Hey everyone, sorry about the delayed update. Even with break I'm struggling to write. Now for a few questions some of you guys had:
Didn't anyone notice Kaprice talking to thin air?
Sure, they did. But they just thought that she was a bit touched in the head, that's all. They never imagined that it was an invisible Roald she was talking to. Everyone already thought that she was strange (I mean, how many people come visit you from the future?) so they didn't think too much of it.
Why doesn't Alanna just heal herself?
She did. But even with a great healing gift, you can't just make a severe burn injury go *poof*. The fact that she's able to walk is a miracle.
Will Thorn and Evin appear anytime soon?
Funny how you should ask that. Smile and rejoice: they appear in this chapter.
If something happens to the mage's ring, will it affect Roald's?
Yep, it most definitely will.
This whole ring and demon's hill thing is quite close to Lord of the Rings.
Is it? I haven't read anything of Tolkien's (I keep putting it off somehow), so if I did make any parallels, they were not purposefully done. My apologies to Tolkien and to whoever else who may be offended or what not.
Is this going to be a Ryker or Roald ending?
Blech. Yes, that is my response. Any other response that I could possibly make…would be much too informative.
if Kaprice changes the past, will she disapear? If she doesn't, then will she stay in the past? Then there will be two Roalds. Or, Roald will still be married to whats-her-name. And Kaprice can't love him anymore. But if she changes the past, and she's still around, will Roald even know who she is? Will anyone?
*blinks* So many questions, so many complications. *smile*. But I can answer the first question: No.
~Alright, that's it. This is my longest chapter thus far (indeed), so I hope everyone's happy. We've got lots happening in this chapter, hopefully you won't go on overload.
22. Specters' Fire
Kaprice was wandering through the encampment and towards the forest in the opposite direction of the barren slope that made Demon's Hill.
She had left Roald with his other friends. She was glad he was happy to be able to talk to his old friends again, but she felt like an outsider, someone intruding in a place where she did not belong. Would never belong.
The encampment was bigger than she had ever imagined, with more people in it that she had even thought. There were women, but the majority of the population was made up of tired, suspicious men. They glared at her as she walked by.
She walked faster.
She was glad when she finally exited the camp to be surrounded entirely by the forest. She slowed her pace, taking time and making sure she stopped long enough to admire everything. The great smell of rich dirt, fallen leaves, and diverse flowers filled her nose.
"Woah!" Kaprice stumbled over a tree root and was just barely able to keep herself from falling face first into a pile of leaves.
"Hey! What are you--"
Kaprice glanced up in surprise when she heard someone speak.
A skinny, mousey-brown haired man stared at her in shock.
With his pants around his knees.
Oh Gods… Kaprice groaned silently to herself. She had stumbled upon a man relieving himself in the forest.
"I'm sorry, I--"
Before Kaprice could complete her apology, the man pulled up his pants, turned around, and then ran away.
She started to give chase until she realized what she was doing.
Woah, there. No need to chase the embarrassed little man.
Kaprice turned back and started to head back to the encampment. She was almost there, when she heard something.
"Don't do that," a laughing voice suddenly said.
Kaprice jumped, glancing around. But there was no one around her.
"Oh, all right then. Be stubborn."
Kaprice frowned and glanced around again. There must be someone else in the forest somewhere nearby, she realized.
The next time she heard the voice, she found herself curiously following it to its source.
Peeking behind a tree, she found her.
A small, almost delicately so, brown-haired woman stood by herself in front of a great, vine covered tree.
Who had she been talking to?
Kaprice blinked at the scene, quite perplexed. Then she noticed that the woman held a long, wooden staff in one of her hands; the staff almost seemed too big for the small woman to wield. But the strangest thing about the staff was the rose stem that curled around its entire length. The women held her staff, completely oblivious to the rose stem's nasty looking thorns.
