Battle Mage: Dragon Mage (Tales of Alus) (24 page)

Tilana used her magic to raise enough stone for the group to sit, while Kel’lor used a little fire magic to remove the snow from their seats. Even though weather didn’t bother a mar’goyn’lya that much, having wet clothing was still a bit annoying.

Sandwiches were made from travel bread, cheese and dried meat. Canteens were heated by Kel’lor and Evantus to make sure the ice within was returned to cool water to drink. As the group began
to eat, Cheleya noted a strange cough from Kel’lor. The girl had never heard him cough as a mar’goyn’lya or in human form and looked at him questioningly.

Raising a hand to ward off her question, the giant said quietly to the che’ther, “This human form must be bothered by the cold more than my other body. It is nothing though.”

“It is odd to have you coughing like that. If your human body is reacting so poorly to the winter weather, it is the first time I have ever noticed it before,” she returned worriedly.

He could see the concern in her face and even a mar’goyn’lya could understand that look. Shaking his head, Kel’lor replied, “My race does cough from time to time. It is probably just the cold air, but I will let you know if I start to feel worse. I would hate to pick up one of those human colds,” he finished with a chuckle that stopped with a cough that seemed to surprise him.

Laying her hand on his, the che’ther let her senses move into him looking for anything in his lungs despite his assurances. His human body seemed strong and there was nothing that her novice abilities could find wrong with him.

Looking a little more relieved, the girl confessed, “I can’t find anything wrong, but make sure to watch over yourself. If you need to change into a mar’goyn’lya to avoid sickness then it will have to be so.”

“You worry too much. I am fine, Cheleya,” he replied with a gentle smile for his little sister.

The others had noted the exchange, but they were not healers and other than the occasional cough the gargoyle seemed fine.

Her horse was still feeding along with a couple of the other steeds that had wandered over to the open winter grass when Cheleya and the others packed up to continue their ride.

Through out the afternoon ride, Tilana would occasionally dismount to check for vibrations in the ground. The open grasslands running from Staron to the distant kingdom of Kardor were home to nomads. Unfriendly to those who trespassed in their lands, they were considered a minor nuisance since they were barely organized with small tribes making up most of their societies. Few could stand up to a group with any magic users, since they seemed unable to learn magic as a whole. It was believed that shaman led their folk, but what magic and powers they might have had never been revealed as far as anyone knew.

Each check brought ease to their minds as the woman continued to find the land around them clear of activity, which wasn’t unusual during the winter.

Night approached and they made camp. Two mid size tents had been brought for the trip since they had horses to carry more weight. Though each one had a rider, the horses could carry them plus fairly large packs. Only Kel’lor’s horse was spared with his greater than normal weight, even with the large horse he had been given.

Cheleya cleared the snow from the ground so quickly with her pair of dragon claw spells, that no one had to do more than put up the tents on the newly opened ground. The men would share one tent, while the women took the other.

A campfire was created magically by Evantus and could only be maintained until they went to sleep. There was no good supply of wood in the area, so the humans knew they would have to share body heat to avoid freezing in the night. For Kel’lor and Cheleya, the cold seemed like a minor thing, but the others were sure that it would be important to seal the tents and keep each other warm.

“You know ladies,” Evantus began as they started towards the tents after their meal, “four bodies keep these tents much warmer than three, especially with a very warm male keeping you company.”

Rolling her eyes, Colbie pointed at his tent and ordered with a single word, “Bed.”

With an exaggerated sigh, the young mage slunk into his tent pretending to be sad.

A glowing orb that cast no heat was created by Tilana and lit the interior of the girls’ tent while Colbie sealed the three inside. Blankets were distributed and as they lay down for the night, Cheleya talked to the mage who was in the middle.

“How long have you and Evantus known each other? You two seem like long time friends the way you tease each other,” her emerald eyes almost seemed to have their own light from within under the glow of the orb.

Thinking on it a moment, Colbie finally came up with a number, “Eight or nine years now. We’ve known each other since the school at Estaria. Staron only has one training area for wizards and battle mages; so being a little older than Evan, I was there for several months before he arrived.

