Mysten: Part 1 by Nicola Collings (inspirational books for women .TXT) 📕

                “And then I thrashed him over the head, causing my wind crystal to smash. He lost of course, but...I liked that wind crystal!” soldiers all around them cheered, spilling ale onto the floor or the tavern.

                Jax cradled his arm wrapped in bandages as men jostled him on both sides.

                “How drunk do you think he is right now?” asked Grayson, leaning over.

                Jax smiled. “Well, they do say that elves are light weights. I mean, we’re on our third, what’s he on?”

                “His first?” Grayson raised an eyebrow, and both he and Jax fell into laughter. It was an old inside joke between the two of them, Graze and Bo. Bo, being the only girl of the gang could never keep up with their drinking.

                “Where do you think Graze and Bo are?” asked Jax.

                “Probably in another squad.”

                “But they signed up the same day as us, didn’t they? Or they said they were going to.”

                “There were so many people there, Jax, we probably missed them.”

                Jax looked down at his ale.

                “Hey, Jax!” yelled Ban, a little too loudly as he was right next to Jax. “Tell us your secret! How did you jump that high?” he put an arm round Jax.

Jax looked down at Ban’s hand that dangled over his useless arm. “Erm...I just jumped.” Ban burst into laughter, and the drunken soldiers around him did so too.

“That’s brilliant! Just brilliant!”

A sickening feeling suddenly overcame Jax, and he leaned forward, thinking he was going to vomit.

“You ok, Jax?” asked Grayson, pushing Ban’s hand away. Ban frowned, before turning back to the soldiers.

“Yeah, just need some air...” Jax stood and pushed through the crowd, making for the door. He caught Grayson following him, and Ban staggering after them too.

Once outside, Jax immediately felt worse. His head pounded and the world swam before his eyes. He fell to his knees at pain shot through his entire body. It wasn’t normal pain. It was the kind of pain that pushed its way through, causing his to writhe in agony.

Jax didn’t notice he was on the ground, or Grayson bending over him, or Ban calling for help. He didn’t notice the officials approaching them, looking terrified.

Jax continued to writhe, pain biting it’s way through his body, and ending up in his temples. There, it stayed, pulsing. And then he saw a face.

Not a normal face. This face terrified him. It was white, it’s eyes black, and something inhuman about it’s structure. It seemed a little too...perfect?

“Jax...” it whispered his name, and blue light appeared from behind it, blinding him. “Jax...”

“Jax! JAX!”

Jax jolted awake, finding himself lying on the dusty floor, Grayson peering over him. “Gods man, gave us all a scare!”

“What happened?” he asked, sitting up.

“Jax, son of Kori from Gentel?” Jax turned to see the officials in the blue uniform of Bayard.

“Yes...” muttered Jax standing, surprisingly feeling much better.

“You’re accused of murder. Earlier today you sparred with a soldier called Keith from Fayland. He is now dead. You are required to accompany us to the holding cells where you will await trial.”

Jax’s mouth fell open. Dead? How could he be dead? He only knocked Keith out! How could a blow like that, kill someone like Keith? It was impossible!

Jax back away a few steps as the officials produced shackles.

“Go, Jax, we’ll talk to Bayard!” said Grayson. “I promise, we’ll get you out of this. He can’t be dead!”

“But...but...I didn’t...I couldn’t!”

Grayson stepped in front of Jax. “Listen, everyone knew that wasn’t just sparring! Serran set this up and disguised it! We’ll go to Bayard and explain!”

“Gray...” Jax muttered, still in shock as the officials clamped shackles round his wrists and took him by the shoulder, walking him away.

...took him by the shoulder...

His shoulder? Jax looked down at his arm. He moved his injured shoulder in a circular motion. That was strange. It didn’t hurt, didn’t feel tight anymore. Was it healed?

How could it have healed?

What was going on?

                                                                                *

The cage on wheels eventually joined a large caravan that slowly made it’s way out of Torbric and through the Dustlands. There was nothing in any direction for miles. Ubi had learnt about this place at the University, and could see the thin, orange line in the distance from her window. She knew from maps that beyond the Dustlands were the mountains separating Fayland from Mourning. The Sky Mounts, where monks who followed the One Religion devotedly went to pray and meditate. They said there were whole cities in the mountains that were hidden from view so the monks could preserve themselves and have peace.

The elf who’s stared at her had not moved since the caravan had started out. In fact, he’d remained cross-legged with his eyes closed the entire time. She thought about moving next to him, but to Ubi, that seemed a bit obvious.

The caravan came to a slow stop, dust rising around the wheels.

Why had they stopped?              

Ubi craned her neck so she could see down the line of cages, and saw Dwergi passing each carriage, reaching through the cages to give the prisoners something. She couldn’t see from this distance.

The elf opened his eyes and followed Ubi’s gaze. Ubi continued to gaze at the Dwergi, trying to see what they were passing through the cages, when she heard a clunk next to her. She turned to see the male elf.

“What’s your name?” he asked, making eye contact; a look that said trust me.

“Ubi. Yours?”

“Graze. Where are you from?” he looked over her head at the Dwergi. He had a hard face, one that had, maybe, seen too many battles or fights. Despite this, he was easy on the eye and well built.

“Torbric. They came to the University.”

“Sshh!” he hissed, sharply. “Don’t tell them that! Or let them hear you. They’ll think you’re a...well, you know. Not that you aren’t one, are you?” he lowered his voice so it was nothing more than a whisper.

Panic sparked within Ubi. “How did you...!”

