Chapter 13
Kodi yawned hugely, stretching her arms. "Can we stop now?" she asked hopefully. She knew already that meditation was the most boring thing she'd ever tried. After an hour of the exercise, she still couldn't clear her mind or sense her power.
Even Briar looked weary as he stood up and stretched cramped limbs. "I guess we better."
"Can we do it again tomorrow?" Colt asked brightly.
"Sure." Briar grinned. "You picked it up really quick, good job." Colt beamed.
"It don't matter anyway," Kodi snapped. "You aren't going to be a mage."
The smile disappeared from Colt's face.
"Meditation's not just for mages, Kodi." If Briar was annoyed he didn't show it.
Kodi bit her lip and ran ahead.
"What's her problem?" Colt muttered.
"I don't know," Briar replied tiredly. "I'm too young for this. C'mon let's go."
They walked in silence. Then Colt felt a tap on his shoulder. Kodi had come up behind him.
"Lakik! Don't surprise me like that!" Colt yelped.
"Sorry," Kodi replied. Colt knew sneaking up on him wasn't all she was apologizing for.
They walked the rest of the way to Briar's house with no further outbursts.
Briar turned the key into the lock and the door creaked open to reveal two figures standing in the entrance. Kodi recognized them from her vision as Lady Aethra and Baron Erdogun fer Baigh.
Briar jumped. "What're you two doing here?"
"You missed the meeting," Baron Erdogun replied. He caught sight of Colt and Kodi. "Who are these- children?" He wrinkled his nose distastefully. Kodi scowled, and then arranged her face into what she hoped was a dignified expression. She was clean and wearing nice clothes. He had no right to make his nose wrinkle like that!
"Oh, this is Kodi, my student, and her friend Colt," Briar replied carelessly.
Aethra and Erdogun glanced at each other. "Is that- appropriate?" Aethra asked carefully.
Kodi shivered. Did Briar suddenly look taller?
"Of course it is," Briar replied imperiously.
"I'm not going to argue when you look that much like Her Grace," Erdogun muttered.
Briar's lordly look evaporated into a triumphant smile. "It always works for Sandry," he explained. "Besides, you better get used to them. They're coming to Emelan."
"We are?" Kodi yelped.
"They are?" replied Aethra. The two glared at each other in mutual dislike.
"Yes," Briar told them mildly.
Kodi opened her mouth and shut it again. She should've been expecting this really. Besides, Emelan had to be better than here, and Colt looked completely thrilled.
Erdogun cleared his throat a couple times, but seemed hesitant to speak. Finally, with the air of one about to deliver a death sentence, he told Briar, "There was another reason we came."
"Oh?" Briar had that dangerous look again.
Aethra spoke quickly, as if determined to get the worst over with. "King Rididar's pirates launched a full-scale attack on Emelan. Summersea's burning- Duchess Sandrilene is barely holding down the Citadel. Several mages from Winding Circle have been enslaved, including Dedicate Moonrush, Caden Arinci, and Trisana Chandler."
"What- how? The spell net, and Summersea, and the navy-" Briar seemed unable to speak in coherent sentences.
"The spell net failed. The navy failed. Everything failed." Now that Lady Aethra and Baron Erdogun were no longer pretending everything was normal, Kodi could see that their eyes were red rimmed and blotchy from tears and lack of sleep.
"They have a new weapon," Erdogun explained.
"They did last time too!"
"This time is different. They have a magical weapon, not just boom-dust that explodes then disappears. This weapon cancels out magic. None of our mages spells are working. The navy, the merchants- even the Traders are fighting them from the sea, but it's not enough." The Unraveler, dormant in Kodi's sash all this time, shuddered.
"That's impossible," Briar objected flatly.
"No its not. I tell you, everything I say is true. I've never seen the like, I'll admit. Nothing's been able to completely stop power until now. "
"Until now," Briar repeated heavily. "How can we stop it?"
"I don't know," Baron Erdogun replied bleakly. "Our mages are working on it, and I daresay they'll find something in the end. It doesn't matter anyway, to you at least. You are not to go rushing off to Emelan. We need you here."
"Of course," Briar replied innocently. Too innocently.