Rise of the Citadel (The Search for the Brights Book 2) (59 page)

  “So you met
the Elder Wizard's?” Daniel asked.

  “Yes, a couple
times. I’m on a mission for them right now. I’m supposed to find the next king
for the Water Realm. So I guess King Atmos has that to be mad about as well.”

  Daniel nodded,
“Where are you going to find one?”

  “I don’t know.
I asked those at Keepers for advice and they seem to think I should become
their king.” Kilen peered out the window, watching those in the barn become
more active.

  “So why don’t
you? I think you would make a good king,” Daniel said taking a bite of his
breakfast.

  Kilen turned
to face Daniel, “I don’t think I would be a good king.”

  “Why not?
You’re the smartest person I know. You spent a lot of time in school, you come
from a family that was well known because of your father, and you know what it
is like to live as a commoner in the Water Realm.”

  “That’s why I
can’t. I don’t know the nobles or their political schemes. The same schemes
that have almost gotten me killed, twice. I am already hated by a king who
seeks my revenge and made enemies of the Fire Realm.”

  “Aren’t you
supposed to stand up to the king anyways? Protect those who cannot protect
themselves and what not?” Daniel asked.

  “I suppose,”
Kilen said, looking at the blue ribbon on his sword. “I already tried that once
and failed.”

  “Since when
has your father let you get away with failing at something and not making you
try it again?”

Kilen nodded
knowing Daniel was right, his father would never let him give up.

“Think on it.
Right now I think you better get going. Chit will be in here stealing my
breakfast anytime now.” Daniel said shoving in another piece of bread.

  “Sorry, you
said you spoke to my mother?”

  “Oh right. She
said I was supposed to tell you that she is going to find your father. She said
she was going to the Wind Realm.”

  Kilen smiled,
“Thanks. Did you tell Chit?”

  “No, I forgot
until you mentioned it.” Daniel said scratching his head.

  “Well. You can
tell him if you want. Maybe they will leave Humbridge and try to chase me down
in the Wind Realm. If you wait two days, you can tell him that I was here. Just
give me a chance to make some distance.”

Daniel nodded
his head.

Kilen smiled and
hugged Daniel again. “It was good seeing you,” Daniel said.

  “You as well,”
Kilen said as he pulled open the window.

Jessica stood at
the table with her arms crossed waiting for her husband. It was hard for Kilen
to picture Daniel with a wife, but it suited him. He was a good, hardworking
man and having a wife only gave him more to work for.

  “Thank you
Jessica, for allowing me into your home.”

She inclined her
head instead of saying your welcome.

He pulled five
gold coins out of his purse and put them on the table. “I’m sorry my wedding
present is late. I wish you two a great life.”

  Seeing the
gold on the table seemed to lighten Jessica’s attitude. Kilen gave her a half
smile and went to the open window.

Her voice
stopped him, “Thank you, Kilen. You should think about what my husband told you
about being king. My father always said your family kept this town alive. I
think you could help keep this realm alive if you found the right seat to sit
on.”

  Kilen nodded
and gave a half smile before disappearing out the window into the dim morning
light. A few more minutes and the sun would crest the horizon, starting another
day in Humbridge. With the sun up, it would be harder to go unnoticed through
the fields surrounding Humbridge and some of the smaller towns there. It was
good he always had his elemental friends looking out for him.

  Kilen
carefully moved away from his old family home and into a copse of trees he used
to hide in as a child. He had a lot of good memories here with his sister. He
looked at branch on the tree where she had almost fallen and he smiled. Bowie
had always been with them and on that particular day, was there to catch Kara.
He hoped Bowie was doing well and was not having too difficult of a time
protecting his sister.

  A white bird
landed on a branch near where he was looking. It wasn’t a normal bird for the
area and Kilen watched as the rising sun caused the birds body to split the
light. Joahna had always had good advice for Kilen and he knew he could use
some now.

  “It’s been
awhile since we spoke.” He said as he watched Max form his body out of the
ground.

  Joahna took
the more human-like form as he dropped from the branches in the tree. “You
spend too much time around others for us to talk.”

  “Yes, well
there are things we need to discuss now,” Kilen said seriously.

  The wind
rustled and Jace took his form in the moving leaves and dirt. “What is it you
want to talk about, Kilen? Are you thinking of taking the crown?”

  “That is
exactly what I am thinking. Inside the house I spoke with an old friend that
made some good points about why I should become king.”

