Yet, there was something that troubled him. That he could share with Alicia. He told her about the spirits’ admonishment. “We have always been taught that there are four elements; the four sources of a mages’ power. I am an earth mage, and you have the gift of both air and earth. You are rare because you can draw upon two elements. Have you ever heard of a fifth element?”
Perhaps the spirits were mistaken? Had he misunderstood their message? He raked his brain, trying to remember all that he knew about the history of magic, but he had never heard or read anything that mentioned a fifth element.
Alicia breathed deeply. “After my encounter with the spirits, I delved deeper into study, reading everything I could find about an afterlife. During that time, I read a book, an old tome that mentioned that once there had been five elements of magic. And the fifth was the spirits. If a mage was able to draw upon the power of the dead, he would become invincible. He or she would be able to manipulate the spirits and use them to do whatever was needed.
He shook his head, not sure if he was ready to surrender a life-long belief. Having always believed that it was the four elements that supported magic, it was hard for him to accept that his study was so lacking in knowledge. Skepticism laced his words. “The fifth element is the spirits?”
Alicia shrugged. She wriggled away. “I didn’t find any support of that claim, and believe me, I read a lot in those days. But if the spirits gave you that message then there is bound to be some truth in it. And perhaps you have that gift, and you need to explore it further.”
Kayleb laughed. “Believe me, if I possessed the magic of a fifth element, I would have used it long ago.”
Alicia stared at him. “You must search for it within you. Spirits don’t lie. They know us better than we know ourselves because they can read our thoughts and the deepest desires of our heart.” She smiled. “Perhaps you can work on this later. Our head librarian Zima may know more about this, or she may know of old tomes that mention the fifth element.” She sounded hopeful.
“Yes, I might do that later,” he said, knowing she needed to hear that they could have a future beyond this quest.
Even though he loved her with every shred of his being, Kayleb knew that the purpose of his life was to avenge the deaths of those who had died at his behest. They died while they served him. He needed to win back their respect, and it could only happen once he killed Vindha.
Once he helped her finish her quest, he would go back to Vindha’s camp and try to kill him, even if it meant he would die in the attempt. His life meant nothing until he tried to murder the monster who razed his land and butchered his people. Vindha had turned Kayleb into an object of pity, and stripped him of all self-respect and honor when he served him to the succubi to be used for their sexual pleasure.
A normal life, a happy wife, and a loving relationship were no longer in his destiny. And yet, Kayleb found it impossible to share all this with Alicia. These few moments of happiness with her were precious to him. Perhaps he was being selfish by not telling her that the spirits promised him revenge, but he didn’t want anything to spoil this time with her.
Maybe later, they would have more time. Or maybe not.
But for now, they had each other. He pulled her close and kissed her, savoring the taste and smell of her. She was beautiful, both inside and out. Being with her filled him with a sense of calm and well-being he never felt before, and he would never ever feel with anyone again.
Alicia was special, and he loved her. And for now, she was his.
Chapter Fourteen
The forested mountains were not an easy terrain to traverse. Up and down, through trees and underbrush that was thick and thorny, the party of thirteen escapees trudged on. Beside Xuan, there were eleven mages who decided to travel to with Jace. The rest of the mages that escaped from the keep ahead of Vindha’s army split into three smaller groups, and disappeared in different directions.
Jace hoped to see most of them back in Iram. But he wasn’t sure how many of them were prepared to fight a battle they hadn’t claimed as their own. They might disperse and go their own way, only to be captured by Vindha’s mages later on. Whatever their fate, it wasn’t up to him but to the Goddess to protect them.
His own company consisted of Arife, Amjad, and many others he didn’t know all that well. Yet, they all seemed content to follow him. The forest was glum, dark, and dangerous. A wrong step could lead one to fall down a slippery slope, or into a crevasse. Jace led the group as they followed a treacherous, narrow path that wound its way through thick, old trees. As night descended upon the mountains, they found themselves standing on a ledge near the peak.
It wasn’t possible to see anything down below. They were surrounded by tall trees that blocked all view. This was familiar territory. Jace had come this far before, and even a little further ahead, on one of his hunting trips while he lived in the keep. The ledge was big enough to provide shelter for the night. It was set into the rock face, and hence was blocked from three sides. If anyone approached them, he or she would be forced to do so from the forest, and thus would be visible to them.
“We will set up camp here,” Jace said as he dropped his pack against the wall, and took deep breaths. This far up, the air was meagerly thin. “It might be best not to build a fire as we may have been followed.”
A collective groan echoed across the ledge. “So far this is not proving to be fun,” said Arife as he lay down, resting his head on his pack.
Xuan threw his pack down. “You want fun? Go back to the keep and fight the mages.”
“Shh!” said Jace. “Let’s not bicker among ourselves. This isn’t a recreational trip. We are running to save our lives.”
Although he felt sorry for the mages who were left to deal with Vindha’s army, Jace didn’t feel any obligation to fight for their cause. They chose their own path. And he had chosen his. Taking out a map from his pack, he traced a route with his finger. No one had ever traveled through these mountains in such a manner before. At least, no one that he knew of. Only the Goddess knew what kind of troubles they would run into. But it was the safest way to the eastern pass, considering that the southern mainland was teeming with Vindha’s mages and his army. With a sigh, he folded the map and put it inside his pack again.
