Water Keep

by J. Scott Savage

  Chapter 34

  Sticks and Air

  By late that day, the fog had turned into a steady rain and Marcus and Kyja were soaked to the skin, despite their supposedly waterproof cloaks.

  “I think the Weather Guardians did this on purpose,” Kyja said.

  Marcus grunted, too cold and tired to say more. At least his tailbone didn’t ache like it had after riding Chance all day. He wanted to think it was because he’d become used to riding, but he suspected it was because Galespinner’s gait was so smooth and silent he could barely tell she was moving if he closed his eyes.

  For his part, Master Therapass seemed impervious to the rain. Marcus guessed a thick pelt of fur had its benefits. And if Galespinner was bothered by the water, she didn’t show it in the least. In fact she didn’t show much of anything, and Marcus found himself missing Chance’s silliness. He considered trying a knock-knock joke on the mist steed, but was afraid he might offend her.

  “Is it time to stop for the night yet?’ he asked Master Therapass, who’d trotted along beside them all day without any rest. The only chance they’d had to stop was for bathroom breaks. Master Therapass insisted they even eat on the move.

  The wolf glanced up at him with its dark, gleaming eyes, and Marcus had to remind himself it was actually the wizard inside. At least four feet tall at the shoulders, and with a mouth full of wickedly sharp teeth, he was an intimidating sight. Marcus was glad he was on their side.

  “I thought you wanted to learn magic,” Master Therapass said. “Or are you too tired for that?”

  “I do,” Marcus stammered. “I mean I’m not.” Early that morning he’d asked Master Therapass how to do magic, hoping the wizard would teach him some special words or ingredients for a potion. He thought Master Therapass had forgotten his request. Apparently he’d been wrong.

  The wolf stopped and sniffed the air. “I do not scent any trace of the Dark Circle. Perhaps we can spare a few minutes.”

  Kyja watched Master Therapass anxiously as Galespinner pawed the ground.

  “When do we start?” Marcus asked. His mind filled with images of wands and glittering powders.

  Instead, the wolf picked up a small branch in his jaws and, without a word, threw it at Marcus with a twist of his neck.

  Marcus ducked, but not in time to keep the stick from beaning him squarely between the eyes.

  “Ouch,” he cried, rubbing his head and trying to ignore the mist steed’s whinny that sounded suspiciously like laughter. “What was that for?”

  “Your first magic lesson,” the wolf answered. “Take the branch and throw it back at me.”

  What branch? he thought to himself, before realizing the stick which hit him in the head was floating a few inches from his left ear.

  “How’d you do that?” he asked, snatching the stick out of the air.

  “Throw it at me,” the wolf said.

  Marcus wound up and let go. Although his left arm could barely move, his right arm was strong, and he knew the throw was on target as soon as the stick left his hand. But at the last minute, it swerved and missed the wolf’s head by a good two feet.

  “Hey,” he gasped. That would have come in handy playing dodge ball.

  “It’s all about land and air,” the wizard said. “The branch moves easily because solid matter is heavier than air. To shield yourself from an object, you must ask the air in front of you to grow heavier than the object. Understand?”

  “No.” Marcus shook his head confused. “I mean, I understand what you’re saying, but not how to do it. Maybe if I had a wand or something?”

  The wolf barked. “Wands, staffs, and talismans are merely tools to focus your thoughts. Until you develop your magic more fully, they are of no use to you. Trust me, once you understand the magic behind it, your wand will find you.

  “Now then, imagine the air as bread dough spread so thin you can’t even see it. Then imagine kneading the air together until it becomes a solid mass. At the same time imagine rolling the wood out so flat it could fly away at the slightest breeze.”

  “But how do I make it do what I want?’ Marcus asked. “What words do I say?”

  “You don’t make the elements do anything. You ask them. And you don’t use words. What kind of words would air or a stick understand? Use your mind. Let’s try again.”

  As the wolf picked up another branch, Marcus concentrated on the air in front of his face. Thicken, he said inside his head. If anything was happening, he couldn’t tell. Master Therapass let the stick fly, but this time Marcus was ready. He ducked aside at the last minute, and the piece of wood flew harmlessly past.

