Vala gasped, felt cold air rush into her body making her dizzy, rolled onto her side shakily and vomited. She coughed, opened her eyes slowly and saw a pale light with blurred shapes in front of her, she blinked hard and as she opened her eyes for a second time the shapes began to sharpen and solidify. She tried to lift herself but her head swam and she sank back onto the ground as a wave as nausea hit her.
“Easy,” she heard a calming and familiar voice beside her; she lay back down, breathing slowly and tried to remember what had happened. Vala closed her eyes again and concentrated on remembering where she was, she saw flashes in her mind of a town, of death and the mingual. She began to shake, turned onto her side and vomited again, a hand rested on her back and began to rub gently, she shuddered.
“What happened?” she tried to say but all that emerged was a croaking gasp, she coughed violently, feeling unwanted tears prick her eyes and concentrated on breathing. Vala lay on the dusty floor of the cellar for what felt like hours, her eyes remained closed as much as she could bear, though the image of the mingual’s teeth flashed violently in her mind.
Eventually her eyes opened again and this time the softly illuminated images around her were people she recognised; Alten was kneeling beside her, his face etched with the familiar look of concern while Julen was pacing some feet away.
She heard the faint sound of footsteps from warriors above in the kitchen and felt annoyed at herself. She put her left hand to her head, found her forearm to be heavily bandaged and remembered the mingual’s teeth sinking into her skin, she shuddered again. Slowly, using only her right arm, she raised herself up into a sitting position and managed not to vomit this time, though her head still swam.
“How are you feeling?” Alten asked carefully, Vala continued to stare straight ahead and nodded, she wasn’t sure she wanted to risk talking again. She made as if to stand, felt her legs give way, dizziness washed over her and she fell awkwardly into Alten’s arms. He looked to the warriors standing around and signalled for them to leave the cellar, then he turned to Julen.
“I think it would help if we got Vala above ground.” Vala tried to speak but all that emerged from her lips was a quiet mumbling; Julen gathered her fallen weapon and together they helped her ascend the stairs. Alten supported her when they were back above ground, putting her arm round his shoulders.
Slowly they walked back out into the streets and the smell of the citizens hit Vala, she flinched and tried not to retch. They walked as quickly as they could and eventually made it beyond the town gates and back to their camp.
“What should we do?” Julen asked.
“I don’t know,” Alten replied shaking his head, “Vala isn’t strong enough to travel, but the longer we stay here the more at risk we are.” He sighed and sat down outside tent.
“Perhaps we should take some of the warriors and continue to the next town,” Julen suggested.
“I think you’re probably right, the citizens of Yutshan are our priority, if there are any left that is.” He got to his feet again, “you will take the warriors and lead them to Kurbarr, I’ll remain here with Vala and a few warriors who can be spared. When she’s strong enough we’ll follow.” Julen nodded and although he believed Alten should be the one leading the army he refrained from voicing it as he knew the young man would never willingly leave Vala while she was in a vulnerable state.
“She’ll be okay,” he said.
“I should have been with her.”
Julen crouched by his side, “This isn’t your fault,” he said kindly but firmly, “Vala could have called you, but you more than anyone know what she’s like, she probably thought whoever was down there was innocent.”
Alten nodded slowly, “I can’t even think what would have happened if I hadn’t…” Alten looked away and Julen sensed he wanted to be alone, he mumbled something about organising the warriors and walked away.
Alten continued to sit by Vala’s tent, refusing to sleep even as the sky darkened and the stars emerged, twinkling brightly. A couple of hours after midnight Alten heard a rustle of fabric and turned to see Vala walk shakily from her tent, she smiled weakly and he returned the gesture. She sat next to him and opened her mouth as if to speak, then shut it again, Alten offered her some water and she drank gratefully, coughed and opened her mouth again.
“What happened?” she croaked and coughed again.
