© 2010, Patrick Hester.  All Rights Reserved

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Elias reined his horse up and whistled to Jaycn, who was riding between he and the rest of the squad to let Elias see if he could scout on his own.  It was the twelfth day out from Deisarch Dain and the weather had cleared again, leaving the sky above bright and blue and the sun hot.  He’d already stripped away his heavy coat and had kept his gloves behind his belt all day.

Jaycn trotted up and Elias pointed to a point in the Wall where a crack had formed and a tiny stalk of green no more than a cubit tall poked its way out and into the sunlight.  It had a single leaf about the size of his thumb.

“Right, good eye.  I’ll tell the Sergent.  Stay here and watch for anything, understood?”

“Yes.”  For some reason, Elias felt the need to pull his rifle from the holster on his saddle.  He tried to take in everything from the Wall, to the crack, the fog that hid the forest – even Jaycn as he trotted back to the rest of the squad.  He’d found the crack and the plant, but he still felt like he didn’t know really what he was supposed to be doing.

“All right, everyone spread out facing the interior of the island,” Klen ordered as the squad rode up.  “We take positions along the Wall, weapons out and at the ready – keep your eyes on that fog!  Jaycn, on your way, bring back the Engineers.”

“Aye, Gunny,” Jaycn said, then rode to Elias.  “The Engineers live in the Towers and only they can deal with this.  Keep your eyes and ears open, I’ll be back in an hour or so.”

“Right.”  Elias dismounted as someone came and took his horse.  The rest of the squad had already begun taking positions along the Wall, rifles ready and pointed at the trees no one could see.  Jaycn spurred his horse and sped off.

Elias took the spot next to Narut, who gave him an uneasy smile.  Staring out from the Wall, he could see the blackened earth Fesh had told them about back when they were in training, and that felt like a lifetime ago even though it was only a few weeks.  It extended for a mark beyond the Wall, and he couldn’t imagine anything being able to grow out there and wondered how anything managed to grow at all with all the snow they’d seen.  Then he thought about the fact that it had snowed for days straight, and yet there was no snow on the ground below.  Plus, there was this heat today that he didn’t think could happen – yet it did, almost as if the island itself was radiating a heat from within.  That thought soured his stomach.  How could an island radiate heat?  It had to come from somewhere, right?

“How was your watch?” Narut asked him softly.  Neither took their eyes away from the space beyond the Wall.

“Quiet,” he said, just as softly.  “And creepy.  I did hear the trees rustling just before my watch was over.”

“Oh.”  His friend looked green.  “You saw those paw prints?”

Eli nodded.  Larger than the hoof prints left by the horses, larger than anything he’d seen before, really.  He had to study them with Jaycn, who pointed out that his hand fit fully inside the middle while the three toes could each hold another hand spread out.

“I heard about the cats,” Elias said slowly.

Jaycn nodded.  “Big ones.  Take a horse right out from under you and drag it over the wall with you still in the stirrups.  Ever heard a horse scream?”

Elias shuddered.  “No.”

“You will.  In a full attack, I’ve seen vines come whipping out of the mist, drag a man off or pierce him through.  Branches too.  Those deaths are immediate.  Trees don’t need fresh meat.”

Elias got as comfortable as possible, sighting down his rifle towards the trees.  The sight at the end of the barrel glared in the light, so he licked his thumb and rubbed it on the sight.  It was going to be a long afternoon and he wanted to be ready for anything.

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© 2010, Patrick Hester.  All Rights Reserved

Chapter Twenty-Eight

The first few days of patrol blurred together quickly, filled with heavy snow and endless riding.  It didn’t take long for Eli’s backside to go beyond pain and well into numb.  Walking became a chore whenever they would dismount to spell the horses or setup camp at one of the way stations.

These were curious places where a path led down the outside of the Wall to a wide landing that seemed to cling there unsupported.  He knew that couldn’t be and tried to put the engineering of it out of his mind.  He’d spent each night in such a place; they had shelter against the snow and the wind seemed to flow right over without touching them.  There was even a small stable for the horses, food and water stores and coal for burning to provide heat.  Jaycn told him these stations existed the length of the Wall for the patrols to use and that wood was expressly prohibited for obvious reasons.

