by Candy Crum
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.
The Chieftain’s lightning was strong enough that Elysia knew she’d never be able to stop or reroute it with her own magic, so she decided to take another road to disturb it.
Sliding off her horse, Elysia pulled her sword from its sheathe and threw it, the metal passing through a bolt of lightning and disrupting its path.
Using the disruption, she used her magic to finish redirecting it toward her father.
It blew past, hitting a tree and creating a large scar in its bark. It missed her target, but it did what she’d hoped: stopped the barrage of electricity from raining down from above.
As Elysia ran forward, she heard someone call her name out from the side. It was Arabella, one of her friends.
The woman threw a staff to her that was made from the Heilig tree, a tree that grew stronger and sturdier with every natural death of a druid in the Forest as they channeled what was left of their power into the massive trunk until their final breath was taken.
Elysia caught it just in time to swing it around and block the attack from her father as he brought his own staff crashing down.
The wood from the Heilig tree was unbreakable to anyone other than an Elder druid—power both father and daughter possessed.
The wind whipped around them as Elysia struggled to push back against him. He may have been old, but he sure as hell wasn’t weak.
Realizing she was getting nowhere fast while pushing against him, she quickly dropped and tumbled out of the way, narrowly missing the end of the staff as it came down hard on the ground next to her.
Rolling back onto her heels, Elysia’s eyes turned darker green and she grunted loudly as she swung her staff upward, a root just under the ground breaking free of the earth and bringing with it several large chunks of earth flying toward the Chieftain.
Twirling his staff like a fan, a heavy gust of wind blew forward, shooting the pieces of earth back at Elysia, hitting her hard and sending her back onto the ground with a loud Oof!
The Chieftain stalked toward her, but she was able to throw her hand up, a root lifting from the ground and bringing him down.
Taking the only opportunity she knew she’d have, she jumped up and kicked his staff away before wrapping the root around his waist, squeezing him.
A smile spread across her face as she was about to declare her victory, but she hadn’t noticed his eyes glowing.
His free hands dove into the dirt around him, the ground under Elysia shaking as large roots moved and shifted, opening the earth below her feet and swallowing her up to her shoulders.
A deep, hearty laugh echoed out as he moved the roots back into place, pinning her there. She watched her father effortlessly unwrap himself and move to sit on his knees.
“Oh, child. That was pretty good! But I keep trying to tell ya! I’m number one!” he laughed.
Something patted her hard on the top of her head as she squirmed around in the dirt, trying to move. He’d only given her enough space to breathe.
She struggled to look up and saw Zobig pull his enormous front paw away, having been the one to pat her. The black bear made several noises as he made his way to stand by the Chieftain, and Elysia wondered if the bear was laughing at her.
He was quite the smartass, so she didn’t doubt it for a moment.
“Zobig says he’s taken out several of your men,” the Chieftain said with a smile. “Ready to accept defeat?”
Elysia laughed. She’d managed to wiggle her hands up into the open space her father had left for her ribs to expand.
“Chaos has taken out just as many of yours. Maybe more!” Elysia shouted.
She twisted her fingers, willing the roots to loosen the area around her as a vine shot down from the tree to lift her out before her father could seal her back in.
Within seconds, Chaos was by her side, his head low as he stared down Zobig. The black bear stepped forward and roared in response.
“Elysia, Chieftain,” Moira, the captain of the designated healers said as she stepped forward.
Father and daughter never allowed their eyes to leave one another.
“Yes,” the Chieftain answered.
“We have exhausted our healers. Everyone is safe, and there have been no casualties, but I sent word to those further out that the battle would have to end. As instructed, I ended the drill once our magic began to wane,” she said.
The Chieftain smiled. “Well, daughter, I guess we’ll have to call this a draw. Until next time?”
Elysia rolled her eyes. “Yeah. Sure. But I know you. Until we get an honest rematch, you’re going to keep saying you beat me.”
He shrugged. “Well, I trapped you way better than you trapped me. Oh! And my familiar could eat yours. So, while I’m going to say it’s a draw, like you were so kind to point out, yes. I’m the winner.” He gave a big, cheesy smile. “After all—I am…”
“Yeah, yeah. Number one,” Elysia interrupted as she waved a hand in the air. “Now, why don’t you sound the thunder to signal the end before anyone gets injured, and they can’t be healed.”
The sound of loud thunder cracked overhead, echoing through the skies as it did. “Don’t be sad, Elysia. You shouldn’t be intimidated by my awesomeness. You did pretty good out there.”
Elysia looked at him incredulously. “Awesomeness? You’ve been drinking too much wine with the young people.”
In a move that reminded her of her son, Cathillian, the Chieftain dropped his jaw in feigned shock as his hand lazily came to rest over his heart. “What? Never! They think I’m cool! I can’t let ‘em down.”
Elysia laughed, unable to hold it in any longer. Her elderly father was just as much of a child as any kid in the village—but she knew better than anyone that day that he was still quite a force to be reckoned with.
CHAPTER SEVEN
The sun had just begun to set when Samuel headed toward Lord Girard's manor. With one hell of a hangover, he was already regretting the decision to move at all.
