The Girl Born of Smoke

by Jessica Billings

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Kirian’s rough voice asked crossly, as he took Djerr’s place.

  “Kirian, wait-“ Djerr shook his head, unable to find the right words.

  Tarana narrowed her eyes and stepped forward, raising her sword. The two paused for a moment before their swords collided in a swift dance of arcs. Tarana’s grim smile was hidden by the helm as she effortlessly warded off Kirian’s attack. After several moments of fierce fighting, he stepped back, breathing hard. “Why don’t you attack?” he growled.

  Tarana didn’t answer. She stepped backwards, preparing to leave, but Kirian advanced upon her once again. After another short burst of fighting, she had had enough. Using the flat of her sword, she smacked Kirian on the side of the head, stunning him. As he knelt to the ground, trying to recover his balance, she gave Djerr one last glance, sheathed her sword, and turned to dash off. Before she had taken more than a couple steps, Djerr finally overcame his shock and ran after her. Quickly overtaking her, he grabbed her arm and whipped her around. Startled, Tarana pulled away, but his firm grasp held her in place.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked in a broken voice.

  Sweat tricked down Aurora’s nose and she itched to be able to wipe it off. Pulling off her helm with her free hand, she dropped it on the ground and rubbed her nose. The breeze ruffled her short hair as she tried to think of a reply. “Djerr, do you think we could go somewhere else if you insist on talking to me?” She gestured at the surrounding battle.

  Seeing her point, he dragged her behind a large formation of rocks at the base of the hill. The tall weathered stones leaned against each other, creating an archway that blocked out the harsh light of the sun. Standing in the shadows, Tarana shifted uncomfortably as he looked at her with a clearly pained expression on his face.

  “Aura…” he finally began.

  “My name’s Tarana. You know that,” she interrupted coldly.

  He shook his head. “Don’t give me that. You’ll always be Aurora to me.”

  She glared furiously at him. “Don’t be ridiculous. Aurora was my sister. I killed her years ago.”

  “Do you really believe that?”

  “Believe that? I was there.” Tarana gritted her teeth in anger. “Why can’t you accept who I am?”

  Djerr sighed. “Aurora, you were only a kid. You didn’t mean to do that and you know it.”

  She shook her head, her hair flipping out of place. “I knew perfectly well what I was doing.” She brushed her hair back out of her face. “You think too much of me.”

  He put a hand on her shoulder. “Aurora, I know you better than that.”

  “You don’t know me, you know Aurora!” She pulled away from him.

  “I know your memory of Aurora,” he replied sadly. “You can’t run from yourself forever. Eventually, you need to forgive yourself.”

  She blinked. “Just leave me alone, Djerr,” she said tiredly. “You have no idea what I’ve done.” Trying not to think about what he had said, Tarana turned and began to walk away. This time, Djerr didn’t try to stop her. As she took the last step back into the battlefield, she paused for a moment, realizing she would probably never see him again.

  She stepped out of the archway, into the sunlight.

  And heard a commotion erupt from behind her. Whirling around, she peered back at where she had left Djerr, just in time to see one of the Wizard's soldiers charge through the rocky landscape toward him. Coming from behind, the man let out a yell as he closed the short distance. Djerr turned toward the attacker, sword in hand, but not quickly enough. Watching in horror, Tarana began running back toward him, drawing her own sword in the process.

  All her previous thoughts vanished as she realized she couldn’t reach him in time. She flew across the ground, desperately trying to move faster. Tripping over the loose rocks and trying to keep her footing, she screamed at the man, trying to stop him, but he was focused on his victim. Djerr turned around just in time for the soldier to plunge his blade into Djerr's middle. The thin armor gave way and he stumbled backwards, his own sword dropping from his fingers.

  Still screaming, Tarana slashed at the soldier, tears of anger inhibiting her vision. Caught up in his previous kill, the man was unable to pull his sword from Djerr's body in time to defend himself. His lifeless body dropped to the ground. Sobbing, she fell to her knees next to Djerr, who knelt on all fours. Blood spilled through his armor and he slowly toppled onto his side as his arms gave way. Struggling to breathe, he gave her a scared look before he closed his eyes.

