by Gia Tsiknas
Machi snorted, relaxing her guard towards the friendliness that Saiya was showing. “Not much of a story.”
“I’m waiting…” Saiya needled.
Machi ignored her. Saiya’s quipped remarks and soft personality was growing on her and it was unnerving. She felt vulnerable without the warmth of her anger.
“Don’t hold your breath. On second thought please do. If you’re dead, maybe I can have some peace.”
Saiya laughed.
“I would prefer not to do this, but if I’m going to get you talking, I guess I must.”
Saiya mumbled a few words and picked up a twig. It burst into flames. Moody, waking from his nap on Machi’s lap, growled, and bit Saiya’s arm, drawing blood.
“Ow, you stupid lizard, let go!” The stick fell, no longer on fire as Saiya’s concentration broke.
“Your little pet doesn’t like you.” Machi laughed.
Saiya glared at Moody. The dragon stared back, unblinking, shivering in anger until Saiya sighed. “Fine, I’ll leave her be. Happy now?”
The little lizard nodded and curled up on Machi’s lap again. Machi cackled. “I like him, what’s his name? Moody? Well, he sure lives up to it.”
“Sure, you would.” Saiya grumbled, a wry smile lighting her face.
“What?” Machi narrowed her eyes.
“You’re a Drakian so of course you’d find his little outbursts amusing.” Saiya pompously stated.
“Oh,” Machi sneered in distaste. “That again. You and that cracked bard should form a guild.”
Saiya laughed, “In one respect, we have. We are both followers of Raboni, and I guess that qualifies as a guild of sorts.
Several moments passed before Machi whispered. “He saved me, didn’t he?”
“Yes.”
“I wonder why.” Machi smiled sadly.
Saiya let the silence envelope them, and Machi was grateful. After a few moments Saiya nodded.
“Machi, daughter of the Drakian Yue, who remarried a Denarian. Now an orphan with a temper. Escaped with another village orphan, Brizna, from Poachers during a raid. Current occupation: a Black Guild Hunter. Brizna, a Tracker and minor mage who sold charms, disappeared to an unknown location. Now on the Black Guild’s hit list. That about right?”
Moody lifted his head as waves of emotion came from Machi. He crooned and rubbed his head on Machi’s face. She pet him. As the silence stretched Machi regained her speech. “How’d you find that all out?”
“What?” Saiya looked up innocently. “I just like talking to people.”
“Talking to people my foot! You’ve been stalking me!”
“I do like talking to people. You have a habit for flair, is all.” Saiya smiled.
Machi glared. Moody cawed and took off from Machi’s lap.
“So now we move onto the main topic, the gift.” Saiya settled back.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
LAMENT
Once the door clanged shut the partygoers just stood there, dazed amongst the garden finery. Brizna bit his lip and turned to Etsuko.
“We need to get out of here. Fast. It won’t take long for a guard to notice we aren’t guests, or for that psycho to call them back in and see we aren’t following orders.”
“But Emika.” Etsuko choked out.
Brizna remembered the creature of shadows in the hall, how eerily similar she was to Etsuko. How obediently she followed Queen Zafirah’s commands. Brizna steeled himself, drawing her away from the doors and deeper into the garden.
“That wasn’t your sister. Not anymore. We need to focus on finding your brother and getting away from here.”
Etsuko bowed her head and let Brizna drag her forward. The garden was a low-walled maze of flowers and greenery interspersed with metal tables and chairs for individuals or small groups to enjoy the weather. It was getting difficult to navigate the pathways as the sun continued to fall among the mountains.
Wait, mountains? Brizna’s head shot around, noticing the spires of rock beyond the castle walls. There were no mountains in his home country. Just rolling hills and forest.
His breath quickened, and he swallowed hard. Where were they? He pinched his eyes shut and turned to Etsuko. She was staring off into the maze, oblivious to her surroundings.
“Keiji?” She called. So quick Brizna couldn’t react Etsuko tore from his grip and leapt over a row of bushes.
