by Aaron Thomas
Kilen looked back at the sword’s tip submerged in the water concentrating on his pronunciation he said, “Doel eh t’shadria.”
The thunder cracked above and the small waves washed over the edge of their platform of frozen water. Still, the wind did not stir. There was no flash of light and the waves did not alter. A second arrow hurdled past out as the men moved closer down the pathway. This arrow had come closer to hitting the small party. Kilen wasn’t worried about the arrows. He was worried about what imbuements the two men might be carrying, or the concussion that would come to his brain if Bowie managed to kill one. He was frightened that he would not be able to hold his balance.
He pushed his blade in farther, submerging the emblems of magic below the surface of the pitch black waters. “Doel eh t’shadria!” He screamed into the night, answering back the thunder that rolled over the lake.
Still, nothing happened. He slowly pulled the blade back from the water and observed a tiny bubble surface. As he watched, the island’s edge started to melt and more bubbles formed as if the water was boiling underneath the ice. He stepped back, as did the others. Twilix and Brent both tried to keep the edge of the island frozen but to no avail. Joahna stood like stone frozen to the center of the shrinking pad. Everyone jumped when the island cracked, letting out a snap as the pieces broke apart breaking down the middle. The Earth Realm men yelled as they were cast into the churning waves from the bridge.
Twilix held onto Kilen, their grip stretched over the edge of the ice as it tumbled in the water. The fire wizards all slid into the water on the far end of the second piece. Al’tore grabbed the unconscious wizard as he started to sink into the water. Still, the pieces of ice melted, forcing those on top to jump into the water or be thrown in by the pieces wobbling.
Twilix looked over the edge and clung to Kilen, “My water magic is not working!” The panic clearly showed on her face.
Kilen felt something hit his leg just before a ball of ice on a frosted translucent spike rose out of the water. He reached out and grabbed onto the spire as he rose out of the water with it. In his other hand he still hung on to Twilix, who was now reaching for Brent. The others tried to grip the rising spike’s smooth surface as the water pushed them away from Kilen. Kara had a look of terror as she tried to stay on top of the water.
The spire continued to slip through Kilen’s fingers as it grew in thickness. The bubbling water became more violent. Kilen felt something hit his feet and push up from under him. He rose out of the water standing on a dome which the spike was centered on. Twilix and Brent were still on the angle as it grew. Kilen held on and had no problem supporting the weight of his new wife. However, Twilix was straining to hold onto the wet hands of her wizard mentor.
The rest of their party yelled while they struggled against the churning water.
“Joahna,” Kilen yelled out. No answer and no relief came, the body of his elemental friend was now submerged in the water. The dome, still rising, stood higher than three stories above the water’s surface. Brent slipped out of Twilix’s grip, sending him sliding down the angled glass-like dome.
Kilen panicked. Trying to reach out with his other hand, he slipped on the wet surface. He held onto Twilix’s hand as they slid down, watching Brent disappear over it’s now visible edge. It was only a moment longer when Twilix and Kilen flew over as well, plummeting down to the surface of the churning water. Kilen breathed in and released his grasp on Twilix just before he sank into the dark waters. The light of the moon let him see her kicking her feet far above on the surface.
The farther down he went, the less of the world he could see. His armor weighed heavily on his body. He trashed his arms and legs, but it was no use; his increased strength had no effect on his ability to swim. Using his arms with his armor on was much like trying to fly while waving sticks back and forth. He stopped and watched the light of the moon disappear as he felt the weight of the water on his chest and ears. His lungs began to beg for air by burning in pain. He hoped that soon he would reach the bottom of the lake so he could try and jump to the surface.
He felt something under his feet; his wish came true. He squatted down low, bending his knees and pushed with all his strength. As he pushed down, his feet sank into the mud at the bottom of the lake. Still, his power let him clear his feet of the murky bottom after nearly sucking his boots off his feet. His jump wasn’t enough to get him to the surface. Again, he was sinking and now his lungs tried to pull in air despite his lips being clamped together like a vise.
He let his body go limp, hoping to conserve his energy until he could figure out a way to the surface. Something solid hit his back and pushed him slowly towards the air he was panicking for. He turned in the murky water, searching for the object pushing on him. He felt along its surface and could not find an edge. The texture felt like stone, with lines arranged like bricks.
Without a second more of confusion, he placed his boots on the slick surface. His limbs weak and tingling from the lack of oxygen, as if he would lose control of them at any moment. He lept and watched the moon come back into view as he rushed towards the surface. Bursting forth, he found his the breath his lunges were craving.
The sounds of chaos found his ears as his friends were still struggling in the churning water. It wasn’t long before he went crashing back down to the depths of Leviathan. He then realized how fuzzy his vision had become. He was thankful he had not gone unconscious from the lack of oxygen, fearing The Crying Man would have another chance to take control.
The surface rising under his feet was much closer than before and it slowly brought Kilen out of the water. Kilen only had to jump once more before he finally emerged. The surface that had pushed him out of was now an open area in front of the Water Realm’s castle. The stones that were paved here were made out of a translucent material that looked like glass, but felt like stone. Kilen found only Twilix had emerged from the water in the same area as him. They ran to each other, screaming each others name.
