Queens (The Wielders of Arantha Book 2)

by Patrick Hodges

  Despite Liana's offer to Rahne to spend the night in their home, Rahne graciously declined. He still hadn't come to terms with his unexpected reunion, a confusion Nyla understood. Before he could return to his berth aboard the Talon, however, Davin stopped him.

  “I have something important to tell you all,” he said to those who remained. He produced the squarish device Maeve had called a computer pad and pushed a few buttons. His expression morphed into one of awe. “I've spent hours trying to come up with a way to explain it … frankly, I'm not sure I understand it myself.”

  Everyone just stared at him, their eyes brimming with anticipation. “What is it, Dav?” Maeve finally said.

  Davin gestured for everyone to sit. They obeyed. His first comment, curiously, was directed at Mizar. “In the mountains, when my mother and I were digging for the Stone we found, we both got terrible headaches. We used medicine to manage the pain so we could keep going. After we found the Stone, though, the pain seemed to go away.” He gestured at his mother. “That's when my mother started Wielding.”

  “That is curious,” Mizar said. “When I was a lad, I recall enduring similar pain as I made my journey to Dar. The pain wasn't as unbearable as yours, but I still remember how discomfiting it was.”

  “What else do you remember?”

  Mizar ran his fingers through his beard. “It was like … the buzzing of a thousand insects inside my head. When I stood on the Nexus of Arantha, however, it all went away.”

  “That's when you discovered your own abilities?”

  “Yes.”

  Davin's brow knitted, and he began to pace back and forth like a caged animal.

  Nyla looked upon Davin with renewed interest. She'd never known a boy before, let alone one close to her own age, but from what she already knew about his parents, Davin was likely the smartest person on all of Elystra. With him on their side, they were that much stronger.

  “Describe the Nexus of Arantha for me,” Davin instructed Mizar.

  “It is the focal point for thousands of tiny shards that line the walls of the Crystal Cavern at the heart of Mount Calabur,” Mizar said. “It is on that spot that every Wielder in Daradian history has unlocked their abilities.”

  Davin brightened. “And only men are allowed to become Wielders in Darad, yes?”

  “That is correct.”

  “What are you thinking, Dav?” Maeve asked.

  Davin turned to face the entire group. “Everything we've heard, everything we've learned about the Stones' nature, seems to indicate that only women are affected by them. The legend of the Agrusian Stone, the one the Ixtrayu safeguarded for centuries, bears this out. They do not affect men at all. Unless—”

  “Unless they are the sons of female Wielders,” Liana interjected, drawing everyone's attention.

  “Correct,” Davin said. “And even then, the only effect the Stones have on them is that it gives them headaches. It happened to me,” he glanced at Rahne, “and it happened to you.” He turned to Mizar. “The only difference between us and you, High Mage, is that you had access to the Nexus of Arantha.”

  Rahne's mouth fell open. “You mean … if I—if we—were to travel to Darad and stand on the Nexus—”

  “We would unlock our own Wielding abilities, yes,” Davin said, casting a concerned glance at Maeve. “Mom, you said that you were exposed to a Stone when you crash-landed on Denebius IV, right?”

  Maeve's eyes narrowed as she searched her memory. “I can't confirm that, but it's the only explanation that makes sense as to why I can Wield.”

  “And since you were pregnant with me at the time …” Davin said, trailing off.

  “But why?” Mizar asked. “Why are the circumstances for men becoming Wielders so different from women?”

  “I don't know.” Davin proffered his pad. “I've run every test I can think of on the Stone. Whatever it's made from, it defies analysis. I have a bunch of wild theories to explain what they are and how they affect us, but I can't prove any of it.”

  Maeve stood up, moving to his side. “Please, tell us. If understanding the Stones will help us defeat Elzor and win this game, then don't hold back.”

  Davin took a deep breath and nodded. “I believe the Stones are a conduit for trans-dimensional energy.”

  Nyla felt her head spinning. “I have no idea what that means.”

