The edge of shadow, p.19
The Edge of Shadow, page 19
part #5 of The Kin of Kings Series
“Are you actually agreeing with my plan?”
“No.” The single word was like a stab to the back. “But only because there aren’t enough people here ready to do what you need them to do for it to work.”
“Sneary included,” Basen repeated, finally feeling a glimmer of his father’s trust.
“Yes. They follow him in the same way my men will follow me.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“This has to be done delicately. We need everyone for your plan to work, especially Sneary. After you eat, greet your friends and put Sneary’s worries to rest by smiling instead of wearing that stern expression you had while telling us your plan. Get your friends on our side, and have them speak to others. Eventually you should make your way over to Jack and Trela. They have the clout you don’t to change Sneary’s mind, but don’t let Sneary know you’re trying to undermine his strategy. Spend the night, and we will speak again in the morning.”
“Thank you, Father.”
He nodded and left.
Basen turned to Neeko. “It looks like we have a lot of work to do.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Basen saw many familiar faces, but there were even more people he didn’t recognize who surprised him by coming up to tell him they were glad he was here. There was no chance to explain the plan to any of them without Sneary knowing, as an audience would be sure to gather. He waited until the commotion of his and Neeko’s arrival died down, and that’s when he approached Jack Rose.
“We’re all glad to see you,” Jack said as they shook hands.
“I’m glad everyone here is still alive and ready to fight, but if we stay here, we’ll die.”
“I realize that, but we don’t yet have an alternative. I’m expecting you do?”
Basen let out a breath of relief. He could trust the chemist master. Without time to go over every detail of his plan, he could only summarize it. Fortunately, Jack was either able to fill in the missing parts himself or trusted Basen enough not to question any of it.
“And now you need me to tell others,” Jack assumed.
“Yes. Once we have enough support, Sneary will be forced to join us. I’ll need mages gathering energy within the camp in the meantime so I can make a portal here.”
“I’ll speak to Trela. She’ll know who to choose.”
They separated. Basen hadn’t given himself the chance to look around the camp much until now. He glanced around as if taking in the scene while really looking for Sneary to make sure he wasn’t watching. Basen realized his earlier estimation of hundreds of tents was wrong. There weren’t even one hundred, and those must’ve been stolen from their enemies. Wet clothes hung from low branches, strategically placed near the many fires. Most people sat or even lay on the dirt. To Basen, it looked like everyone was waiting for death.
Noticing Annah by herself, Basen took the opportunity to speak to her without Cleve. They’d already greeted each other, but that didn’t stop her from smiling as Basen came up to her.
“Effie told me what happened,” he said.
Annah bit her bottom lip. “We tried to find them again after we came in contact with this group, but we couldn’t. We were going to look again tomorrow.”
“Now you don’t have to. Why did Cleve change his mind and join everyone here?”
“He didn’t change his mind. Sneary convinced him they will get revenge soon.”
“He means to attack them?”
She glanced around as if to check for eavesdroppers, then shook her head. “I felt with psyche that Sneary doesn’t plan to leave anytime soon. He was concerned about Cleve, as I have been, so he lied. I wanted to join Effie and the others, but I couldn’t abandon our group. I’m glad all of us will be together soon.”
“That’s what I need to speak to you about.” Basen noticed Reela glancing over. She seemed to be speaking with an older woman who he didn’t recognize but stopped when she noticed Basen. He beckoned for her.
Reela said something to the older woman, then came over to join them. “What is it?”
“I need both of your support,” he told the two psychics. “There isn’t much time.”
Annah put up her hands. “If you mean to go against our leaders, I don’t want to be part of it. I just told you how glad I am for all of us to be together. You shouldn’t force us to separate again.”
“I want the same thing as Sneary,” Basen said. “To keep all of us alive and win this war.”
“Don’t you trust your father?” Annah accused.
“Yes, and he trusts me. But people who make a stand here will die.”
“Henry agreed with your plan?” she asked with surprise.
“We haven’t heard it yet, Annah,” Reela said.
Basen touched her arm in gratitude. “Thank you, Reela.”
*****
Most of Basen’s conversations with others went similarly, with half the people having trouble understanding his wish to go against Sneary and the other half eager to hear Basen’s ideas. He didn’t like the thought of leaving Alabell and the others in the abandoned colony throughout the night, but he couldn’t leave until a portal was established. Besides, he had much work still to do, and she was a lot safer there than these people were here.
He slept on the dirt, tossing throughout the night in a fruitless effort to get comfortable. When morning came, and there had been no attack, he got up eager to finish his rounds.
Breakfast was served to all, a mixture of oatmeal and rice. It was no wonder many people didn’t want to leave. They’d been given order and protection here, as well as food and water. They couldn’t imagine a sanctuary better than this because they didn’t know one existed.
Fortunately, Basen was able to convince many people throughout the morning that leaving was the right decision. However, he was saving the most stubborn people for last. He had greeted Cleve last night but mentioned nothing of the plan yet, as Cleve would interpret leaving the forest as running instead of fighting.
