by Aaron Thomas
“They should not have abandoned their post. I will have a word with them. If I manage to get them to come back you will be more appreciative them,” Brent commanded.
She was a little taken back by the order. She thought maybe the effects of her aged body had worn off.
“Is she using Inferno Fire?” he asked.
“Yes. Mary said she used it to learn control so I thought it would be a more natural ability for Kara to learn.”
Kara launched another and Brandon watched, listening to Twilix but not removing his eyes from Kara.
“It teaches not only how to harness the magic, but to direct and control it from a distance all while holding the flames together,” Twilix explained.
“I know how it is done, Twilix.”
“Yes, of course. I was just saying-”
Brandon looked at her and cut her off, “Do not instruct me on how wielding magic works.” His vision left the young wielder making a special on the training field with consistent booms of her magic power. “You think you can just send away my wielders without permission? When they return you will be punished, but not by them. You do not understand the wrath that this will incur from the king.” He turned to walk away, “You better hope he doesn’t find out.”
Twilix stood with her mouth open as he started to walk away. That was not how the confrontation was supposed to go. She was supposed to convince him that they were ready to walk about the castle by themselves. They both knew that Kara was ready. She just had to figure out how to convince him that the rules were too intrusive of a wizard in control.
Twilix pulled up her skirt and began to yell at him, but the wind stirred up the dirt in front of him. Brandon looked up and they both watched as Mica descended to the ground in front of him. She stomped up, impressed at the size of dust her new body stirred up at her step, ready to continue their discussion that ended too early for her liking. Another boom resounded from where Kara was practicing. The sound drew Mica’s attention.
“Who is the fire wizard?” Mica said, tying his sash into place.
“Who she is does not concern you, Councilman. I have things under control. Do you have news?” Brandon asked.
Mica nodded his head then looked at Twilix.
“She’s fine. Twilix will find out eventually either way,” Brandon said, giving the councilmen permission to speak in front of her.
She then realized Mica did not recognise her.
Mica took another step forward and squinted at Twilix’s face. His eyes then enlarged and he stepped back, “You have aged.”
“That I did, Councilman. How are things with King Atmos?” Twilix asked.
“You look so different, but not different at all. I mean I still see it is you, but older...more mature,” Mica said.
Twilix became a bit irritated. She had just gotten over people staring at her because they thought she was little. Now they would start comparing her with her younger self although she looked the proper age. “Yes, I know. Now, the king?”
Mica cleared his throat and slowly changed his gaze to Brandon, “The war is over. The king now chases what is left of the Fire Realm back to their own lands. King Rekkan has been stripped of power and been taken prisoner by Atmos’ own hand.”
Brandon seemed shocked, “That cannot be. The last report I received is that King Atmos was at least a month from the battle. Yet, you are telling me the battle is over?”
“Yes, of course, I have gotten ahead of myself. The archer Bowie Crescent ran into some resistance with the Earth Realm citizens. They started to attack his men as he traveled. He quelled the resistance and decided to double his efforts to arrive quickly to a forward battle camp where he could prepare for the rest of the army. The King heard the report of the resistance and took fifty wielders to catch up to Sergeant Crescent and end the revolt himself.”
Brandon crossed his arms, “So that’s how he arrived early. How did the king win with only the archers and a few men?”
“Yes, there is a bit more to tell. When he arrived the Weapon Bearer was already within the Fire Realms Defenses.” Twilix perked up at the mention of her former trainee, and Mica showed notice by arching his eyebrow. He continued, “The Weapon Bearer arranged a meeting and it went sour. King Atmos had already put a backup plan in place, being that he was out numbered forty thousand to one thousand. Lieutenant Borgen and the advanced archers were able to cripple the Fire Realm’s defenses with a surprise attack to the flank.”
“How many days ago was this, Mica?” Brandon asked.
“It was five days ago. I have to apologize on my delay. I’ve been busy with the king’s orders.”
