Return To Sky Raven (Book 2) (19 page)

Higs gestured to one of his guardsmen, who hauled a mute, dumbfounded Naton away toward the servants’ quarters. However, before the two of them got more than five feet away, a seemingly defeated Naton screamed and snatched a long dagger from the belt of the guard. He turned and ran at my mother, the dagger extended high and then sweeping down in an attempt to bury the point in her chest. We all watched in horror as the razor sharp tip struck her breast with Naton putting all his rage into the strike.

Immediately, there was a blurring of sorts and the knife stopped without breaking skin; the former fire wizard’s forward momentum stopped as well. Time seemed frozen for a second, and then Naton’s form seemed to become translucent, like a soap bubble. I watched the panic in his eyes as even someone as stupid as he came to the obvious conclusion that he had made a grave miscalculation. I glanced at Maya, Nia, and Rosa and they all had the same look of horrified fascination, unable to fathom what was happening. All I could tell with my mage sight was that whatever made Naton, Naton was being eroded away, both his physical and mental molecules releasing directly into the ether. Finally, with a soft ‘pop’, the bubble lost cohesion and burst, leaving no trace; not even his clothes or the dagger remained behind.

“Wh..where did you send him?” Nia stuttered, shaken even though she hated Naton passionately.

My mother smiled, a gesture that conveyed no warmth or even humanity; rather it was the glint of the sun off a glacial shelf, cold and lifeless. It was a reminder even to me that despite the love I could feel from her, she was by no means even remotely human, and it sent a shiver down my spine.

“Why, I didn’t send him anywhere, little one. Naton Rad has simply ceased to have ever existed. In the span of an hour or less, even those of you here will not be able to recall his face or remember his name. All writings, paintings, or drawings bearing any trace of his passing will be forever altered to exclude his presence. His own mother and father will forget he ever existed. He is forever gone…extinct.” Mother shrugged, and her eyes and demeanor returned to normal. She took our arms and led us a few steps away from the site. “What a waste…oh well.” She smiled warmly at the rest of us who were still in shock. “I’m sorry you had to see me at my worst, I normally hold my temper better than that.”

“Naton had that effect on most people,” Nia commented cautiously, looking at my mother with more than a little respect and awe.

Maya, not really being a magic caster nor very sympathetic to idiots, snapped back to her practical side faster than the rest of us. “But what happened with the horses?” she said very worriedly, looking at my parents for answers.

Mother chuckled and waived it away. “Maya, they’re fine. In fact, I should have almost thanked the idiot in hindsight. I don’t think I could have found a better spell than blaze to imprint on them.”

“Imprint?” Nia said.

“Yes, dear, imprint. Here, let me show you.” My mother whistled a three-toned verse which was quickly answered by the sounds of hooves and panicked pedestrians from down the road. Seconds later, our horses sped around the inner wall and trotted up to us proudly. They were our horses alright, but they had changed dramatically. Their manes and tails were gone, replaced by burning blue flames that swayed in the breeze and could be flicked from side to side just like the real thing. Their hooves were also alight with the same flaming energy, and when they snorted, a puff of smoky blue pyrotechnics came out. But most impressive were the eyes, which were solid glowing arcane blue; basically, no one could ever again mistake these for natural creatures!

Mother walked casually over to the mare and affectionately ran her hand over her head and sparkling white coat. “An imprint is where an object or a creature,” she said, nodding at the stallion, “takes on an attribute of something they are exposed to. Alex, it’s really not all that different from the bond that you and Rosa share. When Naton Rad cast the fireball into the stable, my two babies reacted to protect the stable boys, and they absorbed the spell into themselves, changing their very bodies to handle the magic.”

The two boys shuffled back up with their hats in their hands, bowed respectfully, and attempted to apologize all over again, but Mother smiled and went down to a knee to talk to them face to face. “There is no need to be sorry. They were glad to help you; they like you very much and you take good care of them. Remember the lessons you have learned here today when you are older and become wizards yourselves. Now run along to the stables and get everything ready for Alex and Maya to leave; they will be there shortly.” The two boys looked at each other in a daze and then tore off to do as she requested.