  Max laughed,
“You are not old enough to have old friends.”

  Joahna waved
him off, “I think it’s a good idea.”

  “It would mean
that I would be taking some time away from finding a way to get your bodies
back,” Kilen said.

  Joahna shook
his head, “Actually, I think it would help us. It would give us access to not
only the wizard’s library, but we’d be able to ask questions of those that
might know more than us.”

  Max nodded,
“When facing the soul wizard, it would give us a reason to ask about spirit
wizards, The Brights, and any odd question you have without suspicion.”

  Jace used the
wind to quietly howl his words, “They are right. Also, asking the questions
would confuse any political schemes that you may have encountered. If you worry
more over the answers to these questions, people may think they can blindside
you with other schemes. We will be your ears and eyes in the corners of every
hallway and noble’s room. Nothing will slip past us.”

  Max stretched,
“We also may be able to instil confidence in your people by taking your form
and offering our expertise. I could lead the army, Joahna could talk with the
nobles, and Jace can offer help with the schemes in the city. Having three of
us represent you in different locations, making it as if there were four kings
at once.”

  Kilen watched
Jace smile in the wind vision, “Let them try and assassinate you with us
watching your back.”

  Kilen smiled
and kicked a loose rock, “It looks like I will become a king then. We need to
get back to Keepers.”

  Basham seemed
like such a large town long ago. That was before Kilen visited the capital of
the Earth Realm. The Water Realm’s cities had barely ever seen a soldier or
guard. The gates and stone walls were now being guarded by extra soldiers. The
guards there sought nothing but to catch Kilen and be the hero to turn him over
to the king. He wasn’t keen on being caught, so Kilen did his best to float
down the river past Basham like he had done on his first journey out of
Humbridge. When the river let out into Lake Leviathan, Jace warned him of
soldiers searching the lake’s area. The river banks were being patrolled day
and night to keep anyone from passing into Keepers.

  Kilen continued
to float with his face above water until darkness fell over the lake, making it
hard for him so see anything but a crescent moon’s reflection bouncing off.
Tokeye managed to keep him company as they talked to one another about the
canal the Fire Realm wanted built. Kilen supposed that if he lived long enough,
he would do his best to see the project resumed.

During the
silence of night when Tokeye had run out of things to say, Kilen watched as a
bird fluttered just above the surface of the water. Joahna circled around and
landed on his extended finger. Making a circle of ice like a frog’s lilypad,
Kilen pulled himself out of the water.

  “You found a
place for me to go ashore?” He said as he checked the sealed satchel the Elders
had given him. The wax seals still held along the seams.

  “No, they have
been searching all through the night. If you had taken shore, they would’ve
found you. Jace says there are none on the east side of the lake. We should
move there,” Joahna said.

  “Okay, I’ll
start swimming,” Kilen said, looking to the stars to get his bearings.

  He began to
dip his boots back in the water when a thick pole of ice climbed up the lilypad
he was standing on. A sheet of ice began connecting the pole to the surface
like a sail on a ship. He knew that Jace and Joahna had already worked it out
when the wind picked up. It wasn’t long before Kilen found himself on the dry
land to hear the water in his boots slosh as he stepped.

  Max greeted
him with a lifelike form of himself, waving his hand on shore and hefting
Kilens armor. He had taken Kilen’s armor beneath the lake using earth magic to
keep it from getting rusty, or weighing Kilen down. “We’ll let you get dried
out while Joahna goes to talk to Master Bradley.”

  “What is he
going to talk to him about?” Kilen asked.

  “Where to find
a wizard to imbue your sword. You only have two imbuements,” Joahna said as if
it was something he should’ve thought of.

Kilen forgot all
about needing to have the third mark on his blade. Finding a wizard was going
to be hard, but finding one that would be willing to imbue his sword so he
could be king would be near impossible. He had all but pushed it from his mind
in anticipation of his new duties as king.

“There is a low
spot just beyond these trees. If you start a fire there, no one will be able to
see it. We’ll have to put it out during the night so the soldiers cannot see
the smoke trail in the morning,” Max said.

  Kilen started
to walk through the trees, feeling the water squish up between his toes. He
hated being totally wet. Being cold and wet at night reminded him of the damp
cell he stayed in while in Deuterium.

“Kilen, Jace is
already out looking for any dangers nearby. I’m going to have a look around as
well. We will let you know if something dangerous comes near,” Max said.

