Vala found Julen amongst a large group of warriors, “What can I do to help?” she asked as the other warriors hurried away.
“Vala, you should be the one telling these warriors what to do.”
Vala shot him a look, “Julen we can discuss the parameters of my job later, right now you know more than me, so tell me what I can do to help.”
“We need large stones and rocks, I’ve got some of the men mixing soil and water in the hopes we can create a makeshift mortar mixture but we need the rock to place against the gate.” Vala nodded and set off after the group of warriors she had seen a moment before. She flexed her left arm and felt a slight twinge that informed her it wasn’t as healed as she had hoped. She ignored it and began assisting the warriors.
A few hours before the next switch was due to occur the majority of the remaining warriors entered the town, and seeing that the mingual were almost defeated, set about disarming the citizens. Those that didn’t enter the town, including Vala began to set one of the large wooden doors against its frame before piling rocks and stones against it, using the makeshift adhesive to hold them temporarily together.
It was slow work, and only became more difficult as the sun began to set and fresh snow began to fall. Vala was little use carrying the stones, finding out early on that her arm screamed if she carried too much weight, so she assisted with the removal of weapons.
It took them half the night to block one of the town doors as the citizens were doing everything in their power to stop them and the snowfall had significantly increased. Vala helped as much as she could, though her left arm limited her usefulness. She watched the warriors start slowly on the second half of the wall and wondered how strong it would be in the end and how long it would actually last. She pondered this as Julen walked up to her; he had been inside the town with a small group of warriors to ensure there were no remaining mingual. They had also tried to disarm as many of the citizens as possible but a large majority had barricaded themselves in their houses and were only now leaving to try and attack what they saw as their enemy.
“I think we should pull our warriors out,” Julen said sitting next to Vala but eying the gaping hole at the gate.
“I agree, we need to get that second gate in place before we continue building the wall.” Julen walked towards a small group of warriors milling around the gate entrance; Vala watched as they lifted the broken gate and placed it as much in its frame as they could. Several other warriors began to pile stones in front of it to hold it in position and then the second half of the wall started to be built. Vala continued to mix the makeshift mortar while she watched them, feeling guilty that she wasn’t doing more to help.
There had been little activity in the town since the second half of the wall was being built but Vala felt uneasy. She wondered whether the citizens were planning something as she found it difficult to believe they had accepted defeat. It was almost dawn when the second half of the wall was finally complete but Vala suggested they wait a couple of days before moving on.
“It will take a while for the mortar to set completely and I don’t want angry citizens on our tail.”
“There’s been no activity for hours, and we did try to remove all the weapons we could, perhaps they’ve accepted their fate.”
“As true as that may be I don’t want to risk it, and there’s no harm letting the warriors have a few days’ rest, chances are they won’t get another for a while.”
Julen nodded and set up a small watch group around the gates, “I’ll make sure they’re relieved every few hours,” he said as she stopped by the healing tent. She nodded, stepped inside and settled next to an already sleeping Alten.
Several well rested days later, the army was on its way north towards Limmi; the snow that had fallen the entire time they had been resting had almost ceased but Vala spied a large group of dark clouds in the east that seemed to be heading their way. She sighed and faced forwards, estimating how long it would take them to reach the capital and felt an unfamiliar sense of dread at the thought of facing the mingual army.
.
Bælana 6
Fire erupted from Bælana’s hands and shot towards the wall furthest from her causing stone to crumble to the floor. Xanthon cowered before her and the mingual who had been in the corridor quickly fled from the newly made doorway. Bælana clenched her fists and Xanthon began to choke on the ground, clutching his neck as if to remove the invisible hands that gripped him. Bælana ground her teeth and tried to block out the pitiful gasps emerging from his mouth.
“Empress,” Xanthon croaked and looked up at her with almost pleading eyes, another jet of fire shot from her hands and hit an elaborate wall hanging which burst into flames, while Xanthon continued gasp on the floor. Eventually she relaxed her hands, allowing Xanthon to cough and splutter loudly as cool air rushed into his lungs.
“Malum!” she lifted her deep blue dress and stepped casually over Xanthon towards the fireplace.
The tall man emerged from the shadows, dressed in deep green, his usual gentle smile on his face. “You called,” he glanced at the destruction around him and sat in a large chair, “I see you’ve been busy.” Bælana looked at him, opened her mouth then closed it again and began pacing round the remainder of the room. Malum remained silent, his gentle smile still plastered on his face while he watched her.
Eventually she stopped and stared at Xanthon who remained on the floor, too afraid to look up at her. She looked across at Malum, who was watching her with a serene expression on his face. She turned back to Xanthon, started to tell him to leave then remembered his incompetence at Kurbarr and something snapped inside her. She clenched her fist and Xanthon choked loudly before bursting into flame. She smiled briefly as she felt the familiar shiver of pleasure but it faded quickly as the chaos inside her head returned. She rubbed her temples and closed her eyes as if the light in the room added to the throbbing pain; Malum remained silent, waiting patiently.
“I warned him,” she said after several minutes, she sighed and sat in a large chair opposite Malum.
“You need my help,” he said flashing his perfect teeth.
