In the middle of the day, a path suddenly appeared as Mel followed behind Luthel and Hanon. They didn’t seem to notice it or they just thought it ordinary, but Mel’s eyes lingered on the ground. She took a few hesitant steps on the path, almost expecting the ground to crumble and swallow her whole. But nothing happened, it was just a beaten down road leading up to the gate.
Perhaps people walked this way all the time or perhaps it was still here after centuries of this being the greatest city in the old kingdom. Mel wasn’t sure, but it sure was strange. Before her eyes, a thick wall stretched between the mountains and in the center two huge doors glimmering in gold made up the gate of Krazaa.
She sucked in a breath and held it in her lungs for a little too long before she released it in a rush of air. This place was beautiful. Her eyes scanned the carvings on the doors and finally they rested on an eye fixed into the top of the gate. When the doors opened, it would be parted in the middle, but that didn’t keep the details from being any less intense.
So this was the eye, Mel thought. She licked her lips and quickened her pace, catching up to Luthel and Hanon. They were still walking down the path, faces held up toward the gate, and it seemed this was their first time seeing it too.
Just in front of the doors, Mel felt small and insignificant. The walls stretched up far above her and she didn’t think they could climb them if the eye didn’t invite them inside. Luthel stopped before the gate and placed his hand on one of the doors. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. Hanon followed his motion and placed his hand on the other door, closing his eyes too.
Mel took a step back, taking in the sight and waiting for the doors to crack open before her. But nothing happened. She shifted her stance from one foot to the other, feeling a dull ache in the back of her legs. She’d been walking too much during the recent days and wanted to get inside, so she could rest.
She waited some more, but the two men just stood there, reverently touching a pair of doors. She huffed out an exasperated breath, hoping to draw their attention and make them tell her what was going on. Or how long this would take. But they didn’t even acknowledge her presence.
“So…what are we doing?” Mel asked.
A frown spread over Luthel’s face, and his eyes slowly opened. “We’re paying our respects to this place.”
“Will that open the gate?”
Luthel dropped his hand from the door and turned fully to her now. “No, I don’t think so.” He looked up, throwing a glance at the top. “The eye will open the gate according to the story. I’m not sure what that means or how we will get them open.”
“But no one could have survived inside for this long, right?” Mel cocked her head.
“I guess we can’t wait for anyone else to come and open them for us.” Luthel ran a hand over his chin, scratching his scruffy beard. “But neither could Diramon, it seems.”
Hanon released his hand from the doors and opened his eyes, turning toward them. A faint smile played on his lips and Mel wanted to ask him what was so great about this situation. But he spoke before she had a chance. “It will come to us, I’m sure. The shadows don’t seem to be on our heels any longer. I think the void has turned its eyes on Aldrion. We have time to figure this out.”
He walked away from them, coming to rest on a gnarly root that was jutting out from the ground close by. Luthel followed and brought his backpack down to rest on the wet sand. Mel stood there alone in front of the golden doors, feeling her excitement lowering and her annoyance rising. She didn’t want to wait until it came to them. She wanted to get inside, so she could understand who she was, what she needed to do to help Aldrion and kill the void. Out here, time would only tick by and her friends would still be stuck in Aldrion, fighting against the shadows.
She swallowed hard, looking with narrowed eyes at the small slit between the doors, trying to see inside at the city beyond. But there was nothing but darkness between them and she understood she couldn’t get inside using her anger. She needed to calm down to be able to think her way through this mess.
Mel strolled up to where Hanon and Luthel were setting up camp and plopped down on the root beside them, dragging her backpack off her shoulders. The wood was damp against her clothes and she shivered against the uncomfortable feeling. She just didn’t want to be trapped in the wasteland any longer.
#
The next day, the morning started off slow. All three of them were exhausted from the journey and it was noticed in the way they sluggishly woke up and moved around the campsite. Mel sat on the root outside the tent, looking longingly at the closed gate.
“Do you hear that?” Hanon asked.
Mel turned back to the campsite, focusing on him, and saw that his eyes were lingering on her face. “Hear what?”
“There’s a sound vibrating off the doors. Are you sure you can’t hear it?” Hanon’s eyebrows dipped.
