The Flames of Deception - A Horizon of Storms: Book 1

by AJ Martin

  “Simply something personal of Maryn’s. The more personal, the better.”

  “Well, we’re buggered then, aren’t we?” Thadius exclaimed, as Matthias began to rustle in his bag. “Unless you have someth-” He stopped mid sentence as Matthias pulled out a lock of brown hair. Thadius raised his brow. "How-"

  “Don’t ask,” Matthias cut him off. “Suffice to say, this should be what I need.” He looked to the horizon. “It’s getting late again and we’ve barely covered any distance from the mountains. Perhaps we should stop here and attempt this. The sooner I try the better.”

  Thadius nodded. He eased Josephine out of his arms, laying her gently onto the ground and exhaled as the weight was lifted from his body. Luccius pulled a blanket from his bag and placed it beneath her head. She sighed as if she felt the cotton against her skin, and he sat by her side and stroked her forehead.

  “It feels like I’m petting a flagstone,” Luccius said sadly.

  Matthias unfurled his map and placed it on the road in front of him. “I need some stones to weigh it down, so it doesn’t blow away,” he instructed. “I’ve had this map longer than I’ve been a wizard and I’m not about to let it get away from me now.”

  “That explains why it’s been scribbled on so much and why the parchment smells like a dead goat,” Thadius replied, picking up clumps of rock around them big enough to weigh the parchment down and setting them along the edges of the stained map. He paused a moment and squinted at the diagram. “I didn’t get a proper look at this map before. That place there in northern Aralia: Vershallah? That hasn’t been called that in years!” He shook his head. “Decades even!” he exclaimed. “Just how long have you been a wizard?”

  “Long enough. Thank you,” Matthias replied, as he shifted the stones a little, and lowered himself onto his knees and sat cross - legged on the road, the map laid in front of him. He placed the lock of hair, still in his hand, on top of the map.

  “How does this even work?” Thadius asked. “It’s a piece of parchment and a lock of hair, for goodness sake!”

  “Everything is connected in this world Thadius. Believe it or not, we all share a common link, even you and me.”

  “I am glad,” Thadius said acerbically. “But that doesn’t explain how this all works.”

  “What should happen,” Matthias continued, “is that when I focus energies into the lock of hair, which I have placed roughly where we are on the map, I will seek out a match using those threads of power. They will stretch through the roots of the world and return to us any echo of Maryn that they find. I should then be able to decipher where Maryn is. Thereabouts.”

  Thadius sighed. “But... but it’s a piece of hair! How does it even know what to do?”

  Matthias smiled. “It’s complicated. The hair doesn’t know anything. It’s not alive Thadius. But it provides a link between Maryn and I, wherever she is. My mind translates that through the earth. I can then realise the location on the map. Is that any clearer?”

  “As mud,” Thadius exhaled. “Give me a compass any day.”

  “A compass wouldn’t help us find Maryn,” Matthias replied. “This might.”

  “Well get on with it then,” Thadius blustered.

  “Why will it only tell us if Maryn is in the nearby region?” Luccius asked. “If everything is connected as you say, then surely we can find her anywhere?”

  Matthias sighed. “Because I’m not strong enough to extend its range. A powerful enough wizard could drill through the entire world’s roots searching for a person. A strong enough wizard could do this with the power of the mind alone: use a memory of a person to home in on them. But I’m not that strong. No one is. Not anymore. Time was a wizard could track down a person with a thought and drop out of the sky on them like a spirit, use the roots in the ground as a system of travel. But that age is long gone. If I’m lucky, I can search for Maryn for a few miles. If not, I might only be able to search the valley.”

  “And you are sure it is worth trying to find this Maryn?” Thadius asked. “I’d rather not go on a wild goose chase for nothing with the princess like this.” He turned to look at Josephine.

  “I think it’s her best chance, Thadius. Better than any doctor or apothecary. Contrary to popular opinion, bleeding is not a good way to relieve the fever. All they’d do is cut her open and stick leeches on her skin. Maryn knows much more than that.”

