Soul of Magic (Soul of Magic Book 1)

FOURTEEN

The cave turned out to be a lot farther than Kyra had envisioned from her dream but as she saw it afar off on the horizon in the light of the evening sun, a smile crossed her face. It was a smile of fulfillment, a smile that made her feel that everything beforehand was worth it; and everything that was to come too.

Kyra had changed out of her dress, trading it for a male travelling outfit that although its material caused her to itch all over and had cost her a lot more silver coins than was reasonably advisable in convincing the seller to let her buy them without any questions, still made her grateful because the outfit afforded her more comfort in that situation than her own clothes would.

Her hair was also braided up; an exercise that reminded her of why she hated styling it so much. And even then, a few unruly strands had fallen back on her face as she walked, causing her to pull them behind her ear almost every second.

She turned her concentration back to the matter at hand; getting into the cave without alerting the two guards patrolling to her presence. Due to the location of the cave next to a mighty waterfall, any sound that would have normally alerted the men to the presence of an intruder was drowned out by the loud crashing movement of the water body. However, that also meant said intruder would also not be able to hear anyone sneaking up on them until it was too late; which unfortunately for Kyra, she was never any good at detecting in the first place.

Another problem was that the waterfall ran into a stream which separated where she stood from the cave; and there was no way she could cross it without getting caught. She needed to turn the factors in her favour and she needed to do it fast.

All of a sudden, a plan wedged its way into her head and she began to move as quietly as she could along her hiding spot. She didn't know where exactly she was going but she trusted her mind; or whatever entity was controlling it. As she moved, she discovered that the stream grew narrower as it ran past a hidden side of the cave. And even better, the stream was punctuated in many places by flat rocks on that side.

“Thank you, spirits of the ancestors,” Kyra was overjoyed as the plan finally became clear to her.

Quickly as she could, she crossed the stream on the rocks, praying like hell that she wouldn’t fall into the stream and get washed away or found by the patrolling guards. Fortunately, she got to the other side without any incident, landing just out of the men's line of sight.

The side of the cave harboured cracks in the rocks which she used as hand and footholds to climb it; a task which proved excruciating because she was nowhere near talented at climbing. Anyway, she eventually reached a higher level of the cave and dropped into it through a hole that was just wide enough to fit her slim frame.

Surprisingly, contrary to what Kyra had seen in her dream, the cave wasn’t dark. Torches had been placed at the cave’s mouth and she picked one before proceeding into the tunnel before her. Somehow, she knew where she was going, not once wavering in her route and she could even sense when anyone is coming and hid before they got around.

Whether it was magic or her that was responsible for her prowess, Kyra didn't know. But whatever it was, she took full advantage of it as she made her way deeper into the tunnel.

Just as she was about to start feeling more relaxed, a dagger suddenly pressed against her side from behind and she went as stiff as a board. "Make any move and I'll spill your guts all over the ground," whispered a rough voice into her ear. He was close enough for Kyra to know that he was a very huge man; her head stopped just underneath his chest and he was so close that she could hear his heartbeat clearly behind her.

He took Lionclaw from her hand and pressed it against her throat. "Move," he said and that one word was enough to make Kyra squirm in fear.

"Please, I don't want any trouble," she begged, her voice suddenly shaky. "I'm just a traveller looking for shelter."

"I said move!" he shouted at her this time and that got her moving.

On the plus side, Kyra thought in her head as she went, she would get to see Lucian very soon. The not so plus however was that she might very well be good as dead after she did.

***

Lucian groaned as he forced his eyes open. That was the third time he had passed out in the space of two hours and as usual, Tristan was waiting for him to wake up with a very satisfied smile on his face, ready to begin the process that usually ended up with being knocked out cold all over again.

Lucian had no idea what day it was but he guessed that it was probably the third day after that bastard Tristan had attacked and killed his people. The very thought filled him with so much anger that he began to struggle against his chains and shouting obscenities at the warlord, much to the latter’s amusement that is.

"Good to see you're awake," said Tristan, standing up from his makeshift throne. "And back to full strength, I see. That means you can finally tell me what I want."

