by Brad Clark
Just as Hargon opened his mouth to speak, she quickly asked, “What’s the book?”
Hargon was ready to send her away, but the question caught him off guard. It was not unusual for a lady to be able to read, but he thought it out of the ordinary to have a lady ask about a book. In his time as emperor of Taran, the women that he had interacted with were not learned. They had many purposes in his life, and being a reader was not one of them. After a moment’s pause, he reminded himself that he was no longer emperor, nor was he in Taran anymore.
He glanced at his arm that covered the book and said, “It is a book of no consequence.”
“Then why do you hide it from me?”
A smile crept across his face. As the smile grew, the lines around his eyes exposed themselves, showing him to be much older than first appearance showed.
“You are more than just a pretty face,” he said after a moment. The tone of his voice softened, and his eyes glistened in the light of the fire.
She took a half step back and crossed her arms in front of her. “Now you insult me?”
“It was a compliment,” he said, his white teeth now showing through his smile.
“And because I am pretty, I have no other redeeming qualities?”
Hargon’s smile turned into a laugh. “Do not be ashamed of your beauty. There has been too much death and destruction this winter. It is good that one such as you are around to give light to the darkness.” He watched her eyes turn away from his. “I have made you uncomfortable?”
There was something truly mesmerizing and charismatic about his presence. It was more than just his face or his looks. He exuded an aura of authoritative confidence. Even if she hadn’t known that he was once the leader of the greatest empire the world had ever known, she would have easily guessed that he was a leader of men.
“Your words are kind enough,” Ilasha said, eyes narrowing and jaw clenched. She might have the body of a young, naïve lady, but her mind and heart had been toughened from a long life. “But, as you should know, I am Sir Marik’s lady.”
Hargon raised an eyebrow. “But you are not betrothed?”
“No,” She snapped quickly and angrily. “We have only known one another for a short time, but I love him, and he loves me.”
She expected to see disappointment in his eyes, but instead, they continued to gleam with mirth. “Then you are as good as betrothed in my eyes!”
She let her arms drop to her side. She was just about to turn and walk away, as she felt he was becoming too forward with his compliments. The humor that showed on his face told her that maybe he was just playing with her. Or maybe testing her? She had dealt with people of power and prestige before, and she didn’t have good thoughts about any of them. Hargon was an ally, though. A friend of Marik’s. He also had saved their lives.
“So,” he said, his tone completely different. He had quickly switched to a conversational voice. “You are curious about the book?”
Hargon turned back to the table and pulled his arm from covering the book. With tenderness, he slid the book across the table towards Ilasha.
She looked at him for a moment. Whatever game he was playing seemed to be over. Reaching out a hand, she stepped forward and asked, “Can I touch it?”
“Do you know what it is?”
“It is your book of spells.”
His smile faded slightly as he realized that she was smarter and more observant that he had given her credit for. “You knew,” he asked.
“I suspected. We all know that you are a mage, so when a mage is reading a book, it must be his spellbook.”
“Is that so? You have come across other mages in your travels?”
“Of course not! But we all know about them. There are stories. Legends. Myths.”
“And some of them are even true,” he said with a serious look. “Would you like to read it?”
Ilasha leaned forward as he opened the book. The pages were thick and crisp, which caused them to turn slowly. Hargon was also careful not to bend or crease any of the pages as he turned them.
Ilasha could not see any writing on the pages, so she leaned forward even farther.
“I don’t see words,” she said.
“And you won’t,” Hargon replied. “Only a mage can read the words of our books. It is part of the gift.”
She reached out a hand to touch the book but held it short.
“It will not hurt you to touch it. To you, it is just a book like any other. The paper is old. Probably older than you or me.”
“Maybe older than you,” she said.
He laughed for a moment, then he remembered who she was. “Right,” he said. His hand went to the necklace that was hanging from his neck. He pulled it out from under his robes.
She let out a subconscious gasp as she saw it. She had last seen it when Marik had pulled it out of the small pool of water that was hidden in a cave near her home. For years it had been at the bottom of the pool giving the power of healing to the hot spring water. Its healing powers had also stopped the aging process, allowing her to not only look youthful but also to truly be young again.
“The power of the Web of Magic is amazing,” he said. “It can heal. It can move mountains. It can kill.”
“Can I touch it?”
Hargon held the pendant that hung from the necklace away from his body. There was an open cavity where a large gem would be set. The necklace itself was powerful, but once the black gem was set within the pendant, the Ark of Life would be complete. As powerful as the individual pieces of the Ark of Life were, together they would be infinitely more powerful.
Ilasha reached over and took the pendant in the palm of her right hand. The warmth of it surprised her, and she almost let it drop. Whether it was the thrill of touching the Ark of Life, or it was actually sending a pulse of electricity into her hands, she could not tell. Her heart began pounding hard, and her breathing became fast and shallow. A euphoria came over her, unlike anything that she had felt before. To some degree, she had felt something similar when she bathed in the hot waters of the pool that had held the necklace. Then, she had felt energized and invigorated. Now, though, touching it directly with her bare hands, the feeling was so much more intense and deeper. She wrapped her fingers around the pendant, squeezing it tightly.
