Rise of the Citadel (The Search for the Brights Book 2) (2 page)

She turned from
the candle, no longer just feeling the heat, but seeing it in her mind. She
increased the flame until it was a raging fire, brushing the ceiling. The door
opened and closed, with a void passing in front of it.
It must be Twilix
she
thought to herself. Twilix was the only person that entered into her cell that
was invisible to her vision of heat. She let the flame return to its natural
flicker and opened her eyes.

“Impressive
improvement, you are almost as astonishing as your brother.”

  Kara cooly
replied to the water wizard, “It wasn’t your doing. It was something that Mary
taught me. It just took me a little time to understand what she really meant.”

  “I do not care
who taught you sweetie, only that you make improvements.” Twilix smiled a half
smile. Kara was sure the blonde wizard was hoping not to upset her emotions.

  “I would like
to go outside now, if you would arrange it please,” she said before Twilix had
a chance to test her. The water wizard had large curls of blonde hair and she
always dressed in blue robes or dresses.

She tilted her
head slightly, “Then let us test you and go from there.” Twilix took a candle
out of her pocket and melted the bottom placing it next to the first. She took
a step back and folded her hands in front of her. “Mary had a hard time with
this test but eventually passed it. I want you to heat the candle slowly so
that the wax melts but the wick does not light.”

Kara bit her lip
and gave Twilix a nod.
So it would be about more than just anger control
,
she thought. Concentrating, she used the heat from the first candle, increasing
it slightly to melt the candle. The wax started to drip down the side until
Twilix doused the wick with water.

“You must use
the heat in the room, not from the candle.” The small wizard said in the
darkness.

Kara gave a nod,
unsure if Twilix could even tell she was nodding. She gathered the heat in the
room around the candle making sure not to overheat the candle to the point it
would catch fire. The melting started slowly at first but went quicker the
longer she applied the heat. Soon the wick slumped over as the wax dripped off
the washstand and onto the floor. She let the heat go and watched as both sides
of the wick hardened into place so that it formed a small archway on her
washstand.

“Yes, good. Now
I would like you to light the wick,”Twilix said.

Kara was unsure
how the wizard could see in the darkness but she lit the middle of the wick.
“Like this?” Light flooded the room chasing the darkness away as she liked to
think of it.

“Yes, that is
very good. Now I want you to remove the flame from the wick but keep the flame
alive. After that I want you to bring it to the center of the room.”

Kara knew the
water wizard was trying to get her to do something Mary used to do every time
she came to visit. Holding a flame in the air while it wasn’t burning anything.
She tried to concentrate and remember what it looked like through the vision of
heat. All the heat in the room was pushed to one area and it caused a glow and
flame.

Kara focused on
the wick and pushed heat into it until it came alive flickering back and forth.
She then concentrated on the heat it gave off and gathered it back to itself.
The flame changed color from red to blue. The tiniest of flames cast a
flickering light around the room. She pulled on the flame removing it from the
wick while pushing more heat into it from around the room. The flame dimmed and
Kara watched it almost disappear. Scrambling with her magic she pushed as much
heat as she could gather into it. She watched in awe as the fire magic bits
collided with one another to form the flame.

Twilix then
moved faster than Kara thought possible. A hand struck Kara’s face so hard that
she saw sparks in her vision. Although it wasn't truly sparks that she had seen
because her flame had winked out. The water wizard stood straight with hands
before her gathering balls of water to herself, readying for a inferno. Kara
felt her cheek. She had never been hit that hard before, she still felt the
hand print in her face. Tears ran down her cheeks as she did her best to smile
back at Twilix, this was the true test.

  “Well now
perhaps you should teach Mary that trick. She hasn’t been able to control
herself like that.” Twilix said. She seemed truly impressed with Kara, “I
wonder how much control you really have. I want you to understand what I do
next is for the safety of this castle and the remainder of its guard.”

Kara nodded and
braced herself for whatever Twilix was about to do. Instead of another strike,
Twilix gently knocked on the door and requested for the guard to open. The bolt
in the lock turned and Twilix stepped out into the hallway. Kara gingerly felt her
cheek, she knew there would be a bruise there tomorrow. She stood as she waited
for the next test.