  “Hah!” he shouted. But his joy was short-lived as something thumped him on the back of the head, and he turned to see the stick floating in the air.

  Marcus wanted to reach out and slap the branch away, but he knew if he did, Master Therapass would do something equally annoying, like make it drum him across the backs of his fingers.

  Galespinner raised her head and whinnied, but this time it didn’t sound like laughter. The wolf lifted his gray muzzle and scented the air. “It’s time to leave.”

  For the next hour or so, the four of them continued at a steady clip. Every so often Master Therapass snatched up another stick without breaking stride and tossed it at Marcus until Marcus’s head was a mass of scratches and bruises. By the time the sun reached the far edge of the horizon, it was almost too dim to make out the sticks at all. Kyja watched with surprising silence.

  “One more try,” Master Therapass said. “Then we’ll stop for the night.”

  Marcus grimaced as the wizard snatched up another piece of wood, sure that he was about to get hit again. “Remember,” the wolf said around the stick held between its teeth. “Don’t tell the air what to do. Ask it.”

  Ask it, Marcus thought. But how was he supposed to ask air anything? When he wanted to hide, he imagined himself growing dim. If what Master Therapass said was true, he was asking the air to deflect what others saw when they looked in his direction. How did he ask it to do that?

  All he did was say a silly little rhyme. Could that be it? Was his rhyme, like a wand, just another tool to help him concentrate? What if he came up with a rhyme to make a shield? The wolf turned its head to throw and Marcus thought quickly.

  Air like bread dough, thicken please

  Stick fly off into the breeze

  It was stupid and couldn’t possibly work. Yet as Marcus watched the stick fly toward him, he thought he saw the air warp in front of his eyes. It was like he was looking through a pair of glasses with bent lenses.

  At the last second he closed his eyes and . . . nothing. When he opened his eyes, the wolf was grinning.

  “Perfect!” Master Therapass called.

  “I did it?” Marcus asked, still trying to convince himself that the branch hadn’t hit him.

  “You did it,” the wizard agreed.

  “I did it!” Marcus shouted. He grabbed Kyja by the shoulders and shook her. “Did you see me? I did magic!”

  “Congratulations,” Kyja said, sounding less than thrilled.

  All at once Marcus realized how she must be feeling. She’d wanted to do magic all her life and couldn’t cast a spell. His success had to make her feel terrible. “I’m sorry,” he said at once. “I wasn’t thinking.”

  “No.” She shook her head, forcing a smile. “It’s fine. Really. I’m glad for you. I’m just tired.”

  “Sure,” he agreed. Although he really wanted to keep practicing the trick now that he’d figured it out, he pretended to yawn. “I’m tired too. Master Therapass, you said we could stop after the next try.”

  They’d been climbing a small hill. At the top, the wolf halted, and the mist steed stopped beside it. Master Therapass raised his nose, scenting the air in all four directions.

  Riph Raph, who’d been flying overhead all day, landed on Kyja’s shoulder.

  “Have you seen any sign of the Dark Circle?” Master Therapass asked, transf
orming back into his wizard self.

  “No,” the skyte said, shaking the water from his wings in a wide spray. “But unless they looked like clouds, I wouldn’t have spotted them even if they were under my nose.”

  “Very well.” Master Therapass pointed his finger to a spot near a waist-high boulder and a small fire appeared. “This will have to do until I’ve scouted the area. Marcus, Kyja, go ahead and get dinner started.”

  Marcus gripped Galespinner’s gossamer mane, knowing from experience it would take awhile before the feeling completely came back into his legs.

  “I’m starving,” Kyja said as the mist steed set them on the ground.

  “Me too,” Marcus said. “I hope we get something hot.” Lunch had been damp bread, cold cheese, and, for Marcus, more of the tree sap. The Weather Guardians said the sap would go bad after two or three days, but until then it should help him fight off the weakness.

  “We’ll eat quickly and extinguish the fire,” Master Therapass said, looking out into the rain. “I’ve haven’t seen or smelled anything, but I’ve had a feeling all day that something’s out there.”