Hargon gently pried her fingers open and took the pendant from her hands.
A cold chill came over Ilasha, and she shivered. Her eyes followed Hargon’s hands as he tucked the necklace and its pendant under his robe.
“It is powerful, is it not?” he asked, studying her reaction closely.
“I’m not sure what I felt. Was it magic?”
“The Web of Magic surrounds us and binds the fabric of the universe together. Not everyone can touch it directly. I had the power to heal. I could touch plants or animals and heal them or in some cases, bring them back to life. My brother was a powerful mage who used his powers to start this war. I did not know I had the same powers until Conner and the Elf, Glaerion, helped me find it.” He touched the necklace through his robe. “With this, I can focus on spells and use more power to do things that I would not ordinarily be able to do.”
“That is why the Deceiver wants it?”
“That is why the Deceiver can never have it.”
“And yet, you have it.”
“I am not the Deceiver.”
“No, but you are a man. And I have seen men do terrible things.”
He smiled, showing his white teeth. “I am not just any man.”
She wasn’t sure how to respond. He exuded confidence, yet it could easily be inferred as arrogance.
“Have I not proven myself in our fight against the Deceiver’s army? Would any of us still be here if not for me?”
“We have all fought,” she replied softly.
“Yes, and bravely, too. But the creatures that attack us are many, and they are powerful. If not for my power, all the bravery and courage would not have repelled them.” His somber tone
quickly changed. “But the fighting has stopped for now, and we need to take a breather from the war. Sit with me so we can talk more about magic.” He glanced around at the empty hall. “Not many share this hall with me at night, and it will be good to be able to chat with someone.”
She was unsure what to do. Part of her wanted to immediately walk away. Although there was nothing obvious for her to fear about Hargon, her senses were telling her something. Maybe it was because he had powers that she could not comprehend. Even though she had benefited from them and saved the life of Marik with them, she still did not understand what the Web of Magic was all about and how he could do seemingly miraculous things with his power.
He patted the seat next to him. “Sit,” he said. “I am still a man just like your Marik. He has abilities that I could never have. He is courageous like I could never be. We are all different, and we should not be afraid of our differences. We should embrace them!”
She still hesitated.
“I am sorry for being so forward with you before. I know you are Marik’s lady and I should not have said what I said.”
She took a step forward. He stood and moved around to the other side of the table. With a smile on his face, he waited for her to take a seat.
Still completely unsure of how she felt about him, she sat down. There was not an ounce of tired in her body, so her only other choice was to return back to her chambers and lay awake fretting and envisioning worst-case scenarios.
“So, Ilasha,” Hargon said with his charismatic smile. “Tell me about life in the mountains.”
With a soft voice, Ilasha shared her story, but she still kept her guard up. If she had been that naïve young woman that had fallen in love with Brace Hawkden, she would have been entranced by Hargon’s charms. The hardness of her life and the heartbreaks along her journey allowed her to maintain some distance. Hargon was right in that he had earned their trust with what he had done for them. As her eyes drifted to his chest where the pendant hung behind his robes, she knew she should be wary of the power that one man might hold.
Chapter Four
Conner gripped the bamboo poles that made up their cell to test for any weakness. He pulled and pushed, but the poles would not budge. It was hard for him to believe that the wooden poles would be strong enough to hold them in, but they were. Twine was used to tie cross-pieces to the vertical poles giving the cell its strength. For a few minutes, he tried to work his fingernails underneath the twine to see if he could work the poles free, but they were tied so tightly it would take days for him to accomplish that task. By then his fingers would likely be a bloody mess. Besides, the two Hurai that stood guard over them would surely notice before too long.
The cell was likely not meant to be a permanent prison, but it would hold them for an extended period of time. Half of the cell was out in the open, its corners anchored to large trees. The rest of the cell extended into a natural cave in the side of a rocky hill that gently rose up to the island’s mountain peak. From their vantage point, they could only see part of the Hurai town, as a large grove of trees blocked most of their view. The Hurai warriors who stood guard lingered out of the sun, underneath large palm leaves, but in clear view of the prisoners. Occasionally, one or the other would glance in their direction, but mostly they spent their time quietly chatting.
“It would not take much to escape,” Conner said, feeling optimistic. “This rope is old and worn and might just rip apart if we work at it long enough. Maybe we can find a sharp rock to cut it.”
“I think you underestimate the strength of this prison,” Glaerion said from the darkness of the cave.
“Do you have any better ideas? Can’t you just cast some spell to get us out of here? If you can make water so we can walk on it, surely you can snap these poles!”
“And what precisely would that accomplish?”
Conner laughed. “That would get us back to Karmon, of course!”
“Is that what you want?”
