Ice Burns (25 page)

Chandra smiled, hearing a mix of exasperation and resignation in Matta’s voice. She had to understand the nature of Frostwhite despite his status as an Ancient One in her eyes. Of course, perhaps that one aspect is what made her accepting of his behavior?

Chandra sipped from her tea before asking the question she had meant with her previous query. “Do you see a person, a smile, a face? Do you see something else but identify it as me?”

Matta drank from her tea cup, holding the sip in her mouth for a few moments as if it would imbibe her tongue with the ability to give the best answer. “I can tell you that I do see your face and expressions,” she began. “But it is as if I see the heat of the magic within you instead of the normal tone and texture of a human.”

She took another sip, holding it again, looking for further wisdom or perhaps courage, though the thought that Matta ever lacked in courage was not easily accepted.

“You do have a different appearance though, aside from the fact that I can see so much of you,” Matta began again. “It is as if there is another shape over you, like a shadow that is tangible. I’m not sure what it means.”

“A shadow? You mean you see my shadow on me instead of created by me in the light?” Chandra creased her brow in concentration.

“No. Your form is perfectly clear. This is a different form that seems to cloak you.” Chandra was amazed that these little revelations were so difficult for someone who had seemed formed of pure metal since the moment she had met her. She faintly remembered something about a shadow that nagged at her consciousness and wondered if Matta wasn’t seeing more than she realized.

“It is the form of a beast, of the like I have never seen, that wraps you in shadows,” she said. The steel was in her voice as if she were angry she had to say it. “I don’t know what it means, but it is a sort of reptile.”

Chandra’s eyes went wide. The idea of the shadow fled her mind and something scarrier tugged at her, trying to make her remember. A sudden image of a beast shot through her mind like lightening. She was again agonized by the feeling of her body shifting and changing. The storm of memory overtook all other thoughts, tossing them heedlessly away. Sweat formed along her spine and fear clutched her throat like a hand, choking her.

“What is it, Chandra?” Matta asked, reaching forward to grasp Chandra’s hand. “What do you know?”

“Nothing,” Chandra said, not untruthfully. “It's so much to take in,” she finished in a soft voice.

It wasn't a lie; it just wasn't the whole truth. Matta seemed to sense there was more to it but did not press. No doubt she believed it was at least partially true as she herself had not wanted to share the information.

Both women sat in silence for a while. Matta had not withdrawn her hand and made no move to do so. The touch was not as uncomfortable as Chandra might have imagined. Matta’s hand was warm and felt strong on hers, steady. She sat still and waited for the moment to break and the world to dive in on them.

Matta stood and stepped away from the table. She lifted the kettle from the hearth and stepped out of the cottage. Chandra thought about everything the woman had told her. It was a lot to try to understand, but it didn't mean that Matta wasn't her friend. There was a good chance that Chandra would have thought the old woman crazy if she had started their first conversation with talk about seeing colors in Chandra.

She snorted at the idea and pictured Matta waving her arms around, talking about rainbows and mythical creatures. Chandra shook her head and rose to go help Matta refill the pot from the well. She knew the old woman was capable, but she also knew that helping would show her that Chandra was okay with what had been said. She walked to the doorway of the cottage and saw Matta lying on the ground beside the well with a man standing over her, with a sword and her neck.

21

“Old woman, I asked you a question!”

His face turned red as he shouted down at Matta’s cowering form. The man was some sort of guard from the looks of the insignias on his vest. He wore no armor, but had chain mail covering his chest and formed into partial sleeves like gauntlets on his forearms. His mail and clothing were streaked with mud and foliage, showing he had been wandering through the forest for a while. He had scrapes on his on his whiskered face and his cheeks radiated with heat. There was some sort of crest sewn on his clothing, but Chandra did not recognize it. His clothing, though dirty, looked much better than hers had when the forest spit her out.

“I told you, sir, I’m naught but blind auld woman,” Matta's voice sounded weak and heavy as though she had been running. Chandra's heart sped up until she took in the way Matta spoke; the rolling sounds bespoke of country life and were not the old woman's normal way of speaking. Matta was pretending to be harmless and feeble.

“You are on his Lordship’s land. How did you come to be here?” the man swung his leather-clad arm back to strike Matta, and Chandra reacted.

She reached forward one arm as if to grab the man’s, and he froze. The guard turned as he struggled to lower his arm, looking for the source of his sudden impotence. Seeing no one behind him, he tugged again at his arm, trying to free it. He turned his head and saw Chandra. She realized that he was barely older than she was under the uneven whiskers and sunburnt skin. Recognition dawned in his unfamiliar mud-colored eyes, and Chandra knew she was in trouble.

“You! You're the murderess!” He tugged again at his arm, suddenly eyeing Chandra’s raised arm, her hand clenched as if grasping something, and understood. “Mage, you'll burn for this! You murdered your guardian and use magic besides! Reward or not, it will be worth it to return you to face justice for your actions.”

Guilt punched Chandra in the gut and she lost her connection for just long enough for the guard to break free. He turned his sword and moved toward her at a fast walk. It took Chandra a moment to break free of her emotions, though the guard seemed confident she would stand there and wait for him to capture her. His arrogance removed any remaining fear that sought to tether her.

Chandra raised both hands as if to ward of the anticipated blow and the man jerked to a stop. She could see him struggling to move forward, but it was as if he were trying to walk while being tied to a rope that had reached its end.

He snarled at her. There was no fear in his eyes at the fact that she had used magic to stop him, just anger that flickered over her through narrowed eyes and mouth crooked in a sneer. He was either incredibly sure of himself, or stupid. Chandra watched him press against the magic that had formed a barrier between them. His eyes darted around and the wheels in his brain spun to find a solution to the impediment.

