Wind Rider

by Teddy Jacobs

  I looked at the two of them. “Then you two can communicate together.”

  Woltan nodded. “Through our blades, through the pixies inside, yes we can. But we cannot communicate directly, only talk to our pixies and have them talk to their kin. And even the pixies have trouble finding who still serves in a sword, and if it is being used or the sword has been lost. Nevertheless, it is one of the few means of communication left to us. Once, there were many portals that sent messages between the three cities: this one, the city of the Kriek, and the city of the merpeople. Now, all that is lost, and you and Kara and Kalle are the first visitors we have had in several hundred years.”

  “Have you any news of the glass castle?”

  Kara shook her head. “We haven’t heard anything. It is too early to be sure, but we fear, the castle, it may have fallen to the dark lord.”

  “My father was a diplomat for King Lowen.”

  “Are you sure?” Kara asked. “Have you ever thought, Anders, that maybe …”

  “Maybe, what?”

  “That maybe your father was more than a diplomat?” Kara suggested.

  “What do you mean, more than a diplomat?” I asked.

  “Could he have been a spy?” Woltan asked.

  I shook my head. My father? A spy? That was ridiculous. “My father dealt with paper and people. He was a diplomatic liason,” I said.

  “Where was he, the night he was taken?” Kara asked. “And why were you locked in your room?”

  “He always locked me in my room, when he went away on missions.”

  “Did he tell you where we he was going?”

  I shook my head.

  “Did he ever tell you what he was doing, or where he was going?” Woltan asked.

  “He never told me anything,” I said, shaking my head.

  “Diplomats don’t go away on secret missions,” said Kara. “And they don’t lock up their children when they go away.”

  I shook my head again. My father a spy? Some kind of secret agent? I might have believed that when I was 6, but now?

  Maybe it was time to believe again. If only I could talk to him and find out what was really going on.

  “Can’t you contact someone who can tell you?” I asked the two of them. “Someone who would know something? About what’s happening? About what happened to my father?”

  Woltan shook his head. “My sister Jona has the other sword here, and has been searching. We seek contacts at the glass castle and among the merpeople, but so far in vain. Among the Kriek, Kara is the last bearer of a complete blade. Her uncle bears a broken sword that still houses a pixie, although the communication between them seems incomplete.”

  There was no point talking more about my father. We knew nothing, could find out nothing, unless I wanted to go ask my uncle. “Can the blade be repaired?” I asked, changing the subject.

  Woltan nodded. “We will send one of our smiths with you, to the Kriek, to try to repair the blade. We need all the blades we can find. Already the dark lord has sent a small force our way. They will be here soon.”

  “How soon?”

  “Less than two weeks. More than three days. I can’t tell with more certainty.”

  “What weapons does the Dark Lord dispose of?”

  Woltan shrugged. “We don’t know nearly as much as we would like to know. He has many demons and imps, and we hear he has a great staff, that breaks enemies apart with one blow. We can only imagine some major demon imprisoned inside the staff. Demons are very powerful but they have none of the subtlety and intelligence of a pixie. They have none of the dexterity either; they are rather clumsy. But they have strength…”

  “Which I don’t at the moment,” I said.

  Kara nodded. “We have been waiting for you to get better, Anders. I wanted to come for you, but Woltan insisted you yourself would know when you could leave that room. We need you. Woltan has agreed to accompany us to the Kriek council, where the book of Id will be read. We Kriek will then come to the aid of this city, and attack the dark lord’s expedition from the back, as those remaining defend it from the front. Will you come with us?”

  I thought for a moment. They needed me, and I needed them. Without them, I had no hope of freeing my parents. “What about my parents?”

  Kara frowned. “They will have to stay. Jona will look after them — we can’t move them until they are free.”

  I looked away, then nodded. “They will not be free until I can reach whoever did this, and defeat him. And to do that I need to come with you. I need the knowledge of the Kriek and in the Book of Id.”

