The elder wizard nodded. To Sonya he said, “Try not to be repulsed by what you see, my dear. The black sickness is unkind to all living things, so just concentrate on the task at hand.”
“I’ll try,” Sonya replied, and she squeezed Steve’s hand. “I’ll try.”
Steve led her in the direction of the cave entrance with Haldorum following closely behind. All eyes of the Resistance watched them now, and quietly Sonya breathed a quick prayer.
The rustling grass gave way to a gradual incline leading to the mouth of the cave, and already they could hear the futile scrambling of something clawing at the earth, moaning in despair and mad with anguish. Sonya gasped in horror as the three of them crested the lip of the entrance. A small human, lassoed around the waist with the free end of the rope staked to the ground to keep it—for Steve could not tell if it was male or female— from crawling back into the darkness, pulled weakly in an instinctive attempt to find darkness. Most of the hair was gone, and large blackened blisters covered almost every inch of its flesh. With hands too feeble to be useful anymore, it clawed at the rope with fingers showing bone where nails once grew and stared about with maddened eyes glazed white with blindness. It hesitated a moment, and then screamed hideously.
Sonya flung herself into Steve’s embrace. “For the love of God, Steve, she’s only a child!”
Steve held her there, staring and unbelieving. The thing barely even looked human anymore so how Sonya could tell the sex of the person was beyond him.
Haldorum looked on with grief in his eyes. “We lured it here earlier.” After a time he placed a gentle hand upon the young woman’s shoulder. “Sonya, you must try.”
“I can’t!” she cried. “Don’t you understand? I don’t know how. I’m tired of this place. I’m tired of watching people get hurt; I’m tired of hearing voices that aren’t there. I just want to go home!”
Steve and Haldorum exchanged surprised glances. Steve soundlessly mouthed the word ‘voices’ as a question.
The old wizard appeared to think about it for a moment and then looked as if it suddenly all made sense. “The Memsherar.”
“Sonya, listen to me,” Steve said. He pulled away from her slightly and gently raised her chin until she looked him in the eyes. “I know you don’t like what you see but you have got to try. There are thousands of children like her and all of them are going to die if this…this sickness isn’t stopped. We need to know if you can save them. You saved my life, Sonya, and you did it with the love in your heart. The crystal may have helped you, but the power to heal and the love that made it work came from you. I know you can do this—I trust you. I trust you with everything that I am.” She stared at him with those eyes, and Steve could see the conflict of emotions waged within their depths. “Please,” he urged her.
Several heartbeats passed, and then Sonya turned away from him, slowly, to face the wretched creature. She wiped at her eyes, already brimming with tears, and took several deep breaths.
Everything went still.
Steve and Haldorum stood side-by-side in hushed silence waiting for something—anything—to happen. The wind blew past them, rustling a few leaves that had fallen into the Crag from the trees dotting the cliffs high above, and flowing across the grasses like ocean waves, but nothing of a magical nature disturbed the silence.
Steve’s gaze fell and he sighed, unable to stem his disappointment. Perhaps he had been wrong to push her to this. There was no denying she possessed a gift, but perhaps they overreached in their desperation to find the one true Third. After all, even if Sonya was the one, only days into finding her power she was being tested against a magical sickness that so far had proved unstoppable.
Minutes passed and still nothing. This isn’t right, Steve thought to himself. He shook his head and cursed himself for allowing them to push her so fast—and this prophecy was really starting to annoy him. He began to doubt if the Third Power existed anywhere at all.
And then Sonya’s form ignited in a golden aura with such suddenness Steve, Haldorum, and those nearest her stepped back. The radiance of her power paled the orange light of the setting sun and filled the mouth of the cavern with its fiery brilliance.
Sonya struggled as she slowly raised her arms out to her sides, and then higher still to touch her palms together above her head. As she did so, the fire of her aura intensified.
“Haldorum!” Steve warned, his tone rising as he spoke the name, feeling the intensity of her magic like a physical press against him.
“I know! I know!” The force of Sonya’s power threatened to roar outward on the alternate planes, and the aged wizard frantically weaved layered enchantments about the young woman. If not contained, a transmission of magic of such strength would easily be felt—and located—by even the lowliest of mages.
Sonya slowly opened her eyes and lowered her arms, then extended a hand toward the wretched creature before her.
“No!” Steve moved to stop her, but she stayed him with a gesture from her other hand.
Without apparent regard for harm or fear of exposure, she stepped up to the blister-scarred and blind victim of the plague and kneeled. At that the disfigured being ceased its efforts to crawl away and turned her milky eyes toward Sonya, almost appearing to sense—if not see—the calming, soothing presence of her. For the first time since being lured to the mouth of the cave, the plague-ravaged human stopped crying out and looked…at peace. Sonya placed one of her hands to the victim’s head and the other over the heart.
