Rise of the Citadel (The Search for the Brights Book 2) (28 page)

“We have
discovered many things about my ability purely on accident. Otherwise I would
not have tried these small things. When I was stripped of my imbuements we had
no idea you would stay in the elemental. If there is a small chance that I may
lose you and not be able to keep my promise, I will not risk testing my
abilities further.” Kilen said turning his back on them.

Max, still in
horse form, spoke with his former human voice, “Perhaps test a spirit when we
find another one collected by accident.”

Kilen was
irritated at the suggestion, “Any spirit I have the unfortunate circumstances
to collect will fall under the same promise I have given you. I will do my best
to return them to their body.” Kilen moved away from the fire and mounted Max
as if he was a horse. Only a horse.

Joahna placed an
icy hand on Kilen’s leg, “Some day you will take in a spirit that is unwilling or
unbelieving of your ability. He will combat your mind everyday he remains in
you. You must face facts that when this happens you may have no choice to find
a way to push him out. Whether it kills him or not. You cannot expect to
collect these spirits without truly losing the room in your mind to contain
your own spirit, either whole or in part. We should know how to rid ourselves
of them before we obtain one.”

“If I can hold
onto every spirit I come across, I will. I will not make the choice to lose
one. Who am I to decide what spirits should be saved?” No response came from
any of his spirit friends, “It is getting late.” He kicked Max into movement.
Kilen was more than a little irritated at the others willingness to experiment
with new spirits coming into his mind. He was mad that they could so easily
press these tests on those so recently dead. Kilen knew these were people, with
or without a body.

**********

  Cathy had
exited her home several times to collect the vegetables and fruit in the garden
that Ria had grown for her. Bowie was sure the plants would continue to grow in
days to come as long as he didn’t have to burn the home down. So far none of
the turncoats had excited the home in order to escape, forcing Bowie’s hand in
destroying them. Two of the windows facing the road approaching the house now
had their shutters open. The movement inside seemed to increase as the sun
started to drift down towards the horizon

Bowie had given
orders that no one was to be harmed as long as they left the cottage and headed
south with no weapons. He knew he could not afford to have the Earth Realm
boys- turned Fire Realm, double back and attack his men in the night. John had
suggested that each of Bowie’s men should be holding a torch as the time neared
to the sun setting on the horizon.

John in a saddle
at Bowie’s side finally spoke, “What happens if they don’t leave?”

Bowie cleared
his throat of frustration that felt lodged in place, knowing that he had
already lost one of his soldiers because of the men in the cottage. “We do what
we promised to do; I will fire the shot that burns the house down. No need to
give that command to one of the men who grew up in the Earth Realm. I just hope
for that woman’s sake, none are left inside.” Charger danced underneath his
weight. By now the horse was use to walking long distances and no longer wanted
to stand still. “I think after this is done, I will need a drink.”

“I think the men
would like one also, and not just because they are tired of carting it around
instead of putting more men in wagons,” John said smiling as if he had told a
joke.

“We have a wagon
full of ale?” Bowie asked turning in his saddle.

John let out a
small chuckle which was unlike him, “I have been keeping the men from it
because we needed to keep our heads about us. It could be the reason they like
you more than me.”

“You could have
easily told them I was keeping it from them, John.” Bowie said fighting
Charger’s eager dancing.

“We have been
going to battle each and everyday for a week, whether or not we actually find a
fight. The men need to have no hatred or doubts about your leadership. They
need to have every reason to follow you into battle and none to want to put an
arrow in your back.”

“What protects
your
back from arrows?” Bowie looked at John’s eyes, trying to understand him.

“Your respect
for me. They respect you, and because of that, they trust your choice in me as
your second.” John said it without a doubt of conviction on his voice.

“How much do we
have?” Bowie asked without looking away.

“A entire wagon
of ale casks and half of a second with wine. It would have been more but we
needed the space for tents.”

