Heart of Crystal

by Lauren D. M. Smith

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  Jin was only just able to keep up with Azara when she kicked her horse into a canter. She hadn’t questioned his report, hadn’t done anything except stare for a brief moment then raced off. She reined up hard beside her father’s wagon, face set, eyes bright. “We have pursuers, more than before, perhaps as many as a small army.”

  Whispers and a few soft cries rapidly spread through their caravan. Rohan ignored them, though the colour his face turned as well as the sharp lines that etched themselves out near his mouth and eyes spoke volumes. “Can we outrun them?”

  Azara looked to Jin. He shook his head. “I believe half are mounted and they wouldn’t hesitate to carry double if they thought they could catch us before we reach the border. Even if we push the horses, we won’t make it in time. It would be impossible for the children to keep up without the wagon.”

  Her horse fidgeting as it picked up her emotions, Azara caught and held her father’s eyes. “Take everyone and push for the border. I’ll hold them here.”

  Jin winced, though he’d known it was coming. There was no way Azara would risk any of the fire mages when she didn’t feel she had to. Rohan shook his head. “No. I will stay with you. As strong as you may be now, you can’t take on an entire army singlehandedly. You’re also my daughter. I won’t allow you to be in danger without me beside you to protect you.”

  “You can’t. You are the leader of the fire mages. Don’t think I haven’t heard the whispers, how you have the most combat experience and the greatest range of techniques with fire magic. You’ve taught the others some of it, but without you, they won’t be anywhere near as effective.”

  Rohan’s voice rose. “You expect me to leave my own daughter in danger?”

  Azara kept her voice quiet as her eyes flickered to the wagon holding the children. “How many brothers and sisters do I have here? Children who can’t protect themselves the way I can?”

  Her father choked, eyes going unwillingly to the same place as hers before he looked down, his hands clenched white-knuckled around the cart’s reins. With the silence stretching out between them, Jin cleared his throat. “I will stay back to assist Azara in restraining the army. She won’t be alone.”

  Rohan looked up at him, eyes not entirely dry, his face seeming older by a decade. Azara was the one who glared at him. “No. Absolutely not. You need to go with everyone else. Without you, how are they going to get across the border? They need your protection!”

  Jin met her gaze. “You need it more.”

  While she sputtered, Jin reached into his shirt to pull out the papers he never left far from him. “Take these, and the Empire will welcome you with open arms. Insist they are a report from Chief Magus Jin and are only to go to the hands of the emperor himself.” This way, if the worst should happen, the emperor and Empire would have a fighting edge. As well as a cadre of fire mages who would hate Nalbin until they died.

  Rohan took the papers, handing the reins to the man riding beside him, carefully stowing them inside his own shirt. Recovered, Azara pressed her horse close to Jin’s, eyes blazing. “You aren’t staying back. This is dangerous, you could die! You said yourself this is a small army!”

  Jin slowed his horse with a final nod at Rohan, letting the wagons plod ahead as he turned to Azara. She looked about ready to hit him. “I can say the same to you. You have said yourself that you’re not invulnerable. And you have no real ability to attack at a distance. How do you propose to stop an army by yourself?”

  She choked, hands clenching into fists, eyes going to the passing caravan which only added to the severity of the look she turned on him. “I have survived worse. The crystal will do everything possible to keep me alive.”

  “You aren’t invincible nor are you capable of stopping a large amount of people at once. I won’t deny that you could take out a dozen or two soldiers. But this is far more than that.”

  When she continued to glower, Jin sighed. “I am a magus, the chief magus at the Imperial court. I’ve been trained for a variety of situations, one of which is war. There are several spells I can use that could slow an army down or perhaps stop one, but the casting time required as well as the proximity involved makes them difficult and they are very rarely used. If someone were able to keep me alive until I was finished, stop any projectiles or magic from reaching me, I can ensure the fire mages reach the border.” Or he would die in the casting, but Jin didn’t add that point, knowing what her reaction would be. He would finish the spell, no matter what happened. The others deserved that much. He’d seen entirely too much of his past self in the children bound and trapped into slavery with no hope. The emperor had saved him, and it was time he paid that forward by saving others.

  Azara glanced over her shoulder at their caravan, already ahead of them. She looked back at him, the fight draining out of her face, replaced with the pain, worry and fear he felt as well. “We could both die.”

  Jin forced a smile. “At least neither of us would die alone. And if I’m to die early, I would prefer it to be doing something good, not assassinated by someone who wishes my position.”

  She smiled weakly, but nodded. “I guess I have no choice. We watch each other’s backs.”

  For a moment, Jin felt his smile strengthen into something real. “That is how it should be.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six: Spells

  Azara watched Jin draw a massive symbol into the dirt beside the road that he’d cleared of grass. In the dying light of the sun, everything glowed red, like it was dyed in blood. She shook the thought away and looked at the horizon. Faint movement had her sharpening her gaze.

  She didn’t resort to using the crystal to see farther, not when she knew what was coming towards them. Azara moved so she stood beside Jin but not within range of his drawing. She could only imagine what would happen if she were to smudge or break it.

