The Silver Pear (21 page)

“
W
hat’s the plan
?” Soren threw the golden apple into the air, and as it tumbled end over end, Kayla realized how good it was to see him again.

Ylana flicked her fingers, and instead of landing in Soren’s open palm, a blast of wind shot it into her waiting hand.

At Soren’s glare, she bared her teeth. “It’s not something to handle lightly.”

“Who are you, anyway?”

“This is Ylana. But you’ll know her already as Jisuel.” Rane spoke quietly as he leaned across and took the apple from Ylana. “This is mine. No fighting over it.”

“Jisuel?” Soren scoffed, then, when he saw Rane wasn’t joking, took a step closer to Ylana. “You were Jisuel?”

Ylana let her features change a little, let her face bleed into that of a handsome young man’s and then back to her true self.

Soren’s mouth fell open.

“You’re sure that was Eric just now? Putting himself into the stronghold?” Kayla felt the weight of time passing, and didn’t want to lose their chance.

Rane pressed his fingertips to the top of his shoulder. “I’m sure. And he’s gained strength from somewhere. I don’t know how. I wounded him so badly, I thought he might bleed to death, no matter how strong he is.”

Kayla looked sharply at him, because the only way he would know that Eric had gained strength was if the pain in his back was worse. He shared a quick look with her, to comfort her, she realized, and reassure her.

She reached out and touched his arm. He acknowledged her worry with a light touch of his own, and then he pulled away from her, all business.

“Eric will have a magical store. It’s usually a mix of crystals and other things, things he’s imbued with power over time, ready for when he needs it most. That’ll be the extra strength you sense.” Mirabelle stepped close to Soren, and he tangled his fingers with hers.

“Could he have healed himself with this magical store?” If he had, Kayla couldn’t understand why he’d risk confronting Nuen for the golden apple when he must be weak.

Mirabelle shook her head at the same time as Ylana. “Sorcerers can’t heal themselves.”

“They can’t heal anyone.” Ylana said firmly.

“I can.” Mirabelle shrugged at Ylana’s disbelieving look. “I
can
. I can’t heal myself, but I can heal others.”

“And why is that?” the earth witch asked.

“Because I was an earth witch, before my father used the silver pear to make me a sorcerer.”

Ylana sucked in a breath. Looked from Mirabelle to Kayla. “Two earth witches who are something else.”

“And one who is enough earth witch for all of us,” Kayla said.

“We should strike now.” Rane was looking toward the stronghold, fingers tapping against his leg in agitation.

“The problem is Harness is just beyond the forest and it takes time for wild magic to filter through the cracks in the border and it can only come to me in thin wisps.” Kayla could carry as much as possible, but she knew when it had run out, she would just have a trickle to work with.

“It’s a pity we can’t push the forest closer to the wall. It’s so close already.” Mirabelle said, and Kayla knew she turned to stare at her at the same time as Ylana.

“Push the Great Forest closer to the wall,” the earth witch murmured. “Why not?”

“You can do it?” Rane asked.

Ylana gave a slow nod. “It will take all my strength. I won’t be as much use to you in the fight itself, but I could get a thin line of the forest growing up to the wall if you give me some time.”

“A thin line is all the wild magic would need to reach me.” She grinned at Mirabelle. “Good idea.”

Blue flashed above the stronghold again, and Rane turned to watch it, looked over at Soren. “Let’s get a little closer, see what’s happening.”

His brother nodded, and after a moment’s thought, Rane tossed her the golden apple before they moved off into the trees, in that absolutely silent way that always made Kayla feel like a blundering elephant.

“Makes me tear up, they’re so pleased to see each other,” Ylana said, and Kayla blinked, startled. It appeared the earth witch was absolutely serious.

“I think I might like you, after all.” Mirabelle was staring at her, too.

