When we were awake and dressed, the hours flew by. After cooking (I had to light the fire with magic), eating, and washing the dishes (Doran showed me how to draw water from the air around me, but I needed to use some of his soap), we started cleaning the house. I was not permitted to use a ladder to clear away the cobwebs. After several unsuccessful attempts at summoning a small gust of air, I only succeeded in showering our heads with dust. Learning control of the elements was much more difficult than it seemed, and they would clearly not be mastered in a day.
Later, Doran took me back outside and I spent a rather unpleasant hour dodging more flying objects. Rapunzel took unnatural delight in watching me try and protect myself from fire missiles, and I swore my hair was singed at the edges. When I pouted, she laughed at my doleful expression and told me to keep practicing. I did not have time to offer a rejoinder because Doran threw a pinecone at my head without magic, causing me to cry out, more startled than hurt. Both of them took the opportunity to laugh at me.
By the time the old wizard was finished with me, I was exhausted. Rapunzel, on the other hand, seemed cheerful and alert. After sitting in a tower for six years with few ways to occupy her time, she found the work and the change of scenery refreshing. I suspected that her secret had also weighed on her.
After dinner (which I was also responsible for preparing), when I finally had a moment to myself, I slipped outside. It was colder than I was used to and I wrapped my arms around my shoulders, trying to conserve heat. The sun was beginning to sink behind the gently sloping hills, leaving behind orange streaks in the purples and blues of the night sky. The stars were still hidden, but the moon, surrounded by a pale gray ring, had already risen.
Lowering my gaze from the sky, I enjoyed the noise of the restless little brook that ran past the cottage. Other nighttime sounds were already coming from the trees, and so I was not too disturbed when I heard something rustling in the undergrowth behind Doran’s house. I turned my head towards the noise, but saw nothing unusual.
Just as I was about to head back inside, a flash of bright color caught the corner of my eye. I turned to look again. This time, two hovering, ghostly lights shone out at me from somewhere in the foliage. Surprised, I took a step back as the twin lights winked out. Keeping very still and quiet, I watched for them again.
Heartbeats later, the lights returned. This time, I realized what they were – a pair of large, shining yellow eyes. They were close enough for me to recognize the reflective coating. They were almost like an owl’s eyes, or maybe a cat’s, but far too large. The back of my neck prickled as the glowing eyes closed again, vanishing in the shadowy undergrowth. Swallowing nervously, I made a quick decision. With a firm tug on the door’s handle, I hurried back inside.
Beside the warm, glowing fire in the kitchen, I felt slightly foolish for running away. The eyes probably belonged to some animal, perhaps a large dog… “Ailynn, are you all right? Your cheeks are flushed.” I jumped, flinching at the touch of Rapunzel’s hand on my shoulder. When she realized that she had startled me, I tried to reassure her with a smile.
“I am fine. I saw something outside…” Before I could describe the ghostly, burning lights, Rapunzel’s mouth fell open in shock, her eyes widening as she pointed at something over my shoulder. Turning around, I almost fell off of my stool in surprise. Pressed against the windowpane was a leering, distorted face, peeling brown skin stretched tight over its skull. Behind curled black lips were two rows of pointed gray fangs. Set in the middle of its head were two shining, wicked yellow eyes.
…
Chapter Two
“Stay still,” came a low, reassuring voice from the direction of the bedroom. Doran was standing in the doorway, staring at the eerie face in the window. Then, just as quickly as it had appeared, the creature was gone, swallowed by the darkness outside.
“W-what was that?” Rapunzel asked, working moisture into her dry lips and glancing around the room with a frightened expression on her face. I did the same, half expecting to see monsters hiding in every corner.
“A Kerak,” I said. Thankfully, I had never met one up close, but the sight of those skulking, twisted creatures, even from a distance was not easily forgotten. They had prowled in the darkness while the Queen’s army ransacked and burned towns, picking off the villagers as they tried to escape into the night. They hated fire and usually went in ahead of the black-armored mercenaries, accompanied by the large, hulking Shadowkin. In addition to destroying the village buildings, carrying fire helped the army to control the unnatural beasts.
