Born of Magic (Channeler Series) (30 page)

He walked towards me, his cloak playing a game of cat and mouse with his legs as it drifted behind him. His steps were silent and synchronized; each one took the same amount of time as the previous one had, covering the same distance as well. The sway of his arms was unnoticeable as they remained loyally at his sides.

In what seemed like a brief heartbeat he was standing next to me. He stopped at my side, then turned around. Now to my left as we both faced down the long hallway, his right arm poked out from his cloak and signaled me to follow him. At first I wasn’t sure if I was in trouble or not for having left my room so late at night.

“Walk this way,” h
e said, lifting his leg out until it was almost parallel with the ground then bringing it down two feet in front of him. He continued to walk, kicking each leg up in a very straight, scissor like manner.

I followed him at a casual pace but he stopped and looked over at me, “I said walk this way.” He continued to walk in the unusual manner, lifting each leg to nearly his waist then dropping it down a little in front of him. I began to do the same, struggling not to laugh. As we walked in unison down the hallway, our legs kicking out in front of us with each step I could not help but let a simple chuckle escape my shut lips.

Dhamlaic stopped and looked down at me, his eyes glared at me as though he were angry, “Quiet, do you want them to hear us?”

I shook my head.

“Good, then follow me.” He continued to walk until we were back to where I had first found him at the other end of the long hallway. He stopped there and returned to his window. “That was a bit of a feat.”

I looked up at him as he
stared out the window once more. “What was?”

“Getting you to join me do
wn here. You’re a difficult one,” he said with a stealthy smirk on his face.

“What are you doing?”

“I should be asking you the same thing,” he answered. “But we both are up for the same reasons. Our thoughts betray us. We are both facing troubling times where much will be required of us, if those we care for are to survive.”

The man was a mystery to me.
He had started off as a simple, kind-looking killer. Now he was both humorous as well as willing to share his thoughts with me. It was here I realized that if I were to spend my entire life around this man, I would still never truly know him.

“You did a wonderful thing today, yet here you find yourself feeling lower than a fly, moments befo
re the frog’s tongue reaches it,” he said as he swiped his hand out into the air. “It’s not easy protecting people, but it’s our role in life. Our minds allow us nothing else. Were we to ever stop helping those we care for, we would never have a moment's peace.”

“Do we ever get that peace when we do help?” I knew that I had managed to help many today
, yet still had not found any peace with myself.

Dhamlaic
looked down to me and smiled, “No, but the lack of peace we gain from worrying, is far friendlier than that of guilt. It’s in our nature. I was unsure of you at first, I think you were as well, but now I see it. You cannot escape it. Many more days like this one will be in your future. With this war coming, you’ll have more of them than you care to know or admit.”

“What about when it’s over?”

“When it’s over, you’ll find something else, someone else, in need of saving. It’s who you are.”

I hated what he said. He had only met me earlier this day yet he thought he knew me. It infuriated me even more when I realized he was right. Since I had first left Saltren every action I had taken had been in concern for another, even when I should have been worried
about my own well being. I was drawn to the cries of another in some way. Aton must have seen that in me, as it kept me by his side longer than I should have been.

“What happens now?” I asked him, hoping he would reveal more of what the General planned to do.

“Tomorrow we begin rebuilding and preparing. I’ll begin recruiting and strengthening the armies of Ordana. Hopefully you stay for all of this, otherwise we’re all dead.” He spoke of death with a calm embrace. He already knew I would be staying.

“Do you think we can win this?” He was a man of war, far more experienced with it than I cared to know,
so he seemed the best person to ask if there was any hope of winning this.

“I don’t know the enemy, they’re dangerous though. What I do know is we’ll give them a fight like they’ve never seen. This castle can stand any war; it has for countless generations. Just as the walls of the castle will survive, so will the peop
le who seek shelter within them,” he said, placing a hand on the stone walls, his fingers tracing their firm surface.

“Now come, you should go to bed so you
don’t annoy anyone else tonight,” he said, joking, or at least I hoped so.

Dhamlaic guided me back to my room and closed the door behind me. I found a small amount of peace in what Dhamlaic had said, how he described me. It didn’t offer any promise of many peaceful nights, but I was comfortable knowing what price I would be selling my rest for.

~13~

That morning I
sprung up in surprise from the sight of a woman sitting across my room in a chair. She sat there staring at me, patience in her eyes.

“Sorry to startle
you miss,” she said with a warm voice. “I was sent here to wait for you to wake so that we may bring you breakfast. I’ll return shortly with it, if you’re ready?”

Still groggy
, I rubbed my eyes in confusion. “What?”  I asked beneath my yawn.

“Breakfast
, miss, would you like your breakfast now?”

“Shouldn’t I go to the dining hall for that?”

“No, miss, I was instructed to bring it to you in here. General Loken has asked that I see to your every need,” she answered. She was already standing up, ready to fetch my breakfast.

I found the idea unsettling, someone waiting on me as she was, seeing to my every need. Could I really accept suc
h a thing? I tried to convince myself to let her do so but it felt far too wrong. “There’s no need,” I said, trying to sound as polite as possible.

“As you wish,” she said with a short bow.
“If you need anything, just ask, please.” With that, she left the room.

I climbed out of bed an
d made my way to Tevon’s room. He wasn’t there. The hallway outside of our rooms was equally as empty, now that the woman had disappeared somewhere into the castle. Uncertain of where to go, I began walking down the hall. At the end, there was a man standing next to a door. He was not dressed like a guard, but in a uniform similar to that of the woman who had been in my room this morning. I figured they were both servants and asked him where I could find Yurios.

