by Lisa Daniels
Gently he lifted her off of the ground and placed her on his back. “Hold on tight. My gait on two legs is a little less steady.”
Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pressed her face against his back as he began to run. “I wish you would let me take on some of the responsibility. Judging by the size of the flames, you have already done a lot today while all I did was talk to a few people.”
“I just did exactly what I was supposed to do. Or at least as much as I could with the time I had. Between the two of us, I had the easier lot.”
“You managed to sink a ship and stir up an Unwashed nest. That seems like a lot more than what I did.”
“What you did turns out to be critical, so don’t downplay it. Hector is already rethinking his approach and wondering if his behavior for the last few years was wrong. In a few weeks it will come to a head, and he will be aware of the bond when it is needed. Because of what you said and did, this will be possible.”
“What would have happened if I hadn’t spoken up?”
“That is not a path that I walked, so I could not say. Somehow, I doubt it would have turned out well considering how close the nest would have been and how organized they were. I suppose… in the end… you were right.”
Itzel smiled as she was jostled on his back. “I don’t think I have ever heard you admit to being wrong.”
“Now you are exaggerating. You have heard it almost every time I have admitted it.”
Her mind went back, “I don’t recall—” A few memories flitted through her mind, and each time had been just as shocking as the last. “That was only about four times.”
“What can I say? I am rarely wrong.”
She laughed, her body bouncing against the assassin. There was a strange noise, but Itzel couldn’t even make out the source, let alone tell what it was. “Thank you, Darius. What do I need to know going into the fray?”
“They have more than three dozen corrupted seers and mystics. No druids, of course. No fire or air abilities, but rock and grass abilities are relatively high. Considering they are in a forested mountain, please keep that in mind.”
“Understood.” Itzel began to calculate the right magic for the situation. Her greatest strength was water, which was unfortunate. With a large body of water, being able to simulate a small tidal wave would have been the fastest method of taking them out. Grass would pretty much negate that effort, though. “I’m going to have to use air.”
“Don’t forget you can manipulate the fire.”
“Oh, right.” She frowned, “I guess if some of it is still active, I could work that through them with the right mixture of air current.”
“I will make sure that some of the fire survives.”
“Thank you, Darius. I guess you have had some time to calculate what to do.”
“Not really. I just remember what you did, and am saving you having to come up with it on the spot.”
Itzel was quiet for a moment. Of course she felt he deserved some of the credit, but there was no point in arguing. That was not what they needed to be doing at the moment. Then a solution struck her. “Would it help if I gave you a boost to the boats?”
It took him a few moments, but Darius eventually asked, “You can do that?”
“Of course. Water is my strength.”
“Would you be able to keep me from getting wet?”
“I didn’t do that for you before?”
“No, you were calculating your approach and I was calculating mine.”
“We weren’t coordinating then.”
“Neither of us are very good at it, so no.”
“Yes, Darius, I can keep you from getting wet and speed up your approach to the boats. Just don’t think about what you are doing and you will be fine.”
“What do you mean don’t think about it?” At that point, they reached the water again. The port was a long distance from them.
Darius put her down.
Straightening out her clothes, she looked at the assassin. “Let me mask us first, then I will get you ready to head across the water.”
He stood still and watched her draw a large cube around them to make it impossible for anyone more than a mile away to see them. It would keep their work invisible from the people in the city. It would be up to Darius to make sure that no one noticed him taking care of the Unwashed in the boats.
“Okay. Remember to take—”
“—out the boats, yes, I know.” He gave her a small smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
Itzel gave him a lopsided grin. “Sorry, just thought I would remind you now. Hold on.” She moved around him, her hands shifting and working the air around him. “There. For the next half hour or so, you will be lighter than water.”
“I don’t need to do anything?”
“Just run over to them. It will feel a little… unsettling, so be prepared for some dissidence with your body so you don’t lose your balance. Once you are done with them and their crafts, get to the shore as quickly as possible. You will know that your time is nearly up when your feet start to get wet. If you don’t make it to shore, be prepared to swim.”
Darius shivered. “There’s no way to make it last longer?”
“Don’t waste time here on the shore. I will meet you over at the rock right there.” She extended her hand and a rock lit up for a fraction of a second some distance from the smoking trees.
With a brief nod, Darius said, “Please be careful.” Before she could respond in kind, he was running along the top of the water toward nearly half a dozen boats making their way to the city.
Chapter 6
Reflection, Reconnaissance, and a Quick Lesson
Once he was more than a mile out on the water, Itzel could no longer see Darius as he raced toward the boats. The only hint of his progress was the way the water moved directly under him. To most people, it would look like a wind disturbing the water, but Itzel not only knew what it meant, she could feel his weight just on the surface of the water. After a few moments of watching his movements, Itzel realized that she had her own task to complete, as mundane as it was. Stepping into the water, she held out her arms. With each step, her body became translucent and began to flow with the water. By the time she was fully submerged, it was impossible to tell the difference between Itzel and the water.
