Rise of the Citadel (The Search for the Brights Book 2) (21 page)

  Kilen was
possibly more angry than he had ever been before.

“Are you saying
that I traveled here, fought through your forest, and spent weeks training all
for nothing?! My friends’ and sister’s lives are depending on you preventing
this war!”

“Kilen, you had
to know in your heart there was no way for the Elders to participate. We are
the only ones that keep King Atmos from conquering all the realms.” The old
wizard sat in a wooden chair across from Kilen. “We will give you all the
knowledge that you will need to stop this war. The Elders have known it to be a
priority of yours. We also know it to be a just cause to prevent war and the
destruction it would cause. We are unable to prevent this war, but you can do
what we cannot.”

“I’m just a kid
from Humbridge, what can I do?”

The old wizard
slowly stood. The room seemed to dim and a cold breeze blew through and ruffled
the flames. The wizard said nothing so Alex did.

“You are a kid
no longer. You are a weapon bearer. If your family and friends are in danger by
an unjust cause, then it is your duty to fix it.”

Kilen didn’t
know what he could do to prevent the war. The voices in his head were quiet and
listening to the whispers of all the wizards that had come to watch him sign.

“We will leave
you two to talk. Perhaps he can help you find a way to stop this war.”
Alexander gave Kilen a pat on the back and left with the other wizards.

When the door
was closed and only the old wizard and Kilen were left to stand in the room, he
finally introduced himself.

“My name is
Roedan. I am a wizard of the original Elders. I come from the late days of
Heathmos. I can help you find a way to prevent this war.”

Roedan walked to
a cabinet and pulled out an item wrapped in a velvet cloth.

“I would like
you to use this for a while, Kilen.”

He slid the
package across the table. Kilen hesitantly pulled back the velvet cloth to
reveal a tiny dagger and sheath. The sheath was lined with black studs and had
a black chainger to match. Kilen took the tiny blade from the sheath and saw
that it had an imbuement of wind.

“I know you have
a rare talent. You have the ability to use multiple elementals at the same time
and that is how you will prevent this war. War is a struggle for power between
two forces. In this war you will be a third power. Just as you now have a third
element to summon. To prevent it from happening you must show the world that
there are more dangerous things to worry about than a war between realms.”

“You want me to
use three elementals at once?”

“I want you to
be a force for good and justice. I want you to gain respect by showing
restraint of power where two rulers would not.”

Kilen let the
words sink in as he put the small blade in his belt and attached the chainger.

“Try it now.”

Kilen looked up
in confusion. He had not been able to manipulate any elements since being in
the wizard’s camp. All of the Elder Wizards had put such a tight magical hold
on the elements that he could not hold them. Kilen closed his eyes and found
that there were small amounts of elements open to his use around the room in
small disc-like pans.

“
We are
ready, Kilen.” Joahna said.

Soon, Joahna
took form as a small man of water and Max took form as a man of sand. Kilen had
a hard time thinking of wind as an element that could be formed. He struggled
with the wind coming from the window but finally Jace was whisking about near
the fireplace, stirring up dust. A goblet got knocked over and a book’s pages
turned as Jace moved about the room. Kilen opened his eyes and found himself
staring into those of the wizard’s across the table. Roedan looked at each
elemental slowly in turn as if examining them for some hint of Kilen’s ability.

“Have you ever
heard of the Dark Army?” The question caught Kilen off guard. He wondered if
Roedan was trying to find out if he was a soul or spirit wizard. None of the
voice’s were in Kilen’s head to help him figure out what to say. His friends in
elemental forms around the room seemed to stiffen at the mention of the Dark
Army.

Kilen cleared
the lump in his throat, “I read the book when I was little. I am not sure
anyone hasn’t heard the scary stories about the Dark Army snatching kids in the
night.”

Roedan smiled,
“Well, they do not typically snatch children in the night. However they are not
just stories. The Dark Army is very real.”

“You mean
was
real.”

Roedan shook his
head, “No, I mean they
are
real. Long ago, when we found out about soul
wizards, we requested weapon bearers go to invite them to a meeting for joining
us. The weapon bearers returned as a mere husk of their former selves. None of
the men would think on their own or cared for their own well being. They simply
handed a written scroll to Heathmos that thanked him for sending them soldiers.
The former weapon bearers then attacked the wizards and were able to kill seven
of them before they were stopped.”
            Kilen wasn’t sure what to say. He knew he held the consciousness of
the men he had killed, but he was not able to control their former bodies.
“What happened to their mind? How would a soul wizard be able to turn them
against you?”

