Klint used more rope to bind the man's legs. "Consider yourself lucky. I could've killed you." He turned to Berig. "Let's go. Don't worry. I can make the climb down."
Berig's stomach churned as he followed Klint down the cliff, taking care to wedge himself between the tower and the rocks. They descended slowly in the dark. No sound came from atop the tower.
When they reached the bottom, Berig felt he could breathe again.
"Where're you people staying?" Klint asked.
"I'll take you there."
Chapter 47: The Desert
Nadia noticed a sudden change in Markus as he sat beside her on the bench. His body tensed. His expression tightened.
She put a hand on his shoulder. "What did you see?"
Markus looked away, biting his lower lip.
"It's okay," she said. "You can tell me."
Markus had tears in his eyes. "I saw how my parents died. They were trying to escape the Empire. My uncle was there. He did nothing to stop the other Imperial Guards."
"What could he have done?" she asked.
He clenched his fists. "I don't know. But he just stood there, doing nothing." He shook his head. "Look. I know it was a tough situation, but that doesn't make me any less angry."
Cyrus cleared his throat. "I don't mean to interrupt this emotional situation, but there are a few more matters to discuss before you leave."
Nadia turned her attention to Cyrus. Markus still looked as if he were lost in his anger, his troubled thoughts. She kept her hand on his shoulder, wishing she could comfort him and wondering if there was something more than friendship between them.
"First," Cyrus said, "there's the matter of who's going to accompany you."
"What do you mean?" Nadia asked.
"What you're doing is very important," Cyrus said. "Did you think I'd let you go the rest of the way on your own? That would be foolish. This is our best chance to end Warrick's rule. We can't afford to keep possible help from you." He sighed, looking away. "At the same time, though, we can't give you too much help. A mission like this depends on secrecy."
Nadia saw something strange in Cyrus's expression, as though he was holding something back. She didn't pursue it, though, as he didn't strike her as a man who shared his secrets. It was enough that he'd saved their lives.
She'd seen the same hesitancy in Cyrus's behavior earlier, but she hadn't pressed him on it. She knew enough about secrecy herself to recognize when someone wouldn't reveal anything more.
"I've determined three people who can help you," Cyrus said. "I will call them over."
He rose from the stone bench, walked to where the other Order members had gathered, then returned with three people.
"This is Jakob," he said, gesturing to a bearded man with light brown hair, who looked on with narrowed eyes and a frown. "Jakob has a magical talent for seeing in the dark. This should prove useful in the Forest of Darkness."
The next man, tall and muscular with darker hair and an unshaven face, was Garet.
"Garet is a seasoned adventurer," Cyrus said. "He's been just about everywhere you can go in the eastern half of the Empire."
Though Garet's face looked stern, he seemed more eager for adventure. He had strapped a sword, a bow, and a pair of knives to his back.
"Lastly, here is Alana," Cyrus said, indicating a young woman with dark blond hair who carried a magical staff. "She's quite talented with her staff. She should prove very useful in any confrontation with the beasts of the desert and forest."
Jakob continued frowning. "She has her staff for the forest. You don't need me."
"Lighting a staff in the forest is dangerous," Cyrus said. "Any light may attract the creatures that lurk in the trees. You might be safe with a glowing compass, but nothing more. I'm sorry, Jakob, I know you want to stay with your family, but this quest needs you."
"All right. I want to see Warrick dead as much as anyone." Jakob collapsed onto a nearby stone bench, staring off into space.
"Are you sure we should separate him from his family?" Nadia asked.
"Unfortunately, it is necessary," Cyrus said. "Jakob will do his best."
Rik cleared his throat. "You got any more of those magical staffs?"
"Sorry, I almost forgot." Cyrus rose, walked into a nearby room, then returned a few moments later with a magical staff, which he handed to Rik. "Just remember that it's dangerous to use the staff in the forest. Only use it if it's absolutely necessary."
