Born of Magic (Channeler Series) Page 22

  Astonished by my outburst, the General walked over to my cell. “And you’re the little girl that can save us, aren’t you?”

  I nodded. “Yes, I am,” I said, genuinely confident that I could. Why else would the Southerners bothered to make me the same offer as many times as they had? They perceive me as a threat.

  “All right. You’ll have your chance to prove you’re trustworthy. How do you propose to save my people?”

  Tevon answered, with little hesitation, “I can replace your crops overnight and Yurios can take care of the river, even use it to put out the fires before they spread too much more.”

  “All right, do it,” The General said with a scowl expression, as though the words left a foul taste in his mouth.

  We were released from our cells and escorted out of the castle. The General walked with us. “My men will come with you,” he said, and one of the guards was quick to see to the General’s command as he ran off to the barracks, returning with twenty well-armed soldiers that met up with us before we had reached the inner city wall.

  “First we need to see to the river,” Tevon explained.

  “We will take you there,” The General said as he continued to walk with us. He made it apparent he would be watching over us. “If I for one moment think you mean to betray us, Dhamlaic will make quick work of you.”

  It didn’t take me long to realize that the man he spoke of was the one who walked directly behind him. His eyes burned a hole in my heart as he gazed at me. He was not dressed in any armor; instead, he wore a cloak and had two short swords on his sides, his hands firmly wrapped around both. Though he found us his main targets for the time being, I was relieved to see someone as frightening as him on our side.

  The sky was filled with smoke. Bits of ash floated through the air like snowflakes, coating the roofs and streets of the city. The smell of burning wood filled the air as the intense glowing red color of flames could be seen in the clouds they bellowed. The smoke came from every direction; we were surrounded by fire, just as had been promised.

  “Try to not breathe it in too much,” Tevon warned me as he demonstrated how to use the collar of my shirt as a mask.

  The streets of the city were empty. Sets of eyes could be seen from inside the houses as they watched us march through the city. The two wooden gates leading out opened and a gust of heat burned my face just as it had in Caspere’s dungeon. The flames stretched as far as we could see.

  Yurios turned to the general. “Tell your people to prepare for a flood.”

  The general hesitated for a moment, but gave the order. “Barricade the door and seal it water tight with whatever we’ve got; the city walls shall be our people’s sanctuary.” Two men broke off and returned to the city to begin spreading the word. I didn’t bother to ask what we would do when the flood came.

  Our horses were returned to us as the king and his soldiers mounted their own. The horses were skittish around the fire, and I found it difficult to control Tip Toe. We all raced through the road as it was the only clear area. The fire burned up most of the oxygen around us, makingit difficult to breathe as with every gasp our lungs were filled with ash. I could see the General in front of us. He rode with little concern for his own well being and seemed almost unaffected by the harsh environment around us. It was a short but difficult ride to where the river was meant to be.

  We arrived and Yurios looked up and down the still muddy bed. “Which way did the water flow?” He asked.

  The general pointed to the South, and Yurios then took off to the North. The fire had not spread here yet, so I took the opportunity to fill my lungs with the cooler air, though my throat still burned. After traveling up the creek bed a ways we came to a lake. The river had been cut off by a dam at the mouth of the creek bed.

  The General dismounted and walked towards the lake. “This was a valley... There has never been a lake here before,” he said as he stared at the newly formed lake in horror.

  The dam was made of a smooth, white marble, stone wall. We all ran over to the dam as Yurios inspected it. I could see he was channeling magic, feeling the force of the water exerted on the wall.

  “It won’t hold like this much longer. I can break the dam, but we will need to get out of the way quickly,” Yurios said as we stood at the base of the giant dam.

  “You’ll do nothing of the sort,” someone shouted from behind us, followed by a ball of fire that came blazing by and hit several of the soldiers that were with us. They screamed in pain as they were set afire. I channeled as much magic as I could to Yurios and he brought a gush of water down on them. The fires had been put out, but they were still covered in burns and were unable to defend themselves.

  Behind us stood thirty mages. They were dressed in the same clothing as the mage that had invaded my dreams and their bodies were covered in similar chaotic tattoos, however their eyes did not glow red as the dream mage’s did.

  Thirty, I thought myself, you can handle thirty. I looked at them in Etherea. They were all building up their magic, storing it to wipe us all out at once. I had to stop them before they could. Thinking about all that I was fighting for, I used every ounce of strength within my body and clung on to every bit of might that I could as I began to channel the magic away from them.

  At first only a couple in the front were affected. The rest noticed and began to attack. A rock came tumbling from nowhere and landed on three of the soldiers. Two arrows were sent flying the mages way but were incinerated midair by another ball of fire.

  The ground around us began to tremble. Small cracks opened up in the ground, and bolts of lightning shot down at us from the smoke cloud. Whatever they were doing, this seemed to only be the beginning. Not wanting to find out what was about to happen, I gave up every thought I ever had about my limits and tried harder than I ever imagined I was capable of.

  “What sort of magic is this?” The General shouted as his feet slipped on the shuttering rocks.

