Rise of the Citadel (The Search for the Brights Book 2) (48 page)

“Yes, that is
how Mary described it. Would you like to try it?”

“What should I
try and use it against?”

Twilix turned
Kara around and pointed at a very large boulder that Brandon had left behind
during his battle with Kilen. The boulder was the remnant arm of his giant
stone elemental, the point of the giants elbow reminded her of the large
wielders bald head.

“How much do you
remember from the book?”

Kara closed her
eyes and tried to remember, “Not much. It said to force the heat to push itself
into a tight ball, wrapping layer after layer of heat until it becomes almost
too strong to hold.”

“Each element
has an ability to do this and each element is done in the same way. I start
with a small amount of my magic to get it rolling. I let it pull itself into a
tangle and I keep pushing it to roll. The center of the rolling magic will
start to pull itself inward and all you have to do is keep the magic from
escaping as you push more in,” Twilix said making motions with her hand as she
demonstrated the magic.

Kara nodded at
the description.

“Listen, it is
very dangerous so I will do it first and you can watch. You will see that I
must release the magic before it overcomes my ability to maintain it. At first
it is easy to contain, but it will very quickly overpower you if you go too
far. Watch and pay attention,” Twilix commanded.

Twilix began
rolling the magic into a ball and Kara watched as layer after layer of liquid
ice rolled in between Twilix’s hands. Slowly, it grew in size from grape, to
egg, to the size of a fist.

“I’m almost
there, watch.” Twilix let out a grunt and the ball of liquid ice streaked
across the training grounds leaving a frozen path all the way to where it
landed. Shards of ice spiked out in every direction as the ball impacted on the
rock’s surface.

Kara was staring
at Twilix and didn’t seem to notice the damage done by the impact of her magic.

“Are you ready
to try?” Twilx asked.

“Your eyes
changed color.” Kara said, pointing at Twilix’s face.

“Kara, have you
never looked into your own eyes in the mirror while channeling magic? All of
our eyes change color. Your eyes change to red when you channel. That alone is
enough to unnerve some people.”

Kara put a hand
to her own face, “I suppose it would, wouldn’t it.”

“Well, we can
look into the mirror later. Would you like to try Inferno Fire?”

“Yes, I can
try.” She said turning to face the stone.

“Okay. Start
small. I want you to release it long before you reach your full potential.
There’s plenty heat about with this sun baking us, so it should build fast
enough. Oh, and you will want to hold onto the magic and push it away from you
before you release it or it will splash flames all over us.”

“You are making
me nervous,” She said, starting to take a step back.

“Well, you
should be, but I would rather you learn with me here than on your own. Go ahead
and try, I’ll be here to help if something goes wrong.” She gave a smiled to
encourage Kara to try.

Kara shook her
hands at her side as if it would help and began to build the swirling fire.
Soon, she had liquid flame rolling around between her fingers. Twilix took a
step back because of the heat emitting from Kara. She watched as Kara closed
her eyes and continued to push the flames into a tiny, rotating ball.

“Thats enough,
go ahead and throw it,” Twilix encouraged from a safe distance.

Kara pushed her
hands forward and used magic to launch her egg-sized ball of liquid flame.
Halfway to the stone target, the embers erupted from their tiny prison and
threw flames around the training grounds. The loud boom that followed scared
Kara so much that she jumped back and let out a squeak. The ice path that
Twilix had made with her ball all but disappeared from the heat. Some of the
ice on the stone melted even from a distance where the flames landed.

Kara turned to
Twilix, “That was fun.” She had a smile on her face and turned to watch the
flames dissipate from the ground, as nothing was there to fuel them.

Twilix took a
couple more steps back, “Go ahead and try again, this time a bit stronger and
hold onto it until it hits the stone if you can.” Twilix gathered water to
herself just incase she needed to extinguish any flames Kara couldn’t control.

Twilix laughed
to herself as Kara waved her hands in a circle like it would help form the ball
of flame. Some wizards used gestures or motion to help them hone their talents;
it wasn’t needed, but could make the effort easier. Sometimes a wizard would
give away an attack by the way they moved their arms. Twilix made a mental note
to tell Kara about it later so she could become aware of what she was doing.

