Terramancer

Chapter Ten

I awoke to a hand on my forehead and a concerned voice in my ear. I opened my eyes. It was Iza. He sat cross-legged on the seat of the carriage. Imryll sat across from us, asleep. My head was in Iza's lap, and he was stroking my hair softly. He spoke to me quietly, but I only caught snippets of what he was saying; it's going to be okay...you're safe...go back to sleep.

"Iza," I whispered. My voice was hoarse, my throat raw. He looked down at me, his green eyes intense.

"You're awake," he observed. "I had thought you would remain asleep for the rest of your life. That magic you did back there, it...it was some of the most powerful I have seen in my entire life."

I tried to laugh, but it came out as more of a strangled squawk. "Do you regret ever doubting me?" I had meant for it to be lighthearted, but Iza's expression turned serious.

"I regretted it even before I saw what you could do," he told me. "But now I've seen what you can do...I can understand why the Chosen were scared of terramancers..." He trailed off. "If-if that's what an untrained terramancer can do, I cannot imagine what one with training would be like."

"Dangerous I presume."

"Yes." Iza was breathless. He sounded in awe. "I wish I was that powerful when I was untrained. I could barely move water to the side let alone use it to kill someone."

Bile rose in my throat at the mention of killing someone. I swallowed it. I could not afford to vomit in front of Iza. The embarrassment would eat me up if I did.

"Oh no, Iza." My voice was thick with tears. "I killed them. I'm a murderer."

"Yes you did." Iza's voice was calming. "And I'm sure you will kill others. But you are not a murderer. It was self-defence."

"It wasn't. My life was not in danger."

"But mine and Ece's were. We would have died if you had not killed them. We owe you our lives."

"But it was so risky." I could feel myself getting worked up but I did not care. "What if you had not gotten away in time?"

Iza chuckled, not in a mocking way but in a genuine way. "Mary Sue. Ece and I have been in enough battles to know when someone is about to do something that could get us killed. We know how to get out of the way fast. That is what ten years at the Academy teaches you."

I closed my eyes and let myself melt into his touch.

"I wish my mother could have seen me," I said. "Do you think she would have been proud?"

Iza smiled. "Of course she would have. I'm proud. We all are."

I felt my heart warm. "Thank you."

"No problem." He stopped stroking my hair. "Would you like to sit up now?"

I nodded and sat up with surprisingly little exertion. My body did not ache, save for the gash in my leg. I reached down to touch it, but it had been covered with some kind of fabric of which I presumed was a bandage. My mind hurt, too, and I felt exhausted even though I had just slept for who knows how long. My limbs tingled with what I could only assume was residual magic.

"How long was I out?" I asked.

"A while. It is almost nightfall."

I pushed aside the heavy curtain and looked out the window. The sun was just beginning to set, the sky turning a deep orange mixed with pink. The clouds painted white streaks through the colours. Trees were silhouetted against the sky. The scenery looked like a painting.

I turned to Iza. "It's beautiful," I said breathlessly. "I have never seen anything like it."

"That is strange considering you come from a small town in the middle of nowhere." His tone was sarcastic.