CHAPTER 2
“You are moving too slow” Allen said looking at Mary as she went through her routines. “If the fight ever comes for you, you have to be able to do something about it.”
“You never let me out of here” Mary said as she dropped her sword. “What good is all this practicing if we never go anywhere.”
“We go plenty of places” Allen replied.
“If you are talking about into Glade then that hardly counts” Mary replied. “I know there is a big city out there somewhere, I hear the miners talking about it all the time.”
“When were you talking to the miners” Allen snapped.
“Relax Allen” Mary said rolling her eyes. “They always come up and talk to me whenever you are buying things at the market.”
“You should not be talking to them” Allen replied. “Men are evil Mary, if someone ever found out who you were.”
“Allen that was a long time ago” Mary replied. “You have told me all of the stories, no one cares about kings and queens anymore and you said yourself they let us go. You have all of this magic and all you have done with it is build a house inside of a mountain. I want to do things other than read, I want to be like other girls my age and see the world and be courted by handsome men.”
“This mountain as you call it will keep us safe” Allen replied thinking about his stronghold. It had taken Allen ten years to make a part of the mountain into his home. It was large and imposing, like someone carved a grand castle out of the rock itself. A high stone gate stood around his home and blended into the mountain. In between his gate and home was a road leading to his home surrounded by a lush piece of land that grew enough to feed a hundred people instead of the two people who lived inside of it. The extra food was sold for other services and items the pair needed, like lessons to make Mary a better fighter and education to keep her mind sharp.
“It is a wonderful home Allen but it is lonely” Mary complained. “I am seventeen now and have spent most of my time taking stupid lessons. I am lonely Allen and you must be as well, I have never even seen you show interest in a woman and you threaten anyone that even looks at me.”
“There is a war going on” Allen replied. “This entire kingdom is at war, things are not safe out there.”
“Stop calling it a kingdom Allen” Mary with a sigh. “You are holding on to the past, we are a republic now.”
“Whatever this place is we are still at war” Allen replied.
“Don’t you at least want to find out what happened to your father?” Mary asked. “Or find out what happened to you?”
“I know what happened to me” Allen replied and furrowed his brow. It had taken him sometime to dig up the truth but found it in books thought to be fiction. Elementals were made, not born but it took someone with the right attributes to be made into one. Countless mages had been sacrificed to make Allen, their earth magic was ripped from them and poured into him. The wound from losing an element of their magic instantly killed the mage, the procedure could only be done with the help from House Godfrey, the king or someone related to him also had to die which explained why there were so little of House Godfrey around. The blood used from House Godfrey tied Allen to Mary, the older he had gotten the stronger that bond became.
“You do?” Mary asked. “What happened then?”
“It is not important” Allen replied. “I will not lay the sins of your family at your feet.”
“Sins?” Mary asked. “Then why do you hate the republic so much, it sounds like my family were evil.”
“Regardless of what your family did they kept the kingdom running” Allen replied. “No one dared attack us and there was not the wide spread starvation we now have. Things are worse than ever under the republic, starvation, joblessness and we are at war. Outsiders were too scared to war with the kingdom when your father was in power, since he died we have been in three. The time may come for you to protect yourself, you will be happy you were pushed this hard.”
“I can beat you” Mary said annoyed. “Most of the teachers you send down here I can give them a good match as well. If it was anything goes instead of a simple sword duel I know I can beat them as well.”
“You can beat me because I do not use my magic during our duels” Allen replied. “And most of my time is spent perfecting my magic instead of fighting, unlike you. And as good as I think I may be, my magic cannot hold up to a normal mage. The fire and other things they can bring down would kill you in an instant.”
“Then why should I train if it doesn’t matter?” Mary asked.
“Because if anyone underestimates you, you could surprise them” Allen replied. “Already I have faith you can be a handful, you are tall and quick footed. You can never stop training, Telrin taught me that. Those who get complacent die, when that time comes it will not be because you were not prepared.”
“Allen do you expect us to live our entire lives here, holed up in your mountain with no one around for miles?” Mary asked just as one of the dogs started barking.
“Get yourself ready” Allen said as he could see Mary’s eyes go wide.
“Who could that be?” Mary asked. “We are two days away from the nearest town in an inhospitable side of the mountain.”
“I don’t know why anyone would be here” Allen said as he reached for one of the many swords he had hidden all around his home. “The gates are barred so I am not worried about them getting inside unless they brought a mage with them.”
