The Last Druid (27 page)

She had learned much in the past week, it was true, but she was
nowhere near ready for that battle.

Hiran
watched as the younger of the two Nymphs came up to stand next to Calla.  Even across the field he could hear her clicking her tongue in disapproval.  “You do not understand the point of this?” she asked.  “You know how the spell is supposed to work.  Now you are supposed to do it with less focus: leave yourself open and let the energy from the world around you seep into you.  Step out of this protective shell you have created around yourself!  Do you think in battle your opponent will let you take so long with one attack?  If we had been fighting I could have killed you four times by now.”

“Now, now, Miin,” said the other Nymph, an older woman named Kosh who sat slightly behind the two young women.  “You cannot expect her to master such arts in just five minutes.”  She stood up and walked to stand at Cal
la’s left, putting both hands on her shoulders.  “Sometimes endless practice is not the answer.  The secret to mastering Earthmagic is reaching your Moment, that one point in time when you can see the energy emanating from the natural life and elements around you as well as feel it; you develop a kind of sixth sense that is attuned to it.  The Moment comes at a different stage for each of us, sometimes when we are really young or sometimes later in life, or even sometimes when we are staring Doom in the face, but the outcome is always the same: you feel the different energies in the world around you as a kind of extension of your other senses, and so become able to will it into whatever form you desire.”

As she spoke Kosh stepped away from the other two and turned so her back was towards them. 
Hiran watched as she stretched both arms out to either side and stand stock still.  For a while nothing happened, an eerie stillness settling over the field as he and the two other women watched, sensing that something was about to happen.  Then with a sharp crack something pierced through the earth’s surface, quickly growing taller as branches started sprouting out of its sides.  As the tree in front of Kosh continued to grow the earth groaned loudly in protest.

The old Nymph moved to stand next to the massive maple, beckoning for Cal
la and Miin to join her.  She reached up to snap off a piece from the lowest branch.  “It is true, Miin,” she said as the other two came up, “that you have had several centuries more than Calla to practice your Earthmagic.  But even you are not yet a master—your Moment has not yet come.  But when it comes for each of you, you will discover that anything will be possible.”

The twig in Kosh’s hand immediately began to crackle.  Small flames sprang from the leaf edges and along the stem until it was completely engulfed.  It burned for about a minute before it sharply jumped away from her hand and took to the air, turning into a yellow oriole before disappearing from sight.

It seemed that was a sign that today’s lesson had concluded.

Ca
lla walked towards him slowly, the disappointment visible on her face from even this far away.  She looked almost…defeated; there was no other way Hiran could describe it.  It was hard, borderline unfair, to have her attempt to master powerful Earthmagic in such little time.  She had been put through so much already—she did not like having this new problem to worry about on top of everything else.

“You do not look happy,” he said as she came up.

“I take it you were watching?” she asked flatly.

“I was.  You really are doing well, you know.”

“Not well enough.”  Her voice took on a bitter tone.  “Dranl’s getting closer every day and I’m still worse than useless.”  She started to walk past him.

Hiran
stood up and grabbed her by the arm.  “That is not true and you know it.”

She shoved him in the chest to get him off of her.  He just let her, letting go of her arm.  She was upset, but didn’t have an outlet to release her pent-up emotions; she had put no feeling behind that
action.  Hiran bit his lip in concern—she had been getting moodier all week.  If something didn’t change for the better for her, sooner or later she was going to snap.

He followed her down the rough path of trampled grass that wound back to Elenan.  “Cal
la,” he said after a moment, “you are just being too hard on yourself.”

“Then why don’t I feel any better
from that?”

He reached forward and grabbed her again, this time locking both arms around her to keep her from trying to push away again.  “You are not letting yourself feel any better.  You are simply overreacting to nothing.  The strain of everything you have been put through is starting to eat at you.”

“I’m fine,” she said quickly.

Hiran
put one hand on the side of her face with his thumb under her chin and tilted her head back, forcing her to look him in the eye.  “Then why does a statue stand more relaxed than you?” he asked as gently as he could.  “Calla, you have gone through hell and more in these past months.  Do not tell me those shadows of memory do not still fill your heart with fear.”

As he let his words sink in her pale green eyes said it all: those moments did still haunt her, every one of them.  He couldn’t count how many times in the last six nights she had started screaming in her sleep—the monsters, deaths, and destructive moments she had witnessed were attacking her in her dreams. 
The news of Dranl’s approach—spurred on by Bralon, undoubtedly—was making it worse for her.  She needed a change, something that would take her mind off of the impending doom; she had been focusing too hard on what lay ahead.

Gods, he could see in her eyes what she refused to say out loud.  She wanted him to reassure her, give her some kind of comfort or guidance, maybe even tell her this was all nothing more than a horrible dream and that she would wake up soon.  She was scared.  He sighed and loosened his hold on her; he could not convince her she would not be forced to endure any more trials.

But there was only so much more she could take.

He dropped his arms so that he held her loosely by the waist.  “Come on,” he said, pulling her gently along the path to the city.

They walked on in silence, right up to the city’s outer wall.  Other Nymphs were busy here, knitting stone they summoned from the earth with that of the existing wall, building up the whole structure, making it thicker and—hopefully—stronger.  It seemed Elenia was just as worried as Calla was about what lay ahead, if not more so.  The Nymphs didn’t turn from their work as the two passed by them.  As they walked Hiran noticed a few of them were doing some kind of work at the base of the wall: a wide, deep trench had been dug a few feet away from the stone, and there was some kind of noise coming up from it.  Suddenly a bright green pod appeared over the edge, opening to reveal its bright pink inside lined with long, rigid teeth, as were the outer edges.

