The Spell Realm (4 page)

Shram sneered. “Right, sure. None of you sorcerers ever mean harm—”

“Shram,” the leader said warningly, and the man fell silent.

“Finally, someone with brains,” Esther muttered, speaking for the first time. Gala noticed that she seemed much braver now that Blaise and Gala were there. Raising her voice, the old woman told the leader, “You better do as Blaise says, or he’ll make you disappear with a few words.”

The short man stepped forward, ignoring her. “I am Kostya,” he said calmly. “If you are Blaise from the Council, then what are you doing here in our mountains?”

“Why don’t I get dressed, and then we’ll talk?” Blaise suggested, coming out of the water completely. Out of the corner of her eye, Gala could see Esther and Maya averting their eyes. Gala, on the other hand, couldn’t help but stare—and she noticed that the female archer couldn’t tear her gaze away either. The archer’s staring was starting to annoy Gala, though she didn’t know why.

“Stop moving,” Shram said, his arrow still pointed at Blaise. The man looked both angry and frightened, his scarred face creased in a grimace.

Now Gala began to feel nervous. She could see that the situation could easily escalate into violence, and she felt sick at the thought. She didn’t want to see blood or death ever again.

“I said, put down your weapons,” Blaise repeated, his expression darkening. She saw him cast a quick glance in her direction, and she knew that he sensed her anxiety. “Put them down. Now. I have a protective spell over us, so your arrows are useless. If you release one, however, I will boil all the water in your body with a simple incantation.”

“He’s bluffing, Kostya,” Shram said, but his voice was uncertain.

“No,” Gala said, stepping forward. “He’s not. We are all enclosed in a protective bubble, like he said. Try throwing something at us.”

The archers hesitated for a moment, but then the female archer bent down and picked up a small rock. With a practiced flick of her wrist, she threw it, aiming at Esther. The rock flew through the air and bounced off some invisible barrier a foot away from the old woman.

At this demonstration, the newcomers appeared even more uneasy.

“We are not your enemies,” Blaise said, more calmly this time. “If you don’t try to harm us, we won’t hurt you.”

“Don’t listen to him,” Shram muttered, coming to stand next to Kostya. “He’s lying. You know how cunning their kind is.”

The lion growled, taking a couple of small steps forward and causing the men to look increasingly apprehensive.

“Enough,” Kostya said sharply, lowering his bow. “We’ll let you get dressed, and then we’ll talk. Just call off your beast for now.”

“Sure,” said Gala, suddenly seeing the humor in the situation. “I’ll call him off.” Turning to Blaise, she joked with a straight face, “Blaise, please don’t hurt them.”

Maya and Esther burst out laughing, and some of the men smiled too. Apparently sensing the easing of the tension, the lion flicked his tail and stalked off into the forest with one last roar.

Blaise chuckled, walking over to get his clothes. He didn’t seem the least bit upset over Gala’s jest. When he was fully dressed, he came up to stand next to Gala, putting his arm protectively around her shoulders. Esther and Maya joined them, still instinctively seeking their protection.

“So who are you, and what do you want?” Esther asked, addressing the men as soon as they were all together.

“I was about to ask the same thing,” Kostya retorted, staring at Esther.

“I asked first,” the old woman insisted.

Blaise opened his mouth, about to say something, when Kostya decided to respond to Esther’s question. “We’re from Alania,” he said, giving the woman a displeased look, “and we’re out on a hunt.”

“I’ve never heard of Alania,” Maya said dubiously.

“Of course you haven’t,” Shram said caustically. “That’s why we live here, so we can have freedom from the likes of him.” He pointed his thumb toward Blaise.

“I respect your freedom,” Blaise said evenly. “I’m not a fan of the way the Council runs things—”

“It’s true,” Maya interjected. “He treats his people with nothing but respect.”

