I spent the last week intensely studying everything and making plans on where the best spots were for a short, hard jab of power to go. Still, it was best not to assume anything, especially not when working on something that was highly unstable to begin with. I spent an hour looking the situation over again, but it hadn’t really changed since I last studied it, which was last night.
It was the moment of truth. I was either right or wrong, and just sitting here staring at it wasn’t going to do anything. I marshaled all of my control and power, in as great a quantity as I could safely hold, and drove it hard into the first fracture.
Even as detached as I was from my body, I could still feel the earth rock as it splintered from the force of my blow. When the tremors died down a little, I looked the area over carefully; the bedrock had broken in pretty much the path that I had expected it to. Heaving a mental sigh of relief, I moved on to the next spot.
Don’t ask me how long I was doing this. I couldn’t tell you. I lost all track of time as I worked. It was longer than an hour, I can tell you that. It was less than a day; that I was sure of. Anything in between that time frame was possible.
Everything in me was focused on the next critical spot that I needed to hit. The raw power that was flowing through my body sent my nerves singing so highly, that I hovered somewhere between pleasure and pain. The sound of the earth splitting around me, literally tearing itself apart, rang out in wild peels through the air.
I had worked from one end of the city to the other, following the markers that Chatta had so carefully erected nearly three weeks ago. Actually, I never made it all the way around the city. I was still a half mile off when the force building up beneath the bedrock finished the work for me. With a final, terrible wrench, the city of Jward and the land around it split off from the mainland and fell into the sea. There was more that enough force to cause a tidal wave to rise up and crash against the shore.
I wish I could say that the hard part was done, but actually that had been easy; brutally hard, but simple to do. The hard part was getting the earth to calm down again after I had dealt it so much damage, and fed it so much power. I spent quite some time just re-diverting that latent power and, figuratively, soothing the bedrock’s ruffled feathers.
It would still take time for everything to truly settle, of course, but I finally had everything fairly stable, and quiet. I pulled back into my body—shivering so hard that I nearly bit my tongue. Great magic, but I really had been down there too long!
Warmth suddenly flooded my system, calming the violent shivers that were wracking my body. I settled into it with a sigh of relief. Without the extreme cold taking up all of my attention, I realized that I was actually leaning against something—scratch that, I was leaning against someone. My back was against something soft and warm, there were two arms twined around my waist, and something silky kept brushing the bare skin of my neck.
Chatta.
“Garth? Are you back?”
“Yes,” I croaked.
One of those arms left my waist for a moment, and then a canteen hovered in front of my nose. With shaking hands I helped guide the canteen to my mouth. Then I swallowed the contents down in one long gulp. Canteen water always tastes flat, and warm, but at that moment it was heaven to my parched throat and mouth.
Chatta put the canteen down when it was dry and brushed her hand against my forehead. “You scared me,” she whispered and her voice trembled slightly. “I’ve never seen you down for so long.”
“I had to do it all at once.” I explained slowly because my brain was still a little rattled and the world didn’t feel entirely solid yet. “I couldn’t risk taking a break; things changed too fast.” It felt so wonderful to just lean against her and not do anything, that I lost the thread of my explanation and let my eyes fall closed.
Distantly I heard a conversation floating over my head, but I didn’t pay a lot of attention until I heard my name.
“…Garth didn’t think he’d need help after doing this much work!” there was a mix of frustration, fondness, and exasperation coloring Chatta’s words.
“I think he was more worried about how we would ride out the tremors while he was doing everything,” Night corrected. “Are you tired? You’ve been holding him up for over an hour, now.”
“He would have fallen flat on his face if I hadn’t caught him,” Chatta grumbled. “And yes, my arms are tired, but he’s still chilled. He needs the body heat.”
“Lay him down; I can curl up on the other side him.”
“That’s a practical suggestion, Night.”
I felt myself being turned sideways. Part of me realized what they were planning, but everything was wrapped in layers of black and fog. It was hard to react. So I just stayed agreeable, not a taxing thing to do, and let my body be manipulated until I was lying flat. Something soft was put under my head, and something heavy and warm was draped over my body. Two bodies of heat moved in close and pressed against me, one of them much larger than the other. They were so wonderfully warm that I unconsciously snuggled in closer to both heat sources.
Something gently brushed the hair out of my eyes and I heard a voice murmur against my skin, “Just rest, Garth.”
It was such a wonderful suggestion that I happily drifted off to sleep.
~*~
Did you ever wake up, and the situation around you was so incredible, that you were absolutely convinced that you must be dreaming still?
I had Chatta snuggled up against me, arm comfortably curled over my chest and her head on my shoulder. Night was curled around both of us like we were his foals. When I turned my head, just a little, I could see over Chatta—and I saw the coast. A brilliant smile stole over my face as I took in the drastic changes to the coastline.
It had worked!
Jward was an island.
In that moment, I had practically everything that I wanted. I had done my job, and done it well. Jward was a solid, stable island, and the mainland hadn’t shattered into a thousand pieces in the process. Two of the best friends I’d ever have were right next to me, whole and safe—and snoring.
Well, Night was snoring. Chatta was thankfully a silent sleeper.
