The Mountains Rise

  The warden was unmoved. His shield had grown beneath him, anchoring itself in the rocky soil. “You’re about twenty years too young to win this one, boy, but I admire your spirit.” His sword flicked out, and while Daniel tried to duck, he wasn’t fast enough. A sharp sting accompanied by a feeling of warmth on his neck told him he’d been cut.

  Most of his right ear lay on the ground.

  “Good reflexes, baratt!”

  Daniel was stumbling back now. He could see Kate still struggling. Her chest was heaving like a bellows, and her face had gone purple. Desperate, he reached out with his mind, trying to tear at the warden’s aura, like he had done with Ronnie.

  His enemy’s face broke into a grin as Daniel’s power scrabbled uselessly against his shield. His attack was far too clumsy and unfocused to have any chance. “Poor stupid, bastard,” said the warden. “Let’s get this over. We’ve played long enough.” Lifting one hand, he gestured and more bands of pure force wrapped themselves around Daniel’s body, pinning his arms to his side.

  “Please let her go,” he begged the warden. “She’s innocent. I’m the one who’s tainted.”

  The other man laughed as he approached to stand in front of Daniel, his sword held loosely in his right hand. “Tainted? Is that what you think? Your gift makes you superior to them, baratt. It gives you power.”

  Daniel wasn’t listening. He was straining, but try as he might, his arms wouldn’t move. It felt as though he had been wrapped in steel. Changing tactics he pushed with his mind, trying to use his gift to pull the bands of force apart.

  The warden’s face took on a more serious cast. “You can’t do it, boy. You aren’t strong enough.” His arm came up, holding the sword purposefully now.

  Kate stopped struggling. Her face was blue, and her body had gone limp.

  Rage surged through Daniel, and his jaw clenched as his power expanded.

  The warden froze, concentrating as he fought to contain the younger man. Sweat beaded on his brow, and his eyes grew wide. He was losing. “No!” he said, but it was too late.

  The bands imprisoning Daniel were torn asunder with a blinding flash of energy. He jumped to one side, trying to avoid the warden’s inevitable sword blow, but his opponent was already crumpling to the ground.

  The older man was unconscious.

  The energy surrounding Kate had vanished, and she didn’t appear to be breathing. Daniel ran to her side and began shaking her, trying to shock her body into taking a breath. When that didn’t work, he did the only thing he could think of, leaning down to blow air into her mouth.

  Most of it came right back out her nose. Trying again he pinched it shut and blew until her chest expanded. He could feel her heart still beating weakly, and after a second breath she began to cough. She began breathing heavily, and a minute later her eyes fluttered open.

  “Daniel?”

  He kissed her, “It’s me.”

  “Where is the warden?” she asked.

  “Over there, unconscious. I think he pushed himself too hard or something. When I broke free he passed out,” he told her.

  She eased herself up, leaning on one arm. “He’s still alive?”

  “His heart is still beating.”

  Shaky on her feet, she walked over to the warden and leaned down. Her balance was still uncertain, and she nearly fell, so she knelt instead. She picked up the rock that she had thrown at the man earlier.

  Daniel was close beside her, hovering protectively. “What are you doing?”

  Catherine Sayer brought the stone down hard, smashing it into the side of the warden’s head. It glanced off, but the skin tore, and blood began flowing freely. She raised the stone again.

  “Stop Kate!” he yelled, catching her wrist before she could repeat her bloody attack.

  She looked up at him, her cheeks stained by dirt and tears. “He has to die, Daniel. He’ll kill you if he wakes up.” Despite her appearance, her voice was calm and unruffled.

  “No, Kate,” he said, pulling her backward, half dragging her by one arm. “You can’t do that.”

  “I won’t let him kill you.”

  He considered her words for a minute. The warden had threatened her as well after the attack. He had nearly suffocated her. If he woke, it seemed unlikely that he would allow her to go unpunished. “I’ll do it,” he told her. “If one of us has to commit murder, it should be me.”

