Sorceress (Book 2)

by Jim Bernheimer

  “Does anyone have any idea where the Western Battalion is?” one of the other earth maidens asked.

  Kayleigh took a deep breath and looked around at the group. She didn’t want to be the one to say what they were all thinking, but there was no use ignoring it. “I don’t think there is a Western Battalion anymore. Majherri was really concerned about what was happening out here. From what he communicated to me through the bond...” Kayleigh paused and recalled the anger and pain of her bond being broken. “The others told him there were caravans being attacked and that the maidens were going to start escorting them. They probably lost several riders to ambushes and the rest are scattered across the region or they were overrun in Mon Alder.”

  Laurel broke in before anyone else could say anything. “Maybe we should try to make for Salif in the southern kingdoms. That’s the nearest portal city.”

  Internally, Kayleigh wanted to groan. She knew someone in Salif. It was a person she didn’t want to see again.

  “General Hawthorne’s headquarters is in Salif, or at least it was a month or two ago,” she said, with a hint of resignation.

  “How do you know that, Reese?” Akers asked.

  Marcia Temple answered, “Don’t you remember? She almost killed Hawthorne’s daughter before she was put in our year. There was a rumor going around that Hawthorne was going to take Reese away from The Academy and into the field. Kind of wish she had.”

  “You know something, Marcia?” Kayleigh said. “I wish she had too! I’d still have Majherri. Annabeth would still be alive. The lieutenant wouldn’t be a prisoner. But it didn’t happen that way, and there’s nothing we can do to change it! This isn’t The Academy. We can’t fight some kind of challenge, shake hands afterwards, and make it go away. So if you have something to say, just go ahead and spit it out.”

  Kayleigh watched while the stares turned to someone else for a change. Marcia didn’t wither under the intensity the way Kayleigh hoped.

  Instead, Marcia frowned and said, “It’s not that I don’t like you, Reese. You’re friendly enough, but when you’re around, people get hurt. Bad luck just follows you like a tainted silver coin.”

  “A tainted coin?” Kayleigh was angry enough to spit and did. “I was ambushed by a Battle Maiden with years of training and dark sorcery helping her! Is that your definition of bad luck? Bad luck is when your favorite dress keeps ripping, or you keep getting called upon when you don’t have the answer. That’s bad luck! Someone was trying to kill me. Still, there’s nothing stopping you, Marcia. If you don’t want to ride with me, your unicorn is over there. Saddle up and ride on.”

  Marcia scoffed and said, “Maybe you should be the one doing the riding, Reese? Maybe we’d all be safer?”

  Kayleigh thought back to her promise in the desert over Annabeth’s funeral pyre. “I’ve got a better grasp on my powers now, Marcia. I’m not some scared girl riding around in the desert anymore. I didn’t know people were out to kill me.”

  She paused and rolled up her pant leg and showed the tender wound left by Danella’s fiery whip on her calf. It didn’t look as bad as it had when she had changed out of her tattered clothing, but she’d heard that sorcerers healed quickly. She wasn’t certain whether or not this was true. “Here’s proof! There’s even a matching one on my neck if you look closely. Either way, I do know that she’s out there with plenty of others, and you can bet I won’t hesitate to use my powers on them. We’re not ready to fight a war, not by a long shot, but we may have to fight just to get out of the warzone. I’m fine with that and if getting to safety means going to see General Hawthorne, then I’m fine with that as well.”

  Laurel spoke up. “Look, no one is leaving. We are a patrol and we will stick together. Welsh left me in charge and no one leaves unless I say they leave. We’re all unicorn riders. Let’s try to remember that.”

  I have to hand it to Laurel. She’s got a knack for diplomacy. I’m guessing she’ll make officer...assuming we get out of here. At least Marcia said I was friendly. That’s more than Rebekah Morganstern would be willing to admit. Hopefully that’s a step in the right direction.

  Whitaker’s words seemed to calm the situation somewhat. Kayleigh thought it had something to do with the fact that Laurel had fended off all challenges to her being Lead Rider for the third year class. It was a feat rarely achieved, given the competitive nature that was fostered at The Academy. They were used to taking direction from her, and it showed.

