Battle Mage: Dragon Mage (Tales of Alus) (43 page)

Nothing could be done until morning with the che’ther watching over her. She wouldn’t allow the girl to leave her room until morning. Even if she could be convinced, Cheleya guessed that Lystheir would force her to let the tracker come to hide her magic and scent. Wanting to be alone with her thoughts would have to wait.

Returning to the bedroom, the blond haired girl noted the brunette dragoness sitting on her chair in the corner with only moonlight trickling past the drapes to illuminate her. Giving her elder a friendly smile, Cheleya received a bland look in return. She wondered what Lystheir thought of things. Following after her father on reputation alone, the two trackers were all business and quiet in dealing with her and the others. If Fa’Elenek couldn’t look at her because she was broken, what did the female che’ther see in Cheleya trapped in human form?

The girl slipped between the covers and expected that the bed would likely remain hers alone this night.

Malaketh sat in the stuffed chair of the ambassador’s home stroking his beard furiously. An entire day in the city and the so-called trackers could find no clear trace of the girl. Yes, he had found and slain Kel’lor, so that part was finished, but it was Cheleya who could truly harm his mission.

“I was surprised to see you, Master Malaketh,” the old man hiding his dragon form expressed as he drank tea from a cup recently brought to him by a servant. Ambassador Theress Sselanus appeared like the old man he was to Malaketh’s eyes. Old, unassuming and lacking in physical strength like a man in the later years of his life, a mere shell of what he once he had been.

Giving a sincere looking smile, Malaketh nodded and replied casually, “It was a trip given on short order, ambassador. I am sorry if we are inconveniencing you with our needs, but with the tournament underway we could find no inn for now. This pursuit of a thief in the remains of winter and at this date was truly poor timing, but I thank you for your hospitality, sir.”

Theress waved off his gratitude and shook his head, “It is no trouble really. This suite is much larger than I need, even with my assistants, since they have their own homes. Most of the time, I am just a single, lonely soul bumping around these rooms. The representative wizards for Mar’kal reserved rooms around the city, so my extra rooms are yours to use, Fa’Malaketh.”

A moment’s pause as Malaketh watched the fire in the fireplace was broken by a question, “You haven’t been contacted by Cor’Dargan or any other che’ther recently have you, ambassador?”

“Cor’Dargan, that old farmer? Why would he be contacting an ambassador to humans like me?” the old man asked with a single raised brow. For a che’ther, he had an unusually good feel for human mannerisms, Malaketh thought. Most who used their amulets for change usually had tells to give them away as something other than human despite their appearance, but the ambassador had lived with humans as a man for years at a time and had picked up their ways.

“He is the thief’s father and came to Hala just ahead of me looking for her. Perhaps he hopes to find her and bring her back to avoid a blemish on his reputation by doing so.”

“Or he may simply wish to find his daughter to protect her,” the ambassador replied casually before taking another sip of tea from the delicate cup. “Fathers don’t always think with their heads before they follow their hearts. As a human, you should know that better than I. We che’ther aren’t as close with our children, even though we raise them years longer, though maybe that is why? We become sick of seeing them around,” he finished with a chuckle. The old man’s eyes didn’t seem as amused as the rest of his face as they peeked over the lip of the cup during another sip.

A slow nod from Malaketh acknowledged the voiced worry and he replied, “There is that possibility, but how much trouble can a farmer cause?”

“A simple farmer would probably cause little trouble to be sure, but Fa’Dargan’zer, on the other hand, is no mere farmer. Haven’t you heard?” the ambassador asked setting his emptied cup down with its plate on a side table. At Malaketh’s silent shake of his head, the old man continued, “Dargan is an expert wizard specializing in earth magic. They once called him ‘Stone Runner’ for his unique skill. If you have to face a master of magic, I think even one who turned away from the Academy of Magic to farm might be troublesome.”

Malaketh nodded as Theress confirmed the worries he had about the man. Cheleya was a savant with dragon magic and other schools of spells from what he was told by the other masters before receiving the student for tutelage, and apparently she was a chip off of the block from her father’s side. He could handle a naive girl, even with her innate abilities, especially locked in her human form, but this Cor’Dargan was becoming a larger pain in his side every day.

“Do you think the girl would try to find some of the che’ther wizards in Hala for help?” he queried trying to work out his next move and the strength of the opponents he might face.

Theress looked surprised at the question, as if it truly shocked him at the thought. “If the girl is a thief, why would she and her partner in crime think to go to the wizards? I would think they would look for whoever they planned to sell their stolen items to and avoid their people entirely. Wizards like those chosen for this tournament are among our best and brightest. They are also loyal to Mar’kal. I am sure they would capture her and turn them over to you instead.”

“Only if they knew she was a thief,” Malaketh stated backing off the idea. If the ambassador was so sure of the other wizards, should he still bother checking with them? “Maybe I should give them warning about the thieves? I would hate for the wizards to be fooled into helping them because they were uninformed.”

A casual wave from the ambassador preceded his assurance, “Not to worry, I can tell them for you in the morning. I met with our che’ther representatives for lunch today and promised to see their matches, if possible with scheduling, of course. When I see them, I will warn them of these thieves you seek, Master Malaketh.

“We wouldn’t want our best wizards involved in such dark things. Who do you think they plan to sell these relics to anyway?”

Appearing conflicted, Malaketh paused as if in thought about such a dreadful idea. The man was surprised that the ambassador had brought the thought to this path, but he was ready for such a question as he had been with the masters at the academy and the city council. “One can only guess, of course, but we can assume that it isn’t one of our allies. We can only hope that they haven’t chosen to go the Dark One. No one wants to see the emperor and his armies gaining more power after having them in check for so long now.”