He knew Yurios
only by name, but was able to direct me to the castle’s infirmary. It wasn’t far from my room. The door was open and inside there was a series of beds. It looked very similar to where I had stayed in Laharah, though sadly none of my friends from Laharah were here.

I
found Yurios and Tevon talking. Yurios was sitting up with his back to the wall in his bed while Tevon stood next to him. Yurios had noticed my entrance and waved me over. “Good morning,” he greeted me.

I rus
hed over and hugged him tightly. “How are you doing?” I asked, happy to see he was moving at all.

“I still have a bit of a headache
, but much better now. They say I should be fine by the end of today,” he said while he rubbed the back of his head.

“I’m so…” I began to say
, but was cut off by Yurios.

“For what? Making me into a hero?
” He said with a sense of pride. “I’ve been declared a hero of Ordana for what I did yesterday. It’s worth it.”

Tevon
hid his discontent for Yurios’ showboating poorly. While I to found it unbecoming of him, it was still good to see he held no grudge against me for what had happened to him.

“We should let him rest some more,” Tevon said. “We have much work to do today.”

While I was reluctant, I left with Tevon, giving Yurios another big hug before he brushed me off and told me once more not to worry about him. Tevon and I ate breakfast together in the General’s private dining hall.

The room was well decora
ted with lit candles, gorgeous tapestries depicting fields of red flowers with a rising sun, and two large chandeliers overhead. The table was hidden beneath a thick red silk cloth. It was the first time I had ever seen a table covered in such a fashion. It made me nervous to eat on it but I followed Tevon’s lead as he seemed fine with it.

The
General joined us just after we had started, and greeted us with a simple, “Morning.”

He did not seem as hostile towards us
, but he wasn’t warm either. He sat down at the end of the table and began to eat away. His appetite was similar to Tevon’s as they both dug through the mountain of food set before them. The table was covered with plates of steaming hot food, all of which smelled delicious. I helped myself to a large plate as well, stacked high with enough mashed potatoes, warm biscuits, roasted chicken, grapes, and beans to crack the stone. My plate looked like a small hill in comparison to their plates.

“Our scouts have seen no trace of any more of these
Southerners in our lands, but they will continue searching,” the General said as he shoveled food into his mouth. “The river is running back to normal now as well, though the damage to the land it flooded is extensive,” he continued, taking brief breaks between bites.

“We should be able to restore the crops within a week
,” Tevon added.

The General looked at him.
“Good, we shall start after breakfast.” His words seemed like more of an order than a thanks. I doubted he would ever be friendly with any mage, even the ones who had just helped save his city. “I’ll have you meet with my supplies advisor; he will help determine what crops we need to replace those that were lost.”

While the G
eneral continued to be less than kind, Tevon showed no sign of discontent towards him as he nodded in response, always remaining respectful. We remained silent the rest of the meal and were then escorted to the supplies advisor.

He had an office in one of the towers that overlooked the land surrounding the castle. The servant that guided us was very informative. “The supplies advisor is responsible for keeping track of all of the kingdom
’s supplies. He tracks how much food and water the city needs, as well as how much it produces, always ensuring there is more than enough each year.”

The advisor
pulled back the sleeve over his right arm and extended his hand out to Tevon. Tevon gave him a soft shake. “Thank you so much for seeing me. Please, sit.” He gestured towards two empty chairs stationed around a large table that sat in the middle of his office. Large, wrinkled maps were scattered atop the desk.

“We have lost so much from the fires that without your help, over two thirds of our population would starve before we would b
e able to replace what was lost,” he explained, far more appreciative than the General had been.

“Which ones shall we start with?” Tevon said. He seemed eager to get
to work.

“We’re going to ne
ed to replace these crops first; our reserves on these are very low as they were just about to be harvested again,” he said. He handed Tevon a list of various crops that had been drawn on a map as to where they needed to be. “I’ve been informed as well that we are to bring the supplies up to our war time levels, correct?” He asked. There was a nervousness accompanied with his voice.

“Yes, unfortunately, the General is already building up the
army and preparing the reserves,” Tevon explained. “We’ll have to increase the supplies to compensate for this.”

“Agreed, shall we get started?” The advisor seemed to be in a hurry to see the reserves filled u
p to their proper levels. He must take personal responsibility for ensuring everyone in this kingdom is fed.

It didn’t take us long to get our day's work planned out. The advisor accompanied us outside to the fields
, where all of the crops had been burnt to the ground. Most of the land was a black sea of ash. Every so often a wind would pick up some of the soot and spread it across the rest of the land.

Most of the crops on the Southern side of the kingdom had been claimed by the fires. We felt thankful that the capital was the only city that had been hit by this destruction. Had the mages been allowed more time, the other cities and villages would have
certainly seen similar attacks from the same team of mages.

“I think this was just an effort to weaken our spirits, to make their victory all the easier when they did choose to attack. We’re fortunate we stopped this first strike before the
damage became too severe,” Tevon said.

W
e walked through the scorched fields and prepared to begin restoring the various crops on the advisor’s list.

“I hope that the slaughtering of their first wave should serve as a good message. If they hesitate long enough, their attack will have been nothing more than a warning for us. By the time they arrive
, we’ll hopefully already have amassed an army that will make theirs pale in comparison.”