New Title 1

by K. M. Shea

  Rakel glanced at Farrin—who was still battling it out with the air magic user—although the other magic user was worse-for-wear, and Farrin was just as sharp and clear moving as always. She could still feel a trickle of her magic, but it was like a snowflake among a blizzard. Hardly noticeable.

  “You want my magic? Very well,” Rakel turned back to her opponent and started gathering her powers. She could feel the vastness of her magic, and as she took more and more, she grew aware of it. She could feel her castle on Ensom Peak, and the wall she had built on the Mullberg border.

  The magic-drainer’s smile flickered. “What are you doing?”

  “Giving you more,” Rakel said. She felt for the stream he was leeching off, and then pushed more of her magic through the line, turning it into a frothing, whitewater river.

  He yelped and dropped to his knees—even though he clung to her hand still. “S-s-stop!” he begged. He shivered, and his skin was cool—though not as cold as hers.

  “You were the one who wanted my magic,” Rakel said.

  He shouted and yanked his hand away. Rakel—thinking of Farrin’s move on the archer—created an ice sword and swung it hilt first, hitting him in the head and sending him sprawling to the slushy ground. She flipped him over on his back and nudged him, but he was out cold.

  General Halvor bellowed over the fight as he shouted orders to the various teams. “Frodi—leave the alchemist to Eydìs and Tollak, and get on those golems! Use your fire—make it hot enough, and you should be able to bake them. Angry owls, I want you on those wolves—drive them to Phile, Dryden, and Bunny. Blue Fire, back Frodi up—and stay out of range of the alchemist!”

  Rakel swiveled, intending to help Farrin, but froze. Her body wouldn’t move. It was as if she had been enclosed in a block of ice.

  “There, there,” a coarse voice chuckled. “Loreto is an idiot, but at least he distracted you long enough for my powers to bind you.” The air at her side shimmered, then shattered. A hulking man stepped out of the broken illusion and brushed off his clothes. His nose was smashed flat, his eyes were small and beady, and his coarse hair was pulled into a knot on the top of his head.

  Unable to move her neck to see, Rakel caught a glimpse of him out of the corner of her eye. She couldn’t even open her mouth to scream for help.

  “Good job.” Kavon joined them, stepping out of thin air. “I have wanted to look at you for a long time, Your Highness,” he purred in a voice that was velvety and pleasant. “You are such a curious thing. Even when I first paid off your guard to kill you and heard Farrin—Tenebris’s lapdog—had tried to intercept you, I was interested. What kind of a person can take a man so mindlessly loyal as Farrin and convince them to change sides?”

  Kavon ran a finger down her cheek. Rakel would have shivered if she could. Instead, her insides curdled, and she felt dirty where he had touched her.

  “Sir,” the man holding Rakel into place started. He was interrupted by Farrin—who flipped Kavon over his shoulder and then turned on the binder.

  “Rocco,” Kavon shouted.

  The air magic user slid between Farrin and the binder. He blocked an attack and then aimed a gust of wind at Rakel—which Farrin intercepted and reflected. However, when he lunged forward to block Rakel, he stepped into the range of the alchemist, who threw a vial at him.

  Farrin raised his cape so it shattered and splattered on the black cloth, then ripped it from his neck and threw it away from him just as the cloak burst into flames.

  “Tollak, Eydìs, stop sleeping and take out that alchemist!” Halvor barked as he plunged his sword through one of the smaller golems.

  “We’re trying, sir,” Tollak said.

  Ropes coiled around the alchemist’s arms and legs, yanking her backwards.

  The air magic user drove Farrin off to the side, and Kavon approached Rakel again—though this time he kept his distance.

  Rakel poured her anger into her eyes and tried to glower at him even though she was still incapacitated. I swear when all of this is over, I will train with Farrin every day to help me overcome deflecting and manipulating magics!

  Kavon tapped his chin. “So strange. Tenebris hates you with a fury I have never seen. He must see something in you…but what? Himself, perhaps?”

  Rakel’s heart squeezed in her chest. Why would he say that? I’m not—he can’t think I’m like Tenebris!