  “Who is this woman to you that you have such faith in her abilities?” Thadius asked.

  “A good friend,” Matthias said with piercing eyes. “Or at least, she was a good friend.” Matthias looked saddened. “We didn’t part in the best of company.”

  “Did you try to kidnap her too?” Thadius acerbically.

  Matthias smiled mockingly. “Not quite. It’s a long story. One we don’t have time for.”

  “But you still think she will help you?” Thadius continued.

  “She’s a good woman. Whatever quarrel is still between us, she will help the princess. That much I am sure of.”

  Thadius broke off his stare and sighed. “Alright. Let’s get this bloody started then,” he groaned wearily.

  Matthias nodded. “Wish me luck. You might want to step back a bit. I’m not sure how this will go.” They took a few paces backward, and when they were at a safe distance, he opened his body to the world and channelled the earth power through it. If Thadius and Luccius could have physically seen the Power Matthias now drew, they would have seen tendrils creeping from the ground like fast growing plants, sliding up through Matthias’ body and into his head, snaking through the air to place themselves on the lock of hair. The hair shone in Matthias’ eyes, as thin wisps of energy that looked like shoots burst from individual strands of the auburn hair and arced back into the ground. He channelled the energy carefully, delicately; connected links where they needed to go. To Luccius and Thadius, he was just crouching on the ground with a look of concentration on his face. They sat and waited patiently.

  The multi - coloured rainbow of strands sunk into the soil, spread across the land like tendrils. Minutes passed, and Matthias began to draw a sweat on his forehead. His shoulders ached and he shook slightly as he kept the flows constant. Across his cheek a thin black vein began to form.

  “What’s happening?” Thadius asked, sitting forward.

  “It’s alright,” Luccius said, placing a hand on his chest and stopping him. “It’s a sign of exhaustion. Did you not see it on him the Mountain pass?”

  Thadius shook his head. “It was dark. And I was somewhat indisposed, if you remember? But I recall now come to think of it… yes. He had the veins on his face then as well.”

  Luccius nodded. “It’s a side effect of focusing the earth power for too long, or too much. The longer he goes on using the power, the more of those veins will emerge. Eventually his body will get to a point where he will either have to yield the energy or he will pass out. There’s only so much you can pull through you I’m told. In my mind, I see it as a little bit like having lightning surging through your body. Soon or later, you will burn up. Of course I have no idea really.”

  “But you can feel the energy?” Thadius asked. “You have some kind of senses that can pick up on what he is doing?”

  “It’s like the sensation before a storm. The hairs on the back of the neck stand up when someone channels energy.”

  “What do you feel now?” the knight asked.

  “That Matthias is channelling a lot of power,” he replied.

  Thadius stared as another vein began to rupture from Matthias’ skin across his brow. “The veins all vanish when he stops using it?”

  “After a while. Though Matthias once told me that if a wizard tries to draw too much power at one time, it could burn them out completely. The veins become scars and they damage their ability to wield the power forever. Like sticking a piece of wood in a flame for too long. Eventually it will turn to ash.”

  Behind them Josephine whimpered, and her eyes flickered. Sh
e looked in pain. Thadius turned and placed a hand on her cheek. “It’s alright princess,” he whispered, and delicately poured more water into her mouth. “We’re nearly out of water,” he said. “There’s barely half a canister left.”

  “We have to find a town sooner or later,” Luccius replied.

  “By which time we will all be as parched as this dust!” he ran his fingers through the earth. Luccius reached into his bag and pulled out a small, silver phial about the size of a thumb. “What is that?” Thadius asked.

  “We call it ‘Beria’ in ansuwan,” he said, and undid the cork wedged deep in the object. “I have saved it for an emergency. I would say this is emergency enough.” He took a sip and passed it to Thadius. “You won’t need much.”

  The man took the phial and sniffed at its contents. “It smells disgusting!” he exclaimed. “What’s in it?”

  “Wormwood flowers, fennel, aniseed, and a fruit from the S’aal called chisbeth.” He smiled. “Best pick me up I’ve ever had.”

