Blaze of Magic

by J. A. Culican

  The troll's massive club sent the elf flying through the air just before a sword blade appeared in his chest. The troll looked down at the blade with a confused expression, then toppled, revealing an enemy elf had come up behind him.

  Bells drop-kicked another troll in the back, sending it staggering forward, where one of her troops skewered it with a spear.

  The sword whirled in her hand, thrusting left and slashing right, taking over a troll here and a were there. She spun to deliver a backhand swing, and her sword passed cleanly through a woman's neck and shoulder. Bells paid no attention to the spray that painted half her face red.

  As she spun for the attack, she saw a dragon running toward her. Jaekob... Oddly, she saw no thrill in seeing him alive and once again coming to her rescue. There were far too many enemy troops to kill for her to waste time worrying about what one dragon was doing.

  Her brief glimpse of Jaekob also revealed that the troops she had taken from the enemy with the sword didn't know who Jaekob was, and they formed a shield wall to keep him back. It was almost amusing to watch him fight with his spear, trying not to injure them.

  Then her spin carried him out of view and out of mind. All she thought of were the enemies in front of her. She waded through the raging melee, heart singing with every kill and every conquest. She allowed herself to become lost in her blood lust, and every doubt and worry faded away as if by magic.

  Somewhere nearby, someone called her name. So far, it seemed as though most of the attackers recognized her and knew her name. Well, before she died, she would give this one the opportunity to fear even her memory. Bells spun on the ball of one foot and leaned far forward on the other as she executed a perfect lunge. The maneuver brought her low to the ground and the enemy's sword swished harmlessly over her head. Bells, however, didn't miss; she buried her blade to the hilt in the man's sternum.

  Bells rose up to her full height and shoved on her enemy's chest with one hand and pulled on her sword with the other, trying to dislodge it. After a moment, the blade came loose, her enemy groaning as he toppled to one side.

  A man's hand came into view, reaching out to touch her sword hand. A familiar voice said, "Let it go, Bells. It's just a tool. I swear to you that we can find another way, if you still don't trust it—"

  Bells brought her extended sword arm back, draw-cutting the new attacker's arm just past the wrist, her blade biting deep. She followed the beat with a quick riposte that buried the already bloody sword in her new attacker’s belly, slicing through his flashing scales like paper.

  She looked up, determined to watch the light fade from her attacker's eyes, but when she met his gaze, her maniacal grin vanished in an instant, along with the ecstatic battle fury the sword had gifted her with.

  Scales?

  The man looked like Jaekob.

  She shook her head. It couldn't be. "No... No... J—Jaekob?"

  Where had he come from? This couldn't be happening.

  She looked down with a rising panic. It could indeed be him.

  She was vaguely aware of a raw, soulful scream, then realized it was her own voice.

  Jaekob began to topple, a stunned expression etched into his face. Bells rushed forward, wrapping her arms around him. He was too heavy, but she wouldn't let go. They fell to the ground together, and she landed on her backside with his shoulders on her lap, his head resting on her right arm, her strong arm.

  She cried out, "No! Jaekob, why are you here?"

  This could not be happening. This was a dream. A hallucination caused by elf wizards. Right? But it wasn't, and she knew it. His blood covered her hands, her clothes, but most especially, her sword. Rivulets of red ran along her sword’s spine and into the dirt, pooling under them both alike, but she paid it no mind.

  "Jaekob, we have to get you to a healer. There has to be a way—"

  He reached up, arm trembling, and placed a finger on her lips, silencing her. "I—I wanted to—help you," he said, but his voice was raw and shaking, growing weaker with each word he spoke.

  As his lifeblood bathed the Sword of Fire, he looked up into her eyes and gasped, "The people... Need a leader... Be that leader. You don't need... sword..."

  Tears fell in rivulets from Bells' eyes just as the blood ran from Jaekob's belly. She leaned over him, placing her forehead on his, heedless of his blood now covering her and soaking into her clothes. She didn't care about that. She kept her forehead on his, the fae greeting, and shook her head. "No, you hold on. A pixie is coming, an elf, someone is coming. They can heal you, I'm sure of it. Oh, Jaekob, what were you thinking?"

  He reached up and placed a shaking hand on her head, his fingers sliding into her hair. Bells leaned down, her lips on his. "Don't go. Please, Jaekob, I need you. Don't leave me."

  His voice raspy and weak, he haltingly forced out words. "I. Love... you... don't need the—the sword."

  A coughing fit interrupted him, wracking his body. Bells sobbed and clutched him like a drowning woman to a life preserver. "I love you, too, you foolish man. I wish I’d told you sooner but I was afraid. My family, your family, lots of reasons. All those reasons, they don't matter. Just don't die. I need you. Please, my love, stay here. Stay with me."

  Blood trickled from his mouth as he looked up at her and said, "The people. Worth it. I—I believe that. And you... worth..."