“How long have you and Kel’lor known one another? You two call each other sister and brother, so I can assume that it has been awhile too.”

Shaking her head sending a little flurry of blond hair waving in the air, Cheleya replied, “We have been learning from the same master for just over a year actually. Kel’lor is about twice my age and has been studying at the academy probably longer than I have been alive.

“Our races live much longer than humans so probably to his eyes I am just a child, barely more than a baby. So when I was first brought to the academy four years ago, Kel’lor had already learned from several other masters. I would see him on occasion, but I don’t think we ever spoke until we trained in dragon magic.”

“And you are only seventeen,” Colbie said remembering from earlier. Her green eyes met the emerald ones of the blond dragoness. “You seem like a human girl of that age or very nearly. I’ve known girls who were naive and others who knew too much for their own good.

“Does your race mature slower or do they just look at you as a child because they are so old?”

A giggle and a shrug from Cheleya was all the answer she had for such a question. “I think everyone views the world from their own perspective, so they always measure the world from their viewpoint. We all think we’re intelligent and mature, while looking at adults as being just old and not necessarily looking at their intelligence or wisdom. When I was little more than an egg, I believed that I was wise enough to wander the streets, but when I got lost it was my father that had to find me and bring me back.”

The girl’s eyes began to tear with thoughts of the ones left behind in Mar’kal. It was made worse by the man that had driven her away for his own sins and not hers, but she had run away from her mother and never said a word to her father to let him know why or where she would go. Then she was driven away and almost killed. Her brother, who was not her brother, saved her, but Cheleya missed her family.

Wiping at the dragon’s tears, Colbie asked, “Why are you crying?”

“I miss my father and mother. I had words of anger with her and never had a chance to even talk to him before I ran away to the academy. It wasn’t supposed to be for the rest of my life,” she cried and with a distant thought wondered why her human body forced so much emotion on her. It was much easier being a che’ther.

Morning came and the dragoness was feeling happier once more. After the others exited the tent readying the morning breakfast and saddling the horses, Cheleya took the last of Veras’s shirts and removed the lower part before pulling the remainder over her head. Magic pulled it tighter to her chest and stomach, while she left the sleeves a bit looser. Letting the neckline drop towards the center of her chest, the top was finished.

Her pants came off and the dragoness took the second half of the first pants and the extra cloth from her shirt to make another set of pants. The legs came up short and left her calves and shins exposed above her boots, but the waist felt right and the girl reused the buttons to fasten the garment. Stepping out of the tent, the dragoness worked the color of yellow into the blouse trying to bring a little sunshine after the sadness she had felt in the night. The pants became dark blue to the point of black, since she just couldn’t bear another brown colored piece.

The group around the campfire supplied by Orlerin all looked at the girl and most shook their heads. A dragoness who loved clothes was almost silly in theory, but the pretty blond in her yellow blouse looked like sunshine to them. Her stomach exposed for nearly two inches above her waistline and her lower legs bared above her short boots made them all shiver. Remaining immune to chill weather, or very nearly, the dragoness wore clothes like spring had already come, but fresh snow covered the tents proving such a thing improbable.

Seeing her horse looking lost as it pawed the earth looking for more grass to feed upon, the dragoness used her magic on a fresh swath of land before directing the mare to the new place. The other horses wandered over with Dolly and all began to feed from the new grazing area.

“You’ll spoil them,” Orlerin said with a smile as the girl returned.

Responding with a warm grin for them all, Cheleya replied, “A happy horse is probably best for both of us. It is a long ride and she will hopefully remember my gift when I ask her to follow my direction.”

The group all laughed at the thought save Kel’lor. Always in control of his emotions, the giant was also not feeling quite right. Cheleya seemed to notice even from afar and moved to sit beside her friend. Her graceful, slim hands wrapped around his forearm as the dragoness willed her magic into him. Kel’lor felt her power rise, and assumed that she was looking for what ailed him.

A final frown when she found nothing physically wrong with the mar’goyn’lya, left her saying nothing over it while Evan passed her a plate with breakfast upon it. It was perplexing to find nothing wrong, but Cheleya knew that she had no training in healing. She wondered if her abilities were limited to wounds and that maybe a disease like a cold was still beyond her to find.