"Kaprice?" The woman suddenly turned and looked straight at her, causing Kaprice to jump. But the woman didn't seem the list bit alarmed. Only a little confused. "What are you doing here? I thought the others said you were with Roald?"
Kaprice frowned. "How do you know my name? Do I know you?"
"No, you wouldn't. But Evin has told me about you."
"Evin?"
The woman just shook her head. "You will find that news travels quickly here. My name is Thorn," she said with a shy smile.
Kaprice paused, not quite sure how to respond.
The rose stem on Thorn's staff suddenly rustled. The top part pulled itself off the staff, and one of its buds started to grow.
And grow.
Until a fully grown red flower revealed itself to the waning sun.
Thorn suddenly leaned the top of the staff toward her. "Here. Lathan wishes me to give you this. He says you look …sad."
Kaprice glanced around herself. "Lathan?"
Thorn smiled. "Lathan is my staff."
Kaprice stared at the red flower hanging in front of her uncertainly. "What is it?"
"It is a type of flower called a rose. Take it for the gift it is. Very rarely does Lathan offer his blooms to strangers," Thorn said.
Kaprice reached up, still uncertain, and the rose fell into the palm of her hand.
Kaprice stared. "How did…how did--?"
Thorn smiled ruefully. "It's my fault. I…have a strange effect on plants."
"Oh?" Kaprice said curiously.
"I have the ability to communicate and grow them. An odd power," the woman shrugged. "But you would understand, wouldn't you? The power I have heard you have is anything but ordinary."
Indeed.
A sudden thought struck Kaprice, and she quickly reached into one of the folds in her desert robe. She pulled out a small bag and opened it, pulling out a seed from within.
"Here," Kaprice said, holding out the seed a bit uncertainly.
Thorn glanced at her curiously and held out her hand, accepting the seed.
"You said that you could grow plants…"
Thorn nodded with understanding and then knelt onto the ground. She delicately placed the seed onto the dirt.
Kaprice sucked in a breath with the seed began to move, wiggling itself into the dirt. She knelt down beside Thorn to get a closer look.
A green stem peaked out from within the dirt, reaching out as if to touch Thorn. As it continued to grow, leaves started to enlarge and unfurl, a bud of a flower appeared and slowly began to bloom.
The bud opened, revealing silky blue petals with distinctly curled edges; the petals framed a delicate golden center. A sweet, heady scent wafted through the air.
"Oh," Thorn sighed. "It's beautiful." With reverent fingers, Thorn reached out and plucked the flower deftly from the ground. She turned to Kaprice. "Here."
Kaprice shook her head. "No thanks. I already have one," she said, holding up the rose that she still held. "That flower is for you."
Thorn smiled, and the smile transformed her face: her brown eyes twinkled and she seemed younger, more innocent. "Is this a flower from where you come from?"
Her question made Kaprice feel distinctly sad. "Yes. Someone gave me the seeds as a parting gift…"
Before Thorn could respond, they were interrupted.
"Thorn?" A blond man called out to them.
With a start Kaprice realized she knew him: he was the young, blonde haired man who had been present at her interrogation. He had been one of the few to speak words in her defense.
The blond man sighed when he spotted Thorn. "I should have known," he said with an exaggerated shake of the head, "that you would be out here talking with your crazy plants."
For a moment Kaprice thought that Thorn would be offended, but then Thorn let out a cheerful laugh. "Crazy, indeed. You're just jealous that they offer better company than you do," Thorn teased.
The man raised an amused eyebrow. "Oh really? But I don't know any plant that can do this--" He quickly grabbed Thorn, pulling her towards him and placing a kiss onto her lips.
A very long kiss.
Kaprice wasn't sure what to do: be embarrassed for them or laugh.
"Ahem," Kaprice pretended to clear her throat. She hid a smile behind her hand.
The couple broke apart, the man smiling broadly and Thorn with pink cheeks.
"Very subtle of you," the man said to Kaprice, grinning roguishly.
Thorn quickly jabbed the man in the stomach with her elbow.
