by Toni Cox
“Archer has given me a horse, so I don’t have to walk. But Papa and Luke prefer to walk. I am sure that if everyone would ride we could get there so much faster.”
“We cannot spare the horses, Jasmin. We will need them for the fight. It is a great measure of his affection for you that he has begged a horse for you. I am sure it was not an easy task.”
Jasmin blushed and looked down. She had not realised what it meant.
“You are very special. You don’t need to be ashamed. And she is a fine animal.” Maia patted the horse’s neck. “What is her name?”
Jasmin giggled. “She has a very strange name. Archer called her Fireweed.”
“Oh,” Maia said. “That is a fine horse indeed. It is a strong name; Fire is her sire if she has the word fire in her name and Fireweed is the only vegetation Soul Dragons eat. It is like a breath mint for them, but the burning sensation when Elves, or Humans, eat it, would be sure to kill you.”
Jasmin grinned and gave her horse a hug. Maia marvelled at how comfortable she was with the animal. Just a few Moons ago she had been under the impression that horses were extinct and had never even seen a live animal before.
Everyone looked up as a bugle sounded. Jagaer stood on the wooden stage that was a permanent fixture in the Gathering Grounds and waited until the crowed had settled enough to hear him.
A raven squawked as it flew over and Maia felt shivers run down her back. It felt like an ill omen that the raven spoke before her father. She tried to shake off the uneasy feeling, but as she listened to her father, the feeling became stronger. She could not concentrate on his words at all and she was startled when the bugle sounded again and the people picked up their bags from the ground to sling them over shoulders or across their horses.
“I will miss you so very much,” Jasmin said, and hugged her.
“And I you, Jasmin,” Maia managed to say, her voice choked with emotion that had nothing to do with them leaving.
“Bye, Maia,” Luke said simply and also hugged her before he, too, shouldered his pack.
“You know I will miss you too while I am gone.” Aaron took one of her hands in his. “I hope you remain safe and that we will reunite soon.”
Aaron leant in and lightly kissed her on the cheek. He let go of her hand, turned, shouldered his rucksack and strode off towards the front of the column of people without a backward glance.
“He loves you, you know,” Luke said before he grabbed the reins of Jasmin’s horse and led it away, Jasmin sitting happily in its saddle.
Maia stared after the caravan of people and horses for only a moment. Then she turned and ran. She had no destination in mind; she just wanted to get away. Away from her dream, away from the terrible premonition, away from Aaron’s expectations. She vaguely heard Midnight roar in the distance, aware of her emotions, and the corresponding shrieks of the horses behind her. She wondered briefly if Jasmin’s riding skills were already good enough to sit a spooked horse.
She ran out from under the trees and into the open ground to the southeast of the village. Wolf was suddenly by her side, keeping pace with her, and Midnight circled overhead, always watching. She ran until her lungs burned and her legs shook from fatigue. Finally, she sat on a small knoll dotted with spindly trees. Wolf sat beside her, his tongue hanging out, panting.
Wolf should be with the caravan, but she was glad he was here now. Midnight landed in the field below. His head was now level with hers. She looked into his eyes and saw concern. A tear escaped her left eye. Midnight made a deep rumbling noise in his chest and soothing images flooded her brain. She wondered how he knew to do that.
It was late afternoon when she returned to Shadow Hall. Worried that her absence had caused her parents concern, she went to the house first to let them know she was fine and that Wolf had stayed behind. Then she went to see Silas. He was not in his cave, so she went to his home. Becci answered the door and let her in, then busied herself with making tea.
“What ails you, Maia? You look like there is something weighing heavily on your mind.”
Silas led her through to his little study and she took a seat opposite his desk.
“I had another dream. Stranger than all the ones before.” She didn’t want to go into too much detail, but she was almost sure the dream and the omen were connected. “Death featured very prominently in it and I was distraught when I awoke.”
Becci brought in the tea, smiled at Maia and then left the study. Silas shared almost everything with Becci, but matters of Elemental powers were only discussed between Elementals.
“I went to the Gathering Grounds to wish Luke, Jasmin and Aaron a good journey. Then, just before my father held his speech, a raven flew over the assembled people and I can still hear the plaintive cry it uttered. It has haunted me all day.”
Silas nodded, but remained silent.
“It gave me a most horrible premonition. I feel as if we are not sending them to safety, but to their death. I cannot shake the feeling.”
“Omens are a serious matter. Although a squawking raven could be just that, I don’t think that that is what you saw and heard. I trust in your instincts and so should you. I will go home with you and speak to Jagaer. We should send extra people after the caravan, just in case. And I think we should be extra careful with the approach to the Gate. Come, finish your tea; let us not delay this any longer. The sooner Jagaer can dispatch more people, the better.”
It had been a long evening again. It was past midnight when she got to bed. Her father had been as concerned about the omen as Silas and had taken his advice seriously. Riders had been dispatched almost immediately. Jaik had doubled the Night Watch again and pulled the Sentinels in closer to the village.
