Kemp

by Francheska Fifield

  "Are you sure you want me to train him to be better at battle? Shouldn’t we keep him as weak as possible, in case we have to kill him?"

  I sigh. "Viktor. Do not ask me that. You know when I make an oath or promise of any kind, I stick to it. Talon is one of us now. I know it's awkward and I know it seems insane, but he is one of the team now. We need to treat him as if he is. He will train you in battle magic; you will train him in hand-to-hand combat. Please try not to hold the past against him. We all made mistakes, even Avren, and we are all moving past it to build a better future for all involved. Please, I know it's hard because you are my Kemp and my safety comes first, but I need you on board. I need you, Viktor. You and I both know I would never get anywhere without you. So please, please say you will help me get Talon used to us. He will need help with court as well. It's going to be entirely different than anything he has ever experienced."

  He sighs and nods.

  "For you."

  I smile and lean back, closing my eyes. "Thank you, Viktor."

  "Get some sleep. I am going to talk to Avren."

  I nod, lean back into the mound, and fall fast asleep.

  Chapter Twelve

  Viktor

  I walk down the steps and go to the edge of the clearing to where Avren stands, overlooking his now full domain. I avoid the mages, including my grandfather who is sitting and talking with Talon. I will have to deal with both soon, but not right now.

  "Avren. Interesting name. You never told me before."

  "My queen has gifted me with the name. It is what I shall be called from here on out."

  "Why would Elainne be the one to name you?"

  He sighs looking down at me.

  "You should ask her yourself? Or do you not trust yourself around her anymore?"

  His eyes are knowing. So much knowledge and understanding. How often has he lost himself to the wilder side of himself? Has he ever lost his rationality, or is it only because I was not born with this blood that it swayed me? Mostly though, I want to know if I can stop it from happening again. I can’t be Elainne's Kemp if she will have to stab herself to pull me back from the abyss every time I lose myself.

  "She has enough to worry about. She said you were one of the team now. You and Talon."

  "And you do not approve?"

  "I approve of you. You have proven yourself. He tried to kill us."

  He looks over at Talon and exhales so deeply that smoke comes out.

  "We are all pulled by fate, one way or another. He is where he is supposed to be now. You will need him. Later."

  I, better than anyone, understand fate; but that doesn’t mean I like it.

  "Once again, you say so very much and so very little at the same time."

  He huffs and looks at the sky.

  "I need you to train me. I need to be able to use the blood instead of it using me."

  "Yes. If you can summon the dragon and control it, you will be an immovable force. My queen will need that."

  It is not something I want to worry on tonight. Not when I am fresh from the tormenting thoughts that plagued me.

  "How will you become one of us? You are too big to go home with us."

  "I will change my size. I can be small enough to fit on Elainne's shoulder. When we return her home, I will accompany you in my miniature form."

  I didn’t know he could do that. That will garner an interesting response from everyone in the castle.

  "Do you hunt mice as well? If so, they might let you sleep with the cats in the barn."

  "I will stay with my queen at all times."

  As usual, no sense of humor. It will make me feel a bit better to have a magical powerhouse with her at all times. Since I can’t stay with her at night, I am glad he will.

  "We will start your training again in a week. Deal with your demons before then, Kemp."

  He takes off towards the cave, miraculously landing silently and entering. Apparently, it is his bedtime. At least Elainne won’t be alone. Meanwhile, I have some people to deal with. First my grandfather. Then Talon and I will have a conversation.

  "Grandfather, you look well."

  He looks up at me, smiling. At least until he really looks at me. Then he frowns.

  "You look so different. Your eye… are you…"

  "Blind? No. Avren saved the sight in it. However, it will forever look like I lost sight in it. The black splotches on my arms and chest are permanent as well. Too much magic discolored the skin."

  Talon, I notice, won’t look at me. Interesting. Is he feeling guilty or just disgusted with me?

  "The mages paid a heavy price for what they did to you and Elainne."

  I snort. "It looks to me, grandfather, that you all are sitting pretty right now. Elainne has given you centuries of stored up power and you live under the protection of a dragon."

  Talon's fists clench. My grandfather doesn’t hold my anger against me. He has seen my relationship with Elainne and what they did to us. He knows how I feel about anyone that caused her injury. It is why I am often angry with myself. She would hurt herself for me, as she had done on many occasions, and I can’t take it.

  "We lost many."

  "Doesn’t look it."

  "The fifty or so mages that were our warriors. None of the rest of us are trained to magically defend or attack."

  I look at Talon. "That isn't true now, is it? If he is not trained as Elainne was told, he is useless to us and I do not want him with us."

  Now my grandfather does look a bit annoyed.

  "Your charge has given you orders…"

  "She has given me no orders. She never orders. She wants me to always have a choice, as she does everyone she oversees. I know he was the one that created that magical watchdog to attack us. Elainne tried to reason with him and he still attacked. Before I accept him as her magical champion, I need to trust him."

  My grandfather nudges Talon with his elbow. He nods once and turns to look at me. Anger covers his features. I look him up and down. He looks skinny. He used magic earlier while fighting and even then lasted mere minutes. I am not expecting much from him.