Brandon dismissed the apology with a wave of the hand, “You are under orders. Continue on with you report and orders.”
“The king seeks out the Weapon Bearer. Kilen was able to aid in the escape of many fire wielders along with the treacherous councilwoman, Mary.”
Twilix almost shouted to interject into the conversation, “Is she alive? And the weapon bearer, is he alive?”
“They are,” he nodded and continued. “Both the Weapon Bearer and Mary escaped. I am to put you on alert for an attack from them. We do not know the amount of imbuements they have left and we wanted you placed on high alert. Also, Wizard Ria has joined in treachery. She has taken Councilman Parker and the Crescent boy to go to the Elders camp.”
“She took them?” Twilix asked.
“Yes, I was there. She buried the entire camp of men up to their heads and lashed me to the ground. She ordered the archer who was negotiating his retirement, and Councilman Parker to leave with her to find the Elders. King Atmos believes she is on her way to raise a Water Realm king.”
Brandon interrupted putting a finger to his eyebrow, surely struggling to keep up with the information. “Why would Ria want to raise a Water Realm king.”
“The Kilen told her that the Elders were searching for a soul wizard. Rekkan refused to join in the effort to bring the soul wizard to justice, this is when the meeting turned bad and Atmos had to order the attack. Ria is under the assumption that if she raises a Water Realm king that Kilen will aid them in raising an army. This is why I am here.”
“Wait, why are you here again?” Brandon said, still rubbing his eyebrow.
“Raising a king when we have already established an army and just finished a war would cost us precious time. The new king would take a few years to organize his kingdom and build an army, and we cannot afford to lose that time while we are searching for a soul wizard. A dark army could be raised in that time. King Atmos has already established power and knows that keeping that power under one hand will speed that along.”
“Yes, I see. I think. What are my orders, Councilman?” Brandon asked.
“I am sorry for the way it’s described. I’m in a hurry to warn the rest of the realm.”
Brandon was becoming irritated, “What are my orders, Councilman?”
Mica took out a scroll to check it before continuing. “Send any available wielders to Keepers. They are to report there to prevent Leviathan from being raised and a power shift in the realm. I am to gather as many soldiers from villages so I can also report there for assignment.”
“Should I send Twilix as well?” Brandon asked.
“No, he gave specific orders to keep Twilix in place. She is supposed to watch over the Weapon Bearer’s sister.”
“Kara?” Brandon asked.
Kara heard her name from where she was standing and came to join them, “Yes?”
Twilix swore Mica’s eyes almost came out of his head as he watched Kara approach. As she tried to hold back a laugh, Twilix introduced her formally, “Mica, I would like you to meet Fire Wizard Kara Everheart..”
Mica swallowed as Brandon stiffened with an irritated look on his face directed at Twilix. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Wizard Everheart. How is it you are out of the ...training rooms.”
Kara looked back and forth between Twilix and Brandon and started to answer but Tw
ilix interrupted.
“During her training I started to age. Since there were no fire wizards here to keep me alive, she did the job. After that, she began to age. I kept her alive and somehow during all that, she was able to learn to maintain control. Quite the inspirational story, don’t you think?” Twilix looked at Mica and smiled while batting her eyes.
“Yes...well,” he said while smoothing over his robes. “I am sure the king will want you both to remain here while it is still dangerous to be out. For now, I am sure that Advisor Parker has you under strict orders.”
Twilix smiled, her new body had come in handy once again, “Yes, he has kept us under close watch. He only sent the guards away this morning for a break. I guess it will be a longer break than foreseen, now that you need them for this task.”
Mica seemed to snap back to his mission and looked at Brandon, “Yes, I suppose if Twilix is still maintaining control of Kara then you will have to send all other wielders along. Make sure you keep a close eye out for…”
The wind wizard looked again at Kara and Twilix and cleared his throat, “Watch out for that wielder and the rouge fire wizard we discussed. I am now turning towards the Water Realm to reassign more troops. Make sure any extra soldiers you have are sent. The rest of the army has been split, sending some here and some there. You should see the king return in about a month.”
