Six of Ruin (Heirs of Irenwell #1)

The terrain changed. Wide, clear pathways turned narrow, overgrown and steep. My legs hurt in my stupid shoes and my ankle, which should have already healed, turned even more swollen. Pain bit me with each step.

We were also climbing up, which was not mentioned in the beginning of the journey. If I had known there would be climbing, I would have refused.

The air was also much colder here and the robe I had thrown over my purple dress wasn’t enough to keep me warm. The group looked tired, too. Torvald grew even more silent than usual after the altercation in the woods; perhaps Nickeltinker’s outburst reminded him he was doomed. He walked after Rixen, not bothering to engage in our squabbles.

Rixen still refused to talk to me about what happened; me accidently on purpose stumbling through his mind, kissing Danilo and Nickeltinker accusing us we were falling in love.

Danilo refused to talk to me, too. Nickeltinker’s outburst was at fault as well. He refused to talk to anyone, though, he strolled ahead and pretended we didn’t exist.

“How much longer?” I whined. “My legs hurt.”

“Maybe you should have worn boots.” Rixen’s answer didn’t surprise me, but his will to talk to me did. “And around two more months.”

“Why do we have to climb? Isn’t there a shortcut?”

Ace turned to me, “This is a shortcut.” His warthog turned around and judged me for even asking such stupid questions. The more time I spent around Frank, the more sentient he seemed.

“You’re only trying to get rid of me.” I complained.

“You’re only alive because we’re not trying to get rid of you.” Ace mumbled.

“And you’re only alive because no god wants to deal with you.” I grunted.

“You’re not wrong.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Nick hopped ahead. “There’s nothing more boring than a straight, flat terrain.”

A gush of cold air blew through my robe, freezing me to the bones. I shivered and walked faster, my leg muscles aching. Being so occupied by my own thoughts, I barely took in the change in the forest, apart from the overgrown pathways and silence.

The trees were different, denser, taller, like nothing I’ve ever seen before. Snow and white, almost sparkling rock covered the mountain peaks I could see, all impossibly tall. Then, there were peaks I couldn’t even see; thick, grey clouds hid them from view. Looking up made me dizzy.

“Is this the Northern Mountain?” I asked, my gaze falling back on the safe ground.

Ace nodded, “The Spirit territory is located on the plateau between the four peaks of the range.”

“Must be a huge area.” Nickeltinker mumbled. “Is there another way in?”

“No.” Rixen answered. “Only through the lake of Liu Raj. And across the peaks, but the borders are guarded and they tend to kill first, ask questions later.”

My eyes shot up, glad I could use this opportunity to trick him into talking to me, “Who is he exactly?”

Ace jumped in instead, “They’re not a he. Liu Raj doesn’t have a gender.”

“Oh.” I mumbled.

“Liu Raj is the keeper of the Spirit territory.” Rixen answered my previous question. “They can decide who comes in and who doesn’t.”

Nickeltinker hopped ahead, getting closer to Rixen, “And how are we getting in?”

“Well,” Ace raised his voice, “As long as you give up a wish and share a secret with our spirit friend, you should be fine. We cannot stay long, though. Magic-less creatures aren’t allowed to reside within the Spirit territory.”

“What?” I almost stopped, “What does that mean?”

“Same as Fae territory, Princess.” Ace narrowed his eyes at me, judging me for not knowing anything. “Spirits can mess with your mind. And they don’t particularly like humans, so some of our friends shouldn’t stay there for long.”

“Here!” Rixen’s shout broke through the wind. “We’re near.”

I rushed to him, ignoring the pain spreading through my ankle and my muscles. The rest of the group approached Rixen, too. Bushes and weeds hid him from view, as well as the giant, steep, rocky cliff in front of him, at least four or five times my size. I looked up, barely seeing the edge of the white rock.

“We have to climb that.” Rixen said. “Come on.”

“Are you kidding me?” I spat. “There’s no way I can climb that!”

Nickeltinker ran past me, not even slowing down as he pushed himself off the ground, grabbed a branch for support, and flung himself against the steep rock. He looked like he was flying. He did it four more times, each time jumping on the higher level, until he was eventually on the top, staring down at us through the low fog. He didn’t even break a sweat.

“Come on, it’s not that high!” A grin mocked us through the fog.