  Roughly wiping the tears from her face, Tarana took a deep breath and ripped the damaged armor from his body, throwing it aside. The blood streamed down his bare chest, creating red rivers over the tan skin of his body. Focusing, she took a deep breath and tensed every muscle in her body. A buzzing sound grew louder in her ears until it was the only thing she could hear. She squeezed her eyes shut, focused on only one thing: Djerr.

  She saw him eating a pear, the sweet juice dripping down his chin, as he grinned and offered to show her around Kain. She saw him running just ahead of her, weaving through the meadow, arms outstretched as he glanced back at her and grinned. She felt his head resting against hers as they lay on the forest floor, looking up at the trees swaying overhead. She heard the soft tapping on her window as he peered through, seeing if she wanted to come out. But over it all, she heard the sound of him gasping for breath, the life bleeding out of him.

  Every ounce of strength draining from her body, Tarana groaned. Doubly exhausted from the fighting and what she had just done, her limbs abruptly gave way and she collapsed over Djerr. She struggled to open her eyes, but found she was too weak. She let herself relax and still thinking of him, passed out.

  Outside, the battle had come to a sudden halt. Soldiers from both sides paused, their eyes turned toward the pile of rocks where Djerr and Tarana lay hidden. The fight had been raging when a dim glow of light began emanating from the rocks. Confused, the soldiers nearest the stone formation had paused in their battle, looking for the cause of the sudden burst of light.

  Growing slowly brighter, the light soon became too bright to look at. The soldiers nearest the rocks soon had to retreat from the source as it grew so bright that it shone right through their eyelids, temporarily blinding. Soon, even soldiers at the farthest reaches of the battlefield shielded their eyes from the white light. As the battle ground to a halt, the armies regrouped, confused and bewildered. The valley shone like a sea of pure glimmering light.

  Shading their eyes and squinting, the soldiers nervously discussed what was happening while they waited. After several moments, the light suddenly grew to a blinding intensity, overwhelming everyone in the area. When their vision finally began to return, the swirls and speckles of color fading back into the gray landscape, there was a mad rush toward the rocky outcrop where the light had begun. Soldiers from both sides ran in the same direction, trying to be the first to see what had happened.

  Djerr awoke to the sound of shouts echoing off the stone faces on either side of him. Confused, he realized his armor had been thrown to the side and Tarana's head was resting on his chest, her eyes closed. Sitting quickly upright, he saw the ground around them was covered in sticky red blood, slowly soaking into the loose dirt.

  Fearfully, he brushed Tarana’s hair back from her face, but she smiled slightly and he saw she was breathing deeply, seemingly asleep. “What'd you do to your hair?” he murmured softly, running the choppy ends between his fingers. Hearing the voices grow closer, he slid out from underneath her, carefully setting her head down on the ground.

  Stepping out from the shadowed archway, Djerr was met by all the remaining members of the Wizard's and Citizens' armies. When they saw him, the Wizard's soldiers immediately let out a deafening cheer and surrounded him, lifting him up. Speechless and overwhelmed with confusion, he tried to squirm away, back toward Tarana, but they swiftly carried him away, their many arms lifting him as
one.

  From his vantage point, he saw the hordes of Citizens' soldiers looking at each other in hesitation, slowly backing off. As he finally managed to get his feet back down on the ground, the crowd continued to engulf him, sweeping him toward the nearby town. With a final glance in the direction he had come from, all he saw were the exuberant faces of the Wizard's soldiers. Their voices overwhelmed his protests as they pushed and urged him forward. As they walked across the ground littered with the dead and dying people, Djerr finally began to understand what it was the Wizard's soldiers were shouting:

  The Wizard Is Reborn

  Chapter 10

  Half-conscious and sprawled on the ground, Tarana was only half-aware of the events surrounding her. She felt Djerr slip out from under her and her own body shoved aside, her armor clanking against the ground. The yells and shouts around her grew more numerous and when she opened her eyes a slit, she saw boots moving dangerously close to her face.