  He didn’t seem to notice, his concentration locked on to the sigil that was getting more elaborate by the moment. Occasionally he would pause, stand up and stare at it, before kneeling and adding to it. Azara didn’t understand any of it, but she didn’t need to in order to protect Jin. She had her crystal for that.

  And it was humming beneath her skin, knowing as she did what was coming. Azara glanced back at the horizon, noting that she could now see the tiny figures as they crested the hill that lay at the edge of her field of sight. She wondered if they could see her. Jin would be harder, being on the ground, but she thought they might have spotted her. They would for sure if they had spyglasses or the like.

  From their perspective, she imagined it must look odd. A lone woman standing away from the road, facing them. Under a tree a short walk away were their horses, out of the range of fighting and most potential projectiles, and tied so they could browse as much as they wanted. If they survived this they would need them.

  If they didn’t, then she was sure the enemy would take them, but that was no bad thing for their mounts. She wouldn’t begrudge them care and safety.

  The longer she watched, the more Azara realized that Jin hadn’t been conservative in his estimate. This was a small army. She guessed there were a hundred or two hundred soldiers, kitted out in the uniform of Nalbin. Those riding horses wore tall black hats that seemed to her to be an invitation to be shot at. Especially if they were officers.

  Jin’s words about her weakness echoed. She had no distance attacks. She could manage some short range, but she was more of a melee fighter at the heart of things. And with bayonets being standard issue, that was often an issue. With as many people heading towards them as there were, it was going to be a real problem, especially if they were at all accurate.

  She knew the crystal could take a few bullets without problem, she’d never tried it out under concentrated fire. Azara didn’t let the worry show in case Jin happened to look up at her. She projected confidence, somethi
ng she didn’t feel half the time.

  The riders were hitting the top of the second small hill and reining up there. She could see the foot soldiers now on the first hill, looking like a swarm of ants, heading implacably towards them. Azara’s eyes went back to the riders, who were more likely to be in charge. Cavalry was always of higher rank than infantry.

  This time she did roll her hand up and adjust the crystal at the end of it. She studied the riders. They were definitely looking their way, one of them even having a spyglass. As she watched, they began gesturing in their direction. From their vantage point, they might have spotted Jin, and if they could see in the last light of the day what he was doing, she imagined they’d be charging them shortly.

  A sudden thought had her glancing over her shoulder. The caravan was only still in her sight. She thought they’d be impossible to see from the army approaching them, but they could be using a spell, and that meant she couldn’t assume anything. Grimacing, Azara continued spying on the riders.

  More joined the original group, and it wasn’t long before two went riding towards the infantry. She gritted her teeth. That wasn’t a good sign. Nor was it a short while later when the foot soldiers increased their pace. The riders on the second hill didn’t move though, staring in their direction.

  Azara shook her arms out and stretched her neck from side to side. She let the crystal well up closer to the surface of her skin. She couldn’t afford any mistakes or hesitation in what she had to do. With a final glance at Jin, who was sweating despite the cooling of the air, his stick drawing sinuous lines into the dirt, she moved forward so she stood in front of him.

  Jin had to survive this. Not just because his spell was the only hope they had for the fire mages crossing the border without interference, but because she couldn’t stand the thought of him dying here. He’d been sent by the emperor and this wasn’t his fight. He’d made it his, but then Jin was too kind.

  She’d brought him into this, albeit unintentionally, so she’d see he got out again. And if she died for it, well she thought that was a pretty fair trade. He could very well make Anali happy. He had a soft spot for her. Azara ignored the way her chest squeezed at that. If she died, Jin deserved every chance of happiness and her feelings wouldn’t matter.

  The riders were moving again, their horses slower in contrast to the extra speed the infantry was putting on. Held to the same pace, she imagined their plan was to charge with the cavalry, and sweep in with a heavier hit from the foot soldiers. If they were charged by the entire group of riders at once, they might be in real trouble. And if the riders decided to go after the caravan rather than deal with them first...

  Azara clenched her fists. Her father was with the others, and it wasn’t as if fire mages were defenseless. Against these kinds of numbers and with children to protect, they were at a distinct disadvantage, but if it were just the cavalry, she thought they’d manage to break through.

  The soldiers gathered on the top of the third and final hill. It was a straight ride down from there. They were out of the range of their weapons, but that wasn’t going to last long. Azara fixed the picture of what she wanted in her mind but held the crystal back from leaving her skin. She wanted them to commit to the attack before they found out what she could do.

  The air around her seemed to tense as the light in the sky faded, only the faintest sliver of the sun remaining above the horizon. They’d have to attack before full darkness. Like the thought had been a trigger, she watched three-quarters of the riders come pounding down towards them, the soldiers rushing after. The remaining riders followed behind the infantry, the officers she guessed.

  Azara waited until they were just outside of firing distance before she released the crystal. It flowed up and out, forming an angled shield around her, the wings heading out before angling in again to protect Jin as he continued his work. The first few bullets hit the dirt dozens of steps in front of her.

