Rise of the Citadel (The Search for the Brights Book 2) (63 page)

The farther down
he went, the less of the world he could see. His armor weighed heavily on his
body. He trashed his arms and legs, but it was no use; his increased strength
had no effect on his ability to swim. Using his arms with his armor on was much
like trying to fly while waving sticks back and forth. He stopped and watched
the light of the moon disappear as he felt the weight of the water on his chest
and ears. His lungs began to beg for air by burning in pain. He hoped that soon
he would reach the bottom of the lake so he could try and jump to the surface.

He felt
something under his feet; his wish came true. He squatted down low, bending his
knees and pushed with all his strength. As he pushed down, his feet sank into
the mud at the bottom of the lake. Still, his power let him clear his feet of
the murky bottom after nearly sucking his boots off his feet. His jump wasn’t
enough to get him to the surface. Again, he was sinking and now his lungs tried
to pull in air despite his lips being clamped together like a vise.

He let his body
go limp, hoping to conserve his energy until he could figure out a way to the
surface. Something solid hit his back and pushed him slowly towards the air he
was panicking for. He turned in the murky water, searching for the object
pushing on him. He felt along its surface and could not find an edge. The
texture felt like stone, with lines arranged like bricks.

Without a second
more of confusion, he placed his boots on the slick surface. His limbs weak and
tingling from the lack of oxygen, as if he would lose control of them at any
moment. He lept and watched the moon come back into view as he rushed towards
the surface. Bursting forth, he found his the breath his lunges were craving.

The sounds of
chaos found his ears as his friends were still struggling in the churning
water. It wasn’t long before he went crashing back down to the depths of
Leviathan. He then realized how fuzzy his vision had become. He was thankful he
had not gone unconscious from the lack of oxygen, fearing The Crying Man would
have another chance to take control.

The surface
rising under his feet was much closer than before and it slowly brought Kilen
out of the water. Kilen only had to jump once more before he finally emerged.
The surface that had pushed him out of was now an open area in front of the
Water Realm’s castle. The stones that were paved here were made out of a
translucent material that looked like glass, but felt like stone. Kilen found
only Twilix had emerged from the water in the same area as him. They ran to
each other, screaming each others name.

Slowly, Kilen
and Twilix skidded to a stop and stood, dripping water. “Are you okay?” He said
to her, still trying to catch his breath.

“Yes, I’m fine.
Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. We
need to find the others.”

He started to
walk away but was stopped by her tug. She kissed him and straightened the crown
on his head.

“Kilen, you just
surfaced the castle. There’s an army outside of Keepers and their mission is to
stop it from happening. They will be coming for you,” Twilix cautioned.

Kilen nodded and
listened to the voice inside of him, “
We will do what me must. I will help
in any way I can.”

He knew Tokeye
could do little except give him advice from the inside. He needed to find the
others.

“We need to get
to the gates and shut them,” Kilen said, looking around to get his sense of
direction. A wind whipped past him pulling him in a direction, in the wind
vison he saw it was Jace. The ghoast like figure on the wind waved him on, to
where, he was unsure. “This way,” Kilen said.

The water from
their clothes steamed away, leaving them dry. Twilix let out a sigh of relief,
“I have control of my magic again.”

He nodded, but
did not understand what it would be like to lose control of an ability someone
had for so long.

They rushed
through the empty castle grounds, pushing gates open and finding fish still
thrashing on the streets. Kilen followed the winds leading through a courtyard
and a massive crystalline gate. In the street, Joahna walked with Kara, Ria,
and Auburn.

“Kilen! Thank
the Brights!” Kara screamed.

He gave his
still unfamiliar sister a hug, “Have you seen the others?”

She shook her
head, but they soon heard footsteps coming from a nearby street.