Roedan seemed
pleased to have Kilen ask questions, “We found out how they were able to do
this years later. We captured one of the soul wizards.”

Kilen
interrupted the wizard, “There was more than one?”

“Three,
actually. We were able to find and execute two of them. The third we have been
trying to track for years but the wizard is very slippery. The first one we
captured described their powers as god-like. They would consume their victims
spirit, leaving the soul in the body. The power of the spirit would fuel the
soul wizard’s body, granting the ability to control their own age and health.
Instead of aging, the soul wizard consumes a spirit forcing the husk like body
to age twice or three times as much. Like their age, they can also siphon off
the health of the body from their victims.”

“How do you stop
someone who commands an undead army and can heal from injuries by killing one
of their soldiers?” Kilen was starting to shake, knowing there was still at
least one soul wizard out in the world. He still wasn’t sure if he was one or
not.

“You must stop
the heart or take the head of the soul wizard. I will tell you this Kilen, if
you find one it is better to just flee and find others to help.”

Kilen nodded his
head, trying to get a handle on what he had just learned.

Joahna spoke
from the elemental form, now matching Kilen’s features. “How does the soul
wizard take their victim's spirit?”

Roedan turn his
head to look at the elemental and then back to Kilen.

“Their spirit is
given willingly. I know this is hard to understand but human emotions are very
complicated and the soul wizards have found a vulnerability most would
overlook. The stories about the Dark Army came from how cruel the soul wizards
were. They would bring a husband and wife before the wizard and threaten to
kill one. Their spouse would volunteer anything to save their loved one’s life.
They would even volunteer their own soul. Once they gave up their soul, the
other would be persuaded. Then, both of the victims bodies would be used to
collect more families and more victims. The entire Dark Army was built in this
fashion.”

The wizard was
looking around at the different elements, not sure which one to talk directly
to since Kilen was staring at the table.

Kilen still
didn’t know if he was a soul wizard or not. He never tried to consume a spirit,
adjust his age, or heal using someone else’s body. He had not tried to rip the
soul from someone either.

“I hear you were
trained by a Kapal.”

The changed
subject helped Kilen snap out of his thinking trance. “I was trained by Gortus.
He is a Kapal. I did not finish my training, though.”

“Gortus is a
Kapal with a great destiny.”

“He mentioned
something about his destiny once as he was yelling at me.”

Kilen could use a
little help understanding Gortus as well.

“Gortus is the
son of the Kapal leader. Their chief. Their prophets say that the son of the
chief is to bring a balance back to their race. He is to make them human
again,” Roedan said.

“The Kapal were
human once?” Kilen was very interested in the Kapal’s history, so much that he
forgot his worries of being a soul wizard.

“Yes, well the
father of the first Kapal was human. The mother was a human who was defiled by
a soul wizard by giving her spirit to save the husband while she was pregnant
with his child. The baby was a Kapal. We took in the Kapal and father but as
you know, we could not use magic around the child. His father took him away
from humans and eventually a new race, civilization, and customs were born.”

“So the soul
wizards created the Kapal.”

“Yes, that is
correct. They told me you were a quick student and wanted to be a scholar. I am
telling you this not only because it is knowledge that not everyone knows, but
because the third soul wizard is making another army. Recently we have had
reports of the dead walking through the Water and Earth Realms headed for the
Wind realm. We suspect that is where the soul wizard is sending its army.
Unfortunately, we have not been able to get a wizard in and out of its borders
since the reports started. Even wind wizards are unable to get the information.
The Elders here are creating a plan to find and kill the third soul wizard.”

“You can’t help
stop this, because of the soul wizard.” Kilen said slowly.

Roedan put his
finger on the tip of his old nose.

“What happens if
the Dark Army comes back?” Kilen asked.

“Then we will
call upon all weapon bearers, true or not, to come and fight with us. We will
send Elders to the edges of the realms to gather all wizards to fight with us.”

Kilen nodded his
head, “Can the Dark Army be effected by magic, or are they like the Kapal.”
            “Magic can touch the dark army. You have to remember that magic is
what sustains their link to the soul wizard. Without that link, their army
would simply die. Actually, the reason we were able to capture the other two
soul wizards was because of the Kapal. They were not affected by their minions
strength in magic. Once the Kapal went near the soul wizards, they were just
like other humans; unable to regenerate or manipulate their age. You see Kilen,
the soul wizards have provided the tool that will be their undoing.”