  “Sorry.” Davin shot her an embarrassed look. “Like I said, it's tough to explain. Let me try again.” He exhaled. “The Stones, as I'm sure you've guessed, are not from this world. Judging from how deep inside the mountain we found ours, they probably came here thousands, maybe millions of years ago. Wherever they came from, they seem to draw energy from an external source that we can't even begin to measure.”

  Davin fixed Nyla with a stern gaze. “Elystran men and women, just as it is for human men and women, possess slightly different brain chemistry. I'm betting it's for this reason that the Stones seem to affect the genders differently.”

  “So why aren't more women affected?” Liana asked, puzzled. “Even among the Ixtrayu, only a handful have been recipients of Arantha's gifts. It has always been thus.”

  “I don't know,” Davin conceded. “We've established that every Wielder, male and female, was born of Ixtrayu mothers. Something must have happened to Soraya and the other slaves eight centuries ago to begin this whole chain of events. Something happened to change the way their minds, their bodies conduct the energy the Stones give out. And ever since then, it's been all genetics—abilities are passed from mother to daughter, or mother to son.” He turned his attention back to Mizar. “It's only by an extraordinary twist of fate that a means for men to become Wielders exists at all. I can only guess that the rock of Mount Calabur, when combined with the extradimensional nature of the Stones, are what give you and Sen your power.”

  “This is all fascinating,” said Nyla, rising to her feet, “but how does it help us find my mother?” She glared at Davin, who took a half-step back. “I understand we need to beat Elzor, but I'm not joining this fight unless she's at my side!”

  “Nyla,” Maeve said in a soothing voice, “I want to find Kelia as much as you do, but we have no idea where they've taken her.”

  Nyla's lips pressed into a thin, bloodless line. “I do.”

  Maeve's eyes widened. “What are you talking about?”

  “Just now!” Nyla pointed at the Talon. “I told you, I saw three things when I consulted the Stone. One was of Vaxi returning. I also saw …” She stared at the ground.

  “What?” Maeve asked.

  “I saw … villages. On fire. And there were bodies. So many bodies …” Nyla choked back a sob.

  Mizar stood and strode over to her. “That sounds like the vision I had; the same vision I believe Merdeen had ninety years ago. Did the vision include Elzaria?”

  She nodded slowly. “Yes. She was murdering people. Men, women, children. She enjoyed it. And Elzor was watching her do it.”

  Mizar's eyebrows raised. “Then you have seen more than I have. What was the third image?”

  Nyla glanced up, meeting the High Mage's gaze. “I saw … a mountain. A large, solitary mountain. At its base was a small settlement. I don't know how, but I feel like … that's where my mother is.” She shook her head. “But there are probably thousands of mountains on Elystra. We can't search all of them.”

  “If only I could share your vision,” Mizar said. “Perhaps I would recognize what you could not.”

  “Perhaps you can,” said Maeve.

  All heads turned to face her.

  She smiled at Davin. “Go get the Stone, kiddo, and a tarp. I've got a crazy idea that just might work.”

  * * *

  After helping to lay the large tarp on the dusty ground next to the ship, Maeve placed the Stone in its center before sitting down, cross-legged, next to it. She then instructed Nyla and Mizar to join her.

  “Um … want to tell me what you're doing, Mom?” Davin asked from the perimeter of the ta
rp, where he stood with Liana and Rahne.

  “It's simple,” Maeve said with a self-satisfied smile. “Nyla, you are going to consult Arantha again. At the same time you touch the Stone, you will Share with Mizar.”

  “Share?” Nyla's gaze vacillated between Maeve and Mizar. “I've never done that before!”

  “I know,” Maeve replied, “but you've inherited all your mother's Wielding abilities, including divination. The Sharing, which I've seen your mother initiate on several occasions, is a form of what we call 'telepathy'—the transmission of images from one person to another. It is my hope that what Arantha shows you, Mizar will also see.”

  “I've never heard of such a thing,” Mizar said, his brows knitting. “But then, I've never met a female Wielder before now. I'm fascinated to see if this works.”

  “I don't know, Maeve,” Nyla said, casting a nervous glance at Liana. “Are you sure it's safe?”