  Kara nodded. “The question is how. I don’t think we have time to walk, and the forest is not secure. We have no mounts either. Kalle and I can make a gateway, but without your help, I’m not sure we can get Woltan and the smith through. Do you think you are strong enough?”

  He is strong enough. But I will bring him more strength. You will need it in the land of Kriek. I will be there in a moment, and Kalle, as well; he brings the smith.

  I looked around at everyone. They were all staring at me. “Elias. Marga’s nephew. But we can’t take him.”

  You will take me because I’m needed. And I will go because I must. I have spoken with my aunt’s spirit, and she gives me her blessing, Anders Tomason. You will not stand in the way of fate, nor in the way of my vengeance.

  Woltan looked very frustrated. “I’m afraid Elias is right. Young as he is, I have never seen anyone as powerful. It is his right to seek vengeance, no matter what his age. No one has taken that right for centuries; we have lived here in peace. But the boy knows the law; he feels it here vibrating in the walls of the city.”

  I did not know what to think. First I’d caused Elias to lose his aunt, and now I’d take him on a trip into who knew what dangers? But Woltan was right, as much as it upset me — and it wasn’t safe to stay here either. The world was in motion, and there was no way for anyone to stay still, not even for a boy who had just lost his aunt, not even for a young man whose parents had been put into eternal sleep.

  I sighed. I felt weary, a weariness so deep that I felt sure it would never go away. “What must be done will be done, I guess.”

  Kara nodded. “Kalle will help me make the gateway, but then he will stay here to help with the battle preparations. I can contact him at will.”

  Then Elias was running through the door, with Kalle and the smith walking in behind him. I was afraid to look the boy in the eye but he came right up to me and hugged me. “I am glad to see you’re better, Anders.”

  “I’m so sorry, Elias.”

  “Your apology is meaningless.”

  I didn’t know what to say. I looked at him in astonishment.

  “It wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t anyone’s fault, except for a certain evil uncle of yours. But your apology is accepted, anyway.”

  I looked at the boy who was so powerful and so adult in his speech. “Have you talked to your parents? To your cousin?”

  The whole of this city knows of my departure. My parents are upset, but they choose to understand. My cousin, your friend Karsten, is bitter; like you he had been lonely, and the loss of his mother, his cousin and his friend is too great for him to deal with; and so he works extra hours baking bread.

  Woltan spoke then. “Karsten shall not lose you, Elias, nor Anders here. We will come back to defend this city and defeat its invaders.” Then Woltan froze. Someone else had just walked into the room, and he had a bag packed beside him.

  Karsten stood there looking at us all. “You will all need to eat, won’t you?” He cracked a smile. No one laughed, and his face hardened. “I claim my bloodright. I will come along, to seek vengeance for the death of my mother. I am not as powerful as my cousin Elias, here, but I am trained in combat, and in spellwork. And I can fry eggs on a fire, if need be.”

  “You are not a fighter, Karsten,” I said, looking to Woltan for support. “You’re a baker and cook. And a great one, at that.”

  “Thoug
h I count you as a friend, Anders, there are many things about me of which you know nothing,” said Karsten.

  “But it was my fault,” I said. “Mine alone.”

  “She was my mother. I claim my bloodright,” Karsten said, looking me straight in the eyes.

  “I feared this,” Woltan said. “Yet I must accept it. It is our law.”

  Karsten was still staring at me, waiting for a response. “And do you, Anders Tomason, accept me as well, of your own free will?”

  I felt the eyes of the whole group upon me. I wanted to look away but I knew somehow I couldn’t — I had to look Karsten in the eye, and so I did. Karsten’s face was free of anger, and full of determination. His eyes were red, but his face was calm.

  I nodded. “Hail and well met, Karsten Ludwigson.”

  I felt a shock run through my hand and up my arm as I shook hands with Karsten. There is magic in you too.

  Karsten smiled a grim smile. Are you surprised? I told you I have many secrets. I am a cook by choice, not for lack of other options.

