The Girl Born of Smoke

by Jessica Billings

  Pulling a key out of her pocket, Roxanne carefully unlocked and swung it open, revealing Djerr standing with his back to Tarana and Roxanne. Three Wizard's soldiers she had never seen before were sitting in separate chairs across from Djerr. They rose as the door opened and nodded toward Roxanne. Djerr looked over his shoulder and spun around when he saw who it was, but stayed silent as one of the soldiers put a firm hand on his shoulder.

  “Officer Roxanne?” one of the men questioned.

  “Could you give us a moment with the boy?” Roxanne asked sharply.

  One of the other soldiers, a woman, glanced at Tarana for the first time and raised an eyebrow. “Do you have the authority to order us around, Roxanne?”

  Roxanne sighed. “I'm not ordering you, Bea, but could you please give us a moment alone? This girl claims to know the kid and I want to see if she's telling the truth without,” she shot a glare at the other two soldiers, “a crowd listening in.”

  Bea gave a short laugh and nodded. “Alright Roxanne, you can have a few minutes.” She motioned toward the door with her head and followed the two men out the door after Roxanne and Tarana stepped in. Still hanging back, Tarana shifted uneasily as she felt the soldiers' harsh gazes on her lowered eyes.

  When the door finally clicked behind them, she remained rooted to the spot, but hesitantly looked up at Djerr. When their eyes met, he rushed forward and swept her up in his arms. She felt his warm breath on her ear as he whispered, “I'm sorry Aura, I didn't know what to tell them, but I haven't told them a thing.”

  She pushed him away and stood back. “Please Djerr,” she said quietly, “I'm not Aurora. I can't talk to you if you won't even call me by my name.”

  Hesitating for a moment, Djerr finally nodded. “I think you put too much value on a name, but I understand, Tara.”

  A smile broke out on Tarana's face and she started to really laugh for the first time in months. Grinning, Djerr glanced at Roxanne, smirking near the door and gave a short wave. “Heya Roxi, it's been awhile. Glad to see you're not trying to kill us this time.”

  Roxanne shrugged. “Glad to see you're not running around with those idiots any longer,” she returned in a low voice, suddenly looking more serious, “or are you?”

  “Look, he's not the one they're looking for,” Tarana said toward Roxanne. “What's going to happen to him?”

  “Tarana, I don't know if you were conscious at the time, but in the middle of the battle today, there was a long burst of light that nearly blinded everyone in the area. It was impossible to look directly at it. It was the most amazing thing I have ever seen in my entire life and when the light finally faded, everyone agreed it had come from one direction. When they reached the area, they found Djerr. He was the only one alive and there were apparently dead bodies all around him, although he held no weapon and wore no armor. There is no doubt in anyone's mind that he's the one. The wizard everyone has been fighting for.” She paused. “At least, no doubt in most people's minds. I, however, have a few questions for him-”

  “I'm not a wizard,” Djerr interrupted. “If I was, why would I have been fighting against my own army? Why would I have hidden my abilities all of this time?”

  Roxanne waved a hand, brushing his protests aside. “There are plenty of reasons for that. What I don't understand is why you were alone, without your armor or weapons and where that light came from.”

  Silent, Djerr shrugged.

  “Roxanne, is there any way you could get them to let Djerr go?” Tarana asked quickly.

  “And why are you so positive he's not the wizard?” Roxanne turned toward Tarana. “Don't you find the circumstances a bit suspicious?” She sighed again when neither of them answered. “Alright. I know we've been fighting on opposite sides for awhile, Djerr. And Tarana, you’ve never really seemed to be fighting for anything in particular. I know you well enough by now to realize that you don't believe in the same objectives I do, you merely parrot our beliefs back to us without any real devotion. I honestly don't know why you continue to stay here, but that's not the real issue right now. I'm coming to you two as a friend, someone you've known for a long time. I'm stepping out of my role as an officer in the Wizard's Army and I swear whatever you tell me will never leave this room. I just want to get you out of this mess you're in. So please, tell me what's going on here. What are you two mixed up in?”

