The Destroyer

by Michael-Scott Earle

  I finally decided to take a bath. I hadn’t experienced a hot one in almost two months. Afterward I would go out into the common room and see how Kaiyer was. Maybe everyone else would be out there and Greykin would tell us another story. I knew they were mostly exaggerations, but now that I knew the big bear of a man a little more I appreciated his tales. Even if I didn't appreciate the hangovers I got after he made me drink with him.

  I undressed and turned on the water of the tub. I felt better now that I had a plan.

  Chapter 11-The O’Baarni

  “Good! You are a natural, Thayer!” The voice shouted from behind me. I smiled as I looked over my shoulder and saw the effects of Thayer’s spell. His Fire reduced the haystack target that once stood eighty yards from us into a smoking scorch mark. Thayer turned around and gave me a giant smile. The scar over his nose was the first physical trait an observer would notice about my friend. Then they would notice his size. The man was a wall of muscle as wide as he was tall.

  The animosity I felt for him years ago was gone now, replaced by respect, trust, and love.

  “Your turn, Kaiyer,” said the voice at my side. I looked at my instructor. He was human, with long gray hair that went down to his shoulder blades. His body was old and shriveled, but his small face looked young and happy. He smiled and nodded at me in encouragement as he leaned on a simple cane of bamboo.

  “You’ve got this, Brother,” Thayer whispered from behind me. My own target stood one hundred yards from us. Once upon a time I would have had trouble seeing the details of the straw stack. My vision had been normal. Now I was changed. I saw each individual strand of hay in the stack, the threads of the white cloth that laid over it, and the wetness of the red paint, still drying in the breeze.

  I focused on it until the rest of the world faded to smoky mist. I felt the power of the Earth rise up through my bare feet, swell in my legs, churn in my stomach, and heat my heart to bursting. The Air swirled around me and weaved between my fingers like her coppery golden hair. The thought of her made the Fire inside of me burn hotter.

  “Careful!” the voice of the old one said next to me. I thought about her lips touching mine, the pain when her nails raked across my back and chest, I felt my hands close around her neck. “No! Stop!” The old man screamed behind me before the sound of the explosion. The world turned to fire and pain. My lungs burned to a crisp and then reformed in a split second, both the pain of their destruction and the pain of their creation passing through me.

  The Fire burned my skin to black before stripping my bones of their flesh and muscles. Then they too reformed. The pain was intense. It would have been unbearable.

  But I had felt worse. So I withstood it.

  I opened my eyes to the blue sky. I could smell the burning grass, my roasting flesh, and the carbon scent of rocks being melted into glass. I sat up, naked; I had burned my clothes and hair off, again.

  Thayer lay twenty-five feet from me, his body smoking, pieces of his clothes charred black and brown. He coughed suddenly and gray smoke puffed out of his mouth like he had taken a long drag of a pipe.

  “Shit,” he said as he coughed again. “I really need to find a new training partner.” He sat up and glared at me.

  “You okay?” I asked. We had inflicted worse on each other as both enemies and allies.

  “Yeah. I don’t like you anymore though,” he couldn’t say the words with a straight face and we both started laughing.

  “What happened, Kaiyer?” the man with the cane said. He appeared unharmed even though he was standing as close to me as Thayer when I lost control of my magic.

  “I don’t know for sure. It seemed to be going fine. I could feel the power. When I tried to harness the Wind I started to slip free again.” I took a deep breath. “I’m sorry.”

  I didn’t want to tell him about her. I didn’t know what he would say. What they would all say. We had a river of hate for the Elvens. But I feared they would not want me if they knew how deep mine was, and why.

  “Your Earth control is amazing, the best I have ever seen, but your Air is terrible. Absolutely terrible. I want to help you, but I can’t unless you open up to us. What is it that you are feeling when you harness it?” he sat down on his knees in front of me. It was how we all sat so we could get up quickly and kill if needed.

