Forever Misplaced, page 8
“I was not aware the spell had affected the Elvman lines as well. Forgive me for my ignorance, your highnesses.” He bowed again to Kody and Briony.
At his words, the people around the edges of the room stirred and their low voices became a buzzing in the background.
“Wizard Viclor’s spell did not specify country names,” Tristan explained. “It referenced a map of the continent.”
“Oh I see,” the king said. “An imprecise spell directed at the continent caused even those kings and queens hidden in plain sight to be so affected.” He nodded to Briony. “I understand your anticipation of returning home with your sister. I’m sure your family has long since ached for her return. I will not delay you any longer, but I would ask a favor, if I may.”
Briony seemed to think about this for a moment before nodding. “You may ask, though I cannot guarantee its fulfillment.”
The king smiled and nodded slightly. “I asked that you would consider returning in the future after you and your sister have settled. Perhaps you can serve as an ambassador to your people and we can speak of diplomacy between our kinds to mend some of our centuries of wrongs.”
Kody watched Briony carefully as her sister considered his request. “I will return one day and we can speak of diplomacy.”
“And may I know what name to address you as, so I might tell my heirs in case you choose not to return in my lifetime?” he said with a grin, as if suspecting Briony might dawdle in her fulfillment of her promise.
Briony smirked slightly. “I am Briony, daughter of Callum, Princess of Hivagora. And my sister Kody, daughter of Callum, Princess of Hivagora. And though time sometimes becomes trivial to those of us who have much of it, I will try my best to return within your lifetime, for I think diplomacy with a sharp Hu might be an enjoyable pastime.”
The king nodded. “I hope to live up to your expectations, Princess Briony.” He turned to Tristan. “Tristan of Rohap, thank you for your time and for assisting our guests.” He turned to Kody. “Princess Kody, may the road find you safely with your family once again.”
“Thank you,” Kody replied.
The king nodded to them all once again and turned, heading back to his dais, while Briony led Kody and Tristan from the throne room.
“Will you really return?” Kody asked her sister when they were once again outside of the castle.
“Of course,” she said matter-of-factly. “How else could I ever expect to take this castle back for our people?” She smiled and Kody couldn’t help but grin back, even though she still wasn’t sure if she was serious or joking.
“He seemed a little young for marrying, if you ask me,” Tristan said with a smirk. “Is that why you plan to wait a few years to return?”
Briony screwed up her face. “Gross. I wouldn’t marry a Hu. There are other ways to get a castle. Besides, I already have a love.”
“You do?” Kody asked.
“Yes. You will meet him on our return.” Briony’s face broke up into a pleased smile, as if her mind were suddenly far away.
“That’s the real reason she wants to get on the road,” Tristan whispered loudly enough for Briony to hear while he lightly elbowed Kody in the ribs. Briony didn’t stop smiling, and Kody laughed and didn’t even care when her hood fell to her back, delighting in the afternoon with Tristan and her sister.
They had a quiet evening, everything they needed for their journey packed up and waiting by the door. They joked about the afternoon at the castle and how Briony would redecorate when she was queen, and had fun teaching Briony how to play card games from Earth. It was enough fun to distract Kody from the anxiety creeping in at the thought of meeting her birth father. Callum, King of the Elvman.
Unfortunately, the distractions only lasted as long as the games, and as Kody turned off the light globe and lay down next to her sister to sleep, she couldn’t help but worry she’d never be enough for the Elvman king.
Chapter Eleven
This trek through the forest was different for Kody. Paths seemed to open for them between the trees as if ushering them in, and through an entire day of traveling the forest, not once did Kody trip or stumble on a branch, root, or vine. As the sun dropped and the forest grew dim, they found themselves in a small clearing with a cold fire pit and beds of soft moss circling the perimeter, as if it was exactly where the forest wanted them.
Tristan walked around the perfect campsite and shot Briony a quizzical look. “Is this place for real?”