A few moments later, she began to appear in the water close to the rock. Her eyes immediately went to the robed figures to make sure they had not noticed her, and smiled as she watched them rushing around without any obvious intention. They really weren’t great at planning. How did these guys end up so powerful?
Without having to worry about being noticed, Itzel allowed herself to materialize and take on her natural form. Adjusting her outfit as she stepped out of the water, Itzel tried to keep her mind occupied as she waited for Darius to finish his work. There were more than 20 minutes left before her spell would wear off. As interested as she was in watching what was happening, she wouldn’t get the full visual since the area around Darius would be completely invisible from this distance.
Shame, since I haven’t seen him in action since he usually works in the shadows. It figures that the one time he is unable to do that, it… is… hmmm. Itzel looked toward the people panicking in the boats not immediately within Darius’s reach. It would be impossible to watch him if she were to go out in the water. Looking over at the Unwashed rushing around nearby and the place where Darius was, Itzel knew that it would make more sense to prepare for what they would need to do instead of watching the assassin.
Shame, she thought as she stood up and walked toward the men. From this distance, her cover would not work. Curiosity got the better of her, and Itzel moved toward the disorganized men. Sticking to the shadow of the forest as much as possible, she began to work out exactly what had happened to stir them up so badly. It was obvious that he had set something on fire, and the trees were now burning.
Their base must be within the mountain to make it more secure than setti
ng the base in the forest. What was he doing setting the fire? Itzel decided to investigate the source of the fire. Darius was incredibly cautious, so he would not have drawn so much attention to one area without a plan. Since he hadn’t told her anything about what he had done, Itzel decided that her time would be best spent filling in some of the questions she had about the situation. For a brief moment, the druid considered trying to connect with magic users around her, but quickly dismissed the idea as being too risky. One of the few details Darius had given her was that there were a large number of corrupted in the area, and they would certainly sense the intrusion of such an obvious attempt to survey who was there. The three magic user types could always sense each other, though not all of them were taught what to look for. Given the large number of seers and mystics in the area, though, Itzel felt certain that at least a few had been trained and would be on the watch for unconnected users in the area. Fortunately, most druid magic was too subtle to notice—as long as she wasn’t allowing her mind to seek other magic use.
Of course, that did make her task a little more difficult, as Itzel wasn’t entirely certain what Darius wanted them to do. It sounded like he was trying to dismantle the heart before it was completed, but no druid had been involved in any such attempt. Until very recently, only assassins had done anything to dismantle hearts, and Darius had never been among those who had tried. There was no doubt that he had sought counsel on how best to approach it, but Itzel felt fairly certain that the recommendation he would have gotten was to wait for another assassin to join them.
Itzel frowned. Why didn’t he ask Haiden to help? Haiden recently extracted Harmony from a similar situation, and could have provided valuable insight into the process.
Carefully making her way to the source of the fire, Itzel wondered if there was a way to contact Haiden and bring him to assist them. The image of his smiling face and quick retreat made her second-guess the desire. Haiden had already been through so much, and he deserved a rest. Given how many years he had pushed himself well beyond what should have been his limits, Itzel couldn’t bring herself to request his assistance. However, this would not have been the reason why Darius had avoided asking Haiden for assistance. The druid was almost certain that Darius had contacted at least Orion, who would certainly recommend—in the strongest terms possible—to wait for assistance.
How did Darius even know to look for them over here? Itzel easily kept the smoke from entering her lungs as she tried to figure out exactly how they had gotten into the current situation. Of course, she didn’t need most of that information now, as his motives to destroy the heart were obvious even if he had not told her. The problem was in how they were going about it.
Putting those thoughts aside to focus on her survey of the situation, the druid quickly climbed a tree, hoping that the smoke wouldn’t be too thick to see much. With fire being one of her weakest abilities, Itzel tended to keep her distance. As soon as she saw the source down the rather sharp slope, she was glad that she had not tried to get closer. There were a couple dozen buildings on fire, as well as all of the means of transportation. Itzel had to keep from letting out a low whistle at just how much damage Darius had done in such a short period of time. There was no smell of chemicals, indicating that his method had been either natural or magical, and Itzel was curious to know just which of the two the assassin had used.
The druid stretched out her hand and drew in some of the flame that had leaped into the trees. A shiver ran down her spine as the flame came close to her. Handling fire always made Itzel uncomfortable. Moving her hands around it, she wrapped it into a small space and slid it into a little bag she had tied to her belt. She retrieved several more licks of flame and created safe storage balls for them, remembering that Darius had indicated that they would need the flame later. Glancing up at the sun, she knew that the assassin was likely making his way back to the shore. The druid quickly moved down the trunk of the tree and slipped through the increasingly smoky woods toward their designated meeting place.
