Alanna brought Darkmoon to a halt. Jumping off, she quickly untacked and left him with the hostler. She ran
to the front of her home in Pirate's Swoop. Nearly tripping over the stairs, she threw open the door. Then
she bent over to catch her breath. Alanna had been in Corus, the capital of Tortall, for 2 weeks for a visit to her good friends Queen Thayet and King Jon. (plus she also got to see her other good friends.)
She looked up to see George coming toward her. "Hey." he said, not able to take his eyes off her. He picked her up and spun her around, hugging her tightly. "I missed you, my lass."
Alanna smiled. "Stop that, you're making me dizzy." she said sternly, but her eyes were laughing.
He finally put her down.
"I'm glad to be home," she said. "Yet I'm afraid that-" she paused.
"What, Alanna?"
"My Gift is gone, George."
"WHAT!"
"Just as I said," Alanna replied. "My. Gift. Is. Gone!"
"Oh, no." George was pretty much at loss for words. "How..I mean...when?"
"Well, I just felt it. Like the time when Thom 'borrowed' it on All Hallows Eve to bring ROGER back to life."
George noticed the bitter tone in her words, but decided against saying anything about it. He also noticed that his Gift, the Sight, was still there. "By the Mithros..." he muttered.
"Wait. I'm not finished. It happened about a week and a half ago, the day I got to Corus. I just felt the
presence of something taking it away. I tried healing a bruise. Nothing."
"Alanna-"
"I'm not the only one affected," Alanna went on, ignoring him. "Daine's Wild Magic is gone. The animals know-they can't communicate with her. And, oh, I don't know. All i know is that everyone who possesses- possessed, " she corrected herself- " is magickless. "
George was standing there with his jaw dropped. Pulling himself together, he said, "Do you have ANY idea what happened?"
Alanna shook her head no. "I don't know..." she said slowly, her purple eyes filled with worry. "But I'm going to find out."
****
Meanwhile, in Corus.....
Keladry of Mindlean was in her room practicing with her glaive. All of a sudden, Crown and her flock came
rushing to her windows, peeping, screeching, and fluttering wings.
"What the-" Kel started, dropping her glaive.
The birds seemed to want her to follow them. So went outside. The birds led her to the door in the palace that read 'Verilidaine Sarrasi and Numair Salmanin.'
They stopped there and then flew away. Kel shrugged and knocked on the door. The Wildmage herself answered, looking harried.
"Hello Kel, what brings you here?" Daine said.
"My birds. I don't know why."
"Oh..." Daine said. "Then you don't know what has befallen Tortall?"
Kel stared at her blankly, then shook her head.
"Well. My wild magic, the Lioness's Gift, Numair's great sorcery...all the mages' magic is gone. "
Kel, unlike George, was able to keep her head. "When did that happen?"
"A few days ago. "
"But how did it happen?"
"I don't know. I don't know if the magic is going to come back, I don't know what will happen in Tortall
without magic. My guess is nothing until someone needs to be be healed, or we are attacked. Magic sure would
come in handy then."
"Wow," Kel breathed. "Wow." Daine smiled at her,
yet it looked forced.
"How is Numair taking it?" Kel asked.
"He's alright, I guess. I mean, how would you feel if you were out of a job? He is determined to find out
what's going on, but without his magic, how can he?"
The lunch bell rang.
"I'd best be going," Kel said. "Bye, Daine." I have a lot to think about, she thought. I don't know what I can do, but I'll figure out something. She reached her rooms and went in silently. A few moments later, she heard a knock on her door. Opening it, she saw Nealan of Queenscove standing there.
"Did you hear?" he blurted.
"Yes."
"Prince Roald thinks it's something supernatural. A group of immortals, or something, that have greater power than all combined!!"
Kel recalled that Roald had the Gift. "Really. I suppose it's possible, but..why?"
"I don't know! Come on! We're going to be late for lunch!"
In the mess hall, after they had sat down, King Jonathan went before the group of pages and squires. "As you know, the magic in all of Tortall is gone-except for the Sight. Beginning tomorrow morning, you will all train harder than ever. We do not know if and when we get our magic back, so people who are in magic classes, you will train for an extra hour with Lord Wyldon. We need to learn to fight without the aid of magic. That is all."
The mess was silent for a good minute. Then, it erupted into noise.
"An extra hour!"
"WHY!!"
"It's for our own good!"
"Yeah, but it's an EXTRA HOUR!"
Kel herself remained silent. The change did not affect her much. People like Roald were the ones getting the extra training, instead of going to magic classes. Obviously since they didn't have magic to help them in battle.
Kel got up and went to her rooms.
*****
That Night..
