Shades Of Justice

by Justin Sloan

With all the broken rocks and sticks, she thought her best chance might be to distract the sorcerer. She’d sort the rest out as she went.

  She darted forward and snagged a rock, then heaved it with all her might. All her might shouldn’t have been too much considering how exhausted she was, but that rock flew! It hit its target with a thwack and the sorcerer fell to the ground, out cold.

  The sorcerer to his right turned, confused for a moment until he saw the rock. He was just starting to turn back toward Kia when she heard someone hiss, “Throw another,” so she dove, grabbed a smaller rock, and tossed it while still on her back.

  Again the rock flew harder than made sense, until she realized why—Lannis had to be nearby! The rock hit the man in the center of his forehead, breaking the skin before bouncing off.

  The man staggered backward, went cross-eyed, and dropped.

  Kia rolled and pushed herself up, sprinting in the direction from which she was certain she had heard Lannis’ voice coming.

  He popped up behind a fallen tree to her left instead and waved her over. She quickly adjusted course and dove to join him. A mound of dirt hit her back as she landed and she bit her lip to stop from crying out in pain, but she was glad she had done it. A moment later another sorcerer ran over, saw the other two on the ground, and called for backup.

  “How…” Kia asked, pointing to the spot she had thought he’d been.

  He smiled and mouthed, “Watch this,” before moving his hands and pushing the wind. Then he spoke aloud. “Don’t let them see us.”

  She frowned, confused why he would think that was even necessary to say. Then she realized it had been genius, because the sorcerer was running in the opposite direction from them, shouting about how he was going to find them.

  “Using the wind to project my voice,” Lannis whispered. “Have you seen the rest of our group?”

  “Alastar and Rhona are over there.” She motioned to the other half of the now-separated land. “But my dad and Estair? No clue, except…”

  “You saw the sorcerer starting to cast a spell,” Lannis said with a nod. “Come on, let’s check it out.”

  “Wait.” She held out a hand toward his chest, then nodded to the area ahead. “Maybe send a scout? You know, to see if anyone’s watching.”

  He looked confused at first, but then his eyes went wide and he nodded. “You mean Stormy? I don’t want him getting hurt, though.”

  She glared.

  “Oh, right…made of wind.” He sighed, still not committed, but then moved his hands as his eyes went black. Stormy appeared ahead of them, walking as if he were a regular boy. Sure, he was transparent, but a sorcerer looking for someone might not realize that right away and attack.

  But no attack came.

  “Let’s go,” Kia hissed, pulling him up, and the two darted out of there. Her head swam and the breaths full of dust weren’t helping, but she could already feel her energy returning. Just past the two unconscious sorcerers they saw a drop-off and, down below, Estair was lying in a pool of mud.

  Kia’s heart pounded, her mouth dry.

  “She’s not…dead, is she?” Lannis asked, voicing the worry screeching through Kia’s mind.

  “Would they have wanted to cast a spell on her if she was dead?”

  He considered this, then shrugged. “Maybe. To be sure.”

  “Well, we’ll find out another way. Come on.”

  She took another step to try to figure a way down, and one of the sorcerers made a sound. A glance back showed his eyes opening and suddenly he lunged, reaching for Lannis.

  This time Kia’s spell was cast by instinct. No time to think…she simply pushed, and the man exploded in flames. She was sure she’d be sick at the sight of it, so instead of lingering to find out what happened she pulled Lannis to the drop-off and they leaped.

  “Wind magic now!” she said, hoping he was paying attention.

  Screams sounded behind them, accompanied by cracks of lightning randomly splitting the sky around them, and then they were falling fast.

  “NOW!” she screamed. Lannis pressed his hands down and a flurry of wind caught them, making Kia glad she was wearing leggings under her dress. They landed hard, but not hard enough to break anything.

  “A little warning next time?” Lannis said, allowing her to help him up.

  Another mage appeared above them. Possibly the second one they had knocked unconscious, judging by the trickle of blood running down his face.