He started to walk away before raising to the sky and then stopped to wave Brandon over. When Brandon neared, Mica spoke in a whisper but Twilix could hear. She pretended not to listen as she urged Kara to return to her training.
“I wanted to warn you. Bowie, the archer, was also negotiating for the release of the fire wizard behind you. Our king suspects he may try and break in to rescue her. Keep a careful watch out.”
Brandon furrowed his eyebrows, “He suspects attacks from a weapon bearer that has already beaten me, and an archer that is accompanied by two wizards, but says I should send wielders and soldiers away?”
“Yes, the king is sending wielders to speed up the troops movements and some are already on their way to aid your defenses here. You will see a large number of wind wielders arriving to aid you as soon as they finish their orders.” Mica released the sash on his folded robes and took a step back, “I do not have anymore time to explain. I have my orders and now so do you. Watch over the castle a little while longer.”
Mica took to the sky and Kara ran to follow the man flying through the air. “Wow, how does he do that?”
Twilix answered still looking at Brandon’s back, “He is a wind wizard, Kara. He uses the wind like a kite to pull him into the sky.” She glanced at Kara and saw she was still distracted so she walked to Brandon, “Something doesn’t sound right.”
It took Brandon a moment to respond, “He is a wind wizard and they have been known to be erratic. He obviously is not explaining it correctly.”
“Where is Alexander? I thought he was supposed to be helping Kilen. We should wait to hear from him before we do anything rash.” Twilix tried to take a commanding tone.
“You should watch yourself. You have a newly awakened fire wizard to keep from burning the castle down. Besides, you are already close to me sending you to the dungeons for your behavior this morning. If Kilen arrives we will do what we must to protect this kingdom. We have no idea what is going on until we hear from the others.” Brandon turned to Twilix and spoke in a hushed tone as not to distract Kara, “From now on you will restrict your games to stay between you and her. Keep out of my sight and out of trouble or I will confine you to your room until the king comes to put you both in the dungeon.”
She started to open her mouth but Brandon held up a hand, “Do not tempt me to do it now.”
She closed her mouth and with anger on her face, nodded her head.
He walked away and Kara came to stand beside her, “What was that all about?”
“Nothing. We will just have to be a bit more careful not to eat our meals at the same time as him. It seems my beauty distracts his thoughts from where they should be.” She did her best to put on a confident smile and turned to join Kara in throwing their elements at the boulder.
Chapter 26 - Elder Plans
The mountains did a lot to help Kilen stabilize his mind, giving him periods of peace as they traveled. The mountains did little to conceal his passing of Kesterton, the pirate’s city, as he traveled northward towards the Elder Wizards pass. He kept to the higher portions of the mountains where the temperatures were cooler. The traveling back and forth on the peaks and having to backtrack had delayed him more than a week. Once he even backtracked a week because of a small mountain outpost Kilen was trying to avoid. He saw at least two different wind wielders from the Earth Realm fly in and out of the mountain outpost. He had to move down the mountain to the area more dense with trees to avoid confrontation.
He knew that he would be named a traitor, but that was nothing that King Atmos hadn’t done in the past. Atmos would twist his words and surely would say that Kilen tried to strike him down during discussions for peace. They all knew Atmos was up to something and they did nothing to prevent it. He knew it was too late to change what happened. He just hoped his friends were still alive.
Thinking of death almost always put the crying man into a rage. That’s what they called him now; The Crying Man. Over the last couple weeks since the man had been killed by Chit, he uttered only a handful of actual words. Most of the sounds he made were wails and sobs. The sobs were so loud that Tokeye and Joahna had to use elemental forms to train instead of inside Kilen’s head. Max did his best to calm the man, but nothing seemed to help. Because Kilen was merely picturing his friends running from King Atmos, the man started screaming.