Letting out a sigh of regret, the old man nodded quietly thinking on the implications of such words. He didn’t answer right away and Malaketh thought perhaps he was getting tired as it was late evening. The trackers had gone to their rooms awhile ago leaving just the two to talk. When the
ambassador finally answered, he did sound tired, but his words were clear, “The emperor would be a likely target, but I wonder how he would have made contact with them in the first place. I wonder if Mar’kal has become too soft in its dealings with the rest of the world. Even hidden in the mountains, humans like you come and it is not beyond conceiving that the Dark One might slip someone into the city for such malicious motives.

“You have lived in Mar’kal for quite some time, haven’t you, Fa’Malaketh? With your unique perspective on our city, what do you think?”

Barely containing a need to squirm in his chair at the description that so closely resembled his reason for being in Mar’kal, Malaketh managed a grim smile as he answered, “Mar’kal has hidden itself in the Dragon Spine for a long time and is just beginning to build stronger bridges with its allies among men. It would be a shame if this thief destroyed your faith in men, but the Dark One has tainted men and monsters both.

“We need to be careful, of course, but still be welcoming or Mar’kal will find itself alone. It is that fine line between vigilance and suspicion that we need to find.”

“Wisely said, Fa’Malaketh,” Theress nodded as he picked up his pipe and tamped in some merlac, the plant of choice in the north. A flame created by magic reminded Malaketh that this was also a wizard, even if he was an old one. His physical appearance aside, Ambassador Theress was still a powerful wizard if his aura was to be believed.

Malaketh excused himself shortly after still wondering at his next move, but it would have to wait until morning without the trackers available for the night.

Chapter 26- Quicksand

Clouds held the day in gray as the first round of the Winter’s Edge tournament began. Cheleya followed the crowd loosely surrounded by her group. Elenek blended into the crowd behind them keeping an eye out for her pursuers while Lystheir spent another morning shadowing the girl. Aside from those they were protecting her from, the little dragoness found that she could actually enjoy herself.

The crowds were in luck as well. Instead of the long walk to the western gates and then to the fields north of the outer wall, the king had authorized his wizards to create a new north gate. The northern part of the inner city had come alive with vendors along the main paths hawking their wares. In an area considered lower class due to its position deep in the city away from the main gates, it was a boost to the local economy and residents were taking advantage of their unusual booming traffic.

While there was a new opening, it was still conservative. At about eight feet high and twelve wide, she could see that the wizards had made sure that it would be easy to seal after the need was gone in a week. The pretty blond also was doing a lot of people watching as well. Unlike Elenek, Cheleya was simply looking at the strange array of humans around her. Her time in Televal had given the dragoness a sample of the northerners, and her walk through the capitol city had shown her even more. It was a revelation as she looked at the faces and fashions, even as covered as they could be with their winter gear.

Cheleya received her own looks in return and many smiles. She was dressed in the blouse with the loose sleeves that was short enough to bare her stomach above a skirt that billowed in the breeze touching the tops of her knees. Her mood was different from the day she had created them and the girl had colored her top a warm red and the skirt was a brown slightly lighter than her leather boots now. The heavy leather cloak hung along her back doing little to keep her warm, which was much of why the pretty girl received some stares. Such a petite little girl tended to be cold and bundled up on days like this, but Cheleya felt little of the winter chill and simply smiled at those who peered at her.

North of the gate, the crowd dispersed as many had friends and favorites to follow to their individual matches. With only three of the ten arenas set inside the city behind black Castle Grimnal; that meant there were seven separate places to watch the wizards. One of the arenas sat below the cliffs in the North Sea where water wizards could use their magic to epic levels. Another used the cliff’s edge to channel strong winds or manipulate earth. The remainder of the duel fields were spread along the plain with large spaces of brown grass between the stands for viewing each match.

“The Colonnades,” Tilana spoke the word of her arena almost too quietly for Cheleya to hear where she walked to the side of the wizard. With a simple uttered name, the woman’s trepidation came through her voice.

Cheleya looked at the field judging the tools that the creators had placed for a wizard to use. Two twenty foot battle circles rested a little over a hundred feet from each other with a deep pool of water exactly midway between them. Six tall columns surrounded the two circles with four more lying on the ground like benches around the pool. Bleachers for spectators sat back from the field on either side of the center. They would be protected by a half dozen wizards to prevent any of the duelers’ spells from accidentally catching the audience should such a problem occur.

While going through a meeting to select the order of their battles, Tilana said that she had been surprised by the simplistic grouping of magic types. Water and earth dominated the entries here, though a pair of fire wizards, a Tolmonan that she believed knew earth magic and one of the elven men from Eirdhen rounded out a total of twenty four. Tilana had drawn the second match of the morning, but the group had decided to catch the first as well.

For Cheleya, getting up early to see the duel meant getting out of the city. While she had been amazed at the difference in the feel of Hala as compared to Mar’kal or even the much smaller Televal, the crowds and relatively tight streets were beginning to feel oppressive in their constriction. There was a risk that the trackers might discover the dragoness away from the city if they decided to watch the crowds coming through the gateway, but Cheleya was feeling equally oppressed from being hunted. With her father and the others for support, she almost wished to run into Malaketh and settle things, even though the dragon mage knew that it wouldn’t truly settle anything.

If she killed or drove away those seeking her now, the council of Mar’kal would only send more trackers to hunt her and Kel’lor. While the mar’goyn’lya might be believed dead by their hunters as well, eventually news of his life being saved would come out and he would be on the run once more. Cheleya felt sadness for dragging her good friend into her troubles, even if they weren’t truly of her making. Now she had brought her father and new friends into her problems, and the dragoness wondered where it would all end.