Life was so perfect that I decided it was sacrilegious to even consider moving and spoiling it.
So I went back to sleep.
~*~
"Garth? Garth! You're scaring me, wake up."
Persistent woman! Here I was, peacefully sleeping, and she was insistently trying to drag me out of my warm comfort. My eyes were still heavy with sleep, and it took a moment of arguing with them before I could finally get one eye open enough to glare at her. "My pants leg had better be on fire."
Chatta had been leaning over me, face tight in worry, but as I spoke, the taut lines of her face relaxed into a smile. "Well, you're back to your normal, grouchy self this morning. How do you feel?"
"Sleepy," I groaned. Surely she was satisfied that I wasn't comatose, and I could go back to sleep.
"Sorry, Garth, but you need to get up."
When that failed to get a reaction, she added hopefully, "I cooked breakfast."
Now that she mentioned it, my nose was informing me that there was something appetizing nearby. Hmmm. I took a moment to weigh the virtue of more sleep, against the mouth watering idea of food. It was close, but food trumped sleep. Grudgingly, I rolled over onto my side and propped myself up on one elbow. A large yawn, which I stifled behind one hand, threatened to crack my face open.
"You've slept well over sixteen hours," Night said in worry. "And you're still tired?"
"He worked a tremendous amount of magic," Chatta reminded him. "I would still be asleep if I tried to do something like that. Garth, come eat something. It will make you feel better."
My stomach was threatening to start chewing on my backbone if it didn't get food soon. I rolled over enough to where I could sit up. Chatta handed me a plate of thick stew, which looked really, really good. I started in on it with a smile
.
The food did help revive me. After three plates of stew, I felt awake enough to actually consider the idea of staying awake for the foreseeable future—at least until after lunch.
Since Chatta and I were both eating, Night took it upon himself to fill me in. "Doss contacted Chatta while you were sleeping. They want you to leave for Del'Hain as soon as you put the bridge in. Guin is getting impatient—he wants to leave for Chahir as soon as possible."
At this bit of news I paused, giving them both a penetrating look. "Did something happen?"
Chatta was watching me with unfathomable eyes. "Another Mage has come out of Chahir."
My breath halted in my chest. "Are you serious?!" I demanded incredulously.
She nodded once. "A Life Mage."
Life Mage…great magic! It took a moment for me to remember what I had learned in school about Life Mages. "If memory serves," I said slowly, "a Life Mage has the ability to communicate, mimic, and control any living creature."
"From a cockroach to a human being," Chatta confirmed. "They can also create life, if they feel like it; although, that is a very risky business, and they are strictly governed on what they can create."
All things considered, I could see why. I couldn't remember much more information than that—I think it was one of those points in Wizards Through the Ages that I had half-slept through. "How old is he?"
"She," Chatta gave me an arch look, "is fourteen years old."
My jaw dropped so hard it hit the ground and bounced. "A fourteen year old girl crossed out of Chahir and made it all the way to Del'Hain?" I knew precisely how dangerous that journey was—it would have been at least twice as dangerous for a lone teenage girl.
Chatta knew how dangerous that trip was, and raised a hand to stop me before I could jump to any hasty assumptions. "As I understand it, her brother came with her. They made it here safely, anyway, and the Trasdee Evondit Orra are beside themselves at this new discovery."
Yeah, I bet they were. I sat back, mulling this information over. Another Mage discovered—a completely different type of Mage, at that. And she had come out of Chahir. Guin was already irritated that people with magical ability were being hunted in Chahir. This new Life Mage showing up would be like pouring salt in an open wound.
My new King was becoming impatient, and it would behoove me to get back to the capitol as quickly as Night could carry me. "Right. I think I better tackle a bridge this morning."
"Don't push it," Chatta warned me. "You're still recovering from yesterday."
"This will be easy," I assured her. "Nothing like yesterday. And I promise to take a break if I feel like I'm overdoing it."
I think she wanted me to rest for a full day before doing anything else magically, but we had our orders, and she knew that as well as I did. So she nodded unhappily and went back to eating.
"We'll connect with a riverboat in Geol," Night continued with an idle toss of his head. "You can sleep on the way back to the capital that way, and not have to worry about trying to stay on my back."
"Good idea," I approved.
~*~
The bridge took all of an hour to build.
Working magic when I didn’t have to scry at the same time was a piece of cake. I just looked at all the loose dirt and stone that I had shaken free yesterday, told it to form a natural bridge connecting to the new island, and poof—instant bridge.
I made it four wagons wide just to be on the safe side. And for my own peace of mind, I took a moment to build up a platform for the new island to rest on, and melded it into place on the sea floor.
I didn't want to come back up here and deal with a floating island, after all.
By the time I was done, Chatta had cleaned up our campsite, saddled both her mare and Night, and was simply waiting for me.
"Is the land stable enough to do all of this yet?" she asked, one suspicious eye on our surroundings.
If this break-up had occurred naturally, it would have taken months for the land to settle right. But it hadn't been natural, and I'm not above using shortcuts to make things faster. "Yes. I made sure of that before I did anything."
That satisfied her, and she nodded. "Ready to go?"
