Rojuun (5 page)

She walked toward the kitchen door at the
back of the house, pausing every few steps to strengthen her
resolve. Upon reaching the door, she turned the knob and entered
cautiously. There was a pot with fresh stew in the fire pit.
Liselle went over to it, stomach rumbling in hunger at the aroma.
The kitchen was warm and welcoming. However, there was something
very wrong. She could feel the absence of her mother and Aunt
Ellin. The tears started to flow again.

“Enough!” she chastised herself aloud. The
sound of her own voice startled Liselle and she froze to see if
anything happened. The room was calm with only the bubbling of the
stew and the occasional pop of an ember in the fire breaking the
silence. Liselle wondered where her cousin could be.

Slowly, she moved to the entryway of the
dining room. Dishes were still set on the table for dinner, which
the family had never eaten. She continued even more slowly to the
entryway of the main room.

The bodies were gone, but the blood was not.
Liselle took a deep breath to get control of her emotions. She
shook her hands vigorously trying to get out the bad feelings
welling up. Once again, her cousin was nowhere to be seen. She
debated whether to check for him upstairs or outside.

“Tathan?” she asked tentatively at the
bottom of the stairs. “Hello? . . .” There was no answer. Surely,
he would have heard if he was upstairs. She moved to the front
door, doing her best not to step in any of the bloodstains.

She opened the door and poked her head
outside, ready to slam it shut again should anything jump out of
the dark. It appeared as though there might be dark stains in the
grass, but Liselle ignored them. Stepping out, she was able to see
torches attached to each of the four posts of the porch. The yard
was lit with nine more torches on wooden torch stands, which must
have been found in one of the other houses.

Liselle could see four of the warrior’s
horses tethered to a railing. A dark shiver ran down her spine.
Tathan had killed the leader of the warriors and she had seen him
fight the others, but had just assumed they were all slain. One man
couldn’t possibly kill thirty or so riders all by himself. Her wide
eyes scanned for the warriors she was now certain must be out
there.

A sound came from beyond the torches.
Someone was coming. Liselle looked around and realized she was in
the middle of the torchlight, having come off the porch onto the
path in front of the house. She dashed to her left as quietly as
she could toward the brook, hiding behind a bush a short distance
away. The flowers there opened with concern for her and did their
best to keep her shielded though they didn’t have enough
height.

After a moment, she saw Tathan coming toward
the house with a shovel in his hand and his head bowed heavily. In
a moment of clarity, Liselle realized that he had lost his family
too. “Tathan,” she called out to him. He startled, holding the
shovel in his right hand like a sword. She rose from behind the
bush so he could see her. The look on his face when he realized
there was a shovel in his hand instead of a sword made her giggle
involuntarily in spite of the horrors of the day.

“Liselle! How did you get over there?” He
looked toward the barn behind the house, then to the bush, puzzled.
They walked toward each other, meeting beside one of the torch
stands in the yard.

“I woke up and went looking for you. When I
saw the horses I thought the riders had killed you and were still
here,” she explained. “Where were you and where? . . .” She trailed
off, afraid to ask about their family.

“I was taking care of the bodies. The
warriors are off in the distance to be burned. I’ve buried . . .”
he also trailed off.

Liselle nodded in understanding, barely
managing to keep from falling back into grief. “What do you need me
to do to help?” she asked weakly.

It was not the reaction he expected. “Well,”
he started. “I’m about to burn the bodies of the warriors. I want
to get it done before more come into the valley.”

“More?! What do you mean more?” She looked
to the south, expecting to see riders galloping toward them
already.

He put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
“Peace, Cousin. They’ll not be here this night.” He pointed toward
where he had taken the bodies. “Those were scouts. They lead the
way and find places for their armies to rest and supply. This
valley will be an excellent place for supplies and secluded
training.”

“Army? What army are you talking about?” She
was confused and wrapped her arms around herself. There were no
armies here. It was a peaceful place. “Did you bring this army? Are
they following you Tathan?” she asked.