Kilen was
confused about what tool Roedan spoke of.

“If you kill the
Dark Army one person at a time, does that mean the soul wizard will slowly
die?”
            “Not necessarily. They can transfer wounds from one soldier to the
other, and transfer age the same way. The only way that a soldier’s body can be
stopped is to behead them or place something in the heart that prevents it from
healing. The last time we faced the Dark Army, we would see the soldiers take a
wound and it would heal before we could swing a second time. We know now that
soldiers we couldn’t see were falling to the wounds we inflicted to the ones
that we were fighting, but at the time the soldiers were seemingly unstoppable.
This is the reason the Kapal people were so instrumental in the Dark Army’s
downfall.”

Kilen was
starting to get brave with his questioning as the wizard seemed very open with
his answers, “Are there other dangers out there like the Kapal, Dark soldiers,
and soul wizards?”

Roedan’s
features darkened and he got up from the table.

With his back to
Kilen as he tossed another log on the fire, he spoke in somber tones, “We will
give you the knowledge you need
when
you need it and not before. When
the time comes to teach you of the other evils of this world, we will send you
that knowledge. Right now, what you need is to be on your way. Alexander has
reported to me that your friend Bowie now leads the king’s army advancement. He
has already traveled to within the Fire Realm’s reach. If you are to prevent
this war, you must travel swiftly to arrive in time. Ray will have your things
packed and a map for you. You should travel along the eastern shore line beyond
the mountains. It will be the fastest way to travel to the battle. Go there and
seek out Elric Rekkan, King of the Fire Realm. He possesses the only authority
to stop this war.”

All of the tiny
elementals started for the door. Kilen took one look back at the old wizard who
still seemed shaken by the things he had seen in the past.

Max was hard at
work not only carrying Kilen but moving obstacles from their way as he carved
the way forward.The path was free of stone and bush as Kilen rode up the new
mountain pass. It looked as though the mountain itself had made the path.
Alexander flew high in the sky, followed by Joahna in his normal ice eagle
form. Jace was not present in Kilen’s head but he could feel Jace nearby in the
breeze that touched his skin. He felt as though eyes were watching him from the
forest. The mountain seemed easy to climb for Max, as trees blurred in Kilen’s
vision from the speed at which they traveled. They neared the peak as Alexander
dropped from the sky and Joahna followed.

Max continued to
climb until Kilen saw the wind wizard standing in a clearing near the top. Max
trotted to a stop in front of him and Kilen dismounted. The wind wizard came
near and placed a map in Kilen’s hand.

“Do not get
lost. I marked the path on the map. It will take you dangerously close to a
pirate outpost named Kesterton. Pirates have wizards of their own and keep
knowledge to themselves. They do not like anyone who lives on dry land.
Kesterton is a place where ships amass and trades are made. Do not go near the
city unless you have to,” Alexander cautioned.

“I will do my
best to avoid them. Is there anything else I need to know?”

Alexander nodded
and said, “Bowie has neared the area where battle lines will be drawn. He has
no idea he has come into the enemies reach. The longer it takes you to get to
the battle, the more danger he is in.”

“I will get
there as fast as possible.”
            “I know you will, Kilen. I will go ahead and fly to him now. He
will be informed of your coming as quickly as the winds allow me.” Alexander
began to let go of the flaps on his robe but Kilen put out a hand.

“Alexander, do
not forget to teach him to use his imbuement.”

Alexander’s
shoulders slumped and he finally nodded his head.

“It takes a very
long time to learn to use wind magic the way I do. I will do my best.”

Alexander took
flight, speeding towards the south. All three of Kilen’s elemental friends took
the form of man and gathered themselves around him.

The Ice man
spoke first, “I will take the air and scout in front of you. We are very proud
to be standing at your side, Kilen. When we get to the battle, we can help you
prevent this war by talking with the Fire Realm’s king.” Joahna was speaking
seriously as he normally did. “Max and I will be able to convince him to turn
his army back. Now that you are a weapon bearer, perhaps you can arrange for
the Fire Realm’s water canal.”

Max stepped in,
“It’s time for him to know, Joahna. You need to tell him who we are.”

Kilen became
confused. He knew who they were, or so he thought. The two Fire Realm men had
kept a secret from Kilen. They had been hiding things from him since the start.

Joahna sighed,
“You are right, Max. Kilen, in our realm, the king is chosen for his skills in
battle. He is chosen for his ability to lead and his ability to control himself
while using imbued magical items. I taught Elric Rekkan to control himself
since he was a small child. Elric and his brother were students of mine for a
long time.”