"That, on the other hand, wasn't the least bit subtle," the man said with a wince.
Kaprice couldn't help it then, she had to laugh.
Thorn made a face and turned to Kaprice. "Kaprice, this rogue is Evin Larse, commander of the Queen's Riders."
The man dipped into an elegant bow. "How ever did you fall into such bad company as my wife, Lady Kaprice?"
"Don't fall for his tricks, Kaprice. He'll only break your heart," Thorn said with a smile.
"Tricks?" Evin pretended to be offended. "They aren't--"
"Tricks," Thorn said with a knowing nod.
He looked at her pointedly. "You fell for them."
Thorn gave an easy shrug. "Well, I am a fool. I won't deny it."
Evin seemed to sense a change of mood in Thorn, he quickly pulled her into a comforting hug. He leaned his down towards Thorn's ear to whisper something that Kaprice wasn't able to discern.
Somehow, the hug seemed more intimate than the kiss had been. Kaprice shuffled on her feet uncertainly.
"Well, it was nice meeting you," Kaprice said.
Evin glanced up at her, his eyes serious this time. "We should get back to camp. It'll be safer there."
"Safer?" Kaprice asked quizzically.
"The fire specters are awakening." Thorn's voice was almost a whisper. "I can feel them moving underneath the ground, groping for air."
With a wordless nod, Kaprice followed the couple back to camp.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Roald? Roald?"
Kaprice turned a slow circle, eyes scanning the camp.
She couldn't find Roald. The moment that she, Evin, and Thorn had stepped into camp, Evin and Thorn had excused themselves and went off somewhere. And now, Kaprice was somewhere in the middle of the encampment, surrounded by tense, jumpy people who she didn't even know. And she couldn't just stop them and ask if they knew where Roald was.
Lady Alanna had ordered those who knew about Roald to keep it quiet, which was sensible of course: who knew what would happen if everyone knew that there were actually two Prince Roalds in existence at the moment.
Lady Alanna. I'll just ask where Lady Alanna is.
"Excuse me, can you--"
"Don't bother me!" The man brushed away from her after giving her an annoyed glare.
Kaprice jerked away in surprise. Well. That was real nice.
She turned to another person who walked by. "I'm sorry for bothering you, but can you please tell me where--"
"Foolish girl! This isn't the time for questions! Can't you see we're in the middle of a battle?" The man snorted with disgust and hurried away.
Battle?
With a sinking feeling, she turned to look in the direction of Demon's Hill. And indeed, there were people locked in battle there.
But Demon's Hill was too far away, she should have only been able to see figures in the pale moonlight. Motions of people struggling.
And although she did see that, she saw something else.
A young woman with short brown hair fought against four fire specters, barely being able to hold them off with her staff. Oh wait, not a staff. It couldn't be. How many staffs had a long, curved blade fixed on one end?
The woman swung her weapon in a fierce arc, cutting off an arm from one of the specters. But still two others came at her from her back, and they were closing in.
This shouldn't be possible. I shouldn't be able to see this. They're just too far away…
But she did see. And it was as if the scene was right in front of her, instead of a good, sizable distance away.
A chill ran down Kaprice's spine and she was hit with a sudden thought: Help her. You have to help her. She needs to survive. The future will need her…
Before she realized what it was that she was doing, Kaprice clenched her hands by her side and concentrated on one thought: To her side.
Silver light exploded from within her and when she was able to see again, she found herself but a few feet from the battle that she had been seeing when she was still within the forest encampment.
The fire specters were tall, skinny wraiths with peeling black skin. Their eyes were not eyes, but pits of red-orange fire. And they reached towards the brown haired woman with outstretched hands.
A cold shiver ran down Kaprice's back. The hands… They mustn't touch her with those hands!
"Look out!" Kaprice threw herself at the woman, bringing them both tumbling down.
The specters howled with frustration when their hands narrowly missed coming into contact with either of the women; fire roared from within what was their mouths.