  Djerr shot a glance toward Tarana, who stared intently at Roxanne. “I'm the- I'm just worried about Djerr, Roxanne,” she finally said. “I don't know what's going on, but I'm certain he isn't the wizard and I don't want him to be stuck in this stupid room.”

  Looking extremely displeased, Roxanne abruptly turned away from them both. “I've done all I can by bringing you here, Tarana,” she said in a low voice. “I'm risking my job to let you talk to each other and you're wasting the opportunity to do anything of value. I'll give you one last chance. Level with me before you make a huge mistake.”

  Tarana took a deep breath and slowly shook her head. “I told you Roxanne, I don't know anything. That's all I have to say.” She felt Djerr's hand rest reassuringly on her back as she stared at the back of Roxanne's head.

  “Fine,” Roxanne said sharply. “Then we're wasting our time here,” she opened the door and left the room, calling to the soldiers down the hall.

  Djerr took the opportunity to quickly step forward, directly next to Tarana. “You need to be careful,” he hissed in her ear.

  She rolled her eyes. “I'm not the one locked in a room. Look, I'll try and get you out of here.”

  He grabbed her shoulder and turned her toward him. “I think you should leave this place,” he said hurriedly as they heard footsteps nearing the room.

  Shrugging out of his grasp, she stepped back. “Stop overreacting. Nobody here knows. Roxanne's suspicious, but she'll never say a word. I'll get you out, don't worry.” She turned away from his pleading look and dashed out of the room to catch up with Roxanne. As she slipped out the door, she tried not to meet the gaze of the three soldiers who studied her intently as they re-entered the room.

  Roxanne ignored her during the entire walk back to Tarana's room. When they finally arrived, Roxanne paused and glanced at her. Before she could say anything, Tarana slipped into her room and stared at Roxanne through the open door. “If you're going to start interrogating me again, I'll tell you right now I don't know anything so you can stop asking.”

  But Roxanne simply shook her head. “I wish you the best, Tarana. You're on your own now.” With that, she turned and walked away, down the dark and silent hallway. Feeling terribly alone, Tarana sat down on her bed, wondering how she could ever rescue Djerr when she couldn't even find her way back to his room without Roxanne.

  Kicking off her boots and slowly unbuckling her armor, she stripped off her clothes and walked over to her window, the stone floor cold beneath her bare feet. A breeze carried with it the roar of the crowd and the hair raised on her arms. Leaning her head out the open window, Tarana watched the mobs of people who had no idea what they were celebrating.

  By the time she got to sleep, the sun had begun to rise. The celebrations had finally quieted down when she woke up to an overcast sky and rain pattering through her open window. Still feeling exhausted, she rolled out of bed and tiredly closed the window. More than a few soldiers had collapsed in the streets below.

  Hoping the rain might help wake her up, she slowly dressed and headed downstairs, finding more soldiers slumped over in the hallways, none of them conscious. In the courtyard, she found considerably fewer injured soldiers in the soggy grass, but whether that meant they had died or recovered, she wasn’t sure and tried not to think about.

  As she walked down the street, the rain quickly increased to a downpour. Water streamed down her face, dripping from her nose and chin. She passed several groups of soldiers still drinking in groups, huddled under the overhang of the buildings, but they seemed much more solemn than the previous night. Wiping the rain from her eyes, she saw
townspeople on the edge of town crouched underneath the tarps that had been strung out, a few feet off the ground.

  The mud grew thick as she left town, sucking and clinging to her boots and slowing her steps. She paused just outside the town, feeling herself slowly sink downward. The valley before her was blanketed in rain and she squinted, trying to see farther. Unable to make anything out through the rain, she let out a slow sigh as she wondered if Kirian was out there somewhere.

  Wiping away the wet strands of hair plastered to her forehead, she cocked her head when she heard someone walking quickly up behind her, barely audible over the roar of the rain. She started to turn, trying to free her boots from the mud, but suddenly felt something crash against her head. Stunned, the force knocked her down and she fell to the ground, the cold mud oozing between her fingers. She turned her head to see what had hit her and didn't even feel the second blow as she collapsed, unconscious.

