The Weapon Bearer (Book 1) (37 page)

“Well, at least it makes sense now how you can read that book. I found it very scary when I tried to read it at thirteen. I think it was the only book in my village that I didn’t finish.” Her eyes brightened and she picked up the book opening the pages.

“I don’t think I have ever met a man who has enjoyed reading. Of course, I’m reading it for research purposes.”

“Research? I thought it was a book to scare its readers, or to be told to children in order to scare them into behaving when they were little. A book to give you nightmares and fear of losing loved ones.”

“Oh I have no doubt that it was used for such purposes, but it’s actually a mostly true story. Some of its pages are false because the writer had no way of knowing what truly happened. The story is about a soul wizard and their power over others.”

SOUL WIZARD!!,
Joahna’s voice exploded in his mind.
She’s talking about soul wizards and we didn’t even have to try. Kilen, focus. You need to learn all that you can from her. If you can gain information, we might be able to end this sooner than we thought. Careful now boy.
Joahna was once again a determined and focused knot in the back of his brain.

“Soul Wizards? I have never heard of them. It sounds made up, like the dark army or the pirates of Nebas.”

“Oh no, soul wizards are very real. Actually soul wizards created the dark army. So in fact, they are both real.”

“Am I going to meet a soul wizard or train against one? I ask because this is the first I’ve heard of them. I have no idea how to fight them or what they can use against me. I didn’t even finish that book.”

Max was a nervous and anxious spot in his mind the two were not helping by letting their emotions be shown to Kilen. His emotions began to reflect those of the men in him.
Very good question, Keep at it.

“I can teach you what I know of them. I’m not sure how helpful it will be though.” She shrugged and sighed, giving in to teaching Kilen on their night of civility. “A soul wizard is somewhat of a leech. They use their power to tear the soul from the body and consume it to revitalize their own age and grow younger. When that happens, the victim’s body becomes a hollow husk of a person and obeys their wizard’s commands. This action happens only by choice and very painful experience. The dark army was created by a soul wizard that would convince people their only way to live was to serve the wizard, and then allow them to rip their soul from their body. The army grew and brought more and more victims until the Brights saved us. Which is where the Brights got their name. They arrived and out shone the dark army. I’m sure you’ve heard of them.”

“Yeah that’s just as scary as I remember it. Are there any soul wizards that I will be training with, or how will I know what to do If I encounter one?”

“They are very rare Kilen. I would assume that tearing someone’s soul from their body would have to be a very conscious effort, unlike most of the other types of wizards. I doubt most people go around trying to rip someone’s soul from others to see if they are a soul wizard, which could be why people only think of them as legends.” She tapped her fingers on her chin deep in thought, “There might even be some among us that will never know because they are too kind hearted to try and tear someone’s soul away.” Twilix sat staring at the table top deep in thought.

Ask now, it might be your only chance.
Joahna urged.

“Is there a way to put someone’s soul back inside their body after it has been ripped away?”

Twilix woke from her deep thought and took a second to contemplate the answer. “I don’t know, Kilen. Remember, I am on a quest to find out more about them myself. If I’m going to live to be one hundred or more I might encounter one someday. Until then I will prepare for that meeting.” Joahna and Max were both disappointed at the answer but Kilen stayed focused on the problem.

“Are there other types of wizards, like the soul wizards that I haven’t been told about?”

Twilix smiled. She seemed to be happy talking about things that weren’t so dark. “Yes, actually. There are the Brights which some believe to be gods and some think are their own type of wizard. Then there are Spirit wizards, which I have only heard little about.”

Kilen smiled at the fresh information and the others perked up inside him again. “What is a spirit wizard?”

“Well what I have heard is said to be a crazy man’s ramblings. There was a king in the Wind Realm that found a man who said he could talk to people who were dead. When the queen died he had the spirit wizard stand outside her bedroom and when she spoke her last words she whispered regrets to her husband the king. After she had passed and had long been buried, the spirit wizard who was outside the dying queen’s chamber could recite the things she had said. He could recall moments of her life with such vivid detail that the King was convinced that her spirit existed inside of the man. The kingdom thought the man was crazy. They thought the King was lonely and would believe anything to be with his wife. The King was convinced that the man could talk to his dead wife and so the man convinced the King to kill himself so that the king and his wife could be together inside of him. The king called a crowd in the grand hall and killed himself, declaring that he would live on with his wife forever. The man was killed with others that betrayed the King in helping him commit suicide. Each person took their turn to lose their head on the axe man’s block. After each person was killed, the man began calling out to people in the crowd from the last victims life and recounting the smallest detail. When the last man had his head severed, the wizard began recalling that he had just been killed by his own brother, the axe man. He spoke to him about their childhood and details that had been forgotten. The axe man put down his axe and refused to kill his brother a second time. The crowd became riled and another man stepped forward to kill the wizard, but he too had been affected by one victims. Each in turn stepped forward to learn that the man could remember the smallest detail about each person present. It continued until the man was unable to speak. He was then placed in the dungeon to die with the spirits that he had in his head.”

He began to wonder if she would think he was just as crazy as the man in the story if he told her about the men in his head. He thought to himself that today was not the day to tell her. He would have to seek out more knowledge from someone else before telling her. A servant came through the garden carrying two plates of food and laid them on the table. “I heard you were on a strict training diet when I sent for this to be brought up, so I had an extra plate made for myself.”

