The Blaze Ignites (6 page)

Now what are you doing?
my thoughts
went on. I suddenly realized it was my magic relating these things
to Jonoic. What was it doing? Why wasn’t it hiding in that green
“other world” Ortheldo had talked about? If Jonoic looked
deeper…

You don’t want to kill me? my thought said to
Jonoic. Well, you’d better think of something to do quickly because
you have no proof of who I am, so you can’t take me to Hathum. What
do you think he’ll do to you if you bring a random girl to him with
no proof that she’s The White Warrior?

Jonoic managed a nervous smirk. “He said he
wanted you whether you were the White Warrior or not.”

Probably because he thought I was beautiful,
right?

“Yeah,” Jonoic said, his voice shaking
slightly..

But look at what you’ve done to me now,
Jonoic.

Jonoic’s smirk melted. He looked at me with
wide, terrified eyes and started breathing heavily, pulling at his
collar. If it wasn’t for the rain, I was sure he would have broken
into a sweat.

Didn’t think of that, did you?

“Shut up!” he screamed and took a step back,
placing his hands over his ears as if I were speaking out loud.

What’s the matter, Jonoic? Are you afraid
Hathum will skin you alive? Or perhaps carve out your heart and
have you boil it in your own blood for his supper? Maybe he’ll have
a little dessert made from your testicles, too.

“Stop iiiiiiiit!” He screamed like a little
girl and pulled at his hair as hard as he could.

Imagine what it feels like to have strips of
your skin ripped off the very bottom of your feet, my thoughts
hissed.

He screamed like a madman as he drew his foot
back for another blow to my face. I closed my eyes and waited for
the strike. Suddenly a clap of thunder sounded. I opened my eyes
just in time to see the shadow of a cloaked person sail over the
stone wall
and
over my body in one leap. It tackled Jonoic
to the ground.

I lay helplessly and watched the two shadows
roll away from me. The cloaked figure that had jumped the wall was
the first on his feet. He was already at a running start as Jonoic
got to his knees. He kicked upwards into Jonoic’s face, the impact
so hard that Jonoic’s head went flying back. He landed on his back
in the mud.

The cloaked figure stormed towards him and
slammed his hands down onto Jonoic’s chest. To my awe, he picked
the mammoth man up clear from the ground and threw him into a
nearby tree. Crumpling to the earth, Jonoic lay still, unaware that
the cloaked figure was at him again. The cloaked figure took up
Jonoic’s shirt and drove him back into the tree, holding him there
for a moment as he pounded his fist in his face over and over
again, smashing the back of his head into the tree trunk each
time.

After a few minutes of this—yes,
minutes
—Jonoic slid down the bark and sat limply at the
tree’s base. The cloaked figure took a single step back, then
placed his feet wide apart with one foot in front of the other. He
brought both fists up, holding his arms straight out towards his
opponent. Gold magic formed around his fists and illuminated his
face. It was my brother!

How did he get here? How did he know where I
was? What was he doing? Was that really Rabryn looking so fierce
and animal-like?

A thin stream of smoky gold magic seeped from
his lit up fists and swirled around like a sea snake in a pool of
sparkling gold. A flash of gold made me flinch. Faintly glowing
gold smoke completely surrounding Jonoic. The huge man started
violently convulsing, looking like he was about to break his own
back. And then he
did!
I heard a sickening
crack
as
his spine snapped inward towards his chest and he went still.

Daylight slowly started to return, the black
clouds receding layer by layer and the rain slowed to a normal
fall. As the clouds began to roll back, I caught a glimpse of
something at my feet. Acalith. She was kneeling in the mud, her
wide eyes on my brother as he came towards me. Why was she always
here when trouble was around?

I shifted my eyes towards Rabryn as he
kneeled by my side and the sky lightened to normal, though
overcast. “Azrel,” he whispered as he ran his fingers gently though
my hair. I could still feel blood running from the corner of my
mouth and onto the ground. I couldn’t feel much else except my
broken facial bones and ribs. “What did he do to you?”

