Azurite (Daughter of the Mountain Book 1) (24 page)

“You did all of that?” she asked in astonishment. 

“Uh-huh,” he replied simply.

“It was wonderful!  Show me how to do it.”

“I wasn’t doing anything any other sorcerer couldn’t do,” Liam explained.  “All I was doing was recognizing Ithillium’s presence.  It’s around us, you see.”  He spread his arms wide and made a small circle as if meaning the whole world.

“It exists eternally within all the earth’s living things, including ourselves. Ithillium can never be created or destroyed.  It just moves from one form to the other.  What I just did with the rose involved calling forth Ithillium into its physically visible form, the sphere of energy.  Calling Ithillium to you is one thing.  Controlling it is something different.  But today we can try a small exercise like the one I just showed you.”

Zora was almost jumping up and down she was so excited.  She had always known she was different, always felt like she was out of place in her own small world in Samaria.  Now with Liam’s help and training, she could truly begin understanding the gifts the Creator had bestowed upon her.  The thought made her giddy with glee.

“Okay.  What do I need to do?” Zora asked.  Liam shortened the space between them with several steps.  He sunk a few inches into the thick mud as he came to stand right in front of her.  With him so close, Zora could smell the intoxicating aroma of damp earth and spring rain on his slightly moistened skin.  A wet mist continued to shower them through the large oak trees, and droplets of water trickled down the dark strands of hair hanging over his forehead.  Zora wanted to reach up to mop them away, and she had to clinch her fists tight to keep from doing so.  He bent in close to her.

“Close your eyes,” he said softly.  Zora gave him a small, questioning frown.  “Trust me,” he insisted, and Zora obeyed.  Once nothing but blackness encompassed her vision, Liam began whispering directions softly in her ear.

              “Listen to what’s around you.  I need you to take in every sound and hear only to what’s underneath it all.” 

Zora perked her ears up and began listening.  She heard the rapid succession of raindrops falling through the trees, the sound of birds jumping from tree limb to tree limb, and the faint laughs of the slaves coming from Spencer’s encampment.  Underneath it all, Zora could hear a musical rhythm.  A buzzing that, without it, Zora was sure no other sound would exist at all.  It flowed over her in waves, enhancing every other sound nearby and blending with it.  Next to her, Zora could make out another powerful yet steady rhythm thumping alongside next to her.  She gasped when she realized what it was.

              “I hear your heart, Liam,” Zora said, trying to suppress the tone of astonishment in her voice.

              “Um hmm.  I bet you do.  Those who allow Ithillium to flow within them are better connected to one another.  They sense each other’s presence.” 

Zora wasn’t paying attention to what Liam was saying, because at that moment she could hear and feel Ithillium all around her.  Its rich musical tone sounded like a symphony in her ears.  Zora opened her eyes and grinned at the Warden.

              “This is amazing,” she breathed.  “I guess I never realized how connected I was with everything.  It feels…delightful.”  Liam nodded that he understood. 

“Remember, the first step is to recognize Ilthillium,” he said.  “Now that you know how to sense its presence, call it to you.”  He grabbed both her hands and flipped them face up, like his were.  “Sorcerers do everything with Ithillium through their hands, just like all people do in every day life. Now try.”

Despite her excitement, Zora was terribly nervous about attempting such a feat, but she closed her eyes anyway and reached for the power of Ithillium.  It responded immediately with a pulse of power that almost knocked her to the ground.  She inhaled deeply as a feeling of heavy heat pressed down on her body like hot wax.  The methodical buzzing in her ears heightened, and Zora could feel ripples of invisible power surrounding her, attacking her from every direction with the intent to overtake her.

“Use your hands!” 

She could hear Liam trying to instruct her through the surge of uncontrolled Ithillium.  Panic began to form in her throat as Ithillium’s strength started to outweigh her own.  Zora focused her mind, focused on the force around her, and quickly began redirecting it to her hands.  Slowly the intense heat lifted from her shoulders, and the pressure pushing against her body lessened. When Zora opened her eyes, an illuminated orb of Ithillium in its white-hot form hovered between her hands.  She laughed out loud, and a rare smile lite up her pretty face.  She was thrilled she’d been able to mimic what Liam had done only moments earlier. 

“How do I change it?” she asked the Warden.

“Close your eyes again and imagine a new shape in your mind.  Then allow that thought to travel from your mind, into your hands, and into Ithillium.  Remember, we are all connected to it, so what you think will appear.”  Liam looked on with the expression of a proud teacher as she maneuvered the ancient power with confidence.

As Zora shut her eyes, darkness instantly overtook her, and she was forced to use her other senses to beckon the power.  She tried to search her memories for an image she wanted to test on Ithillium, but for some odd reason nothing was coming to mind.  It was as if her waking consciousness had suddenly become a black gaping hole instead of an abundant well of sixteen years worth of knowledge and experiences.

“That’s it!”  Liam was saying, coaching her through the process like her own personal cheerleader.  “You’re doing it!” 

An image was suddenly appearing in Zora’s dark vision, but it wasn’t one of her own design.  The blurry memory came into focus, as if the young woman was testing a series of seeing lenses over a piece of parchment. 

Then she saw the image of Mizra’s gardens and the flowing fountains that ornamented the peaceful oasis.  Soon the phantom man’s face was before her, with his suave smile and ebony eyes.

“It’s amazing, isn’t it?” he said to her.  “There is nothing more addictive as Bonding with Ithillium.  Just think what you could do for Samaria once you learn how to wield it.  You could cure the dying mines, you know, and I can show you how.”