  Laurel stood. “I’m going over to talk with the guardsmen in charge of the caravan. Everyone try and get some rest instead of arguing. Amanda, you and Kayleigh use your powers and refill our canteens. Water isn’t going to be as much of a problem as we get farther away from the desert, but that’s no excuse to not be prepared.”

  Everyone left to gather their canteens. Amanda whistled for her unicorn. Kayleigh looked around for Rheysurrah, but he wasn’t in sight and probably avoiding her. She sighed loudly and shook her head.

  Amanda Edwards was a somewhat chubby, red haired teenager, who was covered in freckles and spoke with a slight lisp. When Kayleigh had been reassigned to the third year, Amanda had been her squad leader for the first few weeks before being demoted. Kayleigh’s initial struggles with being thrust into the middle of the third year caused her squad’s performance rankings to plummet. They’d been cordial, but not close.

  “So you think you might really be a water maiden?” Amanda asked.

  Kayleigh shrugged and opened her canteen. Wrapping her hand around the opening, she concentrated on her magic and began siphoning water from the air. Amanda watched, almost as if the girl had expected her to fail.

  “If I hadn’t been watching you make water so intently out in the desert, I wouldn’t have known how to do this. I guess I should thank you for helping to save my life.”

  Amanda flushed and looked uncomfortable at the praise before inquiring, “Aren’t you going to call for your unicorn?”

  “No, Rheysurrah probably wants some time away from me right now and to be honest, I could use a break from him. I’ll just use the magic stored in my weapon for now.”

  It was a lie, but Amanda didn’t know that. The magic was really inside of her all along.

  The water maiden winced and said, “That bad, huh?”

  “Yes. My new unicorn and I are not getting along. I’m hoping we can sort this all out, but right now things don’t look promising.”

  “Still, you can do fire and water magic. I’m surprised you weren’t discovered sooner.”

  “I’m not sure either,” Kayleigh admitted. “I was tested and found to be completely devoid of any talent when I was…let me see…eleven or twelve? I guess it’s not really important. When I bonded with Majherri, I couldn’t believe it. Neither could my mother, except she tried to make me refuse.”

  Amanda gaped at her as a female unicorn came alongside the water maiden trainee and began duplicating Kayleigh’s actions.

  Cursing herself for even mentioning her mother, Kayleigh decided to avoid digging at that emotional scar too deeply.

  It’s not like I don’t have enough to busy myself with at the moment!

  Looking back at the other young woman, Kayleigh said, “It’s not worth going into right now.”

  She realized that the three earth maidens tended to stick together and, despite Marcia’s current surly disposition, she and Laurel were close friends. As a result, Amanda was probably somewhat alone out here as well.

  “So, are you going to keep training in fire magic or water magic?”

  Her question caught Kayleigh off guard. “Up until now, I hadn’t really put much thought into anything beyond getting out of this heat and the fighting. I’ll have to think about it.”

  As Amanda continued to talk to her, the neophyte sorceress thought back on her life before Majherri. It seemed like so long ago, but in truth, it wasn’t. She’d never encountered anyone who could do real magic, other than a few times when a trickster came to the village wher
e they were living at the time. Tricksters had varying levels of gifts. Some were more adept at sleight of hand than at producing real spells. She remembered one in Laurent that made a merchant wife’s broach flutter in the air like a real butterfly.

  When Kayleigh related the story to her mother, she stopped working on her current project, a sculpture, as Kayleigh recalled, and scowled before dismissing tricksters as entertainment for those unable to appreciate her art.

  I bet it wouldn’t take too long for me to master that kind of animation. What would Mother say to that? Curse it all! I swore I wasn’t going to think about her!

  “...Kayleigh? Are you okay?”

  Noticing that the canteen in her hand was overflowing, Kayleigh shrugged and tried to mask her embarrassment with a forced laugh. “My mind wandered off. Must be the heat. I’m fine.”