Mel looked back to the gate, fixing her gaze on the narrow slit between the doors. She strained her ears and took in a deep breath. A faint sound emerged from them and she thought it sounded like one of the notes. Not one of the elemental tones, but one of the others, perhaps?
“I think I hear something. I’m not sure. But how are you able to hear it?”
Hanon’s face was focused, looking away from her as he shook his head. “It’s not something I’ve heard before.”
Mel scratched the back of her neck. “I think I’ve heard it once, but I can’t remember which one it is. When I was studying at Falden, we had tuning forks to help us learn the four elemental notes and I think in the extended set, the one only the teachers had, this was one of the decoys. But, Hanon, I was the only one there who could hear notes inside an imbue without being a master elemental warrior.”
Hanon’s gaze returned to her, his eyes glassy and black. “I told you, we’re the same you and I. Can you connect to the imbue?”
Mel bit her bottom lip and watched Luthel walking around in the distance, looking for things to use or eat. He wasn’t here now with his infinite wisdom and couldn’t tell them if this sounded right or wrong. She wished he was closer, that she could ask him. But then, what if he didn’t know if this was a good idea?
She looked back over at the doors, and her gaze fixated on the eye. She listened for the note that was playing quietly from the imbue and tried to match it in her mind. The eye looked like it glowed for a moment, but then a puff of air emerged from the sides and nothing. Mel tried again to connect to the imbue, but it was dead. The sound no longer played in her ears.
She looked over at Hanon again. “Can you still hear it?”
He shook his head. “Are you still playing the note in your mind?”
“No, I don’t remember it by heart.” Mel looked down at her hands resting in her lap. “And it’s not like I brought tuning forks out here.”
“I don’t know what tuning forks are,” Hanon said. “But if we know it’s a magical imbue, then perhaps we can recharge it. You said it was a double imbue. Which elements did it consist of?”
“I think it’s water and fire.”
He stood abruptly, not really waiting for Mel’s approval, before walking over to the gate. He stood below them, looking tiny next to the massive doors, and took in a deep breath. Mel followed behind him, watching with curious fascination.
“You think we can recharge the metal?” Mel asked. “How?”
He didn’t look at her again, instead he kept staring at the doors as if they’d open on their own if he just glared enough. “We carry magic inside of us. It’s mixed with our life essence.” Hanon was quiet for a beat, but then he spoke again, “I haven’t seen this before. A locking mechanism that needs magical energy to be powered.”
Mel’s gaze drifted from the side of Hanon’s face to the doors. “I have. Austin’s family mansion uses something similar. He has a bracelet on his arm, a water imbue that he uses to open the doors to his house. It’s charged by water magic.”
Mel said the last words almost to herself. Like this was a part of a puzzle she’d been trying to solve in her mind for sometime but hadn’t really been fully aware of. She wanted Austin here now so he could tell her what to do. But he was long gone, far away in Aldrion fighting a war that he probably couldn’t win.
“But I don’t have any magical imbues with me,” Mel said.
“We don’t need imbues. I’ve told you this already. You have the power in you to create magic on your own. Where do you think the magic in the imbues comes from?”
“The dragon stones,” Mel said.
“And who filled the dragon stones?” Hanon asked.
“The dragons…” Her eyes went wide, and she looked over at Hanon. He wore a frown on his forehead.
“No, we did. Our people did. People like you and me.”
Mel’s mouth suddenly felt dry. “Then what are we?”
Hanon shifted on his feet, looking down at the ground. “We’re the chosen ones. We’re people of the void.”
Mel still didn’t believe Hanon when he said that they were of the void. But she got a prickling sensation on the back of her neck when she thought about the fact that he’d heard the note playing. A double imbue that only she had been able to hear at Falden. Were they really the same after all?
“But if we can recharge it. Then why can’t you just do it now?” Mel asked.
Hanon shook his head. “If it’s like you say, this is a double imbue. Two elemental powers combined as one. Then you’re the one who has expertise with it. But from what I know, it’s impossible for me alone to create two elements at the same time. I can’t twist my life energy into two directions at once. You’d have to create one of the elements with me.”’
Mel took a step back from him and the doors. “No, I can’t do that. I can’t create magic without imbues.”
