The Girl Born of Smoke (35 page)

Tarana slowly climbed to her feet, her head
throbbing and her stomach feeling unbelievably nauseous. She rubbed
her eyes with one hand and stumbled out the front door, closing it
slowly behind her. She sat on the front step for a few moments,
listening and waiting, hoping Djerr would open the door or say
something, but she heard nothing.

Feeling numb, she stood up and started
walking. The bright sunlight made her stomach churn even worse, but
she squinted her eyes and kept walking, avoiding the stares of the
others who passed her on the road. After a long time, she stopped
and realized she had wandered away from the main street and stood
before the lake from the previous night. It was glittering in the
sunlight as a breeze rippled the surface.

She sat down on the bank of the lake and
picked up a handful of pebbles from her side and tossed them one by
one into the water, watching the splash as they hit the surface.
“Just like falling asleep,” she mumbled to herself, standing again.
She took a few steps closer, so that the water lapped at her boots.
Sitting down again, she dug her hands into the rocks that covered
the banks, muddy water spilling over the holes that her fingers
dug. Standing again, she took a few steps into the lake. The water
flowed quickly into her boots and she shivered at the cold.
Trudging through the water, she stopped and stood still for a few
moments, then finally pushed off the bank and floated forward, her
head raised just above the surface.

Her teeth chattering uncontrollably, she
dipped her head under the water and opened her eyes. The water was
murky and she couldn’t see the bottom. Her head hurt from the cold.
Kicking hard, she dove down, her hands spread in front of her. A
lump rose in her throat and she realized she was crying, although
she couldn’t feel the tears flowing from her eyes.

It got darker as she swam deeper and in a
few moments, she felt the overwhelming desire to breathe, but she
forced herself to keep swimming deeper. The lake seemed bottomless
as she continued down and she wondered if she was actually moving
at all or just swimming in place. Her heart began to beat faster as
the murky water grew thicker and darker and she closed her eyes
against the sight.

At that moment, unable to contain the need
any longer, she opened her mouth and took a deep breath of water.
Her limbs flailing uncontrollably, she knew she was too far from
the surface, but her body rushed for it anyway as she fought the
urge to take another gasp of water.

She opened her eyes again, only to find her
vision shadowy and confused. With a last thrash, she went
still.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

She heard Rupert’s irritated voice coming to
her as if she were far away. Feeling horribly tired, she opened one
eye slightly and saw the blurry contents of the cave. She felt an
odd rush of relief and disappointment all at once and curled into a
ball. All she wanted to do was sleep, couldn’t he understand
that?

“Tarana! I’m talking to you.”

Wondering if he would leave her alone if she
ignored him long enough, she tucked her head into her arms and
curled into a tighter ball. “Leave me alone,” she whispered. “I’ve
had enough of all this.”

She heard a loud sigh of exasperation and
felt her body being hauled upward. She felt weak and doubted her
legs would support her. Her eyelids felt heavier than ever before
and she wasn’t sure she could open them, even if she wanted. She
felt her body slump back down against the rock, where she lay
sprawled out, feeling increasingly weaker, her breathing
shallow.

“Damnit,” Rupert muttered. “Tarana, listen
to me!”

She noticed a note of concern in his voice
now, which interested her. She felt as if she might have enough
strength to open an eye, and so she did. The cave looked quivery
and strange, as if she were looking at it from underwater. She
spotted Rupert nearby, staring off into space with his eyebrows
narrowed as if he were greatly concentrating.

Her limbs began to tingle like they had been
asleep. It hurt and she squirmed uncomfortably. As she watched,
Rupert’ face relaxed and he glared back down at Tarana. “Get up!”
he demanded and she did, reluctantly. Her vision slowly returned to
normal and her breathing became deeper, the deep tired feeling
fading.

“What do you want?” she asked sourly.

“I want you to answer my question!” he
returned angrily. “What do you think you’re doing?”