Evan noted her clothes trying to make her smile, “You made a new blouse and pants?”

Smiling as his reward, the girl responded, “I was thinking yellow could replace the sun that is hiding today.” Gesturing to the gray clouds and distant prairie covered in the haze of a light set of flurries, the group could appreciate the gesture though sunlight warming their skin would have been better.

They ate quickly hoping to move southward towards Hala before they received harsher weather. While they had no air wizards trained to sense storms, they could all feel the change in the air. Flurries might precede a full snowfall or blizzard which no one wanted to see.

Packed up, the six mounted their horses and rode south at a speed that conserved their mounts energy enough to go on for most of the day.

Malaketh had grounded the che’ther and mar’goyn’lya a few miles before reaching Televal. Signs continued to point towards the town and the master was also getting worried by the fact that the two seemed to have joined up with four Staronen magic users. Someone continued to use intricate powerful spells in various areas. He had first felt the strange magic near the travelers’ cabin and just thought that maybe it was from the shrike leader.

As he kept finding lingering signs, the man wondered what school the magic was from. Malaketh was a master of air and fire, while being a dragon magic master for a third discipline and it coincided with nothing he knew. The others with him had mastery of other magic schools, but no one recognized the magic. Cor’Dargan had separated twice more from the group studying each site much longer than the trackers, but always the brown dragon in his human form would catch up to the main group. It frustrated Malaketh that his speed was so great on land. Thinking he was literally above the earth wizard, the master had never believed anyone could move so fast while still on the ground.

While they walked from the bridge towards the town, his team began to question how to find the pair amongst such a large population.

“Do you think they will go to Staron’s authorities or perhaps it will be likelier that they will look for their seedier element?” Stas’kel, one of the gargoyles asked as he readied to hunt in the town. Transformed into a dark, haired man taller than Malaketh, the master thought on how the mar’goyn’lya all seemed to share similar concepts of the human look. The males were all over six foot save Alk’leyal who was just barely below the benchmark. Alk’leyal had chosen a smooth head and dark goatee, while Stas’kel had kept his dark hair and goatee. The last was their largest, a male named Ev’erelias, but he had chosen a dirty blond coloring. Perhaps because he was the youngest, he was the only one without facial hair.

Mor’treya at least was a more common height among northern women, though she too was brunette. The dragons weren’t much better. Fa’Elenek, the male, chose a similar height to the gargoyles though brown hair and goatee were at least not following Malaketh’s own coloring. The female che’ther, Fa’Lystheir, was another brunette though slightly shorter than Mor’treya with bright blue eyes that gleamed with intelligence.

Malaketh had to hand it to Cor’Dargan though. The earth wizard was an unassuming man with light brown hair and an average, shorter height from the other males and middle build. His beard was full, but looked trimmed neatly and regularly. His brown clothing looked like a simple farmer blending into the crowd.

“We will have to account for more than one possibility,” Malaketh answered the gargoyle after a moment. “Their magic and scent might be hard to follow inside the city, but Kel’lor always chooses a
large brown haired male. His size will make for an unusual look, even if he didn’t stay as a mar’goyn’lya. The man doesn’t like being small and he doesn’t enjoy the human form.

“Cheleya usually assumes the shape of a smaller woman, but she changes her hair color from time to time. The last anyone saw her, she had blond hair tinged red.”

Cor’Dargan was one of those who had given a description of the girl’s human form and Malaketh noted his eyes seeing if the dragon would reveal any of what he was thinking. The man’s face was a blank slate, though his eyes were piercing with intelligence. The dragon had his own ideas for finding his daughter, the master could tell, and wished that he knew what it was.

“Elenek and Lystheir will take the western end of town, Mor’treya and I will take the center, and the rest can take east. We will ask people if they’ve seen people with our description and try to locate their magic. Search ‘til nightfall and we will meet at the south gate before looking for an inn.” He passed out a clear crystal to each of them and said, “These are locator crystals. If you find them, do not engage without the full team. Channel some of your magic into the crystal and the others will light up.” He pushed power into his crystal making the others light and then demonstrated to place them flat in their palms. All of the crystals turned with the movement of his crystal as he continued to channel his magic into it.