“There was a mingual warrior in the cellar,” he said glancing at the purple-red marks around her neck. “Apparently there were several throughout the town. He must have caught you off guard,” Alten paused and Vala nodded, “Vala, he killed you.”
Vala stared at him in disbelief.
“I came looking for you as the building was empty and saw the open trapdoor, I heard scuffling from within.” His voice broke as he recalled the events and Vala placed her right hand on his; he took a deep breath and continued, “I must have crashed down those steps to get to you,” Vala smiled shakily, “the mingual dropped you when he saw me.”
“I hope you made him suffer,” Vala croaked.
“He didn’t last long,” Alten replied with a satisfied smile, then his expression changed, “the Gods Vala you were so still, I felt blood on the ground around you, and you weren’t brea-” Vala pressed her lips against his and after a moment of surprise he returned the kiss, wrapping his arms round her.
Bælana 5
Bælana slammed her fist onto the dark marble table and heard a loud crack as it buckled under the pressure of her magic. Two mingual warriors cowered in front of her and took a few steps back. Bælana unclenched her hand and flexed it casually as she eyed her pathetic servants who grovelled a few paces away. A sly smile crept across her face, a gesture the mingual mistook for forgiveness and they relaxed.
Bælana clicked her fingers and her servants burst into flame screaming in agony as they were slowly consumed. Her smile deepened and she felt a slight shiver of pleasure as she felt them begging for forgiveness, clawing desperately at her mind in an attempt to be spared.
It was all over too soon, it always was and she sighed as their ashes smoked on the smooth stone floor.
“Xanthon!” she yelled and a tall, well-groomed mingual warrior entered the room, taking care to ignore the smouldering ashes on the floor.
“Empress,” he growled respectfully as he bowed low. Bælana closed her eyes, suddenly finding the candlelight too harsh and rubbed her temples as her head began to throb. She was beginning to find it more difficult to keep track of her ever increasing army, especially when she could hear them calling to her inside her mind with their pathetic achievements. Xanthon waited patiently, knowing that to disturb her during one of her quiet moments meant death. Eventually she opened her eyes and acknowledged him.
“Find Ziqua and tell him the warrior failed,” Xanthon nodded, bowed again and turned to leave but Bælana stopped him before he reached the door. “And Xanthon,” her servant turned to face her, “I’m giving his task to you now, you had better not fail.” Xanthon swallowed hard, nodded and left the room.
A figure, cloaked in shadow emerged from the darkness and stepped towards Bælana who had begun rubbing her temples again.
“There are too many,” Malum said gently and his hands closed softly over hers, “if you’re not careful they’ll take over.”
Bælana stiffened, pulled her hands free and turned to face him, “I don’t believe I asked for your help Malum,” she said harshly stepping away from him.
“Just because you haven’t asked for it doesn’t mean you don’t need it.” She shot him a look full of hatred as he sat in a large chair and flashed a perfect smile. “It looks like you’ve been busy since I last dropped in,” he nodded to the piles of ashes that were no longer smouldering.
Bælana snorted, “What do you want?” she asked flatly.
“You used to be so much more hospitable,” he rested his ankle on his knee and placing his fingertips together.
“I’m busy,” she said.
<
br /> “I can see,” he replied rising smoothly from the chair, “but I can still help.” He walked slowly towards her and placed his index finger on her temple. A cool, soothing wave swept through her, the mingual ceased to chatter inside her head and the throbbing stopped.
“How are you doing that?” she whispered closing her eyes, her voice calm.
“I told you I could still help,” Malum replied evasively stroking her hair.
Bælana’s eyes shot open and she pulled away from his touch, instantly her head pounded and the noise of her servants nearly deafened her. “I thought you said you’d shown me everything.”
“I have.”
She snorted, folding her arms, “Clearly not!”
“That is a power you will never possess Bælana but it doesn’t mean you can’t benefit from it, let me help you,” Malum stepped towards her again but she pushed him away.
