The Girl Born of Smoke (25 page)

“But I thought you said you didn't know how
to control your magic!” Djerr said accusingly.

Tarana sighed. “Whatever I control, it's not
magic, Djerr. I wish you'd stop calling it that. And I didn't know
how to do that, but I had to try something and once I started, it
just sort of made sense what to do. Anyway, we should get going. I
don’t wanna get caught by those guys again.”

Djerr looked at her helplessly. “But where
are we going to go?”

She started walking toward the end of the
valley, away from the city. “I don't know. Anywhere but here.”

Chapter 11

Occasionally stumbling over the uneven
ground, Djerr and Tarana slowly progressed through the valley. With
every step, she felt the exhaustion pulling at her body, urging her
to rest, but she forced herself to keep walking. Most of the fallen
bodies had been rescued from the cold battlefield, although they
still occasionally stumbled across the odd limb or body hidden in a
dip of the ground.

After what seemed like days, she noticed
with a start that she could distinguish the sky from the ground. It
had begun to lighten, and although the sky was still a very dark
blue and the stars shone brightly, she could make out the forest at
the end of the valley, still some distance away. They didn't speak,
but put all their energy in dragging themselves away from the city
as quickly as they could.

By the time they finally reached the first
scattered trees of the forest, the sky had lightened considerably
and the stars had almost completely faded away. Barely able to stay
upright or keep her eyes open, Tarana froze when she thought she
heard something move in front of her. Squinting through the
darkness, she motioned at Djerr to stop and listened carefully,
slowly swiveling her head as she peered into the shadows.

It reminded her of the day long ago when
Kalib had taught her to listen carefully to the sounds of the
forest, shutting out the distraction of sight. Closing her eyes,
she heard something rustle again, moving tentatively through the
forest. It sounded too heavy, too purposeful to be any animal
accustomed to living amongst the trees. Realizing too late that she
had no weapons on her and no way to defend herself, she opened her
eyes and considered her options.

“H-hello?” a young man's voice called. “Is
somebody there? Are you with the Citizens' Army?”

Feeling almost like laughing with relief,
Tarana sighed. “Yeah, there are two of us. We went to use the
bathroom and lost our way in the dark. Which way is back to
camp?”

The man slowly felt his way toward them.
“Man, you guys scared me. I hate this guard duty thing. I'm so
tired I think I'll fall asleep if I sit down.” He yawned widely.
“Sorry. Camp's just a little bit farther in.” He gestured and
yawned again, this time longer than the last. “See you later.” He
shuffled away from them, cursing when a branch swiped his face.

“Guess we'd better go around,” Djerr said
quietly.

Tarana shook her head. “Let's just go
through. It'll take forever to go around.”

He frowned. “It won't take that long. People
know me here, Tara. What if we see Kirian or someone?” But she had
already started walking further into the forest, in the direction
the man had pointed. Lagging behind slightly, he grimaced as he
walked into a spider web laced with dew. “That's your plan, isn't
it? You want to see Kirian again, don't you?”

“Djerr, how could I possibly manage to find
Kirian in a huge mob of sleeping people, most of which I have never
seen in my life? If he's even still here at all, it would take far
too long for me to find him.” She looked at him pointedly. “Unless,
of course, I had some help. Preferably someone who could recognize
some of the people he'd be with.”

With a sigh, Djerr began to walk slightly
faster. “Then we'd better hurry. It'll be easier to do this when
everyone's staying still.”

The two swept through the vast encampment,
led by Djerr. Slipping between sleeping bodies and hopping over the
dying campfires, they gave each face a brief glance before they
moved on. Occasionally, Djerr would slow slightly as he studied a
face he thought he recognized, and they would split up, hoping to
find Kirian still with his group.

The sky continued to lighten, visible
through the gaps in the trees above and they were able to move
faster as the shadows receded and the faces grew easier to see.
Still, they continued searching until the first rays of sunlight
darted through the forest and flickered across their bodies as they
moved. Although the camp was large and sprawled through the forest
floor in all directions, it was smaller than Tarana had expected.
Beginning to grow worried that Kirian had been killed in the battle
after all, her heart leapt every time Djerr thought he recognized a
soldier. After another false call, he turned to her and
shrugged.

