Disclaimer: This story is based on the fine work of Tamora Pierce.
Sunfish Sailor: I think it is too early for unicorn fever. But you're right that the timeline there is vague. I plan that as part of maelstrom. And you'll have to see what I think caused it smiling evilly
TammyPRocks: Yes, Cearl is behind the quake and no, Numair doesn't kill him. Wait until you see who does.
Jules-Gemma – Glad you like it. I hope this one gets as much praise.
Twilight Shades – I wrote it as fast as I could. There's still a cliffy though, sorry.
Purple Eyed Cat – the answer to the earthquake is below. And I would be honored to look at your story. It may be tomorrow though. I'll hurry.
Kit49 – Cearl was a bad, bad man. But then, you suspected that, didn't ya?
Chapter 18 - Power
It took Numair only a split second to process the brilliant strategy. Something had alerted Daine to Cearl's duplicity. Somehow, she had convinced the mage that they were seeking an airborne enemy and she had naturally called for Numair's assistance. Once she saw Numair exit the tent, Daine confronted Cearl. "...why would you do that? Are you the fox?" Her bow was trained on Cearl and Numair was close enough to protect her from any spells, not that it was necessary. Her shield suit would protect her from most things.
Cearl took a step back and looked at the girl malevolently. "You're sharper than you look, aren't you? I shall not underestimate you again – not that I'll need to." A blast of white fire shot at her and Cearl smiled hugely when the girl seemed to vanish into thin air, her clothes drifting neatly to the ground. Had this been new to Numair, he might have been concerned. But he knew Daine and he knew her ability to protect herself. He also very briefly saw the pure white mouse jump into the snow in her path toward Cearl.
Numair surrounded himself and Cearl in a circle of fire to protect the others. He had no idea how difficult this fight was going to be. Although he had slightly stronger magic than Cearl, he wasn't fool enough to believe that Cearl would cower before him. He also didn't know what Daine was after, but it had to be something. He would trust her judgment and keep the other mage distracted as long as he could.
"Apparently you didn't learn from your mistakes the first time. There are certain rules of nature you don't bend, Cearl. The consequences of taking the free will of those around you will be visited upon you by the Gods." Numiar growled the words like a lesson to a lazy student.
"Fool! You think those Gods are the ones I answer to?" Cearl snarled. "Only you think you need protect the less powerful. Look where it has gotten you – you bow to a king who you could conquer in a breath. You don't deserve the type of power you were given." He threw a bolt of fire in an amazingly powerful beam of light. It could have melted the trees. But Numair deflected it, sending a cloud of their gifts towering and twisting into the sky.
"This can't have been you. It – it just can't," Onua interjected. She had crept forward and was shaking her head violently.
Cearl laughed at her sadistically. "Do you think you're that special? You drop your breeches for me and change my nature? You were so easy to manipulate. You did everything I wanted. I'll bet they suspected me. But out of friendship for you, they pushed it aside, as I imagined they would. I read your open, pathetic mind like a book. You're nothing new. Better women than you sell themselves on the streets of Carthak."
A concussive spell smashed into Cearl's chest, knocking the wind from him. Black fire wound itself around him and squeezed like a boa constrictor. The pain was visible on his face. "Don't listen to him, Onua," Numair seethed. "He's so far beneath you he should look like the worm he is."
Onua sobbed violently. Then Alanna was there, trying to comfort her. Numair was impressed how all of his friends seemed ready to fight. Alanna, barred from magic, was armed, but stayed well back, to let black robe fight black robe until another friend needed her. He knew Harailt and Lindhall were right behind him to lend their magic if need be. It was comforting. Even Daniel, who he barely knew, had prepared his sword. But what was Daine up to? Then he saw the white mouse leap, shifting smoothly into a hyena and taking Cearl's left hand off just above the wrist. He was shocked. Pain washed through his features and he swayed visibly. Daine then shifted smoothly to a cheetah and raced away. Numair let her out of his barrier and watched as she spit and vomited her prize. Cearl was in far too much pain to react immediately. When he did react it was a whisper that made the hairs on Numair's neck stand on end. He tried to silence the sorcerer, but was too late.
A rolling earth quake shook the ground. Every piece of nature seemed to cry out. Appalled, Numair yelled for Harailt and Lindhall, "I need to drop the shields." Ghostly white, the two men nodded and rebuilt the protective shields over Alanna, Daniel, and Daine in their own powerful gifts. The air seemed to be drawing every piece of moisture around it and the land rocked while Cearl laughed maniacally. A tidal wave rose and loomed above them as if they were on a shore, though they were a long way from any ocean. The water had come from the land itself brought by the last word of power any mage should be fool enough to invoke. Black fire shot in every direction and the earthquake ceased while the tidal wave hung in mid-air threateningly. Numair could temporarily hold it back, but there would be no way to fight Cearl too.
"Always the hero, aren't you Draper? Think you can save your precious country too? No one man has that power."
"You cannot run from this, you fool," Numair cried. "You will send us all to the Black God!"
"This is not the only realm in which I'm welcome. Will your precious Goddess come and revive you again? I think one resurrection per lifetime is all you're allowed, Draper."
Then he heard a K'Miri war cry and he saw Cearl lurch forward stunned. The mage made a gutteral noise and the head of a spear pushed through the front of his coat. He swayed and then fell face first. Onua stood behind him, a hateful glare on her face. She spit at the body before her, tears still running down her face.
Numair felt his knees begin to buckle under the weight of the disaster he was holding back. He sagged to a kneeling position, swaying. He tried to send the moisture back into the land and felt some of it move, but the power cost was staggering.He saw Daine shift to human and despite her state of undress, she motioned Alanna forward and held out something that sparkled. Alanna reached for it with trembling hands and held the prize reverently.
Behind Numair a warm hand grabbed his. Lindhall focused, offering every piece of his power to bolster Numair's fight against the elements. "No one man has this power, Numair, but you are not alone," Lindhall said in his quiet voice.
Numair never saw it take place, but suddenly, Alanna was free of her shield and she too joined the fight against the tidal wave. Last, Harailt finished the circle. With the added strength, Numair began to push the water back where it belonged. He felt exhausted and weak and the others watched him trustingly, knowing that only he had the knowledge to fight this.
So tired he could barely hold his head up, he thought he would fail them all, until Daine joined them. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, steadying him from behind and whispered encouragingly, "You're doing it Numair, you're almost there." As if somehow she found a way to give him some of her wild magic too, the tide turned. The water moved back to the ground in a rush, leaving all of nature to sigh in exhaustion.
Numair pitched backward when the others let him go, falling against Daine. The other mages looked tired, but Numair knew he was completely drained. The magical fight had been mostly his. He had caught the catastrophe before it had been completed. Daine petted his hair, while Lindhall, Harailt and Alanna laughed in relief. He didn't know when Daine had found time to get dressed, but she was. He felt Lindhall pat his shoulder."You did it, my boy, you did it," he praised.
But the surprises of the day weren't over. The thunderous sound of hooves borne on the wind rushed through their ears. Numair tried to sit up, but there wasn't enough power left in him to do it. "Unicorns!" Daine told the others. He tried again to rise. "Shhhhh," she soothed, "You did your part. Now it's time for me to do mine. Let us take care of this. Rest now." He half wanted to argue and half wanted to tell her how incredible she was. He had nothing left for either so he settled for smiling sleepily.
The last thing he saw before he dropped into unconsciousness was Daine taking a protective stance above him, bow at the ready.
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