His brown eyes lifted to hers and glittered as he took a step backward. Before Chandra could react, he rushed Matta and raised her from her position on the ground by her silver hair. He shifted his sword so he was holding it like a scythe across Matta’s neck.

“Give up, or I kill the hag,” the guard jutted his chin toward her.

Chandra thought for a moment of protecting Matta by pretending she didn’t know her but could see that the guard didn't care. His eyes showed, despite his age, that he would take what he wanted no matter the destruction he caused. He would kill his hostage even if he would lose his one possible bargaining chip to get Chandra.

Chandra lowered her arms and stepped forward. Her mind was frantically running through scenarios as she tried to figure out how to at least save Matta. The guard's white teeth showed between chapped lips and scraggy brown facial hair. Heat settled on Chandra and she noticed Matta glared at her from under the sword.

“Hurry along,” the man said, not lowering his sword.

Chandra was trying to see a way she could get the guard to let Matta go. She decided to take a small chance, betting on his arrogant ambition over strategic intelligence.

“Let her go unless you prefer to cower behind a helpless woman instead of facing me like a man instead of a boy,” she sneered and raised her chin to him. She saw her comment about his age hit as his eyes narrowed and a vein started pulsing in his neck. “Here, I’ll make it easier. I'll even put both my hands behind my back.”

Chandra clenched her hands behind her, remembering what Matta had said about visualization being the key to her power. Movement had been reflex for Chandra, and had seemed to call her magic previously but she decided to trust Matta. As she suspected, the guard knew nothing about magic and grinned when he saw her hands behind her.

He shuffled forward a little with Matta, presumably to close the distance and prevent Chandra from raising her hands before he could grab her. Chandra tried to look worried as he moved, as if he were spoiling her plan. She reached out to the water vapors around them, just as she had in the hut, giving them purpose and direction, but holding them barely in check. When he was only a few strides in front of her, he released Matta and reached for Chandra.

As soon as she saw Matta was out of reach, Chandra set the magic in the element loose with only the directive to stop him. The air in front of her erupted and hissed as the water lifted the guard, burning him with hot steam, and slammed him into a massive ancient oak behind the cottage. There was a dull crunching sound before he crumpled on the ground.

Chandra imagined a trail of red streaking down the tree and a curved blade protruding from his chest and choked, dropping to her knees. Matta grabbed her and shook her, hard.

"Take me to him. Your magic has blurred too much of the area to find where he landed and see if he's alive."

Chandra nodded and walked Matta over to the prone form. There was no blood on the tree, though a few branches had broken off and rested on the ground around him. She took Matta's hand and led her to the man where the old woman checked his pulse in his neck.

“He’s not dead, and I can heal his injuries quick enough. Get my woven pouch from my work bench, Chandra.”

Chandra ran into the cottage. Emotions warred inside her. A voice in her head said she did not want the guard to recover because he wasn't the type that would give up on finding her. Another voice asked if she really wanted another death on her conscience if she could prevent it. Again, she saw blood running down a wall in her mind. Chandra grabbed the bag and hurried out.

She brought the bag to Matta, who had walked to the well to draw water. She took the satchel and unhooked the bucket. Chandra took her arm to lead her back but Matta pushed away and headed for where the guard lay.

“Can you see him?”

“The power that was in the air has dispersed. He is the only remaining thing coated in your magic at the moment. Next time, why don't you just drop the cottage on him? Matta muttered out of the side of her mouth as she was holding a tiny bag in the edge of it.

"I didn't consider it an option," Chandra replied.

Matta turned her opaque eyes on the young woman who shrugged with wide green eyes.

“What did you expect me to do? Perhaps you would rather I let him kill you?”

“Yes, stupid girl. You should have never come forward, never tried to stop him, and certainly never given him the opportunity to take you over me!” Matta hissed her white eyes fierce on Chandra for a moment before returning to her work.

"What a load of crap!" Chandra yelled.

“Lower your voice. He might not have been alone,” Matta hissed at her.

Chandra dropped to the ground beside her and fought her emotionally magnified voice. “How can you even suggest that? Do you honestly think I would be okay with your getting hurt or dying over me?"

“I feel that you have a destiny that outweighs what's left of my life,” Matta said calmly, mixing herbs in the bucket. Chandra absorbed her words for a few moments.

“We need to prevent him from coming after us again,” Chandra said softly, not willing to suggest that they kill him, though the thought kept flitting through her mind.

“I agree,” Matta said as she poured the mixture into the unconscious man’s mouth. He sputtered and almost woke as his body swallowed instinctually. His body flopped back against the tree.

“He'll be out for a while, but the herbs will do their job and heal him,” Matta explained. “Please get some rope from behind the cottage and a few rags. We need to tie him up, gag him, and cover him before we leave.”

Though Chandra had risen to do as she was bid, she paused at the last word.

“Leave?”

“Of course, you don’t think we can stay here once he awakens, do you?” Matta looked at her as though she were daft. "Even if I made something to make him forget, what do you think will happen when he wakes so close to where we are?"

She didn't wait for Chandra to respond, “Now hurry and get the rope and rags. I will go into the cottage and pack what I can.”

Chandra moved despite wanting to protest or question the old woman further. She gathered some ropes from behind the cottage. The only ones she could find were almost rotted through. She grabbed several rags out of the bucket near the door that she had used to clean with and walked back with a small smile. There was satisfaction in the thought that the dirt and soap would be the first thing the man experienced when he woke.

When Chandra made it back, she looked at his prone figure and the ropes in her hand wondering how to best tie him up. She didn’t know how to do anything with rope. The closest she had gotten was the rudimentary sewing work Matta had taught her.