  He stared down at them as the screaming continued behind him. Then he reached out and formed a spell, but turned back to cast it on his companion, ending the screams and likely his life.

  “Children don’t belong here,” the sorcerer shouted down at them. “I’ll give you a chance. Surrender, and you may leave. I will see you safely removed from this island. You will live in peace in Roneland as part of the new empire our goddess forms.”

  Kia backed up, eyes darting to the form of Estair. At least she was face-up in the mud. A twitch of her finger told Kia she was not dead, and then Estair’s eyes started to open.

  They had to act fast.

  “We accept,” Kia said. She wasn’t big on lying, but in a situation like this she figured it made sense.

  The mage stared down at her, then shook his head. “If only I could believe you.” As he thrust his hands forward, ice rose out of the ground and secured their feet. “In any case, I can’t very well let you keep causing trouble.”

  Kia glared, letting her magic emerge far enough to thaw the ice.

  “Know when to quit,” the sorcerer said, shaking his head. “You have the word of Master Okalin. This doesn’t have to end with your death.”

  “And you have the word of Kia and Lannis,” she replied, “that it won’t.”

  With that she thrust out her hands and let the flames fly, while at the same time he thrust out powerful blasts of frozen air and spears of ice. The two magics met in the middle, flaring as if about to explode. Estair was up on one knee watching the action and she thrust her hands forward too, adding power to Kia’s magic. Lannis used his wind to strengthen the flame, and as his gusts hit the fire it turned from orange and red to bright blue and white, nearly matching the colors of the ice from the sorcerer.

  Everything near the flare began to catch fire or melt, including the rock at the base of the drop-off, and then it crumbled and took the sorcerer with it. As he fell he shouted, and used the last of his energy in his magic. The spells exploded and he landed on scorched ground covered in crystals of ice. He had been impaled by one of them.

  He gasped for air, trying to move, and then it was over. His empty eyes stared, his body frozen in ice as smoke rose around it from the seared earth.

  The others stumbled back to the tree line, silently amazed at what had just happened.

  “Where were you two?” Estair asked. “I mean, what happened?”

  “My dad’s out there somewhere,” Kia said. “We have to find him. We can fill you in after.”

  Estair nodded, glancing around. “And Alastar? Rhona?”

  Kia motioned back the way they’d come. “On the other part of the island, at least for now. We’d better find my dad and see if we can find a way across.”

  She agreed and they moved back through the woods, working their way through the jagged rocks and damage that had followed the shaking of the earth.

  “We never should have brought you here,” Estair said almost to herself.

  “You didn’t have a choice,” Kia replied. “You seriously think you could’ve stopped me?”

  Estair chuckled, shaking her head. “No, I guess not.”

  “Here’s the thing.” Kia leaped over a fallen tree, then helped Lannis over. “The world isn’t the same as it once was. As we grow and evolve things change, right? Well, think about it. I don’t need fire nearby to conjure fire. Every other adult does, except maybe those sorcerers.”

  “We’ve mostly seen them use ice and lightning,” Lannis interrupted.

&nb
sp; “Right, but the point is that not many can do what I can. All right, I’m not very experienced, and I’m shorter and maybe a bit more fragile. But if I can summon fire that can take down a small army while adults can’t, what sense does it make to leave me behind?”

  Estair turned to her with a frown. “I follow you, but I don’t have to like it.”

  Kia laughed. “Most adults wouldn’t. Except, one day I’ll be an adult. I get that. But guess what happens then? I remember how much butt I could kick when I was a kid and I look for kids who are like I was. Put trust in them. Help ensure they use their power for good, and keep them from becoming like this Lady Mowain.”

  “Please do.” Estair scoffed. “That’s all she really is…a child who learned to abuse her power instead of use it for good.”

  “Exactly. See, you and my father and Rhona and Alastar let me help you fight evil. That means all of you are solidly putting me on the path away from evil.”

  “Me too, then,” Lannis interjected with excitement. “Wow, smart!”