  When she opened her eyes again, her head was throbbing and she felt sick. She gradually became aware of each of her limbs again, and found that she was lying on her side. The ground beneath her was painfully hard and she felt rocks jabbing her side, even through her clothes. As her eyes began to focus, she heard a man speak from behind her and she quickly shut them again, trying to keep her breathing steady.

  “This is the one. We think,” he said.

  “You think?” another man replied, sounding displeased. “Is she the one or not?”

  There was a shuffling sound and she suddenly felt her shoulder being shaken roughly. “Tarana?” the second man asked.

  “What do you want?” she mumbled, curling into a tighter ball. “My head hurts. Why are you bothering me?”

  “You're Tarana, right?”

  “Yes, I'm Tarana.” She opened her eyes and sat up, blinking blearily as she turned to face the two men. Neither of them were wearing armor, but they were armed with swords. Contrary to how they sounded, they didn't have the scruffy, tattered look of thieves or bandits, but instead looked clean-shaven and muscular. She narrowed her eyes. “Who are you?”

  The men shared a celebratory look and the taller one nodded. “Alright, let's get to work then.” He reached down and yanked Tarana to her feet. Stumbling to catch her footing, she tried to whirl out of his grasp, but he had a firm hold on the back of her shirt. Her annoyance quickly changed to fear. “Who are you guys?” she repeated.

  The other man grabbed her wrists and she twisted one hand away and turning, kicked the other man. Catching both off guard, she managed to free her other hand, and wrench herself away. She dashed to the other side of the room she found herself in and spotted the door. Yanking the handle, she realized it was locked just as one of the men tackled her, smashing her head against the wall.

  Stunned again, she weakly tried to resist them, but they firmly tied her hands behind her back and hauled her to her feet again. Stumbling as they shoved her toward the door, one of the men unlocked the door and opened it. She was pushed out into the dimly lit hallway, where she saw several more men standing around. They grinned when they saw her, but said nothing. At the end of the hallway, she was shoved into another room, this one twice the size of the first. “What are you doing?” she asked, not really expecting an answer.

  “Alright,” the second man said and Tarana heard the click of the door locking. “Let's do this.” She was whirled around to face the men and was instantly met with the thick sound of a fist on soft skin. Collapsing to the ground with her head buzzing, it took her a moment to realize that she had been punched. The pain flooded over her face and she tasted blood in her mouth.

  “What are you doing?” she choked. “Is this an interrogation? Because it might help if you asked me a question first.”

  One of the men kicked her in the side and she curled into a ball, unable to breathe for several seconds. The beating went on for several moments, most of it spent on the ground for Tarana, except when they pulled her to her feet. For such muscular men, she mused while she lay on the floor waiting for the next blow, they didn't seem to be hitting her as hard as they could. As she lay, trying to catch her breath, she realized she hadn't been hit for longer than usual. Rolling her head back to peer at the two men, she saw they were simply watching her. “Are you done?” she wheezed.

  With one last half-hearted kick to her side, the men then set her on her feet and half-shoved, half-carried her back to the first room, where she was thrown to the ground and her hands untied. As she tried to feel the damage to her face, the men left the room and she heard the door lock once again. “Well that unusually strange,” she muttered.

  She sat alone in the room for a long time. She tried to listen through the door, but could hear nothing. When the door opened again, it was only to throw a chunk of stale bread into the room for her to eat. A long time after she felt hungry again, another piece of bread was tossed into the room, along with a canteen of water.

  With no windows in the room and the only light coming from a lamp burning high above her reach, she had no sense of time. By the deepening of the bruises on her body, she guessed that a couple days had passed when the door opened again and another person was hurled into the room. The door clicked shut behind him and Tarana scrambled over to inspect the unconscious body. Turning him over to see his face, she saw that it was Djerr.

  Grinning happily, she tried to shake him awake. “Djerr! Hey, Djerr!” He groaned and put a hand to the side of his head, where Tarana saw a small lump. “Djerr, you have no idea how happy I am to see you.”

  Djerr opened his eyes and stared at Tarana for a moment. “Tara...?” he finally ventured.

  “Has it really been so long that you forgot me?” She tried to hide her smile.

  “Tarana,” he sounded horrified, “you look awful.”

  She laughed. “It's good to see you too, Djerr.”

  Sitting up, he shook his head. “No seriously, what did they do to you?”

