Born of Magic (Channeler Series) (25 page)

“It's been easy so far, outside of learning how to ride a horse.”

“We can only hope that it continues to be that way for the remainder of your journey.”

I could tell there was something else on her mind. She was battling with herself to mention it, but I could tell she would give soon.

“Tevon will ensure everything goes smoothly,”
I reassured her.

“Yes… I am sure he will. However…”
She continued to sound conflicted inside, uncertain whether or not she should reveal something to me, I could tell.
“The dream messenger came to me, he delivered a message.”

I was growing tired of this mage; if I were to see him again, I would silence him somehow, stop him from poisoning the minds of those around me
anymore.

“He did not reveal much, but we know that Ordana is their first target. The situation seems to be more pressing than we thought. We need Ordana to survive this. They are the biggest military forces in these lands.”
She sounded as though she was coming to me for help rather than warning me of impending danger.
“I hate to put any more pressure on you, but it is critical that we help protect them, regardless of their acceptance of it.”

“I understand.”
I knew now that if I were to live up to the title I had chosen to accept, this would be the first victory required of me.

Tevon looked over at me, it was apparent I was not the only one involved in that conversation. His eyes met mine and we both knew. We would now not only have to gain their respect, but with the enemy coming for them, we
might be required to stay there and fight along side them. This mission of diplomacy had now become a mission of war. There was no denying it had been declared, we just didn't know in what way it would be raged.

We went to sleep without a word among us. There was too much on my mind to force out any conversation. I assumed it was the same for Tevon. Yurios was never talkative when I was around it seemed.

The following morning we awoke in a hurry, now that time was a factor. We were quick to mount our horses and hasten their pace. We pushed the mounts to their limits, and I struggled to hold on. Our frantic pace caused me to expel almost everything Tevon had taught me from my mind.

"I think the horses hav
e had all they can take for now,” Tevon said after a half day’s ride. “Let's take a break to let them recover." Tevon guided his horse off the path.

There was a small creek just off the trail a little ways. We followed Tevon with the horses over there to drink and rest while we talked about the situation.

“Jas, how comfortable are you with your ability to cut off magic?” Tevon asked.

“I’m not sure.
I can handle the two of you, but that’s pushing it for me,” I answered, trying to hide the true overwhelming depths of my uncertainty.

“We'll have to do what we can if they attack, and cutting off their supply may be more valuable than anything else we could offer
,” Tevon explained. Yurios was sitting next to him, sharpening his sword with a dark, hand-sized stone. You could hear the rough texture of the stone rub against the steel, shaving off small particles that shot out in short, glorious sparks.

Yurious, in his arrogance, added, “They'll be no match for us. Take away their magic and they’re mine.”

Tevon didn’t say anything; instead he shot Yurios a scornful glare. While his egotism was irritating, he did admit that I would be useful, which was a step forward for him.

We did not rest for long, only until Tevon felt the horses had recovered enough. I felt sorry for the poor creatures
, as our hurried agenda would force them to be pushed well beyond their normal limits. I could also relate to them, as the current mission was probably well beyond my standard capacity as well, yet I had no choice. Ordana needed our help, and those who intended to destroy us would not wait for me to feel ready.

Tevon announced
that it was time and we once again mounted up, taking off at a frightening pace. Our horses maintained a swift gait, a trail of dust bellowing behind them from the dry ground. My legs and arms were sore from the effort it took to stay on, and my stomach grew ill. With each hurried stride of our horses we were closer to Ordana, and some of the smaller outlying villages began to come into view.

There was a well developed trail that went through the kingdom, branching off with a different path for every village and city. The trail was coated in small
, smooth pebbles. The small gray rocks were sprayed outward from Tip Toe’s hooves. Yurios rode closely in front of me so that some the rocks his horse kicked up struck my horse’s nose and spooked her every few steps.

"We have pushed the horses too far
, I fear. We must find refuge for them," Tevon called back to us.

Tevon took a fork in the path that led towards what looked like a small farming village in the distance. We slowed our pace as we approached, not wanting to raise any concern, as we
had already been met with un-trusting gazes when we had first neared the village. Farmers stood next to their fields and houses. They stopped what they were doing to stare at us, as though they were unaccustomed to unknown travelers visiting their town. To them, we were nothing but potential trouble, and it seemed to set them unease.

Tevon dismounted his horse, holding his hand out to Yurios and I, instructing us to stay where we were until told otherwise. He
then approached one of the farmers that stood outside of his house and took the bag of pineapple from his horse and opened it for the farmer. They were just outside of hearing distance, but I could tell our arrival was more welcome with the offering he gave. He signaled for us to come over and we dismounted in unison, then walked over.

“So
, how are the crops doing this year?” Tevon asked with a merry smile, making new friends of the villagers.

“We've seen better, but we'll make it. Flooding earlier t
his year took some of our crops,” the elderly looking farmer replied, his dry blistered hands wrapped around the end of a pitchfork. The other end of the pitchfork was firmly dug into the ground, acting as a support for him.

“Really?” Tevon asked, enticed at the opportunity to begin making friends with the people of Ordana. “Mind if I take a look?”

“A look? The crops are gone. I’m not sure what you could possibly do.”

“I’m known to have a bit of a green thumb
,” Tevon said with a grin.

“Well
, all right,” the farmer said. He still looked doubtful. “Follow me.”

