Battle Mage: Dragon Mage (Tales of Alus) (11 page)

Tilana’s hand felt his forehead checking him for fever as well. She knew that he was almost as damaged as the young woman, but finding him cool to the touch, her eyes eased slightly before looking at Colbie lying on the cot. Veras and Evantus had to help the girl sit up enough to try and take the leaves. She moaned in great pain with the movement and her face wrinkled up in distaste from the medicine, but the young falcon managed to chew and swallow the proposed cure.

“At least you seem to be healthier than Colbie,” Tilana said quietly so only the mage could hear. Her hand held his not worrying over what the others thought.

Nodding, he replied, “I will be fine, but I am seriously worried about her. This fever of hers is getting pretty high. A fever is usually a warning about other problems as well.”

“May the gods help her. Hopefully she will be feeling better by the morning,” the wizard said looking away from the girl to him in concern.

She was a caring woman and that was another reason why Orlerin had come to love her over the time he had known her. He hoped morning brought more hope as well, but when dawn’s light arrived Colbie remained ill. Her fever was as high as ever and even Veras began to fear for the girl’s life.

Cheleya and Kel’lor stopped in surprise as they neared the small cabin. The door was thrown open letting a young man out to kick at the ground fretfully. He was worked up about something, but more importantly the dragoness could feel an aura of magic about him. She wasn’t very skilled at sensing magical auras, but it was definitely there.

Kicking at a stone just outside the cabin as he stepped into the open beside the doorway, the young man cursed as he looked at the ground.

Not sure of whether they should interrupt his tantrum, the two from Mar’kal stood silently, but Kerliss didn’t have the same kind of manners and moved in front of the girl protectively giving his little ‘hup’ bark drawing the mage’s attention. His eyes went wide in surprise at the couple with the crag dog and his hand went to the pommel of his sword.

“Who are you?” Evantus asked rudely in his shock at their appearance.

Cheleya smiled and apparently it was a disarming smile as the mage lost some of the tension in his body. “We are just travelers heading south through the mountains and we saw the smoke from your chimney. Maybe it would be all right if we were to share tonight to get out of the cold?”

The mage noticed a bit of an accent, though her voice was still quite lovely, and asked, “Where are you from?”

Hupping at Evantus, the crag dog drew his attention in surprise. “What is that? A crag dog? I’ve never heard of anyone having a crag dog for a pet.”

Kel’lor stiffened as he crossed his arms before him and he said to Cheleya, but loud enough to be heard by their interrogator, “He asks too many questions. Perhaps we should just pass them by. We don’t need the cabin.”

Taking in the large muscular male before him, Evantus frowned.

Cheleya shook her head even so and replied, “My brother and I are from Mar’kal to the north. Our ‘friend’ here decided to tag along with us.

“I have answered your questions so who are you and where are you from? I sense that you are a wizard or mage perhaps?”

He looked at the two disparate looking people. One a giant, with his dark brown hair and muscular frame; while the other was a petite beauty with strawberry blond hair and eyes so green that they looked like shining emeralds even as the day turned gray with approaching night. “You are siblings?” he asked forgetting that he had been asked questions in turn.

“We have different mothers,” Kel’lor stated gruffly and frowned while the girl began to giggle at the admission which was half the truth. Thinking of a dragon mother and gargoyle mother being the only difference between them amused her greatly. “You have ignored my sister’s questions quite rudely I must say. Do they not teach you manners where you are from?”

Blinking at the accusation, Evan bowed his head as he replied sincerely, “My apologies, I am Evantus Wierak, battle mage of Staron. I believe that answers all of your sister’s questions.” He noted the packs in their hands and continued, “So you have traveled far if you come from Mar’kal. We were headed that way when we had a run in with a gang of orcs and trolls. There was even a kiriak with them.” The last brought a little wince as his pride reminded him of how it had thrown him aside like he was nothing to the beast.

