Ember

by Tess Williams

  “So Thoran didn't start the group?” I asked Ikovos as we moseyed along the path.

  “Right,” he said.

  “But he does lead it now?”

  “Yep, well, Cornelius too.”

  Including the time spent in the study we'd been talking for over three hours about the um . . . group.

  Actually I didn’t really know what to call them.

  “Ikovos, what do you guys call yourselves? Like do you have a special name or something?”

  “Officially we're called the Order Delavedis, but that's only when we're dealing with political junk. With just us it's usually either the order or the guild.”

  That “political junk” was the most surprising thing I'd learned about so far. Thoran and the order didn't just fight the Meoden, but met with them as well. I had a hard time imagining one of those creatures in such a moderated arena . . . then again, Sylvanus, as I'd first seen him, would fit perfectly.

  Ikovos hadn't told me much about how it all worked. I had a feeling I'd have to find out another way. I looked over at him. He was swinging a twig absently through the air as he walked. Since I'd met him he'd been brazenly honest with me on everything, but at times I could tell he held back. These political meetings with the Meoden were one of those times.

  “Which do you use?” I asked him.

  “Huh?” He asked, his features shifting. It seemed with everything he said there was a different, and quite exaggerated, face.

  “Order or guild?”

  “Oh,” he said. “Order usually. Guild sounds too stuffy. But honestly I've never given it much thought.”

  A nice ability. People take it for granted. I give everything “much thought”, too much. Not by choice, but a fact all the same.

  “So you got a good idea of how things run now?” he asked.

  Thoran and Cornelius lead, men fight, boys train, Sophie cooks, and I don't exist. . . .

  “You're wincing,” said Ikovos.

  I looked at him. “Sorry. Yes, I think I've got it.”

  “As unconvincing as that was, it'll have to do, the horses are just up ahead.”

  My eyes veered forwards. I could see a clearing past the trees and in seconds we were through it. Sure enough, the horses stood tied to a wooden fence. Behind them was a pond fed by a slow, soft, waterfall that trickled down a high rock wall. On the left a cleft of rocks jutted out over the water. Ikovos pointed to this.

  “Me and Jaden study a lot up there. It'll be a good spot for us to go over some basic spells.”

  My attention instantly turned from my surroundings to Ikovos.

  “Already?” I knew the answer. Cornelius had said as soon as possible.

  “No time like the present,” he replied as he hopped up onto the rock and offered me a hand.

  I don't get that saying. There are lots of times better than the present, for instance a day so far in the future you won't have to worry about it.

  Luckily, this time, present was good. I grabbed his hand and followed him to the middle of the platform. We sat down and he popped open a book.

  “Okay,” he said. “You already know that not everyone can use magic. So don't worry if you can't do this stuff.”

  I nodded. Sure . . . I won’t worry. . . .

  He looked up at me. “When you grow up being trained in magic, you learn to think a certain way. You learn to be aware and in control of your mind with every action you make. You study your motivations and thought patterns, until you actually know yourself better. Eventually you'll find a part of you that already knows magic, how to conjure it, and eventually control it.” He gave a lop-sided grin. “I don't know if that makes sense, but it's the best way I can think to explain it.”

  “No, it makes sense,” I said. “I just wouldn't have thought it worked like that. So if you can't find the knowledge in yourself . . .”

  “Then you're one of the ones that can never learn it.”

  I thought about this for a moment. “Before, earlier this morning, Jaden told me he didn't think magic came naturally. It sounded like he was saying anyone could do it.”

  Ikovos looked down and shook his head. “He would say that . . . you know why?”

  My head went back and forth.

  “Because . . . Ah, I can't tell you. It'd feel like I was breaking the man's code of secrecy or something.”

  “There's a man's code of secrecy?”

  “No, I just sort of made the name up on the fly. But it stands for something, you know?”

  Boys, they always leave you hanging.

  “Fine, but this will come back to haunt you. One of these days you're gonna want to know something from me and bang, up pops the woman's code of secrecy.” Hey, I think that was pretty witty.

