Sorcery, Schemes and Skelt: The Kinowenn Chronicles Vol II

by Rachel Ronning

  “She’s that powerful?” asked Joss worriedly. Although he had wondered about the extent of Lucy’s powers, he had never given them much serious thought. Justin seemed to be the leader and thus, Joss always assumed, he was magically stronger than Lucy. She was in the group to supplement his powers and learn from him. The idea that she was much more powerful than Justin had never crossed his mind. She seemed too meek for that despite what he had seen.

  “Oh, yes. You saw a hint of her potential at the battle. That was scratching the surface of her powers. She doesn’t believe she is as powerful as she is. She needs to learn more control and not to fear her power, but the power is there. If she’d gotten really mad or scared, she probably could have vaporized King Lionel’s entire army,” said Justin.

  “Wow,” said Joss. “We need to get out of here and get to her.”

  “Yes,” said Justin simply. “It’s a lucky thing Lucy has a good heart and a lack of self-confidence. That female Skelt doesn’t seem to have either. Do you trust her with Lucy’s powers?”

  “No,” said everyone unanimously.

  “Not to mention what it might do to Lucy’s mind and soft heart to watch her powers used to annihilate whole countries,” commented Justin.

  “Good thing we followed you then,” came an amused, optimistic, and familiar voice from outside the cell.

  Everyone looked up in surprise to see Taran’s smiling face. Behind him were Allar and Kinda. Or, rather the Skelt versions of them. It was a good thing Taran’s voice sounded the same or they might not have recognized him.

  “Good call on the disguise. We went with invisibility. I thought about disguising us as Skelt about 5 minutes ago,” commented Justin academically while Gavin rolled his eyes. “What are you doing here?” asked Justin conversationally.

  “Eric sent us,” said Taran with a shrug as he picked the cell’s lock. “He said to follow about a week behind. Don’t ask me how he knew you’d get captured. Perhaps he guessed there was more to the Skelt than what we knew. Sending another group was simply a precaution. Perhaps his trust in your abilities is diminished by his knowledge of your ability to tick people off and end up in prison. All I know is that if Eric tells me to follow my brother, I probably should. I guess we caught up while you were playing war. I don’t think Eric predicted that. Either way, our timing seems appropriate.”

  “We were on our way to meet Taran when we ran into you. We didn’t know we would turn around almost as soon as we got there and follow you,” said Allar with a smile.

  “We reclaimed your weapons on the way here,” said Kinda as she handed back swords, axes, throwing knives, bows, quivers, and staffs. “It took an extra couple of minutes, but I don’t think arriving as they were taking Lucy would have helped much. Now you are armed.”

  Justin looked at his companions and made adjustments so they all looked like Skelt. It might or might not help, but it was worth a try. As much as he wanted to run as fast as he could in the direction they had taken Lucy, taking a minute to prepare would hopefully pay off later. He ran his fingers through his hair.

  “Now we just need to find Lucy,” said Taran with a reassuring smile at Justin. Justin smiled back, accepting the kind of reassurance only his brother could provide. There was something solid and capable about Taran that Justin had always admired.

  Precisely as Taran finished speaking, a strong guest of wind blew by them, the ground shook, and a rumble louder than the loudest thunder reached their ears.

  “What was that?” asked Kinda looking intrigued and alarmed.

  “I’m guessing Lucy,” said Justin worriedly.

  “Lucy Lucy or psycho Skelt controlled Lucy?” asked Joss.

  “Does it matter?” asked Justin as he took off running.

  They ran in the direction of the noise. They passed a few Skelt on their way, running in the opposite direction with looks of fear on their faces. The Skelt ignored them, maintaining the cat instinct for survival. Save yourself first and then worry about everything else. That gave Justin hope. If Lucy was causing the destruction on her own, he only needed to calm her down. A much easier proposition than trying to battle a Skelt anderi controlled Lucy.

  The floor shook again and cracks appeared in the cave walls. They worried the cave was in danger of collapsing. Before they could find a way out, they had to find Lucy. They heard what sounded like another explosion and ran faster. They went down through twists and turns in the tunnels. They took a last turn and stopped. There was no cave above them anymore.

