Spell Fade (17 page)

“She enjoyed that a bit too much, didn’t she?” Logan said to Dartan when he was sure she was too far away to hear.

“Entirely too much,” Dartan agreed with his own grin.

“Do you know what the most disturbing part of that was?” Dartan simply shook his head. “I’m not sure she did that for me.”

Dartan widened his eyes. “You mean you may not have been the center of something that happened while you were actually present?”

“Like I said, disturbing.”

Dartan smiled again. Despite his best efforts, he was afraid Logan might be growing on him.

They were still nearly a half-day away from Kinsley and it wasn’t long before they settled into their typical single-file travel. Moving through the sparse woods required more attention than the worn road they had been on, but Dartan still found his mind wandering from the trail. As his feet dealt with root, rock, and mud, his thoughts turned to Alain.

Where was he? What was he preparing for, and how exactly was he doing it? Did he really expect Dartan to be able to lead this country? The last question stopped his spinning mind, and almost his feet as well. He looked up and noticed where he was – back of the pack. He wasn’t even the leader of this small group. How could he be expected to lead an entire country?

Whether accidentally or unconsciously, Dartan’s foot caught a small, loose stone, sending it skipping across the uneven ground. As he watched it tumble away, he was suddenly filled with a feeling of freedom and exhilaration. It was as if, for an instant, he was the rock, experiencing its unexpected journey first-hand.

Now do it again – with magic.

He picked out a small stone ahead, one that would fit nicely in the palm of his hand. Without thinking about how he wanted to do it, he simply tried tossing it with his mind. At first, it refused to do much more than just roll over. Dartan focused on the feeling, the freedom and joy of that flight, and the thought simply appeared in his head. Rocks want to fly.

He didn’t try encouraging a strong, concentrated wind to pick up the stone, nor did he try to persuade gravity to relax its grip for a brief moment. He simply reached out and lent the stone some power. It took care of the rest.

By the time Dartan had thrown the third stone, Logan could stand it no longer. He had been giving Dartan backward glances since feeling the first inkling of magic, but Dartan hadn’t noticed. With a small huff, Logan stopped walking, allowing Dartan to catch up.

“What are you doing?” Logan asked in a hushed tone.

“What do you mean?” Dartan asked, sending another rock into the trees.

“The magic and the rocks!” While still quiet, there was clearly irritation in his voice. “What do you think you’re doing?” he repeated.

What was he doing, exactly? “Practicing,” he decided. “Think a rock would do any damage to a dragon?”

Logan opened his mouth, drew a breath, then snapped it closed. He glanced ahead at Marcus and Farnir, then, from the corner of his mouth, asked, “How’s your aim?”

Dartan could feel his own smile mirroring Logan’s. “What’d you have in mind?”

Aiming, as it turned out, was much harder than throwing. Throwing was a simple burst or pulse of power, but aiming required constant focus. Logan’s first suggestion of ‘how close can you get to Farnir’s head’ seemed harmless enough. Although, in hindsight, probably not the best choice for a first attempt.

“To be fair,” Dartan whispered, “you didn’t specify ‘without hitting it’.”

“You’re right,” Logan replied. His eyes were on the ground, and his hand rubbed the side of his nose, hiding the smile threatening to turn into a laugh. “That was completely my fault.”

Luckily, it had been a small rock, and Dartan had managed to nudge it from a direct hit to a graze across his shoulder at the last second. It wasn’t enough to make Farnir stop, but he did turn and look behind him. Dartan and Logan were silent, eyes on their boots until Farnir rubbed his arm, shrugged his shoulders, and turned back around.

“So,” Logan whispered, “from now on let’s just assume if I say ‘close’, then I mean ‘without hitting it’.”

“Sure. Fair enough.”

For the next hour Logan would call the shot – top of that tree, leaf on a branch, squirrel – and Dartan would aim for them. It wasn’t long before Dartan discovered he had to do little more than concentrate on the target to deliver the stone to it. In response, Logan increased the rate at which he called out the shots. The result was a perpetual shower of rocks in the forest surrounding their small party. Unaware of the target practice behind them, Marcus and Farnir were both getting very nervous about all the noise.