Alanna was restless. She wanted to DO something, darnit! But she couldn't leave! It was too late, and besides, she didn't want to leave George. As Alanna got ready for bed, George was caught up in his own thoughts. Poor lass, he thought. She's so worried.
Alanna got into bed next to George. She soon fell into a restless sleep.And she started to dream...
****
Meanwhile...
Kel was also getting ready for bed. She had Magic on the mind, but, as always, it was overpowered with thoughts of Neal. Neal, she thought. Why does he always go for the pretty ones? Why doesn't he like ME? She knew Neal only thought of her as a friend.
There was a knock at her door. Could it be Neal? But no-it was Cleon."Can I get you anything, my Flower, my Sunshine?"
Kel glared at him. He didn't notice.
"I'll do anything for you, Sunflower."
"Quit it Cleon!" Kel growled. "I'm TRYING to get ready for bed!" Cleon grinned and ambled off.
Kel shut the door and got into bed. Why was Cleon always doing this? He knew she hated it. Despite this, though, she smiled to herself. Cleon was her good friend. With thoughts running through her head, Kel slowly fell asleep...and she began to dream....
****
(from Alanna's point of view)
A light. As bright and a purple as her Gift. Violet. Right at the door! Alanna got up and went to the door. The light moved away, to outside on the main area above the castle. Alanna looked over the side. That would be some LONG fall if I fell over the side, she thought. Alanna stopped following the light and put her hands on her hips, glaring at the air. She was getting fed up. WHY couldn't she get her Gift back?!
Alanna heard a noise to her left-towards the side of The Wall. She went over there, not getting TOO close to the side-and then, seeing what she saw, she bit back a scream of sheer terror.
****
At the same Time...
(from Kel's point of view)
Kel was walking outside. Where am I going? she wondered. Why can't I control it? She was getting nervous.
And then she saw it- Balor's Needle, the tallest tower in the palace. Last time she had been up there, she almost fallen and killed herself. Her feet moving themselves, she started up the inside stairs, the safer ones. The other stairs were exposed to the outside air and very, very dangerous.
Why was she going up there? She was afraid of heights! Deathly afraid! When Kel finally got to the top, she saw the most horrible thing she had ever laid eyes on...
****
Alanna let it out. She screamed, long and loud. The...creature, you could say, had the body of a gigantic dragon, though she couldn't see the color in the dark night. It had long, pointy horns coming out from every which way. Some were broken. It's claws were about 3 feet in length..each. It had the head of a human though. The face was unmistakable. It was the face of Roger, the Duke of Conte. She, Alanna, had killed him twice.
Roger grinned evilly.
"You're - alive?" Alanna gasped, too shocked to regain her composure.
"You sound thrilled to see me," Roger smirked. "Yeah, I'm alive-matter of speaking!" he said as he looked down at her.
"How did you get like that?" Alanna asked him shakily.
"Well, Sir Alanna, I visited the Realm of the Dead for awhile and then the Immortal Realm. Let's just say I visited an old...friend.”
"YOU made the magic disappear?!"
Roger shrugged. "You can't change old ways," he said. "And I always was greedy." He rubbed his hands...er..claws together. "And now, little lady, your time is just about up." He grabbed Alanna and easily picked her up. Alanna cursed herself for not wearing her sword to bed. Roger threw her over the wall, cackling, as Alanna fell....
****
Kel gasped. Waiting for her up there, at the top of Balor's Needle, was a creature with the body of a dragon (blackish-grey) with horns and a human head. It was, to say the least, horrible.
“Hello, Kel," he sneered.
Kel examined the face..she recognized it from Somewhere... but no, she couldn't lay her finger on it.
"What? Cat got your tongue?" he laughed.
Kel clenched her fists, but kept her Yamini-Stone expression. "What do you want with me?" she said tightly.
"Why, you wanted to know who stole all the magic, didn't you? Well here I am." He chuckled. "Now that you know, of course, I'm going to have to get rid of you."
Kel moved away slowly, awe struck. He talked of murder like the weather!
"Oh, no you don't." Without even touching her, he used his new magic to pick her up..and toss her over the railing of the outside stair of the Needle. She fell, picking up speed as she got closer and closer to meet her death...
****
Alanna woke up. Am I dead? she thought. "Alanna! Alanna!" she heard.
Where was she? Was this the Realm of the Dead? Oh! George. That was George she was hearing! What was George doing there? It wasn't time to get up yet! "Alanna! You were sleepwalking! Are you OK?"
Alanna looked at him groggily. She noticed she was below the wall where she fell.
"You're OK! Oh, Mithros, you're OK! You flew right over that wall! I caught you, because I heard something moving about up here.”
Alanna was confused. Why had she even been up there? She remembered that she had seen a creature of some sort that stole all the magic..but no, she couldn't remember anything else. Her mind was blank.
