Rise of the Citadel (The Search for the Brights Book 2) (38 page)

  Awkwardly, the
group of six stood outside the large oak doors until Brandon arrived with the
winded guard. “I thought I told you that you couldn’t take her inside the
library. If Kara attempts to light a single candle the whole place could go up
in flames.”

  Twilix
approached Brandon, took a deep breath and looked into his eyes as she touched
a frayed string on his robe. “I believe you told us
six
times that she
could not enter. I wanted to make sure that it was okay that I left her with
these men while
I
went inside?”

He started to
open his mouth but she interrupted while brushing some dust off of his
shoulder.

“It will only
take me a moment. Perhaps you would like to stay with her and tell her again
where she can and cannot go?”

Kara was sure
that the dusting did nothing to make his robe any cleaner, but it served it’s
purpose well. He looked as though he would need the questions repeated. Kara
wished she knew how to make a man lose his thoughts just by speaking to him.

  Brandon
finally looked up at Twilix’s face awaiting an answer. He practically burst
out, “You may leave her with us for only a moment. I have other business to
attend to, so make it quick.”

  “Thank you, I
will,” She smiled and turned. She put absolutely no sign of urgency in her step
as she entered the room on the other side of the large oak door.

Brandon
immediately started berating the guards about what they would have done if she
had intended to take Kara in. None of the guards had an answer. They simply
stood and waited for a punishment that didn’t come.

  Brandon stood
in the hallway pacing, which made Kara even more nervous. Finally he asked her
a question, “How do you like it in the castle?”

  She smiled but
did not look at him, afraid of the new emotions that might bubble up. “It’s
better than the alternative.”

Brandon just
nodded in agreeance.

There was a long
silence before Kara spoke again, “Why is it you fear me more than the guards?”

  Brandon
stopped pacing and joined her at the window, “I have a brother. His name is
Brent. I believe you may remember him from your journey to Deuterium.”

She nodded that
she remembered.

“I am quite a
bit older than him. Even so, I was nearly twenty when I had my awakening and He
was seventeen when he had his. Most of my wizard life I would say that he was
by my side. We even traded magic with each other.” Brandon held out a buckle
that held his robe in place and on it was the magic symbol for water; a
crashing wave. “We taught each other the basics of using the others type of
magic so we could defend ourselves. My brother was particularly adept at using
magic, but I on the other hand had better results with the natural magic of
words.”

He smiled and
she finally looked directly at him not understanding his words. Her expression
must have made it obvious

“I have a
particular talent with politics. Something that I have tried to instill in him.
He ignores my attempts to teach him politics, just as I ignored his teachings
of water magic.”

  “You still did
not answer my question,” She said, staring out the window.

  “I did,” He
said. He received no reaction from her so he continued, “There are not many
ways I can stop you besides doing my best to kill you. I have the ability to
wield water magic, but the skill to use it effectively is not within my grasp.
I am afraid that if you were to lose control and these men did not possess the
means to stop you, I would have to kill you.” He took as step back from the
window letting his hands fall to his side. “I am trying to keep the danger to a
minimum. I hope you understand now.”

  “So the more
you keep me from destroying and killing, the less likely you are to have to
kill me?” Kara asked.

  “Yes, and it
will also be less likely for the king to kill me when he returns and finds you
out of the dungeon.” He gave a half smile and cleared his throat but said
nothing.

  It took a
moment for the thirteen year old girl’s brain to catch up with the rest of the
adult conversation. She finally understood all that Brandon was risking for her
just to be out of the dungeon. “Thank you, Brandon.”

  “It’s the
King’s Adviser Master Parker to you, Wizard.” He said as he drew himself up and
puffed out his chest. He laughed and let out the air, “You are welcome. Do not
disappoint me.”

  They both
turned to see Twilix holding a few books. She smiled at them, “It’s good to see
you two getting along. Kara, shall we go to the training grounds?”

  Brandon winked
at Kara and turned up an empty hall.

Kara smiled and
was happy to feel no new emotions clouding her judgment. She had made a new
friend.