By his estimation, it would take at least a fortnight before they reached the pass, and that was if they wasted as little time as possible. The mages with him were untrained for such a hard terrain. It might take the party three weeks or more to reach their destination. Since he was not in touch with Princess Alicia, he didn’t know when she would reach the pass, or even if she was heading in that direction. Where and how was he supposed to find her?
But his dream had been clear; he was meant to help her. The temple was somewhere on the mountains near the eastern pass, and he was sure to get some information regarding here there. There was no other choice but to trust the dream that had come to him unbidden. Jace wasn’t a religious man, but there was something uncanny about the way he had been guided during his quest. His meeting with Xuan, his dream about Alicia…it seemed as if a divine entity was steering him along a path.
Xuan passed him a loaf of hard bread, and a few oat cakes. The exhausted mages shared a quiet meal, and went to sleep soon afterwards. Jace stood for the first watch. He woke up Xuan and slept. Once again he had the same dream. Princess Alicia stood at the edge of a pit, and he was there with her.
Was the dream a premonition, or merely a window into the working of his subconscious mind?
Jace felt an unusual urgency to reach Alicia. She needed him; he felt it in his bones. And yet, there was nothing he could but lead the people who followed him until they managed to emerge out of the forest.
The next morning they left the ledge near dawn. The sun was a dot of red-orange light in the distant horizon but the forest was still shrouded in the cover of the night. An owl flew overhead, searching for prey, while a snake slithered through the bushes as they fought their
way past the underbrush.
His plan was to keep to a north-eastern path. For three days, they traveled, slowly inching closer to the point where they hoped to start climbing downwards. As they crossed over to the next mountain, the forest became impenetrable. The trees grew closer together, their trunks wider than any he had ever seen before.
“This must be a really old part of the forest,” said Xuan as he ran his hand over the bark of an ancient tree. The trunk of the tree was hard, wizened with age, and blacker than any trunk they ever seen before. Thick tangles of vines ran over the trunk and onto the other tree, joining the trees in an unnatural embrace. Xuan sniffed. “Smells like something died here a long time ago and has been decaying ever since.”
Jace bent to pick up a handful of the soil. It was dark, with a crumbly, moist texture. And it smelt strange. Dropping the soil, he dusted his hand and looked around. No fruits or vegetables grew here. There wasn’t any vegetation or underbrush on the ground, except for wilted leaves that carpeted the floor of the forest.
“Let’s just move on,” said Jace. They followed each other, taking care to stay close together.
“This place seems dead,” said Arife as he scratched his beard that had grown over the past few days. “No birds sing in these trees. No crickets. No owls. No animals.”
“The foliage is the strangest I have ever seen,” said another mage as he touched a vine that wound its way from one tree to another, clinging to its hosts, entwining them together in a bizarre manner. “See the leaves, all black and rough.”
As they trudged on, the space between the trees narrowed, making it difficult for them to make their way through. Jace stopped. He traced a fist-sized hollow in the trunk of a tree. “I have seen this before. Are we going around in circles?”
Xuan pushed to the front of the line. “No. We’re not lost. I’ll lead.”
Knowing that his companion had spent all his life in forests, Jace allowed him to take the lead. But as a precaution, he began to trace a spell around the path they walked. If they were indeed lost, he would double back on the spell, and know that they had passed this way before.
Although they walked for a long time, the terrain didn’t change. The same thick trees, with black, wilting leaves was all they could see. Many of the trees grew so close together that the trunks were joined, without an inch of space between them. The faint light that was filtering through the dense canopy began to dwindle. Night claimed the land again. It wasn’t possible to see ahead, and Jace worried about one of them separating from the rest of the party.
He dropped his pack at the base of a tree. “We’ll make camp here.”
Everyone found a place to drop their packs and blankets, taking care to stay in sight of each other. Xuan gathered fallen twigs and branches and lit a fire. Everyone huddled around it, the bright red-blue flames providing some penetration into the darkness that threatened to engulf them.
Amjad shuddered. “This place doesn’t feel good. Can you hear a cricket? Or a fox?”
Jace agreed with his companion’s sentiments. Something about this forest smelt and felt odd. It wasn’t just that the trees blocked the sunlight, and appeared on the verge of death despite their width and stupendous height, but the very air smelt as if they were in the midst of a garbage heap or a cemetery were dead bodies were dug out and left to rot out in the open.
The group shared a cold, dry meal of cakes and fruit. Even the bright cheerfulness of the fire failed to enliven the morbid atmosphere that affected everyone’s mood. After the meal was finished, they all remained seated, perhaps feeling the need for the comfort of each other’s presence.
A slight thump on the far side alerted Jace. “Who’s there?” he said, counting the mages. Had one of them gone off to answer nature’s call?
All of the mages were accounted for. Thump. Thump. Thump. The noise came closer. Everyone weaved a protection shield, and looked in the direction from where the sound came. Someone appeared from behind a tree. As the figure hobbled closer, it became clear that she was an old woman, stooped with age. The thumping noise came from the gnarled stick she held in her hand. Every time she took a step, she lifted it and banged it on the ground.