  The battle still raged all around them, but Bells heard nothing. The world was silent to her at that moment, and none of it mattered, not anymore. Why, oh why, had he told her he believed? That meant she had to believe because she had promised him she would. She would sit there with him, his life draining away, until the enemy overran her troops and thankfully ended her misery on the point of a sword or spear. She was okay with that now. Her man had told her he believed. They were worth it, the people, and in the end, they were worth all of this.

  She said, "I believe, too. I believe in you, and I believe in the people. If you can believe in them, anyone can. They'll find a way, someday." She stroked his hair with one hand, the other gripping him tightly enough that her knuckles turned white.

  Bells felt the sword's tendrils shifting in her mind, wrapping themselves around this new development. An overwhelming sense of calm passed through her. She noticed the sword and cocked her head—it had begun to glow, a faint white light emanating from it. That light seemed unhindered by Jaekob's body or his blood, spreading outward from the wound itself until he and she both were bathed in its light. It formed a glowing ball around them, like a protective shield or a cradle of caring, swirling around them both and pulsating like a heartbeat. Bells didn't have the words to describe it, actually, and stopped trying. She only knew it was beautiful, and she got to share it with Jaekob during his last moments.

  There was a sudden tug, then another, and then the ball of light lifted up off the ground. She gasped as she realized the ball of light was carrying her and Jaekob up with it. The sword itself, however, passed through him and then out of him, yet caused no more damage, like it was only an illusion. When it fell, it clattered to the ground and flared brightly before disappearing just as a crowd of elves and trolls rushed toward it. The ground grew smaller beneath her as they continued to rise.

  Cradled in her arms, Jaekob shuddered again and, half-panicked, Bells clutched at him—but his breathing had grown steadier. With one frantic thought, she focused her fae senses on him and gasped when she heard his heart beating strong and even, his breaths coming easily, regular, strong. The edges of his wound grew together and knitted, and then the muscle beneath, and then the organs under that, and she somehow saw all of it as it happened.

  What on Earth was going on?

  A new awareness flooded through her, burning away the tendrils of the sword that remained in her mind. And that new awareness convinced her, with no hesitation, that the thrall of the Sword of Fire had somehow been lifted, not just at the scene of battle far below, but from every person who had been infected by it, as though it had never touched them.
There would be no more dropping out, no more slaves, no more magic-fueled rage...

  Bells cried out simply to release her frantic energy. At the sound, Jaekob's eyes fluttered open again, and her heart leaped into her throat.

  Perhaps there would be some chaos in the world because of her choice, but she smiled. The people of the Veil would decide for themselves, choose their path, just as she had chosen her own path—a path that lay with Jaekob, whatever his fate.

  Then, the white light of the sphere grew brighter and brighter still. It didn't hurt her eyes, though. It merely blocked everything else out, even the whistling air outside the bubble. As it grew still brighter—impossible!—it washed her very thoughts away as well. Her last thought was no thought at all, but a pure and brilliant white light rising out of sight into the sky.

  Bells walked through the market plaza, looking around in awe as she pointed out all the new shops to Harp. "Father, watch out," she said, guiding him around some scaffolding that held trolls swinging hammers at nails, not war clubs at people, while the fae shopkeeper called up directions at them.

  She kept her gaze moving, constantly looking for hazards and people. The market had never been so bustling, and there had also never been so much construction or so many repairs, all going on at once.

  Harp kept staring at the workers and their fae employer even after she led him away from the bizarre scene. There were lots of bizarre scenes in the market, now.

  "So," he said as Hawking’s Wares came into view up ahead, "how is your new beau? It seems people never run out of things to say about him, but I don't get the sense they hate the idea of you two."

  Bells stepped aside to let a large were and her two elf assistants pass by, then turned back to her father with a smile. "He's doing well."

  "No sign of where you shoved two feet of steel through him?" Harp chuckled. He always did think his jokes were the most amusing.

  "Ha! No, only a faint pink line, but I think it will fade to nothing, despite his best efforts."

  "Best efforts? What do you mean?"

  It was Bells' turn to laugh. "Jaekob has always been the strong-willed sort. I just meant that I thought he was risking getting another few feet of steel shoved through him when he was talking to the Black Khan and his commanders. But it turned out that he was right and I was wrong. Those meetings went better than anyone could have expected."

  As Harp stepped onto the stairs leading up to Hawking;s Wares, the doors opened and a tall, lanky elf came out, walking like he was late for a meeting. Perhaps he was. Bells stepped aside to make room for his many packages, and he nodded in appreciation as he went by with overstuffed arms.

  Harp said, "I don't think I'll ever get used to that."

  Bells understood just how he felt. The Black Khan's elves were still a novelty in town, but more arrived every day—even as Crown elves started to uproot to find adventure in the lands previously barred to them.

  With the way clear, Bells led her father into the store and up the stairs, then knocked—she remembered Hawking's reservations about people just walking in the last time she was at his shop.

  "Come in, cousin," came Hawking's voice from inside, and the door swung open on its own, courtesy of the glowing red glyph emblazoned on the door. Bells didn't recognize the glyph, but that was becoming more and more common in the city, with all its new residents who had new ways of doing things. Sometimes, better ways.