She stood up and watched them leave with a tear in her eye. She reached over and ran a hand along my jaw and whispered, “Oh, how I wish I could have spent time with you when you were that age…I’ve missed so much.” Maya came over and joined me in giving her a hug that Mom held onto for a long time before finally gently pushing us away with a smile and wiping away a tear, She redirected her attention to the horses and indicated the flames. “Most impressive really. I was originally going to have one of the earth wizards or healers imprint them before you left, but I never thought a fire spell would work out so well.

“You mean you never did this before?” Maya said with some shock in her voice.

Mother smiled calmly. “Well, now that you mention it, no I haven’t. These are the only two in existence. But please come over here, dear.” Maya approached the horse and removed her gauntlets. Slowly, and with some trepidation, she ran her hand over the mare’s mane, her delicate hands disappearing into the blue foxfire. “The flames are cool to the touch…but what are they?”

Mother’s gaze fell upon the stallion and her eyes narrowed; he snorted and quickly turned his head away as if embarrassed, and she continued, “Oh, a certain someone decided that they weren’t going to tell you, and he is also now in a lot of trouble!”

“How could they have told us anything?” I asked, as Dawn glided up and started petting the mare, enjoying the cold sensations created by the flames. Dusk held back and was chatting quietly with Captain Higs, who was still standing in the group despite his lack of clothes.

“Your druid friends,” Mother said. “These two even lied to them to keep this a secret for some reason. Whoever coined the phrase ‘horse sense’ wasn’t talking about these two!” The stallion nickered and blew blue fire out his lips but still didn’t look Mom in the face. “They’re called Vakhas, or Steppe Guardians, if you prefer. This sweetheart of a girl is Kaima, and the grouchy troublemaker over there is Somnus. But we’ve delayed you long enough, you both need to get on the road.”

After a few minutes, and with the help of the stable boys, we got the warhorses armored and their packs loaded and ready to go. Maya and I mounted up as Nia took her place on my shoulder. Ready to head out, we started for the gate when we heard more shouting. We both sighed, fearing we would never get on the road.

But this time, the shouting was coming from Lin and Julia as they came running down the road. Neither was wearing her usual green robe, but was instead decked out in serviceable travel gear. Completing the look was a backpack with a wicked looking bone dagger strapped to the side. Of course, as soon as they spotted us, they slid to a stop in awe.

“Whoa! Do you guys know how cool you look in white armor and flaming warhorses? Why the heck do you have flaming warhorses?” Lin asked. Again, Somnus found something interesting to look at in the other direction, obviously hoping that he wouldn’t get blamed for this.

“We have no time, Lin, we’re already late as it is,” announced an impatient Julia, with a wicked look in her eyes. “Dibs on riding with Maya!” she shouted starting to throw her gear up on the back of Kaima.

“Whoa, hold on here. What do you two think you’re doing?” Maya demanded.

Confused, the girls looked at Rosa, who in turn looked a little guilty herself. “Sorry, I forgot to tell you I’m sending them along with you; you might need the help. And if either of you gets hurt, they both know a bit of healing that should keep you alive.”

The girls nodded, smiling broadly. “Your dad and Alera had us up almost all night. Your father was giving us lessons on healing that druids can do and Alera helped with the actual spells.”

I looked at them skeptically. “What does your Primus, Hons think about this?” I ventured.

Lin perked up. “Oh, he’s fine with it. We don’t have any druid teachers here, so there’s no one to instruct us anymore. We’ll just have to learn by doing.”

Maya and I sighed in unison, knowing perfectly well that we weren’t going to win this one. “Fine, you can come.”

Quite happy with themselves, the girls stowed their gear and got ready to go. What followed was a heated discussion that I’m pretty sure was in a rare dialect of mole rat, but anyway, Lin was now riding with Maya and Julia was on the back of Somnus with me.

“I’ll keep you all up-to-date on everything that happens here through the link; and talk to me every night, please don’t let me worry about you all,” Rosa pleaded.

We said our goodbyes and gave everyone a hug; even the twins were getting emotional on us. But soon we were on our way to the gate. Once there, we happened on a most peculiar sight. There was Darroth, red faced and arguing with a pair of donkeys - and losing said argument.

“Stupid, brain-dead asses, get a move on! Ugh, just go!” he shouted in vain as the donkeys just stood there stubbornly.

“Having trouble there, Darroth?” asked Maya with a mischievous tone in her voice.

