Life Beyond the Temple

by Nikolai Joslin

  Liam was getting weaker. And the mother and son from the clinic were close to death. I needed to do this now. I needed this done immediately.

  Regan was lying on the bed watching me pace back and forth. I’d gotten my strength back tenfold, and while I wasn’t quite used to the power I could exert with spells yet, I was getting there. I went back to very basic training methods, and would often snap my fingers while I thought to bring a small flame to my finger. I remembered my teachers in the first year of our schooling teaching us this. Making a little friction and the smallest amount of Life Force. It had become habit when I was researching back at the Temple. I almost expected my teachers to scold me for having so little control like they did back then.

  I ran a hand through my hair and looked over at Cinder, who watched me closely.

  He got his power from Clerstan. It was the first thing he did, so maybe he relied heavily on its power and what it could do rather than what he could do, I thought as I walked to the window and looked out at the street.

  Okay, so what does Clerstan do? How does it work?

  Increases Life Force efficiency and the body’s ability to hold and control it.

  How?

  What do you mean how?

  How does it do that?

  I sighed heavily. It amplifies the power of the Life Force by basically cleaning out the things that dull its power, making it more potent. It doesn’t increase the amount created so much as make what you have more powerful. Instead of letting you use more at a time, it allows you to use less for the same effect so that you have more. It drastically increases the effectiveness, almost to the point of dark elves a few hundred years ago.

  Call Ston up here.

  Why?

  Does he get sick?

  No, but that’s because—

  Because his ancestors didn’t increase the amount, but the power, which is exactly what Clerstan does. Of course they were more effective with it, but it’s the same idea. If he doesn’t get sick because his Life Force is ‘pure’ or ‘clean’ or whatever, then maybe you can find a way to use Clerstan to clean their Life Force.

  Brilliant. We can’t increase effectiveness, though. The elves would hate us.

  You have to take out whatever does that, then.

  Make it a cleaning agent.

  Exactly.

  I walked to the door and shouted, “Ston! Get up here!” I shut the door and turned back to Regan, a big grin lighting up my face. “We’ve got it.”

  “What?”

  “The cure. I know what it is. It’s Jaysun’s source of power.” I had told everyone about Jaysun, well, everyone but Elizabeth’s family. I didn’t think they needed to know that she was in love with a mage. I didn’t want to ruin their thoughts of their daughter.

  “What do you mean?”

  “The thing that’s he’s getting his power from right now, it doesn’t just amplify power. I think it also purifies Life Force.”

  “And this disease poisons Life Force.” Regan smiled now too. She knew. She knew we had it.

  “I just need to get it so that it only cleans it, not amplifies it.”

  “And you need Ston because?”

  “I think he’s smart, and I’d like to have some help with this. Two heads are better than one.”

  Chapter 18

  IT TOOK us another week to figure out what Clerstan was made of using a small bit of the powder Jaysun had given us. I tucked the rest away in my room while Regan slept.

  Next we had to figure out what made Life Force more potent and what purified it.

  Ston stood there next to me, looking down at the cloudy white liquid in front of us. “Is this really it?” he asked.

  “God, I hope so,” I whispered.

  I looked at him, dark purple skin with pale, raised scars shaped into those dark-elf runes. I had seen plenty of them glow blue while we created this. We were both using magic almost constantly to finish this, and here it was. A week after we started, and now we were looking at it.

  “Think it will work?” he asked.

  “I hope so.” I picked up the flask and said, “Make some more. I’m going to see Liam with this, find out who to give it to first. If this works, I want as much of it as possible, so get ready, okay?”

  “Sure thing. I’ll see you soon. Stop by if it works and let me know.”

  “Of course.”

  I walked out of the cold cellar room and up the stairs, taking them two at a time.

  I burst into Liam’s room, gasping for breath. He looked at me, a weak smile. “I was wondering why you hadn’t showed up to look at how I was doing today,” he said.

