His words were like a knife piercing my heart. If we left these innocent people here with Morlet, they were going to die.
Indecision warred inside of me. So much evil and death, all because Prince Espen—Morlet—had fallen in love with a commoner, chose love over his family, and had the misfortune of meeting Skog Heks, the evil witch of Nelebek. Skog Heks fooled the young couple by offering them aid, and, instead, hired an assassin—Anders—to murder the royal family, so she could rule through Prince Espen by controlling his body.
I looked at Vidar as I quickly weighed my decision. He was the only one who survived the assassination attempt on the royal family. He was simply trying to fulfill Grei Heks’s curse by protecting the Krigers she created. Krigers could wield a sliver of her magic when linked to one of her magical weapons. When all twelve Krigers, including me, connected our powers together, we could destroy Morlet. The king would die, and the curse would be lifted, freeing the people of Nelebek from his tyrannical reign.
“Vidar is right,” Anders said, crouching alongside me, pulling me from my internal debate.
My body and mind went numb. I agreed to leave, and we stealthily made our way back through the field surrounding the village. When we neared the trail, ear-piercing screams shattered the night.
“Don’t look,” Anders said, picking up the pace.
Not listening, I glanced back at the prisoners. They were encased in a light blue glass-like dome. People pounded from inside it, striving to break free. They were no match for Morlet’s dark magic. The ground beneath them burst into flames. Feet and legs caught fire. Parents held their children in the air, trying to protect them. People clamored on top of one another, attempting to escape the flames. The wails of the burning prisoners shattered my soul.
Wrenching out of Vidar’s grasp, I sprinted through the field toward the dome. I had only run twenty feet when strong arms snaked around my waist, lifting me into the air. “No!” I yelled, kicking furiously. “I have to save those people!” My protests were lost among the sounds of burning structures and the shouts of soldats.
“I agree,” Anders said. “But this is not the way.”
I struggled against Anders’s bear-like grip as he carried me back to the trail where Vidar stood waiting for us. Tears streamed down my face. My body was covered with sweat from the heat of the flames. Ashes fell like snow as if the land wept for the tragedy of the lives so viciously stolen.
“We can’t let them burn to death,” I cried. The agony of the people tore at my very core, lighting my anger on fire. My power automatically responded to my emotions, begging to be released. I tried to channel it to my bo staff, but one of my hands was clenched onto Anders’s arm, and a miniscule amount seeped out of my palm, stinging him.
“Grip your weapon with both hands,” he grunted. “We need to get out of here. The King’s Army is starting to patrol the perimeter to ensure no one escaped.”
“You there,” a soldat hollered, running up behind us with another soldat in tow. “No one leaves,” he said. “Get on your knees!”
When the men neared, Anders released me and kicked the closest one, knocking him to the ground. I angled my bo staff toward the other, willed my power to my weapon, and released a small amount, hitting the man. He fell to the ground, unconscious.
“We need to leave right now,” Anders said, looking at me with pleading eyes. “We can’t win this fight.”
I didn’t care if we won; I just wanted to save those people.
“Remember your father’s sacrifice,” he whispered.
How could I forget the image of my father plunging a knife into his heart, killing himself, in order for me to escape the underground tunnels and rescue the Krigers? All Papa wanted was for me to defeat Morlet, free the people of Nelebek, and end the curse.
“Kaia?” Anders prompted.
I nodded, unable to speak. We ran along the trail up the cliff and reentered the forest, leaving the burning village behind.
✧
Exhaustion consumed me from walking all night while trying to block out the horrific images I’d just witnessed, now seared into my mind. The forest thinned, and we reached the large mountain range. I climbed the short ascent to the ten-foot-by-ten-foot ledge outside the cave, the treetops from the forest below only inches away from my feet.
I still remembered the first time I came here with Vidar and Anders to take the trials and acquire my bo staff. That felt like a lifetime ago. We’d been staying here for the last two weeks, ever since we rescued the Krigers from the king’s dungeon, because many of the men were too weak to journey any farther. Besides, the cave was well stocked and only a day’s journey from the capital.
