by M. D. Grimm
“You shouldn’t feel bad, Aishe,” I said, turning to face ahead. “Only a very select few are born with natural talent. The rest of us poor souls have to practice and struggle, bleed and sweat for it. But I personally think that makes us better at doing what we put our minds to.” I felt his eyes on my back. “You shouldn’t be ashamed or embarrassed for not being good at something. You should only be ashamed if you don’t strive to be better and if you don’t train and practice, struggle and bleed. If you want something bad enough, you have to fight for it.”
We continued in silence for a little while before Aishe lengthened his stride and began walking beside me again. I glanced at him. His face wasn’t as red anymore, and he looked pensive. I hoped he’d take my words to heart. I knew what he was capable of, what he could achieve. Hunter’s Bow, I already knew he’d achieved it.
“You might also try taking a slow breath and holding it before shooting your arrow. It could make your stance and arms steadier.” I’d noticed my Aishe doing that, and I figured such advice couldn’t hurt the future much.
The sun was high in the sky by the time we reached the field where I’d awakened. I stopped at the tree line, putting out a hand to stop Aishe.
“What?” he whispered loudly. I shot him a look. He subsided. I then pointed at the ground, giving him a very firm look. His mouth curled in distaste but he nodded grudgingly. I gripped his shoulder a moment, hard, then walked onto the field. I didn’t really think Drasyln was still here, but I wasn’t taking chances. Not with him. Never with him.
I sent my magick out, my senses heightened. She wasn’t here. I scanned the ground, looking for any hairs that might have fallen off her head when we landed. I didn’t have much hope, but it was all I had to track her. Otherwise, I’d have to resort to hunting by asking locals, by guessing a direction where she might have gone. Of course, I’d thought about another possibility, a dark one, when I’d felt Rambujek’s weak call. What if she was after the ruby? I shuddered. After Kayl’s death, the entire mage world found out where the ruby had come from. It wouldn’t be surprising if Drasyln had found out. Whatever mage had given the Ravena tribe Rambujek was a moron for not knowing, or at least suspecting, the trouble it would cause the tribe. The devastation it would bring.
The tribe wouldn’t be very easy to find, though. Their camp lay deep in the forest, hidden, and it wasn’t as if they had “Ravena Tribe” written in the air above them. Also, Rambujek’s call had been muffled, low, nearly silent. I suspected I could feel her call because I’d felt it before. I still felt it every time I entered the room where I imprisoned the stones I owned.
My thoughts grew darker. What if Drasyln used her disguises to somehow win over the tribes in this area? She could mix with them and they wouldn’t be any the wiser. But first, she would have to find the tribe. She’d never been a good tracker.
If I couldn’t find a hair, maybe I should try to locate her by the stone’s signature. But then I remembered how that had utterly failed when I’d attempted to track Kayl in such a way. But Rambujek was a major stone and Atcoatlu wasn’t. It couldn’t hurt to try. Was my magick up for that?
Even as I bent to brush my hand through some grass, I heard Aishe shout my name. At the same time I felt the attack come. I snapped straight and brought up my left arm, forming the shield with a murmured word of magick. I could only activate my magick with words I made up, either spoken aloud or in my head. It was a lot harder in my head and demanded more focus. But a murmur worked just as well. The translucent dome formed over me, taking the blast of pure force, sending it glancing into the forest to my left. I cupped my right hand, murmured another word, and a ball of fire formed. I searched the field. Where was she?
Again, I felt the attack come. Why couldn’t I see her? The wind howled, taking me off guard. I flew through the air, tumbling head over heels. But I recovered in a finger snap, using the wind she’d channeled, harnessing it to my benefit. I landed on my feet, controlling it to toss back at her, at the direction the attack had come from. But she wasn’t there either.
Son of a bitch!
Growling, I crouched, my magick humming through my veins, pumping in my heart. All my senses were heightened; the need for a full-on battle was strong.
“Morgorth!” Aishe’s voice was high-pitched and panicky.
