The Undying Illusionist

by Candy Crum

  "I think you're right," Amelia responded. "Once things get settled and we have the funds to hire more teachers, we should use one of the downstairs great rooms in the Academy as a training area. It would be a terrific addition, and anyone who wanted to attend, even moms and dads, would be more than welcome to take the class. Right now, we need to focus on training up the Guard. If we spread too thin, there will be a city full of mediocre fighters instead of an army full of great ones."

  It was hard to say when things would be settled, and Arryn knew the fear of bad things happening sooner rather than later. Maybe she could do something to help with that. Arryn believed Amelia was right about focusing on the Guard. They were the most important to train.

  "That’s a great solution," Arryn agreed, smiling. "Let me know if I can help you figure anything out, especially the timeline. We might be able to help train guards, too."

  Arryn decided to end the conversation there, knowing it was best not to talk to her about mental magic right then with everything else on her plate. She needed to do a bit more investigation anyway.

  Amelia’s voice stopped Arryn as she stood to leave. “One more thing. I know everything is still raw about Doyle. I know you missed your shot there, but I wanted you to know that it isn’t over. There’s someone else you can still talk to. Elon—Adrien’s chief engineer. I mentioned him before, but don’t forget. As soon as I’m done interrogating him about Doyle and what he may or may not have said, I’ll take you down there so you can ask him anything you want. Promise.”

  Arryn smiled in response. “Thanks. I appreciate that. I’ve actually been trying to forget. Otherwise, I start to feel overly excited. I don’t think you want that on your plate right now.”

  Amelia laughed. “Get some rest. I’m sure you could use it.”

  She needed to talk to Cathillian about the possibility of getting a group together. It wasn’t going to hurt anything, and it would go a long way to helping Amelia.

  With her bad feeling about Talia only growing stronger over time, Arryn wondered if it could be her that possessed the mental magic.

  From what she'd been told about mystics, they could convince anyone to see anything they want. Maybe Talia wasn't capable of physical magic at all. Given that her head was being messed with, she had a feeling whoever Doyle had warned Amelia about was already inside the Academy.

  Arryn didn't want to wait any longer to get training underway.

  ***

  The sun beat down on the Dark Forest, peeking through the tiniest breaks in the thick leaves of the canopy above. Elysia crossed her arms as she watched the three tribes’ warriors gather.

  In the Dark Forest, there were three separate communities. Each had its own warriors, though they were all trained the same way. Though the two southernmost tribes specialized in magic and expert combat, the tribe farthest to the north—the Schatten—specialized in subtlety.

  All druids were exceptionally quiet, but the Schatten were the quietest.

  Elysia stepped forward to address all the men and women before her. "Everyone here is one army! We’re initializing battle training right now. As you all know, each community usually drills only with its own warriors. This time, we have an actual threat, which leads me to call for full-on battle challenges.”

  She paused as voices erupted. They talked amongst themselves about the threats from the dark druids among other things.

  She raised a hand, and everyone quieted so she could continue. “All three tribes’ warriors will split into two groups. As you can see behind me, I have thirty healers. If you’re down, call for help and you’ll be retrieved and healed. If you’re not too weak and haven’t lost too much blood, you’ll be thrown back in."

  The Chieftain stepped forward, looking over the tribes as they counted themselves off and broke into two teams. They did so without further instruction, another sign of just how incredible these warriors truly were.

  Once they were split into groups comprising more than a hundred in each, the Chieftain gave further orders.

  "The group to my left will stay put. The group to my right will head north. You’ll start at the village farthest from us. You’ll know the battle is to begin as well as ends when you hear the crack of my thunder overhead. Now move!"

  Every warrior placed their fist over their heart before following the instructions. Team Two headed toward the north and Team One stayed put, turning to face north.

  Elysia made her way to her father, looking at their prized fighters. "What do ya think? Should we play, too?"

  The Chieftain laughed. "Really? You wanna go against me?"

  Elysia could only grin. "You know it, old man. It's been a while since you and I fought against one another. I think it's about time, don't you?"

  "I think I'm about to kick your ass all over the place. Maybe you should go ahead and designate your healer now. Wouldn't want you to waste any energy healing all the ass-kicking."

  "How many times are you gonna say ass-kicking in one sentence?" she asked.

  The Chieftain looked up for a moment as his lips moved, but no sound came out. Finally, he shook his head. "No. It was two different sentences, and they were separated. Smartass. So, you wanna take bets or not?"

  Elysia nodded. "Absolutely."

  The Chieftain’s jade green eyes glowed an almost neon green. "Then you better run, daughter. Your men in Team Two have already left you. This is my domain. I'm Number One, remember?"

  Elysia shook her head, sighing at her father and his ridiculous sense of humor.

  At a loud whistle from Elysia, Chaos ran to her side and knelt. She climbed onto his back, and they raced for the northern village. Before she made it completely out of earshot, she heard her father call out, "Zobig!" before a loud roar echoed through the woods.

  ***

  Talia had only barely made it in the front door of the Academy when Jackson came over to stand in front of her. The recent beating he’d gotten at the hands of his fellow students—Boulevard students—had changed him.

