Warriors Of Kagolania

She devoted all her days to practicing new skills, but the effects were almost nonexistent. She tried her best but felt increasing pressure. Wan-Shi told her to focus only on meditation, but she couldn"t resist checking from time to time if her power increased. Unfortunately, she could still enchant only with her hands, because the more she sank into herself, the more she felt the blockage, which she could not get rid of. And time pa.s.sed relentlessly.

"I think I need some advice," she said to her host one day. "I can"t imagine how possibly should I connect with am-shen. This is still impossible! How can I make energy flow through it it"s no channel but a sword. I don"t have such a bond with metal as with fire.

"Why are you doing this now?" He asked calmly. "I"ve already told you that until you get rid of your inner blockages, you won"t be able to use this technique. You just get unnecessarily nervous and it weakens you."

"It"s been three weeks!" Kalena waved her hand and the candle flames rose and swapped places. "Everything is good, I enchant better and better! But no matter how long I try to use shen, I fail."

"Maybe something annoys you and you push it away?" He suggested.

"Now? Yes, it annoys me that I"m wasting my time and nothing is happening. I"m afraid that Galaspiael would die and I won"t save him because I"m stuck here!"

Wan-Shi nodded and fell silent, but she snorted in exasperation. Whenever he talked to her, he took long breaks that irritated her tremendously.

"Kalena, I know it might seem impossible to you now, but you must stop thinking about it."

"Only I can stop thinking about it," she explained "I can focus on myself and distance myself from my mission. And still, nothing is happening!"

"And how are you dealing with the past?"

The girl shrugged. The first thing that came to her mind was the time spent with Galaspiael. The study time in Yagn-Sho, and then three wonderful years spent in the guard. Only then did the memories of slavery come back.

"Galaspiael has helped me deal with it a long time ago."

"I don"t mean your painful past. You won"t be able to get rid of the blockage by looking back." Wan-Shi looked at her and smiled. "What"s your problem now?"

"I would not like to forget the joyful moments in my life," she confessed.

"Do not forget. But think about whether you went to save the king or your memories of him?"

*

During the break, Kalena returned to her room and discovered that a book was lying on the table.

She suspected Wan-Shi had left it there and felt a surge of grat.i.tude. She wasn"t afraid of losing her reading skills, but she felt that she needed to take her thoughts away from training for a moment.

She glanced at the t.i.tle. "History of Madegald and neighboring countries," but although most of the book was about the Empire, it was in Velikanian. It must have been a translation did by some Scribe.

The girl held her breath when she saw the first card, written in a plain and extremely legible text. The book had to be very old and rewritten several times. The first chapters were about so ancient times that in history lessons in Yagn-Sho they were called legendary. Later, a great slave rebellion, which was initiated by Fan Saifeng, was described, the era of great dynasties and finally the war of the emperors.

The silhouettes of all rulers were marked with carefully emphasized information about enchantments. Some have been enriched with portraits, but most have blurred.

Kalena smiled to herself when she read the note about Zaimael, Gyeul"s eighth, great-great-grandfather Gyeul, who possessed the power over fire. In addition to him, she also found two Madegallian emperors with this skill. Death was enchanted only by Prince Rumanir - ruler of Sekania.

"Tell me, what weapon did they have?" She asked when Wan Shi came to her.

"Who?��

"Righteous Conspiracy. Enchantment is our culture. It was a heritage pa.s.sed down from generation to generation. All these dynasties, the entire Scribes" a.s.sociation and probably a lot of ordinary people used these skills daily. They perfected them for years. Certainly, there were books, songs, and poems that were written, paintings were painted... how did they manage to erase it all to such an extent that even in Yagn-Sho, learning of history begins from the era of warring dynasties,? Earlier, the world looked completely different, and n.o.body knows it. We don"t remember half of our history!"

"The swearing of the Righteous created dynamite," he replied calmly. "Only strong masters of fire could defend themselves against strong explosions, and only when it was not a surprise attack. The era of hunting lasted fifty years, it"s a lot of time to find and get rid of many people."

"But they didn"t kill everyone! Even in my family, there must have been someone gifted, otherwise power would not have come upon me."

"You are right, they did not kill everyone, but many masters of the Enchanter"s a.s.sociation fell. The organization collapsed. People understood that they had to hide. You can"t accuse someone of having power until they explicitly use it. Moreover, if a person remains unaware of his gift all his life, it will not develop. They will remain an ordinary person with one interesting ability."

"Like me and my ability to start a fire," she finished.