“Stay down!” I ordered.
“I knew you’d come back here.”
I swung around, my shield at the ready. Drasyln swaggered out of the forest, a smirk on her face. Her cloak was pushed aside to reveal a form fitting black dress cut low over her breasts. Black and red were her favored colors. I finally understood what had happened. She’d used the agate to go back in the past, to try and catch me off guard. Or maybe she used it to travel to the future, the specifics still eluded me.
I stood straight, keeping my magick ready. I felt acutely alone. I couldn’t depend on Aishe, not this time. I hoped he stayed out of sight.
“Why?” I asked, my voice cold. “Why did you do this? What purpose do you have in this time?”
“I think you can guess that well enough.” She continued to smirk, her voice low, for my ears only. I kept my face blank but inside the fire was bubbling, the wrath was strong. “You were never a dullard, Dark Mage, though you might be a little short-sighted seeing as how you continue to spit my offer back in my face.”
“Becoming your dog wasn’t an offer, Drasyln. It was an insult.”
Her elegant brow crinkled in a frown. Her hand tightened around the agate that shined between her fingers. “I think we both know you’re no one’s dog, Morgorth. Well, you didn’t used to be.” Her gaze flickered over to where Aishe was hiding. “You became a pet of a dialen, didn’t you?”
I narrowed my eyes. “Leave him out of this.”
“Oh, I don’t think so.” She speared me with a gaze full of contempt and insult. “I shall never understand why you mated with such an unworthy creature. He’s lesser, Morgorth. He’s nothing but an archer, a mere sword fighter. How does he compare to a mage? How is he even granted a second look from someone like you?”
Her ignorance about love didn’t surprise me but her insults to Aishe caused my magick to flare painfully. “I would never be able to explain such things to someone like you.”
“Someone like me?” Her voice raised several pitches, cutting across my eardrums like a knife. “I am the greatest mage ever born. Not because of the power I wield, but because of the mission I intend to finish. I am no coward to simply play by the rules a weak deity handed down a millennium ago. I will be more. Not a dog of the Mother.”
I seethed at her arrogance even as a small, wicked part of me agreed with her, wanted to join her. That small part remembered our first encounter together, the passion we’d ignited, the arrogance and hunger for power in her eyes that had fed my own, the rebellious streak that had answered my own.
I kicked that small part aside. “What the Mother has written let no one unwrite.” My voice took on a hard edge as I repeated the number one rule of mages. The rule Master Ulezander had drilled into my head from day one.
Her eyes brightened, burned into mine, and she laughed, teeth gleaming. “Come on, Morgorth. Are you a child? Do you really still subscribe to that tripe? It’s just a way for the council to keep us down, to keep us scared and obedient. You should know that better than anyone.”
My hands clenched into fists. “The Mother made that rule, Drasyln. You know that.”
“And what has the Mother done for us?” she said. “Given us a world where we can’t even act to our full potential. She gave us all this power and yet still restricts us! How fair is that?”
“We are her children,” I said, magick flashing inside me, Master Ulezander’s words poured out of my mouth. “We follow her and obey her. That is it. That is all. She created us and gifted us her magick. Or have you forgotten that?”
“She also writes our destinies,” Drasyln said slyly. “Or have you forgotten what she’s written for you?�
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My jaw clenched. How could I forget? But I also couldn’t forget her appearance to me that night, when I’d been just a child. The night before I escaped, she’d come to me, offered me comfort. Love. She blessed my escape. My feelings toward the Mother were complicated but that had nothing to do with the ethics of time travel. You only moved forward, you never moved back.
“Why must you let her dictate your life? My life? Anyone’s lives?” Drasyln continued. “I’m doing this for all of us, Morgorth.”
I snorted with derision. “And how do you figure that?”
Her eyes narrowed. “Without Rambujek the tribe won’t be massacred. Your mate won’t know such pain and sorrow.”
