“You morons, you were found!” she said. “Sit tight. I can be there within five hours. There is no way the Iumenta won’t be on your trail.” She was angry but understood.
“Five hours. We need to sit tight,” he told the others.
“She’s coming in the day?” Barnin said.
“Yeah, she thinks the Iumenta will be coming.”
Rachel shivered a bit in Ankles arms.
* * * * *
Umbra had been correct. When Barnin figured four hours had passed, he saw small dots on the horizon. He couldn’t make them out with the seeing glass yet, but they were moving fast, too fast for humans.
“How are they following us?” Ankle asked.
“They can smell me…” Rachel said. “I remember when I came there how strong it was… I should leave you.”
“No, you’re not,” Barnin said. “Heath, I don’t know if they can use magic, but you need to buy us time.
There was a yellow flick of wards and Heath sent spells to rocks nearby them. “I will blow up the rocks when they get here. It might kill a few, I don’t know.”
Barnin watched as five Iumenta crested the hill, moving like mountain goats. The terrain did nothing to slow them. Barnin remembered with a chill that this was their homeland. When they were still a hundred yards away, there was a boom as a large stone exploded, sending shards in every direction. One of the Iumenta was down, another on the ground wounded and the other were disoriented. Barnin and Ankle stood and fired arrows at them. Still confused from the blast, one of the Iumenta was caught off guard and Ankle’s arrow killed him. Barnin’s arrow was dodged and now the two unharmed Iumenta were pulling out fenrra.
“Heath!” Barnin yelled.
He shot bolts of magic at the two Iumenta causing them to take cover. More rock blew, filling the air with dust. Arrows glanced off of Heath’s wards. There was a THUD in the distance.
“Heath, tell me that’s Umbra,” Barnin said.
Umbra’s voice came in their head, urgent. “What did you do? An Ascended is in the area. Get out in the open, I’m almost there!”
“Move out!” Barnin ordered.
They ran to the nearby cliff’s edge and as they reached it were next to a cliff. They could see Umbra weaving between rocks below them. Rachel shrieked. Ankle wrapped his arms around her. “Elf, Elf, she’s an Elf!”
Black mist pulled them off the rocks and down to her back as she passed by. Barnin felt himself stick to her back as wind tore at his clothes. There was a flash of light from where they had been. Umbra rose in the sky as a bolt of pale green shot by them.
Umbra swore in their minds and started to weave as more magic came their way. He felt her mind connecting with the jump crystal. Her wings folded and time stopped. Barnin turned his head to look back. In the air behind them was the largest dragon he’d ever seen. Magic shot from it right at them. Barnin heard in Umbra’s head,
Jump.
There was black, and then nothingness.
The world returned in a flash, and his lungs filled with sea air. The Elvin ship waited below them.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Rachel’s Story
“It was not his will to vanquish the masses of evil that made us follow him, but his love of the one that compelled us to follow.”
-Excerpts from The Diary of the Adopted Sister
As they descended, the ship was a buzz of activity. Sails were being raised and Elves were running across the deck. Barnin felt a slight jar as Umbra touched down. He slid down her side, landing heavily on his feet with Heath next to him. On her other side, Ankle was catching an unconscious Rachel.
“MEDIC!” Ankle yelled.
Barnin turned to see Umbra back in an Elf form, running up to one of the many approaching Elves. “I need a com into Seeon now!” She was speaking to the captain, who seemed dumbstruck. “Forgive me, but I just confirmed there is a class eight Iumenta Ascended.”
The deck went still. Even Ankle took his attention away from Rachel. Before anyone could say anything, the ship’s doctor ran on deck. “Who’s hurt?” he called.
Ankle started over to him. “I don’t know what happened doc, she passed out when she saw Umbra.”
Barnin heard Umbra and the captain leave the deck, presumably heading for the bridge. The silver haired doctor was looking Rachel over. Ankle looked back at Barnin and Heath.
“Stay with her, we’ll bring in your gear,” Barnin said.
* * * * *
Ankle was thankful that he didn’t have to leave Rachel. “Can you help doc?”