"Exactly. Do not think that the enchanters surrendered, on the contrary, many of them fought for their heritage. That is why the Scribes" a.s.sociation, of which you are a member, was born. However, the Conspiracy changed its strategy then. Since they could not kill people only for talent, they decided to limit their access to any knowledge. That even if the last book on enchantment remains, there would be no one who can read it." he took a short break. "This is a very interesting book, right? For Galaspiael it would be a real treasure. Unfortunately, I can"t give it to you."

*

In the evening, Kalena came outside again carrying a lantern and a few candles. She left the garden and went to places where damage was unlikely.

She lit the candles. The fire pa.s.sed from one wick to another very quickly. She arranged them in a circle to be surrounded and sat down inside.

She stared at the paper lantern for a long time, until she finally reached out. Orange, delicate paper caught fire.

Kalena then took out her am-shen. Angrily dug the blades into the ground and closed her eyes. The flames rose suddenly and became brighter.

"Come on," she whispered, "come on!"

With her right hand, she took out the sword and pointed it at the dying shreds of the lantern. Something twitched, the flame touched the blade. And that"s all. It wasn"t easier for her to enchant in this way, though she was a little less tired. However, she preferred to use her hands much more.

After a few tries, she came back home.

"I wanted to check something," she admitted when Wan-Shi came out to meet her. "I once saw Gyeul enchanting the air. But it looked different than my powers."

"It means?"

"It gave a much better effect. I thought he controlled the entire Forbidden Zone. Not just over the air. All that area. The storms he caused were so strong that it is hard to imagine."

"You shouldn"t take his enchanting as an example," Wan Shi replied. "Gyeul is in control of something else, so it"s normal for his way of fighting to be different from yours."

"He also enchanted the energy of other people." She looked at him. "He could control two things at once. With these swords!"

"Kalena," he interrupted. "I know what you"re going at, but comparing fire to air doesn"t make sense. You only waste time, and you want to learn it quickly."

*

"What is this?" asked Mei when Rikken put two strange-looking parchment rolls on the table.

"Galaspiael coronation doc.u.ments. They were sent from the castle. There should be six," he replied calmly.

"Where is the rest?" Zarkin touched the rollers with his hand and tapped his fingers on the counter.

"Samin ordered to destroy them. The queen realized at the last moment and called us to take what survived."

Mei gently took one tube in her hands.

"Samin... wants people to forget they had a king?"

"He won"t erase a memory about Galaspiael from his subjects" minds," Rikken replied. "But I suspect he wants them to treat him like a prince again. If he had not been crowned, taking over the power by the former regent would have been much more justified."

"It makes no sense," said Zarkin, "everyone was at the coronation. Will he say that we all dreamed the same dream?"

"I don"t know what he"ll say. Mei, could you go to town with Mizar tomorrow? I and Aymon shouldn"t show up there since Kalena"s release, and now they"ll probably declare us crown enemies."

"Wait a minute!" The boy jumped up as if he suddenly regained his sight. "With Mizar?"

"I know you don"t like each other, but..."

"Mei will not go anywhere with Mizar," he said.

"Zarkin..." The girl touched his arm gently, but he pulled away.

I said no! If Samin wanted to burn those papers, he already did. We don"t have to go to the capital again."

"It"s not about doc.u.ments anymore." Rikken tried to remain calm. "We need a lot of information to carry out the a.s.sa.s.sination. For the first time in the history of Kagolania, regicide will take place. This may end badly if it is not planned carefully."

"But why with Mizar?!" He protested.

"And why not? He teased you four years ago, but now he has changed and he wants to help us. You were not very kind to him yourself, and he no longer resents you. Stop acting like a child, you got worse than when I was teaching you!"

Mei hugged him and brought her face close to his face so that he felt her warm breath on his cheek.

"I won"t go if you don"t want to. But if I were present there, I could tell you in detail. If I stay, someone else will go and then we will both find out nothing."

"It"s worth recruiting some Okiani," Zarkin changed the subject. "Surely Samin could not get everyone to his side."

"Slow down. Before talking to Okiani, we need to know where we stand. That"s why you have to go to the capital again. The only thing we have now are several strategic points imposed on the city map. Samin would make fun of us if he found out." Rikken stood up. "The doc.u.ments have to be hidden somewhere. They will be useful when Galaspiael returns here."

"If she comes back." Zarkin remained in the grim mood. His master shook his head sadly.

"I thought you would believe in your friend."

"I believe Kalena will succeed, but I also try to think rationally. How many weeks pa.s.sed since she left? If not the enemy"s soldiers, then the time spent in captivity will kill Galaspiael. They don"t have to try hard, torture and lack of food are enough, and he will die alone and we won"t be able to prove anything."