  Kara nervously
tried to smooth her dress but found she was still wearing the tight leather
outfit designed to withstand the flames from a fire wielder. It was a habit she
had formed wearing dresses all her life, but she thought dresses were a thing
of the past. She was now reduced to feeling indecent everywhere she went; never
to attend a ball in a beautiful gown or dance around with a man at springfest in
her home town.

  The door
opened again and Twilix entered, once again looking over Kara as if to make
sure she was ok. Kara started to smooth her dress again and stopped herself,
putting her hands behind her back. A large guard stepped through the door reluctantly
looking between the two women.

Twilix nodded
towards Kara, “the girl has been utterly defiant, Bastion. This was the wizard
who burned all the nobles, food, carpets, tapestries, and servants in the
castle the last couple weeks. She is the reason the castle’s tapestrestes were
aflame and food was burnt just before the last graduation. Wizard Parker has
ordered her punished so that she learns a lesson. My delicate hand is not as
strong as yours. As you can see I already tried.” Twilix pointed to Kara’s
face, still red with a hand print where she had been hit. “One swing should be
sufficient, but don’t go easy either. She is tougher than she looks. See how
she stands there defiant of my attempt?”

The guard looked
between Kara and Twilix, obviously nervous of what would happen if he angered a
fire wizard. “One shot then get out. I promise I will let no harm come to you,”
she said straight faced.

  Kara knew this
was a test. She stood straight and tried to brace herself for the pain that
would come. She knew she would overcome this obstacle and hoped there were no
other tests involved before letting her go outside.

Anger appeared
to have overcome Bastion, he pulled the steel gauntlet from his hairy hand and
tucked it into his belt. Rearing back, he punched Kara so hard in the face that
Kara’s jaw cracked loudly, and she crumpled to the floor. The burly guard then
darted out the door, putting on his gauntlet as he left. Kara stirred coming to
a seated position and spit blood out on the floor while using her finger to
check her teeth, taking special care around where her jaw had been shattered.
She stood and walked to the washstand, dipping herself a ladle of water out of
the vase on top. She carefully poured water into her mouth and rinsed it of the
blood. Kara turned to Twilix, knowing that she had passed this test, and
motioned for Twilix to have the door opened.

  She saw a
single tear roll down Twilix’s face as she closed the distance placing her hand
on Kara’s. Kara felt a chill while healing magic ran through her body just as
Kilen had done in the past. Only Twilix’s came on slow and was less brutal. It
was more of a caress than a tidal wave of healing. Kara’s face was whole again,
as if neither strike had been made.

  “Thanks,” Kara
said.

  Twilix wiped
tears from her own face, “I have had you broken by a guard and slapped you
myself and you say thank you. I do not know what you have done to control
yourself, but I think that I would be angry if I were you. I cannot deny your
control, so I will take you outside as long as you can manage.” Twilix watched
as Kara moved around the room collecting her extra set of leather clothes and a
small piece of paper wedged into the wall. “What are you doing?”

  “You said you
would take me outside as long as I could control myself. Well, I plan on never
losing control again. I also plan never to return to this cell again.” She
stood watching Twilix with her arms loaded with the possessions she had been
given, determined to never return.

  “I will take
you outside, but whether or not you return here is something that is out of my
control Kara. I cannot make that promise.”

  Kara answered
right back, “It is something
I
can control. Now if you will, I haven't
felt fresh air in weeks.” Twilix knocked on the door and Bastion opened it a
crack. Twilix whispered to him and both girls stepped out into the hallway.
Kara saw the torches on the wall and tried gathering in the energy from them.

Twilix watched
her curiously as she examined the torches. Then Kara saw it, in each of the
torches she could see the faces of the fire wizards in the cells. They were
watching her through the flames, she stood straighter. She wanted to inspire
them to be passionate enough to get out of their cells. She felt the heat and
flames on the others side of each door. They were not passionate, they were
angry. Kara lowered her head and rolled her shoulders forward as she asked
nervously, “Can we go now?”

