by Zora Marie
“What? Didn’t like the view?” Lucky strutted past her like a peacock flashing his feathers.
Zelia rolled her eyes. “I’ve seen better. You forget that I grew up here, where everyone trains how to fight.”
“Jones, what type of sword are you used to?” Koin appraised Jones, his posture and the way he stood.
Jones straightened, and a hint of color bloomed on his cheeks. “I’m best with a short sword.”
“Perfect. That’s what Zelia is starting out with.” Koin picked two more training swords from those he’d leaned against the fence. “Zelia, you know the basics, get started while I get a better feel for where Jones is in his training.”
“I thought you watched me in the courtyard before we left?”
“Yes, well, you were using a very poorly balanced blade. So, let’s see if you are better with this one.”
Jones took the sword Koin held out to him and swung it around at his side.
“Feel the difference?” Koin slid his feet into one of his favorite starting stances, the right one back slightly.
“Yes. It’s not as cumbersome.” Jones mirrored Koin and Zelia could have sworn Koin smiled a little bit before lunging.
She only caught bits of the fight as she struggled to get her own feet to go precisely where she wanted them. What she did catch, was Koin giving Jones far more leeway than he’d ever given her. Koin always had a way with knowing when someone needed a confidence boost. She finished a couple passes of basic positioning before she noticed Starling and Loboran leaned against the fence next to Lucky.
Koin looked both of them up and down, even as he sparred with Jones. “So, you two are the ones to blame for Zelia and Linithion already being betrothed.”
“Hm, maybe.” The corners of Loboran’s mouth twitched as he fought back his grin. “Would you like a hand showing them how it’s done?”
“Oh? Is that an offer to have me hand you your backside, Loboran?” Koin asked.
“You can try.”
“Oh, this is one I have to watch,” Zelia mused and went to perch on the fence between Starling and Lucky.
“Are you sure you want to see me beat your uncle?”
“Hey, I might be getting old, but I’m still as good as ever. You can take a break, Jones.”
Jones finally chanced a glance at Loboran and Starling. A hint of relief flickered in his gaze as he joined Lucky by the fence. Koin swapped his short sword for a long sword and tossed one to Loboran.
“Training with energy, too?”
“Of course.”
Loboran swung the practice sword around once, and then they were at it. Zelia had forgotten how fast Koin could move when faced with a skilled opponent. The two of them parried, thrust, and rebounded from each block so fast that Zelia was pretty sure both Lucky and Jones were holding their breaths.
Zelia quietly centered herself and blinked into her sight of energy. Both males were projecting false moves, their green energy clashing in one place while they clashed in another less than a moment later. It was like watching them play out two intricate dances at once.
This went on for several minutes before both of their energies settled back into them and they withdrew. Lucky and Jones loosed a breath, and the two of them breathed harder than Koin and Loboran.
“You and Starling have been practicing more since I last saw you.”
“Well it has been an age, and you’ve still got it yourself. Watch your left side though, it’s starting to loosen up.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Koin nodded and turned to face them. “So, you two think you’re ready to go? Once your side is healed of course, Lucky.”
“Um…” Jones paled as he swallowed.
“Nope. Not at all,” Lucky answered for the both of them.
“To be fair, both of them have over a thousand years of experience,” Zelia said.
“Close to three thousand years for our dear Koin.” Starling vaulted over the fence and picked up one of the training swords. “You ready for another round, Loboran?”
“With you, always.” Loboran gave Starling one of those loving looks before they launched into a sparring session, the two of them taking their dance a little way down the field as they fought.
“Are they?” Lucky pointed after them.
“Soulmates? Yes.” Koin swapped his sword back out for the short sword. “Shall we continue?”
19
They trained like that for most of the day. Every time Jones needed a break, Koin would help Zelia correct little errors in her form and movement that she couldn’t see herself make. Her arms were sore from holding the sword up by the time Nikolas began staring at her from across the fence, his black clothes a dark stain against the camp behind him.
