Ascension (47 page)

Fara and Erik looked at each other
with concern on their face.

“
How could he
have set up an army? We sent all of his guards to the northern
border.
” Erik said.

“
Because he knows
our entire plan.
”
Croxley paused and
gathered his thoughts, calming himself before the inevitable storm.
Might as well get on with it.
“
He knows
because I told him. Rather, I told Lena, who told him. And Mathelda
probably knows as well.
”

“
You
what?
”
Fara asked incredulously. Before
she could say another word, Erik interrupted.

“
Go on,”
he told
Croxley. Croxley nodded and continued.

“
I had no other
choice. After returning to the castle, everything was in shambles.
You and Fara were gone, most of the servant girls including Jean
were in prison, while Mathelda and Lena were running the castle.
The only way to get any information was to get close to Lena, which
meant giving her some information. Don
’
t worry, much of it was false,
but I had to give her some basic truths for her to believe me. As
expected, she went and told the King, and now he has an army
waiting for us at the castle, read for an
ambush.
”

Fara looked distraught, bitting her
thumb and thinking hard.

“
What are we
supposed to do?
”
She
whispered.

“
We need to fight
back.
”

She looked at
Croxley with fire in her eyes.
“I can
’
t put these people at risk. They
didn
’
t sign up
to fight. If anything happens to them, it
’
s my fault. I can
’
t take that
chance.
”

“
If I
may,
”
Anso spoke up for the first
time,
“
Faradene, I
’
ve seen you grow so much since
you
’
ve left
Cethin. You
’
ve
become a strong, mature, passionate young woman. But nobody expects
you to take responsibility for all these people. You are still too
young for all of this to rest on your shoulders alone.
I
’
ve been a
leader for many years, and I agree with you, a leader is
responsible for their people
’
s safety and should always
protect them. But a leader must also know what his people are
capable of. My people, your people, all those that you have
gathered here, are a strong people. We have been fighting with our
lives for the past centuries just to survive in these caves. I
think I speak for everyone when I say that, if you ask us to fight,
we will fight. Some losses may occur, and if that happens, it
happens. Sacrifices must be made for the greater good. But you
can
’
t let fear
rule your decisions. Rather, a leader needs to always rule through
faith.
”

As Anso was
speaking, the cavern grew quiet. Croxley didn
’
t notice until Anso was finished
that the entire room was now focused on them.

He watched with astonishment as he
saw leaders from each of the groups step forward and make their way
to the center of the room. They congregated around Anso, Fara,
Erik, and himself. Croxley scanned their eyes, seeing in each of
them a wisdom and a determination not found on the surface. He
knew, without a doubt, that their support would be unwavering.
Croxley recognized Thylora from Fyzen as she spoke to
them.

“
I know my people
when I say that we are willing to fight for our freedom, Miss Fara.
And I put my trust in you that you will lead us to victory. If you
ask us to fight, we will follow you. We may not have formal
training, but years working in the mines have made us strong, and
years struggling under oppression have given us a fighting
spirit.
”

The others nodded in agreement,
adding in their own vows of loyalty and determination. They each
returned to their respective groups, telling their people of the
new plan.

From the center
of the room, Anso rallied,
“
We will fight
for the freedom of ourselves, we will fight for the freedom of our
families, and we will fight for the freedom of our future!
”
The whole cavern responded with a loud cheer.
Croxley saw Fara
’
s eyes water up as she tried to stay strong, and knew that
inside she was struggling to keep a brave face in the midst of
these people
’
s
unfaltering faith in her. At the same time, he saw
Erik
’
s hand
form around hers, and he felt a small jolt in his chest. He
expected to have this reaction, and was curious to feel that it
wasn
’
t as
painful as he expected. Yes, it was there, but only as a small
reminder of the feelings he had for Fara. Has, he corrected
himself. If he was going to be honest, he figured he would always
love Fara in some way. But now, with Jean, well, he was just going
to let things happen. After the battle, then you can try and figure
things out, lover boy, he chastised himself.

Chapter
37

I watched as Nethers all around me
rallied and cheered, ready to give themselves to the fight. I felt
a mixture of pride and fear. Pride in my people, in their strength
and in their power, but also a fear in myself and my ability to
lead them safely. But looking around me, I realized that I had
little reason to be afraid. I had my mother and father, Erik,
Croxley, Jean, Conor, and so many other people to support me. Yes,
there was a chance people could die. Yes, there was even the chance
that I could die. Yes, I am responsible for bringing these people
together, and I am equally responsible for whatever may happen to
them. But I know that I am not responsible on my own. With all this
weight on my shoulders, I know that, should I begin to grow weary,
I have people I can depend on to help me remain
standing.

Eventually, the hollering quieted
down, and the cavern emptied out as people took up their chores
with a renewed vigor. I put Croxley and Erik in charge of weapons,
although I wondered just what we could use. Other than the
pick-axes from the mines and the shovels and pitchforks from the
gardens, we had very little that could function as
weapons.

