Blood of Mages (Rift of Chaos Book 3)

by A. J. Martinez

  Willow

  She could feel her body. The warmth of her hands and feet, the chill on her cheeks and beat of her heart. She had been sleeping ever since she remembered his name. Her beloved. Even in this nothingness, this empty realm of green clouds and solitude, she could feel his maju.

  “Eckxio,” she whispered. “I heard your voice.”

  It is not over yet, she could hear him. I will return her soul. The Specters will pay. His voice echoed and brought a smile to her face. She opened her eyes and tears trickled down her cheeks. She felt her maju rising, a surging of power she had never felt before. It was like a flower struggling to bloom inside her or a bird hatching from an egg.

  What is this feeling? she thought. It feels like an entire forest within me.

  The green clouds around her began to take shape as she floated in emptiness. Willow felt her body gently falling, as light as a feather. As the green clouds took shape, trees rose around her and she fell into a lake filled with water lilies. She held her breath underwater then swam up to the surface. She gasped for air then paddled over to the bank of the lake. When she got out of the water she noticed that she had her clothes again. The short green skirt and tank top she always wore in the forest. Tiger fur wrapped around her ankles and a ladybug pin in her hair. She was back to normal and when she surveyed the area around her she found herself in a forest, not the forest she grew up in but a forest nonetheless.

  “Where am I?” she asked aloud.

  Tall maple and oak trees casted shadows on the lake. Strangely enough her favorite berry trees formed an arched trail between the oaks. She gazed up at the sky but could not see the sun or any clouds yet the day was as bright as ever. She looked back at the lake and saw paploo fairies flying around the water lilies. They were the same type of fairy as Eckxio had.

  “Paploos, in this forest? How?” Willow asked herself. She knew very well that paploo fairies would never let humans see them. Only Eckxio was lucky enough to make a paploo loyal to him. “What happened to the green clouds and…the nothingness?”

  Willow fell silent for a moment as she looked around the forest. A soothing wind billowed her hair and she opened her arms, feeling the life of the forest. “I miss this so much,” she said. “Walking barefoot in the grass. The wind blowing sweet scents of herbs. The sound of birds chirping. The magic of the forest. I miss this so much…for how long was I asleep?”

  “Long enough to recover your magic,” said a familiar voice.

  “Terramus, is that you again?” she responded.

  “Thou art in a world in which thou hast created,” the voice of Terramus said.

  “My world…that I created? How?”

  “Follow the archway formed by the berry trees and thou shall see what I mean,” Terramus said.

  And so she did. She walked to the berry trees that formed the archway. She picked berries and popped them in her mouth as she walked through. Although the archway was cobbled by stones she still felt grass beneath her feet, so she looked down and was surprised at what she saw. She left a trail of flowers and herbs as she walked and the paploo fairies flew around those flowers, eating the nectar. Willow then looked at her hands and realized that she was not the same. She kept walking through the archway of berry trees until she reached the end and gasped at the sight.

  The archway ended with a cliff, and below, Willow could see the same green clouds again. She gazed up at the blue sky and saw that it split into two halves, one of day and one of night.

  “It’s not real,” she whispered and became scared. “Where am I? Terramus! Please tell me. Where am I?”

  “Fear not, for this world is thine own,” Terramus answered.

  “My world?” she asked, perplexed.

  “Thou created this world with my maju, the maju of the Emerald Cosmo Jewel. The Relic claimed by the Greamos. Once thou art free of this realm thou shall become a demigod,” Terramus said.

  “A demi…god,” she repeated.

  “Half human, half god,” Terramus simplified. “Thou hast taken the maju of a god and now thou will live with the energy of a god everyday of thine life.”

  “But I don’t want to be a demi…god,” she said. “I just want to be me and protect the Greamos, my people and the Elves.”

  “It cannot be reversed. Once thine soul was imprisoned in the emerald jewel, thine soul was enchanted with god maju. When thou return thou hast the choice to prevent those who threaten the world or surrender thine powers to the gods. It is thine choice,” Terramus said.

