Kalina leaned back and kissed his lips.“While that is true,” she smiled, “you smell more like a mule thana man. Perhaps a trip to the stream will make you more desirable ordo you prefer sleeping with the animals?”
“Am I still here?” he laughedas he headed for the stream. Kalina watched his muscular form as hewalked away. So much of life had changed since she met Garth, buthe was right. If everything went according to plan, they would nothave much time alone together for a long time. Perhaps tomorrow theplan will start falling into place.
Chapter 6
Forgum
Niki Forloe watched the short, wiry boyapproaching the shack with a self-assured saunter, his dark brownhair blowing gently in the breeze. His brown eyes darted left andright, not for fear of anyone sneaking up on him, but as if toassure himself that the rabble kept its distance. Niki laughed toherself. Fredrik Wason was the rabble as far as anyone else wasconcerned, but Fredrik always maintained the air of being superior.The buxom young girl hoped that His Highness managed to steal somefood this time. Any less to eat and Niki would start losing herfigure and that was unacceptable. If Fredrik couldn’t start takingcare of her like the Princess she should be, she would findsomebody who could. Niki waved her hand in the air and the door tothe shack slid open smoothly allowing the young boy to enter.Fredrik glided in and placed a turkey on the table.
“A twelve pound tom,” Fredrikproudly exclaimed, “and already stuffed and cooked toperfection.”
“What about vegetables?”complained Niki. “Meat by itself is not good for the digestion.Honestly, Fredrik, you promised that we would be living likeroyalty and all you can do is pinch a turkey.”
Fredrik turned and frowned at the youngredhead. Her curly hair was neatly combed, but the blue satin dresswas obviously a poor fit. “You shouldn’t be using magic for suchmundane things as opening doors,” he scolded. “One of these dayssomebody will detect you using magic and there will be the demon topay for it. If you must use magic so often, why don’t you use it tomake your dress fit better.”
“The nerve of you ordering mearound,” she protested. “I’m not a bloody seamstress. I’m aprincess and I demand to be treated as one. Look at this shack! Isthis the type of palace that a princess belongs in? If I didn’t usemy magic, I wouldn’t even have a dress to needaltering.”
“Quite true,” Fredrik laughed,“but you didn’t have to leave the poor woman in the street naked,did you?”
Niki laughed too. “Probably not,” sheadmitted, “but it certainly made a convenient diversion. Nobody waswatching us get away. Really, though, Fredrik, this place is not tomy liking. I deserve better, much better.”
“I couldn’t agree with youmore,” conceded Fredrik, “but is it my fault that Forgum has beenoverrun by rogue armies? Too many people knew us in Trekum and yougot us run out of Caldar by tossing all of those guardsmen aroundlike toy soldiers.”
“They were toy soldiers,” Nikiinsisted. “Besides, I refuse to put up with their insolentbehavior. Just because I’m smaller than them, they think they canhave their way with me. Well, they hadn’t reckoned with who I am.They’ll think twice at accosting a woman again.”
“I’m sure they will,” sighedFredrik. Niki was Fredrik’s only friend, but there were times whenhe wondered why women had to be so pushy. She seemed to delight inimpressing people with her magic, mindless of the possiblerepercussions if the wrong people knew of her ability. The onlyplace for a magician today was in the Black Devils serving the DarkOne and Fredrik had no desire to serve anyone. Anyone found withthe ability was given a choice of joining the Black Devils ordying. The only exception might be to endear yourself to one of thegreat armies. They would welcome the skill and give some measure ofprotection against the Black Devils, but that option also entailedserving someone. Fredrik wished Niki wouldn’t live sodangerously.
“What are you thinking about?”quizzed Niki as she cut slabs of turkey to put on the twoplates.
Fredrik snapped his head around andrealized that his mind had been far away. “Oh, I was just thinkingthat maybe we should head for the next town north. Perhaps it willnot be destroyed like this one. Cidal is a good-sized town andshould present some better opportunities.”
“Is there a palace there?”Niki inquired. “You haven’t forgotten your promise to make me aqueen have you?”
