A Question of Power (The Fire Chronicles Book 2)

by Susi Wright

  A child and a woman. So I am not losing my mind! thought Dak, relieved. “Yes, my lord, I do believe they are safely gone! And – your dragon never left your side for a moment!”

  “Thank you, my brothers. Now. . .we have a battle to win!” said Luminor with an energy that belied the fact that he had only just nearly died. He swirled his cloak, resuming his control over the wind and led the way back to a victory that was rightfully his.

  An uninitiated human would certainly not have believed what Fralii was seeing. Her close association with all things Gaian had prepared her for such things. Having given birth to two hybrid children, who were probably capable of unimaginable wonders, if Espira was any example, had brought her to a new understanding. She had acquired, like her three gifted companions in the doorway, an unshakable faith in the Powers.

  Espira began to blink rapidly as she returned from her strange travels, slowly responding to Serafina’s touch and her singing, which continued, more softly now. There had been a point, minutes ago, where the tune had been alarmingly shrill, and the air in the room had become suddenly quite cold. The observers had held their breath for a moment in trepidation, but it soon resumed a soothing melody and the air regained its ambiance.

  There would be time for questions later. For now, they were all just glad to see Espira returning to them! As to where she had been. . . well that question was answered in the first words she uttered as her eyes regained focus. She smiled proudly at her audience. “I did it! I found Papa!” she glanced back to the young woman who still held both her hands and laughed gleefully. “We helped him. . .didn’t we – ” she paused, considering for a moment before supplying the name of the woman she had scarcely met, “Serafina?”

  Aleana knew she should, and would, reprimand Espira for her mischief, realising that the child had dabbled in Projection and a strange new type of astral travel; she had reached out far beyond her young capabilities and almost lost herself to a seizure in the process. However, neither she nor Fralii could bring themselves to be angry in this moment. They rushed to embrace Espira at the same time, but Aleana paused momentarily to acknowledge Serafina’s emerging talents. “Praise to the Ancestors – and thanks to you – however you accomplished it, Serafina!” Fralii simply burst into some of the rare tears she had allowed herself since Luminor had left. This time she cried with joy, hugging Espira with the last vestiges of strength as she collapsed, exhausted, beside her on the cot.

  Espira, her rainbow eyes twinkling brightly, began to chatter excitedly in the embrace of her mother, still proud of herself, oblivious to the peril of her recent actions. “Papa will win the battle! I know it!” She smiled smugly, then her expression became suddenly serious. “But I saw such horrible things! I was really afraid!. . .men dying. . blood and fire. . .and an evil sorcerer with fingers of fire and a cape full of black monsters, hurting Papa – ” Her agonised face suddenly changed, lit up in the opposite expression of wonder. “Oh!. . And a pretty little dragon! I think that will be my new pet!”

  The silence in the room said much of uncertainty – about believing all of the details provided by an imaginative three year old!

  CHAPTER 39

  Freedom

  Luminor, Ra and the two warriors sped back to find Xian. Luminor knew he was patrolling nearby, still trying to search them out. Luminor’s intuition allayed his fears about the welfare of his remaining men in the battle. He was now certain the majority were managing to survive, even holding the advantage by a small margin. Not long now my brothers. . .not long! The Ancestors are with us!

  During the minutes of weakness, worsened by the poison, Luminor became vaguely aware of the shift in power towards his healing and subsequent swift recovery. He understood it was Espira’s magic. Her love and determination had drawn her to him across the vast distance, through the Link they shared. But it was serendipity and the work of the Guardians that had led the novice, Serafina, with her burgeoning healing powers, to be able to assist him. He berated himself once again, for becoming lax in his diligence, to have allowed Xian’s foray into his dreams in the first place. His contentment in the establishment of the Alliance in Baram, his new office as Governor and his happy home in the Capital had been pleasantly absorbing and understandable. But these things had served, in part, to cloud his awareness of dangers lurking further afield. He should have reminded himself of the age-old precept that destiny is a continuous journey, not a final destination. He had known from the outset that the Alliance in Baram was just a beginning. It was the beginning of a universal Love that was worth dying for, but more worth living for!

  Reviving energy from the Ancient Realm surged within him, bringing with it a steely calm, as he led his fliers back to the fray. They burst from the forest canopy into open air. Ascending high above the treetops, Luminor caught sight of the dark lord, shrouded in his wraith. His nemesis was a few hundred metres away, flying low over the woodlands in a fruitless search.

  A heartbeat and Xian saw them, swooping forth to meet his quarry with a grim smile. Ice-blue eyes attempted to bore through Luminor’s shield, but failed. Luminor stared back with every bit of the former heat in his gaze and a searing, intrusive question. What have you become? You, who should have been brother? Will you throw all nobility, happiness – even your life – away, for Power? It is not too late! Cast the Evil One from your back!

  Xian heard the mental projection like trumpet blast. He paused mid-flight, his expression briefly losing its arrogance, as if momentarily shaken by the indisputable truth. For a second, Xian’s handsome face lit with breathtaking beauty as Luminor’s compassion touched him, the first he had ever received. In that fleeting moment, Luminor saw the boy that had lost everything and in turn had become lost. In the next heartbeat, enlightenment was chased away by ugly greed when Xian chose the pursuit of Power over everything. His eyes regained their cold, blue fire. The wraith wrapped its shadowy tentacles tighter around Xian’s body, before there could be any question of a change of mind, so tight it was difficult to distinguish where the body ended and the entity began.

