“They sent us for firewood,” Ian offered. “We’re short-handed. We’d be doing the rest of them a favor.”
“I am sure your leader will have a different priority for tracking criminals.”
The two of us gave loud sighs as we followed Paige back to camp. She was right, of course, but I itched to prove myself to the rest of our party. I chanced a glance at Ian, and found his expression mirrored my own.
“Feels like the old times, doesn’t it, Ry?”
I smiled. Not yet, but I expected it was about to.
IN THE END, our party voted to search the forest the next morning. We were already three days behind the bandits’ progress, and it’d be “foolhardy” to try and ascertain their location at night when we could barely see two feet in front of us. Torches would give away our location, and the mages weren’t about to use up magic tracking when we’d need it for our inevitable encounter later on.
I spent the night tossing and turning.
The entire camp was packed up and ready to go by morning’s first light. Ian, Paige, and I were no exception. Every one of us was anxious and ready for battle. Sixteen days of camping in the wilderness, and without the repetitive training routine of the Academy, I longed to use my magic.
Five straight years of routine were hard to break. Here in the regiment, we were expected to conserve our magic while on duty—one could never know when we could be forced to engage—and with the added pressure of my squad’s disapproval, I was ready to show it.
Luckily for us, the bandits’ trail was easy to pick up after the discovery of the horse droppings the night before. The criminals clearly hadn’t expected us to investigate this far south, so they hadn’t bothered to hide the rest of their tracks. Everything was still a little wet with the morning dew, but by midday, we’d left the cool cover of the forest canopy for the sparser terrain deep in the mountains.
Summer heat beat down like the gods’ pounding fists. In no time at all, I was drenched in sweat and mud and my clothes stuck to my skin. I wasn’t fool enough to remain unsullied, but I was definitely happy Darren wasn’t there to witness his betrothed’s repugnant stench, let alone the way the undershirt beneath my chainmail had turned brown and wet in the most revolting of ways.
Hours dragged by and the ground we passed became coarse. Jagged granite lined the narrow trail up and down into the heart of the northern range. Our stops became more frequent as even the horses grew weary.
It was late into the afternoon when two scouts finally returned bearing the news all of us had been anxiously anticipating: the horses and the bandits’ base camp were just three more miles southwest of our current location. Apparently, they had a small camp set up along the base of three nearby mountains at the heart of the Iron Range. It was a desolate territory previously ignored by the regiment whose patrols had focused along the border and northernmost villages.
That was probably the reason the outlaws had chosen it. From the report the scouts had given, it’d been in use for a year at the least. The horses were only a recent addition. There was livestock as well. Two cows and a small bay of pigs were contained in pens at the edge of a roughly made fort. Several chickens clucked away in a wooden fixture nearby. There were even thin rows of mountain-hardy crops like red lettuce and carrots.
The bandits’ set up was far too permanent to be just a camp.
Paige scowled at the end of the scouts’ report. “They must have been living there awhile.”
“Explains the recent influx in thefts,” a soldier added. “All this time, we thought the incidents were Caltoth. Never would’ve suspected it was on our side of the border.”
“Where are they now?”
“How many?”
“Thirty,” one of the scouts replied.
“Only thirty? Why do they need forty horses?”
“Gods, Karl,” someone drawled, “they are thoroughbreds. The bandits were probably going to sell them to the Caltothians, not ride them.”
The head knight, Killian, cleared his throat above the soldiers’ discourse. “The scouts may have counted thirty, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t more nearby. I doubt they expect us, but we can’t be too careful. I will take half the band and Avery will take the rest to flank the outskirts in case there are others our scouts missed.” He listed the names for each squad.
“What about Combat?”
“Ian, you’re in my party. Ryiah—Avery.”
My face fell, not because I didn’t admire Avery’s conduct—she was a skilled knight, from what I’d seen during the morning drills, but because I was once again forced to join the action-less party.
Ian caught my eye and shook his head slowly. I bit my lip and took a deep breath. He knew exactly what I was thinking. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe our leader chose Ian for his seniority.
“Great, I’m stuck with her. If we run into trouble, you’d better hope we don’t need a mage who can actually fight.”
I tasted the copper tang of blood, and realized I’d bit too deep in an effort to keep my comeback to myself.
Paige pulled up beside me. “Let’s go, my lady,” she said quietly.
I followed her back to where Avery and the rest of our group were gathering. My knight might not be my biggest fan, but she wasn’t heartless. Silently, I thanked her for dragging me away before I said something I’d regret.
Adjusting my reins, I listened to Avery detail our strategy.
We’d be taking a slightly different route into the valley while Ian and Killian’s group took the main one. An Alchemy mage in each party had two potions on hand to give off a bright flare: red once the mission was complete, blue if they ran into trouble and needed backup. It wasn’t as effective as lightning, but it would serve our purpose.
Assuming everything went to plan.