  “I’m sorry. I just lose it.” He frowned and his face reminded me of a monkey's. “I’ll keep working on it though. Maybe it will be easier for me to do it alone.” I looked back between him and Thayer.

  “Okay Kaiyer. Let’s take a break from this and go for a run.” I smiled. I was good at this. “Let Thayer lead.” The big man smiled his broken grin. His teeth and jaw had healed from the many times I shattered it during trainings. Only the scar over his nose had never healed, but I hadn’t given him that.

  He jumped up like a deer and bounded through the field toward a thick green forest. I easily caught up to him. Although he was bigger than me, I was faster and stronger.

  “Grab the O’Baarni some dinner when you are out there, boys,” the old one called behind us as we disappeared. Good. We would be able to hunt. Thayer gave a shout of joy and increased his speed when he hit the forest. Hunting with Thayer always meant we would find something big to kill and drag back.

  Chapter 12-Kaiyer

  I woke up clutching my pillow so hard that the feather stuffing had started to come out of the seams. I quickly ran through the memory, or dream, again in my head so I would remember it.

  It had been wonderful.

  My heart ached pleasantly at such happiness. The comradeship between Thayer and the man with the cane, the pleasure of the Earth and Air coursing through me, and the freedom of chasing Thayer through the woods, unencumbered. Most of all, there had been no Elvens in the memory. Wonderful indeed.

  I tried to recall how the magic had worked, to remember the power flowing through me. I remembered why I failed. I kept thinking about the Elven woman from the stables. Why did I hate her in particular out of all of them?

  I looked over to the other bed. Paug almost looked lost in the large bed that occupied the vast room. The thick curtains covering the window only allowed a tiny sliver of light through the glass. It was enough to let me see the light freckles on his face as he slept peacefully.

  Then I remembered what the man with the cane had said: Grab the O’Baarni some dinner when you are out there, boys.

  I was not the O’Baarni.

  Sadness filled me as I looked over to Paug again. The boy would be crushed. So would Nadea. I don’t know why they pinned so many hopes and expectations on me, but somehow through our travels I had wanted to fulfill them. I wanted to help them. Not because they woke me up, but because I felt the same feelings for them that I had for Thayer in that memory in the field.

  They were my friends.

  What had happened that transformed the big, bald man and I into friends? It had probably been the mutual hatred of our enslavers.

  My mind jumped through the details of the memory before I decided to go back to the magic and stay there. When Paug woke me in the ruins I felt the Earth course through me. I had also felt the Air when I had climbed the cliffs with Nadea. I recalled the sensation of the Water when I crossed the stream atop the cliffs.

  I contemplated repeating the magic I had tried in the dream, but I didn’t really want to annihilate anything the way Thayer had. If I failed, I could kill myself and Paug. I should go outside somewhere and make the attempt again. The memory was so clear and strong, I felt like it had just happened. It seemed that Thayer was still here with me, smiling his broken grin.

  I couldn’t get out downstairs. Runir’s men liked me enough, but leaving at this time of the night would raise questions, if they even let me. They would probably fear I was going to report Jessmei’s whereabouts to someone.

  That left the window. I slid out of bed with a soft movement and looked at Paug. He slept like a brick. He had seemed slightly annoyed with me today becaus
e of my questions, so I decided to give him space and sit in the tavern with Runir’s men. Alas, that seemed to upset him even more. He insisted on showing me the plumbing of the inn several times and pouted when I had told him I would look later. When I had come up to bed he was already asleep.

  The window opened noiselessly. We were on the second story, facing out to the main street, which was about forty feet below me. Without a second thought I jumped out and landed barefooted on the cobblestone. I looked around the street and found a few landmarks to get my bearings, taller buildings that seemed to have interesting architecture.

  The city still amazed me. I could not recall homes of this size. I remembered simple wooden structures that resembled the stable of my memories or the inn in the small village where the assassins tried to capture Jessmei. Of course, my memory wasn’t exactly whole, so there is the possibility that someday I would recollect similar structures. The twin moons gave the blue paint on the building an underwater glow like the islands of my dreams, with a blue instead of green tinge.