  “It isn’t murder, it’s common sense,” said Kate. “He’ll kill you, otherwise.”

  “I’m supposed to die,” said Daniel. “You should have let him do his work. Now he’s after you too.”

  “Ask me if I care,” she spat back at him. “If killing you is the work of the gods, then they’re the ones who are wrong.”

  Daniel stared at her, wide-eyed. She’s crazy, and if I don’t do something, her life will be forfeit as well.

  He took the rock from her hand, but then reconsidered. Instead, he picked up the warden’s strange blade. It felt light in his hand, like a wooden baton, but he could see the dangerous edge it bore. The energy surrounding it was gone, having vanished when the warden lost consciousness. It still looked sharp, though.

  Gritting his teeth, he swung at the man, aiming for the neck.

  He got the jaw instead, laying open the flesh of his cheek, exposing the bone. Blood was everywhere.

  Sickened, he changed his grip on the weapon, planning to drive it through the man’s chest instead.

  “Don’t,” said Kate. “You’ll ruin the armor.”

  The calm reason in her voice chilled him, and Daniel turned to stare at her.

  She shrugged, unapologetic.

  Taking her advice, Daniel shifted his grip again, deciding to cut the man’s throat rather than trying to slice his head off. He had helped butcher enough lambs to know that the easy decapitations in stories were pure fantasy. As he began to cut, Kate grabbed the warden’s feet, pulling to reposition his body, so that his head was lower than his chest.

  “So the blood runs away,” she said, explaining herself.

  I never would have guessed she was a homicidal lunatic, thought Daniel. He was beginning to see the love of his life in a new light.

  Pressing hard, he severed the skin of the warden’s throat, and with a bit of work, he cut the jugular as well. Blood was pumping wildly onto the ground, and Daniel felt himself grow faint. Nauseous, he bent and began throwing up.

  Kate held his shoulder to steady him, while patting his back with the other hand. “You should have let me do it, Daniel. You’re too gentle for this.”

  Spitting to clear his mouth he looked askance at her. “When did you get so callous about murder?”

  “Who do you think does most of the cooking around here?” she told him. “Kill enough chickens, and it gets easy after a while.

  Daniel looked at the corpse. “That,” he said firmly, “is not a chicken.”

  “Neither was Blue,” she replied, somewhat harshly, but then her features softened. “I’m sorry, that was mean, but you have to see my point.”

  “Not at all.”

  “You cry over a lost lamb, or a chicken, or a man dying, but it’s all the same. None of them want to die. The only difference is love and necessity. I kill chickens to eat, because I have to. I’ve learned not to cry over it. I cried for Blue because I loved him, not because a dog is somehow better than a chicken.” She pointed at the warden’s body. “I did not love that man at all, and we killed him out of necessity. I’ll cry no more over him than I would a chicken.”

  Daniel remained silent, his face pensive.

  “What are you thinking?” she asked.

  “That I might give up eating meat,” he replied.

  She hugged him, “That is what I love about you, even though it marks you for a fool.” She started to kiss his cheek, but then she noticed the blood running down his neck. It was on her gown now, and she could see more soaking into the collar of his shirt. “Oh! You’re bleeding, Daniel!”

  Adren
aline and shock had prevented him from noticing, but now he felt a throbbing pain from his right ear; correction, from where his ear had previously been. He probed the area with his fingers, finding only part of his lower ear and the lobe still remaining. His fingers came away sticky.

  Kate examined it carefully before leading him to the washbasin behind the house. Using a small bit of fresh water she rinsed the wound, and then went inside the house. She returned with a clean rag and used a paring knife from the kitchen to cut it into strips with which she bound his wound.

  “You’re going to look funny when that heals,” she told him.

  “I’m probably not going to survive that long,” he observed.

  “Don’t be so pessimistic.”

  “How can you be so positive?” Daniel asked. “Barely an hour ago, you were nearly raped. Seth is badly hurt, Blue is dead, and we just killed a warden—a warden. That man was a servant of the gods!”

