Magic and Mayhem: A Collection of 21 Fantasy Novels

by Jasmine Walt

  Roine flicked his gaze to Tan and there was a sense of pressure, almost a weight, which came with it. Tan felt a slow buildup of pressure, could almost hear it, before it whispered away and Roine took a small step back.

  “What do you know of the Aeta, Tan?” Roine asked.

  Tan turned to look at Amia. The question was nearly the same as the one posed by her earlier, but this time the tone was darker. He decided to answer Roine much the same as he’d answered Amia. “Memories from my childhood. Warnings from my mother to be courteous to them and welcome their arrival. Why?”

  Roine chuckled. “She would have warned that. The Aeta are a wandering people. Traders whose visits are welcomed into towns throughout the kingdoms and beyond.”

  Tan understood more since speaking with Amia. “The Accords.”

  Roine turned to Amia. “She shared that?” Tan nodded, not understanding the significance. “Yes. The Accords grant the Aeta free travel and have long been honored. Did she tell you why the Accords were needed?”

  Amia wouldn’t meet his gaze. Tan shook his head. “She did not.”

  “I’m not surprised,” Roine continued. “The Aeta aren’t proud of the reasons behind the Accords.”

  “Why?”

  “The Aeta are sensers.”

  “So?” Tan was a senser. And his father before him. “The kingdoms have many sensers. Many shapers, even.” He thought of his mother and how little he knew of her before she’d come to Nor. Now he would never know more about her.

  Roine looked at Amia. “They aren’t sensers like we have in the kingdoms. They can’t sense earth, wind, fire, or water.”

  Tan frowned again. “Aren’t those the only elements we can sense?”

  “You’ve known the Aeta as skilled traders. I’m sure you’ve seen some who feared them for that very reason.”

  Tan thought back to Lord Lind’s reaction to the Aeta. “Some.”

  “Have you ever wondered why?”

  Tan looked at Amia. She didn’t meet his gaze but didn’t turn away. “Why?”

  Roine took a deep breath and waited for Amia to answer. When she didn’t, he shook his head. “The Aeta are sensers of spirit.”

  “Spirit? How is that possible?”

  Roine laughed. “Most scholars think the ancient elementals endowed the earliest shapers with aspects of their abilities. Back then, we had shapers of fire, of earth, of wind, and of water. But also of spirit. For some reason, spirit has been lost.” His eyes lingered on Amia. “But not the Aeta. Many are born sensers of spirit. When the Aeta first left their lands, they were initially welcomed. The Aeta lived peacefully yet apart from their new neighbors. Still, some were allowed to travel among the Aeta and came to know them, noticing that they always had the upper hand in trading. Over time, suspicion grew. Rumors. Some who didn’t understand named the Aeta evil.”

  Amia’s face had tightened. “So we left our new settlement,” she continued quietly, “and have wandered since.”

  Roine nodded. “The Accords have provided a sort of protection since then. Protection from the Aeta and protection for the Aeta.”

  “What does this have to do with why you think Amia can help?”

  Roine looked to the Aeta for long moments without speaking. Amia said nothing as well, biting her lip and clenching her fists. “There have long been rumors that some among the Aeta are more than sensers. Rumors of shapers.”

  Tan frowned again and looked from Roine to Amia. As he did, a realization came to him of the words that had been imprinted into his mind, a quiet call for help that had stayed with him.

  Protect me.

  With the command, he knew what Roine said was true.

  Amia was a shaper.

  21

  The Journey Explained

  Amia finally met his gaze. Her dark eyes gave away nothing. Tan felt his heart race when she looked at him. Could she have used him? Had she shaped him from the very beginning, from their first meeting? Was that why he had reacted to her the way that he had?

  Did she still use him?

  Would it have mattered anyway? He’d gone willingly into Velminth. What did it matter if she shaped a command for him to get her to safety?

  They shared a look and she nodded, an acknowledgement to him only. At least Tan now understood more of what had happened in Velminth and why Lins Alles had left so quickly. Amia must have worked a shaping on him.