“Ailynn,” Doran ordered, “bring candles, seven of them. Go now.”
I hurried around the room, scooping one candle from the center of the table and heading back in to Doran’s bedroom to search for more. I tried to remember what I knew about the Kerak. They were made from dust, clay, and the ashes of a dead person’s heart. They did not like sunlight. They did not like fire. Perhaps that was why Doran wanted the candles.
I rummaged through a few drawers and the noise resulted in a gasp and low, murmuring voices from the main room. After what felt like an hour, but was probably only three minutes, I had found seven white, stumpy candles of various sizes. They were homemade, nothing fancy, but they would do. I carried them back into the room and gave the armful to Doran, who was waiting in front of the fireplace. Rapunzel stared nervously at the windows, watching to make sure that the ghastly face did not return.
After lighting the candles, Doran turned his back to the fireplace and arranged them in a semicircle, placing a barrier between the three of us and the rest of the room. The scent of magic was unmistakable and I wondered if he had done something to prepare the candles for spellwork beforehand. I did not have time to ask, because the dancing, teardrop-shaped flames flared a bright, blazing blue for a brief second, stretching up higher than natural in seven small pillars of flame. My eyes grew very large and I forgot my questions. The taste of mint bit the underside of my tongue.
Looking at me in awe, Rapunzel was the first to speak. “What was that?”
“A barrier,” I said. I had come across passages in Mogra’s library that discussed spells of protection, but I had never read about this particular enchantment before. Its simplicity surprised me and I suspected that it was very old. As a student of magic, I was fascinated beneath the layer of fear that seeped into our throats like a cold mist.
“Seven candles.” Both of us turned to look at Doran. He stared directly into my eyes. “Seven is a powerful number, Ailynn.” Like the number three, the number seven had some mystical properties, which was why it was incorporated into magical activities so often.
Before I could ask more about the spell, the simple wooden door shuddered on its hinges. Outside, something was pounding against it with a good deal of force. Rapunzel flinched and my breath caught. I was confident that a powerful wizard like Doran could handle a single Kerak without too much trouble, but what if there were more outside? What if Mogra had sent them? She might even be close behind, biding her time…
With a sharp crack, the door began to splinter, buckling against its frame. I winced, looking at Doran for advice. “They are afraid of fire,” he reminded me. “Use that, like when you were cooking our meal.” Theoretically, I knew that I could conjure fire and balls of light, but doing so in the face of an enemy was entirely different than practicing in relative safety.
Another low groan came from the wood, followed by a heavy thud. This time, splintering and scratching sounds accompanied it. I pictured the Kerak using its scythe-like claws to tear into the flesh of the door. I was sure that it could shatter the glass of the window with less difficulty, but Kerak were not intelligent, only cunning. Our scent was probably stronger near the doorway.
Finally, a crack appeared in the center of the door, followed by slivers of pulp as the dead creature tore through the wood with its caws. Once it had broken through, the rest did not take long. Weakened, the door fell apart in the middle, leaving a jagg
ed-edged hole.
It was almost graceful, the way that the Kerak twisted its thin, bony shoulders through the hole. Like a cat, once its ugly gray head was through the opening, the rest of its body slithered through. I felt rather than saw Rapunzel shiver beside me as she caught a glimpse of the thing’s long, sharp claws in the moving light of the fire.
As it finished forcing its way through the door, the Kerak noticed the blazing fireplace and the half-circle of white candles. Hissing its displeasure, it started to back away, black lips peeling over the roots of its gray teeth. Now that it was not prowling in the darkness, its eyes had lost their yellow, translucent night-glow. Instead, they were black and shone wickedly like a small beetle.