The crystal pendant blazed like a star about Steve’s neck in response to the young wizardess but he could feel that it lent no help of its own. Haldorum, who had since finished his spellcraft, looked alongside Steve with the same expression of absolute amazement across his face. The festering blisters closed on the skin of the child, and then shrank away until only smooth, peach blossom skin remained. Bright blue eyes emerged as the milky haze faded; and within the flesh, brittle bones healed and thickened, strengthening. They watched as the little girl steadily returned to the living as the plague retreated in the same stages it had advanced her toward death. Muscle, blood, hair, limbs, fingers—all mended before their eyes with astonishing speed.
When all was finished the light of Sonya’s aura collapsed into her as suddenly as it had exploded forth, taking with it the roar of her unbridled power. With half-lidded eyes, she started to lean, exhausted, but Steve was there in an instant and steadied her with a hand on either shoulder. Gently he draped one of her arms about his neck and picked her up from the ground with his other arm under her knees.
She stirred slightly. “So much…hurt.”
Steve raised his eyes concerned. “Is she going to be all right?”
“She will be fine,” Haldorum nodded. His eyes then went to the young girl, her clothes hanging off her in rags. “A miracle,” he muttered in amazement. The girl he looked upon could not have been older than six years, and she looked about herself with apparent confusion and fear at how she had come to be there. Her blond, shoulder-length curls fell about her shoulders on skin dirty, but youthful and unmarred.
Even as Steve held Sonya in his arms he thought of the princess, and of his role on the world of Mithal. Once he had thought himself the pawn of prophecy. But no more.
“You are the true Third,” he whispered in Sonya’s ear.
So where did that leave him?
Chapter XXI
The muscles across Steve’s bare back flexed as he pulled on the string with the first three fingers of his right hand. His left arm straight and rigid, he centered his aim between two distant torches and released. He tracked the arrow for a split second and then it was gone, lost in the darkness of the fallen evening. He lowered the sleek bow to his side and nocked another arrow before raising the weapon once more. The length of the shaft emitted a susurrus whisper as he drew it back against the wood of the bow until the base of his right thumb touched his cheek.
He could feel Princess Vessla’s eyes on him
as she approached—could almost feel it—but the light touch of her fingers running over the muscles of his shoulders and then down his back was particularly distracting. Vessla could sometimes be difficult to ignore.
For the moment, he put her out of his mind as best he could, held his breath, and released the shaft toward the distant, and near invisible, target. Princess Vessla smiled as she reached around and ran her hands down his chest and across his abdomen. Steve lowered the bow and stepped away as he turned to face her.
“Please,” he said. “I’m trying to think.”
“I know,” came her winsome reply. “Every time you have something important to work out you come here. And if it is not this then it is swordplay; and if not swordplay then a whip; and if not a…”
Steve held up a hand to stop her. “Okay, I get it. I’m predictable that way. Your point?”
“My point is that you promised to spend more time with me when you returned from Rajasthan, and you have yet to keep that promise.”
Steve sighed, more so because of what he needed to say, but remained at a loss as to how best to say it. “I’m sorry. I just have a lot on my mind.”
She looked down at the three quivers on the ground – two of which were empty, and the third only half full. “I can see that. Steven, you must stop retreating off all by yourself like this. It is obvious to me you are feeling far more stress with your position here than is healthy. It is not good to be alone at these times.”
“I’m not alone,” he said, and indicated off to his left with his chin.
Vessla had not even noticed the great cat lying in the darkness. She looked back to him with hands on her hips. “You know what I mean.”
“It isn’t stress,” he assured her. “It’s the fact I’m not even supposed to be here. You saw how easily Sonya handled that little girl tonight—and she didn’t even need the crystal’s help. Nothing we thought the prophecy said about me was actually about me at all.” He stared at her in the wan light as he looked for some sign she caught the real meaning of his words.
“Steven, that is not true!” she reprimanded with emphasis on every word. “You have done a great deal for these people already. You brought them the healer they were looking for—whether you meant to or not; and quite deliberately you returned the Emperor to us all. The prophecy clearly had you in mind, whether blatantly stated or not. Furthermore, our marriage will seal an alliance between the Jisetra and the humans; something not seen since the Emperor was overthrown nearly two decades ago.”
“Yeah,” Steve said hesitantly, “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that.”
“You do not need to worry about the wedding. My father will take care of all the arrangements. Now then, when do you plan on fulfilling your promise to me?”
The speed at which she could deflect was absolutely stunning to him. “Vessla, there are so many more important things to worry about than wedding plans,” he said exasperated. “To your people you are royalty, and that means you can don and doff your position of authority whenever it’s convenient—but that’s not how I work. These people made me a commander because they believed in me as the Third Power, and now I wear that rank but—” He shook his head sadly. “I’m not who they thought I was.”
Princess Vessla drew a step closer but she stopped herself before reaching out to touch him, seeing it in his face that the gesture would not be well-received. “You cannot be blamed for that. You said yourself Haldorum came to you, and you have done everything to be the man they were searching for. You have been a strong leader—and no one can complain of your performance. For Heaven’s sake, you risked your life for these people and nearly lost it! You may not be the ‘savior of Mithal’”—this last she stated with contempt for the very notion—“but in my opinion you are one of the most promising officers the human race has ever seen. Fine, you are not the Third Power but, in light of everything else you have done, is that really something to be ashamed of?”
