Rise of the Citadel (The Search for the Brights Book 2) (3 page)

  “I would
rather not get beaten any more today. It has been a while since I have seen
anything civilized. Can we just see the castle or the town? I’ve never seen a
castle before,” she said excitedly.

  “I cannot let
you go where you could harm people until we test your control, and maybe not
even then. Kara you must understand that I do not make the decision of whether
or not you return to your cell. I can only test you and show results to the
ones that do. We must test your resolve and then perhaps we can see some of the
castle grounds, if not the castle.”

  “Is someone
going to hit me again?”,Kara asked.

  “No, not if
you perform well enough. Well, it is my intention to not let that happen
again,” Twilix corrected herself.

  The pale girl
took the last bite of her slightly burnt bread and went to brush the crumbs
from her dress, but remembered she didn't wear one. “Let’s get to this testing
while it’s still daylight. I don’t like the drunken crowd that comes out at
night; they scare me.”

  Twilix laughed
at her, “Well they will be scared of you from now on.” She gestured to Kara’s
outfit and the girls giggled. Kara’s cheeks began to hurt from the laughing and
she realized it had been a long time since she had laughed without the thought
of crisping someone's skin.

Twilix lead the
way to the wizard training grounds. On the way Kara noticed some smooth cookers
surrounding a statue. The statue was none like she had ever seen before and
resembled her brother, who had given up his life to ensure her safety. Kara
walked towards the statue and noticed all the cookers’ openings faced inward
towards the statue. “It’s him,”Twilix told her.

  “Him who?” she
replied, staring at the details on the statue, so smooth and perfect.

  “Your brother.
It looks exactly like him, don’t you think?” Kara nodded in agreement. “He made
this in defiance of an order I gave him. In some areas your brother seemed too
eager to comply, but in small instances he defied all logic and authority. I am
concerned for him Kara.”

  Kara let a
tear roll down her face, cleaning yet another line in the dirt, “Why?”

  “I am afraid
that the king will stop at nothing to destroy him. Your brother has threatened
the King’s hold on the Water Realm. You are part of that problem, but the other
part is your brother holds that two-element blade. One mark from you on that
blade and he would be in the running to take control of the Water Realm. Now
you see why they won't let the two of you be together. One moment would be all
it takes to make him a king. Kara, I’m sorry but you must face the truth that
you may never see your brother as long as you remain here under King Atmos’
control.”

  Kara set her jaw and stood
straighter, “Then tell me what I need to do to get out of here.”

The skies were
clear on an early summer day as Alexander floated with the clouds. He had been
unable to find the boy in the thickly wooded area north of Deuterium. His time
to search for the boy had run out. The wind wizard had other matters to attend
to this morning. King Atmos awaited his report on the nobles, his steward
Wizard Parker, and the locations of his enemies. Alexander swore the King
thought he could magically appear anywhere at his call.

  With war on
the brink and two new wielders to train, Alexander thought that keeping the
rouse of being crazy might actually make him go crazy. In the past, he had
always used the rouse to help people tell him things that they wouldn't tell
others. Now, he used it to guide them into making decisions to serve his
purpose. Acting the part of a crazy old wizard wasn’t as hard as some would
think. It was keeping the stories and lies straight that he told and managing
not to give one person too much information. Fortunately, flying with the clouds
allowed him to give his mind a break.

  He was able to
focus on each problem individually as he floated along. The Fire Realm was
indeed a great problem; they were raiding multiple towns a day. As a result,
King Rekkan’s troops sent wagons filled with supplies of every sort to their
now growing fort. If the King did not speed up his troop movement, he would
lose this battle because of the defenses, King Rekkan of the Fire Realm, had
built. He hadn't been able to get too close to see the defenses due to veteran
soldiers that had nearly knocked him from the sky with a barrage of flaming
spheres. He knew they were experienced wielders because they had heated the air
in an attempt to make him lose control of his flight. He had seen it before and
easily evaded it, but they seemed confused as to why he had not plummeted from
the sky. The veteran soldiers guarding the Fire Realm’s newly built fortress
were just another dangerous problem that he had to overcome.

  The other
major problem was King Atmos, who demanded that he fly menial messages between
his steward and himself. Alexander had dealt with others in the past that
thought wind wizards were simple carrier pigeons. He had had to deal with them
the hard way. Alexander just needed to figure out a way to show King Atmos,
without him taking it out on Kilen.

The King seemed
obsessed with finding a way to dispose of the boy. Alexander had done
everything in his power to control the King, like giving the boy’s friend a
imbuement. Sure, the fletcher was a good archer but not so much that he
deserved one of his imbuements. It was just another hook to sink into the King:
if he destroyed Kilen he would still have others leave his ranks as well.

