Sade and I jogged over to Astor.
“Okay, no one goes near the circle because the shadow mage may pull you in, and I can’t help you if that happens.” Astor sped through the last part of his speech.
“So, I should stay out of the circle?” Sade stepped close to the rocks.
“Well.... they can have you,” Astor corrected her.
Sade stepped back from the circle.
“Aria, you’re up,” Astor took my hand and placed me in another smaller circle below the large circle where the shadow mage would appear. “This is a little something extra for you.”
“Why am in a circle?” I stepped over the rock wall onto the buttercup petals.
“As an added bonus, I have you in a protective circle.” Astor swung his arms out to showcase his work.
“What about me?” Sade positioned her hand on her hip and cocked her head.
“No one wants us, honey.” Astor placed his attention back on me. “Ready?”
“I’m ready,” as ready as I could be. The quicker this happened, the sooner we could flee from the ur’gel.
“Stand back.” Astor nodded at Sade as he placed a mixture of flowers and herbs he had collected into the circle. Then he gathered a bowl of water and oil and poured it in the circle.
Astor mumbled his spell in a language I couldn’t understand any of the words to. The flower and herb mixture took on a form. It spun in a circle as black smoke whirled around. The shadow mage rose up from the ground and stood in front of me. Memories of seeing the creature days ago hadn’t prepared me for seeing it again.
“The dreamwalker. You’ve summoned me, but I see no Beru.” Its head spun around without its body moving as it hovered above the ground.
“I’m going to free Beru. We will meet here shortly, and you’ll bring Gavin.” I tried not to look frightened as this thing grew larger.
“I’ll give you till next sundown.” The shadow mage vanished into a thick fog as black mist covered us.
“Is it over?” Sade coughed into her arm.
“I think so.” I glanced at Astor to confirm.
“It’s gone.” Astor poked at the circle with a stick.
“They’ve moved up the hill,” Iri said as he approached us. “It won’t be long until they’re here.”
I stepped out of my circle. I had little time to dreamwalk and to convince Beru to come back with me.
I didn’t need anything fancy. I lay on the grass and had expected to fall into a dreamwalk like I had the last time. Instead, I lay there wide awake and unable to focus. I straightened myself and squeezed my eyes shut. Still nothing. I wiggled and hoped it would release some tension.
“Um, we don’t have much time.” Sade knelt down beside me.
“I’m trying.”
“Can you try faster?”
“This isn’t helping.”
Sade stood and walked over to Iri. I watched as they whispered and looked back at me.
I moved my shoulders up and down and cracked my neck. I tried to erase any knowledge of the ur’gel and focused on Beru. I laid my arms by my sides with my palms faced toward the ground.
After several attempts, my body began to sink into the ground, my limbs too heavy to move.
I opened my eyes to find I stood almost in front of Beru. He glanced my way as soon as I appeared.
Beru was hunched over in pain with a large gash on his face and bruised ribs.
“What happened?” I bolted toward him and grabbed his arm just as he began to fall forward.
“It’s just a scratch.” His hand wiped away fresh blood from the side of his mouth.
“Who did this?” I grabbed his face to look over his injuries. He didn’t look well enough to dreamwalk, and I wouldn’t have enough strength to get back if I tried to heal him.
“I didn’t turn over my food fast enough.” He laughed as he brushed off my hand.
“This isn’t funny.”
“I can’t die, Aria.” Beru stood but held on to a tree as he steadied himself.
“I needed you to be in somewhat of a good form.”
“What are you talking about?” He pulled back as far as he could from me.
“I’m taking you back with me,” I promised, aware he’d fight me all the way.
“I’m not going anywhere. Is this why you’ve been coming here?” He tilted his head up toward me. confused as to why I would want to free him.
“Yes. I’m meant to find you.” I pulled a log up and sat down. I had to convince him to come with me.
“What if I don’t want to leave? If I’ve accepted my fate? There is nothing in your world for me,” Beru warned as he hung his head.
“You’re wrong. You’re needed.” I leaned in and pleaded with him as I grabbed his hands and pulled him to face me.
“No one needs me.”
“If I don’t bring you back, they’re going to kill my brother.” I hoped his sensitive side would give in to me.
“I’m sorry for his death.” Beru pulled his hands from me and concealed them under his fur.
“You have a chance to get out of here.” I was in disbelief he had been a hero in any regard. He was defeated. “Why wouldn’t you take that?”
“What about the rest of them?” Beru warned.
“I don’t care about them.” I wouldn’t leave this dream without him, no matter what.
“I’m still Onen Suun’s general here. I have a post.”
“A post to get beaten up every day? To have food stolen from you? You’re loyal to that?” Could he not hear how unreasonable he had been?
“Lower your voice,” he cautioned as he raised his hand and looked back at the prison.
“I don’t care who sees or hears me. You’re coming back with me.”
“These men have been here just as long as I have. At this moment, they don’t know they can be freed. I want to keep it that way. Your world is better because we are here,” he spoke slowly with precision. “I can’t leave this so that you can have your brother back.”
