Chapter 5
Cyan knew that training with Temlar would be grueling since he was once a Crimson Lion King, and they are known for having the harshest training. But the training schedule compiled by his wife was brutal. Cyan wanted to get strong and get strong fast, Shelia was going to make that happen even if it killed her.
Before the store opened, Temlar and Cyan hiked outside of town where he made her run up and down the hills until she threw up. Next was core strengthening, breathing and stances. Honestly the breathing part of training was worse than the running. BREATHING! During all this Temlar would explain if her body couldn't handle the force of her magic then she would die, frankly Cyan believed he was full of it, but she didn't argue.
After training, they would clean up and open the shop. In order to pay back the damages faster Sheila began to use Cyan as their new transporter. Generally, they would use a local transport wagon that moved between towns which cost a pretty penny, now Cyan would not only carry herself but large amounts of goods through miles in a few hours. The more she moved goods and strengthened her body the quicker she could move and control the dive.
Soon Shelia had Temlar outside after the store closed teaching Cyan the basics of hand-to-hand combat. He pushed her through several types of forms making sure she had the foundation down perfectly before even taking her through sparring. The massive man did not pull his punches when taking on the much smaller women and more than once Sheila needed to fix a broken nose.
It was after a month before Cyan was even allowed to do magic outside of diving to transport goods.
After two months Sheila finally was going to allow her to test nightmare scaping on her and Temlar for very short periods of time before bed. Because she couldn't gage how much time passed in the waking world verses the dream, Sheila ordered a bracelet that would vibrate every five minutes so she could keep track of actual time.
Shelia's head was currently cradled in Cyan's lap, eyes closed and breathing even. Cyan closed her eyes while reaching towards the grimoire laying at her side with her mana. She felt the magic connect instantly when before the struggle had almost killed her and the spell rushed through her with no problems. Instantly she was in Shelia's dream, the same dream she had every time.
Shelia and Temlar never talked about what happened that caused his career as a magic knight to end so abruptly but Cyan found out quickly after diving into their dreams. She never mentioned it, and everyone avoided the topic. After seeing the physiological damage that he lived with was more than enough to make her glad she never became a knight.
In the nightmare scape she didn't interact with the dream, Sheila watching Temlar walk up the main road, a bag slung over a shoulder and the dead look in eyes. She could feel the pain radiating of the women as she struggled to hold herself back, to not ran and wrap him in her arms.
If Cyan focused she could also feel her thoughts.
Does he remember me?
Does he remember the promise we made?
Does he love me?
The bracelet on her wrist buzzed alerting her to the five-minute mark even though it only felt like a few seconds. Sheila's rule was no more than five minutes because the connection was the part she needed to practice. Honestly, she was probably scared of her almost dying again. She released the spell, letting the mana to slowly ebb away, instead of ripping herself out like last time.
Cyan blinked rapidly as the room came into focus. Temlar sat across from her, large body perched on a stool as he stared down at his wife. Kenny snored loudly on a cot in the corner, sheets kicked off and mouth wide open.
"Is it getting easier?" Temlar asked, his deep voice light so he didn't wake his wife and child.
Cyan gently eased Shelia's head off her lap and covered her with a blanket.
"Its super easy now, I don't even really need to try to slip in anymore." She stood up and stretched her back.
He stood with her and motioned for her to follow him to the hallway. She followed him till he reached the back door, his hand posed over the handle. "What's next?" He asked suddenly.
She blinked. "I don't know really. I still don't understand what's going on in Fuego's mind but at least I'm better equipped now to try. If Shelia would let me spend more time in the nightmare scape, then I'd feel better."
He pushed the handle down and opened the door to the cool night air...or what should have been night. She was confused for a second as bright light shined through the open doorway framing Temlar's silhouette. She thought maybe she had lost track of time again but then she glanced down at the bracelet that continued to buzz every few minutes.
Temlar murmured as he stepped out in the street shielding his eyes against the bright light. Cyan shadowed him, looking up in the sky to see bright lights coming from swords, thousands of swords hanging in the sky. Several people crowded the streets all in there sleeping clothes talking in loud frightened voices.
"What the hell!" Cyan shouted over the conversations of the towns people. "Is that light magic? There's no light mages!"
Temlar shook his head, lost for words as his face grew pale with shock. He was still muttering under his breath as he stood rooted to his place. She slid up next to him and tried to hear what he was saying. "Get Kenny...get Sheila...we have to run...were going to die."
"Temlar. Temlar look at me!" She shouted again grabbing his arm. His eyes snapped down to her as his mind started functioning again.
