Ch 56: The Light In The Cavern

“That’s it, Astasha.”

The amber tendrils of flame moved like grass in the wind, swaying and swirling about. Tasha stood amid them, coaxing them from the scars on her chest. But they began to wane and dissipate.

“You must concentrate.” Said Helia.

A darkness began to seep into them as Astasha’s jaw clenched and her eyes snapped open with a groan of frustration, the flames dying in the air.

“I am trying, damnit!”

Helia looked at her with compassion and sighed. “You’ve done well. We’ll try again later.”

Slumping down on a small boulder, the young fire sorceress put her face in her hands.

The two were camped out in a small cavern that had formed amongst the rocky terrain that bordered the Land of the Dead. It was the first true cover they had had since leaving the guard post almost a fortnight ago, and they had decided to stay there and rest for a couple days.

That first night, when Astasha had made the realization of what this dark mage truly wanted her for, she had considered slipping away and disappearing; severing the tether to Calder, and leaving it all behind. But as she thought about it, she realized she couldn’t bring herself to do that to Cal after all they had gone through, or to leave Helia abandoned and alone with no explanation after all she had sacrificed for her.

Once the older fire witch had rested, she told her of her discovery, but she simply shrugged and told Astasha they would just have to train her to counter the darkness with light, no matter how hard it pulled.

The plan was to make for a small village Helia had been through many years before, SouthEast of the tower. There, they would stock up on supplies and embark on the long trek to the border.

The two sorceresses had set out before sunrise, reaching their destination the following morning after resting against the base of a small hill for a few hours that night. They didn’t dare stay longer than necessary in case spies of the High Council had reached there, so they made their purchases and left as quickly as possible.

The journey had been slow and arduous, with most of their trek taking them through fields and rolling plains. Not wanting to exhaust the horses, they would save any hard riding for the areas that were the most open and vulnerable.

They had sheltered in a small grove one night, which was the most either had slept for longer than they cared to think, but the trees had been sparse and it was still too risky to rest at length. Although they had had no run ins with sorcerers or men in arms since their encounter outside the farming village, there was no knowing if or when their luck would run out. So on it went, riding through the day, taking short naps in turn at night.

When they felt safe enough to talk, they would discuss ways in which Astasha could counter the darkness within her, how the weapon of her and Calder’s power worked, how they might avoid the dark mage’s trap, what might trigger the sacred stone to open the gateway into the Forest of the Damned, any number of things. And when they felt safe enough to test some of their theories, Astasha would attempt to coax the fire out that would burn when her and Cal were together.

It proved difficult to feel filled with light and love when she was drowning in so much sorrow and despair. She missed her Prince more than she could admit, the distance between them growing more vast with every setting of the sun. The tether was weak, drawn thin and fragile. And her connection to him lived only from the blood they shared.

Now, every time she tried to summon her fire, the darkness would begin to creep forth. How was she ever to withstand it if she wasn’t strong enough without him beside her? Was that what defined her? Her love of this man? It never had before, but now she felt lost in herself. She didn’t know who she was anymore. She was so many things she had never known, and they threatened to consume what little piece of her old self remained.

“I don’t think I can do this Helia.” She said quietly. Defeat had never been in her nature, but she couldn’t help but to long to give into it now.

The older fire witch put her hand on her shoulder. “If I didn’t believe you could, I wouldn’t have followed you this far.”

“Then you believed wrong.”

Helia took a deep breath and sat down on the ground across from her. “Tell me, what was it about the Prince that first drew you to him?”

Astasha looked up at her with a furrowed brow. “What does that have to do with this?”

“Sometimes we must break from our burdens to reminisce in our joys. So, what was it that caught your eye? How did you meet?”

Tasha thought back to that day in the village all those years ago. It was a distant memory now, but clear as day in her mind when she focused on it. “It was his smile, the way it lit up his face, all the way to his eyes. They glimmered as if the sun was glinting off them. I was selling my mother’s herbs in the market. He was there with his guard—“

“Captain Talib?”

She shook her head. “No. No he spoke of him later, he was the one who would help him sneak out to meet me, but we never met until…” she trailed off. Until after the demon had been unleashed.

Helia took notice and coaxed her back to happier memories. “So Prince Calder was in the market, not with Talib but his other guards. Did he approach you?”

The faintest smile touched Tasha’s lips, the first in what felt like ages. “He was talking to some villagers, but he kept looking my way. Finally, he sent his men to check on something and walked up to the stall. He was the kindest of gentleman. Chivalrous even in his flirtations.”

She remembered the way he had bowed to her before she could curtsy. How he had said her name sounded like the finest of silks, beautiful as it’s owner.

She continued her story. “I turned down his request to accompany him for the day at first. I knew even then no good could come of a witch entertaining the heir, even just for a short time. But when he insisted on buying everything I had to sell so I couldn’t say no, there was just something about him, I couldn’t resist…”

Helia chuckled lightly. “Well, good to know he’s always been stubborn.”

“In all the best ways.” Gods how she missed him. His smile, his eyes, the sound of his voice when he wanted to be serious about something. The way his hand felt in hers, the touch of his lips…

“Did he at least give the herbs to the apothecary at the palace?”

Astasha pulled herself from her longing to look at Helia and breathed a small laugh. “It was how he got his men to leave us be. He ordered them to deliver them all there straight away. We spent the afternoon wandering through the village, talking about everything and nothing. When the sun began to set, he asked me to show him my favorite place, so I took him to this little grove near my mother’s cottage. It was where I first learned to pull energy.”

“That’s right, you had just come into your powers.”

Tasha nodded. “A lot of firsts happened there.” She couldn’t help but smirk slightly at the thought. “Like the first time he kissed me. On my hand, of course, he was too much of a gentleman for anything else.”

She closed her eyes, picturing herself with him under the trees, remembering the feeling she had had as he bowed to her and left with a promise to return.

“You knew then, didn’t you?” Asked Helia.

And she did. She knew at that moment that there was no other for her, only him, only Calder, her Prince, forbidden and yet she knew she would never be able to stay away.

“I loved him from the moment I saw him, I just didn’t want to admit it.”

“Astasha, open your eyes.” There was awe in Helia’s voice, and as she opened them, she understood why.

Tendrils of amber flame swirled around her, pouring from her chest, her hands, bright and burning and untainted by darkness.

She exhaled and a tear slipped down her cheek.

Tasha focused on feeling them, the love that wrapped around her like a warm blanket. Slowly she willed them to move, to pull together. Drawing her hands up, she drew them into a ball of light and fire, and watched it dance before her.

As if it were the only thing to be done, she wrapped it around the magical tether tying her to her love, and sent it away, to follow it to him, to show him, she loved him with everything in her.

As it disappeared into the darkness outside she finally looked away.

Helia was standing, her face lit up in pride. “I told you, a force of love and light. You just needed to remember it.”


**Author’s Note:** *Hello Lovelies! I am so sorry for not updating earlier this week, I was dealing with some health issues that kept me from my computer. But I’m doing better now and should be back to our normal release schedule! Which means, there will be another chapter out tomorrow! Also, I have a new story out called The Fallen, so if you’d like more material to read, take a peek! As always, Love & Light Everyone!