The Flames of Deception - A Horizon of Storms: Book 1 (70 page)

Josephine stood atop the fortifications of the fortress, the
wind blowing her hair about erratically. Matthias stood with her.
They had been there a half hour now.

“
Do
you have the power yet?” Matthias asked.

Josephine grimaced. “It’s more difficult holding on to it. I
think it’s because I am nervous. I can’t tune into it properly.
Every time I reach out and touch the prison, I lose my link to the
energy.” She shook her head, and closed her eyes. “Come on,” she
whispered. “You can do this!”

Matthias placed a hand on her arm. “You’re doing
fine.
Relax
. Don’t panic. The dragon’s still standing there like the
horrid great
paperweight
he is.”

Josephine smiled. “Don’t make me laugh. It’ll only take me
longer.”

“
Sorry”
Matthias apologised. Then he smiled. “You do
realise just how relaxed your language is becoming?” Matthias asked
her.

“
I do not know
what
you mean,” the princess retorted, enunciating
heavily.

“
You
seem to slip between your king’s Aralian and a more common
tongue.”

“
You
did want me to blend in,” she commented. “Though perhaps I have
blended too far,” she added. “You are clearly a bad
influence.”

The
wind whistled around the stone crenulations. Matthias looked behind
them. Two guards stood by the doors, standing to attention and by
them, Balzan stood watching, his arms folded. He caught Matthias’s
eye a moment and nodded.

“
How is it going?” he called over? “I cannot
sense
any
change.”

“
Oh,
just fine. The princess is doing well.”

“
Liar
,” Josephine whispered. “I feel like I’m trying to
bob for apples with my
mouth
sewn shut!”

Thadius stood by their side, arms folded, smoking his pipe as
he looked down at the scene below.

“
All those
people
,” he mused through his gritted
teeth.

“
You
aren’t
helping!” Josephine hissed at
him.

“
Sorry princess,” Thadius blushed, chastened. “I will give you
some room.” He moved away to stand at the other side of the
battlements.

“
I
think I have it again,” Josephine said and opened her eyes. She
nodded. “Yes. There it is.”

“
Good,” Matthias replied. “You know what you need to do
now?”

“
I
am going to try and recreate the shell I placed around Thadius like
we practiced,” she replied. “Actually, I’ve been thinking up ways
to strengthen it based on our other lessons. But I wasn’t sure if I
should deviate from what we discussed?”

“
If
you feel like your instincts are pointing you in the right
direction then I would trust them. They certainly helped persuade
that man back in Tanavern,” Matthias replied. He stroked the coarse
brick of the crenulations idly with his fingers.

She
nodded. “Sikaris looks much bigger from up here.” Her eyes
narrowed. Swirling spheres and ripples of her energy were
everywhere, holding everything together. She could see in a way
what she had to do, like an architect with the plan of a building
in his mind’s eye before he started to sketch. Focussing, she
grasped hold of the energy and extended it outwards, further than
she had ever attempted before. They swirled and tried to resist
her, but in the end they bowed to her. She moulded them, warped
them into an egg - shaped barrier around the petrified form of
Sikaris. The shell flickered in front of her.

“
You’ve made a shell?” he asked Josephine.

“
You
can see it?” she asked. “I didn’t think you could see my
energy?”

“
There are reflections in the air, that’s all. How strong is
it?”

“
Weaker than the one I placed around
Thadius
at the moment. I
think it is because I am stretching the energy so far. It’s only
holding together because my mind is concentrating on it so hard. If
I let go of the energy I think the shield will fall away again.
It’s like I’m holding on to a load of ropes and I’m the only thing
keeping them from slacking and the knots from untying
again.”

“
Keep focussed,” Matthias urged her. “Your power is great
enough that you could extend a barrier around this whole city if we
had longer to train! Try and tie the threads together and wrap more
layers around the shell, making them tighter and tighter if you
can.”

“
I
am
trying!” she muttered impatiently. “It’s
difficult!“

Matthias nodded. “I know.” He settled himself down and waited
patiently whilst Josephine continued.

Another half - hour passed. They spoke little as Josephine
continued to weave her energy. Balzan approached them from where he
had stood behind them.

“
It has been quite a
while
,” he suggested.

Sweat beaded on Josephine’s forehead. “This is
like trying to tie a
knot
in a blade of
grass
with a pair of gloves on my hands! I can’t
do it with you
pressuring
me!”

“
My
apologies,” Balzan sniffed. He turned to Matthias. “Oh what the
council would think of this situation right now,” he
chuckled.

Matthias snorted. “Right now I couldn’t care two hoots what
my people think on anything.”

“
I
am sorry for your pain,” Balzan said.

Matthias shook his head. “Someone has to know that you aren’t
the traitor that everyone makes you out to be.”

“
It wasn’t
all
of them, if it helps,” Balzan said. “There
are
some
good people in the council, like your Augustus Pym.
I
remember
him. A confident man, not afraid to voice his opinions. He
had just been elevated to the council when I was forced to leave.
It’s my hope that people like him will guide the rudder of Mahalia
into a
better
direction.”