“When you’re ready, we’ll split watches,” Jaycn said the first night as he handed him a mug of something hot and steaming.  He sniffed it and couldn’t place the scent.  A taste and it was bitter, but warm.

“Kaff,” Jaycn said.  “Helps with watch duty.  Keeps you awake, alert.” (more…)

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© 2010, Patrick Hester.  All Rights Reserved

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Eli hopped from right to left foot, trying to get some sensation back into his frozen toes.  He had every stitch of clothing he owned on in layers and he still felt the bite of the wind.

They were sheltered just outside the main stable of the keep, a few dozen steps away from the top of The Wall.  He was feeling nervous, but the cold was a good distraction.

His horse whuffed at him, the same dun he’d rode from the pier.  The hostler’d told him she was assigned to him for the duration of his stay on the island and suggested that he not only get to know her, but that he make a point of caring for her even when he wasn’t on patrol.

“Best way to get an animal to trust you is to spend time with em, let them get to know you,” he said.  “It’s important for the horse to trust you.”

Eli nodded to himself.  It made sense. (more…)

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Chapter Twenty-Six

Eli, Narut and Fyet stepped into the library the next day.  There was no sign of the old man, Captain Shen, which relieved Eli.  He didn’t want another encounter with him.

He’d been surprised by the number of older men in the keep; he imagined that anyone who survived their time on the island, would escape the moment their terms were up.  To find so many older men who had joined again and again was more than a little disturbing.

The library was easily as large as the commissary, which had been built to serve hundreds of men at a time.  From wall to wall, there were shelves and each shelf was weighted down by stacks and stacks of books.  He’d never seen so many books before in all his life.  Suddenly, he thought it might not be too bad on Evermist.

The three men separated, each walking down a different row, eyes wide.  Eli ran his eyes up and down the shelves, trying to make out titles.  By the time he made it to the end of the row, a frown fixed on his face, he found Narut looking similarly confused.  Turning, he saw Fyet taking a seat at a long, wooden table.  He had a stack of books and started going through them.  Narut nodded to him and they walked over together.

“Fyet?” Eli asked.  “Did you find something?” (more…)

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Chapter Twenty-Five

Eli was lost.

The keep had fifteen levels once you got inside and each one felt to him like a labyrinth of twists and turns designed to make it impossible to know where you were or where you’d been.  Signs were posted in most places but the light was poor and most of those signs were dull and faded making it that much harder to find his way around.  The tapestries on the walls only made it worse; they all seemed to depict mighty battles but one looked like the next after a while, just as the red and black carpets seemed to have the same patterns from one to the next, causing them to blend together in his mind.  Jaycn hadn’t been any help, disappearing almost the moment they stepped into the keep and his own friends were struggling as much as he was.

He paused, staring at a tapestry that had an odd battle depicted.  Men in blue uniforms were fighting men in gray uniforms-neither of which looked anything like the uniforms he’d ever seen.  The entire thing was badly faded, the colors muted with time, but they seemed to be fighting in close quarters, with sabers and knives fixed to the ends of their rifles, which he’d never heard of before.  He tried to make out the flags of the enemy armies but he didn’t recognize the red, blue and white of the one, nor the orange, blue and white of the other. (more…)

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Chapter Twenty-Four

The road itself was wider than he thought it would be, easily capable of having six or seven horses ride side by side without bumping or jostling each other.  Eli kept his horse as near the middle as he could, keenly aware of the sheer drop awaiting him over the edge.  Luckily, Jaycn kept talking, and concentrating on his voice made it easier to ignore the fact that they were climbing higher and higher with every step forward.

“We won’t see much trouble today,” Jaycn said.  “I’ve only heard of seeds making it this far over the Wall, never seen it with my own eyes.”

“All right,” he said, trying not to notice how high they were already; the pier below was beginning to fade behind a haze.

“It’s always rough when you’re new.  You’ll get caught up really quick.  Just do what I say when I say it, don’t mouth off to anyone.  Everyone needs everyone here.  Don’t make enemies.”

