Rise of the Citadel (The Search for the Brights Book 2) (61 page)

She took another
step and Kilen tried to speak over the lump in his throat. He hadn’t known she
felt that way about him. He thought he should have seen it. He forced the words
out in a bark, “Twilix!”

She stopped just
short of the beach’s treeline. He caught up to her, with her blue riding cloak
flapping in the wind. “I am sorry. I have been very busy staying alive and
preventing a war. A few months ago I was about to start an adventure that would
lead me to libraries across the realms. Since that moment, I have become a
soldier, scout, and True Weapon Bearer. I have been labeled traitor, murderer,
and failure. Now I discover that I must become a king and a husband at the same
time. I have had to overcome many things lately and I don’t want you to be one
of them.”

She turned
towards him, face puffy and full of tears, yet she was still the most beautiful
woman he had ever met.

“I am not worthy
of such a beautiful woman both inside and out. You have been there beside me
through it all. I don’t know if I would have done things differently if I would
have known, but I am sorry for how I have treated you.”

“I want you to
know that marriage has been the farthest thing from my mind. Until a moment
ago, I didn’t even consider that I could be married as a weapon bearer. You are
a wonderful person, especially when you are not stomping around and yelling
with your hands on your hips.” He smiled and she laughed while wiping away
tears, “You have been my protector and I truly thank you for that. I wish I had
time to court you and get to know you so I could see if I was falling for you,
but I don’t have that luxury. I just found out the woman I was supposed to
marry just married one of my closest friends, and they live in my family home.
I just need a moment.”

He took a step
away from her and ran his hands through his curly hair, contemplating what he
should do. He was still unsure he could marry a woman that he barely knew. In
his turmoil a single thought crossed his mind,
I haven’t even kissed a girl
yet.

Kilen stopped in
his tracks and turned to face the woman still standing on the beach, waiting.
He walked up to her more nervous than he had been in his entire life and stood
close to her. In a moment he soaked up what seemed to be a flood of senses as
he tried to memorize the woman’s features. He cursed the moon for not being
bright enough to let her eyes shine they way they had in the past.

“I need to try
something,” he whispered. He reached up with his right hand and placed it on
her neck. His fingers wove their way into the thick of her wavy hair as he
leaned in. He noticed she closed her eyes and her lips parted ever so slightly.
He felt as if his heart would beat out of his chest as he crept his face
towards hers.

When their lips
touched he felt a flood of memories. These memories were altered by the
willingness of his mind to see Twilix for who she really was. Each and every
memory of her being a tiny girl was forgotten in an instant and replaced with
the grown version of herself. The existence of every moment changed with only a
touch. He saw each moment of defiance he had given her responded with care or a
fury of love. She had protected him, given him imbuements for free, and taught
him lessons in life and magic. She had risked her life for him without asking
for anything in return time and time again. He could hear her voice demanding
Gortus to stop his training. He could hear the tenderness of her words while
caring for his wounds after. She truly did love him, and he her.

Kilen stepped
around Twilix and ran through the trees, “Wait here. I will be right back.”
Kilen’s mind was racing and his heart was still thumping in his chest. He ran
into the camp ground and pulled the small crown out of Auburn’s hands as she
examined its jewel and then ran back the way he had come.

“C’mon!” Kara
said to Bowie as she pulled him to his feet.

They ran after
Kilen, followed by Brent, Ria, and the others.

Twilix remained
right where they had kissed, staring out at the moon reflecting off the water’s
surface.

Kilen moved
around her and threw out his cloak behind him and kneeled. “I don’t know if I
will be the best husband or king. I don’t know if I will ever have time to
court you or love you the way you deserve. In that kiss I have found everything
I have ever wanted in a woman and I am sorry that I did not see it earlier.”

“What kiss?”
Kara squaked from the trees then covered her mouth.

Kilen ignored
her and continued, “What I do know is that I will be faithful. I will try my
hardest to live up to the standard of the man you spoke of moments ago. Twilix,
I need a wife and a queen. It would be my honor if you would be that queen. If
you would be that wife. If you would honor me by living a life of which I would
do my best to make you happy.”

Kilen’s
followers all stayed behind the treeline and watched the moment unfold. Kilen
pulled the small crown out and held it in both hands before Twilix.

Bowie ran his hands
through his hair and whispered to himself, “What are you doing? At least visit
a couple taverns before getting married. Have a couple dances and-”

Kara punched him
in the arm, and nearly knocked him over with her new adult strength.

