The Flames of Deception - A Horizon of Storms: Book 1 (62 page)

Matthias lowered a hand to take hers. “Yes, thank you, Maryn
for all you’ve done.”

She pulled her shift about her tightly. “I’m just
glad I could help. And… it
was
good to see you again, Matthias.” She smiled. The
wizard nodded back.

“
I can’t help but feel guilty that I’ve dragged you
into all of this and put your life at risk again.” Matthias shook
his head. “
Please
be careful. If Fenzar
does
come here-”

“
Just let
me
worry about
that
old goat! You focus your worry on stopping
Sikaris
.” She turned to Josephine. “My
dear
girl,” she said, placing a hand on her
cheek. “You have the weight of the world on your shoulders. But you
also have a great gift in the friends that you travel with. Let
them carry some of the burden for you.”

Josephine smiled. “I will try. My thanks go to you
again, Maryn. You have saved me twice now, in different ways, and
I
will
not forget it. I will find
some
way to repay you.”

“
Bring yourself home safely and consider the debt paid,” Maryn
smiled.

Matthias opened the door. “Well then,” he said, taking a deep
breath. “Onward we go to Crystal Ember!”

“
And onward to
victory!
” Luccius added.

“
And victory,” Matthias repeated, with more
confidence than he felt. Nevertheless, his heart fluttered with
hope once more. As long as Josephine was alive, there was
always
hope.

Josephine worked hard to improve her understanding of her
power over the remaining days it took to reach Crystal Ember. Given
she was only at the start of her journey wielding such complicated
energy, Matthias remarked she had become surprisingly adept at
handling the threads of power that controlled the air. Within hours
of discovering new strands she had managed to find ways to
manipulate them as a means of defence to push others away. Her
second accomplishment however remained very much a work in
progress. Matthias had tried to guide her through possible ways of
creating a barrier around the dragon, drawing upon his own
knowledge of the earth power. But when it came to moulding the two
energies it was like night and day. The cocoon Josephine did manage
collapsed after a few minutes.

Now they were within a stone’s throw of their
destination, nearly at the point when they would have to erect a
shield around the dragon that would have to last
indefinitely
and block the
efforts of the most
powerful
sorcerers the world had known for centuries. After hours
more trying, of focussing what little Josephine knew of her
energies into a pattern she thought by instinct could create a
barrier, the princess was forced to give up, exhausted and jaded by
the lack of progress. It was only as they began to approach the
valley in which Crystal Ember resided that Josephine managed to
create a spherical shield that seemed to hold itself in place. She
extended it around Thadius who rode along on his horse, unaware of
the invisible forces that she wove around him. Matthias tried to
force his own energy toward the knight, and at first the barrier
appeared to work. It blocked his first attempts, but after a few
more attacks the wall collapsed and Matthias broke through, sending
Thadius hurtling from his horse as he did so. Numerous apologies
later, there was not enough time to attempt it again, as the
ancient city of Crystal Ember appeared into their view, standing
proudly in the midday sunlight. Cradled inside its enormous,
circular, fortified wooden walls, thousands of houses dotted the
cramped, cobbled streets below them.

For
nine - hundred years the capital of what was now known as Olindia
had occupied the same valley. What had started as a cluster of
straw huts grew into one of the most impenetrable, prosperous
cities in all of Triska. Looking down from the apex of the valley,
Crystal Ember was an impressive sight amidst the greenery that
marked the region. Its wooden walls stretched high around the city,
the massive pomery constructed from the hardy, Olindian redwoods
that grew in the northern forests and were known for being the
tallest and strongest trees ever known. Historical annals wrote how
the wall took almost fifty years to construct, as the old king
sought to entrench himself in what were then the disputed midlands
of Western Triska. When complete it was impossible for his Aralian
and Aslemerian neighbours to oust him from the land, even through
siege, and from the initial strength of those walls the beating
heart of a new nation grew exponentially.

Built years after the founding of the city, its renowned
fortress sat at the most northerly point within the stocky walls,
standing like a stone monolith, constructed of gigantic chunks of
stone. Four stocky, stone bastions stood at each corner of the
curtain wall and multiple spires raised up high into the sky from
its battlements. Centuries later the fortress remained almost
completely unchanged from its original plans, save for one element:
at its back a stone spire rose higher than all the others, an
obelisk of smooth, plain basalt chiselled to a point, reaching up
to the clouds. In centuries past the location on which the spire
rested on had once housed a dazzling crystal: a collection of
diamonds mined in the quarries of the realm, fused together with
the earth power and mounted on the fortress as a symbol of its
innovation. Those times were long gone and the crystal destroyed in
the last great war.

There was only one monument in Crystal Ember that rivalled
the fortresses for its height, standing almost as tall as the spire
in the central square of the city. On top of an enormous marble
pillar, thicker than the biggest of tree trunks, the body of the
Great Dragon Sikaris sat overlooking the people below, his figure
petrified in stone, frozen in a pose of mid- attack. His jaws lay
open as if in the middle of a roar and thick, carnivorous teeth
jutted out at all angles from the gaping maw. His tongue was poised
in its centre, curling into a point and protruding out of the mouth
like a sinuous snake, tasting the air. Thick collar bones and horns
of ivory protruded outwards from a scaly frill and two almighty
wings stood half outstretched, their tips curling inward on
themselves. The beast’s tail wound around the stone pillar, curling
down half its length, and long, ivory claws glinted in the
sunlight. Black eyes like obsidian observed the people below with
an emotionless stare, their life frozen and dulled by the spell
that had held the creature in place for four centuries.

