Prophecy of Light - Unleashed

by RJ Crayton

  Prophecy of Light - Unleashed

  Prophecy of Light Book 2

  By RJ Crayton

  Copyright RJ Crayton 2016

  All rights reserved.

  Version: PLU161022

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  Table of Contents

  1- Failing

  2 - Home

  3 - A Message

  4 - Acclimating

  5 - Staff Training

  6 - A Partner

  7 - Memories

  8 - Sparkle

  9 - Another Plane

  10 - Practice

  11 - Evil

  12 - Mind Invasion

  13 - Searching

  14 - The Prophecy of Light

  15 - Moving Pictures

  16 - The Seas of Time

  17 - A Warning

  18- Seeking Answers

  19 - Surprise

  20 - Real Nightmares

  21 - The Moon Temple

  22 - Unlocked

  23 - The Key

  Also By RJ Crayton

  About the Author

  Chapter 1 - Failing

  I stared at the vase on the floor. I had been assigned one task: levitate the vase. It should have been simple. I’ve seen very small children here at the temple perform this task. But I’d been failing miserably.

  “Can you feel it?”

  I looked up and found Akilah standing there, giving me an encouraging look. At fifteen, she was a year older than me. She was taller than me, too. But I could’ve said the taller thing about pretty much everyone my age. I’m unusually short, at four feet ten inches.

  I shook my head in response to Akilah’s question. I could not feel the vase. All I could say with confidence that I felt was air.

  She smiled at me in that totally nonjudgmental way that said, No problem. I hated that she did that. It was kind and caring, but part of me wanted her to yell at me. I needed to get this. I deserved rebuke.

  I looked at the copper vase on the floor, its shiny, hammered surface reflecting the light from the room’s many windows. It was like the vase was taunting me. It wasn’t even that heavy. It was empty, and I could easily have lifted it with one hand. I focused on it with all my concentration, trying to feel it through the air the way Akilah had suggested. Like I had invisible hands connected to my mind, ones that could feel it and lift it and exert the power of my mind on this physical object.

  It wasn’t working. The vase stayed still, no matter how hard I envisioned it rising.

  “Kady,” Akilah said after a minute more of my staring competition with the vase. I hated that the vase was winning.

  I looked up at her, thankful for her use of my name. She was the one person here who actually called me my proper name on a consistent basis. When I was a baby, I lived here with my mother. Back then, I was called Dirah. Pylum, the man who runs this place, has been calling me Dirah. Whenever it happened, he’d say it was a mistake, old habit, but it had happened so often that I no longer believed it was accidental.

  “I’m really concentrating, Akilah,” I assured her. “Just give me another minute.”

  Akilah shook her head, and her braids, tied into a ponytail, swayed fluidly.

  I reconsidered my contention that it would be better if she weren’t so understanding.

  “You’re pushing yourself too hard,” she said. “I think we should take a break and do something fun.”

  Something fun. It was my turn to shake my head. “I need to get this figured out, Akilah. My aunt is depending on me.”

  My aunt had been kidnapped by Zygam, the evil mage who had murdered my mother. Even though I was a mage, even though Pylum had shown me memories of a toddler me performing magic, I was not raised as a mage. My aunt hid my powers deep inside me, trapped them in order to keep Zygam from finding me. And now my powers seemed to want to stay trapped. A few of my powers had escaped, but that had been right after my aunt disappeared. In the week I had been here at the Temple of Light, my mage powers continued to stay locked inside. The problem was, I needed them out if I was to help rescue my aunt. Pylum said I needed to be proficient in magic for us to attempt to rescue my aunt, so I was pushing myself hard. It just didn’t seem to be working.

  Akilah exhaled and folded her arms. “I think going out will help you. I think it will relax you and maybe help you focus.”

  I looked at the vase, the visual symbol of my failure to focus, and then turned to her. “Alright, where would you want to go?”

  Akilah, with her dark skin and amber eyes, smiled big. “Where else? The Halcyon market.”

  * * *

  Pylum had been reluctant to let us go to the market. “Zygam is looking for her,” he’d said.

  “Surely, he would know you wouldn’t want her in the market, Master Pylum,” Akilah had said, all sweetness, light, and reason. “So, he’d never imagine you’d let her go. He assumes you have her strapped down here learning spells.”

  Pylum, a dwarf covered in glyph tattoos, had raised an eyebrow at that explanation. “And that is what she should be doing.”

  “But it’s not working,” Akilah said. “She needs to relax. She needs the magic to flow again.”

  The words of a fifteen-year-old were not enough to convince Pylum. However, one of Pylum’s magical gifts was being able to read the Seas of Time. Since being here, I’ve learned it’s a magical current that has all of time in it — past, present and future. I wasn’t entirely sure how his power worked, but the how seemed less important than his belief in his ability. Pylum was up for any plan, even that proposed by a couple of teenagers, if he foresaw no danger based on his reading of the Seas of Time.

  He searched, we waited, and finally he nodded that we could go.