"Get up! We need to get up!" The other woman helped Kaprice shakily come back up onto her feet.
To Kaprice's surprise, she found that she recognized the woman. "Kel?"
Kel glanced at her grimly. "Thank you for that. But they're coming for us again. Their power lays in their hands, cut them off and they're rendered helpless."
Kaprice glanced at the specters, her hands clenched into fists to keep them from trembling. "Cut off their hands? With what? I have no weapon."
Kel's eyes widened. "You jumped into this battle with no weapon?" she asked incredulously. She quickly pulled at something from her belt: a dagger. "Here, use this. Unfortunately, I have nothing else to spare."
Without waiting for a response from Kaprice, Kel stepped away and raised her weapon in attack, focusing on two of the specters.
Leaving the other two to Kaprice. With only a dagger in her defense.
The two specters seemed to realize her plight. They laughed, fire dripping from their mouths.
How was she going to get close enough to cut off their hands with a dagger without hurting herself?
Kaprice concentrated: get behind them.
There was a flash as Kaprice disappeared and then reappeared behind the two specters. A woozy feeling settled over her chest: she had teleported one too many times within a short while and she felt slightly weak as a result of it. Ignoring the unsettling feeling, she lifted the dagger and plunged it into one of their backs.
The dagger hilt turned fire hot immediately, and by the time Kaprice was able to step back in shock, the weapon had melted, and the liquid metal was sliding down the specter's back.
The specter whom she had stabbed was completely oblivious to the fact that he was supposed to be injured. He and his friend just turned around and started reaching for her again.
Kaprice stumbled backwards, almost tripping over the brittle rocks that were scattered on the hilltop. She grabbed one of them and heaved it at the closer specter; he stumbled when it glanced off his forehead, but then he just continued towards her again with his steady, lumbering gait.
She tried to use her powers again to move herself to another place, but only ended up with a dizzy headache. She staggered, falling to the ground like a drunkard.
Get up! Get up! They're getting closer!
But her body refused to obey her mind.
"No! Kaprice!"
Roald? Kaprice blinked unsteadily, trying to clear her cloudy gaze.
Roald suddenly appeared in front of her, standing between herself and the specters. He then attacked one of the specters, expertly cutting off its arms at the elbow with his sword.
But while he had been slicing that one, the other one had been able to approach her.
And it placed one of its hands over her lower leg.
Intense heat scorched up her leg, spreading from where he gripped her leg in a vise-like grip. Her body froze at the pain he caused, her throat too dry to wring out a scream. It felt as if her insides were burning even as she struggled to take a breath.
Through the black dots that danced across her vision, she was able to see the specter reach out to her with his other hand.
And she knew, as certain as she knew her name was Kaprice, that if he touched her with both of his hands, she would die.
"Kaprice!"
She felt more than saw Roald throwing himself over her. And then the hand that had brought her so much pain was gone.
When her vision cleared, she was able to see where the hand had gone.
It was on Roald. The specter had his hand on Roald.
Both hands.
No!
Struggling from underneath him, Kaprice felt Roald's body suddenly become unbearably warm. Hot. Scalding.
The nauseating smell of burnt flesh drifted in the air.
A sword hissed in the air; the specter's head went flying.
The specter's body was pulled off of Roald and then his hands were quickly chopped off.
Dom, his shoulders heaving with every breath, stood over her and Roald, his sword heavy in his grasp. A horrified look was on his face.
"Gods." He turned his head away.
Kaprice finally pulled herself from underneath Roald; her leg, sore from where the specter had gripped it, hadn't helped a bit. She started to turn to look at him.
Someone grabbed her shoulder. "No, don't. Don't look."
Kaprice saw that the same horrified look that had been on Dom's face was now on Kel's.
"Roald, he--"
"He's dead, Kaprice," Dom said. He also put a firm hand on her elbow.
"Roald is dead."