"Lyra!" My father hissed behind me, as he thundered through the trees on my heels. Branches whipped past me as I ran, stinging my cheeks and bared arms whenever I failed to block them.
"We need to save her, dad." I shot back in a loud whisper. "We can't lose another one," I said, feeling panicky. The thought of us losing another life, just a single one if I could possibly stop it was too much. I pushed my legs to move faster.
We paused, listening for Carmella's call for help again. "Carm?" I asked, tentatively and keeping my voice just above a whisper so as not to alert the nearby humans. I was hoping we could find her fast enough. Find her before they did.
"Help!" Another scream, she still sounded far enough off that I knew she hadn't heard me call for her.
"I don't think she knows a hunting party is nearby," my father rushed out as we took off again. I nodded in response, not wasting my breath with more words.
I was already pulling my fire forward when we broke into a clearing, Carmella, up in one of the tallest trees on the outer lining of the small open field, was dangling from a branch that had broken, but was still being supported by a few fibrous splinters that I could tell were just barely holding together. If the Oracle kicked her feet a little too much, she'd surely fall. My eyes darted down to see-
"Blood beasts," my father breathed out beside me.
"They'll rip her to shreds." I gasped out, panic threatening to set in completely now.
The larger than life creatures, their skin blacker than coal and tougher than chain mail paced beneath Carmella, as she held on to the precarious branch. Luckily for us, they were so focused on her they hadn't seen us burst into the clearing before we'd caught our bearings and crouched down. Assessing the best plan of action, my father and I took in everything we could.
"No weapons?" My father asked me in a whisper, worry in his eyes.
"Just my magic," I whispered and he grimaced, nodding slowly.
He unslung his bow, notching an arrow in a fluid motion, and took aim. "We need to put as much of our fire into this arrow as needed to pierce that hide. You focus on heating the tip, it needs to be just hot enough that it doesn't melt the metal. Got it? I'll focus on heating the path it'll take and setting one of those trees over there on fire to distract them. If we do that, we should be able to take down the one quickly, but that other one will be on us before I could even notch another arrow."
"Why can't we just boil their blood?" I asked, pulling my fire forward, it roared within me.
"They're impervious to magic, a wicked side effect of the dark magic that creates them. Their skins just abosorb it, temporarily making them stronger. That's why we use magic around them. On inanimate objects and then use those items against them," he instructed.
"So, what if I put up a wall of flames as soon as the arrow leaves your bow," I asked and my father nodded, thinking hard. "I could possibly encircle the thing with flames if I can act quick enough." I offered and he clenched his jaw, thinking.
"Help me, please!" Carmella's voice rang out again and I tried not to flinch at the terror in it.
"Let's do that, but you need to make sure you're burning the grass and just helping the fire flourish. You can't just blast pure magic fire towards them, then we'll be in huge trouble," he warned.
I nodded, setting my shoulders to ready myself.
"And Lyra, if this fails. If we don't contain it, you run. You leave me to deal with it, and you run, you got it?" He asked, a commanding tone to his voice.
I nodded my head to pacify him, but I'm pretty sure we both knew I wouldn't listen.
"Ready?" He pulled back on the bow and I concentrated entirely on the arrowhead, watching it as it began to glow a deep cherry red glow, like an ember. Then I reached out with my mind, finding the path of grass I planned to scorch, feeling along it mentally, ever so slightly heating it already, I nodded.
"Now," he said as his bow made a twang. I didn't see the arrow lodge itself in the beast since I had already thrown my wall of flames into place, blocking our view from the beasts. But the otherworldly scream of pain that sounded right after the initial thunk of the arrow lodging itself into the beast confirmed that it hit its mark. There was another roar, this one louder and angry as it ran into wall after wall of my flames, desperately looking for a way through.
I felt every blade of grass as it charred and turned to ash beneath my flames. Every oxygen molecule in the air as I reached my flames towards them for food. Dad had just grabbed another arrow off his back when suddenly, a sharp pain lanced into my neck. "Let my beasts go," a low, gravelly voice commanded.
