The Path of Giants by B.T. Narro (year 7 reading list .TXT) 📗

but not right now.” She looked directly at me. “You need to come with me, Jon. I’m taking you to the mountains near Rohaer.”

“What?” I blurted. “Why?”

“A group of sorcerers left Rohaer some time ago and is headed toward the mountains. My sister is there. It is her snowstorm that has prevented the army from marching all this time, but I believe Valinox plans to take this group of sorcerers into the mountains one by one. With his invisibility spell, he can cloak anything he carries, including a human being. They will no longer be invisible once he lets them go, but without us able to spot him coming, we will be unable to locate him as he hides these sorcerers somewhere in the mountains. He will amass a small army of dark mages who are powerful enough to lift themselves wherever they need to go. My sister and I will have no chance against all of them. We need assistance.” She glanced at Leon. “It is my understanding that Jon Oklar is the only one who can catch himself if he was to fall from a high place.”

“What about you, elf?” Leon asked.

“Like you, I’m strong with wind. And also like you, I presume, I have never practiced throwing myself into the air and catching myself. It has not been a necessary skill until now.”

Leon had a crooked frown. “Now hold on, Souriff. This sounds like suicide for Jon. How many sorcerers are we talking about?”

“It depends on how many Valinox can bring to the mountains before we find them. My sister recently spotted twenty approaching through her snowstorm.”

So this was the real reason Souriff had come to Koluk shouting my name. It didn’t seem like she cared that much after all about helping us, but at least it was clear that she desperately needed us to win this war. Normally that would be good enough for me to trust her, but was I really ready to fight with the odds stacked against me so greatly? Leon might be right. It could be suicide, and it seemed quite clear that she didn’t value my life as much as I thought she should.

I asked, “Valinox will be invisible during the whole battle, fighting alongside these dark mages as we stand against them, all high up in the mountains?”

“Yes. He will have recovered from his knife wound by now and should be on his way to Rohaer. We have to leave now. Come on.” She turned and gestured at her back. “I will take you straight there.”

“Jon’s not doing that,” Leon said as he stepped between us. “He’s not getting himself killed.”

I agreed with Leon. This sounded like suicide.

She seethed with anger. It was hard to look directly into her powerful eyes. “If Failina must flee, then all is lost! I have spoken with your king before coming here. He needs more time to prepare for Rohaer.”

“But did he know how likely Jon could die during this attempt to buy more time?” Leon asked.

“I will protect Jon,” Souriff answered. “If the mountain becomes lost, I will retreat with him in my arms.” She swept her hand out at us. “None of you have been to Rohaer. You don’t know their numbers, their strength. All of Lycast will fall. If there is even a chance we can delay them, that is a chance we must take.”

Souriff was wrong. One of us had come from Rohaer. I looked at Hadley. It might’ve been two years since she’d been there, but she had a better idea than the rest of us just how strong Rohaer’s army really could be.

It scared me that she didn’t seem to want to speak. So even Hadley believed they had too strong of an army for us to stand against them? She clearly didn’t want to say this, because she knew I would take the chance to slow them down.

I sighed in resignation. “I’ll go,” I said.

“No!” shouted most of my peers.

“Jon, listen to me,” Leon said. “Souriff doesn’t know just how important you are. I say we let them come.”

“What?” Souriff yelled. “If we do not stop Valinox from driving off my sister, then all is lost! How many times do I have to tell you, foolish human! Don’t throw away the future of humanity for the life of one man. There is a chance we will succeed, so we must take it.”

“Jon’s not taking that slim chance,” Leon said. “There’s not a healer like him, and there ain’t a man in Lycast who fights better with sword. I would go myself if I knew I had any chance of survival, but I’m not going to put my life in your hands, either. You’d probably leave me up there to die and take off with your sister.”

“My sister can carry herself off the mountains with wind. I will see to Jon’s safety!”

“Yeah right,” Leon said. “He’s not going. I’m not going. You can take Eslenda if you want. She’s about as selfish and stubborn as you are. But I think even she’s aware that this is a lost cause, Souriff.”

“You are actually proposing that we let Rohaer come?” the demigod asked in disbelief.

“Yes!” Leon tossed his hands up. “Let them come! Let the bastards come!”

Leon had a deep voice that reverberated through the forest. There was an eerie moment of silence after.

Surprisingly, Souriff seemed to calm down somewhat as the spark of anger faded from her blue eyes. “I don’t have time to argue any longer. Jon, I am ordering you to come with me. I nearly lost my life to save your friends. Had I not been here to distract Valinox, all of you would’ve died. You owe me your life.”

I looked at my group of friends. It was true that many of us would’ve fallen if Souriff hadn’t arrived, as I couldn’t imagine we’d be able to take on Valinox and his army. However, Michael was shaking his head at me, silently telling me not to.