Briony grinned and dropped her pack. “Kody, help me gather some of this wood and we’ll see if you have the gift to light a fire with your magic.”
Something raced in Kody’s chest, and she dropped her pack next to Briony’s while Tristan pulled dinner things from his pack.
Along the tree line of their clearing was an ample amount of fallen and dried branches, just waiting for them to collect. Breaking some branches down, Briony showed Kody how to build a proper fire when she admitted she’d never built one. Building the fire was logical and easy; lighting it proved harder.
“Not every Elv has the ability to influence the ruakh around them,” Briony said.
“Wait, what’s ruakh?” Kody struggled a little with the odd pronunciation.
“Ruakh is the name for the magic flowing through our world. It’s like the moisture hanging in the air after a rainstorm. It lives and moves in the world and only some can reach out and touch it.”
“So I might not have magic after all?” Kody asked.
“No, you have magic—ruakh—flowing through you. All Elv do, but only some can influence it to perform what you think of as magic,” Briony explained. “Elv come in two kinds, those who can perform magic and those with exceptionally long lives. All Elv have long lives, you understand, but those who can’t touch and influence the ruakh, their lives are several times longer than the others of our people.”
Tristan scooted closer and pulled an apple out of their bag. “So it’s like using magic burns through their life faster?” he asked.
Briony shrugged. “Some would say so, but it’s a long-debated topic. No one knows for sure, only that it is usually so.”
“So I might do magic, or I might live a really long time?” Kody asked.
Briony nodded and handed Kody a small twig, about six inches long. “Now, creating fire is one of the most basic skills learned by those who can influence the ruakh. This stick is wood, and wood likes burning when it’s dead and dry. It’s a part of its nature to break down and return to the eres, and that can either happen naturally over time or through the reaction caused by fire.”
Kody nodded and wiggled in her crisscross seated position on the moss. A looming pressure grew in her chest, a fear that she wouldn’t be able to do this. Would her father, when she met him, care that she couldn’t use magic? She didn’t know what use her long life would be as it was. If she could do magic, maybe it would be easier to find a purpose, build a plan.
Briony picked up her own twig. “Ruakh flows around this stick just as it does around us, and if we ask it nicely, the ruakh will ignite this wood, reacting with its nature, and causing it to burn. It takes intent, will, and a focused mind.” The green swirls over Briony’s arms and face flashed with a green glow and the twig in Briony’s hand sparked, a small flame blooming at its tip, growing steadily stronger as it burned down the length of wood.
Kody’s heart raced at the obvious display of magic. She hoped she could do this. She needed to do this, to prove she was good enough, and also because it was freaking cool. Tristan’s loud crunching of his apple next to her pulled her back to the present.
Kody wiggled again in her seat and held up the twig. “Okay, so what do I do?”
“Imagine the stick burning, focus on it, and then just push the image into the stick,” Briony said simply as she glanced again at her own stick. Her swirls flared and the flame went out, smoke trickling from the scorched wood into the air above.
Kody nodded and stared at the twig. She focused on its color, a lighter brown than her own skin, and although the surrounding trees had green leaves, this stick was dead and dry, firm in her hand but also brittle. She imagined what that twig would look like with fire lapping at its edge and tried to push the thought out.
A fart nearly snuck out and she stopped and let out a deep breath.This wasn’t working.
“Can’t you just lay your hand on her shoulder or something and sense her magic?” Tristan asked.
Briony rolled her eyes. “I thought I already explained she has magic inside of her. I don’t need to see the strength of her power, which is all that would tell me. I need to know if she has the skill to use it. It’s like knowing if someone can wiggle their ears. I know she has ears, but can she wiggle them? We won’t know until she tries.”
Tristan shrugged and took another noisy bite of his apple.
Kody ignored their exchange and thought about when she first arrived in this forest. It had been so overwhelmingly different. The temperature, the lack of noise, the density of the ground, the weight of the air . . .
The air felt alive around her, and that was when her green swirls had glowed.
