Rise of the Citadel (The Search for the Brights Book 2) (8 page)

  Kilen advanced
before the man could cause anymore damage to Max’s pile of pebbles. He struck
with force, sending chunks of ice in all directions. The bottom of the ice man
turned to water and flattened against the surface of the ice. The water surface
cracked and two blobs of water rose where the puddle lay forming two more men.
Kilen struck at the water just to have his blade meet only that, water. He
easily sliced through the blobs which then instantly froze solid and pulled
blades from their backs.

Kilen had put so
much force into his swing that he slipped on the slick surface and was thrown
several feet away. He stood but was too late, he watched as the small pile of
rocks tried to solidify just to be cracked by the spiked ice blades. Kilen
raced back and slammed his shield into the first man and struck the second with
his blade. Ice crumbled into blocks and slid in all directions. The rocks were
now tumbling quickly across the frozen surface back to the original pile,
forming faster than ever. Kilen knew Max was trying as hard as he could. Kilen
needed to buy him some time.

  several cracks
broke open to let blobs ooze out and start building again. Kilen felt as if this
was some type of ridiculous game of death with no end. He fought on anyway. He
circled Max, watching each of the blobs form into men, solidify, and draw their
blades. Remembering what Gortus had taught him, he moved, avoiding attacks and
striking where he found an opening. Ice shattered under the swing of his blade
and splintered with the strength of his shield. The cold clung to him, but in
the heat of battle he no longer felt its pain. Gortus’ training had hardened
him against it.

  The
crystalline men fell on him from both sides of Max’s now man-sized pile of
fluidly moving rocks. Max formed his true form and walked laboriously to each
scattered piece of rock. Soon he had enough rock to form a blade of his own.
The icemen didn't stand a chance with the two fighting side by side. Shards of
ice flew in all directions, cutting Kilen. Holding his shield up did little
good against the tiny razors.

Through the
battle of ice and earth Kilen saw a clear figure pick the last piece of earth
off of the ground and hold it up in his hand. A second later Max’s blade sliced
through the arm sending the frozen hand in the air. Max caught the hand and
crushed it in his mighty earthen grip. When he opened his hand, only water
trickled out; the stone had already been absorbed back into his hand.

The ice melted
and the air warmed as Max turned back into the form of a horse. Kilen wasted no
time in mounting, this time gripping the pommel of a stone saddle. Max quickly
splashed his way through another wall of fog.

  Kilen was
ready for anything, but it looked exactly like the forest they saw when they
first entered the fog. This forest was silent. Kilen couldn't hear Joahna
screeching from wherever in this chaos he was. Although it looked the same
here, no tree branches blocked his path and no vines reached for him. Max did
not stop to look for enemies. He pushed forward at a dangerous speed for a
normal horse. Trees blurred past as he weaved in and out of them while Kilen
kept his shield up and his eyes low.

Then something
moved in the distance just in the corner of his vision. The movement that had
caught Kilen’s attention was a small bush burning hundreds of paces away. He
watched the small bush burn and the flames dance until he saw a new light at
the corner of his eye. He turned his head more to look directly behind him and
saw a couple of trees aflame in the path Max had just traveled. The burning
trees from behind them got smaller as they rode on through the forest.

  While watching
behind them, Kilen felt a bit of heat coming from the left side of the path.
Kilen turned in his saddle to face the heat and saw the whole left side of the
forest was aflame, only a few paces from the path. He stared in awe as they
rode on and left the burning patch of trees behind. He turned in his saddle
again to face right, searching for any flame among the trees. The entire forest
to the right side was aflame only fifteen paces away.

He looked back
to see the flames chasing the stone horse as it sprinted through the
now-burning forest. Each time Kilen faced away from the trees they seemed to
burst into flame, and only stopped when he looked at them. Kilen realized this
was not just a test but a game of wits and power. He could do nothing to stop
the flames even if he had skill in fire magic. Here, in this forest, he knew he
had no control of the elements.