  He unbuttons his top and opens his shirt, lifting his head to one side. A long angry scar runs from his face down his chest.

  "I paid for that decision."

  Elainne had gotten him good. I can’t say I feel bad about it because he started it.

  "Elainne doesn’t like fighting, but she is good at it when she needs to be."

  He nods.

  "You accept bowing to someone that did that to you?"

  "She pointed out that we attacked first and that we did worse to her, but she was willing to help us anyway. I figured if she was willing to use a blood oath to us to prove it, we should be as well."

  I nod. Elainne has that effect on people.

  "Viktor, Talon is not a bad kid. He followed orders."

  "Did he agree with those orders?" I turn to look at Talon once again. My grandfather can defend Talon all he wants, but this is what I care most about. Soldiers do follow orders. You don’t always like them and sometimes you think they are wrong, but you have to follow orders. That’s why I think Elainne worth following. She would never order anyone to do something that they think is wrong.

  "Answer me, Talon. Did you think it okay to attack a half-human half-Elvin girl because the higher ups said all of the Elvin people were evil?"

  He shrugs and buttons up his shirt. "I never thought about whether it was right or wrong. I had a talent. They needed it to defend home."

  I walk up to him and slug him on his left cheek. His head swings backwards, he loses his balance, floundering to stay standing, and lets out a yelp.

  "Working with Elainne requires two things. Most importantly, a conscience, because she has one and if you go against that code it will hurt her all the way down to her soul."

  Talon rises, rubbing his cheek and glaring.

  "What's the second thing I need?"

  I didn't expected him to care. It t
akes me slightly by surprise. "The ability to know when you must disobey orders to save her from herself. She will give everything she has until she is broken, all for the sake of others. You need to know when to pull back and let her, and when to pull her back."

  "I knew I should have killed you earlier."

  I smile. I admire his guts. My grandfather tries to hold in his anger so hard that he is practically vibrating with it.

  "You will never be able to stop Elainne from saving anyone. Nothing you can do magically or physically will be enough to interfere with that. It is who she is. You… all of you are living proof that she feels the need to save the world and everyone in it, no matter their race. Be grateful for it."

  I turn and walk back to the cave. I need to get some sleep. In the morning training starts and I am spent from the dragon blood making me to go wild for a few weeks. Talon will be fun to take my anger out on tomorrow. If he proves worthy, I will let him come with us… if.

  Talon

  Viktor walks away and I do nothing but watch.

  "You are lucky he only hit you once."

  I want to say he already tried to kill me earlier, but I have sworn to never speak about what went on in the forest with her highness, Viktor, and myself.

  "He's lucky I didn’t do worse back."

  Aldamon laughs.

  "No Talon, I don’t think you realize what would happen if Viktor broke open his full power. He doesn’t have control, but he has raw power and you would be surprised what that can do."

  I have seen what raw power could do. The dragon has unleashed it when he came for them in the village. Every time we hit him with magic his scales absorbed it and it came back to bite us in the ass with another fireball. Magic with purpose is dangerous, but not nearly as much as magic that is left to carve a destructive path. No wonder the princess wants Viktor trained. I have seen firsthand that his scales can absorb magic as well. That will make sparing with him deadly for me. If he goes crazy, I can’t stop him. I will have to better myself at physical combat.

  "Get some sleep, Talon. I am sure you will have training as well tomorrow."

  I nod and slowly make my way up to the cave where we will all sleep. I am one of them now. One of the team. I am not sure how I feel about that. I never thought of myself as very sentimental, but I now realize I will miss being part of the mage community. I have a new family though and it is time to take my place in it. I hold my head high as I walk into the cave, putting my stuff near an empty pile of bedding.

  Avren lifts his head, watching me. I situate my things and look around. The princess is in the deepest part of the cave, in what looks to be a nest of pillows and blankets. You can barely see her face sticking out of the mass. Viktor has his bedding right in front of her. Between her and the rest of the world. I am further out and to the side, Avren is right across from me. Is this how things will always be? Will there ever be a time when Viktor and I will be across from one another, in front of her? Or is it a Kemp thing?

  "Sleep, young mage. Your path will be harder than you could imagine from here on out. You will need your rest and fortitude."

  I believe him. I lay down and quickly fall asleep.

  Elainne

  When I wake, I see the sun streaming through the cave entrance and hear the sound of magic clashing. Avren's teachings have started, it seems. I rise from my nesting grounds and rubbed my eyes, looking around. Food is laid out on the table for me. I sigh.

  "They let me sleep too long."

  I rise and grab the food, sitting at a chair to eat. This cave is enormous. You can fit half of my aunt's castle in it. Viktor has apparently set up right in front of me, leaving the rest of the cavern for Avren. Avren apparently pulled out the treasure, to decorate and make it habitable for humans while I was away. There hadn't been a writing desk or table and chairs before. There is more bedding as well, and one very large empty spot where I assume Avren slept.

