“So, that was an awkward situation I walked in on. What happened?”
I ignore my grandfather and follow him to a temple up the hill, a bit from his house.
“What should I call you?”
“Grandfather?”
“I don’t know you well enough for that. I don’t have any family; I haven’t since my mother died.”
He rubs his chin and sits on a mat on the floor. I follow suit, leaving my sword by the door. I left one in the house for Elainne to keep with her. She is more proficient with a staff, and without magic, she can’t hold a mage at bay if he doesn’t want her to, but I feel better her having access to it if she needs or wants it.
“It seems to me that that isn't true. Family stays with you when you need them most. That girl is here, without magic, friendless, facing possible death, because of you.”
“Don’t remind me. I need to learn fast and get us away from here.”
“Is she well-liked elsewhere? It didn’t sound it from what I have heard.”
He better shut his mouth soon or I will shut it for him.
“Don’t speak about it to her!”
“It seems she knows it well. It is you that has a hard time accepting it.”
I hate him for being right. I take a calming breath. I am not sure if she can sense the anger I am feeling now. I know the Kemp bond still works for me. I am sure it does for her as well, even here so far from the Elvin forests and magic. Still, I am not sure how strong it will come across and I don’t want her to come charging in here, ready to stab my grandfather to save me from something that she can’t save me from.
“It bothers her. She hides it well, but it does.”
“You don’t bother to hide it.”
“Why should I? I don’t have her kind heart and I don’t care what others think of me, or her. I know she’s good, no matter how she came into this world.”
“You love her greatly.”
I instantly put on my court face. I don’t even think about it. It is instinct after hearing that I am too familiar with Elainne so many times from her uncle.
“Don’t bother denying it. I know the symptoms, my boy. I myself was once in the same situation. Denying what I felt because of differences that seemed too great to overcome. Love hits where it will and we all just have to play along.”
“It isn't like that. It’s the Kemp bond.”
“Did you know that I met Elainne’s father and Kemp while I was there? Did you know that they hated each other? They were bound only by the Kemp bond.”
“He misses him now.”
“Of course, the binding is one of the souls, so once the other is gone it eats at you no matter your personal feelings.”
If that is true, Elainne will never survive my death. Her father still grieves for the loss of someone he hated. She and I are close. How can I save her from the pain of my death?
“She’s strong,” I say it knowing it is true but not knowing if she is strong enough. That is the worst part, knowing I will be leaving her alone and not being able to do anything about it.
“She is. However, she loves you so much; I don’t think she will survive well without you. So do not waste too much of the time that you have alive dancing around it, boy. Now I want you to sit and close your eyes. Picture the flame, feel the heat, let it start big and constrict it until it is the size of a candle's wick. Then open your eyes, pull it from your mind, and let it light this candle.”
How can he just say things like that and change the subject? Does he think it will help me to concentrate any?
“What you said before?”
“You will push to the back of your mind and light the candle. Maybe then I will talk more about it.”
“I have no trouble summoning the fire, just controlling it once it is out, shouldn’t we focus on control?”
“I am the teacher, you are the student, and you will do as I say!”
Nothing gets my back up more than a command from someone who I have not given permission to do such things. My officer in the army. Elainne. Very few have earned and kept my respect; even fewer do I truly respect enough to take their advice. He is not one of them.
“You can command me all you wish but it will not help. When Elainne was teaching me she focused on control since I didn’t have any, taught me to control my emotions while using magic. You shouldn’t be expecting me to just conjure fire when you have no idea what will happen.”
“Nothing I can’t deal with!”
“I am just as powerful as you! We are all the same!”
“This is why Elainne could never be your teacher because you aren't like her and never will be! She is different and that’s all there is to it!”
I do picture the inferno but I don’t shrink it to the size of a candlewick, I release it in full-blown fury. It explodes around us sending us both flying into opposite walls.
Elainne
I feel Viktor's fury. I expected him to get frustrated and was prepared to ignore it, but this is different. I run out of the house in time to see and hear the explosion. I smother a scream and run towards the flames. They are both still in there. I am not alone as others use magic to get there just after I reach the hilltop. I am grabbed and thrown to the ground. I struggle, trying to futilely to get out of the magical bonds.
“You will die for this, Elf.”
“I don’t have any magic; how could I have done this?! Please let me go, Viktor is in there! I need to get to him! Please!”
I struggle until something hits me in the back of my head and I see nothing but black. My last thought is that I never told Viktor that I loved him.
Viktor
I have to get out. I can feel Elainne panic, can feel her close. She will come in after me and could be killed trying to save me. I pull myself up, feeling the blood running down my face and neck. My shoulder is dislocated, my leg was broken, and I have a concussion. I can feel burns and cuts all over me.
“Grandfather?”
I hear a groan and crawl towards it. Where is he?
“Viktor.”
At least that proves he is alive. I start crawling for the door and windows. This shack hadn't been sturdy, to begin with, because he only uses it for meditation and prayer, on fire, it is downright insane to be inside of.
