Songbird (8 page)

“Then Korban came later that year with an army of hardened men. Our magic was barely strong enough to stop them, and we were not fully prepared with sword and shield. We won the day, but many of our people were killed or taken prisoner.

“Weapons had long been forbidden, but with your father’s influence it was decided that we should defend ourselves rather than perish or be captured. The forges took the first of the trees. Iron was plentiful, but mining it also changed the beauty of the grove. It was learning how to fight that brought changes within our people.

“After a few years, Korban returned, and even though we were better prepared, more of our people were slain. Your father was one of the first to die. With his dying breath, he made Hewson promise to help our people escape and forget about revenge. Living, he said, was more important.

“Korban tried bargaining with me again, telling me that he would leave us in peace if I would let him have access to the water. He even told me about you, that you were not dead, but alive and a slave to the king. He promised he would return you to me if I would cooperate.”

Leona’s voice wavered with emotion. “I was so tired of the constant provocation. How could we fulfill our covenant to protect the grove if we were always fighting? The grove had withered with our people, and the bloodshed caused the land to dry up. Soon there would be nothing left.”

Leona rubbed her temples, then took a long drink of the precious water. “I met with Korban not far from here, ready to kill him. He was different from the last time I saw him, and it was almost too late before I realized what it was. To my dismay, his magic had returned.

“It wasn’t the same. Not nearly as powerful as it was before, but the combination of the dark magic with the light nearly overcame me. With his beautiful voice, he willed me into complacency, and then tried to capture me with a
kundar.
Luckily, we were interrupted by my personal guard before he could accomplish his goal and he got away.

“Now I knew it was only a matter of time before he returned, and I was more troubled than ever. How had he regained the magic of our people without the grove water? It is something that I still don’t understand. After his visit, we held a grand council. With our numbers dwindling, we knew this was a war we could not win.

“It was determined that our people would leave the grove and return later when it was safe. It was the only way to survive. A few of our best warriors went after Korban. We prayed for their success. The others began to leave that same night along with your brother. When Hewson heard the news that you were a captive of the king, he was determined to set you free and bring you back.”

Teya straightened. “When was this?”

“Two years ago. Something must have happened. I had nearly given up hope until tonight when I heard your strong voice and I thought he had succeeded.” Sadness shone in her eyes and she sighed heavily. “Now I wonder if any of our people made it to safety.”

Leona’s shoulders sagged with sorrow and she seemed to shrivel with age. “With the loss of our people, the grove began to shrink. We were losing the battle and I needed to do something to protect what remained of the grove. I knew Korban would return and bring others with him, so I released the Destroyer.”

Teya’s mouth dropped open in astonishment. “The dark mist out there is your doing?”

“Yes,” Leona sighed. “I knew it would keep all but true Kalorians out of the grove. What I didn’t know was that it would slowly destroy it. I can’t bind the Destroyer by myself. I’ve done what I can with the pipes, but every day, the Destroyer grows in strength. It kills every living thing in its path and with each death, it grows more powerful. Soon, even I will not be able to hold it back, and the grove will fail.”

“Is there nothing we can do?”

Leona smiled sadly. “Yes, my child, there are two possibilities. If the people return to tend the grove, it will flourish once again, and we can seal the Destroyer away. They must be found and brought back. This will be your burden. If this cannot be done, there is something else.”

She raised her hand to the tree and one of the branches lowered to her. She tugged something away from the branch and held it out to Teya. “This is a seed.” The seed was hardly bigger than an acorn. In oval shape, it glistened with shades of green and blue that swirled around a white pinpoint of light at its center. Teya couldn't look away from the dazzling brilliance.

Leona carefully placed it in a small leather pouch and gave it to Teya. “Safeguard this with your life. If this grove is destroyed, it will be the end of the Kalorians. The time of magic will be over, but this world can still go on if this seed is planted. The new tree will balance the good and the evil. The tree from this seed will not fail because it will not need our magic to survive.”

“I don’t know if I can do this,” Teya said, unsure she could handle this heavy task. “What if I fail? Are you sure it’s not something you should do?”

“I am not strong enough to leave the grove. I’m a lot older than you think. It is only the water that preserves me, and if I’m away from it too long I will die.” She squeezed Teya’s hands reassuringly. “I don’t think it is a coincidence that you are here at this moment. Perhaps all you have been through...was meant to happen, so that you could be here now...when you’re needed the most. You have a great gift, Teya, and properly trained, no one can stand against you.”

“But I’m not trained,” Teya said. “I don’t know what I’m doing or how to do it.” 

“I can help you learn. Together we can strengthen the grove before you leave and that will also help. I can teach you the basics and how to open yourself to your gift. After that, you will learn to recognize how to use it on your own.”

Teya sat quietly, absorbed in her grandmother’s words. The grove was hushed and heavy, even the spring seemed frozen, waiting for her reply. In all the years she’d been held captive, the only thing she’d wanted was to come home.

Now, the home she knew no longer existed. There was no choice in the matter. It was only fear that held her silent. Could she save her people and the grove? If she couldn’t do it, no one would. “When do you want to start?”

“Thank you,” Leona said, clasping Teya’s hands. “It won’t be easy, but I know you can do it. We’ll start first thing in the morning. Now...I know you’re both exhausted. My cottage isn’t much, but I have a place where you can sleep.”

****

Bran didn’t mind being on his own the next day, but he hoped Teya’s training wouldn’t take too long. Leona gave him the job of checking on the pipes around the grove, so at least he had something to do, but he figured the real reason was to keep him out of their way.

