Battle Mage: Dragon Mage (Tales of Alus) (36 page)

“Dragon,” Theress said with distaste ignoring what the girl implied or perhaps in his old age he simply missed her point.

In return, ignoring her grandfather, Isstmira continued, “I haven’t seen your amulet either time that we have met. Have you lost yours?”

Wrinkling her nose feeling the unfortunate curse that had been enacted upon her, Cheleya shook her head as she replied, “No, I still have my amulet with me. It is just hidden from your eyes.”

The old man seemed to gather more from the little blonde’s words and reaction than he had from his granddaughter as he regarded her more intently. “I do sense the amulet in a way,” he stated before mumbling a spell to look at the girl with a magical eye. “Interesting, you do indeed have your amulet, but its qualities seem to have been disarmed. This was done to you by the one with the black amulet then?” the ambassador said quickly putting the pieces together before any of the others could say more.

Shock registered on the che’ther that had heard nothing of her story with Malaketh.

Unsure of what to say and worrying over how they would take her word, Cheleya began, “Since it’s made of stone, Tilana was able to find the pieces that seemed to just disappear when I was attacked.” Pointing to her head, chest and general area of her stomach for the one lost in her spine, the dragoness added, “They were fused to my bones and spread across my upper body. Maybe that is why I haven’t reverted to my che’ther form since I am still in possession of the pieces even if it no longer works. We’ve even tried using a second amulet, but it can’t override the first.”

Looking angry, an unusual thing to see on a che’ther, though easier to comprehend on their human extensions, most began talking to each other in a near panic. Isstmira and Theress seemed of a like mind as they ignored the others looking for what she wasn’t telling them.

Isstmira asked, “Who was able to do this to you?”

Again she was unsure of how to answer, but confessed, “Master Malaketh, the human dragon mage, used a spell that I had never seen used before and lay his hand on the amulet. He first locked my form and then disrupted my magic, before throwing me from the academy spire.” It was said and the girl felt some relief at telling her secret to those that were like extended family though she had only just met them. Che’ther were too few in number to be more than a few family lines removed anyway and lived in a large world surrounded by creatures that ruled all but their little niche in the mountains. They were her people.

“Malaketh?” the ambassador questioned having never heard of the master.

Draasstmass frowned at the name and, as the other wizards looked similarly confused by the name they knew well enough from their time working within the Academy of Magic, he started off questioning, “But he’s been with the school for at least a decade now and become a master. What reason would he have to suddenly decide to turn against us? He attempted to murder you by blocking your magic, you say, which only compounds his sin.”

The female of median age, Fa’Xstenia, with golden blond hair and piercing gray eyes looked dubious. “I was trained by the human as a dragon mage until I decided that it wasn’t for me. He always seemed caring enough and dependable. I would not have thought it a part of his being to be so cruel and devious.”

Her companions nodded and finally Colbie spoke up in exasperation, “I know that I am not one of you, but I know Cheleya and she wouldn’t lie about this. If the man works for the Dark Emperor, his
entire time spent with you was most likely to find out your secrets. It’s been ten years, yes, and he probably decided that he had spent enough time in your city. No offense, but if that is all true, then appearing devious would be the last thing he would want you to think. The man played you all, so he is also a master of deception.”

Xstenia glared at the human, but Cheleya spoke up almost meekly, “I know what you mean, Fa’Xstenia. I would not have believed him so callous and capable of killing. Even after I saw him controlling Fa’Kelman’zer in the artifact chamber, I still tried to reason with him thinking that he cared about me as his student. He was someone that I thought I could trust, but I saw his eyes as he used his dark magic to break my amulet. He disabled it and buried it in my body before disrupting my magic thinking to ensure my death. Only desperation managed to draw the last vestige of my dragon magic to call forth my wings in time to save me that day.

“I think that he may have held some pity for me, but beyond that there was only evil and darkness in his eyes.”

The golden haired che’ther looked ready to argue, but Isstmira spoke up first. “I can see that Cheleya speaks the truth. I can see her eyes as easily as she must have seen her master turn on her that day.”

“He threw a few useless tools with gold and glass over the edge in my bag to make it look like I was stealing something when he tried to stop me, if he even owned up to being there.” She stopped to consider the next link in the chain of her escape. “Werewolves and those dark mountain lion type creations came only moments later. Either Malaketh or one of those two humans with him must have summoned them through the portals that the Staronen wizards sent my friends to find.

“If not for the help of a pack of crag dogs protecting their territory from them, I would probably have been torn apart before Kel’lor was able to save me. Then there were the dark bird men everyone
keeps calling shrikes who found us at the cabin, which makes it look more than likely that he is supported by the Dark One.”

Cor’Dargan appeared to be thinking as he added to the evidence, “Malaketh always managed to skirt how he knew it was Cheleya who had stolen from the academy vault. He had alluded to seeing your pack, yet it was nowhere in evidence. Master Kelman had backed him up, but either master should have been able to catch and subdue mere children, novices compared to them. I had always felt there was something wrong with the whole set up of it. It was why I joined the pursuit team. I wanted to know the truth because it didn’t sound like Cheleya.”

“You know that we can’t stand in the way if Malaketh and the others show up looking for Cheleya,” Draasstmass stated with an air of regret, though Cheleya could tell human emotions were further away in the elder che’ther. He couldn’t truly express himself like the human he appeared to be. If he was truly regretful or disinterested, the look remained much the same.

Isstmira’s hand covered her grandfather’s forearm draped with his long sleeved tunic. Her eyes found his questioning the old che’ther without words. Shaking his head, the ambassador added, “He is right. We can’t directly interfere with them since they carry the warrant from our council, but that doesn’t say that we have to go out of our way to help them find her either.”

