Azurite (Daughter of the Mountain Book 1) (25 page)

              Zora gave him an empty stare then looked away with a wrinkled forehead.  She was getting overwhelmed with information again, and her head was starting to ache because of it. 

“There really is an entirely different world out there?” she reveled.  “I truly believe everything you’re telling me, but I feel like I can only accept small bits of it at a time without going mad.”

              “You’ll get it all in time,” Liam promised.  “And I’m here to help.  Do you have any specific questions that have been nagging you?”

“Can sorcerers control fire?”

She didn’t know why the question popped into her head so suddenly; probably because all this talk of far away lands and mysterious places made her miss home…and brought back memories of why she had to leave.   

              “You tell me,” the Warden teased.

              “You’re doing the teacher thing again,” Zora replied lightly, but she stopped talking and tried to draw up an intelligent conclusion based on all the facts Liam had given her. 

“If we are all connected through the Bond, then I would say that the earth is its own self-sustaining entity.  Everything that happens in nature contributes to the ultimate balance of our world: from the greatest mountains, to the deepest oceans, to you, and me.  We have to interact successfully with each other to maintain earth’s ultimate balance.”

“So, what’s the answer?” he asked.

“It’s yes.  We can control fire, but I kind of knew that.”

“How so?” he inquired.

“It happened the night my mother told me she was sending me to Montanisto.  I was in her chamber and somehow … it felt like I was beckoning the fire out of the hearth in the corner.  I could feel it, even though it was across the room.  I could have sworn it began coming towards me, as if I was controlling its very movement.” 

              “Why were you calling it towards you?” Liam asked.  His face was bright with interest.

              “I don’t know,” Zora admitted.  “All I remember is being consumed with anger towards her.  I wanted to hurt her.  I wanted to see her burn in the flames of the fire and make her feel pain like the pain she was causing me.” 

She glanced unsurely at her friend.  Zora rarely spoke her feelings and didn’t feel comfortable admitting something so personal to him.  When Liam spoke again his voice was serious.

              “Let me explain something important about flowing Ithillium,” he instructed.  “You never
, ever
want to make the Bond when you’re emotional.  I don’t care what kind of emotion it is.  When you handle Ithillium, it must be done with a clear mind, not one befuddled with human sentiment.”

              “Why is that?” Zora asked, suddenly worried.

              “Because one could easily get lost in their own distorted human nature and end up using Ithillium for the wrong reasons.  It’s easy to do because of what we are, but you have to promise me that you’ll be conscious of controlling your emotions when flowing Ithillium.  Can you do that?” 

Zora nodded just to appease him, but deep down what Liam was saying didn’t make any sense to her.  If Ithillium was the Bond of Life, and it connected all living things on the earth, wouldn’t that include emotions?  Because that was something that made them undeniably human. 

The pair had come to the edge of a large field and paused their trek.  Zora had been so immersed in learning about Liam’s life that she didn’t realize the forest of oak trees had slowly thinned out and turned into an expansive pasture.  Occupying the land were clusters of tall plants that Zora didn’t recognize.  They were about five feet high and reached her at eye level, with thin round stalks the color of an unripe banana.  Each stalk had layers of wide leaves at the top that provided a sparse amount of shade. 

The earlier rainstorm had finally fizzled out revealing a bright scorching sun underneath.  The closeness of its rays collided with Zora’s exposed skin, and she instantly began to sweat.  She licked her lips not realizing how thirsty she’d become hiking through the heat of the swamps.

              “Thirsty?” Liam asked.

              “Very.  And hungry,” she added.  Liam had a small skin of water attached to his belt, and he removed it before Zora even asked.  She removed the lid, gulping down the refreshing liquid greedily before handing it over to Liam who did the same.

              “I didn’t even think about bringing food,” Liam apologized.  “I guess we will just have to improvise.”  He gave her a cunning smile before walking over to the strange looking plants growing like poles from the ground.  “Based on all of our botany classes, can you tell me what this is?”

              “You’re not my tutor anymore,” she reminded him playfully then squinted her eyes at the plant.  “But it looks like bamboo.”

              “Close,” Liam praised.  “But actually…” he paused, grabbed the stalk and pulled on it, “it’s sugarcane.” 

When the plant didn’t budge, he removed his scimitar from his baldric and began hacking the leaves off the tops of the stalk.  When it was finally bald, Liam sawed off a smaller piece from the top that was about six inches long.  “Have you ever had the pleasure of tasting raw sugarcane?” he asked.

              “Never,” Zora replied curiously.

              “Well, my dear, you’re in for a treat!”