She spoke those words in a low, intense voice. I hoped to the Mother Aishe hadn’t heard any of it. But even as I thought that, more realizations flooded into me. She was right. Without the ruby, Kayl would have no reason to attack the Ravena tribe. None of them would die. Aishe wouldn’t have nightmares anymore. He wouldn’t cry, or grieve. I could take away his pain. For a moment, I became blind to my surroundings. I went inward, thinking of the possibilities, tempted by them. I could erase Aishe’s pain. I’d told him once, if I could go back in time and save his tribe, I would. I would. Now was my chance.
It would be rather easy. Too easy. A simple enchantment would put the entire tribe to sleep. I would take the ruby from around Brelyn’s neck. I would take Drasyln and we would go back to our right time and... I shuddered. But it wouldn’t be the right time, would it? Without Kayl, without the massacre, I wouldn’t meet Aishe that day in Happy Valley, would I? He would be with his tribe, maybe even united with another dialen. My heart clenched at the very thought. But he would be happy, wouldn’t he? Wasn’t it selfish of me to want him for myself? To want events to play out so he would come into my life? Sure, he was the greatest thing to ever happen to me, but...what would he want?
My mate’s voice suddenly filled my head, his scowl filled my vision. He would reject the very idea. He would tell me everything happened for a purpose, that the Mother had a plan. He would tell me his grief would ease, that his tribe was safe, their pain over. He wouldn’t want me to change the past.
I came back to myself to see Drasyln staring at me, seeming to hold her breath. I knew what she was trying to do: use my weakness against me. While Aishe may be my weakness, he was also my strength. I knew what I wanted. But I also knew what Aishe would want.
I lifted my head, looked her straight in the eye. “What the Mother has written, let no one unwrite.”
She scowled again, her eyes flashing. “Pitiful. Selfish. You would condemn him? Fine. But I won’t let you stop me.”
Even as she raised her right hand, her left holding the agate, I already channeled the magick of the wind and moisture in the air. I combined them together to create a heavy mist, one that bloomed into existence with a mere thought. I heard her scream in frustration as the mist blinded all of us. I crouched, touching the ground, using the earth magick to feel where she stepped, since her own magick was pulsing inside her.
I suddenly heard Aishe scream. Before I could react, a fireball the size of a small boulder came rolling at me through the mist. I flung up my shield, using it to swat the fire away. Whipping around, I grounded the mist with a sharp word. Silence met my ears. My heart pounded violently, and I heightened my senses, sending out my magick, trying to find him. The leaves fluttered around, scratching against one another. No birds sang, no bididari fluttered by, all the animals had scattered, the tension and violence in the air scaring them away. All I could hear was my own breathing.
What did she do? She wasn’t as skilled or as powerful as me, but she did have the agate and that gave her the advantage. I didn’t know how advanced she had become at time traveling. I couldn’t underestimate her.
“Oh, Morgorth,” came a singing voice. I spun around. Drasyln stood there with a smirk, one of her arms curled around Aishe’s neck. She had his head pulled back in a painful position, his body bowed backward. Without much force, she could snap his neck. His eyes were so big, nothing but terror reflected in them as he stared at me. He gripped her arm, and I realized she held him tightly enough to cut off his ability to speak, and close enough to nearly shut off his air. I also noticed she was panting, sweat glistening on her skin. I suspected using the agate was taking its toll on her. Perfect. Some stones were rumored to drain energy from the user and in this case, I was glad that seemed to be true.
I straightened and faced her squarely, a strange calm washing over me. It was as cold as the farthest reaches of space and just as merciless. I embraced the dark cold, let it guide me. I only had one focus, one purpose.
“I won’t even warn you,” I said. “Let him go. Now.”
I saw her shudder, a flash of fear in her eyes. My calm demeanor unnerved her. “Why don’t you tell him, Morgorth?” she said, taunting with false courage. “Why don’t you tell him what the Mother has written? Why don’t you tell him what you really are?”
