by Marc Johnson
I didn’t understand her. I was trying to cut ties to make things easier for both of us and for the good of her kingdom. She should have understood that. She made decisions for the well-being of her kingdom every day despite what she wanted to do. That’s what she taught me.
After three hours our watch ended, and I dropped into an unrestful slumber.
I stand alone in the darkness, but it’s not the darkness that comes after night falls. It’s the darkness I once saw in Premier’s eyes. It’s what happens in the absence of light.
The darkness swirls and moves as if it’s alive. It pauses and stares at me. I step back to escape it, but it stalks and chases me. I run as fast as I can, but there’s no retreat.
The darkness leaps and smothers me. I try to shake it off, but it clings to me like soot. It crawls over my skin until it flows into my mouth. I choke on its cold touch, thinking that it will fill me with death.
My body betrays me and welcomes its icy touch. Lurking within it is a mighty power, and it calls my name. It feels familiar, as if I’ve known it my entire life.
A blinding light bursts from nowhere. The blazing light burns bright until it’s a fire. The fire flies towards me, and my body absorbs it. Its warmth comforts my skin until it too fills my body. The darkness withers and I yell in agony. I can breathe again.
But the darkness doesn’t leave. It still surrounds me.
The fire that fuels my magic rips from me, trying to incinerate the darkness. It fails and the darkness renews attack.
The darkness leaps out and fills my body again. I stumble and fall to the ground. Instead of reaching out to my flame, I let the darkness consume me.
I woke up drenched in a cold sweat. The morning mist lingered in the air, forever fighting a losing battle against the sun. I gathered up my bedroll and went to tie it to my horse. I was in the middle of securing my saddlebags when the princess came over to me.
“Are you all right?” Krystal asked, concern in her voice.
“I just had a bad dream.”
“It seemed more than that.”
I opened my mouth to lie, but thought better of it. I knew I could trust her, but I hated feeling so vulnerable around her, especially with what had happened between us last night. I stepped in closer and kept my voice low and muffled so that the elves wouldn’t overhear.
“There’s another reason I’m going to Southern Shala,” I said. “I also need some help.”
“With what?”
“My power.”
As quickly as I could, I told her my dream and how there was something lurking within my flame—a dark and powerful magic aching to be unleashed. Each time I reached into myself and needed more magic, it beckoned me, enticing me. She could understand more than most. She was there when it first happened.
“What do you think it means?” she asked.
“That’s just it. I don’t know. Stradus never told me about this before he died. And it didn’t come up until then. There are no wizards to turn to in Northern Shala. I’m hoping the council can help me, and that what I’m going through is normal. You know I wasn’t a wizard until I beat Premier. It’s all still so new to me.”
“And if it’s not normal?”
“I don’t know. But as someone once told me, I’m not going to worry about that now.” I smiled at her. “I have more important things to focus on, like warning the council about Premier, Renak’s threat, and finding a cure for the most beautiful woman in all the lands.”
Krystal blushed and grinned. She briefly laid her hand on mine before walking away.
We consulted the map before riding out across the vast plains towards Fairhaven—the place where we would all find what we needed.
We fanned out as we rode south, trotting along the plains. We kept an eye out for any town or village, or even simple travelers who could tell us if we were close or if there was a nearby place we could resupply.
After half a day’s ride, my temples began to throb. I turned my head away from the bright sun and put my fingertips to my temples, trying to massage them. The pain worsened, like a dagger pushing its way into my head. The reins slipped from my fingers, and I tilted until I fell. I smashed into the hard ground and the rocks drove into my back.
“Hellsfire!” Krystal said.
The others leapt off their horses and ran to me. Rebekah and Jastillian were the closest. I staggered as Rebekah helped me to my feet. Our horses spooked, whinnying and bucking. Before the others could corral them, they galloped away and took our supplies with them.