Zora’s eyes catapulted open in fear, expecting to be back in Mizra’s gardens, but she was still standing in the swamplands of Montanisto with Liam’s rain soaked body facing her. She looked down at her hands.  Immediately, the spherical shape was gone, replaced by one more familiar to the Samarian noble: a glittering diamond

Is what the phantom says true
? Zora thought.
Can I really help Samaria by using the power of Ithillium?
  She shook her head out of bewilderment. 
It doesn’t even matter.  If it wasn’t for my mother, I wouldn’t be in this horrible situation in the first place.

“Who says the mines are dead?” she asked sarcastically, thinking of Evangeline stealing away her rightful destiny as a Samarian Queen.  “I could just make a million of these and buy my way back home like a cheap whore.”

The diamond in her hands sparkled as Zora twirled it around in her palm.  As if the sudden reminder of home brought back disturbing memories, Zora threw the diamond into the air.  It exploded into tiny fragments before disappearing into the surrounding brush.  It was far from the peaceful display Liam had done for her, and he looked a bit spooked by his friend’s sudden change in temperament.

              A couple of uncomfortable moments passed before he said, “You did well.  Would you like to try again?” 

Zora really wanted to.  She felt entranced by the primal force she so easily had access to.  To her it shone like a new hope in her newly darkened world.  But at the same time, she didn’t want to see the phantom, for she never knew what would occur when she was near him.  Zora had never been scared of anything in her life, but she was undeniably scared of him.  She just shook her head wearily. 

              “It’ll get easier the more you do it,” Liam explained, clearly misunderstanding her sudden hesitation.  “Initially it is quite taxing on the body until you build up stamina to it.”  He brushed his maple hair out of his eyes and shook the water out of it.  “Well, my dear, what would you like to do now?  It’s still only morning.”

              “Doesn’t feel like it,” Zora mumbled, fanning her face to relieve the damp heat all around her.  Despite the fact it was overcast, the summer days in the south were forever filled with hot moisture that seemed to cling to every part of your body.

“We can’t go back to camp.  I can’t risk one of the slaves, or Spencer himself seeing you.  If they’ve even returned.”  She looked around thoughtfully.  “Would you like to walk?  I still have questions that need answering.  Plus, I’d like to do a little exploring of the new lands I am to call home.”

              Liam smiled his warm smile at her.  “I would be delighted to join you,” he said in a playful way, and Zora’s apprehension about flowing Ithillium disappeared completely. 

              “So tell me more about yourself, Liam,” she requested as they began to move forward over the muddy path.

              “What would you like to know?”

              “You said you were a Cerendovan Imperial Warden.  How many of you are there?”

              “Right now there are thirteen active Wardens?”

              “That’s it?  Doesn’t seem like a very large army to protect an entire empire,” Zora observed. 

              “We are not an army, per say,” Liam described.  “We are given this responsibility at birth and carry it until death.  The duty of a Warden is to ensure that any opportunity for Ithillium to be used wickedly is prevented and stopped, and there are only few exceptions for a Warden’s title to be revoked.”

              “How is one assigned at birth to be a Warden?  How would anyone be able to know ahead of time what someone should be?”

              “They are read by a Reader in Cerendova.  Every new child in Cerendova is read at birth.”  Zora looked confused so Liam went into more detail.  “Readers are able see a person for what they really are, not just what’s on the outside.  They survey their morals, what’s in their heart, and what motivates them to choose between right and wrong.  Too many times in life people do good only because others are watching, not because they truly are moral.  A Reader sees beyond what’s on the surface.”

              “Like Madame Fae?” Zora asked without realizing it.  She instantly gasped.  “Is Fae from the same country you are?

              Liam cursed himself inwardly, but he wasn’t surprised by Zora’s sharp observations.

              “I thought you said no one could cross the Border!” Zora continued to rant.  “How did she do it?”

              The Warden looked away in the distance to the tree mosses drooping with rainwater.

              “I don’t know how she passed through,” Liam explained curtly.  “She won’t tell me.”

              Zora instantly picked up on the acid in Liam’s tone, so she dropped the subject of Madame Fae.  Instead she asked, “Well, what does a Reader see when they look at a Warden?  What makes you so different from everyone else?”

              “A Warden’s predisposition is to be selfless, compassionate, and resilient.  When dealing with evil, only those who are less likely to be enticed by its allure are chosen to fight against it.  So, I guess you’d see something like that.”

              “So you are punished because you are good?” Zora asked.  She was slightly appalled by the irony of it all, but Liam just laughed his deep, tender laugh.

              “I don’t think of it that way, Zora.  I love what I do, and I take pride in it.  The people of Cerendova appreciate our sacrifices and honor our service to the Realm.” 

He stopped and frowned for a moment as if Zora had hit a nerve.  “But it can be rather lonely,” he admitted.  “We are gone from home a lot, and rarely do two Wardens travel together on assignment.  But it does give one the chance to meet all sorts of wonderful and amazing people.”  He was looking directly at Zora when he said this, and she couldn’t help but grin.

              “What kind of training does one have to do to be a Warden?” Zora asked.

              “We train our entire lives,” Liam explained.  “As young children we are taken away from our families and passed among the living Wardens to live with and learn from.  Our training involves heavy schooling, which I touched on last night.  We have to learn an immense amount of history, languages, cultural etiquette, science, math, astronomy, and religious doctrine.  The list goes on and on.  It’s an extremely vigorous curriculum for a child.”

              “Did you have to learn how to do the sword thing also?” she asked innocently.  Liam laughed again.

              “Yes, we also have to learn weaponry and combat training.”

              “I’m getting tired just thinking about it,” Zora said grudgingly.

              “It’s not as bad as it sounds.”  Liam shrugged.  “It’s what I was meant to do.  And trust me, I’m very, very good at it.”

              “You said there were other Wardens.  Are they in Samaria also?”

              “No,” Liam said hesitantly.  “We are spread out all over the Realm.  Each Warden has a specific Zone that they are responsible for watching over.”