  I didn’t say anything; I just held up the flask and smiled.

  He forced himself into a sitting position. “Is that it?”

  “Maybe. We don’t know the side effects yet. We don’t know if it works. We don’t know if it will speed up the process. We don’t know anything, but we think this is it. I want to take it down to the clinic to test it out—”

  “No.”

  “What?”

  “You said you don’t know what this can do to my people. It could kill them. I’m not going to put them in danger until I know that it works.”

  I blinked a few times and looked down at him. “It could kill you. You’re the prince, Liam. You don’t have to like it, but your people need you alive.”

  “You’re wrong, Casey. I need my people alive. I’ll take it first, and if it works, you can take it to everyone else, but until I know it works, you aren’t giving it to anyone else.” He held his hand out to take the flask from me, and I hesitantly gave it to him. “Thanks.” He smiled a little again and looked at the liquid, swirling it slightly.

  “You have to drink it all. It’s not much, but it probably won’t taste very good.”

  “I don’t care what it tastes like,” he mumbled before tipping his head back and holding the flask to his lips, draining it all in a few gulps.

  I watched him closely, not sure what I was looking for.

  It took two hours for a noticeable fade to the splotches on him, and that was enough for me. It worked. Liam looked better already, and I didn’t have time to waste. I jumped up and started walking to the door. “I’ll get Regan to watch after you for a bit. I have to start giving this to people. Some of them don’t have much time.” I looked over my shoulder and smiled at him.

  A tear ran down his cheek as he looked at his arm. “Thank you, Casey Kelley. Thank you.”

  I still didn’t know side effects, but I couldn’t wait any longer. I’d seen people die since I came here, and that little boy was close to it. I think his mother was only holding on because he was still around. I couldn’t let them die.

  STON, CAM, and I ran around to clinics and houses distributing the liquid. I saw a lot of scrunched up faces, but I also saw the tears and heard shouts of excitement as they watched splotches fade away, nausea disappear, and headaches cease to exist. They were getting better, and there was no sign of any bad side effects.

  I’d remember the moment that little boy got off his bed and walked over to me and hugged me for the rest of my life.

  I went back to Liam’s house after a few hours of watching the clinic. Nobody was downstairs, and the house was eerily quiet until I found my way to the hallway outside of Liam’s room, where I heard a woman sob.

  I walked in to see Ston standing awkwardly in Lilith’s embrace. I stood in the doorway, looking at the scene before me: the dark elf awkwardly standing there while Prince Liam’s parents hugged him and touched his shoulder in a comforting way. Cam was handing another glass of water to Liam, who was sitting up against the headboard of the bed, and Regan was leaning against the wall with a knowing smirk playing along her lips.

  Everyone had gotten back before me, and I was perfectly content being ignored.

  That didn’t last long, though, because when Liam looked up and saw me, his face cracked into a big smile. “Casey Kelley! Here at last!”

  And that’
s when Lilith enveloped me in a tight hug, and the king thanked me again and again, tears in his eyes.

  THEY THREW a feast for us on our last night in the city, and everyone was invited. The large dining hall had been filled with large oak tables and benches. We had been seated with the royal family, and even Ston was shown the respect they gave us.

  I had never eaten so much food in my life: duck, venison, vegetables of all kinds. They had followed tradition and held a hunt to kill all the food in preparation for the feast, which had been secretly planned behind our backs for a week. There was dancing and singing and drinking, so much drinking. The elves could rival the fabled dwarves in their drinking habits apparently. Cam and Regan watched me closely after the couple of drinks I had.

  Elvish alcohol was different from the harsh burn of human alcohol. The elves had perfected drink. It was smooth and slid down the throat with the slightest burn, aged perfectly, and it seemed like every year was perfect, not just select ones. It was just as intoxicating, if not more so, as human alcohol, but much more pleasant to drink.

