Alec the Wanderer: Generations of Eredwynn #4 (7 page)

We approached the spot until I started feeling the leaching effect that the metal had on magic and magical creatures. I squatted down and worked my fingers into the damp soil of the swamp that encircled the pool. I felt for the trees that bordered the depression and woke them. The trees welcomed my touch, but were lethargic in their responses. I asked if they would be able to surround the poisonous metal with their roots and shove it as deeply as they could into the ground. They were tentative but felt that having it buried, and not in the water they used, might be a good idea.

I came back into myself and laughed at Raven when she was startled by the moving trees. She helped me stand and looked at me strangely. “You don’t even know that you were crouching there for over two hours, do you?”

I smiled. “You can’t rush nature and that is why so few humans use nature magic. With our lifespan being a tenth of an elf’s, we’ll never master it like they have.”

We watched as the trees knotted their roots around the metal and tunneled it deep into the earth. We could both feel when it was buried deeply enough to not affect us anymore.

Suddenly, we were both startled by a voice behind us. “Hello, Alec and Raven, I’m Elle Mosslight. This is my section of the swamp. I’d like to thank you for removing that blight for me. It’s been quite a hindrance in my duties!”

We turned and saw a tiny, young lady clothed in patches of moss. It seemed that swamp sprites weren’t terribly concerned with modesty! She looked way too young to be out in the middle of a swamp by herself, but I knew that she could be a few hundred years old and still look like a tiny teen.

I bowed. “It’s very nice to meet you, Miss. I don’t think that I’ll be able to get too many of the shards, but I did want to try that experiment.”

She smiled sweetly. “We hadn’t figured out how to be rid of them at all. You’ve shown us the way, and we can take it from here. The Wood Nymphs have already passed the word about what you’ve done and are spreading out all over. The entire swamp should be cleaned of the plague the shards have caused by nightfall. Thank you, both; the swamp creatures will forever be in your debt.”

I bowed again. “Thank you, Miss. I’m just glad that I could help and return some of the kindness I was once shown in the swamp.”

She curtsied and vanished without a trace. Raven shook her head. “I’ll never get used to hanging around you Stephenson boys! There’s no telling what kinds of things that I’ll see when I’m around any of you.”

I chuckled. “Hang around with Davie sometime. He’ll introduce you to Niruth and that will be a meeting you’ll never forget! A several thousand year old dragon makes quite an impression!”

Raven grinned. “See what I mean? No one else in the kingdom meets sprites, nymphs and dragons. I feel honored that I can be part of this family.”

She hugged me and we began making our way home. Since my experiment had been called a success, I felt free to go back to Starford. After a few uneventful hours, we made it back to the castle.

Upon our return, Seth greeted us. “Well, how did the poisonous metal exploration go? You sure weren’t gone as long as I thought you’d be.”              

Raven grinned. “You should have seen it! It was the strangest thing that I’ve ever seen. He had the trees bury the metal so deep that it wouldn’t leech magic from a passer-by and then a sprite showed up. She told him thanks and that wood nymphs would take it from there.”

Seth smiled happily. “Grandfather will be pleased! Nice job, Alec. I hope that your wife is learning all she needs to know. An adventure to Father’s realm might be in your future.”

I nodded. “I think that she’s already made up her mind about that. She just wants to be as prepared as possible. I’m just worried that the information that she gathers here won’t even apply there. From what Davie has said, our worlds are very, very different.”

Seth shrugged. “At least she has a heart. Most people don’t seem to care, even in our world. That’s why I have these huge buildings to the west. Do you have any idea what she’ll do if she does find girls to rescue there? I don’t know if there are places like mine in that realm or not. She could bring them here, but would they fit in or go crazy?”

“I’m afraid that she hasn’t thought that far in advance. The first thing we have to do is find out about her magic. I’m skittish about taking that much power, so much that it concerned
your
mother, to a realm that has no magic. I guess she could go there and start a cult or something.”