Alanna stood up. "I've got to get to Corus and talk to the King. I don't know why, I just do. Now."
George thought it over. "OK," he said. "But I'm going with you. I'll get the horses and meet you out here in a bit."
****
THUD! Kel woke up as soon as she hit the ground. Wait! the ground? She'd be dead if she had hit the ground!
"Kel? Kel! Helo0o0o!!!" Neal! That was Neal! She looked up, only to be staring into Neal's green eyes.
"Kel! WHAT IN THE DARK GOD'S NAME WERE YOU DOING UP THERE!!!"
"I- I don't know."
Neal looked at her for a second. "Well, you fell," he said, calming down a bit. "Jump woke me when he saw you get up. Smart dog, that Jump. Kel, I think you were sleepwalking!"
Kel stood up. "How strange. I don't remember what I saw up there, though I remember a face. And that's it..Oh Gods, it was terrifying!! I fell from Balor's Needle!"
Neal said, "We'd better get back to our rooms- we don't want to get caught up here, they'll think-" he blushed. "Well, you know."
Kel knew. It took all her Yamini strength to keep her face calm.
As Neal walked her back, Kel's mind dwelled on the face she had seen. Didn't it have something to do with the stolen magic?Could it have? Or was she going nuts?
Kel was so caught up in her thoughts, she didn't even notice Neal's arm around her.
****
Hillmen! Oh, what a horrible thing to run into! Alanna uttered a curse and drew her sword, Lightning. George took out some daggers.
Luckily, there weren't that many. Five- or was it six? Alanna couldn't tell, and she sure didn't stop to count.
She sliced one in the chest as another knocked her off Darkmoon from behind. Darkmoon reared and the hillman went down. George threw a dagger straight at another, and he was a bother no more. Alanna finished off the last one and his mount. She checked herself for broken bones. Only a few bumps and bruises, not bad. I could have had them all down at once with a little knot magic, she thought grumpily. George was OK too. They rode the rest of the way to Corus in silence.
****
"Block! Strike!" Lord Wyldon yelled. "Again!"
They were in the practice courts using their swords, new pages using practice swords. Kel was up against Owen of Jesslaw, a fourth-year page. Kel herself was a first-year squire, but she did not have a knight-master yet.
Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw King Jonathan approach the fence that held them in..with the Lioness! Kel was so shocked she froze and got a blow to the head.
"Kel! I'm sorry Kel!" Owen said, throwing his arms around her and crying.
"I'm OK, Owen," she said, gently pulling him off. Oh, how embarrassing! Right in front of her hero!
"Mindlean!" Wyldon called warningly. Kel muttered an apology and got to her feet. She sneaked a glance toward where she had seen the Lioness.
She was gone.
****
LATER
Kel was in her room, looking at her history book of Tortall. It had been updated after the Immortals War. In the back was the Royal Family Tree, with Jon/Thayet’s kids at the bottom. It went on to show Jon, his parents, his cousins...cousins! That face! Kel stifled a scream, but it came out as a gasp. It wasn’t quiet enough for Alanna, who was passing by, to hear.
She peeked in and saw Kel sitting at her desk, trembling. She hesitated to go in, though. She’d been forbidden to see and talk with Kel ever since Alanna new she existed.
Alanna sighed. Oh, who cares, she thought. I can handle the King, after all I’m his Champion. She proceeded in.
Kel heard the footsteps and turned around. When she saw who it was, she seemed to freeze.
“Hello,” Alanna said to Kel.
Kel, remembering her manners, got up and bowed.
“No need for that,” Alanna said. “Now. What are you so terrified about?”
Kel was still at loss for words, so Alanna moved to see what she’d been looking at. “Oh, just the Conte family tree,” she remarked, looking it over.
Kel, unfrozen, came up to stand next to her. “I was looking at THAT one,” she said, pointing to Roger’s picture.
“Oh, Roger. Yes, I was the one who slayed him. Twice, actually. Well, the second time-” she stopped in mid sentence. “Wait a second...” she said, as her dream (nightmare?) came flooding back to her. It flashed through her head at the speed of light. The balcony. The creature.
Roger! Falling!!.. It all came so fast, Alanna fainted. When Alanna came to, she saw Kel standing over her looking worried.
Alanna stood. “Sorry. I just- well, uh. You see, I saw this, uh...creature dragon thing in a dream and I couldn’t remember the face and-”
“It was HIS face!” Kel finished. “And then he tried to kill you?”
“Why, yes. How did you know?”
“I had the same dream! He took the magic, didn’t he? He threw me off Balor’s Needle and Neal” -she blushed- “caught me!”
Alanna noticed Kel’s red face with amusement. The girl obviously had a little crush on Neal! “Well, Kel. I think we should do something, but what can we do?”