Kilen calmed a
little now that he knew it was only the secret of Joahna being his teacher.

Max continued,
“We are his brothers, Kilen. Joahna is the oldest, Elric is the youngest. I
taught him the sword while Joahna taught him control. You cannot have any two
people better to convince him to stop this war.”

Joahna made a
sound of clearing this throat, but Kilen knew they had no need to clear their
elemental throats. “We have to convince him it is us first. He will not
understand without great difficulty why we come in elemental form. If he comes
to know it is truely us, then we will stand a chance.”

“He will also
figure out that I killed you,” Kilen retorted.

Max nodded his
head, “We know him better than you, Kilen. We lost and died in a perfectly fair
fight and that is something he will understand. You were the better warrior. He
will understand, and if not, we will make him.”

Kilen took a
moment before replying to the elemental men he was seemingly stuck with. He
understood why they would keep this from him at first, but revealing it only
when they were forced to made him lose trust in them.

“You know all of
my secrets whether I want you to or not. You must not keep secrets from me if
we are going to trust each other. If I cannot trust the voices in my head, then
I can no longer trust myself.”

The elementals
all nodded and the whirlwind that was Jace moved forward.

“I cannot begin
to tell you the secrets that I know. You will have to trust us enough to know
we will let you know that the secrets we reveal
are
secrets that are
relevant to the now.” Jace was curt and to the point. “There isn’t time to be
arguing about this right now. We have a war to prevent.”

The wind that
was Jace vanished and the leaves and dirt stirred up by his presence slowly
fell to the ground. Max melted his stone form from a man into horse and moss
sprouted from his back. Joahna took to the sky as a small white bird who no one
would take a second look at. Kilen mounted and took his place as his legs sunk
halfway into Max’s body. With the two melded together, Max began his sprint
down the eastern side of the mountain.

Kilen truly
enjoyed the time with the wind in his face. The sound of the stone hooves on
the mountain side gave him time to think of the things he hadn’t had time for.
He was happy for the few moments without others inside of his head.

He wished he’d
done things differently. Kilen wished, most of all, that he could have said goodbye
to his sister and mother the way he had wanted to. He hoped to leave his home
town in search of wisdom, but only in his wildest dreams had he thought he
would be able to see Deuterium. He never thought of picking up a blade and
shield, or fighting in a war. He wondered what his father would think of him
being a true weapon bearer. He wondered if he had what it took to become what
everyone wanted him to be.

He knew when
this war was over he would have to master the way of the sword and magic; the
skills worthy of being called a weapon bearer. He mostly depended on the voices
in his head to make up what he lacked on the battlefield. He hoped it would be
enough to survive one interaction with the Fire Realm’s king.

Max was soon
turning south at the bottom of the mountain. He lept over streams and fallen
tree limbs and through underbrush blocking his path. Kilen knew that was the
advantage to riding an elemental horse. Max didn’t need to sleep, eat, drink,
or even catch his breath. As long as Kilen could stay upright in the saddle,
Max would race south towards the battle ground.

Kilen checked
the map often, giving out the next landmark for Max to look out for. Together
they would run through unfamiliar territory, awaiting the word of danger from
Jace or Joahna. Looking at the map, Kilen calculated the time it would take to
reach Kesterton. As time passed, Kilen was more sure that when he reached
Kesterton, nightfall would have taken him. He knew that if he didn’t have to
carry the armor and weapons, he would reach the battle sooner.

He wondered how
far Alexander had traveled by now.

**********

Bowie remembered
the last time he truly hunted. This was different. For one thing his prey could
now shoot arrows back, or worse, magic. He watched the trees and brush for any
movement. There was no escape from the hunters at Bowie’s disposal, they
tracked each sound no matter how big or small. Each time he closed in he had
his bow pulled as tight as the string would allow. His heart raced and pounded
in his chest. The strategy of catching men had changed his idea of hunting.

He remembered
the first time he fired an arrow at another human. He wasn’t given a choice. It
was either kill the wizard or his friend would die. He hoped the choice would
be just as clear when faced with shooting the enemy in the days to come.

He was now a
half day’s ride from camp with one hundred of his men. Those men were spread
out in a line spaced so they could just see the eyes of the man to their left
and to their right. Each man walked towards the camp with arrows ready. If an
enemy tried to run, they would run towards Bowie’s camp and towards a set of
archers waiting at its perimeter.