"I'll make sure to be careful," Rik said, and Markus laughed. Nadia stifled her own laugh. She would not have used the word careful to describe anything about Rik. Even Rik was grinning again.
"What about the second scroll?" Nadia asked.
"Don't worry," Cyrus said. "I'll get it for you."
He disappeared briefly into another room, then returned with the scroll and handed it to Nadia. "You and Markus need to rest. Rik, why don't you let Alana teach you a bit about how that staff works?"
Rik grinned, and Nadia was happy to see that expression after all he'd been through.
* * * * *
Rik and Alana stood in a large and empty room. He turned the staff over in his hands, marveling at its sleek wood, its expert craftsmanship. It was strange to think that he could produce magic with this kind of staff, but he'd done it before.
He wished Klint had explained a bit more about the staff, but that would have been out of character for the smuggler. Now Rik was eager to learn what he could do, if only to distract himself from all his other worries.
"The first thing about these staffs," Alana said, "is that their abilities come from seven different elements: Fire, Lightning, Wind, Earth, Water, Ice, and Darkness. You don't get the full range of magic that sorcerers do, but you're still pretty useful in a tight spot." She took a few steps toward Rik. "Let's start with the first element: Fire."
Rik glanced around the stone room, relieved that nothing in there would burn. "Okay, what do I do?" The magnificent staff suddenly felt like nothing more than a chunk of wood.
"First, I will demonstrate a fire shield," Alana said. She raised her staff, and the air shimmered around her. "Now why don't you try to launch a fireball at me?"
Rik felt a little queasy. "You sure that's a good idea?"
"My shield will stop your attack. Don't worry about me."
"Okay," Rik said, taking an uncertain step toward her. "What exactly do I do?"
"Picture a fireball in your mind. Channel your thoughts through the staff."
Rik did as she'd instructed, and nothing happened.
"Don't worry," she said, offering him a smile. "It's not always easy to make a spell work at first."
"But I've done it before. I used a staff to generate wind."
"Then maybe we should start with that." She stood back against the wall. "Send some wind at me."
Rik gritted his teeth and tried to recall the way he'd felt on that boat with Markus and Klint. Before he knew it, a great gust of wind came from his staff. The force of it sent him flying backward, and he came within inches of slamming his head against the stone wall.
"Looks like you've got the hang of that one," Alana said, her face a little white. The force of his spell had pinned her to the wall. "Now that you've warmed up, let's try the fireball again."
This time, when Rik tried to channel his magic into a fireball, he succeeded. The fireball only went about two feet from the end of his staff, but it was a start. He had much more success with another fire ability, with which he unleashed a firestorm at the other side of the room. The flames towered from the floor to the ceiling until he let the spell die.
"You've got a lot of raw power," Alana said. "But your control could use some work." She smiled. "Or a lot of work."
The next spell he tried was a fire shield. Alana explained that, although the spell had its basis in the element of Fire, it served to protect its caster against many things, including other forms of magic and arrows. A sword could still penetrate a shield, though, an
d the heat of the shield wasn't enough to deter such threats.
The last Fire ability was the one they weren't supposed to use in the forest. The tip of Rik's staff glowed orange. This spell used little energy compared to the others.
Alana continued to instruct Rik in the rest of the elements. It didn't take long for Rik to send a burst of lightning across the room. Thankfully, Alana was not in its path. He also learned two Earth Abilities, one of which partially destroyed the room.
Rik used his staff to pull a stalagmite from the ground, just like he'd seen when he and Markus had explored caves in their younger days. There was no way to get rid of the stalagmite, so it would serve as a permanent monument to Rik's quick learning.
He also sent jagged rocks across the room. They burst from the tip of his staff, then struck the stone walls, leaving small indentations.
"The next element we'll learn is Water," Alana said, "and since we're going to be traveling in a desert, you might want to pay attention."
"Hey, I've been paying attention the whole time."
