by Walls, Devri
Aleric finally broke the silence, “How is that possible, so quickly?”
“How long exactly since she discovered her magic?” Drustan asked.
“Maybe a month,” Aleric said, still in shock.
“I’m surprised she hasn’t had any consequences,” Drustan looked to Eleana. “Has she”
“Not yet,” Eleana said, her eyes still fixed on the basin. “But I am sure she will.” Looking up she motioned to the chairs, “Please sit, I need to discuss something with you before they arrive.”
Aleric gladly dropped into a chair, glad to be off of his shaky knees.
“The prophecy states that this will be the final battle, that if evil is defeated this time it will never return. It makes sense that the Solus for this battle would be the most powerful of them all. Kiora has no idea what she is capable of, and we are just beginning to see it. Her powers will exceed anything we have ever seen.” She explained “And because of that, I believe it puts her in more danger.”
“What kind of danger?” Drustan questioned leaning back casually in his chair. “From what I have seen, she handles herself well.”
“She does. But… this much power… in one person?” Eleana shook her head. “It will make Dralazar drunk with desire. He will want her more than he has ever wanted anything.”
“Surely he will not think that he will be able to beat her, after she has reached her potential?” Aleric said. “He could go head to head with Arian, but he was not nearly as powerful as she will be.”
“He will not wait until she has reached her full potential. He will try to turn her now. Turn her and train her underneath himself,” Eleana said.
There was quiet as everyone mulled over the possibility.
Drustan shook his head. “I don’t believe it. I understand what you are saying, but from what I have seen, I cannot believe she would side with him.”
“I agree. Which puts her in even more danger. When Dralazar realizes that he cannot turn her, he will kill her.”
***
Kiora walked out of her tent in a white tunic and tan riding pants, her hair pulled neatly back in a braid. Emane was already dressed and waiting for her. He leaned casually against a tree wearing pants and a shirt that were almost identical to hers. He looked relaxed, happy and very handsome.
“Do you have to outdo me in everything?” Emane asked.
Kiora cocked her head to the side.
“The clothes,” he waved a hand at her. “They look much better on you.”
She looked down. “I don’t think so. They look very nice on you.”
He grinned, appraising himself as if the sight was new to him, “Do they?”
“Oh, you are shameless Emane!”
He pushed off the tree with a laugh. “Is it so shameless that I would want some attention from you?” Grabbing her hand, he wrapped it around his arm, “Shall we go?”
They walked back through the new Hollow marveling at how much it looked like the old one that had been destroyed— almost identical. The homes looked the same and even hung in the same places. As they came to the clearing in the center of the Hollow, the same tent stood waiting for them. Within they found Eleana, Aleric, and Drustan all sitting around a silver bowl looking somewhat anxious.
“What?” Kiora asked as Emane pulled her chair out. “You all look like something is wrong.”
“Of course not,” Eleana answered smoothly, “we were just discussing Aleric’s recent trip to the village. He went to check if Dralazar’s influence had gained a foothold with the people.”
“And?” Kiora asked.
Eleana looked slightly ill, “He does seem to be making progress.”
Kiora didn’t like the fact the Eleana was clearly avoiding eye contact with her. She was going to push for more information when a host of Guardians floated through the door, bringing with them an array of heavenly foods.
“How is my father?” Emane asked Aleric as the guardians hovered above the table, gently setting down plates and platters in front of them.
“He is fine. Although we do have a...” he stopped mid sentence as he became fully aware of Emane’s thread. Aleric looked to Drustan and Eleana. “What have you done?”
“We have given him a fighting chance,” Drustan answered calmly, taking a drink.
Aleric looked baffled as he asked Emane, “What have they given you?”
Emane opened his mouth with the beginnings of an answer— what had surely begun as a word faltered, and emerged instead a puff of deflated air. Unsure of what to say he looked to Eleana.
“Show it to him,” Eleana gestured.