Brizna cursed and ran after her. He could just see Etsuko in the darkness. How had she seen her brother? Brizna shelved his questions. His magicked finery ripped as he tried to push through a rose bush and before he knew it they came to a pagoda in the center of a clearing.
A small boy stood at the entrance. Etsuko was talking, edging forward as if she was approaching a frightened animal. Brizna glanced around the clearing, the hair on the back of his neck stood. Something wasn’t right here, but he couldn’t place it.
Etsuko made it to the boy, but he backed into the pagoda and out of sight. She followed. Brizna cursed again and knelt to the ground, feeling around until he found a loose rock.
He closed his eyes and focused, keeping a firm image of a blade in his mind. The rock shifted and crumbled, shaping itself into a small knife as if he had spent days chipping the stone to form. Once done he stood and crept forward.
***
“Now leave me.”
Aidrian bowed and ran from the room. Zafirah snapped her fingers and the doors to the balcony spread open, her courtiers returning to their night of festivities. Their faces did not turn to the ragged man running as if the Shadow pursued him.
With Ulokhu at his heels, Aidrian fled the castle walls. He was white with fear. Without a pause he opened a shadowed portal that led far away from Zafirah’s dreaded palace.
He arrived at his own private retreat. The magnificent cave and its majestic stalagmites and stalactites overlooked a view of Agudin’s northern forest. It was hidden high in the mountain range that was the border between Agudin and Drakia.
The view was so beautiful and small that Aidrian felt he could hold it in the cup of his hands. His own personal world. He would kindle his obsessions here, plan his moves. But not today. Today Aidrian sought the comfort of solitude, something the cave held in abundance. Aidrian stumbled against the wall, letting out his true emotions behind his groveling: loneliness.
He slumped on the ground, defeated. Ulokhu came up to him and pressed his cold nose to Aidrian’s cheek. If anyone saw they would have viewed it as a sign of affection. But the demon’s touch only stifled Aidrian’s thoughts, wrapping him in a cycle of envy to distract the man. He pushed Ulokhu away.
“Leave me be. I will be fine after time alone.”
Ulokhu growled, and bit Aidrian’s arm. Aidrian didn’t flinch. “LEAVE! I will call on you when I decide. I am your master. Now go!”
Ulokhu snarled, but obliged. He left Aidrian in total silence.
Aidrian sighed. As much as he told himself otherwise, it was a lie. Ulokhu was the master, and he was the servant.
“Why?” Aidrian asked the stars. “Why is this happening?”
With Ulokhu gone, Aidrian had a blessed moment to think. Silence enveloped him once again.
***
The pagoda was pitch dark when Brizna stepped inside, the sun having long since faded. Stars peeked through the archways but it did little to illuminate the interior.
“Etsuko?” Brizna frowned. The pagoda didn’t look that big from the outside. She should be there.
Moments drew out, and he whispered her name again. Brizna brandished the knife. Machi had taught him a few tricks from the Hunters, but he had never had to use them before. His eyes moved around the space, trying to make out the shadows.
After several long moments Brizna heard a low voice call back. “Brizna?”
“Etsuko!” Brizna whispered. “Where are you? I can’t see anything.”
“There’s a trap door with a staircase. I followed Keiji there, but he disappeared.”
The
uneasy feeling settled in Brizna’s stomach again.
“Come out of there. We need to go. Keiji is lost if he didn’t recognize you from that distance.”
“Don’t say that.” Etsuko’s voice was tight as she withheld her tears. “We just need to get him away from that woman and—”
Etsuko yelped. Brizna leapt forward. He found the door and sprinted down the stairs. Please make it in time.
He tripped over something large and went sprawling onto a landing he hadn’t seen coming in the dark.
Etsuko groaned. “Was that you? Why d’you kick me?”
“You fell? That’s why you cried out?” Brizna’s breathing slowed.
“Of course, you dolt.” Etsuko snarled. “Why else would I… oh.”
