As Fire is to Gold (Chronicles of the Ilaroi Book 1)

by Mark McCabe

  Slowly Josef raised his head. Lifting the blanket he’d thrown aside when he’d gone after her earlier, he wrapped it around his shoulders once more. “I feel so cold,” he said, shuddering as he did so.

  Sara had forgotten how unwell he looked. He was shivering now, despite the blanket, and yet the cavern seemed quite warm to her. “Are you okay?” she asked, concerned that the emotional exchange they had just had might have taxed him too much in his weakened state.

  “No,” he replied in a quavering voice. “I don’t think I’m well at all, actually. But I need to finish this. Then I’ll get some more rest, I think.”

  Sara took her own blanket and wrapped it around him. Taking the cup of water that sat beside him, she helped him to take a few sips. Once that was done, she added another piece of wood to the fire.

  “Thank you,” he said, still shivering slightly. “Let me finish what I have to say and then I’ll rest.”

  Sara nodded in response and waited for him to go on.

  “I believe that you, Sara,” he said looking directly at her once again, “have enough power within you to defeat Golkar and to stop him from turning this world into a wasteland. Although where you come from you were just an ordinary citizen, here in Ilythia you have the capacity for incredible power. That power resides in you. It’s sitting there, waiting to be tapped. That’s why Golkar wants to get his hands on you, so he can tap into it for his own purposes. I believe you can be shown how to access that power yourself to defeat him instead.”

  “How can you be sure I have this power?” asked Sara. Although what he said seemed ridiculous to her, if Golkar believed it as well, then that would certainly explain why he wanted to bring her here in the first place, and why Tug had come after her when she’d escaped. “I don’t feel any different now to how I did before I came here.”

  “There is no question that you have it. Golkar’s diary makes it quite clear that he tapped it to destroy Keerêt. The only question is whether you can learn to use it yourself.”

  “But even if it were true and I could learn how to use it, Golkar’s been a wizard for centuries. How could I learn in . . . what . . . days . . . months? How could I possibly learn enough to defeat a mighty wizard like him?”

  Josef winced at Sara’s response. “I don’t know whether you could,” he admitted. “It’s a long shot, I agree. I just don’t see any other way. Surely we have to at least try. The power within you is immense. I think you could learn enough to do it.” He didn’t sound very convincing. All of a sudden Sara sensed some uncertainty in what he was saying. He was guessing, she realised, clutching at straws.

  “You think? Just supposing what you say is true, and you’re saying you don’t know that it is, that this is just a theory of yours, but supposing it was true. Who’s going to teach me?”

  “I will,” said Josef. “That’s why I’ve come back here. I can teach you.”

  “But that’s one part of your story I don’t understand, that doesn’t make sense. How is it that you have such power yourself? If you’re not one of the Guardians, then how were you able to use the portal to come back here, diary or not? And why can’t you fight Golkar yourself?”

  “I can’t explain how I have such power. I just have. I didn’t even know I had it at first. And even when I realised I could do things others couldn’t, it wasn’t till I found Golkar’s diary and had studied it that I began to realise I had access to some of the same power that he and the Guardians had. As for why I don’t go up against Golkar myself, I don’t have anything like the power that resides in you. I wouldn’t have a chance. Besides, even if I could have, I’m too weak now. I exerted much more energy than I thought I would in opening up the portal and coming here. Rescuing you and Rayne just capped that off. I think I’m dying, Sara. I don’t feel like I’ve got too long left. If I thought it would make any difference, I would go up against Golkar myself, gladly. But I know my time would be better spent helping you . . . helping you to defeat him.”

  Sara thought about what he had said for a while before she responded. She just couldn’t put aside that one discordant note, that one part of his story that didn’t ring true. He was hiding something from her. She wasn’t sure why, but she knew she was right. “How did you come to realise you had this power yourself?” she asked him. “I’d like to hear more about that.”