The pain struck again. I slipped through Rebekah’s arms, but Jastillian caught me. The ground shook and trembled, buckling beneath our feet. The blue sky deepened. Its normal colors vanished, replaced by an angry red with black clouds in it. The thunder rumbled in concert with the earth, and the wind picked up, forcing me to shield my eyes.
“Come on!” Jastillian yelled through the rough wind. “Stay close!”
I tried to follow him, my ears throbbing. Rebekah held me upright as I tried to move my sluggish feet. Jastillian motioned to the others. I stopped and turned, trying to spot the princess.
A magical force smashed into me like a falling mountain, and my legs gave way. My head spun out of control, and my stomach tightened so hard I thought it was going to burst. Waves of rainbow auras seared my body. I screamed in agony.
We had to get out of this magical storm, but I couldn’t move. My muscles were jelly. I spewed my stomach up, gagging and coughing, while the wind tore at my face. The others weren’t as affected as I was, but they were still in trouble.
Jastillian and Rebekah propped me up. The elves, Krystal, and Ardimus all tried to get closer. We had to leave and get out of this together. I yelled for Krystal with my remaining strength before the magic overtook me and I blacked out.
CHAPTER 19
When I regained consciousness, my head pounded. I moaned. A fire roared near me.
“Glad to see you’re awake,” Rebekah said, helping me sit up.
Jastillian handed me a skin of lukewarm water. I swallowed, and sighed as it soothed my throat. I glanced around for Krystal. I didn’t see her or the others anywhere.
“How are you feeling, lad?” Jastillian asked.
I rubbed my sore head. “Terrible, but I’ll live. Where are the others?”
“We don’t know,” Rebekah said. “The storm worsened. We were barely able to get you and ourselves out of there.”
My heart got stuck in my throat. “The princess?”
She shook her head. “The wind and hail kept us apart. We were nearly hit by lightning, and we had to veer off to get away. I backtracked once we were safe, but I couldn’t find them or see where they went.”
Despair and hopelessness surrounded us. Not a noise could be heard. They could be anywhere in Southern Shala. What other traps were out there? What other forms of magic did they have to deal with? Was this just the beginning of what Renak had warned me about earlier? They needed me. She needed me. And we had no idea how to get to Fairhaven. Neither did they. The map was on Prastian’s horse. What were we going to do now?
“Do you know what happened, lad?” Jastillian asked.
“A spell. A very powerful spell.” I cupped my fingers under my chin. “A ritual like that would have taken at least a dozen wizards to perform. But why would they create a trap like that? What kind of wizards are down here?” The stories my former master had told me, about the wizards he knew and the helpfulness of the Elemental Council, might no longer be true. Much time had passed and a lot had changed since the Great Barrier and the War of the Wizards.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I should have listened to myself. I sensed it before I knew what it was.”
Jastillian placed a hand on my shoulder. “No need to blame yourself. You couldn’t have known what would happen, wizard or no.”
I grimaced. I didn’t agree with that. I was supposed to be protecting them from any magic down here. I looked at my companions. “So what do
we do now?”
“We need supplies,” Rebekah said. “We have a few things on us, but our horses ran away with most of them. Afterwards, we go look for the others.”
“If they’re still alive,” Jastillian said.
I stared into the surrounding night. I closed my eyes and focused. I still felt the bond between Krystal and me, no matter how faint it was. I didn’t know if it was magic or wishful thinking, but I knew in my heart that she wasn’t dead.
“They’re alive,” I said. “I can feel it.”
Jastillian gave me a hopeful smile. “That’s good, lad. If the gods are on our side, we‘ll rejoin them soon enough.” The spark in his eyes matched my desire to find them.
“Agreed.”
“Good. Now get some rest. We’ll keep watch a little while longer.”
I wanted to argue with him. They had done enough for me already. But I didn’t, as I felt my body crying out for rest.
----
Without the map, we couldn’t tell how to get to Fairhaven. We didn’t want to backtrack east for fear of the disturbance we had run into, as we didn’t know how widespread it was. We decided to head west.
