Prince Noralv- Edge of Shadows Read online

  Turning with a skid, I charged in close and stabbed with my dagger. The blade skimmed the Mielonder’s forearm as he blocked the attack. I leaped back, dodging a swift backhand. The man snarled and swung, his mace arching down at me. I twisted out of the enemy’s energy path. I could feel his ki emanating from his body. I needed to focus on his movement. The man stumbled forward. I turned and swung my blade low. The blade sliced the back of the man’s thigh between his armor.

  The Mielonder spun back around. “Swine!”

  A hand grabbed the back of my jacket and threw me on my back. I rolled to one knee and stood to face my opponent once again.

  “Think you can get away, swine?” the man said through gritted teeth.

  I saw a dark blur come at my face. Blinding pain. I did a full rotation and smacked into the base of a cherry tree. Blackness was everywhere. I grabbed my head. The side of my face felt wet. Blinking furiously, my vision slowly returned. I looked at my fingers. They were smeared with blood.

  I am here … said a youth’s voice. Who was that?

  A hand grabbed me by the throat, lifted me up, and thwacked my head up against the tree. Two swift kicks met my ribs. I coughed for air and slumped to the ground. I could almost hear my master’s criticism. Too slow. Faster. I must be faster to survive.

  “Don’t mess him up too much, Averill,” said a twangy voice. Another man. “The Captain will not be pleased if he is dead.”

  “He’s still breathing,” said Averill. I felt a handful of my hair being grabbed, and my head lifted off the snow-covered ground. “You’re still alive, aren’t ya, boy?” Averill asked. “Bind him up good. He’s a feisty one.”

  A bell alarmed in the distance. Shouts of warriors echoed.

  “In the orchard. Quick!” an order was shouted.

  “That’s our cue.”

  Averill’s fist flew into my temple.

  Dinner was over, and there was still no sign of my mother or Tam’s father. I was getting antsy and could barely contain myself. It wasn’t my turn to wash dishes, so I took the opportunity to make up an excuse to leave.

  “Frans, I’m going to check on the animals.” I didn’t give him a chance to respond before I was out the dining hall. Grabbing my coat from the kitchen hook, I shrugged it on.

  “Where are you going?” Tam poked his head around the corner.

  “I am going to check … umm… well, I’m doing exactly what you think I’m doing.” I wiggled my hands into my fingerless mitts.

  “I figured. I’m going with you.” Tam grabbed his cloak and slid the door open to a blast of the frozen night wind.

  Together we ran straight to the barn. Tam had pulled his cloak tightly around his body and wrapped his scarf twice around his mouth and neck.

  “Spirits above, it’s mighty cold tonight.”

  We shut the door to keep as much of the winter cold out as possible. The lanterns were lit, which gave the barn a dim orange glow.

  There were only a few ravens in the rafters above. With curiosity displayed on my face, I looked to Tam.

  He shrugged. He nodded up to the rafters. “Do your thing.”

  Taking a deep breath, I reached out with my beaulecraft and found the flow of the raven’s ki. They were chatting among themselves, not really caring that we were in the barn. The old raven, Qin, could feel my reaching energy.

  “What? What?” I heard her say telepathically. Her voice was crackly and quick. “Don’t you know it’s late?”

  “Yes,” I said. “I am very sorry to disturb your evening, but I am wondering if my mother was here?”

  “Oh. That lovely woman. Yes. She took the loud, young ones away. Now leave me be so I can rest before they return.”

  “Thank you. I’m sorry. Just one more question. Where did my mother go?”

  “What? What? Are you still here?”

  “Yes. Please, where did my mother go? I promise to bring you something shiny tomorrow.”

  Qin paused. “Shiny, you say.”

  “Yes. Shiny.”

  “Very well.” Qin went very still and quiet. All the other ravens quieted, too.

  “The tall rock. The tall rock that glows.”

  “Thank you, Qin.”

  I took a deep breath and pulled my ki back within myself.

  “So, what did you find out?” Tam swayed side to side to keep warm.

  “They are at the leyline stone.”