“When we find them, we can use these to bring the team to us at once, so no trying to take them by your selves. Is that clear?” he said repeating himself. The master knew that sometimes repetition was the only way to make people truly hear what you said and followed that in his teachings as well.

The three teams broke up after entering through the northern gate as Cor’Dargan followed Malaketh and Mor’treya for a moment. The brown dragon paused as the pair moved off and the master lost sight of him as he tried to find a trace of his students’ magic trail.

Televal moved around the farmer in his brown clothing standing beside one of the first buildings past the north gate. His hands clasped together as if in prayer, Cor’Dargan concentrated his magic into a sense spell. He was prepared to find his daughter’s trail, but not the way the others thought to try.

One thing the brown dragon had noticed at each site that they had found was a strangely sweet smell lingering in places. He knew the smell and it was given off by Cheleya in her human form. Cor’Dargan had studied the amulets and one of the side affects for certain users was a defense mechanism built in to protect the user. For those who could only see themselves as strong, a scent was given off that was subtle enough for most to never notice. It made predators and enemies give pause making the large human forms seem even more impressive. Whether it altered their senses to make them believe they were larger than they were had never been confirmed in the studies that he had read.

The other side of the coin was the scent given by those of an innocent and caring nature. Cheleya’s natural protection came from a sweet scent that made others care for her even more than they might after getting to know her. She was a care giver and sensitive even for a che’ther. The idea of the girl turning to crime for profit made little sense and, as she seemed to have been joined so quickly by the Staronen, it seemed like her scent continued to confirm her nature.

His spell set, the one known as Stone Runner picked up the old trail. Cheleya and the others had moved through this passage as anyone would expect from those coming from the north. The scent was two or three days old. While those traveling over her trail and the cold deadened her scent over time, it was no longer powerful but the girl’s scent was unique and just strong enough to be found by the wizard still.

Like a hound on the trail, the pretend human followed a few twists until he reached a large building, the headquarters for those with magic in Televal. He could tell that the girl had never entered the building, so one of Malaketh’s ideas was flawed if only by a series of yards. Cor’Dargan believed that
part of her group must have broken off to go inside, though he didn’t know their individual scents enough to know for sure.

Following the sweet smell, the brown dragon found the trail led to both a money changer and an inn. Cor’Dargan entered the inn receiving a quick look and a smile from the man tending a bar with liquor behind it. The kitchen was close as well, but the smells couldn’t mask the cloying scent of the dragoness. A table held her personal scent and various parts of the room as well as where her feet had stepped or her body had brushed against a chair.

Edging towards the stairs, one of the stronger collections of her smell came from above. The man at the bar noticed his movement towards the stairs and he could almost smell his distrust. Barkeep and probably day security for the inn and its residents, Cor’Dargan risked drawing negative attention if he moved to the rooms upstairs without announcing his intent or taking a room.

The brown dragon approached the man and smiled as he had learned was the best way to diffuse a situation and gain trust. “Excuse me, sir. I am looking for someone who may have stayed here recently.”

Again a hint of mistrust at his words crossed the man’s face. “We don’t usually tell people about our customers. It is their privacy and business until it interferes with our business at least.”

Nodding as if he agreed, the dragon tried to lull the man into trusting his intent by revealing one of the pieces of his story that might sway him. “I can understand that, but this could affect your business in fact. My daughter has run away from home with a rather large fellow and when they did they may have walked away with certain items that didn’t belong to them. Have you noticed anything missing if this description sounds familiar?”

The man frowned revealing that the two had been noticed here. “What did they look like again?”

“The two I know of are a girl about this high with blond hair with perhaps some red to it. She has been known to change her hair color, however, so that is the last color we had seen. The other fellow you
couldn’t miss. He would probably have ducked to enter your door. Dark hair and muscular, the man is a bit older and probably wouldn’t be too talkative.

