Rise of the Citadel (The Search for the Brights Book 2)

by Aaron Thomas

  Some of the Fire Realm’s men possessed wind magic of their own and tried to change control, but Bowie already had his grasp of the air and rebuked them when they pulled. Men were thrown from his way, others were cut down by concentrated blasts of air. Bowie watched as the lines of the Fire Realm broke, and the remaining men began to run. Only a few wielders stood firm to fight. He pushed them in different directions to scatter them on the battlefield.

  Four of the wielders held their arms together as they sent waves of magic against what was left of the thousand Earth Realm soldiers. The men must have had imbuements of strength because Bowie’s attempts to separate them did not work. He even managed to lift them all from the ground and throw them forward five paces. The men got up and started running together towards the wooden panel defenses the Earth Realm hid behind. One launched repeated attacks of flames, another spears of ice. Vines reached from the ground grasping the wielders and archers protecting Bowie’s body. They were too close for Bowie to fight with the wind so he turned his attention to the others on the field.

  Bowie felt a weight, but not on his elemental body; on his physical one still amongst the archers far behind him. The weight was crushing him, making it hard to breath. He felt his body more as the pain increased. He hurriedly threw wind at the fleeing army. His physical body began to pull at his lungs for air, until his consciousness snapped back from the elemental it was in. His body was was laying face up with Auburn on top of him and another knight on her, struggling to fight one of the four men that had broken through their lines.

  Fire and ice spears ravaged the men as they struggled to keep their footing on the shaking ground. The struggling men on Bowie toppled over onto the ground, letting him catch his breath. Auburn quickly ended the struggle by stabbing the unarmored man in the neck with an arrow. The ground stopped shaking and arrows were loosed with steady hands once again. The threat in the camp ended with the man’s breath trying to draw in from the arrow hole Auburn had made.

  Vincent ran around and freed the Fire Realm’s wielders of their burdensome imbuements and stuffed them into his canvas sack. Some of soldiers retrieved imbuements from a few of their own fallen comrades.

  Covered in blood, John made his way to Bowie, “Borgen is dead.”

  Bowie went to remove his hat but remembered he didn’t have one. “You should probably gather the archers and ready for another attack,” Bowie said to John still trying to catch his breath.

  Vincent finally made his way to John, “The Fire Realm is fleeing. We lost quite a few men in that last fight. I want your men ready to move back to camp as soon as possible.” Vincent turned to Bowie, “You did well and probably saved all of our lives, Archer.”

  All of Bowie’s former soldiers patted him on the back as they passed to help carry their fallen comrades. Bowie went to help carry Borgen, but was turned away by the armored wielders.

  John grabbed him by the shoulder as he tried to pick up one of his former archers. “I need you to keep the men steady while they carry the fallen.”

  Bowie nodded at John and began reenergizing the weary, blackened faces so their dead could be collected. All the men worked in silence until they were on their way back to camp, and even then, few words were uttered.

  **********

  Fleeing towards the Fire Realms forces Mary stopped behind a large evergreen and started to cough; smoke must still have an effect on fire wizards. Kilen used his magic to trickle water in his eyes and down his throat just as Brent had taught him when spying on Chit in the castle. He cleansed Mary’s eyes and filled her cupped hands with water for her to drink.

  “I’m feeling better now.” He said even though he wasn’t; there was still a crying man and a knot of a warrior still inside his head.

  Jace formed a body briefly to point Kilen in the direction he should go.

  He stood and pulled Mary to her feet, “We need to go this way. Hurry.”

  There was no way for Kilen to tell which direction he was going. There were only trees and smoke. He managed to find a member of the Crimson, bleeding from small cuts he had taken. Kilen refreshed his eyes and offered him a drink. They continued on, blindly trying to escape King Atmos.

  Mary hurried Kilen on as the Crimson warrior reluctantly followed. Every few minutes another soldier would be found and helped. Some had gathered into small groups, but they came together and continued on to escape the smoke. Kilen wondered where all the smoke was coming from; the king had only thrown one ball of fire and Mary had only ignited a few trees during the skirmish, yet the air was thick with the choking fog.