“
Do you think we
might be able to
…”
Croxley looked at
Erik, and Erik replied,

“
No. Well, it
would be risky, but
…”

“
I could find us
a way in,
”
said
Croxley.

“
I
’
m sure you could.
It
’
s finding a
way out that
’
s
the hard part.
”

I was growing
irritated by this conversation of which I was completely clueless,
and after the passing of a few more vague lines, I finally
exclaimed, exasperated,
“
Would you guys
please clue me in as to what you are talking
about?
”

“
Well, Croxley
has the idea that we might be able to raid the
city
’
s
weaponry. Normally the guards at the wall keep weapons stocked so
that, should the event arise, they would be ready to defend the
city. Now, if we could find a way to get into the weaponry, take a
load of weapons, and then get back out, we could give them to our
army.
”
I inwardly cringed at the
word
“army”
, but I knew that I had to get
used to the term.

“
The
problem,
”
Croxley continued,
“
would be getting through all the
King
’
s troops
in order to reach the wall. Getting yourself in is one thing. After
we get all the weapons, it will be difficult to bring them back
unnoticed. I would need two or three strong men at the least to
help me carry things back, but they would also need to be stealthy
enough to remain unseen.
”

“
I can ask my
father and some of the other Netherleaders to choose their best men
for the mission,
”
I
offered.

Croxley nodded
his head in assent.
“
That would help.
Another thing. If we want to have any chance, we need to leave as
soon as possible. The more time we give the King, the more time he
has to prepare his forces. I
’
m thinking that we should leave
by tomorrow morning.
”

“
Tomorrow
morning? Are we ready?
”
I looked back and
forth from Erik to Croxley, and they both seemed
resolute.

“
Fara, your
father was planning on leaving soon anyways. We have everyone
working at top speed to get all the supplies together, and it seems
that everything has nearly been completed. We can
’
t afford to wait any
longer,
”
Croxley added.

“
Listen, I know
you are scared. But the longer you put this off, the more damage
you might do to your people. It
’
s in everyone
’
s best interest to leave as soon
as we can, and if there
’
s a possibility to leave
tomorrow, we need to take advantage of it,
”
Erik encouraged.

“
I know.
”
I took a deep breath, exhaling slowly through my
mouth.
“
I know,
”
I repeated. I looked at each of them, going from Croxley to
Erik and back, and after a moment
’
s pause, put out my hand and
said,
“Let
’
s do
this.
”
They put their fists atop mine,
and we stood together, joined as three. Another hand came in and
joined, and we open the group to make room for
Jean.

“
Alright guys. So
what
’
s the
plan?
”
She asked.

“
We are going to
leave in the morning. Jean, if you want to help me, I need to tell
the other colonists to get ready to leave. Erik, Croxley, you two
try and assemble all the weapons you can here, and
I
’
ll attempt to
bring you some men to infiltrate the gates.
”

“
Sounds
good.
”

“
Got
it.
”

“
Alright.
”

We all broke apart and set off to
our tasks, joining the ordered chaos around us.

Ξ

The next day, we made it out of the
tunnels on schedule, and our journey was mostly uneventful. All the
other Nether colonies had already been above ground, but Cethins
were still new to the surface and all its stimuli, so we had to go
through much of the same experiences as we did with Grundale. With
the other Nethers there to help them adapt, things moved much more
rapidly.

We relied on our
goats and sheep to carry most of our supplies on their backs.
Croxley and Erik thought it was the strangest concept, war goats.
But with only Misten, Elana, Sir Thunder, and Sam, we needed
some
“backup troops”
to help carry the
load. With high spirits, the people talked about painting the
goats
’
coats
and dying the sheeps' wool with war colors, gathering berries and
flowers along the way for pigment. I was relieved that morale was
still so high, and could only hope that it would remain so as we
got closer and closer to the castle.

It was the fourth day that I noticed
the overall mood starting to change.

“
Give it
back!
”
I was walking near the back of the
group, talking to some of the older Nethers from Fyzen when I heard
a deep, loud cry ring out from the front of the mass of people. I
looked around in confusion until I heard another yell, this one
high pitched, sounding as if it came from a woman. I rapidly made
my way towards the source of the commotion, finding two large men
circling each other in a larger circle of observers who were
nervously whispering to each other.

“
I saw you take
it,
”
one of the men said. He was largely
built, his arms thick and his chest wide. The other man shook his
head dramatically, appalled at the accusation.
“
I did no such thing! Besides, what would I want with your
cloak-pin?
”
The accused was of a thin,
wiry frame, and his fingers twitched at his
sides.

“
You tell me!
You’
re the one who stole it! You were
probably searching to sell it or trade it,
”
the large man threatened.

“
Even if I did, I
wouldn
’
t get
anything for it. That pin isn
’
t worth a steaming pile of
goat
’
s
sh-,
”
before you could blink, the accused
was charged by his accuser and slammed to the ground. Everyone
started shouting and hollering, small fights breaking out on the
sidelines around the central fight, where the accuser was heavily
beating down on his victim who was barely able to keep his hands up
and protect his face.