  Where there had once been a rock ceiling was now open sky. Rubble, that was the ceiling, was strewn over the floor. Dead Skelt lay amongst the debris jumbled all over the ground. In the center of the room was Lucy. She was surrounded by rubble, the obvious epicenter of the destruction. On her wrist was a blackened anderi. She was sobbing. Justin ran to her. She heard him and jumped up ready to fight. Justin saw her reaction and mistrust rather than recognition. He immediately dropped the Skelt illusions on all of them. The last thing they needed to deal with was Lucy blowing up one of their group in disguise. Once she recognized Justin, she ran into his arms sobbing.

  “Get it off! Get it off! Please!” She half shouted in between her sobs; holding out her wrist.

  Justin studied the anderi. He wasn’t sure how to remove it. He took it in both hands to look for a clasp. He didn’t have to. As he started to tug and pull, the whole thing broke apart and fell to the floor as ash. Where the bracelet had been, Lucy’s wrist was red, raw, and bleeding. Justin put his fingers on it and healed it for her. She smiled up at him through her tears.

  “Thanks.”

  “Do you know if there are any more of them?” asked Taran, pointing to the anderi.

  “I don’t. She got this one from over there,” Lucy pointed behind her. She smiled at Taran, as she wiped away her tears. “Hi, by the way.”

  Taran winked back while he walked with Allar and Kinda in the direction Lucy had pointed. They intended to thoroughly search the area. The Skelt certainly didn’t need any more of those items. Gavin and Joss searched the other areas for either prisoners or Skelt, but found neither. No one was alive amongst the rubble. Taran returned holding three other anderi.

  “Put them down there,” directed Lucy, pointing to the rock in the center of the room. Taran obeyed her request without question. “Now stand back.”

  “Wait,” interrupted Gavin, “Shouldn’t we bring them back to Eric? That’s what we were told to do,” he added lamely at the glare from Lucy.

  “I will accept any disciplinary action Eric sees fit. He said to retrieve or destroy the anderi. For the first time in my life, I choose adamantly and decisively to use my powers to destroy something entirely and completely. No one should have these. Ever. Not even Eric for study. Now get back.”

  Lucy turned to study the anderi. Everyone else backed up like she had advised and took shelter behind the edge of a tunnel wall. No one wanted to argue with Lucy about her decision. They watched as she held up her hands. Suddenly there was an explosion and a shock wave that blew them all to the ground despite their shelter. When they looked up the anderi on the rock were disintegrating to ash and blowing away.

  “Come on,” motioned Justin, “Let’s get out of here.”

  “This way,” said Taran. “We left the horses over there.”

  They climbed up out of the cave. It was quicker and easier with the ceiling blown away than it would have been to try to follow the tunnels. If any Skelt saw them, they left them alone. Apparently, it was decided they were more dangerous than they were worth. It was better to leave them alone and let them get out of their land. Or, without their strong leader, survival took over. Obviously an interlude with their group would not lead to that. Surprisingly enough, besides the horses Taran, Allar, and Kinda had travelled on; their own horses were there as well.

  “How did you get our horses?” asked Joss.

  “Skelt have no interest in horses,” said Taran. “We found them in the clearin
g where you were taken. We knew we were close behind and had better hurry at that point.”

  “We appreciate that,” said Joss, smiling.

  It was afternoon by the time they reached the clearing where the horses had been left. They all mounted and rode away from the caves as quickly as they could. They didn’t stop until it was too dark to ride safely. Then, they made camp and ate. None of them had eaten since breakfast. Gavin ate about a week’s worth of supplies. No one commented on this as there were enough capable hunters in the group and plenty of game in the woods. When they were all full, they glanced towards Lucy. Everyone wanted to know what had happened, but no one wanted to ask. Lucy was not oblivious to the looks.

  “I suppose you all want to know what happened,” she finally said with a sigh.

  “Yes,” said Maya bluntly, “but we understand if you don’t want to talk about it,”

  “You should know. You take risks when you travel with me, I realize that now. You deserve to know,” Lucy put up her hand to hold off any protests.