  The farther from Atmos they traveled, the more the smoke lightened. Kilen and the others started to run to clear themselves of the trees. Kilen followed Pada and the rest of the Crimson chosen to attend the meeting. Pada was the Crimson’s leader, he was older than Elric and seemed to care little for pleasantries. He kept looking back to see if Kilen had left the group.

  Mary had a hard time keeping up, but Kilen used his magic to rejuvenate her a couple times. He offered his strength to the others, but they refused. In his few days in the Fire Realm’s defenses, he’d come to know them as a very proud force. They devoted their days to learning weapons and combat. It was a wonder King Atmos had tried what he had with them around. These men lived for battle and Atmos had promised it to them with a handshake.

  Kilen looked up in the direction they were running and saw smoke trailing into the sky. He slowed his run as the others stopped to look at what he saw. Pada stopped when he noticed Kilen and the others looking at the sky.

  “Your king has betrayed your meeting. He’s taken our king captive and now attacks our men.” Pada ended his speech by spitting at Kilen’s feet.

  The smoke cloud gathered into a black tornado, throwing men and debris above the treetops. Kilen could barely make out the shapes in the distance.

  A voice whispered to him, “Do not go to close. Men are dying there.”

  Kilen knew that it was Jace’s voice, but none of the soldiers knew where it was coming from. Using the wind vision Kilen could see Jace’s shape on the wind. He knew it to not be a warning of physical danger but danger to those like Kilen trying to avoid gathering more voices.

  By Pada’s command, the men continued on towards the black tornado and in defiance of Jace’s warning. Kilen slowed his pace, trying not to get to close. He knew Jace was trying to tell him that if he approached, he would take on the spirits of those dying in the battle. Kilen was at a loss; he wanted to help stop the killing, but could not join the battle to do so.

  He was happy that the tornado did not last long before the smoke continued a more normal path climbing into the sky. He remained quiet, trying to think of how to fix the problems that Atmos caused. It was his job to see that justice was served and now he had who knows how many dead soldiers to get justice for, besides the people of the Earth Realm.

  He knew someday he would serve justice to King Atmos. Until then, he would follow Pada back to the rest of their army.

  It was mid afternoon by the time they arrived to meet the survivors of the attack. The defenses were broken and their camp had been flattened by the tornado of smoke. Bodies, weapons, and provisions littered the ground that Pada lead his men over. They stopped only to offer a small prayer and close the eyes of the fallen. The rest of the army had gathered at the farthest wall from where the attack had come.

  Kilen stopped to look at a section of the panels that were broken and burnt. A larger number of bodies told the story. Arrows jutted out of the ground and the men laid on the ground as if they were still trying to pull the instruments of their death from their bodies. Kilen thought he would be sick, and truly from the sight of the dead men this time. He turned away and saw what was left of the twisted bodies the tornado had thrown around. They lay broken, mangled, and split upon the ground.

  Kilen closed his eyes as best he could and tried to think of something that made him happy. Kilen felt the contents of his stomach settle back do
wn as he remembered Twilix explaining what good magic could do. The moment he met the tiny wizard had changed his life. He started an adventure full of beautiful experiences and sights that few would ever see.

  Someone cleared their throat and he opened his eyes and saw Mary standing before him. “They’re waiting for you, Weapon Bearer.” She said the words with as much distaste as Pada used to spit at his feet.

  Kilen came to the small circle of Fire Realm men and tried to imitate their squatted position. The heavy armor he wore made it hard to stay balanced, but he did the best he could.

  Pada waited for Kilen to arrange himself, “Atmos has captured Rekkan by deception. We lost Tokeye in our attempt to get him back, but Atmos held him in his grasp like a prize. What has happened here?”

