Rise of the Citadel (The Search for the Brights Book 2) (6 page)

They all
laughed.

Joahna brought
the small victory to a halt with a serious tone, “Let us get on with discussing
the matter at hand. Kilen, would you please voice any concerns that Jace has?
His opinions matter very much to us. The way I see it we face two problems.
One, how do we get into the Elder Wizards town? Two, what do we say to them
once we are inside?”

Max spoke first,
“Correct. Getting inside will be the easier part, but we both know that both
will be far past difficult. We have to go in prepared. We should test the area
inside the fog to see what kind of problems come up and how it might affect our
use of magic. Then, we proceed with caution. When we find the first
acknowledgement of the people inside, we let them know our purpose. We let them
know we come in peace as an emissary from King Atmos. Hopefully, when we do
that, they will not kill you, or us...again.”

“We can go in
violently or peacefully. Which would you prefer, Kilen?”

It took no time
at all for Kilen to respond to Joahna’s question.

“Peaceful, but
it would be nice to know if something is waiting to harm me on the other side
of the fog.”

Jace echoed in
his head, “
Always be prepared for an attack. You at least learned one thing
from me.”

Kilen made a
small chuckle at his statement, the others looked at him quizzingly.

“Jace made a
comment, it is nothing pertaining to this conversation.” They still looked at
him, so he continued to talk. “Okay, so how can we prepare for what is inside?”

Joahna, always a
leader, spoke without waiting for input from Max. “I will test the fog a little
more tomorrow while you practice the sword and magic with Max. When you are
ready, we will carefully make our way into the forest until we stumble upon
their camp, or they confront us.”

Max nodded his
agreement, and Jace spoke in unison inside Kilen’s mind.

Jace agrees and
so do I. Now, how by the brights sword, are we supposed to convince them to
join King Atmos in battle?”

Joahna reached
up and scratched his chin as if it helped, “That is a hard question. I think
there are too many roads of diplomacy they could go down. I am not even sure
the king’s former advisor, the great Calvin Parker, could convince them.

Jace spoke for a
while directly to Kilen and ended with
“Tell them what I said
.”

Kilen repeated
the words Jace spoke as best he could, “Jace says the he was trained in
diplomacy and has spoken to a couple traveling Elder Wizards in the past. He
has spoken to kings, queens, nobles, and the like. Over time he has negotiated
treaties, merchant exchanges, and troops for war. He says if we can get inside,
he will be in the best place he could be to arrange the agreement. Jace will
tell me what to say and how to say it.”

Max stood, “Wow,
thats a much better plan than I had. I was going to say go in swinging, but
that will work also.” Joahna and Kilen both looked at him and shook their
heads. “What? If you’re going to die, you might as well go down in a blaze of
glory. After all, it's how I died the first time.”

They all laughed
at the remembrance of Max’s death, ironically thinking of it as his first.

**********

  From the trees
above the small camp, Alexander watched as Kilen and two elementals talked
amongst themselves. He found no one else close enough to summon elementals and
keep them this close to Kilen. This meant the elementals were most likely
Kilen’s. Which was a ridiculous thought because Kilen was talking to them like
they were people. Not to mention all three were moving differently at the same
time. The effort of holding an elemental would take its toll on any human body
but here he sat, just outside the grounds of the Elder Wizards chatting, with
his elementals. If the boy could control two elementals at once, he would
exhaust himself way before he was able to attempt entrance into the Elder
Wizards presence.

  He watched as
each moved independently, in awe of the the control the boy had. How each one
spoke in a different voice and looked differently as well. The amount of
control it would have taken for each would probably rip a person's
consciousness in two if held for any amount of time, yet here he sat.

The
conversations were not exactly deep, but each statement made perfect sense and
not a word was slurred or misspoken. Alexander noticed the two elementals had a
Fire Realm accent, which was peculiar even to a crazy wind wizard. Alexander
couldn’t hear all of what was being spoken, but what he could hear was about
the Elder Wizards, diplomacy, and Jace, rest his soul. When he felt as if he
had heard enough he dropped from his perched position from high in the trees.
He landed beside the fire without so much as a sound. The three stood almost in
unison, but the earth elemental was the only one to draw a sword. Kilen and the
elementals all stopped when they saw it was Alexander.