  Had she tried it on the lisincend? Is that why it became so angry?

  “I must know,” Roine began quietly, breaking the heavy silence that had grown among them. “Can you shape spirit?”

  Amia was silent for a long time, long enough that Tan didn’t think she’d answer at all, but finally she turned to them and looked from Tan, meeting his eyes and holding the gaze, to Roine. “The Aeta have many feelers,” she started. “What you would call a senser. This fact has never been hidden. All of the Mothers have been and still remain skilled feelers.”

  Roine blinked, taken aback by Amia’s honesty. “Are there feelers among the men of the Aeta as well?”

  “Some,” she said with a nod, “though they aren’t as common as women.”

  “That’s why your women lead.”

  Amia laughed softly. “That’s only a part of it. But true enough.” She paused again, considering her words carefully as if deciding how much to tell. “There are others, born rarely, once or twice to a generation. They are powerful feelers, able to not only sense the emotions of others, but influence them as well, direct them. We say they’re blessed by the Great Mother, infused with her spirit, able to use it to help her people. Once found, these women—they are always women—are raised to lead the Aeta.”

  “These are the shapers?” Roine asked.

  Amia nodded.

  He leaned forward. “And were you blessed by the Great Mother?”

  A cloud seemed to pass over her face before she nodded. “I am.”

  “They exist,” he said to himself. “All this time we thought we’d lost spirit shaping.” He looked at Amia. “How have the Aeta kept this secret?”

  Amia frowned. “It’s not a secret to the Aeta.”

  “No? How have you maintained secrecy outside the Aeta?”

  “Some things can only be taught to one of the Aeta,” she answered. “There is one truth I have seen on our travels. Every culture has secrets.”

  “Some are larger than others,” Roine said.

  Amia met Roine’s eyes. “Already I’ve shared more than is right. I would not if not for the son of Zephra. The Mother had great respect for her.” She turned to Tan. “Your mother was well known to the Aeta, though we knew her as Zephra. She stayed with my people for a time. All who knew her had great respect for her.”

  “Before recently, I’d never heard my mother called by that name.” Tan looked at Roine. “The first was when she named you Theondar.”

  “And you recognized the name Theondar?” Roine asked.

  Tan nodded. “Many would, I think.”

  “I think you’d be surprised.”

  Tan frowned, remembering how his father always used to speak of Theondar. “But he’s one of the greatest warriors!”

  “Perhaps he is,” Roine agreed. “Or was.”

  “So why would my mother call you by his name?”

  “Because it was mine, once.”

  The comment came like a jolt of lightning.

  Tan shouldn’t have been surprised. Athan to the king, speaking with his voice. More than that, he came to Galen—alone—on a mission for the king. And only one of the warriors could face both hounds and the lisincend without becoming incapacitated by fear.

  “You’re a Cloud Warrior?” Tan asked. How much could have gone better had Roine admitted that to them? How much could they have done differently? “Why do you need me to reach the mountain pass?”

  “There have been no known warriors in the kingdoms for decades,” he answered. “Those who had remained became targets, hunted by the Incendin and other e
nemies of the kingdoms until only a few were left. Theondar the warrior is no more. And Roine is no warrior.”

  Tan frowned. “But you still serve the king?”

  Roine nodded. “As Athan. Not as a warrior.”

  Tan leaned back. Roine was Theondar. His mother was Zephra, a powerful wind shaper. And Amia the Aeta could shape spirit. More than ever, he felt lost, worse than he ever felt after learning of his father.

  “What do I have to do with your search?” Amia asked. She watched Tan as she spoke, probably sensing the struggle raging through him.

  “At first I wasn’t certain. I hadn’t considered the Aeta. It wasn’t until I met Tan and he told me about the Aeta chased from Incendin that I considered the possibility. Then I heard of the hounds and I feared I wasn’t the first to think of it.” He looked from Tan to Amia. “I think a senser of such strength could find the artifact. Such strength would doubtlessly make her a shaper. That’s why they pursued you.”

