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

by Aaron Thomas

  “So that’s why there are flowers outside my tent.” He finally remembered to take off his hat, and wondered why she had not scolded him.

  “I feel as if I disrupted your whole camp here. I will not be telling you how to run an army when I have a hard time just being around others. I forget that common people do not fully understand magic, what it can do, and how it affects you.” Ria slumped in her chair. It was the first time that Bowie had seen her do that.

  “Are you getting enough rest? You look as though you are tired.” He reached across the table and put his hand near the wizard’s.

  “It’s not that. I don’t spend a lot of time with wizards or with non-wielders. I sometimes have a hard time understanding them. The wagon is my home. I call home to wherever my wagon rests for the night. I usually don’t get caught up in politics but this time I was in the wrong town picking up supplies when the king came through. I feel as though all of my efforts are for nothing.” Ria made a second swipe at the spit tea on the table.

  “I assure you that we would not be here if it wasn’t for your skills and efforts. Now, did you say she has been outside my tent all night?” Bowie asked.

  “Yes, last night there was a discussion between you and Mica. Whatever you said caused her to fixate on protecting you. I am afraid that until she learns to control her magic, her only goal in life is to protect you.”

  Bowie pulled his hand back,

  “Now that is not necessarily a bad thing. She is skilled with the bow, and is picking up magic pretty quickly.” Ria stood and moved about the room growing and collecting berries. She pulled some dried meat out of her cupboard and pulled loaf of bread from another. “We need to get her to eat something. She says that she’s fine but refuses to eat until you have.”

  “I just ate a whole plate of food.” He stood to go but she caught his arm.

  “I think if you would let me bring you some food to eat in front of her, she would eat. I need you to just go along with whatever I say so you can understand her devotion to protect you.”

  Bowie nodded in acceptance.

  “Go ahead then. I will be out with food for you and her in a bit. Sergeant Crescent, please let me know if you wish to learn about earth magic,” She said pointing at the imbuement.

  “I will, thank you. I have some things I need to take care of.” He opened the door and put on his hat as it closed behind him. Auburn was at his side in a moment, looking about as if expecting an attack.

  “Auburn, would you come with me? I have to see to getting Mica on his way with this report.” He tapped his jacket where the pocket was inside.

  “I would like to see him out of the camp as well.” She followed behind Bowie and continued to check the area while she walked.

  Bowie stopped to face her and she almost ran into him, “Are you looking for someone?”

  “I- uhm. We are behind enemy lines. We could be attacked at any moment,” She said sticking her chin out at the trees.

  “Auburn, I think we are perfectly fine here in the center of camp. Unstring that bow and look at what you are doing or you might stick me with the arrow you have in your hand.” Bowie waited until she reluctantly put the arrow away and held the bow a bit more casually. “Besides, you are making me nervous, looking around like that all the time. Relax, we are safe here.”

  She nodded her head and put a strand of loose hair behind her ear.

  Bowie continued on to the tents they had set aside for scouts. They hadn’t received any scouts for days, but they continued to construct them just in case. Mica and the other two wizards were all sitting near a smoldering fire with a bowl of mush.

  “Good morning gentlemen. I hope you slept well.” Bowie took a seat on a log and awaited a response.

  “Your camp is well organized. I will report the number of arrows to King Atmos as soon as I can.” Mica put another spoon of mush into his mouth. Bowie wondered why he was eating mush when the camp had such an overwhelming amount of meat.

  “Auburn, these men should have more than just this to eat. See if you can fetch us all some meat.”

  Auburn immediately got up to fetch the food, “Do you all like venison?”

  They each nodded and Auburn went to another fire pit and sent a soldier to get the meat.

  Bowie noticed that she did not take her eyes off of the three wielders. “I have drafted a report for you to deliver. I will let you know that we’ll leave this morning and won’t be stopping until we come as close to the battle ground as we care to. There’s a sort of resistance that’s building amongst the populations here and we wish to be past it before we lose any more men.”

