Magic Study

by Maria V. Snyder

  Moon Man refused to answer.

  “Do you have any more cryptic advice?” I asked.

  He held out his hands. One toward Leif and the other to me.

  Valek huffed in either amusement or annoyance, I couldn’t tell, but he said, “Looks like a family affair. I’ll be close by if you need me, love.”

  I studied Leif. His reaction to the Story Weaver the last time we had met him had been one of fear. Now, he stepped forward and grabbed Moon Man’s hand, shooting me a look of stubborn determination.

  “Let’s finish this,” Leif said, challenging me.

  35

  I SLID MY HAND INTO MOON Man’s. My world melted as the warm magic of the Story Weaver took control of my senses.

  We traveled to the Illiais Jungle to the place Leif had hidden while watching Mogkan kidnap me over fourteen years ago. The three of us viewed the events through Leif’s eyes and felt his emotions. In essence, becoming him.

  A mean approval that Yelena got what she deserved for not staying close to him spiked Leif’s heart. But when the strange man put her to sleep, and pulled his pack and sword from under a bush, sudden fear of getting taken by the man kept Leif in his hiding place. He stayed there long after the man had carried his sister away.

  Moon Man manipulated the story’s thread for a moment, showing Leif and me what would have happened if Leif had tried to rescue me. The ring of steel rolled through the jungle as Mogkan pulled his sword from its scabbard and stabbed Leif in the heart, killing him. Remaining hidden had been a good decision.

  The story then changed and focused on Perl and Esau’s despair and anger when Leif had finally told them that I was lost. Leif believed he would be in worse trouble if he had told them the truth and they knew he hadn’t done anything to stop the man. Leif had been convinced that the search parties would find the man and his sister. Already he felt jealous of the attention she would get for just being rescued.

  When the search parties failed to find her, Leif began his own quest. He knew they lived in the jungle, keeping out of sight just to spite him. He had to find her, and maybe his mother and father would love him again.

  As the years passed, his guilt drove him to attempt suicide, and, eventually, the guilt transformed into hatred. When she finally came back into their lives stinking of blood and of the north, he wanted to kill her. Especially when he saw for the first time in fourteen years the pure joy on his mother’s face.

  Cahil’s ambush, while unexpected, gave Leif a receptive audience about the need to get rid of the northern spy. But watching her get hurt caused a small rip of concern in his black cloak of hate.

  Her escape from Cahil was proof he had been right about her, but then she came back, insisting she wasn’t a spy and therefore would not run away like one. Roze then confirmed her claims, puzzling Leif.

  His confusion and conflicting emotions only grew when he saw her try to help Tula. Why would she care about another? She hadn’t cared about him or how he suffered while she was gone. He wanted to keep hating her, but when she struggled to bring Tula back, he couldn’t bear the guilt if he stood by and did nothing again.

  When they traveled to the plains and Story Weaver approached, Leif had known his sister would discover the truth about him. He ran, unable to face the accusations that would fill her eyes. But when he calmed, he thought, would the truth be that difficult for her? She weathered so much in Ixia. Perhaps she could overcome this hurdle, too.

  But after she had returned from the plains, Leif knew it was impossible. Her anger and censure flamed on her skin. She didn’t want him or need him. Only his mother’s pleas that he help his sister made him seek her out.

  Story Weaver let the strands of the tale fade. The three of us stood on that dark plain I remembered from my last encounter with Moon Man. His coloring matched a ray of moonlight. Leif glanced around with wonder.

  “Why did Mother ask you to help me rescue Gelsi?” I asked Leif.

  “She thought I could assist you in some way. Instead, I had tried to—”

  “Kill me? You can join the ‘I Want to Kill Yelena Guild.’ I hear they have six members in good standing. Valek is president since he had wanted to kill me twice.” I smiled, but Leif stared at me with guilt in his eyes. “It wasn’t you. Ferde tapped into your memories and used them.”

  “I did want to kill you before you helped Tula.” Leif hung his head.

