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Support Class: Unknown (Web Novel) - Chapter THREE HUNDRED THIRTEEN: What Grows Unseen III
Chapter THREE HUNDRED THIRTEEN: What Grows Unseen III
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“Lind…”
“Esh.”
“When I sent Alden off to find his own way in our Rapport, I advised him not to go to Wathe. I said that I didn’t recommend the city for a solo adventure. I don’t want him to encounter any trouble or unpleasant social scenarios on his own. So it was a word of caution, but a soft caution so that he wouldn’t feel unwelcome. It may have been too soft. ”
“I’m not sure even that much caution was necessary. We won’t have anything like the incident with Servin-ith and Bash-nor here,” said Lind. Her hands were sending an embroidery needle through a piece of stretched fabric. Esh’s small house was quiet with only the two of them in it, but children’s toys—evidence of an evening visit from Brim and Droon—cluttered the floor. “From your surprise, I take it he’s ignored your advice and gone to Wathe?”
“No. He hasn’t ignored my advice. He’s not anywhere near the city.” Esh stood up from his spot on the sofa. “I’m teleporting to the observation station over the training fields. Would you like to come?”
“He’s observing the exercises tonight?”
“Not observing.”
Lind’s needle paused.
“And I thought everyone would remember him for his Three-fingered Thief style,” said Esh, going to fetch his boots.
******
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Bithe had demanded the wegyta rings, and Alden had handed them over without question. The Artonan clipped one of the demon’s wings with them, then sent a ball of compressed dirt that blasted it down to the bottom of the hill.
Not how I’d have done it, thought Alden, on his knees, in a hurry to get a pain relieving bandage and a few of his spare protective plates out of his backpack.
His interface showed him a rip on one shoulder of Bithe’s coat. And blood.
“Alden! How did you get here?” Bithe was still looking far downhill toward where the demon must be, the rings at the ready in front of him.
“I ran.”
Alden kept the kelsithe umbrella over both of them to block some of the wind. Rain had just begun to fall down here too. He tried to show Bithe the large rectangular bandage. “Will this be enough to stop the bleeding? I don’t have many options that work for Artonans. Did you manage to keep your own first aid supplies when the flyer was hit?”
The thunder was jarring here. Sudden and loud despite his ear protection.
“We’ve only got a few things left,” said Bithe. “What bleeding?”
“You’re bleeding. Not really. The interface is showing blood. On your—”
“My shoulder. I see.”
“Will this bandage help?”
“It should.”
“Let me put it on you while you keep pointing the rings down at that thing. Or you can put it on you while I point the rings.”
“You put it—”
“Okay. If something else comes, you shout, and I’ll shield us. I think I’ll shield us. I don’t know what taking a strike from one of those would be like. Did you see how far around it the ground is being damaged? I’ll leave your coat on since getting rid of protection out here is bad. I’ll just…how many shirts do you have on? Don’t worry. I’ve got this. Just hold still.”
Alden was working one-handed because of the kelsithe. He was rushing, too, and that rush kept him from thinking about how awkward it was to get the bandage under the coat and two more layers of clothing, then up to Bithe’s shoulder.
It wasn’t until his interface showed him an image of his own fingers moving through the pretend rip in all the layers of fabric that he took stock of their positions. His backpack was hanging off the kelsithe arm, bumping into Bithe’s chest. Bithe had his good arm with the wegyta bent around the pack to aim downhill. And Alden thought he might have come close to knocking the Artonan over in his haste to get the bandage on before something else happened to either of them.
He’s still upright and he’s focused, so it’s fine.
He slowed down to position the bandage correctly and held it there for a second. It didn’t mold itself to the wound since Bithe wasn’t really hurt, but it looked right.
“That’s better,” said Alden. “Now some protective plates. Will they adhere to your coat? To cover the damaged area?”
“You have more of those too?…Put a couple on the shirt underneath the coat,” said Bithe. “Imagine you’re repairing the torn cloth with them.”
