“Now, let’s try water manipulation, first you must-”
“Brean they’re obviously exhausted, why not leave it for another day?” Sara moved and stood behind the twins, placing a protective hand on their shoulders.
“I’m sure if Kiræ and Tom wanted to stop they would say something,” he glanced at the twins but neither spoke.
“Oh please, you know very well they wouldn’t say anything, this is all just a game to them! But Brean, these are people’s lives you’re playing with! If anything happens to them I’ll never forgive you!” Sara stormed out of the office and slammed the door behind her.
“Have we done something wrong?” Tom asked.
Brean shook his head, “No Tom, you’ve not done anything, but perhaps she’s right, perhaps I have been working you too hard lately. Why not take a few days to rest, then we’ll try this again.” The twins looked crestfallen for the briefest of moments, but eventually nodded.
Vala relaxed instantly and laughed as a lone deer bounded towards them, she lowered her weapon and made ready to move on. Without warning a small herd thundered past them causing their horses to start.
“That was odd,” Vala said.
“Probably spooked by something,” Helian said without thinking.
“That’s what I’m worried about,” Vala stared into the undergrowth but all was quiet.
“Vala, we should keep moving if we want to reach the border before nightfall.” She nodded and they continued on their way. It was fully dark when they reached the western edge of the forest by the Holy Land’s border. The journey had been quiet but the closer they rode towards the border, the more uneasy Vala felt. She stopped and stared into the gloom across the border, not daring to actually cross it.
It wasn’t long until she saw them; the red of their eyes, which grew steadily brighter as they walked closer, and the dull glint of weapons. The mingual walked slowly towards them, to the edge of the border and Vala readied herself. Nothing happened. The mingual stared at the warriors with hatred, teeth bared and snarling in what Vala thought was frustration. Feeling reckless, she grabbed a bow and fired an arrow into one of the mingual’s shoulders. He snarled, ripped the shaft from his flesh but didn’t advance as she had expected.
“I have no idea what’s going on,” Vala said.
“Me neither,” Helian replied, “what should we do?”
“If it were the other way round they would slaughter us,” she said notching another arrow onto the bow, “perhaps we should show them the same courtesy.” She fired again, hitting a mingual warrior in the throat; he screamed and vanished in fire and smoke. The remaining mingual roared and stamped their feet in but still they didn’t move. Vala notched a third arrow and the mingual finally started to retreat. After a few minutes, they were lost to the darkness.
“What in the Gods was that about?” Helian asked.
“The Gods only know,” Vala replied shaking her head.
Vala gasped for air following another nightmare. It was still dark, but she guessed the moons were beginning to set. She walked round the slumbering camp, knowing she wouldn’t get back to sleep. Several warriors were on watch and as she approached a couple of them, she noticed a faint light deep in the forest that the warriors seemed not to have noticed.
Despite her brain telling her not to, she walked towards it feeling unnaturally calm and relaxed. She breathed deeply as she walked, allowing the fresh forest air to revive her and banish the nightmare that had woken her. The moonlight slipped though the leaves and created patterns on the ground, Vala smiled, feeling content.
She came at last to a large clearing where the strange light originated. Seated in the centre of the clearing, cross-legged and barefoot as if meditating, was a beautiful young woman. The strange light surrounded her. She wore a pale purple dress and sat, with her eyes closed and her lightly bronzed hands resting on her knees. Her dark brown hair almost reached her waist and colourful flowers were woven amongst the curls.
Vala stared at her for some time, unsure what to do, feeling as if she were intruding, but not wanting to leave. Eventually the woman opened her pale brown eyes, looked at Vala and smiled. Vala, somehow knowing what the woman was requesting, sat opposite her. The young woman looked at Vala quietly, and rather than feeling uncomfortable she felt at peace.
“You have no need to fear for the safety of these borders,” the young woman said in a soothing voice, “they are protected, and evil cannot pass the threshold.”
