The Allyen (The Story of the First Archimage Book 1)

by Michaela Riley Karr

  When Sam continued to remain silent, I wondered if that meant he had nothing else to say. My original plan had been to merely apologize for avoiding him, but it seemed lacking. I struggled for a few minutes to try and figure out if I should say something else but came up with nothing. I rose quietly, hoping to disappear without disturbing him, so I could tell Rachel I had completed my homework.

  “Did you ever know I was in love with you?” His voice broke the silence abruptly. He twirled a little rock in his fingers, smoothed by the water.

  Great. The exact subject I’d been hoping to avoid.

  I settled myself back down on my rock, my hands clenching together. I hadn’t planned on bringing up this topic. My voice was quavering as I mumbled, “Um… To be honest, I’m not really sure. Not really, I guess. I kind of hoped a couple times, but I didn’t want to lose your friendship because I didn’t know if you did for sure. It all happened at the same time as when I was keeping the Allyen thing a secret.”

  Sam barely nodded, tucking his lips between his teeth briefly, before meeting my eyes again. “Why did you keep it a secret from me?” Sam’s eyes were pleading as he turned more of his body to face me rather than the creek. His hand was gripping the stone now.

  “Because I didn’t want you to be in danger. I didn’t want your life to be ruined because of me. You can see how far I got with that.” I shrugged as my voice began to morph by the lump in my throat. I looked at him slowly, “I tried really hard, Sam. I really do care about you. I’m sorry you think loving me was a mistake.”

  He turned back to the creek and then out toward the sunrise. His hand reached up and tugged at his bandana, and then his forehead cracked between his eyebrows as they rose. He sighed eventually, and looked at me again. Meanwhile, I felt my heart wanting to thunder right out of my chest. He spoke slowly, “I never was able to apologize for not listening to you about Camerron. You tried to tell me so many times in that conversation, but I wouldn’t listen.”

  My heart trembled, and my eyes squeezed shut. That wasn’t the response I was yearning for.

  Sam reached over and gripped my hand hard. “Lina, I am truly sorry. I was angry and I… I don’t know what came over me. I, of all people, the Kidek, should understand being given a job that I never asked for. I promise to help you from now on to be the Allyen. And I’ve never thought loving you was a mistake. I was upset that you couldn’t see that I loved you.”

  I nodded promptly, trying desperately to listen to him and not cry.

  “I never gave you the chance to respond when I told you I loved you for the first time.” He ducked his head a little lower to be able to see my eyes, the chattering of the creek roaring in my ears. “Do you love me?”

  I couldn’t handle this. I should be happy with his apology, but my heart still felt pain. I was afraid if I said yes, he would change his mind, and if I said no, I would kill off the chance of anything starting up again. I swallowed hard. I knew what I needed to say, or I would be miserable for the rest of my life. The words squeaked out, clutched by fear. “I do… I do love you. I always have.” The floodgates broke, and tears streamed down my face.

  “Lina.” Sam breathed as he pulled me to my feet by my hands. The world around us slowly grew quiet. His eyes dove into mine as he released my hands and closed the distance between us to embrace me, my head settling perfectly under his chin. “It’s only ever been you, Lina. It can only be you.”

  I threw my arms around his neck and gripped his shoulders tightly as he whispered the three little words I ached to hear. Present tense, nothing added to it. “I love you.”

  The sun began to warm the world around us and shed light on us as Sam’s fingers found my chin. He lifted it to meet his own, pressing the very first kiss onto my lips. It was surreal, but it was sweet. It was everything I’d ever wanted. It was as if I had finally found myself after searching for it for so long without even knowing it.

  “So, I will proudly take full credit for this one, boys. Pay up.”

  Sam and I jumped although his arms kept me close. On the opposite bank of the creek stood the three freckled Owens children, each with their respective big grin, small smile, and slight scowl. Rachel seemed especially excited as both Luke and James reached into their pockets to withdraw a few copper pieces and hand them to her.

  “Nice doing business with you, my brothers!” Rachel gleamed, checking out all the money in her hands.

