Evalyce: Worldshaper Vol. 2 Lady of Wolves

Hunting Hawks

Arkaddia, Evalyce, Year of the Mythril Serpent, 2014 CE

Kalla teleported the three humans and the wyvern back to the Stymphalian with no effort at all, the transition to Lady having freed up even more of the leashed power within. She had to admit, now she felt different. Power thrummed in her bones, and her skin prickled with its weight. Kalla's ears flicked back, picking up sounds she never would have heard before. New scents filled her sensitive nose, and she could see farther, with great clarity.

Warmth spread through her, leaving a liquid contentment behind. She stood, shoulders back, surveying the sodden landscape beyond the shields. The sky was now bright with sunlight, dotted here and there with tiny cottonball clouds, and the devastation left behind by the rains was far more evident.

The rains may be gone, but the entire ecosystem within Arkaddia was threatened with collapse. The herds would suffer still, from lack of food. Kalla's brow furrowed, as she stood pondering the fate of the Plainslands.

The locks were still open, all of Amaraaq's power there for the taking. She started walking, thoughts turning inward once more, hardly aware of Aleister and Vander calling her name. Amaraaq's power was a warm, heavy blanket wrapped around her.

As she walked, Kalla expanded her awareness into the earth itself. Using this connection, she pushed the extra power into the land, willing the water to be gone. Around her steam began rising from the marshy ground. The effect spread out from her in ripples, leeching the water from the land and restoring the lush winter grass to health. Kalla swayed in place, her awareness everywhere at once as she followed the ripples outward, urging them further on. Faster and faster it spread, racing throughout the entire Plainslands.

Kalla felt the locks begin to close, breaking the connection to Amaraaq's full power. She was not yet ready to contain it all. The mage crumpled to the now dry ground. As she came back to herself, Kalla was surprised to find that the air had grown considerably cooler, more befitting the late winter. Aleister and Vander had come up behind her and now they each offered a hand to pull her up, looks of wonder on their faces.

"You healed the land," Aleister said softly.

"Yes. Though I must admit, I didn't think it would work," she said.

"I'm glad that it did," Aleister said, sweeping her up in a hug. "Otherwise, famine would have taken the herds anyway. Famine and sickness. All this water is unnatural."

Kalla followed her magisters back to the campsite. and sank back against the wyvern's side, falling asleep wrapped in the safety of the healed wing.

Urgent voices in the soft, lilting tones of Arkaddia roused the dizing mage some time later. Kalla peeked around the sheltering wing. The voices belonged to two males, one near to Hauss' age, one closer to her own. They were dressed in the simple brown, spiral covered robes of the Plains shaman.

Amaterasu opened her wing to let Kalla up. The voices stopped and the two shaman stepped toward her, bending to one knee. She gave Aleister a puzzled look, which he returned with one of his own. The Plains shaman never bowed to magi, not for any reason. The elder shaman stirred.

"You are the shining lady who broke the storms, are you not?" he asked.

"Shining lady?"

"Yes, you called the fires. When we first saw you, you were wreathed in bright flame. Great Lady-"

Here Kalla cut them off with a sharp gesture.

"It's just Kalla. Kalla kyl'Solidor. Get up. I'm no one you need kneel to," she admonished.