  Thadius stared at it a moment, and then, shrugging, took a sip. “It feels like my tongue has been set on fire!” he exclaimed, handing it back.

  “Give it five minutes and you’ll feel as if you could run for miles,” Luccius replied with a smile.

  “Perhaps we should give it to Josephine,” Thadius said.

  “If only it were that simple,” Luccius replied. He looked back at Matthias. “If it was he wouldn’t be trying so hard.”

  “You’ve known Matthias a long time, haven’t you?” Thadius asked the ansuwan.

  “Longer than any other man, save my own kin,” Luccius replied. “Why do you ask?”

  Thadius shook his head. “A man who tries to kidnap one of the family you have pledged to protect is not a man one should trust,” Thadius said soberly. “He has lied several times about his motives and his actions. But... he has convinced me somehow that we are doing the right thing. And he gave me this,” he said, and pulled down his shirt a little so the emblem of Mahalia became visible across his chest.

  Luccius nodded. “That’s worth a lot to a wizard. To most it means more than family.”

  Thadius covered the medallion up again. “You are a man who I see is honest and true. So tell me, Luccius, is he truly a good man?”

  Luccius smiled. “My good knight, he is the best of men you could hope for as an ally in this dark and dangerous world. None of us can claim to be truly pure of blood.” He shifted his position. “He was trying to do what was right, Thadius. Kidnapping her wasn’t the best way to earn anyone’s trust, and neither was lying about what he was doing, but whatever the methods he has employed, he saved the princess, that much is certain.” Thadius nodded.

  Matthias stared at the lock of hair with determination. Or it could have been desperation. Right now, he wasn’t quite sure. It had been a long time since he was taught this, and he had only practiced, in his training, to find a pigeon hidden a floor up from his classroom. Maryn’s image flickered in front of his vision: her glossy, long auburn hair and those dazzling blue eyes of hers. His nose seemed alive with her scent, her perfume, and his heart - beat with the image of her face: her porcelain skin, her pale lips. His stomach fluttered despite his best attempts to stop himself. It had been a long time since he had allowed himself to think about her in such detail. Usually such thoughts ended with a numbing in his chest: a sucking, vacuous black hole in the pit of his stomach. Maryn considered him a traitor to her and she vowed to kill him if she ever even set eyes on him again. He hoped that was said in the heat of the moment.

  He forced more of the power through himself, funnelled it down through the lock and map until he was grunting with the strain of it all. Smoke began to rise from it, and the smell of burnt hair filled the air.

  “Come on,” he growled. “I know you’re here somewhere!”

  “Matthias, be careful,” Luccius called to him. “Don’t hurt yourself.”

  “I need to find her!” Matthias panted. “Josephine is depending on me!”

  He pushed more power through the earth as his face began to pale and more veins snaked across his face. He closed his eyes and pulled everything he could through him, until he felt like the world was spinning away from him and his body would burst into pieces. Maryn’s voice echoed in his mind. Was it just a memory? Or was he hearing her through the world? She was talking about… fennel - weed and… milk of the poppy? He couldn’t recall ever talking to her about either of those. The image of a house flickered and then melted away, only to be replaced by Maryn’s face again, as clear as if she were stranding in front of him.

  He opened his eyes as he heard a gasp from Thadius, and stared down at the map. The lock of hair was on fire. Above it, a glowing star-like object shimmered. It remained where it was for a moment, and then it was moving, back and forth to all areas of the map, spinning around as if possessed, its white light sparking and pulsing until it rested above the map, towards the centre of Olindian territory, and stopped. “There we go!” Luccius breathed. “You did it Matthias! That must be where she is!”

  Matthias exhaled heavily, and fell back. He let the power go, and Luccius reached forward and threw his coat over the burning hair, putting out the flame.

  “I could hear her,” Matthias whispered. “It wasn’t just a memory.”

  Thadius pulled Luccius’s coat from the map. “You burnt your keepsake,” he said, picking up what remained of the lock of hair and passed it back to Matthias. He took it and reviewed the damage. Thadius squinted as he studied the map. “Where exactly did the light shine above?” he asked.