***********************

  Leroy heard
his father's voice from outside the canvas tent. His voice, in all the years of
his childhood, always remained steady and calm. Even when he was shouting
orders around the camp, he was in control. Tonight the voice was urgent and
quiet. Leroy pushed back the cloth door, leaving his mother alone to talk with
Izabel. It was the first time his mother had had the strength to speak with
her.

  His father
looked off towards the lake’s shore line. “Get your mother and anyone else you
find to the cook fires. Calmly and quickly, son.” The large cook ducked inside
the tent and began throwing back wooden crates and digging in the dirt
underneath them.

  “Wait, why?”
He asked, following his father inside. “It could be dangerous to move mom. You
know that.”

  Leory’s
mother’s voice had always been sweet and caring. “Pete, what’s going on?”

  He stopped,
pulling a small box from the dirt. He sat beside her, “Something is happening.
The army is moving out. There was a light down the shore, a light that only a
fire wielder could make. It was white like the sun. They’re going after it. If
anything should happen I need everyone at the cook fires.” He took his wife’s
hands in his, looking into her eyes he smiled, “I think it’s time.”

  “Time for
what?” Leroy asked.

  His mother
smiled, “Do what your father asks. Grab two people to help and use this blanket
as a litter to get me to the fires.”

Leroy opened his
mouth to speak but his mother held up a frail hand. “I’ll be fine. I’m strong
today,” She said before he could argue.

He nodded and
went right to work. His father must have already started telling people,
because the camp was a mess with everyone carrying whatever they could get
their hands on. Confusion was not on anyone's faces at the tasks that needed to
be carried out. They worked together to move supplies and people to his
father's cook fires. It was as if all of Keepers would not exist by morning.

  He saw his
father talking to Wells, the only soldier that stayed behind to watch over
those in Keepers. Wells shook his head and ran through the crowd, talking to
the head of each house as he came across. Leroy could not hear what Wells said
but it was short and everyone stopped what they were doing to gather their
family.

  Leroy grabbed
two men, not old enough to have started a family of their own, to help carry
his mother. Through the crowd they encountered the familiar faces he grew up
with.

Each of which
smiled and patted him on the back saying, “Today is the day.”

  In his ten
years living here, he had never seen such joy on the faces of the people of
Keepers. Their smiles eased the tension he felt. When he arrived, his father
and Wells were just gathering everyone together and watching flames leap about
along the shore line. A storm had gathered over the lake, leaving the rest of
the sky clear and open to the stars. Lighting lanced out around the lake's
surface in a beautiful display of power and light.

  Pete
approached his wife and smiled, “I hope you get a good view.”

Wells handed
Leroy’s father a hoe and they started raking a line from the shore, past his
largest cook pot. They stopped only when his father heard the sound of metal
hitting metal. Dropping down, they dug in the dirt and pulled free a chain with
links as thick as a man’s thumb. The chain must have been heavy, because Wells
dropped it soon after he freed a few feet.

  His father
took out the small box he had dug up at their home and opened its lid. Inside,
Leroy could see a large gold ring that his father placed on his fat pinky
finger.

He looked
around, “I hope I still know how to use this.”

The older men
and women in the camp laughed and smiled, some had tears in their eyes. Pete
took a large breath and grabbed the chain, pulling on it. The large cook pot
shifted and sand sunk into a hole a few feet away. Leroy took a step closer,
but was held back by Wells’ thick arm.

  He watched as
his father gave tug after tug, slowly revealing a large room sealed by a metal
plate that his father pulled back. The fire light from the cook pot lit the
dark hole more with each move. Racks of weapons, helmets, and armor were
stacked to the brim of a metal pit hidden for years under his father’s care.

  When his
father stopped tugging, he gave Wells a nod. Wells nodded back and walked to
stand beside the pit.

He reached
inside, pulled out a sword, and held it in his hands, “Thank you all for standing
here on this day with us and thank you for your perseverance. As you can see,
the Earth Realm’s army fights against a foe that could possibly raise the city
from its watery tomb. We do not yet know if it
is
being risen, so if
they start to return, we must be ready to put these weapons back into their
resting place. If the city does rise, we must be ready to fight and protect the
new king we have so long been waiting for.”

