The Raven (The Secret Chronicles of Lost Magic Book 1)

by Aderyn Wood

  Izhur swallowed; the apple in his throat moving as he did so. “Tell us then, Iluna. How do you intend to stop them?” He took a seat on a rock next to Cypra. The new bronze and silver beads he’d received at Agria’s opening glistened in the firelight.

  Iluna took a small bone pot from her satchel and filled it with water from the skin. A handful of pine needles went in next, she swirled the pot and placed it on the fire. “The enemy clan is near; less than half a day’s walk from this very spot.”

  “What?” Fear wrinkled Cypra’s brow.

  “They plan to attack us – all of Ona’s people – the day after tomorrow. Xaroth and Yuli schemed long and hard for this day.”

  Izhur blinked. “How can you know this?”

  “The raven, Uncle, he has shown me all.”

  Izhur looked to the cave’s entrance. “Where is your raven now?”

  “He keeps watch and will warn us of danger. The cave protects us but we are unable to sense danger out there. He is our eyes and ears, both in this world and the Other.”

  Izhur swallowed again. “So how can we stop them? Stop this attack?”

  Iluna took a breath, and stirred the water with a stick. Small bubbles sprung up. “I will go to them, this enemy clan.”

  “No.” Izhur shook his head. “It’s too dangerous.”

  “Listen, Uncle. Hear my plan in full.”

  Izhur rubbed a temple as he looked into the fire, his eyes brimming with anger and frustration, but then he gave a curt nod, and Iluna continued.

  “One among them speaks our tongue; the raven has shown me. I believe it was the Grand Soragan who first taught him.”

  “That snake,” Cypra snarled.

  “Quite right, Aunty. The snake is Xaroth’s totem and as you know he can bind.”

  “And slither wheresoever he pleases,” Cypra replied, anger in her snarl.

  “It is the reason that he was saved, all those years ago, when he first met this enemy clan on his hermitage.”

  Cypra frowned. “What do you mean? He’s known them all these summers?”

  Iluna nodded. “Scores of summer and winters, both. It all stemmed from his hermitage. He tried to escape them by binding and slithering off, but they caught him with a spear to his tail. It is why the Grand Soragan limps to this day.”

  “Go on,” Izhur muttered.

  “They were in awe of his gift of binding, and struck a bargain. Xaroth would teach them how to bind with an animal, and he would lead them to our wealth.”

  “Wealth?” Cypra asked.

  “It is one of their words. I think it means to have many precious things, such as gold or jade.” Iluna pointed to the beads around Izhur’s neck. “They desired this wealth and also our land.”

  “And what would Xaroth get in return?” Cypra asked.

  “An unnaturally long life. They would teach him their secrets. It is where he learnt the bronze magic that he brought back to our people. He also learnt of their dark magics which keeps him alive. He has risen among them, and plans to become a wealthy leader in the new world they hope to create on our lands.” Iluna looked at the two Soragans before her. “I believe it is possible they had foreseen my birth, and that is why Xaroth has worked against me all my life – whispering in Zodor’s ear that I would be an evil force, so that Zodor convinced the circle that I should be sacrificed as a babe.”

  Izhur looked to the fire, eyes wide. “Yes, it would explain everything. And why he is so adamant to take your power. And now with Yuli ...” Izhur mumbled his frown deep and furrowed.

  “Uncle?”

  Izhur looked at Cypra. “That ceremony I mentioned, for Yuli.”

  “Yes, back at the tent,” Cypra said, nodding.

  “It is a binding ceremony. Xaroth wants to perform the ceremony to bind Yuli to his totem.”

  Cypra’s nostrils flared. “After all my efforts, he just up and decides to do it? Why Yuli? Why now? How will they get the energy required? I doubt Yuli has a strong enough gift in any case. It could kill him.”

  Izhur was rubbing his temples. “It must be related somehow to this enemy clan.” He looked up, suddenly. “Yuli must have been associating with them on his hermitage!”

  Iluna took the bone pot off the fire, and let it sit to cool. The scent of pine filled the cave and she took a cleansing breath.