Hanon’s hand slipped around her shoulder, squeezing it. “I know you can do it. ”
In the middle of the day, a path suddenly appeared as Mel followed behind Luthel and Hanon. They didn’t seem to notice it or they just thought it ordinary, but Mel’s eyes lingered on the ground. She took a few hesitant steps on the path, almost expecting the ground to crumble and swallow her whole. But nothing happened, it was just a beaten down road leading up to the gate.
Perhaps people walked this way all the time or perhaps it was still here after centuries of this being the greatest city in the old kingdom. Mel wasn’t sure, but it sure was strange. Before her eyes, a thick wall stretched between the mountains and in the center two huge doors glimmering in gold made up the gate of Krazaa.
She sucked in a breath and held it in her lungs for a little too long before she released it in a rush of air. This place was beautiful. Her eyes scanned the carvings on the doors and finally they rested on an eye fixed into the top of the gate. When the doors opened, it would be parted in the middle, but that didn’t keep the details from being any less intense.
So this was the eye, Mel thought. She licked her lips and quickened her pace, catching up to Luthel and Hanon. They were still walking down the path, faces held up toward the gate, and it seemed this was their first time seeing it too.
Just in front of the doors, Mel felt small and insignificant. The walls stretched up far above her and she didn’t think they could climb them if the eye didn’t invite them inside. Luthel stopped before the gate and placed his hand on one of the doors. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. Hanon followed his motion and placed his hand on the other door, closing his eyes too.
Mel took a step back, taking in the sight and waiting for the doors to crack open before her. But nothing happened. She shifted her stance from one foot to the other, feeling a dull ache in the back of her legs. She’d been walking too much during the recent days and wanted to get inside, so she could rest.
She waited some more, but the two men just stood there, reverently touching a pair of doors. She huffed out an exasperated breath, hoping to draw their attention and make them tell her what was going on. Or how long this would take. But they didn’t even acknowledge her presence.
“So…what are we doing?” Mel asked.
A frown spread over Luthel’s face, and his eyes slowly opened. “We’re paying our respects to this place.”
“Will that open the gate?”
Luthel dropped his hand from the door and turned fully to her now. “No, I don’t think so.” He looked up, throwing a glance at the top. “The eye will open the gate according to the story. I’m not sure what that means or how we will get them open.”
“But no one could have survived inside for this long, right?” Mel cocked her head.
“I guess we can’t wait for anyone else to come and open them for us.” Luthel ran a hand over his chin, scratching his scruffy beard. “But neither could Diramon, it seems.”
Hanon released his hand from the doors and opened his eyes, turning toward them. A faint smile played on his lips and Mel wanted to ask him what was so great about this situation. But he spoke before she had a chance. “It will come to us, I’m sure. The shadows don’t seem to be on our heels any longer. I think the void has turned its eyes on Aldrion. We have time to figure this out.”
He walked away from them, coming to rest on a gnarly root that was jutting out from the ground close by. Luthel followed and brought his backpack down to rest on the wet sand. Mel stood there alone in front of the golden doors, feeling her excitement lowering and her annoyance rising. She didn’t want to wait until it came to them. She wanted to get inside, so she could understand who she was, what she needed to do to help Aldrion and kill the void. Out here, time would only tick by and her friends would still be stuck in Aldrion, fighting against the shadows.
She swallowed hard, looking with narrowed eyes at the small slit between the doors, trying to see inside at the city beyond. But there was nothing but darkness between them and she understood she couldn’t get inside using her anger. She needed to calm down to be able to think her way through this mess.
Mel strolled up to where Hanon and Luthel were setting up camp and plopped down on the root beside them, dragging her backpack off her shoulders. The wood was damp against her clothes and she shivered against the uncomfortable feeling. She just didn’t want to be trapped in the wasteland any longer.
#
The next day, the morning started off slow. All three of them were exhausted from the journey and it was noticed in the way they sluggishly woke up and moved around the campsite. Mel sat on the root outside the tent, looking longingly at the closed gate.
“Do you hear that?” Hanon asked.
Mel turned back to the campsite, focusing on him, and saw that his eyes were lingering on her face. “Hear what?”
“There’s a sound vibrating off the doors. Are you sure you can’t hear it?” Hanon’s eyebrows dipped.