Seth cut his eyes at me. “Not funny. But now that you mention it, that would be something that you’d have to be wary of. It could happen and you’d be surprised how quickly things like that snowball. One ranged stun spell that was seen by someone could cause a sudden following that you don’t even want. I know that you and Carol won’t be able to pass up sick and injured people, just as I couldn’t. Be careful with the healing and watch each other. You wouldn’t believe how easy it is to get power happy in those kinds of places.”

I smiled. “That’s another reason that we’re making a couple stops before we head out. So we can get ideas from my siblings on what to watch for and make plans. I would have never thought of the cult possibility until it came up in a teasing context.”

“So you’re going to visit Davie next?” I nodded. “Be careful there, Alec. Don’t forget what happened to the wife that he brought back. That’s going to be a very painful subject, even after all this time. If he starts glowing too brightly, back off.”

I chuckled. “Yeah, the last thing I want is the mage upset. Even before he learned his powers, he was scarily powerful. Nowadays… I’ll be careful and warn Carol, too.”

Chapter Seven

T
he next morning, Carol and I packed for the road. This leg of our trip would be made on foot. We didn’t have a timetable, and that was the way I liked it. It would take close to a week to walk from Starford to Perlsea and I hoped we’d learn about air magic on the way. The trip that Carol had planned for us had two very large unknowns: One being her magic and the other being the other realm itself. No one knew exactly what to expect from her magic except that it would teach itself in her dreams. Della had been afraid that while she was dreaming, the magic would manifest itself into the real world and would be powerful. I just hoped that we’d be able to survive the learning process. Carol had suggested that I let her go out on her own until she gained control, but that wasn’t going to happen. She was my wife and regardless of what happened, I’d be there for her.

The second unknown was Father’s realm itself. I’d grown up with the stories and they had played a part in making me who I was. The way that people treated each other badly, lied and cheated, had made me want to be helpful and honest. From the hints that Davie had dropped over time, I knew to expect the majority of the people we met to take advantage of us. Being new and not knowing how many things worked would make us easy prey, if we weren’t very careful.

We said our good-byes, there were hugs all around and we were on the road headed west. We held hands and Carol told me all about Heather’s situation and how she’d ended up on the stairs of a pub. I doubted that the situations that caused girls to be working would be like hers, but it wasn’t a wasted trip. It gave Carol even more drive to save at least one girl.

For three days we walked toward the western ocean. Every night when we made camp we wondered if that would be the night. We made love to unwind and, I hoped, to induce dreamless sleep. It seemed to be working, too, until that third night out.

I woke to Carol’s tossing and muttering. It seemed as though she was trying to fight someone off and wasn’t having much luck. Suddenly she stiffened and moaned as if in pain! I tried to wake her, with no luck, and the world all around us seemed to explode!

I crawled to the opening of the tent and looked out. The sky over us was a mass of low black clouds, swirling directly above us. Lightning was flashing from the clouds to the plain all around the tent. I was afraid to step outside due to the number of strikes and the sheer power behind them.

From inside the flap of the tent, I used magic to put out fires that were started by the storm. I kept calling Carol’s name, hoping that I could wake her and stop the storm. She was caught up in the dream world and for an eternity, I couldn’t wake her.

Then the storm was gone. There was no tapering off and dissipating, it was simply gone.

Carol rolled to her side and smiled at me. “It’s still dark; what are you doing awake already?”

I laughed. “Come outside with me; I have something you might want to see.”

She followed me out of the tent and I sent up a large light orb to illuminate the area around the tent. The grass was scorched all around the tent and the fires that I’d put out were still smoking.

She looked at me with confusion. “I had a dream that I should tell you about. You know that I wasn’t a virgin when we first got together. One of the rare times that I got away from my brothers to go with a young man caller, things didn’t go well. We went to his family’s farm a few miles from my father’s place. We were in the barn, kissing and being friendly. Then he decided that he wanted to do more than I was willing to do. He was much larger than I was and forced himself on me. I cleaned up, dried my tears, and hid what had happened from my family. Especially my brothers, because you know what they would have done. That’s what I was dreaming about, but in the dream I fought him off and ran to you. Now that I have you, Alec, I don’t need that memory anymore.” She hugged me with a happy sigh.

