The secret kingdom path.., p.8
The Secret Kingdom: Path of the Apprentice mage, page 8
“What do you mean the Messenger Trail’s gone? I only blocked it for a little bit while I talked with my men.”
“Check for yourself,” she said handing him the crystal. Brutus looked at the map she projected on the wall, and the trail he sealed temporarily was nowhere to be found.
“How’d that happen?” he asked. “I know I sealed it, but it should look smeared. That’s what happens when they don’t completely function. I didn’t make it go away.”
“I don’t know. Apparently, it’s gone,” she said.
“Good. He won’t be back anytime soon then,” Brutus said. “You know I don’t like it …”
“What do you want?” Senna asked and Kai nodded. Brutus didn’t answer.
“Not sure what we can do to help,” Kai said, “but I’d like you to get your water back. This place has gone completely dry. What happened?”
“I don’t know. It happened when we sent light beams through the center of some stones, to see what the Talismans inside would do if we made new designs by layering them on top of each other,” Brutus explained.
“You did what?” Senna and Kai said together. “You mixed the talisman symbols from different crystals?” Senna asked for clarity.
“Yeah. Combined their energy. You know, experimented,” Brutus said. Kai and Senna tried hard not to look directly at each other, but inside they wondered about the implications. Talismans held powerful symbols that carried magic of their own. The intentions in the design were powerful. Sealed with a proper ceremony, they were stronger still. Their own Talisman necklaces amplified every form of magic they performed. Using light to combine images from different crystals sounded unpredictable. They were wild cards.
“How did you decide?” Kai said, “Which talismans to combine? They each have their own meaning, and energy, don’t they?” Brutus looked at him and shrugged his shoulders.
“Doesn’t matter, really,” he said. “I mean, we were just experimenting. I thought you could tell me. Don’t they teach you that stuff at your school? One time, we made the village warmer in the evening when it was getting cold. That was good.”
“Have you ever made a Talisman?” Senna said. “We designed one as part of a class. And it was supposed to hold our strengths so we could work as a team … for school,” she said so he didn’t show too much interest.
“They need to be returned,” Kai said. Brutus bristled. Kai immediately wished he hadn’t said that.
“I want to know how they work and what else I can do.” he said intensely. His expression set.
“Why?” Senna asked, trying to sound as casual as she could. “What are you trying to do?”
“They aren’t all here by accident,” Brutus said, with danger in his voice. “We worked hard to track them down and get them here. I want to know the magical inner workings of Kalendra. I’ve spent a lot of time researching. Think what we could do.”
“I thought it was dangerous. You lost your water,” Kai said. “Did I misunderstand?” Brutus looked at the ground and spit in disgust. Kai and Senna exchanged glances.
“The stones belong to me,” Brutus said. “And you are not going anywhere until I understand their strengths.” Brutus walked across the room, slammed the door, and locked them inside again. Had he asked them to access the magic inside the crystals? The two looked at each other curiously. Maybe they should figure out how to read the stones. They didn’t like that he kept locking them in and they were starting to get nervous.
“Why did he lock us in here again?” Kai asked.
“He wants to see what we do with the crystals,” she shrugged.
“So, what should we do with them?”
“Take them,” Senna replied with a smile. “Why not? We can’t leave anyway. Maybe he wants us to handle them.”
“Yeah, so be careful,” Kai said. “Remember how careful we had to be with the Sahi Stone.”
“So far, we’ve documented them and that doesn’t seem to get a big reaction from anyone,” Senna said. “We don’t want to give them information they haven’t figured out for themselves.”
“What’s the appeal of these anyway?” Kai said.
“Their age. Their significance. The idea they’ll give Brutus and Wesley leverage against the Kingdoms.”
“Do you think they can?” Kai asked.
“I don’t know what to think. They did black out the sky,” Senna said. “That was weird. I assume they used these, but who knows what they mixed. And Wesley used something to make an explosion in that room. He knocked out those mages earlier.”