Mel looked back to the gate, fixing her gaze on the narrow slit between the doors. She strained her ears and took in a deep breath. A faint sound emerged from them and she thought it sounded like one of the notes. Not one of the elemental tones, but one of the others, perhaps?
“I think I hear something. I’m not sure. But how are you able to hear it?”
Hanon’s face was focused, looking away from her as he shook his head. “It’s not something I’ve heard before.”
Mel scratched the back of her neck. “I think I’ve heard it once, but I can’t remember which one it is. When I was studying at Falden, we had tuning forks to help us learn the four elemental notes and I think in the extended set, the one only the teachers had, this was one of the decoys. But, Hanon, I was the only one there who could hear notes inside an imbue without being a master elemental warrior.”
Hanon’s gaze returned to her, his eyes glassy and black. “I told you, we’re the same you and I. Can you connect to the imbue?”
Mel bit her bottom lip and watched Luthel walking around in the distance, looking for things to use or eat. He wasn’t here now with his infinite wisdom and couldn’t tell them if this sounded right or wrong. She wished he was closer, that she could ask him. But then, what if he didn’t know if this was a good idea?
She looked back over at the doors, and her gaze fixated on the eye. She listened for the note that was playing quietly from the imbue and tried to match it in her mind. The eye looked like it glowed for a moment, but then a puff of air emerged from the sides and nothing. Mel tried again to connect to the imbue, but it was dead. The sound no longer played in her ears.
She looked over at Hanon again. “Can you still hear it?”
He shook his head. “Are you still playing the note in your mind?”
“No, I don’t remember it by heart.” Mel looked down at her hands resting in her lap. “And it’s not like I brought tuning forks out here.”
“I don’t know what tuning forks are,” Hanon said. “But if we know it’s a magical imbue, then perhaps we can recharge it. You said it was a double imbue. Which elements did it consist of?”
“I think it’s water and fire.”
He stood abruptly, not really waiting for Mel’s approval, before walking over to the gate. He stood below them, looking tiny next to the massive doors, and took in a deep breath. Mel followed behind him, watching with curious fascination.
“You think we can recharge the metal?” Mel asked. “How?”
He didn’t look at her again, instead he kept staring at the doors as if they’d open on their own if he just glared enough. “We carry magic inside of us. It’s mixed with our life essence.” Hanon was quiet for a beat, but then he spoke again, “I haven’t seen this before. A locking mechanism that needs magical energy to be powered.”
Mel’s gaze drifted from the side of Hanon’s face to the doors. “I have. Austin’s family mansion uses something similar. He has a bracelet on his arm, a water imbue that he uses to open the doors to his house. It’s charged by water magic.”
Mel said the last words almost to herself. Like this was a part of a puzzle she’d been trying to solve in her mind for sometime but hadn’t really been fully aware of. She wanted Austin here now so he could tell her what to do. But he was long gone, far away in Aldrion fighting a war that he probably couldn’t win.
“But I don’t have any magical imbues with me,” Mel said.
“We don’t need imbues. I’ve told you this already. You have the power in you to create magic on your own. Where do you think the magic in the imbues comes from?”
“The dragon stones,” Mel said.
“And who filled the dragon stones?” Hanon asked.
“The dragons…” Her eyes went wide, and she looked over at Hanon. He wore a frown on his forehead.
“No, we did. Our people did. People like you and me.”
Mel’s mouth suddenly felt dry. “Then what are we?”
Hanon shifted on his feet, looking down at the ground. “We’re the chosen ones. We’re people of the void.”
Mel still didn’t believe Hanon when he said that they were of the void. But she got a prickling sensation on the back of her neck when she thought about the fact that he’d heard the note playing. A double imbue that only she had been able to hear at Falden. Were they really the same after all?
“But if we can recharge it. Then why can’t you just do it now?” Mel asked.
Hanon shook his head. “If it’s like you say, this is a double imbue. Two elemental powers combined as one. Then you’re the one who has expertise with it. But from what I know, it’s impossible for me alone to create two elements at the same time. I can’t twist my life energy into two directions at once. You’d have to create one of the elements with me.”’
Mel took a step back from him and the doors. “No, I can’t do that. I can’t create magic without imbues.”
Hanon’s hand slipped around her shoulder, squeezing it. “I know you can do it. ”