THIS TIME I was not going to be reckless—by word or by deed. It was a vow I’d sworn my first night of service, and one I intended to keep. I repeated it over and over as I inched along in line with the twenty-four others of Knight Avery’s lead. We skirted along a narrow trail of pine and stone, squeezing uncomfortably between the walls of two towering crags while the clip-clop of the horses hooves echoed our progress. The path got to be so tight that only one could pass at a time, and it took us the good part of an hour just to get through the worst of it.
I began to wonder how the other party was faring when there was a heavy rumbling and then an earth-shattering thud. The ground quaked. My horse whinnied, then reared, and I just barely held on as the air filled with panicked cries behind me.
In the seconds that followed, I managed to calm my mare just long enough to dismount as Paige did the same. The two of us had enough sense not to stay mounted during an attack in such limited quarters.
I turned, one hand raised for casting as the other slid my sword from its sheath. Then I gasped as the knights and soldiers behind me did the same.
An enormous boulder, easily five yards tall and as wide as the gap, had fallen not two yards behind us, cutting us off from the rest of our group and the trail we had taken. There was the loud clash of metal on metal and shouting coming from the other side. I couldn’t see—the obstacle was far too high—but I had ears. It didn’t take much to understand that the scouts’ count had been wrong.
The bandits and the rest of our men were on the other side.
And from the sound of it, ours were losing. They had the Alchemy flasks but were undoubtedly too occupied to use them. And even if they weren’t, our location was shielded by two rocky walls with no end in sight. I doubted the others would be able to see our signal, let alone get here in time.
The fifteen of us listened to the fighting in a panic. Paige bellowed a string of curses and several soldiers were trying uselessly to move the boulder standing between us and the rest of our party.
I looked up instead and saw the tall ledge where the bandits had gotten the drop on us. It was high enough that no one had ever bothered to watch the ledge.
We we
re fools. The bandits probably had a rotation of sentries posted at this entrance of the valley, hiding and waiting for just this sort of opportunity. Bandits who built that sort of permanent camp would use any means to protect it: starting with the giant boulder that was keeping us out as they massacred the rest of our men.
“Ryiah, do something!”
I turned and found Avery watching me with desperate blue eyes. She was frantic, as were the rest of our men.
“We need you to stop them,” she whispered.
“I…” My pulse was racing. Here was my opportunity to prove myself and I had nothing. The rock was too heavy to lift, too dense to cast through, too smooth with no holds to climb. I could levitate, but it wouldn’t help much—the others needed reinforcements, not one girl floating and trying to balance her casting at the same time. “Should I cast lightning to warn the others? Maybe Killian—”
“They’ll come too late.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be powerful?” a man snarled. “You’re a second-rank mage, aren’t you? Save them!”
“I don’t know what I can—”
“They are dying, princess!” another snapped.
“I’m not a—”
“Use your magic!”
“I don’t know what to do.” My voice quavered as I stared down fourteen sets of angry stares. Worse, I could hear the screams from across the way, echoing along the mountain passage. Bloodcurdling cries and shrieks. They’re dying because you can’t think of a way to save them.
“You are useless!” The same man who called me “princess” spat on me.
“That’s enough.” Paige stepped in front of me to glare at the soldier. “She isn’t useless, and your shouting isn’t going to help her any, so why don’t you shut your big, ugly mouth before I’m forced to do it for you.”
I swallowed. She was wrong. I was useless. This wasn’t about my pride. I couldn’t care less what that soldier or any of his friends thought of me. I was a fool to wish for conflict. The gods had done this on purpose to punish me. Silly girl wishes for battle to impress the others and this is what she gets—stuck, useless, listening as innocents are slaughtered just a few paces away.
All my years of training had never prepared me for this.
I was helpless.
I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know how. I didn’t know anything.
My whole body erupted in shakes and anxiety seized my veins. Think, Ryiah. I fought against the fear, praying to the gods that my knees didn’t give out in the face of my panic. I have to do something.
My audience’s faces danced in and out of my sight, blurring and clearing as I held still. I couldn’t do this now. I needed to be strong. I needed to think of something. Not to impress the others but to save them.
“My lady,” Paige said softly, “you can’t save everyone.”
She was right, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t try. I breathed in and out through my nose, ten times. Then I squared my shoulders. “Everyone away from the boulder now!”
Three soldiers who’d been trying to climb scattered, and the rest backed away from the rock. I strode forward and placed my palms directly against it. Normally I wouldn’t need to touch something to cast, but the amount of magic I was about to attempt would require every advantage available.
Let’s hope I haven’t reached my potential yet…
Clenching my eyes shut, I called upon my magic slowly, piece by piece like kindling to a flame. I built up the projection in my mind, fanning the image until it was as real as the object pressed against my hands. I envisioned the casting I wanted to create, taking extra care to make sure my magic was equally projected along the five senses in my mind.
Then I took a step back and threw my energy into the rock for all I was worth.
The boulder started to… quiver? It was emitting just the slightest tremor, and I could hear the murmur of voices behind me. I dug my heels into the ground and forced my mind into a blank state, wiping out the commotion of noises and smells and ignoring the beads of sweat condensing along my brow. I ignored everything but my magic and strained against the headache that was building and building…
My legs started to tremble, blood pounded against my temples, and a rush of hot and cold swamped my skin… but I kept focus and clenched my jaw, forcing my magic to stay with me even as I was ready to fall.