  “I am so glad you woke me up for this.” Luke spat, though there was no denying the slight smile on his face as he turned to return to camp.

  “Rachel!” My voice shot up two octaves as I glared at her, but Sam didn’t seem to care. He was on top of one of the moons right now.

  Rachel shrugged innocently and put a hand to her mouth in an effort to hide her huge grin. “I’m so very happy for you, Lina!”

  I glared at her, but there was no denying the joy on my face. Sam pulled my face back for another warm kiss, and Rachel’s giggling melted away into the gurgle of the creek along with everything else. Even Rhydin was swallowed up as the new day began, and I ardently hoped that somehow Grandma, Rosetta, and Keera could see this.

  Chapter Seventeen

  B efore I knew it, it was the morning of our departure to Mineraltir. After Sam and I’s early morning conversation yesterday, I found myself in a heated training session with both Frederick, who had come to visit, and Sam. They were working hard to familiarize me with the different types of magic as well as how to use it to your advantage in a fight. Most importantly, how to use it defensively.

  Frederick was becoming a little easy to spar with, in that I could always sense when he was getting ready to use his power. I could always see it coming. Sam, however, was impossible to predict. He could shove me over, pick me up, and squish me to the ground all with a flick of his hand. On top of that, I could never tell which one he was going to do because of the invisible movements. Sheesh, no wonder people didn’t like Rounans!

  “Okay, hang on.” Sam halted the session for a second, giving me a chance to breathe. “Lina, you’re going about this all wrong.”

  “Thanks.” I gasped, stabbing my sword into the ground.

  “No, it’s just you need to learn to be sensing at all times. Eventually, you will be able to sense when I’ll use magic, even if you’re not quite sure what I’ll do with it. At least then you’ll know what direction it’s coming from.” Sam explained, handing me a canteen of clean water that had been sitting on the sidelines in the cool earth, beginning to freeze. “You’re actually doing really well.”

  I scoffed at him between gulps of water. “I would hope so! Y’know, I’ve been doing this for nearly two and a half seasons now!”

  “Well, you also have an unfair advantage.” Frederick chimed in, smiling as he leaned on his spear. “The magic you were given is much more powerful than most.”

  “Uh huh.” I rolled my eyes as I turned around and tossed the canteen a safe distance away. Experience outweighed power in my opinion.

  Once we resumed, I did try really hard to sense when Sam was going to use magic. I discovered that I could sense it if he was going to do something huge, such as do a super-sized jump the way he had at Camerron’s near hanging, but if it was something that only required a slight movement of hand, I was at a loss. He was always careful with me if I was caught off guard, his smile big and his face pink as he watched me dangle mid-air. It made me dread leaving him for Mineraltir the next day. However, the highlight of training was that Frederick officially taught me how to successfully complete the maneuver that thrust away anybody standing in the vicinity of me that I had attempted at Camerron’s hanging.

  After a long day of practice, Frederick and Rachel left together. Rachel would set out in a few hours with Princess Mira and King Adam in the Royal coach. Her job as Mira’s maid was becoming handier and handier. As I packed, I wondered how my own journey would go, as they had planned for me to travel separately with Luke Owens. I’d gotten to know him a l
ittle better with all this time in hiding. He was particular about his food, and he didn’t seem to care for jokes. He was my constant bodyguard now that he couldn’t return to work at his livery, but he’d never actually talked at length to me. This trip would definitely be interesting. The fact that I had to leave Sam behind with James and Camerron made my stomach roll over. I ardently hoped that nothing would happen to them while we were gone.

  The morning we were to depart was calm, before the breath of Lunaka’s wind had come to ravage the countryside. It was growing colder with every hour, and I could see the wisps of warm air condensate around my mouth as I gathered my few, meager possessions. The trees had dropped all of their leaves by now, and it made our little campsite feel even more open than it had before. I stared up at the crystal clear sky and wondered why it seemed so pure in the autumn, unlike the rest of the year.