  “Don’t feel ashamed for having those feelings and those memories. What happened in the past can’t be changed, but they can be a guide for what happens in your future.”

  Moon Man radiated approval. “We could make a Story Weaver out of you if you were not already a Soulfinder.” He flashed me a wide smile.

  “Truly?” How many people would I need to hear it from before I believed it or felt it? Perhaps it would be best not to declare myself a Soulfinder and just be regular old Yelena.

  Moon Man raised an eyebrow. “Come visit me when you are ready.”

  Then the world spun and I shut my eyes against the feelings of vertigo. When they stopped, I opened them, finding myself back in the plains with Leif. Moon Man was talking to Valek.

  I digested what happened on the stony plain. Leif had been in the process of untying himself. His road had smoothed when he made the decision to help me with Tula. So why had Moon Man asked me to help him? I looked for the Story Weaver, but he had disappeared.

  Then the answer came to me, and, along with it, my own guilt. Without truly understanding Leif, I had treated him badly, holding the actions of an eight-year-old boy against a grown man and failing to see how he tried to amend them.

  Leif watched me.

  “How come they never schedule a New Beginnings feast when you really need to start over?” I asked.

  Leif smiled at me. The first genuine one since I had returned from Ixia. It warmed me to the core of my soul.

  “That’s okay. I don’t dance,” he said.

  “You will,” I promised.

  Valek cleared his throat. “Touching as this is, we need to go. Your Story Weaver is providing us with some soldiers to aid against Alea’s people. We’re to rendezvous with them at dawn. I take it your brother…”

  “Leif.” I filled in.

  “…is coming along?”

  “Of course,” Leif said.

  “No,” I said at the same time. “I don’t want you to get hurt. Mother wouldn’t like it.”

  “And I wouldn’t be able to face her wrath if I didn’t stay and help.” Leif crossed his arms over his chest. His square jaw set into a stubborn line.

  “Your mother sounds like a formidable woman,” Valek said into the silence.

  “You have no idea,” Leif replied with a sigh.

  “Well, if she’s anything like Yelena, my deepest sympathies,” Valek teased.

  “Hey!”

  Leif laughed and the tense moment dissipated.

  Valek handed Leif his machete. “Do you know how to use it?”

  “Of course. I chopped Yelena’s bow into firewood,” Leif joked.

  “You took me by surprise. I didn’t want to hurt you,” I shot back.

  Leif looked dubious.

  “How about a rematch?”

  “Anytime.”

  Valek stepped between us. “I’m beginning to wish that you were an orphan, love. Can you both manage to focus on the task at hand without trying to catch up on fourteen years of sibling rivalry?”

  “Yes,” we said in unison, properly chastised.

  “Good. Then let’s go.”

  “Where?” I asked.

  “In keeping with his cryptic nature, all your Story Weaver said was, ‘The horses know where to go.’” Valek shrugged. “It’s certainly not a military strategy I would use, but I’ve learned that the south uses its own strategy. And, strangely enough, it works.”

  The horses did know where to go, and, as the sun rose over the plains, we encountered a group of Sandseed soldiers on a rocky outcropping surrounded by tall grass. A
dozen men and six women dressed in leather armor and equipped with either scimitars or spears waited. They had painted red streaks on their faces and arms, creating an impressively fierce countenance.

  There were no other horses. Valek and I jumped off Kiki and Leif dismounted Rusalka to join us. The two horses began to graze. I shivered in the cold morning air, feeling naked without my bow, wishing I had another weapon besides my switchblade.

  Moon Man greeted us. He had dressed like his clansmen, but he was armed with his scimitar and a bow. The bow he held was no ordinary staff of ebony wood. It had been carved with symbols and animals, revealing a gold-colored wood under the black surface. And I felt that, if I could just stare at it long enough, the carvings may reveal a story. I shook my head, trying to stay focused on Moon Man’s words.

  “I sent a scout last night,” Moon Man said. “He found the blood-letting apparatus in the Void just as Yelena described. Then he tracked the Daviian Vermin to a campsite about a mile east of that location. We are on the edge of the plains about two miles north of that site.”

