The Elementalist : Battle of the Mind: The Kothian Chronicles

by Andrew Wood

  Zack then moved his attention to watching Maxim, the young man that he had become so close to. Darion was explaining, or at least attempting to, the different forces of the elementalist. He could apparently also move objects like Mikel, but by using different methods. Maxim nodded his understanding, recalling the old man had mentioned as much once before. Zach could not recall Darion ever being so patient; as he watched his friend fail miserably at the first test, he was given. He noticed Maxim turn to look over to him, and Zack gave him a warm smile.

  "Stop putting him off you," Darion snapped Zack's direction.

  Zack opened his mouth to reply, but closed it again as he could not think of anything to say; at least not anything constructive.

  Maxim's task was to lift a small object from the floor, using his gift.

  "Now concentrate lad," Darion said, "Forget Sissy boy over there gawping at you."

  Maxim hated it when Darion spoke ill of people, more so when it was somebody he cared about, and as a result, he could feel his annoyance growing. However, he took a deep breath and let it be, before trying again. He concentrated on the small block of wood at his feet, but it did not move.

  "No...You're trying to think like him," Danton said, gesturing over to Mikel. "He uses telekinetic powers...you don't have them, or at least if you do you haven't shown us. Concentrate on the air around the block, not on the block itself."

  Maxim nodded; it was true he had been trying to use his mind to move the piece of wood.

  "You can do it Max," he heard Zack say from his left.

  "Will you be quiet," Darion snapped. "If you can't keep your eyes and words to yourself I'll throw you out that door."

  Zack was a little taken aback by the threat, although he was sure Darion would never actually carry out such a deed. Maxim cast a glare at the old man, although it was noticed, nothing was said.

  Maxim returned his attention to the task in hand. Taking several more deep breaths, he tried to picture the air around the piece of wood, rather than the object itself. After a few seconds of concentration, Maxim achieved some modicum of success. The wooden block wobbled and lifted just a little before dropping back down to the floor.

  "Nearly lad..." Darion said, unusually showing signs of encouragement and patience. Although that clearly did not stretch as far as Zach, as the old man snapped, "You say nothing."

  Maxim shook his head a little, why did people have to be mean to each other. He had spent all his life on the streets, with people showing him no love or kindness. He had thought, here amongst friends things would be different. He had quickly concluded that was not always the case. True, at Pitford it was often little more than childish name-calling, and not the physical abuse he often had to endure on the streets of Woodhaven.

  "How long do you want me to do this for?" Mikel interrupted from across the room.

  "Until I say for you to stop boy," Darion snarled turning his direction.

  Mikel held his hands up, "Just asking," he added, not wanting any confrontation.

  Darion grumbled under his breath, and Maxim caught a few of the expletives, making him chuckle.

  "What the hell you laughing at Ginger boy? Did I say something funny?" The old man snapped again.

  Maxim just sighed, and looked over to Zack, who was clearly about to say something in his defence. He shook his head slightly as if to say, it's not worth it, and his friend nodded.

  As if the timing could not be any better, Danton knocked at the half open door and let himself in. "Sorry I'm a little late Zack," he added cheerfully. "Blimey! You are a sorry looking lot," he added noticing the glum faces, before he noticed Mikel not very discreetly point over to Darion. The old man waved a hand, and Mikel felt a smack round the back of his head, "Don't think I did not see that," the old man added.

  "I do wish you would teach me that," Mikel replied rubbing where it hurt.

  Danton clapped his hands together, "Right Zack, I think we'll sit over here out of Darion's way," he said, gesturing to the back of the room.

  "Good," the old man intervened, "Keep sissy boy there from gawping at him," he added pointing to Maxim.

  Danton was another who did not like Darion's brashness, but knew it had to be persevered, as he was probably the only person capable of teaching and helping Maxim.

  Mikel was getting bored of his repetitive task, and had decided instead to do his own thing, and this naturally was quickly spotted by Darion. The old man stood and slowly stepped over to where Mikel was sat, "Oh so you are so good now, you think my lessons are not good enough for you?" he asked sardonically.

  "Oh no," Mikel replied innocently, realising he had been rumbled. "Your lessons are truly testing my abilities Darion. I was merely taking a break from the routine, but still trying to keep practicing whilst I did," he added, trying to make a plausible excuse. Whether Darion bought it or not was difficult to tell, but the old man just glared before returning his attentions to Maxim.

  Danton sat at the back of the room, talking quietly to Zack. The young royal was clearly finding life difficult of late, his uncle, the king, had been forced from his home, but more importantly was that the youngster had not heard from his own family. As members of the Royal family, he secretly worried they too were in danger. Danton tried to placate his worries, by telling him, no news was good news.

  He was there to help Zack with his powers, but had found himself being a fatherly figure to a few of the younger residents at Pitford. This was something he had not considered at the outset, when he had been first asked to help by Ramon. Since that time however, it was a role which he quite enjoyed, despite in many cases him only being only six or seven years older than some of the students.

