CHAPTER XVIII
RED ROSES
“Elder Father and Mother,” Cal groans atop his horse, his plead heard and felt by all of us.
We were able to sleep in until the noon apex, not nearly enough time to let our bodies properly rest and regain normal function.
I groaned at Keane from bed earlier, swatting his hand away as he tried his best to undress my comfortable body under the sheets, reiterating for the fourth time that a hot bath was waiting for me.
I quickly fell back asleep when he dropped me in that warm water, waking up only when he began to run a bar of soap down my legs.
He laughed at the sleepy scowl I gave him before deciding that I needed to wake up fully, giving me no time to react when he placed his hand on top of my head and pushed me completely under the water.
The King and Mana were the only two who looked semi-decent in our afternoon ride.
The rest of us were diligently trying our best to remain atop our horses, riding at such a slow pace that it would be a miracle if we reached Backer before the moons hit their apex tonight.
But through all the groans and the half-lidded eyes and aching heads, I couldn’t help but laugh at the pure messiness of us all.
We had enjoyed one of the best nights of our lives, and this slow and torturous ride as a result was worth it.
We reached the northern tip of the Green Valley just as the sun began its descent.
Keane stopped us in those rolling green fields, chuckling in amusement as everyone dropped to the ground with buckling knees and features that were trying to mask our aching bodies.
The King passed each of us his flask of whiskey, the drink not sounding appetizing at all but doing its job to quell our stomachs and heads.
We ate in silence, still grumbling at any small movement while longing for the soft beds we knew would greet us onward.
We were only one day’s ride from reaching Gaumond.
That knowledge alone kept me determined in my saddle as we continued.
The sun had sunk past the horizon when we took another break along a black granite quarry, the large pit in the earth sinking below us to depths of different levels.
The working men of this economy were already gone when we arrived, beginning their ride home to reach Backer before the night settled in.
It was a bit eerie to see the quarry look so desolate and without the muscle that brought it to life during the day, but I still continued to marvel at the earthly structure below me in awe, the same as I always did whenever we took the ride from the capitol to Dalloway.
Holis walks at my side along the edge of the quarry, the two of us laughing in agreement when we ask the other if our aching heads have finally lifted.
He grins when I tell him that I can finally begin forming coherent thoughts in my mind, chuckling even more when he admits that our full ride up to now was a complete blur.
But I’m quick to retract my smile, full features turning into a frown as something presses against the back of my mind during our leisure walk.
It’s something that’s been trying to make its way to the forefront all day...
My sigh is heavy when Holis and I begin to walk back to the group, my Discerni friend turning to me curiously when he hears the sound.
“I need to ask you a question, Holis,” my smile is nearly forced.
Ancients, if this is true.
Holis stops in his walk, his blue-green gaze holding mine with a small look of trouble as he notices my features.
“What’s wrong?”
I avert his glance and look forward, spotting Millie grazing next to his horse Arrow and the rest of our crew.
“You told me back in Alston that air summoning was the strongest of the four elements in the Old World…” I turn to him quietly.
Holis nods as Stormfall grips my shoulder.
“And we have people in Disce who can command two elements at the same time. They are rare, but they exist…”
Keane is one of them.
“Yes, Alexis,” Holis’ voice is steady.
“What of the Ancient?” my own voice is a near whisper. “Is he able to summon more than one element?”
Three, the thought finally pushes forward, stilling my heart.
Holis stares at me quietly, hand coming up to his jaw in thought.
“Tell me what you know of the Ancient Damen.”
“Damen?” I ask in confusion.
“Yes,” he nods again, “why he sought the deal with the Aireals.”
“He sought more power,” I reply quickly, “everyone knows this.”
“Yes, but what kind of power?”
Holis holds my gaze as I let out a heavy breath. “Air… He wanted the ability to summon air.”
My Discerni friend grimaces, tilting his head in affirmation before he lets out a heavy sigh of his own.