  Sam took my hand then, pulling my attention back down to earth. As I faced him, his expression seemed carefully controlled. His smile said he was fine. His eyes told me he was worried as he cleared his throat. “So, are you all ready to go then?”

  “I think so.” I beamed back at him, trying to make him feel better. “I’m glad Luke and I will have a shorter journey. I feel bad for Mira and Rachel to be stuck in a coach with King Adam for a whole week! I’d really love to know how the Owenses can use transportation magic. I keep forgetting to ask Frederick about it.”

  Sam chuckled, stroking a lock of my hair behind my ear. “Keep in mind, you can only get so far as the mountains. You’ll actually have to walk through those before you can transport the rest of the way to Demora. That’s where the Mineraltin castle is.”

  “Really?” I looked at him quizzically. “Why? How do you know that?”

  “Perks of being a leader of people all across the continent.” Sam winked. “I don’t know the actual details because I’ve never traveled there, but I’ve been told that magic doesn’t work in the mountains that surround Lunaka.”

  “Huh. I wonder why that is…” I murmured, staring off into the distance where I could barely see the hazy faces of the mountains that always served as nothing more than a border for my view.

  “Lina.” Sam took my hand again. “That also means you really need to be careful. In the mountains, I mean. Your magic isn’t going to work there. You won’t be able to defend yourself.”

  “Oh, I’ll have my sword. And Luke. We won’t be totally defenseless or anything.” I shrugged, beginning to walk toward the campfire where I could see Luke was semi-impatiently waiting for me. “It’s going to be fine, Sam. I wish I could send you a letter or something when we get there, but we don’t exactly have an address.”

  Sam took a deep breath and looked down at my fingers in his hand. “It’s okay. We can’t really do anything about it. I’m sure the Owenses have some sort of communication between them. It’ll just be a long week or so.”

  Someone made a throat clearing noise, and the two of us turned to see Luke standing with James and Frederick. His arms were crossed with his bag already slung over his shoulders, he eyes staring me down impatiently. It was time to go, yet I didn’t feel quite ready. We walked together over to the campfire where they stood.

  Luke’s voice was stagnant. “Rachel and Princess Mira have nearly reached Lun. We need to leave quickly to begin our trek through the mountains, or they will overtake us with their carriage. We cannot be seen.”

  “I understand.” I met him in the eyes, which suddenly seemed awkward to him. I lifted my pack over my shoulder and gave James and Camerron a quick hug. Camerron likely wouldn’t be here by the time we returned. Sam planned to transport him to some northern settlements where he often sent Rounans for safety, along with the information that they were not to seek the Kidek at the moment. Lastly, I turned to Frederick.

  He seemed solemn as he reached out and squeezed my shoulder. “Look after my sister for me. And tell Xavier hello.”

  I nodded. “Keep yourselves safe while we’re gone.”

  Turning to Sam, I tried to hold it together as he folded me into an embrace. Abruptly, he whispered into my ear fiercely but undetectable to anyone else. “Don’t trust anyone.”

  He pulled away and gave me a quick kiss, leaving me wondering what he meant as I turned to see Luke offering his arm. I took it gingerly, not really knowing what to expect. The last time I transported with one of the Owenses, it had been rather impromptu. I really wanted to pay attention to how it worked this time.

  To my dismay, Luke rotated me on his arm so that I was facing Frederick, James, Camerron, and Sam. This prevented me from fully seeing what those same colors were that had come out of Rachel’s back. Luke’s arm grew very warm in my grasp, and we were enveloped in that same blinding light, blocking my view of our entourage along with everything else. My ears began to ring as it became deafeningly quiet. My feet never left the ground this time, and then out of nowhere the whiteness and silence disappeared.

  I blinked my eyes several times to regain my sight, letting go of Luke’s arm to rub them. The mountains were beautiful! I had never seen them so close before. We stood only ten feet away from where the higher rocky faces rose out of the foothills, reaching up to touch the sky with snow-capped peaks. The oaky smell I had become so used to at our campsite had vanished and was replaced with some of the prairie scents that I had grown up with, along with an indescribably clean smell that I felt could only emanate from these great stone masses in front of me. They were so much bigger here than I could ever have imagined from looking at them from so far away. They seemed more enormous than my mind could compute, and I realized how daunting of a task this was going to be to traipse over them on foot. I instantly was very jealous of Rachel in King Adam’s carriage.

