Chapter Twenty: Nor’dell

  Asali burst into the tent early the next morning with a shout of, “Get up! Look!”

  Ean staggered outside with the others, squinting into the morning light. Asali pointed to the sky and, at first, Ean was irritated. Why had she woken him to see a bird? And why was everyone exclaiming over it? And then his mind snapped to full awareness.

  A bird.

  In the Black.

  The bird flirted with the crest of the ridge, dipping in and out of sight, until finally it dove down and remained hidden.

  “There must be something living over there,” Chadwick said. “A pocket of land that wasn’t touched by the dragon-fire, or maybe some new growth.”

  He began dismantling the tent, clearly eager to break camp and investigate. Ean was eager too. Even a patch of grass would be a welcome respite from the char that surrounded them.

  They packed quickly and started back up the ridge, pushing harder than before. The soft ash swallowed at Ean’s feet. Flora stepped in a particularly soft spot and sank in up to her ankles. Ean grabbed her hands and pulled her out. Ahead of them, Chadwick reached the top of the hill.

  “Holy shit!”

  Behind him, Leo stopped in shock.

  Ean felt a surge of hope. Maybe it wasn’t a patch of grass. Maybe it was a meadow, or a grove of trees.

  He clamored up the last few feet and his jaw dropped in surprise. Beside him, Asali and Flora gasped in unison. Stretching out before them, below the ridge of ash, was a pristine, unburnt, brilliantly hued landscape, made up of fjords and canyons and waterfalls. Sharply peaked hills rose above narrow valleys, some covered in moss-green grass; others capped with a spine of silver rock. In the creases and crevasses of the canyons, thin trees grew, their branches covered in bright green leaves and sunny yellow buds. A vividly blue river rippled at the base of the hills. It twined and swerved, sometimes doubling back on itself, creating a maze below the peaks. The labyrinth was so complex, Ean couldn’t tell if it was one river or two, possibly even three.

  He looked at the others, sharing their incomprehension.

  “But… Nor’dell was destroyed,” Leo said faintly. “They set flame to everything.”

  Ean doubted the land before them had seen anything more traumatic than a thunderstorm. This was not a land ravished by dragon-fire. This was unspoiled, untouched.

  Asali and Chadwick offered varying theories as the party half-walked, half-slid down the ash ridge. Perhaps this area recovered faster from dragon-fire. Or perhaps the dragons had been killed before this area had been burnt. Neither of them voiced the more dangerous idea that spun through Ean’s mind: perhaps Nor’dell had only burnt enough of its land to keep its enemies out. The thought made the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

  The ash gave way to a grassy hill. They hiked to the top and stopped for a meal. Ean searched for signs of civilization or dragons while the others tried to plot their route. He saw only steep hills and a fast-flowing river. He turned back to the others as they debated the merits of climbing the ravines or building a raft to sail the river. The ravines won out; no one wanted to navigate an unknown waterway.

  “And the river twists too much as it is,” Leo said, trying to trace its path with his finger. “We’ve no idea if it will take us south.”

  “We can stay truer to our course if we walk,” Chadwick agreed. “That means a bit of climbing today.”

  He gestured ahead where the hill ended in a rocky, semi-steep descent of fifty feet. A few trees dotted the climb, wherever an edge of earth flattened out enough to support a root system. At the base of the hill, a wide, pebbly bank gently slipped into the river.

  Flora sighed gratefully. “We can finally have a wash.” She slapped her skirt and a cloud of black soot puffed up.

  “And the Scholars said there was fishing,” Chadwick said.

  “Funny how they said there was fishing but left out all of this.” Ean swept a hand at the greenery around them.

  “Maybe the battle didn’t reach this area,” Leo said. “No one would take an army through these ravines.”

  Ean supposed it was a fair point. But if it was just a section of unburnt land, why didn’t the Scholars tell them about it? What else were they hiding?

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  But there wasn’t time for speculation. Ean’s attention was called to the more pressing matter of planning for the series of climbs ahead of them. They pared down their packs, leaving behind anything that wasn’t a true necessity, including the tent. As he and Chadwick were the only ones with climbing experience, they agreed to carry the heaviest bags. Leo carried the Eld sword, still carefully bundled and strapped to his pack.

  The climb down was a good introductory course for the others. It wasn’t too high and there were several trees to stop a fall if someone did take a tumble. Ean worried about Flora the most, but she proved to have a good sense of balance. And she wasn’t the reckless sort. She thought ahead about where she was placing her hands and feet and didn’t stretch herself beyond her capabilities. It was, surprisingly, Asali who caught Ean’s attention halfway down. She wasn’t reckless or clumsy or foolhardy, but she was quiet. And when he looked closer, Ean could see that her jaw was clenched and sweat dripped down her face, even though a cool breeze wafted up from the river. Ean kept an eye on her until she reached the shore.