“This isn’t about my brother. Well, it is, but it didn’t start that way,” I assured him. “They need a great leader like you.”
“Who wants me out?” Beru’s eyes narrowed.
I needed to work with this. I had piqued his curiosity.
“Well, the ur’gel and some shadow mage,” I advised, fully aware this could damage my case.
“They have your brother?” he asked.
“Yes,” I responded as I searched for any hint of him possibly being agreeable to dreamwalk.
“Don’t trust them. How do you know your brother is even still alive?”
“I’ve seen him in a dreamwalk. I have been at their camp. That’s when I found out the shadow mage has kept him. I’d thought it was the ur’gel,” I offered the truth, hoping that would help me bring him around to coming back with me willingly.
“Oh, Aria.” Beru shook his head and let out a large sigh.
“So, you’re thinking about it?” I grinned.
“I can’t help you.” Beru shook his head no.
There was something in his eyes that made me think he’d been trying to convince himself not to come.
“But you can. There’s nothing here for you. What are you afraid of?”
Beru stood, angered by my question, and turned his back to me. He didn’t walk away, he just stood there and watched the prison. I laid off him for a few moments. I hoped he would come back and agree to come with me.
“What’s the worst that could happen?” I demanded as thoughts of my friends being attacked by the ur’gel raced through my mind.
“They could follow us.” Beru pointed toward the prison. “Can you guarantee that won’t happen?”
“No.” I lowered my head in defeat. He had nowhere near decided to come back with me.
Beru grabbed me and pushed me down on the ground. His hand covered my mouth as I tried to wiggle free. He looked off to the side, and I followed his gaze. The prison guards were near.
I wrapped my arms around him and hung on as I closed my eyes. This wasn’t ideal, but I stole his energy.
“They’re coming. You have to dreamwalk,” Beru urged as his head flipped between them and me.
“Hug me,” I whispered as I kept my eyes closed to concentrate.
“Over there,” I heard some call.
Beru wasn’t fighting me anymore, and he wrapped his arms around me.
As I opened my eyes, all I could see was the bright light that had surrounded us. We pushed our way through a tunnel. It hadn’t been this hard to travel by dreamwalking before. This must have been the prison holding on to us, to Beru. The energy drained me as sadness overcame my body.
I used both of our energies to fight through the tunnel. I couldn’t see an end in sight. We had to keep up our momentum until we made it out.
“Is it supposed to be like this?” Beru asked as he clung to me.
“No,” I yelled back at him over the noise from the wind.
“It’s not going to let us go,” Beru held on to me tighter.
“We aren’t giving up.”
I closed my eyes to help me focus. I needed every ounce of energy from Beru and myself to get to the end of this tunnel.
Lightning sparked as we touched the lining of the tunnel. It jolted us both, and we instinctively let go of each other.
Beru tumbled backward, toward the prison, as I flew in the opposite direction. Once I gained some balance, I moved toward him.
“Focus on me.”
Beru held his hand out to me, but without his touch, I could only use my energy. He slipped further away from me.
“It’s pulling me.” Beru tried to move his body as if he swam, but it was no use.
“Hit the side of the tunnel.” I called to him.
“What?”
“Just do it.”
Beru held out his legs and arms and rolled into the side. His body jerked back and forth as lightning struck him. He bounced in my direction.
I reached my hand out and our fingers touched, but he was pulled away again.
“Do it again,” I yelled as I got closer to him.
He extended his arms and legs again and struck the side even sooner.
This time, I grabbed him and hung on as we hurdled back to the prison.
“Let go of me. You’ll make it without me.”
“No. We are both going to make it. Hold on.”
I dug my nails into Beru’s back and hoped his pain could be used for energy.
“Focus on me.”
Our speed picked up just a little, but in the right direction. We held onto each other and waited. As we synced, our speed increased.
After several moments of flying through the tunnel, I looked ahead and saw complete darkness. The sounds of dust zapping the tunnel lining became quiet.
“What’s happening?”
“I don’t know, but it’s about to get dark.” I tilted my head as I prepared myself for whatever the darkness held.
As we slipped into the black hole, Beru struggled to breathe. I felt his body gasp with each breath as I held him in my arms.
“Not much longer.” We drifted aimlessly.
A ball of fire appeared as it whizzed by my head. Seconds later another barely missed Beru.
More appeared as they hit our sides. My skin burned, and energy drained from my body.
“Up ahead.”
I looked up to see a gate. “I see it.”
Our bodies stiffened, and I forced myself to release the pain and hold onto the energy. We shot forward through the gate that tried to hold us back and landed on the other side on the grass.
“She did it.” Astor ran toward us.
“Are you ok?” Sade knelt on the ground next to me.
“Yes. Weak but okay. How is Beru?” I looked over to him as he lay on the ground and barely moved.
“I’ll check him. It’s almost that time. Sade pushed my shoulder back down to the grass. “Rest while you can.”
I nodded as I lay back and closed my eyes.
