She had to move. 'Keep going,' she told herself. 'It's only a little farther.'
She reached the opening as the flames licked at it. She saw stalks of straw ignite and fall to the floor in her path. If she crawled through there, they would fall right on her, but if she stayed where she was, the path would soon be aflame, trapping her there.
She crawled towards the opening, wiggling as she did, trying to shed any flaming debris from her skin before it could do any damage. She choked, coughing until her eyes hurt, but she made progress. The falling debris landed on her back, searing her as she advanced. She cried out in pain and collapsed in frustration.
She lay there panting shallowly, trying to keep from breathing in the smoke and waiting to be burned alive.
She reached out to Lorit. She could feel his magic. He was still alive. She heard him calling out to her, but it was distant and weak. "The Firebird," he reminded her.
Chihon reached for the magic of the Firebird. It was born of fire, and would shelter her from the flames. As she focused on it, the flames seemed to cool off around her. The pain receded and she felt as if the fire were extinguished.
She knew it was not the fire that changed, but her.
The flames continued to lick at the straw. The smoke lowered to the floor, but none of this affected her as she crawled through the straw and back towards the opening from which she had first emerged.
She quickly made her way along, back to the room where she had met the little golden man.
He was gone.
She reached out to Lorit. He was clear and distinct once again and he was close, but she couldn't tell exactly where.
"Lorit, are you all right?" she asked.
"I'm fine," he replied through their magical link.
"Where are you?" She was still unable to locate him.
"I'm in the Wizard's Keep. Near the Library."
Lorit made his way down the dusty hall towards Chihon. He had heard her call out to him earlier. He wanted to comfort her after her trial and explain to her that Zhimosom was still alive somewhere, but trapped. He could feel her magic from down the hallway. The immediate danger was over and she was starting to calm down.
He rushed forward, only to stop short as he came face to face with a large hairy beast. It was almost as tall as Lorit and had long sharp tusks. This was not your homestead swine; it was a monster from the forest. It was a killer.
It lowered its head and snorted. Lorit raised his hands in defense, trying to think of a spell that would incapacitate the animal. He was just about to start the spell when he heard Chihon's scream, both out loud and in his head.
He reached out and looked through her eyes. She was face to face with the largest mountain lion that Lorit had ever seen. The thing was easily capable of killing a horse, and it was crouched in front of her, ready to spring.
Lorit calmed himself, trying not to think about the swine snorting and digging at the floor in front of him as it prepared to charge. He focused on Chihon and her fear. He concocted a spell that he hoped would stop the mountain lion. If he could confuse its senses, maybe he could distract it long enough for Chihon to get past.
He reached out with his senses, crafting a wall of light and sound to send after the mountain lion. He was just starting to visualize it when Chihon screamed at him. "Lorit, watch out."
The swine was charging, head down, razor sharp tusks sticking out as it came. Lorit looked for a place to jump up, to duck into, or under. He felt a notch open in the wall and squeezed himself into it, raising his shield as he did. He kept his focus on Chihon and on the wall of light and sound he was projecting at the mountain lion as he squeezed himself into the crevice. The swine rushed towards him but passed him by. He took no relief from its passing and forced the wall of light and sound at the mountain lion.
He called out to Chihon. "Cover your ears." He pushed the wall at the cat, wrenching the sound and light from around them into the cat's face. The creature shuddered when the noise hit and crumpled to the ground. He could feel Chihon jump over it and run towards him. In moments, she was in his arms.
"Zhimosom, he's alive," Lorit said. "I saw him sitting in a cage, surrounded by a large transparent bubble. He's alive, but trapped in the underwater tunnels. I only just made it out by using the magic of the nymphs."
Lorit tugged at her arm. "We can free him, don't worry about the water, you'll be safe."
Chihon pulled him up short. "I saw him, too. He was in a cage surrounded by straw, and it caught on fire. I was only able to escape by accessing the magic of the Firebird."