“I hadn’t planned on it,” Eli said.  Jaycn grunted.

(more…)

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Chapter Twenty-Three

“You look nervous. Are you nervous? I’m nervous,” Narut asked.    Eli tried to smile at Narut, but he couldn’t quite manage it.  He did feel as nervous as his friend, more so thanks to a night filled with strange dreams and little rest.  His head throbbed just thinking about that.

To take his mind off it, he started rechecking his horse and gear.  It seemed a fine animal, better than he thought he would get; a bay dun that frisked while he checked the straps for the fourth time since saddling her, almost as if to say to him, ‘Leave it, already’.  Honestly, he was simply looking for something to do with his hands.  Forget the Wall for a moment, he was nervous about riding, as he’d never done a lot of it before, and most of that as a child.  During training, he’d gotten a refresher course, and then it was only enough to keep him from falling out of the saddle.  It seemed a silly thing to worry about now, yet he did.

He had his saddlebags in place, stuffed with extra clothes to layer on as they made their ascent.  For now, the sun was warm enough that he had only his uniform jacket on with his shirt unbuttoned.  His sheepskin gloves were tucked just under the saddle near the pommel where he could grab them quickly if he needed them and his bedroll and water skins were behind the saddle, tied to his duffel.

(more…)

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Chapter Twenty-Two

Eli dreamed.

He stood before an ancient looking stone temple, overgrown with creeping vines and shrubs.  The air smelled fresh and clean like he’d never known it and the sun was warm though not uncomfortable.

He tried to move forward but found that his feet were not listening.  Trying to look down, he realized that his head would no longer move.  His eyes were locked on the temple before him.

“Go away,” growled a deep voice behind him.  That voice chilled the air, dimmed the sun.  Even the vines fixed upon the stone of the temple seemed to quake and pull back and away from it. There was pain and passion in that voice, anger and rage.  Eli began to sweat and it wasn’t due to the sun’s heat above him. (more…)

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Chapter Twenty-One

Eli stood in the chill night air staring up at the Wall.  Sleep would not come this night, but he wasn’t alone.  He’d stopped counting the other men from his squad who’d been tossing and turning in the barracks before he stepped outside.  It seemed that everyone had the same thing on their mind.

The Wall.

It loomed.  How something black as night could still be seen was beyond him.  The whole thing was beyond him.  A Wall that tall, wrapping around an entire island… It was just too incredible to believe.

“They grow it,” said a voice that made him jump.  Turning, he saw the outline of an older man standing in the shadows of the barracks across from his own.  The man moved into the weak light cast by the lanterns hanging on the pole at the crossroads between buildings.  He was older than Elias, by at least ten years.  His hair was dark but there were flecks of gray in his mustache.  Elias moved to meet him at the pole.

“Jaycn,” said the man, offering his hand.  Elias took it, not surprised at all at the firm grip of this obvious veteran.

(more…)

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Chapter Twenty

Elias’ first view of Evermist was indeed through a misty fog that had rolled in while they crossed the channel.  Like the dream, the temperature had dropped, the wind had died and the only sound was that of the oars in the water.  Unlike the dream, there had been no attacks by giant trees; only a sailor high up in what Narut told him was the eagles nest, shouting something every few minutes until someone out in the fog started shouting back.  Then a light appeared in the distance that would wink in the fog.  Each time the light appeared, the ship shifted her course slightly towards it.

As the mists parted, he saw an impossibly tall wall of black stone that stretched as far as he could see left and right and high into the sky.  Far above, on the edge of the clouds, he could just make out a keep carved within the rock of the Wall.

Eli stared up, finding it difficult to swallow.

The Seaspray slid in next to an ancient stone pier that stretched far out into the water.  Several buildings were clustered here, but Eli found his eyes creeping back to that impossible wall.  However it had been made, there did not seem to be enough stone in all the world to have built it, and that bothered him more than he could say.  He squinted, trying to see the seams of the stones or some sort of discoloration that would indicate stones from a different quarry the way bricks sometimes looked.  There was none that he could see.

(more…)

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