Rise of the Citadel (The Search for the Brights Book 2)

by Aaron Thomas

  Bowie turned it over in his hands and held it out to Ria. “Here, can you hold onto this for me? I have no need of it now. Perhaps I’ll open it when this battle is over.”

  “I will keep it safe. I have something for you as well.” Ria took the wine and pulled out her small leather pouch. Bowie had seen it before. It contained beads of metal, all imbued with earth magic. She took out a single bead and undid the clasp on Bowie’s chainger bracelet. She strung on the bead so it rested against the wind imbuement he already had. “You all have proven yourselves worthy of my magic by taking care of these men. I have one of these for each of you.” Ria handed a bracelet to John who visibly flexed at its touch. Bowie had come to get use to touching imbuements since his travel with Kilen. He let out a small laugh at John’s lack of experience.

  Ria pulled a second pouch from her robe pocket. The pouch was purple velvet and had a yellow drawstring to keep it closed. Carefully, she opened the pouch and extracted a polished silver bracelet. The bracelet had a hinge on one side that allowed a quarter of the metal to swing upward for putting on the wrist. She held it out to Auburn who reluctantly held out her right arm.

  “Hold your breath,” Ria said in a gentle voice.

  Auburn did and the bracelet was clasped around her wrist. She turned her hand and Bowie finally saw the design. It was unlike anything he knew a blacksmith could make. The polished silver shined in the lamp light with metal vines that twisted and wove their way around Auburn’s wrist. Bowie knew the feeling of having your strength multiplied by magic and watched Auburn experience it for herself.

  “You will eventually need to breathe, Auburn. I would have given it to you sooner to be able to protect yourself from the men of this camp, but traveling has made it difficult to collect the necessary Silver. Besides I still needed to know what kind of woman you were before giving it to you,” Ria said to the girl as if revealing something unseen.

  Auburn slowly started to breath but did not attempt to stand or move any muscles.

  “You all will need to learn how to use your new imbuements and I will do my best to teach you on the road,” Ria said putting the pouches back in their place.

  “I have already learned a bit of earth magic,” Bowie spoke up. “My best friend is a weapon bearer, as you all know. I was there when he was learning to use it. I took the chance to learn what I could.”

  Ria stood and smoothed her dress, “I just want you to use it to survive and help those men survive as well.”

  Ria turned to go out the tent when Auburn finally spoke, “It’s beautiful.” Slowly she stood and carefully wrapped her arms around the wizard. “Thank you, Ria.”

  When she pulled her head back Bowie and John could see past the mass of red hair, both of the women were crying. One minute they hated each other, the next they were crying out thanks. Bowie would be glad to be rid of the pair, and this war.

  Ria smiled, “Why child, it is nothing but a piece of metal.”

  Auburn continued to cry as she sobbed out the words, “It is the most beautiful thing have I ever seen.”

  A commotion could be heard outside and a ruffled Alexander burst through the tent door, surprised to find everyone inside. Bowie practically jumped up to pass the wizard by. He bounded through the flaps and held out his hands to the men so they would not come into the tent attacking. The few men who managed to see Alexander were stumbling and trying to get to weapons and were nowhere near his tent. The others were still singing and dancing, oblivious to Alexander’s arival. He waved the few alert men away and returned to the tent.

  The tent now reminded him of the cramped wagon that Ria called a home. Alexander had taken Bowie’s spot on the cot so Bowie spread his feet wide and crossed his arms waiting an explanation.

  “I am glad to see you all gathered here. I am afraid this is the last time I will be visiting you with news. You have made very good distance from the king but he is rapidly approaching with some of his more powerful wielders and the council in tow. He has sent his wind wizards to track me down and kill me, calling me a traitor.” Alexander held up his hands to stop them from asking questions, but Auburn caught his eye. “Why, that is simply a beautiful piece and it fits you so well.”

  “Ria made it for me.” She said with a bubbly voice. Bowie had never heard her speak like that before, even when she was excited to be along on the hunt.