  “Are you still
in control Kara?” Twilix asked.

  “Yes, but I
don’t like their eyes on me. I want to leave.”

Twilix turned
with eyes furrowed, “Whose eyes Kara?”

She did not feel
like explaining so Kara passed Twilix as she moved quickly through the hallway
to the only door with light showing behind it. The guard sitting on a stool by
the door looked at her when she came into the light and stood quickly going for
his sword. A ring of ice encrusted the hilt of his blade, fusing the blade and
sheath to prevent his draw. Kara took a step back shocked by the formation of
the ice.

  “Calm down,
she is with me. Please unlock the door,” Twilix said calmly, catching up to
Kara. The chunk of ice holding the guard’s sword in disappeared in a whisp of
steam and he warily opened the door with his key. Kara wasted no time bolting
through the door. Twilix quickly lead her through the hallways of the castle
and finally outside.

  The summer sun
hit her exposed flesh; she felt as though she had been in the cell for years.
She stretched her arms, still laden with her belongings. Without sunlight her
skin had turned a pale white, which looked odd in contrast with her midnight
black hair. Guards surrounded her and Twilix did nothing to stop it except for
shoo them to a distance. Twilix slowly walked around Kara as she soaked up the
sun’s rays. “Kara,” she said quietly. Kara opened her eyes to a squint and
looked at Twilix. “You know sometimes when a fire wizard comes into the
sunlight for the first time they start to lose control. The heat from the sun
overwhelms their senses.” Kara said nothing so Twilix continued, “are you going
to be trouble Kara?”

  The adolescent
girl smiled, “No, not at all. What I will be is starving unless I get something
to eat. What time is it?”

  A guard spoke,
“It’s just after morning meal m’lady.”

Twilix waved him
away, “It’s best you don’t push yourself too quickly. We can have some food
brought over so you can take it slow.”

  Kara let out a
sigh, “Please, I’m fine. I hate it when adults treat me as if I’m two years
old. I thought that you would understand that, seeing as how we are about the
same age.” She squinted at the guard that had spoken, “Where is the kitchen in
this place?”

He looked at
Twilix, appearing unsure if he should answer or not. Twilix shook her head no.
Kara looked between the two then cleared her throat which got the guard’s attention
again. Then Kara’s hair became engulfed in flame for a couple seconds. The
guard pointed to the to large tents a short distance down the wall. “Shall we?”
she said to Twilix. The guard shrugged and whispered something to the guard
next to him.

  Twilix
grunted, “Well a useless lot you are. How am I supposed to protect you all if
you won't help me?” She turned back to Kara and held out a hand to the kitchens
tents. The young girl started to bound her way to the mess tents as Twilix
turned to the same guard. “You fetch Wizard Parker, he will undoubtedly want to
see this, and you better not waste a second getting him there.” He almost fell
down tripping over his own feet trying to run.

  There weren’t
many soldiers left in the castle, but the few who were there stopped to stare
at the fire wizard running around the training grounds. Kara paid little
attention to them. She was happier than she had been in a long time. The food
was scarce but there were eggs, ham, and some bread. The bread smelled a little
overcooked but she supposed that was her fault anyway. She had worked off a lot
of anger before having her epiphany.

The smell of the
food made her mouth water. Everyone backed off the food line and let the small
girl through as she grabbed as much as she wanted. She sat down at a table to
start eating. The tent was silently watching and seemed to be waiting for an
inferno to erupt. When it didn't, they continued to watch the young, dirty girl
eat her breakfast. As she ate she heard Twilix talking to a passing soldier,
“Find a few water bearers and have them meet me at the wizard training
grounds.” When Kara looked up Twilix was pointing the soldier’s attention in
her direction. She smiled and bit off a piece of bread.

  When Twilix
sat down she took a moment to just watch Kara eat. When she finally spoke she
seemed to be confused. “I cannot understand you or your brother. You both seem
to have a knack for doing the impossible. After you finish your meal I would
like to test the control you have over your anger.”