Chapter 49: An Army Gathers

“I have to get in there?” Elric grumbled as they stood next to the glacial river that ran from the Bluffs.
“At least you have scales,” Saffron retorted as she shivered violently next to the small fire she had built. She was constructing a small fan of leaves to smudge Elric after he was in the icy water.
“True but if this works, I won’t for long,” he retorted and sniffed at the water.
“Well that is why I brought furs,” Saffron replied impatiently. Her nerves were threatening to get the best of her. What if it didn’t work? She couldn’t think like that. It had to work. It had to.
“Well get in! I need to get the smoke going and I don’t want it to all be swept away in the wind,” Saffron commanded. Elric growled as he tentatively placed his foreleg into the icy deluge. He hissed as it licked at his scales.
“How far in?” he asked.
“All of the way,” Saffron replied after consulting her journal. She heard him cursing as he strode further in.
“There is ice floating past me,” he said snarkily.
“Well, would you rather just be a dragon then?” She snapped her hands on her hips.
“Sorry,” he murmured, chastised. She snorted at him and turned back to burning the leaves. A pleasant, spicy smell soon wafted from the smoldering branches.
“Alright, go the whole way under,” she commanded and he did so. He quickly resurfaced, shaking his head angrily. Saffron gestured for him to join her on the shore. The weak, pink rays of the sun began to peek over the mountains as she began waving the leaves around his head.
“No more befouled, again unbound, again unbidden,” she chanted, three times over as she spread the smoke around his body. In her mind’s eye, she pictured a white light breaking the hold on the blackness that clung to him. It didn’t budge. She groaned in frustration and tried again.
The curse still held. “It isn’t working?” Elric asked, cracking open one eye. She shook her head with frustration.
“I don’t know why it isn’t working!” she replied and slumped onto the ground beside the smoldering fire. He walked towards her and nudged her with his snout.
“It will be okay. We will find something,” he thought quietly. She pressed her forehead against his, tears leaking from her eyes.
“I love you, Elric,” she whispered, her eyes squeezed tightly shut.
“I love you too,” he said. Her eyes flew open. He smiled down at her, once again human. “Apparently it worked.” He pulled her to him, crushing her mouth with his.
####
“What will you need from us?” Havardr asked as they sat around the same table as before. Elric had been given a hot bath and fresh clothing. The resemblance between him and his grandfather was striking.
“I do not believe that humans alone can destroy Ishild. I believe that we will need something or rather someone, more powerful,” Elric replied. Havardr studied him for a moment, thoughtfully stroking his beard.
“You are asking for an army?” he questioned. Elric nodded.
“I am. She holds great power.”
“Hmmm…we do have many citizens here who also hold great power. We are not just dragons here but rather anyone that has been cast out due to the antimagic laws. We have people from all magical walks of life. I will not force anyone to fight but I will ask,” Havardr replied after a moment.
“That is all I can ask of you. Thank you,” Elric replied with a bow of his head.
“It will be an honor to fight beside you, the blood of my blood,” Havardr said and clasped Elric’s forearm.
####
“I am sorry we do not have more time but these will help,” Oda said and pushed a large stack of books into Saffron’s arms. “Just because you are a white witch does not mean that you are without the power to fight.”
Saffron hefted the stack onto a nearby table. “Fight?”
“Yes, there is a balance to power. Life and death are only separated by one small line. Magic is neither good nor bad. It is how the practitioner uses it.” Oda replied with a small smile. “After this is done, return here and I will teach you what I know.”
“I would like that,” Saffron replied.
“Yes, you will. I’ve seen it,” Oda said with a wink. “Now, we must get a move on. There is a storm moving in and the dragons need to be ready.”
####
“We need to find August and see if he has been able to find allies in Udril,” Elric said to Saffron as they packed their bags.
“How are we to travel there?” she asked. “You are not going to shift again so soon?”
He laughed. “Oda has a trick up her sleeve,” he replied cryptically.
“How?” Saffron asked, her eyebrow quirked.
“Follow me,” he said, grabbing her hand and led her to a small chamber deep within the cave. The chamber was dimly lit with candles that glowed a green, eerie light. A small pool sat in the middle of the stone room. Oda was waiting by its edge.
“You’re just in time. It is ready,” she said with a smile and motioned them forward.
“We are to swim?” Saffron asked incredulously. Oda sighed.
“You have much to learn,” Oda retorted. “Go into the pool.” They walked forward and Saffron felt ridiculous. As her feet stepped into the pool she was astounded to find that it was not water at all but rather….something else. Whatever the substance was, it was warm and wrapped around her legs, traveling up her body. She laughed as it twirled around her hair and face.
“I do not have time to explain now but when you return, I will teach you everything. Close your eyes. It is a bit unsettling the first time,” Oda said. Saffron looked to Elric who threw her a wink and grabbed her hand. They closed their eyes and Oda began to chant quietly.
Saffron felt as if she had been devoured by a cyclone. The wind whipped her body but she held tight to Elric, who had drawn her into his body. She wanted to look but feared she would be ill. She couldn’t hear or smell anything. The only thing she felt was him.
A cold wind lashed her face and she cracked open her eyes. They stood in front of Mira’s palace.
“Well, it is about time you arrived,” Mira’s voice drawled from behind them.