Rojuun

Chapter 5

Liselle woke up in the barn once more.  As she sat up, the world tilted and rolled.  She groaned and put her head in her hands.  After a moment, she could focus enough to look around.  There was light coming in from around the barn doors, indicating daytime.  She took a deep breath and rose to her feet.  It took a moment, but she steadied herself and walked to the door.

The sun was like a hammer hitting her head as she peered outside.  Closing her eyes, she leaned against the edge of the doorframe until a shadow crossed over.  The afternoon thunderstorms were gathering and a cloud had just covered the sun.

Liselle staggered toward the house, still squinting.  Flowers turned toward her as she walked, concerned for her well-being.  There were no sounds in the house as she moved to the dining room to find Tathan resting his head on crossed arms.  Food was on the table around him.

At first, Liselle went for the food, eager to fill her belly, but she paused to look closer at Tathan.  “Tathan? . . .”

His head shot up as he looked around, bleary eyed.  “Huh?” he asked before focusing on Liselle.  “Oh, you’re awake.  You’ll be starving.”  He dished up a plate for her with twice as much food as she would normally take, but it felt as though she could gobble all of it and more.

Tathan explained as she ate.  “Casting a spell takes energy from around you, but it also takes energy from you.  You need food and sleep to recover that energy.  “That was an extremely powerful spell you cast, so eat as much as you can.”

“Phmmrfll?” she asked, her mouth full.

“What?”  His face twisted in confusion as he tried to interpret what she said.

Food spit out everywhere as she burst into laughter at the odd look on his face.  She laughed and choked as she tried to swallow, which only made her laugh harder.  In a moment, he was laughing right along with her.  It released some stress and agony at the loss they had experienced.

After a few minutes, the laughter subsided and Liselle took a drink of cider.  “You said the spell was powerful?”

His eyebrows raised in surprise.  “You don’t know?  Magical fire with the ability to destroy, like the one you cast, is the domain of wizards in high towers,” he explained.  Tathan considered his cousin for a moment.  “I’ve never known anyone so young to cast a spell that strong.  How did you learn it?”

“Umm . . . I don’t know?” she said with a shrug.  Liselle didn’t know how she had done it and no one had ever seen her perform magic.  She hadn’t felt comfortable letting her parents know.

“Did anyone teach you how to do it?” he asked intently.

“No.”  A thought came to her.  “Hey!  You cast a spell that looked powerful.  It was when those riders started attacking, right when they killed fa . . .”  Tears streamed down her face again.  The horrifying image of her father dying was one she had shut out.

Tathan grabbed her hands.  Wiping the tears away, she squeezed her cousin’s hand and composed herself.  “What was the spell you cast?”

“It wasn’t a spell,” he replied, getting up and walking to the window.  “I found an item in a wizard’s tower one time, called a rune ball.  They are powerful, rare and expensive.”  He took a deep breath and moved back to the table.  “I’ve been saving it for a time when I would need it.  I needed it last night.”

“You found it?” she asked, frowning.

Tathan stared at her in guilty silence for a moment.  “Well . . .”