We traveled for two long days. The water in our two skins ran out. We found neither river, stream, nor brook and resorted to sucking the dew off the morning’s grass. Using my power, I could pull water out of the environment. Once a day, I was able to create a small handful of water for each of us. It left any nearby flowers and plants withered.
The dates, prunes, figs, and other dried fruits in my purse were gone. There was no big game for Rebekah and Jastillian. They took to hunting and trapping small animals like hares, snakes, and gophers. That kept the hunger at bay, but it wasn’t a proper meal.
One day, we reached a sea of high grass and weeds. There was no way around it. They were tall enough that I couldn’t see over them without leaping in the air. Since I was the tallest, I led the way, fighting against the grassy current. Unlike the water, this current had sword-sharp points attached to it. I pushed and stepped on them, breaking their stalks, as they were too flexible to be cut by Rebekah’s sword.
I quickly put my hood up when the sharp blades cut me. I had to spit out the small bugs that jumped in my mouth. I wished they were bigger. Even though I didn’t regularly eat meat, I would have eaten them.
“Tell me you see an end to this, lad,” Jastillian said from the rear.
I jumped a bit, trying to scan the layout of the land. I shook my head. “Nope. It goes as far as the eye can see.”
“Still don’t want to change your mind about burning it? I’ll owe you one, lad.”
I chuckled. “The only thing I’d do would be to start a huge brushfire.”
“I wouldn’t mind.”
“Shhh!” Rebekah said. “I hear something.”
We all paused in our tracks. The two withdrew their weapons and I readied my magic. We turned our heads, trying to figure out what she’d heard.
Off to the left, the tall grass rustled. The air was so still that it couldn’t have been the wind. The noise continued, heading right for us.
I gathered in surrounding energy, thinking about that storm trap and the wizards behind it, of Premier, and of Renak’s threat. The rustling in the fast-moving grass was almost upon us.
Just when I thought a monster was going to appear, a dark shadow soared through the air in a graceful motion, briefly blocking out the sun. He landed a few feet from us and created a clearing for himself. He stared at us, his purple horn glistening. A red scarf was wrapped across his white neck, and his long, white mane and tail swayed in the wind. He stomped his hooves and neighed.
“A unicorn,” Rebekah said in a hushed tone.
His black eyes gazed at Jastillian and Rebekah before settling on me. He seemed to be communicating with me, but I couldn’t understand his language. The unicorn broke eye contact and turned and galloped away, the folds of grass welcoming him.
We glanced at each other, all with the same thought in our heads. “Let’s follow him!”
We ran through the grass, pushing and fighting against the rough sea. The cuts and scratches on my exposed skin no longer mattered. Suddenly, I felt no more resistance, and I nearly tumbled. We were free of that accursed grass. However, the unicorn was nowhere to be found. I had heard they were faster than any horse, but how did he get away from us? We weren’t that slow.
“There he is!” the captain said and pointed.
The unicorn stood a hundred feet from us. He stared at us and didn’t move. He ran as we moved toward him, and we chased him across the plains. We never seemed to get any closer, but he never got any further from us. Finally the unicorn galloped over a small hill. We continued after him, but more slowly now, tired from the travel and our lack of adequate food and water.
I reached the top of the hill and leaned over, gasping for air. Sweat dripped from my forehead and I wanted to collapse from exhaustion. What were we doing chasing a unicorn? We had more important things to worry about. I lifted my head and saw, through my hazy vision, that the unicorn had vanished.
Jastillian and Rebekah finally caught up to me, and the pair was panting just as I was.
“Where did he go?” Rebekah asked in between breaths.
“He’s gone,” I said.
“Blasted unicorn!” Jastillian said, slapping his knee. “He led us on a chase. At least we got to see one, and now I truly know that they’re far more intelligent than horses.”
“What’s that?” Rebekah asked. She lifted her hand to her eyebrows, leaned forward, and squinted.