When she emerged from the forest, she had to blink several times to clear the smoke that had accumulated around her face. It was a great way to keep her lungs clean, but the small barrier meant that the smoke remained around her, blocking her vision once she was clear of the source. Itzel looked out over the water, but saw no sign of either the boats or Darius. Rubbing her eyes, she looked again for any sign of movement on the water’s surface. Still there was no sign of the assassin.
It was impossible that he was killed as he took out the Unwashed on the water because it would have ripped open a hole in time—he was back-walking and his death would have been a paradox. Turning around, she sought the familiar figure in the area around her. Panic began to rise in her. It was possible that he had sunk because the time limit was about up. It was also possible that the spell had not lasted as long, as Darius was considerably heavier than Itzel. Additional weight compounded with a much faster pace would likely have worn the spell down faster.
Itzel began to walk toward the water to see if she could find him. Thinking back to his reaction to her suggestion, she realized that the first time she had not made the suggestion because he had reacted with surprise. At the very least, Darius had made sure to change the second attempt by telling her something that would ease her mind, allowing her to consider other potential problems.
Just as she placed a foot in the water, a very white, very wet head began to emerge in front of her. The look on Darius’s face was like that of a cat who had just gotten out of the water, and she could only imagine how he must have looked as he had slipped into the water. There was no shock on his face now, though. Just anger.
“I am so sorry, Darius.” Itzel rushed forward.
He strode past her, shaking off her hands as she reached out to him. The assassin made a beeline for the safety of the forest, and as soon as he was wrapped in the shadows, he leaned over and began to violently shake all of the water out of his hair.
Itzel walked up beside him, not worried about the water hitting her. It simply rolled down her, as if she had a layer of protection against it. “Stop that. You just look silly.”
Darius looked up, his pink eyes narrowed, but he stopped. As he began to stand up, she placed a hand on his arm. “No, no, stay like you were. I can fix this for you.”
“It will dry soon enough.”
“Stop arguing with me and just be still.” Itzel pulled a small ball of fire from her pouch. Shivering again, she created a small slit in the top of the ball, and drew out the flame with air. “Hold this, please.” Itzel held out the ball to Darius, who looked concerned. Her hands began to work quickly, spreading the heated area around his body. Keeping her hands a few inches from his hair, she dried his beautiful locks. Her hands then traveled down his body, keeping the same distance to dry his clothing.
As soon as she finished, Darius handed the ball back to her. “That was incredibly risky.”
“You are welcome,” she said, looking for the slit.
“I closed it.”
“What? Oh. Thank you.”
He gave her a faint smile, “Thank you. It almost worked, but it appears I was a bit slower than I had thought. Still, that was too risky.” Darius paused, then held out a hand. “Maybe I should hold onto that.”
Itzel frowned, “No, it’s okay. As long as it is secured, I should be fine.”
“I would feel better.”
Itzel was about to respond, but decided that it would likely just lead to another argument. She handed it over, neglecting to tell him that she had others. “No other assassin would ask to hold onto one of these.”
“No other assassin knows just how strong your fear of fire is.”
“It wouldn’t matter if they did. And what makes you think that I am afraid of fire?”
“You shiver every time you have to deal with it. And we both know that there is a very good reason for it. Always trust your gut.” He looked down at her. “Please.”
Something
in that look told her not to argue. She gave her head a small nod, but decided against telling him about the other fire, understanding now that she had not had fire the first time they had done this. It was unnerving to know that she was changing things, but at the same time, Itzel couldn’t imagine trusting anyone else to navigate the changes. The way that Darius approached every problem meant that he had already analyzed everything several times, and he was calculating how best to get through their current situation.
“I saw what you did at the mountain base. That was quite impressive. Did you use magic?”
“It was a combination. Considering how hot it is and the fact that it is still daylight, there wasn’t much existing fire to work with, so I mixed a few kitchen chemicals with blood and made sure that not a drop of it went to waste.”
“Whose blood did you use?”
“One of the corrupted mystics. She had a mild talent for fire that she never realized, so there was just enough in her blood to create a dozen incendiaries.”
Itzel felt a little ill at the thought of a mystic dying to create the massive blaze she had seen. The lack of emotion and completely detached details of what he had done, the calculated measures he had taken, were just as chilling. She knew that was how he operated, but it was very different to listen to someone talk about how they would do something versus knowing that they had actually done it. Perhaps a part of me thought he would be less pragmatic. No other assassin would actually talk about it, and I’m starting to see why. I suppose they all do something like this, they just aren’t as honest.
She looked at Darius, who was occupied with fixing his outfit and hair after the swim. “I’m sorry that you ended up soaking wet.”
His eyes were less intense as he glanced over at her. Darius turned his eyes back to his shirt. “It’s okay. It took a lot longer the last time, and I had to do a lot more swimming. And it seems like you have put your time to good use while waiting for me, too.” He finished up and began walking toward the location with the most activity.