Rebellion: Age of Magic - A Kurtherian Gambit Series (The Rise of Magic Book 3) by CM Raymond & LE Barbant & Michael Anderle

Author:CM Raymond & LE Barbant & Michael Anderle [Raymond, CM]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: LMBPN Publishing
Published: 2017-04-19T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Halfway up the mountain, Parker was breathing heavily. Karl, though a foot shorter and twenty pounds heavier, positively bounded up the stairs ahead of him. It took every ounce of energy and concentration the lowlander could muster to try to keep up with the rearick

Just as Parker thought he would keel over, Karl paused and dropped onto a rock overlooking a valley.

“Damn, it’s good to be home. I missed her.” His eyes roamed over the valley below.

Parker couldn’t help but grin. He’d never seen the rearick be anything but salty. Now, surveying the mountains from the rocks of his home, Karl was his own version of elated.

Pulling his cloak around his face in an attempt to block the wind, Parker asked, “How long have your people been here anyway?”

The rearick was busy filling his pipe with the lowlander weed he had become accustomed to smoking. Like most pleasures of the body, the lowlander smoke wasn’t nearly as good as what the rearick grew in the dirt of the crag, but it would get him the last leg toward home. He puffed on the pipe as bluish-white plumes drifted over his head.

“Been here?” Karl shrugged. “As long as any. Me people headed into these mountains at the beginnin’ of the Age of Madness. While most of them lowlanders huddled in the prairies and tried to find refuge in the trees, we decided to climb. Guess the Mad didn’t see it as worth their time, or their damned animal instinct told ‘em to go after easier prey.

“We hunkered down here. My forebears did what they could just to stay alive. Over a couple of generations, we turned it into a proper home. Once the Madness was cleared out, that’s when we started usin’ the ore in the dirt to make all kinds of shit. They needed weapons and tools below, so we made it for ‘em. Or at least gave ‘em what they needed to make stuff themselves.”

The rearick went quiet and focused on the sub-par weed in his pipe.

He took a slug from the wineskin and passed it to Parker, who also drank. “Can’t wait to get me some Heights ale. This shit gives me constant runs.”

Parker nearly spat out his mouthful. “Thanks for that enlightening information!”

Karl grinned and slapped Parker on the back. “Where we’re goin’, kid, ya better get used to that kind of talk. If that makes ya uncomfortable, then our ladies will make ya blush. This ain’t no damned noble ball we’re headin’ to.”

***

Silence ruled the remainder of the climb into the Heights. For Parker, this was a necessity. While his breathing had steadied, his head had started to swim. Tales had been told about what altitude could do to a lowlander, but Parker had no frame of reference, as the highest he had ever been previously was the roof of Sully’s Tavern. Even when he visited Hannah at the abandoned tower outside town, he had never gotten off the ground floor.

As they pushed through the final stretch, Parker could hear Craigston before he could see it.

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