Twilix leaned
over looking back into Kilen’s eyes, “Say, ‘Will you be my bride.”

Confused, Kilen
said nothing.

“Say it, or I
walk away,” She said, placing her hands on her hips.

“Twilix, will
you be my bride?”

Twilix stood for
a moment glaring at Kilen, he guessed it was just to make him sweat. With one
hand she brushed aside the crown and the other grabbed his shirt pulling him to
his feet. His strength was no match for her but he complied as if it was. When
he was standing she pulled him close and kissed him, wrapping him up in her
arms.

The onlookers
clapped as they enjoyed the kiss as much as the newly engaged did. Bowie,
however rolled his eyes and started to walk back to the camp. A glare from Kara
set him in his place and he began clapping slowly.

Kilen was
confused as to what to do now and was still a bit dizzy from his first and
second real kiss. He watched at what seemed like hallucinations as Twilix
ripped a strip of cloth from the hem of her dress.

She leaned over
and tied it to his sword next to his sister’s blue ribbon. “There, now you have
representation of what else you fight for; me.”

  Everyone
patted the newly engaged couple on their backs and shook their hands. Brent
still held onto the book and Ria carried the large crown.

Bowie even
managed to give Kilen a hug in congratulations, “If not anything else, she
isn’t bad to look at.” He smiled as he backed away.

Kilen knew it
was Bowie’s smile that meant he was up to no good.

  Kilen arched
an eyebrow at Bowie as he backed away with the smile on his face.

Brent came to
stand in front of the two. “Looks as though we have everything we need to raise
this castle and crown you. A three element blade, you two, and the words needed
to raise the castle.” He held up the book. “We can begin the ceremony in the
morning. There are some warnings here that I need to read through beforehand
though.”

  He opened the
book and started to riffle through the pages and hold it so the moonlight would
allow him to read. One of the large men dressed in farmer's clothing held up a
hand and a blue flamed sphere appeared in his palm, temporarily blinding
everyone. The ball of flame allowed them to see the words on the pages of the
book. Pictures inside the book showed faded drawings of a crowned man dipping his
sword in the water.

  Brent leaned
over so Kilen could see better, “Performing the last bit will trigger a spell
placed on this lake by Lord Heathmos. The castle and its city will raise out of
the water. We then will just have to wait as people gather to the city to see
their new king.”
            “We still have the problem of a couple thousand soldiers from the
Earth Realm camped outside of Keepers. Chit leads another small force inside
Humbridge,” Kilen said.

A cold wind blew
over the group, causing the book’s pages to flip and the hair on the back of
Kilen’s neck to stand on end. The group looked towards the cook fires down the
shore line as torches began lighting.

A white bird
landed on Kilens shoulder, “Looks like they’re on their way now. Put out the
flame!”

  The man’s blue
sphere vanished in a plume of smoke.

Bowie pulled
Auburn, “We need to get our bows and anything else we can carry.”

  Brent held up
his hand, “Wait. If those soldiers are outside of Keepers, we have time to
gather our thoughts.”

  Bowie returned
and stood nose to nose with Brent, “We have no time to plan. At least two
thousand soldiers and wielders are coming for us. We cannot out run them
because we don’t have enough horses. We cannot hide, they will track us and
find us. We certainly cannot fight them.”

The red haired
woman stepped beside Bowie, “You have stood against thousands of soldiers
before, Master Crescent.”

“Master
Crescent?” Kara laughed, “Do you make her call you that?”

Bowie tried to
adjust his hat and ran his hand through his unevenly cut hair instead, “Kilen,
tell them I am right. We cannot fight them.”

Auburn’s cheeks
and become red but she said nothing to Kara while being laughed at.

Instead of
answering Bowie, he also faced Brent, “How long will it take to raise the
castle?”

“It will only
take long enough to speak the words of your marriage and the words to raise the
castle. Kilen, it will do nothing to protect us.” Brent opened the book to a
marked page, “There are three ways into and out of Leviathan by three bridges.”
A picture in the book showed a map of the castle and surrounding city. “Even if
we do raise the castle, we will have to go through the soldiers to get Keepers
where the bridges will be.”

Kilen looked
down at the map of the lake and castle. The three bridges connected the cities
wall to the land shaped like that of a trident. Each point of the fork extended
out of Keepers.

