Chapter 18

Trystan had never been to the border separating the two kingdoms, but he had heard many stories depicting the beauty of a land with magic. But this? What they were looking at on the other side of the valley below them? Words could not do it justice.

A river ran swift and clear between Dreach-Sciene and Dreach-Dhoun, like a veil between life and death. The brown, brittle weeds that crunched under their feet as they dismounted from their horses disappeared on the other side of the waterway; replaced by green grass so vivid it didn’t seem real. Beyond the bank, trees covered in mossy bark grew thick and tall saturated with leaves of red and gold. After days of traveling with nothing but the dull, dreary mountains of Isenore as background, seeing this much beauty and color was almost hard to look at.

The fear and unease that had been his constant companion ever since leaving the castle was pushed aside for the moment as wonder replaced it. So lost in the beauty of the landscape, he wasn’t even aware that Alixa had joined his side until her whisper startled him.

“So this is what magic looks like.”

He nodded. “This is what Dreach-Sciene once looked like too and hopefully will again. If we succeed.”

“If we succeed. Doesn’t exactly instill confidence, my king.”

My king. The words seemed foreign. Wrong. He didn’t feel like a king. Even after the ceremony and the show of fidelity from his people, it still didn’t seem real. To him the king was, and always would be, his father. He hoped deep down inside he would do his father proud.

“I wish I could give more assurances, but ours is not the best plan of attack. Actually allowing ourselves to be captured by the one man we should avoid at all costs? Not the smartest move.”

“Not the smartest,” Alixa agreed with a tiny nod, “but the only option. We need Ramsey for this whole plan to work. The only way we can get to Ramsey is to be inside the castle. Briggs assures us that all we need to do is reunite the Tri-Gard member with his crystal and then they will get us back out. Easy, right?”

Trystan’s sharp bark of laughter caught the attention of the others and Rissa threw a disapproving glare their way.

“Right. Easy. Find Calis’ prisoner while we ourselves are prisoners. Steal the crystal back from the all-powerful Calis and somehow let Briggs and Lonara know we have Ramsey and the crystal both so they can break us out. All the while keeping Briggs and Lonara out of Calis’ grip. All in a day’s work.”

Alixa’s deep sigh echoed his gloom. “When you put it like that—”

“Do not give up hope before we’ve even begun.” Lonara’s tiny frame squeezed between the two of them, her strange gold eyes berating their dismay. “Calis needs to believe he’s captured you against your will. He will never believe you came to him willingly. He will think an attack on his castle more likely, but any attack could lead to Ramsey’s death. We cannot take that chance.”

“Why is Ramsey still alive?” Alixa questioned. “We need him to return Dreach-Sciene’s magic, but Calis already has taken his crystal. He’s powerful enough with it, he doesn’t need Ramsey alive. It doesn’t make sense why he would keep him prisoner all these years instead of getting rid of our only chance to heal our lands.”

Lonara’s lips tilted up in a sad smile. “Calis Bearne does not do much that makes sense to us. He enjoys playing God with people’s lives. He enjoys bringing them suffering and pain. There are many reasons he’s kept Ramsey alive. Reasons we do not have time to get into right now, but the main reason? He takes pleasure from making Ramsey suffer horribly in any way he can. Even with that, if he ever fears we will free Ramsey, he will most likely kill him at the first opportunity. That’s why we can’t attack with magic. He desires our crystals to make his power complete, but he is well aware that reuniting the three of us could lead to his downfall. He will kill Ramsey before he allows that to happen. You need to get to Ramsey and the crystal first before we attempt any rescue.”

“Lonara, if this was meant as a pep talk, I have to tell you, you’ve failed miserably.” Alixa crossed her arms across her body and hugged herself tight. “I can’t believe we’re willingly walking into his hands. What’s to stop him from just killing us all on sight?”

“He won’t. He’s much smarter than that. He wants something we have, and he knows killing you will make his goal that much more unattainable. He’ll use you all as a bargaining tool.”