I entered the cave and collapsed on my bedroll, closing my eyes.
“Everyone, gather around,” Vidar ordered, rousing the sleeping Krigers. The sun had not yet risen.
Groaning, I rolled over, staring at the ceiling a good twenty feet above me. The men awoke and moved near the low-burning fire Anders lit in the middle of the spacious, circular cave. The torches that hung on the walls remained unlit.
“You too, Kaia,” Vidar said, folding his arms.
Reluctantly, I stood and joined them.
After quickly filling everyone in on the events we just witnessed, Vidar said, “We can’t allow the king to continue on this path. It is our duty to stop him.”
“Are you suggesting we attack Morlet right now?” Gunner asked. At thirty-five, he was the oldest Kriger.
“No,” Vidar answered. “You are not ready to face him yet. What I’m proposing is that we use our secret organization of allies who aid us. Ask them to alert as many villages as possible, so the citizens can take the necessary precautions.”
“How long do you think it will take until we are ready to face the king?” Gunner asked.
“Not until the two moons are in alignment,” Vidar answered.
There was some mumbling amongst the Krigers. The two moons wouldn’t be in alignment for another season. It shouldn’t take us that long to learn how to connect our power to one another. However, it would probably take Vidar and me that long to marry and conceive a child. I still couldn’t believe Grei Heks had cast the curse in such a way that required our bloodlines to mix and create a child before Morlet died. What was the purpose of such a union? At first, I had been hesitant to accept his offer of marriage. However, Vidar was so determined to ensure we ended the curse that he asked Papa’s permission to marry me. My father had been elated Vidar wanted to take care of me. Like I needed to be taken care of by a man.
“A lot of people will be murdered before then, even with warning the villagers,” Gunner commented.
“There are other factors at play,” Vidar said, his eyes darting to me. “While you all train and work together, I am going to visit Grei Heks to make sure everything is going according to plan. I assure you that, together, we will end this curse.”
I hoped he planned to take me with him, so I could speak to her personally about the necessity of conceiving a child.
“Would you like me to accompany you?” Marius asked. He was always watching over Vidar to make sure nothing happened to him.
“Thank you for the offer,” Vidar answered, “but I will be fine traveling alone.”
“Are you sure that’s wise?” Marius asked.
“I will be safe with the medallion.” He dismissed the concern.
Why wasn’t he taking me? I stalked over to him. “I’m coming with you. You promised I could speak with her.”
He leaned down, speaking in my ear. “Go to your bedroll. I’ll discuss this with you in a second—alone.” He looked pointedly at me.
Not wanting to cause a scene in front of the Krigers, I staggered back to my bedroll and collapsed on top of it.
A few moments later, Vidar came over, sitting down at my side. “I hate to take the medallion from you,” he said. “But I can’t travel through the forest without it. If I run into Morlet, he’ll kill me.”
&n
bsp; I removed the medallion and handed it to him. “Why can’t I go with you?”
“You need to stay here and train with the Krigers.”
“You promised I could speak with her.”
“I’ll talk to her for you. I’ll find out why we have to conceive a child. You have my word.”
I needed confirmation before I went through with it. For some reason, being with Vidar that way felt wrong. We were friends—but nothing more.
Vidar’s brows furrowed. “What’s the matter?” I asked.
He glanced over his shoulder. I followed his line of sight to several Krigers watching us. “Well…” he said, rubbing his forehead. “We need to start acting like we’re engaged. Otherwise, people will question our relationship.”
“Why does it matter what others think?”
“When I take the throne, you will be at my side. Like it or not, you will be queen. Our child will be the heir. I want the people of Nelebek to have faith in us. We will give them hope, peace, and a better life.” He scooted closer to me. “You need to understand, a hundred years ago, Morlet cast a spell closing Nelebek’s borders, so the Krigers couldn’t escape. When Morlet is dead, they will reopen. The neighboring kingdoms will be watching us. If you and I aren’t united and strong, they won’t hesitate to conquer Nelebek.”