  Kia laughed. “Aye, so my dad tells me.”

  “Speaking of your dad…” Estair turned and ducked quickly, motioning to them to do the same.

  Kia scooted up behind Estair so that she could get a good look around her, then saw why she had ducked.

  Just ahead, on the other side of a grassy clearing that hadn’t split, a group of sorcerers were pulling the struggling form of Donnon into a cave. He turned and clocked one of them, but then they had him again and they vanished within.

  “Ready for Operation Save Dad?” Estair asked.

  Kia’s skull was thumping with power and her hands were shaking, she was so angry. Everything in her wanted to charge in there blazing fire, but she knew what that might do to her dad.

  So instead she nodded.

  “Good.” Estair glanced around to ensure they were in the clear, and then darted forward with the children at her back.

  “Do we have a plan?” Lannis asked.

  “I was going with take them out one at a time, like a ghost in the darkness. Have a better one?” They stopped just outside the cave, chests heaving, ready to make their move.

  Lannis smiled. “I believe I do. Just…cover me.”

  “Cover you?”

  “You know, in case I’m caught. Be ready to burn those arses to the ground.”

  Estair nodded, but turned to Kia. “Should we let him do this?”

  Kia wasn’t so sure either, honestly, so she asked him. “What did you have in mind?”

  “I’ll throw my voice, see if we can confuse them enough to let us get in and grab him. Then you can torch the place as we make our escape.”

  “This should be kind of fun, actually,” Kia admitted. “But if things go wrong, Estair, get my dad out fast. And I mean fast, because there’ll be no holding me back.”

  Estair nodded, then turned to Lannis expectantly.

  “Come on,” he said, starting to sneak into the cave. “It’ll be easier from inside, where we can see what’s going on.”

  ***

  The darkness made it hard to maneuver until their vision began to transition. They made it a few paces inside and began to see torches ahead and hear the men shouting, apparently at Donnon, as if they were interrogating him.

  Lannis sure as hell hoped this worked. He glanced at Kia’s expectant face, and it gave him courage. She was relying on him. Her father was relying on him.

  Waving his hands, he summoned Stormy and then the wind, whispering into it.

  “Go shove a sword up your arse,” he hissed, and had the wind carry it to the other side of one of the sorcerers, followed by a quick punch from Stormy before he made the spirit vanish. The punch probably felt like no more than a strong gust of wind, but it had hit the man’s side as he heard the words, and it had the intended effect.

  The man turned to the one beside him and demanded, “What’s your problem?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Excuse you? Excuse this!” The sorcerer punched the other one in the nose, causing him to stumble back.

  Three others came out of the darkness at this turn of events, leaving Donnon alone as they tried to pull the other two off each other.

  “He started it!” the second one said, acting just like a child. Maybe there is something to this “adults with the minds of children” thing, Lannis thought as he prepared his next move. It made sense, really. Why else would they act like evil dickheads?

  This time he had the wind fly up one of the sorcerers’ cloaks, with a gust like the flick of the ear. The man squirmed and looked behind himself but saw nothing, so he turned to the man to his left and gave him a shove.

  “Is this the time for games?” he shouted.

  The man looked utterly perplexed, but had let go of the others in the distraction. The man who’d been hit earlier got another punch in. The man who had been punched had had enough, and began moving his hands to call a spell when another stormed in from the rear.

  “What in the name of the goddess is going on in here?” His voice stopped the others instantly.

  But not Lannis. He was just getting started. Another gust of wind made it seem like the one in the back shoved the one in front of him, and he stumbled toward his superior. He turned back to blast ice at the offender.

  “Now,” Lannis hissed, sending his voice so that it struck the leader’s ears. “Kill him now.”

  “Kill me?”

  Since the chaos was already underway they didn’t even hear his question, and he wasn’t going to wait for their excuses. He drew his sword and, as two shot ice at each other, he charged in, electric shocks running up and down the blade.

  They were away from Donnon, who seemed to have caught on that something was happening, based on his eyes darting around in the darkness.