A second set of
men was placed where they now started their march to set up a new camp. More
and more men would be sent out into the forest at a half day’s ride from the
last. Each day the camp would move forward, getting fresh hunts and fresh
minerals for Ria. And getting closer to the enemy. The danger would grow and
more men would be placed in danger every time the sun rose. Bowie’s men were
setting up camp as wagons full of supplies made their way up the road. Ria and
Auburn had taken to traveling together for lessons on grace and etiquette and
he was glad for the reprieve from the women.

Bowie had caught
very little sleep in the last couple days. His mind was awake and alert but his
body was tired and sore. He wanted to rest. He wanted to eat a turkey leg and
some beans while sitting beside his father’s hearth in Humbridge. He knew it
would not happen and if he didn’t stay upright, it may never happen again.
Still, what pushed Bowie was not that he would have a cot to sleep on and full
stomach when he returned to camp, but the ethics of his father.
Work hard
everyday for what it will earn you in the years to come
.

Bowie heard a
snap in the trees in front of him. He was unsure how far ahead the snap
happened but every man crouched and waited for more sounds. He looked to the
men on each side and both were intently watching the area in front of them. The
large trees covered with an earthen curtain of hanging moss made it hard to see
anything on the other side. With soft and slow movements Bowie moved forward on
practiced feet, silently walking through the moss covered forest. With his toe
he brushed any leaves aside to reveal what lay underneath. Once the path was
clear he placed his heel in the open spot and rolled his foot to his toe and
repeated each step as he walked. The men kept low, waiting on his word to
advance.

His bow was half
drawn to allow for a faster shot. Bowie had to watch his step when reaching his
legs over roots sticking out of the ground. Finally, Bowie could see through
the blanket of moss hanging down. The movement was slow, quiet and low to the
ground. Bowie would have ridden right past had he been hunting on his own. He
was glad to have his men spread out and take the time to walk the distance
between camps. If not, the threat would have gone unnoticed.

Bowie pulled the
bow back to its full strength, taking notice of the creaking coming from the
bow’s string. He held his position waiting for noises that said he had given
himself away. He wasn’t sure if he could hear anything over the sounds his body
was making. Bowie’s heart pounded in his ears and his breath sounded like a
cyclone. He wondered if the movement on the other side of the moss could hear
him also.

He could hear a
small scratching sound on the other side of the moss. The sound was like an
arrowhead being sharpened on stone. He was sure his presence was unknown to the
person on the other side. Slowly, using the arrow’s point, he cut into the moss
hanging in front of him. He pushed the moss aside to reveal a beaver with its
claws scratching a stone as it chewed through the root of the massive tree.
Bowie let out a heavy breath and released the arrow, pinning the beaver to the
ground. He slumped to the ground and the other men advanced to keep the line
with Bowie.

Bowie finally
moved down to the beaver’s resting place and relieved him of his arrow. He
placed the beaver in the sack he brought for carrying game. Bowie could hear
his men talking amongst themselves. He stood to look and saw them waving him in
as they gathered. Finally, it was time to get some rest. The men who traveled
for over a day with him were greeted by those guarding the perimeter of the
camp. Each had a bow drawn until they recognized the faces underneath the brim
of the black hat. Bowie walked through the camp and tossed the dead beaver to a
soldier to prepare it in a stew. He found his way to Ria’s wagon and knocked
gently on the door. Ria’s voice called out for him to come inside. Bowie
removed his hat and opened the door. Auburn and Ria were having tea at the
small table inside.

“Wizard Ria, we
have returned. I just wanted to thank you again for preparing the bows for my
men. They were a great help in catching game.” Bowie held up his bow. “I
presume you will be leaving soon for the forward camp?” he asked when Ria said
nothing in return.

Ria waved him in
and Auburn pulled her seat out for him to sit.

“Master
Crescent, sit and have some tea,” Ria said.

He knew better
than to refuse her, whether invitation or command.

“We have been in
much discussion about where we are needed. Auburn has convinced me that we
should do as you ask and proceed to the forward camp.”

“You agree?”
Bowie said as he blew some of the heat off of his cup of tea.

“We do, archer.”
Auburn said, standing behind him. “Most of my fletchers are already moving
towards the camp to set up for fletching there. After you get some rest you
will be joining us at the next camp. We knew we wouldn’t be able to really talk
to you until you had a chance to rest.”

Ria chimed in,
“You are planning on getting some rest, right?”

Bowie looked at
the two women who seemed so concerned with his sleep and well-being. He was
sure this is what it felt like to have a mother.