Ylana grinned, her white, white teeth flashing. “They will be good support, and if Soren can become invisible, that will help, too. But it will be up to you two.” She crouched down and forced stiff fingers into the soil. “If I’m growing the forest and pushing the border in front of it, then that’s me out of it. It’ll take everything I have.”

“I have the silver pear back, but I used most of its store up when I fought with Andrei.” Mirabelle was watching Ylana, fascinated. “Tell me, why do you do that? Put your fingers in the ground?”

“It’s the way of the earth witch.”

“I did that, once. In my sleep.”

“And?”

“I felt better when I woke. Better than I should have, after what had happened to me. And Soren said I glowed.”

Ylana stood and touched her. Gave a nod. “I can feel the earth magic in you. Not much, though. You’ve used it up. Your fathers both made a merry mess of things, didn’t they?”

Kayla shook her head. “We’ll never agree on that. I like being a wild magic witch, and I’m glad I’m not bound by the bonds of earth magic.”

Mirabelle flicked her eyes toward the wild magic spinning and bobbing all around them and then away, as if afraid to attract its attention. “If your wild magic can store itself directly in the silver pear, you could wear it when we attack, to use while Ylana pushes the forest up to the wall.”

Kayla frowned. “What will you use?”

Mirabelle held up her staff. “I’ve done well enough with this the last few days. And I can create wild magic for you every time I use the staff, which I wouldn’t do if I used the silver pear. Even if Eric and Nuen banish their wild magic immediately, I can be a source for you.”

They stared at each other. Kayla read determination and fear in Mirabelle’s eyes, but her gaze didn’t waver.

Slowly, Kayla held out her hand, and Mirabelle lifted the silver pear over her head and handed it across.

Kayla turned and pushed it gently into a ball of wild magic. The wild magic disappeared with a faint pop. She did it to three others, and then held it cupped in both hands.

The hum of contained power was almost audible. She was afraid the silver pear would explode in her hands.

“What are we going to do to them? To Nuen and Eric?” Mirabelle asked.

“Stop them.” Ylana was implacable.

“Yes, but how? Kill them? Take their power from them?”

Kayla shifted uncomfortably. The same thought had occurred to her at Halakan. She’d been trying to pin Eric down, she’d had no plan to kill him, but Rane and the wild magic had both been intent on his destruction.

“No jail will hold them for long,” Ylana said. “And then they’ll be back.”

“I know. But to kill them . . .” Mirabelle lifted her shoulders. “That’s something they’d do. And I don’t want to be like them.”

“What of the people they’ve killed?” Ylana didn’t mince her words. “The people they’ll kill in the future if they aren’t stopped now?”

“There’s enough wild magic to create a prison for them.” Kayla had thought of it all the way from Halakan to here. “It likes the idea of holding them.”

Ylana looked at her with her head cocked to one side. “Aye. I imagine it would. Fair enough. I can support a wild magic jail for them.” She smiled, and Kayla had the strangest feeling she was being laughed at.

“But wild magic and sorcerers . . .” Mirabelle was frowning, looking at Ylana as she spoke, then her words stopped dead as a roaring shout came from the stronghold up ahead.

Kayla went absolutely still.

It was a shout of rage, of pain and of frustration.

“What was that?” Mirabelle whispered.

“That was Rane,” Ylana said.

“They’ve got them.” She didn’t want to say the words, but there was no other way Rane would have made a sound like that. “Nuen and Jasper have got them.”

Kayla looked down and saw a half dozen balls of wild magic had pressed themselves against her legs.

And somehow, it didn’t seem such a difficult choice to kill Eric and Nuen, after all.

“
I
t’s going too slowly
.”

Ylana was crouched down, hands spread out on the ground where the Great Forest was closest to the stronghold wall.

Remembering how the witch had prepared herself earlier, fingers dug deep into the rich, dark soil of the forest, Mirabelle crouched down herself and dug her fingers into the ground.

She felt it almost at once. A warmth, and a tingle at the very tips of her fingers. The energy she’d used up in protecting herself from Nuen and getting herself out of the stronghold flowed back, and for the first time since she’d given Kayla the silver pear, she felt a flare of confidence.

