A Crumble of Walls (The Kin of Kings Book 4) (18 page)

This war needs to end swiftly.
Then Nebre can help Zoke control these overzealous Krepps I’m taking to Kilmar.

“Basen!” Fatholl yelled. “They’re ready. Get over here now.”

“He’s not a very patient Elf, is he?” Basen remarked.

“He’s always busy and expects others to be just as busy,” Zoke explained.

“They’ll have to hurry into the portal once it’s open,” Basen told Zoke while walking toward the massive line of Krepps. “How many are there?”

“About two thousand. They are ready to run.”

The Elves had organized the Krepps into a line of two each. It stretched out of the center of the village, around houses and trees, and out of sight.

How long will it take for all the Krepps to run into a portal?

If Basen couldn’t keep it open long enough, he would have to make another portal for the rest after his akorell stone charged again. But he already needed to wait for it to charge to make a portal for himself, Fatholl, Vithos, and the others going with them into the heart of the Fjallejon Mountains. Elven mages would be charging the stone between the making of portals, but it would still take many hours if not a day.

Basen and Fatholl had agreed they needed to enter the mountains at night, when they had the best chance of figuring out which way was north before they were caught. But if Basen had to make a second portal for the rest of the Krepps, he would have to wait until the next night for the portal to the Fjallejon Mountains, and every day mattered.

He would keep it open as long as it took. Every Krepp needed to get through.

He’d prepared himself by gathering enormous clusters of energy over the last hour, holding each cluster together as long as he could. Basen didn’t know how talented the Elven mages were, but they seemed to know enough to realize his method of training was dangerous, as the energy could slip from the grip of his mind and shoot out in a beam. They’d warned their kin to move away from him while he practiced, and the Krepps eventually got the same idea.

Most Krepps and Elves were busy anyway, collecting their belongings and herding all the animals to be taken with them.

The animals—they’re going to be the hardest to get into the portal.
But then he remembered the influence of hundreds of psychics. The animals would run in at full speed just like the Krepps and Elves.

“Ready?” he asked the Krepps.

“Ready!” they hollered back, then many began to laugh and screech. It was a terrifying sound that broke Basen’s concentration, echoing down the line until every Krepp seemed to be uttering a deafening sound of intimidation as if they were preparing for battle.

He shot Fatholl a questioning look.
Are these Krepps ready to storm Kyrro?
Fatholl put up his hands and rolled his eyes as if to tell Basen the creatures were getting excited for nothing.

It was a good thing the Fjallejon Mountains, and all of Ulric’s army, would be between these Krepps and the Academy. Basen shouldn’t have to worry about them for now.

*****

Effie had stayed close to Steffen at the front as he led the group around the eastern side of the Fjallejon Mountains. They’d seen no one else, no signs of life, but they’d had the cover of trees until then.

They’d gone as far south as they could and now needed to head straight west to get to the Academy. Effie didn’t have a good eye for distances, but Steffen said it was between ten and twenty miles and they might be able to reach it tomorrow.

The only thing in their way now was Lake Kayvol, where an abandoned enemy camp made Effie nervous. With all their allies already at the Academy, it seemed unnecessary for Tauwin to keep them surrounded as he had before. There were already so many on the Fjallejon Mountains to the north, watching and waiting, and many more in the cities to the south. Basen hadn’t seen a reason for their enemies to still be at Lake Kayvol, and Effie didn’t, either. But she wouldn’t be able to find relief until she passed the lake and got within the Academy’s walls.

Basen’s mother didn’t talk much, though she always spoke politely whenever Annah pestered her with a question about their family history. As the only psychic, it was Annah’s responsibility to keep the Krepps under control, but these creatures were calmer than Rickik’s Krepps at the Academy. Crim was the only Krepp who spoke common tongue among them, but they did a fine job communicating requests directly with Steffen on the rare occasions they had them. The rest of the time, they kept to themselves.

During the first day of travel from the cabin, the Krepps picked up sticks to use as weapons. By night, they were fighting each other and seemed to be sharing instructions on the best way to use the sticks. Effie couldn’t decide whether to tell them to be quiet so as not to alert enemy scouts or to let them practice in case they were caught and needed to fight. She spoke with Annah and Steffen, and the three of them decided to let the Krepps train.

Crim joined in as they fought each other the next night, borrowing a stick from one of them so he wouldn’t have an unfair advantage with his sword. He won all of his duels, but as more joined in and they faced each other two on two, then three on three, he looked lost. The other teams of Krepps moved as if they could read each other’s thoughts, striking at the same time when they weren’t defending each others’ backs.

If this wasn’t impressive enough, the sticks chosen by both male and female Krepps were thick and longer than a sword. Effie couldn’t imagine any human swinging one fast enough to actually strike an opponent. The creatures must’ve trained hard during their imprisonment. Effie looked closer at their arms during these breaks to see well-defined muscles. Although these Krepps weren’t as large and imposing as the ones that had come with Rickik, they seemed just as capable.

She supposed these Krepps had given up on retrieving their dead from Tenred, as they simply looked glad to be free again. Crim said he’d explained the war to them, but Effie wondered how much of it he really understood himself.

When their group was close enough to the abandoned camp around the lake, Steffen took the spyglass with him on a short trek up part of the tail of the Fjallejon Mountains. When he came back down, he had a grim look on his face.

“There are men there,” he said, ushering everyone toward the mountains for cover. “Let’s not be seen.”

Annah told Crim, and all the Krepps moved north with them. They didn’t show the same worry that Effie felt, grinning instead as if excited by the news. They began to chatter, their excitement growing as they made fists, their long mouths twisting upward even more.