Sweat formed on
the Kara’s brow, Twilix was sure it had little to do with the heat being pulled
in the spiraling flame between her fingers. It grew to the size of an egg and
Twilix watched as Kara compacted the flames and added to it until she could not
maintain its size any longer.

She knew if this
went badly she would have to heal Kara. Even liquid flames were too much for
her to protect herself from. She gathered a tiny rotating ball of water and
pushed layer after layer in on itself so she had a sphere about the size of a
wagon wheel sitting on the ground in front of her.

The second fire
sphere was launched and went erratically through the air until it collided with
the stone next to the one Twilix hit. The collision of the flame on stone
seemed to shake the air. Kara smiled and began forming another, not waiting on
Twilix to give the order. The third was same size and power as the second, but
spun and struck the corner of the stone Twilix had aimed at. The inferno spewed
out in a cone behind the stone causing a display of various colors of flame.

Kara was
laughing while she sent more spheres hurtling towards the rocks left on the
battlefield. She laughed at the constant boom resonating from her practice. An
occasional arch of liquid heat leapt out of the balls followed by a squeal from
Kara. Twilix easily batted them away with a burst of water from her reserve.

It didn’t take
long for Brandon to come walking out onto the field. He had kept a close watch
on them since they aged. He looked confused as he tightened the sash on his
robe. Kara had obviously woken him from his slumber.

“Where are the
wielders?” Brandon asked as he looked around the field.

“Well… they were
here a moment ago,” She smiled as she looked around. Twilix had been waiting
for this moment since she thought of the idea. She even turned in a big circle
as if looking for them.

“Well, at least
you’re here. I will find them and have them stripped of their imbuements,”
Brandon said running his hand across his forehead.

“I don’t think
that will be necessary since I upset them so.” She smiled and did her best to
bat her eyes, “We took a little jog this morning to get use to our new legs.
They said they were going to beat us for running off. I told him we didn’t need
a babysitter. It was all very unpleasant but in the end they were happy to
oblige.”

“They should not
have abandoned their post. I will have a word with them. If I manage to get
them to come back you
will
be more appreciative them,” Brent commanded.

She was a little
taken back by the order. She thought maybe the effects of her aged body had
worn off.

“Is she using
Inferno Fire?” he asked.
            “Yes. Mary said she used it to learn control so I thought it would
be a more natural ability for Kara to learn.”

Kara launched
another and Brandon watched, listening to Twilix but not removing his eyes from
Kara.

“It teaches not
only how to harness the magic, but to direct and control it from a distance all
while holding the flames together,” Twilix explained.

“I know how it
is done, Twilix.”

“Yes, of course.
I was just saying-”

Brandon looked
at her and cut her off, “Do not instruct me on how wielding magic works.” His
vision left the young wielder making a special on the training field with
consistent booms of her magic power. “You think you can just send away my
wielders without permission? When they return you will be punished, but not by
them. You do not understand the wrath that this will incur from the king.” He
turned to walk away, “You better hope he doesn’t find out.”

Twilix stood
with her mouth open as he started to walk away. That was not how the
confrontation was supposed to go. She was supposed to convince him that they
were ready to walk about the castle by themselves. They both knew that Kara was
ready. She just had to figure out how to convince him that the rules were too
intrusive of a wizard in control.

Twilix pulled up
her skirt and began to yell at him, but the wind stirred up the dirt in front
of him. Brandon looked up and they both watched as Mica descended to the ground
in front of him. She stomped up, impressed at the size of dust her new body
stirred up at her step, ready to continue their discussion that ended too early
for her liking. Another boom resounded from where Kara was practicing. The
sound drew Mica’s attention.

“Who is the fire
wizard?” Mica said, tying his sash into place.

“Who she is does
not concern you, Councilman. I have things under control. Do you have news?”
Brandon asked.

Mica nodded his
head then looked at Twilix.