He was already thinking about what would happen after we defeated Morlet? I’d been so wrapped up in being a Kriger, training, and having to have Vidar’s child that I hadn’t stopped to think about how things would be once we killed Morlet—if we killed him. “I understand.” We had to be strong, so we could protect the people of this kingdom.
Vidar pursed his lips. “You’ll make an effort?”
“I will. But just know I can’t drool over you like some lovesick puppy.”
Vidar chuckled. “I know.”
“I can’t be someone or something I’m not. I only know how to be me.” And I wasn’t a very affectionate person. I wasn’t like other girls who wore dresses and batted their eyelashes at men for attention.
“I wouldn’t want you any other way. Be you—just don’t punch me for hugging you or holding your hand.”
“I think I can manage that.”
Smiling, he kissed the top of my head and left.
Why did being engaged to Vidar feel so wrong? Why did being around Anders feel like home? Rolling over, I closed my eyes.
“I know you’re not asleep,” Anders whispered, startling me.
“I thought you’d be out training with the Krigers by now.”
“I want to make sure you’re okay before I head down.”
I loved the sound of his deep, soothing voice. “I’m fine.”
“I’m exhausted,” Anders admitted. “But I don’t want to sleep. Whenever I close my eyes, images of people burning consume me.”
Rolling over, I faced him. He rarely opened up. Because he’d been raised by an assassin, trained to kill since he was only ten years old, he’d learned to be closed off and not to trust anyone. It was shocking Vidar and Anders managed to become such good friends over the years.
His brown eyes stared at me. “I don’t want you to be upset with me for my actions at the village. For not helping those people. For not letting you help.” He reached out to touch me, but he quickly withdrew his hand.
“I’m not mad at you,” I assured him. “You’re bound to Vidar.” Honestly, I wasn’t even mad at Vidar. He was the future king and had to put the kingdom first. I respected that, even if I didn’t always like his decisions.
The corners of Anders’s lips pulled into a slight frown. “I did it for a purely selfish reason. I couldn’t stand the thought of anything happening to you.” His voice was gruff. “I did what I wanted, taking your choice away. That was wrong. I’m sorry.”
My breath caught. Desire to reach out and touch Anders inundated me. Movement behind him caught my attention. Several Krigers picked up their weapons and waterskins, preparing for today’s training session. Vidar’s plea that we act as if we were engaged repeated in my mind.
As much as it pained me to do so, I stifled my feelings for Anders. “Thank you for your apology, but it isn’t necessary.”
“If you need anything, I’m here for you,” he said. “As your friend.”
I nodded and closed my eyes, not able to look at him. Friend. Fighter. Kriger. But nothing more. Why did I even care? He was an assassin, and I was engaged to his best friend.
“Time to get to work,” he said, standing and reaching a hand down for me.
“Sure. Who needs sleep anyway?” I sat up and clasped his warm palm.
He pulled me to my feet, holding my hand a second longer than necessary. A moment longer than a friend would. I told my hammering heart to calm down—my fate was already sealed.
Standing with my feet shoulder-width apart, my bo staff in hand, I faced Henrik and Stein. Anders had put us into groups, and these were the two men I was assigned to work with. Besides my sixteen-year-old self, they were the youngest Krigers, with Henrik at nineteen and Stein at twenty-one. We’d moved about fifty feet away from the others in order to give ourselves more room.
“Any idea what to do?” Stein asked, adjusting his quiver and slinging his short bow over his shoulder.
Henrik scratched his head and flipped his ax, catching it by the handle. “I have enough trouble remembering to use my weapon’s power.”
I never had any issues channeling power to my bo staff and unleashing it. It came naturally to me. But then again, I had a bit of Heks power inside of me, and the other Krigers didn’t. “How do you use your ax with your power?”