“How can we test them to see what they are?” Kai wondered. “I thought he was going to beat us if we touched them, but now he’s insisting we teach him something new.” The two looked at the shelves that held the Dynasty Crystals. What was the power of the images? As Kai thought about it, he handled the Talisman that he wore around his neck. “We know these are real,” he said handling his Talisman.
“Yeah,” Senna agreed. She touched hers too. “What if we touch our real Talismans while we examine these. They might protect us.” She said and knelt to look at some of the crystals on the lower shelf. She held her Talisman in her hand, closed her eyes and breathed deeply. Senna touched a golden stone with a geometric design inside. With her eyes still closed she asked it to reveal its magic.
In her mind’s eye she felt a glow and an image appeared. She felt transported into another time and place. She was standing in the depths of a cave. Show me more she implored. As she continued to touch the stone, she found herself inside a cave before a fire at a ceremony watching a performance. Before her stood dancers dressed in brightly colored costumes, long flowing black hair, and painted faces. Then one dancer stopped, turned, and looked directly into Senna’s eyes. She held his gaze as he put his hands together in prayer and bowed to her. This is the stone of freedom, he said. It will make you free from all that binds you. Please keep it with you and it will bring you home.” The image faded and released her. Senna sat for a moment to collect her thoughts.
Kai was watching her. “Did it take you somewhere?”
“Someone gave me the stone. The dancer in the ceremony,” she said very softly so she wouldn’t be overheard. “He called it a stone of freedom, said it would take me home.”
“That’s good,” Kai smiled. Senna nodded. It had felt comfortable, and as foreign as the ceremony had appeared, she knew it was meant for her. She noted the stone, knowing she couldn’t take it yet because they were likely under surveillance right now. She’d get it when she could safely.
“Do they all have a story and are we going to get different messages from each?” she wondered out loud. The two looked at each other. “Never mind. It would exhaust us to find out. That was intense. I’m exhausted all the sudden. Use your own Talisman to choose one.” Kai nodded and looked at each stone on the shelf. What was it about them? Each inspired something deep within him. They were so beautiful and carefully crafted. His eyes landed on a blue stone with the image of a farmer in the center of the crystal. Someone was tilling the land in a field. It was a stylized image but unmistakable. It reminded him of his home in the Tahata Lands where his family and community enjoyed planting the large fields. It reminded him of his sister Asa. He smiled and light inside the crystal glowed.
Chapter 12
Following Senna’s lead, Kai held his Talisman and took a few deep breaths, then placed his other hand lightly on the stone. As he held it, he respectfully requested to know its past and what it wished to bring to the world. It replied with images in his head. A family was planting a field and dancing to call for rain to nourish the seeds. Music began to play. The more they planted, the darker the clouds became overhead. And then the rains began. The small group of people danced and sang getting soaked out in the fields. Everyone was laughing and having the time of their lives. He remembered doing exactly that when he was a young boy with his parents and Asa. It was a happy memory. The music got louder, and he recognized the tune they sang. Then the stone returned him to the room they stood in. He pondered the experience. When he opened his eyes a loud clap of thunder roared outside the window and shook the village.
“I think they’re about to get their water back,” Kai explained, “We need to plant to make sure. We need to put effort in to help food grow. I think they lost their water because they stopped bothering to reciprocate with Shaman Moon. Maybe they were too arrogant. That’s what my grandmother would have said. She taught me about Tea Service becoming exhausted if you just expect and take. If you don’t replace the food or show respect for the magic, the land dries up. But if you contribute, the magic grows and becomes strong.”
Brutus barged into the room, “What did you do?” he demanded to know.
“Just remembered what my grandmother said. Do you have seeds? I’d like to plant some, please. I think we can get your water back and it’s worth a try,” Kai was excited to plant a field, or at least, start the process of bringing the rain back. “Do you have any tools to plow the land?”
