by Zales, Dima
Frowning, Barson told her what happened with Larn and the others. As he continued talking, her face turned pale.
“One of you could’ve died,” she whispered, her gaze filled with horror. “Barson, thank you for not killing him. I’ve heard rumors about Ganir’s mind control tricks, but I never thought he could be capable of something like this.”
Barson waved his hand dismissively. “Of course. I would never kill Larn. But if you didn’t heal me,” he said, returning to his original concern, “then who did?”
“Augusta?” Dara suggested. “Or maybe one of our allies—though I don’t know what any of them would be doing in the Guard barracks.”
“Well, it certainly wasn’t Vashel,” Barson said, thinking of the conversation he’d just had with his ally. “He told me what he overheard from the Council meeting, and I’m sure he would’ve mentioned it if he’d done me such a huge favor—”
“What did he say?” Dara interrupted, and Barson filled her in on Ganir’s absence and the Council’s plans regarding the creature.
“The spell Augusta came up with sounds very dangerous,” Dara said, her eyes wide with awe and reluctant admiration. “But I have to say, your lover is bright. Very, very bright.”
“Also very stubborn,” Barson said, beginning to get angry again as he remembered the fight he’d just had with Augusta. “And very arrogant when it comes to her own abilities.”
At Dara’s questioning look, he filled his sister in on what happened, explaining how their argument had spiraled out of control before he could talk to her about his plans for the Tower.
“So what are you going to do about her?” Dara asked when he was done.
“I don’t know,” Barson admitted. He hated the fact that he couldn’t make Augusta stay in the Tower, where he could ensure her safety. Like it or not, with the way things currently stood, he couldn’t force her to do anything. “I don’t like the idea of her going after this creature, but I don’t know how to prevent her,” he said in frustration. If Augusta were a regular woman, it would be easy; he could lock her in a room and keep her here. But with a sorceress, things were more complicated.
Dara gave him a sympathetic smile. “That’s what you get for falling for a sorceress,” she said, echoing his thoughts. “If she wants to go, you have to let her . . . and hope for the best. If anyone can land on her feet, it’s Augusta. Besides, there is no other choice. We’re too close to our goal for you to get distracted by this matter.”
Barson nodded, his jaw clenched tight. He knew his sister was right. He couldn’t waste his energy fighting with Augusta right now, not when they had so much at stake.
“Yes,” he agreed, forcing his thoughts away from his lover. “We don’t have any time to waste. According to Vashel, the Council is departing for the mountains tomorrow—which means we need to finalize our plans tonight.”
Chapter 35: Blaise
Slowly regaining consciousness, Blaise became aware of the fact that he felt amazingly good—a fact that surprised him, given that his last memory was that of the storm. Opening his eyes, he saw Maya, Esther, and a number of villagers crowded around him, their faces full of concern.
“What happened?” he asked, becoming aware of an unusual silence. The deafening din from the storm was gone. He could still hear an occasional rumble of thunder, but it was distant now, as though the storm had passed. His heart jumped as he realized that Gala was nowhere to be seen. “Where is she?”
“You should take a look outside, Blaise,” Maya said, a strange expression on her face.
Frowning, Blaise rose to his feet. The people stepped back, letting him pass, and he made his way to the front door. Carefully opening it, he peered outside, expecting to be slammed with rain or wind, but all was calm. Had Gala managed to put up the shield?
Stepping outside, he looked up at the sky—and what he saw there made him stop breathing for a moment.
The skies directly above were clear—but on the edges, the storm continued to rage. He could see the lightning bolts piercing the dark clouds in a never-ending assault and the twisters in the distance—but none of that touched the village or the area immediately surrounding it.
The only mark in the moonlit sky was a small dot near the edge of the black clouds.
Hearing footsteps behind him, Blaise turned to see Maya and Esther standing there, looking up at the sky. “Where is Gala?” he demanded. “What’s going on?”
“Don’t you see?” Esther said reverently, pointing up. “She’s there.”
Looking up, Blaise peered closer at the dot he’d noticed before. He couldn’t tell what it was from here—but that was an easy fix. Rushing back into the house, he grabbed one of his prepared spells and loaded it into the Stone. A second later, his vision was eagle-sharp, and his hearing was magnified.
Running out onto the street again, he looked up at the sky, his heart hammering in his chest.
The dot was indeed Gala. She was floating in the air, a calm, almost blissful expression on her face. Her eyes were closed, and her lips were curved in a small smile. She looked beautiful and strikingly peaceful—and she was the one who was controlling the storm, he realized with a chill running down his spine.
His mind reeled from the magnitude of what he was witnessing. The complexity was beyond his comprehension. She wasn’t merely creating weather patterns; she was directly counteracting the storm. It seemed . . . impossible.
For a moment, the urge to go to her and bring her down to safety was almost overwhelming, but Blaise restrained himself, knowing that breaking her concentration now could be deadly. She was in control at the moment, and she needed to stay that way for everyone’s safety, his own concern for her notwithstanding.