“Well,” Henrik said, “I just sort of envision the power flowing from the weapon and striking a target.”
“That’s how mine works,” Stein added. “The trouble is, I’m usually so focused on using my weapon that I forget to picture what I want the power to do.”
Henrik chuckled. “I’m itching to throw my ax and split the king’s head in half, sending him right back where he belongs.” Henrik was a tall, burly man with curly, brown hair that reached his shoulders. Since he wasn’t in the dungeon that long, he was still strong and healthy. Given the size of his muscled arms, I had no doubt his ax was just as lethal as the power it produced.
“Would you show me how your weapon and power work?” I asked him.
Henrik shrugged. “Sure, why not?” He aimed for a tree about ten feet away to his right. Scrunching his brow in concentration, he stood there, holding his ax above his shoulder. After a solid minute, he threw the ax. The weapon had a blue glimmer to it as it sailed through the air. I expected it to land in the trunk or shoot power out of its tip. Instead, the ax sliced clear through the pine tree, embedding in the one behind it.
“Wow!” I ran over to examine the hole in the tree. “Is your weapon that powerful or did you will it to do that?” The hole was smooth, as if the weapon had been a perfectly round ball that blasted straight through the entire two feet of the tree.
“I willed it to do that.” Henrik lumbered over to his ax and yanked it free. k'12
“What about you?” I asked Stein.
“I have excellent aim,” he said. “However, when I use my power, I never miss the intended target.” He was fairly skinny and lanky with stringy, dark blond hair. His arms looked so frail I wondered if he could even pull the bowstring back to nock an arrow. “Do you want me to show you?”
“Definitely.” I glanced around the forest, searching for a difficult target for him to shoot. “How about that quail sitting atop that branch over there?” The shot had to be forty feet away.
“I thought you were going to pick something hard.” He nocked an arrow. Not even looking at the quail, he aimed that direction and released the arrow. It sailed through the air, a blue trail of light in its wake, hitting the quail. The bird fell from the tree, landing on the ground.
“I’ll go grab that for dinner,” Henrik said. “No point wasting good food.”
“That was amazing
,” I said.
Stein shrugged. “It was easy.”
Henrik returned with the bird. “We each know how to use our weapon and the power it wields, but we don’t know how to link our powers together,” I mused, thinking out loud. Pushing my hair behind my ears, I shifted from foot to foot. “What if we all use our weapons at the same time? Maybe they’ll naturally link together.”
“It’s worth a try,” Henrik said.
“Let’s aim at that tree over there.” I pointed to the large pine about twenty feet away.
The three of us stood next to one another, facing the tree. Henrik lifted his ax, prepared to throw, Stein nocked an arrow, and I raised my bo staff. “Tell your weapon you’re going to hit the tree,” I ordered. As always, my bo staff hummed in response.
“Well?” Henrik asked.
I expected something unusual to happen. “Wait a minute,” I said. “Keep your focus on the tree.” Maybe it would take a few moments for the power to link together. Nothing. I lowered my weapon, Stein and Henrik following suit. “Let’s try it again,” I suggested. “Only, this time, let’s actually hit the tree. Maybe our powers will link then.”
Once again, I lifted my bo staff, pointing it at the tree.
“Ready,” Stein said.
“Me too,” Henrik grumbled.
“On the count of three. One… two… three.”
Blue light shot out of the end of my bo staff, striking the tree just as Stein’s arrow and Henrik’s ax embedded into the bark.
“Did the both of you use your power?” I asked.
“Yep,” Stein said. “That’s why my arrow struck the same place as your power did.”
“I used it. I just didn’t will my ax to strike through the tree like last time.”
Frustrated, I began pacing.
“You’re going to wear through the dirt and drop into a cavern,” Henrik teased.
I shuddered, remembering when I’d accidentally fell into the cavern during a rainstorm.
“This shouldn’t be so difficult,” I said. “We’re supposed to be able to link together.” An idea formed in my mind. “Let’s try it again.”
Burning Shadows Page 2