Suddenly the fire is out and people are coming in, chanting over us and bringing litters to carry us to the medical ward. I look around for Elainne, but I can’t see her. She should be here, I feel her. I can’t see well but even with my limited vision; I would see her if she were here. So, what happened to her in the last few minutes? I try to push myself away from the mages and to ask.
Their response is putting me to sleep, while I silently curse them all to hell and back.
Chapter Six
Elainne
I wake up when doused with freezing cold water. It is the mountains; all the water is always freezing. It shocks me and instantly I feel frozen through. I shiver; the air here is cold and dank. There is no light except by torch. In front of me stands a few mages. What they think I can do chained up and frozen, I am not sure, but apparently, I still warrant multiple guards.
“What am I doing here? I thought I wouldn’t be hurt.”
“You haven’t been, yet. However, Gander and his grandson are in critical condition, and until we find out what you did to cause the explosion, you are our prisoner.”
“Did you ever think that I didn’t start it? Viktor has no control over fire; we both said so when we arrived. If he lost control, it could have caused it.”
“If he is corrupted by Elvin incompetence it is because of his connection to you. Without you, he could be trained.”
There are prejudice and ignorance at work. I am trying to be patient but this is ridiculous.
“I didn’t do anything! I have spent lots of time and effort to train Viktor; I have even almost lost my life in the process! I haven't done anything to jinx his control. Nor could I without my magic!”
“We s
hall see how long you sing this tune. How long do you think you can live without food and water?”
Torture. I grew up knowing it was possible, that my father could become disenchanted with letting my mother and I live. That he could decide to torture and kill us for fun. However, I never thought that I would be tortured so far from home, or by anyone but him, honestly.
“This is a mistake.”
“We shall see abomination.”
They leave and I shiver, wishing my hands weren't tied behind me so that I could rub my arms. I am quickly losing feeling in my body. On the upside, I won’t feel the torture as much, on the downside; I have less time until hypothermia sets in.
Later on, they return, and it turns out no matter how cold and numb you are, you still feel the torture.
Viktor
I awake with a start, my heart pounding, blood pumping and ready for action. My entire body screams with pain but I try to move anyway.
“Easy Viktor. They have tied us to the beds. Apparently, you were thrashing too much in your sleep and they were worried. I tried to come to you and got tied as well for my trouble.”
I look over at my grandfather who looks almost brown and crispy. I did that. I will feel bad later after I see Elainne, find out why my Kemp bond is causing me to go on high alert, and why I can’t feel her at all despite my body knowing something is wrong.
“Where’s Elainne?”
“I don’t know. I asked once and was spelled back to sleep. I haven't seen her any of the times that I awoke.”
“How long have I been out?”
“A week.”
I have to find her. I try to draw on her Elvin abilities; if I can get the strength, I can break the bonds. After all, they are meant to hold down an injured thrashing person, not a healthy Elf. I can’t draw from her and feel an empty space where our connection should have been. What has happened? Had she gotten close enough, fast enough, to be in the explosion? Have I killed her?
“Elainne!”
People come running in and start holding me down as I struggle and pull away from all of the hands that are grabbing at me. They need to hold a part of me to do the sleep chant. Healing requires physical contact for the duration of the spell. Most healing magic does, no matter the race doing it.
“She is not here, you must sleep.”
“I have to find her now, let me go!”
“She has stood trial for the explosion and was found guilty. She is sentenced to death, so the spell that she has on you will be broken and you can be saved.”
They say it all so calmly and all I can think is that they are insane. My world is covered in a haze and I see slow-motion detail of everything going on around me. The pitying faces, the attempts to hold me still so that they can chant me back to sleep, patting me on the head. My anger consumes me, I break the bindings using my magic and the collective to shove everyone back ten feet. Everyone hits a wall, except my grandfather who is tied to a bed.
I manage to stand somehow and grab one who is still conscious.
“Where is she?”
“The dungeon. It’s too late. She was sentenced to death after torture and after being denied food and water. It’s been a week. She won’t survive, no matter what you do. Hold out a bit longer. Her hold on you will be broken within mere hours.”
“She has no hold on me! I stay with her because I love her and if she dies so do all of you!”
I go over to my grandfather, using what little healing I know to speed up the process. I can’t use Elvin magic, but healing is healing, so I do well enough. I break his bonds.
“Take me to her. Now.”
He nods and rises slowly, holding his side. He is wounded badly there. Somehow, I can’t bring myself to care if he bleeds out whilst leading me to her. As long as I make it to her before it is too late. I can’t let her die for my carelessness.
We pass many people who are running towards the unconscious mages that I left behind.
“You will no longer be welcome here for this.”
“As if I give a damn. This training was Elainne’s idea. I agreed so I wouldn’t hurt her anymore.”
“And you have given up that goal?”
“I’ll focus this time and pay attention better. She is a better teacher than you gave her credit for. It was my own fault that I learned nothing.”