Kilen had heard
it all before. He hoped that Joahna would return soon. Kilen closed his eyes
and pulled the moisture from his clothes and used it to form a ball in the air.
He laughed, remembering the first time he formed a ball of water. He used it to
splash an unsuspecting Bowie. He laughed to himself, and Tokeye joined him in
laughter as he projected the memory in his brain.

  Finding
firewood took longer than Kilen expected, then he realized he could just grow
some wood and use water magic to pull the moisture from it. His small stack of
firewood doubled in size after he realized that small skill born of magic.

  He used his
earth magic to slowly pull rocks to the surface of the ground for the fire pit.
He remembered to take off his imbuements and move the rocks with his unaided
muscles, just as Sergeant Wells had asked what seemed like a lifetime ago.

  Kilen sat down
near the fire and found enjoyment in the simpleness of the moment. At this very
second there was nothing that needed his attention. He could simply enjoy the
time of peace and quiet he had. The warmth of the fire kept him comfortable. He
poked at the coals with a stick, watching them glow like tiny lanterns piled up
on eachother. The lake water could be heard splashing on the shore a short
distance away. The fire crackled and night animals joined in a serene chorus of
nature.

  Tokeye’s voice
resounded in his head snapped him back into reality,
“Best to not let
yourself become too vulnerable. Max’s vision is limited, and Jace’s works best
when things are moving
.”

  Kilen knew he
was right, Jace had taught him that long ago. Brent even warned him to always
stay alert using his water magic. Kilen tossed another log on the fire and
strapped on his belt and chainger. Upon feeling the magic return the fatigue
vanished, he had not realized just how tired he had become until it was gone.
He pushed his vision as far out as he could. He saw nothing except the same
trees as before.

  Tokeye had
been helpful the last couple of days by keeping him company and fighting off
The Crying Man while he was poisoned. Since the moment he regained control of
his body, Kilen had been maintaining a mental grip on The Crying Man, pushing
him far from his conscious mind. Even though the experience had possibly caused
him to almost lose control, it had taught him much. He could feel where the
spirits lived. The darkness that they called home was always there and always
loomed them. He hoped someday he could do something about it.

 
Tokeye, I
want to try something. Can I trust you?

He could hear an
inner voice reverberate in the darkness.

  Tokeye spoke
back, “
You can, but can you do it a little quieter
.”

His strength in
his mind had increased exponentially since the experience.

  Kilen tried to
make his inner voice quieter,
I want to pull back The Crying Man. I want to
give him the opportunity to speak to us like men.

Tokeye’s spirit
didn’t wince, so he thought he might have achieved using a softer voice.
“I
don’t want to hurt him, I just want to let him know we are real and give him
the opportunity to speak and join us.”

 
A
mental image of Tokeye clasping his fist to his chest entered Kilen’s mind.

“I will be a
guardian at the gate,”
Tokeye said.

 
With
some effort, Kilen loosened his grip on The Crying Man while pulling him back
into the darkness near Tokeye. The Crying Man was still living up to his name
but Kilen was surprised that while pushed near the back of his mind, he could
not hear the man. If he learned to control the voices in his head, taking more
on would be considered a gift instead of a hinderance.

  Kilen did his
best to conjure an image of himself sitting in front of the fire. He spoke
inside his mind,
“I know you hear me. I know you’re scared and in pain. I
want to help. I want you to be free from that place again.”

 
For a
moment, the crying stopped. Kilen could sensefear in the man but also a feeling
of disgust and anger. “
I know what you are, wielder. Know that I am a
Elementarian and will not be defiled by your temptings of magic.”

 
“Elementarian,”
Kilen said out loud to himself. He felt something in the water vision move. He
watched a bubble of emptiness approaching through the underbrush. The emptiness
reminded him of when Twilix had used it in the garden to conceal herself. He
watched, waiting for the bubble to move. Concentrating on where he had last
felt it, a bush had extended to beyond his reach. A small movement showed him that
the bush simply disappeared halfway to the end of its branches. He knew he had
an approaching water wielder and pulled his blade free of its sheath. Anything
that the wielder walked near now would seem to disappear as it entered a thin
shield of water that other wielders couldn't see past.

  The Crying Man
cheered at Kilen’s fear jumping into his throat. Someone had snuck past his
friends. Kilen needed to focus and The Crying Man was making that difficult. He
mentally snatched the man again and bound him in the chain, which resulted in a
squeal of surprise just before the spirit was thrust back into the darkness.