Kilen did the
only thing he could do; he moved in the saddle, looking in all directions to
keep the flames at bay.he shouted over the crackling of burning branches.
“Faster, Max! I’m trying to hold the flames off but you must hurry!” Max
lowered his neck and Kilen felt his legs sink into the body of the stone horse.
The flames and trees closest to the path were a blur in Kilen’s vision. He was
unsure if it was because of the speed or because of the smoke that now stung
his eyes.

  He couldn’t
keep his eyes open, but every time he closed them heat came from all
directions. Kilen looked down to the ground and saw that the grass on the
forest path was now red with flames. His armor steamed and the edges of his
green cloak started to turn black. Kilen now felt the burning heat in his legs;
Max’s legs were starting to glow red from the heat of the ground. Kilen
screamed for his legs to be released from the stone horse's grasp. Kilen pulled
his legs from the molded stone, and put his boots upon Max’s back. Kilen
balanced carefully on the horse’s back pulling the hood near his eyes to
protect it from the embers floating in the air.

Once again Max
was stopped abruptly and Kilen tumbled through the air, this time landing on
his shield and sliding to a stop. Kilen leaped up off the ground that was now
starting to blacken as the blades of grass were consumed. Kilen felt the
immense heat from all around, he felt as if he had been tossed into the
blacksmith’s forge. Kilen looked up for a way to help Max escape whatever had
stopped him this time, just to see the earth had opened up beneath his friend.
The form of a horse sunk lower into what looked to be liquid metal bubbling up
through a crack in the earth. Kilen tried to step closer, but his cloak started
to catch fire. He painfully backed away watching his friend being swallowed up
into the earth’s fiery maw.

  Kilen knew
there was nothing he could do for his friend as he had no magic to protect him
from the heat. Max must have known this as well, because Kilen felt the all too
familiar concussion in his head from his friend’s returning spirit . The
unexpected feeling made Kilen stagger, growing weak in the knees as he fell
backwards through another wall of fog.

  Kilen’s double
vision corrected and the world stopped tilting as he lay looking up at the sky.
The white clouds far above made him think that this whole ordeal could have
been a dream. He moved his shield arm and felt the burned skin stretch. Pain
flared up his arm and Kilen clinched his muscles in response. Clinching only
made the pain worse. It caused the skin to stretch and split open in areas that
were more severely burnt. Kilen was unsure if he went unconscious from pain or
if he blacked out from Max’s return.

He woke to the
same peaceful, clear view of the sky, pain in every part of his body, and the
voices of Jace, Max, and Joahna arguing in his mind. He thought perhaps Joahna
returned while he was blacked out, or maybe he was the reason he finally did.

  He lay
listening to them argue about what to do next. If magic could be controlled
here in this part of the Elder Wizard’s forest defense. Kilen tried to summon a
drink of water but nothing happened. He couldn't control the water in the air
nor could he feel it. Kilen slowly whispered the words, “Max, help with the
pain.”

  “
Of course,
I’ll do my best. I would take it slow Kilen, and listen to the others. Only our
wits and your body can help you here
,” Max said.

Soon the pain
lessened enough that Kilen was able to make his way to his knees. He found
himself in an open grassy field, one side bordered by a wall of fog and a gray
rock wall on the other slightly curved . Trees stretching out of the fog gave
shade from the sun and didn't look like they were burning from this side. He
wondered if there would be an unburnt forest on the other side if he tried to
walk through. His skin warned him not to try.

Kilen looked
down at his hands blistered from the heat and cut from the shards of ice and
vines. His body was so badly torn that the cool breeze blowing through the
field caused him pain. He had no one to heal him or renew his strength. He did
his best to stand while saying, “I have no choice but to continue.” Max must
have redoubled his efforts as the pain subsided. Kilen knew that Max was
fighting an unseen battle inside the recesses of his mind. He made a choice not
to put himself in any undue pain to keep Max from being overwhelmed. He was, at
least, able to move with Max’s help.