Kilen looked at
the map and saw a large flat piece that exited out the back of Leviathan,
“There are docks here. If we can find some boats, we can enter the city through
the docks. We will need to travel light along the shoreline. Go and gather your
things. Anything that isn’t essential, we leave behind,” Kilen commanded before
he realised what he was doing.

Twilix took his
arm as if he was all she needed. Max emerged from the bushes carrying
supplies,weapons, and Kilen’s armor.

“When we are in
the city it won’t take long for the soldiers to take those bridges and then we
will be trapped,” Brent said.
            Bowie waited as Auburn fetched his things, “We will still have
boats. Let’s hope they send all the soldiers to chase us now. It will be a lot
easier to defend the castle by water than by trying to defend three gates.”

The small, brown
haired woman Kilen had thought might be his sister stepped forward, “Excuse me.
I use to live in Basham. All the boats big enough to carry us were from that
city or from Keepers. No cities reside on this side of the lake. The mountains
that surround it to the north did not give way to trade routes.”

Bowie ran his
hands through his hair again, “So there are no boats?”

She seemed
almost skittish and Kilen watched as sparks snapped off her shoulders. The
woman tried to concentrate and keep them at bay, “Maybe a rowboat, but nothing
to carry us all.”

The group
silenced as a popping sound came from behind them. The water’s surface had
begun to turn to ice.

Twilix’s bright
blue shining eyes found Kilen’s, “We can travel
over
the water.”

Slowly, the ice
froze straight out from the shore leading into the dark surface of the lake.

Brent shook his
head, “We won’t be able to maintain this to travel to the docks, even with your
new found strength.”

Joahna, still
perched on Kilen’s shoulder, flew out over the lake and dove into the water. A
moment later an icy man with giant eagle wings emerged, climbing out as if on a
submerged staircase. The ice grew faster than Twilix had managed so Kilen knew
Joahna had taken over.

Kilen faced
Brent, “It will be able to hold all of us. As soon as you are ready, follow my
elemental.”

Bowie and Auburn
began carefully walking out on top of the ice. Max and Twilix helped Kilen put
on his armor.

Twilix smiled as
she worked, “You still amaze me of the things that you can do. Two elementals
at once. You will have to teach
me
.”

Kilen smiled,
“I’m the student, remember? Besides, it’s three elementals.”

Twilix raised an
eyebrow of what Kilen could only think was intriuge. He gave her a wink in
return.

Slowly, everyone
followed Joahna out onto the icy surface of the water in a line waiting for the
person in front of them to plunge into the dark depths of the water.

Max walked out
after those that had taken to the lake. His stone foot caused the ice to crack
as he stepped on it. He recoiled and stood still on the bank of the shore.
Twilix repaired the ice as she started to walk out on to it, strengthening its
surface.

Kilen let go of
Twilix’s hand as she walked out on to ice. She turned back confused.

Kilen motioned
her to keep moving, “I will only be a moment. I will catch up soon.”

She gathered her
skirt revealing her soft soled shoes, “You had better not keep me waiting or I
will come back for you. I will not be run out on just before my wedding.”

Watching her
move along the ice Kilen turned to Max, “Hold this spot and let no one on the
ice. When the city is out of the water, come to meet us.”

Max gave a nod
and grew two wings out of his back and kneeled facing away from the lake like
an ominous statue warning intruders.

**********

Once again Max
was alone. He sat on the shore line, stone swords crossed in front of his
chest, waiting for an army to charge towards him. He was growing tired of
hiding behind Kilen. Hiding behind a face that was not his. He knew on this
shoreline, he could be himself. He was a warrior and member of the Crimson.
Only now, he served a new king.

  The fire light
grew in size as the hundreds of horse’s hoofs could be heard thundering along
the shore. Lighting cracked over the water, but Max could do nothing to stop
the wind. He had only one mission: protect the ice bridge his brother made and
not kill anyone in doing so. He reached out his control of earth magic along
the beach from the way they would approach. The land that his magic touched
became his body.

  As the horses
approached, he could see them clearer looking through the eyes of the land. His
stone body still resting far down the beach at the mouth of the ice bridge. He
could hear voices amongst the riders as they rode across the top of him.

The lieutenant
spoke, “Captain Lorusk, we may be walking into a trap.”

  The captain
was smart and strong, Max had watched him training the so-called Champion.
Lorusk’s sword was deadly, Kilen would not stand a chance in a straight out
fight against the Captain.