It had been a while since he’d had one, but Ren was far worse.
He'd thought it over repeatedly, and he wanted to make the city stronger. If someone—including the remnant—could just walk in and take anything they wanted because the guards were babies, well, that wouldn’t benefit him at all.
It would take even longer for the city to get back on its feet, and his people would be even further burdened. They needed steady work.
Oddly enough, the only person in the city he felt comfortable discussing these things with was a druid. Well, a druid and his young friend. Their people trained hard, and Samuel knew it. They’d understand what he did about strategy and prevention.
While the rearick didn't go to such lengths in their training—in fact, they had no formal training at all.
They sparred and grappled and fought from the time they were very young. They were tough, and life in the mines hadn't done anything except make them stronger, more powerful.
They'd seen their fair share of fights with the remnant through the years, but the Arcadians hadn't. The druid people hadn't either, but they were serious fighters. Cathillian and Arryn were his last hope to protect the city—to protect a city he hated so his people could survive.
He walked up the steps and knocked on the front door. Arryn opened it and smiled. "Samuel! How are you? Come in."
Arryn stepped aside and Samuel walked past her into the elaborate living room. Cathillian came into the room then, a large smile spreading across his face.
"Samuel! What are you doing here?" the druid asked as he crossed the room to meet his friend. "Did that little sassy ass of yours finally decide to take me up on learning nature magic?"
The rearick didn't miss the sarcasm in the other man's voice.
Samuel shook his head. "Yer a real funny one, ain’t ye? No, I came fer somethin’ else. Ye
r the only ones I figured would take me seriously."
That got their attention. They looked at one another for a moment before turning back to Samuel, curiosity on both their faces.
Arryn motioned toward the couch, signaling for him to take a seat.
"I talked ta the Chancellor about this already, but I figured she’s got enough ta deal with. Especially when we can do a pretty good job of it ourselves."
Arryn shook her head, confusion in her expression. "What are you talking about?"
"The remnant! I've fought those bastards more than a few times. They're smarter than people give ‘em credit for, and I’ve gotta bad feelin’. That remnant attack ain’t gonna be the last."
Cathillian sat down on the opposite end of the couch from Samuel. "Arryn came home yesterday telling me about that. I don’t know a lot, but what I do know is they typically look for places they can rip apart easily. They like fighting and a challenge, but they don't wanna walk into a guaranteed loss. I highly doubt they know what’s happened here in Arcadia. They probably still think Adrien is in charge, which works in our favor because they’ll also think the army is strong and well-trained.”
Cathillian paused as he thought over his next words. “That being said, while I doubt they’ll come in this direction, I also think it's completely and totally irresponsible to leave the city unprotected."
Arryn nodded. "Same here. Don't just prepare for absolutes, prepare for possibilities. If the entire city is prepared all the time, then nothing can stand in their way. Cathillian may be completely right. Hell, we may never hear of another attack. But it would be stupid not prepare for the possibility. Amelia agrees, and she’s trying to help, but I think we can do a bit more."
Samuel smiled. "There’s what I was lookin’ fer. Well, this was even easier than I hoped, and I figured it’d be pretty simple. So, now that we’re settled, what do we do about it?"
Arryn sighed as she came over to sit in a chair off to the side.
"Emotions are off the charts right now," Cathillian offered. "I think everyone needs to take a breath and slow down. As we've all agreed, or at least Arryn and I have agreed, the odds of another remnant attack are slim."
Arryn shook her head, leaning forward in her chair. "Yeah, we did, but we also agreed it’s stupid to leave everyone underprepared. There've been two attacks. A murder. A change in government. And one of the students was attacked by several Boulevard students. Have you heard there have been some robberies as well? The poor have only gotten poorer and the nobles are being pulled down to middle-class. It makes sense that they would be so afraid.
“Everything in the city is completely unstable right now; Adrien left one hell of a mess. I don't care if it seems crazy or irrational, I think we need to do something to ease their minds. Even if it’s not because of an imminent threat. They just need to feel some control. Let’s give them that if we can."
"Couldn't agree more, lass, so I propose we gather ourselves a group and see what we can do," Samuel stated.
"I already spend my entire day with you ass hats," Cathillian quipped. "What else do you wanna do?"
Arryn laughed sarcastically. "Is that a serious question? Well, for starters, the city needs archers. I would gladly teach the men how to shoot. I might not be the best at magic, even though I got roped into being a teacher, but archery I can do. The two of you can handle hand-to-hand combat. If we find them to be brave and fast enough, we could train them the druid way. No holding back."
Cathillian's eyes widened. "Are you insane? We heal, that's why we can train like that."
Arryn's left eyebrow rose as she looked at him incredulously. "We heal each other, dork. We can heal them if they get shot in the leg with an arrow. It'll be fine. And like I said, we only warrior-train those who want to learn hard and fast. Although, everyone we recruit should be of that caliber. We shouldn't be wasting our time on anyone who is only capable of mediocre skills anyway. That's the problem with the Arcadian Guard right now—they're too damn slow and dopey."