  Ston was stiff at first, but a few drinks later, he was on the floor dancing with a young elven woman who looked elated that he had considered her. I saw Liam watching them with a slightly glum look, but when he saw me, he brightened again and raised his glass to me before taking a large swig.

  Cam and Regan had a few drinks, but they both sat with me for most of the night. And then Regan stood up and held her hand out to me. “You look like you want to dance,” she said with a smile.

  I felt my face flush. I had been watching the dancing closely, trying to find out the styles and movements, and I did want to, but I didn’t want to force Regan to. “No, it’s fine.”

  “I insist.” She took my hand, and I suppressed a shiver. Her hand was cool against mine, and she led me down the stairs and to the floor with a certain strength and confidence that made me nervous and excited all at once.

  She turned back to me and grinned. She had put on different clothes, formal clothes. She had borrowed them from Liam, but they didn’t look manly on her. They fit her well: a loose white shirt, black pants, and a jacket that fell to her midthigh that had flowers embroidered on the cuffs and collar. She looked royal.

  She pulled me against her and leaned down to whisper, “Follow my lead.”

  I wanted to say that I always would, but I just nodded instead. I shouldn’t be putting those ideas in our heads. She’d be gone from my life after we killed Jaysun. I’d be in the real world, and she’d be at the Temple, protecting the other mages from harm.

  “How did you learn to dance?” I asked after a few moments. I spent a lot more time than I should have looking at my feet.

  She took her hand from my waist briefly to tilt my face back up to look at her. My grip tightened on her hand holding mine. She had this intense look in her eyes when she looked at me. Those were my eyes: green with a brown rim around the pupil.

  She looked away from me for a moment, pulling me along with her incredibly talented feet. “My parents taught me a little, sent me to classes, but I learned more at the Temple. Elvish dancing didn’t come so easily at first, though. It’s so different from everything else. They have classes at the Temple for our days off. I took most of them, taught a couple.” While the cultures had been separated, the elves were believed to have invented dance. The Temple was high-strung, so most dancing wasn’t allowed, except traditional elvish dance. It was an elective and wasn’t a common class for students to take. I was actually surprised Regan, a knight, was so involved in it.

  “When you weren’t in the library, sitting in my spot,” I mumbled.

  She chuckled. “That spot was yours?”

  “The one in the window? Yeah. You were sitting in it one day, sprawled out with your legs over one arm and your head propped up on the other while you read some book in the light coming in through the window. In my spot.”

  “You remembered me sitting there?”

  “One of the worst days in my life.” I smiled at her to let her know I was joking.

  She looked at me, amused, and I noticed her face getting closer to mine, well, to be more specific, her lips getting closer to mine.

  Suddenly Regan pulled back and whirled around to say something to whoever stopped her from finishing what she started.

  I saw her spiky blonde hair, blue gaze glued to me, and brilliant smile. “Mind if I cut in?”

  Regan’s hand clenched into a fist, but she stepped aside and bowed slightly. “Of course not.”

  Cam stepped forward and took Regan’s place, her right hand on my waist and her left holding mine at eye level. She wore a stark white tailcoat with blue trim and white pants with a single blue stripe going down the outside of each leg.

  “Enjoying the night?” she asked, leading me across the room skillfully.

  I could feel my heart pounding in my chest. I was afraid it would pop out. “It’s wonderful.” My brain still felt hazy from the drinks, but that wasn’t why Cam looked gorgeous. She just did.

  “Good. It’s a wonderful feast.” She had a small smile on her lips as she looked around the room. “I don’t remember having this much food. You can’t steal food this good either.”

  I kept forgetting she had grown up on the streets.

  “How has your magic training been going?” I asked after clearing my throat. I hoped I didn’t sound different. I wasn’t sure why I felt like this. Part of me wanted Cam closer, the other part wanted her far away from me. I felt guilty, like Cam and I shouldn’t be together like this. Somewhere, I knew why. Cam did things to me that she shouldn’t have. I’d be lying if I didn’t say that part of me wanted her in ways I wanted Regan, but I loved Regan. Cam was something different, and that scared me.