Kilen smiled a bit, “It’s a bit spicy if you’re not use to it. The tarts help with the heat, though.” It was too late. Twilix had taken a substantial bite and began coughing and sputtering behind her napkin. She tried to maintain her decorum as much as possible. Kilen stood and handed her a tart and hid a smile as she tried to drink the heat away. He now knew why Leroy had been laughing at his first taste. Finally she accepted the tart.

Kara had attempted several times to hold back the flames. She wanted to release it when one of those men opened the hole at the bottom of her door to put in lunch. The meal would never come when she was awake and flaming. She lay quiet on her metal bed. They’d put herbs in her food to make her sleep. She awoke cramped every time she woke from them. The bed made her angry. She shut her eyes and tried to think of something calming, but when she did she saw her brother letting the King cart her away. A small flame trickled up the side of her foot. They would know she was burning. They would know she was awake. They would smell the smoke through the cracks in the door, and they would come to spray ice and water on her that made her freeze in the dungeon cell. She tried to calm herself by breathing evenly and she heard the key in the lock. They only opened the door to put her back in bed after they had shot that icy water through the cell’s window. This might be her chance. Her first chance at revenge, if she could only hold back the flames a little longer.

The door creaked open to admit a woman with shoulder-length black hair. The woman wore a little to nothing all black leather outfit. Kara knew they had sent a torturer to her room, someone that would make her feel pain until they got whatever they wanted. She would not let them torture her. Kara jumped up to her feet and the woman didn’t move as the flames came to life around her. Kara lashed out, throwing flames off her body. The woman held up a hand and the flames were averted to the ceiling and disappeared into finger sized holes all over it. Kara hadn’t noticed those holes before. She pushed the flames harder. The torrent of white hot flames licked the walls and bed that was hanging from chains out of the wall. The metal turned a yellow glow, but the woman was untouched. Kara didn’t want the wet or the cold so she pushed harder, but the woman stood in the doorway, holding her hand, palm forward, defiantly mocking Kara’s effort. The flames shot through the holes in the ceiling and finally Kara started to panic. Sweat started to form on her forehead as she fought the only way she knew how. She thought
no, I know of another way to fight
. She stepped forward, swinging her hand at the defiant woman. The defiant woman moved to easily swipe it to the side and her hand landed a slap to the side of Kara’s face. Her head rung as she fell to the stone floor, still warm from the flames. Kara backed into the far corner and scrambled to her feet. The woman still stood in the doorway, hand at her side, standing not smiling or fighting in any way. Kara still knew why she was there and would not give in without landing a blow. Kara held up a shaking hand, focusing the flame and heat, pushing as hard as she could. A flicker of flame and spark sputtered in the air and smoke rose slowly from her hand. She pushed hard but only the smoke came.

The woman started to walk around the room, “Please sit down, Kara. Thank you for the warm welcome.” Kara was now scared, the woman was thanking her. She had put everything she had into attacking the woman but was unable to affect her at all. The flames didn’t even touch her skin. She was glad she hadn’t attempted with the men in the hallway. She sat as she was told, not having any way of fighting back against her torturer. “Kara, your brother convinced me I was supposed to help you learn to control your anger. He told me I was supposed to check on you and keep you safe.”

Kara started to feel the anger rise in her neck but the heat didn’t come as it would normally. “Why would my brother do that? He put me in this cell.”

The woman smiled, “This used to be my home. Well, it was where I lived until I could control myself. My name is Mary and this is not a cell. It’s my home, or it was.” Mary moved to sit beside Kara on the metal bed. “You will stay here until you are safe enough to be around others. Wizards will test you when you think you are ready. I might even be one of them, but remember you are here for the safety of others.”

“Where exactly am I?” Kara looked around the cement walls. She had been unable to stay calm enough to really get a good look at.

“You’re under the castle,” Mary pointed to the ceiling. “Those holes up there actually split and carry your heat to all areas of the castle. Giving comfort to those inside and providing hot ovens for the kitchen, even heating bath water for the nobles. I think with the amount of heat you just put through them that they might be in for some surprises when they put their feet in their morning baths.” Kara smiled at the thought of providing revenge to those keeping her in such a place, and Mary smiled with her. “Your clothes look a little dirty. Have you been in them for some time?”

“My brother put me in this dress just before he brought me to the king. I have been in them ever since.” The dress she wore was burnt on the edges and was starting to have holes from the flames she was using every time she woke. It was becoming as indecent as the cloths Mary was wearing.

“I have some clothes like mine in the hallway. I will bring them in before I leave and some food for you also.”

“I won’t wear those. It just isn’t right for a woman to parade around in something so…revealing. I have some I took off, in the corner over there.”

Mary smiled, “These clothes are made of leather and won’t burn away in a battle leaving you naked for all to see. They stay close to the body and don’t over heat. One day you will face the truth that you will not be able to wear regular clothes. A fire wizard can go naked in a fight, or they can wear tight fitting leather.” She smiled as she retrieved the leather clothes from the hallway, “I have heard that these are the latest in fashion in the Fire Realm, also.”

“I will think about putting them on,” Kara held up the bodice and frowned at it.