I froze, my hands stilling where they were, I could feel a drip of blood escape my nose, a telltale sign that my power was waning. It was taking a lot to keep those walls burning. To keep them hot enough to hold the beast, thick enough and high enough that it wouldn't just rush through the flames or jump over them was taking an immense amount of power. "Girl, turn around. Let me see your face," the man commanded. "Man stays put and doesn't move or girl gets throat slit, do I make myself clear?" "Why are you talking like a caveman?" I asked, forcing calm into my voice as I turned around to face my attacker. He stood there, legs apart in an attacking stance, his sword pressed to my neck. Was he alone or were the rest of the hunting party hiding somewhere? If he was alone, that was incredibly stupid of him. Stupid to take on multiple mages single-handedly. Though, I guess the Blood Beasts kind would have evened up the score, normally. If he was dealing with weaker mages, that was. "S
I gasped and sat bolt upright. My eyes looking around frantically, trying to figure out where I was. Ellis swam into view, relief and awe both written on her face. Then I felt it. Like dark tethers that rooted out from me, connecting me to every life force around me. I looked up into Ellis's face and could feel her life force pulsing in front of me. I could feel all their life forces throbbing around me. One of them was so weak already... I flinched, pulling back the magic and slamming it down far inside me. Soon as I had, Ellis took a deep breath like she suddenly felt better. She shook her head as if she were confused by the feeling but offered me a small smile. "You know, a normal mage would've been out cold for days," she mused, pressing the back of her palm to my forhead. I waved her off, watching her face closely for signs of supsicion or something like it. "How long was I out?" I asked, throwing the blanket off, ignoring Ellis's attempts to get me to lay back down. I couldn't
"So, what's this meeting about?" A familiar voice asked and I turned to see Gil walking into the Council room. Apprehension rushed through me. How was he feeling about Wulfrud? How was I going to tell him about the alliance? How would he take it? He froze as he saw me, "You're up already? You used so much energy, Lyra. Are you sure you're ok to be here?" He asked, concern dripping from his voice. My mother had pushed the meeting back by a few hours while I slept, but after my father and I had found her, she had made sure to let me know exactly how displeased she was with how reckless I had been. How happy she was that I wasn't dead. And then, once again how angry she was that I wasn't still resting and recuperating after my ordeal. Once she was done ranting, we had come to the council room to wait for everyone else to arrive. I had avoided telling her or anyone else exactly how I had recovered so quickly. I didn't need my people looking at me like I was a monster. The Queen mage and
I could feel my mother preparing to jump in when finally, Triguni spoke up. "We've been waiting a long time for your birth. You'll accomplish much in your lifetime. As you've already shown, you understand the importance of calculated action rather than just relying on magic. Aeon would be proud of the woman you've become, Princess." She leaned back in her chair and resumed her silence. I swallowed back the lump that Triguni's words caused to form in my throat, my eyes once again flicking over to Aeon's empty seat. No one else said anything for a moment until Perrin, a little tentatively spoke up, "Yes, I see the appeal," the potioneer mused. "With those added supplies, we wouldn't have to keep stretching Kiell, Liza, Terra and Enid to their breaking points. The workload those four have been having to take on the last few months is beyond that which I thought they could even handle at first. But I do believe they're a little too willing to sacrifice some things for our future." "What
The healer set her shoulders as if she were steeling herself to say whatever it was that was on her mind and sighed loudly. "Humans? My lady, they don't care for their people. They OWN them. They shouldn't be our answer to our plight." She paused to guage my reaction to her claim and when I just nodded, allowing her to continue, she went on. Bolstered by the looks of everyone else around the table, except for Gil who was looking pointedly at me still. I, in turn, was still avoiding his gaze as I stared at Amnati. "By doing this, you're not only selling yourself into the ownership of the King, you're selling all of us. We'll lose our way of life, our independence, our beliefs and culture. The humans will drive everything that makes us who we are away and force us to replace it with their own ideals, thoughts and beliefs. And why should we trust these people? They've butchered us, enslaved us and tortured our kind for sheer amusement in the past. They make sports out of grotesque acts.
I stayed standing as the stranger halted just short of the table, keeping a respectable distance and bowed from the waist. "Queen Mage," he began but I held up my hand to stop him and he fell silent. I truly meant to show this man that he wasn't as important to us as his King had probably made him out to be. If I could unnerve him, all the better for me in what I hoped would be a negotiation. "Thank you, Malorie, for delivering our guest to us. Council, we shall end here for today. Everyone out besides our guest, please." There was scraping of chairs and the soft patter of footfalls as everyone walked towards the door. My father winked at me, clearly knowing what game I was playing, "I'll be setting some little Nature mage's in their place, but all you need do is scream, and I'll turn him to ash for you," he whispered in my ear and I gave him a genuine smile, his use of his pet name for me always seemed to calm me. My mother on the other hand looked furious as Regnald grabbed her
"Your Majesty-" "And stop calling me that." I waved a hand in his direction. "That's a made-up human title meant to bolster and feed the ego of the bearers of your also unecessary crowns. Real leaders don't need inflated egos or fancy accessories to prove their worth to their people. So for me to be called as such, is insulting," I finished coolly. Tross just stared at me, wide-eyed for a moment before he seemed to shake himself back to the present and cleared his throat. "Yes, Queen Mage. I apologize for any offense. But if I may, what do you mean, you don't want to be ruled by the King?" "I mean just that. We'll ally with him, we'll help when needed, when we can. We'll fulfill our part of the contract. But at the end of it all, mages will still be there own people, their own rulers. This alliance, between," I paused, almost saying "myself and the throne," but corrected it to hold up the ruse, "The Princess and the throne, will, as your King put in his letter, be a symbolic mar
"No..." He said, pausing and giving me another look up and down, as if he were verifying something in his head. "In the event that she is still too young to marry and carry out wifely responsibilities, she'd be promised to the Prince until she was old enough to carry out said duties. Obviously, we'd still take her with us and let her finish her childhood in the Kingdom, as per the letter we sent. But the sooner we can show our people this unity between us, the better." He offered, looking like he'd rather be discussing anything but my 'daughters' "wifely responsibilities" with me. I avoided biting my lip in frustration, apparently there had been more in that letter than my mother let on. "Hmmm," I said, leaning back. "So, how old is she. If you don't mind my saying, Queen Mage, you look awfully young to have an heir that's old enough to be married off." He noted. "The Princess is plenty old enough to be married. She goes into this willingly. Fiery, a little tempermental maybe, but w