Basen’s former Group One instructor, Penny, never came over to greet him. Though the same could be said about Basen refusing to approach her. Now he caught her looking at him disapprovingly and began to worry she was a spy for Sneary. He walked over.
“Hello, Mage Penny.”
“Hello, Basen Hiller.” She didn’t seem particularly pleased to see him.
“Do you wish to stay here and wait for battle or would you agree with me that it’s not safe?”
“I do agree that it’s not safe, but you haven’t given me an alternative yet.” She sounded offended.
“We’ve had our differences. I wasn’t sure you would trust me.”
“I can’t be sure, either, until I hear what you hope to accomplish and how.”
After reciting his plan countless times now, he was able to get through it at twice the speed. Most people would listen without question now, something about the confidence in his tone, perhaps.
Neeko came over as Basen reached the end. “Can we leave soon?”
“I’m not sure if we have enough to force the others into joining us. I need to speak with my father.”
“I’ll do that,” Neeko offered. “Sneary’s watching you, by the way. Don’t look.” He left Basen with Penny.
“What do you think?” Basen asked her.
“I think anyone who stays in this forest will die.” She let out her breath. “I think even Sneary knows we have little chance of survival, but little is better than none.”
“He’s not listening to my plan.”
“I’m sure he has listened, but his issue is accepting it. Try to imagine what it’s like for an instructor to be forced to trust a student and to admit to being wrong. We were hired because we’re supposed to know what’s best for you. We’ve sworn in front of psychics that we’ll do everything in our power to protect our students. It feels like we’re betraying that oath if we give up responsibility to our students.”
“So how do I convince him?”
“You can’t, because you’re his soldier. But perhaps I can. Don’t say a word!” she whispered in haste.
A heavy hand took Basen by the shoulder and spun him around. “You openly defy me. If I’d known this was how you’d handle a disagreement with your leader, I would’ve sent you away before nightfall. Did you think I wouldn’t notice, or do you just assume me to be slow?”
Basen gladly took Penny’s advice and remained silent.
“Sneary, we already knew they outnumbered us,” Penny said, “but not how badly until now. They must’ve only sent half their forces for the Academy, with the other half protecting the cities in case we escaped.”
“That doesn’t matter,” Sneary said. “Our best chance is to stay together. We’ve trained harder and longer than any of them. We are the better fighters.”
“They expect us to stay and fight them in the forest, where we are incapable of surprising them.” Penny spoke with a hushed tone but it was in no way less severe than Basen had become used to as her pupil.
“We will surprise them when we take the river.”
“But we can’t hold it. There’s nowhere to hide along the banks, and our enemies can use the trees to ambush us. They know we can’t win here, so they are taking their time to search all of the forest on their way here. It won’t be long before they come to the conclusion that we’re this far south.”
Basen remained silent, as much as it pained him not to add to Penny’s argument. But then she surprised him by telling Sneary the exact line that Basen had been in torment trying to keep to himself.
“They aren’t recruiting anyone anymore. They are that confident.”
Basen had told this to everyone, including his father and Sneary. But Sneary only seemed to hear it when Penny said it.
“If they find out where we’ve gone,” Sneary argued, “we’ll have less of a chance than if we’d stayed together in the forest.”
“It’s a risk worth taking.”
Henry and Teej ran toward them, Henry calling for Sneary. A crowd of hundreds quickly formed around them as the two leaders faced each other.
“Tell him what you saw,” Henry instructed Teej.
“Only scouts so far, but I fear there will be many more soon. There were two of them. They pointed in our direction, then walked away.”
Basen shoved through. “We can’t let them see us teleport out of here. It would ruin everything.”
“Then we must go right now,” Henry said.
“Run?” asked some of the people not privy to the plan.
“We’re not running,” Basen announced. “We’re changing locations to surprise them when we’re ready.”
“Where are we going?” asked many.
“We’re not going anywhere!” Sneary boomed.
God’s mercy, keep your voice down. Basen gave a pleading look to his father. “There’s no time.”
Henry looked as if he was about to scream, though he kept his voice low. “My men are following me and my son, and I expect everyone from the Academy to come with us. You might disagree with the plan, but you have to see that you cannot fight here without us.”
“Don’t do this,” Sneary said.
“I already gave the order.” Henry gestured behind him at all his men gathering in support.
Basen’s akorell stone was fully charged, but… “The portal! Trela, where are you?”
“Here,” she called from amidst the crowd. “Only you can tell if it’s ready yet.”
“It has to be. Where are the mages?”
“Back farther into the camp. Follow me.”
“Make room,” Basen said as he pushed through the crowd. He called back to his father, “Clear the camp and have everyone meet me back here.”
But Sneary was already yelling, “Put on your armor and ready your weapons!”
Basen stopped. “No, collect your belongings and bring them with you!”