He grabbed her hand and led her back over to a grassy area of pasture underneath one of the remaining oak trees.  In the shade, Zora was positive the temperature dropped at least ten degrees.  She plopped to the ground and leaned back against the massive trunk.  Liam was fussing around in his waist pouch and finally pulled out a clean kerchief, which he spread on the flat ground, and then a small switchblade.  He started cutting off the greenish skin of the sugarcane stalk till its whitish middle was left exposed.  Then he sheared the internode into smaller portions before handing one to Zora.  She looked at it skeptically.

              “Do I eat it?” she asked.

              “You suck the juice out of it,” Liam explained.  “It’s fibrous, but you can chew on it.” 

He grinned and stuck a piece of cane in his mouth like a happy child with a piece of candy.  Zora followed his example, and sweet cane juice instantly filled her mouth and trickled down her throat.  She rolled her eyes as ecstasy took over.  Liam was lying down next to her and was staring up through the twisted branches of the oak trees.  Zora quickly joined him as she chewed on the sweetness of the plant, letting its liquid sugar refresh her dehydrated body.

              “It’s good, huh?” Liam asked.  Zora just gurgled a response as she moved the fibers around in her mouth, and he chuckled lightly. 

Zora wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that, resting in the shaded part of the field, because she dozed off more than once despite the uncomfortable heat.  When she woke up the final time, the sun had begun to move to the west, and Zora knew they had to return to camp.  Despite her dislike for Spencer, she was overly interested about why he had left so abruptly in order to search for a group of men wandering through the Carian swamplands.  Going back to camp would be the only way she’d find out if he had returned.

Then she thought about Liam who had also drifted off into a catnap underneath the tree.  She cared for him in the same way she cared for Milo, and their friendship, although based on some untruths, seemed to be growing stronger the more time they spent together.  Now that he was open and honest with her, all the suspicious feelings she had about him back in Samaria had an explanation.  But he was still a Warden, and like he had told her, Wardens lived a lonesome life and were always away from home.  They traveled through the Realm, going from one place to another, never staying anywhere too long.  He’d already spent three Commoner years with her in Samaria, and even though he didn’t say it, Zora assumed his time with her was almost up.

“Are you ready to go?” Liam asked her as he brought himself out of his peaceful slumber.

“I think so,” Zora replied. 

“We’ll practice again tomorrow,” Liam assured her.  “You did good today, but tomorrow I want to try something slightly more advanced.” 

Zora felt tremors of excitement trickle through her.  Liam stood up, stretched, and reached down to assist the young women to her feet.

“I’ll get food for us when we return to the tent,” Zora promised.  “Just remember to stay hidden.”

“It’s one of the best things I know how to do,” Liam responded, and then they were off for the night.

Chapter 15

When Zora woke up the next morning, it was raining again.  She and Liam still had some more training to complete, and Zora had a feeling their uninterrupted time together was limited, so she wanted to get as much done today as possible.  Spencer, Dakota, and the team of traveling soldiers were sure to return eventually. 

Liam slipped out of the tent first, followed by Zora.  The camp was quiet and temporarily derelict, as if the Misou slaves were waiting inside their own tents until the southern sun awoke to dry out the sloshy ground and rain drenched trees.  Zora and Liam walked in silence to the small, black pond they’d met at yesterday.  Zora confiscated two fresh oranges off a wild orange tree and pealed off the skin while they hiked.  When their meager breakfast was consumed and their morning grogginess had lifted, Liam turned towards Zora.

              “Yesterday, I taught you how to recognize Ithillium and call it to you,” he began.  “Today, you’re going to learn how to make the Bond.”

              “What’s the difference?” Zora asked.

              “Bonding is connecting Ithillium’s power with your Vim.  It allows us to wield it to our own desires because we are flowing it
through
us and combining it with our own human power.  We aren’t just using it in its natural form like yesterday.  Those two facts alone greatly exemplify the shear force of Ithillium and ultimately what we can do with it.  When it comes to plants and beasts, you can even use Ithillium to gain control of them.” 

All Zora could do was nod naively.  Liam had been bombarding her with information about topics she never even knew existed until two nights ago.  Even though the woman was clever, she was finding it difficult to keep up with everything Liam was teaching her.

              “I’m going to demonstrate,” Liam told her.

He closed his eyes, and Zora watched for several seconds as the Warden entered into a meditative state.  A sudden gust of wind blew through the trees as he did this, shaking the branches erratically.  With the wind came a sudden influx of raindrops that flew over them, wetting Zora’s face and eyelashes.  She watched, enchanted, as the raindrops that initially fell steadily to the ground seemed to slow their speed until the pitter-patter she’d heard all around her was replaced by complete silence.  Surrounding the couple were hundreds of thousands of transparent liquid spheres hanging motionless in the air.  They glittered like crystals.  Even the storm clouds swirling above seemed to be frozen in place.  Zora laughed gleefully as she examined the hanging raindrops.

