Rise of Legends (The Kin of Kings Book 2) (39 page)

Cleve jumped out from behind him and screamed, startling the enormous lizard into retreating. Basen had gotten a fearsome glimpse of its teeth and was glad there would be no battle.

“That thing isn’t coming back, is it?”

“I don’t think so,” Cleve said. “Reela got a chance to use psyche on the one we encountered and sensed that it was scared of us. They probably hunt other animals, not humans.”

“He was scared.” Annah was the only one still seated on her blanket. “He was using his tongue to follow our tracks, thinking we’d be his next meal, until he saw us.”

“You were awake before me?” Basen asked.

“Yes.”

“And you didn’t say anything?”

“I planned to scare him off with psyche if needed. I wanted to prevent all of you from waking up if I could. Now stop making light. You’re attracting other animals.”

He obliged. “The world must seem so different to a psychic,” he mused aloud.

Basen was miserable as he tried to fall back asleep. His blanket was wet everywhere.

“Alabell?” he whispered. “Is your blanket dry?” She’d wedged herself between him and Annah, with Cleve on the other end.

“Mostly,” she said.

“Can we share?”

“Sure.”

“I’m making light one last time,” he announced.

Alabell opened her blanket to him. He crawled beside her and settled down with his arm draped over her stomach. Then he let out his light and tucked his wand between his legs. But when it poked against Alabell and she sucked in a sharp breath, he decided to move it back into its holder on his belt.

“Was just my wand,” he whispered.

“Oh.” She chuckled.

“Cleve?” Annah asked. “My blanket is probably drier than yours. Do you want to share mine?”

“No.”

“I’m just being thoughtful,” she said, a pout in her voice.

“Thank you,” Cleve replied coldly.

Alabell turned on her side, like Basen, for the two of them to spoon. She gathered her hair and then flipped it over her neck so it wouldn’t tickle his face. He gave her a soft kiss on her exposed skin and whispered his thanks. Then she turned beneath his arm. He found her lips in the darkness and kissed her again.

“Good night Basen and Alabell,” Annah said in a perturbed voice, making it abundantly clear she could hear them.

“Good night,” they both muttered, and Alabell turned back to face the other way.

*****

They walked for days with Cleve giving them no hint of his thoughts. He led without a word, chopping away anything in his path, giving a glance to his compass whenever the trail disappeared and wiping his brow with his dirty sleeve once his sweat began to drip. Even when he ate, his emotionless eyes barely looked at them. It was as if he was completely spent, and no amount of food or rest seemed to matter.

“Do you know where you’re going?” Basen asked him.

“Yes.”

“How do you know?”

“The compass and the path.”

Alabell spoke up, “We might be able to help you if you’d share what you know with us.”

“You can’t help.”

He probably has no idea where he’s going whenever the trail ends
, Basen thought,
and he’s just hoping to find it again. But he thinks it’s better, as the leader, to pretend he knows more than he does.

“Cleve, we should know what you know in case some of us need to find the village without you,” Basen said. “What if we get separated?”

Cleve stopped. “Try to find this trail again, then follow it until it ends. Wait there for everyone.”

“Fine.” At least it was something.

Basen had gotten used to the bottle-shaped plants that seemed to have a consciousness, but that didn’t mean he felt comfortable in this jungle.

Annah stopped them when she sensed a pack of animals hunting just ahead.

“I’ll startle them when they’re close,” she said.

The weeds began to rustle. Cleve and Basen assumed their positions at the front, Basen choosing his sword over the wand. Spiders as black as a starless sky emerged. A horde of them, each as big as one of Cleve’s fists. They hissed like snakes. Basen swung down his sword in front of them, terrified yet forcing himself to hold his ground if they did attack. Fortunately, with him and Cleve threatening them, along with Annah’s psyche, they scattered like a dust cloud exploding.

There was no more laughing or smiling after that terrifying sight.

Basen wished there was more he could do to assist Cleve in getting them to the village, but the stone-faced warrior remained silent except when asked a direct question. At least they were well fed and had plenty to drink. Whenever they needed more water, Annah would lure an animal to them, convince it that it was thirsty, then follow it to the nearest river or pond. Not every animal knew the jungle well, but Annah could tell which creatures were searching and which were headed confidently in the right direction. Basen couldn’t imagine this trip without her.

There was nowhere to make a portal in the jungle, and there had been nowhere he could make one before he’d entered Kilmar’s desert.

When we finally find the Elven village, there had better be a place where enough bastial energy had gathered
. It was a long walk out of Merejic, and an even longer walk back to Kyrro. Too much could’ve happened since they’d left—the Academy could’ve been taken.

If so, we’ll take it back.

He kept telling himself this. It was the only way to keep from suggesting they turn back now, not that Cleve would listen anyway.

Basen wondered where Sanya had gone. Did she want the Academy to fall or did she side with them in this war? Basen didn’t think he could ever forgive her for what she’d done, even if she helped them in this war, but he still wished they had her assistance. There was no way she’d come all the way to Merejic just to kill him for making more portals, would she? No, she’d told him to wait a week, and it had been more than that. There were worse issues than Sanya.

The trail they’d been following for days came to an end at a hillside too steep to walk up.

“Reela and I soon got lost after this,” Cleve admitted. “But I remember which way we went. We’re not going that way this time.” He turned to face them, looking into their eyes in a rare moment of vulnerability. “That means we’re climbing.”

Alabell began to say something, but no words came out. Everyone stared at her, waiting for her to speak. She looked up at the hillside fearfully.

“Why don’t we walk around until we can find an easier way up?” Basen asked.

“Because that’s what Reela and I tried to do last time. It’s too easy to get lost with no path to follow.”