  I heard people walking on various streets from a distance. I didn't want to meet any of the guards or citizens of the Sapphire alone in the night, so I decided to take the quickest route outside of the city. The walls surrounding the city were made of decorative blue stone. There were various stairs from the interior of the wall that allowed those inside the city to get up to the top of the battlements. I saw a few guards patrolling, but it was easy enough to ascend the stairs without being noticed. I leapt off the side, free falling for a few seconds before I rolled onto the ground outside the city.

  The faster I ran, the easier the Earth and Air filled my senses. A few miles from the city I stopped running in a small grove of white-barked oak trees. The location seemed safe from eyesight of the city walls, but I didn't want to be gone too long from my room.

  Now it was time to test my memory.

  The magic would be risky, but I didn’t care now. I wasn’t this O’Baarni, so if my experiment backfired and I died, Paug and Nadea would still be in the same place they were now, looking for someone that I was not. I was foolish to attempt this based on indistinct and vague memories, but I longed to stretch my magical powers and see what would happen. Perhaps if I used some magic more of my memories would return?

  I repeated the steps of my memory, focusing on the palm of my hand and feeling the Earth flow through my legs. The sensation was not exactly the same as in my dream, since the power from the ground came faster and stronger. I tried to slow it down, wrestling with it for a few minutes, or maybe a few hours, until I controlled it. My chest hummed with its power and my heart pumped my scorching blood in time with my concentration. Then I harnessed the Wind.

  It weaved through my fingers, around my neck, across my hair and ears. I felt it obey me. My memory flashed to the Elven woman who haunted my dreams, but I experienced no anger in the recollection.

  Suddenly, the palm of my left hand burst into flame.

  It shot out in a tight column four feet from my hand. I had been looking at it, so I jumped back in shock, almost losing concentration but grabbing at it like a slippery fish before the fire extinguished. The flame made no sound, but it was bright and intense heat rolled off it like a blacksmith's forge. I felt the ebb and flow of the Elements, changing the heat and intensity as I struggled to make it consistent. The fire grew and shrunk with my thoughts. Then, after a few moments, I wished it to be gone and it was.

  The palm of my hand was charred, blackened, and full of blisters. As I watched, the skin began to heal with amazing quickness. It was painful and itched like being stung by wasps, but in less than three seconds no burn mark remained, just the bleached scar that covered most of my arm. Another bout of weightlessness and nausea hit me for a second, so I looked away from my palm and took a deep breath. After a minute my stomach relaxed and my heart began to quiet.

  I knew my flesh would heal since I had also healed when I pulled the crossbow bolt from my chest. Normal humans didn't heal like this, but in my memory I had been changed. I just expected to heal quickly.

  The Earth is your body. Your body is the Earth. Your blood is the Water that flows inside of the Earth.

  The man with the cane's voice filled my head while I ran back toward the city. I scaled the outside wall easily, my hands and bare feet finding purchase on the smallest of cracks and nooks in the blue stones. I don't know how long it had been since I left the room, perhaps an hour or so, but it may have been longer. The run was invigorating, and I debated sprinting around the perimeter of the city a few times before returning. I guessed Paug might be upset if he woke while I was away, so I gave up on the idea.

  I leapt up to the open window of the inn and slipped inside my room. The sudden change between the bright light of the moons and the darkness of the room disoriented me for a few seconds while I attempted to quietly close the window and secure the curtain. I heard a second heartbeat in the room and recognized it as Greykin's. He sat in the chair by the desk watching me. I opened my mouth to say something and he raised his finger to his lips, then pointed to Paug's sleeping form. Then he motioned for me to follow him. He rose on creaking joints and went to the door.