“I didn’t promise to make youa queen,” Fredrik reminded her. “I said I could see you in a palacesomeday.”
“It’s the same thing,”insisted Niki. “Let’s eat this while it’s hot, but next time try toremember some vegetables.”
“All right,” Fredrik agreed,“but in the morning we travel north again. Maybe Cidal does have apalace.” Niki actually brightened up at that statement and waseager to get to bed early so they could leave first thing in themorning.
The gray sky of morning came too soonfor Fredrik, but he slid into his brown leather pants, tan woolenshirt, and brown leather vest. Quietly he stepped outside andstrode down an alley that ran behind the businesses along thecoastal highway. In a short time, he came to the stables behind oneof the inns and spoke to the stable boy as he walkedpast.
“Can you believe it?” heasked. “After all these years, we finally have an Emperoragain.”
The stable boy started running to catchup to him. “What do you mean, an Emperor?” he inquired. “You meanhere in Forgum?”
Fredrik stopped and turned towards theboy. “Why, yes, haven’t you heard?” Fredrik asked in mocking shock.“He’s entering the town on the coastal road from the south at thisvery moment. Word is he’s looking for people to serve him in thenew palace they are going to start building tomorrow. Forgum isgoing to be the capital. I’d like to stay and tell you more, butword is that only the first few to greet him will get thehigh-paying positions and I want to be one of them.”
“But you’re not much olderthan me,” protested the stable boy.
“The new Emperor likes hispeople to be young,” Fredrik insisted. “Sorry, but I’ve got to bemoving along.”
Fredrik snickered to himself as hewatched the stable boy’s reaction. The boy was looking aroundfrantically to see if anyone would notice if he left his post.Fredrik continued sauntering down the alley and caught a flash asthe stable boy went running between buildings to the highway. Thefact that he didn’t run down the alley past Fredrik indicated thathe was willing to take the extra chance of getting caught by theinnkeeper to beat Fredrik to the Emperor. Fredrik smiled as heturned around and entered the stables. He quickly threw saddles onthe two closest horses and led them along the alley back to theshack.
Although he hadn’t awakened her beforeslipping out, Niki was already packed and ready to go. “We need tohurry,” Fredrik simply said.
Niki needed no explanation and mountedone of the horses. Fredrik mounted the other horse and they headedout of town to the north. “How much of a lead do you suppose wehave?” Niki calmly inquired as she inspected her face in a smallround mirror that she had acquired in Trekum and greatlytreasured.
“The boy won’t be too eager toadmit he was so stupid,” Fredrik commented dryly. “Still, we willhave an hour at the most, much less if the owners of the horsesdecide to leave. If we hear anything coming, we’ll cut into thewoods and watch them pass. We can determine if they’re looking forus before we need to take a different path to get toCidal.”
Fredrik looked admiringly at the darkgreen leather outfit that Niki wore today. Unlike the dress shewore last night, the leathers fit her exceedingly well. Of course,they should fit well considering the price he paid in Trekum.Fredrik had enjoyed life in Trekum, gambling with groups of guardsand mercenaries who had too much pay to know what to do with. Theyhad always considered Fredrik to have too much luck, but theyenjoyed his company and they always liked it when he brought Nikialong. Fredrik enjoyed the lifestyle of the old capital city, evenif there were occasional times when someone got an overheatedtemper during a game. It had been one of those occasions that hadforced them to leave Trekum. T
he guard had accused Fredrik ofcheating again and Fredrik had laughed at him as he always did. Theguard drew a dagger and was threatening Fredrik. All of this hadhappened before and Fredrik always dealt with it using words, butNiki had been along at that game and she did not realize that thethreat was just the guard’s frustration at losing. She reactedinstinctively and forced the guard’s dagger into his own stomach.The rest of the guards had leaped to their feet in anger and magicwas the only way that Fredrik and Niki could survive long enough toget out of the city.
Then there was the incident in Caldar.Niki again had used magic to attack guards that she thought weregetting overly friendly. Niki always seemed to resort to magicbefore trying any other way of handling things. It was a habit thatFredrik had to break her of if they were going tosurvive.