  We purposely didn’t bring a lantern with us, because… well, how could we effectively sneak up to our parents with a very noticeable orange glow leading the way?

  We could barely make out the dark blue and purple shapes of the landscape due to the moon hiding behind some clouds. Regardless, we knew our way to the leyline stone. We trodded at an even pace using our ki around our feet to sense anything we could trip over.

  The leyline stone was in a clearing in the forest north of the main academy hall but still inside the academy boundary. So we shouldn’t get in trouble for leaving the property. I was doing my best not to be too nosy, but she was my mother and I needed to know what was going on.

  Tam and I crouched in the bushes. Our parents stood near the leyline stone. I could tell who they were by the outline of their clothes and the way they stood. My mother made a sharp and loud ‘ah’ sound. A call to the ravens.

  The leyline stone stood erect in front of them protruding from the Earth with four pillar stones marking the four corners. Each had the Hremm raven symbol on it. The sugian academy was an outpost of The Order of Hremm. The Order, like all other beaulecraft Orders, was there to protect the beaulecraft arts and to protect the ki of the world.

  A few ravens gathered on the trees just beyond the clearing. Then a few more settled on the branches while giving out a few “craw-craw” shouts to the air and a few “gah-ruk” noises.

  I reached my beaulecraft out to see if I could hear any raven gossip but immediately retracted it back. I let out a sharp breath.

  “Are you alright?” Tam whispered.

  “Yes.”

  The sound of chatter was so loud that, for a brief moment, I could barely hear my own thoughts. I squinted my eyes at the trees then realized that the leaves were feathers and the branches were covered in ravens. The ravens were verbally quiet to the ear, aside from the odd squawk and squabble, because they were all busy talking telepathically to one another.

  “Do you see them?” I grabbed Tam’s arm and shook it.

  “Them? Our parents?”

  “No! Them!” My hand wildly gestured to the trees around us.

  Tam craned his head to look around.

  “Mercy…” he breathed.

  “There’s so many. I’ve never seen so many.”

  “Something is going on.”

  “Do you think it was because of the earthquake?”

  “I don’t know for sure, but it would seem like something out of the ordinary definitely happened.” Tam wiped his face with his sleeve. “We should probably leave.”

  “I can’t leave now.” I leaned in closer to the bush in front of me.

  All the ravens crawed loudly and shuffled on their perch. About a dozen or so took to the air, swirling in the sky above. They were extra dark against the blackness of the night, like paint swirling in water. Then more and more joined and merged with the group. The almost deafening whooshing sound of their wings beating the air mixed with an even louder craw-craw.

  The leyline stone was glowing a light blue through the lines of the Hremm Raven symbol. If it weren’t for the loud ravens, I thought I could almost hear a humming come from the stone itself. Then, the ravens dispersed and disappeared in to the darkness of the night. Just like that, the night was silent again.

  My mother and Master Kenelm turned around and faced us. Even though it was dark, they saw us.

  “Alright, Lu and Tam. It’s not a surprise that you are there.” My mother approached, followed by Master Kenelm.

  “What was that about, Mother?” I rushed to my mother’s side.


  “Nothing to worry about, dear. The earthquake released a bit of ki in the area, and it’s our duty as Officers of Hremm and as Masters of beaulecraft to check all that could be affected or involved.”

  “Don’t earthquakes naturally happen from time to time, even if we can’t feel them?”

  “Yes, my dear.”

  “But, the ravens. You don’t normally use the ravens unless it’s important,” I insisted.

  My mother paused. “This time, I didn’t feel the Earth talking to me, to warn me about the earthquake. With the tournament coming up and all the extra work, I could have missed some signs.”

  “It’s just a precaution,” said Master Kenelm.

  “Let us all go inside for something warm to drink.”

  “Yes. Let’s…” said Tam.

  Master Kenelm chuckled.

  The rest of the evening was spent telling stories by the hearth in the sugian hall with everyone else. Something we did for our evening entertainment. There was no more talk about the earthquake for the rest of the evening. To me, there had to be something more to it than just precaution, or else they would have been a bit more open about it.

