The Magi (The Magi Series) (36 page)

His pursuers were continuing their search, this time on the river. A distance upstream—far behind him—he saw them combing the area. Every few seconds, they would raise their arms and a streak of fire would shoot out over the land on both sides of the river, eventually crashing against the sides of the two canyon walls. They searched slowly and mechanically, carefully inspecting as much land as they could at a time. Elijah looked for a tree with a thick base, knowing he needed to completely hide himself from their sight. He was close enough to the water that they could spot him if he wasn’t hidden properly, but he didn’t dare move into the thicker part of the trees now because they were close enough to notice. A hot streak violently shot out behind him and over the trees above him, ending as it hit the side of the canyon, far away from where he stood. Elijah remained completely motionless, but as the light of the fire passed over him, he saw the unmistakable form of his shadow appear for a brief moment. If the Maliphists were looking, they would have seen. Sure enough, the boat slowed down.

“Hold up,” said the voice of one of the Maliphists from the river. “Put her down here. I think I saw something.” Elijah held his breath. He saw the light of a torch behind him move back and forth. He pressed his body flat up against the tree. The light became brighter, and he heard the footsteps of one of the Maliphists creeping closer to the tree he was hiding behind. Elijah listened as the footsteps grew louder. He was definitely close, and Elijah began to shake with fear. Even though he didn’t see him, Elijah knew that the Maliphist was right behind him, just on the other side of the tree. He heard the Maliphist’s breathing and the waving of the flame as he searched, swinging the torch back and forth.

Elijah’s chest and lungs burned as he held his breath, waiting for his pursuer to move again so he could exhale. Afraid of making a sound, he carefully covered his mouth with his hand. Still, the Maliphist stayed, no doubt scanning the area, unaware that Elijah was just feet away on the other side of the tree. Elijah’s vision began to blur as he deprived his body of oxygen to remain quiet. A blanket of white began to cloud his brain, and he knew that if the Maliphist didn’t move soon, he would pass out. To his relief, the Maliphist soon ventured up the river bank to search, and when Elijah thought he was out of range, he exhaled slowly and silently, regaining his focus. He remained dizzy, but he forced himself to keep still.

After another minute or so, the searching Maliphist gave up and returned to the boat. They continued down the river and Elijah hooked his head around the side of the tree to see the Maliphist hunters. Detective Scott was not in the boat. Elijah feared he was on foot searching the forests, so he quickly continued his marathon run toward the exit Becca showed him. He reluctantly decided to leave the sight of the river so he would be hidden more by the trees in the thicker part of the forest.

By the time the sky began to lighten up, indicating the approaching dawn, Elijah felt like he was pulling a train behind him. Every inch of his body hurt. It wasn’t just sore; it painfully throbbed with each beat of his heart. So many times he was tempted to give up and just lie down and rest, but each time, something encouraged him to continue. His breathing was heavy, coming in labored gasps with each painful stride. He could taste the burning in his lungs as he inhaled, but he kept going.

Elijah thought he would never reach his destination. He was practically crawling as the sun peeked its way into the canyon and shined daylight, like a squint inside Malpetra. He passed a small cluster of houses, carefully remaining hidden behind the trees, and not too long after that, he found himself standing in a clearing that he recognized. Elijah looked to his right and saw the river. He looked to his left, and far up the clearing, by the base of the canyon wall, stood a rock that looked like a sinking ship. It was his land marker! He had finally arrived, but he still had a steep climb ahead of him. Elijah felt a surge of motivation inside him—a second wind.

When he reached the base of the canyon cliffs, Elijah took one big breath, glanced around him once more, and started his ascent. At first, the climb was easy. His energy was renewed, and the cliff wasn’t too steep. However, he hadn’t gotten far when his fatigue returned, and he strained his body with every move. Elijah began speaking to himself to encourage his body to continue doing what it was desperately trying not to do.

“Keep going, Elijah,” he said out loud as he climbed up a large rock. “If you stop, they’ll find you. Just make it a little farther.”