Alexander came
into sight of some stragglers flowing into the Earth Realm Army’s camp. He saw
the large conglomeration of tents being packed up for the day’s movement to
battle. Protocol was to circle the camp three times, from the air, before
descending so that they could form a landing circle. Specially chosen warriors
were to form a ring, allowing the wizard to land without hurting anyone.
Alexander felt it was more of a protection to make sure they could control the
wizard. He never did like being surrounded by Atmos’ barbarians. Four large
tents were beginning to be taken down and a fifth stood guarded, meaning the
ones being taken down were decoys for the King’s quarters. Atmos was always
suspicious of those around him and constantly feared assassination. On occasion
Alexander had used this obsession to his advantage. Alexander couldn't stand
the King, but he had to put on a good show for those that gave Alexander his
orders; the elder wizards.

  He wasn’t sure
what wrath he would already incur by taking this long to check in. Even more
so, he had lost the boy. At least he had good news to report to the king. The
Earth Realm’s nobles had finally been convinced to lend their personal armies
to the fight. His steward, Wizard Brandon Parker, was just as cunning and
tactful as his father in making this happen. As King Atmos’ camp stood now, he
had less than half the troops of the Fire Realm. Atmos would also be on the
offensive since the Fire Realm was already entrenched. He was going to need a
lot more troops, but with the aid of the nobles, a smaller portion of the
troops in various cities would have to be pulled away.

  On his third
circle of the camp Alexander saw a small group of soldiers in an area off to
themselves as if they had just caught up with the massive camp. He noticed they
were different by their black hats and knew it was because of Bowie’s example.
As he lowered himself towards the ground he found the circle of assembled
soldiers for his landing sight and decided to try his hand at their preparedness.
Slowly, he pulled wind from their backs to keep him in the air just above the
ground, the wind catching in the extra flaps in his robe tugged at his arms and
legs. Some of the soldiers took a tiny step forward to steady themselves in the
circle. When Alexander saw this he let go of the wind and landed softly on the
ground. As soon as his feet touched he reversed the flow of air buffeting the
soldiers with a strong wind from the front. The loud clattering of armor
hitting the ground in all directions from him made him laugh. He chuckled out
loud as soldiers scrambled to help their fallen friends off of their backs like
overturned turtles. The soldiers with black hats had little armor and jumped to
their feet.

  Alexander
gathered his extra folds of cloth and tied them back with his brown sash, then
started marching towards the king’s tent. Some of the scrambling soldiers
rushed to keep up with his pace. The clattering announced to those in
Alexander’s way to move, forming a path for the Wind council seat. In the crowd
he saw a black hat moving adjacent to his path pushing in between those in the
camp. He knew the fancy black hat would belong to Bowie Crescent, the gifted
arrow maker and archer. He had found a place of rank in the King’s army just
like his friend the weapon bearer, only he was untrained in the use of magic.
Alexander had promised the boy he would teach him to use the wind magic he had
bestowed upon him, but now he had no time. He picked up the speed so as to
avoid the boy. Alexander pushed through the tent flaps just as the boy emerged
from the crowd.

  The King’s
tent was filled to capacity, not only with people but with maps and reports.
The King was issuing orders when Alexander entered. Only a couple of people
seemed to notice the wizard as he found a place in the shadows to stand.
Wizards of all types lined the walls of the tent, watching and waiting for
orders. He poured himself some wine and pocketed some bread and cheese into a
fold of his robe.

“Councilman
Alexander, report your findings,” the King's command was of routine business.
He had fought wars and battles before, this was his true element, politics was
not.

  “I am fine, my
lord. Thank you for asking,” Alexander said putting a piece of bread in his
mouth. He continued to pick through fruit on a table as if he was not given any
command.

  “Wizard, I did
not ask how you were. I told you to report,” Atmos said growling with contempt.
Alexander always got King Atmos riled up before talking with him. The simple
feat caused King Atmos to be off of his game and easier to manipulate. He
temper was quick, and Alexander loved to exploit it.

  “Of course, of
course my lord. Which would you like to hear first?” he asked.

  “Let’s start
with the Fire Realm and King Rekkan,” the king said slightly less irritated.

  “Well, I have
seen their camp relatively close, or should I say their fortifications? Yes,
yes I know, I will get to it.” Alexander loved to talk to himself, acting a
little insane just to keep people wondering if he really did hear voices.
“Their camp is growing bigger everyday by the Fire King’s ability to bring your
very peasants into his employ. These peasants know how to build and construct
in this fertile land, fortunately for King Rekkan. These peasants now build
farms inside his walls as they finished the walls surrounding his new
fortification. He has taken in every manner of worker into his camp and they
work willingly.”