  “No,” Maeve said. “But we're low on options. Nyla, you can see the images, but you don't know what they mean. Mizar is not only a telepath, but has the wisdom and experience that you don't.” She smiled warmly. “And besides, you're family. Put the two of you together, and there's nothing you shouldn't be able to do, especially with me augmenting you.”

  “Ama?” Nyla again looked at Liana.

  “The choice is yours, nima,” Liana said, “but I am forced to agree with Maeve. Put your faith in Arantha, and she will light the way for us.”

  Nyla's eyes drifted skyward. Was Liana right? Was the divine goddess still on their side? Would she lead them to her mother?

  Anxiety overwhelmed her as her gaze fell upon the Stone, which had begun to glow, ever so faintly, as if in anticipation of their imminent union.

  She pictured Kelia, a prisoner of the monsters who attacked the Plateau. For all she knew, her mother could be injured, near death, shoved into some dank, dark hole to await her fate.

  Then she pictured Sarja, her beloved Sarja, lying lifeless below her. The memory of her best friend's beautiful face, forever hidden behind her burial shroud, being laid in her grave, set her stomach roiling.

  I will do this. For my mother—for my Promised—I must do this.

  Nyla set her jaw, glancing sidelong at Mizar. “Come closer,” she said. Mizar edged closer, settling into position right next to her. He leaned over, and she placed her fingertips on his forehead.

  “Are you ready?” Maeve asked them both.

  “I am ready,” Mizar said, closing his eyes.

  “Yes,” Nyla said. “Let's begin.”

  Maeve, too, closed her eyes, raising her hands as she prepared to manifest her own Wielding abilities.

  Nyla moved her right hand, stopping it just above the Stone, which flared into brilliant luminescence. As her eyes closed, she incanted, “I bask in your divine presence, O Arantha, for I am your humble servant.” Then her hand made contact with the Stone.

  * * *

  A dark, featureless landscape spread out before Nyla as the murky haze of her inner vision slowly resolved itself. Shadow gave way to light, and she felt the sensation of solid ground under her feet. Unlike her first consultation, which had been such a flurry of images and sounds that her brain was totally unprepared for, it felt much more natural. There was no disorientation, no confusion. Only clarity, bolstered by Maeve's unique powers.

  A vast shape coalesced in the distance. A tall mountain, the same one she had seen before, loomed on the horizon. Her mind's eye traveled, faster than even the swiftest chava, towards the gloomy, craggy peak, which seemed to grow in menace the nearer she got.

  Her progress slammed to a halt. The mountain was close now, staring at her with evil, unseen eyes, and a shudder passed through her.

  Fear not, child, came Mizar's voice. She turned to see the High Mage standing beside her. It is just a vision. A mere image cannot hurt you.

  You're here, she heard herself say.

  Yes. He smiled. What a curious sensation. I've experienced hundreds of visions in my long life, but this is my first time sharing one. It's quite … intriguing.

  She returned her focus to the ramshackle collection of huts and tents that gathered around the foot of the mountain like newborn chicks around their mother.

  The vision continued to bring them ever closer, into the center of the settlement. Several men milled around, going about their daily business, preparing food, tending their merychs, or crafting weapons. The men were rough looking, almost brutish; many bore ugly, scraggly beards, and their faces looked to be painted in various shades of red and blue with some form of dye. Even though Nyla knew they could not see her, a small part of her retained the irrational fear that they would notice her spying on them.

  Where are we? Nyla asked.

  Before Mizar could answer, the burliest man she'd ever seen strode over to a wooden grate that covered a narrow hole in an empty patch of ground in the middle of several structures. As she watched, the man bent over and spat at whatever was imprisoned in the hole. Then he straightened up, dropped a piece of raw meat through the bars, and sauntered off.

  Whether by Arantha's will or her own, Nyla forced herself forward until she stood at the edge of the earthy pit. She gazed down, trying to discern the cell's occupant. Terror froze her heart as she beheld a pair of sandaled feet jutting out from beneath a torn, soiled, reddish-brown robe.

