The Descendants Book One: The Broken Scroll (32 page)

When they arrived at the gates, Kayleigh explained her errands of earlier in the day.  She had secured a fourth pooka for her to ride.  She also said quickly that the large pack tied to her ride held extra food, clothing, and weapons, should they need them.  She had certainly prepared properly.  Davin was grateful. 

Maybe we’d be more prepared if he had a woman with us all of the time.
 

“I’m curious about the weapons you brought,” Egan said. 

She pointed out of bow and quiver of arrows as well as a long sword, two daggers, and some light armor. 

Egan raised his eyebrows, impressed.  “You have the equipment, but can you fight?” 

“I know the basics, but I was hoping that one of you fine gentlemen might be willing to teach me a little more.” 

“I’m sure that can be arranged.  We have a bit of traveling ahead,” Egan said. 

Davin found her preparation and willingness to learn combat impressive as well.  She seemed determined to make herself useful, no matter what it meant in the end. 

In a few minutes time, they rode past the outskirts of Tilea.  They could now make out the lights from the neighboring towns and single homes and shops that made up the Greenlands.  Davin hoped he would someday be able to visit some of the other towns here.  He realized that he had probably seen the worst the region had to offer in Tilea.

“Is there no place safe for us to stay anymore?” Davin said, feeling frustrated. 

“Probably not,” said Egan.  “We need to
stick to the roads from here on out.  No more major cities unless absolutely necessary.  The king is looking is seeking all of us for one reason or another.”

“Why do you say all of us?”  She pointed at Egan and Davin.  “I know they may want me and you two.”   She then nodded at Teague.  “But what about him?”   

“I think it is time to tell our fair Kayleigh who you truly are.”  Teague swiftly turned his head and gave Egan a frightened stare.  “It is fine.  She can be trusted.”

Teague puffed out his chest and spoke in the most regal manor he could muster.  “I am the King O’Hara’s only child, the one and only Prince Teague O’Hara, though I claim the name no longer.  My father cast me from his side and tried to have me killed.  He is no longer right in his mind.”

Kayleigh didn’t react initially.  When she finally did speak her voice was soft.  “I knew this whole time.  I recognized him when we first met.  I figured you had your reasons for keeping his identity secret so I did not pursue it.”  

“Very well, then,” Egan said. 

After that, they kept the conversation light while still in heavily populated areas.  When they had been on the road for nearly a day, Davin asked Egan the question they had all been thinking.

“How did that man have the powers we have?  It seems like the same situation as was the case with Governor Gradis.  He couldn’t have been one of our kin too, could he?”

Egan answered.  “No, neither of them was.  I know that now for fact.  Somehow ordinary men have been able to use Ancients’ power.  I don’t understand it.  But from what that wretch said, it seems to have something to do with Deverell.” 

A tru
e frustration had crept into Egan’s demeanor.  Davin could tell Egan felt there was some clue he was overlooking.  It was something Davin had yet to see in the man since he’d met him. 

Davin tried to reassure him.  “It will do us no good to dwell on the matter until we have more to go on.” 

Egan smiled at him and nodded.  “You are right, Davin.  We should keep our thoughts on finding the Scroll.” 

But Egan didn’t seem to be able to let it go.  He became lost in his thoughts after that, so Davin struck up conversation with Teague. 

Teague told him about Talamaraon City and its wonders, while they both speculated about the Ancients and what it would have been like to live in their time.  Davin only spoke to Kayleigh when she directly addressed him and kept his answers to a minimum.  All the talking passed the time nicely and stretched well into the morning light. 

Through the complex series of the Greenlands’ roads, they came to have strangers as traveling companions for short stretches.  Most of them were lively, good-spirited men or families going from one city to another for various reasons.  And nearly all of them rode along side and shared the delight of simple talks. 

One particular family was traveling with their son to the Acadeem at Oamlund for the first time.  The boy was only a couple of years younger than Davin and spoke excitedly about his Focus.  Davin never had never any interest in the Acadeems in the past, but now found him wishing for that simplicity.  Had he known that his life would have taken this direction when he was young, he might have had a different attitude about becoming a student. 

I could still do it someday.  People of all ages attend the Acadeems. 

Time passed swiftly because of their interactions with the fellow Greenlands travelers, and four days out of Tilea they were deep in the plains again. 

Egan kept to himself a lot, only commenting when he had something important to about their direction or future plans.  And the other three eventually spent more and more time in silence as well.  They were barely stopping to rest and it was taking its toll.  

One cloud covered night in the plains Kayleigh approached Davin for the first time.  Seeing her out of the corner of his eye, he looked up.  His heart fluttered. 
Why? 
She stopped a few feet from him and stared with a piercing gaze.  Wavy hair swayed in the night breeze, brushing gingerly against her smooth face as she stood in front of him.  The deep dark caused by the overcast could not hide her pleasant features. 

“What’s your story, Davin of Lemirre?  You have yet to say much about yourself,” she said curiously in her strong voice.  And she took a seat next to him. 

Davin looked down at the ground.  “There isn’t much to say,” he said, shrugging her off. 

“Of course there is.  Everyone has a story.  What are you afraid of?” 

“Who says I’m afraid of anything?” Davin said, automatically defensive. 

She laugh
ed in a disarming way that told him his response hadn’t bothered her.  But he couldn’t tell her about his past. 

“Somebody’s a little jumpy,” she teased, her l
augh sobering into a sharp smile.

“It’s nothing, I’d rather just not talk about it,” he answered
. 
Worried he was sounding rude, he added quickly, “We can talk about something else though.”

She shrugged lazily.  “I’d rather hear something about you
.  I don’t know anything about you.  But if it is painful to think about, I can relate.” 