  “What does this mean? Will I be strong enough to protect my people?” she asked. “I don’t care about becoming a god. I just want to restore peace.”

  “And thou shall find peace. Soon thou will return to Odealeous and restore balance.”

  Akielas

  The third day.

  Time was running out. The day was near and it brought sweat to Akielas’ forehead. Flying on the back of Garuda he hoped to find the frozen ivy forest. It was where the fairy king told him to go in order to regain his magic. He had been flying for five hours now. The Theemas River was below and he had passed countless villages and towns as he flew south from the capital of Maer Weeyar. Garuda’s wings began to ache and the Eedahlan shrieked and shook.

  “Settle down, I think we are almost there,” Akielas told the giant bird. “This is what happens when you use someone else’s Eedahlan, they are so eager to throw you off their back.”

  Garuda swooped down, then spun in the air trying to scare Akielas. He tried to hold on as much as he could but the bird just did not seem to like him.

  “Don’t worry, you won’t have to deal with me on the return trip,” he said. “Get me there safely and I will put in a good word for you when I see Auron again.”

  Garuda shook again demonstrating how little he cared of what Akielas did. Akielas could only sigh and hope he did not fall off and have to walk miles to the frozen ivy forest.

  As he flew south he wondered what they were doing at the moment. He wondered if Auron was trying to one up Serena and making witty comebacks. He did not worry much about Eckxio but he wondered if Rey Ling had forged those omnithium swords he had spoken of before he left. But most of all he wondered if Ember was following him anyway. She knows that we would try to find the jewel, he thought. I would rather we find it first then to allow them to get their hands on it. Most importantly, I won’t let Ember lay her dirty claws on my son. She knows where he is and if she does anything to harm him then I will kill her. I will bear the sin of her blood on my hands. Although she promised to never lay a hand on my son, I still don’t trust her. I know she will try to use him against me.

  He clenched his fist just thinking about it. The wind lashed at his face and his hair fluttered like a flag. He looked up at the position of the sun and realized it was already midday. He then looked at the horizon ahead and could see the green of the southern forest.

  “Could that be it?” he asked himself. “Garuda! Faster! Faster!”

  The giant bird shrieked and flapped its wings. As it raised its speed the wind lashed harder and Akielas gripped the handles on the saddle. He wished he had his Eedahlan, Cleyross, his white dragon. He had great harmony with his Eedahlan and the dragon was always conscious of Akielas when it raised its speed, unlike Garuda. Auron’s Eedahlan flew as if there was no one on its back, feral and violent. This was the first time Akielas had ever used someone else’s Eedahlan, and it would surely be the last.

  Finally the forest streamed below like a green river. Garuda had reduced its speed willingly and Akielas scanned the land searching for a part of the forest that was frozen. Garuda descended over the canopy brushing its legs over the trees. Abruptly, a cold breeze chilled Akielas, skin and he immediately covered himself with his cloak. He gazed at the horizon hoping he had reached his destination and then when he least expected…

  Garuda began to disappear. Its body turned to golden dust, vanishing into limbo, the colorless world.

  “No! Not no
w! Not now!”Akielas shouted.

  However, it seemed that Garuda did not choose to leave. It shrieked continuously as its body vanished. Not proud shrieks but of pain as if it were to fall. Something else was forcing it to disappear. When the Eedahlan’s body was no longer solid, Akielas tumbled into the forest.

  Oh by the gods, how he wished he could use aeromancy. Without his magic he used his natural instinct. As he fell through the canopy he grabbed at tree branches. Each one he fell on would snap then fall to the next one below. It took four branches to ease his fall until he hit the forest floor, landing on his belly.

  He lay on the ground for a few minutes before he decided to get back up. His body ached and his back hurt. At sixty years of age he could still get up after such a fall and without his maju. “This is going to hinder my journey,” he said. “On the bright side, the darn bird did not do it on purpose.”

  He was on his knees then used his sword to prop himself up. When he stood on two legs his back hurt and his bones cracked. Akielas took a deep breath and inhale, the fresh herbal scents of the forest, then he felt the cold breeze on his face. He spun around and saw the frozen side of the forest just dozens of feet ahead.