  “We’ll wait until dark and launch a surprise attack,” Valek said.

  “That will not work,” Moon Man said. “The Vermin have a shield that will alert them to intruders. My scout could not get too close to their camp for fear of discovery.” Moon Man appeared to scan the horizon. “They have strong Warpers, who can hide their whereabouts from our magic.”

  “Warpers?” Leif asked.

  Moon Man frowned. “Magicians. I refuse to call them Story Weavers for they manipulate the threads for their own selfish desires.”

  I glanced at the group of Sandseeds, noting again the array of weapons. “You don’t plan to use your magic?”

  “No.”

  “And you don’t plan to take prisoners?”

  “That is not the Sandseed way. The Vermin must be exterminated.”

  I wanted to neutralize the threat of Alea, but I didn’t want to kill her. Esau’s vial of Curare still remained in my backpack. Perhaps I could paralyze her and take her back to the Keep’s cells.

  “How are you going to prevent the Daviians from using their magic?” Valek asked.

  A dangerous glint flashed in Moon Man’s eyes. “We move the Void.”

  “You can do that?” I asked, surprised.

  “The blanket of power can be repositioned only with the utmost care. We will center the blanket’s hole directly over the Vermin’s camp and then we will attack.”

  “When?” Valek asked.

  “Now.” Moon Man walked over to his soldiers.

  “I’d hoped to use the Sandseeds as a distraction,” Valek said to me in a low whisper. “This will work. Once Alea is dead, we leave. This isn’t our fight.”

  “I think capture and incarceration would be a harsher punishment for her,” I said.

  Valek studied me for a moment. “As you wish.”

  Moon Man’s group shouted a war cry, then disappeared into the tall grass. He came back to us. “They will position themselves around the camp. The signal to attack will be when the Void is in place. You are to come with me.” He glanced at the three of us. “You need weapons. Here.”

  He tossed his bow to me. I caught it in my right hand.

  “That is yours. A gift from Suekray.”

  “Who?”

  “A horsewoman of our clan. You must have made an impression on her. Her gifts are as rare as the snow. Your story is etched into it.”

  Mother, Kiki said with approval. And I remembered the short-haired Sandseed woman who had taken Kiki for a ride the day I had met with the elders.

  I marveled at the bow. The balance and thickness felt perfect in my hand, and, despite the carvings, the black wood remained smooth and strong. By the time I pulled my eyes from the beauty of the bow, I saw that Valek clutched a scimitar and Leif wielded his machete.

  “Let us go.”

  I took off my cloak and made a few quick preparations before we followed Moon Man into the tall grass.

  From our position near the Daviian camp, I could see some activity around their tents and campfire. The air hovering over their site seemed to shimmer and it distorted the images of the people inside as if a massive pocket of heat had been trapped over them.

  The grasses of the plateau grew in small clumps and had turned brown from lack of rain. I crouched with Valek behind a small bush. Leif and Moon Man were five hundred feet to our right huddled in a slight depression. I wondered how the other Sandseeds had fared in finding hiding spots. The Daviians had chosen a wide-open area for their camp and cover was minimal.

  I felt the hair raise on my arms as power pressed against my skin. Seeking out with my awareness, I felt Moon Man and three other magicians tug the blanket of power. They applied equal pressure so the blanket would not gather in one location, but would move smoothly. Their magical abilities impressed me, and I thought, if I did stay in Sitia, the Sandseeds would make powerful teachers.

  The Void’s arrival felt like all the air had been sucked out of my lungs. My awareness of my surroundings reduced to the mundane senses of sight, smell and sound. Before I could adapt to my magical loss, another war cry sounded. The signal to attack the camp.

  I jumped to my feet and followed Valek toward the camp. And stopped dead in my tracks when the scene in front of me registered in my mind.

  The Daviians shield had been destroyed and, with it, the illusion. Instead of a few people milling about the campfire, there stood over thirty. Instead of a handful of tents, there were rows and rows of them. Granted most of the Vermin stared in shock at the loss of their magic, but we were outnumbered four to one.