A chill crept into my bones from the ground as the blades of grass went white with frost. Thick black smoke rolled in like death fog, coming to the edge of our protective circle.
Ur’gel crept out of the trees, their horned heads the only thing I could see above the smoke. My heart raced as I tried to stand. But the fight with the prison had drained me. Still, I staggered to my feet.
The black smoke drifted away, sucked into one place, and formed into the body of the shadow mage.
He was here.
“I got you,” Sade whispered in my ear as she readied her bow.
“The little dreamwalker managed to free Beru.” The shadow mage laughed as his hand reached out from his cloak and gestured for Beru to come to him.
Beru glanced toward Iri, who shook his head no.
Iri threw a sword at Beru, and they attacked an ur’gel. The ur’gel held his ground against the two of them, as they each took a side to attack him on.
Beru swung his sword with expert precision, as he sliced through the thick skin of the ur’gel, but neither Iri nor Beru could manage a kill spot. The ur’gel succeeded to cut into Beru’s hand and forced Beru to drop his sword.
As the ur’gel stopped to admire his work, Iri speared the ur’gel in the chest, but not the heart. Iri grabbed the sword Beru dropped and laid it into him, and finally dropped the ur’gel to the ground.
“Thank you.” Beru nodded to Iri who just grunted back at him.
“Clever little ones.” The shadow mage floated on the ground toward Beru.
“This is my part.” Astor smiled at me, and he grabbed a bowl he had hidden behind a pile of rocks.
“You will come with me,” the shadow mage said to Beru.
“What do you want with me?” Beru stood his ground as it came close to him.
Astor stood in the background and prepared his potion while Beru kept the mage’s attention.
“You’ll soon find out.” He laughed.
Astor pulled on his black cloak, and with one cast of his hand, the water in his bowl boiled. The smell caught the attention of the mage.
“What are you doing?” He flew at Astor.
“Just a little welcome gift.” Astor smiled back at the mage as the bowl lifted off the ground and floated to the shadow mage.
The mage held his hand up and the bowl flew back toward Astor and spilled all over the ground.
“Is that all you have?” The mage taunted him.
Astor waved his hand and another bowl appeared from behind the mage. Its contents soaked him, and he dissolved into thin air.
“It worked!” Astor jumped up with a scream and a fist pump.
“You had no idea if it would work, did you?” Sade asked with more than a hint of irritation.
“There’s always the chance,” Astor replied as he hunched over to look at the oil left on the ground. “He’s actually in there.” He marveled at his trick.
“In the oil?” I asked, lifting my head.
“Yes. I’ll dispose of it properly, of course,” Astor added.
I laid my head back down on the grass just as I heard my name being called.
“Aria!”
“Gavin,” I yelled toward the group.
“We’ll find him,” Beru said as he and Iri took off to the woods.
“We did it, Aria,” Sade said as she leaned over and hugged me.
Iri and Beru lifted a battered Gavin out from the woods and laid him next to me on the ground.
“You did it, Aria,” Gavin said through tears.
“You’re safe now.” I rolled over and hugged him. Free at last.
That evening we all sat around the camp fire. Gavin had drifted off to sleep with a full belly, and Astor had gone with him. Iri, Sade, Beru, and I sat by the campfire and finished off our drinks.
“Now what do we do?” Sade asked as she leaned back.
“We plan our next raid.” Iri held up his drink, and Sade slapped him.
“What about you, Beru?”
“Eat.” He smiled, then placed his hand on my leg. “Then see what this world has for me.”
“Lead the ur’gel away from Western March.” I moved my leg away from his reach.
“I’ll do my best.”
“Where will you go, Sade?” I changed the subject.
“I’ll stick around for a bit.” Sade glanced at Iri, and he smiled.
“And you, Aria?” Beru asked this time.
“I’ll take Gavin home. We have a lot of healing to do.” I pulled at the grass by my feet as my thoughts turned to Denny.
“They’ll be happy to see you.” Sade plopped over in the grass and reached for me.
Tears threatened to fall, so I stood. “I’m headed to bed.” I turned so no one could see.
I heard a bunch of good nights as I rotated my back just in time. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I headed to where Gavin and Astor slept. Away from the campfire, it darkened, and out of the corner of my eye, I swore I saw a black mist.
Continue reading this series, Legends of the Fallen with book 2, Spell Breaker
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Books by J.A. Culican
Novels
The Prince Returns-Keeper of Dragons book 1
The Elven Alliance-Keeper of Dragons book 2
The Mere Treaty-Keeper of Dragons book 3
The Crowns’ Accord-Keeper of Dragons book 4
Second Sight-Hollows Ground book 1
Slayer-Dragon Tamer book 1
Warrior-Dragon Tamer book 2
Protector-Dragon Tamer book 3
Spark of War-Through the Ashes Prequel
Sword of Fire-Through the Ashes 1
Embers of Darkness-Through the Ashes 2
Blaze of Magic-Through the Ashes 3
Elemental Origin-Blood of Dragons Prequel
Dreamwalker Page 17
