“Did you feel it? I think we should experiment.”
“Don’t be stupid Kiræ, you have no idea what might happen, we should wait until Brean thinks we’re ready.” Kiræ looked disappointed but reluctantly agreed. “I’ll see you in the morning okay,” he said hugging her. She smiled as he left, closing the door quietly behind him. Kiræ sat on her bed, thinking about the vibrations she had felt from earth, she felt they were calling to her and she itched to play with them.
She opened her door a crack to make sure Tom had definitely left, then she sat on the floor, closed her eyes and felt for the deep vibrations. She held them easily; it was almost like they wanted to be with her, then, slowly and gently she summoned earth. The room shook violently and she opened her eyes wide in panic, releasing earth from her grasp as she did so. The room eventually stopped shaking but Kiræ continued to tremble as she crawled and hid under her covers.
Bælana 3
Bælana sat in a large, highly decorative room containing bright, scenic tapestries. A hint of a smile rose to her lips as she watched the fifty terrified chained men traipse into the room and be pushed roughly to their knees by the mingual. She rose from her elaborate throne and stepped forward. A large mingual warrior walked towards her down the centre of the room, eying the trembling men, who stared silently at the floor. He bowed low before her and moved to stand rigid and frozen at her side. Bælana stared at the men for what must have felt to them like hours. Finally she smiled and turned to the mingual beside her.
“These will do nicely Ziqua,” she said continuing to smile so she flashed her teeth, “You have redeemed yourself.” Ziqua relaxed slightly and nodded curtly to the patrolling mingual who dragged the chained men from the room.
Ziqua turned to leave but Bælana stopped him, “Prepare the men,” she said, placing a hand on his shoulder that caused him to shiver, “there is a lot to do.” He nodded and marched from the room as Bælana returned to her throne. “There was definitely something,” she muttered, “it was faint, but I felt it.” Suddenly she stiffened and looked around the seemingly empty room, “Malum?”
A tall man, chestnut hair slicked back and dressed in dark blue emerged from the shadows. “It’s getting harder to surprise you,” he said in his deep but soft voice as he offered her a hand, which she accepted. He pulled her to her feet and into a tight embrace; for a minute Bælana forgot where she was and felt like a student again, only a distant thud brought her back to her senses. She pulled away and rubbed her temples absentmindedly.
“What do you want?” she asked coldly.
“I can’t check in on my favourite student?” he asked innocently but with a hint of mischief.
Bælana snorted in reply, “Favourite? I’m your only student! I’m the only one in this place with magic!” Malum remained silent and continued to smile, watching her carefully, which made her uncomfortable, “well aren’t I?” she asked uncertainly.
Malum embraced her again and she closed her eyes as he placed his lips close to her ear, “You’re the best,” he whispered softly. Bælana’s eyes snapped open but he was gone.
She stood frozen, thinking back to what she had felt the night before, somewhere the earth had moved unpredictably, as if someone with magic had tried to summon it. Whoever this person was, they could be the reason for her mingual’s recent defeats. She clenched her fists tightly and screamed for Ziqua. It wasn’t long before he rushed into the room, bowing low before her. She hadn’t moved since Malum had left, fury and rage had been building slowly while she tried to work out how someone with such clear inexperience could beat her warriors. Ziqua stood silent and motionless, not daring to point her wrath in his direction.
“Ziqua,” she said softly, placing her hands on his shoulders; she could feel him tremble beneath her touch and it calmed her. “I can feel someone else with magic,” she saw the expectant look of confusion on the mingual’s face. “Someone you have fought has stolen some of the magic I gifted to you.” Bælana smiled internally as Ziqua’s face showed a look of pure fear, He thinks I’m going to kill him, she thought with glee. “I need you to find this person,” she continued, “and I need you to kill them.” She watched eagerly as Ziqua processed her words, his mind racing and saw his eyes light up for a split second, He knows who they are, she thought blissfully as he nodded and marched quickly from the room.