Exhausted, she crawled under her blanket. Wolf had gone with Jaik, so she had the bed to herself. She closed the shutters on her crystal lantern, the single Lumina on her windowsill the only light in the room. Finally feeling safe, she soon fell asleep.
The sun had just risen when she angrily got out of bed. She had slept well enough through the night, but then she had another dream. It had woken her as it had yesterday. She did not bother with cold water from the little basin this morning, but took a cold shower. The mornings were fresh now with autumn approaching and she shivered as she pulled on her clothes. She was mostly angry with herself. She should have more self-control.
She snatched up her bow and quiver and went downstairs. The house was thankfully empty.
Maia walked briskly along The Axis, through the warren that was the Workers Lanes and finally up Warriors Walk. Noises came from the Sparring Grounds. Some of the warriors must have arrived yesterday, so she veered off towards the Archery Field. She hoped it would be empty, but when she got there, she noticed a few people already practicing. Some she did not recognise and assumed them to be warriors from another city.
She circled the large field and took up position in the last row. It was far enough away from the others; she did not feel like talking to anyone. The targets were set at a hundred and fifty paces, which suited her fine. One after another, she let her arrows fly until her quiver was empty. Then she stomped across the range and retrieved her arrows, before starting again. In her mind, she was shooting at the man with the deep blue eyes. She visualised him in the target, drawing her bow to full extension, making every shot count. Halfway through her third round, Jaik came up behind her and grabbed her arms. She gave a startled cry.
“Maia, stop, what are you doing?”
She looked into Jaik’s eyes and was astounded to see fear in them. She looked around. A crowd had gathered behind her. Everybody was staring at her, mumbling and pointing. Some were slowly retreating.
“What’s wrong?” she asked in a whisper.
Jaik took her by the shoulders and turned her around so she could look at the forest around her. Her eyes opened wide in astonishment. The trees and the entire area behind her was covered in vines. Fat, twisting ropes climbed up the trunks. Thousands of leaves spro
uted from every shoot. Glowing, blue flowers were opening their petals even as she looked on.
“What is this?” she breathed, looking at Jaik.
“It’s you. It started when you shot your arrows. The more you shot, the faster they grew. You were scaring the people.”
Maia stumbled, and Jaik helped her sit on a log.
“It’s all right now, I’m here. Do you want to talk about it?”
Maia couldn’t tell Jaik about her dreams. It was too embarrassing to admit even to herself.
“No,” she said and put her face in her hands.
Jaik asked everyone to give her some space and then asked Riker to bring Silas. He would know how to handle this.
There were no further dreams during the nights, and days, that followed. Silas made her a very strong tea, which made her dizzy, after the incident at the Archery Field, but had refrained from scolding her about her blatant display of power. Someone could have gotten hurt.
She kept herself busy as the troops arrived. Midnight had his hands, or rather claws, full with trying to accommodate so many dragons on The Crags. However, Maia felt that he didn’t mind. He seemed to thrive on the admiration the other dragons bestowed on him; so she left him to sort it out. She still had so much to do before they would march towards the Gate.
She trained every day. She trained with her Twin Blades, which were her favourite, but also with the sword, for Jaik’s benefit, and she practiced hand-to-hand combat. She still practiced with Midnight every third day, but it was merely to familiarise themselves with fighting together. There was nothing about battle anyone could teach Midnight that he didn’t already know.
Still embarrassed, she stayed away from the Archery Field. She knew how to shoot well enough and she was too self-conscious to go back there while there were so many strangers around.
She also made extra arrows. Not just for herself, but for the Armoury too. She was quite particular about fletching them and spent hours selecting the right feathers. She wanted to make sure she had enough. To run out of arrows in the middle of a fight could prove fatal.
Silas took her into the forest every second day, away from people, to practice fighting with her powers. Her display on the Archery Field had given him the idea. He had discussed it with Jagaer and he had agreed.
Elves, in general, did not use their powers to cause damage or inflict pain. It went against their beliefs. However, their situation was dire and they would use any advantage they could find. Word spread that magic would be allowed during the battle. Most Elves had the power of Earth. It was the most common, and, unfortunately, the least useful in battle. It was the Fire and Water powers that could be the more dangerous, and practice sessions were held daily.
Maia, however, had too much power and Silas was afraid people could be injured. She had little training in fighting with her magic and there were a few situations where Silas was glad for his decision to separate her from the others.
They practiced creating, holding and then throwing a fireball. To create one and then hold it proved no problem for Maia, but the first few times she threw it, it disintegrated and the fire extinguished.
She was frustrated and then, in her frustration, she threw the ball with such power, it uncoiled from her hand like a leash and it lashed out at the forest around her, incinerating every shrub in the vicinity. Maia screamed and Silas scampered for his life, the edge of his robe trailing smoke.
Another time, they practiced with air. Somas was with them that time to show Maia how to distort the air in such a way as to make herself invisible. Again, she struggled, again and again they tried, but to no avail. Only when Maia became so angry with herself for being unable to do it, did it eventually work. Unfortunately, she then did it too well. The distortion in the air was so complete, she was completely invisible. The transition was so smooth, Silas and Somas could not tell where she was. What was worse, the distortion was so strong, sound was unable to penetrate. They could not hear her and she could not hear them either. Maia, trapped in her own invisibility, fought against her panic and struggled for almost half a day to free herself. They did not try it again.