“How many did you see?” Effie asked Steffen.

“About a hundred. Not many.”

“Not many?” Effie repeated.

“One hundred is a low number. They must be there only to serve as eyes for Tauwin and Ulric.”

“One hundred, small amount,” Crim said. “We kill all.”

“No,” Effie said. She knew Crim hated the word, as he made the same scowl every time he heard it, but she’d learned early that she had to be forceful with him or he wouldn’t listen. “We’re going around.”

Basen’s mother approached, her concerned look never changing. “What’s happening?” She was always the last to know anything and seemed to be getting sick of it, her voice carrying more irritation each time she had to ask.

“There’s a small army at the lake,” Effie explained. “We’re going to find a way around.”

“Eff,” Steffen said, “there is no way around without being seen.”

Effie felt her blood go hot at what he was suggesting. No, he had to be wrong.

“We’ll sneak past them during the night, then,” Effie insisted.
We’re not fighting.
Bastial hell, we only have one mage, one psychic, and a bunch of Krepps with sticks.

“No!” Crim protested. “Sneak during night is coward do. Battle. Glory!” He thumped his chest. “Honor.”

“Honor!” repeated all the other Krepps, shaking sticks that had begun to look a lot smaller to Effie.

“We have to fight,” Steffen said to Effie’s surprise. “They have archers. If they catch us trying to sneak past during the night, we’ll have no cover, but I doubt there are many in that camp who are as skilled as our group in close combat. One hundred isn’t enough to stand up to the Academy, which means they’re only there to deter us from getting to the lake for water. They probably have some way of calling for support: a flaming arrow, a carrier pigeon…their allies are close. But they won’t be watching the east. No one is. We might be able to surprise them.”

“We use…” Crim pointed to the side of the mountain, to where rocky slopes rolled out. “Hills.”

Effie looked to Annah. Effie didn’t know her well, but it was clear the psychic was easily frightened. With her large blue eyes and her small body, she sometimes looked like a startled child. Effie expected her to say something against this ridiculous plan, as she now wore the same terrified expression Effie was used to, but she didn’t utter a word.

Effie gave herself a moment to consider other options. If they went far to the south, around the lake, they wouldn’t be seen. They could make a wide arc around it, but that would put them close to Oakshen, which might be even more of a risk.

Bastial hell, Steffen’s idea might be the best, after all. The enemy camp
was
on the western side of the lake, and there were many trees along the northern side. By using the mountain slopes for cover, they should be able to make it to the eastern side of the lake, then through the trees without being seen.

Effie sighed deeply. “Let’s go. We might be able to make it by night.”

“
Rrrah
,” Crim hissed through his teeth with a smile. He went to tell his Krepps the news.

“Who will be taking me?” Juliana asked with a strange lack of fear.

“Take you?” Annah asked.

“Who will be taking me around to the Academy, to avoid the battle?” Juliana specified, looking at them expectantly.

As her meaning sank in, they looked at each other in expectation. When their gazes settled on Steffen, he pursed his lips and grimaced. He turned to Juliana and took a breath before delivering the bad news.

“We can’t take you around the lake because it’ll be more dangerous. So you’ll stay to the back and avoid the battle.”

She looked as if Steffen had told her she would lead the charge.

“What if…” Juliana stopped and said no more.

Effie knew what she wanted to ask. “If the battle doesn’t go in our favor, run. You’ll have to find your way to the Academy later.”

“Can’t we signal for help?” Juliana asked.

“No. It would draw the attention of our enemies, and concealment is the only thing that could get us to the Academy.”

“That young man and woman,” Juliana said, “from the cabin. You spoke to them as if they were great assets in this war. We can go back for them.”

Effie had secretly hoped Neeko and Shara had changed their minds and would show up one morning. It seemed she wasn’t the only one with this thought, as they had taken their time during the journey in the first few days, many looking back over their shoulders.

“We can’t go back for them,” Effie explained. “We don’t have enough food, and it’s not likely for them to change their minds just because an enemy camp is in the way.”

Juliana surprised Effie with a brave face. “Then I will do what I must.” She looked around, then picked up a rock just smaller than her palm. She tested its weight, then clenched her teeth and swung.

“You don’t have to fight,” Steffen assured her.

Juliana put her other hand on top of the rock to keep it from him. “I won’t stand idle and watch all of you fight for me. You agreed to help Basen by bringing me back to the Academy. If there’s no safe route around the lake, it’s my obligation to join you.”

The Krepps started moving. They were quick and organized, staying close without getting in each other’s way.

“Let’s go,” Steffen said, and they all hurried to catch up.

*****

Effie felt a surprising lack of fear as they moved through the sparse trees on the northern side of the lake. If they all died in battle here, it would devastate Basen. He’d formed this plan in secret and had gone against direct orders from his instructor to put it into action. If his mother and his friends were killed, he would never get over the guilt. Effie couldn’t let him suffer such a fate. She was the one who’d practically demanded they go back for Neeko and Shara. This predicament was as much her fault as his, but he would blame himself.

She stayed behind Annah as the psychic skulked from tree to tree. She lingered behind cover just a moment longer than everyone else, then sprinted to catch up.

“Come on, Annah,” Steffen hissed from the front of their cluster. “We need you here.”

Effie could hear Annah swallow as she froze. “Coming,” she said, her voice cracking.

“The camp’s just ahead,” Steffen whispered. “No more noise after this. Crim, tell your Krepps.”

“Shut up. They know.”

They’d gone over the plan on the way here. Effie’s task was easy. She’d stay to the back with Juliana, as light wouldn’t be necessary and fireballs would do the opposite of what they hoped to accomplish.