Then Woltan was upon us, scowling. “Why are you using magic? The dark lord has his eyes open, and he looks for you. Your magic will have put a marker here for everyone to see. We have to get moving now, to avoid unwanted company.”
“Leeches and crocodiles are not unwanted company?” I asked, hoping for a smile.
Woltan shook his head. “I am glad you’ve regained a sense of humor, Anders, but I see nothing funny here. There are a lot worse things that can come to call than leeches and crocodiles. Magical creatures, more evil and far stronger than anything we have met. And since my people have been in our walled city for so long, we are ill-equipped to deal with them.” His face flushed, and he turned away.
Kara put her hand on his shoulder. “Woltan, it must be hard to leave a city for the first time in your life. But remember there is evil here that none of us have seen. And your people have kept alive knowledge and wisdom that the rest of us have lost.”
Woltan nodded. “We must work together. But for now, let’s get out of here, and in the future, avoid magic when not strictly necessary.”
“At least until we reach the relative safety of our people,” Kara nodded, putting her hand on my shoulder.
Our people. Kalle wasn’t here with us, so why was she saying that? I couldn’t help smiling then, because I realized she was talking about me, too. Suddenly, I wanted nothing more than to meet my kindred, explore what it meant to be Kriek.
Woltan was looking at me. “So I have your word, too, Anders?”
I nodded.
Woltan looked worried. “If your life is threatened, use magic. But go first for your sword. And remember, we are being watched. Let’s get out of here.”
After the excitement of the river crossing, it all seemed to blend into one long road. There were tree roots and other impediments, and my feet felt numb and sore at the same time. My eyes numbed too — there was little to see except trees on both sides. Finally we came to a small clearing. It was getting dark, and Woltan called a halt.
We all sat down and let our packs fall. Cullen began digging a pit with a small shovel, then lining it with rocks. Elias and Karsten collected wood from the clearing, and the woods nearby. Soon they had a big fire going, and Karsten went with Cullen looking for food in the dying light.
The rest of us huddled around the campfire. Woltan and Kara made soft beds of old rotting leaves covered with newer smooth ones and lay down. Woltan lay flat, facing the sky. “In a few hours we will set watches. Everyone needs to rest, and the watches will be short. We will need to keep a fire burning.”
I got to my feet and started gathering firewood from the clearing. My feet still hurt, but it felt good to do something besides walk for hours upon end. It was definitely more pleasurable to travel the Kriek way — there in an instant. But then I remembered my uncle’s eyes upon us, and how we all had been frozen, our bodies burning up with energy, our brains frying.
Perhaps it was better to walk a bit.
There was also something satisfying about making a great pile of wood, ready to be turned into heat and light. All without magic, unless you called fire magic — there was something magical about the heat and light it gave, when you contained it.
Elias and Karsten returned with food they had gathered nearby: mushrooms, and a few roots and tubers. Woltan examined and pronounced them all edible. And there was meat; some dried salted pork that Karsten had brought along to flavor everything. It all went into the soup; Karsten and Elias had found a small stream, and even caught several small fish, which Karsten would clean and then bake in the coals. It was amazing how much they foraged and scrounged up in such a small period of time; I figured it must be exciting for them to be outside the gated city, for the first time in who knew how many generations.
Soon it was completely dark, but you could barely tell with the fire there, lighting and warming us. We slept around the fire in a circle, and I fell asleep watching Woltan, taking the first watch, and then befor
e I knew it Woltan was waking me, and I sat there, rubbing my eyes, and then I stood, until my watch was over; and although several times noises in the night startled me, and a few animals walked across the clearing, nothing approached the fire and I saw nothing all hour with my third eye. When I woke up Karsten to take my watch we talked for a little bit, in whispers, mostly about how cold it was, but then Karsten told me to go to sleep. I fell back asleep almost before my eyes were shut.
I felt the morning before it awakened me — felt the light on my cheek and my eyes, the sun’s light and warmth. Then I was sitting up, staring at the campfire. Woltan was up, and so was Elias. They were talking quietly a few yards away, but I couldn’t hear anything but the crackling of the campfire. It was almost as if there were voices in it, speaking to me. The flickering flames too seemed to beckon me in. I stared at the flames and felt something change in me, felt like I was leaving my body and falling into the fire. But it wasn’t fire. It was my home, and there was my uncle, smiling at me…
Come home. You belong with me, not with those traitors. You know the one truth; we will rule together. All the rest is lies and half-truths.
I felt confused and lethargic; I couldn’t move my body. I stared at the fire and saw my uncle. My uncle beckoned to me with a fiery hand. His face smiled and his laughter crackled in the fire. Come. Together we will free your mother, and live together, all three of us.
It was then that I felt something. I realized how numb I had become, and felt a buzzing at my side. I reached down and then the sword was in my hand, and then it was out of the scabbard, and I swung it in between myself and the fire. At last my mind was clear again, though I still saw the eyes and the face in the fire. I held out the sword like a wand, facing the fire, and the face smiled at me. Bring the sword with you. With it, we can rule everything and everyone.
I felt all the power I possessed move from my body to my mouth, and follow my arm to the sword: “VERSCHWINDEN!”
A bolt of blue fire shot forth from the tip of the sword, hitting the smiling crackling face of fire straight in the forehead. For a moment the face looked panicked, shocked. Then he held up a hand, a pentagram on the palm, and then the fire was just a fire.
I sat back down again, exhausted.
Woltan crouched down next to me, and Elias with him.
Elias looked me in the face, concerned. “What happened?”
I shook my head. “I saw him, again. Through the fire. He was trying to get me to come with him again.”
Woltan looked disgusted. “Fire gazing is an old art, another way of scrying. You must keep your mind focused and alert. The dark lord will obviously stop at nothing to find you, and to bring you to him. Could you see where he was?”