Guardians of the Light (Book One of The Nebril Riverland Chronicles)

  Chapter 13

  Our trip down the mountain was surprisingly more difficult than our ascent had been. The sun's increasingly bright light made it much easier to see our surroundings, and walking down should have been much easier than walking up. Nonetheless, in our tired and shaken state and minus the spiritual help of Sharl, Jalya and I hobbled down on trembling legs, too overwhelmed by the night's events to even speak to each other.

  In the light of day, the scenery from the mountain top was beautiful. Clusters of heartfruit trees, heavy with the weight of their sweet bounty, twisted into the curves of the mountain and I could see that they became more dense in the valley to the east. The lush foliage stretched for as far as I could see and left me wondering what lay beyond. The valley in front of us was covered in mist, yet I knew a carpet of long grass lay below. Yet as pretty as it was, it was hard to enjoy, as I had to focus all of my attention to not slipping on the smattering of flat rocks that covered the pathway.

  As we slid and wobbled down into a canopy of trees, I tried to process all of the information that we had received that morning. I still wasn't sure that this wasn't a dream and I was about to be woken by my mother any second. Maybe she had slipped me something in my tea to keep me sleeping until morning and it had caused strange and vivid dreams. Or even worse maybe my headache hadn't really gone away last night and my parents had found me outside trying to run away again. Then they dragged me back to the house and drugged me up with facion bark and I had hallucinated the rest of the night's events. It wouldn't be the first time that facion bark had had such an effect. I really hoped that wasn't the case though, because I would really be in for it when I woke up. Then I would have to endure my wedding all groggy from a facion tea hangover, though that would probably be for the best anyway, as I had no real desire to remember the wretched event.

  I looked around at the giant heartfruits swinging between their long, forked leaves and figured that this seemed far more clear than any facion bark induced dream and decided to assume for the moment that I was grounded in reality. I glanced up from my feet and watched Jalya as she stared at the ground, trying to negotiate her own safe descent. Maybe she was having the same thoughts, but I was much too tired to start a conversation about it. Instead I concentrated on what lay ahead, and the plan that had been meticulously arranged for us by the Lumeai before we left their village.

  We were to go to Sandoff's Village, about seven leagues to the east of us, which would take us most of the day to walk. There we would be able to find food and shelter for the night and a driver to take us through the woodlands by horse and cart the following morning. The sun seekers unanimously agreed that it would be safer for us that way. At this point I wasn't so sure that two horses, a driver, and a few planks of lumber would be enough to protect us from monsters that could control minds, but what choice did we have but to trust in their wisdom? The driver would take us through the woodlands to the bend in the Nebril River, where we would turn north. Unfortunately, that was also the location of Lock Up, which I wasn't too excited about, but we would only be passing by.

  We would then head north through the grasslands to the Beyjerones Caves. The Beyjerones are a race of large flying creatures with a look that is sort of a combination of a human and a bat. Rumour had it that they were extremely intelligent and dedicated much of their time to scientific studies in their caves. We had seen them from time to time in the village, as occasionally someone from Nebril City would hire one of them to send messages out to the surrounding communities. Lovis wanted to get one of them to come to the mountain and fly us out, but we had no way of contacting them from such a distance.

  If we actually made it to the Beyjerones Caves alive, one of them would then fly us to the top of Malhadron Mountain, a little further to the north, where we could obtain some of the infamous Lamorian rock. Then the Beyjerones would apparently fly us around and around until we could find Ashel or my bei clu va.

  We were also to warn them of the approach of the Varsak. Maybe they would be able to find them and reason with them before they reached Nebril City. My head was spinning. It was a project too overwhelming for two country girls, whose previous accomplishments had been learning to sew without stabbing any fingers and baking a sholberry pie without burning the crust. As I contemplated the enormity of the situation before us, my foot slipped on a loose rock and I had to grab a low hanging branch to keep myself upright. I was beginning to doubt that we would even make it to the bottom of the mountain alive.