  “Anyway,” Amanda continued. “You must have a lot of potential.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Well, you’re not really tapping yourself out right now, have bonded with two different unicorns, and can do two opposing elemental magics. You’re probably just a step or two shy of being a real sorceress.”

  Kayleigh gulped and felt nervous, worrying about how close Amanda was coming to the truth. Recovering, she said, “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

  “I know,” Amanda replied. “But look at the sorcerers who have bonded with a magical creature as a familiar. They are supposedly the most powerful. Remember the lectures about High-Queen Nolan?”

  “No, should I?”

  “You’re right, that was at the beginning of the year. You were still…I mean you weren’t with our class then. Anyway, Queen Nolan had that giant eagle, so large it could carry three people. High-King Barris has that massive talking boarhound, and the Speaker has that monkey that can see for her. I saw her once too, when she came to the island for the naming ceremony.”

  Kayleigh had heard of the Speaker, or the Blind Seeress, as she was also known. The woman possessed the rare ability to understand the language of the unicorns and other magical creatures. She comes to the Sacred Isle so that all the newborn unicorns can be named by the herd, and that name told to the humans. Such power comes with an enormous price. It cost the woman one of her senses.

  “You were allowed to witness a naming ceremony? That must’ve been something special.”

  “No, only General Jyslin and the riders of the female unicorns that have given birth are allowed to attend. I saw her in the stables talking with her son.”

  “Her son?” Kayleigh’s mind raced and she already knew the answer.

  “Yeah, your old stablemaster, Brian Tomas. I wish he’d been assigned to take care of our year, except for the fact that girls would be trying to earn extra demerits! What’s he like anyway?”

  “He’s nice,” Kayleigh said, wondering how much worse this conversation could get. Brian was very handsome. Even Annabeth had said so and gave Kayleigh a gentle ribbing about him. She and Brian had gotten along quite well, and Kayleigh found herself somewhat smitten with the slightly older nobleman. However, after she was moved to third year, she only saw him a couple of times, and in all those instances there’d been some kind of awkward gap between them.

  He’d never mentioned that he was the Speaker’s son. Then again, Kayleigh never really talked to him about her mother, though he might know because Brian’s older brother had been in Helden when she was forced to claim her independence from her mother.

  “That’s it? He’s nice. Would you be so kind as to elaborate?” Amanda’s last sentence was delivered to match the tone of their etiquette instructor, who despised short answers. Battle Maidens came from all walks of life—from the daughters of nobles and dignitaries down to girls raised on a farm. Part of their training focused on learning how to be an ambassador of the High-King’s authority. Even after her transition to third year, Kayleigh was able to maintain good marks in that class.

  Smiling, Kayleigh answered, trying to sound both prim and proper. “In that case, young Master Tomas is a disciplined and charming man with a very detailed knowledge of animal husbandry. He is a credit to his family and his vocation. Does that get passing marks?”

  Amanda chortled and said, “Quite so. Madame Reynolds would be very pleased, Miss Reese. I heard they assigned him to the first year stables to prevent any fraternization. Though, I don’t think he wants to be there anymore.”

  Kayleigh blinked. Brian had never mentioned being unhappy there. “Why do you say that?”

  “He was asking his mother to go back to the estate, but the Speaker said that he was precisely where the Goddess wants him to be.”

  “You don’t say,” Kayleigh commented as Tamera Akers returned with an armload of canteens.

  “Here’s all of them,” the earth maiden said and tossed her brown hair over her shoulder. “What are we talking about?”

  “Brian Tomas,” Amanda said.

  “Really? In the middle of a war, you’re still going on about him. By the Goddess and her daughters, Amanda! You’re such a girl!”

  Amanda’s unicorn snorted in agreement, causing the girl to turn and look at her mount and place her hand on her hip. “You too, Farlana! Do I have to remind you about how you can’t wait until you’re old enough to participate in mating season?”

  The female unicorn snorted and neighed before prancing a few steps. Amanda frowned and swatted her unicorn on the side playfully.

  “She does this when she’s making fun of me,” Amanda explained and began filling another canteen.