  After finishing my food, I explore the cave a bit more and find some trunks near my bedding. Upon opening, I find clothing. I pull some out. They are out of fashion, they obviously belonged to ancient queens. Nothing in here would have ever been worn by anything less than an empress. Had an ancient queen ruled the world? I hadn't known of any that were this rich. I can’t wear these out here. Is Avren crazy? They will be ruined. I keep searching until I find travel clothing. There are also lots of night things and various types of footwear. Even battle gear. I pull out some of the clothing for travel and some boots. I need to bathe, and while everyone is busy is a great time.

  Viktor

  Avren is not going easy on any of us. He keeps making us perform the same spell over and over with different levels of power; it clashes against his shields, allowing him to know if we do it exactly as he stipulated. I expected to be the worst one at it, but I am not. I am unsure if I am glad that I am not the worst, or if I am sad that Elainne is safe because of these people. If the mages are her only defense and it comes down to finesse, her and I will be booking a dragon flight far, far away.

  "Good morning, everyone."

  Elainne walks up to us, smiling. We let her sleep, figuring that if she could sleep through this mayhem, she needs it. She looks beautiful. Her color is back and she is all clean and practically glowing like a pearl again. Her travel wear is different. More majestic. It suits her.

  "You look better, Elainne."

  She smiles and nods.

  "I feel better. I needed sleep so very much. You look better this morning as well, Viktor."

  I nod. Likely not. I am sweating from the exertion of trying to keep my magic under control. After Avren is done with us, I will eat lunch, then I get to work with my grandfather on control… most of my training is focusing on that. Once I am proficient, Talon is to teach me the spells to fight like a mage. I am not looking forward to the smug look that I am sure will cross his face, but I need to be stronger in my magic, so I will take it… and give it back to him tenfold during our hand-to-hand combat and weapons training.

  "Avren, how is practice going?"

  She is standing in front with Avren now, overlooking the group. Us poor fools that are wishing we could kill a dragon without dying ourselves.

  "They all need too much work. I might make them practice twice a day."

  She laughs. "Oh Avren, you will make far too many enemies that way. Let us keep it once a day, with some self-practice on their own. It can be mandatory for the ones that have the most trouble. "

  He sighs but bows his head to her. I hear so many sighs of relief in unison that it covers mine. I already have so many things to do.

  "The ones that are the worst should join the elders and Aldamon in their training of Viktor. Aldamon can work with your Kemp while the elders teach the young and inept."

  She looks thoughtful and looks towards the group that is having the least amount of trouble. The elders have so much more experience with magic, so they are adapting more quickly. They nod and she sighs, looking at Avren.

  "If you think it absolutely necessary, I will agree. Try not to push them too far though. You know they are not the ones who were taught to do this from birth. They are doing their best."

  "They need to be better. If you have to call upon them, they need to be useful, or they will be a hindrance."

  "It will likely be a couple of years before I need to call upon them. If I ever do. They have time. The children are starting early. They will be more proficient once they get into the habit of training daily. It will make the future of the group that much more stable. Hiding out here in your magical realm helps as well. They won't be punished for the deaths of anyone that tried to enter their territory while they had the barrier up."

  "When I leave with you, they will practice alone. I will have to return to make sure they improve. If they do not, they will find another place to live."

  The mages mutter to themselves while Elainne puts her hands on her hips and scowls at Avren.

  "I promised them a place to live. Do
not make a liar out of me, Avren."

  You can hear the unhappy rumble in his chest, but once again bows his head.

  "As my queen wishes."

  She doesn’t pull her authority out often, but she won’t allow the mages to be tossed out after promising them a place of safety. She takes promises very seriously. As well as the safety of her people, and the mages are now hers. Avren backed himself into a corner, telling her to make them allies.

  I rub my eye. It has been going dragon all morning. So much magic in one place has me seeing everyone's magical auras and heat signatures. I have managed to hold it in for quite a while, but halfway through practice I lost the battle. I have managed to keep the dragon in the eyes alone and during the break, with Elainne so close and my Kemp bond calm to push it back, but it is twitching again. I look up and see. Elainne hadn't told me what to expect. She is covered in the silver that covers Avren. They are bonded. The light is pulsing, happy to have them close together, as the golden light had done with her and me last year in the Elvin kingdom.

  I must have made a noise, because they look over and everyone stares at me. My dragon eyes are in full effect, which would normally upset me, but only Avren and Elainne can see it. Avren looks angry; this is exactly what he told me to never do. Elainne looks sad.

  "Viktor…."

  I turn and make the motions to leave, but Talon stands in my way.

  "Hear her out. She is your superior."

  "Move, mage."

  "No."

  Elainne comes over and squeezes between us.

  "Enough! Talon, stand down. Viktor, come with me."

  Neither of us move until Avren roars. Everyone drops and covers their heads. We don’t, but we do flinch and quickly follow Elainne's orders.

  Once we got get of the hearing of the others, she stops and looks at me. She looks… sorrowful.

  "I know you are mad, but I didn’t tell you because so much was going on."

  She must catch my sneer because she looks exasperated.