s hand.”
Gwen felt her grief, understanding too well, from one Queen to another.
“I am sorry,” Gwen said. “I truly am. But you must come with us now. You will die here.”
But the Queen merely shook her head.
“This is my home,” she replied. “This is where my husband died. And this is where I shall die.”
Gwen stood there, shocked. Yet strangely, she understood. This was the only home the Queen had ever known, and with her husband’s body here, she could not go on.
“Mother!” Jasmine cried, clutching her arm, inconsolable.
But her mother merely stared back, blankly.
“There is no life for me without my husband,” she said. “This was my life. It was a good one. Go on without me. Save yourselves.”
“Mother,” Jasmine cried, hugging her tight. “You can’t!”
The Queen hugged her too, as she stroked her other daughter’s hair, and wept as she did.
“Go on, Jasmine. I love you. Stay with Gwendolyn. She will be a mother to you now.”
Jasmine cried, clutching her mother, unwilling to let go. She even dropped her books to hold her.
Finally, though, the Queen shook her off and placed
her books back in her hands.
“Take your books. Go with Gwendolyn. And remember me. Remember this place not for what it is now, but for what it was. Go!” she commanded firmly.
Jasmine, stung, stood there, and Gwen stepped forward and took her arm. She turned with her and ran, after taking one long last look at the Queen. They nodded to each other, Queen to Queen, and Gwendolyn, as much as she wished she didn’t, understood.
*
Gwendolyn, holding Jasmine’s hand, burst down the corridors, Krohn at their heels, twisting and turning, then raced down the steps several at a time, hoping to catch up with the others. As they reached the bottom she saw the main corridors of the castle were empty now, the people having already moved through the castle for the tunnel, and Gwen turned down the corridors, hearing their din in the distance, and raced to catch up with them, Krohn running with them.
Finally, she and Jasmine caught up with Kendrick, Steffen, Koldo, and the other knights, alone with the several hundred remaining exiles of the Ridge, all of them following Koldo into a vast chamber, down the end of a long corridor in the castle.
“Women and children first!” Koldo yelled, as the mob pressed forward, anxious, rushing to follow. In the distance, outside the castle walls, Gwen could hear the chaos in the city streets worsening. She wondered if the Empire were getting closer. She knew their time was short.
Several of Koldo’s men turned cranks and opened a huge steel door, creaking as it went, and the women and children rushed forward. But before they could enter it, there suddenly came a man sprinting through the crowd, pushing past them.
A gasp spread through the crowd, and Gwen was horrified to see it was Mardig, rushing to beat them all into the tunnel, rushing to be first.
Mardig burst past them all, into the crack of the open door—then just as quickly he reached up and began to pull the doors, in an attempt to seal them behind him and keep all of the others trapped outside.
Gwen was outraged at his cowardice, at his cruelty, as were all the others. Kendrick, closest to him, was first to react. He lunged forward, throwing himself between the doors before they closed, clearly knowing that if he did not, the doors would be closed forever, and that all of them would be trapped here to die, leaving only Mardig to escape.