“What makes you
think we are riding into a trap?” Lorusk asked.

  “A moment ago
I lost the ability to control the earth. Someone is already controlling it,”
the Lieutenant said.

Max felt a push
on his magical control, but his body
were
the elements now; he was pure
magic.

“Whoever is
controlling it is
very
strong,” The Lieutenant said.

  Lorusk nodded
his head and turned his horse. “Fire and water wielders to the front, bowmen to
the front. Light our path.” The captain dismounted as flaming arrows and
fireballs streaked out into the sky over Max. They had a ways to go before they
found his stone body and the bridge. The soldiers followed their leader's
example, leaving their horses behind to walk along the shoreline. They pulled
their swords and weapons of death from their body readying to fight.

  A constant
barrage of fire filled the sky to illuminate the ground below. Max watched,
patiently waiting for the advance. Lorusk organized rows of ten men in an
almost unending column. The most heavily armored and strongest wielders to the
front. They marched forward pointing their swords in the direction they walked.
Still, Max waited for the right moment to make his presence known.

  The storm grew
and the water’s waves slapped the stone body from behind. He did not waver or
move a pebble. The advance covered ground quickly, as if they could not wait to
meet their deaths. Max let out a smile as a fireball streaked over his rock
body and the men at the front of the line called out his shape. When they did,
his smile grew and he began his assault.

  Roots grew
amongst the ranks of men, causing them to stumble into one another. The trained
army looked like fools scrambling to their feet, struggling against their heavy
armor trying to right themselves. Many of the soldiers cried out in pain as
arms or legs snapped from being thrown to the ground. Cutting each other free
of vines and thorns, they waved the uninjured men forward. The soldiers spread
out and slowed their advance.

  Finally, Max
used his stone body and stood on the bank, extending his blades outward at an
angle to the ground. He held them wide for all to see. He drew the soldiers
attention and smiled when they let out a battle cry before starting their
attack. A few more succumbed to the fate of broken limbs when more roots
reached up and the surface shifted, leaving men to fall ten feet only to
collide with the ground rising just as rapidly as it had fallen.

  Soldiers
screamed in pain as they were bounced into unconsciousness, but Max watched as
Lorusk walked slowly, with his sword held casually before him.

He stepped over
the broken bodies as the last few hundred of his small army advanced nervously.
“Kilen,” The Captain said confidently.

  Max stepped
forward. He did not respond to the Captain but stood only a couple horse
lengths away waiting for what the man had to say.

When Lorusk
received no response he spoke casually again, “You seek to raise the Water
Realm’s castle? Who will follow you?” Still no answer came from Max’s stony
glare, “I have to say, if you really wanted to defeat a soul wizard, this is no
way to go about it, boy. You have no army.”

A root snatched
a man from behind Lorusk, pulling him to the ground.

  “I could say
the same about you and your king, Captain.” Max said.

  “None the
less, I do as my king commands. You should have done the same. He would’ve
dealt with the soul wizard as he did the Fire Realm.”

  Max grew angry
behind his stone exterior, the man was goading him. “He would kill more
innocents after seeking
peace
with the soul wizard. Soon, the Water
Realm will be restored and your army will not be welcome here.”

  With his free
hand, Lorusk removed his helmet and tucked it under his arm. He reached up and
scratched his head before speaking, “Kilen, my boy. Do you think for one moment
that I will ever be able to stop pursuing you? Either you must kill King Atmos
or he will see to it that someone kills you. I am not threatening you. I’m
telling you that you will never be free of his pursuit.”

  Max saw
Lorusks eyes just before a smile came to the captain’s face. When Max turned he
saw two men sliding along the ice bridge. The captain's speech was a
distraction.

The captain
turned away, “Wielders, now!”

  Wielders of
every type jumped from the trees and started their assault. Those wielding
earth had no effect on him, but fire caused him to melt on the exterior as they
threw white flames on the ground and everything he controlled. His stone wings
dripped of molten rock until a wave crashed over him snapping stone swords,
limbs, and wings away from Max’s control as it was swallowed by water.

  Max tried to
attack the wielders with roots but they were burnt away as soon as he
attempted, again he lost precious earth materials in his fight. His statue-like
body became superheated and was splashed with water to make him solid. The ice
cool water that chilled him cracked his body and caused him to collapse into
pieces. Earth wielders snatched the shards that fell away out of his control so
he could not rebuild.