  She didn’t want to hear them. She was dangerous. Intentionally, accidently, or pushed into it, she was dangerous. She felt the need to acknowledge it, at least to herself. She could still think of Kinda or Gavin as dangerous, but it was naïve not to think of herself as such. Honesty. Not balance, but perhaps a necessary step in the right direction.

  “It’s quite simple really,” Lucy shrugged. She was uncomfortable with what had happened. She didn’t want to talk about it even if she thought she should. “The crazy, creepy Skelt threatened to bring Justin there and torture him if I didn’t do what she said. Then, she had the guards hold me down and put the bracelet on my wrist. I was scared and didn’t know what to do. They held me there while she put the other side on herself. She looked thrilled and triumphant. She started to laugh and I could feel her somehow drawing power away from me,” Lucy paused and took a sip of water.

  “She picked up a pebble and turned it into a rose. She had a sneaky, evil look in her eyes. She had the guards bring out another prisoner from somewhere. She touched him and he crumpled to the ground dead and turned to dust. A rose was one thing, but I didn’t like her using my powers to kill at whim. That was when I got mad instead of scared, and started to fight back. I absolutely refused to let her have my power. I fought against the draw of power as hard as I could. She felt a change in the anderi and tried to fight me. Her ability to use my powers to steal my powers was not as great as my anger. Apparently, the anderi aren’t used to someone being strong enough to do that. There was an explosion. It killed most of the Skelt. I was able to raise a magic shield to protect myself. The cave ceiling tumbled in and killed any Skelt surviving the explosion. That’s about when you came in.”

  Nobody knew what to say. Everything sounded too placating, too worried, or too full of pity. Justin had never heard of anyone being strong enough to break free of the control of an anderi.

  “Lucy,” Taran said finally, “You have got to get yourself under control.”

  “I know,” she said quietly. “I think the best thing to do is to go home. Back to the school, I mean, and talk to Eric. I think it’s time I acknowledged I have lots of power. I need more training.”

  “Then, that’s what we will do,” said Justin as he wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head.

  “Thank you,” she said, leaning back into him. “I understand if the rest of you don’t want to travel with me. I am dangerous. I do more damage when I’m scared than anything I do intentionally.”

  Kinda grinned, “I haven’t had this much fun in years.”

  “Besides,” added Gavin, “If I did my job like I am supposed to and kept you safe, you wouldn’t have to lash out in fear.”

  The group nodded in agreement. They decided there were enough of them to keep Lucy out of trouble. As long as she was safe, she shouldn’t hurt anyone.

  “What about when I sleep?” asked Lucy, afraid. “What happens if I have nightmares? What if I kill you all in my sleep?”

  “I don’t think you will, but if you’re worried about it, I can mix up a potion for that,” said Maya. “I can give you just enough to sleep through the night.”

  “Isn’t that kind of thing addicting?” asked Joss. “Not to be difficult,” he amended at the glare from Maya. “But I don’t want to do Lucy more harm than good before you get her back to school.”

  Lucy looked at Maya for denial or confirmation.

  “It can be addicting,” Maya acknowledged. “Especially when people self-medicate. It works so well, people with problems rely on it as an escape. Some tend to worry that one sip isn’t enough to keep the dreams away, and take two and so forth and so on until they are addicts. I’m not going to let you swig down a gallon of the stuff. I’ll give you so much and no more. It’s for a limited amount of time, not forever. Once we get to the school, someone there should be able to help in a better way than potions.”

  With this decided, they all went to bed.

  Chapter 17

  They traveled quickly out of Skelt country. Lucy was glad to leave the stuffy forest and the buzzing insects behind. It took them less time traveling south because they weren’t trying to avoid anything. Justin could tell no one was following them. If anything, they were being avoided. Until, that is, they were attacked by brigands. Not brigands, Lucy amended after assessing their appearance, more likely, deserters. Neither Justin nor Lucy had been scanning ahead of them. They were all more worried about the Skelt behind them banding together and seeking revenge than anything in front of them.