Steve managed a slight smile as he looked at the ground and scuffed the dirt with his toe. “You make it sound so easy.”
“It is that easy—when you consider. Has not what I have said made sense? Does it not make you feel even a little bit better? Just a little?”
“I’d be lying if I said no,” he admitted and the princess smiled. Then he looked out into the darkness at nothing as he considered his own thoughts. “But I still worry. I can’t help but feel like I’m missing something—something important. The prophecy doesn’t mention anything about another Power of Mithal and yet here I am. How does a crazy seer from a thousand years ago see so much and yet miss something like this?”
“Details?” she offered with a weak smile.
Steve thought about it for a moment, and then chuckled grimly to himself. Dropping to one knee, he withdrew three arrows from the half-empty quiver and pushed their points into the ground. “Pretty big detail,” he said to her. The crystal’s light pierced the darkness as he whirled, drew, and released the first, second, and third arrows in rapid succession and with astonishing speed.
Princess Vessla watched them go, and when she looked back again Steve was gone. Surprised, she looked all about but there was no trace of him. She looked then to where Kayliss had been but moments ago but he, too, had vanished. She remained still for many heartbeats, and then finally set off in the direction of the two flickering torches. When she arrived, she stared in disbelief at what should have been impossible. Where the first arrow had struck dead center, the second arrow had split it, and this was split by the third.
“I will not have it, Haldorum!”
“General Duva, I am sure you can find it within yourself to live with it.”
The short, husky general wore trousers and a leather doublet over his white shirt, a color which contrasted his now sanguine complexion. “I will not have it!” he bellowed again. “It was bad enough you made a boy—who has not even reached his nineteenth year!—a commander in my army, but now you suggest I allow a mere girl the same position? Ludicrous!”
The Emperor, who had until now listened quietly as the two men argued, finally silenced them both with the uplift of a hand. “I grow weary of this conversation, gentlemen.” He paused then, and all those gathered in the war room waited patiently as their Emperor gathered his thoughts. His eyes looked to the general and he said, “First of all, General Duva, let us make one thing absolutely clear: the courageous men and women who make up this army do not belong to you, and it is I who shall administer all final decisions. Not you.”
“My—my apologies, Your Majesty,” Duva stammered. “I only meant—”
“I know you meant, and I understand your desire to preserve tradition, but I am not so old and set in my ways I cannot see when times call for a change. General Corbett was a good man—you served him as second in command for many years—but if you hope to live up to his standards of excellence then you must learn this as well.”
General Duva was silent but it was clear his emperor’s words had not fully convinced him.
“It is not as though we are going to place her in charge of the war,” Haldorum put in, “but she will have a say in the matter—especially in the case where her talents are concerned. After all, she has a wealth of experience in every one of us to call upon and advise her.”
“I am not the only one who feels this way,” General Duva said to them all. “She has no military experience, no training, no martial knowledge whatsoever—none!”
“That is not true,” Haze said stepping forward, literally, in her defense. “I myself have overseen her training in combat, and have oftentimes discussed the methods involved in our raids.”
“And she is not half bad with a bow, either,” Lurin chimed.
“But she is timid,” the general argued. “She is not of our world and war is a foreign concept to her. The fact she is the Third, and we need her, is not in dispute—she proved that last night—but she is too soft for the responsibilities you ask of her. Further, I do not th
ink she is capable of taking a life, even to save her own.
“And she need not,” Haldorum countered. “The prophecy has deemed her one to save life, not take it away.”
The Emperor nodded at that fact. “I am in agreement with Haldorum. This conversation is over. Let it stand by my decree the Third shall be commissioned and take her place among us; but first there was one other order of business to be taken care of, if I am not mistaken, Haldorum?”
“There is, Your Majesty.” His gaze swept the room and fell on everyone present in turn. “The Memsherar has been calling to her, and needs be that she answer that call before any further action is taken.”
A man in his forties and only beginning to show the first silver flecks in his dark hair, recently promoted to the senior officer ranks, thumbed an old scar across his chin as he considered. “What will happen to her?”
“I cannot say for certain,” the old wizard shrugged. “A paltry magician may go in and return with nothing significant to speak of. But for a wizard it can differ every time.”
“Then you should go now,” the Emperor said to the old wizard. “It is important that we move quickly in this, for there is much yet to do.”
Haldorum nodded and departed, leaving the remaining officers to discuss military plans and the state of the Resistance amongst themselves.
Outside, Sonya raised her head as the old wizard emerged from the war room into the light of the new morning. She stood from her seat on a shorn stump and dusted off the backside of her black breeches topped with a white tunic belted around the waist. “How did it go?” she asked.
“We can talk about that later,” he replied.
“That well, huh?”
Haldorum huffed through his nose. “Traditions,” he explained simply. “Are you ready?”
Sonya inhaled deeply, and then nodded her head once as she said, “No.”
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