Davin smirked.  “I don’t think you can.” 

“Really,” she said,” try me.”

There was a challenge in her tone that he wasn’t in the mood for.  And then what if she had suffered a worse thing then him, he would look stupid. 

He sighed.  “Lemirre is a boring little town and nothing too exciting happened there.”

She pursed her lips and stared at him.  If that’s the case, w
hy would you not want to talk about it then?” 

Pushing him to talk didn’t make him want to.  And he wasn’t quite ready to tell this girl that he hardly knew that he hadn’t really been too nice of a person the last few years. 

He looked at her for one second and then turned away.  “I don’t think you need to know.  It’s not important and I don’t want to talk about,” he snapped, harsher than he meant to. 

She frowned and walked away from him. 
“I see.  Sorry to have bothered you, Davin.”  She sounded polite and disappointed at the same time. 

This was the last thing he wanted. 

“Wait,” he called.  And as she turned around he fell silent.  He didn’t mind talking to her and definitely didn’t want to turn her off to him.  But his mind went blank as she stared at him.  How could he change the topic?

Why is it always so hard to strike up ligh
t conversation with girls? 

To Davin’s surprise, she smiled.  “It’s fine.  We will talk more another time.” 

As she left him, he almost called out to her to stop again. 

He
almost wanted to tell her about his attitude toward the world, toward people, toward his past…almost. 

When he
tired of rehashing the conversation over again in his head, he decided to practice Driocht to get his mind off of the situation.  But he had only just picked up the orb when Egan came to him hurriedly.  He thought for sure that Egan was going to scold him for acting so rudely to Kayleigh.  Thankfully, he had other plans.  Egan ushered him away from the camp site.  Davin joined him on the other side of some large rock structures. 

“It’s time for you to begin dueling with me,” Egan said.  Davin’s heart leapt.  He had been waiting to do this since starting to learn Driocht.  But he was a bit nervous as well.  It was a real battle from what Egan had informed him.  Losing wouldn’t be pleasant, even if he knew they weren’t out to kill one another. 

“Tonight, we will take it slowly.  This is your first duel so we will make it basic,” Egan instructed.  “Cast whatever form you want your fire to take and I will attempt to block it with the power from this orb.”  He held up the light green sphere. 

He continued when Davin nodded.  “Then I will do the same to you.  We will continue this pattern until the orbs need Gathering or one of us is hit.”  Davin nodded again. 

They took twenty paces from each other to provide a good distance.  Davin began breathing heavy in anticipation for them to start.  He had no idea how hard Egan was going to be on him.  The memory of his first day of training at Liam’s house sprang to mind. 

“Begin,” Egan said without any further ado. 

Davin watched him bend his legs slightly with his arms stiffly hanging a few inches from the side of his body.  Obviously, this was a sort of ready position for a duel.  Davin copied him to get a feel for it as he thought of his first attack.  

He suddenly thrust his hand forward and cast a fire ball the size of Egan’s head.  It shot at him with blinding speed.  Egan side stepped it easily.  He didn’t even have to use Driocht to block it, Davin noted.  It disappeared quickly after it past him.   

In return, Egan spread his arms wide and powerful gusts shot out at his sides.  Davin watched as he tried figure out what they were going to do.  Before he could react they circled and knocked him to the ground from behind.  He lay there with his face in the dirt and a sharp pain in his nose, embarrassed. 

As he stood up Egan called to him.  “Be more creative in your attack and your defense.  You are only confined by your imagination.  Start again.” 

This time Davin took a moment longer, trying to think of a way to outsmart Egan.  He wanted to learn this fast.  He tired of still having to be trained and he just wanted to proficient at everything already.  But things didn’t work like that in the real world.  It was a childish dream.

An idea came to him. 

He lit the grass in front of him and burned it swiftly in a straight line toward Egan.  Egan slammed his fist at the ground with the power of a strong gust behind it.  Clumps of dirt flew into the air from the pressure of the blast.  He slammed them back down at the head of the line of fire, smothering it.  He barely noticed in time the mound of flame dropping quickly over his head.  It singed his hair before he shot a blast of wind above him and blew it back into the air.  It dissipated as Davin’s concentration fell. 

“Much better, Davin, that was impressive,” Egan commended.  Davin felt contented with himself too.  He had to try hard to repress a smile.  “Good use of the environment and distraction.  But try not to set the entire countryside on fire, will you?” 

Egan had them go a few more rounds and then called the practice at an end for the night.  They returned to camp to find that Teague and Kayleigh had gone to sleep, looking peaceful in their dreams.  Davin thought that he would probably sleep well tonight as well. 

The next day saw the same routine.  During the day, while traveling, conversation was kept to a minimum.  But late in the day they reached the base of the foothills and decided to set up camp early.  This put them in good spirits. 

But Davin’s mood didn’t last.  Throughout much of the talks that evening, Davin felt Kayleigh trying to pry open his thoughts.  He still didn’t want to talk about himself.  He made extra careful to keep quiet when others were speaking of such matters.  Egan continued to keep to himself completely until it was time for their next duel. 

Egan relished in showing Davin the complexities of Driocht.  And Davin truly enjoyed this as well so he couldn’t complain.  Egan taught him many different ways to bend a particular orb’s power.  It amazed Davin what kind of techniques you could use to attack with just one element.  One could use the wind power and simply bowl over attackers with a strong gust.  One could send an enemy high up into the air and let them fall to their deaths.  Or they could even contain the magic into such a tight space that it would cut like a knife through the body.  Davin was most impressed, however, with the fact that he could learn to up root entire trees and send them crashing into opponents.