  Four guards eyed me suspiciously as I followed the Old Bear down the hall to his room. They had not sat with me in the tavern a few hours ago, so they hadn't had a chance to speak with me.

  "Let's talk for a bit," he paused as he looked at me, "Kaiyer." It was the first time he had used my name. He didn't seem tense so I relaxed and walked into his room.

  I turned to watch him close the door behind us and I wondered if his soldiers would listen in on our conversation.

  "Sit down." He motioned to one of the chairs at the table. "Water?" He poured himself a cup and I nodded. He handed me a full wooden cup and then sat across from me.

  "Where were you?" he asked, uncharacteristically calm. "I sat in your room for almost an hour."

  "I couldn't sleep, so I decided to explore the city." He nodded and smiled. I didn't sense any malice in him, so I relaxed a little and took a sip of the water from the cup.

  "We might not get another chance to be alone before we reach the castle of Nia, so I wanted to speak to you without the boy and Nadea around." I nodded and waited for him to continue. "I heard about the idea for this mission almost two years ago. There had been talk in the North of an army growing in power. The warriors in the army were said to be extremely strong. The Northern clan lands possess some amazing fighters, but they are tribal, and don't organize under one banner. Rumor was that they were being conquered systematically, enslaved, and then forced to fight the other tribes. Within a year they had all been conquered." He paused to take a sip of water. This story sounded familiar to me. I closed my eyes and saw the red banner with the black skull. Thousands of bodies in armor stood at attention before me.

  "There are four countries to the north of Nia: Loorma, Newvana, Gradar and Timata. They used to be duchies under one ruler, but in the past fifty years they have experienced disagreements and various internal struggles. The split was messy, but the countries were on their path to recovery. Gradar is the country to the immediate north of us, and we have a similar peaceful relationship with them as we do with Brilla. At any rate, demands were sent to these four countries to surrender or be destroyed. Their rulers would be allowed limited control over their holdings, but if they didn't surrender, they would face extreme consequences. The letters were signed as 'The Ancients,' a word we associate with the legends of powerful beings of old.

  “Nadea and her father had always been interested in the legends. Instead of marrying the girl off for political leverage, the king allowed his niece to travel the continent and investigate the ruins that had been left by this past civilization. She believed that the legends were false and that there was more to the history, even before the Northern tribes were conquered. Nadea and her father convinced the king they could find more information about the history of the Ancients, and a possible way to defeat them.
We hadn't even verified that they were the same Ancients who had sent the threats, but the king gave her permission and access to resources so that she could travel the continent and research.

  “Timata was quickly overrun by the combined forces of the Northern tribes. It was a powerful country, with stout soldiers, rich forests, and mountains carrying an endless supply of iron. Reports came back that the generals of this invading army were tall men and women, with long hair the color of metal, ears that came up to sharp points, and eyes that slanted like almonds. They said that they were ‘the Ancients,’ and they didn't look human.

  “I sat with the king and his generals as they read spy reports and decided what to do. The countries of Loorma and Newvana asked us for assistance, and we sent soldiers. They put aside their differences and have been fighting for the last few months against the forces of the Ancients. It doesn't look good though. It is toward the end of summer now, so there should only be a few more months until winter sets in and the fighting will break. But their resources have been expended and are near depletion. They won't last through the winter without help from Nia and Brilla. Do you understand what I have said?" He looked at me. I think he just remembered that I had only learned his language a few short weeks ago.

  "More or less, I understand."

  "Good. The king received a letter from the Ancients six months ago with the same demands as the other countries. They made him a slightly better offer, if he joined them now, he would continue to control his lands, they would just extract soldiers and resources at a fixed rate. They requested a meeting with the king which he denied.

  “Nadea reported back that she found something interesting in her research, the location of a ruin in which the O'Baarni was imprisoned. The Ancients were able to capture him, but then were destroyed at last by his armies. He was supposed to be so powerful that he could not be killed. Nadea and the duke thought that if this was true, then the O'Baarni would help us against the Ancients."