The wind wizard
squatted to warm his hands by the fire.

**********

Kilen knew he
had been found out. His secret of being able to summon two elementals was
ruined by Alexander’s presence. Alexander rubbed his hands together as if he
needed warming. He said nothing for the longest time and ignored the presence
of the two elementals. Jace was screaming unpleasantries in Kilen’s mind.

  Finally,
Kilen’s Wizard spoke, “talking to the voices in your head again?”

Kilen didn't
know how to answer, did the wizard already know something?

  “
Don’t say
a word until he reveals what he knows about you. He is trying to get you to
incriminate yourself, don't let him.”
Jace was a knot of concentration in
the back of Kilen’s mind. Kilen did exactly as Jace wanted and hoped the other
two didn’t say anything.

  “You know if
you continue to talk to yourself, you will begin to look crazy.” Alexander
turned his head slowly to look Kilen in the eye. “Tell me boy, how are you
doing this?”

Kilen didn’t
answer but stood staring into his eyes.

“Not talking,
eh? Fine. I have been watching from above and overheard some of your
conversation. Perhaps when I am done telling you what I know, you will tell me
more of what is going on here,” Alexander sat down on a log next to Joahna.

The wind picked
up a bit to make the coals glow and ruffled the flames in the fire. “Inside
that fog you will lose the ability to use any elements except the ones you take
in with you, such as your elementals. They will only be able to use what they
are in control of when they form their bodies. The Elder Wizards rotate the
defenses in the fog and other defenses. I would wait until one of those times
when you see the defenses drop, to make your way inside. Be careful, once you
do go inside, they will protect their secrets with no remorse. I will tell you
there is only one way into their town, no matter what kind of wizard or wielder
you are. It is a secret that once you are inside, you must never tell another
soul.”

Kilen’s tongue
loosened, “So you cannot tell me, but you know how to get inside.”

Alexander nodded
his head.

“Can you give me
a hint, or a guess?”

“Hint, yes.
Guess, no. Here is your hint: Without knowing what she does, your mother has
taught you to rise above. To see the elders and request what you seek, your
manners must not be bleak.”

Kilen took a
long while ponder over the riddle Alexander had put before him, until Alexander
spoke again. “I have given you all I can give you over the matter, Kilen. Now,
we must discuss how you are doing this. I want you to know that I have seen
others that can do this but for only short periods of time, and none so young
or inexperienced as you. Controlling two elementals at once takes a toll on the
wielder so much that it can kill them in short order.”

“Mind your
words Kilen, he is fishing for understanding. I fear he is trying to draw you
into hanging yourself.”
Jace was a wairy knot.

“Did they ever
speak to their elementals?” Kilen asked reluctantly.

Alexander’s
answer was short and stern, “No.”

Kilen proceeded
cautiously, “I have found it easier when I summon an elemental, to completely
give over a part of my mind and keep none of it for myself. Twilix told me to
give over my mind, but I do not know if I did it right. A part stayed in my
body, and another inside the elemental. I have just tried it for the first time
with more than one and found I can do it not only once, but twice.” He wasn’t
really lying. He really did give over what was a part of his mind.

Alexander’s
answer was low and in a harsh voice, one that Kilen had not heard from him
before. “Do not lie to me, Kilen. I have been a wizard a long time and I know
things others do not. If you do not want to tell your wizard the truth, then
your wizard cannot trust you. Would you like to try again? How is this
possible?”

Kilen didn’t
answer, he did not know what to do. He would sound as if he lost his mind if he
told the wizard he actually heard voices and allowed those voices to control
his elementals. If a wizard could understand hearing voices, it would be
Alexander, but letting them control his elementals would just sound like
another lie. He kept his silence. Eventually Alexander stood and turned his
back to the three. He walked to the edge of the camp.

“I am
disappointed Kilen. You made an oath to me, your wizard. How are we to trust
one another? If you cannot trust me with your secrets, then I cannot trust you
with mine. I must leave and get back to the tasks King Atmos has assigned me. I
have already risked my neck to be here against his orders. Good luck with the
Elder Wizards, they will demand answers for the abilities you have presented
here tonight. Kilen, be careful. They watch you now.”