  Kyja dug into her bag and took out a small pan. “Put this on the fire. I think I still have some sausage left, and potatoes.”

  “Sounds great,” Marcus said. Using a couple of rocks, he managed to prop the pan up over the flames. “You know. The thing about making that shield was—” He looked up from the fire to see Master Therapass watching the mist steed intently.

  “What is it, Galespinner?” the wizard asked.

  The mist steed pawed the ground and shook her head, blowing plumes of steam from her nostrils.

  Master Therapass searched the misty valley. He reached into his robe and pulled out the ball of red, glittery string Marcus had seen the day before.

  “What’s wrong?” Kyja asked, her hand still on the food bag.

  The wizard played out a length of string and held it tight between his fingers. Nothing happened, and the wizard released a low sigh.

  Marcus gasped for air, unaware he’d stopped breathing for a moment.

  “I was afraid they might have approached us from below ground,” the wizard said.

  Just as he began to wind the string back around the ball, it let out a loud twang. Vibrating in his hands, the entire ball began to glow. In an instant, the ball was gone from Master Therapass’s hand and was replaced by his wand. He pointed a finger at the fire and it disappeared.

  “Get back on the mist steed!” he shouted. The ground began shaking so hard Marcus was thrown onto his back.

  “What’s happening?” Kyja cried, pulling Marcus toward Galespinner.

  Master Therapass set his feet and raised both hands into the air. Blue and green fire crackled from the tip of his wand and quickly spread over his entire body. A bolt of lightning split the bruised, purple sky, and Marcus saw the wizard’s face set in grim determination.

  “They are here!” the wizard shouted, and the night exploded around them.

  Chapter 35

  Back from the Dead

  The battle started before Kyja and Marcus were even on Galespinner’s back. Gripping the mist steed’s mane, Kyja heard a deafening thum, thum, thum fill the air. Her first thought was thousands of drums, but what she saw when she turned her head made her skin go cold.

  All across the field at the base of the hill, insect-like creatures burrowed out of the ground. Each creature was the size of a large dog with thick, short-snouted heads and bristly legs. Their bodies were covered with shiny, black shells, and their long pincers snapped open and closed as they converged on the top of the hill. There were at least a hundred of them, and more coming out of the ground every second.

  Above them, the night sky filled with dozens of long-winged, bird-like creatures. It was their flapping wings that filled the air with the thrumming.

  As the mist steed dropped Kyja and Marcus onto her back, the first of the insect creatures reached the top of the hill. Its yellow eyes glowed when it spotted Marcus. It raced toward him with a high-pitched squeal.

  Before it could reach him, Master Therapass pointed his wand, and the creature exploded, its shell bursting into a million pieces. Two of the flying monsters dove out of the sky, their long teeth gleaming like sword blades as their jaws snapped. The wizard waved his hand, and a sheet of white flame engulfed them.

  “Look out!” Marcus cried, as at least a dozen more insects came at Master Therapass from both sides. The wizard raised his hands, and again white flame jetted from his fingertips, frying the creatures in their shells.

  By now the entire hillside was swarming with more of the creatures than Kyja could count, and the sky was filled with flapping wings and harsh screams. There was no way one person could stop them all. “Get back!” she shouted to Master Therapass.

  If the wizard heard her, he gave no sign. Instead, still crackling with the green and blue fire, he raised his wand to the sky and shouted, “Firmaments open!”

  At once, the night was filled with bright, orange light. Thousands of fireballs streaked down from the sky, seeking out the Fallen Ones with deadly accuracy. As each fireball struck its target, the insects exploded. The winged creatures fell from the air, and bits of smoking black shell covered the hillside.

  Looking around, Kyja realized every one of the creatures had been destroyed.

  “You did it!” Marcus shouted. “That was awesome. Can you show me how to—”

  His words cut off as three Thrathkin S’Bae appeared at the bottom of the hill, their forked staffs burning brightly in the darkness. The first stepped forward, his face hidden by the cowl of his cloak.