Hiran
raised his eyebrows as the creature slipped back out of sight.  Snapvines…he had heard only stories about them when he was a child.  Elenia was said to have these vicious plants lining the walls of her own fortress; now she was having a bunch of them planted here.  It wouldn’t add much to the city’s defenses—one snapvine plant was only supposed to have five of those “pods” that acted as pincers to drag food to the fanged mouth located down at its base.  Only capable of grabbing one living thing at a time, the plants would only be able to slow down Dranl’s forces at best.

Cal
la slowed down and tried to go give the plants a closer look.  Hiran tightened his grip around her waist slightly and pulled her away.  She did not need the added stress from a snapvine bite.

They passed through the city gates and into the plaza.  So many people were crowded here there wasn’t much room for them to get by.  Walking in single file Ca
lla and Hiran weaved their way through the crowd, heading back towards the palace.  Calla still kept her rooms there, and even Hiran now had a place there to stay; the only change was that the rooms of the former Councilmen remained empty.  The members of the new Council had chosen not to move in, preferring their current residences more.

As they entered through the massive oak doors they found it was almost deserted
inside.  The Council was meeting in the central hall, their voices echoing faintly down the silent corridors.  The sound of their steps bouncing off the walls as they made their way upstairs, Hiran and Calla saw only a few servants bent over their work who never turned to look at them before they reached Calla’s door.

Cal
la moved ahead of him and opened it, letting it swing wide as they entered.  She had hardly taken three steps into the room when she reached up behind her head and pulled off the thin over-shirt she was wearing, tossing it to one side and letting it fall wherever it would.  She tugged at the heavier shirt she had worn underneath to straighten it out as she walked over to her bed and let herself fall face-first onto the mattress; she groaned quietly as she buried her face in one of the pillows.

Hiran
stood awkwardly in the doorway; Calla hadn’t been clear as to whether or not he was invited in.  She hadn’t said much of anything for the entire walk back.  He walked over quietly and sat down on the edge of the bed next to her.  She didn’t even stir.  He gently placed a hand on her back, feeling disappointed when she didn’t try swatting it away.  She had been unable to tolerate that kind of touch since he’d rescued her, probably thanks to Dranl and the Demon planted in her.  But now…

He had heard
rumors back in Kida of how no one seemed brave enough to show interest in her; she had felt lonely as a result of it.  With an uncertain future on the horizon, was she suddenly craving his companionship?

Hiran’s
heart thumped a little harder in his chest—it had to be too good to be true.  Still…

Adjusting his position, he carefully reached over with both hands and started untying the knot up by Ca
lla’s neck; her shirt was laced up only along her back, and she needed a servant’s help putting it on this morning.  As he slowly started pulling at the laces she abruptly pushed herself up onto her elbows, twisting around trying to grab at his wrist.  He stopped her with one hand and gently pushed her back down with the other, whatever protests she had quieting instantly.

“It is all right,” he said to her as he finished untying the back of her shirt.  “This is not what you might be thinking it is.”  He felt the tips of his ears start to burn
with embarrassment.  He could sense the girl’s uneasiness as slid back down.

He opened the back of her shirt to expose the pale skin underneath.  He reached up to place his hands at the base of her neck, pushing his thumbs into the muscles; they were incredibly hard from the tension. 
Hiran felt Calla flinch—he was pushing down too hard.  With a frown he tried to ease the pressure of his touch and started working his fingers into the muscles of her back.  Slowly he worked up and down along her spine, frowning at how quiet she was.

“
Hiran?” Calla finally asked; she sounded tired.

“Hm?”

“Do you think we’ll be all right?”

His hands stopped as he thought how best to answer her.  He leaned forward and kissed her lightly on the cheek, right next to her ear.  “I have faith in you,” he replied.  “You will find everything you need, and you will be all the stronger when you do.”

“I wish I had your confidence,” she said sleepily.

Hiran
didn’t know how to answer her.

XXXIII

Lina

Lina dashed through the tall grass of the plain, every sense focused on the scent she followed.  She had first picked it up almost three days ago and had followed it nonstop since.  She didn’t like it: it was dark, cold, evil, and putrid—it stank badly against the warmth of this landscape.  It did not belong here.  She was determined to find out what it was and where it came from.

But it had been
at least a month since she last saw Calla, and even longer since the one called Hiran had left them.  She found out from the local birds that Calla had ended up in the city, so she didn’t dare try to return to her.  But then a few days ago a she heard that things had suddenly changed in Elenan, that the old Council was no more.  So perhaps Calla was doing all right after all.

Maybe I should have gone back first
to check up on her
, Lina said to herself.  Just as quickly as she said it she discarded the idea.  If things were fine with her two friends then not going back to them right away was fine for now.  Besides, they could take care of themselves—Hiran was unbelievably strong, and Calla was gifted with some kind of strong magic.  She was confident that all would be well with them.

And if she managed to find out what was amiss out here, then the information of her find would make the delay worth it.

She stopped and raised her nose up, sniffing at the air.  The scent was even stronger now than ever.  She must be getting close to its source by now.  She continued following the trail, practically leaping through the grass.  Perhaps she might be able to get a chance to see it from the top of the next hill before the sun went down completely.