He is hobbling along, shaking his head at me.
“She won’t be safe around you if you can’t control your magic.”
“If I can’t, I will have her rip it away from me. I don’t need it. I have the swords; she has the magic. I am fine with that.”
I know from her reaction that it will hurt, and that is just temporarily taking away her ability to do magic. Her permanently crippling mine will be much worse. I will likely need guarding for a while instead of being the guard. It will be worth it to know that I can’t hurt her anymore.
“It will cripple you.”
“Kemps can bear greater pain than others. I’ll live.”
We continue in silence until he drops to the ground.
“I can’t go on.”
“You’d better. I might need the information that you can give me to get her out.”
“It’s that way, underground, and spelled. Any magic you do will turn against the prisoners.”
“Like the Elvin dungeon.”
Instantly I shiver and force the nightmares back.
“We got the idea from them.”
“How did you escape? You and mother are the only two to ever do so and I can’t ask her. I need to get Elainne out without hurting her more.”
“It’s easy Viktor, think about it. The magic you use turns against the prisoner. Light a fire and everyone burns. What happens if you heal?”
“It doesn’t work.” I am not sure but it is a good guess. He smiles and shakes his head.
“Wrong. Healing magic helps you. It’s your friend. But you have to be specific. You don’t heal all the injuries or pains. You heal where the cuffs have rubbed your wrists raw and that’s it. Nothing else or it won’t work. The continuous rubbing anew and healing make an explosive effect. It blows the cuffs off you. Granted, you have bloody wrists for a bit, but wrists heal and I found being in the dungeon worse than having aching wrists for a week. When you go in, don’t heal her, it will twist and kill her. You heal her wrists and ankles if they are bound, and the explosive energy goes into the cuffs. Get her out before you heal anything else wrong with her. After she is free, you cannot use any magic until clear of the entire building.”
“How do I know you aren't lying?”
He glares at me before smirking.
“She was right about you. You take your job as her Kemp very seriously. Moreover, I am right that you two love each other deeply. She wasn’t sure about you if you felt the same, but I have seen what you two are willing to go through for each other. Your grandmother and I, we gave in to the pressure. I ran away, she chose to stay with her people. We could have left our communities and lived together. We were too afraid of being alone and outside of our comfort zones. You two have what it takes, Viktor. Don’t lose her.”
“They will know you helped me.”
He shrugs and looks back towards the medical wing that is now on high alert.
“Love is worth sacrifice. You are willing to sacrifice your magic. It is a part of your soul and you are willing to give it up to be with her. If I had had your determination, your grandmother and I would have raised our daughter together.”
“I can’t let them kill you for my actions.”
“I will be given a trial. I can speak in my own defense.”
He will fail. They have made up their own minds already.
“They won’t kill me right away, even if I am guilty. We are given a certain amount of time to get our affairs together. A week for my defense, a week to make a will and alert those needed to come to get what will be theirs.”
Two weeks. Two weeks to heal Elainne up and come back for him.
He laughs and shakes his head.
“Don’t make me false promises. Just take care of your lady. Remember me fondly, and if you see your grandmother again, tell her I still love her.”
I nod and hurry towards the building that he had pointed towards. There is a ward; I use the collective to break it. I remember very little of my training but I have two things going for me. The Kemp bond puts my instincts in overdrive, and I have seen Elainne break a ward before when her uncle threw me in the dungeon once for being too familiar with his niece. It was her aunt’s ward, the magic showdown between her aunt’s powers and her own had been terrifying. I paid close attention and luckily, her aunt hadn't taken offense.
I run ever down until I find her lying there. She is bleeding from everywhere. How am I supposed to ignore all of the damage and postpone healing her? Carrying her out will likely kill her but I can’t heal her in here. I do as my grandfather says, breaking off the cuffs and slinging her over my shoulders. I need our packs. We will die without our things. I book it through the woods until I come out by his house. I lay her on the guest bed and start healing chants. I know lots of them but it is slow going. They are not as successful, being Elvin healing chants that I am using mage magic to do. It just doesn’t work the same or as effectively. We don’t have time for it.
I have to give her back her magic. If she has it maybe, it will keep her alive and help. I try my damndest to give it back but I hear noises before I can figure out the process. I throw the packs over my shoulders and carry her in my arms. I don’t have time to deal with them. Nor will I leave her alone to do so. She is dying, I can feel it.
“I know I said I wouldn’t do this, but you are dying already and I can’t defeat them all without you. Please don’t let this be the end.”
I kiss her forehead and pull. I can feel her body slipping into a coma; everything Elvin about her leaving her and filling me. I can’t use the Elvin magic but I can feel its pressure, can feel it waiting for me to leave the collective and call upon it. It stags me and I go down to my knees. Even being unable to use it, it is this bad. What will happen when I am somewhere where it is at full strength? How does she carry this inside her daily without exploding?
Champion Complete Series Page 28