"Cyan. Go take as much food as you can get, were going to see how well you do carrying multiple people in a dive." He didn't wait for a reply as he ran back inside the house entrance of the building.
"I don't understand! What's going on?" She asked as she unlocked the door to the store and began throwing canned foods into a sack left on the counter. He didn't answer, instead she could hear him throwing open doors and shouting for Shelia to get up.
Once she had some food she chased after him to the main bedroom and grabbed Kenny's sleeping form out of his corner bed.
"Sheila, we have to leave now no questions." He was saying to his groggy wife as he threw clothes in a trunk. "Someone is attacking the Clover Kingdom, the whole Clover Kingdom. The only people I can think of with that kind of power is either the Dimond Kingdom or…"
"Or the Eye of the Midnight Sun that attacked the capital a couple of months ago." Sheila finished for him.
"If the whole kingdom is being attacked then where the hell are we going to go?" Cyan demanded.
"To the Capital, that's where the Wizard King is and where the captains will go to respond to a crisis. It will be the only safest place."
"And the most dangerous!" Sheila hissed.
Cyan hefted the sleeping child up higher on her shoulder. "Well if that magic is covering the entire kingdom, then it doesn't really matter. Temlar is right."
Sheila glared at them both as she processed the information. "Can you really carry all of us and this stuff to the Capital? You've never moved people and a large amount of anything that far before. You could hurt yourself."
"Even if I does kill me, I will get you guys there. You're honestly the only family I have." She replied as she held both of their gazes. "Beside it will be fine, that's what all the training was for right?"
They stared at her, emotions swimming in their eyes for a heartfelt second before bursting back in action. "We have to hurry." Temlar mumbled, whipping at his eyes.
Once everything was gathered Cyan told Temlar to douse the fire in the hearth to create a big enough shadow for everyone to fit through. "Okay, I don't know how this will work but we should all hold hands or something."
She really hoped nobody loses a limb during this trip. She didn't say anything to them but once she got them to a safe-ish place she was going straight to Crimson Lion Kings headquarters. Now was the time for her to attempt the spell again and hopefully wake him in time to help the people of the Kingdom.
Actually, the Kings headquarters would be as safe as any place for the group, and they wouldn't say no to a former member. Right?
Battles rage inside and outside the city. People screamed and ran as they tried to escape the carnage of magic knights as they fought other possessed magic knights. According to one of the men Temlar spoke with, people had been possessed by elves and were attacking people. She didn't know elves were a thing or that they could take over people's bodies. You learn something new every day.
Cyan tried to block out the sounds of the war and focus on the only thing she could do now that her family was safe downstairs. As soon as they'd been left alone, she'd snuck into the medical ward where Fuegoleon still lay in his bed, eyes closed and face deathly white. She took a minute to admire his strong jaw, soft lips and the exposed skin of his neck.
She sighed as she walked around his bed counting each of his breaths like a lovesick puppy. The soft linens brushed the back of her hand as she circled him until she found his cold hand. She traced his fingers mindlessly and the veins of his wrist. Fuck, he was a beautiful man.
Everett had been violent, angry and liked to hurt her. She once thought she deserved it and it took her a trip to the Capital, meeting a stranger that had been nice for her to realize she deserved better. That and the death of her father changed everything for her.
Looking down at him again she felt the rush of adrenaline she got every time she thought about him over the years. She had carried a torch for him for a long time and maybe her wanting to help him wasn't about a blood debt but simply because she liked him. She made sure not to think about the difference in social class, wealth and age while she ogled him. She didn't want to ruin to moment.
Okay it was time to pull herself together and see if she could fix the man without killing them both. Like before she unbuckled the holster of the grimoire as she climbed onto the bed and straddled his chest. Cyan rolled her shoulders and placed her hands against his face and steadied her nerves. She was exhausted after finding a safe place for Sheila, Temlar and Kenny but if she was going to help stop the attack then she needed to wake him up.
"Fugeo if you can do me a solid that'd be great." She flinched as a wall somewhere in the compound exploded, shaking the floor she was on. "Just wake up. It's not asking for a lot."
Cyan glanced down at her wrist where the bracelet sat, reminding herself that she could do this. Taking a long deep breath and closed her eyes. With barely a thought the spell connected to her grimoire, the sounds of the book flipping open and the red light shining through her eyelids instantly.
She was back in the bright, blinding light of his nightmare without much effort. Since she now knew there was a light mage running around it made sense that the bright light was his nightmare. She needed to find the source of the light and somehow get rid of it. So far, her training with dreams and nightmares had been about getting in and out without killing herself, she hadn't tried to change dreams yet.
No time like the present. Her wrist buzzed, already five minutes had passed. Damn.