A smooth voice
called out from the trees, “Elementarians are those that believe in the old
religion.” A blonde woman stepped out from behind the trees, wearing an
embroidered blue dress and matching riding cloak.

“Who are you?”
Kilen asked.

He flourished
his sword, which caused the woman to tilt her head slightly. The woman smiled
and briefly glanced down to her soft slippered shoes, “Do you not recognize
me?”

  He was not in
the mood for games, and frankly the response from The Crying Man had frightened
him. “If I did, I would not be asking the question.” Normally meeting a new
person was not done with such hostility, but this one was a danger.

  She took a
step forward and held out her hands to the fire, “I am glad to see you well. It
took great effort to find you, even with a certain wind wizard searching the
skies.”

Kilen searched
his memories. He did not remember seeing this woman before. The only wielders
that he was in contact with would have been in Deuterium, or with the Elder
Wizards.

  Kilen wanted
to try and fish out some more information without insulting the woman. “I am
not exactly a person that needs to go around announcing himself. Doing that
could result in a lot of lives lost.” Kilen bent over and with his off hand,
picked up the satchel containing items from the Elder Wizards.

“Yes, I suppose
if it were easy you would have quite a bit of trouble. I just didn’t want you
to be startled when we approached.” She squatted down to one side of the fire.
The flames danced off of her deep, blue, magic enhanced eyes. “It seems I was
not successful.” The woman looked back and forth between Kilen and the fire.
She had an air of familiarity to her that he couldn’t quite place. “I do miss
our conversations, Kilen.”

He was more than
confused by the woman. He knew there was no way that he’d had a conversation
with her. He would have probably never forgotten a woman with as much beauty as
hers. “I think I would remember a conversation with you.”

She stood again
and took a step around the fire the opposite of him, “Let me remind you of a
conversation we once had.”

Kilen tried to
stay on the opposite side of the small fire to keep some distance.

“I once explained
to you that I would not always look as I did then. I told you that when my body
had aged enough, after being delayed by magic, that I would take on the natural
age of my body.” She held out her open hands and waited.

Kilen searched
his memory. He knew the only person he had ever talked to about a wizards aging
was Twilix. He looked at the woman and could not believe his eyes. She truly
looked like what would pass as Twilix’s older sister. He was still weary that
King Atmos might have found a woman for just this moment to deceive him.

“You said there
were others?” He asked.

“Yes, Bowie is
here. Along with Brent, Ria, your sister-” She said pointing back into the
trees.

He moved around
the fire and pointed the tip his blade to her chest at mention of his sister.
“If my sister is here, you should have sent her to greet me.”

The woman looked
down at the blade and back at Kilen. Oh, how those eyes did look familiar. She
showed no fear as she continued to warm herself.

“Your sister
does not look as she once did either. Of course, she had aged farther along
when she had her awakening. She helped keep me alive during the aging process.
While she did that, it took a large part of her magic, triggering her to age.
She looks the same age as me, and when you understand that, I will bring her
forward. For now, friends of ours that do look the same will come forward.” She
turned back the way she had come, “I found him. Bowie, Brent, Ria, you can
come.”

Max grew himself
out of the ground to stand at Kilen’s side. Kilen was shouting in his head. He
really wished that Max could understand how frustrated he was that the former
member of The Crimson had let a group of people past, and apparently not a
small group. Bowie pushed through the brush first and crossed the distance,
capturing Kilen in a hug. Brent gave a wave of a hand as he pulled horses to a
tree nearby. Auburn and Ria joined the group around the fire.

“You see, I am
who I say I am. The little girl wizard you couldn’t seem to show any respect
to. Now you have no choice to respect me when I teach you.”

“Yes, well you
do look different,” Kilen said glancing down at his sword.

She smiled and
opened her hands for a hug.

He sheathed his
sword and welcomed the her embrace, “If you don’t mind, I really would like to
see my sister.”

She backed away
and nodded her head, “Kara, bring your friends please.”

He noticed her
wipe away a tear that had graced her cheek.

Kilen watched
anxiously as four men of various sizes stepped out, pulling horses. Three were
wearing linen shirts and wool pants, much like he would see on a farmer. One
wore the leather strap clothing of the Fire Realm. Tokeye’s spirits seemed to
brighten when he saw the man. A woman stepped forward and had a crooked nose
with short brown hair tied into a braid. She looked at Kilen anxiously looking
back with confusion before tying a horse with the others.