The Allyen (The Story of the First Archimage Book 1)

by Michaela Riley Karr

  “I respect your resolve, Lina, but we will wait until night falls. The last thing we need is for you to be imprisoned or someone else to get hurt.” Luke said quietly, “It’s possible, but keep in mind, this happened the first time three hundred years ago. We do not know how accurate the stories are. We will leave at dusk. We have traveled all night. Get some sleep now.”

  The rest of the daytime passed rapidly for me, considering I walked back to the tent I shared with Rachel and pretty much collapsed out of sheer exhaustion. To be honest, I didn’t even remember parting from Sam or ducking into the tiny fabric dwelling. When I awoke, my last memory was Luke’s promise, and I bounded out of my blankets with new vigor. This time, we were finding that arrow, no matter what. If there was even the slightest chance that Xavier and the other innocent Mineraltins could be recovered, I was going to make it happen.

  Rachel stayed behind with Frederick and Mira, who were both dealing with their grief in different ways. It seemed strange to watch them, like an outsider peering through a window, when I had just been through the same ordeal myself when Rhydin murdered my family. After all, they had spent summers with Xavier as children, I learned. Frederick was quiet, but I could tell by looking at him that his entire presence had shifted. He used to be so on top of things and so in control. It was one of the things that made me sure he was going to be a great king, but he seemed scatterbrained and fearful now. Mira kept up her stone-face charade whenever people were around, yet her sadness was palpable.

  My personal ache for Xavier had dulled now that I was focused on finding the arrow. But, every so often, I would remember how he truly believed himself worthless, and it got me all over again. I was determined to save him. Save everyone from Rhydin.

  Luke and James transported Sam and I to the outer edges of Soläna, careful to avoid most of the people in the very end of the canyon. When Sam volunteered to go with us, I could really tell that he was getting tired of being left behind. I wanted nothing more than to be able to simply talk to him about everything going on in my head, but we hadn’t gotten the chance yet. Now was certainly not the time as we lurked our way through the dark town, the Lamp Master already having doused most of the street lights.

  Winter Ball decorations were beginning to be hung, and while as a child I had always squealed with delight at the sight of them, they now only made my stomach churn because of King Adam’s heartlessness. There were a few pine boughs wrapped with blue ribbon hanging from the lights, as well as golden bells and silver stars intertwined along windows and doors.

  An ardent ache for Rosetta bloomed in my chest. This was always her favorite holiday, as well as my own. I looked to Sam next to me, both of us cloaked and hooded, and his eyes locked onto mine. He gave me a small grin, not saying a word, and I reached for his hand and squeezed it tightly. Three times. I. Love. You. It was an old Lunakan custom, and when he returned it, his brown eyes warm, I began to feel a lot better.

  When the four of us turned onto Grandma’s street, I began to prepare myself for the sight of her upturned and ransacked home. It was difficult to see all of her precious belongings strewn about or missing. I gripped Sam’s hand tighter as we came closer on the cobblestone road covered with snow. Before we quite made it to her little yard, another cloaked figure came out of her front door.

  I couldn’t see any discerning features, but one of his hands was pulling his hood on and in the other was a long, thin object. My magic immediately sensed something in this person that I had never sensed before. A powerful light that felt familiar to me. It felt just like my own Allyen magic, however, it seemed faintly tainted by something that reminded me of Rhydin’s ancient, cold presence.

  I naively ignored that tiny detail, chalking it up to Duunzer’s Darkness that was constantly encroaching on the area, and realized that this was an Allyen standing in front of me. It had to be Evan! Rachel just contacted him to get out of Auklia and come meet us in Lunaka so that he could help me against Duunzer. This had to be him, and he found the arrow we’d been searching for!

  I grew excited to meet this new brother of mine who had saved our tails and took a few quick steps forward. “Evan!”

  The hooded man whirled around, his face obscured by the light in the distance, but his angry glare unmistakable. As both Luke and James reached forward to grab and shush me, the man let out a scream of rage and snapped the thin object over his knee before vanishing in a flash of purple light. This registered to me as undeniably Rhydin’s magic. It could be nothing else.