Chapter 15
Tom strode furiously ahead of his sister the next morning. He had felt the building shake in the night and when confronted Kiræ had immediately started apologising. She trailed sheepishly behind him twirling her red hair nervously, terrified of what Brean might say. Tom waited at the old library doors and held them open for her. She looked at his troubled face as she walked past and felt a stab of guilt in the pit of her stomach.
“Please talk to me,” she said with a slight tremble in her voice, “I can’t stand you being mad at me.” Tom remained silent and they walked for what felt like an eternity through the maze of bookshelves and tables.
Tom knocked on Sara’s door and they both entered, sitting on the chairs that were always waiting for them. Tom shuffled away from his sister, folded his arms and stared, stony faced at the wall. Brean was sat as usual behind the desk, while Sara stood to one side, leaning against the wall. Kiræ, who had been looking at the floor since she walked in, dared a glance at Brean whose expression was unreadable.
“Am I right in thinking Kiræ attempted to manipulate earth.” Kiræ flushed and sank lower in her chair, not daring to meet his amber gaze.
“I’m really sorry,” she mumbled.
“Kiræ,” she slowly raised her head. “It’s very important that you understand why we have not worked with earth yet. I’m not angry,” he finally smiled. “It’s only natural to be curious about your gift, but in future please talk to me first,” she nodded and sat up.
“You may have noticed earth reached out to you rather than the other way round,” Kiræ nodded. “This is because of the four elements it is the least stable and the most…mischievous for lack of a better word. It’s easy to manipulate but difficult to control. You must understand that earth manipulation can have devastating effects, it’s a blessing you were tentative in your actions, had you been reckless you would probably have destroyed half the city.”
Kiræ’s expression was one of shock and guilt, “I’m so sorry,” she said again, “I honestly didn’t mean any harm.”
Tom snorted, “You never do Kiræ,” she flushed again and Brean shot Tom a look that they had never seen.
“I know you didn’t mean any harm, and no harm came to anyone, those that felt the movement will have thought it was nothing more than a natural earth tremor. But I implore you not to satisfy your curiosity again, at least not until you’re under the right circumstances.”
“What are the right circumstances?” Tom asked,
“Earth, being so unstable and difficult to control should only be manipulated when away from towns and homes.”
“How exactly is it difficult to control?” Tom asked,
“Water, fire and air, can be sent in a true direction towards a target. Earth cannot be directed that easily, you could command it to move towards the desk and it would, but it would also splay out to either side.”
“Why does that happen?” Kiræ asked.
“Because earth is a solid mass all around us,” Sara replied, “if you push on earth you are effectively pushing what you stand on.
“How come air can be so easily controlled then?” Kiræ asked feeling more like herself, “I mean it’s all around us too.”
“It is,” Brean agreed, “but unlike earth it is less restricted and more, fluid, for lack of a better word. Now, let’s be done with this sombre atmosphere and manipulate fire.” Kiræ breathed a sigh of relief and Tom finally grinned. “Fire manipulation is similar to that of water, the results however are a little more destructive,” Sara picked up a portable fire pit and moved it to the centre of the room. Brean remained in his seat,
looked at the pit and instantly the sticks within caught light, and crackled happily.
“I want you to combine fire and air, then try to aim the fire at the wall and see if you can direct it towards that painted area.” He indicated a large metal sheet hanging on the wall to their right with a white circle in the centre. “I think it best to attempt this individually, Tom, why don’t you start.”
Tom stood by the fire pit, breathed slowly and found both air and fire. He brought them together slowly, finding it easier now. Tom looked at the white mark, then focused on the fire dancing in the metal pit. He lifted his hand towards it and pushed in the direction of the white mark.
Flames sprang violently from the pit and leapt eagerly towards the wall, splaying out and scorching a large area surrounding the target. He breathed again and this time he focused on the white mark, silently commanded the fire to move towards it, his hands remained clenched at his sides. A stream of white hot flame, twisted like rope towards the metal sheet on the wall landing inside the painted circle. Slowly, Tom released the two elements and turned to look at Brean who nodded his approval.