  “It’s incredible,” he said astonished.

  It looked less like a forest and more like a sculpture. Like the hands of an artist had touched this place and turned it into a crystalline wonderland. One half of the forest was green and the other looked like the northern glacier of Odealeous.

  Akielas walked towards it as he marveled at the beauty of it. He had never seen an entire world of green cloaked in ice. Not even during the winters of Burnahdujf had he seen trees covered with more than an inch of ice. When his boots stepped on grass they crunched like gravel and felt hard beneath his feet. His breath fogged and he wrapped his cloak around himself.

  “I thought the winters of Burnahdujf were rough, but this is unbelievable,” he said. “I cannot tell if this is natural or an ice curse. Either way, I know that whoever did this must be a powerful mage. Therefore, I am in the right place.”

  He walked on the hard snow and remembered Serena telling him, many who enter never return and those who survive end up mentally ill. To which he then thought, I would prefer to survive and be mentally ill and have a great story to tell, than to die as an ice statue.

  He almost slipped when he stepped out of the frozen grass. The trees around him were nothing but ice columns and seemed as though they were holding up the sky. Icicles as long as swords hung from branches and were sharp enough to be used as weapons. The wind was so cold it made him sleepy which he thought was part of the curse of the forest. If I fall asleep I will die, he thought. And I am guessing that is how most people meet their end here. He pulled his hood over his head and exhaled his hot breath into his hands. It was silent and the only thing that could be heard was the sound of his boots crunching through the snow.

  The solitude of the frozen ivy forest was soothing to him, like his sanctum or the lonesome summits of the Mountains in Verday with the howling wind to sing to him. But this was a different silence. Yes, the wind did howl and chilled his skin but there was something hiding behind that silence. Even without his maju he could feel someone watching him. Was it the spirit of the wind or something in the reflection of the ice sheets on the ground and in the trees? Either way Akielas had already accepted the danger and all its surprises.

  As he walked deeper into the frozen forest he began to see frozen animals. A deer cloaked in ice in a running position as if to flee from some danger. A panther frozen in a pouncing position from between bushes. An ape hanging from a tree branch with one hand as if to reach for a vine and swing across. There was a larger animal cloaked in ice but the ice was too thick to see what it was. Smaller animals ran away. Squirrels, rabbits, snakes, wolves, foxes, bears and it seemed as though birds had fallen from the canopy, their frosted wings had separated from their bodies and shattered.

  “They were all running away from something,” Akielas concluded. “Perhaps it is still near.” He drew his sword nervously and continued walking cautiously while being careful not to slip.

  He walked among the frozen animals and saw the expressions on their faces. There was definitely fear. Something was approaching and whatever it was it had cursed them in ice. “The ice mage?” Akielas guessed. “Unless there is someone else around here. Who would want to live in this empty and cold wilderness?”

  Akielas sniffed as a familiar smell filled his nostrils. The smell of blood and flesh in the cold air. He gazed through the forest following the smell . Up ahead there were more animals frozen in a running position. He trembled when he realized that some of them were disemboweled. He ran towards the frozen carcasses trying not to slip. Despite the ice, the smell of blood was very strong. When Akielas reached the bodies he grimaced and covered his nose. They were not divided as if with a sword but rather torn. Bears torn in half as well as deer and foxes. There were large footprints in the snow and carvings on the ice-covered trees. “A beast?” he asked the unknown. “A beast that can use cryomancy.”

  As he followed the footprints they led to a foggy area and Akielas was hesitant when he saw frozen drops of blood. With his sword in his hand he crept into the foggy area with his body shivering and eyes darting left and right. His senses were wide open as the fog blinded him into a zone tinted in white, a cold desert drawing out the panic within. He walked through the fog and soon heard moving water…a river perhaps? A waterfall? Anything was better than this white zone.

  “This would be so much easier if I still had my magic,” Akielas said.

  He had never walked through life without his magic. He felt like a bird without its feathers, a fish without scales, a worm without a hole to hide in. Yet he faced his fear for he had gone through worse.