“Me?” he asked in bewilderment. “Why would
an army follow me? Liselle . . . listen, I . . .” He sighed and put
a comforting arm around her shoulder. “I didn’t bring the army.
I’ve been chased by people before, but never an entire army!”

“You arrived and then the warriors showed up
and killed everyone. They all died, Tathan.” Tears streamed down
her face again. She didn’t want to cry anymore, but couldn’t help
it.

Tears began rolling down his cheeks too. “I
came from the west, through a pass which couldn't handle an army. I
have . . . my own things I’m running from, but no army.”

Liselle looked at the tears on his face and
wiped away her own. “I’m sorry. I know they didn’t follow you, but
. . . I’m just so frightened and confused. . .” she trailed
off.

Tathan took his cousin by the shoulders and
looked into her sad eyes. “I understand. You’re right to be
frightened. What happened tonight is terrible and it’ll be
difficult to overcome. Many people wouldn’t be able to.”

She stared at him for a moment. “Really?”
she asked incredulously. “That’s . . . that’s not at all comforting
. . .”

“I know and I’m sorry. But I just can’t tell
you that everything will be alright. I visited many lands in my
travels and sometimes things aren’t good. There are countless evils
and injustices in the world.” He sighed deeply. “I wish it were
different.”

“Then . . . what do we do now? Do we have no
hope Tathan?” she asked. “Do we just give into the evils and
injustices you speak of?” Despair touched her soul. If the rest of
the world were as terrible as today . . . The flowers closed their
petals at the thought. Liselle wouldn’t allow it, though she had no
idea what to do . . .

He shrugged in embarrassment. “Well . . . I
don’t think we can solve all the problems of the world. I’ve never
really tried to solve . . . any of them really.”

“Really? You don’t try to solve them?” She
crossed her arms and tapped her foot. “You tell me everything is
terrible, I’m going to suffer, the world has problems and . . .
what? We should all just lie down and die?” Her hands moved to her
hips. “How do you keep going? Why bother living at all?” she
demanded.

A sob came out of his body. “I . . . I don’t
. . . know.” He held his arms out to his sides and stared at her
helplessly.

That wasn’t the answer she expected. When
Tathan arrived at the house, he had seemed so confident and
worldly, but now looked so helpless. Liselle reached out, drew her
cousin into a hug, and let him cry on her shoulder. He needed her
right now as much as she needed him.

Once Tathan was able to regain his poise,
Liselle stepped back and collected her thoughts. “Alright, I’ve
burned bodies of sheep with father and Uncle Laremy when sickness
went through the flocks. Doing it to people scares me, but I’m
ready.”

The determination in her bearing impressed
him. “Alright. I was just coming back to check on you and the stew.
I think we should get the fire going right away before . . .”

“Before what?” she asked.

“Before I lose my nerve. I don’t want to do
this.” He looked back toward where the bodies were.

“Oh . . . Why are we burning them? Aren’t
people supposed to be buried?” She thought for a moment, puzzled.
“Why do we bury people when they die? I know that’s what we’re
supposed to do, but I don’t know why.”

Tathan shrugged again. “It’s different
throughout the world. Some cultures put the bodies on a small boat
and cast it out to sea. That’s hard to do when you don’t have an
ocean nearby though.”

“I’ve never been to the ocean,” she said
wistfully. Then she grew somber, realizing the reality of their
situation once more. “I suppose I’ll have the chance . . .”

He looked at her in concern. “Yes, well . .
. We may at that. Some cultures and religions say it’s best to bury
the body to return to the earth. Others say it’s best to burn the
body to free the soul to the heavens. I don’t know which is
best.”

“And the warriors? What do they believe?”
she asked.

“They believe in releasing their souls to
the heavens through fire.” He saw her frown and start to protest.
“Listen,” he said, stopping her before she could speak her mind. “I
always
handle the bodies of the dead as they would have
wished. I don’t like to offend the gods regardless of what their
followers may do to me.”