The full weight of his panic settled onto her and she shivered. Brizna summoned a small ball of light to illuminate the landing. The weak light flickered and grew brighter.
Etsuko gasped.
They were in a stone corridor, unmarked by doors. Unlit torches lined the walls on either side as it sloped in a downward direction.
“You think this is the bolt hole Whistler mentioned?” Brizna whispered.
“I don’t know.” Etsuko lifted her hands to the wall and pulled down one torch. “Can you light this on fire? That way the light stays around if you get distracted.”
Brizna nodded and sent a trickle of fire to the torch. It blazed into life and he let his ball of light fade.
“How do you know so much about the gift?”
“All Drakians learn of it. It’s a part of our heritage, a part of us.” Etsuko lit a second torch and handed it to Brizna. Now they both had light.
Brizna frowned but didn’t press further. Machi hadn’t known about magic or its limits. In fact, it had surprised her when he had shown his gift.
“Never mind. Let’s go.”
The two of them walked into the corridor as it led deeper into the mountain’s depths. As they walked, the well maintained path soon gave way to solid rock, opening into various pathways and caverns filled with stalactites and stalagmites. The roar of water in the distance grew louder as they pushed onward until they came to an underground river, ferocious and violent. It dumped into a gaping cavern of black.
A small stone bridge spanned the chasm. The water looked to have carved the rock away, leaving the bridge spanning the space that swallowed the river into darkness.
Brizna shivered. There was something wrong about this space. Something evil.
“We shouldn’t be here.”
“My dad would tell stories about this bridge.” Etsuko strode to the bridge then turned around and wiggled her fingers. “He said the Shadow himself was trapped here. Forever cursing the ones who stepped on the stones marked by his seven generals.”
A shiver prickled down Brizna’s back. Story or not, this place is bad news. Etsuko stepped forward.
“What are you doing? Etsuko, get back here.” Brizna hissed.
“Come now, you don’t believe those ghost stories, do you?” She laughed and rolled her eyes, her expression so much like Machi Brizna faltered, his cheeks flushing.
Etsuko walked up to the first stone of the bridge and paused. She looked down.
A low hiss echoed through the cave. Etsuko’s head shot up, scanning the darkness that lay outside their torches. Brizna lifted her torch above his head, trying to get his eyes to adjust enough to make out anything.
“Another, another, kindred soul.” The voice, a girl’s, slithered through the dark.
“Close your eyes.” Brizna whispered to Etsuko. She squeezed them shut. Brizna closed his own eyes and pictured a ring of bright fire surrounding them. The light flared into existence, and the unknown girl shrieked.
“Run!” Brizna grabbed Etsuko’s hand and pulled them toward the bridge.
Etsuko tripped, her hand ripping from his grasp. Brizna turned and a sharp pain stabbed into his shoulder. The enormous slit eye of a snake was the last thing he remembered as he fell to the floor.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
GIFT
“Defending yourself from magical attacks is essential for you to survive. The concept is easy. But the practice is difficult.”
Even in the afternoon’s languorous peace Saiya was uneasy. The gleam in Machi’s eye didn’t make her think Machi would use her powers for the good of mankind. But He called her to teach. And teach this girl, she must.
“You should pick this up pretty quickly.”
“And why’s that?”
“It’s in your blood.”
“I suppose you’re referring to the myth about Drakians being dragon witches.” Machi rolled her eyes.
“That ‘myth’ is the reason you are in danger.”
Machi stiffened.
“Right. Now, the concept of magic is simple. You think of the object and its purpose, and it’ll happen.”
“You’re kidding.” Machi’s eyes narrowed.
“Nope.”
“So all this time I could have pictured things in my mind and made them happen?”
“In the barest essence, yes.”
Saiya waited as Machi processed this information.
“What’s the catch?”
“And now the tough part.”
“Which is?”
“In theory, magic can be worked easily, but as the flight-minded humans we are, we get distracted. And when that happens, we shatter our incomplete magic.”