  Too late to retreat. We had the element of surprise and nineteen battle-thirsty Sandseeds, who cut wide bloody swaths through the Daviians. I could see Moon Man’s bald head above the fighting, and Leif’s powerful strikes kept a couple Daviians busy. Valek shot me a grim look. Find Alea, he mouthed to me before joining in the fray.

  Great, I thought, edging around the outskirts of the battle. Find Alea in this mass of confusion. I ducked as a Daviian swung his scythe at me. I swept his feet from under him and hopped onto his chest before he could raise his long weapon. Ramming the end of my bow into his neck, I crushed his windpipe.

  I paused for a heartbeat. He was the first person I killed since coming to Sitia. I had hoped never to take a life again, but if I wanted to survive this melee, I couldn’t afford to be compassionate.

  Another Daviian attacked. My melancholy thoughts disappeared as I defended myself and searched for Alea. Dodging and fighting, I lost all track of time as the series of matches began to blur together. In the end, Alea found me.

  Her long black hair had been pulled back into a knot and she wore a simple white tunic and pants that were splattered with blood. She held a bloody short sword in each hand. Alea smiled at me.

  “I planned to find you,” she said. “How nice that you saved me the trouble.”

  “That’s just how I am, always thinking of others.”

  She crossed her swords in a mock salute and lunged. I stepped back, and brought my bow down on the top of her blades, deflecting them toward the ground. She took a step forward to regain her balance just as I shuffled closer to her. We touched shoulders. Our weapons pointed down.

  But mine remained on top. I yanked the bow up, hitting her in the face. She yelped as blood gushed from her nose. My strike failed to stop her, and she tried to swing her swords toward my stomach. I moved next to her; too close for large weapons. We dropped them.

  I triggered my switchblade as she pulled a knife from her belt. She turned and stabbed at me. I blocked her blade with my arm. Pain burned as the knife bit into my flesh, but the move allowed me to grab her hand. I pulled her toward me and sliced her forearm with my blade then released her.

  Alea staggered back in confusion. I could have plunged my knife into her stomach, killing her. Her expression turned to horror as she realized what I had done.

  My switchblade had been tr
eated with Curare. All I had needed to do was prick her skin with the tip of the weapon. When she fell to the ground, I stood over her.

  “It’s not fun being helpless. Is it?” I asked.

  I looked around. Valek had maneuvered himself so that he stayed between me and the Daviians, keeping the others from interfering with my fight with Alea. Leif fought a short distance away, hacking with his machete. I couldn’t see the other Sandseeds, but I spotted Moon Man just as he took a man’s head off with his scimitar. Yuck.

  Moon Man sprinted for us. “Time to retreat,” he called.

  “Next time,” I said to Alea. “We’ll finish this.”

  Then the Void moved and the magic came back for half of the campsite, creating a diversion. We were bathed in power, and I felt Moon Man encompass us in a shield of protective magic as we began our retreat. Valek, though, paused over Alea’s still form. He knelt beside her, picked up her knife, and said something to her.

  Before I could call to him, he cut her throat in one smooth move. It was the same lethal strike that he had delivered to her brother, Mogkan.

  When Valek caught up to me he said, “We can’t afford to play favorites.”

  We raced back toward the plains. The Vermins ceased chasing us at the border of the Avibian Plains, but we kept our pace until we reached the rocky outcropping where Kiki and Rusalka waited.

  “No doubt they will move their camp farther into the plateau,” Moon Man said. The effort of running had not winded him, although his skin gleamed with sweat. “I will need to bring more soldiers. To have deceived my scout and me means their Warpers are more powerful than we suspected. I must consult with the elders.”

  Moon Man inclined his head in farewell and I soon lost sight of him in the grass.

  “What now?” Leif asked.

  I met Valek’s gaze. What now, indeed.

  “You go home and so will I,” I said to Leif.

  “You’re coming with me to the Keep?” Leif asked.