Acclayne Book 1: The Game Begins
Chapter 23

Kaylaer looked up at the night sky. Through the canopy of trees she could make out the faint glimmer of the stars above. A trip that should have taken days now spanned weeks; not that she was complaining- anything to get out of doing school work. She flicked back an errant blonde hair that was irritating her forehead before resting her head on her forearms.

Living out in the wilds; tracking; sleeping out doors – this was the life. In many respects it was good that they had been forced to prolong their journey; taking the long way round to prevent being spotted. A brief look of discomfort crossed her face as she contemplated the reason for their route change. Sometimes it was easy to forget what had happened all those weeks ago; the fighting... the bloodshed... the screams. The more she remembered, the more it unsettled her and so she often chose to ignore the flashbacks that plagued her.

Looking for a distraction she turned to watch Alaina sitting by the camp fire. She was busying herself talking to Malcolm and Methyn. Since Flyn had left them Kaylaer didn't feel much like socialising. The evening after the attack they had been all set to leave Vallaylii. Despite all still being pretty shaken; apart from Juney who was experiencing a manic adrenalin high, they had agreed that their safest option was to keep moving. Even Flyn had been prepared to come along for the ride; that was of course until they had paid one final visit to Giflyn. None of them were prepared for what they found.

Kaylaer winced as she recalled his bloody, crumpled form on the floor of his weapons room. The giant of a man seemed so small to her lying there broken and whimpering. As a rule she hated men, she didn't waver on that point, but no one should be treated like that. He had called out, incoherently, for his son, and as he watched him tenderly help his father there was no doubt in her mind that Flyn would not be joining them. It wasn't until much later that she would admit that she was more than a little disappointed.

Juney had rushed to help them; whispering urgently to the two of them. Kaylaer still had no idea what had transpired but she was willing to bet that it was something to do with those people that had attacked them. Even now she shuddered at the thought. Watching the others she wandered how they could laugh and talk so normally; knowing that they were being hunted.

“I can't eat that.”

“Oh man up would you? You killed the bloody thing.”

“That's not the point-”

“I am quite impressed by the way.”

“You are?” Alaina smiled, forgetting herself for a moment, “anyway that doesn't matter. I'm turning vegetarian.”

“Juney arched a perfectly shaped eyebrow at her. “Really?”

“Really.”

“Oh so you killed this for no reason then?”

“Ah- it might have killed us first?”

“Hmm, I think I could have just injured it, you know if I wasn't going to eat it-”

“You wouldn't have.”

“Damn right I wouldn't have; I would have killed the little bastard because the simple fact is that I am sick and tired of eating dried bread, and dried meat, and dried... dried... well I don't know what this is but that's turning on me too.” She held up a questionable looking bag of dry green pellets and pulled a face. “You'd rather eat these?”

Alaina stared at the bag and her stomach flipped over- nauseated by the very idea. “Point made.”

“Good, besides...” she said handing over a mound of the gamy, cooked meat, “protein is good for building muscle mass, and don't take this the wrong way; but you could definitely do with a bit more of that.”

“I think I'm doing alright.” Alaina sulked while she picked at her food. All of the hiking they'd done over the previous weeks had begun to subtly transform her body; her long, lean legs were becoming toned and defined; the uneven terrain had seen a dramatic improvement in her balance; and the blade work she'd been doing with Juney had increased her upper body strength. All-round she was secretly quite pleased with her progress. She could even hold The Twin-Blade in the air for more than a minute now without her arms hurting.

“'Alright' yes, but alright won't save your life-”

“I did quite fine saving myself today thank you very much.”

“Wolves don't have weapons or magic Alaina, and you're still very clumsy with your sword.”

“It's not my-”

“And therein lies the problem.”

“Will you stop acting like it has feelings? It's a SWORD.”

“Your sword. Your magic sword, and who are you to say it doesn't have feelings? It's waited all this time for you, it defends you when you need it to and yet you refuse to claim it.” Juney was standing now; completely enraged. Her eyes burned with a passion that was fiercely intimidating. “How do you think that would feel?”

Juney stared at Alaina for a few moments before closing her eyes and returning to her seat. She rubbed her temples. “It's no wonder that you're still so awkward with it; you're fighting against it the whole time instead of with it. Man, you are so frustrating.”

As I lay in our tent that night; between Kaylaer and Juney, I mulled over what she'd said. Did The Twin-Blade really have feelings? I've never really understood how this magic thing works, so I suppose it might do. I mean, whose to say it doesn't? I sat up quietly onto my elbows to get a good look at it. It was standing up against the other side of the tent; casually leaning there waiting to be needed. A shiver went up my spine; how was I supposed to tell Juney that I was scared of my own sword? I could feel its power running through me every time I held it, and every time it felt that little bit stronger. It was really freaking me out. If I didn't fight it I felt as if I might lose myself completely. Bottom line was I just didn't think I was strong enough to handle it – after all; I'm not my mother, as Kaylaer saw fit to keep reminding me every chance she got.