  The raven had not foretold of any binding, and she wasn’t sure she believed the ceremony for Yuli would take place. She focused on the two Soragans in front of her. They were both angry, understandably so, but she needed them to pay attention to her. She needed them to listen so that the enchantment she would eventually weave took hold. She sent a pulse of calming blue light and waited a moment for their breathing to slow, their fires to wane.

  “We must deal with Xaroth and Yuli after. First comes this enemy clan. As I was saying, I want to meet with them, to try and reason, to reach out to them and show them how their hostility has caused us such pain, such grief. To persuade them to turn back.”

  “Iluna dear, it is an honorable thought, but these monsters – I have seen them.” Cypra was shaking her head, eyes glistening. “They are not capable of such sensitivity.”

  “No, Aunty. I believe that is true, but I must try. It is what Ona would expect of us.” Iluna could feel their heart beats slowing; they were calmer now.

  “I expect my attempt at negotiating will fail. So, I will enact the second part of my plan.” Iluna wasn’t going to tell them this part. She was simply going to go through with the enchantment, and then prepare for her journey, but perhaps they would give her further insight. She may as well tell them. They would only forget once they fell under the enchantment anyway.

  “When my negotiations fail, I will send them away.”

  “How?” Izhur asked.

  Iluna lifted her chin. “I will frighten them so that they will be too afraid to enter one foot into Ona’s Valley.”

  Izhur blinked. “You can do it?”

  Iluna nodded. “Yes, Uncle.”

  Suddenly it seemed to Iluna that Izhur and Cypra were more like children, in their innocence, their awe.

  “Come. Drink this. It shall refresh us.” She held the bone pot out for them and they each took a slow sip. Cypra’s hands were shaking.

  Iluna stilled herself. It was time to weave the enchantment. To undo everything she had told them, and send them back down the mountain. She took a breath and held up a hand. They held palms to their eyes to obscure her blinding light, but Iluna ignored their discomfort, and her white light filled the cave, like a star.

  Anton

  A loud squawk woke him and Anton sat up, blinking. On a large rock perched a crow. It cocked its head to one side, as though it watched him. Anton blinked some more, and the crow squawked again before taking flight, wings beating up a cool breeze. The sky had turned a dusky pink – dawn. Anton yawned before a sharp breath of panic woke him fully. He had fallen asleep!

  “Fool!” he whispered.

  On hands and knees he peered through the needles of the juniper tree. The cave’s entrance stood a few steps away. Would they still be in there? His eyes scanned the terrain. No fresh prints. Perhaps he should risk a closer look.

  Anton tried to remember the last thing he’d heard. They had talked about Yuli and the Grand Soragan. Both traitors, if Iluna was to be believed. And though he didn’t want to, he did believe her. The enemy clan was close. She wanted to go to them. And do what? Anton shook his head, trying to remember. But a fuzzy cloud filled his mind and all he could recall was that bright whiteness that had come from the cave.

  “What a beautiful day!”

  Anton shrunk down. Cypra stood at the cave’s entrance, a smile on her face.

  “Yes, a good day for fishing, Cypra, or gathering orange fruit.” Izhur followed her out, appearing just as jovial as Cypra’s smile.

  Something was at odds. Did they know he was there? Were they pretending their entire people were safe?

  “Well, goodbye, Uncle,
Aunty. I will see you soon.” Iluna appeared at the cave’s entrance, her black hair its usual mess. Dark rings lined her eyes. Clearly, she hadn’t slept.

  “Yes, dear. We’ll see you soon.” Cypra grinned and walked back the way they had come.

  “Enjoy your time, Iluna. We’ll see you back at camp.” Izhur caught up with Cypra, and Anton could just hear their conversation about whether to pick some orange fruit on their way down.

  He frowned again. What was going on? Had he dreamed their secret talk last night?

  Iluna stepped out of the cave’s entrance. The daysun had just breached the horizon and the first golden rays of dawn touched her hair, highlighting the blue. She still had her broad nose, her wide mouth; she was still a frog face. But he liked that face more than his new wife’s. He liked it a lot.