“Who are you?” Vala asked, “how can you know the borders are safe?”
The woman smiled again, “My name is Rævenda, and I am the guardian here. While I live, these borders are safe.”
“The mingual,” Vala said, remembering the earlier incident, “they wouldn't leave the Holy Land, that was your doing?”
Rævenda nodded, “You must not waste your time here, these borders are safe, but there are others that are not, and they need your protection, my power is limited.”
“Your power? Are you magical?” Rævenda rose gracefully to her feet, crouched by Vala and took her hand; Vala felt a light shiver run through her.
“Look to the south, that is where you are needed most.” She smiled again and moved, as if gliding, deeper into the forest taking the strange light with her. Vala was quickly plunged into near darkness and had to fumble her way back through the trees until she reached the camp. Feeling dazed and unsure whether she had actually imagined the encounter, she fell unexpectedly into a dreamless sleep.
When she woke, she spoke privately to Helian of the event and after some time spent trying to convince him, their warriors packed up the camp and they began to ride towards Olai.
Chapter 14
Sara had calmed down several days later, allowing the twins to resume their magical training. They had actually been grateful of the small break, but now they walked almost zombie like to the old library. Sara smiled at them as they entered and they grinned groggily back.
“Honestly, I would have thought you would be used to these early mornings by now,” Sara said, laughing at them.
“So,” Brean said as they sat in their usual chairs in front of the desk, “you’re going to attempt water manipulation,” he glanced at Sara to see her reaction and she smiled at him.
“The trick with combining elements is to feel for both sets of vibrations and then intertwine them, that way you can commune with both. Tom, find the water in this bowl,” he pointed to a wide vessel on the desk, “them feel for air. Once you’ve found them, you need to try and coax them together.”
Tom nodded and decided to close his eyes, at least to begin with. He searched for the pulsations of water and found them surprisingly quickly, which he guessed was because of the vessel. While holding the familiar beat of water, he felt for the vibrations of air and found them swirling around him. He grabbed for them and could feel within himself two different sets of pulsing vibrations. Slowly and carefully he tried to encourage them to merge together but they resisted. It felt as if there was an invisible barrier between them and the more he tried to push them together, the more they resisted.
Becoming frustrated, and forgetting what Brean had said moments earlier he threw all of his energy into combining the two elements. There was an explosion of noise and Tom was thrown backwards.
“Tom!” Kiræ yelled, rushing to her brother’s side.
Tom coughed and raised himself up slowly on his elbows, “What in the Gods was that?” he croaked looking at Brean.
“Yes,” Brean said a little guiltily, “perhaps I should have explained the risks a little more.” Sara glared at him and he winced as they helped Tom to his feet. “I should have explained exactly what happens if you force the elements together rather than coaxing them.” Tom gave him a look that said ‘really?’ and Brean smiled apologetically. “As you know, each element has a different set of vibrations, and because they are different, they don’t always want to combine. If forced, they can ricochet off one another and b
ecause this is all happening inside of you, when they repel one another, they also, to an extent repel you.”
“It would have been nice to have had a bit of warning,” Tom said grinning.
Brean then turned to Kiræ, “I guess that means it’s your turn.”
“R-really? Is that wise?”
“You’re going to have to learn at some point,” Brean said, “you might as well do it now, and at least you’ll know what to expect.” She nodded slowly, placed the bowl of water on the floor and sat in front of it. She breathed deeply and tried to relax.
“Don’t force them,” Tom said still smiling, “trust me on that one.” She smiled nervously, closed her eyes and after a few minutes found the vibrations of water. After several more long minutes of searching she eventually found the vibrations of air and she held the two sets inside her.