  He looked troubled, like he might actually be regretting not telling me.

  I burst out laughing. There goes my wittiness.

  Ikovos seemed to lighten a bit. “Okay, back to business. This book pretty much outlines the factual side of the process, but any artisan will tell it's more about instinct and practice. So . . . “ He closed the book. “You can read this on your own if you want, but we'll just start with some exercises.”

  For the next hour he walked me through a spell to conjure a light. So far I hadn't had any luck.

  “Try again,” said Ikovos. “Focus on the nerves in your fingertips, then visualize the light growing out of them. It sounds corny, I know, but it works.”

  I tried for the third time, concentrating on my fingers like he said . . .

  Still nothing.

  I looked up at him. “Is this bad? Does it mean I can't use magic?”

  His eyes narrowed. “Do you feel anything?”

  I shook my head.

  He looked away. “This is odd, I thought for sure. . . .”

  “Show me something,” I said.

  “What?”

  “I'm sorry, I mean . . . you're really good at magic right? Will you show me the spell? The one I've been trying?”

  Big smile. “Sure,” he said, then held out his palm.

  I thought it might take a little while, but instantly his hand lit a bluish-white. Almost like a glowing fog had caught unto it.

  He waved it around.

  “That's amazing,” I said as my eyes followed his hand. “How long did it take you to learn it?”

  “This spell? I did it my second tr—”

  I touched his hand. It felt cool. The mist crept unto my fingertip as I moved it across his palm. For a moment I forgot everything around me, completely focused on the light . . . and the tingling in my hand.

  Ikovos coughed.

  “Sorry,” I said, quickly moving my hand away.

  Ugh, this was the second time I had lost control of myself around magic. What am I doing? This isn't like me at all. I bit down on my lip.

  He looked like he was about to say something when a voice came from the woods. “Sil!”

  “Who is that?” I asked as Ikovos stared off into the forest.

  “Jaden. He's looking for the horses, his horse rather. He'll check here.” Ikovos kept his gaze turned.

  “Look, Ikovos, about what just happened. I didn't mean to . . .”

  He glanced at me and the corners of his mouth came up warmly. “Don't sweat it.”

  I forced a mirror smile and nodded. “Should I hide?”

  “Did it work last time?”

  “Well no, but . . .”

  “Jaden's smart and I'm a terrible liar . . . it's not just that though. I know I told Cornelius I wouldn't tell him, but he's my best friend,” Ikovos delivered this with a shrug. “We've never kept secrets.”

  Everyone keeps secrets. I let the thought pass. From what I'd seen of Jaden, he wasn't a person I'd naturally put my fate in the hands of.

  A wince crossed my face.

  “Eve, trust me,” said Ikovos. “He's a good guy.”

  I forced another smile. “Alright.”

  This got me an ear to ear grin.

  “Si
l, come on girl,” sang Jaden from the trees. “I've got a carrot.”

  The black horse whinnied immediately, quickly followed by the other. Jaden's voice was close enough that he had to of heard them.

  Ikovos winked at me. “Let me do the talking.”

  If I have to. I thought sarcastically to myself.

  Seconds later the dark-haired, dark-eyed boy appeared through the trees. He hadn't changed since this morning, same cloth shirt matched with leather pants. He looked up at us then turned to the horses and gave them their promised vegetables. After that he hopped up on the rock and sat down beside us.

  A few seconds of awkward silence passed, until I was ready to blurt out something about the condition of the weather lately. Jaden saved me the embarrassment.

  “Am I interrupting?” he asked, so nonchalantly it seemed he didn't expect a response.

  Ikovos narrowed his eyes. “Aren't you gonna ask why Eve's still here.”

  Jaden glanced at me and gave a slight, possibly patronizing, smile, then turned back to Ikovos.

  “Let me see. My wonderful, yet fancifully disposed, friend and the most tolerably sentimental person I know were put in charge of making a sweet—”

  Sweet . . . ?

  “—little—”

  Little?!

  “—doe-eyed—”

  What!?!