Danilo was the first to give it a shot. He stretched his back and found support for his feet. We watched tentatively as he made the first step, his left foot residing on a small rock, peeking out of the massive boulder. Danilo was strong, but he was also heavy, which made climbing difficult.

My heart picked up the pace as I stared at the cliff, there was no way I would be able to climb that. Danilo made it to the second “ladder,” grunts falling off his lips and his knuckles turning white.

I looked at chuckling Ace, “Can’t you magic us up there?”

“It took me seven hundred years to master magic.” He said. “And you talk about it like it’s effortless and easy.”

I huffed, “I’m not going to be able to climb that and you know it.”

Before I managed to complain some more, Frank jumped past me and climbed the cliff in a zigzag manner, startling Danilo and almost causing him to fall. The warthog stopped next to Nickeltinker on the top and mockingly looked down.

“Why can the pig do it and I can’t?” I mumbled.

“Frank is a warthog.” Ace squinted. “And there might be a goat somewhere in his ancestral tree.”

Danilo wasn’t even halfway up, his muscles strained and his face reddened, sweat covering his forehead, but he was determined to make it.

Torvald grunted, “Uh, I carry.” He gestured at me.

My eyes widened, “Would you really?”

A nod.

Ace, however, put his hand on Torvald’s forearm, as if stopping him, as he raised his eyebrow at straining Danilo. Right as the knight reached the half of the cliff, Ace kneeled and put his palms on the ground, which began to shake in front of him.

The air around him shifted, it turned dense and moist, but cold nonetheless. Through the crack in the ground, a small vine began to grow. Ace kept his eyes closed.

The energy he emitted transfixed me to the point of awe. The woods fell silent, the vine turned thicker and stronger as it emerged from the depths of frozen ground. I glanced around, flinching at the darkness of the forest; darkness that now seemed more alive.

I felt it viscerally, the crack between worlds. Aether, he called it. The shadows danced at the edges of our world, clawing at the shadowy veil. No one else could feel it, no one except me.

The origin of magic is unknown. I remembered.

The vine pushed up and up, until it passed Danilo and grew all the way to the edge of the cliff. Ace didn’t speak or move, but his face turned pale and ashy. His fingernails cracked. A wince fell from my lips and a shiver crawled down my spine.

Ace finally opened his eyes, the shadows around him disappeared and the omnipresent feeling of being watched disappeared. The breath I was holding left my lungs.

The green, thick vine seemed strong enough to hold us.

“There.” Ace stood up. “I magicked.”

I frowned at the distraught Danilo hanging off the cliff, “Did you wait until Danilo climbed half of it to do it?”

Ace said nothing, but a ghost of a mocking smile passed over his lips.

Rixen chuckled, “You’re an ass.”

“Well, his name is As.” I added.

Ace rolled his eyes, “Your inferior language butchered my name. In the ancient tongues, it means The One That Conquers. Now, climb.”

Danilo swung towards the vine and breathed out as he finally grabbed it.

“Your parents must have thought you’d be a great wizard one day.” I mocked.

Ace looked straight into my eyes before he began to climb, “I had no name until I was four years old.”

And up he went, surprisingly agile for such an old man.

Torvald approached me, “Uh, Torvald last.”

“Alright.” Rixen nodded. “You’re the heaviest, you should wait until we reach the top.”

“I don’t know how to do this.” I shook my head, fear squeezing my veins.

Rixen grabbed the wine, which seemed stable and strong, “Put your legs on each side and hold the vine. Use your legs to climb, almost like you’re walking over it. Use your hands to hold yourself.”

Tentatively, I took the plant between my palms. I expected it to be slimy and moist, but it was quite rough and rugged, convincing me my hands wouldn’t slip. I tried to pull myself up, but I had no upper body strength.

A lump formed in my throat and I dropped the wine, “I can’t do it.”

“Yes, you can.” Rixen took my hand, surprise jolting through my skin, and put it around the wine. He was too close; I could feel his warm breath on the nape of my neck. “I’ll be right behind you.”

“Why?” I chuckled nervously, “So you can look at my butt?”

Rixen smiled against my skin, “If you fall, I’ll catch you.”

“Such a cliché.” I shook my head, but the smile wouldn’t leave my lips.

I pulled myself up. The vine didn’t budge under my weight; Ace made sure it had strong roots. One hand in front of the other, I thought and breathed out as I left the ground behind. One leg in front of the other. My ankle throbbed and my muscles ached, but I held tightly.