The farmer pulled his pitchfork from the ground with an exhausted grunt and began making his way out towards the fields. The village was surrounded by crops of various vegetables and grains, however the field he led us to was empty and barren. There were large puddles of water everywhere, drowning most of the plants that had survived.

“This is one of many,” the farmer explained. “You can see the damage done by the flooding. It'll be a little bit until we can get anything to grow from this. We lost a quarter of our crops for the year.”

Tevon walked out to the field a little ways, his eyes dancing as he looked around at the devastation that lay before us. “Jas, care to lend a hand?” He called out to me, the farmer looking at us with a dumbfounded look. I began to ch
annel a burst of magic into him and it came crashing down like a wave breaking on the shore.

Almost overwhelmed by it, Tevon placed his hands onto the ground and closed his eyes
. The earth around us began to tremble. Small openings in the ground began to spread through the field like glass shattering, and the water was sucked down into the openings. From the gaps green sprouts began to appear, growing tall and slender. They spread throughout the field we stood in. Little leaves blossomed out from the stems as they grew. Tevon stopped when they were half a foot tall.

“What the…” the farmer stuttered, awe-struck from the event. “You're mages, aren’t you?”

Tevon walked back over to the man, stepping around the little newly formed plants. “We're here to help the people of Ordana.”

The farmer did not respond as Tevon had anticipated, “And what price do you ask for such sorcery?” His voice was filled with anger and disgust now.

“We ask for nothing more than to be allowed the chance to help,” Tevon answered.

I remained quiet, uncertain if anything I could say would be of help.

The farmer, still doubtful about us, walked out to the field and inspected the plants. “Potatoes,” he uttered under his breath. He continued to check them, pulling one from the ground and inspecting it, it was nearly ready to be harvested.

By now the field was the center of focus for the entire village. They stood and watched us from a distance. I could
tell most of them were nervous, all but one young boy. He ducked under the fence surrounding the village and rushed out to the field, an excited expression on his face.

“You did this?” He asked Tevon.

The farmer glared at the boy, “Go back to your family, Allen.”

Bright-eyed, the boy ignored him as he stood before Tevon waiting for an answer. Tevon kneeled down to the boy’s level. “Yes, my friends and I did this. We can do this to all of the fields here.”

While the farmer was unsure of us, he was also no fool. The people here needed food and we offered it. Still, he made it known he was not wild about the situation.

“You say you can do this to all of the fields we lost?” The farmer asked, leaning against his pitchfork once again.

Tevon had been hiding it until now, but he was drained from what he had done. A small amount of blood trickled from his nose. “Yes, I'll just need a little time to recover from that one.”

The people of the village accepted the farmer’s decision as if it was their own. We were then greeted by the rest of them while Tevon stopped to recover. Yurios remained apprehensive towards them, coyly keeping his hand near his sword at all times while Tevon was bombarded with requests for various crops that they wanted. Some were unusual for the region, mostly foods they had heard of but never seen. Tevon denied many of the more exotic requests.

"Those crops won't last here, the climate isn't right. If I were to plant them, they would only last one harvest." Tevon said.

"At least one, if you please. We are fine with it
," the elder farmer answered.

"As you wish."

When Tevon felt well enough, he and I went to grow another crop. This time it was a special request for a crop they had heard of only from various stories that floated around from long traveling traders. Tevon however had seen this one before and he liked it. Once again I channeled a large amount of power into him, and the crop rose from the ground, foot sized stalks popped up along the main stem as it reached for the sky.

The field formed a maze. When he was finished, the plants towed over me and I lost sight of Tevon. I was surrounded by a thick forest of what Tevon informed me was called "miaze", I found it ironic as the plants had formed a maze and figured that is where the name came from.

Tevon appeared from the field and pulled an stalk of maize from one of the plants, peeling back the thick green husk that wrapped around it, revealing a weird looking vegetable that was covered in little yellow squares. He handed it to the farmer.

Tevon began to instruct him, “First you need to cook it in….” but the
farmer took a bite. “Water,” Tevon finished.

The farmer still found it delicious and gave it to the little boy who had approached us earlier, he
had been following us around like a mouse that had been given a piece of cheese and was waiting for more. The boy took the maize and ran off to the crowd of villagers who continued to watch from a distance. They gathered around him in wonder as he held it above his head.

This process continued for some time as we replaced all of the crops they had lost, putting new rich foods they had dreamed of in their stead. With each new field
that we grew, the village grew equally friendlier towards us. By the time the day was done, we had won them over, with a great effort on Tevon’s part.

Our horses had been cared for by the people while we were busy,
so they were well rested and fed, and the villagers had even bothered to groom them. Tip Toe’s fur glistened with brilliance as she stood under a tree with the others.

“That would
have normally taken me a month,” Tevon thanked me, his breathing heavy. There was dried blood around the outer rings of his nostrils, I tried to avoid noticing but, couldn’t help it. “If we can win over the General as we have these people, this mission will go much easier. How are you holding up Jas?”

I was surprised with how little effort it had taken me this time. Today I had channeled more magic than ever before and
it felt almost easy. “Fine, actually,” I answered, a little astonished with myself. Yurios seemed to share my surprise, probably further fueling his frustration with me.

The farmer must have
noticed how fatigued Tevon was. “You folks are welcome to stay anywhere you want tonight. Our homes are at your service.”