She shrugged. “I told you. I’m tired of all
this. I hate it more than anything. I don’t feel like I can trust
anyone, you included, and the only person I could trust, I messed
everything up with. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do and I’m
only making a bigger mess of everything. Those griffins came
because of me and none of those people deserved to die. Everyone is
killing each other and the people who manage to escape are being
torn down by animals that shouldn’t even exist. All I want is to
get out of this before I make a bigger mess of everything.” She
realized she was shouting in anger.

Rupert’s face grew even surlier. You’re damn
right it’s your fault. If you had listened to me when I told you to
go back to the stronghold, many of those deaths could have been
prevented. I warned you explicitly that this is what would happen
and people’s lives will continue to be destroyed until you return
to the stronghold and take control of what is yours. Lead the
Wizard’s Army to victory like you are meant to do. Now GO.”

In the blink of an eye, she was lying on the
bank of the lake, the rocks digging into her back and her skin
covered with dirt from the muddy lake. Rolling onto her side, she
tried unsuccessfully to stifle her sobbing, then finally let loose.
Her tears streaking the dirt down her face, she cried as long and
as hard as she could, then finally wiped her eyes and nose on her
damp sleeve, stood, and began walking away from Shae’lin, back
toward Ralinos.

Chapter 15

That night, she rented a room at an inn with
some of the little money she had left. Only as she entered her room
did she see what a mess she looked. Staring in the mirror, she
rubbed the dirt from her face, then began to comb her fingers
through her matted hair. She stared at her reflection, blurring her
eyes slightly and trying to look deeper through the mirror until
the reflection looked more like Aurora than Tarana. “What am I
supposed to do?” she whispered.

In her reflection, Aurora shrugged. “What do
you want to do?”

Tarana bit her lip lightly. “I don’t know,”
she replied helplessly. “I want to end this all in any way I
can.”

Aurora smiled slightly. “You don’t think you
can trust Rupert anymore, do you?”

Shaking her head quickly, Tarana felt
herself growing angry. “No, I can’t trust him, but he’s forced me
to do what he wants.”

“That’s not true,” Aurora retorted. “He
can’t force you to do anything. You always have a choice in the
matter.” She paused for a moment. “What has been your biggest
mistake through all this?”

Tarana thought for a moment, then cocked her
head. “Well, I guess I made too many assumptions. I assumed he was
going to help me and I should trust him and I assumed he didn’t
have any power outside in the world.” She paled slightly. “If he
can kill off an entire town no problem, what’s to stop him from
killing me if I get out of line?”

“Well, he’s saved your life a couple times
already,” Aurora pointed out. “He’s gone through enormous trouble
to make sure you stayed alive and safe. But what else are you
assuming?”

Tarana was standing still, staring straight
ahead. “Wait, you’re right. I think I understand what you’re
getting at…I have made other assumptions. Why didn’t I realize
that?” she whispered in amazement.

Aurora grinned wider. “You did!” With that,
she vanished and Tarana saw herself again in the reflection.”
Feeling a slight glimmer of hope, she quickly finished untangling
her hair and went to bed. In the morning, she set out with a
purpose. She briefly considered transporting instantly to Ralinos,
but felt hesitant. Not sure how much distance was between her and
the city, she wasn’t sure if she had enough energy to travel all
the way and was afraid of ending up crushed inside a mountain or
floundering high above the ground if she only had enough energy to
make it part-way.

Quickly counting up all the money she had
with her, she found it was only enough to rent a room for a couple
more nights. Feeling slightly annoyed that all the work for the
previous months had left her poor and homeless after all, she
sighed and decided to buy food and supplies before she left the
town.

She could see the cliffs far in the
distance, so she knew she was heading in the right direction and by
following the well-worn path of footprints, she would be able to
track her way back through to the other side. After that, she would
be forced to simply ask directions until she could find her way
back to Ralinos.