“Kiræ,” Brean said indicating that it was her turn. She exhaled nervously and turned to look at the bobbing flames in the fire pit. She searched for air and fire and on finding them quickly proceeded to combine them with little resistance. She felt a warm, rhythmic, fast paced vibration take the place of the two chaotic ones and breathed deeply, concentrating on the fire in the pit.
She raised her hands towards the fire and commanded it to move to the now scorched white circle. Kiræ pushed her hands forcefully towards the fire, glancing at the target area as she did so. A thin sliver of fire twirled playfully towards the white mark on the wall, landing almost gracefully on the surface. It didn’t have the power of Tom’s attempt but she felt relieved she had succeeded. Brean looked pleased, while Sara had a troubled look on her face. The twins continued to manipulate fire for the remainder of the session; Brean asked them to hit multiple targets at once, which they found almost impossible to achieve. When the first morning bell finally tolled they felt exhausted.
Brean smiled at them, “Well done,” he said extinguishing the fire in the pit, “I’m glad to see that your control over the elements is improving. Once you’ve come to the end of your training year we will experiment a bit with earth.” Excitement and nerves filled the twins’ expressions. “Now, you had best be off or you’ll be late.” He closed the door behind them, and Sara let out a worried sigh. “Talk to me my dear.”
“Tom’s power is strong,” she said looking for the slightest sign of concern on Brean’s unreadable face. “I mean, they’re both strong, and Kiræ has grasped the technique faster, but Brean you cannot deny the power behind his gift is similar to hers.”
“You worry too much my dear.”
Sara looked at him suspiciously, “What have you seen?”
“Seen?” he asked pretending to be puzzled by her question, “it is not so much what I have seen but what I feel. There is something else going on with these two, though I haven’t quite figured out what.”
“Is it to do with their link?”
Brean shook his head, “Their link as siblings and as twins is definitely interesting, their combined power is not something often seen, not even when magic was common. No, there is something else nagging at the back of my mind, just out of reach and I can’t seem to grasp it. But they will be fine, they have each other to keep them grounded.”
“I hope you’re right.”
Outside the door Kiræ listened guiltily, she hadn’t intended to eavesdrop but once they had started speaking she couldn’t stop. She couldn’t even remember what she had wanted to ask Sara. The second morning bell tolled ominously, which signalled the morning meal was over. Kiræ cursed silently and ran quickly through the makeshift maze and out of the building. Her stomach growled loudly as she ran to meet her friends.
The sky was clear as Kiræ walked towards the stables with her friends. They tacked up quickly and were soon on their way out of the city where a cool wind greeted them; it was the first indication that the autumn season was lurking round the corner.
“I think I’ll journey home for a bit,” Aurora said to Kiræ and Tino, “my family wrote to me recently saying my youngest brother has started walking, so it would be nice to see him.”
“My mother wants me to go back,” Tino said bitterly, “she claims she wants to see my progress but I know she’s got a bunch of potential women lined up.”
“You make it sound like that’s a bad thing,” Hazime chuckled.
Tino shot him a look, “It is. I’ll be paraded around while they all make silent judgements.”
“How will you get out of it?” Kiræ asked.
“I lied, told her Sir Nyme wanted us to train with him through the winter months and she believed me.” Kiræ was impressed; Tino had come so far from the small, timid looking man she had first met. He had filled out well during their training, his arms were toned now from weapon training and he seemed taller than he once had, though perhaps that was just his confidence.
“I can’t believe you went through that,” Tana said looking at Keolan, “I mean, I knew some of the basics before I left but I don’t think I would have survived something like that.”
“Survived what Keo?” Tom asked.
“The attack before I came to Caan,” Keolan explained.
“What were you even doing alone?” Tana asked.