  Vaguely hoping that no one stepped on her, she closed her eyes and felt her mind shift. Becoming more aware of the details instead, she felt the sticky dirt clinging to her cheek, its grittiness clinging to her eyelashes. Her heel hurt slightly and she imagined the blister forming inside her boot. She had begun to lose feeling in her arm, which was spread awkwardly underneath her body. Feeling slightly restless, she tried to move, but found herself paralyzed. With great concentration, she managed to wiggle her fingers, but as she did so, a sound like rushing wind filled her ears and she felt herself falling.

  With each exhaled breath, she sank further down and the air felt thick and heavy around her. Realizing occasionally that time had passed that she had no memory for, she came to the conclusion that she was slipping in and out of consciousness. Her mind grew cloudy and she began to forget where she was or what she was doing there. Thoughts slipped in and out of her mind and she found it difficult to remember what she had been thinking about just moments before.

  “You're back,” she heard a man say unexcitedly.

  Briefly wondering if it was important and deciding it probably was, Tarana opened her eyes. She found herself lying on her back with small rocks jabbing into her skin. Overhead, a cavernous ceiling hung over her, dripping water. A fat drop splashed on her forehead, splattering across her face and she woke up almost instantly. Before she could even remembered where she should be, she knew this wasn't it. Quickly sitting up, she rubbed the back of a hand across her face and looked around.

  A warm glow of light filled the area, although there seemed to be no entrances or exits from the solid rock cavern. Glancing down, she realized there were no shadows either. It was almost as if the cave itself was emitting light. As she looked around, she noticed a man sitting nearby, watching her intently. He sat upon a large boulder, one of the many that filled the room. She recognized his silvery-blue eyes and stark white eyebrows instantly: it was the man she had seen after the fight with Prisca, only a couple weeks ago.

  Feeling slightly woozy, she stood and glared over at him. “You again! What are you doing here?”

  He raised a bushy eyebrow. “You don't even know where 'here' is, do you?”

  She ignored him. “Who are you? Why do I keep seeing you?”

  “That's an interesting choice of words,” he noted. “Not, 'Why are you following me?' or 'Why do I keep bumping into you?' but 'Why do I keep seeing you?' Do you think you're imagining me?”

  “Well the only two times I've seen you were when I was unconscious,” she growled. “And I know I wasn't in a cave when I fell asleep.”

  He laughed out loud. “You don't trust your own sanity, do you?” He laughed louder when he saw Tarana reach for her sword, only to find it missing, along with the rest of her armor. “You'll have no use for that here. Now sit down,” he motioned with his hand, “and calm yourself. You're not imagining me. My name's Rupert. I'm here to teach you to control your magic.”

  Tarana froze, not making any move to sit down. “I don't know what you're talking about,” she said, narrowing her eyes.

  He shrugged. “Well, I didn't think you were ready yet. We'll be in touch again soon, once you're ready.” He made another motion with his hand and Tarana suddenly felt lightheaded. She stumbled forward, her knee hitting the rocky ground hard.

  “Wait!” she yelled, but when she blinked, she was lying on the ground in the dark, with a fresh, cool wind sweeping her hair in front of her face. Cursing, she rubbed her sore arm, which had been spread awkwardly under her body. She climbed to her feet, looking around her. It was exceedingly quiet and dark, the only light coming from the gibbous moon above her, glowing through the slightly overcast sky. She could see Ralinos and the stronghold in the distance, shining in the darkness. Seeing no other alternative, she sighed and started the long walk back.

  Bodies still littered the ground, their expressions hollowed by the pale moonlight. As her eyes adjusted to the night, she saw several other shapes moving in the night, slowly meandering through the valley, occasionally leaning down. She guessed they were looking for missing friends. In the far reaches of the valley, farthest from the stronghold, she thought she saw a few pinpricks of light, but she turned away from them and quickly made her way back to the stronghold, giving the others a wide berth.