She smiled. "I was just joking with you. You don't need to be so serious."
"Serious? I've never been serious in my life." But lately he had lost his relaxed, joking manner. He didn't like the changes this quest had brought about in him. It felt as if he was finally leaving behind his childhood, and he would never return.
Alana ignored his remark. "You can only use one type of water ability, but you can channel it at different strengths. At its core, the concept is pretty simple. You send a jet of water streaming from the end of your staff."
Rik focused on that idea, and soon he was blasting the walls with tremendous force. He couldn't help but smile. Magic was a lot of fun. Dangerous, but fun.
Maybe he could reclaim the person he'd been before this quest started.
When Alana instructed him to slow the magic to a trickle, he had much less success. No matter how much he focused on what he desired, the water burst from his staff.
"I guess I'll supply any water we need," Alana said. "You might kill somebody."
Rik wanted to protest, but he smiled instead. He liked learning from Alana.
There were two ice abilities. One of them made a shard of ice fly from the tip of his staff. That would be useful like throwing a knife at an opponent. The other made the air around him much colder and could even be used to freeze water.
"We'll need that to cross the river that separates the desert from the forest," Alana said. "By freezing the water, we can create an ice bridge."
"That sounds a bit dangerous."
"Oh, I'm sure it will be."
"There's one element we haven't talked about," Rik said.
Alana looked suddenly uncomfortable. "Yes, Darkness. It's not one I'd recommend testing right now. You can send a jet of darkness from the end of your staff. This spell is meant to inflict pain. I suppose it could be useful, but I hope I never have to use it."
Rik's thoughts drifted back to when Warrick had briefly tortured Markus. Rik didn't like to think that he had the same power now, and he prayed he'd never need it.
"Yeah, I don’t like the sound of that," he said.
She was silent a few moments before she finally said, "That's everything I need to teach you for now. You're talented, and you know the basics. Your control will come with time."
But would they have enough time?
* * * * *
The party of six set our early the next morning with Garet assuming the position of leader. Nadia felt relieved to shed the heavy mantle of leadership. At first, she'd been hesitant to include anyone else in her plans, but now it felt right.
When they reached the edge of town, she said, "What should we watch out for?"
Garet continued forward, sand crunching beneath his leather shoes. "Close to town, we'll have to look out for smaller snakes, scorpions, and quicksand. As we get farther, more dangerous creatures will show up. Giant sand snakes and scorpions. Lizards too. Oh, and some of the cacti are predatory. On the other side of a giant canyon, we'll have to start worrying a lot more about sandstorms. Believe me, this won't be fun."
"Don't forget about the heat," Rik muttered.
Garet smiled. "That too."
For now, the air was cool, but in a few hours, it would feel like an oven. Nadia already felt exhausted at the mere thought of that heat.
"So what are your stories?" Nadia asked, looking to Garet, Alana, and Jakob. "How did you all end up part of the Order?"
Alana spoke first. "I grew up here in the Oasis Outpost. My family likes to pretend Warrick doesn't exist. As I grew older, I began to question my parents' beliefs. They aren't bad people. They'd just rather not deal with unpleasant facts of life."
"I know a lot of people like that," Nadia said. "Too many."
"Eventually, I went my own way. I knew that Cyrus and the Order were somewhere in town. I approached Cyrus and asked to join. I've never looked back. Shortly after I joined, Cyrus discovered my ability with the staff. I've spent my time since then training and waiting for my chance to go elsewhere."
"Where would you have gone?" Markus asked.
"Probably to the east. But Cyrus told me to stay. He might not read the Webs of Fate as well as Warrick, but I think he could still see my importance to this quest."
"Do you ever speak to your family?" Nadia asked. She still felt angry whenever she thought of her father, but then she remembered how he'd endured torture to hide her whereabouts. An act that seemed so unlike the man she'd known.
"We see each other occasionally," Alana said, "but we've gone our separate ways."
