A/N: ok …..last chapter of the story! Here we go
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The Secret Magic: 2: Uncontrollable
Chapter 30: He who does Evil
*****
Jade surged into awareness when she felt herself inhale water. She sat up coughing and sputtering as a new wave of water came splashing over her body. Around her she heard other girls doing the same. She finally managed to open her eyes and look around her. It was dark. She hadn't even felt the halt of the cart carrying the 12 girls inside. Apparently, Liana hadn't felt it either; she was in the process of coughing up the water she had woken up to. They must have been beyond exhaustion to not have woken up. Jade blinked and looked up. There were three rebels throwing buckets of water at them. "You all smell like rotten fish! Come on, now! Let's get you cleaned up! A new spray of water came tearing out the bucket, drenching them. Jade wiped the water from her eyes as she swallowed the water that she caught in her hands. Her parched throat rejoiced at the cool liquid. She felt Liana shift next to her and gasp.
Jade looked over and froze. The girl sitting next to her didn't look like Liana. Jade blinked. She had skin black as midnight, but no white patches. It was smooth and soft even under all the dirt. Her dark lips were a lighter shade and her nose was small and slight. She had almond shaped eyes that slanted in towards her nose. Black eyelashes lined brilliant white that was contrasted by piercing brown irises. Her eyebrows arched high on her forehead which flowed into hundreds of beautifully braided black hair. Jade's jaw dropped.
Liana looked downright terrified for a moment. "The spell broke free! I can see your real face!"
Jade shook. "I can see yours too."
Liana reached for her face and tried to call up her gift. She let out a moan of despair when nothing happened. "I can't!" The exhaustion had gotten to her. She could no more concentrate on her gift than she could for walking straight at the moment. Neither girl noticed when bread was thrown into the cage, and the other girls took the opportunity to eat more. Jade pushed herself into the corner and trembled with fear, wrapping green laced fingers around her knees.
They sat in silence for a few minutes, waiting the frightening few moments that would come, and at this point, wouldn't end. Jade was slightly surprised to hear Liana's frightened whisper. "You know, none of them have the gift."
Jade turned her head towards Liana. "What?"
"They don't have the gift," she repeated. "None of them."
Jade closed her eyes and sighed. "So?"
"It's just sort of weird, is all."
"How can you tell?"
Liana scrunched her eyes. "People with the gift can see others with the gift. Can't you?"
"No."
"But…you have the gift."
"No I don't"
"But…"
"I don't." she said flatly.
"Well, anyway. I just thought it odd."
When the familiar group of men stepped up to make their choices for the night, Liana nearly choked in fear. The first man to pass by stopped to stare at them both. He leaned down and took Liana by the arm. She shrieked in protest, kicking and screaming madly. Putting his weight into his actions, the man threw her across the wooden cart. She fell and tumbled out into the grasp of two other rebels, carrying her jerking body away. Jade froze in terror.
The man turned back to her smiled. He leaned down and starred her in the eyes. With a callused finger, he traced one of her eyebrows. "Pretty eyes…" She caught her breath and jerked back. His smile vanished a second before he reached down and grabbed her by the collar. She was lifted off her feet and dangled in his grasp, feeling her body unable to move in fright. He finally set her on her feet and pushed her off the cart. She fell the three feet into a man's arm and felt her ankle give. She shook her head and tried to plead with them, but nothing came out of her mouth.
*****
Jayson was about to signal the halt for the night when he noticed his scout gallop over the next crest of dry road. He sat up in his saddle and kicked his horse into a canter to meet up with his man. "Captain, not five miles from here, they're camped and set for the night!"
Jayson swung his stallion around, pulled out his sword, lifted it into the air and yelled to his men. "LEGIONNAIRES, WEAPONS!"
*****
She was taken by a grouping of white tents. Dragged was more the case, she had planted her feet and refused to move them. Light green sparkles were the only sign of magic that were left by the friction of her feet. They turned a corner and Jade was shoved into a tent.
She froze and looked around wildly with her eyes. It was an officer's tent, she could tell by the relatively nice set up. She jumped in surprise when she looked to the bed and noticed a very fat man laying on it, snoring, and a wine bottle in his hand. She stepped back in fear, but he didn't move; not one inch. She took a step closer to see and he let out a rather load snore.
