“Death of fire, birth of earth.” She cried out in her excitement.
The ritual words were completed, but everything seemed to hang in the air, suspended, waiting. Waiting for her to invoke— Amyu cried out what was in her heart, without thought. “Magic,” she cried, putting everything she dreamed in the words. “Weave a new pattern!”
The magic responded. A shaft of golden light shot out from its bowl to the bowl of fire. The flame within shot higher and brighter.
The magic shot out again, striking the bowl of water with a ringing sound. The water swirled, and rose, a pillar to match the flame.
The magic hit the bowl of earth with a deep ringing sound. It shook her bones.
A roaring sound filled Amyu’s ears. She couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe, her arms outstretched in her plea.
Air now, and the bowl rocked as the smoke swirled like a twisting wind storm, surrounding the sword. The light crackled with energy.
“Elements, all, hear my plea,” Amyu cried out. “Restore that which has been shattered.”
The magic shot out, a glorious stream of golden light, and struck her full in the chest. The power flowed into her. Amyu breathed deep, trying to hold it in, trying to bear the pressure in and under her skin. She feared she wouldn’t be able to hold it, but then her eyes dropped to the shattered sword at her feet, and she knew…
She brought her hands together, and threw the magic at the sword.
A burst of heat and gold and light filled the cave, overwhelming and blinding.
Hanstau jerked in his saddle, catching himself before he fell. His horse snorted tossed its head.
Reness was instantly on alert, scanning the herd around them for a threat. “What?” She asked.
“I don’t know,” Hanstau said, staring off in the direction of the sound. “Didn’t you hear it?”
“No,” Reness said. “The herd is not reacting,” she pointed out.
“It was—” Hanstau shook his head. “Remember how I said that using the power seemed noisy? I think someone just—” he stared off in the direction the sound had come from. “Someone just used power. A lot of power.”
“That way?” Reness asked.
Hanstau nodded. “What lies there?” he asked.
Reness snorted in amusement. “City-dweller,” she teased. “That way is north.”
“Xy?” Hanstau asked. They’d been wandering within the safety of the herd for so long, he’d lost all sense of direction. He flushed a bit. All sense of direction, of time, of propriety, “Xy,” Reness confirmed. “I’ve enjoyed our wandering, Hanstau. But now I think we must move with a purpose.”
Hanstau nodded. “To Xy.”
“To Xy,” she confirmed, and put her horse’s head in that direction. “But don’t think this means there is anything less between us.” She threw him a glance over her shoulder. “I claim you, my city-dweller.”
Hanstau tried to stammer something intelligible out, but no real words came. He settled for blushing.
Reness laughed, and urged her horse to a gallop, leading his by the reins.
Simus was just settling down to his nooning when Snowfall gasped, dropped her kavage and turned north. He was on his feet in an instant, and the warriors around them took defensive stances.
No sounds, no outcry arose around them. Snowfall was focused on a distant point, off to the north.
Simus took a step closer to his bonded, and waited.
“A flare of power,” Snowfall said. “Far to the north. Would that be Xy?”
“Xy.” Simus sheathed his sword, and the other warriors relaxed around them.
“Lightning Strike?” Simus asked as he bent to get her mug.
Snowfall shook her head. “Too far north for it to be them,” she said absently, squinting off into the distance as if she could see if she just looked hard enough. “But who else could use power like that?”
“You told me that all Plains warriors are tested at the Rite of Ascension,” Simus filled her mug and pressed it into Snowfall’s hands.
“Yes,” Now those grey eyes were focused on him, intent and lovely. Simus took a moment to enjoy their beauty even as he answered the unasked question.
“Have I told you of Amyu?”
Cadr first knew of it when Lightning Strike jerked in his saddle. He pulled his horse to a stop as the others slid from their saddles, taking out their bowls and shields.
Gilla rode up, whistling for the warcats, who bounded out of the grass to sprawl at the horses’ feet.
“Got it,” Night Clouds cried.
Cadr pressed in, everyone trying to look in the bowl at the same time. He caught a glimpse of a woman’s back. She was kneeling in a cave, before ritual bowls. She cast a quick look behind her, but it was enough.
“Amyu,” Cadr said, grabbing Lightning Strike’s shoulder. “That’s Amyu. That’s Xy.”
They watched as Amyu stood, taking up a strange sword that sparkled blue.
“But where is she?” Sidian asked. “Can you see more?”
Night Clouds nodded, frowning, staring at the bowl.
“Give us room,” Lightning Strike said, and others moved back. Cadr stayed glued to his side. Sidian and Rhys both leaned in closer.
The scene in the bowl shifted to reveal the cave and the mountain side.
“What is—?” Lightning Strike exclaimed.
Sidian started to explain mountains, and caves. Cadr ignored them, kneeling at Night Clouds’ side. “See that,” he pointed, careful not to touch the bowl. “It’s a path.”
Night Clouds nodded, and the scene blurred as it rushed down the mountainside. The trees finally opened up, to show a wide grassy area, filled with large animals.
“What are those?” Lightning Strike asked.
“Cows,” Rhys said. “They’re like large gurtles. I can portal there.” he added.
Cadr looked up at Lightening Strike. “Do we go?”
“We go.”
Amyu held her position, blinking against the fading glare, waiting for her breath to return. An odd tickle burned between her shoulder blades. She glanced behind herself, but there was no one there.
She turned back, and looked down.
The sword was whole.
“Heyla,” She cried, her voice ringing on the stone walls. But even as the sound faded, she stared at her hands. There was no change, no glow, all seemed as it was, all but the sword.
Giddy with joy, she reached for the sword hilt, almost afraid it would shatter again as she lifted it.
The blade was heavier than she expected, but it was straight and true and so blue within its depths it seemed to glow. She rose to her feet, forgetting everything else in her excitement. With a deep breath, she faced the back wall of the tunnel.
She held the sword up and stretched out her other hand with the Ring of Xy displayed. “Let the protectors of Xy arise to my call!” she proclaimed, and waited, breathless.
Nothing happened.
Chapter Thirty-One
Amyu stood there, dumbfounded. Sword in one hand, the ring on the other, feeling the fool.
She cleared her throat, and called again. “Let the protectors of Xy arise to my call!”
Nothing.
She blinked. Then she cursed. She cursed the mountain, cursed the sword, the ring, the city-dwellers, the entire idea that she could find the airions.
Then she stood in the silence. She consciously slowed her breathing, letting her anger fade, and considered.
The ritual had worked, the sword was whole again. She could wield magic, that she had proven. She took a breath, letting that confidence flow back into her.
But Kalisa had talked of her bloodlines, like the bloodlines of a Tribe. Even the Warprize was of the Blood of Xy. Maybe one had to be of the Tribe of Xy to summon airions.
Her shoulders sagged. She let the blade fall, catching it with the open palm of her ringed hand. At least she had this much that she could take back—
The blade hit her palm, and the back of the ring.
The entire cave rang with the sound. Like the wardrums of a Warlord, it shook Amyu’s body to the bone.
Amyu lifted the sword, and turned her hand, to see the blue stone of the ring glowing.