  She looked at me curiously. “I practiced a lot while we looked for you. I would practice while we walked, little things. I chopped firewood at night, lit fires, played with currents, everything I could think of. I did that whole body control movement thing you told me to do.” I chuckled at her description but didn’t correct her. “I did everything I could, so that when I found you, I could keep you around. I wasn’t going to let you just walk away on me—us—like that again.” She looked away.

  “I’m sorry,” I muttered.

  “I know.” She looked back to me, a grin there now. “Don’t worry about that. Have fun tonight. It’s your night after all. Well, yours and Ston’s. He’s having a great time I suppose.”

  I followed her gaze to Ston, who had moved on to an elven man and was twirling him now, laughing loudly. “He’s drunk,” I stated.

  “He’s allowed to be. It’s his night. They don’t care that he’s a dark elf right now. He saved their lives. They can’t get enough of him. You should be enjoying tonight too.”

  “I am.” Regan was watching us and smiled when I caught her eye. Liam was watching something on the dance floor intently, a large smile covering his face, the king and queen were dancing among us, and the singing was all in elvish. It was upbeat and not at all what I imagined.

  “That’s good.” She smiled, and the music slowed to a stop. She stepped back and kissed my hand before saying good-bye and walking away.

  Regan was beside me after that. “Let’s go back to the table for a bit. We can dance again after another drink or two.” She held her arm out for me, and I linked my arm around her elbow and let her walk me up.

  My dress grazed the floor as we walked. It was bluish green, and I had discovered it in Elizabeth’s closet. Liam told me I reminded him of her when he first saw me. He smiled when he said it, though, which made me feel warm inside. He was at peace with his sister I think.

  We walked up to the table and sat down again, me between Cam and Regan. Ston said good-bye to his dance partner and made his way back to us. He wore a simple pair of brown pants and a loose fitting white shirt that was untied at the top. His jacket was hung over the back of the chair, left there so he could enjoy the festivities to the fullest.

&nb
sp; When he finally made it to us, he collapsed in the seat on the other side of Regan, closest to the royal family. He was holding a goblet to his lips when Liam stood up and raised his silver cup in the air.

  “My people!” he called to them, effectively stopping the music and drawing attention to him. “Today we give thanks to those that we have looked upon with fear and disgust! Two humans, a mage, and a dark elf. Four people that, under normal circumstances, we would have turned up our noses at. They have saved our people from certain death, without asking for anything in return. They protected us from harm, pulling us from the edge of our world and giving us hope.

  “Hope is powerful. Hope is what brought Casey Kelley, a mage from the Temple, to our city. She believed that she could help us. She, and her mangy mutt Cinder.” He smiled and looked over at Cinder, who was licking a metal plate clean. “But I kid. Cinder was there for Casey when she needed him. And then her friends came, helping her even further. Ston, the dark elf, helped complete the cure.

  “We can’t keep looking down on the growing world around us. These people are what kept us alive. A dark elf, what so many of us saw as the bane of our existence, until the night we were saved. I hope we don’t go back to the way we had treated our neighbors before all of this. We can’t keep acting like the rest of the world doesn’t matter, when it clearly does.” He paused and looked around. “We are not the only ones that matter in this crazy world now, and our friends are threatened by a power much greater than what plagued us before. They have been sent on a mission to kill the man who started the disease, and he has only grown stronger. I cannot idly stand by while those who saved us prepare to go up against such a foe.

  “I will be leaving once again to help them fight the man who started this all. I hope to return to you all soon, but I will leave tomorrow with Casey Kelley and her friends to stop the necromancer who threatens not only our safety, but the lives of humans, mages, and dark elves alike.” Liam looked at me and smiled knowingly. He hadn’t told anyone about this. I doubted even his parents knew about his plans, but now we had to let him come along. Not that I would have said no to the help.