Kingdoms of Lies and Intrigues (Return of Vesna book 2)

Chapter 11 Journey to the Never ending Falls

They had been walking all night, Xion could see the clouds had covered the moon.  Bedside him Evaline walked silently, they continued moving down the perimeter of the river, a few heads bobbed to the surface of the water watching them.  Some even swan right along beside them, but they were far from the threat of the water or the sound of the selkie.
What in tarnation did those creatures do to render him muddled thus plunging into the icy cold water and dragging the seelie with him?  He had never encountered any of those creatures before but they seemed rather tranquil as one of them trailed along on the river.  He dare not glance its way.  One horrific encounter was enough to last him a lifetime.
Evaline had conjured an illumination to guide their way, listening to the night sounds, something that he had long forgotten. A gentle breeze caressed his face as he trudged on, he tried to keep his mind steady on the goal, they had already lost precious hours when her felt rather than saw Evaline stumble. Turning to his side he regarded her gait, she seemed be be lagging behind him.
"Tired?"
She looked up, although her eyes felt heavy and her body was aching she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing she was close to collapsing. They had been following the trail of the river but she didn't know exactly what they were looking for.
Shaking her head she blinked her eyes to keep them from shutting.
"Your seeli, can't you call on a spell that would keep you focused or some such thing?"
Scrambling through her mind she tried to remember what symbol it was she saw on the parchment. Removing her satchel from behind her, she knelt on the ground with him waiting by her side. She reached for the parchment that Knut had given to her. She felt something slippery and wet, when she pulled out the paper, it was completely soaked from their ordeal. She had not thought to remove it like she did the map. Cursing inwardly she looked at the folded scrap of appear and shook her head. Whatever had been written would certainly have been washed away.
"It's wet."
"Can't you dry it?" He asked impatiently.
The anger that built up inside her finally exploded. "It would have remained dry had I not plunged into that river with you!" She exclaimed.
"Oh, so now it's my fault," he mocked crossing his massive arms against his chest.
"I didn't say it was your fault!" She replied defensively. Tired and completely caught of balance, she was smarting. "This wouldn't have happened if you had your wits about you and not fallen prey to the spell of those wicked creatures."
"Which wicked creature are you referring to exactly?" He retorted sarcastically.
"What are you trying to say?" She glared at him, her tone icy.
He had to admit he was being hostile but on the other hand she did save his life even if she was a creature he abhorred. Being stuck with her was the better end of the deal ....... for now.
"I may have been out of line," he paused trying to steal some composure. "Why don't you use whatever rune you already have"
She rolled the sleeves of her tunic and glared at the symbols. "I've got one for shielding, another to contain my magic, another for light, protection, connecting to energy, healing, a bit more....."
"Why don't you try the one for healing, I suppose it could work." he remarked off handed.
Sighing she pressed down onto the symbol and passed the hand over the parchment. To her astonishment it began to dry. "It's working"
"Good," he raised a brow.
When the parchment was dry she opened it only to discover the ink had smeered. She then pressed on the rune which symbolized reveal and the ink moved back into place. She finally spotted the symbol for alert.
Removing her dagger from her boot she carved the symbol on her arm, wincing slightly at the pain. Chanting the word she was instantly awake, her body thrummed with energy like a adrenaline rush that permitted through her body. The sounds around them grew louder, her vision intensified that she saw through the darkness beyond what the light could show them. Taking a deep breath she folded back the parchment carefully and prepared to continue. Her steps became light, her muscles stopped aching, with renewed vigor she walked and enjoyed taking the lead.
Pausing she turned to check if Xion was still following, he wasn't far but she could see he struggled to keep pace with her. Using her preternatural vision, she looked about her feeling the whole embankment come alive. Some selkies still glided through the water close by but nothing to be worried about. Her senses heightened  to remain alert to the sound suntil the moon disappeared and the suns rays started bleeding through the greyish clouds. They had walked until it was passed dawn.
She stopped waiting for Xion to catch up. She looked about her with wonder. The trees seemed to come alive, she could see squirrels climbing up some of them and disappearing into the thick leaves. The air was fresh, the scent of the forest permeated through the air. To her right she caught glimpses of the peaks of mountains. She closed her eyes briefly taking in the scent around her, her senses heightened when she heard it. The sound was faint but it was clear, the sound of running water.
Xion stood beside her panting, when he thought to suggest she try to use a rune to prevent her from slackening he never expected he would be the one to slow down. There was something to be said about creatures with magic.
"Shall we rest for a bit," he suggested looking up at the sky. He didn't realise that it was passed dawn.