“How about you go train with Nikolas for a while?” Koin’s magic trailed down her arm as he took the short sword from her.
“I’m fine. Better than expected given everything.”
“Still. Don’t let him work you too hard. Go on.” Koin tilted his head towards the gate.
“Alright.” Zelia picked up her cloak from where she’d discarded it on the fence and headed for Nikolas.
“The one by the fence, who is he?” Nikolas asked by way of greeting.
“Lucky… well, Luxly. Why?”
“Is he from Coridale?”
“Yes.” What Nikolas had said earlier that day came back to Zelia. “Do you think?”
“Yes.” Nikolas sighed. “Call him over.”
“Hey Lucky!” Zelia waved.
Lucky watched Jones a moment longer before heading towards them. He stopped a few feet from her and Nikolas. “Yes?”
“Do you know who your father was?” Nikolas asked.
“No. Why?”
“Show me your flames.”
“You told him?”
“No. But,” Zelia shrugged. She wasn’t sure how Lucky would take being a child of Fregnar. Nor did she know how Nikolas knew of Lucky’s flames.
Lucky held up a hand wreathed in flame and Nikolas smirked.
“Guess I’ll be training you, too. That’s not Hyperian fire, that’s Fregnar’s. Suppose I don’t need to go hunting for my half-brother after all.”
“Fregnar? Half-brother?” Luxly’s brow furrowed.
“We’re family of sorts, you two more so than me. I suppose I could call you both my little brothers now.” Zelia grinned at Nikolas.
“Don’t you dare, pipsqueak. Besides, how many sort of siblings does that bring you up to?”
“More than the number of kingdoms I’m supposedly inline to rule.”
“Are you two saying Fregnar, the god of the dead, is my father?”
“He prefers god of souls, but yes.” Nikolas looked Lucky up and down once more before nodding them towards the gate. “What all do you know already? Can you control it? What else can you do? And why are you here?”
“My, so many questions,” Zelia teased. “He’s going to be a member of the guild.”
“And yes, I can control my fire and the wind. I can also do simple spells.”
Nikolas raised a brow as he glanced back at Zelia. “Coridale’s healer was apparently trained by Vainoff, that’s who trained him and Jones.”
“So, the other one is a magic user too?”
“Jones is actually more powerful than I am.” Lucky gestured for Zelia to go through the gate first. Nikolas lingered as he stared across the field at Jones.
“Hm. What type of magic?”
“He can do spells without a power stone and without spells.”
“Then that’s outside my knowledge.” Nikolas turned away from the field and began leading them towards the river.
“Where are we headed?”
“The river. So, I can throw the two of you in if you do something stupid.”
“Oh, love you too, Nikolas,” Zelia teased.
Nikolas made a grumble that was somewhere between a growl and a sigh.
“Careful, your wolf is showing. Actually…�
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“No. I will not have you singeing my fur off.”
“Well you’re just no fun.” Lucky grinned at Nikolas. “I take it you’re a wolfblood then?”
“Half. Alright.” Nikolas stopped at the river’s edge and leveled Lucky with a stare. “Show me how big a fire you can make and control without burning half the forest down.”
“Um, hold on a second. Let me get Raven just in case.” Zelia felt for her metal bond to Raven and tugged gently. “Would you come put fires out if Lucky loses control?”
“Of course. I’ll be right there.” Wings beat in the distance, then a shadow passed overhead. “I’ll fish while you all work and yes, the waters are clear of Elves.”
“Alright.”
“Don’t dragon’s breath fire?” Lucky asked.
“Raven can breathe fire or ice.” She flexed her fingers as she turned to Nikolas. “Do you want me to as well?”
“Um… sure. Luxly first though.”
“You can call me Lucky.”
“Yeah, not going to happen kid.”
“Alrighty then.” Luxly passively flung a fist sized flame at the river’s surface and it exploded to cover its surface. It hovered harmlessly above the rushing water.