She didn't know weather to cry in relief or scream. She looked around madly for any kind of weapon. There weren't any; probably to make sure that the girls who came in here didn't get too smart. She peaked out the flap and was surprised to see no one guarding it. They really must have thought he was awake and ready for her. She shivered at the thought. She stepped out and hid behind a table that was placed by the opening. When a few men passed by she crawled across a space between tents and hid in a dark corner. If she could get to the edge of camp…she shot across another opening. She heard a man begin to walk by and without thinking shoved herself under the flap of another tent.
She heard movement behind her and she turned quickly in fright. She had to hold on to a table when her eyes focused. In the middle of the tent was a small bed. Lying there was a crusty looking man, with shaggy hair and light skin. He was face down and moving around. Under him was a flailing Liana, mouth gagged, tears blurring her eyes. Her shirt was ripped open, and the man's gross hands were all over her. He was in the process of pulling down his own breeches. Jade felt her heart stop within her chest. She gasped and lurched back, nearly tripping over her feet.
She heard a strangled cry pass through Liana's gag. All reason took a flying leap through the window. Jade felt the acrid taste of anger fill her mouth, the roaring in her ears was like a crimson wave that flowed over into her sight. She reached down and picked up a flat piece of wood that was being used to prop up a wobbly chair. She ran towards the bed with a screeching yell, lifting the board over her head with a new surge of power. "Leave her ALONE!" With the last yelled word, she felt her magic rip through her stomach and up her arms into the wood with a force she wasn't familiar with, her eyes spilling over and glowed a hard deep green that nearly lit the room. She let the piece of wood surge down onto the man's head, letting her anger fuel her weak body.
The load crack resonated through the room and Jade's head jerked to the side when she felt warm liquid splash her face. She'd fallen to her knees with the force of her blow and she breathed heavily to regain control of her magic. She looked up to see the man lying on top of Liana's frozen form. Jade nearly swallowed her tongue at the sight.
The man's head had been cracked open, smashed partly in and now lay open to the world. Blood trickled heavily down his frozen in death face and fell onto a stunned Liana. The trapped girl pushed the body aside and crawled away, wiping an enormous amount of blood and brain off her in disgust. Jade starred in shock. She looked down at her hands, which still held the bloody board and quickly dropped it. She wiped some wetness from her face and was horrified to see dark red blood come off. She turned towards a mirror in the corner and looked at herself.
Blood had splattered all over her, from head to the bottom of her tunic, which had originally been white. Her face was speckled heavily with the warm blood and only a small smudge on her cheek indicated what she had just smeared away. Her skin, being pale from lack of food and water contrasted sharply with the thick fluid. With all this, all she could seem to focus on where her eyes, which continued to glow brightly. After a few seconds, they dimmed and returned to their normal vibrancy. She blinked. And she saw what she really was for the first time. She'd denied it for so long, but it was true. All the things the people in Tortall had said about her; all the things Molina had said. She was dangerous.
Liana ripped the gag from her mouth and stood on trembling legs, pulling her blouse closed with trembling fingers. "Jade…"
Jade looked back to the man who lay on the ground, swallowing hard. "You should go."
"What?"
"I think if you go two more tents down, it's the end of the encampment. You can probably make a run for it."
Liana smiled. She ran over the man's body and searched his pockets, producing 10 gold nobles, a sheet of folded parchment falling to the ground. She reached for Jade's hand. "Let's go!" Jade pulled her hand away. "What's wrong?"
Jade blinked blankly. "I killed him."
Liana's face jutted forward in disbelief. "Yes. And?"
"I killed him." It came out as nothing more than a whimper.
"Jade! He was going to Rape me! You did the right thing!"
She shook her head. "I could have just knocked him out. I didn't have to use…I didn't have to kill him."
Liana surged forward and grabbed her hand. "Jade! You didn't have a choice. Now, come on…we can get out of here, maybe make it to the next town over!"
Jade reached for the fallen parchment and opened it.
"What are you doing? Let's go!" Liana was getting desperate.