"If you must," she mocked and went to a tree to sit against it. He joined her removing his skin to drink. She did the same, removing the tea leaves from a pouch she retrieve a tin. "I think it best we drink this to keep our strength. Jutu said it would help relieve us from hunger."
Nodding his head he removed his own ration and they drunk the bitter brew silently. He turned to see she had tied up her hair in a bun. Her face was caked with dirt but her eyes were bright and alert. He must look the same. Removing a string from his satchel he tied his own hair feeling the ease on his neck and shoulders.
"The never ending falls in not far from us, I heard the sound of running water." She said casually.
He didn't bother to comment, for her knew he heard no such thing. He had no choice. She was the only one who could lead them out of this mess. Although he hated the thought of putting his life on a novice seelie's hands. It was that or death and he wasn't planning on dying just yet.
She turned to him speculatively.
"What?"
"You said you have sisters." She said by way of conversation.
"Did I?" He shrugged his shoulders " I don't recall mentioning them. Yes I do."
"How many?"
"Four." his answer was clipped.
"Are you the oldest?"
"No"
"The middle child"
"The last child," he sipped the bitter tea almost gaging at the taste but it did make his belly feel full.
She pondered on this for a moment. "And your parents."
"I wouldn't be Lord Fenwick if my father were still alive." He retorted "They are both gone.  My oldest sister and my second sister are both married to noble men , they have their own families. My third and fourth sister are still at Fenwick land, they take care of it while I'm not there," he sighed. Thoughts of his family had slipped his mind lately, talking about them brought their presence forward.
"At least your familiar with your family. I don't remember mine at all," she mused absently.
He glanced at her briefly noting her thoughtful gaze as she held the tin in her hands. "There might be something in that parchment that can restore your memories."
She turned to him. "I forgot to ask Knut if he knew of their whereabouts, the only family I have is Darren and I don't even recall him at all." She paused thinking back to the time she woke up in Jutu's bed. " When I recovered three years ago and saw him, it was he that told me I was his sister.  Later on when I asked if he could tell me anything about our family he couldn't remember them either. We tried but both of us were in such a state that recalling our past was futile."
If she was trying to stimulate some sympathy, he thought, she was certainly far off then she intended.  He would never be sympathetic to any Fae , she didn't have to know that.
"Why do you hate the Fae?" Her next question was simple enough to answer.
"They tried to kill me," his artic gaze was merciless, "several times. I hope that's a good enough answer." He wouldn't play into her game, he was making it clear.
"You survived it. How?"
He wasn't about to give her the exact details "Luck!"
"You can't expect me to believe that."
"Well it's all your going to get." He replied dismissively. "You said you heard the sound of water, if we are close then it's best we be on our way."
"Don't you want to rest a bit?" She wasn't tired but he was mortal, she surmised he wouldn't last very long.
"We've tarried long enough, it's best we continue. If you don't mind I'd like to catch up with the rest." He stated flatly.  He did feel sore but he was used to the discomfort and as for sleep, he was long past it. The tea seemed to work its own magic, he didn't care to question it further.
They continued on the trail before they veered off into the woods.  He had to trust her direction for the land was nothing he had ever encountered. It felt strange to be in a place he knew nothing about. He followed closely, avoiding fallen branches and sharp nettles trusting his instincts which never failed him.
She pushed passed a bush when he heard the sound of running water just in front of them, before long they stood on an embankment, the water rushing like rapids following a peculiar path.
"This must be it" she mumbled removing the map from her satchel.
Xion walked ahead looking at the river flowing briskly, the water was clear, he could see through to the rocks down below. He studied the expanse of it as it cut through between where they were to the other side, it was shallow enough that they could wade through it. If they walked across they could probably reach the land but where would it lead to.
He returned to where the map was spread on the ground and squatted to study the marks scribbled on the paper. There were arrows pointing to an inverted V.
"What if we just walk across, the water is not deep and we could make it to the other side, perhaps we might reach that hill faster." He suggested.
"Havah said we had to journey to the never ending falls which would lead us to the valley of the forgotten Gods and from there we would see the tower of the citadel,"she stated.
"The river is a long stretch, did she mean we had to follow the river or go across it?"
"I never asked because I never expected to be in this predicament." She mused thinking on his suggestion.
Frowning he started at the map trying to figure out the scribbles, he noticed the squiggly lines which meant the river and then the hill.
"From the looks of it we will have to follow the path of the river, do we turn right or left?"
Folding the map back carefully she placed it deep within the satchel and walked toward the embankment. Reaching our her hands she tried to ask for guidance.
"What are you doing?" He asked standing a few feet beside her.
"Asking for guidance."