Alexander disappeared into the
sky as he always did; with a gust of wind from behind to knock anyone down that
was not expecting it. Kilen was left to shame himself for lying.

Getting to the
front of the marching formation was not as difficult as Bowie had thought it
would be. Thousands of Soldiers were still packing their tents while superiors
were making sure none had deserted during the night. Breakfast was still being
cooked, which Bowie was please to see. He snatched a couple pieces of bread
while marching through the camp from a group of drowsing soldiers. Commanders and
leaders pushed back tent flaps to see if any others needed to be roused. Bowie
made his way past the forward guards, who were still strapping armor to packs.
He was just in time to see the scouts disappearing into the forest.

Bowie checked
over Charger, who despite the long walk through the night, seemed anxious to
run. Before long, Tyler came riding up in a cart next to Auburn, followed by
another Black Hat driving a wagon with a roof and doors covered in plants and
flowers of every sort. Tyler was one of the recruits he really trusted. Not
only because he was from the Water Realm, but because he had helped train the
other recruits.

The cart looked
like someone's traveling home, and he instantly knew it must have been Ria’s.
The two women found a way to stay close to one another. Despite his efforts to
separate the two, he had failed in his first attempt.

“Tyler, report.”
Bowie called out.

“Master Cresent,
we are putting as much of the soldiers’ equipment as we can into the carts to
lighten their loads. Wizard Ria even spared some space for tents on her roof.
The other two carts will be along shortly, once they are finished being packed.
What are your orders, Master Crescent?” Tyler asked.

“Ride this wagon
a ways up the road and wait for the others to join, don't let the front guard
to get in ahead of you.”

Tyler nodded and
Bowie mounted Charger.

“My lady Auburn,
I thank you for the use of your cart,” Bowie said.

The red haired
girl fired back, “Not like I had a choice in the matter.”

Bowie removed
the hat from his head and scratched his scalp in frustration. He had only met
the girl an hour ago and she had already gotten on his nerves. He replaced the
hat on his head and looked back at the girl, who was staring at him, waiting
for a response. Bowie did not intend to let her dictate the terms of their
every conversation, so he stared back in silence.

“I guess it’s
not your fault the King is snatching up every able body in local towns for his
ego-driven whims. Next, I suppose he will snatch up all the local bar wenches
and throw a party like no one has ever seen before...” Auburn said.

She seemed to
remember that she was talking to Bowie and stopped the rant, clearing her
throat. “I do suppose I owe you an apology for my mood. My father taught me to
make arrows, bow strings, and recently allowed me to help him construct bows. I
am to support this army by doing those things, so I am in your service.”

Bowie smiled and
tipped his hat, “Well perhaps there's hope for you after all. Miss Auburn, I
will need a lot of help in the next few weeks. Perhaps if you can handle
keeping your dislike of the King in check, I will allow you to oversee the
production of the armies archery supplies.”

“You mean be in
charge of making all the arrows, strings, and bows?” She said at almost a
whisper.

Bowie started in
again, riding Charger beside Tyler and Auburn’s cart, “Listen, I have a whole
troop of archers to keep in check. I need someone who already knows the
business so I don't have to train them. You know how to make all the things we
need, so I will organize the hunts, food, training, and dealing with the King.
I need you to make as many supplies for the battles ahead as you can. I will be
counting on you to organize all the fletchers.”

Auburn smiled,
“So you want me to order your soldiers around and complete the task the King
ordered you to do?”

“NO! I want to
you to order the fletchers, and fletchers alone. You will not order soldiers to
do anything.” Bowie said curtly.

“Ria then, I
will be giving
her
orders?” Auburn asked.

“NO!! She is not
even mine to command!” Bowie was already fed up with her questions. Maybe it
was a mistake to give her any power at all, but he thought if she was bossing
others around, maybe she wouldn’t bother him. “Matter of fact, do not even look
in Wizard Ria’s direction. If you need anything from her, you will come to me
with the request and I will take it to her.”

