Chapter 15

Chapter 15

“WHAT!” the king exclaimed.

“He was accompanied by an old woman. He did not seem himself, but he gave all the proper pass codes and performed the right spells to access it. I came as soon as he was gone.”

Kaion paced behind his desk.

“We will mount a search party for him. Surely this woman was the witch Zagalis spoke of,” he said, looking at Ashira.

“It's likely,” she said.

“Sir, I want to search for Prince Kirdan,” Ivarus said.

Kaion looked at him and smiled.

“You are a true patriot, Ivarus. I am lucky to have a soldier such as you.”

Kaion sat down again, his head in his hands.

“Corthin,: he said, addressing the soldier. “I want you to head a search party. There are two ruins that are far from anywhere that this extraction ritual could take place. Ivarus,” he said, looking at the man, “I want you to head the other party. Corthin will go to Speculi Point, at the southern tip of the plateau. Ivarus will go to the Mancana Ruins, in the foothills of the Oerard range in Acustia.”

“What about me?” Ashira asked.

“You are the stewardess. We cannot let them get their hands on you. You will stay here, where I can protect you,” Kaion said.

“What!”Ashira protested.

“Sir!” Ivarus said at the same time. “I respect your desires, but she is a powerful mage to have with on our side. Surely we should use her abilities to our advantage?”

“She is Kaias's and Zagalis's target. We would be handing her over to them if we sent her to help retrieve my son.”

“I want to go, your majesty,” Ashira said.

Corthin spoke up.

“You mean, she is a stewardess? We could use a person like her on our side, sir. I agree with Ivarus.”

The king looked between the three of them and saw the defiance in their eyes.

“Fine. But I want Ashira to go with Ivarus. Sorry, Corthin,” he apologized to the soldier. “Ivarus has had special training, and I would trust him with my own life. You,” he said, now looking at Ivarus, “watch her and do not let her get hurt. She was caught up in all this by no fault of her own, even if she now volunteers for it.”

“How do you know they are heading to ruins?” Corthin asked.

“My memories,” Ashira said. “He examined them just now when you came in.”

“Both ruins had places where a relic was once kept,” Kaion said. “It could be either one of those places that they plan on doing the extraction.”

Ashira cringed at the word, afraid of what it might entail.

“It is late, and I apologize for that, but we must ride immediately. We may be able to stop them if we do not let them get much of a head start,” Kaion said. He directed Corthin to gather a company of forty to accompany him to Speculi Point.

“Ivarus, I am going to send you out while I send word to the other Egregia in Aetheris. They will catch up to you. I want you to try to head off Kirdan and whoever is with him. If you find them, do whatever you can to impede them, but do not reveal Ashira. Even you are not a match for Kaias and Zagalis.”

Ivarus saluted and turned away.

“Let's go, Ashira,” he said, walking to the door.

“Ashira,” said Kaion. “Thank you for helping to find my son. I'm glad to know the stewardess of Celfstein is a person of moral character.”

She bowed her thanks, then turned and followed Ivarus.

Ashira was exhausted. She had seen much action during the day. Now it was dark out, but she kept pushing forward. They had been provided with warm traveling cloaks and enough food to last until Premoi. The castle had given them both horses, some of their fastest, to ride to Premoi. Ashira had only been on a horse once, and was not used to riding. Ivarus instructed her, telling her not to be afraid, but to have confidence. The horse would sense her fear. She had to practice directing the horse for a few minutes. He told her how to sit in the saddle, told her what the various parts were, and guided her a bit across the plains outside Aetheris.

He showed her a map of Camena. They would backtrack, going through the Vento pass back to Premoi. They would take the river downstream to Ceantir, then walk through the forest and foothills to the ruins.

By the time the night was half gone, Ashira was riding the horse well enough that it was not too uncomfortable. Ivarus pushed them at a moderate pace, letting her doze a little.

An hour before dawn, they were ambushed.

Ashira had requested a stop to relieve herself. She had just returned to the horses when Ivarus shouted out.

“Drop!”