  At that moment, Luke snatched my arm and pulled me behind a rock without a word, his hand clamped over my mouth. I struggled a little before noticing what he had seen. King Adam’s carriage was hurtling toward the mountains only a few miles down the road. I guessed they hadn’t stopped in Lun because they were making excellent time. As they skirted to the north of us towards the one mountain pass that was traversable by carriage, Luke released me and stood back up.

  He looked up at the mountains, and, once he found the tiny navigable path he was searching for, he sighed. “Well. It’s not getting any shorter. The sooner we can get over these, the sooner we can use magic for the rest of the way.”

  “Alright then.” I straightened my pack and started after Luke as he picked his way through the rocks.

  Almost immediately upon stepping foot on the stones, I felt a change. Instantly, the little lump inside my chest that I had learned to depend on was gone. It was as if something began to sap my energy, and my mind became a little muddled. I shook my head to clear it and took a deep breath. I had no idea that I’d depended on my magic so much just for everyday life. I hadn’t even had it that long. How long had I depended on it like this and never knew? What was it about these mountains that did this?

  When I looked up, I saw Luke eyeballing me over his shoulder, as if he knew my thoughts, but I put my head down and focused on my footing. Definitely jealous of the carriage.

  The hours stretched on as the sun stretched across the sky. It made its appearance in the east, blinding us as it shed its beautiful pink hues across the mountain tops, slowly traveling overhead to turn the sky a brilliant blue. The journey had come to the point where I was becoming afraid to look behind me, astonished at how high we had already traveled.

  Lunaka was transformed into a giant scroll of prairie laid out behind us. You could see the divides of land between farmers, the rivers as they wound their way between the subtle hills, and the little towns huddled together, especially Lun since it was the closest. Once we got even higher, if you really squinted and tried your best to focus, you could barely make out the canyon where Soläna rested, a short black line in the distance.

  Luke was angling us between two of the smaller peaks, hoping to do as little climbing as poss
ible, which I appreciated in my debilitated state. My legs were beginning to numb and freeze after so long, the temperature falling at a steady rate. My bodyguard spun around abruptly, seeming to be totally fine and not deteriorating like I was. He eyed me carefully, his blue eyes intense in this sunshine. “I have a question for you, Lina.”

  I looked up at him, trying not to feel totally out of breath as I stretched my legs at the unexpected break. “Oh yeah? What’s that?”

  “A few weeks ago when we were talking about Duunzer, Sam mentioned some sort of ‘giants’. I was wondering if you could tell me what they were.”

  My eyebrow quirked since that was not a question I had expected from him, much less any sort of conversation since he was a quiet guy. I racked my brain back to when I had read that entire myths and legends book during my hideout in the livery basement. I shrugged, “I don’t remember exactly. I think they were just mythical creatures who live in rural Lunaka and the mountains.”

  “But why are they called giants?” Luke crossed his arms as a red tinge entered his eyes.

  I began to walk along the path again, getting closer to him. “Because they’re supposed to be really tall, I think. Nobody’s really seen one. After all, they are mythical creatures…right?”

  “Yeah.” Luke grumbled as he turned around, beginning to climb again.

  “Hey!” I called, trying to catch up. “So, why do you and Rachel and James have magic? It doesn’t make sense, especially since you can transport and nobody else can. I know it’s impossible, but do you think you can try and teach-…?”

  Time stopped as the rock underneath my foot gave way. My body lost its sense of gravity and balance. I could feel myself tipping over back toward Lunaka and my vision threatening to black out when, like lightning, Luke was next to me with firm grips on both my arm and belt. He hauled me back over hard, causing me to do some sort of somersault onto the rocky path. My head connected with stone, and when I looked back at Luke, his eyes were a fierce yellow color. It seemed so real, and yet, I wondered if I had a concussion.