RED HORIZON (Heliocite Saga #1)

𝔽𝕆𝕌ℝ

Solari Year 1580

Seri grit her teeth as sharp rock bit into her palms and the salty spray from the waterfall overhead blasted her face. She had wrapped her hands before she started climbing, but it was doing little to help at this point. Half of her hair had fallen out of her braid and blew around her face, threatening to blind her. But she had to keep moving. She reached up and pulled herself higher.

Beside her, Azariah was in a similar situation. He let out a grunt of determination as he climbed, battling to keep a steady pace.

"Come on!" Naomi bellowed from where she stood on the edge of the cliff. "Don't slow down!"

After 20 minutes of climbing, Azariah and Seri had both made it nearly three quarters up the cliffside. The beach was dizzyingly far below, and Seri's entire body felt like it was made of lead. But going back down was not an option.

"Ah!"

Seri's attention snapped to her right as Azariah stumbled, one of his footholds giving way. The chunks of cliff ricocheted off the rockface as they tumbled down to the water, reminding both of them what would happen if they faltered.

"Are you okay?" She shouted over the rush of water.

"I'm fine!" He barked. "Keep going."

Seri gave a quick nod and returned to the task at hand. She wrestled for every handhold and the ridges of the crag dug mercilessly into her bare feet as she climbed. The strength of the Heliocite that lay just beneath the surface fueled her movements. All of their connections to the crystal were far stronger here in the Salt Mountains- a towering, complex maze of rock deeply embedded with strips of red, orange, and yellow Heliocite. Their peaks and caverns were crystallized with salt from the surrounding ocean, giving them their name. The largest deposits of red Heliocite in all of Solari were held within them, which marked them as sacred.

Seri and Azariah were nearing the top now, and Naomi was howling commands and encouragements. Azariah pulled ahead of her, and Seri fought to keep up. Right hand. Left hand. Right foot. Left foot. A handhold turned out to be loose, she cast it aside. Her hair was slick to her head now with water and sweat.

Azariah pulled himself onto the overhang, collapsing onto his hands and knees.

"Come on, Seri!" Naomi demanded.

Seri let out a guttural cry, forcing herself up the last few feet. Finally, she found the cliff's edge and dragged herself up and over.

Falling beside Azariah, she shut her eyes and panted heavily. Her arms and legs were shaking with fatigue. They made it! She covered her face with her hands and laughed in relief.

"Nicely done," Naomi praised.

Seri turned on her side to look over at Azariah. He was already sitting up, unrolling the ripped wrappings from his hands. When he felt her looking, he looked up and gave her a brief smile. 

They made a good team. With her help, he was doing a lot better with his studies than he had been a few months ago. And when they weren't studying, Seri actually found him to be... kind of fun. Much to Naomi's chagrin. Last week they had gone on a training expedition to check out the impact of an explosion that had gone off near the sanctuaries. When Azariah jumped into the crater it left and found a detonator that had gone dead, he had thrown it at Seri's head. Naomi nearly blew a fuse when Seri chucked it right back. Seri guessed she was just on edge because the crater was so close to home.

"Seri, have you been practicing with liquids like I asked?" Naomi questioned.

"Yes, Mentor Naomi!" Seri chirped.