  Akilah created a magical portal so we could go to the market. The portals looked pretty cool — all glowy, silvery light that sort of rippled like water. Unfortunately, going inside one was like being thrown into a cyclone. You twisted, twirled and whirled until finally being spit out at your destination. If I hadn’t really wanted to get out of the temple, I might even have eschewed portal travel. But Akilah was right. I needed out.

  We emerged from the portal in an alley off to the side of the market. Akilah carried a shoulder satchel with supplies like a water flask and some snacks. We were both dressed not to be seen. We were covered from head to toe in white tunics and headscarves. An opening for our eyes allowed us to see, but not really be seen. It wasn’t uncommon in this desert land to cover oneself from head to heel. The sun could be deadly, browning skin to a crisp, causing unbearable thirst and wearying your soul. At least, that’s what Auntie at always said.

  I grimaced, glad my face was mostly covered. I’d been trying not to think of Auntie. Every time I did, I wanted to cry. She was gone. Captured trying to protect me, and it hurt my heart. I felt guilty, and it was made worse by the fact that I couldn’t figure out how to access my magic. I’d used it a bit before Pylum had taken me to Hakari Ahet, the proper name for the Temple of Light. I hadn’t known I had powers back then, but in my time of need, they had emerged. Now that I knew I had powers, they wanted to hide in the shadows.

  “Come on,” Akilah said, walking, a bit faster than me, toward the thickest area of the market, filled with tents and shops selling wares. Her long legs allowed her to move smoothly and swiftly with little effort, while I felt like I was running just to keep up with her. I’d expected a leisurely stroll through the
marketplace, relaxing, enjoying the sights, sounds and smells of the busy outdoor bizarre. Instead, she seemed to have purpose, her head turning to scan everything. She wasn’t just seeing sights, she was looking for something. Or someone.

  “Akilah,” I said, and she stopped and turned to me. I unhooked part of the cloth shrouding my face so she could see I was serious. “Who are you looking for?”

  She didn’t uncover her face, but from the way her eyes lifted I could tell she was smiling when she said, “Nigel. He’s been on my mind.”

  Apparently, this wasn’t a visit to help me relax. I frowned, feeling used. “And how is that supposed to relax me?”

  She shook her head and uncovered her face this time. “Finding Nigel isn’t supposed to relax you. Going back to your old house is going to do that.”

  Chapter 2 - Home

  I was unable to hide my shock, my mouth popping open when she said it. “We aren’t supposed to go there,” I said, remembering Pylum’s warning that Zygam might still be looking for me. And since he’d been searching for me nonstop for the last ten years, that seemed like a pretty good bet.

  “That’s why we need Nigel,” she said. “His magic is of the mind, like your aunt’s.”

  I stared, unsure entirely where she was going with this.

  She exhaled and then spoke softly. “Okay, I’m not going to fault you for not being able to do magic. That takes time. But you’re at least supposed to do the reading.”

  The reading. I’d been given a bunch of books on the history of mages and spells and, frankly, a lot of stuff. Too much to read in a short period of time, but I’d worked my way completely through one of the books. “I’ve finished Mage Battles: The Skills and Tactics Required when Words Fail.”

  She shook her head. “Why are you focusing on battle? I thought you were to focus on basic magic theory.”

  Basic magic theory wasn’t what I needed to rescue my aunt. I’d seen the Pylum battling Zygam when he and Akilah had rescued me from the evil mage. I needed to be prepared for that.

  Akilah pressed her lips tight and a crease appeared in her forehead. Her brown eyes seemed stormy as she regarded me. Akilah wouldn’t understand. No one here would. I needed my aunt to be safe, and something inside me said that would only happen after a battle.

  “You won’t have to battle, Kady,” she said. “They will bring older, wiser mages for that. But you do need to be able to use basic magic for protection.”

  I nodded. I supposed Akilah was right, but I had been focusing on basic magic in my lessons. And I’d been failing at it miserably. Nothing I tried actually worked. Not levitating, not spells of construction, not spells of destruction, not shields. Nothing. “I’m trying,” I whispered.

  “I know,” she said. “But read the books, too. The theory behind the magic may help you conceptualize it better so you can do it.”

  I nodded again, but I didn’t really believe her advice. I learned better by actually doing things than reading about doing them. I liked reading, but who would want to read about how to bake sufta or kutha, rather than having Auntie teach them?

  A memory of Auntie showing me how to evenly knead the seeds into the sufta dough came to mind, and I felt momentarily happy before remembering that Auntie was gone. Taken and suffering in stasis with Zygam.

  “There he is,” Akilah said, and I wasn’t sure what she was talking about. She inclined her head to the left, and I looked up in time to see Nigel, the little boy I’d helped the morning after my aunt had been taken. “Go talk to him,” Akilah urged. “Tell him you need his help, and ask him to come with you to that alley.”

  I shook my head. “I’m not going to lie to him. I don’t need his help,” I said adamantly. Words mattered, Auntie always said, and lies were words with immense power to backfire on you. I’d thought her strictures were idle words to keep me honest. But I’d lied to Pylum when I first met him, and that had turned out poorly. I wasn’t going to lie to Nigel about needing his help.

  “It’s not a lie,” Akilah assured me. “He may run off if I take time to explain right now. Just do it, please. Tell him you need help for a friend. That’s not a lie. I’m your friend, and it would help me immensely if he came.”