  That night, I did not sleep well.

  My mind kept wandering to the ravens and my father’s notes. I didn’t know what to think of them all. What did it all mean?

  Curiosity nagged at me. I was going to look closer at his notes. The picture repeated in my head of the ravens flying overhead. The thunderous flapping of their wings echoed in my head. There was some kind of connection. I could feel it. But I didn’t know how. And I didn’t know how to investigate it without my mother’s knowledge.

  There was only so much I could get away with by using Skylar, my hawk friend. I knew there was something going on. I needed to get to the leyline to see what kind of beaulecraft traces were left. Maybe Tam could help me. He was great at feeling the ki from the ground. Or maybe Alexander? He was an expert on maps and reading where energies traveled. I doubted Alex would help me, though. He was always cautious about getting in trouble. And there were all those chores to do to get ready for the tournament. I would never find out if there was residual energy from the leyline. I would make up something. Maybe I could get away if I went to the barn to do chores there. I could switch my chores for the day. That’s what I’d do. I lay awake for most of the night, contemplating.

  The morning came faster than I would have liked after I had finally fallen asleep. Before I knew it, my younger sister, Maya, was crawling across my torso with her knees jabbing me in my belly.

  “It’s time to wake, LuLu,” she said. She was an early riser, and a happy one, too.

  “Alright. I surrender. I’m gettin’ up.” I pushed her off me, and she giggled as she rolled beside me.

  “We get barn duty together this mornin’,” she whispered then giggled.

  Barn duty. Of course. The animals. I could talk to the animals to see what they had to say about the earthquake. Especially Skylar. My hawk friend. He would definitely tell me details. I ripped the covers off and jumped out of bed. My tunic was half hanging off my body, sash in hand as I ran out of the room.

  “Wait for me, Luella. I want to go with you.”

  “Come on, Maya. We’ve got barn duty. Hurry up. The animals don’t want to wait for you.” I cinched my sash around my tunic, tugged my boots on, not even attempting to tie up the lacing, grabbed my coat, and was out the door. Maya was not far behind.

  Inside the barn, we ran and shut the door. The lamps on the wall were already lit, as well as a roaring fire in the iron stove. Frans must have lit the lamps and stoked the fire that morning.

  “Maya, can you get started on the stalls? I just want to see something, uh, in the loft.”

  “I’m not mucking by myself.” Maya crossed her arms.

  “Okay. I’ll muck. You do the chickens?” I pleaded.

  “Deal!” Maya skipped down to the other end of the barn where the coop was, and I climbed the ladder to the loft.

  “What? What?” Qin ruffled her feathers from across the rafters. She always sounded like she was being suddenly woken from a deep sleep. Her ki reached for mine. I knew what she wanted.

  “Yes, Qin. I have your shiny object.” I reached deep into my pocket. I had forgotten I had an old hairpin in there. She bounded across the rafters then walked underneath the railing to the loft.

  I climbed the ladder to the rafters, walked across the center beam, and sat down. I reached out my beaulecraft energy to the young energetic ravens. They were bouncy and full of vigor, and as my energy fell over them, they calmed and walked over to me. Some perched on my arms and thighs and others flanked me.

  Each living being, including plants and the Earth below our feet, had unseen threads that were attached from the spirit world to the living world. Ki and beaulecraft lived somewhere between those life threads. Ki was the art of manipulating the energy within our bodies. We could use it to reach beyond like an extension of ourselves. Beaulecraft and ki blended beautifully together. They harmonized, working together in proper balance.

  The elemental energy was called beaulecraft and was felt in the three layers of the realm—the sky, the earth, the spirit.

  Beaulecraft energy flowed like water, burned like fire, drifted like air, and was solid like a rock. The elements. They were a gift from the gods. The god and goddess of light and dark had offspring. Their offspring each controlled one of the elements. Air. Water. Earth. Fire.

  Qin approached.

  All the other ravens either bounced out of her way or flew to another wooden beam. Most of the ravens were still out, though a few had returned.