Okay, she could do this. She needed to stop using her 'eyes' and use her magic to feel out the core of the dream. Cyan let go of the tight grip on her magic and allowed it to flow around her like red fog filling the space.
BUZZ.
She kept a mental tally of time, pushing her magic out faster to fill every inch of his mind to find something that existed there. There was no way it was empty, just camouflaged in light and she needed to find something. The magic red fog began to overtake the light, darkening it to a hazy red glow. She squinted as shapes began to form in the fog. First a leg, then the curve of a back and finally a face with a hooked nose.
BUZZ.
She quickly ran to the figure, dropping to her knees when she reached him. The figure didn't move when she reached him, like he was frozen in white porcelain and red fog.
"Okay, okay. What do I do now huh?" She asked the armless statue. Of course, he didn't answer her, but a thought began to form. The light was the problem, probably some sliver of power left behind when he was attacked.
BUZZ.
As she reached out to touch the statue, his face turned to her suddenly and screamed. It was the same blood curdling scream she had heard the last time she was in his mind. Panicking, she grabbed his face feeling the connection between their physical bodies and their minds snap into place.
The power was instantly sucked from her body as if she used every ounce of mana she had in a single second. Cyan screamed, just as loud and horrible as his. White hot fire ran along her arms, the light trying to sear her skin away.
BUZZ.
She could barely feel the vibration of the bracelet since every nerve in her body was dying a horrible gruesome death. Yet, she refused to let go of him, instead she dug her fingers into the light and pulled. The twisted magic that cocooned him refused to give him up or break.
"Damnit Fuego! Help me!" She clenched her teeth till it felt like they'd crack and continued to pull. Her strength was failing quickly, and her magic was gone, the only thing keeping her in his dream was nothing more than sheer stubbornness.
BUZZ.
It started happening again. She could feel blood running down her nose of her physical and mental body. The wet hot liquid filled her mouth and covered her neck like a sticky sheet. She couldn't feel her fingers anymore, her nerves burned away and deadened leaving the feeling of frostbite in its wake. She was out of magic and without it she didn't know if she could pull the magic shell off.
BUZZ.
She looked around wildly, desperate to find something she could use to help but all she saw was the white light and the red fog.
Fog.
Magic fog. Duh. Her magic fog.
Focusing on the fog she took a deep breath, sucking in every inch of fog back in her body and filling her lungs to the point of bursting. The magic filled up her depleted reservoirs just a tiny amount, but it definitely took the edge off. Before she lost the little boost she got, she shoved all the magic into the cracks in the magic she'd created with her nails. The magic poured in, spreading the cracks in the light till pieces burst off at supersonic speed.
BUZZ.
Cyan took the brunt of the explosion, energy slamming her down on the ground. Loud popping deafened her followed by horrendous pain in her inner ears. She screamed then everything went silent for a moment as she was forced out of the dream.
Light filtered through her lids, the same bright light with hints of red magic from before. She cracked an eye to find herself straddling Fuegoleon in his sick bed holding a ball of red and white light. Her heart thudded against bone as she sat paralyzed holding the remnant of the light mages power.
"What the hell do I do with this?" Her voice cracked and coughed spitting blood all over her hands and arms.
"Let it go. Just release your magic and the light will dissipate."
Her throat was so dry all she could think about was water and washing the metallic taste out of her mouth. "Oh, that makes sense. Hold on." She mumbled, ignoring the burble of fluid on her lips.
She glanced at her grimoire and with a blink cut off the magic. The book slammed to the ground and the ball of light vanished from her fingers, immediately darkening the room that had no other light outside of the burning city beyond the window.
"Good job. And thank you."
"You're welcome, all in a days-" She cut herself off and looked down at the source of the masculine voice to find Fuegoleon watching her through half lidded eyes. His face was covered in small droplets of red liquid not unlike bloody tears. Another fell in that moment, hitting him in the cheek before sliding to the pillow beneath his head.
Right, she was bleeding out like last time. Her nose, her ears and even the beds of her nails were bleeding.
Relief flooded through her. "You're awake, good. There for a second I didn't think it would work." She croaked, running a finger down the side of his face and smearing the blood. "I got you all messy, sorry."
He reached up slowly with his remaining arm and pushed her hair aside to look at her face. "I remember you."
A smile played along the edge of her lips. "Good because I have never stopped thinking about you. I can say that since I'm pretty sure I'm dying. Can't get embarrassed." She giggled.
Then there was nothing. Blood-loss really isn't a bad way to go. First, you're just cold, then numb and finally just gone. It was nice to see him one last time, feel his fingers against her skin and know he'll be okay.
Worth death.