  There was a brief delay before the next handful struck far closer to her. Azara didn’t move, watching the closest riders slowing to aim, those of their brethren who’d been impatient already reloading. Those with still-loaded weapons fired, the crack of it followed almost immediately by the ting of metal hitting the crystal. Flattened bullets dropped into the grass.

  The riders stopped where they were, those who had fallen behind moving up once they’d reloaded, to take aim once again. They ended up firing in two volleys, one group reloading as the other fired. The group of them managed two more sets of shots before the lead infantry caught up.

  Azara braced herself, anchoring the crystal in the ground in case she was forced backwards. Falling over would spell death for Jin. With the light fading to blue, she hoped he would be able to keep working, even if it would provide them greater protection.

  A sudden flare of white overhead had her head snapping up to look. She blinked away the spots, the bright sphere overhead making everything visible for both sides. She swept her gaze through those in front, trying to find the mage. Though it was more likely to be one of the riders in the rear. Most people weren’t stupid enough to risk their mages on the battlefield. At least, not those that weren’t slaves.

  That brought anger bubbling up into her chest. Her mother had been one of those slaves, set to burn herself out. After who knew what abuses. Gaze contracting into a glare, Azara reinforced the crystal as much as she could, careful to keep a small reserve. The light had revealed her power to the enemy.

  Their first move she expected. Concentrated fire in shifts, so there were few breaks in the attack, most aimed straight at her. Some bullets deflected off the angle of her shield, while most did hit it with an endless patter. The crystal repaired itself when damaged without conscious effort on her part. In its own way, she could feel that it was annoyed, disliking the people continuously interfering with it. It also didn’t like that these people were a threat to her.

  It wanted to fight, to slice through these attackers. The images she sent back, of being swarmed, of being killed, calmed it down enough that it held steady. Overwhelming numbers it understood in a way, and it wouldn’t stand for her death.

  The shots peppering her shields faded, and Azara watched them carefully while she could still see them. The blue of night was deepening, and with the light overhead, her night vision wasn’t what it should be.

  Lightning struck her shields next, splashing harmlessly against the crystal. She grimaced. So the mages were making their move, were they? If they got close enough, she could show them the error of their ways. For now, she had to endure. Keep them busy and focused on her so they left Jin in peace. She couldn’t risk drawing attention by looking at him, but his presence was a warmth behind her, the very faint scratch of his stick in the dirt reassuring.

  Shards of ice slammed into her next, harmlessly freezing onto the crystal. When she didn’t move, a fireball followed immediately after. Azara sneered at the weak flame. Even the crystal showed no interest in it, knowing the blaze of those not fire mages was inferior. The least of fire mage children could do better.

  Winds slammed into her shield, blasting sideways as it couldn’t find a hole to fly through. Only the back of her was exposed, but with the angle of the shield, no mage except one directly behind them would be able to send an attack that would hit them. For a few moments, everything went quiet.

  The ground beneath Azara’s feet rocked, a hole opening up under her shield and her feet. She didn’t move as the crystal shot out arms to the sides and sank them into the ground. A smaller piece of crystal pierced through her boots to shove dirt from in front of them and collapse the sides of the hole, filling it in. It was with some relief that Azara was able to touch solid earth, sinking slightly as the dirt compacted underneath her.

  Quiet returned, only the distant sound of raised voices reaching her. Not enough that she could tell what was being said. Every moment they spent stuck here
, the others got that much closer to the border. And another moment Jin had to work on his spell. Let them talk and argue as long as they liked. She and her crystal weren’t going anywhere.

  A shout louder than those before had her narrowing her eyes. The sudden thunder of hooves and marching feet told her what was happening. Azara’s mouth went dry and she clenched both fists, pulling the crystal in tighter towards her and Jin. There wasn’t enough to cover both of them. She edged backwards, extending her protection as much as she could.

  It wouldn’t be enough. The charge would overrun them. And when that happened, the crystal would prioritize her survival, abandoning Jin to encase her and lash out at anyone who got near her. The soldiers would decide to leave a small group to contain her, and send the others after the fire mages. She didn’t think they were far enough ahead they’d make it to the border.

  Azara couldn’t live with herself if both her father and Jin were killed. She’d failed her mother, and if she failed them as well... She bit her lip for a brief moment before she faced the sound of rhythmic hooves that was almost upon her, the riders coming into the circle of light around them.

  The first few riders reached her and stabbed out with their bayonets, the crystal taking the blow. Others spread out, trying the sides, with the same result. She glared up at them as the crystal lashed out in thin spikes, piercing the hands and legs of those who got too close. Screams echoed out as they fell away.

  She hoped the distraction would keep the others from noticing the gap at the rear, focusing the crystal on keeping those at the sides from going any further. The crystal didn’t need much further direction, recognizing the weak point for what it was. The scent of blood rose as more cries of pain echoed out.

  The pound of feet was closer, and it was only a matter of time before they were surrounded. She concentrated on getting the crystal to strike out more without shrinking the shield, praying it would be enough, that she could keep them away. Every second brought the tramp of boots closer and sweat broke out along her back and forehead. They weren’t going to make it. One or both of them would die, and so would the fire mages. Everything they’d done, everything they’d fought for...