Bælana scoffed, “I told you I don’t need anyone’s help!”
“Then why did you call me?”
Bælana paused, sighed again and lost some of her hostility, “Fine,” she rubbed her temples again and refused to look at him, “perhaps I could use a bit of advice.”
“Continue,” Malum said placing his fingertips together.
“The mingual,” Bælana said rising to her feet, “keep failing.” She started pacing and instinctively clenched her hands; there were several screams in the corridor and the familiar smell of burning. Bælana cursed and unclenched her hands, “someone else has magic,” she said with disgust, then corrected herself “Vala has magic.” She spat then stole a glance at Malum to gauge his reaction but his expression remained unreadable. “The mingual are fierce, brutal, loyal, they’re perfect, except for their inability to kill one irritating human!” She clenched her fists tighter, bright sparks flew from her hands, there was a loud crackle in the air and several more screams sounded in the distance.
“So why not do something about it?”
“What do you think I’ve been trying to do!?” Bælana snapped as flames burst from her hands and engulfed the chair Malum sat in. The flames died away quickly revealing both himself and the chair to be unharmed.
“I think you need to deal with this situation personally,” he said while leaning forwards to emphasise his point. Bælana stared at him almost disbelievingly, then her features softened and she smiled.
Chapter 32
The last time Kiræ had ridden through Eriba it had been a particularly harsh winter and she hadn’t seen much of the landscape. Now, although there was still a fine layer of powdery snow she was able to see how beautiful the landscape would be in summer. On more than one occasion Kiræ had unintentionally ignored her friends as she viewed her surroundings and tried to
picture them covered in lush grass and vibrant flowers. She was currently taking up the rear, leading Aurora’s horse as she did so when Tom fell back to her.
“Everything okay?”
She nodded and smiled, “I was just thinking about the last time we were here.”
“Seems like years ago,” Tom said nodding thoughtfully, then a look of concern crossed his face and Kiræ smiled.
“I really am okay Tom,” she insisted and he didn’t press her.
“Yanin wood doesn’t look too far,” he said pointing to a large patch of dark brown in the distance.
“Neither do those storm clouds,” Kiræ added frowning as she turned her head to the south, “they must be coming in from the sea.” It wasn’t long before the weather soured and they were riding through a dull curtain of snow. By the time they reached the eastern edge of the wood they guessed it was approaching dusk and as they were wet and cold Tom suggested they erect their tents under the boughs. The trees were densely packed and the ground appeared relatively dry as a result. Tom scoured the floor for dry branches and managed, with the help of his magic to make a small fire, he enclosed it in a circle of stones so as not to let it spread.
“Kiræ and I will take first watch,” Tom said poking the small fire with a thin branch, “we’re going to practice a bit of magic.” The other two nodded and crawled into the tents where they instantly fell silent.
“Should I give the protection magic another go?” Kiræ asked.
“Not to start with,” Tom replied, “I actually thought perhaps we should practice using the elements together. I think we’re both fairly confident with air and I’m not sure it’s wise to try anything with fire in our current environment.” Kiræ giggled which made Tom smile, “but I thought we could do a bit with air and water, it’s something we neglect but it must be useful for something.” Kiræ nodded and held out her hand for Tom to take.
They created a pool of water on the ground in front of them and using air, were able to lift the water and direct it. Tom sprayed some at his sister and she laughed, relaxing more than she had since they left Caan. She looked at a nearby tree trunk and Tom sensed her thoughts. They glanced at one another and took a deep breath; the water sprang up at their command and streamed towards the chosen trunk in a powerful jet that caused a loud crack on impact. The twins lowered their hands, instantly letting go of the elements and looked in surprise at the broken trunk before looking sheepishly at one another.
“I told you water and air must be useful,” Tom said grinning at his sister.
“I think you were right about not trying with fire, imagine the damage we could do!” Kiræ laughed and sat down next to the fire where Tom joined her.
“Probably best not to try and manipulate earth either, we might end up collapsing the wood!” They laughed again, “how about trying the protection magic again?” he asked, “I know you’re feeling frustrated because you can’t instantly make it happen but you’ll get there, I know you will.”
“I know, I just feel like I should have made it work by now.”
“It’ll happen,” Tom said and held out a hand, which Kiræ took, closed her eyes and breathed deeply. She thought back to what Brean had told her, to try and remember the feelings she’d had the first time she used the magic and she began to try and replicate how she had felt. She remembered fear, panic and loss, she clutched the emotions to her and started to search for the elements.
She combined air and fire first as usual, then earth slotted in amongst them with little complaint. Water caused a few problems as it still didn’t like being near fire, but eventually she managed to coax it enough towards the others that they engulfed it and all four became one. She talked to the elements, asked if they would change form and they did so almost instantly, she felt Tom squeeze her hand.
The bright light shone within her and she took an internal deep breath as she started to ask the elements to move outwards. As usual, nothing happened. She tried again, she tried mentally asking air to move the others but still nothing happened. Kiræ felt frustrated with herself and with the elements. She begged them, she yelled internally at them to obey her but they refused. She flicked her arm in anger and felt a surge of energy flow through her. It lasted only a few seconds, then it was gone and she felt suddenly exhausted. She opened her eyes and Tom was grinning at her.