“Ah – I'm sorry,” I whispered into the darkness, “I promise I'll try harder.” Juney stirred beside me and I quickly lay back down. So not only was I a whimp but I was also loosing the plot - talking to a sword, for goodness sake. What the hell was wrong with me? Juney stirred again, and farted. Nice.

I lay there with my eyes open and noticed how the shadows of the leaves above seemed to dance across the ceiling of the tent. It was nice being out in the mountains and the forest; it reminded me of the camping trips I used to take with my dad. We'd build little rafts to float down the river and toast marshmallows on out camp fire. Those were the days. It was in quiet moments like this that I missed home the most; my family, my friends... any sense of normality whatsoever. Some mornings I still woke up and pinched myself, this was my normal now; Kings and Queens; Magic and duels; damsels in distress and swords with feelings. In some respects I was glad that I might never get the chance to explain this back home – they'd never believe me.

I closed my eyes and let the first waves of sleep start to envelop me. We were to make the final push towards Cortharen tomorrow, so Juney said. We were only a day or so's travel away and we'd need all our strength for the last leg. I didn't think we could possibly be that close; we were still near enough at the top of a mountain from what I could see.

I let my body relax and it felt as if my arms and legs were disappearing into the floor.

“Goodnight.” I whispered in my final moments of wakefulness.

Goodnight.

***

They woke to the sound of rainfall the following morning. During the night dark clouds had invaded the clear skies; heavy with rainwater. The ground beneath their tents felt soft and sticky; making it difficult to pack their equipment away – even with Methyn's magical assistance.

Despite Juney's claims that their journey was nearing an end no one felt particularly high spirited. It was as if the rain had washed away what little enthusiasm they had had – the bitter icing on a very stale cake.

It was mid-morning by the time the thick woodland started to thin out around them. Unprotected by the canopy of trees they were all soon wet through.

“Did I mention I don't like rain?” Alaina asked no one in particular, her red hair had turned a dark auburn – saturated with water, thick strands clung to her damp forehead.

“Once or twice.” Methyn sighed as he trudged through the sloppy earth. His light footwear was hardly appropriate and the flat soles could find no grip on the mud. Even the two children were quiet; focused on not falling into the sticky mud.

“Cheer up you lot; look.” Juney pointed through the dense rain. A few miles away, down in a valley, were what appeared to be the outlines of buildings. It was hard to tell through the misty gloom.

“Finally! Please tell me that's Cortharen.”

“It is.”

“Fantastic. How are we getting there?”

“How do you mean?”

“Well, we're up here,” Alaina said slowly, “and it's down there.”

“Is it really? I hadn't noticed.” Juney rolled her eyes. “There.” She pointed. The weary group stared blankly at her.

“Sorry, but did you just point to that slippery looking cliff face?”

“I did. Problem?”

“Would it make a difference?”

“No.”

“Thought not. Let's go then.”

***

Don't look down... don't look down... don'tdon'tdon't- for the love of all that is- oh fuck! Now why did I do that?! I froze mid-decent and hugged myself into the rock face. I'd have buried my head in an inviting looking crevice were it not for the fact it that it was damp and smelt distinctly 'mossy'.

“Didn't I tell you not to look?” Juney's voice floated up from below me. Yes you did, and so did I, and look; I didn't listen to either one of us.

“Ye-es,” I called down without looking, “but I did it anyway.” I just about made out some mild grumbled profanities from the ground.

“Even the children managed it.”

“I resent that. I'm more of an adult than she is.” I could see Kaylaer's arrogant stance in my mind's eye. Even in my imagination she was becoming irritating. I don't believe in hitting children but mark my words; when that child comes of age she is getting a serious bitch-slap from me.

“Children are fearless!”

“Not really...” Malcolm piped up in a timid voice. I suppose he didn't really like heights either, though I can't say I was all that surprised. “I just didn't look down.” Yes – very helpful that – thanks Malcolm.

“Are you going to move, you know, sometime today? We really are quite close.”

“Yes and I could do with a cup of something to calm my nerves.” Oh brilliant even Methyn and his inappropriate slipper-like footwear had made it to the bottom.

“Go on without me.” I paused, “Fetch me on the way back. Oh, and bring me a flask of tea Methyn; if it's as good as you say. I'll just hang out here for a while.”