Bowie smiled,
“We will go no further carrying it with us. When this is over we will divide it
up between the men so that everyone gets their share. The men on sentry duty
need to make sure to stay sober.”

“I’m sure they
will enjoy your order to get rid of it.”

Bowie looked
again at John’s eyes to ensure he took his next statement as an order, “My order
was to dispose of it. Your decision was to distribute it to the men.” His look
was not answered by John but interrupted by the small house’s door opening.

Cathy stepped
outside and looked about her yard to find the men guarding her house. Cathy and
Bowie said nothing to one another only sat staring across the distance.

A man in a red
leather outfit stepped out of the door behind her carrying a sword. He tossed
it to the ground and jogged off into the trees. After a moment, another exited
and did the same, only in another direction. Bowie counted the men that ran out
of the house in this fashion until only one was left behind. Bowie waited a few
more moments and then nudged Charger towards the house. He said nothing and did
not raise a weapon to the gray haired woman.

She wrung her
hands on her apron as he approached, wiping the foods stuffs from her fingers.
“The last one is in no condition to travel. I will have to care for him until I
can get a healer to see him.”

Bowie removed
his hat before dismounting. He held Charger’s reins in his hands as he
approached. “That’s fine ma’am. I will have one of my men with skills in
healing come and take a look. His name is Bobby. I will need you to admit a
couple other men to ensure his safety as well.”

She bowed her
head in appreciation, “Thank you for your help. I do hope this whole situation
is resolved with little bloodshed. Our towns cannot survive with the losses of
those boy’s lives.”

“You have my
promise that as long as they do not fight me, I will not fight them.”

Her mouth turned
sideways, “That is what I am afraid of. I keep telling those boys this is not
the way, but they are young both in age and in wisdom.”

There was an
awkward silence so Bowie let out a half bow and remounted Charger. “I will see
that my surgeon comes by soon.” He tipped his hat hand started to turn the
horse away when she moved to him and placed a hand on his leg.

“See to it that
you thank the wizard for saving my garden. It will get me through the summer
and possibly the winter as well,” Cathy said.

“I will give her
your message. Good day, Ms. Hill,” Bowie said.

Bowie made his
way towards John and watched Cathy move amongst the revived plants in the
garden, collecting any extra fruits. A wave of John’s arm gathered in the
archers in the trees and they started the march back to camp. The men in the
back seemed on edge as they followed. Each had an arrow in their bow at the
ready. They kept glancing into the woods. Their being nervous made Bowie
nervous and he wondered if he’d made a good decision in letting the traitors
go.

“John, make sure
this group is the one to dispose of the casks.”

John nodded and
looked back to see a couple of men already starting to smile.

Their camp sites
had evolved since they first started to travel. Senturies challenged them as
they came up the road in the dark. Bowie called out the password which changed
every day. Today’s word was “Cartwheel.” Bowie often picked a random item that
he saw as he exited his tent. They never wrote down the word and never used the
same word twice. He was getting tired of picking new ones and started using the
first item he saw.

John shouted out
the password and they continued into the camp. The outside of the camp was set
up with sentries in the trees on both sides of the road. A clearing had been
made between the trees and first row of tents. The tents made a large ring
around the center of camp in three circles. All the supplies were in the center
of the camp so if an enemy was able to enter, all the archers could gather in
the middle and fight their way out. The wagons in the middle contained the
arrows, weapons, and armor they would need to fight. Tents housing those of a
higher rank were in the center with the scouts and fletchers.

Bowie had a
couple of long days and this was his chance to get freshened up before he had a
drink. He entered his dark tent and reached outside to grab a small torch. A
lamp was on the table, so he lit it and put the torch back outside.

When he returned
inside he drew a knife from his belt as something moved in his cot. Turning up
the wick in the lamp, the tent was flooded by light. Beneath the far edge of
the blanket he could see a mass of red hair. Slowly he sheathed his knife.
“Auburn.”

A snort from
underneath the blankets made him think perhaps it wasn’t the girl. He reached
over to pull off the blanket.