He looked up at us before almost jumping out of his skin. “You two! Don’t ever sneak up on a dwarf with flaming warhorses! Why the hell are your horses on fire? You know what, never mind. If you tell me, I’ll probably just go back inside and break the rest of my hammers.” He glowered up at me. “You make a man feel small, you know.”

Maya guffawed, “And from up here, you’re even smaller!”

Darroth huffed, “Why, I never! You have a sharp tongue today.”

We all laughed. “Darroth, meet Somnus and Kaima, now that we know their real names.” Both warhorses bowed their heads to the flustered dwarf. “And where are you headed?” Maya asked.

“I’m told you both will be heading to the dark elf capital.”

Maya eyed him with a start. “Please tell me you’re not planning on going, too.”

He huffed, “Great dwarven beards, no! I don’t want to be anywhere near that much crazy. Nope, I’m heading to the dwarven stronghold, Bellrock Keep. I’m told that’s where you will be going after you’re done with the dark elves. Figured I’d see what I can do to smooth things along and have everything in order by the time you arrive, dwarven politics being what they are, you know.”

Maya laughed. “Yes, I’m sure that’s it, and the fact that there’s no ale to be found anywhere in this fortress has absolutely nothing to do with it, right?”

He huffed again, “How’s a smith supposed to find any inspiration around here with nothing to grease the wheels, as it were!”

“Ahuh…and who is going to stay here and keep the forge going? ”

“One of my old students who joined the guard made it out. He’s competent enough to sharpen weapons I would say, but not much more. Now, can we stop talking and get this stupid cart thing moving?”

Lin had gone over to the two donkeys and was stroking their ears and mumbling to them calmly. She scowled at Darroth and shook her head. “They don’t like you very much. You yell a lot and you don’t call them by their proper names.”

Darroth sputtered, “I’m not running a damn donkey social club here, and I don’t even know their proper names!”

“This stunningly gorgeous tan one is Miss Clara; the other beautiful girl decked out in black and gray is Lady Gemma, and if you promise to speak respectfully to them and go back inside and get a nice bunch of carrots from Rosa’s secret stash, these two jennies will be pleased to take the distinguished dwarf from Xarparion, and his ridiculously heavy cart, anywhere he would like to go.”

Darroth just stood there open-mouthed, with steam coming out of his ears, as Lin climbed up and Maya and I hastily launched the warhorses up the road, leaving a frustrated dwarf in the middle of the road to hash things out with Miss Clara and Lady Gemma.

Leaving Sky Raven took longer than I would have expected. The guards didn’t seem to have quite gotten the hang of operating the massive door yet, and all the ruckus with us leaving didn’t help their concentration, either. Hons was there and we shook hands solidly, and I asked him to support Rosa as much as he could. Maya was still handing out orders to a shirtless Higs, while he trotted alongside us all the way to outside the gate. The twins followed and waved, excitedly blowing kisses.

One last look behind, a few last waves and words of encouragement, and we started our descent  down the mountain.

Chapter 8

Relieved to be finally away, the horses settled into a comfortable pace. The two druids were chatting and pointing non-stop, excited to be on their first great adventure. Maya patiently took time to coach and acquaint them in dark elf society and customs. Fortunately, as in most agrarian societies or peoples who are deeply connected to the land and forests, dark elves revere druids. Maya was pretty sure the girls would be treated as celebrities by most of her people.

The Vakhas were clearly exhilarated, for once not tied down to the snail’s pace of foot traffic or worse yet, donkeys. They were able to really let loose and show everyone what they could do. I am no expert, but it appeared we were easily doubling the pace of a quality travelling horse, and neither of them showed the slightest fatigue, either. Nia, however, apparently found the rhythmic motion of the lope, with its three fast beats and pause, almost irresistibly hypnotic and quickly fell asleep in her niche on the shoulder of my armor.

Using our link through Winya as a conduit, Maya and I found we could communicate fairly well in our minds. This had the advantage of bypassing all the girls’ chatting and the clatter of hooves. The travel was easy; the road was a little choppy, but the Vakhas never wavered in their pace. Scrub plains and stone plinths soon became areas of scrub oak and bushes. Off in the distance, the green wall of a forest loomed. We stopped briefly for necessities and to grab a bite, then we were back on the road and the miles were flying by.