Fredrik’s thoughts were disrupted bythe sounds of galloping horses coming from behind. “No illusions,”Fredrik warned as he and Niki turned quickly into the woods. Theyhad no sooner secured cover, when a dozen Dark Riders appearedaround a bend in the road and went thundering past. The pair satsilently for several long minutes listening as the sound of thegalloping horses faded away.
“They certainly weren’t aftera horse thief,” Niki whispered.
“No, they weren’t,” agreedFredrik. “I’m glad I mentioned no illusions. Niki, I’ve beenthinking about the dangers of using magic too quickly. It is surelygoing to get us killed. I think this incident helps to illustratehow easily we could slip up. We were expecting someone after usbecause of the horses, so we had time to hide, but we cannot alwaysexpect to be lucky. We have to start being morecareful.”
“Careful?” snorted Niki. “Doyou mean like being careful when the guard in Trekum was going togut you? Magic is a skill just like wielding a sword. It is onlybeing smart to use it when you are endangered.”
“But sometimes using it canendanger you,” Fredrik insisted. “I only ask that you think of someother way before you resort to magic. Detection can meandeath.”
Niki sniffed and turned her horsetowards the road. Fredrik clenched his fists and gritted his teeth,but he followed her and soon the pair were back on their way toCidal. They rode on in silence for several hours, encountering noother traffic on the road. Eventually, they decided to stop earlyfor the night and worked their way down to the coast where theyfound a quiet clearing close to beach. Niki jumped off her horseand announced that she was going for a swim. Fredrik quicklygrabbed the reins of her horse and sighed.
Fredrik went about taking care of thehorses and setting up the campsite before he decided to check outthe beach. Niki was frolicking naked in the surf, but what caughtFredrik’s attention was the beautiful, wide beach. There was apoint sticking out directly to his right, but on his left was asweeping wide, white sand and shell strip stretching northward formiles. The lines of shells stretching along the beach culminated ina large mound of shells near the point. The beach in Trekum wasmuch narrower and people walking on them constantly crushed anyshells there.
Fredrik walked down to the point andsaw another long, uninhabited stretch of beach with palm treesleaning over it as if trying to reach the sea. He started pokingthe piles of shells and marveled at all the different types. For along time all of his problems were nonexistent as he examined shellafter shell, until Niki's screams rang through the air.
Fredrik jumped to his feet and lookedaround the shell pile. Niki was standing waist deep in the waterand using magic to deflect a rain of arrows heading towards her.Across the white strand of beach near the tree line were four menwith bows sending arrows at Niki as fast as they could load. Nikiwas too busy deflecting arrows to cast any other spell at the men.Fredrik stood tall with his hands outstretched and felt the powerbegin to well up. The power filling him had an intoxicating effectand he had to focus his mind back on the men. He had already soakedin enough power to obliterate them several times over. Withoutfurther thought, he flicked his wrists and the sky crackled openand a huge streak of lightning arced down and struck in the middleof the four men.
Niki stopped screaming and came out ofthe water and Fredrik ran to her. Together they stared at themassive crater that marked the spot where the men had stood. Therewas nothing left of the men. Where they had stood was a glowingdepression with walls of heated glass. The palm trees on eitherside of the hole were scorched black and the fronds were burningbrightly and dropping to the ground. Several coconuts hissed andburst apart, throwing chunks of coconut meat flying.
“Get dressed,” Fredrikordered. “We need to get out of here now! The force I used was toomuch by far and it could probably be felt for miles around. I don’twant to be anywhere near here when someone decides toinvestigate.”
Niki got dressed while Fredrik swept upthe campsite and hastily packed it away. When Niki mounted, Fredrikhanded her the reins for two of the horses the men had ridden. Hetook the other two and they headed north by way of a trail throughthe woods.
After they had ridden for a while, Nikibroke the silence. “You killed them, Fredrik. You didn’t try tostun them or freeze them; you just killed them. I didn’t know youhad such power.”