“I was looking for my brother, he had trained as a warrior but we lost contact with him and I thought I’d be able to find him,” his voice was mocking. “Not too far from Caan I was attacked by a couple of rebels, thankfully I knew a bit about hand to hand combat. Somehow I managed to slip past them, I found a small cave and hid, probably for a day or so out of sheer terror. It made me realise I wanted, I needed to learn to defend myself, and here I am.”
It was noon when they reached a large meadow littered with young trees and a small pond. The water was too cold to dip their feet but they sat by its edge and ate the small picnic they had prepared. Despite the cool breeze the sun was warm and they were enjoying the quiet.
Kiræ sat beside Tom and spoke in a low whisper, “I overheard Brean and Sara talking about us, I think you deserve to know what they said.”
“What is it?”
Kiræ bit her bottom lip as if deciding how best to tell him, “They said a number of things, they both agreed you’re stronger.” Tom began to protest but his sister cut him off, “you’re stronger,” she said again with emphasis. “But together we’re unusually strong and,” she paused again and to Tom it felt like an eternity, “Brean said there was something else about us that he couldn’t figure out.”
“Something else? What?”
Kiræ shook her head, “He doesn’t know, that’s the point. Sara seemed really worried, but Brean, he just dismissed everything by saying we would be okay as long as we had each other.”
“Should we ask them about it?”
“If we say anything they’ll know I was listening, I can’t get into any more trouble with Brean.”
Tom smiled, “I get the feeling he doesn’t get angry much, but okay, we’ll keep this between us, for now.”
It was late afternoon when they finally left the meadow. Dark clouds were beginning to roll in and the sun was no longer visible making it look and feel like dusk. Kiræ felt uncomfortable and rode ahead to where Tom was.
“Something about this doesn’t feel right, I think we need to get back as quickly as possible,” he nodded. As they rode, almost in silence Kiræ thought she saw something glinting ahead.
“Tom what’s that?” she asked pointing.
“I’m not sure,” he said squinting, “it almost looks like…but it can’t be.”
“Tom what is it?” she asked urgently.
“I thought it was a sword or something, but it can’t be, I mean, who would be out here?” Kiræ peered into the gloom, then pulled her horse to a stop, the o
thers did likewise.
“What’s going on?” Tino asked.
“It can’t be Kiræ, I must have imagined it.”
She shook her head slowly, “No Tom you weren’t, look.” They followed her gaze and as their eyes widened, a feeling of utter terror overcame them.
Chapter 16
Vala and Helian’s armies had ridden hard and slept little in order to reach the Eriban border; Vala wasn’t quite sure how, but she knew urgency was important. They had ridden almost solidly for five days and Vala, feeling exhausted herself had finally allowed them to rest. Helian had sent a couple of his warriors on ahead, while the rest took the opportunity to fill their water flasks from a small spring.
“What is it Vala?” Helian asked seeing the look of concern on her face.
“I’m not sure,” she replied, shielding her eyes as she scanned the horizon, “something just doesn’t feel right.” She glanced to the left as the sound of hooves met her ears. Two warriors rode up, worry etched across their faces, the first to arrive, a mature female warrior with short auburn hair spoke with a voice like gravel.
“Tall, dark pillars have been erected on the land.”
“What do you mean?” Helian asked.
The warrior’s companion, a young man with shaggy black answered, “They look like they’re made from stone, we didn’t get too close, but I think there was writing on them, and-”
“People were praying round them,” the female warrior interjected.
“Praying?” Vala asked, the two warriors nodded.
“I think we had better move quickly,” Helian called to the warriors.
They set off almost immediately, the two scouts leading the way across the border and towards the first pillar. Vala pulled out a map as they rode and realised they were heading towards the small town of Myrtan, which wasn’t far from the Holy Land’s border. Her sense of worry deepened. The pillar came quickly into view; it was tall, obelisk in shape and was made of ink black stone. There were a number of people around the pillar; some were leaving what looked like offerings, while others seemed to be praying; they were all dressed in dark robes.
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