My stupid shoes almost slipped a couple of times, my heart skipped a beat and I almost sent a prayer out into the world.

I made the awful mistake of looking down.

Fear seized me from head to toe. The stones under the cliff seemed tiny. Rixen wasn’t far behind me, but the ground was. With my heart in my mouth and pain coursing through my body, I held the wine as a loud cry escaped my throat.

“I can’t do this, I can’t do this.” My own thoughts caused more panic. “Rixen-”

“I’m here.” But he wasn’t close enough to comfort me. “Irina, you can do this. You’re close.”

“No, I’m not.” My eyes filled with blurry tears. “I’m going to fall, I’m going to-”

“Irina, listen to me!” Rixen shouted. “One leg in front of the other. It’s going to be alright.”

My palms began to sweat and the rough wine turned slippery. I wasn’t going to make it.

“I’m going to die.” I squeezed through my lips. “And the tale of my death is going to be a satirical poem instead of a eulogy.”

Rixen chuckled, “That’s not true.” His voice was closer now.

No, his voice was in my head. His fingers grazed my swollen ankle and I realised he opened up his mind to me once again. I breathed in, focusing on his calm, instead of my scattered energy.

“Talk to me.” I demanded as I finally dared to move my legs. “I’m going to fall if you stop talking to me.”

“What do you want me to talk about?”

I didn’t look at him, I couldn’t face the ground.

“Anything.” I uttered, used my hands as support and took a step forward. Perhaps the impending doom lingering over my head made me stupid and reckless, but I added. “I can’t stand your silence.”

The energy between us shifted, as if I’ve just admitted something crucial.

“You might be able to see the Bordering City from up there.” He said and I moved. “It’s quite close to your home. Don’t you want to see something that reminds you of home?”

“As strange as it may seem,” One leg in front of the other, “You are my home.”

Rixen stopped. I could hear his legs burying into the rock.

Realising what I just said, I corrected myself, “Not you, you. You as in plural. All of you.”

“Right.” Rixen continued to move. “You can also see the Star of Orath from up there, which means we’re getting closer to Orathia. We might even make it in time to save the world.”

The end of the cliff was closer now and I stopped our conversation. Whatever I said now, everyone could hear.

“Hurry the fuck up, will you?” Ace grunted. “You’ve already wasted enough of my time as it is.”

Nickeltinker cheered, “You can do it, Princess!”

With the last ounces of strength, I flung my leg over the edge of the cliff and rolled myself away. I breathed in the sparse air and stared at the star-filled sky above. The men around me clapped, which made me feel pathetic.

My muscles throbbed as I stood up, but it was worth it.

The landscape opened up in front of me. Deep, dark woods as far as the eye could see, illuminated by moonlight and starlight. The ocean flickered in the distance. I didn’t even realise we climbed so high because the terrain wasn’t as steep as this cliff. The Bordering City was nowhere in sight though, hidden behind the veil of moonlight, but it didn’t even make me feel nostalgic.

Rixen pulled himself up and pointed behind me, “There. That’s the Star of Orath.”

I turned around. Almost hidden from view by another large cliff, Star of Orath proudly shone above a distant land, larger than any star I’ve ever seen. Its light made the ocean appear silvery.

“Orathian Sun.” Ace mumbled. “A beautiful thing.”

It might have been the first genuine compliment I’ve heard from him and he said it to a star.

As I turned to mock him, something flew in my face.

I screamed and waved in front of my face, sending feathers flying. A huge, black crow shrieked in my ear before it finally settled on Ace’s shoulder. My friends’ laughter echoed around me.

“Oh, hello Mathilda.” He scratched the bird’s head. “What is this?” The bird carried a small scroll in her claw.

Ace unrolled the scroll and laughed as he read it, “Good job, folks. The world thinks we’re dead.” Another wave of laughter. “They call us the Wasted Six.”

“That’s probably due to your drinking problem.” Rixen mumbled.

Ace didn’t respond, which I found odd, until I realised the crow was too close to his ear, as if whispering something. Ace’s face changed; his wild green eyes jumped across the ground.

Torvald finally climbed up and we gathered around Ace.

“What’s going on?” Danilo asked.

The last boot squished the root, warthog’s hooves clanked against the ground, and all sounds died. Even the wind seemed to have settled.

Ace’s eyes kept roaming left and right, up and down, until they finally landed on us, “We’re being followed.”