  Xian, too enmeshed in the craving for Power, resumed his obsession, made his decision. He had lost sight of Love too long ago, to see what was being offered by Luminor’s admonishment. In that he had sealed his own fate!

  Luminor had no choice but to follow through with his decision – to use everything at his disposal to separate the wraith from its host. He was aware that in so doing, Xian was bound to perish, even as he could be seen gathering energy to strike another bolt of flames at Luminor and his warriors, from his fingertips. This time, Xian forgot all about the dragon.

  The flames licked menacingly towards the Gaians, but this time Luminor knew what had to be done. “Ra!” he yelled, for the first time out loud, a dire command held within the name. He hurled all his remaining energy to carry the creature forward, drive the Fire back towards its illicit source. The dragon swooped faster than time itself, swallowing the evil Fire ahead of it and arrowed on towards Xian himself. All the while screaming, he regurgitated the flames mixed with his own uniquely damaging, bright red fire. With a blinding flash, he vaporized the binding spell and loosened the wraith. Ra’s merciless razor-sharp talons hooked into the formless entity, rending it, tentacles, cloak and all from Xian’s body, while the continuous flames from Ra’s jaws and more from Luminor’s fingertips, melted the flesh from Xian’s bones. Molten red gore dripped from the sky where Xian had been, turned to ashes and floated to the earth below. He became one with the dust, back into the loving arms of Mother Earth and innocent of evil there.

  As Xian’s soul was entrusted to the Guardians for retraining, his thrall-warriors were immediately released from the edict. Silence fell on the plain, replacing the tumult of a moment ago. Xians threw down their arms in horror, seeing how many had died, how many yet lay injured or dying, realising their folly. Their awestruck gazes then joined those of their Gaian brothers who had gladly sheathed their swords. Their stinging eyes were drawn
skyward as the dust from battle cleared, following the flight of the dragon, ever upwards into the bright blue morning sky.

  The light of day was the harbinger of an uneasy victory, but it had also brought freedom.

  No one, except perhaps Luminor, expected Ra to fly quite so high into the air, the dark writhing entity still held firmly in his claws. At first, glinting silver, blue and green against an azure sky, the wondrous creature flapped his wings, gracefully spiralling up and up, becoming a small speck, almost out of sight.

  Then the little dragon disappeared altogether, into the ether from whence it had come!

  CHAPTER 40

  New Brothers

  Sumar sensed the very moment it was over – the lifting of a terrible weight in the atmosphere that seemed to depart with the chasing of night’s darkness by the bright morning sun. It was obvious also in the woman beside him, shielding her with his mind through the dark hours, and whose emotion he could now feel as keenly as his own. When the edict lifted, she began to cry fresh tears while she regained her equilibrium. Saria’s slender frame shook with sobs as she relived the sadness of her loss and the pain of abuse. She rejoiced the gain of her freedom, the pendulum of extremes struggling to find the balance. Sumar, with his kindness, was there to help her through it and as he watched her tears falling, he gently reached out to steady her. He realised, with a certain amount of surprise, that it was time he cared for a woman again and here was another glimmer of hope for a new beginning.

  Melu, sitting beside his patient in the corner of the stable, surreptitiously regarded his protector. Sumar’s entire attention was on Saria. Those perceptive Morvian eyes twinkled and Melu smiled a secret smile, knowing better than most about bright futures. He could see those two becoming very close, one day! He did not understand, nor did he agree, with the Gaian idea of betrothals. He had already seen that the young Xandor’s eyes were elsewhere. This was to be a new era was it not? A time for Love! He would openly admit he was a romantic, through and through!

  This mood of new beginnings, of hope and love stories, bolstered his hope that his dear friend, Churian, could recover if only he could get him back to the Capital soon. There were elite Gaian healers there to treat him. That notion made his heart sing! If he had not been surrounded by foreigners who, even though they were his trusted friends, might not yet appreciate his strange Morvian traditions, he would have leaped to his feet, thrown off his clothes and abandoned himself to a merry jig!

  The light of day and the end of oppression arriving at once, found the clans and individuals, known previously as Xians, stumbling about the palace in a daze. They dithered around for quite some time that morning, while they re-united in this new light. They all noticed the revival of hope, sudden freedom, though many could not at first fathom the cause. Nevertheless, the women felt the need to begin cleaning and taking stock of the meagre food supplies and the men launched out on an optimistic hunt, in preparation for a celebration.

  The large number of starving human slaves, still locked in the dungeon from the previous night, had been pleading to be released for hours; some were enraged, calling out threats of revenge and violence. The four warriors left behind by Xian, now free of his orders, felt personally responsible for the safety of the Gaian women and elderly. They had made an awkward decision to leave the humans where they were for the time being, considering it the safer option – at least two of the warriors would have to go hunting again. Perhaps if they gave some food to the prisoners, they would calm down a little. If any of the Gaians here still knew anything of mind arts, they had not been inclined to come forward. None of them felt capable of trying to explain a situation they did not themselves understand, to such an angry mob. All four hoped some enlightenment would unfold during the coming day.