“Well, perhaps with that dream out of your mind, you’ll not cause another storm like this. That was impressively powerful, but did you learn anything from it?”

She smiled. “I can create an awesome lightning storm like that at will now. I know how to do it and how not to do it, too. I guess I can do about anything with lightning now. I can make small balls of lightning or large bolts. The chain lightning that we had here is pretty simple and I could do it without the clouds.”

I chuckled. “Well, Miss Lightning, do you think that we can go back to sleep until sunrise?”

She nodded. “I’m sorry for waking you; come cuddle me. I feel much better than I have in years, now that I have that secret off my chest.”

I laid by her. “You don’t have to be sorry. I enjoy being here for you. Sleep well, wife of mine.”

With the sunrise we woke and examined the damage from the magical storm. The ground around the tent had been struck dozens of times. I could only imagine what it would have been like if she had been targeting the tent, or a person, with that power. There wouldn’t have been much left!

An uneventful day on the road led to another camp set up. It was the way my life had been before I met Carol. Now it was much nicer, because my camps had a woman’s touch. Sleeping was also nicer because cuddling is always better than sleeping alone. Except now, whenever my lovely little bride would dream, half the province would know about it.

…

We chatted and kissed each other goodnight, then dozed off peacefully. Around midnight, my sleep was shattered by the sound of a thousand dying revenants! I sat bolt upright and then dove for the opening of the tent. Circling the tent I saw dark, moving shapes that looked like the clouds in Carol’s mind. The difference was these clouds went from the ground to the stars. Or at least that’s the way it looked to me. The shape could be made out in the flashes of lightning that came from nowhere and everywhere at the same time. They looked like four giant, narrow funnels that were sucking up the grass and small trees from all around the tent. All four were circling around and around us, as if they were following each other.

I called for Carol, and when she didn’t answer, I went in the tent and shook her awake. She woke with a start and crawled out of the tent with me. She looked in awe at the destruction and then gave me an apologetic smile. She raised her hands and focused and the funnels collapsed.

“My stars, Carol! What were you dreaming about that time?”

She looked at me shyly. “Have you ever been in a field in mid-summer? Have you ever seen when the dust turns circles and causes the grasses to fly into the air? One of my favorite games as a little girl was chasing the whirls through the field and feeling my hair get pulled up and spun around. I was just dreaming about a lovely summer day, playing in the fields.”

I chuckled nervously. “I have a feeling those things could have done more than twist your hair! Could you have controlled them?”

“Of course! You saw how easily I turned them off when I saw what I’d done. I’m really sorry for putting you through all of this, Alec.”

I pulled her to me and held her. “I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love you and want to be with you, even if we have wind funnels coming to visit every night.” She pulled me down so she could kiss me. “Thank you for loving me that much. The good news is, I’m done with those types of dreams and manifestations of power. The magic had to show me that it could be done and how. Now they won’t happen again, unless I need for them to, of course. We’re safe to go to the other realm as soon as we get tips from Davie. I’m looking forward to meeting the mage and I hope he has some insight into my magic. Since it’s so rare, he might not know anything about it either.”

…

The next few days were uneventful and we traveled in peace. We would meet an occasional traveler on the road, greet them and continue on. It was easy to tell when we started getting close to Perlsea and Seamore. The road traffic picked up and consisted of many large wagons of dried and smoked fish being hauled to the different markets in the country. It made me happy to see the industry, which I’d had a hand in building, thriving the way it was.

A couple hours out of the city, I reached out with my new
telepathy
skill.
“Davie, are you home?”

There was a brief pause and I felt three other minds join me on the link. Davie’s cheerful thoughts rang in my mind.
“Well, this is a pleasant surprise! I didn’t expect to see my big, wandering brother around until spring! What brings you and the… bless my stars! I’m not waiting to meet the young lady whose mind is with us here!”

In less time than it takes to blink, Carol and I were standing in the courtroom of Perlsea Castle. Davie was coming off the dais to meet us and we could hear Mira scrambling through the doors at the back, coming to greet us, also.

