Magic Astray (The Llandra Saga) (20 page)

“Your Majesty, thank you for the honor of this audience,” Randall said, trying to imitate the dwarf’s earlier bow. “We have traveled far to speak with you.”

Rodick raised one eyebrow. Randall couldn’t tell if it was in amusement or annoyance. “Why have you chosen to break the Holga-Ynyr Accord?” he asked, addressing Nia in fluent elvish. “No elf has stepped foot on our lands for hundreds of years.”

“It was not by choice, Your Highness,” Nia answered. “I am an outcast, and pair-bonded. Where he goes, I will follow.”

Both of the king’s eyebrows shot up at the pronouncement. “You are pair-bonded? With
him
?” he asked incredulously.

Nia looked down at her feet. “That, too, was not by choice.” After a moment’s reflection she raised her gaze, a look of determination on her face. “But regardless of the circumstances, fate has brought us to your chamber. We seek your aid, and our quest is just.”

“And your quest is what, exactly?” the King snapped, growing impatient.

“Rhys is on the move,” Nia answered. “And Mamaeth is with him. They seek the Summoning Device, so as the tear the veil between the two worlds once again. He has already attacked one human stronghold, and by this time he will have already attacked other settlements. We believe he is marching on Ninove.”

King Rodick’s brows knitted in concentration. “Preposterous. But if what you say is true, what chance do the two of you stand against Mamaeth and an elvish army?”

“He is a powerful Mage,” Nia said. “I have seen him defeat an army, and fight Mamaeth to a standstill. I believe in him. And there are three of us: another donnan has slipped through the veil, intent on stopping Mamaeth.”

“This boy is a powerful Mage?” King Rodick chuckled before breaking out into a full laugh. “And another donnan on Tallia? As if your story couldn’t get any more ridiculous. Guard, take them back to their cell until they decide they want to speak the truth.”

Randall has been following the conversation with growing impatience. When the king ordered them back to their cell, he snapped. He hadn’t come all this way, and risking his own death and that of his companions just to be ignored and imprisoned while Rhys brought war to the land. It was time to act.

“Yaosheen,” he shouted, filling himself with magic. The bubble popped into place exactly as he willed it, shielding them from Dask as well as from the guardsmen behind them.

An instant later, magic flared up within the Court Mage, and his shield was buffeted by hundreds of shards of hot metal. They ricocheted dangerously around the room, but luckily missed any living targets.

“I
am
a Mage,” he growled out. “And I have risked much to speak to you. You will hear what we have to say.”

As he spoke, he advanced on the throne, willing the shield to move along with him. As the bubble slid forward, the Court Mage’s eyes widened and he whispered frantically into the king’s ear.

“
Heks-mast
?” the king asked loudly.
Archmage
. “Are you sure?”

The Mage nodded frantically, looking more panicked with each step. Randall stopped at the foot of the throne.

“We do not want trouble, sire,” Randall said with a touch more diplomacy. “I could have cast any spell I wanted, if I meant you harm. Dask was too slow to stop me. I only want you to hear me out. All Tallia is in peril.”

King Rodick nodded after a brief hesitation. “We will speak in the war room,” he said in Talish.

The war room was just as elaborately decorated as the throne room had been. The carvings on the walls depicted epic battles of dwarves fighting men, elves and fantastical creatures. A large stuffed bear was stood in one corner, posed in such a way as to give the impression of a ferocious attack, and a massive tusked skull was mounted high on one wall, a large ruby mounted in its forehead.

“Is that...an elephant skull?” Randall asked, curiously. He had never seen one of the creatures, but had heard of them. There weren’t any on Tallia, but there were countries on Salianca where they were said to roam in vast herds.

King Rodick nodded, darkness momentarily clouding his features. “We don’t speak of it,” he said. “Now, tell me about this plan of Mamaeth’s”

Randall nodded and told the story of his travel to the elven forests, and his fight with Mamaeth. He spoke with bitterness of their travels to Horsehead Tower, and their betrayal by the mercenary Field Mage there, though he kept secret the object of her desire. He only mentioned that she wanted to steal a rare magical artifact from him.