By the end of that hour Dartan was starting to feel the strain. His mind wanted to wander even as he guided the rock to its target.

“Alright,” Dartan finally said after buzzing a passing bird. “One more throw and I’m going to need a break.”

“You actually lasted a lot longer than I expected,” Logan admitted. He nodded towards Farnir and Marcus as he added, “They could probably use a break, too. I’m surprised they haven’t twisted their heads off yet.”

Marcus had drawn his sword at some point during their practice, holding it in front of him as they walked. Farnir had done the same with his dagger and walked nearly back-to-back next to Marcus. Aliet spotted the guilty grins Dartan and Logan were now wearing, and decided to stop and let them catch up. Logan flashed her a broad smile, but it did nothing to soften her stern features.

“I don’t know what you two are up to,” she said, falling into step beside Dartan, “but it needs to stop.”

“Calm down, sweetheart,” Logan said. “The men are just back here practicing a little magic.” The fire smoldering in her eyes came to a full blaze, but Logan was oblivious. “We’re almost done, so you can stop worrying.” It was the first time Dartan had ever seen her too angry to even speak. Her mouth opened and closed, but the words refused to get in line and file out, instead all fighting to come out at once.

On his other side, Logan continued, “For this last one we should really try something difficult.” Dartan simply nodded while Logan looked around. He pointed to a fist-sized rock on the ground ahead of them. “That rock,” he said, then pointed to a tree behind them. “Bounce it off that tree, then,” he spun back around, and pointed to some bushes ahead, “through those bushes.” His finger went to his chin as he looked around, and as he finished calling the route, Dartan felt himself getting dizzy. “Swing it back around that squirrel, slingshot off that branch, and, finally, pulverize it against that boulder ahead of us.”

Dartan and Aliet both met his wide smile with open mouths. Controlling a bounce, changing direction mid-flight, and crushing it into dust? Dartan had expected difficult, but these were things he had not even considered trying. Still, it certainly seemed to have grabbed Aliet’s attention. He watched her as she looked from him to the stone, the tree, and then back again at him. She was hooked.

“Whenever you’re ready then,” Logan prompted as they drew close to the chosen stone. Dartan smiled nervously at Aliet, then closed his eyes and reached out to find the stone. Ready to fly?

The squirrel actually fell from the tree limb watching the rock swing around him, but its reaction was nothing compared to Marcus and Farnir. The exploding rock echoed around them, and Farnir threw himself to the ground while Marcus charged forward.

“My fault! Sorry!” Logan called out. “Shouldn’t have thrown that rock so hard.” He turned to Dartan. “Aim – check. But you’re going to have to throw something a lot bigger than that to hurt a dragon. Next time we’ll see if size matters.” He winked at Aliet before adding, “And no matter what anyone says, it really does.” He turned, headed towards Farnir. “Here, let me help you up,” he offered.

Dartan knew he would need something bigger than a pebble. How much effort would it require to toss a boulder into the sky? He thought back to that last throw. There was no doubt he felt the sensations of the rock, but there was no weight, no force, no strain on himself. Would size really matter?

Aliet watched silently until Logan was out of earshot. “So, you two are best friends now?” Dartan looked at the ground as he shrugged his reply. She watched Logan help Farnir up with a boyish grin on his face, then turned back to Dartan. “He says you’re dangerous, that you can make anything you desire, just happen.”

Dartan felt his cheeks flush, but was it from anger or embarrassment? “And I suppose he told you that during one of your intimate fireside chats?” He could hear it in his own voice – not anger or embarrassment, but something completely different.

“Well, you hardly left me any choice,” she shot back. “You go stomping off into the woods, leaving me by myself. Then you spend all day trailing behind us, alone. Who else am I supposed to talk to?”

He wanted to tell her he only kept his distance for their protection, but that made it sound like he really was dangerous. He didn’t want her to fear him. “We’ve known each other nearly our entire lives,” he said. “What do you think? Am I dangerous?”

He held his breath as she ran her eyes up and down his body. “Sure you are,” she said. Then she gave him a playful shove, and added, “If we were having a rock throwing contest.”