Someone gripped me by my armpits and held as my body set into convulsive shakes. “It’s working,” Paige whispered.
I peeked out beneath my lashes, and I fought to stay calm. I’d never attempted something this heavy during my apprenticeship. Darren had, but even he had his limits. The rock was close to four tons—and the most I had ever lifted was two. Still… the boulder was hovering—albeit very shakily—a couple inches above the ground.
By the gods!
Behind me I could vaguely hear Avery giving orders for the others to take off their extra mail and plates. I swallowed. They needed at least a third of a yard, if not half, to fit through the small crawl space.
“Paige,” I croaked. “Your knife.”
My knight wasted no time in placing the weapon into my shaking fist. I pressed the sharp edge into the palm of my hand. Lightly. Feather-soft at first, careful not to exert too much pressure and collapse the casting I’d worked so hard to control.
The rock jolted for just a moment. It jumped and then dipped before settling a few inches above the ground.
Ignoring the gasps behind me, I let Paige take on the brunt of my weight as I dug the blade deeper and deeper, until blood dripped down my wrist and the pain of metal against bone and muscle became almost too much to bear.
I opened my eyes again and saw the boulder was hovering two feet above the ground. Everyone was crawling as fast as they could to reach the other side.
A flare of white slammed against my vision and everything became muted… Past experience taught me I had only seconds before my magic would end.
I stuck out the casting for as long as I could, gritting my teeth and willing it to stay, praying the others finished making it across. The slight tremors in my legs and arms became sporadic jerks, and Paige struggled to hold on as I lost control of my limbs. I couldn’t stop my body’s response to the magic much longer...
No. I had to hold on. You can do this, Ryiah. I braced myself against the darkness for as long as—
Paige’s awed voice broke the silence. “They made it, my lady. You can let go now.”
And so I did.
4
Our squad’s mission was a success. Shortly after my stunt with the boulder, our knights and soldiers were able to overpower the bandits who’d ambushed us in the narrow mountain pass. Paige and I found another route around to catch up with the rest of our party. It cost us an extra hour, but no one complained. Ian’s party faced similar victory, and the outlaws at the fort were taken with relative ease. In total, there couldn’t have been more than fifty men and women—three of which carried enough magic to warrant extra bindings in their cuffs.
Our scouts sent a message to the rest of our regiment, and we met up at the stream that’d first caused us to part. The soldiers led the prized stallions while our knights escorted the prisoners by foot. It was a slow, steady march to Pamir. Ian and I took turns exchanging stories with Lief and Ray along the way.
We were almost to our destination when Lord Waldyn’s men arrived, praising our squad’s quick recovery and taking the horses off our hands. At the same time, another Ferren’s Keep regiment came to collect the prisoners.
I turned to Ian, curious. “Where will they take them?”
The mage watched the squad’s progress fade off into the distance, disappearing into the thick cluster of trees. “The prison in Gilys. It’s two days southwest of Ferren. Sir Quinn’s unit covers that part of the territory.”
“Will they be put to death?”
He frowned. “Do you think they should be?”
I gave him an incredulous look. “They killed three of our
own.”
“In self-defense.”
Paige guffawed next to me. “They were also planning to sell those horses to Caltoth. They had every intention of supplying our enemy for war. That justifies an execution in any trial.”
Ian heaved a sigh. “I suppose you two are right… Still.” He paused and his eyes fell to me. “You heard Sir Gavin—these ones came from one of the towns that lost everything in the fire. I’m not saying it justifies their actions, but… perhaps that makes them a little harder to condemn?”
My stomach curled in on itself, and I swallowed guiltily. The fire was because of me. “Didn’t the king send coin?” Then I straightened, realizing I already knew the answer. “He did. Darren told me—”
Lief, who’d been listening to our conversation thus far, interjected. “King Lucius is preparing for war. Any aid he sends, well, you can’t imagine it’s enough, not with the heavy costs of maintaining the realm’s largest army.”
Ian met my eyes then. “Ferren and the logging towns received enough to rebuild. They are too important to ignore, but some of the smaller border ones… They aren’t always as lucky when things like that happen, Ry. It’s the reason my parents took up metal, so they could raise me close to the keep.”
I didn’t know what to say. The elation I’d felt during the bandits’ capture was fading fast, and confusion was taking its place. Had I made this happen? Are the bandits my fault?
“You didn’t cause anything.” Paige’s biting words made me realize I’d spoken my last question aloud. “Caltoth did this.”
“Paige’s right, of course.” Lief nodded to my guard and then gave me a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “You and the prince saved more people than you harmed. The fire was a necessary evil. No one blames you for your actions, Ryiah.”
I tried to smile and failed.
Lief addressed my knight to counter the mood. “Why don’t you join Ray and me up front, Paige? I’m sure Ian and Ryiah can handle any danger that comes their way.” He winked. “After your charge’s little display in the mountains, I don’t think anyone is going to worry after her safety for a very long time.”
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