  Today he was to continue trying to teach Zack how to manifest a glowing orb of light. The young royal had managed a few flickers of one on his previous attempts, which had shown Danton that at least the magic was there; he just needed to try to get Zack to make use of it. Zack as usual was finding it difficult to concentrate whilst others were in the room, something Danton had noticed before. He was uncertain as to whether the reasoning behind it was Zack worrying about failing in front of others, or whether it was the distraction itself. Regardless of what it was, Danton would strive to help him in any way he could.

  Mikel had taken to gazing out of the small window that gave the room its meagre light. The sky was clear and the sun was out, but he knew there was little warmth emanating from it at this time of year. The small fireplace in the room they were allocated for learning was just enough to keep the chill off, and he thought about walking over to stand in front of it. However, he realised he would only be giving Darion another reason to moan. He had completed the task set for him, several times over, and had surprised himself at the ease at which he had achieved it. He turned his gaze over to the ginger haired lad sat facing Darion, and smiled to himself. He had thought of a quite brilliant idea, or at least that was his own opinion.

  Maxim stared down at the block at his feet again. Apart from it wobbling and shaking a little, his successes had been minimal. He was therefore completely surprised when for no apparent reason the piece of wood started lifting upwards.

  "Ahh that's it lad," he heard Darion say, clapping his hands together. "See you...," the old man stopped talking and quickly turned towards Mikel. "What are you doing?" he snapped.

  Mikel shrugged, "Just giving Maxim a little help."

  Maxim then realised it was not he who had managed to make the block of wood lift off the floor, but Mikel doing it instead.

  Danton stood and slowly walked over to Mikel, his face red with rage. The youngster swallowed, and knew he was in trouble for sure. He had only wanted to help, hoping by doing so, Maxim would have a bit of self-belief in his abilities. Strangely though, the old man said nothing, although in fairness he did not need to. The look he gave was quite frightening enough, and Mikel rather weakly apologised. Darion glared directly at him, his eyes piercing in their look. Mikel felt a gust of wind, as if someo
ne had opened a window, only nobody had.

  Maxim was feeling annoyed that the others in the room seemed intent on bickering amongst themselves. After watching Darion staring down at his friend Mikel, he shook his head. He glared down at the block of wood on the floor, his arms stiffened as he clenched his fists. The piece of wood flew directly upwards banging into the ceiling, as he felt the power taking control of his body. He could hear the faint sound of voices, as he felt the need to release that power.

  Danton grabbed Zack, pushing him down to the floor, just in time. One of the wooden benches came flying at them, and crashed against the far wall, splintering into pieces. Mikel ducked down beside Shadow, and the pair watched as Darion was stood there laughing.

  "That's it lad," he shouted, "See you can do it," he added struggling to stay on his feet.

  "You're bloody mad," Mikel bellowed up to him, from his crouched position."

  Despite the old man having some elemental powers, it was quickly clear he could not control the increasingly stronger gusts of air now swirling about the room.

  Zack knew what he had to do, and crawled his way over to where Maxim was stood. He grabbed hold of his friend's tunic and pulled himself to his feet. "Max...calm down," he uttered, leaning towards his friends ear. He placed a hand on Maxim's shoulder, and reiterated the words. He noticed his friend's skin was pale, yet the eyes were burning red, almost the same colour as his hair. It took a few seconds, but he then felt Maxim's body relax, and the swirling gales in the room stopped. The splinters of wood being carried dropped to the floor, as gravity resumed control.

  Maxim looked worriedly, almost apologetically at Zack. "It's alright Max, nobody is hurt," the young royal said, knowing that was the concern of his friend.

  "Speak for yourself," Mikel said getting to his feet, and brushing the bits off his clothes.

  Darion was still stood there chuckling to himself, as if he had thought the thing a big joke. Danton walked over to join Zack and Maxim, "Are you two okay?" he asked, genuinely concerned for their wellbeing. He looked both youngsters in the eye, both appeared physically unharmed, but he could see the look of worry on Maxim's face. The youngster had already previously run away, concerned that his lack of control might hurt the very people he clearly cared about. "Don't worry," he said with a smile, "Like Zack said, nobody is hurt. The furniture can be easily replaced so no need to be concerned about that."

  Maxim dropped his head, "I am sorry...to all of you...I cannot help it." Zack was just about to tell him everything was fine, when Darion barged his way in between them. "Out of the way Sissy boy," he said rudely. "Bloody hell lad that was good fun, just need to work a bit on the control though," he added.

  "You don't say?" Mikel added stepping nearer.

  "Perhaps we should end the lessons there for the day?" Danton suggested.

  "What!" Darion exclaimed. "We are just getting warmed up," he added, clearly serious about carrying on.

  "No Darion. We can continue tomorrow," Danton said firmly, but not in a condescending, or confrontational manner.

  The old man was clearly disappointed, but nodded his acceptance, "Very well," he replied. "Just me and the boy though, If I am to teach him to control those powers, I don't need the others distracting him," he added.

  "I need to be close at hand," Zack interrupted. "I am the only one who can calm him down," he added looking toward Danton for back up.