  “It don’t think it’ll work.”

  Roine tilted his head. “I’m not certain it will, either. But this device,” he said, pointing toward his saddlebags, “was shaped by those who wield the elementals. All of them.”

  Amia shook her head. “I don’t understand.”

  “Let me try explaining it differently. A shaping carries a certain signature,” he began, “something that can be felt and detected by those who know how and where to look. If you are skilled enough—or strong enough—you can trace the shaping, follow it, either along its course or back to the shaper.”

  Amia began to nod a little. “I think I understand.”

  Roine smiled. “I hoped you would,” he answered. He turned and went back to his saddlebag and retrieved the golden box once more. “This device amplifies that shaping so that one who is skilled enough can use it to follow its course.”

  “You said all the elementals were used in its shaping?” Tan asked.

  Roine nodded. “Recent warriors are thought to be able to use all the elementals,” he began, “but there hasn’t been a warrior who can shape spirit in a thousand years.” He shook his head. “It was these warriors who made this box and the reason it has never fully worked for me.”

  “Then why do you think I can help?” Amia asked.

  “I’m unable to even sense spirit. I could follow the others. Some of the shapings were stronger than others. Wind particularly. Water. I have some strength with earth, not like some, but this device never had much strength with earth.” He swallowed. “And fire had been quite strong—possibly the strongest of them. That’s why Fur thinks he can track the shaping, I suspect. Now none of them work. When the device was damaged, it was no longer safe for me to use.”

  “Then why Amia?”

  “I don’t know if the spirit thread has been damaged. That’s why she’s needed.”

  “What you ask requires a skill I don’t think I have.”

  “You have to try.”

  “Why must this artifact be found?”

  Roine inhaled deeply. “If Incendin reaches it first…not just the barrier will fall. This artifact, if it’s half of what scholars think it might be, can’t reach Incendin. I’d rather see it destroyed than that.”

  Amia shook her head. “You haven’t answered the question.”

  There was a surge of energy with the words, a directive, and Roine smiled. “You don’t need to shape me.”

  Tan felt whatever it was Amia had done. He’d felt it before.

  “Many scholars have searched for it. None have succeeded.”

  “Why now? Why you?” Tan asked.

  Roine sighed. “Shaping is changing.” He shook his head. “I can’t explain it more than that—I’m no archivist—but our shapers have grown weaker. Even sensing is weaker. But this,” he said, tapping the golden box, “if the archivists are right, this could change that.” He sighed. “As to why now? It’s not just now. I’ve been searching for nearly a decade. Even more time before that, trying to understand the damn compass. I don’t know why Incendin suddenly makes a push when I’m finally getting close.”

  They sat in silence for a moment. “How is shaping changing?” Tan asked.

  “Questions for those who study such things, not me. In the kingdoms, they’re known as archivists, and they have access to records dating back over a thousand years. But what they tell me is that with each generation, our connection to the elementals grows weaker. Once, creatures like the lisincend would not have challenged even a strong shaper. Now full warriors struggle against them. Given enough time, it could be that we will not see another warrior again.”

  Roine turned to Amia. “Please. You must try. Focus upon the box, upon the symbol for spirit. Push your focus outward, as if you were performing a shaping, and listen, as if sensing. All I need to know is whether spirit still responds.”

  “And if I’m not strong enough?”

  Tan touched her arm. She didn’t pull away. “I’ve seen what you can do. I didn’t know what it was I was seeing, but you shaped Lins. And I felt you shaping the lisincend. It was working, if only for a moment.”

  “You tried shaping the lisincend?” Roine asked.

  Amia nodded.

  “It should not work,” Roine said.

  She shook her head. “It didn’t.”

  “I think it could have,” Tan said. “Whatever you did made it angry. That must mean you’re strong enough to do this.”