She could be as much a force as anyone. She’d have to be, no matter the years of experience and power Eric and Nuen had had to build themselves up.

“Yes. It’s too slow.” Kayla paced, hands twining around each other.

Small saplings had already sprung up in an area about the width of two men lying end to end, and had made the forest at least six feet closer to the wall. With another thirty or more feet to go.

In truth, it seemed very fast to Mirabelle, but with Soren and Rane prisoner in the stronghold, not, she agreed, fast enough.

At least fifteen minutes had passed since they’d heard Rane cry out.

He’d been in pain, and she didn’t fool herself into thinking Soren would have escaped unscathed either, if he’d been taken, too.

She hoped he’d grabbed the moonstone in time, was watching over Rane, waiting for them to come. Safe and invisible.

But hoping didn’t make it true.

“We’ll have to leave the golden apple with Ylana. It would be a disaster if either Eric or Nuen got it. You have the power to heal?”

Miri looked up and saw Kayla had stopped pacing and was waiting for her to answer.

“I can, but depending on how badly they’re hurt, especially if it’s both of them, then that will take everything I have.”

Kayla dismissed that with a wave of her hand. “As long as you can get to them, and heal them, I will be able to do everything else.”

“I’ll get to them.” Mirabelle dug her fingers even deeper into the earth, until they couldn’t go in any more, then she rose up.

Kayla looked her way and frowned. “You’re glowing.”

“Earth magic. It likes this one.” Ylana looked over as well, her voice breathless with exertion.

Kayla gave an exclamation and moved up beside Ylana. Suddenly the number of saplings increased two-fold, and then three fold. Then grew into full trees.

The power the princess of Gaynor could wield within the boundary of the Great Forest was immense. Unfortunately, she couldn’t take all that power into the stronghold with her. Not unless Ylana could breach the stronghold wall with the Great Forest itself.

And then, she’d have all the power she could want.

Mirabelle tried not to look too hard at the wild magic. It hung; eery, absolutely frightening, all around her. Mirabelle wanted to find a small dark space, close her eyes, cover her ears and rock until it somehow went away.

But Soren’s life was forfeit if it did, so she straightened her spine and focused instead on Kayla’s magnificent cat.

Waist high, sleek and deadly.

Another scream echoed from within the walls, and Kayla rubbed a hand over her heart. “Please, for me, let them help you,” she said to the witch, and Ylana hesitated and then gave a nod.

Kayla stepped back and walked among the wild magic closest to her, brushing her hands over each ball as if it were a pet, and they floated over to Ylana, took over from Kayla. They were helping the earth witch extend the boundary.

The earth magic witch was as frightened of wild magic as Miri was, she could see it in the tension on her face, and the way she leaned slightly away from the lazy, spinning balls. Somehow, that shared fear lessened hers a bit.

“It’s taken to the idea very well.” Ylana’s voice trembled a little.

Miri was very afraid Kayla had given wild magic an idea it could implement at any border, now. But that fear needed to be set aside for another time.

“How will we get in?” They both knew this was a trap, but neither of them could wait a moment longer.

The bait either Nuen or Eric, or both working together, had set was one neither she nor Kayla could resist.

“We break our way in,” Kayla said, stepped over the border, lifted her hand, and suddenly, a massive piece of the wall shuddered and then fell. It would be a good point of entry for the forest Ylana was growing, as well as anything else.

Kayla stepped back behind the boundary, crouched beside some wild magic and lifted the silver pear, and Mirabelle realized she was replenishing what she’d just used before they committed themselves to the fight.

“It would be good to see where they’re being held.” She’d only had the smallest look inside the stronghold earlier—everything had happened near the gate—and she didn’t like going in without knowing where she was.

“That’s a good idea.” Kayla grabbed hold of her, and suddenly they were on top of a ball of wild magic, rising up above the trees.