Machi tried to internalize the words; to keep her doubt from staining her mind. Saiya waited again.
“So the only reason I’m not supremely powerful is that I’m easily distracted.”
“Correct. Now, why don’t you try throwing a piece of wood into the fire?” Saiya gestured to a neatly piled stack of firewood near their campfire.
“Fine.” Machi glared at the wood as if to scare it into submission. Nothing happened.
Saiya burst out laughing.
“Not so easy, is it?” Saiya came up to Machi and took her hand, reaching it to the log. “Close your eyes. I will help.”
Machi glared at the log then closed her eyes.
“Now, visualize a strong image of the log, the fire, and yourself, block out the rest.”
An image formed in Machi’s mind, helped along with Saiya’s magic. The log lay in front of her, the fire to her left.
“Now imagine picking the log up and dropping it into the flames.” Saiya’s voice was far away, soothing.
Her imagination had her pick up the log and walk to the fire.
CAW!
A crow leapt into flight, its wings beating a hasty retreat from the floating log. Machi’s eyes flew open in time to see it land with a thunk on the clearing floor. She scowled.
“Stupid bird.”
“Don’t blame the bird for surprising you. Blame yourself for being surprised. In magic you must expect everything, so nothing remains unexpected. A calm head is essential.” With a few muttered words and a flick of her wrist Saiya sent the log onto the fire, stirring up sparks. Machi noticed a nearby squirrel had scampered by the log, chattering at the movement. Saiya paid it no attention.
“Why did you mumble and motion with your hand?”
“It’s a focus to help concentration. For me a few words and a motion help me hold my magic in my mind.”
“But wouldn’t that allow others to know your intentions?”
“You are quite right. So I try making up my own words and mumble them. You’ll soon learn that all magic users have their own tricks to help them concentrate. Well, the good ones do.”
“As for the next concept, I believe I’ll start with a demonstration.” She turned to a pile of logs waiting for their turn to be consumed by the flames and mumbled. The wood burst into flames. In a flash Saiya grabbed Machi’s hand and plunged it deep into the fire.
Machi cried out, but fell silent at once. She looked up at Saiya with wonder.
“My hand’s not burning.”
“Precisely.” Saiya smiled.
>
“But how can that be? An illusion?”
“No.” Saiya motioned to the flames. “As you can see, it’s casting a shadow. This fire is real. Think broader.”
Machi paused, taking in the odd occurrence in front of her, and talking aloud to work through an answer.
“The wood is being consumed, and the smoke stings my eyes, so the fire must be real, as you said.” Machi glanced at the breakfast fire and the burning woodpile, observing each with care. “There is no heat. And the light from the woodpile is much brighter. It’s more consistent.”
She turned to Saiya.
“Could it be that you took only the light from the fire and magnified it? And diminished the effects of the heat?”
“You are a quick one.”
Machi brushed off the compliment, inside she burned with unexpected pleasure.
“That’s a stiff explanation, but yes. In simpler terms I manifested light as fire. I could also do this.”
Saiya snapped her fingers and the woodpile fire leapt from its source into Saiya’s outstretched palm, forming itself into a tight ball. To Machi it resembled a miniature sun, giving off a steady stream of light.
“Useful when you forget a torch. The best part is, I can light this anywhere, even under water. It requires no fuel, only my concentration. I don’t even need to hold it. The globe will float anywhere I tell it.”
“So you can bend one of fire’s attributes to your will? Can I do that with anything?” Machi’s eyes were wide with possibilities.
“Almost. I bent light to my will. We can shape light into different manifestations, as with many other items. However, there are limitations.”
“Like what?”
“I can only create light in its designated forms, apart from a few exceptions.”
“Let me guess, like fire, the sun and lightning.”
“And anything that reflects light. For example, mirrors, water, and jewelry can glow. However, you couldn’t make your clothes glow. The only way they could glow would be if you lit them on fire. A perfectly wasteful thing to do, if I do say so myself.”