Slowly, Kilen and Twilix skidded to a stop and stood, dripping water. “Are you okay?” He said to her, still trying to catch his breath.
“Yes, I’m fine. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. We need to find the others.”
He started to walk away but was stopped by her tug. She kissed him and straightened the crown on his head.
“Kilen, you just surfaced the castle. There’s an army outside of Keepers and their mission is to stop it from happening. They will be coming for you,” Twilix cautioned.
Kilen nodded and listened to the voice inside of him, “We will do what me must. I will help in any way I can.”
He knew Tokeye could do little except give him advice from the inside. He needed to find the others.
“We need to get to the gates and shut them,” Kilen said, looking around to get his sense of direction. A wind whipped past him pulling him in a direction, in the wind vison he saw it was Jace. The ghoast like figure on the wind waved him on, to where, he was unsure. “This way,” Kilen said.
The water from their clothes steamed away, leaving them dry. Twilix let out a sigh of relief, “I have control of my magic again.”
He nodded, but did not understand what it would be like to lose control of an ability someone had for so long.
They rushed through the empty castle grounds, pushing gates open and finding fish still thrashing on the streets. Kilen followed the winds leading through a courtyard and a massive crystalline gate. In the street, Joahna walked with Kara, Ria, and Auburn.
“Kilen! Thank the Brights!” Kara screamed.
He gave his still unfamiliar sister a hug, “Have you seen the others?”
She shook her head, but they soon heard footsteps coming from a nearby street.
***********************
Leroy heard his father's voice from outside the canvas tent. His voice, in all the years of his childhood, always remained steady and calm. Even when he was shouting orders around the camp, he was in
control. Tonight the voice was urgent and quiet. Leroy pushed back the cloth door, leaving his mother alone to talk with Izabel. It was the first time his mother had had the strength to speak with her.
His father looked off towards the lake’s shore line. “Get your mother and anyone else you find to the cook fires. Calmly and quickly, son.” The large cook ducked inside the tent and began throwing back wooden crates and digging in the dirt underneath them.
“Wait, why?” He asked, following his father inside. “It could be dangerous to move mom. You know that.”
Leory’s mother’s voice had always been sweet and caring. “Pete, what’s going on?”
He stopped, pulling a small box from the dirt. He sat beside her, “Something is happening. The army is moving out. There was a light down the shore, a light that only a fire wielder could make. It was white like the sun. They’re going after it. If anything should happen I need everyone at the cook fires.” He took his wife’s hands in his, looking into her eyes he smiled, “I think it’s time.”
“Time for what?” Leroy asked.
His mother smiled, “Do what your father asks. Grab two people to help and use this blanket as a litter to get me to the fires.”
Leroy opened his mouth to speak but his mother held up a frail hand. “I’ll be fine. I’m strong today,” She said before he could argue.
He nodded and went right to work. His father must have already started telling people, because the camp was a mess with everyone carrying whatever they could get their hands on. Confusion was not on anyone's faces at the tasks that needed to be carried out. They worked together to move supplies and people to his father's cook fires. It was as if all of Keepers would not exist by morning.
He saw his father talking to Wells, the only soldier that stayed behind to watch over those in Keepers. Wells shook his head and ran through the crowd, talking to the head of each house as he came across. Leroy could not hear what Wells said but it was short and everyone stopped what they were doing to gather their family.
Leroy grabbed two men, not old enough to have started a family of their own, to help carry his mother. Through the crowd they encountered the familiar faces he grew up with.
Each of which smiled and patted him on the back saying, “Today is the day.”
In his ten years living here, he had never seen such joy on the faces of the people of Keepers. Their smiles eased the tension he felt. When he arrived, his father and Wells were just gathering everyone together and watching flames leap about along the shore line. A storm had gathered over the lake, leaving the rest of the sky clear and open to the stars. Lighting lanced out around the lake's surface in a beautiful display of power and light.
Pete approached his wife and smiled, “I hope you get a good view.”
Wells handed Leroy’s father a hoe and they started raking a line from the shore, past his largest cook pot. They stopped only when his father heard the sound of metal hitting metal. Dropping down, they dug in the dirt and pulled free a chain with links as thick as a man’s thumb. The chain must have been heavy, because Wells dropped it soon after he freed a few feet.
His father took out the small box he had dug up at their home and opened its lid. Inside, Leroy could see a large gold ring that his father placed on his fat pinky finger.
He looked around, “I hope I still know how to use this.”
The older men and women in the camp laughed and smiled, some had tears in their eyes. Pete took a large breath and grabbed the chain, pulling on it. The large cook pot shifted and sand sunk into a hole a few feet away. Leroy took a step closer, but was held back by Wells’ thick arm.
He watched as his father gave tug after tug, slowly revealing a large room sealed by a metal plate that his father pulled back. The fire light from the cook pot lit the dark hole more with each move. Racks of weapons, helmets, and armor were stacked to the brim of a metal pit hidden for years under his father’s care.