“You’re not pushing yourself. Let them weave between those trees, but remember you’re not to let them burn the trees.”
“There are no Elves over there, right?” Lucky looked to her, a hint of worry in his expression.
“Raven already looked. At worst you’ll burn some animals and trees. Try not to though.”
Relief flickered in his eyes as the worry turned into a cocky grin. He urged his flames to spread to the far side of the river.
“I find that if I close my eyes, I can feel the fire and ice as extensions of myself. It allowed me to see when I lost my vision for a while.”
“You lost your vision?” Sweat beaded on Lucky’s brow.
“It was Xander’s doing.”
“Alright, good. How about you, Zelia?”
Lucky’s flames disappeared and were instantly replaced by Zelia’s, only hers covered every branch of the trees, herself, and them. She focused a little more and the flames turned blue—then white.
Nikolas smirked at her and she let the flames disappear. “You’re not even trying, are you?”
She shrugged. “I’d have to use my staff or turn to flame to do anything bigger.”
“You can turn to…” Lucky’s brow furrowed. “Can I see? And what can you do?”
“You can do it, too.” Nikolas smirked at them again and then he erupted in fire, only he didn’t just become fire. Where she became entirely made of flames, Nikolas became a flaming skeleton.
“So, this is what you’ve been learning?” Zelia asked.
“Among other things…” Nikolas returned to normal as he stooped to pick up a twig. “Disintegrate this.”
“Um. I don’t know how I did that at The Hold. I just snapped.” She could still see the shock and pain on Eragon’s face as that sword protruded from his chest. He had died because of her, because she’d told him about the battle and he had followed her there. Zelia’s chest burned with pain—not the burning of fire but the burning of loss… of a phoenix.
Nikolas held the twig out toward her and when she looked at it, the light breeze swept it away. A muscle in Nikolas’s jaw clenched as something warm trickled from her nose.
“I’m bleeding again, aren’t I?” Zelia wiped the blood away with the back of her hand, then burned it away.
“You still haven’t accepted what you are yet, have you?”
“No. Not really.”
“Then you’re going to hurt yourself trying. Fregnar explained that you’ll be fighting yourself every step of the way until you accept that other well of power you have within you.”
“Then we’re going to be here for a while.” Zelia sighed and plopped down on a patch of grass that was just beginning to come back. The snow had melted along the river’s bank, not from them but the coming spring. There was a familiar chuckle behind her, and she sighed. “Is that you, Vainoff?”
“It is.”
“I wondered where you had gone when we didn’t cross paths in The Wild.”
“Hm. Yes. I had planned to join up with you, but setting up wards for Banon took a little longer than expected. Multly is there now, so he’ll finish them. He’d rather do that than teach all of you, anyways.”
“Yeah, well, I’ll let you two duel it out to decide who I’ll be working with.”
“Eleanor and I spoke. Nikolas’s training is more important for you. Lucky though, it is time he got a power stone and learned what he needs to.”
“But I—”
“Nope. No arguing with the wizard. Off with ya.” Nikolas waved Lucky off.
Zelia watched sunlight ripple across the river’s surface. The water was so clear here that she could see every stone that lined the river bottom. Fish swam here and there, and disappeared into shadowy hollows in the far bank. She tried to let the calm peacefulness of the scene sink into her, but some inner part of her warred against it.
When the slushy footsteps of her friend faded to nothing behind the rush of water, Nikolas sat down beside her in the grass. “You know, accepting who you are won’t change anything, other than your ability to protect Linithion and everyone else you love.”
“I know. I honestly don’t understand why I have such a problem with it.” She turned a small red and black stone in her hands, it reminded her of the one Asenten had given to her ages ago. He’d convinced her that it let her control her fire magic. She’d fallen for it—until she’d accidentally killed someone without it. So much had changed. “Almost anyone else would love to be declared a god.”
