The Flames of Deception - A Horizon of Storms: Book 1 (61 page)

“
The
Akari woman did mention four people who must be stopped. It could
be the sorcerers?”

Matthias nodded. “Perhaps.”

Josephine squinted as she thought. “She named two other
things before she vanished as well. They did not make any sense to
me. One was about stopping something called ‘Soral’ and the other
thing they mentioned was about an ‘alignment’.”

“
Alignment of
what?
” Luccius asked.

“
I
have no idea,” Josephine said. “That was the last thing she said
before she was killed. Or whatever happened.”

“
I have never heard of
anything
called ‘Soral’ before.” Matthias
shook his head. “But Taico Grimm told us that their plans were
bigger than we could imagine.”

“
If you choose to believe
that
madman!” Thadius
sniffed.

“
I do,” Matthias rebuffed. “He may
be
a madman, but he
has told us a
lot
so far. I don’t think he is
capable
of lying.” He stood up and paced the room.
“When I spoke to Master Pym last, in spite of
everything
he told me about this mission,
he didn’t seem quite willing to tell me
all
he knew.”

Thadius looked at him wryly. “Now you know how the rest of
the world feels about Mahalians,” he sniffed.

Matthias smiled thinly at the comment. “How can we
possibly defend against something we have no idea about? As much as
I hate to admit it Thadius, you may be right. I do not like being
in the dark about things. I wonder if the council already
knows
about the sorcerers
and about this ‘Soral’.” He exhaled. “What could they have been
keeping from me?”

“
If
that is so, then it is a good thing, surely?” Luccius said. “It
means they might be way ahead of us in stopping them.”

Matthias nodded. “I suppose you are right. But I
just feel like we’re fighting the wrong war here now,” he said
sternly. “Something bigger is happening and we don’t know
what
it is. And I wish
that Pym had trusted me enough to tell me. Perhaps if he did we
wouldn’t be
in
this situation now.” He shook his head. “All the puzzle
pieces don’t quite fit together yet.” He ran his fingers through
his hair. “We’re missing massive chunks.
Agh!
I need a bigger head.”

“
Your
head is big enough as it is,” Maryn said, carrying
a tray with a bowl of soup and some bread on a plate. Chunks of
carrot and potato sat in the broth. “Here you
go.”

“
Thank you Maryn,” Josephine said and ripped a
chunk off the bread and dipped it in the steaming soup. “Well if it
is all the same to
you
Matthias, I would rather forget the rest for now and focus
on
one
thing at a time. The only thing we know definitely is that
we
must
stop this dragon. The Akari might believe Sikaris is
unimportant compared to their freedom, but quite frankly they
can
wait
. I started this journey and I intend to finish it. And I
do not trust your people to get this job done.”

“
You
still want to go after Sikaris?” Thadius asked. “Even after all of
this?”

Josephine nodded. “The world is
depending
on me Thadius.
Think of all those people living in Olindia now, quite unaware that
their world may soon come falling down about their heads. They need
my help.”

Thadius nodded begrudgingly. “As you wish my lady,” he said,
and bowed his head. “I will stand with you always.”

Josephine smiled at him. “And where would I be without you?
Matthias, how far are we from Crystal Ember?”

“
Three days. Perhaps four. We aren’t far away now.”

She
nodded. “Very well. That means you and I haven’t much more time to
try and find a way that I can patch up the cracks in the dragon’s
prison.”

“
Right… yes,” Matthias scratched his head
awkwardly. “I had
forgotten
about teaching you.”

“
Do you think we can still
make
it in time to stop his release?” Thadius
asked. “Since we left Rina you’ve been drumming into us how little
time we have and we’ve been here for
days
.”

“
We’re not finished yet,” Luccius interrupted. “There’s still
time.”

“
How do
you
know?” Thadius asked.

“
Something in the air…” he shook his head. “I
just
know
that we’re not too late.”

“
Is
this another one of your mysterious abilities?” the knight
scoffed.

“
Well, it just so happens I
agree
with you Luccius,” Josephine nodded.
“I
can
stop this. And as we have no idea if your people are aware
of the sorcerers or not Matthias, I intend to do my
bit.”

“
You
intend to learn to stop the dragon in less than a week?” asked
Thadius.

“
You
forget how brilliant a teacher I am,” Matthias added, grinning at
him.

“
Don’t lose hope Thadius,” Josephine said, and
reached for his hand. “I know you are cautious and I value your
opinion. But you
must
have faith in me.”

Thadius took a breath. “I always
have
, your highness.”

“
Well even if you
have
all decided to continue on your adventure, you at
least need a few hours’ rest,” Maryn interjected. “There’s no use
our bringing you back from the brink princess only for you
to
collapse
within a stone’s throw of Crystal Ember.” When Josephine
opened her mouth to challenge her, Maryn raised a finger.
“You
know
my resolve is
absolute
, Princess! Royalty or not, I
will
strap you to this bed if I need to in
order for you to get some rest.”

