The End of Surrender, page 4
part #4 of The Stalwart Link Series
But if the rift had the power to break off bits of brick, then what would it do to a man as it transported him to the other realm? Could it be that it wasn’t Esitry that poisoned KRenn after all but the violent transportation?
Andar wished he knew, for he might be the next person to be flung into the dark realm if this went wrong.
He wished he could talk to his brother about all of it. Leo had always been a good listener, even when he was a child. He’d ask just the right questions for Andar to think of the answers he needed.
He had been walking for so long that he’d lost track of the hours. He’d started to ignore the sounds of battle echoing around his ears, for there was nothing he could do about it. They were doing a marvelous job distracting the beast. He figured they probably didn’t know just how far he’d gone already, so they continued to fight just to be safe. He wished he could send Leo a message that he could stop, but it would be heard by the kasigerr or its master.
*****
Leo had watched the beast come back a few times by then, but their army had been ready for the kasigerr to hurl the chunks of rock at them. They had developed the simple strategy of lighting their arrows aflame. With all the archers ready and everyone else far behind, no one was in range any longer for the kasigerr to strike them.
Darren watched with a spyglass, reporting more wounds on the beast each time the kasigerr came back. All summoners were too far away to do anything to the rift from here, but that didn’t matter so long as the rift beast still saw them as a threat.
But it had been over an hour of this, and the kasigerr had not come back recently. Leo hadn’t heard from his brother in a long time, but he could feel through their link that Andar was safe.
It was unlike Andar, however, not to send any messages. Andar was quite talkative, with something always on his mind. Leo was certain that his older brother had many thoughts he wanted to express. So why hadn’t he? Andar hadn’t even asked for a single detail about the battle. It wasn’t as if Leo could relay anything more specific than a simple feeling, but he could at least tell his brother they were doing well.
As if sensing Leo’s worries, Rygen asked him, “Have you heard from Andar?”
“I haven’t.”
“Not even a single message?”
“No, and I’m starting to get the idea that there has to be a reason behind it. There must be a risk to communicating, something Andar only discovered within the rift.”
“Unless he hasn’t made it inside yet.”
“He has,” Leo confirmed. “I can tell. There’s some distortion to the stalwart link.”
A crease formed across Rygen’s brow. “What does that feel like?”
“Like when something is wrong, like you know a cold is coming. It’s getting worse as he goes deeper in.”
Darren yelled, “Incoming!”
The beast came out of the rift, charging at the human side this time. Cracks shot out of the ground under its thundering feet.
“Mages, link its legs!” Darren yelled. “Archers, fire. Spears ready at the front!”
It was already upon them, raising its foot as if to crush more than a dozen men. Leo felt a team of mages moving a cluster of Artistry with him around its massive front legs. He and the mages set the link, Leo gritting his teeth as he held as firmly as he could.
The beast halted in the air, giving the spearmen below just enough time to ready their heavy weapons.
“Let go, mages!” Darren ordered.
Leo couldn’t have held much longer anyway, the beast breaking out of its frozen pose with tremendous force. It brought its foot down just short of the troops at the front, the blast of wind knocking over a dense cluster of human troops. The Analytes came charging in from the east as archers shot high at the monstrous neck and face.
The kasigerr absorbed the arrows that were surely damaging it as it swiped its foot at the charging Analytes, swatting them away as if they were insects. It brought its foot back into the air, motioning as if it was going to squash the troops in front of it, only for it swipe at the Analytes again.
The spearmen tried to get their weapons out in front of them, but they were not spaced properly. Their own allies got in the way.
Hundreds screamed as the beast scattered them. The wind from its strike knocked down dozens more, forcing Leo to stumble backward as Rygen fell. He helped her up as his father tried to organize the chaos.
“Everyone with a spear, to the front now!” But it seemed that the fear of many men was more powerful than Darren’s words. There were too few of them to stop another swing.
The beast was swiping again, but Leo felt that the other mages had the same idea as him. They linked the beast’s legs together once more. It was easier this time, for it was practically on top of him.
“Archers, light your arrows!” Darren ordered as everyone saw the beast freeze.
The kasigerr squirmed as it tried to free itself from the link, fear widening its blazing white eyes.
“Aim for its eyes!” Darren yelled. “Fire!”
At least one archer hit their mark. The flaming arrow embedded itself deeply into the eye.
The kasigerr fell backward.
“Charge!” Darren ordered as he ran out from their clustered troops with a giant spear. He was among the few men who could move while carrying the heavy weapon on his own. Leo was soon at his father’s side as he heard the battle cries of many more just behind him.
Rygen’s summoned creature, Jin, shot out in front of everyone. The foxlike animal jumped high enough to reach the lifted foot of the fallen beast as the kasigerr was trying to get up off its side. Jin ravaged one of the already bloodied wounds at the base of the kasigerr’s foot.