  Hawking got up from his seat and there were family embraces all around. He motioned for them to sit on the couch, and then sat on the loveseat by a stack of papers on an end table. He smiled and said, "So, how is the move going? I know you've basically lived there for a while now, but making it official... A pretty big step, cousin."

  Bells shrugged. "With the manor at half capacity while repairs are going on, that is sort of on hold for the time being. Besides, we're happy staying in a fancy human hotel. I think that's what they called them. The place you can stay, but you have to pay nightly?"

  "Yes," Harp and Hawking said together.

  Hawking continued, "It must be nice to at least have your choices available without a bunch of poison and anger from other people."

  "Actually, that is rather nice." When she and Jaekob had announced what many people already knew, she had worried about the backlash from everyone else. Two weeks ago, it would have been a completely taboo decision. The new city's differences ran more than skin deep, more than just how silk robes felt different than cotton ones.

  She added, "It's been better than I ever hoped."

  Hawking rustled some papers on the table, then pulled one thin packet out, placing it next to the others. "Of course, the world is a different place than it was a week ago. You know? With the sword gone, its slaves all snapped out of whatever that spell was, but they weren't the only ones with a new perspective on everything."

  Bells frowned. The sword was still a touchy subject for her, but not because she missed it. Not by any stretch of the imagination. "Well, I think people got a second chance to realize what they really want out of life, and for most, that turned out to be freedom. The kind of freedom they never knew they wanted before all that happened. Maybe it took being stripped of their willpower and their freedom for them to regain a belief in freedom. If you truly believe in it, you want it for everyone, or else no one is truly free."

  Harp said, "Well, good on them. Maybe if they had been treated like fae sooner, there would be a lot more people alive today than there were a week ago. How many died?"

  Bells put her hand on her dad's knee. "Father, we don't talk about that. You can hang onto it, or you can just let it go. I think I have more reason to hang on to that garbage then most people do, even you, Fa. If I can let it go..."

  "...Then I can, too? I guess I'm going to have to. After all, the world just got flipped on its head. My daughter wants to handfast with a dragon, the prince of the world wants to handfast a fae farmer's daughter, and nobody said no. If an old man like me can learn to like a young buck like Jaekob, then I can learn anything—maybe even how to let go of all that garbage, as you put it."

  Hawking chuckled, then handed the packet to his uncle.

  "What's this?"

  "Open it," Hawking replied.

  Bells watched, curious, as her father flipped open the first page in the packet, which was blank. His jaw dropped and his eyes got wide. He said, "I know you're my nephew, but this is extraordinary. Are you sure?"

  Bells felt like jumping up and down on the table, but instead, she remained calm as she asked, "What does it say?"

  Harp shook his head, but had the corners of his mouth turned up in a wry smile. "The Crown of Pures. That's what. It is a decree that our little village is free, and every family who lives there is getting an equal share of the land and an equal share of any profits from buildings and services located in the Commons. You know, the flour mill, the bridge toll..."

  Well, that was fantastic. Bells almost laughed to see her father stunned. Hawking somehow got the proclamation long before it was supposed to go out in one week, according to the date at the top. "We are all fae, here. I know my senses are stronger than most, but surely you have felt what is going on, right? It's an undercurrent thrumming all through the planet's energy lines—"

  From the doorway, Jaekob's unexpected voice rang out, high and clear. "Belief is back. With that belief, the land is starting to heal from the damage done by humans—and by Pures. It's happening in the city, first, but spreading from here. In the tour I just attended with Mikah—who is healing nicely, by the way, and you can barely see the burns anymore—it seems the nearest village is again able to grow food plants without the fae. With any luck, everyone will soon be able to feed themselves without relying only on the famed fae plant affinity. You know what that means?"

  All three fae nodded at once. Of course they knew. It had been a dream ever since the Pures returned to Earth and took over the place.

  Jaekob crossed the room and squeezed in next to Bells. H
e was happy, her father looked happy, Hawking looked thrilled.

  As for Bells, for the first time she could remember, she felt... satisfied. Maybe all it took was the freedom to decide for herself what she wanted in life and what she wanted to do with that life in order for her own healing to begin. Healing she hadn't even known she needed.

  Of them all, though, only one knew the Sword of Fire hadn't actually disappeared. It couldn't be destroyed, but the world didn't need it any longer. This cycle couldn't have turned out any better, and he had been lucky enough to witness the latest renewal, guiding things where they needed a little push. That's all it ever took, and this time was no different.

  Hawking smiled and rose to serve brunch to his guests—his family.

  The End.

  Now available, the prequel to Through the Ashes, Spark of War. Learn what life was like for Jaekob in the Warrens before the dragons Rose.

  https://books2read.com/u/bP5LDj

  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

  Fire Oath-Blood of Dragons 1

  Short Stories

  The Golden Dragon-Keeper of Dragons short story

  Jericho-Keeper of Dragons short story

  Phoenix-Hollows Ground short story