A cheer erupted
from the crowd that made Leroy jump.

Wells walked to
Leroy and handed him the first sword handle, “Come now, and take up arms in
preparation for your new king.”

  Men formed
lines and started handing down armor and weapons. Women started gathering
supplies and helping their husbands and sons strap on armor. Izabel smiled as
she cared for Leroy’s mother.

Leroy handed his
sword to a man that passed by and his mother spoke to him, “You do not want to
fight? It’s what we have lived here so long for.”

  He smiled, “I
will fight, but not with a sword.” He freed his father's polished knives from
where he had hidden them on his back. The polished steel glinted in the light
of a lighting strike. He saw a smile touch her face and he knew she was proud
of the man he was becoming.

  Izabel stood
and walked closer to Leroy and took his arm, pulling him away from the crowd.
“You will have to be faster than you were in my shop,” She said cynically.
            Leroy stopped her from walking and faced her, “I’ve learned a few
things since the hairpin incident. Besides, I always have my poisons to help
me.” He smiled and made a grand bow before her, trying to perform as he thought
a man should. It earned him a small laugh and she patted his cheek.

  “You better
use something a bit stronger than what you used on my guards. Ill watch over
your mother until you return.” He nodded and turned to go but she cleared her
throat, “Leroy, don’t get yourself too hurt or else I’ll have to charge you
more dates to see you get better.”

  He smiled, “We
wouldn’t want that, now would we?”

  Although the
camp was not a city, it was with solid buildings and walls with their own type
of fortifications. A sea of three sided structures stood haphazardly along
winding paths through Keepers. Everyone had at least one side that was a cloth
covering. When he was a boy he use to get scared going out at night, wondering
if ghosts were in the camp. Each movement of the cloth covers catching his eye
made him think he had found one.

  He knew better
now; that ghosts were not real, but that did not mean he couldn’t use the
movement of the cloth to conceal himself. Leroy moved amongst the tents and
searched for any other weapons he could use. He was able to find some rope and
random knives which he tucked in his pockets. He tied a rope across a smaller
camp path in attempt to slow anyone on horseback by tripping them. He also
extinguished any torches in the area to help hide rope along the ground.

  When he came
to the edge of the camp he could see a couple hundred men lining up in order to
march into Keepers. Very few of the men were on horses. Almost all of them had
a haphazard type of armor; missing pieces that others had. The commands given
by their leader had to be barked more than once for the men to do what they
were supposed to.

  Leroy eased
the strings on two leather pouches on his belt. The two pouches were filled
with two types of poisons: one lethal, the other debilitating. He hadn’t liked
the thought of killing another man so he dipped his blades into the pouch of
debilitating poison.

  He started to
hear waves crashing in the water as if there was a continuous churning out on
the lake. When he stood a little to look over the tops of the structures he saw
a large dome refracting the moonlight over the lake. His heart leaped up into
his throat; it was happening. The castle was surfacing.

  A command to
bring something forward brought his attention to the aggressing forces outside
of Keepers. A large box was being pulled on wheels to the front of the
formation. Torches followed and revealed a large hunting dog being unloaded
from the box. A man with a long leather strap ducked inside so that the leather
strap hung out of the box, the other end being held by the man inside.

  Wells, in a
full suit of armor, crashed in next to Leroy with sword in hand. “How many are
there?”

  “I see a couple
hundred, but they're doing something with that dog. I’m not sure what it is.”

Wells looked out
with Leroy. They could see the dog’s head being placed inside a loose loop of
the leather strap. Two small spikes were fitted to point towards the back of
the dog’s neck.

  Wells groaned
and turned back behind the structure they leaned against. “They’re making the
dog a wielder, and I can only assume it will be fire.”