By the time Leo and the others arrived, the kasigerr had kicked off Rygen’s kloxy and had set its feet on the ground to get itself up. But Leo was there first as he chopped his sword down into the toe of the kasigerr, where its flesh met its claw. The toe was about as wide as Leo’s torso, but its skin was tough. Leo’s blade penetrated about a foot and became stuck, then he couldn’t withdraw his weapon.
He soon lost hold as the foot lifted up. A few other soldiers had made it there and struck the same foot, but they were cursing as they all found themselves to be in the same predicament. They were about to be crushed, Leo with them, as a dark shadow fell over them.
Leo was frozen by fear as the foot was coming down on top of him. Darren appeared beside Leo, planting the thick spear in the ground.
“Get down!” Darren ordered.
Leo fell flat to the ground. Shadow swallowed the last light as the massive foot came down over him. Leo’s father fell on top of him, no doubt in a desperate hope to protect him.
Leo felt himself crushed into the ground. He tried to scream, only to inhale a mouthful of dirt. Pain shot through his entire body as he worried his spine would break, but suddenly it was over, the light of the sun blessing them again.
Leo felt Darren roll off of him. Leo popped up, surprisingly without pain. He pulled his father up, a quick scan showing Leo that nothing appeared to be broken on Darren’s body, but he couldn’t be sure.
The two of them ran for safety as Leo looked back. The thick spear was deeply embedded in the kasigerr’s foot, blood running down in the form of a small river.
The kasigerr reared up in an attempt to pull the spear out from its foot, but it didn’t get a good grip with its massive claws before it fell back down. Archers were ready with more arrows, pelting its face. Somehow it had removed the burning arrow in its eye, this time raising its claw to shield itself.
“Get back!” Darren told everyone coming to help. “We fall back!”
But it seemed that the kasigerr had had enough as well, for it turned around and sped back into the rift. This gave Leo the time he needed to fall back to the rest of the army with his father. Darren had run with good speed, but now he seemed to be favoring his good leg much more than before.
“Are you all right?” Leo asked.
“I’ll be fine. You?”
“I am fine, thanks to you.”
Darren nodded. “Next time we stay back, all of us. It was a poor choice of mine to order the charge.”
But as the hours went by and everyone recuperated, it seemed that it was not a poor choice after all. The beast had finally given up on them. Even when the summoners began pulling and prying at the Esitry once more, the kasigerr did not return.
A few more hours went by as the summoners put their all into disrupting the Esitry. By then, all the fallen had been counted. Five hundred more dead, four hundred others injured, including Darren, who was now clearly limping. But it seemed to be over.
It was getting late. They did not want to stay out here at night when the beast would have the upper hand.
All the summoners, even Rygen, had given up. KRenn was right. Trying to disrupt the Esitry of the rift in order for it to collapse was like trying to create tears in the ocean. It always healed itself. Or perhaps someone was healing it if it wasn’t the rift.
“What now?” Leo asked his father.
“We go back to the capital and hope. It’s solely up to Andar now.”
CHAPTER FIVE
It had taken Andar many hours to realize something very important. It should’ve been night by now, but there was the same amount of light within this great rift as when he’d first entered. It seemed that the sun had no relation to the illumination of this place. The rift provided its own light. He didn’t know how that was, whether it be from the Esitry or whether light shone through from the dark realm. Either way, he was thankful. He set down the lamp he’d been carrying and walked onward without it. Soon he looked back and it was gone, taken into the dark realm.
Andar’s feet were aching. He didn’t know exactly how far he’d walked, but it was probably close to fifty miles. He had not stopped, though he had gone through nearly half of his water and food. He would have to ration better. He just hadn’t expected to be this hungry and thirsty.
He was relieved when he finally reached the mountains he’d been headed toward for the last few hours. KRenn had come to the same mountains twenty-three years ago. It was here where he’d felt the rift had originated. The wisdom tree wasn’t much farther now.
“Skyfire and ash,” Andar muttered as he came to the base. The mountain had appeared blue from a distance, just like everything else did within this rift. But now that Andar was close enough to the mountain for his cocoon of Artistry to push past some of the rock, Andar saw that it was still blue like Esitry.
Why was it discolored? It was as if the Esitry had changed the nature of the rock. His heart dropped as he realized something. Was this entire mountain producing Esitry?
He stood there, dumbfounded, for quite some time. Finally he sat to give his aching feet a break.
Why? How? What had happened here?
He felt so defeated that he could cry if he let himself. If this mountain was really producing Esitry, what could Andar do to stop it?
He took out his spyglass for a better look at the mountain paths ahead of him. He noticed something strange about the texture of the rock higher up. He couldn’t quite make out what he was seeing, but it looked as though the mountain had grown limbs. Pieces of something stuck out from it, blue tendrils that made the mountain look as if something alive was within it.
Andar was afraid to find out what, but he had come all this way, and so many people depended on him.
With his feet feeling none the better, he got up and started up the mountain path before him.
*****
There were many routes up the mountain, but none were simple and easy. After a fair amount of walking, with a bit of dangerous climbing, Andar had reached the strange texture he’d seen from below. With the protuberance now in front of him, he could clearly see blunt claws coming out from the rock. It was as if something was growing inside, something so strong that it broke through solid rock to get out.