“She’s lucky to be alive, but I think she just passed out from stress. Let’s get her inside.”
“I’m not sure after what she’s been through if lucky is the word I’d use, but lead the way.”
He could barely feel her weight in his arms, she was so thin. As they went below deck Ankle watched the expressions of the Elves they passed. Many turned, sniffing, and then once their eyes rested on the frail body in his arms, shock would almost always cross their faces. Sometimes that shock was replaced by anger or sorrow. He could hear them whispering in Elvish. He wondered what they thought.
The doctor opened the door to a smallish room with several cots, motioning for Ankle to take his pick. “Her name is Rachel,” he said. He laid her down and the doctor began examining her without a word.
Rachel stirred, but before her eyes could open the doctor placed his hand over her chest, and there was a magenta glow. “Sleep young one, sleep.” Her chest rose and fell softly and she almost looked peaceful. “It was reckless saving her,” the doctor said softly.
“We couldn’t, I couldn’t just leave her there,” Ankle said, his voice thick. “I couldn’t live with…” he stopped, having a hard time speaking.
The doctor looked up and placed his hand on Ankle’s arm. “That wasn’t a reprimand, son. You aren’t stupid. You wouldn’t have been picked for this mission if you were. You knew that saving this girl would likely get you killed, but you did it anyway. You’re a good man.”
“I didn’t even think about that.”
The Elf nodded. “Then I apologize. You’re far better of person than I gave you credit for.” He looked Ankle over. “I need you and your men down here.”
“We didn’t get hurt,” Ankle said.
“But you may have been exposed to some nasty things while in there. If Rachel here is any indication, I’d say disease runs rampant where she’s from.”
“Will she be ok?” Ankle asked, worried.
“Yes, she needs a lot of care, and I will keep her sedated for several days, but I think she will recover. I will see if I can bring her back to Seeon or at least to the Precipice’s dome.”
Ankle left the room to collect Barnin and Heath.
* * * * *
Legon gritted his teeth. “Thank you Umbra, I’m glad you made it out alive.”
“You're welcome, Un Prosa,” Umbra’s voice sounded in the war room.
Sydin spoke, “May I ask why you were so close to their position?”
“Yes sir, we had planned on staying in the area for a few days to transmit Barnin’s team’s report. I figured since I was up there I may as well do some looking around.”
Sydin smiled a bit. “Did you find anything?”
“No sir, nothing.”
“Well, that’s good, isn’t it?”
“Sorry, I meant that literately. There was nothing up there, not alive anyway. Many of the known human towns and cities I flew over were ghost towns. There was no one there. Sir, if I may, I think there is something worse going on than we thought… if you saw this Rachel girl, sir… sir, in all my years I’ve never seen anyone like this, and Barnin and his men… the looks on their faces, and then the smell…” She was shaken up.
No one seemed to know what to say. Umbra wasn’t affected by anything, nothing shook her. Iselin spoke, “Umbra you did a good job, now you get home safe, ok?”
“Yes, Un Prose,” was the quiet reply.
The connection was closed. Sasha had placed her hand on Legon’s when she’d heard the report of Rachel’s condition. Her nails dug into his skin. He pried them off and her eyes closed. “I want her here,” she said. Legon looked at Sydin and he sent the order to the ship to bring Rachel to Seeon.
* * * * *
Barnin walked on deck after seeing the ship’s doctor. Heath was in his rack. The doctor had given him a sleeping draft. Barnin had refused his, and Ankle was glued to Rachel’s side. He’d never seen him act like this before, but he didn’t blame him. The sea air was cold and mist from the waves peppered his face as he walked to the hunched form of Umbra at the rail.
Her eyes were puffy, and she looked defeated. Barnin put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed. “Thanks for saving our backsides today, I owe you.”
She forced a smile and looked at him, her eyes filling with tears. “We didn’t know,” she whispered.
He realized what she meant. “I know. How could you have?”
“Tell me, I’ve only seen Rachel. Tell me, what I didn’t see?” Umbra pleaded.
Barnin relayed the story of their trip to the Mors lands, and then what he and the others saw. About how long it had been going on, how they found Rachel, everything. “You said there was a class eight?”