  “Farrin—catch!” Phile—still fighting wolves—threw Foedus to him, snipping off a lock of his black-tea-colored hair and embedding the dagger in a board near his head.

  Farrin shot the Robber Maiden a glower but ripped the dagger from the wood and threw it at the air user’s shoulder.

  The dagger pierced the globe of air and kept going, hitting its mark. Before the man could react, Farrin attacked, coming in low and cracking the magic user’s knees with the scabbard of his two-handed sword.

  The man shouted and collapsed, and the two fell out of Rakel’s eyesight.

  The flute music faltered, and the wolves stumbled like puppets cut loose from their strings. Snorri had found the flute-player.

  The muscles on Kavon’s face tightened. “Retreat,” he shouted. The golem-maker ran to his side—only one small golem left as Frodi had baked the big one and hacked it to pieces with the help of Verglas soldiers.

  The binder turned on his heels and ran. His hold on Rakel shattered when Farrin threw his scabbard and hit the man in the back of the head.

  Freed, Rakel almost fell flat on her face. She caught herself just in time and then struck out with her magic, making snow and ice erupt in front of the Chosen magic users, cornering them and cutting them off.

  The wolves scattered, running back to the woods.

  “Constanza!” Kavon shouted.

  The alchemist—freed from Eydìs’s ropes—ripped several vials and a pouch from her belt. She threw them down on the ground. The vials shattered and spewed out a foul smelling smoke that made Rakel’s eyes water and her throat sting.

  Someone grabbed her, and Rakel puffed up and reached for her magic, then realized she recognized that warm touch and let Farrin guide her out of the smoke.

  She gasped for breath when she stepped into the fresh air and wiped her eyes. She tapped her magic and blasted wind through the ruins, clearing the smoke off.

  Kavon and his few remaining magic users were nowhere to be seen. Apparently they had abandoned their injured and unconscious comrades.

  “Regroup and prepare to head out,” General Halvor cleaned his sword on a square of cloth. Steinar stood next to him, holding a sword flecked with blood. “We need to meet up with the main force as soon as possible.”

  Phile checked over Foedus. “Do you think Tenebris plans to attack them?”

  General Halvor studied the village. “It’s a possibility.”

  Oskar clasped him on the shoulder. “What is it?”

  General Halvor sighed. “Two of those Chosen magic users were in the group my men and I chased to the Kozlovka border during the attack of Dovre.”

  The words Halvor didn’t say hung in the air. They came back. We beat them off, and they came back. How can we win a war when they keep coming back?

  “Come on, Little Wolf.” Phile coughed, clearing the scratch in her voice. “Let’s go find Frigid and get mounted up.”

  Rakel moved to follow her but paused. “We did well,” she said as the magic users and soldiers checked their weapons.

  Bunny—back in her human body with Crow hovering at her shoulder—snorted. “We did no such thing. We faced eight magic users and got pounded.”

  Rakel stood taller and adapted her royal bearings. “Those eight magic users were trained for combat. We have been working together for just a few weeks, and most Verglas magic users are poorly trained. We did well.”

  Bunny met her gaze and gave her a crooked smile and a playful bow. “We did, Snow Queen.”

  Rakel kept her face pleasant, but after Kavon’s words, Bunny’s evaluation felt like a kic
k in the gut. Am I that much like Tenebris?

  “Little Wolf?”

  “Coming.” Rakel followed her friend to the various horses and ponies—and reindeer, in Rakel’s case—the party had ridden. She glanced north—towards Ensom Peak and her castle. I was able to push magic into the magic-leech, and I could feel every ice structure in the country that I had made. I wonder…could I use that somehow?

  CHAPTER 14

  CONCEALED TACTICS

  Rakel stood in the shadows and watched the happy activity in the camp. The Verglas forces had set up their new headquarters much farther south and had been there for over a week. It had been a bit of an adjustment—going from hills and forests to the plains and fields that made up the majority of the southern lands—but they had reconnected with the resistance force and saved a handful of towns and villages.

  Soon, though, they would have to face Tenebris.