  After he disappeared, the four of us rushed forward to the spot. There, lying on the snowy cobblestones was the shaft of an arrow, the head missing, splintered into two pieces. My heart sank as my knees simultaneously sank to the ground. I fingered the wood of it in disbelief. “This is it, isn’t it? What now?”

  Luke picked up the end of the arrow that should have had an arrowhead attached to it. He rubbed the end with his thumb, very carefully and painstakingly looking over it. “Good news and bad news. The arrow shaft is ruined, but the actual head has not been attached in years. Rhydin’s Follower never found it, which is probably why he was angry. If we can find the arrowhead, we may still have a chance.”

  I let out a breath I hadn’t known I was holding and stood back up. I said to Luke fiercely, “So, who was that then? I sensed him as an Allyen.”

  Luke gave me a grim stare, nothing more. Even James looked sheepish.

  “I thought the only Allyens were me, Evan, and Grandma?”

  “He was one of Rhydin’s Followers. Nothing more.” Luke turned away from me to enter the house, James close on his tail, but I wasn’t convinced. “Allyen Saarah must have hidden the arrowhead well to protect it even from Rhydin. We will have to double our efforts.”

  Sam seemed as skeptical as I was when I turned to face him, but he shrugged his shoulders. “It felt like an Allyen to me too. Like it was you standing in front of me, but different. A lot of Rhydin’s magic was mixed in there. The Owenses have never steered us wrong before.”

  “I guess.” I grumbled, beginning to get fed up with what seemed to be a lot of secrets as we headed into the house to search a second time.

  Our precious midnight hours stretched on. The two Lunakan moons long passed their zenith and slowly plummeting toward the western horizon that no longer existed because of the Darkness. It was somewhat easier to look through Grandma’s meager possessions this time because of the goal at hand, but I couldn’t stop myself from dawdling over certain precious objects. Her reading glasses, still stowed safely in her bedside drawer. Dried flowers from occasions that no one remembered now, somehow still intact after the initial upturning of her home. Even pieces of quilts that she had been slowly working on over the years, ones that I could never know their purpose now. These quilt squares were littered around the house, nearly one in each of the three rooms, which I did not remember from our first search. It made me wonder how many people had come to this house searching for something. How many of them were looking for our special Allyen arrowhead?

  As dawn began to light Grandma’s shattered windows like rainbows, James gave a loud groan, pushing over what remained of the chimney. “Is there anywhere we have not checked yet? It feels like we have inspected every speck of dust! Lina, are you sure you have no idea where it could be?”

  I sighed heavily, my body tired from searching all night, my fingers full of splinters from combing the rafters. For the record, I had to sit on Sam’s shoulders to accomplish this. I hated being short. “I really don’t know. I feel like I had to have seen it at one point, but it’s just been too long! I don’t remember.”

  I numbly reached into my pocket where I stored Grandma’s journal, which I hadn’t read since the day we’d saved Camerron, and began to flip through it. It seemed that this was the only way I could get help from my grandmother herself.

  Luke and James magically transported us back to the woods from Grandma’s living room. Just before the white light consumed me, my eyes g
lanced around everything I could see. Even if it was broken, this would probably be the last time I’d see this room. Our search had failed, and the house would likely be claimed by the town to be sold off. The magic came too soon, and when the snowy woods appeared once again in front of me, I began to scour every page of the journal. The outside world became invisible to me, even as my legs continued to carry me forward to follow my companions.

  Its contents stretched across decades, from when Grandma discovered she was an Allyen at the age of sixteen to just before her death near sixty years old. I flew through it, barely absorbing anything that didn’t say “arrowhead”. Grandma’s marriage to her husband, my grandfather, Rix Harvey. The births of her sons, Keera’s father and my father. Even the births of her grandchildren.

  I slowed down when it detailed my own birth, and about the decision to separate Evan and I. It had been Grandma’s apparently, against my mother’s wishes. Grandma knew how powerful our presence would be together, even without either of us possessing active magic. She knew that we needed to be taken far away to keep Rhydin from finding us. I wondered how my mother could choose. Who to keep with her, who to send to Auklia with my aunt and uncle. It was mindboggling to me.