“I dunno, Tara.” he whispered. “Kirian could
still be here somewhere. I haven't seen anyone that I recognize for
sure, but it'd take ages to search everyone. Is this really
important to you? I mean, we should probably keep moving, or at
least find somewhere to rest for awhile.”

She looked around helplessly. “I...” she
paused, trying to think, but her mind felt slow and heavy with the
need to sleep. “Why don't we just rest here? Just for awhile. No
one knows we're not a part of them and if it's so hard for us to
find someone, it'll be pretty hard for anyone to find us here,
either. Right?”

Djerr yawned, putting a hand over his mouth.
“I guess...not for long, though. I don't want to get wrapped up in
this army again.”

Sitting down heavily, her eyes were already
half-closed by the time she curled up on the ground, pulling her
knees against her chest. “I just need to rest for a little bit...”
she mumbled, hearing Djerr lay down next to her. “Then we can get
going again.”

He made a noise in response, but she already
felt herself spinning away, losing her grip on the physical world.
She drifted through her dreams, seemingly too tired to even
participate, until she suddenly felt as if she were jolted awake.
Standing unsteadily, she found herself in a cave, one she gradually
recognized as where she had met Rupert almost a week ago. Sighing
heavily, she looked around until she spotted the old man leaning
against a large boulder. He smiled slightly when he saw her. “Back
so soon?” he asked.

Crossing her arms, she glared at him and
kept her distance. “I thought you said you'd contact me again when
I'm ready.”

“And?”

“What makes you think I'm any more ready
than I was last week?”

Clasping his hands behind his back, Rupert
walked slowly toward her. “Well my dear girl, you've finally used
your magic for your own gain. Something I've been waiting for you
to do for a long, long time.”

Tarana looked at him indignantly. “For my
own gain? Do you understand what would have happened if I hadn't
gotten myself out of there?”

“All too well,” he replied, looking down at
her. “But whatever the circumstances, the fact remains that you
used your magic not to save your friend from death, as you did
earlier, but to save yourself from a terrible fate. That tells me
that you're ready.” He paused. “Now, I need to assess your
technique. Move one of the pebbles on the ground without touching
it.”

“I don't know how.” She narrowed her eyes at
him.

“You do so,” he replied crossly. “You could
do it as a child and I know you can do it now. Just try.”

“And if I refuse?

He turned away and for a moment, the only
sound in the cave was the water running down the walls and dripping
down from the ceiling, the noise echoing throughout. Rupert finally
sighed. “Tarana, this gift has been given to you from the past and
it is of great importance that you accept it. I know that it has
provided you with many difficulties and troubles, but you need to
move past that.” He turned back toward her. “At least let me show
you how to control and use it more effectively so that if the need
arises, you may use it in the real world.”

Pausing to consider what he had said, Tarana
finally shrugged. Gathering up all her strength deep inside her
chest and tensing her muscles, she focused fiercely on one of the
pebbles at her feet and channeled the power through her body, out
her fingertips and hurled it at the pebble. Several of the other
pebbles immediately shattered, exploding into a gritty dust while
the pebble she had focused on was thrown across the cavern,
clattering against the wall and splashing into a puddle. She
glanced up at Rupert, who had a bewildered, almost amused
expression on his face.

“Alright, we've got some work to do.”

Stumbling backwards as the ground rearranged
itself under her feet, Tarana blinked and found herself standing in
front of a wooden counter. “Wh-where are we?” she asked as she
slowly turned around, staring in bewilderment.

“In a kitchen, of course,” Rupert replied,
sounding slightly smug. He walked over to the splintering wooden
cupboard, opening it to reveal that it held two metal bowls.
Curious, Tarana stood on her tiptoes as Rupert lifted the first
bowl down and saw that it contained some sort of clumpy white
powder.

“What is that?” she asked.