In the laughter that followed, Dartan felt almost all of the tension between them dissolve, along with his own fears. Almost. Things would never be the same between them. How could they be? She understood nothing of his power, which was only slightly less than he had figured out. It would change him in some ways, and they both knew that to be true. Still, he didn’t feel like a particularly different person. All he could do now was wait and see if she saw anything different.

In the silence that followed their laughter, she had been watching him from the corner of her eye. Even wrapped in his own thoughts, Dartan could see her watching him. He let it go for several minutes, but could finally stand it no longer.

“What is it? Why do you keep looking at me?”

She shook her head at first, but quickly gave in. “Just thinking about what Logan said.” Dartan rolled his eyes, his groan almost audible. She put her arm through his and pulled him a little closer – she wasn’t scared. “You can make anything you desire happen. Is that true?” She stopped walking and faced him, searching his face as he tried to answer.

“Well, everything has some desire,” he began. “It’s much easier to help fulfill those desires than it is to counter them with my own.”

She gave him a half-smile. “You’re even beginning to sound like a wizard.” He moved to protest, but she put a finger to his lips to stop him. “Let me be more direct, so you know exactly what I want you to answer. Could you make me do something I didn’t want to do?”

“You’re still not being direct,” Dartan said. “What you really want to know is can I get inside your head and make you into my puppet. Right?” She lowered her head and nodded slowly. “From the little I’ve experienced so far, I’d say the ability certainly exists.” He put a hand under her chin, lifting her head to look into her eyes. “But I don’t feel like it’s something I could ever do to you … or anyone.”

The small smile returned to her lips as she nodded her understanding. There were some things about himself that even magic would never change. His feelings for Aliet were just one of those. He dropped his hand from her chin, and gave her his own smile. “But that’s not what you asked.”

Her smile turned up in the corners mischievously, and her eyebrows arched in questioning. Dartan explained, “You asked if I could make you do something you didn’t want to do. I’d argue I’ve been doing that for years without magic, but I know that’s not really what you meant either.” She cocked her head to the side, and her eyes said ‘I can’t wait to hear this’.

“As I said,” he explained, “magic is about figuring out how to make desires work in your favor.” He paused, letting his eyes slide over Aliet. “If, for instance, I wanted you to drop your sword, I wouldn’t even attempt to force you to give it up.” His mind reached out, searching for the ties securing the scabbard to her, then lent a little power to loosen the energy stored in the bonds. “No, I simply encourage the sword to release itself,” he said with a smile as her sword and belt fell to the ground with a small thump.

Aliet placed hands on her hips. “I certainly hope my pants aren’t feeling any similar desires.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Dartan said, then unable to think of anything else.

“Is that all you’ve got?” she taunted.

“Just getting started,” he assured her. “How about I make you move a little closer to me?” he suggested.

“Definitely not something I desire.”

“Fortunately, I’m not relying on convincing you. Not when it’s so easy to just give you a little push.” Aliet’s hair lifted and danced about her face, reaching out towards Dartan, guided by a sudden breeze from behind her. She absently pushed it back, meaning to ask him what he meant. What came out was little more than a surprised yelp as the gentle breeze turned suddenly into a concentrated column of air, centered at the small of her back. She staggered forward, almost caught her balance, then tripped on a root and flew, arms wide, straight into Dartan. He raised his own arms, catching her and staggering back only a step. She hung in his arms, her face buried in his chest, and laughed.

“I really didn’t think you meant this close,” she said in a muffled voice.

“I may have overdone it a bit,” he admitted.

She picked herself up, but remained close. His arms encircled her back, holding her.

“The root was a nice touch.”

He leaned his head to the side and spied the small, offending root. “I didn’t do that.” Did he? Aliet looked at him with squinting, uncertain eyes.

Aliet put her arms across his shoulders and brought his forehead down to meet her own. “Root, or no root, that was kind of impressive.”

The smooth warmth of her skin against his was making it hard for him to think. His words were swallowed by her deep eyes, and her smiling lips urged him to draw closer. The best he was able to reply with was, “Really? Just ‘kind of’ impressive?”

“What else have you got?” she pressed. “Feeling any other desires you want to indulge?”