  To ease my terror, I let my thoughts wander back to the man on the hill and wondered how I would go about finding him. My best guess was to wait until I got another headache and then let my intuition lead me in whatever direction I felt compelled to go. As scared as I was about this whole adventure, it felt amazing to know that at least I could do that. There would be no one to hold me back the next time. I couldn't wait to see his face, to know what he felt like. Oh god, what if he was ugly......no impossible...

  "Emerin, are you even listening to me?" Jalya's voice was sharp with irritation.

  "Oh, sorry....what did you say?"

  "I was asking where you thought David the Nebril was taking Ashel."

  "I have no idea."

  "Do you think that they'll kill him?"

  "I don't know. I hope not."

  "I guess they must know that he's a threat to them," she said solemnly.

  I nodded sympathetically. Poor Jalya. First she lost her mother, then she had to face the possibility of losing her brother as well. She really had nobody else. I peered through the leaves of the heartfruit trees, and could just barely see the edge of Carper's Village as the side of the mountain began to cut it from our view. Well, at least the people who were most important to her weren't the ones she was leaving behind.

  "I'm sure he'll be okay, Jalya." I tried to sound convincing, although I hadn't convinced myself of it. I was a bit irritated by the conversation, as she was giving me something else to worry about. Ashel had just always been there, a permanent fixture in my childhood. I'd never really given any thought to how I would feel if he weren't around. The thought gave me a hollow feeling inside, the ache of something missing.

  "Yes, he'll be fine," I repeated. "Ashel's very smart and resourceful and he knows how to take care of himself in the woods. We'll find him before anything bad happens." I forced a tense smile.

  She looked at me sadly, her pale green eyes meeting mine for the first time since we left Carper's Village. "You're right....he'll be fine." She nodded her head in defiance, as if she were the one who would shape the future. "Everything will be fine....it has to be. So, we'd better hurry up. We have to gather our things and get to Sandoff's Village before dark."

  Fortunately, the scattered mess of flat stones that we had been walking on was finally giving way to packed earth covered in patches of grass and smatterings of low shrubbery. We descended out of the heartfruit trees and back out into the open air. I could no longer see our village around the great bend of the mountain and I was glad of it. I wanted to try to put it all behind me as quickly as I could.

  With our new found footing, we bounded down the bottom half of the mountain at twice the speed, and eventually found ourselves next to the enormous rock where we had found Sharl. That instant seemed like a lifetime ago. Jalya and I paused at that spot for a few minutes to catch our breath, before resuming our walk down to the base of the mountain. Huge boulders erupted from the landscape and we twisted and turned around them until we found our way back to the top of the foothills, staring into the valley.

  The valley was as beautiful in the sunshine as I'd assumed it would be. The grass swayed in the soft breeze, the blades moving together as one entity. It rippled across the land like a sheet floating in the wind, its gentle green waves only interrupted by bright patches of wildflowers which were scattered throughout. The sunlight streamed intensely from a cloudless sky, but it still wasn't enough to take the chill out of the air. The wind cut right though
me and I once again became very aware of my terribly thin nightgown. The positive side of this was that it made me want to move faster, as we navigated the hills that ran along the outskirts of Carper's Village.

  I could see the cornfield and a few of the village buildings from the corner of my eye as we came over the taller of the two hills and down the other side. We could then walk along behind the lower hill and it would keep us out of sight of the village. I could hear shouting coming from somewhere on the other side of the hill, but couldn't make out the words. The chances were very high that the men were searching for me by now, and they would no doubt think to look up into the hills to see if any Natki might be there who were responsible for my kidnapping. If only that were true...if only I could find any Natki at all.