  The camp was
so quiet Kilen was able to finish a whole chapter in his book pertaining to
what a True Weapon Bearer’s requirements were. He was unsure if he had all the
details so he left a page and half blank to fill in later. Ria had come to sit
beside him after a while but offered no conversation. She only glanced over his
shoulder from time to time as he wrote.

  He blew on the
still wet ink inside the pages and put the stopper in his ink bottle. A couple
of soldiers had run to put away his belongings in a tent. He would need to ask
around to find out where they had taken them. In the meantime he thought he
should see how the training was going with his elementals so he could at least
talk like he was there as the one teaching.

  Ria stood as
Kilen did, “I don’t understand how you do it.”

  “How I do
what?” Kilen responded as he stuck the book and writing utensils in his pocket.

  “Write with a
smooth hand in perfect sentences and still have the brain to train with not
one, but
three
elementals. I have seen men split wood, or practice sword
forms while their elementals walk around, but not this. You truly have a
talent.” She smiled, still assessing him. “Sergeant Crescent told me that you
could also use a wizard-grown bow.” She picked up a brown bow from behind the
stool on which she was sitting. The bow had long, arched curves that were slick
and looked as polished as his shield. Kilen had only a little experience with
bows and he knew that normally he would never have been able to draw it. The
curves were as thick as his wrists at the end and even thicker in the middle.

  “Thank you. He
was right. I don’t even have a bow with me. I’ve been traveling light since my
time with the Elders.” Kilen turned the bow over in his hands, “I’m sorry, it
must be tiring trying to keep all these men awake. May I energize you?”

  She stood and
curtsied, “I do believe that is the first time in a long time someone has asked
me
that. Yes, the Elders chose their weapon bearer well.” She smiled and
left him alone.

He was still
unsure if she wanted the energy. Kilen also wondered why it was this time the
Elders had chosen well. He was only trying to be polite and do the right thing.

  Despite the
lack of noise, the camp was full at work. He stopped by one of the camp fires
where soldiers were cooking a deer on a spit. It took two men to turn it but
they had an extra nearby to step in if necessary. He watched the men work and
energized a couple. They thanked him with a plate of food which he gladly ate.

The constant
twang of the bow’s release on their makeshift archery range seemed to call to
Kilen and his new bow. He walked over and John was there, barking out orders.
He noticed that no one on the range wore the black hat like most of Bowie’s men
did. The lack of the hat drew his attention to their clothing. Each lacked any
sort of soldiers attire. Most were wearing the clothing of a normal worker or
farmer.
            John saw Kilen standing next to the range leaning on his new bow.
He sauntered over to where Kilen was standing. “Bowie thinks pretty highly of
you. He thinks you’ll be able to stop this battle.”

Kilen only knew
John from the bar in Deuterium, and that interaction wasn’t positive. He was
surprised Bowie had let the man retain some sort of position. “I will do what I
can. Are these men soldiers?”

“Not yet. These
are the fletchers, cooks, and workers that we picked up on the way. One word
from Bowie and they all signed on to join in the fight. It’s my duty to train
them in case they are needed.”

Kilen turned to
watch the men making progress under Andrew and Tyler’s instruction. They walked
amongst the men and helped lift their elbows. The men needed help with their
standing positions. Like most, these men were probably taught how to use a bow
incorrectly by their fathers.

“I see you have
a new bow. Care to give it a go?” John asked.

“I have no
string, arrows, or quiver.”

John smiled,
“Looks like you have come to the right place. We have some extra right over
here.”

A newly tanned
quiver filled to the brim with arrows rested against one of the wagons. He held
out its stiff unworked leather belt waiting for Kilen to take it. Kilen
reluctantly strapped it on, not out of its quality but because he did not want
to take away from the men who might need it to fight for their lives.

“No one else
needs this?”

John laughed,
“No, we can make more. Bowie has a knack for finding supplies, we made this on
the road. Tanned and stretched the leather on the side of the wagon as we
traveled. We have enough arrows for the entire army.”