The girl looked concerned at his words, “And your party is all right? I assume that there are more of you inside then?”

Nodding, he added, “We had some injuries and needed to stop in the hut last night, but she isn’t getting any better.”

Noting the pain in his eyes and realizing that she was getting better at reading humans the longer she was one, the dragoness strode quickly forward towards the door behind the mage. He opened his mouth as if to protest, but the giant shook his head warningly as he put out his hand to stop the smaller man. “My little sister has a very caring heart and may be able to help her.”

“She’s a healer?”

“An untrained one though she saved this crag dog’s life before he adopted her.” He noted the dog starting to follow Cheleya and put out his hand saying firmly, “Kerliss, no.”

Amazingly the crag dog looked at him already smart enough to know the name belonged to him and obedient enough to heed the gargoyle’s direction. The dog sat down looking to Kel’lor and then to the way Cheleya had gone to disappear through the doorway. A single whine betrayed the animal’s preferred action, but he stayed waiting.

Evan noted the obedient animal and remarked, “He’s remarkably well trained. I thought crag dogs were just wild animals. I had never heard of anyone training one.”

A little surprised by the creature’s obedience as well, Kel’lor admitted, “Less trained than smart enough to heed commands and I don’t think I have heard of one tamed before either. My sister has an unusual way about her.”

“And she’s incredibly beautiful,” Evan let slip before catching himself. This was her brother after all and if someone spoke of his sister like that he might take offense. If the giant took offense, the mage might have to fear for his life. Being a battle mage, he wasn’t very good at sensing magic in others, but he could tell that this one carried more than just physical power.

Cheleya pushed through the doorway finding four others inside. Eyes looked at the stranger in surprise, but the girl only had eyes for the feverish young woman who already groaned with fever dreams. While new to being human, the dragoness had been through classes learning of the creatures of her race’s adopted world. A fever was said to be very bad and she could tell this one was going poorly. Sweat beaded the woman’s face even though they had stripped her heavier clothes to try and cool her skin.

“Who are you?” another man who looked to have suffered injuries as well tried to stand questioning the girl’s arrival.

“I am Cheleya from Mar’kal. May I see the injured girl? Perhaps I can help?” the dragoness asked meekly. She knew that her power to heal was new to her, but the girl followed her heart knowing that she had to try to help.

“Mar’kal?” Veras replied with his curiosity piqued immediately. “Have you noticed any gates opening near your city lately?”

Orlerin cut the man off with his hand and waved the girl towards Colbie hoping that she could help the sick falcon. “The gates only opened twice in less than three days, Veras. Even if she is from Mar’kal, there is no way she could have walked this far in only three days. Even riding horses would be pushing it and I didn’t hear any horses outside, did you?”

“There are no horses,” Cheleya replied distractedly as she placed a hand on the girl’s feverish head and wondered how to call her magic out to help her. She had healed the crag dogs feeling that she owed them all and not wanting any of them to die. Was that the way she needed to heal this human as well?

In che’ther, the girl muttered, “Please let me heal her. Make her well.” For several minutes the girl tried, but she couldn’t feel the magic the way she had that night. She had tried the elemental spells that she had learned since then and they now worked, but Cheleya had never been trained to heal. It had just been from instinct and now those instincts were failing her.

Getting up in frustration, Cheleya went to the door feeling the others’ eyes following her in concern. “Kel’lor?” she called and her friend moved into view blocking the waning light beyond the door. Again she spoke in a different tongue, that of the mar’goyn’lya, “It won’t come. I can’t feel my magic at all.”

He nodded having worried that might happen. The girl was deeply caring, but untrained. Even using the power multiple times in one night, it didn’t make the dragoness a true healer. Such magic usually took years to utilize without fail and more years to truly master.

Fishing in his pack, the gargoyle pretending to be human brought out the flask of her dragon tears presenting it to the girl.

“I am not a dragon of legend!” she argued again. “They are just tears.”