The stronghold was in front of them. The massive breach in the wall Kayla had made was at the very back of the compound, and the barracks were the closest building. Beyond that was the training area which stretched from the barracks all the way to the gate, down the length of the stronghold. It was bordered by the fence on one side and Nuen’s tower on the other to make a rough rectangle. Off to the left, in line with Nuen’s tower but separate from it, was a large stone house. Jasper’s quarters.

Rane and Soren were tied to each other, and sitting in the middle of the training area.

Mirabelle could see the faint flicker of blue on them.

“They’re being held still by a spell. It may be that when they try to move, it hurts them.”

“So Nuen and Eric can stay safely tucked away, and take aim at us from cover.” Kayla’s voice was thoughtful. “Nuen’s in his tower. He has to be. Up there, waiting for a chance to hit us from his window.” She pointed to the only opening in the tower, right near the top.

It appeared empty, but Mirabelle gave a nod of agreement. “And Eric?”

“Depends if he’s in this with Nuen, or not. But I’d guess they’ve made a deal. Eric must have seen us as he arrived, managed to persuade Nuen they’d be better off with a truce until we’re defeated. It’s the only way they’d have caught Rane and Soren by surprise.” She raised the wild magic ball a little higher. “Nuen wouldn’t let him in his tower, is my guess. That would be taking trust too far. So Eric’s somewhere on the ground. Behind the tower, maybe, or hiding behind Jasper’s house or the barracks.”

There was a flicker of movement at the corner of Jasper’s house, the momentary flash of white blond hair. “There!” Miri pointed, but Eric had ducked back behind cover.

At least they knew where he was.

“What’s the plan?” Just looking at Soren tied up and helpless, at the hands of his torturers again, made Miri want to scream.

“I’ll take them head-on. You sneak along the side wall behind the barracks, break the spell on them, heal them, and get them out. If the spell on them’s too strong, call to me. I want you to have enough power to heal them and help them to leave, that’s your priority.”

They started to descend, and Mirabelle gripped Kayla’s arm. “Be warned, they’ll both have their magic stores with them for this. I’ve faced Eric and Nuen recently, and I’ve barely come away with my life. Neither were expecting a confrontation with another sorcerer at the time and I took them by surprise. This time, they know what we can do and they’ll have their full arsenal. Eric would have brought it with him anyway, if he was coming to do battle with Nuen. And they’re working together now. They won’t have expended any energy fighting each other, and they’ll have all the wild magic items, all the power objects they’ve made through the years and set aside for a big battle. Even if Eric’s injured, he’ll be strong. Probably stronger than he’s been before.”

Kayla gave a nod. “Thanks to you,” she touched the silver pear, “I’m a lot stronger, too.”

They faced the hole Kayla had made in the fence, and as they stepped over the boundary, Mirabelle saw Ylana had extended the forest almost twenty more feet. The wild magic helping her was half the size it had been before.

She nearly stumbled, though, when she saw what the other wild magic was doing.

It had pressed itself up against the invisible barrier in a long, continuous line, and tiny bits of it were wafting out like smoke from a blocked chimney, drifting on the air toward Kayla.

She couldn’t stop the shudder than ran through her. She touched a hand to Kayla’s shoulder. “It’s trying to get to you.”

“I’m calling it,” Kayla said, looking over her shoulder, then turned back to the wall.

Mirabelle turned with her, heart pounding, and almost laughed at the irony. She was more afraid of what was behind her than in front of her.

Maybe that was a good thing.

T
he courtyard was empty
.

Kayla remembered the layout from her last visit to the stronghold, where she’d been hunted and shot at as she’d tried to rescue Soren.

It was daytime now, though, and there wasn’t a guard to be seen. She scanned the buckled walkway along the upper part of the wall, damaged when she’d smashed her way in, and used a bit of wild magic to check Nuen hadn’t made the guards invisible as he had done last time.

But there was no-one.