Emane reached behind, grabbing the back of his shirt and pulled it over his head to reveal the glittering green armband that wrapped around him.
Aleric stood up and walked slowly and deliberately around the table, his eyes fixated on the sparkling snake. Reaching out he ran his finger over it, scowling.
“Eleana what have you done?” his voice strained under controlled anger.
“Aleric, it had to be done,” she said gently.
“Had to be done? You have no idea what the consequences of this might be. There has never, NEVER, been a magical heir to the throne. His father will be furious. You have to take it off!”
“Aleric,” Drustan interrupted. “We had no choice, there has never been a non-magical Protector before. He wouldn’t last two battles. He would probably be dead already for that matter.”
Taking another approach Aleric turned to Emane, “Take it off,” he demanded. “You know as well as I do that heirs to the throne do not do magic. Your father will feel as if you have betrayed him, he will think—”
“Aleric, Drustan is right.” Eleana tried to intervene. “If we allowed—”
“No, I promised to keep him safe, I promised...”
“Enough!” Emane shouted, his chair clattering to the floor behind him as he stood. He glared around the room, taking each in turn. “Why is it that whenever my life is being discussed everyone sits around and talks of it as if I am not in the room? I chose this Aleric,” he said pointing roughly at himself, “nobody else. And I will continue to make my own choices as I see fit.” He shoved his finger at Drustan and Eleana. “Had they not done what they did, we would not have made it out of the first battle alive. It was a strategic decision and one that I support.”
“But your Highness,” Aleric tried to get a word in, but Emane’s voice was growing louder.
“No, Aleric. I have had enough of my life being decided for me. ‘You are to be a prince.’ ‘You are to be the Protector.’ ‘You are not to have magic.’ Enough!” He slammed his fist on the table. His chest was heaving and he stared, fixated on the table, his jaw working. “And you may tell my father something else as well,” he said quieter. “I am entitled to make my own choices, and I will not be told who to marry.”
Aleric sucked in his breath.
Turning his head to the side Emane’s eyes narrowed, “I will care for whomever I choose, I am not a puppet!” Driving his point home, he walked past Aleric to Kiora, grabbing her face roughly he kissed her hard and fast. His eyes flashed back to Aleric in defiance. “Despite what you and my Father may think, I am capable of making decisions.” He stood tall and straight, with a look that dared any to dispute. Waiting a few seconds, he then gave a curt nod. “I have lost my appetite. I will be in my tent if you need me.” He turned on his heel, leaving with his head held high and his shirt still gripped in a tight fist.
Kiora’s body had gone rigid, her cheeks burning. She kept her eyes glued to the table to avoid meeting Aleric’s, which were currently burrowing into her.
He cleared his throat. “It appears that there is a lot I am unaware of,” he said as he moved back over to his chair, stiffly sitting down. “Eleana, were you aware of this as well?” He motioned to the red faced Kiora.
“I was.”
Kiora cleared her throat. “He was right, about the battle. We would not have made it out alive had it not b
een for his magic.”
“Kiora, we watched what happened,” Aleric said exasperated, dropping his head into his hands. “We know it was you.”
Tearing her eyes from the table Kiora shook her head emphatically, “No. Vitraya cut my arm, I was bleeding badly. I had already lost a lot of blood and then Emane broke his arm. Had he not healed us, I would have been too weak to do anything.”
Aleric’s head rose slowly. “He heals?”
“Yes.”
“I would not have expected that,” he mumbled, looking into his plate.
“Neither would I,” Eleana said. “It was a pleasant surprise, and something that we desperately need. As far as his father is concerned, you may tell him that it is not permanent. When the war is over I will be able to remove it. If that is what Emane wishes, of course.”