  “—girl—” my eyes narrowed “—go home when she obviously didn't want to. . . . The only way I'd be asking questions is if she wasn't here.”

  Ikovos glowered. “Nice Jaden. Very subtle.”

  Jaden lifted his shoulders as he leaned back. “The word isn't in my dictionary.”

  “How surprising,” said Ikovos, sarcasm thick.

  I tried to hold back a laugh, resulting in a short, throaty sound.

  Jaden looked at me. “You think that's funny?”

  I instantly adopted a straight face and shook my head.

  “No, no, I see how it is. But you might want to remember that I could tell Thoran you're here whenever I feel like it.”

  My eyes veered to Ikovos, but he was just looking at Jaden. I watched him cross his arms and shake his head. Unless I was mistaken he thought this was funny.

  I turned somewhat frantically back to Jaden.

  “Don't worry,” he said. “I'm not gonna tell him . . .” I let out a breath “. . . if you can prove that you can take care of yourself.”

  My eyes narrowed darkly, or maybe I just imagined they did.

  I'm not outspoken about myself around many people. But if someone challenges me, about holding my own no less, I become something slightly beyond competitive.

  I stood up and crossed my arms. This time I was sure I had.

  “What did you have in mind?” I asked, sounding each syllable.

  See, I can act confident!

  But then Jaden stood up . . . he was taller than me, and definitely not acting. Almost instantly my position turned melty and my eyes started to wander.

  He smiled knowingly, went to the edge of the forest, and came back with two long sticks.

  “Lose the robe,” he said.

  I obeyed. I didn't like taking orders, but . . . hmm . . . considering that I’d done it without question, maybe I did like taking orders.

  To the right of the plateau there was a tall flat rock. I saw Ikovos move to sit on it, before Jaden threw one of the makeshift staves. I caught it in front of me with both hands and gave it a little spin, suddenly thankful for my one-month obsession with bojutsu.

  Jaden stared hard. “If you leave the ledge, you're out. If I hit you in the head, chest, or stomach, you're out. If I hit you anywhere else, it'll just hurt. The same goes for me . . . except for maybe the last part.”

  Nice.

  He moved closer and started to circle. “Ready?”

  I gave Ikovos a glance and got a palms-up response, then turned back to Jaden and nodded once.

  Since meeting Cornelius and Thoran in the Meoden dimension yesterday, this was the first time I felt like I was on my own. Maybe even unwanted. . . . This used to be enough to send me running.

  I started to circle.

  Not this time.

  Immediately I sprinted to Jaden, then hit right, left with the staff. He blocked both of these, before I spun myself around for a roundhouse kick. He ducked, and I was left open. I knew the risk, but the surprise on his face made the sharp jab to my leg worth it.

  Darn, he wasn't lying. That hurt.

  He lunged at me again, but I dropped down and side-stepped his staff then took a swing at his chest. The wood only whipped through the air as Jaden back-flipped out of the way.

  Oh, give me a break!

  I moved back to catch my breath while he leveled out.

  After the acrobatics it crossed my mind that he could be holding back. I studied him. He was at least panting. This fact made me momentarily proud of myself . . . of course it was dwarfed by the knowledge of my inevitable defeat, but. . . .

  He moved closer and I spared a glance behind me. Just a few yards to the edge over the water. When I turned back he was right on top of me, barreling in with his staff, right, left, right, left. His strength was too much. I quickly lost ground as I parried.

  The last blow sent my staff flying, and me backwards, hands hitting the hard ground. I could feel the edge of the rock. As he lifted his staff in the air, I tried to steady my mind.

  I don’t think he planned on hitting me fully. But he obviously hadn’t anticipated me dropping back over the edge like I did, and his mock strike was swift and hard enough to send him falling into the pool below as I hung from my hands off the ledge.

  Ikovos was rolling on top of the high rock, laughing.

  I smiled, feeling pretty good about my impromptu ingenious.

  Just when I began to lift myself up onto the ledge, I felt a hand wrap around my foot. I realized too late what was happening and seconds plunged into the water.