  They talked on for at least an hour after that, with Sara pressing him over aspects of his story, constantly seeking to clarify those bits that weren’t clear to her. She even told him of her own experience, of how she had been brought to Ilythia, of her meeting with Golkar, of Rayne and the sligs. Every now and then she would bring the conversation back to how Josef came to acquire his powers. Each time she did so, he would say a few words, usually revealing little that hadn’t already been said, and then would subtly turn the conversation to other parts of his story, deflecting her efforts to find the answers she sought.

  She did learn that as a child he had done some strange things he had thought little of at the time but which he had later come to realise were portents of the power that resided within him. At first, it was small things, like the time that he and his father had hidden from the sligs in the forest, under cover of an old tree that had been knocked down in a storm. The sligs had walked right past them; one of them had even looked right at them, and yet they had seen nothing. It had been as if they were invisible.

  Gradually, over a period of many years, Josef had come to understand he had an ability others did not. It was something to do with illusion, he realised, the capacity to prevent others from seeing things he didn’t want them to. When he wanted to conceal his presence, or that of those with him, he could do so. People, particularly the sligs, would see what he wanted them to see. It had become a very useful talent, even if he couldn’t explain it. Without it, he and the small band he lived with after the death of his father wouldn’t have been able to elude capture for as long as they did. It had even enabled them to put up a limited form of resistance, striking at the sligs occasionally and then quickly melting away, hiding again until the next opportunity arose.

  As the years wore on he had perfected the ability. He had used it here to help Sara and Rayne to escape. The flash in the fire, covering their tracks to ensure they couldn’t be followed, even concealing the entryway to the cave. All of these things were done with the power he’d discovered within himself.

  Healing had been his other forté. Once again it was a skill he had stumbled on. His father had broken his ankle and been knocked unconscious while they were out together in the forest. Josef had been only seven or eight years old and had sat beside him all through a dark and lonely night, idly stroking his father’s leg as he sobbed and pleaded with him to get better. He hadn’t understood the mysterious glow that had formed around the wound but somehow it had comforted him. Incredibly, his father had woken in the morning with his leg still sore but well on its way to mending.

  Josef hadn’t realised at first that it had been him that was responsible for the miraculous recovery. When he finally did realise that this was another of his ‘special’ abilities, he had worked hard to develop it further, to perfect it. In both cases, it would seem, necessity had been the mother of invention. Great need had either revealed or awakened specific abilities.

  Until he had gained access to Golkar’s diary, his powers had been limited to those two uses. It was only through study of the diary that he’d come to realise there was a source of power within him that was behind his abilities and that with training and understanding it could be channelled in specific directions. Unfortunately, it had been too late for him to make much use of this knowledge. He had concentrated instead on the Spell of Portal, seeing there a chance far beyond what he could achieve in any other way.

  Although he claimed to have no idea where his power had come from, something told Sara he knew more than he was telling. He showed it in so many ways when the issue was raised, in the tone of his voice, in his sudden loss of confi
dence, even in his body language. She suspected he did know, but for some reason he was either unwilling or unable to speak of it. Perhaps he was ashamed. Maybe, theorised Sara, he was an illegitimate child of one of the Guardians. Whatever the truth was, she couldn’t prise it from him.

  For some reason, he didn’t seem to want to talk about his parents any more than was necessary either. The loss of both of them at a fairly early age had clearly been a source of great sorrow to him, the fact that he was still bitter about it at this late stage in his life was a clear indication of that. He said little at all about his mother. She’d apparently died shortly after his birth and his only knowledge of her seemed to have come from his father. He spoke more of the latter, or at least of the man he knew as his father. Sara harboured a suspicion he may have been fostered out at an early age. If his father had actually been one of the Guardians, then that would explain his extraordinary abilities, and yet the man he described as his father was clearly no Guardian.