With nothing more to say, they began eating in tension-rich silence. As Kiora nibbled at a pastry an unfamiliar current thrummed through her. It felt like her magic, only in short intense bursts, rolling through skin and bone. She paused before taking another bite. Another came, and then another, pulsing in a new and unpleasant way. With a scowl she slowly placed the pastry back on her plate. Each second, the current increased in size and intensity, each one more unpleasant than the last. They stretched and pulled at her as if whatever channels they were traveling in were too small and they ached to burst their bonds. Her head begin to spin and she squeezed her eyes shut, breathing deeply through her nose. It did no good. She was swimming in unfamiliar territory, her body and her mind rebelling under the current that was pulling at her.
Kiora stood abruptly, nearly knocking her plate off the table in the process. Desperate for balance she grasped at the edges of the tabletop, “I’m sorry,” she blurted. “I am not feeling very well.”
“Are you alright Kiora?” Eleana asked.
Kiora gripped her head, Eleana sounded as if she were underwater. “I think so. I think I just need to lay down.” She stumbled out of the tent, her hands reaching out, still searching for balance.
As the flaps on the tent closed behind her Eleana sighed, “It has begun.”
Kiora stumbled back to her tent in a fog. Her ears were roaring like the sea, her vision fuzzy and her thoughts disjointed. She drug her feet through the dirt to keep herself upright, but instead tripped on a rock. She could almost hear herself groan through the roar in her ears as the impact jolted her already pounding head. Pushing herself up on wobbly arms she peered around, the Hollow was spinning like a kaleidoscope, the homes of the guardians throwing in reds, blues, and greens. Moving forward she headed towards what she thought was her tent. Stumbling through the flaps she collapsed onto her bed. Shortly after, a heat begun spreading throughout her body. A heat that was far too warm to be comfortable.
Chapter Twenty-two
CHANGING
KIORA’S SCREAM PIERCED THE Hollow sending Emane bolting to his feet. Another scream came following on the heels of the first. So raw and pain filled, he knew that something was terribly and dreadfully wrong. Sprinting out of the tent, he cursed the fact that he could not follow threads like the others. Turning towards Kiora’s tent, he took off at a dead run across the Hollow, hoping he was going in the right direction.
“Kiora!” he shouted. “Kiora where are you?!” Nearing her tent he could see Aleric and Drustan standing calmly outside. “Where is she?” he yelled.
Her scream came again followed by gasping and crying. Emane ran at them trying to shove them out of the way, but Drustan grabbed onto his arm with a vice like grip.
Emane flinched underneath the tightness of Drustan’s grasp. “What are you doing to her?” Emane yelled.
Drustan was infuriatingly placid. “Emane, calm down, we are not hurting her.”
“Not hurting her! Listen to her.” He jerked and struggled to free himself.
“Emane, stop!” Aleric demanded.
“I have to help her, let me see her.” He jerked again but it was no use.
“Emane, there is nothing you can do,” Drustan said gently.
“Please, let me see her. I have to see her.”
Drustan looked to Aleric, who gave a nod of permission. Emane stopped struggling, looking expectantly at the fingers curled around his arm.
Drustan released him. “Stay calm Prince, your yelling will not help her.”
Emane gave Drustan an indignant glare before pulling back the flap of the tent. Kiora was lying on the bed, her skin faded to a dull ashen grey and glistening with sweat. Her clothes were drenched, as were the bed sheets. She moaned again grabbing her head and pulling herself into a ball. Eleana sat calmly by her bedside holding her hand and muttering something under her breath.
“What is wrong with her?” Emane demanded.
With a jerk Kiora uncurled from her ball, arching her back violently with a scream that turned Emane’s blood to ice.
Emane’s face went pale, the tent flap fluttered from his limp hand hiding Kiora from view again. “What is wrong with her?” his voice shook.
Drustan explained, “Kiora is different than most magical humans. She has abilities that are far beyond her physical capacity.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Her abilities have just started to grow and already her body has reached its limit. The water at the lake yesterday put her over the edge.”