Alixa shook her mop of dark curls. “Not making me feel any better.”

Lonara’s smile was genuine this time. “Do not fear, girl. We’re not sending you into the lion’s den with no protection. Our plan will work. Especially with this.” From her pocket, she pulled a strap of worn leather with a yellowed crystal dangling from the end. Whereas her Tri-Gard crystal was rounded and Briggs’ diamond shape, this one was more oval. Trystan blinked in surprise.

“You have another crystal?”

“A fake. A replica of Ramsey’s. The third crystal. Once you are inside, you will need to switch this for the real crystal. I’ve infused it with a slight magic, enough so Calis won’t realize it’s a fake, not until it’s too late. As soon as you reunite the real crystal with Ramsey, I will know. Briggs will then lure Calis away from the castle with a show of magic that he won’t be able to resist; opening a way for you to escape. Trust in Ramsey Kane. He will get you through this.”

Trystan watched Rissa as she approached, grimacing to herself as she overheard Lonara’s remarks. “Not much of a plan, Lona. I hope to earth we know what we’re doing.”

* * *

Once they crossed into Dreach-Dhoun, they parted company with Lonara and Briggs and the rest of the soldiers. They had their own agenda to follow, as they all did.

Rissa had listened to Lonara’s plan in silence, hiding her doubts. Maybe it would work, maybe it wouldn’t. Maybe putting all their trust into Ramsey Kane was foolhardy and reckless. She couldn’t say for sure, but she was certain that if the opportunity arose to end Calis once and for all during their captivity, she wouldn’t hesitate. Not for a moment.

They made their way through the thick copse of woods in silence toward the heart of Dreach-Sciene. The small group of sacrificial lambs. Their lack of talk wasn’t from the sheer beauty of the scenery, or the fragrant smells of jasmine and sage inundating the air, but rather from the dizzying presence of magic. It had assaulted them as soon as they’d crossed over. It was everywhere. It oozed from the trees, the grass, the very air itself. Lonara told them it would be overwhelming, especially for Ri, considering her connection to magic. Rissa had tasted these tinges of power before but that had been nothing compared to this. This was intoxicating and frightening all at the same time. Her head was spinning from the abundance of it, like she had drunk too much wine over the past few hours.

“Ri.”

It took her a moment to realize Trystan was calling her name. She turned to look at him and swayed a little in the process. “Yes?”

“Are you all right? You were stumbling.”

“Yes. No. Can you all not feel that? Can you not hear it?” The humming had started out barely detectable, but now it filled her head like a thousand honeybees circling around her. Warmth slowly filled her body and flowed through her veins, bringing both pleasure and pain at the same time. She tried ignoring it, but her nerve endings were on fire, and she wanted to cry out. Her mother had Tenelach as well. Did that mean she felt this way every day? If her mother could handle this, then so could she, right? Some of her fear and doubt must have shown on her face, however, since Alixa’s eyes flashed bright with worry, and she suddenly grabbed her arm.

“Here, why don’t we sit down for a moment?”

Rissa allowed herself to be led to a fallen tree. She sat gingerly and stared around at the three worried faces in confusion. “Okay, you’re all looking at me weird. Please tell me you all feel this strangeness as well?”

Trystan glanced around at their companions. “I feel… something. Like a vibration in the air. A tiny disturbance. It’s faint, but it’s there.”

“Faint?” Rissa echoed in disbelief. “It’s deafening. The humming is everywhere. It’s so beautiful. Like the trees and flowers, the very earth itself is singing to me. Alixa, Avery, please tell me you feel it too?”

She knew from their puzzled expressions they didn’t.

“Lonara said the Tenelach would make me more susceptible to the magic,” she glanced up at Trystan. “But I wasn’t prepared for this.”

Trystan’s worried eyes met hers. “Is it painful, Ri? Are you going to be able to keep going?”