  “By the looks of it, it was not too far from here,” Luccius replied. “I think it was above this area,” he indicated.

  Thadius tutted. “There must be at least a dozen towns in that area! How do we know which one she’s in?”

  Matthias grimaced. “I should have waited, seen if I could have narrowed it down.”

  “It’s a clump of hair and a ball of light!” Thadius exclaimed. “How specific could it get? I’m amazed anything happened at all!”

  Matthias smiled. “That almost sounded like some kind of admiration.”

  The knight stifled a grin, but his eyes gave away his mood. “I would not go that far,” he said.

  “You couldn’t have carried on for much longer anyway, by the looks of you,” Luccius added.

  Matthias leaned over the map. He studied the place names, squinting. Finally, he pointed to a town.

  “Kardak Tavna,” he whispered.

  “Sounds familiar?” Luccius asked.

  Matthias nodded. “Perhaps.” He shook his head. “I’m not certain, but it... feels right.”

  “It has to be worth a try,” Luccius said. “Doesn’t it?”

  “It’s all we have to go on,” Matthias said. “All the chance Josephine has. If Maryn isn’t there, we don’t any more time to find her.” Matthias swallowed.

  Thadius rose to his feet. “Come on then,” he said. “Let’s get going. I’d say it’s a good days or two’s walk from here to that village. Not to mention we are all exhausted.”

  Matthias packed up his map and Thadius took Josephine in his arms again. The wizard watched her sadly as she flopped to rest on his arm again. Her hair, once glistening and golden, had turned a silvery-grey.

  “Hold on Josephine,” he whispered. “Please. Hold on for me.”

  Playing for Time

  130th Day of the Cycle, 495 N.E. (New Era)

  King Arwell re - read the scroll that he held tightly between his hands for the fifth time. Captain Tiberius read over his shoulder.

  “You are sure it is from her?” he asked.

  “It’s definitely her writing and I recognise the tone of my daughter’s voice even in ink. It is her. I’m certain.”

  “There is the possibility she wrote this under duress,” the captain suggested.

  The king smiled and laughed under his breath. “You have never gotten to know my daughter very well, have you captain?” he said.
“You have more chance of dressing a pig in a jester’s robes than making her do anything she wouldn’t want to do. She would rather die.” He cast the note aside. “No, this is from her and that means she is alive and well.”

  “Then this is good news,” Tiberius remarked.

  “But she is still being followed,” Arwell added. “By Fenzar and the gods’ know who else!”

  “I received word today on Lord Fenzar and his progress through our land. Lord Robert informed me he and his other wizard companions requested the use of his household for the night. That would put them a week away from Gormal if he leaves tomorrow.”

  “Lord Fenzar doesn’t know the meaning of haste, especially when he has a glass of brandy in his hand,” Arwell sniffed. “Dragon or not, he is an arrogant, selfish man. Perhaps Lord Robert’s home comforts will delay him yet further.”

  “If, as you said, your grace, the Mahalian Council believes they can stop the people behind the dragon’s release, then he may not be worried about the dragon, but more about your daughter. This respite might mean he doesn’t see her as a threat? Perhaps he is confident she can be brought to heel easily.”

  “I have given up on understanding the motives of wizards,” Arwell sighed. “One moment Fenzar tells me my daughter is the greatest of dangers to this world, and the next he takes up residence with one of my nobles for a sojourn!” He shook his head. “Did Lord Robert say anything else in his message?”

  “Nothing of import. However, in my return message, which I sent this morning, I also informed him that we believed your daughter was heading for West Riding. Knowing the man as I do, I would imagine this information will find itself easily into the hands of Fenzar.”

  “That man has a mouth as big as an estuary,” Arwell scoffed. “Robert has most likely already spilt the beans. He is a self - satisfying, ambitious man.”

  Tiberius smiled. “I’m hoping that my misinformation will draw Lord Fenzar down the wrong road for at least another few days.”