She stared at him, unconvinced. She wanted
the riders to be destroyed and suffer even more at this point, but
she said nothing and glared at him instead.

Another deep sigh escaped his body. “Well,
shall we?”

“Very well.” They walked toward the bodies.
As they came closer, Liselle could see the pile. There were two
torches on either side of it and Tathan had added a fair amount of
wood to the pile.

“I set them in an area where there were no
flowers,” Tathan said. “It seemed important, but I don’t know
why.”

“Thank you,” Liselle told him with a gentle
touch on his arm.

When he moved to light the pyre, she stopped
him. He looked at her in puzzlement. Liselle stared at the pile of
wood and bodies said, “Let me do this please.”

“Yes, of course. Just let me know if you
need help,” he said.

Liselle breathed evenly as she focused. Her
fingers stretched in front of her and she crouched to brace herself
while gathering in energy to create the fire.

Tathan took several steps back.

The magic gathered around her and she
focused it into the fire she wanted. It was heavy and she used her
mind and body to keep it controlled. Blue fire grew into a ball in
front of her and she made it bigger than she had ever done before.
When she couldn’t build it anymore, she thrust it toward the
pile.

The force of the spell dragged Liselle
forward a few yards, lifted off her feet and then slammed her back
to the ground. She fell to her hands and knees, still watching the
spell to control it.

The fireball hit in a blazing blue
explosion, sending bodies and wood into the air. Bright flames
licked the bodies, engulfing all of them whether they flew a
hundred paces or stayed where they were. Tathan flung his arm over
his eyes. Liselle gazed in awe. A large, but simple fire was all
she had wanted. The fireball was something she had never seen
before.

Fire encased bodies became stars as her
vision darkened. Then she lost consciousness.

Chapter
5

Liselle woke up in the barn once more. As
she sat up, the world tilted and rolled. She groaned and put her
head in her hands. After a moment, she could focus enough to look
around. There was light coming in from around the barn doors,
indicating daytime. She took a deep breath and rose to her feet. It
took a moment, but she steadied herself and walked to the door.

The sun was like a hammer hitting her head
as she peered outside. Closing her eyes, she leaned against the
edge of the doorframe until a shadow crossed over. The afternoon
thunderstorms were gathering and a cloud had just covered the
sun.

Liselle staggered toward the house, still
squinting. Flowers turned toward her as she walked, concerned for
her well-being. There were no sounds in the house as she moved to
the dining room to find Tathan resting his head on crossed arms.
Food was on the table around him.

At first, Liselle went for the food, eager
to fill her belly, but she paused to look closer at Tathan.
“Tathan? . . .”

His head shot up as he looked around, bleary
eyed. “Huh?” he asked before focusing on Liselle. “Oh, you’re
awake. You’ll be starving.” He dished up a plate for her with twice
as much food as she would normally take, but it felt as though she
could gobble all of it and more.

Tathan explained as she ate. “Casting a
spell takes energy from around you, but it also takes energy from
you
. You need food and sleep to recover that energy. “That
was an extremely powerful spell you cast, so eat as much as you
can.”

“Phmmrfll?” she asked, her mouth full.

“What?” His face twisted in confusion as he
tried to interpret what she said.

Food spit out everywhere as she burst into
laughter at the odd look on his face. She laughed and choked as she
tried to swallow, which only made her laugh harder. In a moment, he
was laughing right along with her. It released some stress and
agony at the loss they had experienced.

After a few minutes, the laughter subsided
and Liselle took a drink of cider. “You said the spell was
powerful?”

His eyebrows raised in surprise. “You don’t
know? Magical fire with the ability to destroy, like the one you
cast, is the domain of wizards in high towers,” he explained.
Tathan considered his cousin for a moment. “I’ve never known anyone
so young to cast a spell that strong. How did you learn it?”

“Umm . . . I don’t know?” she said with a
shrug. Liselle
didn’t
know how she had done it and no one
had ever seen her perform magic. She hadn’t felt comfortable
letting her parents know.

“Did anyone teach you how to do it?” he
asked intently.