Bringing his attention back to the ground, he saw the same awe and shock reflected on the faces of villagers who had come out of the house. “She’s amazing, isn’t she?” Liva breathed, staring up at the sky, and Blaise nodded.
He knew that a new legend had been born.
* * *
With the immediate danger from the storm averted, Blaise focused on helping the village manage the devastation left behind. They started off with a search for survivors among those who hadn’t made it to safety before the worst of the storm hit. With his enhanced hearing, Blaise was able to locate five people buried beneath the rubble of their homes and heal their injuries. In the meantime, the villagers found an old couple that were already beyond his help, having been crushed by their falling roof.
Once everyone was accounted for, they began assessing the damage done to the homes. Aside from Liva’s house and that of her neighbors, no other dwelling was habitable. Several houses had burned down from the lightning strikes, while hail had destroyed the roofs of most others.
It was an utter disaster.
“It will take us years to recover from this,” Liva whispered, her eyes swimming with tears as she gazed at the piles of rubble where houses once stood. “In all my years here, I have never seen a storm that bad. Usually there is some damage, but we’ve never lost so much.”
Blaise’s heart squeezed with pity. He couldn’t even imagine what these people had to be thinking, how devastated they must be. What bothered him the most was the defeated look on these stoic people’s faces. They had survived so much, only to be forced to start all over again.
As he looked around, an idea began to brew in his mind. He and Gala would not be able to stay for much longer, but before they left, there was something he could do to ensure the villagers wouldn’t suffer like this again. He could use sorcery to help them rebuild—and make sure that the resulting houses were far stronger than the weak structures they just lost. The houses in Turingrad were usually made of stone, and they were much sturdier because of that.
It didn’t take much time to gather the rocks of just the right size and shape. The spell to hollow them out was fairly easy—the inside hole was a half-sphere, the code for which was straightforward. The door opening was trickier. Still, t
hough far from a stonemason, Blaise managed to spell a fairly even opening leading to the empty space inside every rock.
What he now had were miniature rock houses.
It was time for another spell. This one was more nuanced, as he had to have the molecules of the rocks multiplied in just the right amount and alignment. After an hour of concentrated coding, Blaise walked over to what used to be the village square, placed his rock in the middle, and stepped back, loading the spell card into his Interpreter Stone.
A minute later, a large stone structure stood there. It was not the most aesthetically pleasing house, but it was made of solid rock—and thus far more durable than anything made of wood. A few more spells took care of carving out the windows.
The first house was done.
Now Blaise had only about twenty more to go.
* * *
Several hours later, exhausted from non-stop coding, Blaise looked up to check on Gala. She was still floating there, her eyes closed. However, the storm around the village was beginning to ease, the black clouds slowly dissipating and the lightning strikes becoming less frequent.
He had no idea how she must be feeling or the amount of effort that it took to control such a powerful force of nature. She looked peaceful enough, but he was still worried about her. At this point, however, all he could do was wait for the storm to pass and for her to descend.
As he continued making progress with the stone houses, the villagers started to gather around him, watching in amazement. “Blaise, these houses of yours are like fortresses,” Ara exclaimed, walking through one of the structures. “I think they could even withstand a storm like the one we just had.”
“That’s the idea,” Blaise replied, giving her a tired smile. “Of course, you’ll still need to put up some walls inside to create multiple rooms, but at least the basic outer shell will be there. I also added a few scent markers to the outer walls of these houses, so that should hopefully keep the bearwolves and other creatures of their ilk away from Alania.”
Thinking about that reminded Blaise that he still needed to give the villagers a few spell-enhanced seeds, so they could plant some fruits and vegetables that would survive these storms. Luckily, he had a small stash of them in his house in the canyon; he’d have to remember to pick up that stash the next time he and Gala went there. He also wanted to give Liva an Interpreter Stone. That would take a while to make, but he had the materials back in the house as well.
“You’re leaving soon, aren’t you?” Esther asked quietly, coming up to him. He’d explained to her earlier about Ganir’s visit, and she knew that he and Gala couldn’t stay in the village for long.
“Yes, we have to.” Blaise hesitated for a moment. “You and Maya are staying here, right?”
Esther nodded. “We’re getting too old for traveling from one end of the mountains to another,” she said regretfully. “And I think we could be of use to these people. They don’t have any proper midwives here.”
Blaise smiled at her. “Of course, I understand.” He would miss the two women, but he didn’t want to drag them along on their travels. As it was, they had left their comfortable lives behind because of him. “I wish we could stay as well, but I’m afraid we would be putting everyone in danger by being here. If they come looking for us, we won’t go quietly, and things could get violent.”
Esther’s chin quivered. “Why won’t they just leave you alone?” she said in frustration. “It’s not like you’re hurting anyone.”
“They’re afraid,” Blaise said. “Of Gala, of the unknown.”
Esther’s lips tightened as she glanced up at the sky. “If they truly knew her, they would realize that it’s foolish,” she said vehemently. “She may be the most powerful sorceress out there, but she would never hurt anyone on purpose—especially now that she seems to know what she’s doing.”