“Come back when you have something more useful for me,” she said turning her back on him; after several minutes of silence she glanced over her shoulder at him but found herself alone.
Chapter 28
Kiræ warmed her hands by the crackling fire and listened to her friends’ slow, rhythmic breathing as they slept. They had been travelling east for several days, stopping little in order to make good time but their fatigue had begun to show and they had made camp early that evening. Kiræ had still felt relatively alert so had offered to take the first watch, now she felt restless and the sounds of breathing amongst the quiet of night was making her irritated.
She stood up and walked some distance from the tents to check on the horses, but soon returned to her former watch point as the icy night sent a chill through her spine. She sighed and began staring at the dancing flames in the fire; they jumped and twirled before her and began to merge and split into shapes that eventually solidified into a wide, flat, dark landscape.
Kiræ felt like an observer, she saw herself and her friends through a white sheet of snow and gloom. Kiræ squinted at the flames, trying to get a better look at the image and realised Aurora was missing and they had no horses. It was impossible to identify where they were through the snow, no matter how intensely Kiræ stared at the vision.
She saw fear on their faces and could just make out a large, dark green creature lumbering towards them. She couldn’t tell much about the creature through the blizzard, she thought parts of it shimmered, but that could have been a trick of the flames she was staring at. She could tell it was tall and broad with a long snout and tail but the snow obscured most of its features and before she could see more she was snapped back to reality.
“Kiræ!” Tana said forcefully.
Kiræ blinked again and turned to see the look of concern on her friend’s face, “Sorry,” she said shaking her head, “I was in my own world.” She smiled apologetically, then looked questioningly at the other woman, “what are you doing up?”
“Couldn’t sleep,” she said sitting cross-legged next to Kiræ, “so I thought I would come and relieve you so you could get some rest.” Kiræ thanked her and went into her tent, hearing the peaceful breathing of Aurora. She lay down and tried to sleep but continued to see the large creature from her vision when she closed her eyes as well as the absence of her friend who lay peacefully beside her.
Eventually she fell into a restless sleep only to be woken, she thought, a couple of minutes later. As she opened her eyes, feeling groggy and convinced she had only had a few minutes of sleep, she noticed the sun was streaming through the partially open flap of the tent. She crawled slowly out of bed, yawning as she pulled her boots on and stumbled out into the dazzling winter sunshine. Her friends were sat round the embers of the fire eating bread and cheese.
“You don’t look so good,” Tom said placing the back of his hand on her forehead to check her temperature; she batted it away and scowled at him.
“I’m fine,” she said taking a mouthful of water, “just a bad night’s sleep,” he looked unconvinced but didn’t press the matter.
They were soon packed up and on their way, Kiræ hung back enjoying the solitude as she continued to yawn and think about her vision from the night before. She stared aimlessly at the passing spring landscape; it was dull and monotonous and she couldn’t wait for spring to arrive, so brightly coloured flowers would decorate the currently blank canvas. Her brother’s presence jolted her back to the present.
“What’s up Kiræ?” he asked as if daring her to lie to him.
“I had a vision last night,” she replied.
“What of?” he asked a little too quickly.
“I’m not sure,” she replied frowning, “it was snowing a blizzard, I could barely see us but we looked unnerved.”
“Was it the mingual?”
Kiræ shook her head, “I’m pretty sure it wasn’t, but we’d lost our horses and Tom,” she paused, “I think Aurora was missing.”
“You said there was a blizzard, maybe you just couldn’t see her.”
“I could see enough,” she snapped and Tom held up his hand in surrender. “I’m sorry,” she sighed, “but we weren’t alone, Tom something else was there, something big.”
“What was it?”
“I don’t know, it must have been as tall as a horse, it looked long and I think it was green,” she shook her head again, “it was so difficult to see.” Tom furrowed his brow and Kiræ continued, “whatever it was, I’ve never seen anything like it, not even in the old books.”