“Not many know this, but there are only two Ancients in the Old World who can summon more than one element, all others can only command one. Air is the strongest of the four, as we’ve discussed.
It will always be with us no matter where we go.
Water is next in power, also residing in every living thing, but it is not as easily attainable.
The Bulwark plains and the desert sands of Livyatan are proof of that.
Earth is strong, nearly always beneath our feet and rivaling water’s place as second in power.
But fire, fire is the weakest element. Not because of the sheer destruction that it can cause, don’t ever take the element for granted.
No. It’s the weakest because it has to be created.
An element so hard to maintain yet easily doused by water and earth. ”
“So it’s only natural that the strength of the Ancients mimics the strength of the element they command,” he continues.
“Both Heysan and Damen summon fire, just as both Nolan and Ordonna summon earth. Tomo, Sianoa, Rivian, Windsor and Malachi channel water, while Hirovale is the only Ancient who can summon air.”
“Then who else can summon more than one element?”
“Damen, alongside Hirovale. Damen commanded fire and grew an affinity for water, while Hirovale’s power rested in air and earth. Damen sought to attain air summoning from his deal with the Aireals, his desire to outrank his older brother in power ultimately ending in his downfall.”
“But Holis…” my voice is deathly silent as I look into his eyes, “that would have given him power to three elements if he succeeded.”
“Yes,” he replies seriously.
“Is that natural? Can it be done?”
Holis shakes his head in denial. “I have never heard nor come across anything in my readings that leads me to believe Damen could have succeeded to master three elements. Two in itself is rare, Alexis, even for an Ancient.”
I bring a slightly shaking hand up to Stormfall’s chest and look away from my friend in deep thought, knowing in my heart that it can be done.
I’ve seen Hirovale command three of the four elements.
That was the harrowing thought that pressed at the back of my mind all day and even last night.
Hirovale’s summoning of air is prevalent, it’s what makes him the Ancient that he is, but I’ve also witnessed him summon water away from his face when I splashed him in the tub.
And the night of Death’s Bonfire for King Zander, I watched him flick his wrist so easily when he forced Keane’s aggression of stone back into the earth where it belonged.
Three elements.
That realization alone wants to tear at the seams of the box I always find myself putting him in, a box that stashes away all of my learned knowledge on the Ancient in a far corner of my mind to deal with on another day.
But that seam broke last night when I willed the vines off of me and Cal.
Because if Hiro could command three elements and Damen sought to do the same, did that mean me, as a mortal, or whatever the Old World considered me, could do the same?
The very prospect leaves a shiver down my spine.
Backer is an open city that rests in the fields of the Green Valley without any forests to enclose it.
My eyes are wide in surprise as we ride towards it, noticing no large wall or gate that surrounds it in defense, the full city looking peaceful at the top of a wide hill.
The hill does pull from the River Poise along the eastern border, however, drawing the river into a stream directed towards the bottom of the city.
That stream is as wide as it is deep and forms a large moat around the full of the hill, providing the only hinderance for people wanting to move in and out.
Scores upon scores of black granite buildings sparkle brightly under torches and the open night sky, their lights reflecting off the slow moving water below us as we ride across the only bridge that will lead us over the moat.
Our travel continues at a steady incline after we cross the bridge.
The road doesn’t veer up sharply but instead continues at a solid pace, curving through the winding hill.
And although there’s no surrounding guard besides the moat, I do notice that all of the homes and structures have an abundance of windows, many of them manned by soldiers lurking in the shadows with bows strapped on their backs.
We slowly make our way up the green hill before it levels out to a main road, the people of Backer awake and lively in the late evening.
Their smiles greet us in our ride, heads bowing to the King and then again to me at his side, a gesture that still continues to surprise me.
It takes everything in my being to nod to them in return, my smile genuine but filled with honest exhaustion.
Everyone in our crew is just as tired, still feeling the effects of this morning’s drinking and genuinely looking forward to a long night’s rest. There would be no fun for us tonight, no dinner and drinks filled with smoke that I knew would greet us in this city if we wanted.