Just then, Alanna sneezed, and sneezed again. She always sneezed when something powerful was near... A figure appeared in front of them. It was the Great Mother Goddess!
“My Mother,” Alanna said. “We need help!”
“Ah, so you do, my daughters. I can help you out, but I can’t fix it all for you.” She smiled at Kel, who looked stunned. “Never seen a Goddess before, eh?”
Kel shook her head.
“OK, well getting back to the subject. I will see to it that Roger appears in your dreams. He dare not defy me. You will figure out the rest.” The Goddess started to fade.
“But, my Mother-” Alanna interjected.
The Great Mother Goddess shook her head and disappeared.
Alanna and Kel stood there in silence for a minute. Then Kel said, “Oh Gods he’s coming back!”
“He is,” Alanna said. “And here’s what I think we should do.”
****
THAT NIGHT
Kel and Alanna were both asleep when they got up to meet Roger. Yet they were alert as watchdogs. This time, Alanna’s dream led her to the practice courts. She noticed Kel was already there, when the Roger-creature materialized.
“I see you’re both still alive. Shame, shame.” he grinned. “Well at least I can kill both of you at the same time.”
“At least,” Kel muttered sarcastically under her breath.
Roger lunged at Alanna. She quickly drew her sword, Lightning, which she’d worn to bed. She blocked easily and went for Roger. Meanwhile, Kel had her lance and her sword ready.
She also attacked, scared. This was her first combat and she wasn’t even a knight! Still, she kept her head.
Roger had his own sword and was using illusion magic, was extremely hard for Alanna and Kel to follow, especially since she didn’t have her magic to tell which was the real sword and which was the fake. Not to mention the fact Roger was bigger then both of them.
“WAIT!” Alanna shouted, as a question came to mind.
Roger, to their surprise, stopped attacking. “What?” he said, snarling.
“Why didn’t you take the Sight?”
“I had a little problem in the spell,” he admitted. “Besides. The Sight has a reverse effect, when you try to take it the people that possess it, like your dimwitted husband, immediately See who is doing it.”
Alanna felt rage she had not before. How DARE he call George dim-witted, he was one of the smartest people she knew! She raised her sword to sink it into him, but Kel was too fast, she got him from behind. Roger gasped with pain and surprise. Glowing blue blood came flowing out of his back.
“Your - brother!” he gasped. “He - help me - get - the - magic!” Sweat joined the blood. “He - always - was -loyal - to me! How - does - THAT - make you -feel, Lioness?” Roger yelled best he could.
“My brother? Thom? Why?!” Alanna asked the large fallen body.
He would never answer.
Alanna felt a warm sensation in her body. What was that? Her magic? It was back?
Alanna and Kel woke up.
****
Kel found herself on the ground in one of the practice arenas, covered with bruises. Alanna was beside her, glowing purple.
“We did it,” Kel said slowly. “We did it!”
Alanna tried healing one of Kel’s cuts she’d gotten from the fight. It worked! Her magic was back!
But then, Alanna sniffled. Kel looked at her. Fat tears were poring out of Alanna’s eyes!!
Kel didn’t have to ask, Alanna was talking out loud. “My brother. Thom. The greatest Mage there ever was, even better than Numair. How could he? I thought he loved me,” she sobbed.
Kel pat Alanna’s shoulder, feeling uncomfortable.
After awhile of sniffling and sobbing without talking, Alanna’s tears subsided. Kel offered her a worn out hankerchief she found in her pocket.
“Thanks,” she said, blowing her nose. “We’ve got a lot of explaining to do,” she added. “We’d better get back, nurse our wounds, clean our weapons, and be ready to tell the story many, many times. They’re going to wonder how their magic came back after all.”
Kel agreed and stood. They started back to the main rooms area, when Neal, Cleon, and Owen came running out.
“Kel! Oh, boy, you’re gonna be in trouble! You’re late for breakfast!”
Owen yelled. “Oh, yeah, Neal and everyone got their magic back! Guess it was just a few-day thing!”
Then they seemed to notice she was tired and bloody. “Hey, Kel,” Owen said. “Did you know you’re bleeding? Did you get in a fight? That musta been jolly!”
“Yeah, Kel,” Cleon added. “Can I get you anything?” He slung his arm around her. Owen, not to be beaten, rushed to hold onto Kel’s arm, and Neal walked beside.
“So, Kel...” he said.
Alanna slowed her steps to let Kel chat with her talkative friends. Kel turned around and gave Alanna an ‘I’ll talk with you later’ look. Alanna grinned.
Kel, the only girl that was training to become a knight, would be just fine. She would go on to become one of Tortall’s finest knights, Alanna knew it. And as for me, she thought. I’d better pack to go home. Home is where the heart is, after all.
****