  “Can we get back to the part where bloody wizards are chasing you?” Bowie interrupted.

  “Of course.” Alexander pulled out a map and ran his fingers across his surface. “Here is where you are. This is where the Fire Realm has made their fortifications. The king has started to travel from here and has enough earth wielders to ride swiftly. He will not stop day or night until he arrives. You see, Kilen has made contact with the Elder Wizards.”

  Ria spoke with intent as she took her seat back on the stool. “Are they coming to join the fight, Alexander?”

  “No, no. They have sent a true weapon bearer to negotiate the outcome of this disagreement without fighting.”

  “A true weapon bearer hasn’t been raised in years. Who did they send?” Ria asked as the others struggled to keep up with the conversation.

  “Kilen has taken the mantle of True Weapon Bearer in the old ways. Ray has trained him in that short time and he now races to stop this war.” He marked his map in a mountain range near the ocean. “I saw Kilen here last.” Alexander pointed to a spot on the coast near the mountains. “He moves almost as swift as a wind wizard and will be there in a couple days. We must prevent the king from progressing to war too soon. We have to give Kilen time to convince King Elric Rekkan to remove his troops.”

  Ria took a quill off the desk and marked the spots on the map, “Kilen has more to deal with than he knows. The Earth Realm is on the brink of a civil war, Alex. Bowie’s men have already defended themselves against the citizens of this realm.”

  “King Rekkan has recruited from the Earth Realm?” Alexander asked.

  Bowie finally forgot about the impending wind wizards that could have followed Alexander to his camp and focused on the discussion at hand. “The people in the southern region of the Earth Realm are tired of paying taxes and being taken from without anything in return. It is the same as the people in the Water Realm. They give because it is law to pay taxes, and then traveling troops take what they need, leaving the citizens to die of hunger, disease, or at the hand of bandits.”

  Ria barged in, “The citizens here would be found as traitors if they fight beside King Rekkan’s men. Fortunately, King Rekkan has denied them. They decided instead to let King Atmos know how they feel by fighting the Earth Realm’s army on the way to battle. We have a plan to stop this from happening, but we can only do it so long as we stay in front of King Atmos.”

  “You will need to start moving then. He is on his way and has a large enough stock of earth imbuements to keep his men moving at all hours. If you want to stay ahead of him, you will have to press forward hard and hope your horses are faster.” Alexander stood, “Bowie, I am sorry. Once again I do not have time to train you. I must reach Kilen to help him find a way to talk to King Rekkan without killing either of them.”

  Bowie got in Alexander’s way as he tried to exit the tent. “You said that King Atmos’ wizards are following you. How close are they? How many are there? Will they know that you stopped in our camp?”

  Alexander let out a small laugh, “Of course they will know I stopped in your camp. The king is upset because I am an Elder Wizard in his midst and the Elders have refused to fight this war. They also haven’t killed Kilen as Atmos thought they would. The fact that I stopped to talk to you gives him no reason to put you in harm.”

  Alexander took as step closer, laying a hand on Bowie’s shoulder, “Besides, three of the wielders are in your camp already. You might want to grab your hat before it blows away.” Alexander let a mischievous smile reach his face and Bowie lunged for his hat. When he looked up Alexander had already started to wal
k away.

  Mica stood in between a man and woman with small daggers drawn in each hand. Each of the three wore a robe, black in color. Although Bowie had never seen Mica wearing black, it seemed to fit his mood. Bowie watched as an invisible war seemed to take place in the open space. He watched each man grunt and take heavy breaths without moving a single muscle. Alexander simply clenched his fists with eyes closed as the others started to sweat.

  The female in the robes took one step forward and threw her dagger at Alexander. The blade tumbled end over end as it approached him. Bowie barely had time to flinch before the blade was deflected into the open night sky. The small action made Bowie close his eyes. Alexander hadn't moved from his spot but with eyes shut, Bowie could see him using the wind imbuement.

