“You think so?” Talis wasn’t as sure. Three years he’d been in the Order of the Dawn and he still couldn’t do magic outside of training dreams.
“I’ll let you in on a secret. It took me four years before I cast my first spell. And that happened under the strangest circumstances.” Nikulo motioned him over towards the cliff’s edge, and they walked together, until they could stare down out over the vast expanse of the Nalgoran Desert. “I was assigned as a healer on a caravan, and we were attacked by marauders. I tended to a soldier’s wound, but couldn’t staunch the flow of blood. Something just flicked on inside and the next thing I knew my hands were glowing all red and I had this crazy feeling running through me. That was it. I’d used magic to save him.”
“Sounds so easy.”
“It’s not like that. I’d been doing training dreams for years with my Master. So when the time came, I think all that training just kicked in…”
Talis exhaled, more confused than ever. “I hope I’ll figure it out soon.”
Nikulo crinkled up his forehead and pointed at the sky. “That’s weird.” A slow-moving meteor was flying low. It left an enormous trail of smoke. But the meteor kept getting bigger and brighter.
It was coming towards them.
“What’s that?” Talis bent low as the meteor sped faster until it roared over their heads and towards the city. Great bursts and crackles of orange and yellow and blue flame scintillated around the core. With a dull thud it exploded against the vast dome of the Temple of the Dawn. Embers shot into the air like fireflies. He gaped, unable to move. After a few pounding heartbeats, he felt a shock wave strike his chest and a rush of heat knocked him backwards.
7. JISERIAN INVASION
Talis pushed himself up and stared at the explosion, his stomach clenched from the shock wave. Several smaller flaming meteors tore across the sky towards the temple dome. These were no ordinary meteors… Talis knew what it was, it had to be Fire Magic.
Someone screamed down in the city amidst a flurry of shrieks and shouts and shutters slamming open. Footfalls clapped on the cobblestone streets and figures raced through the dark while a plume of fire jetted across the sky. A deep, booming gong thundered out from the towers that kissed the highest point of Naru. The warning…warning of an attack. Why was this happening?
Talis and Nikulo stood gawking at the rippling explosions breaking out across the city. Overhead a flash of lightning singed the sky, shattering a guard tower. An enormous thunder cracked so loud Talis had to cover his ears.
As students of the Order, they were sworn to protect the temple at all costs. Talis and Nikulo jolted to action, dashing towards the temple. They reached the street, and snaked down the hill past soldiers burdened with steel armor, past citizens crying in terror at skies aflame, past howling dogs and cowering cats. Nearing the temple, Talis spotted wizards from the Order of the Dawn flying high above. Sprouts of fire erupted from their palms, spiraling across the sky, engulfing a cloud of shadows.
There, in the sky, were dark sorcerers like the ones from Master Holoron’s stories.
As Talis craned his neck up, searching the skies, he wondered how he could help. He heard a voice behind him.
“Over here,” said Rikar. His hair sprung out in all directions under his nightcap. Mara stood next to him, staring at the sky.
“What are you doing here?” Talis said, frowning at Mara.
“The explosion woke me up…I know you’d be here-”
“But your parents will kill you if they know you’re here…”
“Who cares! Our city is under attack. Let’s do something to help.”
Talis shrugged and motioned towards the entrance. “Let’s go up and get a better view.” They climbed broad, marble stairs leading to the top of the temple. Torches lined the stone walls. As they neared the exit, brilliant flashes of orange and blue and golden light flooded through the shafts.
Outside, a shriek stopped Talis in his tracks. A wizard from the Order stood paralyzed, a shadow mist enveloped her form. Faces of demons rose and fell inside the mist, and when she sank to her knees, he spotted a dark sorcerer hovering in the sky fifty feet away from them.
“Over here.” Rikar tensed his fingers and a luminescent blade, as long as a man, appeared near the flying sorcerer. As Rikar swung his arm around the blade lopped the man in half. The cloud of shadows evaporated, and the two halves of the sorcerer thudded on the streets far below.
“Help her,” Talis shouted, and bent down next to the woman and held her wrist. She still had a weak pulse.
Nikulo pushed Talis aside and lifted her up so she sat. Placing his hands on her upper back, golden light filled her body in waves. Her eyes surged open and she gasped.
“She’ll be alright,” Rikar said. “We have to keep going.”
They stalked towards a group of young apprentices clumped together, facing the sky. Fireballs and lightning and wind shot from their palms.
“Cassis!” Rikar raced towards the group. Cassis turned and flashed him a terrified smile.
A thundering crack singed the air between them, pulverizing a twenty-foot stretch of wall. Talis smelled electricity and sulfur. When the dust cleared, he noticed the wizards huddling together.
Rikar stretched his fingers towards a sorcerer flying above the group. A shimmering hammer formed in the sky, and he swung around to strike him, but it reflected off some invisible shield, and knocked Rikar back ten feet, slamming his head against the stone wall.
Nikulo darted towards Rikar and bent down, lifting his chin. Rikar shook his head, staring bleary-eyed around.
“Behind you!” Mara tapped Talis on the shoulder.
Whirling around, Talis noticed an invader diving at him. Cassis reacted, sending blast after blast of fireballs at the sorcerer. The sorcerer turned, palms facing her, pressing the fire back. Her body lit with a orange glow.
“Be careful, Cassis,” shouted a boy next to her.
She stopped her casting and the enemy used the pause against her. He fired off a wave of shadows and electricity, and the blast sent her tumbling across the ground. She swung her arms around, repelling the attack, igniting the air in front of her. Locked in battle, Cassis and the sorcerer pushed against each other until her face glowed red. Steam swirled above her long, black hair and her body pulsed with some tremendous internal fire.
“Stop…stop it!” yelled the apprentices. One grabbed her arm but recoiled in pain. She was burning.
When Talis saw the fire running through her, he could feel it circulating inside. Sweat flushed from his pores. Hot as an oven. Raging. He gazed at her, palms feverish. He wanted to help, so he kissed the amulet dangling from his neck and made a prayer to the Goddess Nacrea.
The sky suddenly paled to a silver gray. Cassis’s eyes were locked in terror. The cowering apprentices frozen like statues. The sorcerer’s face was fixed in a hideous scowl. The explosions and shouts and cries stopped. A crack formed in the sky and a golden light blossomed amidst the blackness. Now the fever inside Talis rose into a maddening intensity. It was too much. He stared at the sorcerer, knowing he had to release it.
With a hissing breath, he shot a powerful blast of fire from his palms. Since the invader had focused on Cassis, the attack sent the man somersaulting through the air. Smaller streams of fire had shot near Cassis and the apprentices. Talis gaped. Was that magic? Had he done magic for the first time?
“What did you do?” Rikar yelled, fury spilling from his eyes.
Cassis screamed, panting, flapping her fingers wildly, like she was trying to cool down. Her face gleamed red like embers.
“Water…water,” she gasped, glancing around. The scintillating glow of fire raged inside her body.
Talis shielded his eyes from the intensity of light pouring from her. The sorcerer flew back towards them, and scowled at Talis. He curled his fingers, ready to strike. Cassis lifted her hands as if in a grave struggle.