“Men are greedy,” the king opined. “Quick to use force to steal from others.” Randall opened his mouth to protest, but quickly snapped it shut again. If his own experiences were any indication, King Rodick hadn’t struck too far off the mark.

“But I do not believe that she knew she was trying to steal from an Archmage,” he chuckled. “If she did, she may have had second thoughts.”

“An Archmage?” Randall asked. It was the second time he heard himself called that by the dwarves.

“What do you know about the history of magic?” the king asked, rather than answering the question.

“Well,” Randall said, thinking. “Nothing, really. I know that magic comes from Llandra, and that creatures like donnans live there, but they prefer to live here. I don’t really know why. I had only been training about a year before my master was killed.”

The king cast his gaze toward Nia, but she merely shrugged. “I am not a Mage,” she said.

“Neither am I, but I know our history,” the king retorted. “Elves have much longer lives than dwarves. Perhaps that is why we keep such meticulous records. Llandra is a vicious and cruel place. Its inhabitants are constantly at war with each other. Only the strongest and most brutal can survive there. But that is not the reason why they seek to come here.”

“It’s not?” Randall asked. It seemed like a good enough reason to him.

“No. Those from Llandra come here for power. Magic may come from Llandra, but magic doesn’t work there. Imagine the strongest, cruelest man you know. Now give him the knowledge that there is another world, and if he could somehow step across to it, he would become a god.”

“But your people are from Llandra. The elves too,” Randall protested. “You might be different from us, but you’re nothing at all like you describe.”

“Yes,” Rodick acknowledged. “But it has been centuries since the last Summoning Device was created. After the Migration, many from Llandra were exterminated by your kind after years of war. Our kind had to change in order to learn to live with the inhabitants of this world. Those that didn’t died. Many of your people died as well. If another Device has been created, it means much suffering is coming.”

“But what about Berry? The donnan. He didn’t come centuries ago, and he isn’t cruel and evil,” Randall protested.

“Even among our histories, the donnan are poorly understood. The old writings mention that they are nearly legendary, even on Llandra. It is said they were powerful tricksters, capable of performing uncanny miracles. I assume it to mean that they are able to perform magic in both worlds. I would not begin to guess at the motivations of such a creature.”

Randall thought about that a moment, before Rodick spoke again. “Where is your friend? I am sure he could shed much light on what is happening.”

“We got separated in the tunnels while fighting giant centipedes,” Randall answered glumly. “Nia’s cat, as well. I had hoped they would have found their way here by now.”

“You fought the
skald
?” the king asked, sounding impressed. “We had to close whole sections of our tunnels because of their infestation. We will send out teams of guardsmen until they are found, if they still live. Until then, you are welcome to stay here, as our guests.”

Chapter 21

After their initial meeting, King
Rodick was too busy with the affairs of his kingdom to meet again with his guests, but Randall had many opportunities to speak with Dask over the course of the next several days. He was afraid the dwarf would be angry and offended that he had gotten the drop on him in the King’s chamber, but the Court Mage seemed as curious about Randall as Randall was about him.

The two often spent long hours peppering each other with questions. Nia sometimes sat in on these sessions, but more often than not she found some reason to beg off and wander the dwarven stronghold. When asked about it, she shrugged off the question.

“It’s boring,” she explained. “And half the time, I don’t even know what you two are talking about.” At least she didn’t seem as annoyed as when Randall and Kirsti would spend hours talking about magic.

“What exactly is an Archmage, anyway?” Randall asked one day when the subject had come up.

Dask scratched his chin for a moment. “I suppose the easiest way to put it is that an Archmage is someone who can work magic with will,” he offered.

“But why is that so unusual? Can’t the fae do it?” Randall asked, confused. “Master Erliand always said only the fae could work magic by will. If I really am a half-breed like the elves seem to think, couldn’t it be possible for me to do it too?”

“Yes, yes. But it’s not the same thing at all. You are mixing up two different kinds of magic.”

“What do you mean?” Randall asked. “Erliand always said that there were four types of magic. Words, symbols, elemental magic, and will. Five if you count summoning. And six, I guess, if you count the Sight.”