Josephine nodded. “I have not forgotten your
method of teaching from when we first met,” she smiled wryly. “I
don’t think I had been
smacked
since I was a little girl, until you came
along.”

“
I practice
tough
love in my teachings,” Maryn smiled. “But it is
necessary, nonetheless. And I was very proud of you when we had
finished our work.”

“
I was grateful to you, as well,” Josephine
replied. “But I did not know then what I do now. As much as I hated
having these powers, now I know I
must
learn to use them.” She shifted the tray from her
lap and nodded. “Very well,
wise
woman! I will rest awhile
longer.”

“
We
can leave in the morning,” Matthias said. I will try and purchase
some more horses from the inn.”

“
I’ll come with you!” Thadius said hastily and then
leaned in towards Matthias to mutter in his ear. “I can’t
manage
any
more of this
tea!
”

The night passed by quickly. As Josephine slept,
and Thadius spent some much-needed time at the
Fat Hen
, Matthias studied his map intently,
whilst Luccius packed his bag. The ansuwan started to
laugh.

“
Something funny?” Matthias asked, smiling back.

“
Oh
it’s nothing. It’s just when we started this journey I think the
princess would have rather chopped her arm off than come with you.
And now here she is, eager as anything to get going. It’s strange
how things change.”

“
She
is
keen to get underway,” Matthias replied. “I suppose that’s
a good thing.”

“
You
suppose?
” Luccius replied. “I thought you would have been
pleased?”

Matthias shook his head. “I just don’t want her to
come to any more harm. This talk of freeing the Akari… it means
even
when
she stops the dragon’s release, there is
more
work for her to
do.
More
dangers. I had hoped that after we had been to Crystal
Ember Josephine could return home.”

“
It
seems that the gods have a different plan in mind for her,” Luccius
nodded.

“
Well perhaps they should do a little more of
their
own
dirty work,” Matthias grunted.

“
You
know
it doesn’t work that way,” Luccius
replied.

Maryn appeared in the doorway, her face troubled. “There is a
problem,” she said, without waiting for them to ask.

“
Another one?” Luccius said. “Can we not wait a little while
to recover from the last?”

“
What is it?” asked Matthias with concern.

“
When I left Mahalia I was conscious of being
caught by the council,” she advised. “As time went on and I settled
here, I began to form
arrangements
with the people I helped. They became my eyes and
ears against them. I asked them to bring me word if ever they
spotted anyone or anything that might indicate their presence in
Olindia.”

“
Fenzar,” Matthias said gravely. “He’s nearby.”

Maryn nodded. “A friend says a group of wizards have booked
rooms at the tavern in Korina. That’s the next village.”

“
How
far away is that?” Matthias asked, sitting up intently.

“
About a half - day’s walk south - west of here.”
Maryn shifted uneasily. “People
talk
, Matthias. If Lord Fenzar asks people in the
village if they have heard of a woman who can wield the power,
they
could
point them here to me. If that happens,
you
can’t be anywhere near
here.”

“
How
long ago did they arrive in the village?” Matthias
asked.

“
According to my friend, not until late in the afternoon. A
few hours ago at most.”

“
But it still would have given them the opportunity
to question people in the village,” Matthias nodded. “And even if
not, they’re still too close for comfort. Even with you, me
and
Josephine wielding
our powers, if she could even
manage
to right now, we would not be enough to overpower
Fenzar in our current state. He is
strong
, in
spite
of his age.”

“
Should I fetch Thadius?” Luccius asked.

Matthias nodded. “We’ll leave before dawn breaks. Maryn, you
should come with us.”

Maryn shook her head. “I’m not going
anywhere
,” she said.

“
But if they
do
come here-”

“
Then they will find a wise woman who deals with medicines,
and I will cover myself the best I can.”

“
And if they
realise
you can use the earth power?”

“
Then I will fight them all to the last
breath.
This
is my home now and I will
not
be forced from it. I have run
enough
.”

“
And you call
me
stubborn?” Matthias retorted.

“
Where do you think I learned the skill from?” she
chuckled.

Luccius retrieved Thadius from the inn as Matthias awoke
Josephine and prepared to leave. As the first slithers of light
began to creep on the horizon, they gathered themselves in the shop
front.

“
The
ostler has saddled the horses,” Thadius said, entering the
shop.

“
Did
you see anyone else out there?” Matthias asked.

“
It
is deathly quiet out there,” he said. “I had to rouse the boy from
his bed to get the horses from the stables!”

Matthias nodded. “Good. That’s good. We might just have some
luck left then.”

“
I packed you some tea,” Maryn advised them.
“Thadius, I put a particularly good
smoked
variety in your bag.”

“
Oh
good
,” Thadius joked with a smile, and then bowed to her. “Your
hospitality is appreciated,” he said. “As is all you have done to
help the princess.”