“As long as the first is alive, they don’t need the other one…” my sister said, and everyone looked at her in surprise. She smiled shyly and spread her arms.
“There, on the northern slope, it was me, and I want to know now what exactly you could hear from that conversation,” Nargara gave her a look of reprimand.
That made Elcha blush a little, yet she still could give quite a smooth account of what she had managed to eavesdrop.
“Yeah, that’s definitely not that little,” Truvle hemmed.
“Well, it may even be all for the better,” Yoos added.
“The man you spoke to, who was he?” Elcha asked showing the same inquisitiveness as earlier.
“He plays on our side,” Mammy replied evasively and, waiting a little, she added, “A friend, a good’n old friend.”
But there was so much sadness and pain in her voice it was clear immediately that the man was anyone but a friend… They usually talk like that about someone so dear yet lost forever.
Besides, I could see Truvle frown, as if even the mention of that man was too much of a trouble to him. However, he could quickly pull himself up and put some mask of indifference on his face.
“And you, there, you talked something about a gift… Was it about me?” I asked carefully. I don’t know why but that was the part that caught my attention most in Elcha’s story.
“Yes, it was about you. I blocked your gift then, when you were still a child. Not because I was afraid of it, Ricka, no. But because for them it was like a beacon, so that could make us an easy prey to them, in any of the four Worlds. They know the trace your magic leaves.”
“How come?!” my question escaped my lips even before I could know it.
Nargara tried to say something again, but stopped and waved her hand slightly through the air, so making it clear I would get no answer to that one. It was all about their oath.
A moment later she continued, “I hope you get now that the ban on magic is not just my whim. I have kept you hidden for so many years. I muffled down your source, and took you from place to place, and I mixed elixirs for Elcha to drown her magic background… Where… Where did I go wrong?” she uttered with anger and disappointment, throwing aside her handkerchief that she was twisting nervously in her hands.
I searched through my mind and could recall some elixirs she used to give to Elcha. Yes, Mammy gave her, from time to time, some kind of potion, saying that it was just good for overall health. Some bitter and smelly brew that Elcha would not drink anyway, only pretended, and so it
had gone on for at least two years.
I also could remember that my sister’s gift began to grow stronger a couple of years ago, which made her just itching to use it whenever she could grab a chance. She gathered any bit of knowledge that might be useful; she hid books, wrote spells, adjusted them to the Element of Fire, sometimes even trying totally incomprehensible combinations. Of course, most of them never worked. But I could only admire my sister’s perseverance seeing her go on experimenting and studying day after day.
And then it crossed our minds! We could see where Nargara had gone wrong. She gave too much of her care to me, while leaving my sister with none of that, and the latter grew, just like her magic skills did. While up to her ears in other stuff, Mammy just lost the sight of Elcha’s mischief – that which now inflicted a lot of suffering and trouble upon the lot of us.
“We have got relaxed, spent way too much time in Karun,” Captain said, “we believed there was nobody hot on our tails, so we took our guard down. Just failed to recognize.”
“No, Yoos, I don’t think so,” Mammy said in a calm voice and looked at us. “And now, my girls, here is the last question I want to ask you. For fifteen years I have been keeping your abilities secret. Now, how come they found us?
We looked at each other and sank our heads into shoulders. But there was no use trying to conceal anything.
And then Elcha said quietly, nearly in whisper, “It’s me. Yes, it’s my fault. They found from our magic print. I led them straight to ourselves, I did some magic,” she exhaled and pressed herself into the bench taking her head in her hands.
Yes, you did lead them, I thought, more than once, actually. And it was Nargara who saved us from being torn into bits that night. Once she said she had sealed the valley that meant the valley was not just sealed but from then on it was stronger than any fortress.
The witch nodded seeing her worst fears prove true.
“So, young Lady, how long have you been playing with fire?” Yoos inquired slightly leaning forward.
“I don’t know,” she was confused, “Well, I…”
“Had it been just a couple of times they wouldn’t have got the smell,” Truvle shared his observations.