She stood up, suddenly feeling embarrassed at her weakness and waving away the hand he offered to help her. “Of course, I can go on. We have to keep going. I just need to accustom myself to—” her words halted abruptly as a tiny yelp fell from her lips. The humming escalated into a drumming, throbbing in her head. Without warning her knees buckled, and she put out her hands to catch herself as she fell. The moment her hands touched the ground, an energy like nothing she had ever felt before surged through her palms and up her arms. She stifled the scream of surprise on her lips and tried to pull away, but it was like her hands had a mind of their own, they simply dug deeper into the dirt. Even though her instincts told her to fight it, Rissa simply opened herself up to it and the pain suddenly ebbed away, like the magic knew it was being accepted. The energy in her arms surged through the rest of her body, filling her with warmth and happiness, like something that had been long lost but was now home. A new sound filled her head and if Ri didn’t know any better, she would have thought it the sweetest of music. Maybe that’s what it really was. The music of life. Of the trees, the insects, the very earth itself as it made itself known to her. Tears filled her eyes as the beauty of it all moved her very soul.

“Rissa!”

She heard the others calling her name. The worry in their voices. But she didn’t want to answer them. She didn’t want to break the perfection of the moment as these new feelings surround her in a cocoon of peace and calm. The magic spoke to her, touching her on a level she never even knew existed.

“I’m fine,” she whispered finally as she removed her hands from the dirt. “Actually, I’m better than fine. I wish you all could feel this. It’s so beautiful.”

She reached out and accepted Trystan’s hand as he pulled her to her feet. She studied the worried faces in front of her. Suddenly Alixa made a fist and punched her in the shoulder. Hard.

“Ow! What the hell was that for?”

“For scaring the life out of me.” Alixa glared at her. “I thought you were hurt or something.”

“Well, if I wasn’t before, I am now. That’s gonna leave a bruise.” Rissa rubbed her shoulder and glared back at the dark-haired girl.

Trystan pinched the bridge of his nose, like he was trying to ease away a headache. “Alixa’s right. You scared the hell out of us. How do you feel, really?”

Rissa stopped glaring at Alixa and fell quiet, thinking about his question. Finally, lifting her eyes to her brother, she grinned. The smile felt awkward, like her lips didn’t quite know how to form a true smile anymore. “Complete. Powerful. Like this was meant to be. Like I can do anything.”

“Tenelach,” Avery whispered in wonder. “Magic. It came for you.”

Rissa nodded. “We’ve missed out on so much for so long. The magic misses us too. It waits impatiently. It desperately wants back into our lands. It wants to heal and provide, like it was meant to. We need to do this, brother. We need to bring magic back to Dreach-Sciene.”

“That’s highly unlikely.” The voice came from the trees behind them and all four whirled in surprise. They were no longer alone.

These were no ordinary soldiers surrounding them. These men and women were covered in furs and pelts, rugged and dirty. Not the least bit like the soldiers they were used to seeing. One stepped forward, tall and wide shouldered, and pointed his sword their way. “You are trespassing here, Trystan Renauld. You should not have crossed the border.”

“You know who we are?” Trystan asked in surprise.

The tall man nodded. “Of course we know who you are. King Calis knows of your approach, and he has sent us to fetch you. Do not resist. It will be much easier on us all if you do not resist.”

Trystan, Alixa, and Avery pulled their blades, as Rissa lifted her bow. Part of the plan or not, they weren’t giving up that easily. The guards could not suspect a thing.

There was no fight, however. No blades clanged or arrows loosed. One moment they were all standing their ground, the next they were blown through the air by some invisible force. Rissa landed hard on her backside as pain shot up her back and into her neck. She watched from the ground as Trystan wasn’t so lucky and he hit a thick tree, slamming hard into its solid trunk, landing on the ground in a groaning heap.

Weaponless and breathless, they were quickly surrounded and bound. Rissa should have been angry. Fearful. But the doubt and unease she had begun the morning with was no longer. Something had changed. Something within her, and for the first time since losing Davi, she felt something akin to hope.