  The physical evidence had almost disappeared. The bruises had turned a sickly yellow, and would be gone in a few days’ time. The scratches and open wounds were still there, but in another week the scars would be their only reminder.

  Emotionally, those scars were much deeper.

  Jackson no longer had a single shred of respect or trust for the Boulevard students; what fragile bit he’d possessed had shattered with the first punch. All of that had worked in Talia’s favor, and he had come around to her way of thinking much faster once she’d claimed loyalty to his cause.

  But he wasn’t great at being the bad guy. In fact, he was terrible at it. Jackson was a terrible liar and always obvious—at least to Talia. She hoped that he wasn’t so transparent to others.

  On top of being over an hour early for class, he acted very odd for a normal visit, looking around and over his shoulder several times as he approached.

  It made her want to smack him for being so suspicious.

  Except for the teachers, the building was supposed to be empty. Talia didn't even want to be there.

  From the look on his face she could tell he needed to talk about something. "Good morning, Jackson. You seem upset."

  He took a deep breath and smiled, hands clasped and fidgeting in front of him. "Actually, I'm not upset at all. I, well, we wanted to extend an invite to you. I’m sorry for the unannounced visit, but I wanted to get here early to catch you privately."

  "We?" she asked. "You mean the group you've been telling me about?"

  Jackson nodded. "We've talked about it for a couple of weeks, debating the pros and cons. Obviously, it’s a significant risk for us to trust just anyone. We have to be careful, especially after what happened to me. But it's obvious we need the help, especially from someone like you. So, if you want to, you’re more than welcome to attend tonight—but you don’t have to. We realize the risk you’d be taking. Ten p.m. It's a couple hours after dark, so it’ll be easy to sneak around." />
  Talia couldn't help but smile. It was exactly what she'd been waiting for. All that time she’d spent talking to Jackson about feelings hadn't been wasted at all. He just wanted to see the Boulevard students go down at this point, and apparently, his friends in the group did as well.

  "I'd love to," Talia told him. "Just tell me where to be, and I'll be happy to meet you there."

  “There are some abandoned houses in the center of the city. The Guard doesn't go down there, and it's secluded. We usually meet in the auditorium here since it’s pretty useless now that Adrien doesn’t give grand speeches, but we didn't want anyone to see you with us just in case. We wanted to protect you if you decided against helping us.”

  Well, that was shocking. He was lost further in her charm than she'd thought. And his friends must have been impacted in some way as well. Whatever the case, it was a good plan.

  “How will I know which house?” she asked.

  “It's the only one with red curtains in the window,” he told her.

  Talia nodded. “I’ll be there. Now, run along before someone sees us talking. If anyone has—”

  “It's about our counseling.” He smiled.

  Talia gave a quick nod in acknowledgment and made her way down the hall to the stairs before heading to her office. Things were going her way, and she couldn't be more excited. As long as she continued to tread lightly and gather the help that was necessary, she would have everything she’d planned for.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Elysia sat on the back of her over one-ton steed, Chaos, listening to him snort and scrape his large, front hoof against the forest floor in preparation.

  Everything was deadly silent as the warriors in Team Two stood behind their fearless leader, waiting for the crack of thunder overhead to signal the beginning.

  All around her, Elysia could hear the rustling of wolves, foxes, squirrels, raptor birds, and other familiars as they awaited the same call.

  “Schatten!” Elysia called out to the shadow warriors that specialized in subtlety. “My father will undoubtedly send your counterparts to the trees. He will keep them low enough to engage, but high enough not to be seen. Make sure they don’t find their targets.”

  “Then we’ll go higher, Elysia,” Rae, one of the Schatten said from behind her.

  Elysia turned in time to see several druids raise their hands to the sky, vines unraveling from the trees and wrapping around them before pulling them upward.

  Had she not seen it herself, she never would have heard them.

  During training, those men and women spent most of their time learning the intricacy of the plants and how they grow. As much as a normal druid knew, these warriors knew far more.

  They were able to control and shift anything within the plant, allowing those movements to be almost silent.

  The Chieftain had once explained it to her in a way she hadn’t understood then, but as she grew, it made perfect sense.

  “When you ask a tree to move, you ask its permission to allow you to move it. You do all the heavy lifting, and it’s noisy and clumsy, even when it looks poetic to someone else. Now, imagine connecting to that tree so deeply that it helps you. You become one with one another and the movements become seamless and silent. Like a familiar to her master druid. It takes incredibly hard work and years of study. Not even I am capable of such a task, but that’s why we have them. Because you and I are just way too hyper. Mostly me… but you’re not much better.”

  She’d been offended then, but he’d been very right. No one in the Chieftain’s bloodline would ever be capable of such a feat.

  Especially Cathillian.

  His mind was far more scattered than anyone she knew.

  A deep, grim Boom! sounded out overhead, bringing a smile to Elysia’s face.

  “Just a friendly warning! Anyone that let’s my father win…” Elysia began.

  There was a laugh beside her. “We love our Chieftain, but he’s a goofy, old man. We can take him,” Faylinn said.