Josephine and her company approached the outer walls of
Crystal Ember on horseback, following the dirt road towards the
main gates where a half - dozen soldiers stood watching their
arrival.

“
You
had best approach first,” Matthias whispered to
Josephine.

“
Me?
Why?” she hissed under her breath.

“
They’ll
listen
to you!” Matthias advised.

“
Would they not simply let us in
anyway?
”

“
They probably will in time, but
trust
me, my way
will
be
quicker.”

Josephine nodded reluctantly and urged her horse in front of
the others.

One
of the guards, a youthful looking man with a bushy beard that
looked out of place on one so young, approached her and signalled
for her to halt with an outstretched hand.

“
Good morning,” the man said with the hoarse, rough voice of a
southern Olindian.

The
princess nodded. “Good day to you sir,” she replied in
turn.

“
Welcome to Crystal Ember. May I have your papers?” he
asked.

“
Papers?” Josephine replied.

“
Any foreigners who now wish to enter this city
require papers signed from the consulate in the town of
Gavna.
Have
you no papers?” he asked.

She shook her head. “I was not aware we
needed
any papers,” she
said with a tinge of annoyance and turned to eye Matthias icily.
The wizard smiled awkwardly.

“
I am afraid so,” the soldier advised. “There have
been several robberies in the city lately by foreigners who wish to
bring harm to our people. Mostly
Aslemerian
, of course, but you understand I can’t
make an exception, not even for one so
beautiful.”

Josephine smiled and raised herself up tall in her
saddle. “I see there to be little need for pieces of parchment
in
this
case, good sir. You see, I am the princess of Aralia,” she
announced in her most regal voice.

The
soldier eyed her and her entourage silently a moment.

“
You
are Princess Arwell?” he asked hesitantly.

“
Don’t be a
fool,
boy!” Thadius intervened, before Josephine could
reply again. “Let us in if you want to retain your standing! We are
here on important business!”

“
May
I ask what kind of business?” the man asked, standing his ground,
though he was visibly nervous now.

“
We
have a meeting with the regent,” Matthias instructed, riding up
next to Josephine.

“
What
sort
of meeting?” the soldier asked.

“
A very
important
one,” Matthias continued.

The
man’s eyes narrowed at Matthias. “You are a wizard?” he asked
sourly.

“
What of it?” Matthias replied curtly.

“
We do not take
kindly
to your people here,” he said. “We haven’t
welcomed a wizard in these walls for
many
years.”

“
My good man, as
fascinating
as this lesson is, the company I keep
is
no
concern of yours.
What is of importance is that you allow us to enter this city so
that I may go about my business!” the princess commanded
curtly.

The
man swallowed and turned around, seeking backup from the other
soldiers. One of them shrugged at him, which was as much help as he
seemed likely to get. He turned back round and nodded. “I will
speak with the regent’s aides. You will need to wait here though,”
he instructed.

“
Very well. It seems I have little
choice
,” the princess sighed. The man turned on his heel and
slipped into the city through a smaller gate carved out of the much
larger main gates. The soldier who had shrugged approached them. He
nodded.

“
He’ll only be a moment your highness. Regulations, you
understand.” He smiled, and shrugged again. “Trouble is we get too
many bleedin’ Aslemerians trying to come in these days. We have to
be cautious for our own safety.”

The princess stared at him icily. “Do I
look
like an
Aslemerian?” she asked. “Do I have the tan of a man who spends his
life in the heat of that parched land? Perhaps it is the lack of a
beard or the accent that confused you?
No?
” The man’s smile fell.

“
No. No, I can see you aren’t one of them,” he
tailed off. “But... rules is rules for all.
Even
royalty.” He turned around and
slipped back amongst the others.

“
I don’t think I’ll try and bribe
them
to gain entrance,”
Matthias whispered.

“
That may not be the best of ideas,” Josephine
replied, maintaining her stance. “And thank you very much for
not
telling
me about our requiring papers!”

“
I
forgot. It’s been a busy week, after all,” he said sheepishly. “I
thought our biggest obstacle would be them recognising me as being
a wizard.”

She
shook her head. “And what if they will not let us in?” she asked
him.

Matthias smiled. “Trust me, that won’t happen. Who has ever
heard of royalty being turned away?”

“
I’ve never heard of royalty being made to wait at
a
gate
before either,” she said. “But it seems times are
changing!”

As
they waited, Matthias stared up at the massive wooden wall. He
couldn’t even see its top from where they were standing.

“
Impressive, isn’t it?” Luccius commented behind
him.

Matthias nodded. “It is. But do you know
what
I’m
thinking?” He turned around to look at Luccius, who
shrugged. “Our ancestors made a
big
mistake putting a fire breathing dragon in a city
constructed almost
entirely
of wood.”