John handed
Kilen a string, and with his magically increased strength Kilen bent the bow back
so he could string it. He was sure the string would snap and cause him to get
cut or lose an eye.

John spoke
confidently, “It will hold. My bow is a bit thicker than yours. She makes them
specifically for each of us.”

Kilen nodded and
stretched the string to its full length.

Releasing the
tension, he nodded his head confirming that the string did hold. One of the
target lines was cleared for Kilen to take a couple shots at. Small targets
made from cross cuts of trees hung on ropes at the end of the range. The
fletchers stopped releasing arrows to watch the weapon bearer in action. Kilen
wished they wouldn’t watch and thought that they should have had a decent
enough show with his elementals walking around him. They waited for him, so he
knocked an arrow and pulled the string back.

He released his
first arrow and watched as it made a thwack as it sunk itself deep into a tree
twenty five paces behind his missed target. He looked around but none of the
men laughed, so he let out a half a grin in embarrassment. He knocked a second
arrow and pulled it back trying to remember to breathe as Bowie had always told
him. The second arrow landed on the bottom half of the target, or at least what
he thought was the bottom. The target split in two from the speed the behind
the arrow. One half fell to the ground as the other still spun.

The men clapped
and Kilen gave them a nod and a genuine smile. The third arrow also hit its
target and still held its place but stuck out the back. The only part still
protruding from the wood circle was the feathers and a finger length of the
arrow. He turned to John who stood behind him with massive arms crossed in
front of him.

“I better stop
while you still have targets down range for your men,” Kilen said unstringin
his bow.

John gave a nod
from behind him. the form of a crystallized winged man stepped out from between
tents John was standing in front of. Kilen only saw a flick of a hand that told
him to follow.

Joahna said
nothing until they were out of camp. “This woman, Auburn, has some real talent
as a warrior. I‘ve never seen anyone fight quite like her.”

“Really?” Kilen
couldn’t believe it. He anxiously followed through the trees until he started
to hear limbs breaking and crashing.

He rounded a
trunk and saw Max’s elemental form throwing stones into the trees and a figure
jumping from branch to branch. The jumping was followed by an arrow whistling
through the air only to shatter on impact with Max’s stone body. Max stopped
and waited for Auburn to stop as well. Auburn took two more leaps and three
more arrows before she saw Kilen and Joahna standing a few paces away.

She stood
confidently on the tree branch towards the top. The branch itself seemed to
straighten and hold her higher. Kilen used the earth magic and watched as
Auburn pushed the plant to grow to her wishes. A small bundle of new branches
came stretching out of a knot in the tree. She grabbed the now arm length
branches and snapped them off. The new branches immediately went to the quiver
on her back. Kilen was astonished that she had already learned to grow arrows
with needle like fletchings as well as fight amongst the trees.

Without moving
his elemental lips, Joahna spoke at a whisper, “She learns very fast. If she
continues to learn at this pace, she will be a very dangerous person.”

Auburn jumped
from the tree and turned end over end in the air to land on her feet quietly on
the forest floor. Kilen checked the tightness of the belt and walked between
the trees. He crossed the bow string across his chest and jumped high into the
trees. Before he knew it Auburn landed in a tree close by and comfortably
squatted on the limb. Kilen took a moment to think what he wanted to do next.
She had been practicing with Max, which she thought was Kilen. He was actually
there now and probably needed to increase the training, only he didn’t know
how. He drew his sword and jumped from the tree to close the distance between
on Auburn. She let out a squeal and jumped to a higher branch and started
looking for another escape.

“You have been
dodging rocks but a man with a sword makes you squeal?”Kilen asked.

“I didn’t know
you were going to come after me!” She snapped as Kilen joined her on the
branch. She tried to shake the branch by jumping on it but it was steady.

He assumed he
had Max to thank for that. He walked closer trying to mind his step as the
farther up they went, the thinner the branches became. As Kilen got closer to
Auburn she frantically searched for another branch and dropped to one farther
down the tree. She had no sword or dagger, only a bow to defend herself. She
knocked an arrow and aimed it at Kilen, far above her in the tree.