  I stared at her a moment. She called me her friend. It was so odd to hear someone close to my own age say it. I’d spent so long with Auntie, just the two of us, that I hadn’t really had friends. I guess, if you had to give it a definition, this would be it. Akilah and I had become as close to friends as I was used to. We were roommates at the temple, and she was the first mage to try to help me. Finally, I nodded. “Fine, I’ll ask.”

  I didn’t bother to cover my face fully again. Nigel would need to recognize me if I didn’t want him to run off.

  Nigel was still small and thin, but he looked slightly better today. His clothes weren’t the tattered rags he’d had on last time I’d seen him. They were fresher, newer. But most everything else about him was the same. His hair was too long in the front, covering his eyes. He walked closed off. Not quite hunched over, but everything about him insisted he didn’t want to be noticed or spoken to. Everything about him suggested oneness, singleness and loneliness.

  As I watched him, I realized he walked like me. The way I used to walk when Auntie sent me off for an errand. Momentarily unsettled at the similarity, I stopped and watched as he made his way through the crowd. But I was losing him. I started walking again, quicker this time, always keeping him in my sight as I closed the gap. Finally, just an arm length from him, I reached out to touch him, but he turned as if he’d known my intentions. He shook his head, a clear warning not to touch him.

  I lowered my hand and we stood there staring at each other, not speaking. I felt a prickle in the center of my forehead. A weird, spindly sensation, as if someone were poking me with cactus quill. I took a step back and he smiled. “You’re good,” he said.

  “Good at what?”

  “Protecting your mind,” he said.

  I raised an eyebrow and watched him more closely. His smile didn’t fade, but his eyes twinkled a bit.

  “Who are you?” he asked.

  “My name is Kady, and today I’m the one who needs your help,” I said. “For a friend. Will you help?”

  Nigel looked around, surveying the area, as if concerned I was leading him to danger. He grimaced and finally said, “For you, I’ll help.”

  I nodded, and then turned and began walking toward the spot I’d told Akilah I’d meet her. Nigel followed. When we arrived in the alley, Akilah was there, her face covered. We started to walk toward her, but before we’d even gotten a few steps into the alley, Nigel’s face turned from apprehension to fury. He stopped walking and took a couple of steps back, as if debating whether to run.

  “I’m not helping her,” he finally said, staring daggers at Akilah.

  I wondered how he even knew who she was. She was almost completely covered. Just then, he shook his head and turned. “I’m sorry,” he muttered.

  Stay. It was a single thought. An emotion, really. It was exactly what I was feeling. He stopped mid-stride. His body didn’t move for several seconds, and I wondered what was going on. Then he turned to me. His mouth didn’t move, but I heard him in my head.

  How did you do that? he asked.

  My lips didn’t move either as I watched him. Do what?

  Speak in my mind? My mind is closed, the way I thought yours was. How did you do it?

  I don’t know.

  He considered that for a moment. I suppose I don’t know how I do the things I do, either, so it doesn’t matter.

  Please don’t go. Akilah won’t hurt you. And she does need your help, for me.

  For you?

  He was sympathetic when he responded. I knew that was the note to hit to get him to stay. Yes, she said what she wants you to do will help me.

  How?

  She didn’t explain yet, but give her a chance.

  Nigel turned to Akilah, surveying her. Then he looked
at me again. You, I believe, but there’s darkness in her. He nodded toward Akilah. Be careful.

  With this, our conversation of the minds was over. He walked over to Akilah and spoke. “She said you needed my help. What is it you want me to do?”

  * * *

  When I heard Akilah’s plan, I was surprised both by its simplicity and its stupidity. I didn’t express my concern aloud, given that Nigel had been reluctant to do this in the first place. This was exactly the type of thing Pylum wouldn’t want us to do. On the other hand, if it worked, it would be wonderful. Still, that seemed a big if.

  “You two were talking earlier,” Akilah said. “I could tell.”

  Nigel gave her a look that said, So what. I simply nodded.

  “That means we don’t even need the Memory Orb,” she said, as she patted the satchel she had slung over her shoulder. “He can broadcast it directly to you.”

  I looked at Nigel, so small, agile, and kind. It wasn’t fair to him not to voice my concerns. “What if it’s not safe? I mean, what if there’s someone waiting around to see if I come back?”

  Akilah shook her head. “But you won’t be coming back. It will be Nigel, and they’ll think he’s just looking for a safe place to sleep, or perhaps a shady spot because it’s so hot.”

  Nigel didn’t say anything. And while Akilah’s logic made sense, I was still concerned about sending someone else to a place I wasn’t willing to go.

  “It’s fine,” Nigel pronounced, looking me in the eye. “I’m a man, and I know how to take care of myself. You needn’t worry about me.”

  Akilah seemed to be stifling a smile. I frowned. He was but a child, trying for some reason to be a man. But Nigel was just ten years old, if he’d been honest with me the day we met. I’d suspected he was younger, but I couldn’t say for sure. This was too dangerous.

  I patted Nigel’s arm and said, “Thank you for offering to help, but I think this is a bad idea. Let’s forget about it.”