Ambassador Theress looked at Cor’Dargan saying, “First things first. I will look at what has been does to the amulet. If Cheleya can at least return to herself, it will help her hold onto her core being. Without that, she will become more human. Already I can see that she expresses feelings like one of them, but that isn’t so bad. We che’ther can learn from humans, though they might learn a thing or two from us as well,” he added with a smile to the humans sitting with them.

Leading Cheleya away shadowed by Lystheir to continue hiding the girl’s magic, the protective wall of air disappeared. Sound from the other patrons came to their ears in a rush. It was a surprise having been so wrapped up in their conversation that they hadn’t realized how well the spell worked to insulate
them from the world. Those from Staron looked unsure of what to do as they watched Cheleya and Theress leave.

Colbie moved to Cor’Dargan and asked, “Is there anything that Evantus and I can do in your plans?”

Shaking his head, the dragon replied, “I do not know how much we can think to ask of you. You have already done so much for my daughter. I have to thank you for caring for her.”

Blushing lightly with his praise, Colbie shrugged as she rebutted, “She and Kel’lor saved us from those shrikes at the cabin and even healed me from before that. I might have died without your daughter’s ability to heal.”

His face registered surprise in a very human looking version of the emotion, “I didn’t even know that she could heal.”

Colbie was unsure if that was Cheleya’s secret or not. Perhaps her mouth had said too much, a bad habit she often felt had rubbed off from Evantus, the usual source of her blame even when she was joking. “She seemed pretty new to it and the others tell me that a flask actually saved me. Kel’lor called the liquid Cheleya’s ‘dragon tears’ and collected more when he noted her crying later. Your daughter seems to know some magic that I have never even heard of before let alone seen with my own eyes.”

Showing a father’s pride as he released a small smile, Dargan nodded as he replied, “Cheleya has a lot of talent. It was why I made her mother let her go to the academy. Sorqesta dislikes magic and the amulet that let Cheleya change into a human was her least favorite, but a father can be proud when his child follows in his footsteps before going so far beyond him. Alteration and healing are magic we list in tomes, but few have performed the arts since the exodus from our old world. The gentle magic of a time long ago has nearly died out to just become some words on a page.

“Perhaps if we can finally bring Malaketh’s deceit to light, Cheleya can help bring those arts back to our people.”

Colbie nodded surprised that the father dragon could be so proud of his child. She wasn’t even sure that her own parents felt half as much for her becoming a battle mage. It wasn’t a position regarded highly in any circles in Staron. “If she went back, would they listen to her story?”

The dragon shrugged generally unsure of what the council would do. Malaketh and Kelman were masters and had said that Cheleya was a thief. Could they prove otherwise and clear her name? Dargan looked towards the rooms of the che’ther wondering if he could still save his daughter when everything pointed to her.

Theress studied the pieces of Cheleya’s amulet as he held his chin in thought. The old che’ther was one of a few left from the time of the exile. More than eleven hundred years had passed since he was little more than a larva and passed through the gateway from the burning world that had birthed the two races of che’ther and mar’goyn’lya. He was old now and the master of many schools of magic had aged to the point that leading a comfortable life among the humans as an ambassador meant spending it looking like a human.

Unlike most che’ther using amulets, the elder spent months and even years contained within the human shell. Looking at Cheleya, he saw a kindred spirit. “So my guess is that you actually liked being able to become human,” Theress said as he made conversation to distract the girl from any worries over her current predicament.

“I did, though being trapped as one was not something I had ever considered. Becoming small with so much agility and the things I can do with dragon magic in this form made it so fun, but Malaketh robbed me of that as well,” she sighed making the old che’ther realize that he had just failed.

Smiling like a grandfather at the girl, Theress tried to make Cheleya feel better about her circumstances even as his attention never wavered from the mystic sight he used to examine the stones. “Well, at least you didn’t turn into a frog or some other unfortunate animal of this world. There are worse things to be than a human.”

Cheleya looked at the old man before her and showed her own insight, “You must like them to be an ambassador in a human city. I would guess that you rarely have a chance to return to who you are inside.”

Raising a questioning brow, the old man looked at her eyes intently as he retorted, “Who is to say what we truly are? The amulets are said to bring out what we wish to be embodied in this race we become. Some become large wishing to ward off potential threats. Some let themselves be ugly or beautiful by human standards, though all have the choice to alter what they are. I wasn’t always an old man. With time, even a che’ther becomes old, however, and now this form becomes me. If I am some giant wyrm, is that me or have I evolved to become this?”

The girl frowned and responded, “You are still the dragon you were, aren’t you? No amulet changes what you were, but remove the amulet and you return to a che’ther, do you not?”

Seeming to question her logic, despite Cheleya knowing that it must be true, she wondered how could anyone say that they weren’t born to be who they were. Was he saying becoming human was his true nature or was he implying that it was hers? It was all too complicated to think about without becoming frustrated over the logic.

“Well, be that as it may or may not be. I think that your amulet may still work.” The old man placed the palm of his hand between her breasts pointing his fingers upward along the center of the breastbone. His fingers were long enough that the tips touched her collarbone as Theress began to chant a spell. It took over a minute and the old che’ther looked tired after it was complete.

Sitting on the bed of whichever che’ther actually stayed in this room, Theress looked at her with his magical sight and watched as the lines of power connected the pieces within the girl’s body. “There. The spell I placed on you helps the pieces flow together magically despite being spread across so many feet. You may find that you have to cast the spells in reverse for changing back and forth. I also can’t guarantee that the spell will hold in your larger dragon form, but it should allow you to change in times of need when a che’ther’s strength will be more appropriate.