  She walked a few steps to peer at the path that Cypra and Izhur had just taken. Perhaps she was looking to see if they were truly gone. She reached out with her fingers, but otherwise remained still, and after just a few heartbeats she seemed satisfied.

  Then she turned and looked his way.

  “I know you are there, Anton. You can come out now.”

  He swallowed. How had she known? But he knew better than to remain hidden. Not that he wanted to.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” She was angry.

  “I’m sorry, Iluna.”

  “You’re to stop this foolishness. You’ve a wife now.”

  Anton knew it, though he’d give her away tomorrow if he could. Hennita had proved as uninteresting to him as she always had. “I wanted to talk to you again.” He had much to tell her, and this time he wouldn’t stumble.

  Iluna’s eyes softened before they scanned the sky and trees. She was looking for something, the way a hunter looks for clues when tracking.

  “You followed us?” she asked.

  ‘No. I tracked you.”

  A look of irritation crossed her face. “I was careful.”

  Anton smiled. “Not careful enough.”

  Iluna raised an eyebrow. “Say what you have to say; and then you had best be gone.”

  “I will tell you what I want to say to you,” Anton paused, his smile broadening, “when we return from this enemy clan.”

  Her eyes widened ever so slightly before resuming their search. What was she looking for?

  “You overheard us?”

  “Yes.”

  “Anton, I must do this alone. I won’t have the energy to protect you. I’ll need all my strength for what I have to do.”

  “I am coming with you. I’ll help you fight them. You can’t stop me.”

  “I can.” She held her hands up.

  “Iluna. Please. Let me help you. I’ll do exactly as you say. Just let me help. I want to do this – for you, for our people, and for my mother.”

  Iluna put her hand down. “Your mother?”

  “She suffers. She has seen the difference in Yuli, and she has fallen into a great despondency. If she knew Yuli was behind this, it would ruin her. I want to set things to right, as much as I can.”

  Iluna stalled, her eyes softening all the more. Anton could almost see affection in them. Was it possible she had feelings for him, too?

  She shook her head. “Your mother is kind, Anton, and you are honorable to want to help her, but I cannot allow it.”

  “Please, Iluna. I don’t care so much for my life, but if anything was to happen to you, or my mother, there would be nothing more in this world I would want to live for. Please let me help you.”

  Iluna took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “I’ll do it on one condition.”

  “Name it.”

  “When we return – if we return – you forget about me. You stop following me about. You go back to treating me as the tamatu I am.” She held her head high.

  “Why would you want such a thing?”

  “It would be better for me if you did.”

  “I’ll do it. After I tell you that thing; the thing I need to tell you.”

  Iluna nodded. “Done then. Although – I must sleep now. I need my energy. We leave when Atoll’s star rises this evening, but if I dream of what’s to come, I may change my mind about you accompanying me, and you will find yourself sitting in front of the evenfire tonight, everything forgotten. Just as Izhur and Cypra will be.”

  A squawk came from the sky and Anton almost ducked when the crow flapped its wings and landed on his shoulder.

  “Great Mother,” Iluna whispered, her dark eyes like new moons.

  Anton laughed. “Is this some trick of yours? Some magic?”

  The crow preened a wing and squawked once more, but remained on his shoulder as though it belonged there.

  “No,” Iluna whispered. “No magic.” Her eyes shifted to his. “It seems you will be coming with me after all.”

  The bird batted its wings and flew off.

  “What a strange crow.”

  “Raven,” Iluna said as she watched it circle high into the sky. “Come, let us gather some food. Then I must rest.”

  ∞

  Anton watched as Iluna took her first mouthful of rabbit meat. He’d hunted while she slept. Her eyes closed and she nodded as she chewed.

  He smiled. “It’s good, isn’t it?”

  She looked at him, grease shining on her chin. “It’s delicious, but the fruits and nuts would have sufficed.” She took another bite.