Despite her harmless appearance, Jace didn’t lower his shield. The lady shuffled forward until she stood directly beside the nearest mage. All stared at her, surprised by her unexpected presence in the seemingly lifeless forest.
“Who are you?” Jace asked.
She peered out from under the black cowl that covered her hair. The fire illuminated parts of her face. Wrinkles crisscrossed over her cheeks, and her skin was dotted with brown, liver spots. “I live here,” she said, in a weak voice.
Xuan stood, hefting his ever-present machete in his hand. “In the forest? All alone?”
“I have been alone for a long, long time,” she said, and began to hobble, circling the mages. “This is my home, my place. Not many come across here. What are you all doing?”
“We are from the keep of ameers,” said Amjad as he craned his neck, keeping the woman in his line of sight as she circled around them in a steady pace. As she neared each mage, she slowed, looked over him or her carefully and moved on.
What was she doing? Jace found it hard to believe that an old woman could live on her own in this harsh environment without any support or help. He muttered a spell, but found no traces of magic upon her. She was certainly not a mage. Who was she?
She looked him over, a smile on her face. Was she able to tell that he was observing her for signs of magic? There was something strange about her. Perhaps it was the way she walked or talked. Her movements were stilted and clumsy.
“Ah! The ameers. The keep is too far away. I’ve never been able to go there,” she said with a mournful shake of her head. “It’s my good luck that you all wandered this way. Where are you going?”
“The eastern pass through the mountains,” said Amjad, before Jace could motion for him to keep quiet.
Her eyes narrowed. “Why are you going there?”
“We are meeting some friends there,” said Jace before anyone else could answer. “Why do you want to know?”
“Good things are happening in the land near the mountains. I don’t think you should go there,” she whispered, her voice echoing across the space with a desperate longing.
“Why not?” Jace stood, every muscle in his body at high alert. She hadn’t said anything threatening or made a move that scared him, but he felt as he was under attack. As if they all were!
She sighed. A sudden gust of wind blew through the trees, the leaves rustling in its wake. “Good things are happening there,” she repeated. “Hmm! Good things.”
Jace frowned. What was she talking about? He stood, planning to walk over to her. The old woman turned, and began shuffling back away from them.
“Hey you!” Xuan yelled.
The old lady turned, her face in shadows as she stood under a tree. Xuan threw his machete. Everyone yelled, but before anything could be done, the machete passed through the old woman, and hit the trunk of the tree behind her.
Jace couldn’t believe his eyes. He gasped in horror, staring at the old woman who was still smiling at Xuan, unharmed. The machete had passed through her body. She wasn’t real. It was an illusion. And as he watched, she began to drift apart, and parts of her body floated in a cloud of black ashes until there was nothing left.
“What was that?” said Rena, one of the air mages.
Jace turned to Xuan. “How did you know...?”
Even the big man looked shaken by the spectacle. He walked over to pull his machete out of the trunk where it was stuck. “I didn’t know that she wasn’t real, but there was something odd about her.”
Rene was shocked. “So you just attacked her on a hunch?”
He came back, swinging the machete. “People usually show their true colors when they are in mortal danger. It was the quickest way to find out what she was.”
“And what was she? I am still
not sure…” said Amjad.
Jace sat. “Whatever it was, it was sent by someone who wanted to take a closer look at us. She assessed our strengths, and if I am not mistaken, figured out which of us possesses magic, and which don’t.”
“What should we do?”
“Keep your shields up until we are out of this forest,” said Jace. “I’ve a magic shield around you, Xuan. Keep your guard up. I think we should all take turns to keep watch during the night.”
“I’ll take first watch,” said Xuan.
“I will stay up with him,” offered Rene, looking at the big man with admiration. Out of all of them, he was the one who had guessed at the true nature of the creature that stalked them.
Jace inclined his head in agreement. While Xuan and Rene took their positions, the rest of the group huddled close together and went to sleep. They kept the fire going, taking comfort in the scanty light it offered.
Much to Jace’s surprise, the night was uneventful. The next morning, they set off again. Aware that they were being stalked by an entity they didn’t yet understand, Jace set up many precautionary measures. Each of them was connected to another with an intricate spell that would alert them all if any member of their party disappeared. This was in addition to their protection shields. Moreover, Jace and Kamja, a fire mage, weaved a spell that would alert them if they crossed over the same area twice. Despite these precautions, they remained lost within the blackened forest for another day. At night, the entire group found itself standing at the same place where they had camped the previous night.
Kamja stomped his feet in frustration. This was the fifth time they had crossed this site. It was clear that their magical spells were not guiding them out of this cursed area. “Why aren’t our spells working?”
Exhausted, Jace ran his hand over his face. He was tired, sweaty and scared. Whoever it was that controlled this place was a far more powerful creature than he’d ever come across. It wasn’t easy to fool their magic, and yet someone was doing so with an apparent ease. “Someone or something is interfering with it. We weave a spell, and our enemy breaks it down. ”
The Warrior Mage Page 17