Alden did it, then pulled his hand back.
“Finished. Hello.”
Bithe blinked and turned one eye. It looked at Alden, then up at the kelsithe, then at the backpack. There were thick smears of mud on Bithe’s face. His hair was full of it.
“Hello,” he said.
Alden lowered the umbrella and angled it to shield them both better. The world flashed bright around them. He didn’t even have time to wince in anticipation of the thunder.
“Why did you throw yourself down here?” he asked when it was over. “Are we staying down here? It might be safer than climbing back up to join the others while the storm is going on.”
Getting struck by Divin’s lightning had to be one of the least helpful things they could do.
“No, we should get up to Tilliver’s sculpture,” Bithe said. “Before the mud slides down on top of us. Or before something comes out of the ground down here. We’re safer together, and the storm is deterring a number of—”
“Understood. I’m doing really well on these hills, so I can help you get up there faster.” Alden looked behind them. And up. And up. “I really ran down that? I did. So I can get back up it. But let’s have me do the leg work. Because if you fall, you roll. You roll so hard. I thought you were a goner.”
“‘Goner’ is…a creative way of changing the word ‘gone.’”
Alden only acknowledged the comment with a nod. He was busy figuring out what the fastest way of getting up to the sculpture was. “Backpack…rope…no, let’s wrap you up like a k’rethkan.”
“Like a what?”
“They’re a common food on Artona III. Filling rolled up in a fried shell.”
“I’m familiar with what a k’rethkan is,” said Bithe. “What do they have to do with me?”
“You’ll be the filling,” said Alden. “And the kelsithe will be the shell.”
Water was streaming off the shield. When Bithe leaned back suddenly, he got some in the side of the face before Alden could shift his arm’s position.
“Is this conversation happening?” asked Bithe. “Or did I hit my head hard?”
“No doubt you shook your brain when you threw yourself down here,” said Alden. “But don’t worry about it. I know what I’m talking about. I can carry dirt with the kelsithe, so I can carry you the same way. It’ll be fast. Maybe uncomfortable. Not as uncomfortable as what you just did to yourself. Ready?”
Bithe’s head moved just enough for Alden to think it was a nod. He unpreserved the umbrella and focused on reshaping the kelsithe.
“It looks like a shovel,” said Bithe, raising his voice as the storm grew even louder.
“That’s part of my process.”
******
There was a little more to it than rolling Bithe up in the kelsithe and preserving it around him. He had recovered enough from his brain-shaking tumble to voice objections and give instructions.
He wanted Alden’s backpack and their comm earrings preserved, and he wanted his own head free of the cocoon made by the kelsithe so he could watch their surroundings.
“Your eyes only point one way,” he said, “so you’ll watch where you’re running, and I’ll watch everything else. If I tell you to put me down, do it immediately so that I can use the wegyta rings.”
Alden had doubts about how much of a lookout anyone could be while he was waving them around on his way up a hill that was practically melting beneath his feet. And leaving just someone’s head exposed to danger felt off. But Bithe asked for it, and it sounded like he had serious concerns about more demons as bad as the birds showing up, so Alden obliged.
He was only now picking up on the details of what the squad had been dealing with since they got separated from him. Too many strong hazard mimics were appearing from where Forduan had been keeping them trapped in the territory that was at their backs. On top of that, there had been demons underground lying in wait to surprise the squads questing in this area.
Which should have been squads full of knights stronger than this group.
All of their skills were exhausted or close to it. Bithe had only tossed the bird demon downhill, instead of killing it, because it was so aggressive that he hoped it might serve as a guard dog down there now that it shouldn’t be able to fly.
“With how luck has fallen on us tonight, the demons who attacked our flyer will come all this way specifically to get us,” he said.
“Maybe not. It was something at the cone-shaped hill that got our flyer, right? Those are ewtwees, and at least one griveck is going to hunt them. She’ll be there by now. She’s strong.”