“
It is growing stronger,” Josephine advised them.
She looked down a moment. Glittering lights had begun to pop into
existence, as the afternoon descended into early evening and
candles and touches were lit in the city below. “Have we really
been up here
that
long?”

Matthias nodded. “Time flies, to quote the old adage,” he
chuckled to himself.

“
Oh
do
be quiet,” she replied, her brow furrowed. “You’re
not
amusing.”

They
stood in silence for several minutes until Matthias turned back to
Balzan.

“
You
look deep in thought,” he commented.

The man shook his head. “I was just
pondering
,” the man said weightily.

“
Well you don’t need to ponder alone. I’m practically at a
loose end, after all.”

“
You are rubbing it
in!
” the princess huffed.

Balzan nodded, ignoring the princess’s comment.
“What worries me are these
other
plans that the council might be pursuing. If the
dragon is not important enough for them to send anyone here, if
these sorcerers
are
alive and Mahalia
are
chasing them, then what is the
real
reason for their attempts to free the
beast?” He shook his head. “I
know
the council. Something bigger is happening. Even
if they
were
pursuing the perpetrators of this, they would have
sent
some
wizards here to keep an eye on the dragon as a precaution.
They are not that lax unless they have a reason to be. If they
aren’t here it means they aren’t as much worried about the dragon
as they are of something infinitely more
concerning.”

“
They know how much Olindia dislikes them. Perhaps
they were
afraid
to send anyone?” Josephine suggested.

“
Perhaps. But they have sent ambassadors here
before for
far
less!” He folded his arms. “No, I don’t like it one
bit.”

“
Aaagh!
” Josephine hissed suddenly and tripped backwards.
Matthias caught her before she hit the ground.

“
What happened?” Matthias asked as Thadius came running
over.

“
The shield collapsed!” Josephine panted.
“
All
that
work!
”

Matthias’s head fell. “Do you know why?” he asked
her.

Josephine shook her head. “No. It was going so
well and then it just…
popped!
”

“
Are
you hurt?” Thadius asked her.

“
No.
I am quite well Thadius. I’m just frustrated!” She shook her
head.

“
Oh
my
,”
Balzan exclaimed and leant over the battlements, his eyes
narrowing.

“
Protector? What’s wrong?” asked Matthias, as he and Thadius
helped Josephine to her feet. She leant on the wizard as they
joined Balzan, who was staring straight ahead with an open
mouth.

“
I just saw…” He stopped and raised a hand to his
mouth. “I
felt
something
.
Something’s
wrong
with the prison.” His eyes flared blue and he reached out
with his power. “But that’s
impossible!
” he gasped and stepped back, his eyes boggling.
“It’s almost
gone!
”

Balzan swallowed as he looked on at the dragon.

“
But
it was all there! Even a minute ago, I could feel the wards were
still in place, strong as the day they were created!”

“
Someone has been
tricking
you,” Matthias said. “Making you see what
you wanted to see.
Now
do you understand what we are up against?” he
asked.

Balzan nodded, nonplussed. He couldn’t keep his
eyes off the dragon. “I think I am beginning to see
very
well.” He shivered.
“There’s something working on it right now. It’s deteriorating as
we
stand
here!”

Matthias swallowed. “How much is left?” he asked.

Balzan shook his head “I’m not sure. Something is
still masking the entirety of the work. Oh, they
are
clever,” he hissed.
“There are
very
old tricks at work! Weaves of deception, the kind I would
never have thought to see here! He held out a hand and grasped
Matthias’s own. “Here. See what I see.” Matthias closed his eyes as
a silent, invisible link passed between the two
men.

Matthias gasped. “I
can
see…” He opened his eyes and Balzan let go as
Matthias took a step back. Then he turned to Josephine. “Princess,
they are picking it apart right now!”

Josephine’s eyes were wide with terror. “What… what shall I
do?”

Matthias shook his head. “Try again. You’re the
only thing
left
between the dragon’s freedom and that prison. You have to
try and cut them off somehow. Make the
shell
again.”

“
They’re so strong,” Josephine breathed.

But you are
stronger
, Josephine. You
can
fight them!”

The
princess turned back to the dragon, drew as much power as she could
into her and channelled, as she never had before.

The
four sorcerers streamed through the air, invisible to all save
those with the ability to touch the fabrics of the world. As they
soared around the dragon they could feel the energy being used in
opposition to them, pushing them steadily away from the core of the
prison that held Sikaris in place. Minutes passed that, in their
disembodied state, felt like days. They grasped at every remaining
thread of the energies bound around the dragon that they could and
unravelled their carefully woven structures.

Another barrier emerged from out of the soup of energies,
striking the form that in its solid state was Maevik, and the old
man swore in spite of the fact that, without a mouth, the words
fell about him as an empty echo of indecipherable waves. He wove
around it as it expanded, avoiding being trapped within its shell,
and joined the others as they fell back again. Fewer and fewer
threads remained, but those that held in place grew increasingly
out of reach as the princess built layer upon layer of barriers
around the dragon.