Clinging to the shadows, it loped back and forth in an agitated line, trying to decide whether the flesh of three humans was worth braving the candles and the fireplace. Finally, the thing made its decision. The lean muscles in its twisted legs rippled, launching it forward in a surprising leap that made me lift my hands to shield my face. Its thin, outstretched arms stopped, halted in the air above us by some kind of invisible barrier. Howling in frustration, the mud-creature pulled back its curved claws, rolling its shoulder and preparing for another swipe. It, too, was blocked by the row of candles.
I felt sparks crawling beneath the strips of flesh in my arms as the candles flared high again, glowing with a blinding, brilliant blue light. The Kerak stumbled back with a high, gurgling scream of pain.
Not wasting any more time, Doran waited until the creature was clearly disoriented and raised his hand, sending the blue columns of flame surging towards the Kerak. It howled in agony as the fire crawled over its body, consuming its limbs and scattering dust and flakes of white ash across the floor.
With a low flicker, the candles went out. I glanced at Doran, feeling like I should thank him but unsure what to say. Instead, a long pause hung between the three of us as we stared at the pile of dust and ash in the middle of the floor.
Doran broke the silence first. “Rapunzel, find clothes, food, water, and packs. Ailynn, you will collect the herbs. Take some for treating cuts and puncture wounds, and anything an expecting woman is needin’. If there are more of the Queen’s creatures here, we should be leaving now, tonight.”
Rapunzel was the first to cross the line of unlit candles. Making a wide circle around the mess on the floor, she walked briskly into the bedroom to rummage for whatever we needed. I did not like the idea of traveling again so soon, but I liked the thought of staying here and waiting for more Kerak, and perhaps Shadowkin, even less.
Since I was already in the kitchen, I began opening cupboards, unsure where Doran kept his herbs and plants. I certainly did not want to check outside and take any from the garden. After moving around several mugs and sorting through cooking spices, I found some of what I was looking for. Cramproot and Flaxseed oil would act as muscle relaxants or sedatives if any of us were injured or Rapunzel had problems with the growing child.
Once I found the herbs, it was not difficult to locate materials for cleaning and dressing wounds. Doran’s cupboards were well organized, despite the almost haphazard appearance of the rest of the house. I had no idea where we were going or how long the journey would take, but I wanted to be prepared for anything. Finished gathering what I needed, I went into the bedroom to help Rapunzel.
“I have no idea why he has clothes that fit us,” she said when she heard me come in behind her. Somehow, she knew that it was me without turning around. “Is he a seer like your friend?”
“Cate is a shaman,” I corrected automatically. Rapunzel sighed, but she was used to my intellectual attitude about magical words. “And no, I very much doubt it. Doran is a wizard.”
“Well, I’m grateful anyway. Here, put whatever you found in this pack.” She handed it to me, and I found places for the bottles of oil and pouches of dried plants in protected places amidst the layers of cloth. Unlike me, Rapunzel seemed to have no fear of leaving Doran’s cottage. Perhaps it was because she had not seen very much of the world. She had always wanted to travel. I decided not to ruin her good mood by reminding her of the possible danger. One of us might as well enjoy themselves a little.
It did not take us long to pack. Between the three of us, we assembled all of the necessities quickly – food, water, clothes, medicine, and a few other things. But before we left, Doran gave me three strange objects to carry in my bag. “Here, Ailynn,” he said, calling me over while Rapunzel tried to find room in her pack for even more traveling biscuits. I could not explain why Doran had enough long-lasting types of food for three people so readily available. Perhaps Rapunzel was right. I could not help wondering if he had known that we were going somewhere in advance.
“Yes?”
He held out his hand, swollen and arthritic at the knuckles. Gripped in his fingers was a little black comb. I took it, surprised at the cool texture. It felt a little like ivory, but somehow I knew that it was made of something different. Even though I could not feel magic coming from it, I also suspected that the object was enchanted. Why else would the old wizard be giving me a comb?
