86. Veyka

Three days. One to go, one to return. An extra for all the time I spent bumbling about, trying to find the right spot. The accounts were vague and the mountains of the Spine towering. But I did not appreciate just how massive they were until I stood at the base of one. The jagged peaks made the mountains ringing Baylaur and the Effren Valley appear pitiful by comparison.

Their presence made Eilean Gayl, the amorite mines, everything north of them even more remarkable. For millennia, the terrestrials had traversed these mountains. Thankfully, they'd also written down hundreds of accounts of their excursions.

Those accounts had been my nighttime reading since our arrival in Eilean Gayl.

It was not enough to give me a precise location. But I knew where to start.

I murmured a prayer of thanks to whoever was listening, Ancestors or human gods or some other benevolent being, and entered the void. Hopefully there would be solid ground awaiting me when I stepped out on the other side.

Closer. Every jump through the void brought me closer to that final destination. I was damn prideful, but even I could admit to myself that without my void power I might not have managed it. In what would have taken days of treacherous climbing, I was able to appear in a mountain pass in the space of one inhale and exhale. Crossing a glacier that would have surely claimed at least one victim, I saw only the view from one and then the other.

But even my void power failed me now.

I stared up… and up, and up, and up.

A solid wall of ice towered hundreds of feet above my head.

Maybe if I'd had these as my model, I would have been more successful at guarding my heart.

I squinted, testing the limits of my sharp fae eyesight. There were narrow protrusions that might serves as ledges, but even if I was able to aim and land myself directly on one of them, the force of impact might have the ice crumbling beneath my feet.

There was no use—I'd have to do this the slow way.

I choked down a few travel cakes, their wrappings still faintly laced with Elayne's soothing lavender scent. Took a swig from the canteen tied to my belt. Then started to truly prepare.

Leather thongs served to affix the small knives I'd brought to the soles of my boots. I doubted they would hold my weight entirely, but they'd steady me and allow me to ease the strain on my arms. I left my cloak behind. It pained me to do it. I'd thought Eilean Gayl cold—that was a fucking joke. But the leather and fur cloak was heavy, and I had my own weight of contend with. A single pound might be the different between life and death. I doubted that even my innate healing abilities would matter if I smashed into the stone and ice from five hundred feet up.

Soon I'd be coated in sweat, anyway.

One last glance upward. That was all I allowed myself.

Then I bent my knees and leapt. Slammed one dagger into the wall of ice, and began to climb.

I did not allow myself to look down. I counted the seconds and minutes to keep myself from noticing how ragged my breaths had become. Twenty minutes. Thirty.

If I looked down, I might see that I'd only made it a few dozen yards. The exhaustion would start to win, and I would never make it. Or I would realize how far the fall was, lose my nerve, become sloppy, and fall to my death. I told myself that I would be able to plunge myself into the void before I splattered across the icy ground.

Better not to look down at all.

Hand over hand, I slammed one dagger into the wall, hoisted myself up, then slammed in the other. Up and up and up. I had to remind myself to keep kicking in the small knives affixed to my boots. They would not hold me if I slipped; but they might slow me down enough to save myself.

Maybe coming alone had been a bad idea. Cyara could have flown, picked out where the entrance was and then I could have used my void power… it wasn't too far for her wings… I flicked my gaze downward to check—

Oh shit. No. No. No. No. No.

I could not even see the ground below. It had disappeared entirely behind a veil of swirling mist.

I swung upward, harder. The ice shifted beneath the force, sending a showing of snow and shards of ice cascading down over my face. There was nothing I could do. I clamped my eyes shut. I may not be able to bleed, but I did not know if that protection extended to my eyeballs.

I dug both boot-daggers deep into the wall. My other dagger, too. Just a minute. I could rest for a minute.

I counted the seconds as my heart raced.

Fifty-seven, fifty-eight, fifty-nine, sixty.

I summoned every ounce of strength in my aching muscles and hoisted myself up. Inch by agonizing inch. Somewhere in this wall of ice, I would find the entrance. Every few yards, I paused long enough to look from one side, then to the other, to make sure I had not inadvertently climbed right past it. But yard after yard, I saw nothing but barren white-blue ice.

My body screamed for rest, but I refused to listen. The air around me fogged with each breath. I was getting higher. The air was thinning. Soon, I whispered to myself. Soon, I'd have the answers I sought.

Above my head, a few feet away, I spied a ledge. I hauled myself up with renewed resolve. Three more feet. Two. I aimed my daggers wide, wary of any impact that might damage the integrity of the icy ledge. Then I was there. Daggers still buried in the wall, I did not dare release them. But I eased my grip, let my exhausted arms have a few seconds.

My head fell forward, resting against the ice. I could not leave it there for long. My sweat may very well freeze to the sheet of ice. But just for a second…

CRACK.

No. No. I will not die here.

But the fissure raced up the ice, splintering the wall beneath me. I tightened my grip on the daggers, holding tight. But the crack was spreading, a second and they wouldn't be safe. I pulled one away, swinging wide, trying to find a stable patch of ice that would hold. But I missed.

The ledge crumbled beneath me. Another loud crack. A sickening lurch.

And I was falling.

In some ways, it was just like that first time I'd plunged into the void. My entire body ached. I had no control. The world was rushing by me faster than I could process it.

Time seemed to slow.

It would have been so easy to just let it happen. Once, I would have.

But I was not that lost, sad princess anymore.

I will not die here.

The ember of power inside of me exploded. I threw myself into the void. A second later, I was on the other side, crashing into the wall of ice. I got my arm up, just in time, with just enough force. Embedded my dagger to the hilt.

I hung there, by one arm, as the world took shape around me once more. Every muscle in my body was trembling, but not from exertion. I forced my breathing to steady, my heartbeat to slow. I checked my body for wounds; found none. The golden thread of the mating bond was tight around my heart. My ember of magic glowing happily deep inside of me.

I lifted the other dagger and swung upward, lodging it deep into the ice. Only then did I look upward, ready to haul myself the rest of the distance. It took several pulls to dislodge the first dagger where I'd embedded it as I fell out of the void.

I swung upward again, but my dagger met air.

One final pull, and I was heaving myself over the edge, onto a floor of solid ice. I did not turn around to watch the sun setting over the mountains behind me. I did not allow myself the wave of relief or the glow of triumph. I pulled myself up to stand, knowing that what lay ahead would be infinitely worse than the treacherous climb.

The witch unfolded from her icy throne.

"Welcome, Veyka Pendragon. I have been waiting for you."