Another grumble. “You do realise that the further down you come, the less -er- up you'll be?”

“Now that is logic for you.” Methyn sighed and though I couldn't see it I was pretty sure Juney shoved him.

As daft as it was I knew she had a point so slowly, with my eyes very much shut, I started to shuffle my way down. I t was potentially the longest and scariest fifteen minutes of my life, and when I finally touched down on Terra-firma I could have thrown myself on top of it and proceeded to do something wholly indecent to it.

The heavy rain had become a light drizzle as I'd descended, and by the time I had finished it had stopped altogether, Which was just as well seeing as I was holding everyone up.

“You realise you were only about as high up as a two storey house.” Kaylaer pointed out with a raised eyebrow.

“And your point is?”

“Nothing. Just saying.” She turned away with a blood-boilingly smug look on her face. I looked around, Juney and Methyn were nowhere to be seen. Wherever they had gone, they'd left most of their bags and The-My-Twin-Blade. I eyed it uneasily.

“Where've they gone?” I tried with as much nonchalance as I could manage. I hoped I had managed to disguise the shrillness of my voice; I thought I pulled it off quite well considering my near-panic attack of a quarter of an hour ago.

“They've just gone ahead a little ways to plan which route is best to take.” Malcolm smiled reassuringly at me from where he was sat.

“Yeah, so no need to freak out or anything.” Kaylaer smirked. Okay so maybe I was not as nonchalant as I would have liked.

“As if I would!” I forced a laugh that bordered on hysterical – even to my ears. If Kaylaer was going to take the piss then I was going to beat her to it. “-ah, ahahahahaha!” I finished, “and why have they left that?”I gestured towards...um... Twin-Blade. “I hope they don't think I'm going to be able to hold down the fort HAHA! I mean, an epileptic moth would have more coordination HAHA! Am I right?!”

“Er – whatever?” The kids shared a look that fit perfectly under the category of 'double-yew tee eff' before Malcolm said;

“Juney thinks that you should probably be carrying it from now on – so you can get used to it.”

“Ah.”

“That, and it's heavy.”

“Right.” I looked at Malcolm looking at me; he was waiting for some sort of reaction. I didn't give him one.

“So- anyway, what were you saying about Transmorphesis and Lingual Linkage?”

“Yeah, Mrs Gleber asked us to morph a Caterpillar into a Cat. Well you know Simeon Arkel?”

“The one with the ears?”

“Yeah, well he thought she said 'cart'...”

“Oh no...”

“I know!”

“You'd think with those ears he'd be able to hear properly at least.”

“Well yeah! Anyway so he starts making it bigger right, I mean, we all do. It has to be cat sized. His caterpillar got so BIG that it actually broke his desk. Before Mrs Gleber realised what was going on his caterpillar had Jesse Millner's head in it's mouth!”

“Oh My Mother...”

I left the two of them to their school talk and went to sit with the bags... and Twin-Blade. I decided that that's what I was going to call it from now on. Drop the pre-fix altogether. Juney couldn't shout at me for that.

It really wasn't so bad when I wasn't actually wielding it. I mean, I was sitting right next to it now and I had no urge to use it to go and chop Kaylaer's head off or something. Okay; no urge that wasn't already present. So it wasn't constantly playing with my mind – getting ideas above it's station. Though despite it's inactivity, I could still feel a hum coming from it, a static energy that seemed to radiate from it- like when you rub a balloon on your t-shirt.

I reached my splayed hand out to touch it and as I did so Juney and Methyn rounded the corner; making me jump and recoil my hand.

“Suspicious behaviour,” Juney smiled, hands on her hips. “playing with things we shouldn't be?”

“I'll play with my sword if I feel like it.” I stuck my tongue out. That'd teach her.

“Well it's about time.” she arched her eyebrows. Ah, she got me. I'd called it mine hadn't I? Damnit.

“Yeah, well.”

“Nice to see you decided to join us by the way, Even if you did take your time about it.”

“I told you I don't like heights.”

“And I told you not to look down.”

“Yeah but at least I've done it now. It's over.”

“That bit, yeah.”

“What do you mean 'that bit'?”

“We're only halfway down.”

“You WHAT!?” I felt Methyn's hand on my shoulder, trying to reassure me.

“That's why we went on ahead. We've found a way which is a little less, ahem, steep.”

I instinctively grabbed for the Twin-Blade: putting aside our differences for the moment.

“You said we were nearly there!”

“We were: nearly at the halfway point. Don't worry, like he said; it's far less steep. Then we're pretty much in town.”

I gulped.

“I do still recommend that you don't look down.”

So do I.

That makes three of us then.

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