Still laughing, he put his arm around me. “No, no. We’re going to watch a better team play. We’re clearly not cut out for it. But there are a few leagues, and we can watch them battle it out.”
My terror at playing that silly game where I’d hurt myself must have been evident on my face. Elex continued to chuckle at me even as we walked into the restaurant.
Dinner was exquisite, as always. Drez, the head chef, was magic with food. Every year, her fare became more and more amazing, and, our group, her willing guinea pigs. Always trying new combinations and new spices, sauces, and techniques on us, but none of us complained—not for food that magnificent.
Heading for the Mountain Park, our friends—Jallina and Arik—ran from another street to catch up with us.
Mountain Park was just that—a park at the foot of the mountain.
The S’Tisk Mountain, the most massive peak in the spine, threw shadows on S’Kir Prime as the sun sank. The streets and buildings shone in the late sun anyway, with the buildings made of white. It was only on the shortest days of the year that any true shadow fell on the city.
The magic of S’Kir raised the massive spine of mountain to keep us from the vampires on the other side. The story said the vampires were wicked and the magic of our island decided the druids needed to be protected. But I didn’t necessarily believe it, nor did my superiors.
The simple tale was the story told to children.
There were very few druids alive who remembered when there was no mountain. The individuals who did didn’t talk about it. Only those with wisdom accepted that the mountain and the magic had reason without imparting the reason for the rising—or the locking of the Gate.
What we did know for certain?
One day, it would fall.
One day, we would reunite with the vampires.
Jallina and Arik fell in step with us as we headed for the game of esalhukhi, the very game that made me—the youngest of the group at just ninety-five—sprain my knee so severely that I’d needed a healer to come tend my injury.
Amused, Jallina pointed to my knee as we walked. “Even the memory of the injury makes you limp?”
“Hush! You have no idea what pain that was!” I couldn’t stay mad though, as a giggle escaped me.
“Did you not play sports as a child?” Elex glanced over. “You work with children; you know they’re rough.”
I rolled my eyes. “Bookworm, Elex, remember?”
“Even so young?” he questioned.
“Yes.” I nodded firmly. “Why do you think I’m an acolyte at the temple? My parents saw I wasn’t an athlete at a very young age and let me read. Which is what I should have insisted on doing instead of getting tripped with a cheater’s stick!”
The truth was I wasn’t mad. It had been fun, but I really wasn’t a very good athlete. Books were everything to me. I loved reading and learning, and for eighty years, I had been doing just that in the temple.
As we all strolled toward the mountain, an epiphany overcame my thoughts. I didn’t have to make up my mind about my position at the temple, because I did want to remain an acolyte. I wasn’t interested in forsaking the company of my friends—especially Elex—and I certainly wasn’t willing to have the temple be my only existence. So many of the wise teachers had said, education is not just learning. Doing, and being, and seeing and witnessing—all of it was part of life.
I wanted that.
And perhaps, someday, a mate and children.
I was entirely too young for that, though.
Finding seats in the amphitheater, the esalhukhi teams had started their on-field battle.
Even as I tried to pay attention, something…
…something plucked at me.
The amphitheater faded into the background, even as the game became more intense. A surge in my power, an odd rush in my ears.
Something tried to pull me away.
A tickle.
An itch.
It called to me…
I needed to turn around and stare up at the massive, airless peak of the mountain.
Stronger and stronger as I sat there, the feeling drove through me, permeating every nook of my mind, and eventually, I couldn’t resist it.
I looked to Elex. “Do you feel that?”
Startled, Elex glanced at the crowd and stadia around us. “Feel what? An earthquake?”
My eyes landed back on the tall, now-threatening peak behind us. “The mountain. It’s…”
He craned his neck around, his dark green eyes scanning the mountain. His black, thick long hair ruffled in the pleasant breeze, caressing his cheeks. He studied Mount S’Tisk, as a trained geologist would, eventually turning back to me. “There’s nothing there, Kimber. It’s as it’s always been.”
I tipped my head back to try to see the peak, but as usual, it was impossible from so close to the base.
Still, the itch grew.
Ignoring it wasn’t an option.
With a gentle touch, I placed my right palm on my friend’s muscular forearm. “Something’s going on, Elex. I’ll be back.”
I jumped to my feet and climbed over him and two others. The aisle was clear, and I scampered out of the amphitheater toward the mountain.
The itch grew, my spine straightening.
“Kimber!” Elex caught up before I made it very far, his long legs eating up the space I’d put between us. “What in the world are you doing? There’s nothing there. The mountain hasn’t ever moved, save for a small tremor here or there.”
“There’s something, Elex. It’s pulling me toward it, trying to tell me something.”
“Oh, for… You’ve been in that temple too long.”
I stared at him, hard. “You don’t believe me.”
“No, I don’t.”
Rolling my eyes, I marched toward the mountain.
It was a very odd mountain, growing straight out of the ground to an astounding height, the sheer cliffs and drop-offs peppered the vertical climbs, and dangerous spires and crevasses broke up the climbs even more. Even as the best mountaineer made their way up the side, no one had ever crossed over because there was no end to it. There was no way to cross the peak, and the peak ran like a spine the length of S’Kir, all two hundred leagues.
The magic hadn’t been messing around when it lifted the land.
Caves dotted the bottom, and animals, residents, even hidden water springs, lurked inside. None went more than a half league in before ending abruptly, but the water there was sweeter than any other in S’Kir.
One of these caves was the origin of the itch. I headed straight for the opening that called me, without regard for the danger I could be marching into.
Elex, however, lacked my enthusiasm for an impromptu spelunking expedition. He grabbed my arm. “Kimber. Stop. We aren’t prepared for this.”
How right he was.
“I’m going in there, Elex. With or without you. I need to find out what’s going on. This is—” I halted my words as I realized what was going on, and I couldn’t contain my surprise. “This is magic.”
“We’re drenched in magic.” Skepticism, not magic, dripped off Elex’s words.
“No, this is the mountain’s magic, pulling me toward it. Telling me to discover what’s inside.”