Chapter 5

Roan wondered if it was wise not to tell his companion about her peculiar ring. But then again, she might know already

“You know of course, what the name Keira means in the ancient tongue.”

Her brow furrowed, the freckles on her forehead contracting. “Well, no.”

Roan watched her from the corner of his eye. “She-wolf.”

Keira looked practically uninterested, but her fingers twitched over the reins. The chestnut mare gave a start as Keira unwittingly tugged on the poor horse’s bit.

“Easy there, pup.” She must know.

As the two continued on, Roan saw the girl take off her emerald ring and study a small mark engraved into the inside band. He couldn’t see what.

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  She-wolf. Keira slipped the old ring off her middle finger, studying it closely. Not for the first time, she brushed her finger across the tiny mark inside the band"the head of a wolf, eyes piercing even for so tiny a carving. A tutor at the academy had given the ring to her. The stocky dueling instructor had never taught Keira, as she practiced healing almost exclusively. Looking back, she thought it odd that he had given it to her, rather than one of his own students.

“Time for a lesson in extraction.” Roan’s bright tenor interrupted her thoughts.

“Extraction?”

“Yes. A method of my own invention"it’s how I collect the remnants of Pyre.” Roan puffed up in pride, looking slightly like an overzealous rooster. “I coined the term myself.”

“Well is sounds like a Velken torture method.”

“Nobody asked for you to weigh in.”

“Actually, you did when you coerced me into joining this outlandish quest of yours.”

“Coercion?” Placing a hand over his heart, Roan looked positively wounded.

“That’s what it’s called when you offer a person passage to the capitol, and then burden them with all your secret plans and ridiculous theories.” She was smiling despite herself.

“Now I know you aren’t talking about the magic being stolen. I’m not the only one who believes it.” Roan stopped his dappled grey, dismounting as he spoke.

Keira did the same. “Who?” It could be they had allies she had never even met.

“Well, my old friend in the capitol, Stavus. He was the first to suspect the Pyre was not gone at all, only in the possession of a Thief.”

Keira and Roan tied their horses around a nearby sapling, the delicate leaves translucent in the fading sunlight.

“Extraction”, Roan began. “is as much mental as it is physical. You must be adept in visualization. Simply being a powerful mage is not enough. But we’ll start with your stance. Go ahead, stand how you normally would if you were about to cast.”

Dropping her arms to her sides, she widened her stance and stood a bit straighter. Roan considered her, head cocked to one side like a curious pup. “A hundred years ago, your stance would be perfect. Just who did they have teaching you at that academy? Skeletons risen from the dead?”

            “I’m not standing here so you can discredit my education.” Her hands balled into fists.

            Roan looked at her kindly. “You’ll never know how much fun I have riling you.” 

            She gave him a look.

            “Fine, fine. Keep your palms open, arms slightly outstretched. Feet directly under your hips.” He stepped close to her, placing his hands on her hips and squeezing lightly. “A bit narrower.”

            Making the corrections as he spoke, she began to feel the difference. Her entire body was open to the current of the Pyre, inviting it in.

            Leaving one hand near her waist, Roan continued. “Close your eyes. As you know, inside of all mages is a fire, pouring the Pyre into our bodies like a flurry of smoke. The Thief has found a way to drain the smoke from us.”

            “Like a chimney.”

            “Exactly. The smoke escapes into the air, as I showed you earlier. But if you focus, you can stop the chimney up.”

            A warmth spread out from her heart, the flame flickering with her strong heartbeat. Suddenly, she could feel her Pyre escaping from her veins, evaporating off her body like sweat.

            “Try now,” he began slowly, “to trap the smoke inside of you.”

            All the muscles along her body tightened. Keira imagined that she was hardening her skin, making an exoskeleton. Slowly, she began to feel her limbs filling up, becoming light and buoyant from the Pyre. Opening her eyes, Keira laughed in exultation, stretching her arms high above her head, and spinning beneath the open sky.

            “I can feel it!” She stroked a blister that had formed on her knuckles, pumping the healing smoke deep into the wound. Just as before the Pyre’s disappearance, the blister shrunk, healthy pink skin shining where the scab once lay.

            She ran back to where Roan stood. She wanted to fling her arms around him, the man who had restored her magic. Instead, she stood before him smiling like she hadn’t in years.

            He grinned back at her, eyes intense as they held her own. “Looks like you’ve mastered the first step. We’ll save the second for another day. For now, I’ll catch us dinner. I spied a lake nearby that promised trout.”

            As he took off, Keira decided she could learn to call this man a friend. Plopping beside her grazing mare, Keira let herself take a long nap under the late sun. She slept deeply, though her stomach woke her as the smell of roasting fish pervaded the evening.

Keira stumbled over to the hearty campfire, where two colorful trout sat roasting. Roan was dozing by the fire himself, a lopsided smile on his face. She prodded him softly. With a start and a rather unattractive yelp, the lanky man bounced out of his knapsack, managing to kick over the fish in the process. It took the two several minutes to salvage their dinner, which on the whole was enjoyable despite the ash that stained both their hands.

Though Keira had finished the last few bites of fish, the nutty flavor lingered on her tongue pleasantly. “Tell me how you learned to cast.” She yawned, the fire warming her like a rock in the sun.

Eyes closed, she heard him add wood to the flames as he spoke. “Well, it certainly wasn’t at an academy. Stavus taught me when I was only five. He was the mage of our keep, hired by my father to protect us from invasions. Of course, there never were any.”

Of course he was born noble. “If invasions never threatened your keep, why hire a dueler?”

“Fear is the oldest human emotion. My father could no more break from centuries of fear than an ox could break from its yoke.”

Sometimes, Roan sounded a hundred years old. “How old are you?”

He chuckled, pointing to a grove of apple trees, barely visible in the darkness that surrounded their camp. “As old as those trees, I’m sure.”

Keira smirked. “About thirty then? Apple trees stop bearing fruit at thirty-five.”

“For a Healer, you know a lot about trees.” He looked surprised, but not the least bit miffed that she had outsmarted him.

“We had an apple orchard my father tended to. He taught me.” Her face was blank. She was calm and cool as a sheet of ice.

If Roan noticed her sudden silence, he chose to ignore it.

“We’d best get some sleep. It’ll be a long ride tomorrow, and we’ll have to cross over theBroad River.”

But it was her father, and not dreams that occupied her thoughts that night.

 

Reviews

[xx_strawberry_xx]

Very interesting chapter. It opens up a lot of questions about Keira's ring and the things that happened between her and her father. I like how the story progresses at somewhat of a fast rate, because it keeps the reader interested. I also really like that we are getting to know these two characters well before any other characters are introduced to the story.

I don't really think that there is anything that I would change about this chapter. One thing that I do find interesting, however, is your capitalization of "thief". It is interesting because it makes the character seem more mysterious and even a bit scary.
Great job! :)