  Bowie watched the normally unseen battle take place in the middle of their camp. Wind between the wizards pushed, pulled, and deflected attacks of its same type. Bowie was mesmerized, for what seemed to be a small brush of wind was a torrent of attacks canceling each other out. He was standing amongst a wind wizard battle and one that only a few could see what truly was happening.

  “Mica, I told you that attacking me would do no good. A student like yourself cannot defeat the teacher. I have learned lessons that I will never teach you,” Alexander said while flipping a silvery disk through his agile fingers.

  “You are no longer my teacher. We have orders to bring you to justice.” Mica said in retort.

  “Congratulations,” Alexander said, taking a bow and still fighting an unseen fight. “I have been brought to justice for all my wrongdoings. To what crime am I being brought to justice for?”

  “Disobeying your king’s orders!” Mica took a step forward and his rear foot was grappled by a vine that now wound itself up his leg.

  “I have no king yet, Mica. You know that wizards are subject to no king unless an elemental king has risen. Since your so-called king has been in his throne, he has done everything to stop that from ever happening. Your king has done so little right that even now the citizens of the Earth Realm seek to unseat him.” Alexander’s voice was calm and filled with conviction.

  Mica pulled at the vine anchoring him to the ground as he tried to get close to Alexander, then turned his blade against the vine freeing himself. “You follow the ways of the Elder Wizards who do nothing for the world. They only serve themselves. Their laws mean nothing to me or my king.”

  “If you choose to bring justice on me for a crime I did not commit, I pray the brights have mercy on you, Mica. A true weapon bearer has been raised, I pray that you not cross his path. The day you do cross him, only the brights will save you from your deeds.” Alexander walked amongst the magical attacks as if they did not exist. Between the tents, he walked away from the fight without injuring anyone. Vines grew from the ground latching on to each of the three wizards. The vines constricted and pulled them to a kneeling position in front of Bowie. Ria showed no fear facing the three kneeling wind wizards. Vines reached up to grab their necks. The tendrils started to constrict their throats, threatening to bring them to darkness.

  “I serve the old ways as well, mind you. Do not cross me either or the weapon bearer will be the least of your worries.” Ria walked away and left the three wizards to struggle with the binding that she had captured them in.

  Bowie walked amongst them and waved over one of his men with a sword. “Free them. They are the kings wizards and are welcome in our camp. Tyler, see to it that some food is made for them. I’m sure they will want to be on their way soon.”

  Tyler nodded and disappeared into the campfires to find food for the wizards. The vines were cut off of the unexpected guests and Bowie stood waiting for them to speak.

  “Dangerous friends you keep, archer.” Mica checked the folds of his robes, for what, Bowie didn’t understand. “You will have a report written, for delivery to the king by one of my men. We will go as soon as that is prepared.”

  Bowie straightened his hat, “You will be waiting for a while. I haven’t had a good night sleep in close to three days, and I have already been interrupted twice tonight. Some of my men will show you to the scout’s tents for you to rest. I’m not sure there is any ale or wine left but you are welcome to some if there is.” He walked off leaving the wizards standing in the open space. He saw the wind form in front of him as Mica was preparing to force him to write the report.

  An arrow streaked past Bowie and through a fold in Mica’s robe to land in a fire behind him. “How many arrows can you stop, Wizard? If you so much as look at me wrong you will be a pincushion, and your men, practice dummies for my archers.” Bowie spoke as he stared at Auburn who remained just outside the fire light with her wizard-grown bow pulled back as far as her strength would allow. “We are on the same side, Mica. Besides, you and your two friends look like you could use a good night’s sleep as well.” Bowie ducked into his tent as the magic that had formed in front of him disappeared into the surrounding air.

  He wished he knew how to control it. The ability sure would have come in handy.

  Chapter 17 - A Leader

  The sound of Ria and Auburn whispering outside Bowie’s tent had brought him awake. He listened for a moment to hear what they were whispering about. Ria was giving Auburn lessons on how to grow plants with her newly acquired imbuement. The rest of the camp seemed to be non-existent or moved so quiet that Auburn’s whispers were the noisiest thing in camp. He dressed in his fancy clothes with the bright green trim. He checked the bow strings before putting them in his pocket.