He could hear none of the following argument between Sneary and his father as he ran to catch up with Trela. There were about thirty mages in a line, but only one reached out toward a floating ball of white bastial energy. The mage let down her arm as the energy beamed into the dirt, and the next mage took over by gathering a new cluster.
“Every mage has been here gathering energy.” Trela walked in front of the line to get their attention. “Everyone stop.”
Basen put himself where the energy had been, closed his eyes, and opened his palms. He could feel the gateway partially there, like starting a familiar dream before fully falling asleep.
“It’s almost ready, but we need more energy. I will take over while the rest of you get ready to leave.”
They seemed confused as they looked to Trela.
“We aren’t running,” she assured them. “Plans have changed. Get everything you can carry and try to make it look like we were never here. Tell the others as well.”
Basen squeezed all the energy he could into a single point, just like the beginning of a portal. It put the most weight on the world that he could manage and was the best method he knew of to create a doorway, but the energy packed so tightly was wild with power. He strained his mind and body to keep control as he packed more and more energy together.
It darkened as the heat lapped Basen’s face. The cluster formed swirls of orange and red like Cleve’s bastial steel sword. Eventually, Basen could hold it no longer. But there was too much power to let it go. He had to guide it into the ground as he released so that it wouldn’t choose its own direction, a pillar of dirt shooting up as tall as some of the nearby saplings and then raining down in a loose line.
The door was becoming clear in his mind. He envisioned the burned basement in the capital and could feel a loose connection, as if grasping the door handle with his fingertips.
He gathered energy once again, mashing it together with his mind until he could hold it no longer. He released it into the dirt again and had to yell out a warning as the steaming clumps of soil scattered down upon people starting to line up behind him.
They moved away as he gathered his third ball of energy. He faintly became aware of hundreds moving into the space around him, all whispering as if worried their voices might startle him. Somewhere among them was Penny, probably internally having a fit. One slip, and Basen could kill more than a few of his friends.
An announcement almost broke his concentration. “Their army approaches from every side.”
He shot the energy into the dirt. People leapt out of the way to avoid it. Panting, he looked around to see everyone ready.
“I can take over,” Trela offered.
“No need,” Basen said between breaths. “The gateway is ready. I just need a moment.”
He could feel everyone’s eyes on him as he struggled for breath.
“They will be here in minutes,” Henry said. “And it might take that long just to get everyone through.”
A familiar voice spoke out. “I believe you can do it, Basen.”
He turned around to see Micklin. The boy looked older, tougher. His clothes and face were dirtier than everyone else near him, but he might be the most confident of them all as he looked at Basen with complete trust. Slowly, others’ expressions began to change to mimic the boy’s.
“You can do this,” Cleve told Basen.
“We know you have the strength,” Reela added.
Nebre, Rickik, and the dozen Krepps with them let out a quick chant of Kreppen as they stomped their bare feet and thumped their chests.
“Get us out of here,” Neeko said.
“We must leave now,” Henry urged.
“I can’t keep the portal open long enough for everyone. I need a few more moments.”
He heard a trumpet blaring in the distance, then a drum. The deep hoot of his enemies followed after each beat. They were close.
“You can do this, Basen,” Annah encouraged.
Penny walked over to stand right in front of him. “Take us to safety, Basen. I know you can.”
She stood back, and everyone else took her cue to make room. Encircled by all of his comrades who believed in him, he felt a sudden surge of strength. It was as if his body had a reserve of energy saved only for dire times like this.
“Form a line,” he said. They began shifting around behind him as he focused.
He split his mind into this bright camp and the dark Slugari colony. Then he ripped the energy clean from his bracelet. This BE was a raging beast compared to the clusters he’d gathered just before, requiring all of his focus just to maintain his hold. But he had to do more than hold, screaming out his strain as he pushed the energy in on itself, then reaching through to take hold of the doorway and pry it open.
He tore the gateway out of the air, drawing out many gasps from the audience. It sucked up all the energy in the air, its edges rippling as it tried to overpower Basen in order to close.
“Go!” Basen told them. “Make room as soon as you enter, and help each other out of the way.”
They poured in, most jumping and covering their faces. Almost everyone here had never entered a portal before, and their fear showed in their hesitance.
“Faster,” Sneary urged them. “Find your courage right now!”
Everyone’s pace quickened. The portal roared as wind whipped into it from around Basen’s back.
A fire burned within his chest as he began to lose his strength. He clamped his teeth and clung to it with his mind.
“How many left?” Basen asked.
“Less than half,” answered his father.
“You will keep it open for all of us!” Penny demanded. “I know you can.”
Basen’s body felt as if he’d been sprinting past his limit, his vision beginning to blur. Claws of fire ravaged his chest, but the worst pain came from within his head. It felt as if his skull was being split in half. The agony of it all took him to his knees, the portal shrinking. He screamed to put every last bit of his strength into keeping it from losing any more shape.
Somehow he held on longer and longer, every breath torture.