  Woltan nodded. “Then all is decided. Anders, Kara, myself, Elias, Karsten, and our smith. A party of six. Kalle and Kara and I will make the gateway, and Elias will transfer energy from the city. But we must hurry. There’s a disturbance in the air; the dark lord attempts to probe us all, and we must hurry yet be wary.”

  Kalle nodded and stepped forward. He grabbed my hand with his right and Kara’s with his left. “When you are all through I will close the gateway. We will attempt to reach the outside camp of the Kriek. Inside there is strong magic that allows no gateways in or out.”

  Kalle squeezed my hand then, and a gateway opened up before us.

  The face was hooded, but the eyes were green, and I felt them bore into me.

  The man smiled.

  “Neffe.”

  I felt everyone around me freeze. The room was silent except for the sound of laughter. The man was laughing at us.

  Are you so surprised? Did you really think I’d just let you all pop out of there on your little mission? Come, join me, Anders. We can be great together.

  I turned my head to look at my companions but there were all frozen; I felt Kalle’s hand tightening in my own, and Kara’s too.

  No!!!

  Elias!!!

  I needed energy — I felt my companions being sapped, stuck in this cycle as the Dark Lord laughed and continued talking to me.

  Come on. They are your past. They will soon be ashes and dust. Come with me, to the land of the living, and leave the dead behind.

  I felt my hands being squeezed, looked to my right and left and saw Kalle’s eyes unfocused, Kara’s eyes rolling in her sockets. It was now or never.

  And then I felt a small hand touch me, the hand between the sword pommel and my waist, and a word erupted forth from my mouth. Energy surged from the sword, and from the hand, and from the ground beneath me and the word knocked me back against the wall behind me as it blasted into the laughing face.

  SCHLIESSEN!

  The energy surged through me, and the gateway turned into a tiny dot. But it did not vanish. Then it was growing again, the size of a coin, of a fist. I felt a surge from the sword and wished I could grab it, but my hands were squeezed by Kalle and Kara, and then Elias spoke behind me:

  VERSCHWINDEN!

  There was a great boom. The fist sized gateway simple ceased to be, in a flash of light and the smell of burnt sulfur. There was a burn mark on the wall behind where the gateway had been, and all around us the walls seemed cracked, dull, broken.

  Lifeless.

  Elias had sucked the life energy out of the very stone and mortar around us.

  I found myself on the floor. Beside me were Elias, Kara, and Kalle. Woltan was behind us, against the wall. Next to him were Karsten and Cullen, shaking their heads and looking dazed. There was a short moment when I was afraid to breathe; I looked around, hoping everywhere to see life and consciousness.

  I did.

  They were all alive.

  Woltan stood up. “Is everyone all right?” His eyes seemed to glaze over and I realized he was looking at everyone’s auras. I did the same. Everyone looked normal, but weak. All except Elias, who glowed a little stronger still than the last time I’d looked at his aura. It took me a moment to realize that I was looking at rage.

  He killed my mother. He will pay.

  I found myself holding Elias. He was sobbing softly and I didn’t know what to say, what to do, so I just held him. Then Kara was there, and she found the words that I couldn’t and put her hands through Elias’s hair, and I saw Elias’s aura soften a bit.

  If anyone would know the words, it was Kara.

  My uncle had killed her father too.

  I put my hand down to my sword and felt a jolt. Next time, leave your sword hand free, or better yet, on me! You would have all been dead had it not been for Elias, and my cousin in Kara’s blade! She told him what to do, as Kara was paralyzed.

  OK.

  I let go of the blade. “I should have left my sword hand free.”

  Woltan nodded. “We have not been nearly careful enough. Hopefully today will start us on a new, better path. I think that Kara and Kalle will agree with me that it is not a good idea to use your Kriek gateways right now.”

  I looked at them and they nodded. He is perhaps one of us too, to our shame, and stronger than any of us.

  There was a moment of silent thought as we all stood around. Then it was Elias who spoke. “I have spoken to the city and one gate remains open, for those who can read the runes. I will walk through it, and take with me those who would go.”