  “You mentioned something along those lines last night.” Mica said as he disposed of the rest of his mush.

  A soldier approached with a stick of meat for each and then immediately started to take down the scout tents.

  “We ran into some of the locals that actually wanted to hunt us. Seven of my men, including Auburn, were able to dispatch ten and run off about seven more. We caught up to them and were able to talk them into surrendering. They have all returned to their homes without weapons.” Bowie explained while examining discarded arrow parts on the ground.

  “You let the traitors go?” Mica said, standing.

  “You call them traitors. I say they are scared of being killed by the Fire Realm so they did what they thought was right. They have stopped with their fight and if they choose to pick up weapons against the king’s men again, I will hold them accountable.” Bowie started to reach for a stick of meat but stopped to remember that Ria would be by to feed him and Auburn soon. “We are going to move fast down the road and warn other towns about what treachery will get them. We are doing what we think is necessary to have the king look merciful.”

  Mica, still looking agitated, “The king will appear to the common folk as he wants. He does not need your help.”

  Bowie stood and pulled his hat on tighter to keep his temper under control. “I didn’t do it to make the king look good. My men are just as tempted to be a traitor when the men they fight are ones they grew up with. You should be out of my camp as soon as possible. If the king wants me to stop, I will need a written order. So you had better be on your way to get to him and back before I reach the battlefield. Have a safe journey, wizard.” Bowie started to walk away and watched roots reach out of the ground to cover Auburn’s boots. Bowie bet that she was anchoring herself to the ground.

  He watched as she pulled an arrow from her bow and had it knocked before he could signal her to stop. He turned and with the wind vision, he watched Mica start to move the air in front of him. Neither of the two moved or attacked, but Bowie knew it wouldn’t end well if he didn’t stop it.

  He didn’t know how much he could manipulate Auburn but there was no time to test it. “Auburn, if you choose to fight him you won’t be around to fight beside me later.”

  It took a moment but she began to bite her lip and then lowered the bow and released tension on the string.

  “That’s twice your archer here has raised a weapon to me,” Mica spat.

  Bowie watched as the wind magic dissipated and smiled, “Did you hear that, Auburn? I think he just made you an archer. Congratulations on joining the army, I will see that you get your pay.”

  She smirked at the comment and flashed a bigger smile at Mica as if it was what she really wanted. The vines around her feet loosened and she followed Bowie back towards his tent. Just as she had promised, Ria walked up to him with a covered plate.

  “I found this with a note for you. It has everything you need for a good meal before we get you back on the road. Are you hungry?” Ria lowered her head and raised her eyebrows as if to say, ‘yes you are hungry.’

  “I am famished,” Bowie said taking the plate from her. “I haven’t had a bite to eat since midday yesterday”

  Ria smiled and pulled the napkin from the plate, “I know that John usually sees that your plates are brought to you straight from him because of the c
hance for poisoning. I didn’t see him but this plate was in the usual place. I’m sure he has been so busy packing up the camp that he didn’t want to wait around.”

  He understood what she wanted now, “I am sure it’s fine. Why would anyone want to poison me here?” He picked up a piece of cheese and started it towards his mouth.

  “What are you doing?!? That food could be from anyone!” Auburn knocked the cheese from his hand and snatched the plate from him. “I will find you some food that has been properly cooked and poison free.”

  “I am sure it’s fine, Auburn. Just give it to me, I’m famished.” Bowie started to pull the plate back and Auburn popped a piece of cheese in her mouth chewing furiously. Bowie held tightly onto the plate as she took a piece of each type of food.

  She spit a bit as she tried to talk through the food in her mouth, “You had better hope these are not poisoned. I am doing this for you.”

  Ria smiled, “You better test the whole plate. What if only one piece is poisoned?”

  Auburn stopped chewing with a wad of food in her cheek, “You made this, didn’t you?”