“For crying out loud. Why should we waste our effort planting seeds?” Senna was searching the drawers looking for seeds.
“We heard women and children earlier. Can we ask them to help, please?” she asked. She believed this was part of the freedom her stone had granted. And, while they were planting, maybe they could find a clean Messenger Trail.
“I told ya. They’re not here,” Brutus said.
“Brutus,” Kai said, “you asked us to learn from the stones and teach you something. They told me how to get your water back. It’s a package deal. Reciprocity between the land, the people, and the magic. We need seeds and people to help.”
The enthusiasm and willingness of these two young people had Brutus stumped. He’d put them in the room to learn what they knew about the crystals’ power and now they wanted to start farming. Made no sense. Maybe that would get the water back, but he didn’t believe it for a minute. He shrugged considering what they said. Couldn’t hurt.
Joe walked into the room to see what was going on.
“Hey Joe,” Brutus said “They want to plant seeds in the field out there. Say it’ll get our water back and they need help. They heard the women and children earlier and thought … just get them some seeds and people.” Joe had a look of total bemusement on his face as if Brutus had lost his mind. Then he shrugged.
“We got seeds. That’s easy. Not sure if they’ll grow. It’s been a long time since anyone even thought of planting. But I heard that thunder. It was loud. Saw some lightning too.” Joe signaled to them and led Kai and Senna down the small alleyway. He stepped inside an old, abandoned building. When they got inside, he took the lid off a barrel. “Like I said, nobody plants anything but we’ve got a ton of seeds from whenever. Why would anyone plant? Kalendra promised us food already.”
“That’s not how it works,” Kai said. “You must respect or help. If you just take what you want it stops. That’s what my grandma said. Thought we’d test her theory just in case.” Joe rolled his eyes.
“Whatever. We could just go where there’s food,” he said. “That’s what I’m planning to do.”
“That attitude can backfire,” Kai suggested, trying not to sound accusatory.
“Hasn’t happened yet,” Joe countered. “It’s a bad idea to believe disempowering thoughts. That’s what the boss says.” Kai and Senna saw some containers and filled them with seeds. Then Joe stepped outside into the alley and whistled loudly, like he was calling for a dog. A few minutes later, a tall, beautiful woman arrived. Senna was flabbergasted by the way she was treated. Joe pointed at her and gestured for her to see what the apprentices wanted.
“Would you like to help us plant some seeds?” Kai said. “I think if we do this, maybe we can convince the rains to return.” Kai looked into her gentle deep green eyes. She was tall with short dark hair and a kind disposition. He didn’t understand why she was living so close to this hostile village. This place was dangerous. June, in turn, was delighted to see these two young people in the village. They were enthusiastic. As she looked at the apprentices, she remembered the planting ritual.
“Of course, I want to help,” she said. “Let me grab some tools and my kids. Wait here.” She left and returned with some garden tools to help till the soil. She also brought her two adorable daughters and a friend. Kai and Senna smiled. They knew children would strengthen Shaman Moon’s magic and speed things along. “Where?” she asked. Kai pointed to the land outside the town. They walked out to the fields to find the best place to plant.
“My name is June,” the taller woman said.
“Senna.”
“I’m Kai. I thought I heard children,” he said, smiling at her two daughters. The two girls, ages four and eight, had curly brown hair and eyes like their mothers’. He knelt to talk directly to them. “Do you want to help us?” They both nodded, smiling, and looking shy at the same time. “Will you dance in the rain when it starts? We’d love that.” They liked that idea. The little one jumped in excitement.
June’s friend didn’t engage. She was short and slender with long brown hair. And she stayed several paces away from everyone else, watching them with a blank expression on her face. Senna tried to say hello, but she evaded his eyes and looked at the ground.
Kai was focused on the best place to plant, where the rainwater would collect in the slightly sloped valley outside the village. Shaman Moon would shine brightly here to help the seeds take root. Her strength provided the nutrients and the light for growing magical crops. This valley reminded Kai of the Tahata Lands and planting parties there when he was young. He knew the skills and the tradition. Now that he looked more carefully at the soil stripped of all its nutrients, he realized the land looked just as the stories said it would if left untended and unloved.