Allen took a breath and headed outside, he mentally checked to make sure all of his defenses were still in place. The imposing wall around his home was too tall for a man to climb and was left impossibly smooth just in case one tried. The only entrance for normal people was wide enough for the wagon he took into town but was currently barred by thin stone pillars that stuck up out of the ground. It had gaps that allowed for Allen to see who was on the other side but left no way for a normal person to get through. On the other side of that wall were a thousand paces worth of thorny vines all except for the path leading to Allen and Mary’s home, in a fight he would make them grow rapidly and start to ensnare anything around them. Allen would then make them wither away quickly and set the dried out field on fire with flaming arrows, any army trapped by them would be burned to death before they even set foot on his land. Mary and Allen would have escaped by then, their house being sculpted out of a mountain meant Allen could hide them anywhere. Allen got to his front door and dropped into the earth, he had many tunnels already dug out so if for some reason Mary was caught home alone she would have a way to escape. Allen could hear Mary’s foot steps inside the tunnel with him as he closed the entrance he used with a thought. If anyone managed to make it inside they would see nothing but a stone floor. Allen walked over to where his front gate would be and opened up an exit above him and closed it before Mary got any ideas about using it. Mary had began to become rebellious and although they had often trained for an attack Allen couldn’t dismiss the fact she would go off plan. Allen looked through the fence at the men his dogs were barking at and instantly recognized a face.
Dalray Bingley was a sword master Allen had hired to teach Mary the blade. He was renowned for his skill but had fell on hard times since he had a taste for the bottle. Allen knew he had overpaid the man greatly for Mary’s lessons but she had shown steady improvement during the two years Allen had hired him for before replacing him with her current teacher, a man who relied on using daggers instead of swords. The last time Allen had seen Bingley was two years ago, the man had no reason to be at his home now.
“What do you want?” Allen said as he held his sword aloft and dismissed his dogs. Bingley did not know Allen had any magic, Bingley was only allowed access to a small building next to his house where all of Mary’s trainers used to train her or to sleep if it had gotten too late. Bingley did not have access to the main house and Allen always made sure he was someplace close when Bingley was training Mary whether he knew it or not.
“Mr. Smith” Bingley replied. “These men are looking for a criminal that was thought to be hiding in the mountains. I told them I knew a man who lived in the mountains and they didn’t believe me so here we are.”
“I don’t have any criminals here and you were wrong to lead these people to my home” Allen snapped. “If I see you on this property again Bingley you are a dead man. I don’t take kindly to having my peace disturbed.”
“Now see here” said a rough looking man with an odd coloration of brown hair with a bushy red beard. “I am the law around here and speak with the authority of Governor Willoughsby. You will let us in to search your home, if we find nothing then we will leave.”
“You are not stepping a foot on my property” Allen replied. “So blow it out your ass and walk away.”
“Open whatever this is or I will break it down” the man with the bushy beard said from on top of his horse. Allen could see the man place his hand on the pommel of his sword and took a deep breath as he matched the movement.
“Then break it down” Allen said eyeing the man.
“Mary!” Bingley said looking behind Allen.
Allen cursed to himself as he saw Mary coming up from behind him, her bow still in her arms. Allen shot her an angry look that he could tell she was trying to ignore, she must have come up through one of his hidden passages and she seemed fixated on the men at the gate with their dusty looking uniforms. Allen waited until Mary got close to him before he began to speak.
“Why are you not where you are supposed to be?” Allen said gruffly.
“I didn’t think these men meant us any harm or they would have tried getting through the gate already” Mary said as she kept moving her head to peer out of the gate.
“Go where you are supposed to be!” Allen snapped as angry as he had ever spoken to her. “This is reason you don’t get things your way because you do stupid things like this when it is time to be serious.”
“Mary your brother is being unreasonable” Bingley said through the fence. “We are hunting a criminal that killed a merchant and fled somewhere to the mountains. They only want to ask a few questions.”
“Allen I…” Mary began before Allen silenced her with a look. Mary met his gaze and stuck her chin up.
“I said get off my land and me and you will sort things out if I ever see you in town again Bingley” Allen said focusing his attention back on his former employee.
“If I have to come back here with a mage you will be arrested” the man with the bushy beard said as his eyes landed on Mary. “I will come back with a mage to take down this fence and assume you let the criminal you are hiding inside escape.”
“You come with whoever you want and you and him will both die” Allen replied.
“Allen if they are looking for someone bad I see no harm in letting them inside” Mary replied.
“I do” Allen replied. “We are far away from anyone and they could try anything. I don’t trust men like them around you, now get back into the house or I will put you back inside.”
“Allen do we really need the problems these men could bring?” Mary asked.
Allen looked the men over and mentally thought about everything that needed to be done in case they decided to do something stupid. He knew Mary could take care of herself but was too naïve to see the danger these men possessed. If they did come back with a mage Allen would have to abandon the home he had worked so hard to make and furnish and made a decision.
“If any of your men steal so much as a cookie I will kill him where he stands” Allen replied. “This is my home and I am ready to die for it, do something stupid and I guarantee all of you will not live to tell the tale.”
Allen walked over to the gate a pulled on a fake lever, the mechanism did nothing but he made it seem like it drew down the spikes. Allen got in their way before they could move to enter, the man with the red beard stared at him menacingly as Allen began to speak.