  They spent the afternoon washing themselves, their clothes, and their blankets, and when they lay down to sleep, it was to the scent of pine and the sound of the river. Chadwick took off early the next morning to scout options for travel and returned an hour after dawn.

  “We’ll follow the river west for a bit,” he said. “Then there’s a hill that should be easy to climb and we should be able to walk up top for a while.”

  Leo nodded. “It’d be good to limit our climbs as much as possible.”

  “That’s the plan,” Chadwick said, throwing a reassuring wink at the group. “No sense wasting all our energy going up and down instead of forward.”

  Asali let out a nearly indetectable sigh of relief.

  They broke camp and started their trek. It was chilly in the valley, but once they started to climb and ascended into the sun, the day warmed quickly. Chadwick had been right; the climb up the hill was easy, and the summit was a flat plateau of grass and low-lying shrubs. They walked for two hours along the top until gray rock sprang up from the ground, rising in sheer cliff that blocked their path.

  Chadwick swore.

  “It’s not your fault,” Leo said. “We’re not traveling with a map.”

  Chadwick shook his head, rejecting the excuse, and broke away from the group, trying to figure out some way past the rock. Ean took a look himself, but after some inspection, it was clear the only option was to descend once more, even though the ridge was steeper here. Chadwick swore again and stalked over to the edge to plot the best course down. Asali held her breath every time he peered over the side.

  Chadwick wavered over a couple of spots, then called the group over to a section on the western side of the cliff.

  “It’s a bit tricky,” he warned. “Put your hands and feet where I put mine. If you feel yourself slipping, shout out but don’t grab anyone. Let us grab you.” He turned to Leo. “You follow me, okay?”

  As the most skilled mountain climber, Chadwick had the best chance of catching Leo should he fall. No one objected to the precaution, but Leo looked uncomfortable. He didn’t like being cared for at the expense of everyone else.

  Chadwick turned to the rest of the group. “Flora, you’ll follow Leo, then Ean, and then Asali. Sound good?”

  Ean raised an eyebrow. By having Asali follow him, Chadwick was giving her a safe spot as well. He wondered if Chadwick had realized how frightened she was, then wondered why he hadn’t said anything to her or offered any encouragement.

  Ean watched carefully as the others began their descent. Chadwick had chosen a steep route, but it offered the greatest number of hand and footholds, making it easier for novice climbers. Ean waited for Flora to clear the first few feet before starting after her. He moved slower than he needed because he saw the way Asali’s lips were pressed tight with unspoken fear.

  “I’m your safety net,” Ean told her, trying to offer some reassurance. “If you slip, I’ll catch you.”

  “I’m fine,” she said tersely.

  “Okay,” said Ean.

  They traveled the next few steps in silence.

  “It’s okay to be nervous,” Ean tried.

  “I’m not nervous!” Her voice cracked on her denial.

  Ean didn’t call her on the obvious lie. She was too defensive to accept his support, and he wasn’t going to push the issue. Not while they were climbing down a cliff. He kept his pace slow and steady and narrated the holds he was using. Asali slipped once, on one of the steeper passages. She gasped and Ean braced himself to take her weight, but she caught herself quickly. She closed her eyes and leaned against the cliff-face, taking in deep breaths. She looked like she was near tears.

  “If you tell anyone about this…”

  “Not telling a soul,” Ean promised.

  He waited for her to take a few more breaths and then resumed the climb. They made it down without any further mishaps and he pretended not to see her obvious relief when her feet touched solid ground.

  They followed the river for the rest of the day and made camp as the sun started to set. They took turns trying their hand at fishing. Ean saw Leo pull Asali to the side, concern on his face. From the brevity of their conversation, she was as brusque with him as she was with Ean. But Ean wasn’t going to retreat so easily. Chadwick had pointed out their route tomorrow, up another ridge, taller and steeper than their previous climbs. If Asali was scared of heights, it needed to be addressed.

  She had first watch that night. Ean stayed up as the others crawled into their bedrolls and joined her by the fire.

  “You were okay climbing the mountains to the Scholars,” he said softly.

  She glared at him. “You’re not going to let this go, are you?”

  “I need to know if you’re going to be okay tomorrow,” Ean said.

  Asali glanced at the ravine that loomed over them, then turned back to the fire. “I wasn’t scared in the mountains because it wasn’t straight up.”

  “It was on North Mountain.”

  “There were stairs, and I didn’t look down. And it was all snow and ice. It wasn’t like…,” she stopped. It wasn’t a cold night, but she wrapped her arms around herself. “It wasn’t like the crossing from Sudala to Eastmere.”

  She paused and her silence was heavy with an unspoken story. Ean waited.