Instead of pushing both elements together, she allowed air to remain stationary and began to coax water towards it. She felt some resistance between the two like an invisible barrier and gently nudged it with the water vibrations. She continued to gently nudge water against the barrier and eventually and very reluctantly, she felt it fall away. The vibrations, one cool and fast, the other neutral and rhythmic began to intertwine, she could almost see them curling round one another and instead of two separate vibrations she felt only one. She continued to allow the water and air to flow through her and slowly she opened her eyes.
Brean looked at her intensely, “Are they combined?” Kiræ nodded slowly still concentrating. “Good,” he said moving towards her and crouched to her level. “I want you to try to move the water, it doesn’t matter how, just moving it will be a challenge.” She nodded again, felt again for the elements and noticed a slight pull coming from the bowl of water.
She held up her hand and commanded the water to move away from her while pushing her hand towards it. Nothing happened. She sighed in frustration, took a deep breath and tried again. She sat for what felt like hours, pushing her palm towards the water while commanding it to move. Finally, several small ripples formed on the surface and Kiræ lowered her hand, feeling suddenly exhausted.
Brean smiled, “Release your hold on the elements slowly,” he said, “they will be eager to separate so you must control how it happens.” She nodded and slowly, using up the last of her energy, allowed the two elements to separate and be released. She slumped a little from fatigue and Brean held out a mug of water for her, she took a large gulp. “You will notice no doubt that you are far more tired than normal.”
“Why is that?” she almost gasped.
“Keeping the two elements together takes a lot of concentration and a lot of energy, and the longer you keep them together the more energy it uses. Of course as you get better at the process it will take longer for your energy to drain.” Brean turned to Tom, “I think there’s enough time for you to try again.” Tom nodded and took a seat on the floor next to his sister.
He was able to combine the elements easily this time, following suggestions made by his Kiræ. He stared at the bowl of water in front of him, thought about the water moving away from him and it obeyed instantly. Tom raised an eyebrow in surprise, his hand not yet raised to assist with the movement, as the water settled back into stillness. Hesitantly, he raised his hand and pushed his palm towards the water, while commanding it to move away from him. The water sloshed over the side of the bowl and pooled round the base. Brean raised an eyebrow, Tom lowered his hand and slowly released the elements. The first morning bell tolled in the distance, which seemed to jolt Brean from his thoughts.
“Well done both of you, that was a very productive session. You best get going; I think you’ll need your strength today.” They jumped up from the floor and quickly hugged Sara before rushing towards the Great Hall for the morning meal.
Kiræ picked up her sword and shield, the weapons they were sparring with today, and found her friends. There was no longer any need for Sir Nyme to issue orders, they were all well aware of the structure by now and they began splitting into pairs and groups of three. The twins paired themselves as Tom sensed his sister wanted to talk; he put himself into an attack position and stepped in, cutting towards her side.
“No using magic,” Tom joked as Kiræ blocked.
“I doubt I could even if I wanted too, I actually think we need to spend more time practicing.” She delivered a hard blow to his left shoulder that he only just managed to block with his shield. “I want to be able to move things, people, more easily.”
“I know what you mean,” Tom replied ramming his shield into her right arm, “we need to be able to control our power individually, it seems more focused when we work together but-”
“There’s no guarantee we’ll always be together.”
Tom nodded as his sister twisted and hit him in the back with her pommel, “Exactly, we’ve been given this power for a reason, and I think we need to make the most of it.”
Tom swung at her stomach and she jumped back out of range, “What do you suggest?” Kiræ lunged but Tom blocked.
“Why don’t I come along to your room after the final bell?” Tom suggested as he kicked Kiræ’s feet from under her and levelled his sword at her throat.
“Sounds good,” she said as Tom helped her to her feet and Sir Nyme nodded in approval. They split and began again with new partners.
Throughout the evening meal the group was trying to plan an outing for their next rest day. Tana had suggested they ride across the plains but Keolan wanted to journey along the cliffs. While they continued to argue, Hazime mimicked their disagreement.
Tana looked sternly at Hazime, “Oh honestly, can’t you be serious for one minute?”