The weight of the air moving against her never really went away, but Kody learned to ignore the feeling of that otherness. She closed her eyes and felt for it now. There it was, not quite a presence, but a weight she’d never known during her life on Earth. She reached for it and found it responded, moving around her like smoke caught in an air current. Kody opened her eyes, and stared at the twig in her raised, green-glowing fist. She imagined the stick alight with fire, and somehow deep inside, she pushed with all her might and willed the surrounding magic to make it happen.
The stick exploded, shooting small shards of burning wood in every direction.
Everyone ducked and shielded themselves too late. Tristan cursed, and Briony sat up, laughing.
Kody rubbed at a spot on her cheek that’d been hit. The spot didn’t hurt past the initial sting, but her fingers came away covered with soot, as if the wood had burned up too quickly to cause any damage. She turned to check on Tristan, who was grinning and brushing spots of soot off his shirt. He smiled at her and wiped a spot on her forehead with his thumb.
“Well, that answers that question,” Briony said. Tristan dropped his hand and picked his apple back up, studying it for dirt or soot before taking another bite.
It didn’t take long for Kody to figure out how to cause a flame to stay on a twig, and then to focus the magic on the right spots of the campfire to create an even and steady burn.
After a quick dinner, Kody sat on the moss against a log, watching the fire consuming the wood. She felt elated, like she could do anything. She’d never felt so powerful as she had after lighting the fire. Not powerful as in she wanted to control anyone or change the world, but powerful in herself, like she could make her own life, set her own path wherever she desired. If she’d ever felt like this, even for a day in her old life, she never would have let someone like Roger walk all over her.
A small fuzzy body scurried into Kody’s line of sight and she jumped as the little creature came closer. “Awe, there’s a little mouse,” Kody announced. The first was quickly followed by a second, and she watched as they moved closer to the fire. “No, no little mousy,” Kody said.
“Kody, it’s okay, it’s just—”
“It’s gonna get burned!” She reached for the mice, trying to block them from the flame, but it was so hot she flinched. Just as the mice reached the flame, Briony had a hold of her arm and pulled her back from the fire.
“Dear one, relax and leave the cindix alone,” Briony said.
“Why would they just walk into the fire like that?” Kody asked, a heavy weight in her chest.
Tristan burst out laughing behind Kody, and she glared at him. Didn’t these people care at all for small creatures?
“Look again, dear sister,” Briony said, pointing to the fire.
Kody grimaced, afraid of what she would see, but the mice weren’t as she imagined them, shriveled and burnt in the fire. She scooted closer, and Briony kept a hand on her arm as if to prevent her from jumping to her own crispy end.
At the fire’s base, two small fuzzy creatures moved. They were orange, or maybe a burnt orange, blending well with the fire, and while they looked like mice, they had cute fuzzy tails. As she watched, a third creature scurried into the fire and started chewing on the blackened wood.
“What are they?”
“Cindix. They eat ash. They usually survive on old burned trees and such, but their favorite is fresh burning ash,” Briony said.
“We’ll probably have a dozen in the fire by morning,” Tristan said with a last chuckle.
“Wow.” Kody sat back in her spot, this time watching the small creatures. She saw one licking the black burning wood with its tiny pink tongue, and it made her smile. There were so many wondrous things in this new world of hers, a part of her that still worried about getting back to Earth relaxed. She couldn’t wait to see what new wonders she discovered tomorrow.
Eventually, they each found soft spots on the moss and curled up under their cloaks, plenty warm in the cooling summer air. Before she even got close to drifting off, Tristan spoke.
“Kody, do you know self-defense?”
She paused, not sure how to reply. “I know the basics.”
“What are the basics?” he asked.
Kody blew out a deep breath. “Well, if someone tries to hurt you, aim for the soft bits. Kidney, nuts, and eyes.”
She heard Briony snort, and when Tristan spoke again, she could tell he was grinning.
“That’s fair, but not super practical.”
“Why do you ask?”