“Bandages. I used the same technique.” he patted his leg with the bloody bandage.

She calmed a little, almost laughing to herself. “Where are they taking us?”

“Faylandel.”

“So Faylandel has already fallen? I didn’t think things were this bad.”

“They’re not, I’ve been listening. They’re going to attack the war camps outside Faylandel. But Faylandel has no idea. They’ve managed to avoid Fayland by taking boats and such. They’ve effectively surrounded the centre and plan to totally destroy it.”

Ubi sank back. So things were pretty bad.

The Dwergi reached Ubi’s carriage as she sank back into silence and she got a clear view of what they passed through the bars of the cage. Leather goblets filled with water, poured from a leather casket the Dwergi held.

The Dwergi gave every occupant a sip or two, engaging anyone who tried to have more, or swipe the goblet from his hand with a large hammer.

The caravan was soon on its way again, and Ubi felt a little more helpless.

“So, where are you from?” she asked Graze.

“Fayland. A small town called Gentel.” He looked at her. There was something in his face, his eyes, that was not looking at Ubi, but seeing something else entirely. Something had happened to this elf...something really bad. “I...I was going to join the army with my friends, but the night before...it doesn’t matter.”

He trailed off, still with that far away look in his eyes.

                                                                                *

The cell wasn’t like any prison cell Jax had ever seen. It was built from sheets of metal, marked with grease at the sides and oil that dripped onto the metal bench. It was small, barely enough room for Jax to lie down, but he thought if he’d lie down, he might stick to the grease. The door was plain, with only a square window with bars where the guards dropped food through, onto the greasy floor.

He still couldn’t quite believe Keith was dead. He can’t be dead! Someone like Keith! Who was so big, so...overgrown, and probably didn’t possess a higher sense of intelligence. He kept going over that moment in his mind.

He’d only jumped a couple of feet or so, maybe not even that! And granted, he’d hit Keith ad hard as he could, but he’d hit Keith as hard as he could in his ribs, and his spear had just bounced off!

Maybe Keith had some, underlying health problem to do with his head. Maybe his head was extremely fragile. So many maybes!

There was a sound that echoed down the hallway, and footsteps. Someone outside his cell grunted and Jax looked up to see the orange glow of fire against the metal walls. Grayson’s face appeared at the bars.

“Jax! Pain in the ass these cells are! Had to stand on a bloody chair!”

“Grayson!” Jax cried, going to the cell door. “Tell me, what’s going on! Keith can’t be dead!”

Grayson looked down. “He is, Jax. Died from a blow to the head.” He fell silent.

“What is it Gray?”

“We...we tried to go to Bayard, but we couldn’t get to his quarters. Couldn’t even get far enough to look at his bloody tent! Guards everywhere!”

Jax’s heart fell. “What?”

“Ban says it’s not normal, that something’s going on...”

Jax looked at the floor, his hands gripping the bars. So he was going to die. Executed. All because of a silly accident. A mistake!

“It’s ok, Gray.” Jax said quietly. He wasn’t even going to see the battle field! Not like his father! No, Jax had gone and accidentally killed someone, months before he was supposed to be posted! And it wasn’t even a Dwergi!

“No, Jax, it’s not ok! Serran’s in the wrong, the whole squad knows it. But there’s something else too! Serran’s all but disappeared! Me and Ban tried to find him, but he wasn’t anywhere! Something’s not right!”

“It’s ok, Gray. Just, keep training. Keep going. I’ll be alright.” Jax turned and went to the bench, not caring that the grease was cold and sticky.

“But, Jax! We need you! What do we do? The officials are acting weird!” Gray slammed a hand against the bars. “Dammit Jax!”

Jax remained silent.

“Gods Jax, are you really going to give up that easily?”

Silence.

“Screw you Jax!” Grayson growled. “Thought you were my friend. After all this time!”

Jax listened as Grayson huffed his way down the corridor; the orange lights danced away, leaving Jax in darkness.

All he could do, was stare into the blackness, thinking of the gallows, but thoughts of his father were never far away. He tried not to think of his father, however. The very sight of Kori’s face stabbed shame and weakness into Jax’s heart.

But strangely enough, he found himself thinking of Jori, his younger brother. His last thought was wondering what it was like to die at the hands of the gallows, before he fell to sleep.

Jax was awoken by voices. There were close, too close, and somehow familiar. He was about to go back to sleep when the word ‘Dwergi’ made him sit bolt upright.

“When?”

“Tonight. Not long now actually.”

“Dammit Serran! You’ve doomed us all!”

Serran? Of course, that was how the voice was familiar! What were they talking about? Jax stood and went to the door.

“They’re here, now, there’s no going back. You will be rewarded. We all will.”

“What? You mean, they’re...where are they?”

“Can’t say. Bayard knows. But remember, you get in our way, you’ll end up like them.”

Footsteps. Rapid footsteps that faded into the distance, followed by a sigh and more footsteps.

That could have only meant one thing. Jax’s heart began to pound. The Dwergi were here? But where? And why? Unless...Serran was in league!

Jax suddenly remember what Grayson had said about Bayard’s quarters. They couldn’t get anywhere near his tent! Maybe...

He needed to get to Grayson! Like that was going to happen, he didn’t even know what time of day it was. But they’d said the Dwergi were going to come tonight! Not long now...

The Dwergi were going to come and invade! Oh god! And Jax was completely helpless!

Hours passed and there was nothing. Silence. No sign of an invasion. Maybe the soldiers had been wrong?

Jax