She wiped her eyes. “Yes, it must have just jumped in. It takes a lot of power to jump any real distance. If it hadn’t had just jumped we would have died.”
Barnin felt goosebumps. “You couldn’t have gotten away or hurt it or anything?”
She chuckled. “No, even if I wasn’t planning on jumping, it takes several class sevens to bring down an eight. That’s why I was so frantic when we landed. But an eight is small in comparison with Mors. When you’ve been an Ascended as long as I have you can tell when someone is new. It shows in the way they fly, in the way they use magic, everything, it’s like a child almost. I don’t think we will have to worry about that eight for some time to come. I don’t see the Impa wasting him.”
“It’s a him, huh? I guess I didn’t look at the plumbing when he was trying to kill me.”
This time she laughed, for real. “Shut it.”
The captain came up to them then. “Umbra, you have been ordered to take Rachel with you to the capital. Once we are in range, you will fly to Manton and jump to Seeon. Barnin, we will drop you and your men off in Manton before we make our way back home,” he said, and then left.
“Sasha was in the room when you gave your report, wasn’t she?” Barnin asked.
“Yes, Un Prose, Sasha, was there, why?”
Barnin relaxed. “Sasha is the most caring person to ever live. She’ll do whatever it takes to make sure that Rachel never suffers again.” He was proud. Sasha was the closest thing to a sister he had.
A few days later Rachel woke up. The doctor had patched her up well and wasn’t letting anyone question her. Barnin was fine with that. He didn’t really want to know what it was like living in Mors. He’d seen enough to give him nightmares for the rest of his life. Ankle was still not leaving her side. Barnin was sure that if given his way Ankle would never leave her. Something inside of him had changed when they watched that woman get killed.
* * * * *
Umbra was getting ready to leave. They were close to Manton, and then she and Rachel would depart for Seeon. Rachel wasn’t looking much better than she had when they’d picked her up.
She was still thin and bony. The doctor said she would recover, but that it would take a long time. Ankle was having a hard time with the idea of leaving her, and the captain contacted Seeon to see if they could send Rachel to the Precipice dome instead, so Ankle could be close to her. It was decided that Rachel was too much of an asset and that she needed to be in Seeon, although Legon had requested that Ankle come with her so he could give a firsthand report.
It was early in the morning and most of the ship was asleep. When Umbra got on deck Barnin and Heath were talking to Ankle. “You make sure they know everything we do. Heath, can you give him our memories?” Barnin was saying. Umbra was surprised that Barnin didn’t protest that Ankle was leaving. When she had asked him, he just said that Ankle had earned it.
“I have the memories Barnin. Heath sent them to me when he made his report,” Umbra said.
“That’s what I’m worried about. Heath isn’t all that bright, and then to you…” Barnin said, shrugging at Umbra and Heath. The latter gave him a rude hand gesture.
“You know I can eat you, right?” Umbra said, coming up to them.
Barnin smirked. “Anytime baby, anytime,” he said.
“I bet Sam will love to hear that,” Heath retorted.
“Heath, so help me, I will tell the new replacements that you like to share bed rolls,” Barnin threatened, and then looking at Umbra. “And what’s with the threats? Iselin has threatened to eat me like fifteen times too.”
She pursed her lips. “I really don’t know, it’s not like anything about you is appetizing in any way,” she said suggestively.
Umbra turned at the sound of other footsteps. Rachel was coming on deck. She was moving around fine, but her boney form always made Umbra think she was going to break somehow. The ship’s doctor had cleaned her up and given her new clothes. Color was starting to return to her face, but she still looked much the same as she had the day Umbra had first seen her. Rachel made her way to Ankle’s side, standing close to him. She turned her hazel eyes to Umbra. “Thank you for taking me today,” she said timidly, and looking at Ankle, “You’re still coming, right?”
It was good Ankle was coming with them. While Rachel was getting better physically, she was nowhere near ready to be on her own again mentally. She looked at Ankle as if he was her personal hero, and in truth he was. Umbra couldn’t imagine taking that away from anybody.