“Okay,” Tom watched as his sister shifted in her saddle, “what happened after the creature showed up?”
“Nothing,” she replied, “I snapped back to reality when Tana spoke to me.” Tom nodded and remained silent staring straight ahead. Kiræ could tell he was deep in thought and she let him consider her words without interruption.
“I think we should tell the others,” Tom said finally.
“But not the bit about Ror being missing, I don’t think it will help, and maybe you’re right, maybe I just couldn’t see her.”
“Agreed, I just wish we knew when and where it happens.”
“Just knowing it does might be enough to prepare us,” Kiræ said hopefully, “or perhaps we can find a way to prevent it.”
Tom nodded absentmindedly, “Let’s tell the others tonight,” he said looking at their friends as they talked and laughed ahead of them.
They broke the news later that evening while they were eating by the fire.
“Doesn’t sound like anything I’ve ever heard of,” Keolan said eyes wide.
“Look we’ve discussed it,” Tom began looking at his friends, “and we understand if you don’t want to go on.”
“We were there,” Tana said, “obviously we stay with you.”
“But this could be a sign that you should turn back,” Tom said firmly.
“What, and leave you two to face that creature alone? Not a chance!” Keolan said folding his arms.
Kiræ shrugged, “We had to give you the option,” she said simply and took a bite from the game bird they had roasted.
“When will you two learn that we’re not going to let you go through this alone,” Aurora said putting a hand on Tom’s shoulder, “we’re in this together.” The twins smiled at their friends but Kiræ found a knot forming in her stomach as she worried for their safety.
Kiræ and Aurora were first on watch that night so Aurora could practice her magic, Kiræ could see she was nervous and she guessed this was the first time she had tried to change without Draogo being present.
“Don’t worry,” Kiræ said putting a hand on her shoulder, Aurora smiled shakily, sitting cross-legged on the floor some distance from their camp. She breathed deeply and tried to remember the lessons that Draogo had taught her. She tried to think like a dragon, letting her heightened senses take over; at first she was overwhelmed by the roaring crackle of the flames and the gagging scent of the smoke, but she was used to this happening and it wasn’t long before her senses settled.
Aurora then conce
ntrated on accessing her inner, ‘self’s’ by locating her human and dragon personas. She continued to breathe deeply as she felt two halves of her soul struggle for dominance and attempted what she had managed only a handful of times before. She embraced her human self and it settled happily within her but when she tried to embrace her dragon self it resisted and her two personas began instantly to fight one another.
She gasped as she lost her inner grasp on her human self and it pushed away from her dragon self, which was still vying for dominance. She struggled to breathe, tried to remember Draogo’s advice and started to feel lightheaded and dizzy. Her head swam and she thought she heard Kiræ’s faint voice as if she were calling from far away, before she fell unconscious. Aurora woke moments later, her head feeling foggy.
“Easy Ror,” she said speaking gently and helped her friend slowly to her feet.
Aurora sighed heavily, “That happens more often than I want to admit,” she said rubbing her head.
“Don’t worry so much,” Kiræ replied, “it took Tom and I ages to perfect our skills and we still can’t use certain aspects intentionally, just look at my protection magic. You should probably get some rest,” Kiræ continued, “I’ll stay up a bit longer, then rouse Keo.” Aurora nodded and made her way to the tents, while Kiræ walked back to the fire, used her magic to revive it, and sat down letting a long yawn escape.
Kiræ was shaken roughly awake and heard concern in her brother’s voice as he spoke her name, she opened her eyes blearily and noticed she was lying awkwardly next to the smouldering fire.
Her brother relaxed when he saw her eyes open and he sat down next to her. “You had me worried there,” he said shaking his head and Kiræ looked at him with a confused expression. “It’s nearly dawn, you didn’t wake Keo.”
“The Gods Tom, I’m so sorry, I must have drifted off.”
Forgotten Magic (Elementals Book 1) Page 24