  When Josef had heard Sara’s own story, he drew her attention to something that she herself had done. He believed that she, like him, might have tapped into her own power without knowing what she was doing. In her case, he believed that she’d used it to repulse Golkar when she hadn’t wanted to be touched by him during their initial encounter. The dramatic result only confirmed his view of the potency of the energy he believed she held within her.

  That had certainly set Sara to thinking. Josef got no further, however, with his suggestion that she might be able to tap into that power to destroy Golkar. Such talk was, in her view, madness. Even if she could come to learn some of the ‘tricks’ Josef had mastered, useful though they were, she knew she could never be a match for Golkar.

  Every so often, Josef would maneuver the conversation back to his proposal, and each time he did so she would rebuff him. She just couldn’t see that the idea stood up to any rational consideration. By Josef’s own admittance, Golkar had defeated the other two Guardians before he had caught up with Sara. If they couldn’t resist him, then it seemed senseless to her to assume that she might be able to.

  Even the Spell of Portal seemed to be denied her. Although Josef thought that she might be able to learn it, he acknowledged that it had taken him years of study and experimentation before he had finally mastered it himself. It was clear to Sara that he saw this as a selfish option. Even if she could open the portal and she might be able to save herself, her departure would mean that Ilythia itself would be doomed. There would be no one left who could hope to resist Golkar. It was also an option that would provide no guarantee of safety for her, in any event. She couldn’t be sure if she did return to her world that Golkar wouldn’t simply do what he had already done: use the portal to bring her back yet again to Ilythia.

  Eventually they both tired, each seeming to realise they had reached a stalemate. Just as Josef couldn’t get Sara to seriously consider his suggestion that she try to learn how to fight Golkar, Sara was having the same difficulty in trying to discern the source of his power. Although it was unspoken, they both seemed to realise they needed to rest.