"Of course." I accepted Night's reins from her and swung up easily onto the stallion's back. I was still feeling a little bagged out, and a nap sounded good, but I knew that in a day or two I could sleep as much as I wanted. I just had to hold out until then. As we rode away from Jward, a thought occurred to me. "Do we need to call Doss and tell him we're done?"
She shook her head briefly. "No need, I did that while you were finishing up."
Perfect.
"Doss does want us to come by the city camp before we leave for Geol," she added. "There are a lot of people that want to say goodbye before we head home."
Well, the camp was sort of on the way to Geol. It wouldn't be that much of a delay. I just hoped that the goodbyes wouldn't be the embarrassing you're-a-wonderful-Advent-Mage type.
Chapter Twenty: Introductions
"Garth!" The word "finally" was unspoken, but still clearly heard in Guin's voice. "I trust that the situation in Jward has been resolved?"
I had been back in Del'Hain all of two seconds when Val Haben appeared out of thin air, nabbed Chatta, Night and me, and then swiftly dragged us back to the Palace. I was covered in travel dirt, hungry, and wanted to do nothing more taxing than soak in a hot bath for several hours.
I took one look at Guin's impatient expression and knew that I'd be lucky to sit down for two consecutive seconds, much less escape long enough to find food. "Yes, sire, completely resolved. You have been informed of our solution?"
"Yes, you turned the city into an island and connected it with a land bridge," he replied with barely restrained impatience.
"That part is done," I informed him concisely. Short sentences seemed to be the order of the day. "All they have to do is repair any damage done to the city and move the inhabitants back in."
That satisfied him and he actually smiled for a moment. "Good. Now that you're free of that project, I want your expertise here. Chatta has informed you of the growing tension between Vonlorisen and me?"
I nodded once. Tension between the two monarchs had been all that anyone could talk about, and I had heard rumors fly while I was being swiftly escorted to Guin's study.
His eyes flashed to Chatta, standing beside me, and approval flashed across his face. "I thought as much. I plan to leave by the end of the month for Chahir. You and Chatta will accompany me. In the meantime, I want you to thoroughly educate the people coming with me in Chahiran laws, customs, and language. You'll find that most of the aristocratic class speaks at least a little Chahirese, but don't assume that they are comfortable with the language."
Well. This ought to be fun. "How many people will be accompanying us, sire?"
"I expect that there will be a hundred or so, guards included."
The man expected me to tutor a hundred people in three weeks? Enough to where they could walk into Chahir without causing any diplomatic incidents out of ignorance? Was he crazy?
He must have seen my panic because he smiled reassuringly. "I don't expect you to tutor everyone, Garth. My Jaunten will form up most of the guard, and as you know, they have their ancestor's knowledge to draw upon. They will also help tutor everyone else. There are only ten or so people that I want you to tutor, including Chatta and a few Witches and Wizards that will come along. Oh," he snapped his fingers as a thought occurred to him, "and Chatta, your father is insisting that he come along. Garth, you'll need to teach him as well."
Chatta has mentioned her family several times—as I had talked about mine—but I'd never met any of them. Her father was a Speaker far to the north of Hain, serving as a Royal Voice for Guin. Her elder sister had already graduated and was serving as a traveling Witch. They had been too far away to visit easily, and the one time they were scheduled to be in Del'Hain, I was out doing some sort of cleanup for Guin in another pa
rt of the country. I'd been told that her family was nice, and judging just from Chatta, I'm sure they were.
I was still nervous about meeting her father, though.
However, that's not something you say to your King. "Yes, sire. Is he here?"
"He's out doing something for me at the moment. I expect him back for dinner."
Right. Well, at least I had a few hours to mentally prepare myself. "Is there anything else that you need me to do?"
"A request, really. Stop by and see Trev'nor as soon as possible, would you?" the King rolled his eyes, looking very put upon. "I made the mistake of telling him that I expected you back today. He's driven us all crazy asking if you've arrived yet."
I bit back a smile. "I see. I'll visit him next, then. Anything else?"
"Stop by the school as well. Hevencoran, the newly discovered Mage, looks very…lost. I think she's shocked at how different our cultures are. It would help if she could speak with you, I think."
I understood exactly what the poor girl was going through. I had Jaunten knowledge to smooth out the rougher spots of transition—she didn't. I nodded in compassion. "I'll see her today."
Guin nodded back, satisfied. "That's everything, I think. Feel free to take at least some time to freshen up from your travels."
Was that a diplomatic way of saying "you smell, go take a bath?" Perhaps. Either way, it was a suggestion I was glad to follow. "Gladly, sire."
Chatta followed me out, and it was only when the King's study door was firmly shut behind us that we gave each other expressive looks of resignation.
"The man's a workaholic," Chatta muttered.
"Undeniably," I agreed with a sigh. And I really envied Night right now. When we arrived, he went straight to the stables to badger some stable hand into giving him a bath. Lucky brat! He'd no doubt relax the rest of the day and gorge himself on apples, while I, his esteemed Rider, was destined to be sucked into a whirlwind, like the fluff of a dandelion.
Jaunten (Advent Mage Cycle) Page 25