“Is this for real?” she asked Liam.  He nodded, his eyes full of amusement at her innocent reaction.  Zora reached out to touch one of the droplets, but its perfect shape splattered on her finger in a wet mess.  She frowned and tried again, but the same thing happened.  Liam walked over to her.  Gracefully, he reached and plucked one of the frozen raindrops out of midair and held it gently between his thumb and forefinger.

“Now, open up,” he sang, followed by his boyish smile.  Zora gave a delighted laugh and opened her mouth wide as Liam placed the raindrop delicately on her tongue.  She felt its coolness running down her throat like a liquid marble. 

“This is unbelievable,” she commented while spinning around.  As if nothing out of the ordinary had happened, Liam released his hold on Ithillium and the rain began once again.

              “Now, you do it,” Liam instructed.  Zora looked at him uneasily.

              “I don’t know how to force it,” she began.  “It usually just happens.”  Liam moved so he was standing right in front of her again.

              “Start with closing your eyes,” he began.  “Just like yesterday.  Block out all the distractions around you and listen for the hum of its sound, the buss of it on your skin, its fragrant scent.  Then you’ll find it.”

              “Will I have to do this every time?” Zora asked.  “Close my eyes and open up my senses to the world?  Because I can’t stand in the middle of the street looking blind and dumb while trying to find Ithillium.”

              “No,” Liam replied with a chuckle.  “It all comes with practice.  Soon you’ll be able to grasp Ithillium’s ubiquity no matter where you are or what you are doing.  You’ll be so connected with it that you won’t even remember a world in which you weren’t.  Now try.  Reach deep down and grasp your Vim. Feel its energy fill your body.”

Zora closed her eyes again and breathed in deeply.  She reached out, grasping her Vim.  That wasn’t difficult for her, and she found it immediately.  Then she flared her senses, feeling for Ithillium’s power and energy.  Immediately, the same invisible force from yesterday rocked against her almost knocking her down.  It was a turbulent power with a mind of its own, and Zora wondered fearfully how she’d ever be able to command it.  Heat bore down on her like a celestial asteroid hurling towards earth in a trail of fire.

The overwhelming intensity of Ithillium frightened her to wit’s end.  Without knowing what else to do, she redirected the heat away from her mind and down to her hands where its pressure instantly lifted.  It had appeared before her like a glowing orb with sibilating flares of energy.  Her hands were holding the ball, so she let it go, and it disappeared in a flash of light. 

She glanced at Liam dolefully. 

“What happened?” he asked her.

“I felt Ithillium… but it seemed more intense than yesterday.  Like it was trying to consume my entire being.  I don’t know if I’m capable of doing this,” she nearly sobbed.  “I don’t know if my gifts can really withstand a force so potent!” 

“Uh huh,” Liam muttered.  He placed his hands on her shoulders and looked deep into her eyes.  “You can do this, I know it.  This time do the same exact thing, but don’t keep it out.  Let it consume you.  Let it live inside of you.”

“Liam it seemed violent!  Like it wanted to hurt me!”

“It’s a pulsating force of energy, Zora.  Of course it’s going to seem unstable.  But remember, Ithillium will only do what you tell it to because you are a sorcerer.  Other than that it cannot harm you.  Ithillium simply exists.  It possesses no self awareness.”

Despite her apprehension, Zora trusted Liam.  He was a sorcerer who had been doing this his whole life, and he seemed better off because of it.  So she inhaled deeply to settle her trembling nerves, closed her eyes, and reached out again.

              Ithillium’s presence attacked her before she’d even extended her senses to find it.  It was there, waiting to flow through her veins like her own blood.  It weighed down on her as if a massive boulder had been strapped to her back until Zora thought she would literally crush under its tonnage.  She resisted at first, afraid to give in to such a power that seemed so afflicting.  But as the pressure became unbearable, she finally gave up to the force’s demands and opened her body to it.  Her mind went blank, and she exhaled slowly. 

              She felt weightless, as if she was floating in the middle of a crystal clear mountain lake on a warm summer day.  Her mind was transcendent and her carnal senses absolute.  Above all, she basked in the pleasure of Ithillium as it flowed through her body.  She was drinking it in like a drug, intoxicated by the euphoric feelings that accompanied it.  But underneath all of that, Zora felt something she’d never felt before: connected to herself, connected to the earth, and confidant that she was in control of all of it.

              Zora opened her eyes.  Liam was watching her in fascination.

              “Ah, there it goes,” he said, addressing her subliminal state.  “How does it feel?”

              “Like nothing I’ve ever felt before,” Zora sighed blissfully.  “How could I not have done this sooner?  It’s incredible!”  She looked around.  “I want to use it somehow.”

              “I’m not going to hold you back,” Liam pushed her.  “Try whatever you like.”