  “What about Ronnie?” she asked.

  “I don’t regret him very much.”

  “My life was impossibly dark two hours ago,” she told him. “The man I loved wouldn’t talk to me, and in fact, seemed to be making every effort to hurt me in every way imaginable. My mother was hiding in disgrace with her illegitimate child, and I was being comforted by a friend whom I was afraid I would someday be forced to marry.”

  “And Blue?” asked Daniel.

  Her eyes darkened, “That’s the worst thing of the lot, but it still can’t lessen the fact that you finally opened up to me just a little while ago. Things look rough, but we’ll figure something out.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “We’re running away,” she said simply.

  “What?”

  “You killed Ronnie, and a warden. Even if we dump their bodies in the river Aston and Billy will talk. We have a horse, a weapon, and each other. Let me pack up what I can, and we’ll be gone,” she said with blunt honesty.

  “That won’t work,” said Daniel. “We’ve nowhere to go. The only other town is Dereham and they’d still find us there. Eventually either the forest gods or their wardens will find me, and when they do, it’s all over. I should run, but you at least, have the hope of a normal life.”

  “Not a chance,” she told him. “Go strip the armor off the warden, and I’ll gather some food and anything I think we might need and be able to carry.”

  “Why the armor?” he asked curiously.

  “It looks valuable, and you are close to the same size as he was,” she noted.

  Daniel knew she was crazy. She honestly intended to run away with him, but he also knew that he couldn’t drag her into the madness that had devoured his life. She wouldn’t listen to reason, so he gave up the idea of persuading her. “Alright,” he said at last, “be sure to bring some spare clothes too.”

  She smiled and went into the house while he hurried around to the front. He stripped the warden’s body as quickly as he could, which turned out to be a more difficult process than he had imagined. Once he had the armor off, he bundled it up and stuffed it into one of the warden’s saddlebags. He could see that the man had dry food in one bag and a goat-skin water pouch strapped to the back of the saddle.

  Taking the sword belt and sheath, he replaced the sword and slung it over his shoulder. There was a rope tied to one side of the saddle, and he used it to tie the warden’s legs together before attaching it to the pommel. It would be much easier to get the body to the river with the horse dragging it.

  “I’ll be back in a few minutes!” he shouted to the house. With his mind, he could see Kate wrapping things up in the kitchen, using a large cloth to make a simple bundle. He approached the warden’s horse.

  The big beast had been watching him suspiciously the entire time. It was well trained, for it hadn’t moved since its rider had dismounted. The gelding had tolerated Daniel’s meddling with the saddle, but it gave him the distinct impression that it wouldn’t be happy if he tried mounting.

  “There now, boy. Nothing to be worried about,” he told it in a soothing voice.

  The animal’s aura remained calm while he spoke, but as soon as he placed his foot in the stirrup it flared with angry turbulence. He threw his leg over its back and made it into the seat, but almost lost his place as the beast reared on its hind legs.

  Reaching out instinctively, he smoothed the ripples in the horse’s aura, much as he had done with his father’s. “Shhh,” he told it. “It’s alright. I just want you to carry me somewhere.”

  The massive animal quieted then, becoming still under his hand. Nudging its flanks with his heels, he urged it forward.

  It took almost ten minutes to get the body to the river, and after he had tossed it in he went back to the area where they had left Ronnie. Repeating the process he got rid of that corpse as well before returning to the Sayer house. Surveying the ground, he could see no sign of the warden’s death, aside from some blood that was sinking steadily into the dry earth. A bit of work with a rake or broom would be enough to hide that.

  Kate looked at him from the porch. “By the time anyone questions our absence, they won’t even be able to tell anything happened here,” she observed.

  Daniel nodded and used the reins to turn the horse’s head back toward the river, using his heels to urge it into motion.

  “Daniel? Hey!” Her voice went from question to yell in less than a second.