“I didn’t know, either,”admitted Fredrik. “I’ve never used magic that powerful before. Ionly planned to stun them, but I couldn’t stop drawing power. I wasso angry that I just grabbed for the power and it . . . it feltgood. Sort of like warmth flowing into your body on a cold winternight. I had to work at it to stop drawing the power and startusing it. I was more surprised than you with whathappened.”
They were quiet for a while with onlythe sounds of lapping waves off to their right and the birdsflitting around overhead, chirping and cawing. “I didn’t mean tokill them,” Fredrik continued, “but I couldn’t let them hurt you.“Besides, there is no undoing it now. I do think that we need topractice our magic more, though, and we cannot do that in a city.Without practice we will not have the proper control we need tomeasure our responses to threats. I think we have probably gone farenough away from the crater to safely camp for thenight.”
Niki just nodded and started lookingfor a clearing. Fairly soon, she found a suitable one anddismounted. This time she helped Fredrik set up the campsite andtake care of the horses. They dined on some of the leftover turkeyand sat quietly across the campfire from each other. “What did youmean before when you talked about drawing the power?” she asked.“Drawing it from where?”
Fredrik got up, walked around the fireand sat next to her. “When I was younger and realized that I had aspecial gift, I used to use it for pranks. I didn’t know much aboutwhat I had or how to use it, so most of the time the prank ended upbeing on me. One day I heard some men talking about the magiciansof the Black Devils, so I followed them. They had a house on theedge of Trekum that they used for a meeting place and a spot forthem to practice. For months, I used to go to the house beforelight came and climb up on the roof. I would watch them all day andlisten to their meetings until well after dark. That is where Ilearned most about magic.”
“It’s probably where yougained your dislike for the Black Devils, too,” guessedNiki.
“Yes, that too,” admittedFredrik. “They all talked boldly about how great they were when noone was around, but as soon as somebody important showed up, theywere all down on their faces in fear, bowing and scraping. Theredidn’t seem to be any purpose in belonging to the Black Devilsexcept to learn and I was getting that anyway. The only thing theyseemed to do in an organized fashion was to send out teams topunish selected people or go in teams on the GreatHunt.”
“What is the Great Hunt?”interrupted Niki.
“That was the worst part,”sighed Fredrik. “The Great Hunt was an edict handed down by theDark One. The Black Devils are supposed to be looking for childrenwho were born in the year of the Collapse.”
“But that’s when we wereborn,” stated Niki. “What did they want with kids ourage?”
“Death, mostly,” answeredFredrik. “It seems there is some old, moldy prophecy that the DarkOne wants fulfilled and it requires the
death of a couple of kidsborn in the year of the Collapse. Not just any kids, but twoparticular kids. The members of the Great Hunt were to determinethe parentage of the individuals found. If they had a certainparentage, they were to be captured alive. If not, they were to bemurdered, just in case they might miss the real ones that they weresearching for.”
“Now I know why you aredreadfully afraid of being discovered by the Black Devils,”interjected. “Why didn’t you tell me that before? At least yourdemand that I not use magic so frivolously would have madesense.”
“Would you have stopped usingit?” he asked.
“Probably not,” she conceded,“but at least your request would make sense. That still doesn’texplain about drawing power and why you never taught me to do it.You taught me everything else.”
“Exactly,” Fredrik laughed,“and look what trouble that has brought me.” Fredrik ignored herhurt scowl and continued. “One of the things that I learned up onthe roof, was that power exists in everything, not just ourselves.You can use the power within yourself to accomplish something, butit diminishes you like running makes you tired and requires thatyou rest. If you can draw your power from other things, you can useyour power longer and more forcefully. I didn’t feel right teachingyou about it, because I’ve never really learned to use it myself. Itried it once and it was frightening. I thought I was going toburst open like a ripe melon.”
“But if we are going to haveto defend ourselves against the Black Devils, we will need everyedge we can get,” Niki stated.
“It’s not that simple, Niki,”Fredrik declared. “Not every magician can draw on the power ofother things. It is almost like another gift in addition to themagical gift, but I’m not sure. I do know that most of the BlackDevils were unable to attain any power outside themselves, at leastthe bunch that I observed. What we really need to find is a tutorwho is not connected with the Black Devils.”
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