  “…on Lina. Perhaps, it is worth a shot?”

  We were gathered around our meager, barely lukewarm campfire when my attention was snapped back to the present. Frederick and Mira were huddled closely, listening to every detail that Luke and James seemed to be relaying to them. Rachel sat next to me on our old log bench with Sam on the other side, his arm protectively draped around my shoulder at Luke’s words.

  I scoured Luke’s blue eyes carefully, and then glanced up at Sam. “What about me?”

  Sam looked unsure as he looked down at me. His wary eyes gave him away. “Luke thinks I should try the Rounan memory spell on you.”

  My eyebrow rose. Hadn’t heard of that one yet! “What would that do?”

  “Well, if you really have seen that arrow, I could guide you back to that memory. It could possibly give us a clue as to where it is now.” Sam’s eyes slid to the side and his big hand clenched into a fist.

  “That sounds great! What’s the problem?”

  “It can be, er… Rather unpredictable, at best. The spell sorta has a mind of its own.” Sam grimaced slightly. “To be honest, I don’t use it often. The few times I did it, the person always seemed to be in pain.”

  I turned so that I was facing him, gripping his hands with my tiny ones and trying to look as sincere as possible. “It’s okay, I want you to do it. This could save everyone!”

  Sam met my eyes for several seconds, and I could almost see the gears in his mind moving, trying to decide if he was willing to do this. While I was beginning to reinforce my argument, he rotated in his seat to face me as well, mumbling the simple agreement. “Fine.”

  He began to roll up his heavy cloak sleeve, and then the thin sleeve of his tunic, which revealed the long, geometrical mark on the inside of his wrist and forearm. The mark that made him a Rounan. It was mostly a diamond shape on top of a square with a long point extending toward his elbow. Sam told me once that the square was how much magic a Rounan possessed while the diamond indicated how much of it they had access to, which didn’t make a ton of sense to me. Then again, Rounan magic was entirely different than Gornish magic, like mine. Sam’s diamond and square seemed to be equally represented, which was logical because he was the Kidek. The leader. He needed to be able to use all of his power.

  He reached toward me and pressed his marked forearm against the side of my head, lightly brushing my ear. Sam’s gaze was intense until his eyes fluttered closed. His voice was nearly inaudible as he whispered words that were like harsh grunts, ones I couldn’t understand.

  The scenery around me melted into whites, browns, and yellows. A dull headache began in my head, the same side where Sam had placed his arm, but he disappeared. The world morphed, the trees transforming into walls with flowered paper, the snow transitioning into hardwood floors and rag rugs, the logs around our campfire into white wicker furniture that I recognized immediately. I looked down at my hands and found that they had shrunk into those of a child’s, chubby palms and short fingers.

  “Lina, would you please fetch my eyeglasses for me? These stitches are so tiny I can barely see them!”

  That voice. It was hers. The dull ache in my head began to deepen into a slight throb as I whirled around to see my grandmother, perhaps ten years younger, sitting in her rocking chair quilting away. Her gray hair was still pulled neatly into a bun, not ripped free by the rough battle with Rhydin. Her sweet, wrinkled face was clean, not stained by blood. Her eyes were open with life, not closed with death. A lump rose in my throat, but the memory continued to pull me forward. I heard my tiny, child voice say, “Yes, Grandma!”

  The child Lina of the memory rushed away from my grandmother, to my disappointment, into the other room. It was Grandma’s bedroom, and I hopped over to the bedside table and pulled out the drawer. Inside were several things: doilies, a couple books, her journal, her eyeglasses, and another object. It was metal and larger than I had envisioned. It was an arrowhead, carefully crafted with immaculate designs all over it, except in the very center. There was an empty space in the shape of a perfect circle, where I knew my locket must go. My tiny hands quickly grabbed the eyeglasses, paying the arrowhead no attention, and bounded back into the other room right up to Grandma’s quilt-covered lap.