  A fountain of magic flowed away from the mages in Etherea. They realized their powers had been removed and wasted no time. With fury in their eyes they ran at us while they drew their swords. Dhamlaic removed his cloak and stepped to the front along with the remaining soldiers that were with us. The mages' swords were met with our own, and two of our soldiers fell in that first clash of steel.

  While the mages fought well, they were no match for Dhamlaic as he held off four on his own. The other soldiers struggled. One after another the mages fell, as did the soldiers. The numbers on both sides dwindled in favor of the mages. The General joined in, his sword fiercely piercing the chest of a mage. He came at them with a thunderous roar and they fell at his sword one by one. Still the mages seemed to have the upper hand.

  I watched the magic that left them form into a cloud overhead as the battle ensued, it swirled around as I began adding more to it and sent it straight into Yurios.

  “Now,” I yelled to him.

  He took all the power I gave him and pulled the water forward against the dam. It began to crumble under the stress and cracks formed all along the marble. Streams of water sprayed out. His muscles bulged as he held is hands up, using all of his strength to bring down the dam. Time slowed down for me as I watched. I could see every little chunk of marble fall to the ground as it broke away from the dam.

  The dam reached a point where it could no longer hold itself up and collapsed in a thunderous clash of stone and water. Yurios held out his arms as the water came crashing towards us. Just before it hit us, the water forked and began to flow around our group as if it were held back by an invisible wall.

  “Fall back to me,” Yurios shouted, his voice strained from all of the pressure he held back.

  The remaining soldiers and the General joined us by Yurios’ side, Dhamlaic was the last join. Before doing so he kicked off a medium sized rock and launched himself in the opposite direction towards the mages, bringing both of his legs into the chests of two of them, knocking them back and slowing down the
rest as they tumbled into one another. He ran back to us and Yurios let the water collapse around the mages. They were carried off by the water, disappearing into the disarray of rubble and stones that were caught in the wave.

  The water continued to come roaring past us. Yurios struggled to keep it off of us as the lake emptied, revealing the previously flooded valley again. The water levels returned to normal and we found it easy now to keep ourselves clear of the river. Yurios moved the invisible wall over to the shore, holding it back as we walked with him out of the path of the river.

  When we were clear, he collapsed to the ground, and blood covered his face and chest. I cried out for him but Tevon held me back. Yurios lied there. His eyes were open but were sluggish. His chest moving at a rate so slow that it terrified me.

  “Help him up,” The General commanded. The few remaining soldiers did as ordered and picked Yurios up and placed him on a horse with Dhamlaic.

  “This day’s not over yet,” Tevon added. The fires still went on around the city of Ordana.

  We mounted our horses and hurried back in silence. We rode south, down to where the river neared the fires and stopped when we could feel the flames on our cheeks. Dhamlaic dismounted and the soldiers helped him lift Yurios off of his horse. He was more alert now. Yurios stood on his shaking legs, but still seemed weary. He knew what he still had to do before he could pass out. The fires tore apart every crop in sight; there was nothing left but the city.

  At the least the mage that had started them no longer could cause anymore.

  While the water had doused some of the other crops, there was still a great deal that needed to be extinguished. Yurios looked to the General, “I’m sorry to say but you can forget that flood…” He fell down once again, this time he was too weak to stand back up.

  “What can we do?” The General asked in desperation. He was now being pitted against forces he could never have imagined.

  We all stood there and watched, helpless as the fires continued on, spreading on to the nearby forests. They were too great in numbers and size to ever be put out in time by hand. I remembered how I had pulled magic from the other mages before and used their own power. I looked at Yurios as he lay there in Etherea. I don’t know how I knew to, but I started channeling power through his body and out into mine. I stored up a massive amount of his magic as his body converted it for me. He must have been just conscious enough to help.

  I built up more magic than I could contain and held my hands into the air. The sky shook and trembled as it filled with dark clouds. The clouds formed everywhere except over the castle. They grew darker, turning the day into night. No light could break through as they grew thicker. Water began pouring out from them in a drenching rain. The fires fended it off at first, but I used one large burst of magic and the rains released a small flood all at once. The fires sizzled as the water hit them, smoke and steam roaring out as the cool water met the smoldering hot embers. We were hit with a scolding rush of humid air. It was nearly impossible to breathe through it all.

  The nightmares from Caspere’s factory came back to me as I relived some of the horrible sensations I had experienced there. The steam, scorching waves of heat, the burning in my lungs, it was just like I remembered. This time however, I chose to be here and endure this hellish environment.

  As the smoke cleared, a barren land of ash and the remaining spots of embers were all that could be seen.

  The General looked at his kingdom with a look of dismay. “Those monsters.”

  Tevon stood next to the General. “We can rebuild this.”

  His comforting statement was shrugged off by the General. “We must get this boy some medical care, he’s a hero to the Kingdom of Ordana.”

  Tevon interjected, “That was only a small portion of what lies ahead, you know.”

  “We must look for hope right now. Their men were crushed. That will hopefully buy us some of the time we need; we have a war to prepare for,” the General said, a bit of passion in his voice. He was a military man, and this is what he lived for. He proved today that he would take on anything that threatened his people head on. Though he had imprisoned me, he had already managed to gain my respect.