"I think we got ourselves a plan," Samuel told them. "If we can't get this taken care of the good old-fashioned way, we’ll take care of it ourselves. I ain’t never been one ta let a little thing like rules stand in me way, anyway. Don’t particularly care fer ‘em."
Cathillian threw his hands up for a moment before they fell back down to rest on his legs. "Well, I guess that's it then. That's the plan. Not that I had much say about it."
"Oh, hush, lad. Ya know damn good and well that ye'd have said yes anyway. Yer ass just stings because the lass agreed before ye did."
Arryn laughed. It always amused her to give him a tough time, and when someone else did it, it was even more special.
The trio launched into forming a plan to get some of the Arcadian Guard to follow them, to really learn how to fight for their city. Arryn just hoped it wouldn't get her arrested for treason in the process.
More and more every day, she found herself hoping she was making her parents proud.
***
The evening was off to a beautiful start. As Talia walked through the quiet streets of the city, a city that would one day be hers, she thought over the plan she and the mystic had put in place.
After having discussed the meeting with Scarlett, they both decided it was time. Talia really needed to take control now. If things were going to go her way, and her plan was to continue working the way she needed it to, then she needed to get them on her side.
What better way to do it than by offering more power?
They’d decided to use an old legend to their advantage. This story said if one drank the blood of another, he or she would absorb their power. It was impossible, of course; Talia knew that, but their group of sheep didn’t, and they didn't need to. All Talia required was for them to believe it.
Talia didn't mind doing the dirty work, but she hated wasting time on the hunt. She had far too much to do with running a school, keeping the Chancellor happy, and planning their next move to worry about much else, so she delegated the task of picking the next victim to Scarlett.
To Talia's surprise, Scarlett's answer had come rather quickly. The next victim would be one of the Boulevard students who had attacked Jackson.
Shaking her head and putting a hand in the air, Talia disagreed. “No. Jackson had an argument with Amos before I took him, and it made him look guilty as hell. That’s why he was attacked. If we pick another student he’s been in an altercation with, he will not be overlooked this time. Not by the students and not by Amelia. It took a lot of convincing on my part to keep Amelia off his ass the last time,” Talia had told Scarlett. “We won’t be doing that again. We need him. Otherwise, I wouldn’t give a damn.”
But Scarlett had several points of her own.
“That’s exactly right, we need him. It’s our job to protect him. He’s helping us, helping you. We should do this for him and show him and that group we won’t tolerate violence against our own. Show them we are deadly serious about our plan and taking back the city. They’ll trust you implicitly.”
Talia had already heard enough, but she decided to hear Scarlett the rest of the way out and had encouraged her to continue.
Scarlett had smiled. “Jackson was far too weak to take the four of them on alone—obviously. Take a good look… Do you ever see those boys walking alone? No. They’re always together. Therefore, Jackson wouldn’t be able to take them on by himself now which gives us a great opportunity if you’ll let us take it. If you ask me, I think we should stop doing things so subtly and let me take a more active role. I’m here. Use me,” Scarlett had replied with a playful wink.
She was right. If Talia wanted to move further and make a difference with Jackson and the others, Scarlett was her best chance.
With a heavy sigh, Talia had decided to listen to her partner and take her advice. It was hard for Talia to do, but she believed Scarlett was onto something.
The mystic had already taken the initiative to arrange for two of the fou
r boys to take a walk that evening just after sunset.
Talia would do the dirty work on one of them—their leader, Dallas—while Scarlett convinced the other he'd seen someone else. It would be dark outside, so they’d decided that only subtle hints would be required.
It was still early in their game, and they wanted to leave their options open. They weren't ready to pin things on any one person yet, though Talia certainly had a person in mind whom she'd love to see go down.
Arryn.
It would be easy to set her up, but the time needed to be right. As close as Amelia and Arryn had become in such a short time, it wouldn't be easy to take her down. She needed to study her enemy before she made any moves against her.
As Talia walked closer to what used to be a large park area, she saw the boys walking, just as Scarlett had instructed them. When she saw movement from the opposite direction, she froze, but her body relaxed a bit when she realized it was her compatriot.
Engage them, Scarlett said telepathically. I have a connection to them, so pick whichever one you want. I have an image already in place. Dark and shadowy, female, and obviously not Jackson.
Good, Talia replied. Have the bottles ready. It's going be a busy night, and I plan to make the drinks extra special for our guests later this evening.
Talia smiled as she stepped forward, her eyes locking on Dallas as she pulled a knife from her jacket.
***
Celine stood in Lord Girard’s back yard, Arryn’s bow in hand and knives on a patio table next to her. She’d been staying with Arryn since they’d found one another.
The first few days had been slow, taking the time to get used to one another again, but soon after, they were inseparable.
Celine’s world had changed the moment she saw Arryn standing in that old house. All the years of hatred and anger melted away the moment her eyes came to rest on the young woman’s features—features so like her older sister, Elayne.
Now, the only thing that mattered to Celine was keeping her family safe, and that included Cathillian.