He was conserving his power, she guessed. And the guards had chosen to stay out of the way.

Sooty butted up against her, and then loped off along the wall with Miri, an added layer of protection for her, Soren and Rane.

Kayla waited until they had turned the corner, then walked to the far end of the barracks, stepped out of cover in front of Nuen’s tower and the training area.

Rane’s gaze lifted, locked on to hers, and she could read everything in it. Love, regret, absolute fury.

There was a quick flash of movement again from the corner of Jasper’s house, and Kayla tensed.

She’d caught the same movement when they were watching from the air, and it seemed strange that Eric would make such an obvious mistake.

Suddenly, Soren started struggling, then screamed as a band of blue light from the spell that surrounded them both flayed at him.

Another scream echoed, almost in tandem, and Sooty gave a furious yowl.

Eric and Mirabelle stumbled out into the open, locked in a strange dance as Miri shielded and Eric tried to strike. Sooty lay limp near the corner of the building, unmoving.

So Eric wasn’t behind the house, that had been an illusion, he’d been hiding at the corner of the barracks.

Miri had walked straight to him.

Kayla ran to him, now, feeling the rush of power from the silver pear like a second heart beat against her skin.

She must remember to keep control, although now she was closer to Rane and Soren, she could see their legs were broken, and Rane’s arm lay at a strange angle, too. A wind whipped at her hair, and for a moment the world darkened a little.

With a snap of blue light, Eric threw a noose of sky magic around Miri’s neck. As Kayla ran faster, she clawed at it, and it made her fingers bleed.

Suddenly, Miri struck back at Eric, snapping the leash and diving toward Rane and Soren, and the moment she was clear of him, Kayla threw a focused pulse of power toward Eric, knocking him back.

His arm was bandaged, and hung loose at his side, but the roar he gave when he fought her slap was of rage, not pain.

He came to his feet with his staff raised over his head, and Kayla shot herself into the air.

Nuen’s blast from above hit the ground where she’d been standing, and clashed with the spell that Eric had thrown.

She kept going up, flying so she was eye-level with Nuen.

He stared at her with absolute incomprehension as she hit him with hard, brute force. She barely watched him fall before she put herself back on the ground, just as Eric tried to hit her again.

Miri was right. He was much stronger.

He had a strap across his chest, little belt loops along it dangling with crystals and other strange objects. About a third of the loops were empty, and as she landed on the training area’s soft sand, he pulled a silver sphere off and threw it at her.

She raised a protective shield and the silver ball smashed against it, but she could feel thin, sharp needles forcing their way through her protection.

She gave a shove of power and they dissolved into a fine mist.

Eric ripped a crystal off and seemed to crush it in his hand, and Kayla saw the sky magic crawl up his arm, replacing what he’d lost.

Miri was kneeling beside Rane and Soren, but every time she reached for them, a whip of blue light lashed out at her.

Rane’s face was white with pain, and he hung limp against Soren.

Unacceptable.

Kayla knew she was using up too much power as she sliced through the sky magic bonds that held them, but she couldn’t find a way to care.

As soon as Rane and Soren were free, Miri enveloped them in blue light, and suddenly they weren’t in the arena any more.

The wild magic left behind by Miri’s spell hung in the air, and Kayla called it to her. It gave her a jolt of strength.

She risked a look behind her, and saw the first small saplings pushing up through the ground just within the broken wall.

Tiny, threadlike wisps of wild magic wafted on the forest breeze to her, swirling around her fingers.

She turned back, ready with whatever she had left, and saw Eric staring at the saplings with a frown.

Near where Rane and Soren had been tied up, scattered carelessly, were a few things she recognized, and Kayla ran toward them.

It was enough to distract Eric from the encroaching forest.

He threw a spell as Kayla dived for Rane’s moonstone, and she had to shield herself instead of grabbing it as she tumbled past.

She came to a stop and rolled left, hand out to grab his knife instead, and something long and sharp stabbed into her hand and pinned it to the ground.