Davie grinned as he shook my hand. “I was going to ask if you were just coming on a leg of your wandering, but when I saw her mind, I knew what had brought you.” He turned to Carol and bowed. “Welcome to Perlsea Castle, Sorceress. Your confused expression makes me think that you’re in the same boat I was the first time someone called me ‘Mage’. I can’t claim to be an expert, but you can’t spend as much time with the centaurs as I have and not pick up on things.”

Mira forced her way into the conversation. “Davie, you’re scaring the girl. You don’t even know her name yet and you’re throwing confusing titles at her.” She turned her compassionate gaze on Carol. “I’m Mira, Davie’s wife. Welcome to our home! If you’ve been traveling with Alec, I’m sure you’d like to rest and have a hot shower.”

Carol smiled and curtsied shyly. “Thank you, Mira. I’m Carol, Alec’s wife of two weeks or so. We’ve just walked from Starford and I am ready for a rest, but I knew what I was getting into when I married Alec.”

Davie smiled. “Alec is married? I don’t know which surprises me more, him being married or bringing a Sorceress to Perlsea. Carol, I have to ask, you have gotten your power under control, haven’t you? What I know about your abilities tells me that you are fully capable of destroying the castle, city and most of the province if you don’t have them in check.”

Carol nodded. “Yes, Your Highness, we took our time coming from Seth’s home so I could gain control. We did have a couple instances that occurred in my dreams, but I’ve been taught by the magic. I can control it now.”

Davie muttered in fascination, “Taught by the magic.” He called to the herald and told him he was closing up shop and to send for him if he was needed. “Oh, that’s enough of that ‘your highness’ stuff, sister of mine. My name’s Davie and my wife is Mira. We rarely use titles inside the castle and most certainly not with family members. Let’s go upstairs, get you two settled in and washed up, then we can discuss what has brought you to my humble abode.”

Davie and Mira led the way upstairs and to the guest room. It had been used for a very long time by our Elvin sister Baissel, but she finally married and was living with her husband in Seamore. We settled in, took long, hot showers and changed our clothes. Carol took our dirty clothes, waved a hand over them and they were pristine and pressed as if they’d never been worn.

I grinned. “That is a trick that I would have liked to have known years ago!”

She smiled sweetly, “You don’t have to learn that trick, because you have me! A typical wife would be in charge of laundry; even though I’m not a typical wife, I can still hang on to some of the traditional roles.”

I pulled her to me and kissed her. “You are most
definitely not the ‘typical wife’. Now we need to go find out everything that Davie can tell us. Both about your magic and Father’s realm. He’s the only one, other than Father, that’s been there. Just remember to let him tell about it and don’t ask questions about the girl he met there. Her murder shook up the entire country and I’d hate for him to have to relive it.”

We went to Davie’s apartment and knocked softly. An eager Davie answered quickly and had us sit. “Now Carol, how did you learn that you had a Sorceress’ air magic?”

Carol replied, “We didn’t know anything about being a Sorceress, but I tested for magic with Aunt Alba. I could lift the test stone without an activator word and it confused her. Then I fired a
magic arrow
without a wand and everyone got excited. Alba got your father, Gwen and Della to help explain it. Della said I possessed air magic. That’s about all we know on the subject.”

Davie chuckled. “I can just picture my mother seeing that stone rise before you said anything. Priceless. She’s been teaching for over two decades now and I don’t think that anything like that has ever happened to her before.”

I laughed. “Yeah, she was pretty shaken. So what do you know about air magic that you can teach my wife? Since you’re the family expert on magic, I thought that visiting you would be a good plan.”

“I can give you an idea of a few spells that we don’t use that will be second nature to her. These are things that I picked up from centaur research. There have been a couple centaur sorcerers in the past and they got the information from them. She’ll be able to call up a fog that will block the view of folks if she was trying to hide. Of course, just casting invisible would have that effect. She should be able to walk into the air without casting a flying spell, and that could be interesting to see, but my mother did that through psi visualization years ago. Her control of lightning will be unprecedented and controlling the weather will be easy compared to the energy it takes me. I don’t know if you know what a whirlwind is, but they are supposed to be a monstrously destructive force. If you use that spell, be careful!