Rabryn gently ran his fingertip along my jaw,
which hurt like the fires of the abyss, then down my nose and over
my lips. I realized he was assessing the damage. Even as he did
this, the sky took on a light grey color and soft rain now fell,
singing a relaxing melody as each droplet splashed on the leaves
covering the ground. When he finished running his fingertip down my
side, counting my broken ribs, he looked down at me, worried. “I
can’t heal this. I’m not skilled enough. I have to get you to
Addredoc.”

I tried to talk but only pathetic noises of
air came out. My jaw was too damaged to form words.

Rabryn’s brows dropped. He rested his hand on
the side of my hair. “Shh, shh. Don’t try to talk. I have to get
you help.”

He then got off his knees into a squat and
raised his hands just over my body. I felt myself go completely
stiff. With his hands still over me, I felt myself begin to lift
off the ground, frozen in the awkward position I’d been lying in.
It felt strange at first, but I realized the stillness wonderfully
minimized the pain I would have been in if he had just lifted me
up.

When I was floating at about the height of my
brother’s shoulders, I felt myself begin to turn. He slowly put me
on my back, and then I was gently lowered into his arms. My body
relaxed and Rabryn was holding me.

He grinned down at me. “Not bad for a newbie,
huh?”

I wanted to smile, or chuckle, but I didn’t
dare. Rabryn stood and began to carry me away. I looked for
Acalith, but she was gone. Big surprise.

I turned my eyes up to Rabryn’s face.
“H-orle-ho?” I managed pathetically.

He looked down at me confused. “What?”

“H-or-lehl-go?”

“Ortheldo?” I nodded slightly, relieved he
understood me. “He’s okay. We started getting worried when you two
took so long, so we started searching for you. We found him first,
injured and alone, which alarmed us quite a bit. While I fixed him,
he told us what happened and that you were okay.”

“Haw. . .” I strained, “haw hig goo hind
nhe?”

Rabryn smiled. “Let’s make this a little
easier on you…and me.” I wanted to smile again but couldn’t. As I
looked at him, a sparkling gold light developed in his eyes and
began rapidly swirling around as he stared down at me.

Gods, I thought, how does he suddenly know so
much about using his magic?

The light went away and he was smiling.
“Addredoc’s been teaching me since we left Narcatertus.” I would
have flinched if I wasn’t completely broken. His smiled widened. “I
just made it possible for me to hear what you were thinking.”

Oh, I said. Really?

“Really. Now what did you say before?”

I was wondering how you found me.

His brows dropped. “I don’t know. It’s odd. I
just somehow always know where you are. I feel your presence even
if you’re far away, and I can follow this presence right to where
you physically are. It’s strange. It’s like I can feel an invisible
tether between us when we’re apart. I used to believe it was just
because our sibling bond was so strong. Now I’m thinking it’s
because I can use my magic more; feeling your presence is steadily
getting easier as my knowledge of my magic gets stronger.” He
smiled sadly. “We all figured you needed time to cool off after
what Ortheldo said happened, so we weren’t going to come after you.
Addredoc teleported us back to the clearing to wait for you. When
that Black Storm hit though, Gods almighty, those Redians damn near
scared me to death with the fit they started to throw.”

Black Storm?

“That’s what the Redians called it.”

What does it mean?

“From what I got out of their panic, it had
something to do with a warning from the Light Gods that the White
Warrior was in serious danger from someone in a very high ranking
position to Hathum. The man I just killed must have been a bigwig
in Hathum’s chain of command.”

I forced the corners of my mouth to go up in
a weak smile. That’s the second man close to Hathum that you’ve
gone after on my behalf, little brother.

He smiled affectionately. “I told you I won’t
let harm come to you if I can help it.”

So I’ve heard. But when do I get to kill
someone for you?

He laughed heartily. “I’m sure you’ll get
more than enough chances for that, Azrel.”

I’m sure I will. Then I remembered something.
Nekinda! Did you find her? Is she okay? What about her son?

“Whoa whoa, slow down, Azrel,” he said with a
smile. “We found her and her son. When the storm hit, Addredoc
began building a shelter with his magic while Acalith and I took
off to get you. It wasn’t long before we ran into her. I directed
her towards the shelter and told her we were all friends.” A
confused look passed over his face then.