  A small plate of fruit, cheese, and meat was on his table. He ate until the plate was empty. When he had finally laid down he was so tired that he didn’t remember much before collapsing into bed. He knew Mica would need a report and now that Alexander had a night to disappear, he wanted Mica out of his camp. He wrote a short report saying the problems they are running into with the locals being defiant. He avoided saying anything that would make the king think the locals had taken up arms against their own king. He gave the number of arrows they had amassed. When they arrived near the battle site he would be able to complete the needed arrows before the rest of the army arrived.

  Using a candle, he sealed the letter with wax and pressed an arrow head into the seal. He knew that getting enough sleep would help clear his mind and help him focus, but today he seemed himself. Bowie was seeing the world clearer than he had ever before. Looking back on journey from Deuterium, he now thought that he had made some horrible decisions. He had given in too easily to a pompous merchant. He had divided his forces to attack the enemy on the road. He had totally forgotten about letting his men have some down time. He even managed to leave his tools with a blacksmith who could have destroyed them.

  He had lived from one moment to the next, not considering the outcome of his choices before he made them. In the past, Bowie had always thought of the future; working in the now to prepare for the later. He was confused by what had changed that enabled him to think clearly. His hands dropped from his head and he saw the lamp light reflect off the bracelet he wore.

  The bracelet now had two beads of imbuements; one of wind and one of earth. Imbuements always effected a wielders emotions until they were able to control them. He remembered from Kilen’s training that wind magic made a person erratic. The wind magic had pushed him to be erratic and out of his normal state of mind. The earth magic he now wielded must have helped stabilize his emotions and decisions. He knew with the balance restored, he could be the leader he was supposed to be. He put on his jacket and tucked the report inside. Bowie took the hat from the desk and walked out the flaps of his tent to trample flowers just outside.

  Ria and Auburn stood from where they were kneeling outside. Ria spoke first, placing a hand on Auburn’s shoulder. “Sergeant Crescent, I hope you slept well. May I speak to you privately for a moment?”

  Auburn looked everywhere except at Bowie, as if she were searching for something. Ria glanced at Auburn a couple of times and then back t
o Bowie. He noticed that there were flowers surrounding his tent and Ria shook her head as he opened his mouth to question them.

  “Where should we talk?” He asked pointing at his tent and shrugging his shoulders.

  “I think that my wagon would be a better place to speak privately,” Ria said nodding to Auburn.

  Bowie held out his hand for her to lead the way as she did. They walked away from Auburn but the girl soon followed, pulling the bow from where she had worn it over her shoulder. She knocked an arrow and followed, still looking around. The action made Bowie nervous; he felt as if someone could attack at any moment.

  He looked back at Ria who continued to shake her head and motioned Bowie to follow with her hand. Her wagon remained close to the center of the camp. John was walking around keeping his eye on everyone packing up. He saw Bowie and started to shout for the men to start waking everyone.

  Ria closed the door behind Bowie and locked it from the inside. “I am sorry. Each person has a different reaction to magic.”

  “Yes, I wish I had been carrying an earth imbuement to keep my head on straight. I’ve realized the bad decisions I’ve made from wearing the wind imbuement.” Bowie sat on one of the stools.

  “You believe that you are thinking clearer now?” She asked as she poured a cup of cold tea and taking the seat across from him.

  “I do. What is wrong with Auburn?”

  “She apparently has set it in her mind that she is supposed to protect you-”

  He spit out the tea he had taken a sip of. “She what?!? She barely knows how to hold the bow!”

  Ria wiped up the tea he spit out on the table clicking her tongue, “You very well know the effects of wielding magic. She has set her goal as protecting you. She spent the entire night watching over your tent. She was holding the bow, threatening to kill anyone that came near you until I convinced her to start learning how to use magic. Even then she would not leave sight of it.”