The Frozen Moon - By J.D. Swinn Page 0,36
use it often. It was one of the first spells taught to others by the Warlock, but it was not as common of a spell then. The only thing required for it is a clear picture of where one intends to go.”
“And that’s exactly what the Warlock gave us.” Talar’s words were soft and definitive, an end to Wyd’s thoughts.
“So, is that really the plan then? We’re going to try to make it to Alantra?” Nameh’s words held more excitement than she’d wanted them to, but she truly was in high anticipation. The Great Warlock’s hidden hall, now with the added prospect of it containing the most powerful artifact in the world-the Relic itself-was enticing.
“We can hardly just go running off to some random place, having no idea what’s going to be waiting for us there. Don’t you think we should do some planning, stocking up on supplies?” Mira’s voice was, as usual, the voice of reason, that clear toned pitch that always held necessary truths. Nameh felt a familiar feeling well in the pit of her stomach; it climbed up her chest and grew in her mind until she felt as though she may explode if she did not release the pressure building. A faint smile passed over her face, and her eyes shifted out of focus, glassy and distant. Memories were resurfacing which had been in deep recesses for too long. Some were painful: the night she left home those years ago, her first day at the Academy spent in total silence. Some were memories of release and contentment: her first battle, the day she and Mira had become friends. So much had come from the simple decision to become a Guardian, and it all came down to this moment. She felt as though her life to this point had been some distant symphony, the notes fading in and out of her range of hearing. It was only now that she could remember where accompaniments had threaded through, though she had been deaf to them at the time. The music now swelled inside her, preparing for its greatest crescendo. This was her moment.
“Isn’t this why we all became Markbearers?” her voice sounded foreign to her own ears, for the first time, she recognized the even pitch it held against the melody sounding through the air. Couldn’t the others hear it? “Weren’t we all looking for something more, something to fight for, something beyond normal? We all had the chance to fit into the human world, assimilate and become utterly average, but we didn’t. How many times in history did people come so close to changing the world and stopped short; we’ll never know because they made their choice. I’ve made mine; I’m not going to be one more that missed their chance to change things.” Her words had held more fervor and passion that she had known was inside of her. She supposed that emotions could even be hidden from oneself sometimes. “If we don’t go, we’re all dead-or worse-anyway.”
“I’m not saying we shouldn’t go, but what’s going to happen if we don’t leave right now?” Mira’s question was meant to be rhetorical, but Nameh would not leave it unanswered, not when so much was riding on the shoulders of their next move.
“What’s going to happen is that the Guild is going to catch up with us. They have eyes and ears everywhere, physical and magical; I would be surprised if they didn’t already know we were here. If we don’t go now, they could reach the Relic first, and if that happens…” She trailed off, not wishing to consider the possibility, and judging by the faces of the others’, they knew all too well what the Guild could do. It had been the night before last that two of their comrades had fallen to the efforts of the Guild. She wondered if this was more death than Cal had ever known.
Nameh could only hear the soft sounds of animals scampering through the dried leaves scattered throughout the graveyard like some sort of morbid confetti. She looked up at the sky through the breaks in the golden and fire colored leaves, and wished she was lucky enough to be a bird, to be able to fly far above the ignorant struggles of man. Her focus was brought back to her friends when the silence was finally broken.
“Then let’s do it.” Seth’s words were simple and concise, and again he continued when attention fell on him. “There really isn’t