Shrugging, Kel’lor replied, “Then it won’t hurt her and perhaps it will remind you of your magic while you try.”

His words surprised her. Her tears had overflowed when she had been sad and trying to heal the dying and injured crag dogs. Would the simple reminder be enough to help the magician heal, because she was certain that the tears had no true healing ability in them?

Returning to the bedside, Cheleya knelt beside the cot and helped Colbie sit up slightly to drink the tears. New tears were beginning to form in the dragoness’s eyes, but she concentrated on both the salty tears in the flask and her patient. She prayed that the tears would heal the girl or her magic would return if they failed.

The battle mage swallowed a couple splashes of the tears. Her tongue licked her lips and she let out a wane smile. “So sweet,” the woman remarked to Cheleya’s surprise. The comment seemed strange to the dragoness since she had tasted her tears on her lips and thought them salty at best.

The mage’s breathing seemed to ease immediately and Cheleya felt her forehead noting her skin cooling as well. Had Kel’lor been correct? Her tears had actually helped heal the girl?

Worrying that it was just a fluke of timing, Cheleya touched the injured ribs that had been nearly black with bruising. To her eyes, even that was fading while her gentle touch brought a slight smile to Colbie’s face.

“That tickles,” she mumbled revealing the source of the smile.

Surprised that her tears seemed to truly be able to heal, Cheleya sealed the flask once more noting that only half remained. She didn’t know if she could create the same magic that had made the healing tears again and they needed to be preserved.

Hurrying over to Kel’lor, she returned the flask and revealed in his tongue, “It is working. The girl’s fever is gone and her wounds are healing. How can this be?”

With a big shrug, the gargoyle replied, “I took your tears when your magic was healing others. Your desire to want to help them may have put your power into the tears. Either that or you are a che’ther that can cry tears of healing.”

Footsteps behind her brought Kel’lor’s eyes up to look over the little dragoness and Cheleya turned to see the banged up falcon leader.

“I don’t know what you gave her,” Orlerin started, “but whatever it was it seems to have worked. Colbie is healing almost as quickly as having a wizard healer working on her. I can’t thank you enough.” Glancing at the cots inside the cabin, he added, “There are a couple extra beds left if you two want to stay with us for the night.”

Veras looked ready to argue that point, but Tilana’s quiet stare silenced the research wizard.

Glancing to Kel’lor for his nod, Cheleya replied, “That would be appreciated. Our stores are getting low and we could use a night out of the cold.”

It was Tilana that heard her words and said, “You’ve had to sleep outside? I thought there were more travelers’ huts along the way and to think that you came all that way dressed in nothing more than that dress. It doesn’t look particularly warm.”

Veras looked at her as if he wanted to dissect her to find out the truth, but Cheleya smiled her disarming smile and replied, “I’ve been a little cold, but the journey was sudden. This is the first such cabin that I’ve seen along the way. We were forced to find what shelter we could each night.”

“Who is that?” Colbie’s voice asked drawing their attention. “And where are my clothes? I’m getting pretty cold since they have the door open.”

The last was a passive aggressive way of telling the two men by the door to close it. Tilana passed the falcon her shirt that was sitting at the foot of her bed.

Orlerin was the first to answer the girl, however, as he replied, “This is Cheleya, a healer from Mar’kal who healed your injuries and...”

Having not been introduced since he had given Cheleya the flask, the gargoyle introduced himself, “I am Kel’lor, her brother. We have different mothers,” he finished clarifying the way he had earlier for Evan.

Again Cheleya smiled at the odd truth added to an exaggeration. They had felt like brother and sister almost since they had met and referred to each other like siblings, but they were only related in magic.

Evantus hurried over to Colbie giving her a hug in relief.

“Hey, watch it you pervert. Give a girl a chance to get dressed here,” the girl jokingly protested even as she hugged him lightly. The two had been cadets together as well and known each other a long time. A similar relationship to Cheleya and Kel’lor had formed between the two over the years also.