  However, almost everyone in the camp was occupied with celebrating their most recent round of wins. It was dusk, and smoky-sweet smells beckoned from every campfire. Oskar—standing with Pordis and Hilda—oozed charm, making the ladies laugh. Steinar was smiling and talking to several of Halvor’s officers, while the grim-faced general looked astonishingly relaxed listening to Liv and Snorri.

  Farrin chatted with Knut while he kept an eye on Kai. The little boy played with Gerta and several children from the resistance movement who had joined up with them.

  It was beautiful to see all the people she loved talking and laughing, but she couldn’t shake the thought of the mirror and Tenebris. The burden weighed on Rakel’s shoulders without mercy. If they defeated the Chosen, in several decades, would she become the next threat to Verglas? The thought made her shiver. My magic is strong, and I have so much of it…no. It was her choice, and she had chosen Verglas. Verglas needed this war to end, so she had to finish it with as few losses as possible.

  Halvor would say magic isn’t always the best tactic—but against another magic, I think it must be.

  Rakel closed her eyes and stayed in the shadows, trying to hold her head up as she struggled. I need to talk to someone. Rakel’s gaze was drawn to Farrin, and then Oskar, but she shook her head. She needed someone who loved her but would be honest and open. Farrin, Oskar, and even Steinar and Halvor would refute her questions out of sheer loyalty and love.

  I need someone who understands my heart… Coming up with an answer, Rakel leaned forward to see if she could find her, only to realize Phile was already standing next to her.

  Phile’s eyes glittered in the fading sun. “You alright, Little Wolf?”

  Rakel smiled. “Phile, would you walk with me?”

  Phile threaded her arm through Rakel’s. “Of course.”

  They turned their backs to the camp and meandered to the edge, nodding to patrolling soldiers as they entered thawed fields that were soft and held the promise of green.

  Phile sat down on a tree stump. “What’s on your mind?”

  Rakel pressed her hands together. “Am I like Tenebris?” She was a little surprised by her own words, as she had planned to start by asking Phile about ending the war.

  Phile blinked. “I’m assuming you don’t mean physically—because I have yet to see him don a dress and run around in a wig.”

  Rakel smiled wryly. “I mean in power. I’m fighting for innocents, but the more I hear about him, the more I see similarities between us. He charmed Farrin to his side, just as I charmed him to mine. He won over magic users by saving them from dire straits, and I have won over the people of Verglas by freeing them. He has immense power that I can match, and his people are loyal to him to a point of dogma. The more I think of it, the more I am frightened. There was a moment, when he attacked Gerta and Kai, that I would have killed him. Gladly.” She wrung her hands and cringed, waiting for Phile’s judgment.

  “There might be a few similarities.” Phile said.

  Rakel turned away from her and had a hard time swallowing.

  “But, Little Wolf, you’re missing something very important.”

  “What?” Rakel whispered, afraid to hope.

  “Tenebris let the darkness of the world get to him. He chose to meet hate with hate. He seeks power and crawls in the darkness.” Phile got off her stump and moved to stand in front of Rakel. She took her hands. “You, however, my brave friend, have chosen love. I know you, and I know you will never turn your back on that.”

  Phile gave her such a glowing smile Rakel could feel her heart warm.

  “So my answer is no, you aren’t anything like him. You were given a very similar set of situations, and you reacted in the exact opposite way. That is why your magic is so good and beautiful and pure enough to stand up to his twisted powers.”

  Rakel hugged her. “Thank you.” In the back of her mind, though, the comparison still lingered. She trusted Phile, and the Robber Maiden would never lie to her, but she had only known her a short time. What if there was a hidden darkness in Rakel that Phile had not yet seen? What if her anger at Kai’s mother and the rage from Tenebris’s attack on Gerta and Kai weren’t anomalies?

  Phile squeezed her tight. “Anytime, Little Wolf. I am happy to be your compass in the dark.”

  Rakel released Phile and opened and closed her mouth, wondering if she should voice the lurking hesitation. She was instead, struck by the memory of Phile’s own words. “When we first started our morning practices, you said I am powerful because I love my powers.”