Lorit stopped and turned back to face her. "So what did we see? Was it really him?"
"I don't know," Chihon said. "I think it was part of the test. We still need to get the Council's attention."
Lorit reached out his hand and took hers. He envisioned the Council chamber and pulled.
Lorit appeared not in the Council chambers as he expected, but in the midst of an army. Alone.
The men were weary and scarred from battle, but were currently resting. Soldiers sat around a fire, sharpening their swords.
Test of Power
A voice called to Lorit from the dark.
It was Sir Adane.
"Good to see you again, old friend. We can surely use your help," he said.
"What's happening?" Lorit asked. "I was just in the Wizards' Keep and suddenly I found myself here."
"I don't know what brought you here, but I sure am glad you've come," Sir Adane said. "We were ambushed. We were on our way home when we were set upon. They cut through our ranks like a hot knife. We were lucky to fall back to a safe position. I fear the morning will bring about our deaths."
"Surely you can stand against any army. How did they defeat you?"
"This foe is one who doesn't die when you strike them."
"Doesn't die? Is there some magic about them that preserves them?" Lorit thought back to the Queen's fighters and how they were protected by her magic.
"Nothing protects them. They can't die because they're already dead."
"Already dead?"
"Yes, they're already dead. Some Wizard has raised up an army of shades to send against us. If you were not here, I would have said all hope is lost. You can help us, can't you?"
Lorit looked at the knight. His armor was scuffed and he looked like he hadn't slept in days. "I will try. How is the Queen?"
"She's resting. This is taking a lot out of her. Come." Sir Adane led Lorit to the tent that Queen Ukina occupied in the field. The knight lifted the flap and motioned him inside.
The Queen sat on the floor, her legs crossed, arms folded in silent contemplation. Lorit lowered himself to the floor across from her without saying a word. He waited until she opened her eyes and looked at him.
"It's my brother. I know it."
"Prince Ghall?"
"Yes, but he's no longer Prince Ghall, now he's Brother Ghall." She spat it as if it were a swear word. "He's gone over to them and has threatened the realm. He wants to create a kingdom run by the Temple."
"Why do you think it's him?" Lorit knew she had become sensitive to magic since her ordeal.
"He's been to visit me. He came again last night and offered me a chance to surrender before the attack. I refused." She gestured to the encampment around here. "What you see is the consequence of that refusal."
A shimmer appeared in the air between Lorit and Ukina. It took on the form of a young man, and solidified. It was Ghall.
"Lorit! How nice of you to join the battle. My friends have filled me in on your adventures. Glad you could be here to witness the fitting end of my sister's story. I'm so sad that you will not live to see me take over the kingdom and establish rule by the Temple in Veldwaite."
"Don't be too sure about that." Lorit stood and raised his staff. He could feel the Temple magic in the boy, but it was not as strong as the Priests he had faced.
Before he could raise a spell, Ghall laughed. His image turned back to mist and dissipated away.
"You see? My brother has turned." Ukina stood up. "Can you help us?"
"I'll do my best," Lorit said.
"Let's hope it is enough."
Suddenly, the sound of a horn split the air, three short blasts followed by two long ones.
"They're attacking," Sir Adane ducked out of the tent and rushed to join the battle.
Lorit followed him into the chill morning air. The sun was just rising, casting a red glow over the battle. Lorit saw the opposing army charging up the hill. They were indeed dead, as Sir Adane had indicated.
The entire advancing horde was dead and decayed, with skin hanging from bones that clattered as they came. Some held shields and brandished swords; others just farm implements and sticks they must have found along their way.
The sea of dead crashed against the army with a stench Lorit recognized from the graveyard. The din of battle was deafening.
Lorit reached out with his magic to examine them. There was a component of Temple magic to them, the mixed blend of captives who'd had their lives stolen by the Temple, along with a new power, one of death and decay that Lorit did not recognize.