  He kicked again, and the gelding understood his urgency. It moved from a walk to a canter and then into a gallop. Kate was running then, and her long legs almost caught them before the horse got fully up to speed. “Don’t do this!” she yelled, her red hair trailing behind her like flames.

  “I’m sorry,” he shouted. “Tell them it was all me. You did nothing wrong!” Then he faced forward, focusing on the trail ahead. He couldn’t stand to look at her any longer.

  For the second time in his life, he ran from Catherine Sayer, and it wasn’t any easier than it had been the first time.

  Chapter 15

  He followed the trail to the river before turning off to follow the southern side, where the bank was smoother. The terrain was gentler in that direction and if he followed it long enough, it would eventually take him completely out of the valley and into the deep woods.

  He had no real plan, certainly not one that involved any hope of long term survival. He just intended to keep going until there was no chance Kate, or anyone else who knew him could catch up. He could only drag them down, like a millstone tied around their necks. The weight of his crimes would bring punishment to anyone near him when the forest gods found him.

  That was what he believed.

  Daniel felt bad about leaving Kate. When Aston and Billy told their story everyone would know that he had done something to Ronnie, but there was no way they could blame her for that. No one else had seen the warden so he figured she would stay silent on that matter.

  He could hear Kate’s voice in his mind as he rode, “Seth came to tell me that I’ve got a baby sister.”

  Daniel was only just about to turn sixteen, and he was already a father. And Kate still has no idea.

  He regretted not telling her the final truth. Her capacity for forgiveness had gone far beyond anything he had expected, but he still didn’t believe she could have accepted that. She deserved the truth, though.

  Once I enter the deep wood there won’t be any coming back, he noted mentally. If her mother chooses to keep up the deception after I’m gone, it’s none of my concern. I’ve ruined enough lives already.

  Daniel had no idea what might lie within the borders of the great forest. No one had entered and returned to speak of it in living memory, other than the wardens that is, and they weren’t part of the human community, even though they seemed to be human.

  The afternoon passed slowly as he picked his way through the broken terrain. In places the riverbank was interrupted by boulders and large rock formations, forcing him to turn away from the river until he could work his way around.
The further he went though, the easier it got. The land smoothed out, and the vegetation got heavier. In the distance he could see the beginnings of larger trees, as opposed to the scrubby overenthusiastic bushes that they called trees farther up the valley.

  The hills passed away, and the thicker woods began, but it wasn’t the deep forest yet. That lay farther on, where the oaks and elms surrendered to the much more massive god-trees. He kept his mind open, examining the forest around him as far as it could reach. At first he thought of keeping it closed, in the hope of hiding his curse from the forest gods, but he cast that notion aside.

  He had killed a warden, and now he was delivering himself directly into the arms of the deep forest.

  Daniel felt them long before they got close; a man and a woman, each on horseback, pacing him. They were each several hundred yards away, one in either direction, too far to see physically through the heavy underbrush, yet they kept the same speed as he did. He stopped at one point, just to see what would happen, and both of them paused as well.

  They’re waiting to see how far in I plan to go, he mused. Or maybe they’re just there to make sure I don’t try to back out.

  Both of the strangers had the distinctive glow to them that he had come to associate with wardens.

  “It’s almost over now,” he said softly to himself, but then he heard Kate’s voice in the back of his mind. “If killing you is the work of the gods, then they’re the ones who are wrong.”

  Did he really want to just give up?

  If I’m already damned, what’s the harm in fighting for my life? I can’t be any more damned than I already am.

  That was the moment when he finally accepted himself, for better or worse, despite what had been done to him, and what he had done to others. He had dreamed of playing an honest part on the grand stage of life, but if he was forced to accept this role, he might as well make the best of it.

  He stopped the horse, noting with satisfaction that his escorts did the same. Dismounting, he unpacked the warden’s armor and began strapping it on. The warden had been a fairly average size man, and he was a rather large teen. As a consequence it nearly fit him, although it could certainly use some adjustments. He took a moment to add the sword belt, putting it on properly this time. Now he looked like a warden himself.