Blaise nodded. “I know, but they won’t listen to reason—which is why we must leave.”
“When are you going to go?”
“As soon as we can,” Blaise replied, looking up at Gala’s tiny figure in the sky. “As soon as we possibly can.”
Chapter 36: Gala
Gala’s mind was at ease. She focused on her breathing and the storm for what seemed like years, but it could just as easily have been minutes—it was hard to tell in this state. Eventually, she felt her concentration ebbing, and she slowly opened her eyes.
The storm was all but gone, with just a few stray clouds remaining in the distance. Exhaling in joyous relief, she allowed her body to slowly descend.
Looking down, she was shocked to see the village transformed. There were some kind of new structures—buildings that looked like the round pebbles she had noticed all around the village, only they were gigantic, house-sized. The villagers themselves were out on the street, watching her descend.
As she got closer, she could hear them cheering and clapping. Blaise was standing there silently, an unreadable expression on his face.
When her feet touched the ground, he was already there, pulling her into his embrace. She could feel the tremors running through his body, and she realized that he had been afraid for her—that he worried about her as much as she worried about him. For a minute, he simply held her tightly, not saying a word, but then his arms loosened and he pulled back to meet her gaze. “How do you feel?” he asked quietly, looking at her. “You must be exhausted.”
“Actually, I feel wonderful,” she admitted, staring up at him. She was experiencing a strange sort of pent-up energy and excitement. She wasn’t tired; instead she felt powerful, like she could move mountains or battle another storm.
Of course, part of what she was feeling had nothing to do with the aftermath of controlling the storm and everything to do with Blaise himself.
“You don’t feel tired?” Blaise looked shocked. “You were up there for almost twenty hours.”
Gala smiled up at him. “I actually feel better than I did before.”
As Blaise stared at her in amazement, she became aware that nearly the entire village had gathered around them. Sliding her arm around Blaise’s waist, she turned to face them.
Maya and Esther were watching her with pride, while others seemed to be dumbstruck with awe. For a moment, she became aware of that strange human feeling of self-consciousness, but it quickly faded, and she beamed at them, happy to see that everyone she knew was well.
“Come, let’s go to my house,” Blaise said, looking down at her. “If you’re not tired, then I’d like to gather some of my magic supplies for our upcoming trip. Tomorrow morning we’ll return here to say our goodbyes.”
“We’re leaving already?” Gala frowned in disappointment. She felt like she was just starting to get to know the people in this village, and she didn’t want to leave. “Where are we going to go?”
“I’m not sure yet,” Blaise admitted, “but I don’t want to put anyone in danger by staying here. You heard what Ganir told me. We might’ve already overstayed our welcome.”
Gala stifled her disappointment. She knew that Blaise was right; the last thing she wanted was for anyone to get hurt because of her. Besides, there could be interesting things in the world out there, and she could feel her curiosity slowly awakening as she thought about all the wonders she had yet to see.
“All right,” she said, a smile reappearing on her face. “Then let’s go to your house.”
* * *
After checking to make sure people were settling into their new homes, they got on Blaise’s chaise and flew toward the canyon. On the way there, Blaise peppered Gala with detailed questions, trying to learn how she had been able to control the storm.
Gala struggled to explain exactly how it worked. If only she could somehow make Blaise experience it for himself . . . And then she remembered Life Capture. Perhaps with the right spell she could actually create a droplet? She tucked the idea away for later; for now, she did her best to explain how it all hinged on being calm and in control, the way he’d taught
her, plus the mathematical nature of the world.
As they reached the canyon, she saw Blaise looking down at the house with a wistful expression on his face.
“You know,” she said, smiling, “wherever we end up, I can teleport the house there again.”
“That’s true.” Blaise returned her smile. “So I will only take what is absolutely necessary for our flight.”
When they landed, Gala saw that the house had survived the storm essentially undamaged. It looked like the canyon walls provided a natural shield, and she guessed that the house itself was a much sturdier structure than the villagers’ former homes.
They entered the house, and Blaise went to the archive room to gather his cards and take them to his study in preparation for their trip. In the meantime, Gala wandered from room to room, remembering her first days in this world. Now looking back, she could see how much she had changed. Although not a lot of time had passed, she felt like she was a different person from the girl who’d left this very house, stubbornly determined to see the world. She was still hungry for knowledge, but she would not let that hunger separate her from Blaise again. He meant too much to her now.
Walking into one of the bedrooms, she went to stand by the tinted window, gazing out at the night sky. It was almost a full moon, and everything appeared slightly surreal, with the light and shadows intermingling in strange and beautiful ways.
Hearing footsteps behind her, she turned and saw Blaise standing in the doorway, watching her. The moonlight reflected off the masculine features of his face, and there was an unreadable look in his eyes.
Slowly he walked over to her, and she could feel it—the magnetic pull of their connection, the way her skin warmed at his proximity. He looked at her, his eyes dark in the shadows, and then he leaned down to kiss her, his hands gently holding her shoulders.