Jade looked at the paper with surprise. It was a royal treaty…with the Scanran King. She read it over quickly. It only stated a few details; promises of land ownership over Carthak when it fell…but the Scanran King had placed the demand that no slavery would be permitted – the council of ten prohibited it-in return he would send reinforcements through the borders to the rebels to conquer Carthak. Jade could not believe her eyes. She looked at the name it was directed to but didn't recognize it – Alexander Nicholas Ehle-
"Liana…" She was about to tell her what she found when a man pushed through the entrance.
"Merrill! You done with that girl yet?" He froze when he finally noticed the situation.
"Run!" Liana yelled. They both made a mad dash in opposite directions, the man, stalled in confusion, finally turned and ran after the smaller of the two girls. Jade ripped through the back of the tent and back over a grouping a chairs. She ran right out of the encampment into open darkness. She didn't hear anyone behind her, but she kept running anyways. After a few hundred feet she suddenly lost her footing and slid roughly down a steep incline, catching her arm on a large rock making her yelp. She continued to slide without stopping, sand and rocks sliding all around her in the darkness. She tried to slow herself down, but every foot she went farther, the more rocks she loosed and made her fall farther. The ground flattened suddenly and then ended. She felt her body drop over an edge as she desperately grabbed for anything.
She caught herself just as both her legs hung in the air, the edge of the ground digging into her chest; she couldn't hear the rocks hitting any sort of bottom. She couldn't see anything and the fear that she was about to fall off a potentially large ledge gripped her heart. She grunted as she tried to pull herself back up.
"Jade!"
She looked up into blackness. "Liana?" she whispered harshly.
"I can't
see you! Where are you?"
"Over here!" She said urgently. "I'm hanging of some kind of ledge"
"Keep talking so I can find you!"
"…Why are you here?"
"Someone's attacking the encampment! Can't you hear it?"
Jade listened momentarily. There! Not to far away. She heard some yelling. "Yes."
"The man stopped chasing you once you broke from the encampment. Someone yelled for him to get his sword. Am I getting any closer?"
"I think so. Oomph!" She felt her hands slip.
"Jade?"
"Hurry up! I'm slipping!" She heard rocks sliding. "Careful!"
"Great Goddess, Jade! Where did you get yourself into?"
"Just get me out!"
"I'm coming! Oomph… I'm coming!"
Jade felt cool hands grab blindly for her hands. "Got you!" Liana began to pull back.
Jade heard some cracking around her. "Liana! The ledge!" She felt the ground move down suddenly, but it stopped quickly cracking some more. Liana jumped back in reaction. Jade gripped the edge in fear.
"Jade?"
"I'm slipping!"
"Mithros! Hang on!" Jade felt hands on her arms again. A split second letter the edge gave way and Jade plummeted a few feet before Liana's hands stopped her fall.
"Liana!"
"Oomph! Hold on! I'm in a really odd position!"
Jade felt them go a little further. "You're going to over too!"
"No I won't! Just hold on! Oomph!"
"Liana!" Jade called in fear.
"Jade! Come on. Just hold on!" one hand slipped from her grasp. "JADE!"
"Help me, PLEASE!"
"JADE! HOLD ON!" Liana screamed.
Jade felt her hand slip and open air swallowed her. Liana's scream faded into the distance and all sights and sounds exploded in Jade's mind. She didn't know how long a fall it was. It could have been 30 feet it could have been one mile. The last thing that went through her mind was brilliant colors. Blues, greens, silvers, yellows, purples; all at once, ending in a red so bright, it overwhelmed her sense of self. And then all thought ended.
*****
The first rays of sun crept over the edge of the horizon as Jayson stalked over to the cage/carts on one side of the field. His uniform was splattered with blood, his left arm in rather intense pain, it was probably broken. Various other Legionnaires had already gotten there and were in the process of releasing several children. Jayson stepped into a crowd of nearly fifty boys and girls, all under the age of 16. They were lead to a clearing where they were given food, water, and medical attention. Jayson walked through them all. Looking each girl in the face…looking for a familiar pair of eyes. He didn't like what he saw. Some of the female eyes looked as dead as the ones of the dead rebels. He was somewhat terrified of seeing green eyes that empty.
With each girl he passed, he grew a bit more desperate. "Are there any more of you?" he called out.
A boy answered. "They sold a lot of us on the way down."
Jayson's heart froze. Had he finally caught up to them only to have been to late? He looked around again. Looked for black curls and light skin. Nothing.