“She’s right.” It was the young female archer who stepped forward this time. Tall and slim, she had dark brown hair and bright green eyes. “I used to live in Kelvin’s territory, and we heard rumors about Blaise. They say the laws in his lands are fair. And his brother was the one who shared the Life Capture magic with everyone—”

“Fat lot of good it did us, Ara,” muttered Shram, looking not the least bit convinced. “Just brought us more trouble—”

“Nonetheless,” Ara insisted. “He’s not like the others.”

“So what are they doing here then?” Shram objected. “How did they get here?”

“We flew,” Gala said helpfully, pointing at the large chaise standing near the forest a small distance away.

The men gaped at it in shock. “They can fly now,” Shram whispered loudly to Kostya, tugging on his sleeve. “Did you hear that?”

Kostya nodded, a frown appearing on his face.

Ara turned toward Kostya. “I heard about this invention right before I left,” she said, “but I didn’t know if it was true or not. I certainly didn’t expect this thing to be so big.”

“Now they can come here whenever they want,” Shram hissed, his face contorting with fury. “They can cross the forests and enslave us, make us all into their serfs again—”

“I doubt they even know of your existence,” Blaise interrupted, cutting short the man’s diatribe. “I certainly had no idea that there were people living in the mountains.”

“Well, if you’re here, what makes you think they won’t come too?” Kostya asked, giving Blaise a challenging look.

“We’re here because we have no other choice,” Blaise explained. “Like you, we are counting on the fact that they won’t look for us here. This is as far from Turingrad and the Tower as it gets.”

“Even if they come here, they probably won’t find us,” Ara told Kostya. “Not easily, at least. Even from the air, Alania is well hidden by the trees.”

“That’s true,” Kostya agreed, looking somewhat relieved.

“So you’re what, fugitives from the Council?” Shram asked suspiciously, addressing Blaise. “Why would you hide from them? What did you do?”

“We don’t ask those kinds of questions here, Shram,” Kostya said sharply. “We didn’t ask them of you, and we’re not going to start with these people. Their enemies are our enemies—that’s all we need to know.” Turning toward Blaise, he said graciously, “If you’re looking for a place to stay, we’d be more than happy to have you as our guests.”

“Thank you, Kostya,” Blaise said. “We would be honored to accept your hospitality.”

“In that case, follow us,” Kostya said, starting to turn back toward the woods.

“Wait, why don’t we fly there?” Gala asked, looking at the chaise. It seemed logical to her to utilize the most efficient mode of transportation.

“Fly?” Shram gave her an incredulous stare. “You mean get on that thing and trust our lives to sorcery? I’d sooner fall on my dagger.”

“For once, I am tempted to agree with him,” Kostya said, eyeing the shiny object with distrust. “We either walk, or we bid you farewell.”

“In that case, we walk,” Blaise conceded with a wry smile. And taking Gala’s hand, he followed the hunters into the forest, Maya and Esther trailing in their wake.

Chapter 6: Blaise

A few hours later, Blaise could tell that Gala was enjoying herself on their little trip. The same was not true of Maya and Esther. They grumbled constantly about being tired, stumbling over uneven ground, and walking into branches as they trudged through the woods after the Alanian hunters.

“We better stop to rest soon,” Blaise said to Kostya, worrying about the older women.

“If we stop now, we’ll need to stay for the night,” Kostya replied, expertly avoiding a branch that managed to scratch Blaise. From his tone, Blaise gathered that staying for the night was not a desirable outcome.

At that moment, Maya let out a loud curse, hopping up and down on one foot.

“What happened?” Gala asked, rushing to her side. Blaise couldn’t help but notice how well she navigated the woods. She seemed to be as much of an expert as their guides, whereas Blaise knew for a fact that this was her first time here.

“I stepped on something and twisted my ankle,” Maya answered, a pained expression on her face.

“Here, let me help,” Blaise said, reaching for his Interpreter Stone and some cards.

“Wait,” Shram interrupted. “You’re not about to do a spell, are you?”

“That’s exactly what I am about to do. She’s hurt, and I’m going to heal her,” Blaise explained, beginning to write on the card.