"Dream on, Tristan," Lucian returned at him. “You failed before, you’ll fail again.”

The brashness with which Lucian had spoken infuriated Tristan so much that he grabbed his dagger in anger and would have stabbed the chained boy in the eye if not that one of his men walked in at that moment.

"Sire," said the man, resulting in a glare from Tristan at being interrupted. "We have an intruder here." He pulled Kyra in who was still struggling but she stopped as she saw Tristan's intense stare pin her to the spot; he really scared her.

"No," Lucian groaned when he saw her. "You fool! Why did you come?"

"I'm here to save you, you moron!" she shouted back at him, which only resulted in a glare from him that would have been frightening if he wasn't so weak.

"I take it that the both of you know each other, right?" Tristan said, a smile emerging on his face as he began to think of a new way to get Lucian to talk.

But Kyra was prepared to reduce her role to bait. "My lord," she said. "There’s no reason to waste your time on this puny boy, he’s just more trouble than he’s worth. Besides, I’m ten times more valuable than he is.”

"And why is that?" asked the warlord, genuinely interested in what she had to say.

"Because I heard you're in need of wizards," she replied. "Well, I'm the best you'll ever find. I am magic."

The split second of perplexity that appeared in the eyes everyone looking at her was all Kyra needed as she suddenly directed a jab to her captor's groin, causing him to drop Lionclaw which she swiftly used to finish him off. Almost immediately, more guards charged into the room and she ran to confront them squarely.

The moment Kyra gripped Lionclaw in her hands, an energy suddenly went out from it to her. But that wasn’t all. From her too, an energy responded, meeting the sword’s with a bang. The sword began to hum in her palms and the inscriptions on its blade grew so bright that it was like the sword was on fire. Lionclaw began to lend her not only strength but a power that a skilled warrior could only dream of. When she moved, her assailants fell. She became not just one with the sword, she became one with death itself; and her opponents soon knew that too.

Suddenly, a sword slashed her shoulder and she dropped the sword, clutching at her bleeding wound. Seeing their opportunity, Tristan’s men attacked all at once before she could grip the blade again.

But just as they were about to strike, time seemed to slow down as an energy filled her; but this was a different kind of energy. It was hot and blinding, unlocking a part of her she didn't know even existed and filling her to the brim with what felt like fire. At once, a force knocked back all her assailants, killing several of them in the process.

But Tristan wasn't deterred as he shouted, "Bring me her head!"

His men got to their feet but no sooner had they done so that they were suddenly back on their knees, writhing in pain. Kyra floated to her feet, her eyes suddenly all-white. She pointed at Tristan and he began to scream too as he clutched his head, blood running out of his ears.

"Stop!" he shouted, but Kyra didn't.

She threw back her head and laughed; the sound of it like the rumble of thunder before a storm. She clenched her fist and Tristan screamed the more like a man on fire; which only seemed to fuel the energy within her.

She floated closer to him and placed her hand on his head. "You have erred against forces more powerful than you, Tristan of Begermen, and you must be punished," she said, her voice as chilling as her eyes. "I therefore curse you to wither like the summer leaves, to be blown away by the winds and forgotten in the sands of time."

Immediately, Tristan gave a gut-wrenching scream as he turned dark-brown like a real summer leaf. He crumpled to dust right on the spot and a light breeze blew him away; leaving nothing of the man behind. But it didn't stop there as all men followed suit; withering, crumpling and blown away to nothingness.

Lucian was dumbstruck, watching as the men crumpled to nothing right before his very eyes. He couldn’t comprehend what was happening or how it could have so powerful. Suddenly, his chains faded away as if they were never there in the first place and he ran to Kyra, catching her just as she fell over in exhaustion.

"Told you I was here to save your a*s," she muttered before fainting in his arms.

And then, Lucian understood. Kyra had just given a demonstration of what being the Soul of magic meant, of the capability that came with it. And as the cave turned eerily quiet and the blonde-haired boy stared at the girl in his arms, he realised that he truly had a reason to revere what she was.