What is it?

“Only Salynns bow to Salynns, right? Or is
there another race that bows to us?”

Only Salynns of lower rank bow to those of
higher. Why?

He nodded. “She must have caught a glimpse of
my hair because even though she had a child in her arms, she
attempted to bow to me in the same fashion that the Redians had,
nearly dropping her son in the process before I stopped her.”
Nekinda was a Salynn! “I was just curious as to why any Salynn
would be here, unless she’s from Rocksheloc.”

She could be. The man you killed, I think he
kidnapped her to get to me. Did you see the color of her
flowers?

“No. The scarf covering her hair and the
blanket covering her son’s kept them hidden. I wasn’t paying much
attention to her, I was too preoccupied with getting to you.” He
smiled.

It was quiet a moment before I looked up at
him again. Don’t you want to know how I got myself into the mess
you just cleaned up for me?

He shook his head, keeping his eyes ahead of
him. “I’m inside your head right now. I see it all in your
mind.”

Ew, my brother is inside my mind? That’s
creepy. Did you take lessons from Hathum?

He smiled down at me. “No. It’s actually kind
of easy to learn what’s in people’s memories, as long as you don’t
try to see pictures of them. I just listen to the sounds you were
hearing and fill in the rest. I’m sure Hathum cannot only
see
pictures in people’s minds, but also pull them out into
the physical world.”

I tried to suppress my fear at the thought of
Hathum’s abilities.
You’re probably right.

He glared down at me playfully. “I hear that
some matters remain unsettled because you ran away from
Ortheldo.”

Maybe.

Rabryn winced uncomfortably, then gazed out
ahead. “I’m listening to what happened between you and Jonoic now.”
He stayed quiet a moment and his face brightened. “Wow, what a
smart way to get him off you.” He smiled down at me. “That was
brilliant, even for you Azrel.”

Humph. You’re right, it was brilliant. But
that wasn’t me, it was the White Warrior.

Rabryn’s brows dropped. “What?”

She was the one scaring him mad with ideas of
what Hathum might do to him if he brought me to him with no proof I
was the White Warrior, and maimed this badly. I was too busy
clawing at his leg to try and breathe.

“You were clawing at his leg while the White
Warrior spoke to him?”

Yes.
I was getting nervous now. Was
something wrong? Was something
else
wrong?

“She hadn’t taken over your body?”

No.

“And you
heard
her talking to
him?”

Yes!

“Are you sure it wasn’t you?”

Yes! I was too busy trying to survive to have
such a calm and witty conversation with him!

“Are you serious?”

Yes Rabryn! Why would I joke about that?

He narrowed his eyes and drew his face closer
to mine. He looked into my eyes as if he were looking for a certain
speck
in my eyeball. Then his face brightened slightly.
“Azrel! Have you used your magic recently without it completely
taking you over—besides with Jonoic?”

Well, yes actually. Killing those last few
Legan’dirs was my doing. I was in control of that.

He smiled a little, still looking like he was
concentrating on the speck. Suddenly, a look of severe
concentration came over his face. He stayed that way for a long
while until I started to get squeamish under his gaze.

Finally I heard him whisper, “There it is.”
His expression brightened considerably. “I see it now! I can see
that the window is open a slight crack.”

Uhh, what window? My brows dropped. Are you
seeing things in my mind now?

“With every shred of concentration and focus
I can manage, yes I am. I’m talking about the window in your mind
that separates you and the White Warrior. It’s the window that
needs to disappear in order for you and her—your magic—to be joined
again. And it’s open a crack.”

Is it?

“Azrel! I’m so proud of you!” He tried to hug
me closer, but the pressure of that made me cry out in pain. “Oh
Gods! I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

It’s okay. My ribs ached as if I’d just been
kicked again, but I had more questions. Why do you call it a window
instead of a door? A door blocking her off seems more
appropriate.

“Well, you both can see and hear everything
the other does, no matter who is dominant at the moment. I call it
a window because you’re separated but not completely cut off from
one another.”

I moaned. You mean to tell me that she feels
like a stranger in her own skin all the time, the way I do when she
takes over temporarily?