  Ria nodded and Bowie spoke, “Auburn, I know you want to protect me, but I have a camp full of soldiers for that. Eat your food and get packed for the road. I need your fletchers to be prepared to make arrows as we travel.”

  Auburn held onto the plate as Bowie walked away. She swallowed the food she had left and yelled to a fletcher to follow her. She started shouting out orders, still keeping Bowie in sight.

  John waited at Bowie’s tent with a bit of breakfast and watched carefully as four men took his tent down. “Sergeant, we will be ready to leave shortly.”

  “Thanks, John. We need to make sure Ria is at the front so she can help energize the troops as they start out. I want to make sure each and every man is ready to travel as fast as they can. We also need to eliminate anything that’s keeping us from moving too slow. If we have any unnecessary cargo, like the alcohol, toss it out.” Bowie said taking the plate from John.

  “All the unnecessary equipment has been set aside for the next group of men. I left stools, chairs, tents, and training targets. We will have over half of the men in wagons. I’ve ordered soldiers to be mixed in with the fletchers to help in production. Each wagon now has at least one fletcher to help the soldiers make their own arrows. The men who walk will be given the task of moving supplies to each wagon and moving finished arrows to the next.” John stood a bit straighter.

  Ria leaned in and whispered into Bowie’s ear, “He has become influenced to being the best soldier he can be. You must be very careful giving orders to these two. An order worded wrong could mean John drowning so that supplies don’t get wet.”

  Bowie took a moment to think while he ate a few bites of his breakfast. Auburn took the silence as a moment to practice growing the flowers she had started. “Now that we have the ability to use earth magic, we all can renew the troops energy, correct?” Bowie asked.

  Ria used a piece of wood to sit beside Bowie, seemingly excited to speak about magic. “Yes, of course you can do almost anything I can do. Including producing magically grown bows.”

  Bowie took a couple more bites, pondering how to word his next question. “It might be good if you could teach John how to energize troops, that way he can keep some of the men topped off just incase I need to take them into a fight.”

  Auburn immediately stopped growing the flowers and moved over to Bowie. “I will learn as well, if I can use it to keep you safer.”

  Bowie nodded to Auburn and turned back to Ria. “Yes, I do believe I could use the help in restoring some of the troops. John and Auburn will not be any good to us if they cannot keep themselves up right in the saddle. They will have to agree not to push themselves too far. They won’t be able to fight or protect you if they use all of their energy restoring others.”

  “Could you give us all a lesson before we leave?” Bowie asked, smiling to Ria.

  She winked at him in a most motherly wink, “I can, but they will have to pay attention if they are to use it well.”

  “I will.” escaped both of their mouths before Bowie could speak a word. The magical determination in combination with Bowie’s words had fueled their determination to learn magic to both be a good soldier and to protect him. He took another bite of food as Ria led the two to a nearby tent where a soldier was wiping sweat from his forehead. Auburn took one last glance around to make sure that Bowie would remain in sight. Ria began explaining how to use magic to restore the troop’s energy. He had never received this bit of training. Bowie assumed Kilen had learned it in one of his many private sessions when Bowie was sent to hunt or had to stay and watch over Kara.

  He was glad he was in hearing distance. Auburn had been instructed in using magic part of the night and had an easier time understanding it. Bowie still had a hard time seeing the green energy that Ria spoke of. Bowie tried to use the earth sight but found himself getting caught up in the vision of wind magic. He soon found the stability of the green earth magic stored in the ground and trampled grass, even in the bodies of each of his soldiers. A large amount of energy was stored in Ria, Auburn, and John. The clouds of the green magic energy were so thick, he could see the details of their skin and hair with his eyes closed. He knew as he traveled he would have to do all he could do to learn to use this magic. Even if the only thing he learned was to rustle a bush to distract someone or trip someone with a vine.