He moved down
the branch looking for another escape and leapt into the air, hoping to find
one on the way down. A rock burst into fragments as it struck the tree next to
Auburn. The shards peppered her, causing her to let go of the string and
knocked arrow. The wood tip collided with Kilen’s armor and did no harm. The
tree’s limbs did worse than the arrow. On the way to the ground Kilen was
greeted with numerous branches, causing scrapes and cuts to any exposed flesh.
He landed with a thud even after being slowed by the thickly needled tree.

When he regained
his breath Auburn found her way down with a much more graceful path.

Her face was red
with anger and with blood. “You are a cheater.”

Max stepped
forward and spoke in a voice much like Kilen’s, “Do you think that the enemy
will come at you from only one direction at a time? I teach you to protect
yourself so you can protect Bowie. Look for enemies coming from all
directions.”

She looked at
the stone man and back at Kilen who stood by silently. Auburn reached up and
took a stone from her face. The crevice left behind soon filled with blood that
ran down her cheek. She had several speckles of rock still in her skin until
Joahna stepped in front of her.

Without asking,
he placed a clear hand upon her cheek and Kilen watched as pieces of rock
removed themselves from her skin and left it whole. Her angry face flushed red,
almost matching the blood now drying on her skin. She offered no thanks for the
training or healing, instead she stomped through the trees back to camp.

Max and Joahna
turned away from the camp and went deeper into the trees.

When they found
a spot in a small copse of trees Max spoke in a whisper, “The girl has some
skill with a bow. She lacks the aggressiveness needed to fight close up. She
retreated into the trees every time I got close.”

Kilen just
smiled, “I only wanted you to help her train, Max. You didn’t have to turn her
into a warrior. If anything, we were able to show her a way to stay alive.”

“Agreed. We can
only prepare them so much. These men have already been trained and we can’t be
held accountable for their survival in battle, Max.” Joahna said.

Joahna healed
the minor, but numerous cuts on Kilen’s exposed skin. Max healed his stamina
and they traipsed off to find Bowie and Jace.

Kilen could see
the yellow colors swirling violently in the air before he could see Bowie. The
closer they came, the more violent the winds. He wondered how much learning
Bowie truly was getting. He knew Jace liked to teach by giving trials to the
student. He remembered his first lesson was to find Jace in the Earth Realm’s
capital. He had no direction or tactics training by Jace. He had only one task:
find his teacher in a sea of people.

He found Bowie
in a larger open area with small bushes. The ground was littered with leaves,
sticks, and other debris that Kilen thought was probably a result of the
training. Bowie stood with his legs spread wide and his hands balled into fists
at his side. His eyes were closed but as Kilen neared, Bowie’s head turned a
little to the side. His signature black hat flapped in the wind with it’s
string tied around his neck. He strained in the effort he was putting for
fighting his invisible trainer. His long red braid even had trouble resting in
the torrent of wind surrounding him. Kilen noticed that Bowie’s shirt was
soaked with sweat from the mental effort he was exerting.

The wind slowed
and finally Bowie’s jaw became unclenched. He opened his eyes and pulled his
feet together. “I am ready for more when you are. It will not be as strong as
before but I think I’m getting the hang of it.”

“We can give it
another round if you want. Let me get you back up to strength,” Kilen said
holding his arms out for his elemental friends to take over.

Kilen waited as
Max and Joahna passed him and placed a hand on opposite sides of Bowie’s
shoulders.

Bowie visibly
shuddered, “You are a lot quicker at that than I, remember.” He flexed his
hands and lifted his legs stretching them. “I am ready when you are.”

Kilen moved to
about twenty paces in front of Bowie and watched using his wind vision. Kilen
still was not very powerful with wind and hadn’t been able to do much other
than create a light breeze. He would need to take part in the training Jace
offered to match his friend’s skill. Bowie closed his eyes and the wind started
to rush by Kilen, at first seeming to come from all directions then from
directly in front.