“What do you see?” I asked.
She allowed herself a small smile. “A town...or possibly a city. I can’t tell from this distance.”
“Do you think that unicorn was leading us here?” I asked.
“The question is, why?”
“Either way, we have no choice,” Jastillian said. “We need supplies and information. And a warm bed, food, and drink would be nice too.”
“But we must be careful,” I said, thinking of the trap that had disbanded us. “We don’t know what’s in there.”
“Aye.”
We headed for this city, relieved to find a place of civilization, but worried about what type of people lived in Southern Shala.
CHAPTER 20
As the sun set, we trudged our way towards the city. While we walked, I kept wondering if Premier had come this way too. He couldn’t have known about the trap. He might have been forced in this direction. I clenched my fist in anger, aching to kill him for what he did to Krystal.
Off in the distance, we glimpsed groups of people heading toward the city, but it was going to be another hour before we arrived there. I kept glancing around as we walked. I felt as if we were being watched. I never saw anybody and I couldn’t sense any magic, but I couldn’t shake that feeling.
A wall surrounded part of the city, but it was crumbling from age and years of neglect. Fallen stones were piled on top of each other, waiting to be repaired. A group of small children played around them. They climbed on the rocks and poked their heads out between the holes. As we approached, one of the older ones looked up at the sinking sun and gathered the others together, leading them off home.
There were guards posted near the rubble where the children had played. They reminded me of those I’d seen when entering Alexandria or Erlam, except these guards looked tired and weary. Their rumpled red uniforms almost matched the color of Jastillian’s armor, but theirs were a slightly lighter shade. They chatted to each other, slouching and leaning on their spears. As we approached, they halted their conversation and glared at us. We kept our heads down and avoided eye contact, hoping they wouldn’t stop us. They didn’t, but I still felt their eyes on my back.
There were stables about a hundred feet from inside the demolished wall. We passed them and went on to the marketplace. The stalls were closing, the vendors packing their wares to go home.
The flat wooden structures were dull and unpa
inted, and some of them were rotting. One stall had carefully placed bracing, keeping the structure from falling down.
I noticed that over half the people we saw wore red. They had red tunics, scarves, cloaks, and headdresses. I had gotten used to emblems and colors being worn by guards in other cities, but here it seemed that everyone wore the same colors.
We passed by a young couple. They whispered sweet nothings to one another, with their arms wrapped around each other’s waists. The woman laughed at what the man said, but she soon had to stifle a yawn. A man walked his young boy home, holding him by the hand. But he seemed to drag his feet as he did so.
We traveled the dirt-covered streets, searching for an inn. I kept my wizard senses open, seeking to find any hint of magic in this crowded city. Even if I found a wizard, I wasn’t sure how I would approach them or if they would even help us. Until I figured that out, we would pretend to be simple travelers.
We stumbled upon a bustling inn and went inside. The aroma of roasted pig flooded my nose, and the sight of a baked potato on a nearby plate made me salivate. I blew into my numb hands and rubbed them, letting the warmth of the place seep into them. I quietly thanked the gods that we had a reprieve, but I wondered about the others. How did they fare and what were they going through right now?
I surveyed the room, wondering who we could get information from without sounding suspicious. My gaze lingered when I spotted centaurs at the tall tables. Their half-horse and half-human bodies were astonishing. I had heard stories, but always thought them too strange to be real. It was as if the gods couldn’t decide on what to make them.
At other tables, I spotted a few gnomes. They were similar in stature to dwarves, with similar strength. Physically, it was their noses that differentiated them—twice as big as a human’s nose. From what I’d been told, they had far grumpier personalities too. A pair of them gambled and argued over the outcome.
Two human men in the corner caught my eye. They wore big, simply cut robes like mine, but theirs were different colors—a dark forest green and an earth-toned brown. Like most of the people in the room, they had red scarves around their arms. I turned my head away before they caught me staring at them. I also suppressed my magic in case they might be wizards.