  As he got closer to the sound of water, it ended the dreadful solitude of the frozen forest. He could see the river blurred in the view of the fog. Eagerly he knelt in the bank of the river and touched the cold water. He drank from the river as cold as it was but it felt good for he had flown for hours and was tired and hungry.

  He took a moment to scan the area and, like everything else, it was all under layers of ice. No green in sight. “How am I going to find this ice mage? This is worse than the deserts of Zolan,” he complained.

  A hissing sound echoed and Akielas clenched the hilt of his sword, stood up and rapidly whipped his head left and right. It was like the hissing of a snake and it got louder every time. “How big can it be?” Akielas said arrogantly and immediately regretted those words when the creature jumped from the other side of the river.

  He jumped to his right then rolled on the ice slipping and sliding away from the lizard-like creature. He plunged his sword into the ice and struggled to stand up as his boots slid, then looked up at the creature. It was pale and had no eyes. It could walk on the ice without slipping and lashed its long tongue like a whip. Its claws dug into the ice, cracking it. The creature had to be fifteen feet long. Its four legs were slim and the creature seemed to be starving so much that Akielas could see its ribs.

  “You want me as food? I dare you,” Akielas challenged.

  The pale lizard hissed then released a beam from its mouth. Akielas rapidly dodged, rolling to the left. The ray created a pillar of ice right next to Akielas. “Damn it,” he cursed.

  Akielas used his sword to push himself across the ice and away from the lizard. The creature ran after him and it was fast on the ice. As it unleashed another beam from its mouth, Akielas hid behind a tree, causing the beam to strike to either side of him and leaving him untouched. He stood up and ran towards the other trees to avoid the lizard.

  “All other animals are dead or frozen and this thing is still alive,” Akielas grumbled as he ran. “No fur, no scales and yet it can resist this temperature.”

  The lizard hissed behind him and unleashed another beam of ice. He jumped behind another tree and once more avoided being frozen. Akielas continued running and glan
ced back at the lizard. He noticed it tried to shoot another beam of ice but it struggled. That is as much as it can shoot, he thought. He then stopped and spun to face the lizard.

  “I am over here!” he shouted. “Come and get me, beast!”

  The lizard hissed and ran amongst the trees, strong enough to knock them down. Akielas tried to zig zag around the trees then the lizard lashed out its tongue, which stretched dozens of feet. It almost got him but it wrapped around a tree instead. Akielas took a chance, he leapt forward and cut off the tongue. The lizard wailed and thrashed. The time was right to escape and he followed the river, hoping it would lead somewhere safe. Where there is a river, there is life, he thought.

  He was surprised to see the giant lizard still chasing him. “It figured it doesn’t have to taste me, just swallow me whole,” he said mockingly.

  As he ran away from the lizard, something jumped out of the river, a bigger predator on the hunt. It was a colossal snake, overshadowing the lizard by twenty feet. The snake sank its fangs into the neck of the lizard and pulled it into the water.

  “Uh, thank you,” Akielas said awkwardly, but then the snake rose from the water again and started slithering towards him. “I take that back.”

  The giant snake gave chase. As he ran, Akielas pulled gemstones from within his kidney belt pocket. “A mage always brings back up magic into battle,” he quoted and threw the stones at the snake. When the ruby gemstones collided against the skin of the snake, they exploded. The snake returned to the water and Akielas continued running.

  Up ahead he could see nothing due to a thick bank of fog but he could hear the roaring of a waterfall. It should give me some time to flee, he plotted. He looked back and saw that the giant snake had risen from the water. His heart hammered in his chest and he made his decision. Akielas jumped down the waterfall, feet first. He fell through the fog barely able to see anything and when he finally reached the water below he sunk deep till his feet touched the bottom. With his sword in hand, he swam up to the surface enduring the cold temperature. He used his sword to break through the ice that cloaked the river and crawled his way to the bank. Exhausted, cold, shivering, breathing hard and stuffing his hands in his mouth for warmth, he still got up and mocked the giant snake above. “I am nobody’s dinner,” he shouted. It was only a matter of seconds before he realized that the snake would most likely be able to slither its way down the waterfall.