Centering her mind as Knut taught her she reached out to the river with her thoughts, it was strange to be doing this but it was the only way to understand what they had to do. She waited for a sign, or some connection that involved an answer.
"Well?"
His voice cut through her concentration , she turned to face him, annoyance clearly written on her face. "I'm trying to connect to the energy. Would you mind?"
Shaking his head he started tapping his foot, crossing his arms as he waited.
"It's not like I do this every day," she bristled.
"It's not like I get lost in a forest every day either," he retorted.
She tried again, reaching out to the river, trying to connect to its energy when she heard something, a snap of a twig making her look behind but she saw nothing except for the dense trees.
"What is it?" He sensed her sudden pause.
"I'm not sure, something is back there," she pointed to the trees.
"Come on then, I'm not ready for another surprise."
They walked toward the embankment, Xion started walking into the river, the sharp coldness seeping through his boot as he continued forward. The current wasn't as strong as he expected and the rocks seemed steady. He continued to wade in until both his calves were submerged, glancing behind him, he saw her hesitate before following his lead, a brief Yelp passed through her lips as she continued to follow. His aim was to wade through to the other side, hoping this wasn't another selkie abode. When suddenly trolls emerged from the trees.
They grunted and pointed to them.
"Quick!" Xion commanded as he hurried his steps, her wadded through placing a hand on his sword hilt when he looked across and saw another set of trolls waiting for them on the other side. "That isn't good" he paused as he felt Evaline bump him from behind. She almost slipped but he caught her and held her up as they stared at the trolls.
"What now?" She asked worriedly.
"I don't think we have a choice, let's just walk down this river" he noticed the trolls just watched them, a sinister look on their faces. The water was passed his thighs were as it had reached Evaline's hip. "We will just have to follow the current"
She didn't bother to argue but something in the expression of the trolls told her that it wouldn't be a safe bet. They turned right and followed the current, she had slipped twice but Xion kept a strong grip on her arm as they continued to meander through the middle of the river. Glancing at the trolls On either side she was ever mindful of the way they watched the two of them following their trail from the embankment without stepping into the water.  It was as if they were waiting.
"They're watching us" she whispered to Xion.
"I can see that"
She wondered why they did that when suddenly one of them signaled and a couple walked into the river.  They seemed ever mindful of the current but their faces were set. Without warning, Xion rushed down the middle not caring wether they slipped as he unsheathed his sword. The trolls were bigger bringing with them clubs made out of wood, as they neared they swung, both Xion and Evaline ducked as the troll missed. Xion reached out with his blade and slashed the troll on his arm, making the beast bellow with pain, rage filled the troll as he grabbed his injured arm before lunging for evaline who screamed as the troll strarted wrestling her from Xion.
Evaline slipped from a rock as the current seemed to grow wilder and she was pulled into the gushing river. Her head seemed to bob and plunge, smashing through the tiny bits or rocks underneath. Xion dove into the water after her but the current was strong, his only mission was to reach her.
On and on they stumbled as the current grew even stronger, the bottom of the river no longer visible as the current dragged them both. He hit his back against a solid wall of rock, a sharp pain slicing through him as he tried to catch his breath. Evaline was simply slipping , moving away faster as he got dragged. He could feel the ache in his rib thinking he must have broken something but he still tried to swim against the current. It was futile, the river had a mind of its own and he swirled along with it until small hands reached out from under and latched on to his waist. Evaline's head bobbed into view. Suddenly the sound of the river grew louder until it was screaming against his ear and then his saw it......the drop. It was never meant to be hill. Closing his eyes briefly he held on to Evaline for his dear life, if these were the last female hands that would hold him then it was good that she was pleasant to look at even if she was a seelie.
Evaline saw Xion struggle to open his eyes through the rage of the water that constantly beat in their faces. This was a terrible nightmare, one she hoped she would wake from soon for she would hate to loose her life like this, not seeing Darren cut through her heart like a lance. With renewed resolve she turned and looked forward noticing the drop for the first time. The never ending Falls! They would be plunge down and she knew whatever rune she called would be a matter of life and death
"Shield" she screamed when suddenly she felt a ball of energy surround them leaving her light. The drop happened in an instant, she held her breath as she felt them flying through the air as if tossed by the wind before rapidly sucking her breath as they plunged down, down, endlessly forward. When she finally released a breath they landed with a force that sent them careening into the depth of the inky water. The speed was unbelievable as they continued to fall.
She had to do something, still holding on with one arm on Xion's waist she reached for the dagger in her boot and tried to think of the rune that would save them. "Land" she whispered as she carved the parallel lines ending with a dot at the top. She knew nothing after that.