"There was a girl…" he called out. "…she had green eyes?" No one seemed to recognize that. "Ten years old! Black curly hair!" Nothing. "Her name is Jade!" A girl looked up.
"There was a girl on my cart by that name. But she didn't have green eyes. They were blue."
He swallowed. He didn't think it was possible for anyone to mistake Jade's green eyes for blue.
"But she had green magic. Said her Pa was a mage fighting in the war."
His heart soared. "And?"
"Said she was born in Tortall."
He smiled. There couldn't be that many girls with that description. "Where is she?"
"They took her last night…into the tents."
Without another thought he turned and ran towards the tents. Legionnaires were searching through them quickly. "Look for a girl!" He yelled. "Ten years! Green eyes!" He pushed through some tents, seeing if she was in them. She was here…she had to be.
A holler from outside the encampment came over. "Over here!"
He ran to the voice. One of his men walked with a girl, not Jade, in his hand. She looked to be around twelve or thirteen. "What's your name?" he asked the girl.
"Liana." She whispered, dried tears and blood all over her face. He placed his hand under her chin and lifted it. "How did you get all this blood on you, Liana?"
She looked on the verge of tears suddenly. Instead of speaking she pointed to a tent. Jayson walked over and peered inside. He flinched. A man lay face down on the floor, his brains effectively splattered everywhere. He looked at her. "Did you do that?" She shook her head no. "Who did?" Fresh tears rolled down her face. "Another girl. He was…he was on top of me…" she cried. "She came in…and ….and she hit him with that board there. She didn't mean to hit him so hard. But she used….used her magic…" She was sobbing openly.
Jayson squinted at the body. "How did she get out of the cage?"
"She
was…was supposed to be in another tent….like me….but I don't know what
happened…all I know is that he was on top of me…and he ….he wouldn't stop….and
than Jade came in and she hit him with the board and…"
"Wait! Stop! Who?" Jayson kneeled to her level.
"Jade…" came the sobbing
reply.
"Jade Salmalin?" he questioned, heart soaring.
She nodded.
Jayson stood and looked at the body once more. He marveled at it a moment. Jade had done that? It was unbelievable. She was supposed to be to shy to do
Anything! He smiled. "Where is she? Jade, I mean."
The girl broke out into heart wrenching sobs. It startled Jayson. "She fell…she fell over the cliff!"
"What?" it didn't come out very load, his entire voice failed him.
"She FELL!" She sobbed again, this time pointing in the direction of the desert.
Jayson took off with a few other men and reached a steep incline. They slid down carefully until they reached a rather abrupt edge. He looked over that edge to see an enormous gorge, with several weeds and bushes hiding what were probably sharp rocks. His shoulders fell as did his heart. He clenched his eyes and cursed his timing.
One of his men spoke softly. "She didn't survive that fall, sir."
Jayson turned sharply and stormed off, feeling as if he'd lost something very valuable. His men watched as he stormed into his personal tent and listened to the angry screams of rage.
*****
Empress Kalasin stepped softly into the temple. It was dark and gloomy, completely empty, except for one. Numair Salmalin sat under a statue of the Dark Lord, leaning back against the stone legs and robes, his eyes blank and emotionless. The white strands in his hair standing out more than ever.
She stepped up to him and slowly sat on the ground in front of him. They sat there for countless minutes, she, worriedly looking him over, he starring into nothingness.
"Numair…" she said softly. Her voice was weak from weeping herself and her pale hands trembled.
"I've lost everything…" was his only reply.
Kalasin felt the tears run down her cheeks again. She didn't know what to say to a man who had lost the only precious thing left in his life. When she looked up again into his face, she noticed tears running down them. He clenched his eyes and let his head fall to her lap. She embraced him as best she could, running soft hands through his hair in the only form of comfort she could give, her friendship.
*****
THE END
A/N: OK…I know some of you are going to flip out over this ending. I can see it now…"HOW COLD YOU KILL JADE?" Well…I just did…but remember…there's an entire story to go…possibly two…depending on how it goes.
Next story: The Secret Magic: 3: Whisperings
Next chapter: Chapter 1 Add Red to That List
Chapters to come: Chapter 2: Waiting in Solandia
Chapter 3: To take you Home
Chapter 4: Here are the facts about you