four
. . .
Aten
Zuns, this was a shit plan.
It was the only one I had, and I’d come this far already. Getting back to Ever was the only thing driving me—that was all I needed.
The first step counted on luck, and Aslendrix must have been looking out for me because I got some. Scouting along the rocky terrain against the rough sea, I found a boat, more like a dinghy, hidden against the rocks. It was only big enough to carry two people, and one oar was missing, but I took it.
I unloaded thegenerouspack my father had provided to accommodate my banishment and set Nettle loose. Maybe he’d find his way back over to Kirrasia, or maybe he’d head towards Ever’s home. He couldn’t be my priority right now.
The sea would be risky, but less likely to raise alarm than attempting to cross the border over land, and the only clear route I had back into Kirrasia. Being spotted would set off the trigger, so I had no choice but to stay out of range. It would eat up the time, but I trusted that Calix would get to Ever.
The journey was much fucking harder than I anticipated. The current was strong and punishing, drawing me back against the rocks as if it wanted to toy with me. Pretending to let me go before reeling me back in, over and over again.
It took hours just to move past the first outcrop of rocks, and I had miles left.
As I got farther out to sea, my power felt more sluggish, worse than what it was in Estereah. Now it felt like it, too, was fighting against the tide, and I wondered if perhaps the sea obstructed the connection to Aslendrix—not being on solid ground.
It didn’t stop me from trying to shout down the tether that joined me to her.
However, it just echoed in my mind and faded, snuffed out by a gust of wind. I couldn’t let her know I was coming. I had no ability to reassure her or to give her hope.
My focus became putting everything into making the journey up the coast, past The Court, and towards the Jet Mountains where I’d need to find a safe place—a passable place—to come ashore and travel down towards The Court, back to Ever. So, I endured.
As I’d told myself a hundred times over the last two days, this was a shit plan. The view of The Tower, dwarfing the buildings surrounding it, was impressive even this far out to sea. At least my distance meant I didn’t trigger any alarm. But as dusk slipped into night, my progress slowed.
Sleep was impossible; the tide was too strong to stop fighting against it, even for a minute. I’d be at the mercy and whim of the waves, and I couldn’t have that.
Learning firsthand how formidable this is was humbling, and I see why we’ve so rarely ever been attacked from this direction. I had to keep moving.
After the second day, I couldn’t head north any longer; my only choice was to make it to shore, regardless of how far I’d travelled. I was out of water and out of time. I’d never make it farther. And so, my plan relied once again on luck.
But the mountains were another natural defence that gave Kirrasia the advantage. There were no obvious places to come ashore, unless you wanted to climb a vertical face of granite. They were places that few ventured, for many reasons, including their inhospitable temperatures.
But as my body rebelled against the idea of travelling any farther, the boat caught a current and made quick work of hitting the base of a rock formation. It was around the mid-range of the mountains, and a narrow fissure formed a semblance of a path, as slim as the advantage this gave me.
As my foot hit the stone, my power surged, warming and coming alive, and it brought me a sense of relief that choked me. But no sooner had it re-surfaced, it slipped from my grasp, like smoke in my fist—Aslendrix repaying my earlier luck and my piss-poor timing. It had been over a week, but I’d lost track of the days, still no closer to getting back to Ever.
And now, for the next passing of the moon, powerless.
Entering Kirrasia under a new moon did mean things might be more level if I ran into trouble. It also meant that everyone in Kirrasia would be at their weakest. Defenceless.
The thought drove me to climb.
Until there wasn’t anything in me to pull on. No energy, no power, just exhaustion. And I collapsed.
The chill over my body wakes me. And I stare up at a menacing-looking overhang, capped with white. For a moment, I’m right back in that vision. Snow on the ground, blood pooling around Ever. My heart ricochets in my chest, and I bolt upright, reaching for my power, but finding nothing except the cold stillness that indicates the new moon.
Ever isn’t here. The vision can’t be true. I hold on to that as the air bites through my clothes, the altitude not helping the temperature, especially after being at sea and caked in salt for the past few days.
She isn’t here. And I will never let it become a reality, I vow to Aslendrix, looking up into the blue sky. That won’t be her future. “You hear me? That won’t be her fate,” I shout as if Aslendrix is watching over me, and perhaps she is, laughing at my endeavours. My voice echoes around the rock and overhangs, penning me in and reminding me of my threat in a cruel, taunting way.
While I’m technically back on Kirrian land, I need to keep moving. Visions haunting me aren’t the only fear here. Calix and I might have played at scaling the lower peaks as children, but we haven’t ventured this far. And I have no desire to come up against the Sur’gos that lurk in the frozen caves and shadows.
Novandia is shy, reserving his full strength despite the day growing long, the air lacking any warmth, or so it seems, in the shadows of granite around me. The journey down is hard, my footing unsure and slipping on the loose stones. Every other turn, I come up against nothing but dead ends.