The first few days of traveling passed
quickly. To her relief, the heat wave had passed and she was able
to make her way through the mountain pass in only a few days’ time.
On the other side, the weather was cloudy and rainy and small
streams of water ran alongside her as she descended into the
valley. On this side of the mountains, Tarana was amazed to find
that the land was flushed with green. Long blades of grass twitched
on either side of the path as raindrops splashed against them.

Reaching out her hand, she brushed it along
the top of the grass as she walked, enjoying the wet tickling
feeling on her palm. She ate lunch sheltered under the thick leafy
branches of a tree, closing her eyes and listening to the light
slapping sound of the rain on the leaves. She started slightly,
startled when a thick drop splashed down on her nose.

During the day, she often saw other groups
of travelers headed in the opposite direction, usually giving her
long, strange glances. Ignoring their looks, Tarana continued
further away from the mountain pass. To her relief, Rupert
continued to ignore her during the night and she slept in relative
peace. Nearly a week into her trip, she finally saw another town in
the distance, the first since she crossed the mountains. However,
when she entered it, she found it abandoned with most of the houses
destroyed, the roofs smashed and the walls caved in.

Visibly wincing at the extent of the
destruction, Tarana quickly walked through the town without
glancing back. Several days later, she came across the next town
and cautiously entering, she found it still inhabited and intact.
Many of the doors were boarded up with signs hung in the window
announcing the inhabitants had moved indefinitely, but others had
stayed, resolutely sitting on their porches or talking in quiet
voices to their neighbors.

She ducked into a bakery, pulling out a
couple coins to buy a muffin. When the grim-faced woman handed it
over, Tarana asked nonchalantly, “So, do you happen to know the way
to the city of Ralinos?”

The woman nodded shortly, sucking in her
bony cheeks. “Going to see that wizard woman, huh?”

Tarana blinked. “Wait, they found her?”

“I don’t know if they found her or she found
them,” the woman answered. “She’s supposed to be on her way there
now. Everyone’s been talking about it today. I thought it was
supposed to be a man, but I guess there was some mix-up and it’s
actually a woman. Anyway, some of the refugees coming from that
direction heard the news and have been spreading it.

“She’s supposed to be arriving sometime in
the next month to take over the Wizard’s Army and there’s going to
be some big celebration. Everyone wants to see her and hear what
she has to say. I know some of my neighbors who are supporting the
Citizens’ are even heading over that way to see what’s going on.
We’re so far out here, it takes us forever to get any news, you
know. I say they’re dense, to be heading over there when they’re
just going to be killed by the army, but I suppose you’ve got the
same idea. I’d stay away from Ralinos if I were you. You don’t want
to get mixed up in that mess. It’s going to be a bloodbath there
when the wizard arrives, I bet.”

Reeling from the confirmed realization that
Rupert must have other contacts in the world and had already been
busy, she was silent for a moment before she realized the woman
expected a reply. “Oh, oh yeah,” she stuttered. “I don’t want to
get mixed up in that. I’m meeting some friends near there though,
so I’ll hurry and try to get there before all that happens.”

The woman sighed. “Well, good luck with
that. Anyway, just keep heading down the road, away from the
mountains. In a day or two, you’ll reach a river and the road will
split in two,” the woman continued giving directions, repeating
when necessary until Tarana was certain she had it. Giving the
woman an extra coin for her help, she headed out, biting into the
muffin.

That day, for the first time since she
started the trip, she saw other travelers heading in the same
direction as she. The next day, there were even more heading in
that direction, and the day after that, there were more heading
away from the mountains than toward them. Following the growing
mass of people, it took just under a month for Tarana to reach the
city. By that time, the travelers had swelled to a sifting throng
of people, slowly filtering down the road toward the
stronghold.

Unable to walk faster than a slow dawdle,
she remained in sight of Ralinos for several days, growing more
frustrated each day as she was forced to slip in between people to
get any closer to the city. She had never seen such a large crowd
and she knew there was no way they could all fit into the city. In
fact, it seemed that the city was already full and the people were
making no real progress forward.