  “Now,” Lannis hissed, and motioned for Kia. “I’ll keep this up. You get your dad.”

  She nodded, and was about to go for Donnon when Estair put a hand on her shoulder.

  “Let me,” Estair said.

  “No, he’s my dad. Plus, they’re less likely to notice me.”

  Not waiting for a response, Kia darted toward her dad. When she entered the light his eyes went wide; he seemed to want to argue her being here. Instead, he just nodded, and pushed himself up, staggering slightly. Apparently he wasn’t back to full health yet, so when one of the sorcerers broke from the fight at the sight of them, Lannis acted fast.

  He hit them with more wind than he had ever used on anyone before and it got amplified coming through the tunnel, blasting the sorcerers into the rocks on the far side. And then Lannis and the rest were sprinting through the tunnel, only stopping long enough for Kia to raise a wall of flame behind them.

  “That should hold those bastards,” she said, turning to join the others again. But Estair motioned for them to stay put.

  “Here’s the thing.” She held up her hands, eyes narrowed as if she didn’t like what she was about to do. “Leaving them trapped momentarily is good for our retreat and all, but they aren’t going to reform. They aren’t going to switch sides when their goddess is dead.”

  “I’m not going to kill them if I don’t have to,” Kia replied, understanding where this was going.

  “Good thing you don’t have to.” Estair closed her eyes and made quick motions with her hands. The flames flared, driving back into the cave. Loud screams followed, and then all was silent.

  Kia shuddered. “Maybe there is one difference between children and adults,” she said. “I would never do that.”

  Estair nodded. “I hope you’ll never have to. But the truth of the matter is, sometimes justice demands it. Sometimes letting them go would cause more evil than the act of taking their lives, if their minds are corrupt beyond saving.”

  “And you’re the judge of that?” Kia shouted, not sure why she was pissed off but acknowledging that she was. “Who gave you that authority?”

  “Dear, not the time,” her dad said.

  She s
pun, about to unleash on him now, when she saw what he meant. More sorcerers were gathering, forming a circle around them, and beginning to move their hands for their spells.

  “GO!” Donnon shouted, and they sprinted forward, diving through underbrush as lightning struck and ice spears pierced the ground where they had just been. They threw fireballs back, but knew it was too much to deal with. They had to get out of there and hide.

  Kia slid down the path, then jumped up and ran around the ruins of an old house—remnants of the home of someone who was long gone. When she’d dodged around it to send another fireball, she saw only dense trees, smoke rising in the background, and lightning strike a tree.

  Where was everyone?

  So many times Kia had felt she could handle fire magic, that she was more powerful than even her father. Maybe it was true, maybe not, but right now all she knew was that she wanted him by her side more than anything.

  “Dad,” she hissed, eyes wide as she searched for him. “Where are you?”

  Leaves rustled, and her ears perked up.

  One of the sorcerers darted from the trees, and stopped when he saw her. His eyes were wide, but they narrowed as he stepped forward.

  Kia wasn’t sure if it was the fact that she’d been so scared a moment ago at finding herself alone or the size of this man, but she stumbled back, lower lip quivering. She wanted to shout at herself, to slap her cheek and tell herself to pull it together, but he was at least two heads taller than her dad and half his face was raw and still smoldering—likely from her fire.

  “I’m going to enjoy killing you,” he growled.

  She lifted her hands, trying to focus on a spell and burn him where he stood, but nothing came. Her arms felt like noodles, her legs like jelly.

  Another step back and she collapsed, but never hit the ground. Thick hands caught her and helped her stand. She knew that smell, like pine. The realization that her dad was there hit her a second before his face was visible. His mouth was moving. The ringing in her ears and spinning of her head blocked his words, but he charged the man and clobbered him before the sorcerer could get his magic going, then slamming his burnt head into the rocky ground.

  With the final strike the tall man went limp, and Donnon came back. He picked Kia up off the ground and carried her to the rest of their group.