  “Do I really look that awful?” Tarana made a face. “They kind of beat me up a day or two ago, but nothing that serious. It must look a lot worse than it feels. Do you have any idea where we are?”

  Djerr shook his head again. “No, I was hoping you knew.”

  The door clicked again, and they both looked over expectantly. The two men from earlier both stepped into the room and closed the door behind them. One of the men stepped forward, his hands clasped behind his back. “Djerr, Wizard Reborn, you are commanded to use your magic or watch your friend suffer. It would be to both of your benefit if you decided to take control of your magic as is prophesied.” He spoke as if he had rehearsed the lines several times.

  Tarana raised an eyebrow at the man who spoke. “So wait, what's stopping Djerr from killing you all if he decides to use his magic?”

  The man shook his head. “Nothing. If he chooses to do so, there is nothing stopping him from using his magic however he desires. We only wish for him to take advantage of this gift as is his purpose. You have one day to think on this before we begin our business.” The men turned sharply and left the room again.

  “Hm,” Tarana said, turning to Djerr, “well that's certainly something to think on.”

  “Would you stop joking around?” Djerr hissed. “This is serious. I'm not letting them torture you. You've got to get us out of here.”

  Sighing, she shrugged. “Even if I knew how to get us out of here, I wouldn't do it, Djerr. I'm not the wizard these people want. This isn't magic I control, it's a curse.”

  “Well, I think it's time to set them straight,” he replied. “This has gone far enough.”

  “Djerr, they're not going to believe you,” she said tiredly. “Even if you told them it was me, you'd only be putting me in more danger. Besides,” she lowered her voice, “I'm probably the best candidate for being tortured. I'm not sure if I can die.”

  He looked taken aback. “What are you talking about?”

  She quickly told him about the fight with Prisca, where she had been reported dead and somehow found
herself back alive again, but left out the part about the old man she had seen.

  “And that's why you think you can't die.” He sounded skeptical. “The misdiagnosis of some random Wizard's soldier. Great.”

  Shrugging, she smiled slightly. “At least it's something.”

  Djerr scooted back until his back rested against the wall, and put his hands behind his head. “I told you you needed to be more careful.”

  She laughed and crawled over to sit next to him. “Well, it seems you weren't too careful yourself. Did anyone miss me? How'd you end up here?”

  “I went looking for you,” he replied, glaring over at her. “When you didn't show up to rescue me, I realized I'd have to find you myself, but as I was wandering around that building, I think someone must have hit me from behind.”

  “They actually let you out of that room?” she asked him, surprised.

  He shrugged. “Well, they didn't let me out,” he explained. “But I have experience sneaking out when I really want to, remember?”

  She still looked at him skeptically. “That room seemed a tad bit secure to be sneaking out of so easily.”

  “Well, it was actually kind of weird.” He wrinkled his forehead. “They started getting more and more lax with the security until it was almost ridiculously easy to sneak out of there while they were distracted.”

  “That's pretty weird.” She yawned and closed her eyes, lying down on the hard floor. “Is it nighttime?”

  Nodding, he slid down the wall until he was lying on the ground with just his head propped up. “Was when I left, anyway. Do you think the Wizard's soldiers will track us down?”

  Tarana hesitated for a moment, opening her eyes and looking down at Djerr. “I...don't think so,” she finally said.

  “Really? This place can't be that hard to find.”

  “No, I mean, I think they probably could find it if they really wanted to, but when they took me to another room a little while ago, I saw a bunch more people in the hallway. I'm not absolutely positive, but I think I recognized a couple of them as Wizard's soldiers. Obviously they weren't wearing their armor or anything, but I spent enough time in the stronghold that I recognize most of the officers, at least, and I'm pretty sure that at least a couple of them were officers. Think about it. The Wizard's army is desperate to get you to use your magic. Just about the only ones who know that we know each other are Roxanne and those three soldiers who were guarding you. They're not above trying to force you to do it this way. That's probably why they practically let you out of your room, just so they could get you here. Of course, they wouldn't want you to blame the Wizard's army, which is probably why they're not openly showing who they are, but I think they're perfectly capable of being behind this whole thing.”