He held it out to her, watching as she stuck
a finger in the powder. “It's corn starch. That's not going to
tas-”

Tarana made a face as she licked some of it
off her finger. “That's gross. What are you going to make with
that?”

Without answering her question, Rupert set
the first bowl down on the counter and lifted the other down, much
more slowly. Hearing it slosh against the sides of the metal,
Tarana nodded. “That must be water.”

“That's right.” Rupert added the water to
the first bowl, then stuck a hand in, mixing it with more energy
than she realized he contained.

“Come on, what are you making?” She stared
as the powder turned globular and sticky-looking. She started to
reach a hand in, but Rupert pulled it away from her.

“I'm making magic,” he replied, pulling a
handful of the mixture out of the bowl. The runny white liquid
dribbled out from between his fingers. “Now, this is how you use
your magic.” He closed his fingers around the handful, squeezing
tightly and turning his fist so that it should have squirted out.
Instead, only a few drops fell from his fist. “See how little magic
exits my hand when I squeeze it so hard?”

Tarana nodded in amazement, reaching into
the bowl to grab a handful herself. To her surprise, the liquid
immediately turned solid and gritty when she squeezed it. She
looked up at Rupert and he grinned at her astonishment.

“Now relax your fingers,” he instructed her.
Together, they relaxed their grip and the solid clump immediately
turned back to liquid and ran from their hands. “That is how you
should be releasing your magic. Much less energy is used in
exchange for a lot more power. It's all about technique.”

Alternately squeezing and relaxing her grip
on the corn starch and water, Tarana laughed. “This is magic?”

“No, not exactly. This is science, something
that is completely tied up in the use of magic. Science used to be
taught in great depth at the old Academy of Magic. This experiment
that I just showed you, a liquid that changes into a solid at a
sudden pressure, this is the first lesson shown to every student
who entered the academy.”

Allowing the corn starch to drip from her
fingers, Tarana studied it thoughtfully. “This science...do you
think you could teach me more?”

A smile breaking out across Rupert's face,
he nodded. “I would be happy to, but it will have to wait until
next time. Now, you need to rejoin your friends. Stay away from the
war for now. You're not yet ready to lead your side.”

Looking up to ask what he meant, Tarana
instead found herself staring up into the sunlight. Squinting her
eyes against the bright light, she slowly focused on a dark shape
leaning into her vision, blocking out the sun. Her eyes still
cloudy with sleep, she blinked several times before she finally
recognized Kirian, staring down at her in astonishment. She
grinned.

“Wh-what are you doing here?” Kirian
stuttered.

Shifting slightly, she looked over and saw
Djerr still asleep, curled tightly into a ball, his hair covering
his eyes. As she slowly raised herself into a sitting position, she
blinked again, trying to decide if she was still dreaming. Finally,
she spoke. “Well, we came looking for you.”

He still seemed to be searching for what to
say and opened his mouth several times, before he said, “Aurora, I
didn't know if I'd ever see you again. I mean, where have you been?
And how did you find Djerr? I hadn't seen him since we had this big
battle with the entire Wizard’s Army. I had begun to think he was
dead too.”

Tarana blinked. “Too? What do you mean,
'dead too'?”

Sitting down in front of her, Kirian glanced
away. “Well, it sometimes seemed easier to think of you as dead
than to why you had run away. I never meant to do that to you,
honestly. I never expected to have to take care of some kid and I
really had no idea what I was doing. I-I'm truly sorry I screwed
everything up the way I did.”

“Kirian...” Lost for words and wracked with
guilt, Tarana bit her lip. “I'm sorry I ran off. It really had
nothing to do with you. I actually really liked staying with you.
I'm sorry I said those things. I just wanted to make you feel bad.
I'm so so sorry.” She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around
him, blinking several times in succession in an attempt not to let
the tears that filled her eyes spill out.

Kirian stiffened for a second, then relaxed
and held Tarana tightly. “It's fine, Aurora. I'm just glad I have
you back now. But how did you get here? Have you rejoined the
army?”