  Bowie wondered if it was the magical determination or their natural talent that helped the two new wielders learn to use their imbuement. Auburn walked around to every soldier in sight of Bowie and started to energize them. John called out to soldiers to bring the horses. The work animals began to dance as if they had been tied in stables for months. The soldier’s eyes grew when Auburn placed a hand on their shoulder or arm. Soon after, each would work with renewed vigor. Bowie watched as the camps packing and movement doubled in speed. It only took a moment for Ria to return to sit beside him.

  “You are a quick learner,” She smoothed her dress and watched Auburn work a circle around them, keeping Bowie close.

  “Not as quick as those two.” Bowie said before taking another bite of biscuit.

  “No, you aren’t as quick in learning to use magic, but you’re a quick assist those that are learning. You are a good leader.” She pointed at Auburn, “Two days ago I couldn’t get her to learn to replant a flower. Today, she can grow them from seed with magic. She can energize troops faster than most. Do you know why this is?”

  “Because you taught her,” Bowie said, wiping his hands on his pants after cleaning his plate.

  “No.” Ria leaned in close to Bowie’s face so that he could look nowhere else, “Because you are a true leader. You know those two so well that you were able to give them a reason to learn. You inspired them to be better than they are. You used your words to give their determination a purpose.” Ria waited but Bowie gave no reaction, “Just because you have a hard time learning magic, does not mean you are not a powerful wielder. Some of the most powerful wielders used only their brain to change the world. The imbuements were just trinkets that made people notice them. I believe you are this type of wielder.” She stood and patted Bowie on the shoulder.

  He sat staring at the ground for a while until Auburn approached with her horse and Charger in tow. He stood and mounted Charger, who was anxious to be ridden. He checked the straps and looked around the camp. Every wagon was perfectly packed with supplies and troops. Baskets of arrows hung from the sides as fletchers were fast at work in each cart. He knew these men were his responsibility, they had chosen to put their lives in his hands.

  He took a swallow and spoke as loudly as he could. “Today is the last day of rest for a while. We must push forward at a fast pace to warn the citizens of this land against defying a king. We do this not for the king. We do this to save their lives from him. On the road ahead we will face three enemies: the Fire Realm, the citizens of this land, and ourselves
. Work together, suffer together, and together we shall live to see another summer.”

  John let out a loud cheer and his example was followed by his men. Bowie’s chest felt the vibrations from the men’s cheers as cart after cart started to lurch forward on the road. Bowie felt for the first time that he truly was a leader. Ria smiled before closing the door to her own wagon.

  **********

  Brandon and Twilix both knew that Kara’s transformation was close because of her rapid rise in heat. Even though Twilix had developed a way to keep Kara cool while she did other things, the last couple of days required her to keep a close watch on the ice sphere surrounding the girl. Twilix had caught Kara catching herself on fire twice already today.

  Kara could catch fire without hurting herself but soon after she would continue raise her temperature until she was burning her body to ash. Ageing a fire wizard was not only dangerous to oneself but to everyone in the area. Brandon was asleep in a chair nearby. Twilix watched him for a moment before stepping inside the sphere. Steam had already filled the inclosure and a loud hissing sound could be heard. The sound echoed in her ears as she stepped inside. Twilix carefully walked down the ice stairs until her slippers met warm water. She normally liked warm water but this kind meant something different. The closer she came to Kara, the hotter the water. The liquid was boiling at the edges of Kara’s skin.

  Twilix dropped the hem of her dress into the pool. She had hoped to keep it dry but the level was too high to hold the bottom up. She bent over submerging, the palms of her hands into the water. She felt the water around her knees cool and then become frigid. She only needed to cool the water long enough for her to check on Kara. She wished to lower the girl’s temperature but she knew it would take too much of her strength to do it.

  She spoke into the empty space when she could see Kara’s form through the steam. “It won’t be long now. I hope you are able to maintain control of all this strength. I don’t know how long I will be able to calm you if you are unable to control yourself.”