Bowie’s face had
turned red with frustration. He was waiting for the next question to send him
over the edge. Instead, she stood in front of the cart and did a deep curtsy,
smiling all the while. He tore off his hat in frustration and then rode farther
back to check on anyone coming up behind Ria’s cart. Tyler started the cart
moving forward along the road at a slow pace. Ria’s driver, also a Black Hat,
followed Auburn’s cart without instruction. Three carts loaded with fletchers,
bags, and soldiers rolled past. A trail of tired soldiers also followed on foot
for a while.

Bowie sat and
gave them encouragement from the back of his horse. “Look sharp men, you lead
the Kings army now.” Followed by, “A good night’s sleep lays just down the
road.” The latter seemed to motivate them more than the former. Soon, a
refreshed John Curtin brought up the last archers to join the lines. Bowie
added John’s pack to Charger’s back and walked beside John. “How many men and
bows do we have?” He asked.

“We have close
to one thousand Black Hats that I counted, twenty five fletchers, and twelve
bows,” John replied, while trying to knock the dust from his hat. “I don’t know
what the plan is sir, but I figured you had one. I would love to know how we
are going to supply this army with arrows when we can't even supply our own men
with bows.”

Bowie answered
reluctantly, “I’m still working some of that out. For now, all we have to do is
get all of our men to the next camp so they can get some sleep. Perhaps I’ll be
able to formulate a better plan by then.”

John seemed to
accept the answer he had been given, but even Bowie thought it was a political
way of saying he didn’t know what he was doing. They both turned to the sound
of a horse trotting up behind them to see Lieutenant McClanahan approaching.

“Master Crescent,”
the Lieutenant called out. “I need you for a moment.”

“Yes,
Lieutenant?” Bowie asked as he handed Charger off to John.

“Well, here I
thought I was going to be leading the army, and one of my own students waltzes
into the King's tent and steals my glory,” The king’s strategist said.

“I wouldn’t be
saying that so soon. I’m afraid I have my work cut out for me. I have twelve
bows, a thousand men, and we haven't slept for a day and a half. I can only
hope to get to a city and see what kind of supplies I can negotiate from them.
Assuming those miracles happen, I might stand a chance to survive the rest of
the week.”

The Lieutenant
unrolled a map,“Shouldn’t be as hard as you think. The next town is only a
day’s ride from here. Of course, it will take longer marching with the army,
closer to three days, I presume. The town is just on the other side of the
river, soldiers will need to be ferried. It will take time to have that many
cross, but the town is large enough to support the army on the other side until
all can resume the march.”

Bowie thought a
moment, then said, “Maybe I can work something out there.”

McClanahan said
something about ‘good luck’ but Bowie heard none of it, his brain was too busy
planning.

He quickly
caught up to John and took Charger’s reins. Mounting, he began to issue orders,
“John, hurry now. I need half the bows and nine Black Hats to the front. I will
also take six of the fletchers and Miss Auburn. Unhitch one of the horses from
the wagons, have them saddled and brought to the front. We are about to see if
I am as good of a strategist as Lieutenant McClanahan thinks I am.”

“Aye, sir.” John
started yelling out to the sluggish group that seemed renewed by the new orders
being handed out.

Charger danced
with Bowie on his back, waiting for the moment that he could run. Bowie
wondered if the men just needed something to keep their mind off of being
tired. He kicked Charger and blew past the men in a flash to get to the front.
Soon he caught up to Auburn’s cart, with Tyler in the seat next to her. Bowie
called them to a stop.

The archers
following Ria’s cart looked to be happy about stopping to rest, even after they
had just gotten started. He watched as the men started to beat the dust out of
their hats that the morning walk had kicked up from the road. He was happy to
see they still took pride in their namesake, even though they were the subject
of ridicule for the other soldiers in the army.

“Tyler, I need
this cart unloaded with as much as you can packed onto the other carts. We need
a few tents, arrows, some food, and tack. We are taking some fletchers and
Black Hats up to the next town to gather supplies and set up a camp for
hunting. Go now!”

Tyler tipped his
hat after he handed the reigns to Auburn.

Bowie said to
Auburn, “You are to accompany us on this trip. I may need you to help me gather
supplies for making some arrows.”