“I am afraid that they may have traveled with some mages or wizards that were duped into believing they were helping them.”

The frown became deeper. “Marsolis!” he called into the kitchen. A woman of middle years came out of the kitchen and smiled at the man in front of the counter before noticing her bartender’s frown.

“Can I help you? Is there something wrong?”

“He’s looking for those two that stayed upstairs two nights ago. The sister and brother that didn’t look like either were related. Was anything stolen? This man says the girl is his daughter, but may be a thief.”

The woman didn’t like the story coming from her bartender and asked Cor’Dargan, “You think they are thieves? The little girl seemed so nice. She danced and kept company with some battle mages and a wizard. I wouldn’t think that they would bring such unsavory people here much less socialize with them.”

“Hmm,” the dragon nodded commiserating with the woman. “The little girl is my daughter and I fear that she may have been corrupted by this man. She was always a good girl, but I am afraid she had a fight with her mother before running away and may not be thinking properly.

“As I told your man here, they are accused of stealing some precious items from one of the buildings back home. If they came here, they may have tried to sell them in town and perhaps stolen more. You haven’t noticed anything missing have you?”

Looking more distraught by the minute, the woman shook her head and replied, “I haven’t had a chance to check their room, but I can’t imagine that we have anything worth stealing there.”

“Might I see the room?” he questioned finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel to this discussion.

“Of course, of course,” Marsolis the inn keeper stated quickly in her shock at harboring potential criminals. “Oh my, if news of this gets out, I fear that other unsavory people might start coming here as well. I run a clean inn and don’t want that kind of element to start taking over. I hear there is nothing but trouble in the big cities and I had always hoped that Televal would never come to such ruin. It is why my husband and I originally moved here in the first place.”

Her prattling continued even as she led the man up the stairs. The barkeep followed after calling another member of the staff to watch the bar. There were few patrons at this point in the day, so it was safe enough to leave, but the man obviously didn’t completely trust Cor’Dargan to go with the woman alone.

When the room was opened, the dragon looked around even as the other two tried to see if something was missing. Cor’Dargan still didn’t completely believe that Cheleya would steal, so he doubted that anything was gone especially from a simple inn room.

Two main scents lingered in the room. As the inn keeper and her man continued to talk to each other, the dragon used his heightened senses to find the place Kel’lor had rested during the night. A spot against the far wall from Cheleya, whose scent covered the bed further away, told of the gargoyle living up to type. The flyers were creatures that preferred keeping weight off of their wings so they crouched or tried to stand where they could prop themselves up to sleep.

There had been two packs. One was on the mar’goyn’lya’s unused bed, the other had been placed in the corner beyond Cheleya’s sleeping place. A third scent was as recent, though less powerful. It was that of a female human and had probably only been a visitor for a short time.

“Did they happen to mention where they were headed while around you?” the dragon asked interrupting their conversation.

The woman shook her head, but responded. “If they were traveling with those poor mages, they might have gone to the stables. I remember the four came in the next morning to pick them up. Oh, this is so unfortunate to think that some of our army could be deceived into helping such criminals.”

Half bowing his head to the two for their help, the brown dragon began to leave as he thanked them for their time.

“Good luck finding your daughter,” the woman added as he started into the hall. “I hope that ruffian hasn’t done anything to her.”

Chapter 15- Race to the Wall

“Fa’Dargan’zer?” the voice caught the dragon off guard as he left the stable yard.

“Elenek and Lystheir? I didn’t expect to see you here,” Cor’Dargan responded to the che’ther title of wizard master.

Elenek was a heavyset man with brown hair and looked like he enjoyed eating. As a heavy red dragon, Dargan had seen the che’ther form and knew it to be true in either body. “We were sent to the west and when we smelled the stables, Lystheir and I thought that we would take a chance and see if they had found a way to buy some horses. It wouldn’t be a preferable choice to flying, especially for the mar’goyn’lya, but it would make finding them harder. Right, Fa’Dargan’zer?”

“You can just call me, Dargan or Cor’Dargan. I don’t work for the academy these days,” the man said hating the sound of a title that he left decades ago.