He tried to raise a shield and push them back, but they simply walked through it. He could feel the army of the dead overpower the spells he threw at them. Lorit raised a fireball and hurled it. It struck one of the dead, who flashed brightly, turned to ash, and vanished, only to be replaced immediately by another from behind.
He raised another fireball in each hand and hurled them at the advancing shades. Each one exploded in a satisfying shower of sparks as the fireball struck, but every dead soldier he dispatched was immediately replaced by another just as dead.
Lorit kept the effort up until he had a small ring of clear space before him and Sir Adane. He was growing tired and wondered how long he could keep up the effort. It was quickly draining his powers.
He reached out for the elementals and harnessed their magic. He dug deep into the earth to harness the raw stuff of magic. He called out to Kal'ryni, but it was no good. There simply was not enough power to keep the invading army back, much less defeat them.
"I can't stop them," Lorit said as he fell to his knees exhausted. "They're too strong."
"There must be something you can do!" Queen Ukina cried. "Lorit. We need you. Do something. Please"
He looked at the advancing hoard. He tried to quiet his panic and slow his breathing.
Think. What would stop them?
Lorit reached to one of the dead and examined it. It was a farmer from a nearby town that had been animated by the Temple's magic. It took considerable magic to animate the dead. He could feel it, swirling around and through the army. They felt nothing, they thought nothing, and they attacked under command of a Wizard that Lorit could not see.
He carefully grasped at the thread of magic that controlled one of the dead. He felt its fiber and strength. As with the Queen, there was no way he could sever each thread individually, it would take as much power as banishing each of them individually.
He played with the thread, searching for the compulsion, the command, that drove them onward. He felt a subtle influence of the witch woven among the power of the Temple. He could sense the death and decay of that power. It was a witch's power that guided them; it was the Temple's power that sustained them.
He crafted a thread of his own. This one was of death and decay even more than that of the witch's magic. He twisted the magic he drew from the elementals into the new strands, creating thousands of threads, all imbued with the death and decay he felt in the witch's magic.
He held the threads in his hands and surveyed the host of dead. He cast the threads over them, guiding his power outwards. The new crimson and rust threads settled over the bodies of the invading army.
The dead started to decay, the skin melted off their bones, leaving only skeletons battling the knights. Soon those turned dry and brittle, breaking with the impact of each thrust until finally they turned to dust and fell to the ground.
Soon the horde was gone; the ground before Lorit was littered with abandoned weapons, tools, and scraps of clothing. Even those quickly deteriorated until all that remained were small streaks of rust where weapons had lain.
"You did it," Ukina cried.
"I did it." Lorit turned to her, but felt a sudden jerk. It looked like he was to face still more trials.
Chihon found herself not in the Council Chamber where Lorit had planned to take her, but in an inn. It looked vaguely familiar. The little gold man sat on the table.
"Found him, didn't you?" He looked up at her with a wide grin.
"Where am I?" Chihon looked around the inn. It was the Broken Dagger inn.
"Where you need to be," the little man said.
"Why am I here?"
"To prove your power." The little man hopped down from the table and walked over to her. You found what you sought, that is clear; you must prove your power now.
"If you succeed, you pass on to the next test. If you fail, these people die." He jumped up on the table near Chihon to put his face at her eye level. He leaned in towards her, looking her in the eye. "Don't fail."
The little gold man jumped down from the table and turned towards the door.
"Who are you?" Chihon called after him.
"I am your friend. We knew each other well once. You honored me greatly." With that, he simply faded away.
The door burst open and Hatther entered. Chihon recognized the Wizard Hatther from her prior visit. He was out of breath and looked disheveled and tired.
"You have to help. It's out of hand."
"What's out of hand?" Chihon asked.
"The epidemic. It's out of hand. People are sick all over. I've contained it, but they're all going to die if we don't help them."
"WHAT? I thought it was only going to affect the invaders. What happened?"
"Two days ago people started getting sick. The Atenthi all died out the day you left. Everyone else was fine. Until two days ago."