  Josef, in particular, had begun to cough again intermittently. It had become a rather nasty, hacking cough and it concerned Sara greatly. Unfortunately, he couldn’t use his healing power on himself, or at least if he could he didn’t know how to. In the end, Sara helped him to lie down again and made him comfortable enough that he could get some more rest. It wasn’t long before he slipped into a deep sleep.

  ~~~

  Rayne was confused and disoriented. The last thing he could remember was turning his horse to face the two slig warriors who had stumbled upon him and Sara as they’d been attempting to traverse a shallow creek bed. He’d awoken to find himself lying on the floor of a cavern. The warm fire beside him had obviously been burning for some time and was desperately in need of more fuel. Thankfully, Sara was sleeping peacefully nearby, as was an old man that he’d never seen before in his life.

  Rayne felt rested, though weak. If the gnawing feeling in his stomach was any indication, it had been some time since he had eaten. He was most gratified to find that someone had taken the trouble to leave him some bread and cheese. It had been placed close by to where he lay. A mug of water sat beside the bread. After helping himself to some of the food, he got up, tentatively stretching his cramped muscles, and proceeded to explore the cave.

  Several minutes later, having completed his examination, he returned to the fire, adding some extra pieces of wood from a small pile of faggots that he had found. It was then that he realised his arm had healed. The terrible pain had gone and he could move it quite freely, as if it had never been injured at all. Examining the limb, he could find no trace at all of the wound, not even a slight mark to show it had healed. Surely he couldn’t have slept for that long. Although he knew it was impossible for his arm to have healed that completely, he could think of no rational explanation for how it appeared now.

  He was relieved though to see that they still had Nell and Ned. The two other horses he had found at the back of the cavern weren’t the same as the ones they’d taken from the two men who had tried to ambush them. He guessed they must belong to the old man, whoever he was. He presumed he was a friend. Perhaps he had rescued them. In any event, it didn’t seem that Sara was under any coercion to stay with him.

  Venturing outside briefly, he found that it was late in the afternoon. The weather had improved and clear, blue sky was a welcome sight after the dreary rain. The bright sunshine quickly forced him back into the cave. Although its warmth was refreshing, his eyes were in no state to cope with the glare.

  Retreating inside, he prepared a small meal for himself from the food he found with their gear. Once that had been consumed, he sat by the fire for a while, watching his two companions. Sara appeared well and was sleeping quite soundly. His movement about the cavern hadn’t disturbed her slumber. Although he was dying to talk to her, he decided not to make any attempt to rouse her. He had no idea how badly she might need the rest she was now getting. For all he knew, they had arrived here only a short while ago, but that seemed unlikely from what he had seen. It appeared that they might have been here for a few days at least. There were signs that the area where the horses were kept had been cleared out at least once since they’d arrived.

  Gazing down at Sara’s lovely face, with her smooth, clear skin and her long, black hair pulled back and braided into the ponytail she favoured, Rayne felt a calmness growing within him, one which he had not felt for some time now. The gentle flicker of the firelight, the compelling silence of the cave, the warm earthiness of his surroundings, the very sense of security their place of concealment gave him, all of these combined, providing him with a clarity of thought that had eluded him up until now. For the first time, he realised that what he felt for the girl before him was much more than just affection.

  Amazingly, though he had known her for only such a short time, he knew that he loved her, dearly. It didn’t matter any more how little time they might have together. He had long since resigned himself to the hopelessness of their situation. As long as they could spend what time they had together, then he would be happy.

  His pleasant reverie was interrupted as the old man began to moan softly from where he lay on the other side of the fire. Getting up to check on him, Rayne found that he was shivering, despite the fact that he had two blankets over him and that he was lying close to the fire, which was blazing away quite strongly now. Every now and then he would moan and shudder, twitching under his blankets as he did so. From the way his eyelids were fluttering, he seemed to be drifting in and out of consciousness. He was clearly very unwell, which wasn’t surprising given his appearance. He had to be ninety if he was a day, thought Rayne. Where in the hell he had come from and how he had ended up with Sara was a total mystery. Rayne realised his earlier assumption that he might have had some hand in saving them from the sligs couldn’t possibly be right. Unless . . .

  Unless he was one of the
Guardians. Perhaps he was Tarak, or Kell. He had to be the person the old man at the settlement had said had been looking for him, his ‘uncle’ the settler had called him. That would explain a lot. Although, it wouldn’t explain his condition. He looked far from being a man of power. This wasn’t what Rayne had expected a Guardian to look like.

  Putting those thoughts aside for the moment, he found another blanket for the old man and then set about doing something about his obvious infirmity. Setting some water to boil over the small fire, he delved into his pack for what remained of the herbs he’d been carrying. Once the water was boiling, he steeped a mixture of willow bark, sweet-flag, alfalfa and dandelion, a concoction his father had assured him was as good a tonic as any that a Medicant would sell you.

  When it had cooled enough to be drinkable, he helped the old man up into a sitting position and managed to get him to drink some of the mixture. Even though he could barely speak, he managed to express his gratitude in a thin and croaky voice before he lay down once more. Within minutes he was fast asleep again. Rayne wasn’t sure whether the tonic would be of much help, but at least the old man’s sleep seemed more peaceful for the moment.

  It was some time later when Sara awoke. When she rolled over and saw Rayne sitting there gazing at her, her face lit up with the broadest grin that he had ever seen. With a squeal of delight, she jumped up and embraced him, almost bowling him over as she threw her arms around him, hugging him to her and burying her face in the crook of his neck. When he could finally get her to let go he saw that she was crying.

  “Oh Rayne,” she said as he wiped the tears from her eyes. “I’ve missed you so, so much. And I was so worried about you.”

  Leaning forward, Rayne kissed her tenderly on the lips, cupping her chin as he did so. “It’s all right now,” he assured her soothingly as they both sat back again, looking into each other’s eyes as they clasped their hands with outstretched arms. “Tell me what happened. I don’t remember anything at all after we saw the sligs. My guess is that you’ve been through a lot since then and I’m dying to know what happened. And who’s your friend here? He’s not very well, you know.”