  Amia stared at the box for long moments before finally nodding. “I’ll try.” She didn’t sound as if she expected it to work.

  Roine nodded. “Thank you.”

  Amia sat upon the nearest rock with the gold box resting on her lap. She rotated it until one of the points of the star was directed at her. Her face slackened and her eyes lost focus until they closed completely. Tan felt the slow sizzling of energy, a gradual building of pressure in his ears.

  As the energy rose to the point where Tan’s hair felt like it would stand on end and the pressure in his ears had grown to a sharp stabbing pain, there was a whooshing release as it shot away from the rocky cavern and up into the mountains.

  Tan wondered why he could almost see it.

  “It’s done,” Amia said. She sounded more fatigued than she had been at any point since leaving Velminth.

  “What happened?” Roine asked.

  Roine sensed nothing. How was it that Tan sensed what Amia had done? Was it tied to the shaping she had done on him, the command urging him to protect her? Had she bound him to her somehow?

  She shook her head. “This device directed my shaping,” she answered, fumbling with the last word. “Pulling it from me and sending its energy out and up the mountain.”

  Roine looked around. “Can you follow it?”

  If Tan closed his eyes, he could follow it.

  Amia nodded. “Yes.”

  “Then we need to go.”

  “Let her rest, Roine.” The voice in his mind whispered to him. Protect me. He recognized the shaping now and did not mind the silent reminder; he would have done what he could to protect her anyway. “She’s tired. After everything she’s been through, she deserves that.”

  A moment of compassion lingered on Roine’s face. “Can you feel it?” he asked Tan.

  Tan listened, thinking Roine asked him to use his earth sense. The night was lightening and the first slivers of daylight had begun to creep through the sky, an orange hue to the clouds. The wind had died at some point and the air that had been so cool earlier in the night had grown warmer. Too warm for the early morn. Then Tan knew what Roine had sensed.

  The lisincend were coming.

  22

  The Lisincend Attack

  Roine hurried them toward the horses and he climbed atop his mount, motioning to Tan and Amia to do the same. He started away from the shelter, riding his horse in the direction Amia had indicated.

  “Are you going to let me ride with you?” she asked. She seemed genuinely uncertain how he’d answer.

  “Can’
t you sense my answer?” He tried to sound playful, but came off more abruptly than intended.

  “I’d understand if you said no. After what I did…” She sighed. “That’s why we have the Accords. The earliest of my people didn’t hesitate to…shape…others to do what they wanted. That’s not what I wanted with you.”

  “I wouldn’t leave you to the lisincend.” Just thinking about it bothered him. And there was still that echo in the back of his mind, the quiet command.

  Protect me.

  “Only because of what I did.”

  Tan held her dark gaze with his eyes and shook his head. “I would have done what I could to rescue you regardless of the shaping. It just serves as a reminder.”

  She bit her lip and narrowed her eyes. “It is still with you, the shaping?”

  Tan nodded. Like a voice in his head, he could hear it whisper if he closed his eyes, felt its pull and knew he would struggle if he tried to refuse its call. “I can hear it if I try.”

  She shook her head. “That should not be. It should disappear and you certainly should not hear anything.”

  Tan shrugged. “I do.”

  She looked at him a moment before nodding. “If I haven’t said so before, thanks for saving me, Tan, son of Zephra.”

  He pulled Amia into the saddle behind him and she placed her arms around his waist, pulling herself into him. She was warm and soft and, in spite of everything she had been through, the destruction of her caravan and imprisonment by the lisincend, she smelled of lavender and lilacs. He was all too aware how Amia clung tightly to him.

  She chuckled then. The sound was soft and a hot whisper in his ear.

  She sensed him. How much would she know without needing to ask?

  He felt exposed…but didn’t mind. At least she couldn’t see him flush.

  Roine waited for them as they emerged from the rocky shelter. His eyes were closed and his face locked in concentration. His hands were slack at his side, fingers spread wide, and he breathed deeply. The horse beneath him was completely still.