  "I am sure we can work something out. Darion, Zack has a point, perhaps we can use another room...How about the dining hall?" he suggested.

  Darion nodded, "Fair enough. As long as the lad here, is not distracted by them."

  Danton agreed, "Far enough away not to cause distraction, but close enough at hand to assist if needed."

  Darion shrugged, and left it at that. How he was supposed to help the ginger haired lad, when he came with so much baggage, he did not know. He had however, promised Ramon that he would do his best to help, and that is exactly what he would endeavour to do. If the distractions kept continuing, he thought he could always request Ramon separate the group. For now, he would let them be. Without another word, the old man shuffled his way over the broken furniture and out through the door.

  Mikel waited for Danton to disappear from sight, before making any comment. "That man gets worse not better. Did you see him, he was actually enjoying Maxim...well trashing the room," he said not thinking of any other way to put it.

  "He is certainly the rudest man I have ever met," Zack added.

  "Yes he certainly is not afraid to speak his mind," Danton chuckled trying to lighten the mood a little.

  It was evidently clear Maxim of all people was the most shaken by the events, despite him being the one causing them. Mikel was not too bothered, and Shadow just shook himself to remove the bits from his fur. Zack as usual, was more concerned about Maxim's welfare than his own. Danton had been wondering of late, just how strong the connection between the young royal and Maxim had become. It was a strange thing to see, just how easily Zack was able to quickly calm down the young magician. It was only now he had seen it with his own eyes that he now knew separating the two would be foolhardy. Why Zack was merely able to say a few words, and Maxim calmed down, he did not know. Perhaps, he thought, it was merely the fact that Maxim trusted Zack above any other. This was something he would keep an eye on; the pair were certainly an odd couple.

  Maxim, Zack and Mikel, followed as always by Shadow, headed for the dining hall for lunch. The three, as requested by Ramon, tried to stick together as much as they could. As they were early for lunch, the hall was relatively empty, and as such, they had their pick of the tables. Mikel looked about, hoping to see if a certain young female was anywhere to be seen, unfortunately, she was not, and he sat almost disappointedly, down besides his friends.

  Kurtis stood outside, alone, and looking skyward. He was looking for a strange creature, although not the same one that had dropped the ring he now wore on his finger. Something told him, he needed to check the skies regularly for an unusual beast. When he spotted it, he would then know it was time to carry out the task he had been set. Stood atop the keep roof he pulled his cloak tighter against the biting cold wind. From his elevated position, he could see a great deal, the guards patrolling the outer walls and even the people busying themselves in the streets below.

  The past two days he had spent in the freezing conditions, and despite his body shivering, his mind told him to stand fast. He shuffled his feet, pacing around the rooftop just a little, in a futile bid to keep the blood circulating. Despite the hours spent up there, all he had spotted were a few birds. He pulled his hand out from his pocket, and inspected the ring he had found. His life had seemed to take on a new purpose since that day, although he could not figure out why. The tasks in mind were set, and he knew they needed to be completed, no matter what the sacrifice.

  Chapter 8.

  Just over the border, into Kothia, the flags of Bosaria were flying triumphantly in the breeze. The Kothian town of Sandale had been overcome with relative ease. Davan, friend and associate of King Gorius, had sent men masquerading as traders in through the gates the previous day. During the early hours of the following morning, they had taken control of the eastern gatehouse, overpowering the couple of guards on duty.

  Once the gates were opened, the hordes of Bosarian troops had flooded into the town. The small garrison based there had put up little more than a futile fight, being outnumbered and surprised as they were. The governor of Sandale had duly surrendered, realising to continue fighting would only result in the deaths of innocent people. The man and his family had been unceremoniously bundled from his large manor house into the town square. Here he had been forced to endure watching his wife and two children be beheaded, before succumbing to a similar fate. This was a stark warning to all; that any person not showing subservience to Bosarian rule would pay with their lives.

  Davan had decided to use Sandale as his forward base of operations. The few magicians h
e had with him, were treated a little better than the common soldier was, and hence were given homes of the more wealthy residents to take as their own. Davan, as leader, naturally took the governors home, and as such had spent the first hour or so, rummaging through the previous occupants belongings.

  The bodies of the few Kothian soldiers based there who had put up a fight, were piled up on carts, ready to be taken out of the town and burned. Those citizens who tried in vain to protect their properties were dealt with severely. The Kothians had been caught by complete surprise, and with the nation in such internal turmoil, would likely be overcome with ease. The government officials in Berxsley were probably not even aware that an invasion of their land had taken place. Even if they were, Davan knew there was probably little they could do to oppose him.

  Satisfied with his success, he made himself comfortable. Sat beside a warm fire with a large glass of brandy in hand, he dictated a message to be written and sent back to his king. Despite the previous occupant of the house being much larger than Davan, he had still made use of the man’s clothes. As a result, he was dressed in garments far larger than his size, although this did not appear to bother the Bosarian magician too much. The message was short and to the point. It merely stated they had successfully crossed the border and had taken the first town on their route to the Kothian Capital. The paper was then to be sent by bird to Gorius.