“How do you know?”
“I met the griveck,” Alden told him.
And then he started his climb, with Bithe looking like a large infant swaddled in the kelsithe. At first, Alden kept holding him out at arm’s length, or even overhead, as he tried to find ways to jog without jostling his passenger.
But then the difficulty of the undertaking made that impossible.
“I’ll be using you as a thing to block wind,” he said. “I need to.”
“Then do so.”
Bithe didn’t say anything else, and Alden appreciated that. It allowed him to focus entirely on the upward push. He was jumping more than running. He’d done a lot of that tonight. His muscles were complaining now. His clothes were wet, and his pants were weighed down with what felt like twenty extra pounds of mud.
He’d slowed, but slowing down didn’t seem to make him much more surefooted. He landed almost knee deep in the hillside once and was afraid he was going to keep sinking.
Without his trait, he didn’t know what it would be like here. With his trait, he managed to jump again, but it was weird. The ground seemed to be solidifying beneath his feet at the moment he pushed off, but it was also dragging at him.
It made him stumble. He almost slapped his entruster against the slope.
I wish I’d been practicing on land with my trait for months now. Real land. Terrain, not city parks and streets.
Not long after that, he jumped to a good looking spot, and in the moment he paused there, he felt the sodden ground sliding around his ankles. He swore in his head and moved, jumping and jumping without looking back to see if it was turning into a serious mudslide, not stopping until his feet found what might be one of the last remaining patches of solid sod he’d have.
By then, he was gasping.
“They’re trying to encourage you,” said Bithe.
“Who?”
“My friends.”
Alden glanced at Bithe’s face, which had been scoured almost clean by the rain since the last time he’d considered it, then uphill. They’d made it more than halfway back to the bird foot sculpture.
A bright blue star was twinkling above one of the toes.
“A spell?” said Alden.
“Just a little one,” said Bithe.
“I love little spells.”
A bolt arced through the clouds. Alden didn’t know if the tingling against his skin was purely his imagination.
How far can electricity travel through mud? Don’t go swimming during a storm—I’ve heard that before, but nobody has ever told me anything about mud.
“Can Divin control where the lightning strikes?”
“No. Not yet.”
Alden let out a laugh that was more like a huff. “Are you okay?” he asked. “That last section was tough, and I wasn’t checking on you at all.”
“I’m fine. You know that if we fall my armor is much more protective than yours, don’t you? So if there’s a choice to be made—”
“Stop trying to get away,” said Alden. “I’ve been running since sunset, and I get here, and then you throw yourself to the demons while I’m waving.”
“I was drawing their attention so that everyone else could escape.”
Alden looked toward the star. It was encouraging.
“I’m going to keep going like we just were,” he said. “I think it’s best. I’m not sure. If I drop you or land your face in the mud, I’m sorry. It’ll be an accident, not a choice. Shout really loud if something’s coming. I don’t know if I’ll hear you otherwise.”
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On the deck where she sat watching in comfort, Ryada’s stomach turned to stone, and her blood rushed. She held her breath.
I want to see Alden succeed, she thought. And at the same time, How can they get out of there if he doesn’t succeed?
Bithe is so sweet. How dare he try to sacrifice himself like that?
That’s a clever sculpture, Till. Seth, I’m so glad you could cast your star.
Emban had her bow. She was trying to make herself ready in case they needed her.
Do you see them, Jozz-art’h? Everyone else in that room? Do you see how much they’ve done? All of them.
“Are you watching?” she asked the man behind her.
“I’m watching. I won’t mind sharing Goldbush with newlings like your friends. They’re lively and stubborn.”
Ryada heard what he’d said about Goldbush. Someone his age must be going as a mentor, a commander, or for some special purpose. That would have been worth asking about if he’d mentioned it earlier.
But not now.
“In a way, I died on Thegund.”