He had to repeat his self-encouragement several times to keep moving. The air became much colder the higher he climbed, and by the time he finally reached the top, his joints were stiff from the frigid temperature. He stopped at the spot where Becca had jumped down and raised his arms above his head, grasping the top of the canyon to lift himself out. It took him six attempts, each time draining his energy, but he eventually made it. He rolled over and laid on his back, looking up at sky above him. Elijah wanted more than anything to stop. His body demanded it, but his mind warned him to continue on. He obeyed his instincts. He rolled over, got up on his hands and knees, slowly lifted himself up and ran on, stumbling with each step.

Along the way back to Becca’s waterfall, Elijah picked up some snow and ate it hoping it would make his body feel better. Unfortunately, it didn’t. At the touch of nourishment, his body began to heave, and he collapsed back to his hands and knees, choking and retching from exhaustion. As he was heaving, he turned his head and saw something that made him immediately get back up again—the unmistakable outline of horses and the flapping of Maliphist robes, still a good distance behind him, but quickly approaching.

Elijah plunged through the patchy snow in the cold morning weather, stumbling and tripping over himself time and time again, but he never gave up. He looked over his shoulder, watching the small Maliphist cavalry rapidly gaining. Still, he fought the urge to give up. Ahead of him, Elijah only saw wilderness. He knew he stood no chance at outrunning their horses to Savenridge.

Suddenly, from somewhere within the forests ahead, he saw three figures emerge, urging him on, beckoning him to them. They were faint, but the closer he came to them, the clearer they became. They were three adults. One was kneeling, but the other two stood upright, encouraging Elijah as he stumbled along. He reached for the last bit of energy he had left and ran toward them. He took a quick look back and saw that the Maliphists were almost upon him. At this distance, he was able to recognize them. It was Detective Scott and his two sidekicks. Elijah would not make it to the edge of the forest where the three adults were calling him. He would be caught before he made it.

Without warning, the adult in the middle, the shortest of the three, raise their arms calmly. Then, as if driving a very large pick axe into the dirt, the arms slammed down in a swift, aggressive motion. As they did, a massive shockwave pounded the ground like a giant fist hitting a wooden table. The vibrations jolted the earth, and the snow separated itself from the dirt, flying up into the air. Elijah too was thrown slightly from the ground and landed on his stomach with a thud. The jolt spooked the Maliphist’s horses just enough to give Elijah time to distance himself from them. He gained enough space that if he ran hard enough, he just might be able to make it to the edge of the forest before the Maliphists would be able to catch up to him again.

Sprinting toward the three figures, Elijah finally recognized his rescuers. The figure to Elijah’s left was Master Roddick, who was looking quite intense as he focused on the task at hand. The figure in the middle, the one who jolted the Maliphists and gave Elijah time to run away, was his mentor, Olivia Rose. Finally, the third figure, the one bending over in exhaustion, was Uncle Stan—dirty, unshaven, and doing his best to stand his ground.

As he edged nearer to his safety, Elijah heard a crack and saw a bright flash right next to him hit the snow and burn a hole into the ground. He was being attacked! Elijah turned sharply, trying to give the Maliphists a harder target to hit as they continued their assault by sending bolts of fire toward him. Elijah looked ahead and saw his uncle, looking dreadful and in pain, stand up and spread his arms apart. Then, as if he was taking in a very large breath and at the same time, gathering in something very heavy and resistant, Uncle Stan slowly pulled his arms toward him. Elijah felt a weird sensation all around, as if part of the earth had been sucked away. Something told Elijah to duck out of the way, so he collapsed his body onto the snow, and when he did, Uncle Stan shot his hands forward, screaming a sound of intimidation as he did, and a massive gust of wind shot over Elijah’s head toward the Maliphists, knocking them clean off their horses.

Elijah quickly got up and made it safely to the three adults he trusted most. Master Roddick and Uncle Stan grabbed Elijah, who was panting and gasping for air, and instructed him to get out of the way behind them. Elijah staggered into the trees and found a giant rock to take cover behind. He crawled around it and looked back at Roddick, Olivia, and Uncle Stan. The Maliphists had gotten up and were looking angrily at the three Magi who had just saved Elijah.