Kilen slowly
staggered in the open field somewhere between the rock wall and the forest. The
wall was curved so that if he walked along its edge he would be able to round
it in less than an hour. Now that he was away from the fog he could see that it
too was curved bordering the other side of the field. Kilen began traveling in
the same direction for three hours without finding the other side of the rock
wall. There were no seams, no cracks, and no entrances to the wall. He also didn't
find the path he should have been leaving in the knee high grass. He knew he
should have passed it long ago. Turning to face the wall of stone he knew that
eventually he would have to climb it.

“What do you
think Jace, up the wall or keep walking?” Kilen had purposely kept equal
distance from the wall and the fog. He was doing his best to be ready for
anything, not to mention that he was scared of what would happen if he got
close.

“I don’t
think we have much of a choice, up the wall and over or back into fog
,”
Jace’s voice was calm and determined. Max agree’d.

Kilen squatted
in the grass and took a water skin from his leather satchel. The water skin was
hot so he laid it on the grass to cool. In the bottom of the bag was his last
piece of dried Kapal seasoned meat. The spice was hot, but he had grown
accustomed to eating it. The strange mix of spices made for a potent energy
boost, and he would need it for whatever came next. Eating the dried piece of
meat as fast as he could, he uncorked the water skin and poured the heated
water into his mouth spilling some on his chin. The heat from the water sent
new spikes of pain down his face and neck. He took the pain and waited for his
energy to be renewed by his imbuements and his Kapal-seasoned meat.

He watched the
top of the rock wall as he contemplated his path to climb. The wall was about
one hundred meters tall. High enough that he couldn’t jump to the top. Short
enough that he might be able to climb if he was at his best. He knew strength
wouldn’t be the problem, wind would be. It was the only element he hadn’t
combated up to this point, and wind was what he feared the most. Alexander had
taught him that it was far from the weakest of the elements and possibly the
most powerful.

He decided to
leap as far up the wall as he could and have the best hold on the rock. The
jump would cause him pain, but it would make the journey to the top the
fastest. He wondered what type of test was at the top. He again reflected on
his training with Gortus,
first learn to walk before you learn to fight
.
He had to get to the top before he could worry about what was there.

Kilen finished
off his meat and water, careful not to spill any more on his face. He painfully
stood and made his way to the bottom of the rock wall. The surface was free of
dirt, dust, and vegetation. It was not perfect, but the further he looked up
the wall, the smoother the surface got. Kilen felt the surface of the stone. It
was cool to the touch so he place his red blistered cheek on the rock and felt
some small relief. There seemed to be no effect with him touching the rock so
he stayed and took small pleasure at the rocks cool temperature. He gave the
Elder Wizards no warning with his next move.

Kilen squatted
low and pushed off the ground as hard as he could, reaching for a hand hold at
his highest point. He missed and started to fall, but was able to grab a small
ledge big enough for one hand. Hurriedly he found small areas to gain some
grasp with his feet. He looked down and saw that he had made it more than half
way up the cliff’s side, but was unable to push off again without leaping
backwards. He was looking up and down the cliff when he noticed the tall grass
down below start to rustle in the the breeze. He knew the wind was coming. The
grass to his right was still until the breeze moved across it. To his left, the
grass was already wiping in the wind as if in a summer storm. Without another
thought of pain he looked up and moved as fast as he could, reaching for
handhold and foothold, one after the other.

The wind finally
reached Kilen, and it didn’t come on gently. The pain that the breeze inflicted
on his skin steadily increased until Kilen was clutching the surface of the
rock pressing his body as close to the surface as he could. He moved one hand
above his head and along the surface of the rock to find a grip. The wind was
now at a torrent, stronger than he had ever felt before.

Kilen made his
mistake when he moved a foot off the only hold it had to reach for another. The
wind seemed to latch onto his leg and push it away from the rock’s surface.
Kilen was carried out into the wind away from the rock as it turned him in
every direction but the way he wanted. He hit the ground feet first in a
crumple. Despite Max’s best effort, the pain overcame Kilens senses and he once
again lost consciousness.