  When I came up for breath, Jaden was treading the water next to me, staring straight-faced. I waited warily for him to speak.

  “Well?”

  “Well, what?” he asked.

  I continued to paddle. “Did I pass?”

  A surprised smirk crossed his face. “Are you kidding me? I didn't even think you knew how to fight, I was never serious.”

  My jaw dropped and I stared at him incredulously.

  “You guys okay?” yelled a half-cracking voice from above.

  “We're fine,” said Jaden, staring boldly at me.

  You're intolerable, I fumed. Then gave him a face that let him know my feelings, before turning around and swimming back towards the shore.

  ~ ~ ~

  Chapter 3

  Unexpected

  THIRTY MINUTES LATER it was pitch dark and we were all sitting around an orange fire on the ledge. Of course it wasn't a real fire so I had a hard time not staring at it, trying instead to focus on the conversation. A while ago Ikovos had started telling Jaden about the circumstances resulting in my lack of departure. As far as I could tell Jaden didn't seem to care.

  “So then we came here to practice,” said Ikovos, seemingly finished with his story. “I was showing her a spell when you arrived.”

  Jaden made no response, but continued instead to gaze at the fire.

  I looked behind me. As it had gotten darker the pool had grown an even brighter shade of purple, glimmers of pink reflecting at the edges. I stared at it a while, then turned to Ikovos.

  “Should we be back at a certain time?”

  Jaden responded first. “Did you do any spells?”

  I cocked my head to him. “Me?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Umm . . . not yet.” My eyes dropped. Great Evelyn, very impressive. I looked back at him. He always looked so serious.

  “Do something for me.” It wasn't a question, but I nodded anyways. “Blow. Right there.” He pointed at the fire.

  I cleared my throat. “Blow?”

  I got an almost imperceptible nod
.

  “You know, Jaden,” started Ikovos, “if you keep doing stuff like this, she's gonna think you're a serious weirdo.”

  Jaden gave him a face and turned back to me, obviously awaiting my obedience.

  Feeling enormously self-conscious. I leaned forward, pursed my lips, and blew softly into the fire.

  Nothing seemed unusual about the flames, just a soft flutter before returning to normal.

  I glanced up. Jaden was staring stern-faced into the fire.

  “What is it?” asked Ikovos. No reply. “Jaden?”

  Finally the boy looked up, meeting my eyes. “Be in the study, tomorrow, one o'clock.”

  I shook my head a little dumbfounded, then nodded with shrugged shoulders. “Okay. . . .”

  He jumped up and headed for the woods.

  I turned to Ikovos for an explanation, but he appeared just as confused.

  “Oh and Ikovos?” Jaden turned to look at him. “Don't waste time trying to teach her any spells.”

  Ikovos stared hard for a second, then nodded before Jaden disappeared into the trees.

  I tried to hide the disappointment from my face as I turned.

  “I can't learn magic can I?”

  His head was still facing the forest. He looked to me. “Honestly, I don't know the answer to that.” Which means no. “I do know Jaden though. He's got something going on.”

  I flexed my eyebrows.

  Yeah, some way to get rid of me . . . maybe. I guess I have no reason to doubt Ikovos. Anyways, Jaden isn't so bad. . . .

  I felt a hand on my shoulder.

  “Come on,” said Ikovos. “This fire won't last long now that Jaden's gone.” He stood up. “Besides, Cornelius is going to kill me for keeping you out so late.”

  My eyebrows furrowed. “I asked you about that.”

  He smiled and jumped down after the horses.

  “Hey, don't just walk away. I could get in trouble for this.” I jumped up, racing after him.

  ‘The illumination spell is a base level conjuration used by defense artisans. It has long been considered the simplest of spells for either class, often used as a test to see if one is adept in magic.’

  I closed the book and leaned back into the study couch.

  When Ikovos had dropped me off earlier, I began reading one of the glowing tomes. So far I'd concluded that this illumination spell was the same one Ikovos had cast on his hand . . . the one I'd been attempting.