"I can understand that," Nadia said. She understood all too well. "What about you, Garet?"
He continued marching forward. "Well, I grew up in Marion. My childhood wasn't much to write home about. My parents were like anyone else, struggling to make ends meet. We weren't dirt poor, but we weren't rich either. We resented Warrick as much as anyone."
Rik gave him a strange look. "Then what made you into an adventurer?"
"Don't know. I guess it was just the desire to see more. At first, I trained to be a city guard. That's where I became so good with weapons. But that life sounded so confining. I needed to see the world."
"You sound kinda like me," Rik said.
"There's a lot to see here in the Empire," Garet said. "Also a lot of trouble you can find. Imperial Guards don't take so well to people with too much curiosity. But I've survived by my wits, and my skills, I suppose. It's a bit lonely, but I've never been all that social."
"How'd you end up in the Oasis Outpost?" Markus asked.
Garet led them away from a snake winding its way across the sand. "Cyrus told me to come here. I think he knew you'd show up. I've been here a few months. I made sure to come at night, though, and I knew how to get into the Order's headquarters. Cyrus warned me about the attitude here toward outsiders."
"We could've used that knowledge," Markus said.
"It turned out okay in the end," Alana said.
"Barely," Rik said. "You weren't the one seconds from losing his head."
Nadia hated the new bitterness in Rik's tone. She could understand why he might feel bitter, but they didn't need that kind of attitude on their quest. What had happened to the bright-spirited young man who'd believed anything was possible?
"What about you, Jakob?" Nadia asked.
"I'm afraid my life is boring. My family's been part of the Order for years, so I grew up around it. The most interesting thing about me is that I can tune my senses to be stronger. Things like seeing in the dark or hearing quiet noises." He held up a hand. "For example, there's a snake about a hundred feet that way."
Nadia strained her ears but couldn't hear anything. Soon the snake came into view, slithering past them, its scales red, black, and yellow.
"You see the colors?" Garet said. "Those tell you it's poisonous."
Once the snake passed, Jakob continued. "Cyrus always said my abilities would prove useful, and while I'm
glad to help out, I'm worried how my family will fare if I die on this quest. Yes, we have a good chance to defeat Warrick, as good as we'll ever get, but I'd say there's at least a ninety percent chance we'll fail. That's just thinking realistically."
Nadia felt sick. "I know what you mean, but we have to try."
As the air warmed, it became more difficult to place one foot in front of the other. They took frequent breaks, and Alana would cool them with gentle streams of water from her staff. Rik could not produce anything short of a small flood.
"How does that work?" Nadia asked. "Where do you get the water?"
Alana settled down next to her in the sand. "Cyrus says that the water for any water ability comes from elsewhere. That's why the Oasis Outpost has an oasis. Cyrus is constantly refilling the water. That's also why no one else lives out in the desert. The same is true for other kinds of magic, like when you send rocks or ice from the tip of your staff. The material is summoned from somewhere. No one quite knows where."
They ate a small meal of dried meat. If necessary, they'd catch animals, then use their staffs to cook them. It would burn a little, but burnt food was better than no food, even to Nadia, who'd spent her entire life eating perfectly prepared food.
Nothing dangerous bothered them that day. However, in the cool night, beneath the bright moon and stars, Garet warned them it wouldn't stay that way.
The next morning, he proved prophetic.
"Is that one of the predatory cacti," Markus asked, pointing off to their right.
Garet squinted in that direction. "Could be. Let's give it a wide berth."
They remained a good distance from the cactus. It stood at least fifteen feet tall, and Nadia shuddered to think what it could do to them with its long spines. As if sensing her thoughts, it began to move toward them, churning the sand at its base.
"How the hell does it do that?" Rik asked.
Alana turned to him. "Get your staff ready."
Rik pointed his staff toward the cactus as it barreled toward them at a speed no human could outrun. Its two arm-like appendages flailed around.
World in Chains- The Complete Series Page 40