  I realized as we walked through the long valley between these two hills that this is where I'd seen the man....my bei clu va....just two days ago. He had run over the tallest hill and down into this valley, where the others had caught him. I had waited, watching for those agonizing minutes, hoping to see his figure rise over the lower hill, but it never did. Just as I didn't....as I never would again. We would follow this valley to the end of the hill, where a short walk through the woods would lead us to Jalya's bridge and then to Hallen's cabin. We would be seeing all of these things for probably the very last time today.

  My chest ached, partly with that realization and partly in remembrance of my experience with the man. I wrapped my arms around my ribcage to ease the pain, and did the only thing I could do. I kept walking, concentrating on the sound of the grass brushing against the bottom of my nightgown, so I wouldn't hear the growing commotion in the village.

  By the time we reached the cabin, the sun was high above the mountain, streaming through the leaves of the trees and landing in mottled splotches on the wooden walls. The spots of light danced in front of us as we carefully approached, wary of who might be waiting there for us. We quietly skirted the cabin's clearing, hiding in the trees until we were sure that we were indeed alone. This would be one of the first places that my father would think to look for me.

  "Come on, let’s go," Jalya said. "Nobody's here."

  I hesitated. "Maybe we should wait a little longer."

  "We don't have time to wait, Emerin. We have a long way to travel today. Besides, the longer we wait, the greater the chances are that one of the village men will work up the courage to cross the bridge into the evil woods to look for you. If we're going to go, we have to do it now!"

  I sighed. She was right, I knew she was. If I was too scared to do this, how could I possibly complete the rest of the journey? Reluctantly, I stood up and we crept toward the front door. Jalya opened it and we listened, but there were no sounds other than birds singing, leaves rustling and old tree trunks groaning in the breeze.

  Jalya cackled triumphantly. "See, I told you nobody would be here. Bunch of wimps...love to shout at each other in the village, but too scared to set foot in the woods."

  "Okay, okay," I said impatiently. "Let's just get what we need and get out of here while we still can."

  "Agreed," Jalya said and began rummaging through the drawers. I busied myself looking for something to wear that was warmer than my nightgown.

  Hallen's cabin was quite small and well organized, so everything was easy to find. We packed extra dresses, warm shawls, canteens to fill with water and strips of dried meat that Ashel always kept prepared for times when food was scarce. We figured we were just about done and congratulated ourselves on how well we crammed so many things into our small shoulder bags. We then decided to make sure that we knew where we were going and had just started studying Ashel's map of the woodlands when I heard a faint noise outside.

  "Shhhh!" I commanded, interrupting Jalya's rant about how many different paths there were and how all the landmarks looked the same. "Do you hear something out there?"

  Jalya cut herself off in mid-sentence and listened carefully. "Someone's coming I think. We'd better get out of here. Grab your bag."

  In a blind panic I picked up my bag, and, though my feet felt heavy and frozen to the spot, I somehow managed to follow Jalya out the door. At the last minute, Jalya turned around almost knocking me over in her hurry to get back inside the cabin. She emerged back through the doorway almost before I had the chance to wonder what she was doing and I saw she was holding two hunting knives.

  "Here take one," she said. "We might need to defend ourselves. Now go...keep going Emerin! Get to the bushes over there." She shoved me forward and again I forced one heavy, reluctant foot in front of the other. My eyes scanned the periphery of the forest, darting back and forth wildly, and then finally settled on a large section of yolder bushes at the northern entrance to the woods. I remembered when we were kids and we'd chase rabbits away from the garden and they'd always hide in those bushes and wait until we left to try again. It struck me as funny, as I descended into the leaves and tried to avoid scratching an eyeball on the gnarled branches, that now I knew how the rabbits felt. Nervous laughter took over my body and I gripped my sides to keep them from shaking and rustling the bushes.

  "What.....what the hell is wrong with you?" Jalya looked at me with irritation mixed with a bit of concern. Perhaps she thought that I'd finally lost my mind. "Emerin, what are you doing? Shhh...someone's coming!" We held our breath as a figure slowly emerged from the trees.