Conner, still amused, started to reply with some clever retort, but the words stuck in his throat. For the past several hours, all he had been thinking about was trying to escape from their prison. He suddenly realized that if Glaerion and Ryshak truly had wanted to escape, they surely would have used their magic to get them free. Of course, if they did manage to escape, then they would have ruined any chance of getting the Hurai warriors to help them. Although the Hurai’s actions did not give them any indication they wanted to help them in their war, at least they were going to be given the opportunity to speak with the Hurai king. It could easily have gone much worse in the forest, and the three of them could be dead right now. Elissa would never have known what had become of him. Maybe with the help of the Elves, the war would be won. He had seen the power that the Deceiver wielded and the many hundreds of Elves that were sailing to Karmon would help, but they might not be enough. They really needed tens of thousands of soldiers. There were not likely that many Hurai soldiers, but he had seen the Sak’Hurai fight, so a few hundred might be worth ten thousand.
Conner said, “No, we don’t need to escape. We need their help. I just hope they listen.”
Glaerion stood and walked out from the shadows of the cave. “The Hurai are an honorable and just people, so they will give us our time in front of their king. It is at that time that we will gain their trust, and they will decide to help us.”
Ryshak had followed Glaerion out from the shadows. His tone was as cold as the steel of his daggers. “You think it will be that easy? They are still Human and cannot be trusted. We barely survived their ambush. They meant to kill us, and they would have, if not for Conner.”
“They did not know who we were,” Conner said.
“Like all Humans, they didn't bother talking first. Fight first and ask questions later seems to be the way they continue to do things. They have not changed and they never will.”
Anger flashed over Conner. “You are just as rash in your actions as you claim we are! You want to fight your way out of every situation. The Hurai are not our enemy, and we need their help.”
“They’ve imprisoned us,” Ryshak snapped back. “Yes, we need all the help we can get, but if these Hurai are not going to help, then we need to get moving. We should be figuring out a way to escape and get back to the ships. King Illichian will need our help, even if there are but a handful more of us.”
“Against thousands, the three of us will mean nothing.”
“I have been trained to be a warrior since birth. It is all I know. Living in exile has been painful, and the only reprieve I’ve had has been when I’ve been able to sail away and explore the world around us. I’m not saying I’m looking for a fight, but when it’s there, I know it’s what we must do.”
Conner watched the two Elves argue, and he realized how far that Glaerion had come since they first met. Although Ryshak didn’t appear to have the same anger towards Humans that Glaerion had, it is clear that he didn’t trust them. At least Ryshak trusted him and Elissa enough to come with them to Karmon. Hopefully, he would soon lose all his anger and mistrust of Humans.
Conner said, “When I first met Glaerion, he was angry and bitter and wanted nothing other than to kill any Human he came across. In time, though, we began to trust one another, and I think it’s safe to say that I can call him my friend. He may not admit it yet, but he is a friend of all Humans. Because of him, Elissa and I came to your land to ask for your help. You and many others trusted Elissa and me enough to follow us into a war that might not be winnable. Why is it that you can’t do the same for these Hurai? Glaerion put aside his bitterness and anger. Can you?”
“It is not anger,” Ryshak said softly. “It is experience. I followed you and Elissa because Glaerion and King Illichian trust you. That was enough for me.”
“Then trust me when I say we must trust the Hurai. I am one of them.”
“You do not look like them, nor do you act like them. To say you are one of them is like saying I am like an ape beca
use we both stand on two legs.”
“What’s an ape?”
Glaerion laughed, and Ryshak just shook his head, frustrated at the conversation.
Ryshak turned to Glaerion and asked, “I know he’s your friend, even though he’s a Human. I have trusted you thus far, but do you really think the Hurai can be trusted to listen to what we have to say?”
“Do we really have a choice?”
Conner added, “They haven't killed us yet, right? So they are willing to talk now. Once we tell them about the Deceiver and the threat they are to our world, they will have to listen.”
“What happens if they don’t listen?” Ryshak asked. “We must have a contingency plan. It’s not about trusting the Hurai, it’s about saving ourselves”
“We will use magic if necessary,” Glaerion said. “I spent the last couple of hours memorizing some spells that I can use if we must fight our way out.”
“But are they not like me? Aren’t they immune to magic?”
“Indeed they are. Our magic cannot directly affect you, or them. There are, however, many spells that can help us without directly affecting them.”
“I’d like to not leave without my swords,” Conner added.
“We may not have a choice. If it’s our lives or your swords, I think you know which is more important. Remember, we have a war to fight.”
Conner glanced towards the grove of trees as movement caught his attention. A group of Hurai, led by Princess Nikki, walked out of the trees and towards their cage.
“I’m just one person, though,” Conner said, turning to face the Hurai who were coming towards them. His heart started to pound harder as he thought about what might happen in the next few minutes. Either they were going to have to fight their way out, or find the words to convince the Hurai to help them. He trusted his swords more than his lips, but he didn’t have his swords.
Twenty warriors were with Princess Nikki. Ten of them had bows with arrows nocked and ready to be fired. The other ten had their swords drawn. As they approached, they made a semi-circle around the cage’s door.