“Don’t think
about climbing in here with me. I told you before, I won’t be that kind of
girl. I just needed somewhere to escape Ria.” Auburn sat up holding the blanket
over her shoulders. “Can you hand me my pants and turn around?”

Bowie said
nothing, only frantically searched the tent for her pants which he found at the
foot of the cot.

“Ever since we
got back from that house she has been trying to convince me not to join the
Fire Realm. Not that I would.” She stopped talking for a moment and Bowie
nervously stared at the tents door, waiting. Auburn’s shoulder rubbed up
against his as she moved past him to stand in his sight. “Thanks for letting me
get some sleep.”

Bowie nodded.

“They will be
distributing the ale and wine tonight so make sure your men get their share.”

Auburn stepped
closer and straightened a part of his vest. “Are you trying to get me drunk as
well?”

“I just wanted
to…,” Bowie had grown tired of playing this game with her. He might have been
just plain tired. Either way, he was done trying to act like a gentlemen while
she pushed him to be everything but. “Just get out. I need to get some sleep as
well.” He waved his hand as her face looked to take on a bit of anger.

He took off his
vest and started to brush the dirt from it with his hand. He sat on his bed and
started to pull off his boots and ignored Auburn, still standing in the tents
doorway. Slowly she backed out of the tent and left him alone. The night air was
already starting to cool off. The gentle breeze coming through his tent felt
good so he left his wool shirt on and layed down on the already warm cot.

He heard some of
the men already starting to cheer and a dulcimer was taken out to provide a
tune to dance to. He was sure that with the lack of women in camp, his men
wouldn’t wear themselves out dancing. He closed his eyes and listened to the
music and the sound of his tent flaps in the breeze. Bowie felt his chest get
heavy like his eyelids. The days of travel to Deuterium followed by the forced
march to where his camp is now had taken a toll on his mind and body. The warm
night and cool breeze helped make his eyes close as he started to drift off to
sleep.

**********

“He’s descent,
common in!” The voice that startled Bowie awake was John’s. Bowie’s head was
thick, like he had just gone to sleep. He wondered if he had gotten any rest at
all.

“Is it morning?”
Bowie asked, rubbing his eyes.

Ria and Auburn
stepped in the tent and turned up the lamp so everything could be seen well.
“It is just past dark, Master Crescent,” Ria’s voice sounded irritated. He was
sure he would find out why soon enough.

“I just laid
down. What is so important that you need to wake me up?” Bowie pulled on his
boots.

“I tried to tell
them you were not in the mood to be trifled with, Sergeant.” Auburn remained
close to the tents door. Her voice also sounded irritated, but Bowie knew that
could be because Ria was close by. He also noted her use of his rank when she
addressed him, that could not be good.

Ria sat down on
the empty stool, “I would like to know what you intend to do about the locals.”

“I intend to let
them get a good night’s sleep. The same thing I had planned for myself before
you woke me up.” Bowie stood up and looked right at Ria, “Before you start
conjuring a plant to punish me, just know you are in MY tent, and I did not
invite you here!” Bowie waited but no whip of a plant came and Ria said nothing
in retort.

“I told you.”
Auburn piped in. She let out a yelp shortly after. Apparently Ria had no qualms
about punishing her.

“It may be his
tent but I can still correct your manners, young lady.”

Auburn rubbed
her backside as Bowie watched a root sink itself back into the ground.

She turned back
to Bowie, “You are awake now, perhaps we can discuss what you plan to do.”

Bowie sat back
down and offered a seat to John and Auburn who refused with a shake of her
head. “These men from the Earth Realm may be traitors but they are not our
enemies. They just want what is right for their people. I know all too well the
hardships King Atmos puts on the Water Realm. I liked it better when they were
not in our way. I would have rather traveled to the battle without having to
fight our own people to get there.”
            “Well spoken, but that does not answer my question.” Ria said
smoothing her dress, “Now, what
is it you intend to do?”