“Well, the milk is spilt now, no way back,” Nargara looked at Elcha, “but I think you are using the source just all-anyhow, which exhausted it so fast. By the way, what were your patterns there? Have never seen anything like that before.” She gave us an unexpected smile that brought so much comfort to the entire place.
“Oh, yeah! I think that was the first time I saw fire employed so stupidly,” Yoos added still keeping his eyes fixed on my sister.
“I learnt it from water sorcery, for beginners. Just used their schemes and got something from the Book of Elements.”
“Water sorcery? You mean you did manage something out of it?” Truvle whistled in surprise. “Okay, then. Hey, Captain, guess you got to apologize for saying something like stupidly.” Truvle wagged his finger at Yoos as the latter spread his arms in a gesture of apology.
“The major thing now is what we do next,” Nargara was fast to get everyone back down to the earth.
“Just live like we lived,” I repeated Truvle’s idea, still not much sure it was any possible.
“I think there is nothing else left to us. And all we have to wait is another year,” Yoos was lost in his thoughts as he was saying it.
“And what happens in a year?” I asked finally the question that would not let me stay calm.
“You are turning 21 in a year’s time, and then one of the most amazing events in your life is coming,” the witch said while her face lit up with some kind of unique delight, as if she had just recollected something.
I was ready for more explanations but all the three were looking at the fire silently. It felt they were making it clear that I had to wait to get the answer… for a year at least.
The Last Chance
In the morning, Nargara announced she had to leave for a couple of days just to sort something out, yet never said where exactly she was going. And then she reminded, “We live the way we did before, as if nothing had happened.” And instructed us, “Girls, please, just stay out of harm’s way, okay? No more trouble. Quiet as lambs. And no magic whatsoever!”
Finally, apparently to keep us busy, she gave us a whole list of chores to tackle.
However, it was no longer possible to live as before, at least because the entire city was buzzing like a bunch of angry bees discussing the recent events.
There were more people than ever on the marketplace, and of course the major thing under discussion was the battle of the fire people and the burnt down desert instead of green meadows at the path leading out of the valley.
“Where are the guards looking?! We have to comb through the city. They still may be walking among us, and we don’t even have the least idea! What the heck brought them here? This is our World and we don’t want any of their stupid fights. Get them roll outta here and burn their own place, we don’t care!” someone was shouting as the crowd roared with approval.
I pulled my head into shoulders as I passed by, and walked even faster.
The scrap of paper that Mammy gave me had a whole list of foods and various glass vessels for elixirs to get at the market.
As I approached a counter with vegetables I saw two women standing there, one of them whispering, “I hear the news has reached the capital… They say people in the Palace are very much worried about all this!”
“They should be, I guess,” the other one replied, “those fire folks have gone too far this time! How could they ever do that in our lands? And it killed our guards! Earlier that might have ended in huge conflict between the Worlds. But now you can’t say a thing to anyone. Just look at what is going on here in our own World. Complete mess!”
As I walked on, two men passed by, both discussing still the same thing, and I could only catch a bit of that, “Poor Kold… So young, just a boy. And this…”
As the name reached my ears I froze and nearly got crashed into by a woman. I knew the one they were talking about – Tonar, Kold the Baker’s son. The guy who would always treat me all those buns after each training session.
I remembered that he had just been put on duty at the Eagle’s Nest fortress gate. And then he fell prey to that terrible night. I felt everything inside clench with pain and guilt, and before I knew it my legs were already taking me to the southern part of the city, getting faster and faster with each step.
The bakery was closed, and the shelves ever-smelling of fresh and hot buns and bread were empty. But I still had the courage and knocked on the door. The door swung open a moment later, and Mr. Kold appeared in the doorway, his face pale, and dark areas under the eyes.
He tried to smile, as always, but it turned out too forced. Running his hand over his face, he waved to me inviting me in. I followed and even wanted to say something, but a lump in the throat would not give way to even a sigh.
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