“I tried it once,” he replied grinning, “I didn’t like it.” Tana shook her head and sighed while the others giggled.
“Oh come on,” Tom said, taking pity on Tana, “let’s figure out what to do otherwise Sir Nyme might have us training again.” They finally agreed to ride across the plains, much to Keolan’s dismay.
“I promise we’ll go the cliffs next time,” Aurora said placing a hand on his shoulder.
“Honestly, you’d think he wanted to push one of us off,” Hazime laughed, Keolan looked at him and ran a finger across his throat while grinning. “I should have known it would be me,” Hazime sighed, “you’ve always been jealous of my good looks, charm and charisma.”
“Yeah, that’s it,” Keolan said sarcastically. The final bell tolled as they were still laughing at Hazime and Keolan’s mock argument and the group dispersed somewhat reluctantly. Kiræ shot Tom a glance and he gave her the slightest nod.
It was late when Tom finally arrived at Kiræ’s room.
“Sorry,” he whispered as she let him in, “Tino wouldn’t leave me alone, I think he’s getting suspicious.”
“It’s okay, Aurora was the same, I practically had to fake falling asleep just so she would leave!” Kiræ smiled sheepishly, “what should we start with?”
“I think air or water are our safest options at the moment.”
“Why not practice a bit with air on its own,” Kiræ suggested. They spent the first hour using air to move objects round Kiræ’s room; she seemed to grasp the technique better than Tom but he was stronger. When he commanded air towards one of her books, it slid along the floor faster and much further than any of her attempts and he barely seemed to need any physical assistance. When they finally joined hands and commanded air towards a pile of books, they flipped instantly into the air and slammed against the wall before thudding to the ground. The twins grinned.
“Should we combine with water again?” Kiræ asked suddenly full of energy, her brother nodded. She placed a bowl of water on the floor and Tom sat cross-legged in front of it. Kiræ noticed a number of ripples disturb the smooth surface despite Tom’s hands resting on his knees, then he raised his hand and the water in the bowl mimicked the movement, rising into the air to form a miniature fountain. Kiræ gasped and the fountain receded before Tom r
eleased his hold on the elements.
“That was fantastic!” Kiræ said.
“Thanks,” Tom replied wearily, “I think I’m done for the night, I feel exhausted.” Tom said on the bed while Kiræ sat in front of the bowl of water. She tried as Tom had to ripple the water without using her hand but it refused to obey her. Finally she pushed a hand towards it and the water rippled. She placed her hands together and while slowly moving them apart, commanded both air and water to mimic her. Slowly and reluctantly the water separated leaving a dry strip in the bowl between the two halves. Kiræ smiled to herself and allowed the water to return gently to its previous state before releasing the elements.
“We’re definitely improving,” Tom said as Kiræ suddenly felt exhausted.
“Have you thought about earth?” she asked sitting on the edge of her bed.
Tom nodded, “Do you think it’s useful? I mean, Brean hasn’t even mentioned it.”
“Maybe we can feel it, every element has its own set of vibrations right? Well if we eliminate the ones we already know we should be able to feel it.”
Tom looked unsure, “I think if Brean hasn’t mentioned it yet then there’s a reason, I don’t think we should start playing with forces we don’t yet understand.”
“Oh come on Tom, I’m not going to do anything stupid, I just want to know what it feels like.” Tom tried to protest further but Kiræ ignored him. Tom sighed and walked over to her window, where he leant, arms folded and watched her; she closed her eyes and breathed deeply. She began feel the vibrations around her and eliminated those she knew. It was faint but she thought she could feel another set of vibrations; they were slow and deep and pulsed rhythmically.
“I can feel it,” she said excitedly, “close your eyes Tom, it’s slow and deep, go on try.” He sighed again but closed his eyes and soon found what Kiræ had described; he thought they felt like someone was beating a large drum.
Forgotten Magic (Elementals Book 1) Page 11