He shook his head in amazement at Teya’s story and her resilience in the face of all her hardships. At a young age she had gone through so much. He couldn’t imagine being ripped from her family as a child, only to spend the next ten years in captivity. 

The cruelty she’d known enduring time in the ‘box’ was something that could twist a person, and make them unpredictable and unstable. Yet here she was, taking on the responsibility of restoring the grove and her people.

Her grandmother’s story sounded like something out of a fairy tale, but after spending the night in the grove and feeling the effects of the water, he had no choice but to believe every word. Then she’d asked Teya to save her people. He knew that wasn’t something Teya had expected, but what choice did she have? After everything she’d been through and now this? But she surprised him again by accepting this challenge without complaint. 

Her courage humbled him in the face of such overwhelming odds. She had come through so much with an indomitable spirit, and his heart swelled with admiration. He knew that hardships often brought strength, but until now, he never understood how deep it could go. Now he was caught up in something he barely understood, and he wondered what he had gotten himself into. Still, he couldn’t desert Teya now. He just hoped they got out of it in one piece.

He reached the periphery between the grove and the wasteland. There was no sign of the Destroyer in the stark countryside, but he couldn’t help the shiver of unease that coursed through his veins. As long as the breeze held, at least the pipes worked.

Spaced ten feet apart, a few of them caught the breeze most of the time. This helped settle his nerves, but he decided not to venture too close to the edge. Already, he could see that the grass around the pipes had turned yellow. How much longer could they hold back the Destroyer?

One thing was certain. His plans had changed. Finding the Kalorians took precedence over everything else. He still needed to find
sym
, but he felt that the Kalorians were the key to that as well. If Korban had new magic as Leona said, Bran figured that
sym
was involved. Korban seemed to be the link to everything. Now he just had to figure out how to find him.

Bran still marveled at the effects of the water. With nothing else to eat or drink, he was surprised at how healthy and satisfied he felt. Not only that, but he knew he was stronger. Curious, he decided to test his body and managed to crank out a few hundred push-ups and sit-ups without breaking a sweat. His muscles were actually bulging. He was toned before, but nothing like this.

Bran could hardly fault Korban for wanting the water. If there was a way to save the grove, it had to be done. Bran felt a sweeping desire to take as much water as he could when he left the grove. Just for him. He could imagine the benefits to everything he did, especially in his line of work.

The possibilities were endless. A lot of people could be helped by just a small amount. It could be the cure for an illness, and perhaps even stop death in its tracks. People would pay any price for something like that, and it could make him filthy rich.

As that thought percolated in his mind, Bran took a deep breath and pushed it away. Thoughts of money and power like that never brought about any good. Deep down, he knew the water wasn’t meant to be used that way, but it was easy to get caught up in the allure of it all, and it certainly made sense that someone like Korban wouldn’t have second thoughts about exploiting it.

With a sigh, he turned his thoughts to Jax and Clare, and hoped they had made it out of the city in one piece. The king would pay a lot to have Clare back, and he didn’t want anything to happen to her. Hopefully Jax could make it back inside and would be waiting at the inn for his return.

The fact that soldiers followed them to the cabin bothered him as well, although if he thought about it, what Teya said made sense. If the
kundar
released some sort of magic when he took it off, it could have alerted a search party nearby if someone was using
sym
and felt it. He just didn’t know. At least he didn’t have to worry about being followed to the grove. The Destroyer would see to that.

Daylight waned as he neared the last of the pipes, and he was surprised that he’d managed to check the entire perimeter. Up ahead, three of the pipe stands were down, so he dismounted and ambled toward them, leaving his horse to munch on the grass.

As he picked one of them up, a slight chill settled over him. Then he realized that he couldn’t hear the pipes. The sudden silence shocked Bran into action. With enhanced speed from the grove water, Bran got the first one up, then the second, before the mist broke through. It surrounded him as he reached for the third, and his strength ebbed.

It was like wading through mud to lift the pipes from the ground, and with no breeze to make them whistle, he put them to his lips and blew. The tones broke through the mist around him, giving him a moment’s respite. He used that time to take a deep breath and blow harder.

The mist withdrew further from his immediate vicinity, but without the backup of the other pipes, it waited like a coiled snake to strike. He kept blowing, and within minutes, began to feel light-headed. If a breeze didn’t come soon, he was going to black out. 

As his vision narrowed, a stiff breeze ruffled his hair and a chorus of pipes broke through the silence. The mist flinched away, as if in pain, then vanished into the waste, leaving Bran out of breath, but alive. With the notes singing from the pipes, Bran sat back on his heels and caught his breath. 

As his heart settled down, he pulled out his waterbag and took a long drink. Instantly refreshed, he turned his attention to the pipe stands and pushed them solidly into the ground so the wind couldn’t blow them over again.

He shuddered to think that the wind and pipes were the only things that held the Destroyer back. It seemed such a tenuous hold and he knew time was running out. With the last rays of the sun fading into the horizon, he took a quick look into the wasteland, then headed back to the grove.

Teya waited for him at the edge of the trees. She wore a shimmering blue gown that seemed to be covered with starlight and his breath caught. Her beauty astounded him, scattering his thoughts to the wind, and he stopped to stare, speechless in her presence. She seemed more exotic than ever, almost like she didn’t belong to this world.

“Come,” Teya said, breaking the spell. “Tonight my grandmother and I sing to strengthen the grove against the Destroyer. Tomorrow we will leave.”

As she took his hand she smiled up at him and Bran’s breath hitched at the sheer beauty she radiated. In a daze, he walked beside her through the trees and into the cottage.