  Elysia smiled and shook her head as she wordlessly told Chaos to step forward. “He might be senile at times, but he’s still strong. Don’t underestimate him, or we lose. And then I have to go against all of you to reclaim my honor.”

  Those that were closest to Elysia laughed, knowing her sense of humor, while others wore their fiercest war-faces and nodded in understanding.

  Chaos was slow at first, but then began to move faster, leading the small army behind them into battle with his master druid.

  There was quite a distance between the southernmost village and the northernmost, but both approaching from each direction made the distance much shorter.

  First blood was spilled from above. There were no sounds in the canopies to mark the “kill”, only the Schatten that fell, a vine snatching him up at the last moment to carefully lower him the rest of the way to the ground.

  Within only a few moments, a healer pulled him free to heal him, but Elysia did not see if he was sent back out, only that he wasn’t one of hers. Her team had successfully gotten their first target.

  After tapping Chaos on the shoulder, Elysia jumped off, not waiting for him to kneel. She lowered herself into a crouch and ran forward, using trees and brush to hide her as best as she could.

  With a wave of her hand, she motioned for everyone to fan out.

  More men and women dropped from the trees, vines catching them in their falls as designated healers came to get them.

  Soon, Elysia could hear the sounds of battle commencing.

  She stood, looking around as her ears were bombarded with the clashing of metal, the gnashing of teeth with the larger animals growling and snapping at their enemy familiars, and the thunder gently rolling above.

  Where are you, old man? Elysia asked herself.

  She decided to fight her way through until she drew him out.

  Running at full speed, she arched backward, narrowly missing the swipe of a sword through the air as she slid to a stop.

  Turning, she saw a terrified druid from her father’s team that was in his early twenties standing there, sword raised and suddenly shaking.

  “Elysia! I’m sorry! I didn’t see that it was you!” he shouted over the chaos, his light green eyes wide.

  She smiled darkly before lifting her hand. A vine shot from the ground and wrapped around the sword, and with a flick of her fingers, it thrust the sword backwards, the handle punching him hard in the stomach. Then, she lifted her hand, the handle then rising to smash him in the face.

  Releasing the vines, she ran forward and backhanded him, sending him stumbling back into a tree.

  As the man collapsed, struggling to catch his breath, she came to stand over him. She smiled as she leaned over.

  “This is battle training, young man. I’m not your superior. I’m your enemy, and you just let me take you down. Next time, don’t treat me like I’m helpless. Punch me in the face, or I’ll do far worse to you.”

  A healer ran up and dropped by their sides.

  “See to it he gets his ass back out there,” she said to the designated healer before turning back to him. “Next time, I expect you to forget my title. Battle training is life and death.”

  He nodded nervously as she gave him a smile and a wink before standing.

  Taking a few steps back, she looked above to the tree with low branches. She jumped hard as her eyes turned an even darker green, the lowest limb popping and cracking as it moved down to meet her.

  She grabbed hold and pulled herself up before running farther down the limb and jumping to the next tree, again moving the branches to meet her.

  This time, she scurried higher, making sure to watch for any Schatten. Placing both of her hands against the thick trunk, she connected to the life within, pushing outward to feel for the life all around.

  The birds in the trees scattered from branch to branch and the squirrels hid in holes in the trunks, watching the war below them.

  As she looked around, using her magic to
feel for what she needed, two things were brought to her attention.

  Elysia jumped back several feet as a Schatten dropped directly on top of her. This one was fearless and didn’t care who Elysia was. The warrior only saw an enemy.

  A smile spread across Elysia’s face as the Schatten moved forward, her eyes glowing with power.

  The woman charged, pulling a large knife from her belt as she did. The Schatten weren’t quite as skilled in hand-to-hand combat in comparison to the other warriors, though they were still terrifying.

  It was their magic that killed.

  Elysia knew if the woman got hold of her, she’d lose, and she’d just found her father. She couldn’t lose yet.

  Without hesitation, Elysia jumped down, her hands catching the branch as she used her momentum to swing herself back up and over. As she came back up, she wrapped her legs around the Schatten and jerked, pulling her off the branch entirely before dropping her to the ground.

  Vines shot from the tree like lightning, wrapping around the shadow warrior and pulling her up and deep into the tree where Elysia could no longer see her.

  Breathing a sigh of relief, Elysia dropped back down to the ground and began running, deciding she didn’t want to risk another run-in with a Schatten.

  The sound of hooves echoed through her ears as Chaos charged forward, knocking several enemies out of Elysia’s path before she jumped, only barely making it high enough to lie on his back so she could pull herself the rest of the way up.

  “To my father,” she breathed out before Chaos rose on his hind legs, causing everyone in their immediate area to step back for fear of being trampled.

  The horse galloped through the woods, easily clearing others out of the way and jumping over anything that didn’t move.

  The thunder grew louder as they neared the Chieftain, and Elysia knew he was aware of her approach.

  Lightning shot from the sky, bolt after bolt raining down around them in a large circle, stopping them hard in their tracks.

  Chaos rose to his hind legs again before slamming his front hooves down hard on the ground, his head nodding up and down fervently as he huffed and snorted his annoyance.