Senna marked a location and looked at Kai for confirmation. “Yeah, that’s good. We’ll do three rows, each about twenty feet long and five feet apart, okay? I think we can do this fast. Then I’ll start the rituals I remember to bring rain and storms.” Working together, Kai, Senna, and June tilled the rows in record time. After an hour of digging, they began to drop seeds into the soil. Lissa, the smaller woman, watched but did not help.
As they began sprinkling the seeds in the grove they’d plowed, Kai addressed the two girls.
“Would you like to help now? Let me show you how to plant the seeds.” He placed seeds in the two young girls’ hands and showed them where to place them in the trough and how to cover them gently but not too deep. Kai closed his eyes again, held his Talisman and remembered the ritual of dancing for the plants.
Brutus stood next to Lissa and watched everything they did to make sure this wasn’t a ploy for the two students to escape. He didn’t trust them. He also saw the children light up and laugh. June and her daughters were visibly happy. That made him angry and suspicious.
Kai turned to Senna and began to sing. He encouraged the girls to sing too. Sasha laughed and threw her head back like she was having the time of her life. Kai started laughing at her enthusiasm and turned to June and her friend Lissa.
“Did you do a great job helping your mom? I’m sure you’ve made a difference,” Senna said to Sasha and Kanie. They laughed. “Let’s keep dancing. But not on top of the seeds you planted.
Kai looked at Brutus and Joe gawking at them like they were crazy. “Want to help?” he asked. The two men stared. June finished planting the final seeds and walked over to join the circle. Kai was happy she knew this ritual too.
Kai closed his eyes and requested help. In his mind, he heard Sohm, “I’m grateful you understand,” in his deep, gravelly, and unmistakable voice. Kai smiled knowing he had connected with important magic and the crops were blessed by the moons. They would grow. A new life had begun for this land.
Suddenly, an intense downpour of rain began, and everyone laughed together at the magic of the whole experience. Senna considered running for cover but realized that being out here in the elements was what this community and these plants needed to make a comeback. The rains continued intensely, and the thunder rumbled. After they danced for at least twenty minutes, the lightning came toward the open plain and signaled it was time to go for cover.
Kai turned to June. “You know this ritual.” She smiled and nodded in response.
“Yes, and I promise to help make sure these crops grow. Thank you, Kai, and Senna. I think we were so … well, I just gave up. I’ve been so tired and weary.”
“What happened?” Senna asked.
“Those men. Wesley. Well, Brutus isn’t as bad.”
“Couldn’t you leave?” Senna asked.
“My community burned in a fire and only a few of us survived. I found this place, and when I saw the shrine, even in its beat-up shape, it felt like a community belonged here, so we stayed. That decision was ...” She looked down with an expression on her face of disappointment and sadness. Senna touched her on the shoulder.
“I’m glad you’re here. Look what you did today with your kids. We couldn’t have done that by ourselves. You planted the crops, and your kids’ magic will keep them growing, I’m sure.
“No one is safe here with Brutus and Wesley in charge,” June said in a whisper, nearly to herself. “They’ll never consider anyone else.” June looked down and picked her youngest daughter up. A tear slid down her cheek.
“Okay, you’ve had your fun and games,” came Brutus’s booming voice from around the corner. “Time to get back in that room so we can keep track of ya.”
“Can June, Lissa, and the girls come with us please?” Senna asked directly.
“To that room of crystals? They wouldn’t know nothing.”
“Exactly,” Senna said. “We learned how to restore your water, and food. Maybe they can help us figure out more.” Brutus wondered what else those young mages in training might be able to accomplish for him. They had water again and his life was better, he admitted grudgingly to himself. Reluctantly, he agreed to let the two women and children follow them into the room.