  No brigands in their right mind would take up residence at the edge of Skelt country. It was dangerous and pickings from possible travelers or merchants would be slim. A group of deserters from Fredamonn, who had run from Lucy’s fireballs, were more likely to be desperate enough to try it. They were a ragtag bunch. Some had bandaged injuries. They were wearing various amounts and quality of armor. Not all of them had boots. There were no visible insignias. All 20 or so of the men were unmounted, dirty, hungry, and fanned out in front of them.

  “We’d like yer food, money, weapons, and women,” said the would be leader.

  “Would you now?” asked Gavin conversationally, sliding down from his horse.

  “Except the Dwarf,” amended a well-armed brute next to the leader. “We don’t fancy her.”

  Kinda laughed, slid off her own shorter, horse, and stepped up next to Gavin. She smiled up at Gavin in a malicious way and said, “He’s mine.”

  “I don’t think you understand the situation,” threatened the leader.

  “Oh, we do,” Joss smiled. “You are the socially acceptable stress relief we’ve been looking for.” He strung his bow and notched an arrow.

  “Lucy, feel like bashing some heads?” Gavin invited with a laugh.

  “Should we give them a chance to surrender first?” asked Lucy.

  “Wench, you are for our enjoyment!” shouted a vile looking man who had a nasty scar running down the left side of his face.

  Angered by the way things were going, the rag tag bunch of men attacked. Kinda and Gavin moved forward to meet them. Joss started shooting arrows at the ones on the right while Allar took out the ones on the left. Kinda quickly killed the one who had insulted her. Despite his size and ability, he was no match for her. As he fell down, dead, she kicked his face with her studded boot and moved on to the next man standing. During this time, Gavin took down the leader and two other men.

  A couple of men, after watching Gavin and Kinda fight, and Joss and Allar shoot, took off running. They didn’t think there would be any spoils to split and valued their lives. A few men rushed through the spaces between where Joss was shooting and Kinda was using her ax. Taran and Justin made quick work of them with their staffs. A man on Allar’s side of things threw daggers at both him and Justin. Lucy stopped the daggers in mid-air and reversed them back to the thrower planting them firmly in his chest. He looked down in amazement at his own daggers protruding from
his chest and toppled over. Kinda and Gavin killed the remaining men.

  No one was hurt. Gavin and Kinda even smiled at each other in mutual enjoyment. Allar and Joss began to strip the bodies of anything valuable. There wasn’t much, but even a dull, poorly made dagger was worth a few coins. Lucy and Justin followed behind Allar and Joss, dissolving the bodies into the ground. Lucy thought it was odd that it was somehow less satisfying than the Skelt decomposition had been. The earth seemed less happy to accept them and the bodies seemed more difficult to break apart.

  “The Skelt have magic in their blood and more of a connection to the land than these people,” Justin told her after watching her expression. He could feel it and was sure she could to. “Also, there is always the myth that cats have 9 lives. Perhaps the Skelt have 9 as well, returning to the earth in between each one.”

  “After what we saw, I wouldn’t be surprised if that were true,” said Maya.

  “That you’ll believe?” accused Joss. “Brownies accepting rum to take care of sheep, you question, but Skelt having 9 lives, you’ll accept?”

  “If I ever meet a Brownie who likes rum, I promise to apologize,” replied Maya sweetly, flashing her dimples.

  Lucy shook her head and continued to push bodies into the earth. Some of the tensions must be lifting if Maya and Joss were back to teasing each other again. Tired though they were, it was only mid-afternoon, so they decided to keep going until supper and then make camp. They hadn’t travelled long before they met Neville and a group of guards who were waiting for them. Since Lerramorre was in the direction they wanted to go anyway, they agreed to follow Neville without an argument. Never underestimate the simple power of safety in numbers. Besides, they had plenty of provisions with them and Gavin was hungry.

  They travelled south. They were such a large company that the average inn in the area would have been too small, so once again they camped out. They did their best to put Neville and his guards at ease. Gavin was useful there. He was easy to get along with. He was seen as a comrade-in-arms. Some of Neville’s men had fought next to him. He made them all laugh with exaggerated tales of the dreaded Garden Gnome Apocalypse.