“Oh quiet down, will you?” Kilen said to the open mountainside.
Both elementals stopped for a second before moving along.
Jace whispered on the wind, “Living up to his name again?”
“Very much so,” Kilen wanted to rip the man from his brain. “Which way?”
“We are here, Kilen.” Joahna said in the form of an ice-man with wings.
Kilen stopped to look around but saw nothing familiar, “Where is the Elder’s village?”
“I’m not sure. They said they were leaving to find the soul wizard, but this is where it was,” Jace said.
Max spoke in his head, “I need to take Tokeye’s place.”
Kilen repeated the request and Tokeye gave up the elemental as Kilen went to one knee to brace himself for the spirit entering his brain. Switching the consciousness in an elemental was quite taxing on Kilen’s perception. One spirit in and another one out each time. The world tilted and he emptied his stomach of the eggs Jace had found high in the trees earlier that morning.
Kilen rinsed his mouth of the second tasting of his breakfast. If he wasn’t careful he would become weak and frail from all the vomiting. “What is it you hope to see, Max?” Kilen asked.
“Exactly what I have found. This is the place, the trees are new. Their roots are new and even the moss and grass here is new. There is not one sign of death in the area. It’s as if the Elder’s moved their town and replaced it with a fresh portion of forest.” Max was walking about, stretching his elemental arms and legs as if he had been cramped into a school desk all day.
Max had mentioned death and The Crying Man let out a wail of agony. Kilen tried to picture himself slapping the weeping man, but nothing happened. He had tried to picture it before, the results were the same every time. It did help Kilen cope with the constant screaming.
Kilen opened his eyes and found Max’s realistic stone eyes staring back, “I upset him again didn’t I?”
Kilen nodded his response, “Which way to do we go now?”
Jace’s voice bounced off the trees, making it sound like it was speaking from every direction. “Perhaps we should ask Alexander. I just saw him descend to the west. I think he’s waiting for you.”
Kilen pulled his blue cape from his bag, Bowie bought
the cape before they left the Water Realm and he’d only worn it on a couple of occasions. The cape still looked new and would most likely confuse; anyone looking for a weapon bearer looks for someone wearing a green cape, as he had been seen before. Jace’s advice was always something Kilen took to heart. Max formed into a horse and Kilen climbed on top after throwing the bag over his back as a saddle to cushion the ride.
“Lead the way, Jace.” Kilen said knowing the former weapon bearer was seething him wear the flamboyant blue cape.
A strong wind picked some leaves off nearby trees and made them dance in the air. Max followed the oddly-flowing leaves through the forest. The winding direction lead them into a dense part of the forest. Jace’s leaves dropped to the ground as they approached a copse of trees. The air smelled thick of woodland. Kilen dismounted and walked forward into the copse. Cascading light fell upon a stone in the center of an opening and two men stood by the stone talking. Kilen recognized them both. Alexander turned and smiled at Kilen’s arrival.
Alexander walked to Kilen and opened his arms for an embrace, like old friends seeing each other for the first time in a long while. “You did well my boy. I wish I could stay but I have other matters to attend to. Bowie is safe and now traveling quickly back to Deuterium. Go and speak to Wizard Roedan, he will want to hear of your personal account.”
The other wizard, with his back to Kilen, was the same that named him a True Weapon Bearer. Alexander gave Kilen a pat on the back as he walked away. A stir in the air told him that Alexander had already taken flight. The wind wizard did not stay in one place for long. Kilen was beginning to feel a bit like a wind wizard himself lately.
“Elder Wizard,” Kilen said clasping his fist to his chest.
“My boy, you did well. Please sit.” The gray haired wizard motioned Kilen towards the rock. He did as the old wizard asked. Roedan joined him on the rock and made a groaning sound as he took his seat. “Why have you returned?”