He fell to his hands and knees. Ashira did the same. She felt something pass overhead, then heard a crunch as whatever it was landed on the ground beyond her.

Ivarus was up in a second, searching the dark prairie for their attacker. He drew his sword, Ashira drew her dagger.

Ten figures in hooded robes stepped from the tall grass around the road, encircling them.

“Speak your intent or face my blade,” Ivarus called to the shadows.

“We seek your life!” said one, a man. In one motion, he unsheathed two knives from his waist and threw them at the pair. Ivarus knocked his aside with his blade. Ashira told her to stop, and it did so, hovering in the air. She directed it back at the man, holding it to his neck.

“You will not be taking that today,” she said with a voice as cold as the surrounding countryside.

“She's a Celfsteinian!” voiced one from behind her.

“Attack!” shouted one, and the action began.

Ashira commanded the blade to impale the man in the neck. He fell to his knees. Two came from behind her. She turned and blocked a sword with her dagger. “Become as water!” she commanded the sword. As it obeyed, turning into a puddle of liquid metal, the other cast a spell, sending gravel and rock flying up around her. She couldn't see, the dust getting in her eyes. “Clear away!” she yelled, and the dust dispersed. The man came at her through the dust, two short sword in his hands. She defended, blocking the hits as best as she could. She stomped her foot, and the earth below the man shot upward in a column, sending him sprawling. She turned and saw a man aiming an arrow at Ivarus. She stomped her other foot, and the ground below the archer crumbled, turning into fine sand. He lost his balance and fell, the arrow going awry.

Somebody tackled her from behind, bringing them both to the ground. She struggled as the man held her face down in the dirt.

“Disarm me, eh? I'll show you!”

Ashira screamed. Ivarus, fighting his own two men, could not help her. She looked ahead and saw another archer, this one aiming for her head.

Unable to move anything else, she pounded her forehead on the ground. The earth shook, causing the archer to stumble and fall. Ivarus came forward and cut the man's head off. She hit the ground again. Soil crept up the arms of the man pinning her down.

“What? Get it off!” he yelled.

She concentrated, forcing the soil up his chest and neck and into his mouth. She heard him coughing above her. In a moment he stopped, slumping to one side. She pushed him off as best as she could and stood, looking around wildly.

Ivarus had dispatched of the rest, except for one. He was running away, down the road toward Vento Pass.

“We cannot let any escape!” Ivarus said, cursing. “They cannot know about you!”

Ashira nodded. She closed her eyes, concentrating on the warm feeling flooding her veins. She brought up a wall of the earth in front of the fleeing man.

The escapee hit the wall of soil and fell back. He screamed as the wall fell toward him, crushing him.

The pair stood there for a moment. Ashira was breathing heavily, as though she had just run fifteen kilometers. She felt suddenly light-headed and went down on one knee.

“Ashira!” Ivarus said. He knelt beside her.

“I'm fine,” she said. “Just pushed myself too hard.”

“Don't do that!” he said, chastising her. “Don't kill yourself trying to do too much at once.”

“I know. I just need a moment to rest,” she said weakly. She looked around at the bodies strewn on the ground. “Can we move a bit further away?”

He helped her away from the bloody scene and off the road a few meters. Ashira noticed the blood on her creme-colored traveling cloak. It only served to make her more faint. She sat down and breathed hard through her nose, trying not to vomit.

“After your stunt with Mirari, I'm sure they knew someone would be following them,” Ivarus said. “That's why they had an ambush set up. Which means that there are likely to be others along the road. We may have to detour a bit if we want to stay safe.”

Ashira did not dare open her mouth to respond. Ivarus sat beside her, watching her to make sure she did not pass out. He noticed that the rots of her hair had turned blonde, and her skin was lighter than when they had first met. Even as exhausted as she appeared, he realized she still looked beautiful. Feeling rose unbidden into his chest, and he knew he was falling for her. He thought of Kirdan and pushed the feelings aside. Ashira and the prince obviously had something going, and he would not allow himself to get between them.

Ashira slept for an hour, but Ivarus woke her just after the sun had risen. They set off again, Ashira eating on the trail.