  Cullen spoke first. “He is just a boy yet more connected to the ancient ways than any of us. If he says there is a gate, I will follow him through it. If the old stories speak true, the Kriek live but a three day’s journey away.”

  Woltan nodded. “We must make haste, as we leave the city undefended. But I see no other option.”

  Karsten smiled. “I will pack food for a two days journey, and we will supplement it with what we find on the way.”

  Kara shook her head. “We will move fast enough to get there in two days. We must hurry, or we Kriek will not be able to help your city.”

  III

  We met in the city center, under dark clouds that rumbled at us and threatened worse. Everyone looked uneasy, and I could only hope it was the weather. The others had some kind of rain hat and green coats to repel the water. Woltan gave one to me and I put it on.

  “Good both to avoid water and enemy eyes,” he said.

  Elias seemed to have become our boy leader, or at least our scout. He arrived last and nodded at everyone. The sky darkened further and there was a rumble of thunder from far away.

  Let’s go. We have about a minute more in this city, and the quicker we go, the better the chance we will see it again.

  Then we were following Elias’s small nimble feet. We all wore small daypacks: we’d split up the provisions and each of us had a change of clothes and some cooking supplies. There was no camping here in the old city, since none of the residents had been out of the city in their lifetimes. But there was a small forest, inside the gates, and sometimes people would cook outdoors and eat the wild foods that grew in it; so much I had gleaned from Karsten.

  We all bore a sword as well, and Cullen had a portable forge, ingenious in its design, but of course heavy. Elias had a dagger a little longer than his cousin’s Karsten’s hand; it was small but glowed fiercely when I opened my third eye. There were other magical blades as well — my own; Kara’s blade, which had proved its worth in battle; Woltan’s sword, which had never seen real fighting; even Karsten’s and the smith’s blades glowed in the darkening afternoon.

  On one day of my training Woltan had told me: “Everything is magic in this city.” Looking at our weapons I had to believe this. The ground, the buildings, the path we followed: everything glowed with its own living energy. There was energy everywhere in the world, I knew, but here thing
s glowed brighter. There was so much energy all around – if only I could do as Elias did, and just reach out and grab it. Woltan had told me that some wizards with careful practice could learn to do what Elias did naturally, but it was difficult for the best of wizards and impossible for most.

  As we walked along the stone cobblestones that shone beneath my feet, I reached out with my aura and grabbed; I felt a tug on everything around me and then there were shouts and everyone had stopped and they were all looking around, to see what had happened. And I felt energy buzzing in my ears and teeth and it had nowhere to go.

  Then Elias was laughing. Not like that Anders, like this. An image flashed into my mind, reaching out and pulling at the stone, at the trees, deep into the earth; I realized that I’d grabbed indiscriminately, and everyone had felt their auras being manhandled. I only hoped most of the energy had come from the stones and the air around me; it felt unclean to steal energy from my friends, from anyone living. You need to have somewhere to send the energy — you can’t store much in your own body. You probably could put some in your sword.

  “Be careful, Anders.” Woltan scowled. “And stop laughing, Elias, it’s not that funny.”

  Maybe he was right, but it felt good to hear Elias laugh. The boy was too serious for someone so young, and he had just experienced a great loss.

  Then we were walking again, with Elias in the lead.

  My hand fell to my sword and the energy flowed into the hilt. I heard a feminine voice then. Thank you Anders, and Woltan is right, be careful, but you did well for a first attempt. Next time, try when we are alone. Then the buzzing was gone, and I concentrated on walking. We were reaching a part of the city I had never seen before, and there was dirt beneath our feet. Then there were trees all around us, and I saw fruit and nut trees, and some that must have been just shade trees, with other plants growing beneath them. It was like a small orchard, and off in the distance I could see a field, which must have provided the wheat for our bread.

  Suddenly Elias stopped. He wasn’t laughing now.

  “This was one of my Aunt’s favorite places,” he said, his face impossible to read.