  “Yep,” Phile said. “You never let anyone’s fear and hatred twist the potential for the beauty you saw in your magic, and the capacity of your soul is shown in the way you’ve stepped up and reacted to this war, to the invasion, and to the people who used to hate you.”

  “What does the capacity of my soul have anything to do with magic?” Rakel asked.

  “Ahh, it has everything to do with it. You naturally have a lot of magic—that’s something you’re born with. But the strength of your magic—the pureness and your ability to wield it? Who you are as a person greatly affects that.”

  Rakel tipped her head. “Forgive me if I am prying…but how did you learn this?”

  Phile grinned. “You mean why does a thief brat know so much about magic?” Foedus appeared in her hands, and she tossed it up and down a few times. Her smile faded. “My father had magic. Not very much—it was little more than a pinch. He was the one who found Foedus on a research trip to Ringsted and gave it to me.”

  Phile held the ugly dagger above her head and stared up at it. “It’s a relic—you can get them ridiculously cheap in Baris.”

  Rakel was afraid to breathe, lest it would make Phile stop sharing. This opportunity was rare indeed. “My father was a scholar at heart, and he loved researching magic. He would tell me stories when I was little, and he taught me for years—even though he knew I didn’t have a speck of it. He told me the world—Baris included—was missing out on the great potential of magic users…that they could be heroes and change the world.”

  “He sounds wise.”

  “Yes, but he would have been lost without my mother. To begin with, he would have starved. Scholars don’t make much, and Father spent every cent he had on books. Being the husband of the robber queen of Baris, though, kept him well fed!”

  “Is he still in Baris with your mother, then?” Rakel asked.

  Phile’s smile grew sad. “He died. It’s why I started traveling. I wanted to see what these people that he had such great dreams for were like. He would have loved you.”

  Rakel blinked. “Me?”

  “Yes. You are everything magic users should be.”

  “Powerful?”

  “No. Compassionate, responsible, and aware of the effects your magic has on those around you,” Phile said.

  Rakel shut her eyes and basked in the warmth Phile’s words brought to her fingers and chest. “I’m honored that you see that in me…Phile…” She paused, then opened her eyes to meet Phile’s gaze, a shadow still haunting her. “Even if we
win, I fear Verglas will one day be torn apart because of the mirror. Rumors of the mirror will outlive us.”

  “You can’t save the world, Little Wolf. It’s valiant of you to want to try, but you should be content knowing what you’ve prevented already.”

  Rakel’s thoughts swirled around her—the knowledge that her magic lived in the ice structures she built, the memory of pushing magic into the Chosen magic user. She was different. Love was a part of everything she’d ever done, even before there were people—friends, a family, a nation—to love. I’m not like Tenebris, and I will prove it.

  “What if I could do something to stop it?” Rakel clasped her hands together as she warmed up to the idea. “What if I could make it so no creature of darkness, no evil magic could enter Verglas?”

  “How?”

  “When I face Tenebris during the last battle…what if I pushed my magic into the very earth—the way I build it into my ice walls. It would repel those with dark magic—like Tenebris. He can’t touch my ice—I witnessed it myself in our last fight.”

  “It would take a ridiculous amount of magic to secure the entire country,” Phile said, raising an eyebrow.

  “But I have it. Sunnira called me a monster, and she may be right. I have never run dry.”

  Phile placed her hands on her shoulders and squeezed. “Rakel, you’ll die. At the very least, you’ll fall unconscious and never wake up.”

  Rakel tried to give her a brave smile. “I know. But Verglas would be safe. No one would be able to get to that stupid mirror…and my magic would protect Verglas’s boundaries much longer than I could.”

  “You don’t have to do this,” Phile said. “General Halvor will find a way.”

  “Anything less than this will be a temporary fix.”

  Phile rubbed her forehead. “We haven’t searched for anyone who can break the mirror. There must be someone on this continent who can do it.”

  “Phile,” Rakel said, interrupting her friend. “That mirror is a thousand times more evil and vile than Tenebris. It needs to be taken care of.”