  “You are
telling me that King Rekkan is taking the Earth realms own people to construct
his fortifications?” The tent went silent at the King’s growling voice.

  “Well, yes my
lord. How else would he have enough structures to hold all the supplies he
takes from the surrounding towns? The really bad part is that most of the
peasants that come into his camp are getting trained and armed against their
own countrymen.”

  The King stood
at his paper-covered table and looked at the wizard snacking on fruit. “How
many?”

  “Well, I do
not know. It is hard to count them when they are hurling arrows at you, and
that’s not to mention the veteran wielders trying to knock me out of the sky.
Every one of the men at the fort seem to be wielding an element against me. I
do think they might not have come in force but they came with their very most
experienced. I could only get close to the edges of their fortifications, and I
couldn’t stay near their convoys for more than a few moments before being
attacked, my lord.”

  “How many,
wizard?! I want to know what I'm up against. How many soldiers do they have?”
King Atmos was was so angry he was shaking with fury at Alexander’s lack of
numbers.

  “Well I don’t
know if I would call them all soldiers, but around seventy thousand would be as
decent an estimate as you are going to get now.”

  The King took
in the number a moment before looking down at the map. Everyone was silent
except for Alexander’s open mouthed chewing of a piece of cheese he had popped
into his mouth. He looked around smiling as if nothing were the matter.

“Is there any news
from my advisor?” Atmos asked.

  “AHH yes my
lord. He says that you should start to see troops arrive within the week. Three
minor nobles and two nobles from the Water Realm have joined the fight. Well,
they are at least coming, we haven’t started the fight so they cannot have
joined it…”
            “Enough, Councilmen. How many troops are they bringing?”

  “Well, the
minor nobles brought five thousand each not to be outdone by each other. The
two Water Realm Nobles brought twenty thousand each. Their numbers should
double what you have here, my King.”

The entire room
visibly relaxed, and the King sat back into his large oak chair that creaked
under the weight of his armor. They had months left to go before an actual
battle took place and they were already this tense, he had done well. He gaped
about like an idiot, waiting for someone else to ask him a question.

When no one did he
spoke up Alexander said,”My lord if you do not require my services any longer
today I need to find my weapon bearer to check his progress.”

He bowed and
started for the tent's flaps.

  The king
shouted,“You are not dismissed, wizard. I have some messages for you to take to
my advisor and then you will check the surrounding area for scouts. I also have
yet to hear back from your wizard trainee, Mica. He was supposed to report back
on other locations on the border. If you complete those tasks, then you may
attempt to find your weapon bearer.”

Alexander muttered
under his breath a few times to where no one could hear. He looked around with
lips still moving as if talking to someone. “My lord, Mica is no longer a
trainee, otherwise he would be riding my wind as he had in the past. He will
arrive when he can, or you can track him down as a traitor. As far as scouts,
you will not encounter scouts for a month yet if you do manage to keep this
pace with all the added troops. The messages you surely could get a pigeon to carry
for you, as I have matters to attend to.”

  “Wizard…I gave
you a task. If you do not carry out my orders perhaps I will find you as a
traitor.”

Alexander smiled
back at the King now leaning on his table filled with maps.

“My lord,” he said
bowing deeply. “Perhaps you have mistaken your power over wizards or your own
councilmen. We are not your subjects for your frivolous daily tasks. I will
spare you the lecture on ordering wizards around, and I might even find time to
complete the tasks that you have REQUESTED. If I do not, it will be my decision
and not punishable by being named a traitor. If you want to find a more pliable
wizard perhaps ask Mica when he returns, he seems to like licking your boots.”

Alexander bowed
again and turned to leave the tent.

  “Guards, take
Alexander into custody!” the king shouted.

It was too late.
The Wizard already had released his sash and taken flight into the air. He
watched as Bowie held his black hat on his head. The guards scrambled to find
arrows and shackles but they were too late Alexander was a small spot in the
sky, unrecognisable as a man.

**********

Bowie watched as
the wizard circled the camp in the air, he wasn't sure if it was the one who
had given him his wind magic bead. He watched closely as he circled three times
and then started to descend into the massive camp. At least the camp seemed
massive to Bowie; he had grown up in a town with less than a fraction of the
people in his army’s camp. Bowie pushed through the Black Hats that had just
caught up with the head of the camp. His men were the back of the camp,
everyone knew that they were new recruits by the hats they wore, the hats they
had wanted to wear because of his instruction. Black wide brimmed hats curled
up in the front, a green feather in each to display rank amongst the Black
Hats. Bowie’s own had three gold stripes showing his most recent promotion to
sergeant, it fit snugly over his long, red, braided hair.