  A dark man with a braided beard answered while sharpening his axe, “We were attacked from the side during these so-called peace talks.” His gaze was set upon Kilen. “They did not engage us directly. They gave us waves of arrows over the wall and used wielders to keep our men at bay so we could not get close enough to use our spears. They used our defenses against us until we had to fall back. Then the wind came out of the sky and ripped our fleeing men apart. Some of our wielders sacrificed themselves to distract the attackers long enough for us to reform our lines.”

  “How many did we lose?” Pada asked.

  “We have incomplete numbers, but I would venture to guess seven thousand men,” One of the warriors spoke while checking the number of his daggers.

  Pada growled and spat at the answer, “Elric was too quick to trust them. We should have crushed them while we had the chance. This is no way to fight an honorable war.”

  The man with the braided beard pointed his axe at Kilen, “This is his doing, Pada. Let us have justice out on him.”

  From behind the circle Mary chimed in, “I was there with the rest of the Earth Realm Council. The king said that this meeting was to be for peace. Kilen did everything he said he was going to do.”

  “He lost us this war. He is a traitorous man!” The bearded man yelled as he stood, tightening his grip on his axe.

  Pada and Kilen both stood. Pada put one hand on Kilen’s chest and the other he held out to stop the bearded man, “A woman speaks and you interrupt her? This woman wielded fire at her own king trying to save yours.” He held his hand out to Kilen, “The Weapon Bearer held the elements so we were not crushed without Elric to protect us. You were not there and cannot judge this man, Sali. Sit, or I will have your axe.”

  Reluctantly, the man sat back down.

  Pada nodded to Kilen to take back his position and Mary continued, “We tried to get Elric, but I saw Kilen fall. He was having trouble keeping the elements under his control. I will testify this to your queen.”

  The men nodded and Mary backed away from the circle.

  Pada turned to Kilen, “What will you do, Weapon Bearer?”

  Kilen cleared his throat to gain a bit of time to think, “I will return to the Elders and find a way to get justice. What of the Fire Realm? You don’t have enough men to fight this war. King Atmos will continue to fight you using these tactics until the rest of his army arrives.”

  Pada looked around the circle before answering, “We will send some of our men home with the councilwoman. The rest of our plan is for us to know. King Atmos wanted a war of deception and we are going to give it to him. Weapon Bearer, will you stop us from getting our justice?”

  Kilen shook his head, “Not as long as you get it before I do.”

  Pada held out his hand to shake Kilen’s, just as Atmos had done to Rekkan. Kilen looked at his open hand and watched as the rest of the circle stood.

  It took only a moment, but Kilen smiled and gripped his hand tightly. “I wish you all a safe journey. Please take care of Mary, I will want to see her again.”

  They both nodded and Pada gave a quick squeeze to his hand.

  Kilen started to back away from the group as they watched him go. No one said a word or moved, so he gave a quick wave and trotted away in his noisy armor. Mary followed and the only reason he knew was because of the sparks that popped off of her shoulders. He slowed and turned to face her. “I wanted this to go a different way,” He said apologetically.

  She smiled, “I know you did.” She stood looking at Kilen saying nothing for a moment and started to turn back towards the circle of mean, “I have always wanted to go to the Fire Realm. I’ve never been able to control my magic long enough to leave the castle. Atmos would not let me go until I could control it. Since I found out I was a fire wizard, I wanted to go and learn in the land of my element. Yet I wanted to stay and save those in the dungeon.

  She cleared her throat and continued on, “King Atmos would never let me out of his sight. I told Kara how to control her magic, but I am not sure I said it right. I had trouble achieving control myself, until just now.”

  Kilen noticed that her shoulders were no longer popping. Her face was that of joy, and a look Kilen had never seen on her.

  “I understand now why I was unable to teach her. You need to make sure she wants something bad enough that she will do anything to get it. When she knows what she wants, tell her to focus on that one thing and never let it go. Remember that, okay?”

  Kilen lowered his head, “I doubt I will ever be close enough to explain these things to her. Especially after today’s events.”