“You still have not explained why she is in so much pain. She was already magical!” he argued. “She shouldn’t hurt, not like me,” he motioned to the armband that almost killed him. Kiora’s moans were knotting up his insides. He looked back to the tent in frustration. “What is hurting her and why are you not helping her?”
“It is not exactly the same. Your body had to adjust to the magic. With her, the magic is purifying her body. It is also literally forcing itself through every cell, causing her body to mold around the magic. This has to happen to allow the magic to flow freely.”
He shook his head. “That is what is hurting her so bad, the magic is forcing itself through her?”
“Yes,” Drustan said. “It is very painful and once the process has started there is nothing anyone can do to stop it. The magic that is pulsing through her veins right now is more than was ever meant to be.”
“How long will it take?”
Kiora screamed again and Emane could feel the blood drain from his face and pool somewhere in his stomach.
“It depends on the person.”
“Is there nothing we can do?” Emane asked, looking between Aleric and Drustan.
They both shook their heads.
Emane stared, his fists clenching at his side. There had to something. “Please, let me stay with her.”
Aleric withered at the request, “Emane, I don’t think...”
“I can’t let her go through this alone,” he interrupted. “She didn’t leave me and you can’t tell me that it was easy for her,” he yelled. “I have seen how she reacts to others pains! This cannot possibly be worse for me than it was for her.”
Eleana conceded the fact, opening the tent flap. “Come Emane, if you are willing.” Without hesitation Emane entered the tent, his heart breaking at the girl that lay before him. He ached to take her pain away.
“There is little you can do for her,” Eleana said gently, placing her hand on his shoulder. “Are you sure you wish to stay here?”
Emane nodded numbly.
“Very well, I will check on you throughout the night.”
Emane didn’t bother to watch her go, he was fixated on Kiora. Kneeling down in front of her bed he took a hold of her hand. Every muscle in her body was tense with the pain, her face twisted into a mask of agony that had swept her consciousness far away from him. She wrenched her body upward with a scream that pulled tears immediately to his eyes and sent them pouring down his cheeks. Then, without warning or explanation he felt magic jolting through him from Kiora’s hand. It was wickedly strong and he tore away from her with a gasp, his heart pounding at the current of magic that had
just passed through him. He looked down at his hand and then back to Kiora, who had crumbled like a discarded rag doll. She tossed her head with a painful moan. He frowned, leaning closer. A section of hair as wide as his little finger was turning from dark brown to stark white. He watched in confusion, still rubbing his sore hand as it traveled down the length of her hair turning it white from end to tip.
***
Outside the tent the sun started to poke its way over the horizon.
“The poor boy has been in there all night,” Aleric whispered to Eleana.
“It is what he desires, Aleric. We cannot take that away from him.”
He sighed. “Do you know how long this will last? We are running out of time.”
“I don’t. I have never witnessed a change; days perhaps.”
“We don’t have days. Dralazar is running freely amongst the villagers with no opposition.”
Eleana nodded gravely. “I know. We need to get her to the castle.” She glanced toward the tent as another shriek was followed by Emane’s mumbling. “Emane will not be happy, transporting her like this.” Eleana looked up at the sky that was turning a purplish color above Kiora’s tent. “Can you feel the magic, Aleric? It is flowing, centering on her. If Dralazar is anywhere in the area he will know where she is, no matter how much protection we put around her. She is pulling magic from every direction.”
“What other path can we take?”
Eleana gave one abrupt nod of acknowledgement. “I will speak to Emane. I need you to have Drustan collect some of his people— we will need an escort.”
***
“Are you crazy!” Emane shouted at Eleana. Kiora jumped in response. He lowered his voice. “Look at her! She is unconscious and burning up. Not to mention screaming in pain. We are not moving her.”
“Emane, this is not ideal. But there is not time. Dralazar is already recruiting within the village. He is claiming himself to be the Solus. Having no other force to align themselves with, people are siding with him.”