What she enjoyed the most during that time of waiting, was the time she spent with her brother. He not only practiced with her the finer art of fighting, but also taught her strategies and manoeuvres, stealth and ambushes, trapping and camouflage. They did not have the luxury of time on their side, but Maia was a fast learner and she learned a lot by the time the last of the warriors arrived.
“I am amazed how many people have come,” Jaik whispered.
Maia nodded and glanced around at the assembled people in the Elder Hall. This meeting was for clan leaders, those able to join them, and the Commanders of the Guard, the Warrior Houses, the Dragon Battalions and the Cavalry from Braérn. The Elders and the Guard of Shadow Hall were also present, filling the hall to capacity.
“Did you see the warriors from Rathaés arrive this morning?”
Maia shook her head.
“I didn’t even know they had promised to send any. Although fifty is certainly not a large number, they do look impressive. They have strange and unusual armour, made from black steel and forged in the fires of Smoketop Mountain. They say it is indestructible. It was a chance discovery and they only recently learned how to shape the metal. They are hoping to produce more to trade with. It is certainly something I would like to acquire for my Guard.”
Maia nodded indulgently at her brother. Although she was glad to have the extra fifty warriors join forces with them, and that they apparently had indestructible armour, her main concern right now was the meeting. With the hall so full, the air was thick. She hoped it would start soon. She spotted a Server walk down the steps and watched him take a long pole from behind one of the recesses in the far wall, and sighed with relief as he used the pole to push the tall windows open. Refreshingly cool air flowed through the hall.
Suddenly, the murmuring crowd fell silent. Her father, dressed in full battle armour, stood in the doorway. He cut an impressive figure. His dark hair was combed back and his handsome face was stern and serious. His armour shone in the lantern light, highlighting his broad shoulders and height. He surveyed the people in the hall for a moment and then strode purposefully down the steps to take his place on the speaker’s platform.
“You all know why we are here today, so let’s come straight to the point.”
The crowd murmured agreement and Jagaer continued.
“We are faced with an assault by an enemy we know very little about. We know that the Vampyres are vicious and will eat their kills. There have been enough deaths lately to prove that. The Spy we sent to Naylera reports that they are planning a mass attack on our planet within the next Moon Cycle. Resources on Naylera are low and they are running out of food. We think they are here not just to kill as many as they can, but to bring back captives to feed their nation.”
A commotion ran through the crowd and it was a moment before Jagaer spoke again.
“It is an assumption. We do not know this for sure. But we cannot see any other reason why they would attack us. Our Spy reports, although they have a vast army, not many of them have mastered Travel. Somas estimates there to be approximately twenty thousand warriors that can achieve Travel, but he has warned that the information might be unreliable or incomplete. We should prepare for a force much larger than ours, but they will have to come through the Gate, which allows for only so many people to come through at a time. Silas, what is the exact number of simultaneous arrivals?”
Silas stood. “The most I have ever seen come through at a time is twenty-five, but the histories suggest that up to forty can come through together. Arrival can take place within minutes of each other, so within an hour some five hundred could make it through.”
Another murmur rocked the crown. Maia heard worried whispers all around her.
“Thank you, Silas,” her father said, and Silas took his seat once more. “Undisturbed, their entire force could m
ake it through within five to six hours. If we let that happen, then not only would their army be able to scatter and attack multiple towns at once, but it would also render us completely outnumbered.
”Couldn’t we go through instead and prevent them from coming through in the first place?”
“It is a good suggestion, Elder Shallowaters, but we simply do not have a force large enough to fight them on their home ground. If Somas’ estimates are correct, then their main army is about one hundred thousand strong, which does not even include their outlying forces or their armies at the other Gates. We would be hopelessly outnumbered. Our only option is to prevent them from escaping the vicinity of Greystone and to contain the fighting to that area. If we concentrate our warriors around the Gate, we can get to them as they come through. Jaik, will you please go over the strategy and confirm the numbers we have on hand?”
Jaik rose from his seat beside her. He seemed nervous, but as he stepped onto the platform, his demeanour changed and she could see why he had been made Commander of the Guard. He cut a formidable form standing in his uniform, tall and handsome, broad shoulders squared and his head held high. His voice was strong when he spoke and Maia could see that everyone was ready to listen to what he had to say.
“Yes, indeed, we need to concentrate our efforts around the Gate. Our first line of defence will be just outside the outer ring of stones. We cannot fight within the Gate, as the disturbance from the arrivals will cause injuries. We will lie in wait for them as they emerge from the stones. The dragons will be stationed outside the first ring to prevent them escaping the Gate. Trapped in there, the arrival of their forces will injure, if not kill, them before they can even confront us. Behind the dragons will be our troops on foot, who will confront any who slip through the dragons’ claws. Lastly, we will have the mounted forces, which will be able to chase down any who escape. More Battle Dragons will be stationed behind the riders. They will also act as a back-up and for re-enforcements should they be needed.”