  Tamera watched Kayleigh do one before saying, “Seeing you do all that fire magic and now with the water is so strange. Marcia’s saying that she thinks you’re really a sorceress, like her great aunt.”

  “Marcia can say whatever she wants.”

  “I actually hope she’s right,” Tamera said.

  “So you’re here to tell me to ride off as well?” Kayleigh said, and allowed her shoulders to slump. She had known things would still be hard when she caught up to her classmates, but all the stress was beginning to take its toll. The next water she summoned would probably be tears.

  “No, I want you to be one. We need all the help we can get at this point. I’m looking at things practically.”

  Kayleigh wasn’t certain what to think. She’d intended to keep this between her and Laurel for as long as possible. She didn’t imagine it being less than thirty minutes. The two Battle Maiden trainees stared at her expectantly. Kayleigh didn’t have it in her to lie to them.

  “Okay, I’m not sure. I might be and I told Laurel as much. I didn’t say anything to Marcia because she’s already treating me like a leper. Please keep this to yourselves.”

  Amanda nodded and Tamera said, “I can do that.”

  “I guess there’s one way to find out,” Amanda said.

  “How’s that?” Kayleigh asked.

  “Tamera, show her some earth magic. If she can do that, there’s no way she’s really a Battle Maiden.”

  The basics of the four elemental magics were taught in the second year, which Kayleigh had skipped. Consumed with mastering what she thought was her element, she had paid scant attention to the other three, and her lack of knowledge showed.

  “Would you mind, Tamera?” Kayleigh asked.

  Tamera whistled for her unicorn and said, “I’m still not very good. Where do you want to start?”

  “The beginning, I suppose.”

  “Then I’ll show you clumping. It’s taking a pinch of dirt and bringing it together into a solid. It’s the first step in shaping. I’m at the point where I can take rocks and turn them into arrowheads and make a really smooth stone to use in my sling, but I’ve seen Lieutenant Maris turn a rock into a sharp stone knife. That’s why everyone says that a good earth maiden is never without a weapon.”

  Tamera knelt to the ground and touched her unicorn’s leg as he came alongside. She scooped up a small handful of dirt and concentrated. Kayleigh leaned close and watched a
s the particles rushed together and formed a small ball of clay in the center of the girl’s palm. It reminded Kayleigh of the basic flame technique Annabeth showed her when no one else appeared interested in helping her learn how to control her power. The memory brought back the pain that her friend was gone.

  Amanda chimed in, saying, “We do something similar, but try and split a tiny bit of water in our palm and make drops run to each of our fingers.”

  Fighting back at the aching in her heart, Kayleigh asked, “Could you do it again, slowly this time?”

  Tamera replied, “Sure.”

  After the second demonstration, Kayleigh tried it herself, but after a minute of concentration all she had to show for it was a dirty hand. Thinking back to riding with Lieutenant Townsend and Osalon, she could feel the way their magic flowed. It gave her an inspiration.

  “Tamera, this might sound silly, but can I put this hand under yours while you do it, and the other one where you’re touching your ’corn?”

  The earth maiden replied, “Do you think that will help?”

  “I think so. I can sort of feel the magic flowing through the two of you. I do have to warn you that it might feel odd.”

  “Well alright then,” Tamera said.

  As Amanda watched, Kayleigh placed her left hand under Tamera’s and put her other hand just above the point where the other girl was in contact with her unicorn and closed her eyes.

  Kayleigh sensed the bond between the two, a braided rope of magic connecting them. She had been surprised when Lieutenant Townsend said others couldn’t do this. Tamera’s unicorn neighed loudly, reminding her that the lieutenant’s unicorn had been ready to throw her.

  “Steady, Wirnax! Steady,” the earth maiden said, trying to calm her unicorn. “You’re right. It feels really strange. Here goes.”

  Kayleigh closed her eyes once more and concentrated on the movement of the magic between the two. She imagined the lines of force forming a spider web-like pattern on Tamera’s hand. The particles were wrapped in the strands, and the whole construct began to pull itself into one mass. In Kayleigh’s mind this image was so very beautiful.