  Waves of soldiers hurried out of the city gates. The lookouts had apparently seen we had someone in need of medical condition, as several soldiers with a horse-pulled wagon came out and took Yurios back to the castle. The rain continued on for several hours, and large puddles formed everywhere. It would take some time to rebuild from the destruction the mages had inflicted.

  “Tevon has informed me of your victory, Jasminis. You did amazingly. We have sent several experienced mages to assist in the situation,” Helendra said. She surprised me as I was staring at the wreckage when she started talking.

  “What about the General? He’s still not wild about mages…”

  “Tevon is certain he can convince the general to accept further help from us before they arrive. The academy has determined that Ordana shall be the location of our blockade. We are going to help hold those lands at any cost.” She sounded hopeful about our chances; I tried to embody her spirit as well.

  With a slight hint of hope now, I couldn’t help but ask, “Will you be coming here as well?”

  Her tone changed, a little bit of sadness buried within it. “I must remain here to help coordinate our efforts. With the first confirmed attack, we are now in communication with many throughout the North. We are building an army.”

  So much had taken place in such a short period of time. I found myself a little overwhelmed. We still had all of the crops to replace. It would take at least a week, based on the pace we maintained the last time we did this. Yurios was still in horrible condition as well, and it was partially my fault.

  While the clouds dissipated, rays of vibrant light now rained down. I couldn’t help but imagine a small cloud still remaining over my head.

  “What now?” I asked Tevon as we stood near the river.

  “We help them rebuild. I know you’re tired, but these people need help. Without us, people will starve,” he answered, though it was not the answer I had hoped for. I knew he was right, but it was a heavy burden being a mage.

  As the sun continued to reveal itself from behind the few remaining patches of clouds, the people of Ordana poured out of the city. They appeared to be in shock from the condition of their homeland.

  The General turned to us, “We must restore the people’s faith.” He paused and looked down at me, “Can we call upon you for help one last time today?”

  Tevon and I both nodded. I had an idea as to what it was he had planned. We mounted our horses and rode to the city entrance where all the people looked out in awe, still unaware of the impending war that would follow this battle. There was no applause as we dismounted and walked before them.

  “People of Ordana,” the General said with a stern, booming voice, “today has been a day of loss and a day of victory. Thanks to our new friends from the Mages Academy, we have survived today.”

  One of the townspeople interrupted boldly, “Survived what? Our food is gone.”

  The people broke into an uproar. Tevon tapped me on the shoulder, signaling he was ready. I channeled a large but steady stream of magic into him, like a steady river. He placed his hands on the ground. The people fell silent as a fully ready to harvest field of wheat shoved itself up from the ground in a few heartbeats.

  The General once again had the attention of his people. “Our friends are here to help us. A war is coming, with an army far fiercer and greater than the forces that inflicted this damage upon us today. We find ourselves facing difficult times ahead. It’s for this reason that we must look to new ways and new friends. We must open our arms to those who seek alliance with us; we have an enemy to crush.” He raised his sword into the air. A thunderous applause broke out, accompanied with confident and proud cheering. I caught a glimpse of a tear that subtly rolled down the General’s cheek and disappeared into his beard before anyone e
lse took notice.

  With the people now celebrating and my body about to give in, the General released us to go for what was left of the day. He had a company of soldiers escort us to our own guest quarters. As we passed through the crowd of people, they all cheered for us. My heart couldn’t help but flutter at the sight. I was finally beginning to live up to the person that Helendra and Tevon saw in me.

  First we were led to our rooms. They were next to one another on the side of the castle that faced the plateau where the academy was. The rooms were chosen for us for obvious reasons. I quickly made myself familiar with the room. I was more concerned with Yurios’ condition than anything else. While a small part of me knew that really it wasn’t my fault, I still had to carry the guilt of anything that may happen to him as a result of my channeling.

  The memory of what it had done to Yurios, what I had done to him, was like a cold stake in my heart. I knew when I had channeled that much magic into him that it would hurt him, but there was no other choice. The idea of anything happening to him seemed unbearable to me. I didn’t know how I would ever be able to face Edgar again if Yurios didn’t recover. These thoughts played games with me as I stared out the window of my room. I watched the shadows cast by the castle as they painted a charcoal silhouette on the landscape. Its walls shifted like ripples in a gently disturbed puddle as the wind grazed the fields with a delicate touch.

  Time taunted my thoughts, relentless in its efforts to dampen my spirits. I wanted to see Yurios, but every time I requested to I was told it would be just a little while longer. The answer grew more wearing with each repetition. I knew that the longer it was until I could see him, the worse his condition truly was. Were he fine, I would be able to go see him, but he’s not, he can’t be bothered and hasn’t been fine for some time.

  Tevon hadn’t come to visit me in my room, nor had I gone to visit him in his. With the anticipation building for news of Yurios’ condition, I needed support. I left my room and went down the hallway to Tevon’s. I opened the door to find our rooms were almost identical, outside of the varying tapestries.