Those words from Alden Thorn’s letter came to her mind. Now, he was struggling up a hill toward Ryada’s squad, trying to save Bithe.
She whispered, “He looks…”
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The last few leaps were the hardest. Alden’s legs were screaming. Putting everything he had into each jump was mentally taxing, even though he knew the consequences for slipping up would be sliding down a very long way.
The star spell was like a promise. So close now. And he could see faces peering out at him. They were calling words that were probably good words.
You can do it. Just a little farther. It’s warm and dry in here.
Words like that.
He wanted to get there. He was afraid the whole sculpture would break away from the ridge and fall any second, but he wanted to trust it.
We stay together, he thought as he made his knees bend again. We get to the top of the hill.
He’d found them. He was almost to the top of the hill.
And then he was there.
Close enough to dump Bithe into Tilliver’s waiting arms. Close enough to wonder if his own added weight would be too much. The bird foot was made of dirt. They hadn’t counted on him when it was sculpted. What if it collapsed when he entered and took the whole squad down with it?
“Get in here!” Emban demanded, diving halfway out of the foot to extend her hands. “Come in before you fall.”
Alden grabbed for her and let her help him up and into their strange shelter.
There was no rain stinging him. No wind tearing at him. Sitting on the toe felt as solid as sitting on a log.
I made it.
He was almost nose to nose with Emban, and Seth was right behind her. He realized he was breathing hard directly into their faces and turned his head.
“I need a short rest,” he said. “And then I’ll be ready to help you get to the top of the right hill. We’ll find the treat.”
“The only thing I want to find is a bath,” said Bithe.
The others were all nodding and agreeing. Alden thought that agreement was in favor of Bithe’s suggestion instead of his.
“But we’re all together now. Once Divin’s with us. And there’s not much that way.” Alden flicked a finger in the direction he’d come from. “I can show you a route that’s safe enough. There’s just one big thing and a stream you shouldn’t touch and some demon goats. Demon…”
Describing a goat would take too much effort right now.
“Demon small animals that aren’t even that hard for me to kill. So if we wait until you’re strong enough, we can get out of this bad spot by going that way. Then if we run for a while, we’ll eventually get to our hill.”
Emban groaned.
“Or not?” said Alden, looking around.
They looked as tired as he felt. They had reason to be even tireder. Maybe the mission would just be getting out of here without any losses. But to do that they’d still need to cover some more ground.
“I’ll preserve the most vulnerable supplies,” he said. “The wegyta, anything else we don’t want to have listed as chaos damaged. Let’s put those in my backpack, and I’ll hold onto them.”
They started reaching into pockets and taking off jewelry.
I’m glad there’s something I can do to help just by sitting down.
“Does anyone need any bandages?” He spotted his messenger bag in the bottom of the pack. “Or maybe a snack?”
“Food?”
“You have food?”
“I want a snack.”
The sudden spurt of energy in their voices made Alden sorry he’d offered. “Don’t get excited. It’s just…”
They were all looking at him like he was about to pull a turkey out of his bag.
“It’s just a few things that ended up in here over the past couple of days.”
“Don’t tease us with covered plates,” said Tilliver.
“Some nuts and stale bread,” said Alden. Stuart had eaten a lot of what he’d picked up at the pitcherhouse while they were walking around together, but not everything. “Kizzsskizzit…the nice spice that changes flavors. A piece of a crosswater noodle that was boiled this morning. Ceremonial wevvi.”
“You brought ceremonial wevvi?” Seth asked. “To this?”
“It’s in a bottle Esh-erdi said wouldn’t break. It’s not very big.” He’d been trying to take a taste of it and the noodle back to Natalie.
“A feast befitting those who walk the path of highest onus,” said Tilliver, as Alden started pulling the things out of his bag.
“Battlefield snack delivery,” Alden said. “That was always my real quest.”
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“He looks alive,” said Ryada-bess. To herself and with a smile. “And like he knows how to live in new skin.”