  “Well, I hope that you do some day. Perhaps after Pada and the Crimson free Rekkan.”

  She turned to walk away but Kilen caught her arm.

  “Are they planning to free their king?”

  “I don’t see why they wouldn’t. It is better they do it now than when Atmos is safely inside his castle fortifications.”

  “Mary, if you are finally getting your chance to go to the Fire Realm, why are you still sparking? Shouldn’t you be in control?”

  “Killing King Atmos has become a new passion of mine,” a mischievous smile spread across her face just before she turned to rejoin the ring of Crimson.

  Kilen took one last look at the men in the circle and heard a voice inside, “Farwell, Pada. I am sorry I failed you.”

  Kilen whispered quietly to himself, “You haven’t failed him yet, Tokeye.”

  The stone-like emotion twinged with pride and confusion when Kilen mentioned his name. He did his best not to smile at the man’s emotional knot inside his head. A horse formed beside him out of the stone earth. “Let’s ride, Max.” He pulled himself onto Max’s back and they rode through the heart of the battlefield back into the mountains where they had come from.

  Max rode directly to the small copse of trees they stopped at before meeting Rekkan. The remnants of his fire still lingered and he quickly started the fire back up. He heated up some salted meat that was put with his things when the Fire Realm’s men packed his belongings. The taste was undesirable, but he knew he would have to live off of it until he found the Elders again.

  Joahna, in the form of a tiny bird, landed on the ground and grew to his winged man form. Kilen was sure that Joahna perfered the form more than the others he had taken. “Kilen, do you have Tokeye?”

  “He’s here, along with that Earth Realm man.”

  “Where is ‘here?” The stone-like knot said in his head.

  “You are inside my head, Tokeye. I will let the others explain in a moment, please be patient.”

  Jace captured the smoke and formed a body, “We will need to move as soon as you are able. If the king decides to come after you, we won’t stand a chance without controlling the elements.”

  The mention of Atmos’ name sent the spirit of Earth Realm man screaming again inside his head. He had almost forgotten about the man, but the man would not forget Atmos. Kilen put the palm of his hand to his temple, as if it would stop the pain the man was causing.

  “First, we need to explain to the others,”Kilen said holding his temples.

  Joahan stepped forward, “He’s right, Jace. They’ll drive Kilen mad if we d
on’t teach them to control themselves in his head.” He turned to Kilen, “I will return inside you to help while we travel. If anything, I can teach them to block their emotions and speech from your mind.”

  “Yes, keeping their emotions in check will help me greatly. I definitely need to help the Earth Realm man. I don’t even know his name,” Kilen said, frustrated.

  Joahna stepped in front of Kilen, Max came to stand beside him. “Ready yourself, Kilen.”

  He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, bracing himself for the impact upon his consciousness. When he opened his eyes he nodded his head and the icy man became a statue. The concussion caused him to wobble, but he was able to maintain his footing.

  Joahna began bearing the truth just as he had done to Jace, Tokeye. You are dead. “Your spirit remains alive inside of the True Weapon Bearer, Kilen. You will remember me, my name is Joahna, the king’s older brother. The earth elemental is your friend and fellow member of the Crimson and Elric’s other brother, Max.”

  Kilen stood in front of Max, “Show him who you are, Max.”

  The stack of rocks with arms and legs took on his most detailed form; the same form Max had been practicing every time he chose one. The eerie looking eyes moved in rock sockets, staring back at Kilen.

  “I know him and you, Joahna. How is this possible? I gave my life for Elric,” Tokeye said.

  Joahna gave a sigh of relief and his nervous emotions loosened, “The True Weapon Bearer is a special kind of wizard, known as a spirit wizard. Somehow, he is able to capture the spirits of those around him. He can hear you speaking and feel what you feel. He can even transfer your spirit into an elemental form. We are able to continue our purpose through him. Max and I have agreed to help him bring justice to this land and ours, in exchange for a chance at a new body.”