“I was thinking, magic lessons are great and all but knowing some self-defense would be good too, you know?”
“What do I need to defend against exactly?”
“There are always things. It’s better to know even if you don’t need it,” Tristan said.
“There’s plenty of defensive magic I can teach you,” Briony said. “It would be more effective than anything else. Not that you need it in our city, but it’s still good to be prepared.”
Kody shrugged and rolled onto her side, tired from the long day of walking and practicing magic for the first time. “I guess knowing both wouldn’t hurt,” she said, before drifting off to sleep.
Kody awoke to a rustling sound close to her head but didn’t feel the need to open her eyes and investigate. She dozed again. What felt like a moment later, Kody felt something touch her arm and opened her eyes. Briony leaned over her, grinning.
“Mm. Do you need help finding the bathroom or something?” Kody asked, trying to pull her cloak over her head, but Briony pulled the cloak down.
“Come, I want to show you something I think you will enjoy,” Briony said, ripping Kody’s cloak off with one quick tug. Kody curled into a little ball in protest, but it was no use. Reluctantly, she rose and sat on a log near the still warm embers of the fire where Briony was adding more logs. Kody spotted her cloak next to her sister and snatched it, wrapping it around herself, more for comfort than for warmth in the balmy morning air. Tristan rose and gave Kody a little good morning wave before moving toward the trees where their camp toilet was dug.
“Okay, now watch here in the ash,” Briony said, tapping Kody’s knee to get her attention. She pointed to the bottom of the campfire. It was a smooth surface where the ash had settled over the ground, but Briony used a stick and pointed to lumps and irregularities where Kody assumed half burned sticks or rocks hid under the ash. “Do you see it?”
Kody shook her head. “See what?”
“Just watch this spot here while I light it,” Briony said as she pointed to a small lump of ash. The new logs caught fire and Kody leaned in. Did the lump move? Flames crawled up the fresh logs, and slowly the lump seemed to rise, then all at once it shook, and out popped a little sleepy cindix looking up at the flames, blinking its big eyes. All over the fire little cindix awoke out of the ashes and busied themselves with licking their paws and cleaning their small orange noses and ears.
“Ohmygosh! They’re just so adorable!” Kody squealed, pulling the cloak tight around herself, overcome by the tiny, cute creatures.
Tristan set a kettle of water on the embers and chuckled. “So you’re one of those girls who cries over baby kittens?”
“I don’t know what you’re trying to imply, but ‘baby kittens’ is redundant, and they are quite worth crying over, thank you very much.”
Tristan rolled his eyes and offered her his hand. Kody looked at the hand—it was a very nice hand—and looked back at Tristan. “Can I help you with something?” she asked.
“Didn’t we agree on self-defense training?” Tristan asked.
Kody shook her head. “Not before I get some of that caffeinated tea.”
Briony snorted.
Tristan just wiggled his fingers.
Kody glanced back at the offered hand and groaned before taking it. Kody was on the tall side of average for a girl, and she’d always had larger hands and feet. Tristan’s hand engulfed hers, wrapping around her palm and reaching for her wrist, he then pulled her to her feet in a powerful sweep that made her think about heavy hammers and blacksmith tools. It distracted her so much that she almost ended up in the fire. Or would have had Tristan not caught her, his hands now tight on her waist. She looked up into his caramel eyes, wondering if this would be their moment, and then Briony coughed.
“Are you steady?” Tristan asked.
Kody nodded but didn’t try speaking. Tristan released her and stepped over her log seat into the open place where he’d slept. Kody took a deep breath to center herself and followed. The moss was soft under her bare feet, damp in some places from the morning dew, and warm in others, as if still reflecting the heat from Tristan’s sleeping form.
“Okay, so yesterday you mentioned the basics,” Tristan said.
“Right,” Kody said, recalling the one-hour self-defense class all the girls in her foster home took when she was fifteen. “Aim for the soft bits. Kidney, eyes, and nuts.”