  A lone eagle, its golden plumage glinting in the early sunlight, circled the clear dawn sky over the wasteland between the palace and the monastery, its plaintive whistle echoing across the blackened landscape, its sharp eyes alert for the rare sign of returning wildlife. It had ridden the tireless wind like this for days and, at long last, was rewarded. A family of rats were swept from their nests in the palace basement by the women’s wicker brooms. They escaped through a crack in the wall and made a dash across the open ground. As fast as an arrow, the raptor shot from the sky and was on three at once, scooping them up in its talons. The eagle returned to the eyrie, one of the few habitats that had escaped the flames, high up in the nearby cliffs, where two hopeful chicks had been waiting for five hungry days.

  Gobbling down their meal, a whole fat rat each, the fluffy yellow chicks and their tawny mother basked in the hopeful morning sun. From that lofty nest, the female eagle surveyed the ash covered expanse below with piercing golden eyes, survival the driving force of her being, feeling lucky. She would never miss prey in all that open ground, for a long time to come!

  Leagues away, on the dusty expanse of the Plains of the King, the two armies combined without question to give all the fallen warriors a worthy burial, returning their bodies into the enfolding arms of the earth. Those who could not use earth-magic dug with their spears and bare hands, more out of respect than penance, though none of them would ever forget their part, aware or not, powerless or empowered, in the bloodbath. The travesty of brother against brother. The men who had been enslaved by the edict all hoped now for a time of true healing, true brotherhood, something good to believe in, heralded by Lord Luminor’s defeat of the tyrant, Xian.

  Various forms of prayer or respect were offered for the dead, since many of the new brothers had left behind the traditional ways and chose to recite some words from the heart, or to observe simple silence. Then the two hundred remaining warriors, including the walking wounded and those still conscious among their more seriously injured comrades gathered in silence on the open plain to hear Lord Luminor’s address.

  His expression was solemn, bearing the weight of the new responsibility that had been dealt him in this latest test to his leadership. His luminous green eyes glittered with sincere emotion. “Brothers, I deeply regret such losses. . .As many of you know, I make choices for the good of all. I have never wished to conquer, nor desired Power. I wish for others only freedom of choice and tranquility of heart. It has always been my dream to foster a unity of vision towards a noble purpose, put an end to these conflicts, at least for a time – to create a place where brotherhood extends beyond clan or race.

  “That place – I have recently come to realise – can be anywhere in the Known World where people gather under the banner of the Alliance, using its simple precepts as their code. But I am willing to offer my physical and mental protection to anyone, Gaian, human, or. . .other. . .who wishes to make their home in Baram. I have the full agreement of the human council there and their own force of six hundred strong men who will be arriving tomorrow eve. You may now choose to join me, when I leave here. I will go directly to the palace in Salmat, to make the same offer to the people there, deal with the injured and begin the work of rebuilding at least part of the city. There is much to do – so much was destroyed!”

  Moments of thoughtful silence followed. Many of the new brothers, lacking sense-sight, needed time to contemplate placing their trust in a new lord after being so badly used by Xian. Even if Luminor had freed them and promised much more. Some individuals moved without hesitation, in echo of the actions of Luminor’s warriors, unquestionably loyal. They began to form up on one side of the gathering, ready to depart.

  One by one, then in smaller and larger groups, men began to join Luminor’s warrior’s. A dozen individuals gathered up their weapons, making no excuses and quietly left the company to go their own ways, each taking off airborne in a different direction. No one questioned or commented on their decision.

  Luminor watched them go without censure. He alone sensed each one’s intention. Two of them were inspired, understanding without further explanation. They would continue the quest, find others to join the Alliance. The others were far
too jaded to join any cause, preferring to resume their lone paths. He silently wished them all well, turning his attention to the remaining company. “I will leave six men here to protect the wounded from marauding animals until the Baramese army pass through this way tomorrow. They have supplies to make litters for transporting the injured to the shelter of the monastery which will be re-roofed with canvas and set up as a hospital.”

  Six warriors moved to volunteer for that task and everyone else followed Luminor on to the breeze which would carry them to the iconic Salmat palace, with the razed city and burned countryside surrounding it for leagues in every direction. The empty wasteland that was Lord Xian’s only legacy.

  CHAPTER 41

  Promise

  A large force of Gaian warriors approached, flying in formation in the northern sky. The sight set the sentries on the parapets to panicked confusion. Their shaky intuition, which told them these were friendly newcomers, warred with fear that perhaps Xian had returned, victorious after all. They didn’t believe the majority of the clans-folk, who were certain there would be cause for celebration and were busily preparing for it. Their other two comrades and a few elder men had gone hunting for game and who knew how long they would be gone. Of course, keeping the palace gates closed would not stop this army from entering by air and the two of them had no hope of defending the palace against such an army. So, they had resigned themselves to either surrendering to, or welcoming, the fliers, whichever turned out to be appropriate.