“Our people see things a little differently,” Dask explained. “There is only instinctive magic and lexical magic. Instinctive magic is what you might consider will-based magic. We call them talents.”

Randall listened attentively. It never occurred to him there might be different ways of looking at magic. Seeing that he had the young man’s attention, Dask continued.

“Every kind of fae has an inborn talent. Take the elves, for instance. They can influence a man’s heart and mind, and the glamour is an extension of that ability. They do it instinctively, without the need of spells or talismans. These kinds of abilities work on both sides of the veil, though it is written that talents work much more strongly on Llandra than they do here.”

“What kind of talents do the dwarves have?” Randall asked with growing curiosity.

Dask ignored the question and continued. “Lexical magic is what we consider ‘real’ magic. Just like with your people, lexical magic can only be wielded by one who can command Llandra to shape the world around him. You would call this symbol magic and spoken magic.”

“Why do you call it lexical magic?” Randall asked. “Words and symbols work completely differently.”

“Do they?” Dask asked. “What is a symbol, but a picture of a word? Both instruct and define the change that the Mage wishes to create within the world. They are two sides to the same coin.”

“What is an Archmage, then? I’m confused,” Randall confessed.

Dask shook his head in frustration. “Let me explain by way of example,” he said. “When you called forth your shield in King Rodick’s chamber, you used lexical magic. You spoke, Llandra listened, and your shield was formed, yes?”

Randall nodded and Dask continued. “Did you tell Llandra how big to make the shield, or where to create it? Did you explain to the magic that you wished the shield to follow you as you advanced on the throne?”

“No,” Randall said. “Of course not. That would be silly.”

Dask snorted. “Then why did the shield appear around you, and not around me? Why did it not stand still as you strode forward?”

“Well, because I didn’t want it to,” Randall said. “I called forth the magic, and I said the words, and it did what I wanted.”

“It did what you wanted. That is true will-based magic,” Dask said, sitting back. “I cannot do that. No fae can. If I were to conjure a shield, I would have to know how to command it to move and where to appear. What you did by will alone would take a tremendous amount of study into the languages of magic.”

Randall’s memory flashed back to his time in Horsehead Tower. “That’s why Kirsti was so fascinated!” he blurted out.

“She was the Field Mage at Horsehead Tower,” he explained at Dask’s puzzled look. “When I showed her how I called forth flame to light a candle, she seemed confused, even though I thought it was a simple spell. When she did the same thing, it was a lot more complicated.”

Dask nodded at the explanation. “I can understand why. True magic takes many years to master. In essence, it is the same as becoming fluent in a number of different languages. But with only a rudimentary knowledge of lexical magic, an Archmage can create master-level effects, simply because you will it so.”

“Oh,” Randall said as things fell into place in his mind, like puzzle pieces coming together to form a complete picture. If he were an Archmage, it would explain why Aiden had thought he had trained for years, and why he was able to beat him and a group of other Mages with only a handful of spells. It would explain why he was able to fight Mamaeth to a standstill, and escape Horsehead Tower. It would explain how he was able to construct a healing talisman in hours when it had taken Master Erliand months.

He had gotten so used to thinking of himself as inferior, it was hard to accept the knowledge that he might be so much more. His heart beat rapidly as he considered the possibility that he wasn’t a second-rate Mage at all, but perhaps one of the most powerful on Tallia.

“Are there many more like me?” Randall asked softly. “It might help me to understand if I could speak to someone who uses magic like I do.”

Dask snorted and shook his head. “There are none like you,” he said. “The last Archmage recorded in our histories was Zeles the Mad. That was during the time of Queen Bon, nearly nineteen hundred years ago. He was responsible for the last Great Migration. An Archmage is a rare and unpredictable occurrence, and you make King Rodick nervous. He will be happy when our lands are at your back.”

“The last Great Migration? There have been more?” Randall asked, stunned.

“According to our histories, there have been four,” Dask answered. “Our people entered this world during the first Migration. The elves, during the second. Of course, we were not the only fae to cross over. There were others as well, but your kind has managed to exterminate most of them.”