  Mother! Nyla wanted to scream, but before the word could find voice, the landscape changed again. She reached forward as if to hold onto the vision, but there was nothing she could do. In this place, she was at Arantha's whim, which swept her along like an insect caught in a windstorm.

  Her inner vision focused once again, and her chest tightened as she found herself in the middle of another village, much larger than the one she just left. Dozens of buildings, proud wooden structures, were ablaze, flames licking high into the night sky.

  She'd been here before, in both her first consultation and her last one, and she knew what was about to happen. She tried desperately to return to her actual body, to break contact, to end the consultation, but could not do so any more than she could avert her eyes from what she knew came next.

  A sense of grim inevitability enveloped her as men, women, and children ran panicked through the streets, seeking to escape the conflagration. A man and a woman, clutching the hands of two children, cleared the burning buildings and were about to flee into the nearby tree-line when a figure stepped from the darkness, unleashing bolt after bolt of deadly lightning. The man and woman barely had time to release their children before they were struck down, falling to the ground dead. White-hot hatred welled within Nyla as Elzaria watched her helpless victims die.

  Another cloaked shape stepped from the shadows to stand next to Elzaria. This man Nyla also recognized, with his short beard, cruel eyes, and evil sneer: Elzor.

  Nyla wanted to let loose every ounce of power she possessed at the dark twins, but could not. This was only a vision. Of a future that hadn't happened yet.

  Could they prevent it?

  Nyla watched helplessly as Elzaria continued to stride through the center of the town, picking off people as they emerged. She cast mournful eyes at Mizar, who was still beside her, his face frozen in impotent rage.

  The sound of wood splintering nearby drew their attention. A building that looked to be a tavern, totally engulfed in flames, buckled outward. A sign that hung from an eave on the outside bore words that she could barely read as the wood blackened and charred: The Mage's Lair.

  Nyla heard Mizar gasp, and then everything went white.

  * * *

  “Nyla! Nyla! Are you all right?”

  She opened her eyes to see Maeve staring at her. Liana, too, knelt beside her, her face scrunched up in worry. She looked at her hands, which felt completely numb. She tapped her fingertips together, trying to will the sensation back into them.

  “I'm all right,” she said. “Mizar?”

  The High Mage leaned back on his hands, sucking in deep lungsful of
air. His eyelids fluttered open, and he met Nyla's gaze. “Out of breath,” he panted. “Give me a moment.”

  Davin came forward with several mugs of cold water. Nyla flexed her fingers, coaxing the feeling back into them, and finally, they obeyed. She snatched a mug from Davin and drank its contents in two gulps.

  As Mizar downed his helping of water, Maeve asked, “Did it work?”

  “I think so,” Nyla said, a tear forming at the corner of her eye. “I saw my mother. These men were keeping her prisoner in a hole in the ground, but I don't know where.”

  “Mount Vaska,” Mizar said, having regained his full voice. “A dormant volcano just south of the Vandan border. The men keeping your mother were definitely Vandans.”

  “Are you sure?” Nyla asked.

  Mizar nodded. “I was with King Armak, Aridor's father, when his army put down the last of the Vandan uprising over thirty years ago. Mount Vaska was their last stand. We won the war, but Armak was felled by a cowardly blow from behind.”

  “So that means Elzor and his sister have allied themselves with these … Vandans?” Maeve asked.

  Mizar tried to stand, but his legs wouldn't cooperate, and he fell back down with a flump.

  “Easy now,” Davin said, circling around to help the old man up. “Don't try to stand yet.”

  “I must.” Mizar grasped Davin's arm and, with a burst of strength, hauled himself to his feet. “I must speak to Aridor immediately.”

  “Why?” asked Maeve.

  “The other vision we shared,” he said, his eyes flicking to Nyla, “the one that showed Elzaria's murderous rampage through a blazing village. It is indeed the same vision I had before. I wasn't able to discern where the massacre took place … until now.”

  All fell silent as the High Mage's face became ashen. “The village being destroyed? It was Ghal. Only two hours' ride from my father's farm. My home province.”