“Kiræ you did it!” he said throwing his arms round her.
“Did I?”
Tom nodded enthusiastically, “It only lasted a couple of seconds but you did it!”
Kiræ’s smile faltered, “A few seconds?”
“Kiræ stop being so hard on yourself, you created the shield, that’s a massive achievement and now you know how to do it again.”
“I suppose you’re right.”
Tom rolled his eyes at her, “Come on, that’s enough for tonight, I think you’ve depleted both our strength reservoirs.” Kiræ smiled in apology but Tom continued grinning. He stoked up the fire and went to rouse Tana who was taking the next watch, Kiræ stopped him before he reached the tent.
“Are you worried Tom?”
“What about?”
“About facing Bælana.”
“I don’t know,” he replied truthfully, “honestly I’ve not really thought that far ahead.”
Kiræ looked at him, then down at the ground, “I’m worried,” she said quietly, “what if we can’t do what we need to do?”
Tom wrapped his arms round his sister and hugged her tightly, “Let’s worry about getting there first,” he said squeezing her so she gasped, “let’s get some sleep.” Tom crawled into one of the tents while Kiræ roused Tana before climbing under the blankets herself. It wasn’t long before the gentle sound of the crackling fire sent her to sleep but she felt restless, waking frequently from haunting dreams of the impending meeting with her mother.
Kiræ woke early to dim light and the sound of rain, she emerged from her tent to see it was actually sleet and joined Keolan who was still on watch. They sat and ate a quick meal before Tom and Tana eventually joined them. Kiræ offered to pack the tents while the others ate.
“We should probably travel the edge of the wood,” Tom said through a mouthful, “that way we can stay dry a bit longer.” The others nodded, finished packing their belongings and mounted their horses. Kiræ once again took her place at the back and volunteered to lead Aurora’s horse.
They managed to stay sheltered for a couple of days while they travelled the edge of the wood, but eventually they ran out of cover, finally succumbing to the snow that was falling around them. The group were silent, hunched in their saddles as they made their way slowly north towards the town of Myrtan. Kiræ pulled her coat more tightly round her in an attempt to keep out the cold. They rode for several days out in the open without the weather changing and when it did, it only became colder.
As they finally saw Myrtan in the distance, the snow began to ease and they realised there were a number of tall, black pillars littering the landscape. The group eyed them suspiciously and Kiræ saw there was strange writing on them.
“Wait, isn’t this one of the towns that worships Bælana?” Keolan asked nervously.
Tom nodded, “We really need to stock up on supplies and this will probably be our last chance.”
“I don’t like this,” Tana said shifting uncomfortably, “what if the mingual are there?”
“I think we’ll just have to risk it,” Kiræ said, sounding far calmer than she felt, “like Tom said, we need supplies.” The guards were friendly enough and wore traditional citizen clothing as opposed to the robes Vala had mentioned, they pointed them in the direction of the Inn and stables.
“Perhaps King Asmera managed to convert them back,” Kiræ whispered to her brother.
“Maybe,” he said sounding unconvinced, “but I think we need to stay alert.” He left several coins with the stable hand, who assured them he would give their horses his utmost attention. Seeing as how they were the only horses there,
Kiræ found this rather amusing. The Inn was busy, something they hadn’t really experienced or expected. No one paid them the slightest bit of attention when they entered, except a large smiling woman, who almost pounced on them when they walked through the door and ushered them to a free table.
“Good evening,” she said in a loud, slightly accented voice, “what can I get for you?”
“We were wondering if there were any spare rooms?” Tom asked and the woman beamed at him as she wiped her fair hands on her apron.
“Of course! Will you want a hot meal too?” The four of them nodded and she laughed loudly before walking away.
“She seemed, nice,” Keolan said hesitantly.
Tana laughed, “I actually think I know her,” she said quietly, “she runs the Inn for her brother, she’s quite pushy but very friendly, I think that’s her brother over there.” Tana pointed to a small man behind the bar drying tankards with a less than clean cloth.
“Have you been here before then?” Keolan asked and Tana nodded.
“Once when I was very little, it doesn’t seem to have changed much,” she laughed as the woman hit her brother round the head, took the dirty cloth he was using and replaced it with a clean one. “You can probably guess it wasn’t exactly his idea to have her help, but who’s going to argue.” They laughed as the woman came bustling over with a tray full of steaming food and full tankards.
“The rooms are all ready for you when you want them, just call me over and I’ll show you the way,” she smiled again and shuffled off.
“I think we’re making good time,” Tom said almost forgetting to chew the meal in front of him.
“Except we have no idea what to expect when we reach the Holy Land,” Kiræ pointed out, clearly not feeling as optimistic as her brother.
“But that was always the case,” Keolan said, “it doesn’t mean we won’t be successful.”
“I wish I had your optimism,” Kiræ said sighing heavily. They ate in silence, enjoying the first hot meal they had eaten in what felt like months and once they had drained their tankards they began to feel sluggish.
Forgotten Magic (Elementals Book 1) Page 28