“She’s fine.
Twilix will find out eventually either way,” Brandon said, giving the
councilmen permission to speak in front of her.

She then
realized Mica did not recognise her.

Mica took
another step forward and squinted at Twilix’s face. His eyes then enlarged and
he stepped back, “You have aged.”

“That I did,
Councilman. How are things with King Atmos?” Twilix asked.

“You look so
different, but not different at all. I mean I still see it is you, but
older...more mature,” Mica said.

Twilix became a
bit irritated. She had just gotten over people staring at her because they
thought she was little. Now they would start comparing her with her younger
self although she looked the proper age. “Yes, I know. Now, the king?”

Mica cleared his
throat and slowly changed his gaze to Brandon, “The war is over. The king now
chases what is left of the Fire Realm back to their own lands. King Rekkan has
been stripped of power and been taken prisoner by Atmos’ own hand.”

Brandon seemed
shocked, “That cannot be. The last report I received is that King Atmos was at
least a month from the battle. Yet, you are telling me the battle is over?”

“Yes, of course,
I have gotten ahead of myself. The archer Bowie Crescent ran into some
resistance with the Earth Realm citizens. They started to attack his men as he
traveled. He quelled the resistance and decided to double his efforts to arrive
quickly to a forward battle camp where he could prepare for the rest of the
army. The King heard the report of the resistance and took fifty wielders to
catch up to Sergeant Crescent and end the revolt himself.”

Brandon crossed
his arms, “So that’s how he arrived early. How did the king win with only the
archers and a few men?”

“Yes, there
is
a bit more to tell. When he arrived the Weapon Bearer was already within the
Fire Realms Defenses.” Twilix perked up at the mention of her former trainee,
and Mica showed notice by arching his eyebrow. He continued, “The Weapon Bearer
arranged a meeting and it went sour. King Atmos had already put a backup plan
in place, being that he was out numbered forty thousand to one thousand.
Lieutenant Borgen and the advanced archers were able to cripple the Fire
Realm’s defenses with a surprise attack to the flank.”

“How many days
ago was this, Mica?” Brandon asked.

“It was five
days ago. I have to apologize on my delay. I’ve been busy with the king’s
orders.”

Brandon
dismissed the apology with a wave of the hand, “You are under orders. Continue
on with you report and orders.”

“The king seeks
out the Weapon Bearer. Kilen was able to aid in the escape of many fire
wielders along with the treacherous councilwoman, Mary.”

Twilix almost
shouted to interject into the conversation, “Is she alive? And the weapon
bearer, is he alive?”

“They are,” he
nodded and continued. “Both the Weapon Bearer and Mary escaped. I am to put you
on alert for an attack from them. We do not know the amount of imbuements they
have left and we wanted you placed on high alert. Also, Wizard Ria has joined
in treachery. She has taken Councilman Parker and the Crescent boy to go to the
Elders camp.”

“She took them?”
Twilix asked.

“Yes, I was
there. She buried the entire camp of men up to their heads and lashed me to the
ground. She ordered the archer who was negotiating his retirement, and
Councilman Parker to leave with her to find the Elders. King Atmos believes she
is on her way to raise a Water Realm king.”

Brandon interrupted
putting a finger to his eyebrow, surely struggling to keep up with the
information. “Why would Ria want to raise a Water Realm king.”

“The Kilen told
her that the Elders were searching for a soul wizard. Rekkan refused to join in
the effort to bring the soul wizard to justice, this is when the meeting turned
bad and Atmos had to order the attack. Ria is under the assumption that if she
raises a Water Realm king that Kilen will aid them in raising an army. This is
why I am here.”

“Wait, why are
you here again?” Brandon said, still rubbing his eyebrow.

“Raising a king
when we have already established an army and just finished a war would cost us
precious time. The new king would take a few years to organize his kingdom and
build an army, and we cannot afford to lose that time while we are searching
for a soul wizard. A dark army could be raised in that time. King Atmos has
already established power and knows that keeping that power under one hand will
speed that along.”