When his father stopped tugging, he gave Wells a nod. Wells nodded back and walked to stand beside the pit.
He reached inside, pulled out a sword, and held it in his hands, “Thank you all for standing here on this day with us and thank you for your perseverance. As you can see, the Earth Realm’s army fights against a foe that could possibly raise the city from its watery tomb. We do not yet know if it is being risen, so if they start to return, we must be ready to put these weapons back into their resting place. If the city does rise, we must be ready to fight and protect the new king we have so long been waiting for.”
A cheer erupted from the crowd that made Leroy jump.
Wells walked to Leroy and handed him the first sword handle, “Come now, and take up arms in preparation for your new king.”
Men formed lines and started handing down armor and weapons. Women started gathering supplies and helping their husbands and sons strap on armor. Izabel smiled as she cared for Leroy’s mother.
Leroy handed his sword to a man that passed by and his mother spoke to him, “You do not want to fight? It’s what we have lived here so long for.”
He smiled, “I will fight, but not with a sword.” He freed his father's polished knives from where he had hidden them on his back. The polished steel glinted in the light of a lighting strike. He saw a smile touch her face and he knew she was proud of the man he was becoming.
Izabel stood and walked closer to Leroy and took his arm, pulling him away from the crowd. “You will have to be faster than you were in my shop,” She said cynically.
Leroy stopped her from walking and faced her, “I’ve learned a few things since the hairpin incident. Besides, I always have my poisons to help me.” He smiled and made a grand bow before her, trying to perform as he thought a man should. It earned him a small laugh and she patted his cheek.
“You better use something a bit stronger than what you used on my guards. Ill watch over your mother until you return.” He nodded and turned to go but she cleared her throat, “Leroy, don’t get yourself too hurt or else I’ll have to charge you more dates to see you get better.”
He smiled, “We wouldn’t want that, now would we?”
Although the camp was not a city, it was with solid buildings and walls with their own type of fortifications. A sea of three sided structures stood haphazardly along winding paths through Keepers. Everyone had at least one side that was a cloth covering. When he was a boy he use to get scared going out at night, wondering if ghosts were in the camp. Each movement of the cloth covers catching his eye made him think he had found one.
He knew better now; that ghosts were not real, but that did not mean he couldn’t use the movement of the cloth to conceal himself. Leroy moved amongst the tents and searched for any other weapons he could use. He was able to find some rope and random knives which he tucked in his pockets. He tied a rope across a smaller camp path in attempt to slow anyone on horseback by tripping them. He also extinguished any torches in the area to help hide rope along the ground.
When he came to the edge of the camp he could see a couple hundred men lining up in order to march into Keepers. Very few of the men were on horses. Almost all of them had a haphazard type of armor; missing pieces that others had. The commands given by their leader had to be barked more than once for the men to do what they were supposed to.
Leroy eased the strings on two leather pouches on his belt. The two pouches were filled with two types of poisons: one lethal, the other debilitating. He hadn’t liked the thought of killing another man so he dipped his blades into the pouch of debilitating poison.
He started to hear waves crashing in the water as if there was a continuous churning out on the lake. When he stood a little to look over the tops of the structures he saw a large dome refracting the moonlight over the lake. His heart leaped up into his throat; it was happening. The castle was surfacing.
A command to bring something forward brought his attention to the aggressing forces outside of Keepers. A large box was being pulled on wheels to the front of the forma
tion. Torches followed and revealed a large hunting dog being unloaded from the box. A man with a long leather strap ducked inside so that the leather strap hung out of the box, the other end being held by the man inside.
Wells, in a full suit of armor, crashed in next to Leroy with sword in hand. “How many are there?”
“I see a couple hundred, but they're doing something with that dog. I’m not sure what it is.”
Wells looked out with Leroy. They could see the dog’s head being placed inside a loose loop of the leather strap. Two small spikes were fitted to point towards the back of the dog’s neck.
Wells groaned and turned back behind the structure they leaned against. “They’re making the dog a wielder, and I can only assume it will be fire.”
Suddenly Leroy was very afraid. He looked over continuing to watch. If the dog was a fire wielder, the whole camp of Keepers would go up in flames like a tinderbox. Ten Earth Realm archers aimed bows at the dog, still sitting in front of the crate awaiting commands. The leader on the horse gave a command and the leather leash was yanked tight around the dog’s throat. It yelped and turned back on the man holding the leash. The hair raised on the dog’s back just before they lit into flames. It began barking and attacking the tiny hole in the metal box.
The archers waited for the animal to turn on their forces so they could put it down before it reached them. Leroy thought the animal looked as though it had jumped right out of someone's nightmares. When now screaming man still inside the box yelled out in pain, the dog turned, satisfied with its first kill for the night. Leroy wasn’t sure if it was the sea of structures, the burning torches, or the crashing waves that drew the dog’s attention, but he prepared himself for a fight. Tucking his polished blades away, he searched his pockets for his best knives for throwing.