“So we’ll just follow the hill until it slopes down enough.”

“We won’t be able to. There’s too much in the way miles later. Trust me.”

“It’s all right, Basen,” Alabell said. “I can climb this.”

She grabbed the grass growing out of the wall of dirt and positioned herself to climb. Basen was surprised at her new confidence, but then she showed him a nervous look over her shoulder.

“Maybe you should go first,” she said. “If I fall, I don’t want to come down onto you and take you with me.”

He put his hand on her shoulder reassuringly. “You won’t fall.”

They gazed at the climb ahead of them, and she frowned once again. It was only about twice as high as the Academy’s walls. Grass and rock made up all of it except for the top, which was all rock. It looked pocked enough for them to find footholds, though.

“Perhaps I
should
go first,” Basen said. Realistically, there was a chance any of them could fall, but he and Cleve seemed to be the more skilled climbers of the group. Annah and Alabell agreed and waited.

He and Cleve moved quickly and soon got near the top. Basen glanced down to find Alabell and Annah about even with each other, midway up. They were moving quickly as well, as if afraid to slow down.

Getting up the last bit of rock was actually easier than Basen had anticipated. There were obvious footholds that he used to climb quickly. Cleve seemed to be stuck to Basen’s side, however, looking around for a good route up and finding none.

Basen got his hands on the apex. “Come over beneath me,” he advised. “Lots to hold onto.”

Cleve grunted his assent. Basen started to pull himself up—but the sight of two Krepps made him freeze. They seemed focused on their conversation. He made a quick decision to keep going and got his feet up. It was just in time for him to draw his sword before one Krepp noticed him and gritted his teeth.

“Back!” Basen yelled and swung to keep them at bay.

One Krepp was around his size, except for his gargantuan chest and shoulders. The other was larger than Cleve and with deep lines across his bare chest, forged by bulging muscle. This was the one that drew his sword first.

“What is it?” Cleve asked from below.

“Two Krepps.” Basen couldn’t move forward without engaging them in combat, giving Cleve no room to come up.

The smaller one said something to the bigger one in Kreppen, and the bigger one didn’t seem to like it, spitting on the ground between them while keeping his sword pointed at Basen’s chest.

Basen readied for them to charge. He would try to throw them over the edge, as it was his only chance.

They didn’t advance as they continued their conversation, the smaller one now spitting on the ground as well as their voices rose in what seemed to be anger directed at each other.

Cleve’s hands touched against Basen’s heels. “Move if you can.”

Basen took a step forward, and the larger Krepp bared his sharp teeth.

“Stay there, human,” the smaller Krepp said in perfect common tongue. There wasn’t even a trace of an accent, though his voice was as rough and low as a large man who’s just awoken. “Who are you?”

Basen was too stunned to speak for a moment. “My name is Basen.”

“Zoke, is that you?” Cleve called. Basen chanced a look behind him to see Cleve had gotten his head up above the apex.

“Yes,” the smaller Krepp said. “Who are you?”

“Basen, put down your weapon,” Cleve said, then pulled himself up.

“I will once he lowers his.”

Basen pointed his sword at the large Krepp. He didn’t care if Cleve seemed to know one of these Krepps. He didn’t trust either of them.

“You first,” the large Krepp said in common tongue, though this one had a thick accent.

Cleve didn’t seem nearly as worried as Basen, turning his back on the Krepps to help the two women up one at a time. Basen slowly slid his sword back into its sheath, watching the Krepps for any sign of aggression. But the large Krepp put his sword away as soon as Basen did.

“Why here, humans?” the large Krepp asked. He grunted the words out one at a time, pushing them up from his stomach.

Cleve ignored the annoyed Krepp, walking right by him to offer his hand to Zoke for a shake. Basen thought he caught an actual smile on Cleve’s face. The Krepp didn’t smile back.

“It’s me, Cleve Polken.”

Zoke was not only small for a Krepp, but he looked younger than the one standing behind him and younger than the five Krepps Basen had faced in the small forest.
Will these Krepps attack us if they find out we killed two of their kind?

“Yes, Cleve. I remember you well now, strong warrior.” Zoke seemed comfortable as he shook Cleve’s hand, but the other Krepp licked his teeth as he stared at them. Basen didn’t know exactly what it meant, but something told him it wasn’t a friendly gesture.

“Where is the village?” Cleve asked.

“Close.” Zoke gave no indication to its direction. Perhaps he wasn’t as excited to see Cleve as Basen had first thought.

“These are trusted friends,” Cleve said quickly.

So that was it. Zoke only trusted humans he’d met before.

“What about Vithos?” Cleve asked.

“He came with the Elves and helped translate during the first—” Zoke paused to think. “I’m not sure of the right word. Perhaps ‘encounter.’ ”

“Was there fighting?” Cleve asked.

“Some.” Zoke looked to the other Krepp, whose expression had not softened at all. In fact, the mentioning of fighting made his yellow eyes spark with resentment.

Alabell approached. Basen stayed at her side with his hand ready to grab his sword if needed. “Are Elves and Krepps still there?” she asked timidly.

“Yes, but some from each side have died,” Zoke said. “Now we are at peace.”

The other Krepp muttered something in his language. Zoke puffed out his chest and gave him a look of warning. The Krepp’s long mouth twisted as he glanced the other way, looking as if he wasn’t about to bite or spit. It was amusing to see the smaller Krepp silence the older and bigger one so easily, but Basen refrained from grinning. He knew enough about Krepps to understand that doing so could start a fight. They were the easiest creatures to insult in all of Ovira.

“We are at peace,” Zoke repeated, punctuating the last word by making a fist.