  “You said you needed energy for what you have to do. Hunting rabbits is as easy for me as picking those moonberries you love so much.” He held up a rabbit leg, juices dripping. “I pasted crushed moonberries over the skin. My mother cooked it like this not two nights past. It’s good.”

  Iluna smiled. Her eyes twinkled and Anton relished it. Was there any better feeling in the world than making her smile?

  They finished their meal and kicked dirt on the small fire. Then it was time to leave. Iluna stood outside the cave, her eyes searching the view of the forest to the south, down the mountain. A light blue haze had sprung up to the east. Atoll’s star was about to join the moon and the nightsun in the Agrian sky. The raven squawked and landed on Iluna’s shoulder. She fed him a handful of berries from her satchel and the bird gulped them down before taking off again, heading south.

  “It is time,” Iluna said, and she followed the bird.

  She kept a swift pace.

  “You will not sleep before we get there?” Anton followed her over a boulder.

  “No, that is why I slept today. We’ll travel through the night and should arrive at their camp by dawn. As long as you can keep up and that spear doesn’t get in your way.”

  Anton smiled. He’d made the spear out of willow wood. It was light, but strong. “My spear will slay them if they attack us.”

  Iluna stopped and gave him a look. “When we arrive you are to do exactly what I tell you. There will be no blood spilled, if I can help it.”

  “They have spilled the blood of an entire clan. If one of them should die, then we shall have some vengeance.”

  Iluna blinked. “Is this Anton or Zodor I am speaking with?”

  Anton looked down at his feet. “Anton.”

  “Vengeance is the path to savagery. I will not own it. You will do as I say, or I will enchant you, if you do not. We had an agreement.”

  Anton gave a curt nod, and Iluna continued down the mountain.

  They stopped only briefly, twice to rest and fill their water skins from the mountain creeks, and then from the river, and to eat some loquat berries and hazelnuts that Anton had collected earlier. The raven was never far. He would fly ahead only to circle back and squawk every now and then, as though letting them know they were on the right path. Iluna said little. She’d warn him of a thorny bush ahead or a steep drop in the terrain, but mostly she was silent. As they descended, the vegetation changed ever so slightly. Closer to the river more orange fruit trees and loquats grew. And the forest became darker still, with taller oaks and elms.

  They skirted a bend in
the riverbank and the raven perched on a branch, waiting for them. Strips of pink streaked the sky to the east.

  “It is time to prepare,” Iluna went to the river and filled her skin and drank deep before sitting on a river rock. “Eat. We need our final nourishment before we face them.”

  Anton sat next to her and took the last two orange fruits from his satchel. He peeled one and gave it to Iluna.

  “Thank you,” she said, taking it from him.

  He touched her hand with his, as they held the fruit. “You’re welcome.”

  They ate the orange fruit and the hazelnuts. Then Iluna walked to the river and splashed water on her face. She turned and stood in front of him. “The enemy clan is through the trees that way.” She pointed to the south-west. “We will stop at a place close enough for you to watch, but you are not to make yourself known.”

  “I want to help you; I have my spear. I can defend you as you do your magic.”

  “I said – there is to be no blood spilled. If possible, anyway. And you will help me, Anton.”

  “How?”

  Iluna frowned. “How, has not been revealed to me. It is important that you do not follow but stay where you are. If I have to spend energy to stop you, it will hinder my actions with the enemy.”

  Anton took a deep breath. “Very well. I promise to stay in my place.”

  “Thank you. Now, once we leave I do not want us to talk again. I will cast a shield for us in the Otherworld that will protect us, but if we talk someone might hear. They have powerful magics and strong hunting tools. They could easily overpower us if we are not careful.”

  “I thought you were more powerful. That’s what you told Izhur and Cypra; I heard you say it.”

  Iluna’s eyes looked to the ground, revealing her doubt. “It has not been tested, Anton. It is not known for a certainty.”

  “We could turn back now; it’s not too late. Let’s convince the others to help us fight them.”

  “You’re forgetting your brother and the Grand Soragan. They will not allow it. No, this is the only way. Are you ready? Remember, we’re not to speak once we leave. Is there anything else you wish to say?”