She stood and
curtsied from the driver’s seat. Bowie nodded at her in return and rode back to
Ria’s wagon where other Black Hat was driving.

“Where is the
wizard?” Bowie asked.

“She is inside
resting, Master Crescent. She told me to follow your orders.”

“So am I
commanding you, or is she?” Bowie snapped at the man.

“Uhm um, you
are, Master Crescent. What are your orders?” he was practically shaking.

Bowie had never
had that kind of response from anyone before. He kind of liked it, yet felt
guilty all at the same time. He hadn’t meant to snap at the guy, just wanted to
make sure no one was doubting him as being in charge.

“Good, now I
want you to set the pace for our travel. Move this wagon up the road as fast as
you can while letting the wizard sleep. If we can't keep up, stop at the river
and wait for us. Do you understand?”

“AYE, sir!” he
said, cracking the reigns. The wagon sped up and went around Auburn’s cart, now
being stacked with supplies.

“I want room for
the six fletchers in this cart plus the driver and Miss Auburn up front.” Bowie
barked to the men loading the cart.

Men started to
jump in the cart and Tyler took his seat back next to Auburn. She gave him back
the reigns as she started to assess each of the men’s skills in fletching. John
Curtain came up with men, bows, and horses.

John shouted,
“Mount up men, we are going to try and make the ferry by nightfall.”

The men mounted
and Bowie waved them down the road. Tyler set the pace to catch up with Ria’s
cart.

Bowie leaned in
his saddle, “John, get the rest up the road as best you can and catch up to us
on the other side of the river.”

Bowie turned to
address the rest of the followers waiting to start the march again.

“Men, I am
taking a small group ahead to get supplies before this army arrives and cleans
them out. If you want a chance at getting a bow, new boots, ale, or anything of
the sort, you had better give up some of that coin in your pocket.”

Most of them
turned to look at each other, then a few stepped forward and handed Bowie any
spare copper and silver they had. More and more fished some out of their
pockets and brought it to him. Bowie remembered taking most of the men’s first
bit of pay when he brought in a cart of merchandise from Deuterium. He stood in
his saddle and fished out his own coin purse. Putting his hand inside, he took
a handful of gold. Slowly, he dropped his gold in the pouch containing the
soldier’s money, one at a time, for all to see.

“I will do my
best to get everything we will need for battle. I do not intend to be on the
front line without every Black Hat holding a bow, and every quiver full of
arrows!” He shouted so those still arriving in the back could hear him. He
turned and rode off to catch up with the small group as the rest of his troop
cheered at his words of promise.

Halfway to the
front of his troop line, he started to doubt himself. He had no idea what it
would take to gather supplies, or if he should split his troop. He should have
consulted with Lt. McClanahan, or at least John. It was too late now. He could
not bring his troop back together and rescind his orders. It would make him
look a fool. Looking down with disappointment in himself, he saw that his wrist
guard had come loose. He pulled the leather strap and felt the wind magic flow
into him again.

**********

Kara loved every
minute spent in the sun after being stuck down in the dungeons for so long. It
seemed like she had spent an eternity down in that cell. Sometimes she still
awoke at night, thinking she was inside. Her life was better now; laying in the
tent, feeling the sun’s warmth through the canvas walls. She reached out to the
heat and soaked it up. She use to do this before she was a wizard, but now it
seemed to give her energy. She used to lay in the sun for hours until her
mother would call her in to help with chores. It invigorated her, refreshed
her, and made her feel happy.

Standing, she
took a brush that Twilix had laid out for her, and brushed her hair. She was
now dressed in one of the water wizard’s blue dresses; the two were almost the
same size. Looking in the mirror, she wished she had a ribbon to tie her hair
back. A ribbon like the one she had hung from the pommel of her brother’s
sword. She teared up any time she remembered the sacrifices her brother and
Bowie had suffered for her. She heard more about Kilen’s sword training and
torture everyday. Soldiers and wielders alike, talked about him as a very
impressive soldier. Most had made a legendary figure out of her brother from
seeing him fight the king’s Champion on their graduation day. Now, he was off
fighting the world to make sure she stayed safe.