  “Give us the children, and none of you need die,” the figure roared. His voice pierced Kyja’s ears like the talon of a wild animal, and she clapped her hands to the sides of her head.

  “There is nothing here for you,” Master Therapass answered. His words were soft but filled with power.

  The other two Thrathkin S’Bae stepped up beside the first, and the three of them raised their staffs. “Ruet tei din,” the three incanted simultaneously. A huge ball of bright green fire raced up the hill, leaving a trail of smoking grass in its wake.

  Kyja squinted against the glare, but long before the ball reached the top of the hill, Master Therapass raised his hand, and the fire snuffed out of sight.

  Again the three raised their staffs. “Nhet an ter.”

  The earth shook, ripping chunks of soil and rock from the side of the hill. Galespinner swung her head and pawed the ground nervously, snorting plumes of steam from her nostrils, but Master Therapass remained steady. He held out his hand palm down.

  “Return to the grave!” he shouted. A rush of wind battered the Thrathkin S’Bae. The one on the right suddenly crumpled to the ground, his empty cloak blowing across the field.

  “Turn back,” the wizard said. Again he raised his hand, and a wave of dirt rose up in front of the two remaining cloaked figures, pausing for just a moment like a great, closed fist before crashing down on them.

  The two remaining Thrathkin S’Bae disappeared beneath the pile of rocks and dust.

  Kyja couldn’t believe it. She knew Master Therapass was powerful, but she’d never seen anything like this before.

  “Yes!” Marcus pumped his fist in the air. “That was so cool. Did you see the way—”

  “Hush,” Master Therapass warned without turning his head.

  “What’s wrong?” Kyja asked.

  Marcus tried to dismount from the mist steed, but the wizard held a hand toward him. “Stay where you are. There’s still something out there.”

  Kyja’s mouth went dry. What else could there be? The Thrathkin S’Bae were gone, along with their foul creatures. The night was silent, yet Master Therapass continued to stare into the darkness, and Galespinner still seemed anxious, pawing the ground and raising her nose to the damp air.

  “What is it?” Kyja whispered.

  “I don’t know.” Still holding his wand out before h
im, Master Therapass knelt and placed his empty hand flat on the ground.

  The air—which had been still only a moment before—began to dance and swirl in strange, cold drafts, kicking up bits of dirt and grass. Distant thunder boomed, although Kyja couldn’t see any flashes of lightning. The clouds turned an angry, greenish color, extending nearly to the ground.

  As the wizard rose to his feet, the wind increased, creating dozens of miniature cyclones—spinning funnels of dust and rock.

  “Look out!” Marcus shouted, and Kyja turned to see something emerge from one of the funnels.

  It was one of the insect things Master Therapass had destroyed. But at the same time, it wasn’t. Its body seemed strangely twisted. The smooth, black shell was pitted and broken, as though it had been poorly glued together by a small child. One of its eyes blazed while the other remained dark and empty. It was dead—he’d seen Master Therapass destroy it—and yet it lumbered toward them with slow, lurching steps.

  Something squirmed and jerked near the spot where Marcus had set down the frying pan what seemed like ages ago. Kyja pressed her hands to her mouth to keep from screaming as a single burned wing slithered across the ground to join a dark lump of feathers. As the wing reached it, the lump moved, and a skeletal bird rose awkwardly into the air—one of its wings burned black, the other ripped in several places.

  “What’s happening?” Marcus shouted.

  “You must leave,” the wizard gasped to Kyja, his face pale.

  At the base of the hill where the three Thrathkin S’Bae had fallen, the ground began to rise and fall. A bony hand flung itself from the dirt, and Kyja watched with horror as an arm rose stiffly from the ground, clawing at rocks and rubble until a deformed head appeared—clods of dirt in its hair and a patina of dust covering its face.

  In fits and jerks, the figure pulled itself up out of its grave, its shredded, black cloak flapping in the wind. All across the hillside things were rising from the ground. And not just the beetles and birds. Dark shapes took form everywhere, rotted creatures crawling to life from the dust, bits of bone and tufts of fur clinging to their long-dead bodies.