Nothing came to mind at first as she looked about her surroundings.  Then Zora remembered seeing a large vine dotted with red berries curling up the trunk of the tree behind them.  She reached out, felt for the vine’s living energy, and connected with it. Using her Bond with Ithillium, Zora made the vine lithely uncoil itself from around the tree trunk and sneak down to the earth, slithering up behind Liam like a dexterous snake until it was shoulder level with him.  There it stayed, frozen and out of sight of the Warden.  Zora turned towards her friend.

“I guess I need more practice,” she said, feigning a disappointed shrug.  Liam’s face fell.

“Or a better trainer,” he replied in disappointment. 

With a mischievous smile, Zora waved her hand and the vine attacked Liam, tickling his back of his ears and neck until he was on the ground trying to wrestle the vine off of him unsuccessfully.  Zora couldn’t help but giggle until Liam was gasping between playful laughs begging her to get it off of him.  She waited for a couple more entertaining minutes then severed the Bond.  The vine retreated off of Liam and crawled away from him and back up the tree.  Liam sat up on his backside and gave her a half serious look of displeasure.

“I get it.  You’re the plant lady,” he joked.  Zora stood over him smugly, hands on hips, and smiled.  “That was good,” he observed.  “Was it hard for you?”

“No, it felt right and good…almost intoxicating,” Zora admitted.  “The feeling of that power flowing through you…it’s indescribable.” 

As she said this, a new type of hunger surfaced inside of Zora; it was the need to Bond with Ithillium and constantly have the amazing, supernatural force at her fingertips.  She wanted more of it.

“How about we try something a little bit harder,” Liam dared as if reading Zora’s mind.  She nodded, eager to reach the level of euphoria she’d just experienced.  The Warden stood up and gestured for Zora to follow him over to the small, dark pond.  He stopped at the edge of it and pulled his trousers above his knees so that his shins were bare, then waded into the dark water.  He turned back around and gave Zora a devilish smirk then began running his fingers slowly across the top of the water in a clockwise motion. 

Zora watched as the water followed his movements, slow at first, then faster and faster as he picked up the pace.  When the water was finally flowing in a circular motion at his desired speed, Liam lifted his hands out of the water and walked a few more steps deeper into the pond.  With an exaggerated movement, Liam made a big shoving motion in the air, and the enlarging whirlpool swam towards the center of the pond increasing in speed and intensity as it did so.

Liam stood before it like the conductor of an orchestra, gesticulating for more intensity, more current, more surge in the flow of the water until the middle of the normally placid pond was transformed into a massive, inundation of water swirling in a fierce motion.  The black liquid chasm was sucking down every piece of debris on the surface of the pond and spitting back up the muck underneath. 

Zora put her hand over her mouth.  What Liam was doing was not only impressive, but also terrifying to behold.  He was controlling the very elements of nature with only the slightest motion of his hands, and it responded to him in a way that made Zora wonder what more the Warden was capable of doing with Ithillium.

“What do you think?” Liam called out to her over his shoulder.

“I think you should be careful,” Zora called back, watching the moving black hole in the middle of the pond.

“Don’t worry, I’m the one controlling it.  Ithillium can’t hurt you, only what we do with it.  Now, it’s your turn!” 

But Zora didn’t move towards him.  She found herself fixated on the churning flux of murky water as it was being pulled down into the empty void.  For some unknown reason, she felt herself walking towards it, straight into the state of nothingness, wanting to be consumed by it; consumed by the power of Ithillium.

It’s just like that night in my bedchamber, when I was looking out over the forest and I was being called in by it,
Zora recalled darkly. 

The young women couldn’t stop the memories of home from flashing through her mind at this moment, and the memories were not always good ones.  Zora couldn’t help but recall the cruelty in her mother’s eyes, the knowledge that Samaria was somehow being weakened and she was too far away to stop it, and finally, the vision of ever-raging ice storms that cursed the lands outside the valley.

Hypnotically, Zora walked towards the now violent pond as the whirlpool called her in.  She didn’t hear Liam ask her why she was walking into the water.  She didn’t feel anything as the lower half of her dress soaked up with dirty water and her shoes filled with mud.  She never heard Liam cry for her to stop. 

Residual ire and resentment towards Evangeline and what she had done to her awoke in her overly stimulated mind.  In that moment, Zora forgot about everything Liam had told her.  She shut off all of her senses to the world around her and focused on nothing but the rage and hatred she felt towards her mother, her exile, and her suffering country. 

Even though she wasn’t intentionally reaching for Ithillium, Zora could feel it surrounding her.  The ancient power called to her, clouding her mind with desire and need.  It begged to be used and controlled by her.  At first Zora resisted, but the ancient power was determined.  It pushed against her until her need to be drunk with the rapture of Ithillium overtook her. She created the Bond, and it was full of anger and indulgence, just like she was.