“Dinna use it unless you need it,” he said, confirming my suspicions. If you are in danger, throw it over your shoulder and you will be protected.” I could not help the curious expression that came over my face, but he did not seem to blame me for my skepticism. Who ever heard of a comb being used for magical protection? Swords or other weapons, certainly. Rings and pendants were also common. But a comb? The idea seemed a little silly. Nevertheless, I knew that it was bad luck to refuse a gift, especially an enchanted one, and I put it in my pack.
“Thank you,” I told him. Oh well, at least Rapunzel’s hair would not become too unmanageable now that we had a comb.
“Take this, too.” I looked up from the pack, which I had been about to close, and was surprised to see Doran holding out a second comb. This one was brown, and it was clearly made of smooth wood. It looked and felt just as unremarkable as the first. I studied it and put it in the pack with the first.
“Do I throw that one behind me, too?” I asked jokingly, but he only nodded. I thought that it seemed a waste to discard such a nice thing, but promised to obey Doran’s instructions. At the very least, I could use it to tame Rapunzel’s mane of long, wild blonde hair. Reminding myself that I needed to trim the untamed locks as soon as I got the chance, I started to close my pack, which was getting very full, but Doran stopped me.
“This is the last thing,” he said, drawing a blue scarf from his pack and giving it to me. This time, I chewed on the corner of my mouth to prevent a laugh. A scarf? I had never heard of enchanted beauty accessories before, and this was bordering on the ridiculous. Still, a magical object was a magical object, and I would be a fool to refuse it. I knew enough fairy stories to take what was offered and keep my smart mouth closed.
It was a plain looking thing, as scarves went, but well made. For some reason, I suspected that it was very old. Since there was no longer very much room in my pack, I wrapped it around my neck instead. “Where did you get this, Doran?” I caressed the threads. “Are you an Enchanter as well as a Wizard?”
“No. This is an old gift. Now, you are needin’ it more than me.”
“Thank you,” I said again. Even though it was a very strange gift, I meant it. Although my mother was now an insane and deadly shaper that probably wanted to kill me, she had raised me with enough manners to thank someone for a gift.
“Dinna use this one until the last possible moment, unless you are seeing no other way out,” he told me. “It is a last resort.”
“I promise,” I said, hoping that the time to use the gifts would never come even though I was very curious. If I was lucky, I would never find out what hidden powers of protection they carried.
…
Chapter Three:
We left as soon as the first rays of sunlight peeked over the soft, blurred edges of the hilltops. Since the Queen’s creatures liked to travel at night, w
e did not run in to any other Kerak, Shadowkin, enchanted Wyr, or mercenaries, but the lone scout that we had already encountered kept us glancing over our shoulders for most of the next day. My mood was sullen and fearful, but Rapunzel seemed content to travel on foot despite her condition. I tried to convince myself that the exercise was good for her, but my protective instincts rebelled at her forced exertion.
With Mogra and her beasts looking for us, I felt almost claustrophobic even though we were outdoors. The gradual shifting of the landscape that took place as the day wore on did not help. The hills became steeper, and dirt was slowly replaced by reddish-brown rock. The horizon was also changing and I could see the clear silhouette of mountains in the distance. They were not the familiar shape of the Rengast, but the jagged edges of Catyr Bane, a set of canyons and cliffsides that stood between western Amendyr and Liarre territory.
“Are we leaving the Kingdom?” I asked Doran several candlemarks after stopping for lunch. Between the three of us, the old wizard tired the fastest. To my surprise, Rapunzel seemed fit and almost cheerful. The exercise suited her, and I had already noticed a subtle darkening of her complexion, the result of several hours in the sun.
“Aye,” he said, gesturing west in the general direction that we were heading. “We are going to the city of Ardu on the border. It is not their capital, but the Liarre Council is meeting there.” Mogra’s library was home to several books on history and geography, so I had some general knowledge of the city and its surroundings, but I certainly could not have found the way without Doran’s help.
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