  I put the hairpin down on the floor.

  “Oh. Oh! This is very nice.” Her head twitched, cocked to the side. “Very good. Very shiny.”

  “Shiny,” said another raven. It was Old Sam. He came walking down the loft.

  “You mind your own business, Sam. This is between me and Luella.” She stepped closer to the hairpin. I was impressed for her to call me by my name.

  “Looking.” Sam stopped walking but kept his eye on the new shiny object.

  “Enjoy your hairpin, Qin,” I said.

  “I will. I will.” She bobbed her head at me.

  I went to the loft window and pushed open the shutter then gave a sharp whistle. After a moment, I saw movement in the trees. A dark, bird figure swooped down, gliding along the snow-covered ground then swept up the side of the barn through the window and perched on the loft’s railing. A red-tailed hawk.

  Our ki reached for each other immediately like a warm embrace.

  “Skylar,” I said.

  “Hey, Luella.”

  I dipped my head, and his forehead nuzzled my chin while I stroked down his chest.

  “I really need to talk to you, my friend.” I stood straight.

  “The earthquake?”

  “You know me well.” I shrugged.

  “I was in the air when it happened. I didn’t feel anything. The commotion. The ground creatures were full of confusion. This wasn’t a normal earthquake.”

  “I knew it. What was it really?”

  “I can’t be certain. There is powerful spirit ki coming from north of Readfahan mountain.”

  “That’s why my mother sent the ravens.” I looked out the window. “She knows something is going on and she isn’t telling us.”

  “There are raven eyes everywhere, Luella. If your mother is watching, I can’t go snooping around too much without her knowledge. She probably has a reason why she won’t tell everyone yet. Would you tell everyone if there was something possibly dangerous going on?”

  “No. But you’re a hunter. She can’t keep you from the sky.”

  “No. But we creatures still respect human, aelven, and beorgian laws and general order.”

  “There’s still the natural order of the animal kingdom that you can follow. Can you not say that you are just following your natural order?” I said.

  “Do you think your
mother will believe that excuse? She has general knowledge of everything that goes on in the Hremm territory. Her sight stretches far.”

  Communication with animals was my ki specialty. With Skylar, though, I could feel his energy from a lot farther than any other creature. For some reason, our connection was quite pure.

  My mother’s specialty was using beaulecraft of the air to keep the balance between living world and the spirit world. She was keen on keeping the natural balance.

  “I should leave. I’m sure these gossiping crows would love to know what kind of information I may or may not have.” Even with Skylar’s intense stare his eyes were smiling.

  I felt the glare of about eight ravens on me, and I cracked a smile. They hated being called a crow when clearly ravens were different.

  “I’ll see you later.” He rubbed his hooked beak under his wing.

  That was a signal to me that he wanted to tell me something more. It took every ounce of me not to beam with hope.

  “Yes. Later. Maybe after lunch or dinner?”

  “Yeah. The usual.” He meant in our secret hiding spot. The hollow tree by the old sugian ruins. “Tell your friend I say hi.”

  I looked over my shoulder to see Tam climbing to the top of the ladder. I turned back to Skylar, but he already left.

  “Luella, your sister said to hurry up with your chores before Frans comes back,” he said.

  “I’m coming down now. Qin is happy with her hairpin, and Skylar says hi.”

  “I see. Any info about the thing last night?”

  “Not really.” I shrugged. Tam looked disappointed. I stepped in close to him. “Skylar has info. He’ll tell me later,” I whispered.

  Tam raised his brow with piqued interest.

  “Help me with the stalls?”

  “Luella, everyone has a lot of chores...”

  “I’ll tell you everything I find out.” I gave him my best pleading look.

  “So let’s go clean out some stalls.”

  I am here. Come find me…

  I blinked awake, my head throbbing from where Averill had struck me. There would be a bruise later. The night seemed darker somehow. In fact, I couldn’t see an inch in front of me. I turned my head from left to right. There was something on my face, a coarse cloth that prickled my face and smelled of musty dirt. A potato sack?