  Ralinos was immersed in activity. As she reached the outskirts of the town, she saw groups of the poorest villagers huddled in groups, talking quietly. A great din of noise was audible in the distance and as the stronghold rose up in front of her, she was enveloped by masses of people in the streets, dancing, singing, and shouting at each other. The ground crunched beneath her boots and she glanced down to find a layer of broken glass lining the street. Everyone held a bottle of alcohol and as she passed the groups of people, she irritably had to squeeze out from under arms thrown around her and duck as a bottle was thrown near her head, spraying alcohol.

  The streets only became more packed as she grew closer to the stronghold. Her body still weak with exhaustion and her head pounding, she managed to slowly and forcefully squeeze her way into the stronghold's courtyard. Here, she thought at first that a great number of people had finally been overcome by the drunken revelry and passed out in the grass, but as she stepped over the bodies, she realized they were injured Wizard's soldiers from the battle. Many of them were either dead or sleeping, but other moaned, clutching bandaged limbs to their body. Others rushed from person to person, bandaging and holding bottles of liquid to the injured soldiers' lips.

  Hearing voices talking, barely audible over the celebration just beyond the wall, Tarana turned and noticed two more figures sitting on the steps up to the door of the stronghold, apparently surveying over the medical team. She walked in their direction, listening to their conversation as she did so.

  “Look, I've sent out everyone I can to look for her body,” a man's voice said, sounding disgruntled. “Have you ever considered that maybe she's with the rest of them, celebrating in town?”

  “She isn't there.” Tarana instantly recognized Roxanne's voice and she slowed her pace slightly. “I know she wouldn't be there. Look, how do you know your guys are even out there, looking for her? Maybe I should go myself.” There was something quicker about Roxanne's voice, a tone she had never heard before.

  “No, she'll turn up.” She recognized the man's voice now as belonging to Kendall. “Would you just relax? Why is she so important to you, anyway? There are others missing from your group too, you know.” He seemed to have finally noticed Tarana approaching them. “What do you-”

  “Can I go up to my room?” Tarana asked, feeling strangely awkward and not looking at Roxanne. “I'm tired.”

  “Tarana?!” Roxanne sprang to her feet and looked down at her. “Where the hell have you been?”

  “I told you she would turn up,” Kendall muttered.

  “I guess I was knocked unconscious,” Tarana partially lied, still avoiding Roxanne's stare.

  “Come on.” Roxanne jumped down from the steps and grabbed Tarana's wrist. “
We need to talk.” She dragged Tarana into the stronghold, leaving a glowering Kendall behind. The building was deathly silent and Roxanne's quick steps echoed loudly off the stone walls. Only a few torches had been left burning, casting long, flickering shadows around them. Roxanne led her up to Tarana's own room, shutting the door firmly behind them. She sat down on the bed, pulling Tarana down beside her before finally releasing her wrist.

  “Look, I'm really glad you're alright,” Roxanne started, her curly hair lit from behind by the moonlight streaming through the window, leaving her face in shadow, “but we need to talk. Have you heard who the new wizard is?”

  Tarana froze, her gaze fixated on the ground. “No.”

  Roxanne sighed. “Your old friend, Djerr. Tarana, I don't know what's going on, but I have a strong feeling you're involved somehow. You've got to level with me. Djerr's insisting he has no idea what they're talking about and you mysteriously turned up after missing for half the night. If I know what's going on, I can try and help you two. Now, I know he was fighting on the other side, but I haven't told anyone else yet. However, if he keeps insisting that he knows nothing, things are not going to go well. The ones in charge are not going to let him disappoint the entire army.”

  Tarana finally looked up to Roxanne's face. “Can I talk to him?”

  Pausing for a second, Roxanne sighed. “Alright, come on.” They left the room and wove deeper into the dark tangle of hallways that made up the stronghold, Roxanne in the lead. Without really paying attention to where they were going, Tarana found herself in a completely unfamiliar area as they stopped in front of a door, just one in a line of many identical doors.