The Maliphists were the first to attack. The man on the right flung his arm like he was throwing a baseball and a line of fire flew out from his hand like a hose, growing in size as it snaked its way toward Olivia. Master Roddick acted quickly and raised his hands, lifting the snow that settled under the streaming fire, putting it out immediately. The other Maliphist shot two bolts of lightning, which Uncle Stan, still looking horrible, blocked with two swift gusts of wind. The path of the electric bolts was deflected and shot out in different directions. Suddenly, the three Maliphists—Detective Scott included—unleashed a fury of fire and lightning, sending flame after flame and bolt after bolt barreling toward them. The three Magi worked together, blocking and extinguishing the flames and bolts that sailed their way. Finally, after the fury was finished, and they were all out of breath, there was another pause as both sides sized up the other.

“You can’t have him!” Olivia shouted in a commanding, aggressive voice—a voice Elijah had not heard from her. “I warn you now to leave!” The Maliphists looked angry, but they didn’t move, nor did they speak. Olivia turned her back on them with a quiet confidence and walked into the forest. Uncle Stan and Master Roddick also followed, turning their backs to the Maliphists. Olivia signaled to Elijah to get up and continue walking into the thick trees. As soon as he did, the Maliphists charged toward them all, heading straight into the forests. Olivia wheeled back around and faced them defiantly. She very calmly rose up her hands as she faced the charging riders. The ground under them all began to shake, just like it had when the earth swallowed the Maliphists who attacked Elijah and his friends. As soon as the Maliphists entered the tree line, Olivia shot her arms forward like she was throwing a massive rock off her shoulders. Immediately, great waves of earth formed, crashing into the Maliphists, and driving them back as they struggled to stand. Even their furious onslaught of fire throwing didn’t help them as they tried to fight off the massive mounds of the ground that was continuing to spill toward them. As if that wasn’t enough, Olivia threw her arms to the side and the trees seemed to come alive around Detective Scott and his two men. The trees slammed down, one after another in perfect order and timing, like the teeth of a zipper being zipped up, and joined in on the elemental chaos that Olivia was unleashing. The forest seemed to unite itself—dirt, trees, rocks, and anything else in the way—against the Maliphists, ultimately purging them from the forest. Elijah caught a glimpse of Detective Scott, who was badly injured, being dragged out of the forest by his men.

It was over. Elijah had made it. He was now safe in the protection of the Magi. He didn’t know why he thought of it then, but he wished Samuel could have witnessed the events that just took place. There was power in the Magi—great power—but it was only used when necessary. This moment hit Elijah with great sadness, realizing he had lost a friend to the deception of evil. Samuel had been lured into a life that taught anger and hatred because he was blind to the reality of the world. The reality that good can be powerful, but needs to be understood before its power can be accessed.

As soon as the Maliphists fled, Olivia turned around and faced Elijah. Master Roddick and Uncle Stan did the same. For a sustained moment, Uncle Stan, still cringing in pain, looked at Elijah. It had been six months since Elijah last saw family, and that had been long enough. He ran over to his uncle, hobbling as every muscle continued to burn, and threw his arms around him. Uncle Stan did the same, and they both did their best to fight back tears in front of Olivia and Master Roddick. After they let go, Olivia walked toward Elijah motioning the rest to continue walking into the forest.

“Well, Elijah. I’m not sure how you did it, but I’m shocked that you’re still alive!” Olivia said as they walked.

“How did you find me?” Elijah asked.

“When your three friends came back to Savenridge they told Master Roddick, who then told me,” she said sounding slightly snippy. “I hope you know that what you did was probably the most reckless and irresponsible thing I’ve ever heard of,” she lectured. Suddenly, she stopped and looked closely at Elijah. Her tone changed and her voice became soft. “But—that being said—I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart.” Great tears began to well up in her deep-blue eyes as she spoke. Just then, he noticed where they were. The waterfall and the cave where Becca showed Elijah and Paul how to get into Malpetra, was right behind them. Right on cue, from behind the falls, out walked Paul, Becca, and a very dirty, worn, and old-looking man with extremely long, white hair and a long white beard. Elijah’s eyes widened at the sight of his friends. He didn’t care how much his legs hurt as he ran over to them. Becca and Paul greeted Elijah with the same enthusiasm, and the three of them embraced each other, happy just to be alive.