The temperature suddenly dropped around us, causing our breaths to form into mist in front of our faces. The cold only affected the meadow we stood upon, however. It took me a moment to realize it was I causing the change. That was incredibly odd since I hadn’t even thought or said a word. But I knew it was me, I could feel myself suck the heat and energy out of the surrounding area. The trees sagged oddly, the grass began to brown and die, and the air grew stale. It was bizarre, I wasn’t drawing magick from the elements around me, I was simply drawing the heat energy. It seeped into my core, my bones and skin. I absorbed it with no need to expel it. I didn’t know how I was doing it, and that should frighten me, but I didn’t have time to be scared. I had a young Aishe to save.
“Morgorth, what are you doing?” Drasyln’s voice quavered. She clenched the agate tighter, and I could see her struggle to breathe.
Frost formed on the dying grass, on the sides of the trees closest to us. I could see her trying to focus, to use the stone. But the best way to defeat a mage was to make them lose their focus, their concentration. Distracting them during a battle could mean the difference between life and death. Those were lessons I’d taught my Aishe ever since I finished my second phase of training. I couldn’t let her realize she could easily teleport away with Aishe and force him to tell her were his tribe was. I had to keep her focus on me and thankfully, her hatred of me made that easy.
I didn’t know how to use the time traveling stone but I suspected it was similar to teleporting, and that meant she had to have a place or time in mind before she could activate the magick. I imagined fierce concentration was needed to control something so powerful. Freezing to death and having difficulty breathing didn’t create a good environment for that.
“Stop this!” She jerked Aishe slightly, and he made a strange, gurgling noise. Now she had snapped off his air.
A flash of fire so hot it rivaled the sun replaced the cold inside me. With a snarl that formed a word of magick, I slapped my hand down to the ground, instantly channeling the earth magick into me, then I expelled it a heartbeat later. A fissure formed from where my hand rested and proceeded to speed directly toward Drasyln and Aishe. It shot right under their feet before the earth jerked open, a large maw forming underneath them. The cracking and groaning of the ground roared through the small space. Trees shook and some got uprooted. Drasyln stumbled, trying to steady herself without letting go of Aishe, but I knew she would choose to save herself.
I’d moved so fast and her reactions were slowed by the cold and thin air that she fell into the hole with a scream. Aishe stumbled as well, what I had done to our surroundings not sparing him. He began to fall but I directed a gust of wind to swoop under him, and it carried him right into my arms. He was like a block of ice, he was so cold. Once I used earth magick, I managed to release my hold over the temperature and air, and it rapidly warmed, the imbalance I’d created quickly being fixed. Aishe gasped for breath, his arms snapping around my neck, holding me so tightly
, I nearly choked.
Despite my intense desire to keep holding him, to warm him with my own heat, a battle was still being waged. “Easy. I got you.” I managed to pull his arms away from my neck and shoved him behind me. “Stay behind me.”
“Right.” His voice was barely more than a squeak. I risked a glance back. Eyes huge, I could see he struggled to keep from succumbing to hysteria. He was sickly pale, his eyes glistening with unshed tears of fear, and bruises were starting to form on his neck. Fury lashed through me. I could kill her for that alone. She’d marked him. She’d marked my dialen. I turned around and as I was about to snap the earth tightly over the bitch, she jumped out, a flurry of wind underneath her, like a small tornado, holding her aloft.
I bared my teeth, backing away, suddenly feeling Aishe’s hands grip my jacket. I knew she saw the fury in my eyes as I felt it burning through my entire system. She would feel my wrath. Before this was over, she would feel agony for causing Aishe one moment of pain.
Aishe screamed as she sent a ferocious fireball down at us. I lifted my left hand, my shield forming flawlessly before us. I felt the weight, the heat as it smashed against the dome. My feet slipped a little on the ground but I held firm, my stance unbendable. She kept the fire going, and it licked over the invisible ward, trying to find flesh to devour. I hunched underneath it, angling so the fire had to go through my shield and me before it could reach Aishe. She was pissed and it showed; my arm began to buckle under the force.