“If any one of your animals eat anything out of my fields I will kill them like so much vermin before them” Allen said looking him in the eye. “If any of your men steal any of my food I will also kill them like the thieves they are. You are not welcomed here and I want to make that a point, I don’t want any money for repayment, I want blood for anything done to me and mine.”
The men waited for Allen to move but eventually went around him, Allen caught sight of the smile and wonder on Mary’s face and wanted to shake his head. She smiled up at the men who smiled back at her, some longer than was polite. Mary knew she was a beautiful girl, the problem was that she didn’t realize what that meant to the men in the outside world. That was the problem Allen had with raising Mary, she had knowledge of almost all things but not the experience to put that knowledge to use. Perhaps he should take the girl out to places to gain this experience, maybe she needed to see the evil the world has in it instead of just hearing about it. Allen watched the men get off of their horses near his front door, there was an apple tree there that he had been cultivating for years and it let out a sweet odor. There were three apples on the ground and one horse started making his way over towards one. Allen snatched the bow from a surprised Mary and took aim, one of the men snatched his beast up before it could eat the sweet fruit and Allen lowered his bow.
“Where do you expect us to put our horses?” the man with the bushy beard asked.
“Up your ass for all I care” Allen replied looking at him. “If even one thing is disturbed because of your animals then you will be walking home.”
Allen walked past the men and mentally released the lock on his door. The door itself was made of wood, some of Allen’s earlier work and had a blurry window made of quartz. Allen opened the door and waited until Mary passed him before he moved out of the way.
“I will get our guests something to drink” Mary said as she started towards the kitchen.
“You will do no such thing and they are not guests” Allen barked. “Stay where I can see you, I do not trust any of them and be prepared to kill them all, especially Bingley if they are not as honorable as they claim.”
“This is a big place for only the two of you” one of the men said, a young man not much older than Mary with short brown hair.
“So what, you want to make something of it?” Allen asked looking at the speaker.
“I just wanted to know how you made a place like this” the younger man asked. “It looks like someone carved a grand estate into the mountain side, if it was only going to be the two of you I don’t know why you would need it so grand. The food you are growing is also more than what two people would need. I have never heard of this place, I think a mansion carved into a mountain would be a great source of gossip, especially one with such a pretty lady.”
“If you have something to say then say it” Allen said looking at the man. “My personal life is not the business of idiots or cowards.”
“Did you just call me a coward?” the younger man said as Bingley held him back.
“He will kill you Jordan” Bingley said making eye contact with Allen. “I have trained him and Mary and he did not care to learn to wound any opponent, only kill.”
“Do your job” the man with the bushy beard replied looking at the man Allen thought was named Jordan. “And take your hands off of my man, drunk.”
“I am saving your man from being killed” Bingley replied. “He would make a challenge that Mr. Smith would answer.”
“Mr. Smith talks tough but he is not stupid enough to kill one of the Governor’s men” the man with the bushy beard replied.
“If that is your way of a challenge then I accept” Allen said looking at the man with the bushy beard.
“And you would die” the man with the bushy beard replied as he looked out at the rest of his men. “Search this place and be careful, it is unlikely only two people live in a home three times bigger than the Governor’s. It is also unlikely that a man with these kinds of resources would take any disrespect lightly.”
“The
first intelligent thing you have said all day” Allen replied as he gestured for Mary to follow him into the kitchen.
“Why are you so mean to them?” Mary asked once they walked inside, one of the men followed them inside, presumably to keep an eye on them.
“Because I don’t trust them and neither should you” Allen replied. “Let them think you are welcoming of this behavior means they will continue coming back. Stop it the first time then this will be a chore that no one looks forward to.”
“I think we have gotten off on the wrong foot” the man who followed them inside the kitchen replied. “None of us want to inconvenience you but we still have a job to do. We don’t do it then we don’t get paid, I assure you though the man we are looking for is one of the worst types. He is an army deserter who killed his commander. Many have been tracking him and he has left a trail of bodies wherever he has went. Whether or not you want us here, the warning should be worth any inconvenience.”
“Any idiot willing to assault me or mine will be killed” Allen replied quickly.
“But he is telling the truth” Mary replied.
“Nonsense” Allen replied. “They made it seem like we are harboring whoever the man is they are looking for.”
“Well we are two people that hardly any one has ever seen” Mary replied. “And we live in a big house that is very different from anyone else’s.”
“Doesn’t make them right” Allen replied. “I think in the future I will make sure no one just walks up to my front gate. That way any imaginary killers and unwelcomed government officials cannot just stroll up to our home.”
“But they are here now” Mary replied. “And we shouldn’t be so rude. I never get to talk to anyone other than you, at least not at home. At least let me offer him a snack or something, he hasn’t been rude or anything.”
The Elemental Page 2