Andar wanted to touch it, but he feared that it might poison him. He needed to get inside the mountain somehow and figure out what this thing was. It was difficult to see far ahead in any direction, the Esitry was so dense here, but there seemed to be a tunnel higher up.
He needed to rest. He felt as if he could fall asleep right there on the uneven ground, but he pushed himself to keep going as he saw a route that would take him higher without needing to climb.
Soon he was high enough that a fall from here would certainly kill him. The thought of tumbling to his death did not evoke fear but sadness. The rift would not be destroyed, and no one would know what had happened to him. Leo would know Andar was dead because there would no longer be a stalwart link between them. Andar’s body would be transported to the dark realm, never to be recovered.
Andar peered into the tunnel before entering. Because the rift made light, Andar could clearly see the low roof, jagged with rock, and the somewhat smooth walls. It looked as if someone had made this tunnel. Andar could think of no one else but the mage KRenn had seen in the dark realm, the master of the kasigerr.
Andar drew his sword. He felt as though something was alive in here.
The tunnel turned and widened, but eventually something blocked Andar’s path. It looked like the same texture as the blunt claws that had broken through the outer rock of the mountain, only these limbs were as thick as Andar’s arms. They ran through the tunnel at diagonals, stretching across and making their own holes to disappear into the rock once again.
Andar poked one with his sword and gasped as he realized what it was. This was the familiar wood of a tree branch. But it was unlike any other tree he’d seen. Even the wisdom tree in the other rift resembled the shape of a normal tree, and yet these branches were lithe and shaped in such a way that they resembled the arm of a man more than part of a tree. They looked like they were lined with muscle, but it was just the shape the wood had taken.
There was no hope of Andar getting through without brushing up against one of them, for there were just too many limbs blocking his path. He navigated through, hoping no lasting damage would come of it.
Andar did not want to find out what lay deeper. He felt as though he was entering the home of some foreign creature, one powerful enough to erase Andar’s existence if he angered it. He wanted to reach out to his brother and let him know that he was still alive, at least for now, and that he loved Leo and hoped to see him again, but Andar wasn’t sure if he would. And tell Siki that I think she is the most beautiful woman in the world, from inside to out.
But the message would be the death of him. He had to make it out of here alive if he was going to see them again.
Andar found his bravery and picked up speed. The tunnel became smaller the farther he went, the walls lined with living wood. The tendrils that emerged from one side of the tunnel and made their way out of the other were soon as thick as Andar’s legs.
The Esitry started to become so dense that it created a fog against his cocoon of Artistry. Andar stopped and watched nervously as it battered against his makeshift wall. He had to strain his mind to keep the Artistry together as the Esitry pulled at it, wanting to bond.
Hours passed as he navigated through tiredly. The only thing keeping Andar on his feet was fear. He worried he might collapse and succumb to Esitry poisoning, but he had a little fight left in him. The wisdom tree limbs were now larger than Andar himself, sometimes forcing him to squeeze through small gaps between the wood and rock to keep going. He could no longer keep his sword in hand and still fit through the gaps.
Just a little farther, then I will stop for a bite and a swig.
The Esitry was so dense that he could barely see past the reach of his hands. There was no end to the tendrils of wood blocking his path.
The ground dipped unexpectedly, and suddenly he was sliding. He skidded forward with a scream and then started to roll. He managed to keep the cocoon intact as he slammed against tree limbs in the way. The force of them wasn’t enough to stop him, only spin him around as he continued to roll down the steepening path.
Suddenly he was falling. He flailed for something to grab hold of, his hands hitting branches as thick as tree trunks. Knowing he might die, he focused through his fear and looked down for something to stop his fall. He looped his arms over a branch, catching himself in the air with his leg swinging.
He steadied himself as he looked down. He couldn’t see the ground, only the blue Esitry swirling against the bottom of his cocoon.
Andar pulled himself up and sat on the branch. It was thick enough that he felt confident he could balance on it, but he didn’t have the strength. He couldn’t see how far this massive branch went before it met the rest of the tree, the Esitry blocking his view.
Eventually he regained his breath, then stood up and started walking down the branch carefully with his arms out for balance. He finally came to the trunk.
“Skyfire and ash.”
It was a wall of wood, covered with the same muscular grooves as the limbs, giving it the appearance of having muscles and tendons. Andar couldn’t even see where it started to round out. It was too massive.
How was he supposed to destroy such a gigantic thing?
Carefully, he made his way down by hanging from one limb as he dropped to another. He repeated this until he finally reached the base, the ground covered in the natural stone of the mountain. He looked closely at the bottom of the tree trunk. It went straight into the rock as if the rock were dirt. Andar had no hope of destroying the roots of the tree, as he had done to the wisdom tree in the other rift.
Was this even a wisdom tree? Perhaps it was at one point, but now it looked as if it had bonded to this mountain, and the mountain to it. The surface of the tree felt as hard as rock.