“Perhaps you rebel against it because you know what it’s like to have people fear you because of your abilities. Or because you haven’t accepted who you are, past and present. Fregnar helped me with that. Things make a lot more sense now that I understand why I’m different from the others. Why I’ve always felt a fiery rage burn along my bones.”
Zelia let out a long breath. She knew she had to accept it, she could feel her denial acting as a barrier between her and the other side of herself. She had to accept what she had done for all those years in the cave, and the things she’d continued to do, if she wanted to save everyone. Not only that, but she needed to accept that other part of herself if she ever wanted to truly be there for Linithion.
“I think,” she turned the stone again, “I blocked that power off when Xander and the others made me die that first time. Maybe some part of me knew what they would do. What they would make me do.”
“Perhaps. It doesn’t really matter why you walled off that well of power. All that matters is that you need to unleash it now.” When she didn’t say anything more, Nikolas continued, “Everyone thinks things like fire need to come from a place of anger or rage, but really the most powerful stuff is created when the wielder has found a place of inner peace. I know you’ve been through more than most, but you can find peace. You just have to want it and stop thinking that you don’t deserve it. Because you do deserve peace, Zelia. The very fact that you would willingly throw your life away to save others makes you worth it.”
Zelia thought back through everything she’d done, the good and the bad. Yes, she had tortured and killed people, but she had also spared those she could from the pain by killing them quickly, even though it went against orders. She had done it anytime she’d mentally been able to take the punishment. Had done it anytime it wouldn’t just end in someone else being dragged into that cave. She had willingly killed herself to save Koin. She had given the last of her food to that little wolf pup and bird while trapped in the cave, knowing full well she could starve to death again before Asenten gave her more food. She’d defended those hatchlings and that market vendor on Hyperia. At The Hold, she had been willing to throw the scrap of her soul that had survived the cave away to save Alrindel and the others. And she would will
ingly do it now, to save everyone from the Fenari. Her gift wasn’t death, but rebirth, because she would willingly throw herself away, heart and soul, time and time again to save those around her.
Nikolas held out another twig in silent request and it blew away as ash on the wind with barely more than a thought. Yes. She could do this. She was allowed to give everything to those around her, because that was her gift. She wasn’t just the destruction that is seen on the surface, but so much more.
A weight lifted from her soul and the bond between Raven and her snapped into place. A wave of energy coursed through the bond and she flickered into a living flame before she could stop it.
“Uh. You alright?”
She nodded. “More than alright. Thank you, for making me do that.”
“You’re welcome. You had already done most of the groundwork. Now let’s go get dinner. We’ll go find some fields that need cleared for planting tomorrow, if your dragon doesn’t mind.”
“She’s not my dragon, but I do not think Raven would mind taking us somewhere.”
“I don’t mind one bit.”
Nikolas hunched forward as Raven landed beside them on the bank and her wing brushed their backs.
“Especially since he helped make our bond complete.” Raven purred as she nuzzled Zelia’s side. “Want to go for a quick ride before heading in for dinner?”
“Sure. I’ll see you at dinner, Nikolas.” Zelia could feel Raven’s anticipation as she climbed on. “Just keep in mind that my arms are kind of sore.”
Amusement pulsed down the bond, along with a subtle wave of energy that had Zelia hunkering down as Raven launched herself into the air.
20
The wind whipped through Zelia’s hair and each breath was easier. Raven’s every dip and wing beat was a song in her blood. She had been able to anticipate Raven’s movements while holding the bond open before, but now it was like they were one being and it was freeing somehow.
“My thoughts exactly.” Raven spiraled up into the clouds before diving for the river, her wings flaring at the last moment. Her back feet splashed in the water and Zelia laughed as she felt how the water tickled Raven’s scaled feet. She also could have sworn she felt her dragon wrap her claws around a large fish before swooping back above the trees. “As much as I’d love to do this all night, you need to eat and rest.”