  “Here, Grandma! Um, Grandma, what’s that pointy thing in your drawer?”

  “What pointy thing, sweetie?” She looked at me, and my heart felt like it was going to stop. My head was really starting to throb now with more intensity.

  “I dunno what it was. It looked like a triangle and a circle had a baby.”

  “Oh, so that’s where I put that!” Grandma laid her sewing aside and pushed herself forward. I noticed that she could move rather well without her cane ten years ago. “It’s something of an heirloom actually. Someday, it’ll be yours when you’re ready. I’ve been meaning to find a safe place for it.”

  I followed her back into the bedroom and asked, “Why? What’s wrong with the drawer?”

  Grandma turned to me and chuckled, bending down to tickle me. “Well, it’s rather valuable, dear, believe it or not! I would never forgive myself if I lost it.”

  My temple began to sear with pain as I watched my grandmother pull open the drawer, pull her journal out, and then place the two items on top of each other on her bedside table.

  As the throbbing began to become unbearable, the world began to melt again. My eyes threatened tears as the walls and shelves lost their shape and began to turn into barren trees covered with snow coats. My body became cold again. I watched my grandmother fade away in front of me, and it was like losing her all over again because I knew it would truly be the last time I’d ever see her.

  As Sam materialized in front of me, I could tell from his expression that he had witnessed the memory as well. He was quiet, his brown eyes thoughtful, as I wiped my tears away as quickly as I could. Time to be strong now. Rhydin couldn’t see me cry.

  “Well?” I heard Luke from across the blurry campfire.

  I was about to open my mouth to answer, trying my best to swallow any lumps in my throat, but Sam beat me to the punch. He took my hand quietly, I squeezed it hard, and he turned to the three expectant Owens siblings. “Lina saw it when she was a child, but it was a long time ago. Her grandmother mentioned finding a better hiding place for it, but that was it. She put it on the bedside table.”

  “I’d say she found a pretty amazing spot for it because we already checked that table at least four times. It was empty, except for that journal Lina took.” Rachel sighed, working her mouth in frustration as she turned and walked away, headed for her normal guard duty spot.

  Slowly, one by one, everyone else disappeared. Luke headed for his own scouting location while James retired to his tent, his long legs hanging out of the flap. Fr
ederick bid a quiet, heartfelt farewell to Mira when he returned to the castle with the help of Luke. She had to remain out here in the forest with us now that the world thought she and Xavier had been killed in Mineraltir’s “wild fire”, aka Duunzer.

  It still killed me inside how clueless King Adam was keeping the people. I knew this was going to be hard for Mira too, since she’d likely never roughed it in her entire life. I must admit, the look on her face was priceless when Rachel showed her to our own little makeshift tent. No bed, just a measly blanket and a mattress of hard, cold earth. Her fragile doll face was whiter than snow. Soon, it was only Sam and I who remained by the campfire.

  He let go of my hand and wrapped his long, wiry arm around my shoulders, pulling me closer. “First moment of silence in a while, huh?”

  “Yeah.” I said tiredly, thinking of all the things that happened. My heart shuddered for the millionth time thinking of Grandma, Rosetta, Keera, and Xavier. “Just think, wintertime is usually the dead season for us farmers, and it seems like things just keep getting busier and crazier.”

  Sam chuckled, “First winter for magic and dragons and lunatic kings, that’s for sure. First winter for this, too.” He leaned down and fit his lips perfectly to mine. When he came away, his breath sprang forth in cloudy wisps, a small smile on his face. “I’m okay with that one.”

  A smile broke my face. It had been so long. “I am too.”

  Chapter Twenty

  A gust of wind whizzed past my shoulder as an invisible shove attempted to knock me to my knees. I dug my heels straight into the snow to prevent Sam from succeeding before I answered his blow with a magical blast of light. My aim was true, but he simply smiled at me.

  With a nudge of his elbow, my shot was sent flying to the left, straight into the little campfire audience. Princess Mira shrieked, caught off guard, but Rachel was pretty savvy with a frying pan, whacking it into the dirt where it singed out of existence.