“We should discuss this,” Kostya said, furrowing his eyebrows. He appeared uneasy for some reason.

“I am going to help Maya first. Afterwards, I am open to discussions,” Blaise said patiently, continuing to work on his spell. He had no intention of leaving Maya in pain for even a moment longer than necessary.

“How do we know you’re not going to hurt someone with whatever it is you’re going to cast?” Kostya asked warily.

“If you’re scared, go for a walk and come back in an hour,” Esther said with an annoyed expression on her face. She also mumbled something under her breath. Blaise caught the words ‘superstitious bumpkin’ and stifled a smile.

Kostya’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t rise to the bait. “All right,” he said curtly. “We’ll give you an hour.”

“I’m going to stay and watch,” Ara said, approaching them. “I’m not afraid of sorcery.”

Kostya’s frown deepened. “That’s your choice, Ara. We’ll see you in an hour then.”

“You want us to wait that long?” Shram said, appearing disgruntled. “We need to get back before dark, you know that.”

“I do. But what are you suggesting, that we leave our guests behind?” Kostya asked, and it was clear to Blaise the question was merely rhetorical.

Instead of answering, Shram just stormed off into the woods. Kostya shook his head in silent reproach, and Ara gave Blaise an engaging grin. “He’ll come around,” she said, crouching down next to him. “He’s just had some bad experiences with sorcerers, that’s all.”

“That’s all right,” Blaise answered, not wanting to be distracted right now. “I understand.”

“We’ll be back in a little bit,” Kostya told them. “For now, we’ll start preparing camp for the night.”

Blaise nodded absentmindedly, and by the time he finished the spell, the hunters were nowhere to be seen. Only Ara was still there, observing his actions with interest. Remembering that she had defended him earlier, Blaise gave her a warm smile, causing her cheeks to turn red. A nice girl, he thought briefly, then turned his attention to the injured woman.

“Here, Maya,” he said, interrupting a conversation Gala and Esther were having with her. “It’s all ready.” And loading the card into the stone, he saw Gala and Ara watching him carefully.

As the spell began working, Blaise noticed the pained expression on Maya’s face beginning to ease. She cautiously stretched her foot, then tried to stand up. “I can’t believe it,” she said, taking a few steps. “It’s like my ankle was never injured.”

“You must teach me how to do that,” Gala said, looking up at him. He could hear the envy in her voice, and he knew that she wished she could heal with this kind of precision. The healing spell she’d cast before was too potent to be used in most situations.

“Of course,” he told her, smiling. “I will gladly teach you this and more. Maybe we can even get you to control your abilities.”

“I would love that,” Gala exclaimed, her eyes lighting up with excitement.

Ara looked at them curiously, but didn’t say anything. Instead, she rose to her feet and left to join the rest of her people now that the healing demonstration was over.

Esther watched her before turning back to look at Blaise. “You teach this one all you want,” she grumbled, gesturing toward Gala, “but I don’t want to be anywhere in the vicinity when you’re practicing. I’ve seen what she can do, and I don’t want any part of it.”

“Don’t worry, Esther,” Blaise said, hiding his smile. Gala had certainly impressed the two old women—and not necessarily in a good way. “I’ll handle it from here. You and Maya will be perfectly safe.”

* * *

It was getting darker. The hunters had come back, and no one spoke a word about sorcery as they took Blaise, Maya, Esther and Gala to the camp they had built. They simply stared at Maya’s ankle with a mixture of suspicion and awe. Blaise mentally shook his head, but remained silent. He would never understand such irrational mistrust, but there was no point in fighting it now.

At the camp, the women were graciously given a tent all to themselves. When Gala and the old women left to check out their new arrangements, Blaise voiced something he had been wondering about for some time. “Are these woods dangerous?” he asked Kostya.

“They can be, especially at night,” Kostya answered. “We’re not that far from the Dark Woods, and there are all kinds of things there . . .”

“The Dark Woods?”