The Magic Thieves (8 page)

"I'm Alwiil, the guardian of the second chamber of the temple of Tah'Muyd. As you may have guessed, I'm in charge of water magic.” Her voice was melodious but her smile held no warmth. “What is your business here?"

"We're looking for the second piece of the Muyd'Zel.” Elryk smiled. “Can you please tell us where it is?"

"That all depends.” Alwiil's eyes narrowed.

"On what?” Elryk's smile turned less certain.

"On who sent you.” Alwiil's tail vanished back underwater. “And on how strong your water magic is."

"Arith, the seer, told us what to do. Nysat, the earth wizard, sent us here after we retrieved the first piece in the last chamber.” Elryk's shoulders slumped. “And I have no water magic at all."

"Arith? So he remains among the living.” Alwiil nodded. “Since he has always been a good friend, despite being a lofty air wizard, I'll tell you where you can find this next piece of the Muyd'Zel. But obtaining it will not be easy if, as you say, you are without water magic."

"Of course not.” Kaythan snorted. “These things are never easy."

Alwiil stared at him as if he was slime that she'd just pulled out from under a rock. From her perspective, he probably was. After all, he truly didn't have any magic where Elryk had just temporarily ‘lost’ his.

"Kaythan!” Elryk flashed him an angry glance.

"The reason it won't be easy,
warrior
, is because the second piece of the Muyd'Zel lies at the bottom of the ocean.” Alwiil grinned. “Only a very strong water wizard would be able to lift it up from the depths."

"So how can we possibly do it without water magic?” Elryk frowned. “We don't even know its exact location."

"You can thank Nysat for placing you directly above it. You only need to dive straight down to get it.” Alwiil smirked. “However, only one of you can go. The other has to stay on the raft or it will vanish, making it impossible for you to advance to the next chamber. Also, your time is limited because once the diver enters the water, the raft will start to disintegrate."

Kaythan sighed. He knew where this was going.

"So it's a test of our trust in each other as well as of our determination to obtain the Magic Key.” Elryk nodded.

"It is indeed.” Alwiil turned serious. “Do you accept the challenge?"

Elryk looked at him, the question about who Kaythan thought needed to dive into the freezing water clear in his eyes.

"I think I should go.” Kaythan held up a hand to stop Elryk from protesting. “I'm physically stronger. You're still recovering from the gateway episode. And I think that you might be able to stop the raft from disintegrating too quickly, giving us more time."

"Huh?” Elryk's eyes widened. “Of course! The raft is made from wood and should be susceptible to earth magic."

Alwiil chortled. Whether in agreement or for a darker reason he really didn't want to know. He'd never liked any large body of water since his older brother had tried to teach him how to swim by throwing him into a lake. He'd been three years old at the time and if his mother hadn't seen everything and had come to his rescue, he would have drowned.

A dive of unknown length into unfamiliar waters was a challenge for anyone. His personal issues didn't make what he was about to do any easier, but sending Elryk made no sense at all.

"Let's do this.” Kaythan took off his boots, vest and tunic, briefly enjoying the interest in Elryk's gaze as it roamed across his bared chest. His belt and pants followed, leaving him in his briefs.

"Are you sure?” Elryk cleared his throat and tore his gaze away from Kaythan's crotch with an effort.

"I'm sure.” Kaythan cupped his mate's cheek and pressed a brief kiss onto his cool lips. Elryk looking at him as he undressed had him half hard, but there was no time to indulge. He had a job to do first. “Hold the raft for me?"

Before he could change his mind, he started taking deep breaths to increase the oxygen level in his blood. When he was ready, he smiled at Elryk, filled his lungs with as much air as possible and dove head-first into the cold water.

Alwiil had said the piece of the Muyd'Zel they were looking for was right underneath the raft, so he dove straight down. Arms and legs working in tandem, he made what felt like good progress. It was getting darker very quickly, and the cold would eventually make moving very difficult. Not to mention his air supply that was going to run out, probably before anything else could get serious enough to make him turn around.

He shuddered at the thought of being unsuccessful and having to try again. There was nothing for it but to keep going. He could only hope he'd be able to find the piece of the Magic Key on his first try.

Suddenly there was movement to his left, then to his right. Huge shadows approached him.
Crap
. They looked like oversized sharks. He was in his briefs, without any kind of weapon, and he sure as hell wasn't going to be able to swim faster than them. Whether that was straight down or back up towards the surface didn't matter. If they decided to attack, he'd be lost.

He might as well continue and hope for the best. Maybe they would ignore him. Hadn't he heard somewhere that they wouldn't attack as long as there was no blood? There were lots of non-aggressive species as well, so maybe these were some of the harmless type.

Eyeing his new companions carefully, he was amazed to see that they kept a respectful distance, swimming alongside him as though they were some kind of escort or honour guard. They were behaving like dogs. This was strange, but he certainly wasn't going to complain.

Just as the pressure in his lungs became noticeable and he started to worry about his air supply, there was a hint of light ahead. He increased his efforts, pushing downwards with all the power left in his straining muscles. He squinted to try and see better. There it was—a blue-green glow amidst a nest of seaweed. It sat on top of what looked like a coral reef. At this depth, it was bound to be something else. Then it hit him. This was the magical realm, not Tah'Nut, so a lot of the rules that he was used to wouldn't apply here. It could very well be coral.

Crap
. He was beginning to babble in his own mind. His air was definitely starting to run out. He needed to hurry if he wanted to make it back to the surface without drowning.

He moved as close to the object as possible, briefly wondering where the light came from, but deciding that it was a magical object and that he wasn't going to complain about being able to see it.

It was a shell-shaped urn, which was green on the bottom and a swirling blue and white on top. He reached for it, grasping it with fingers that were beginning to go numb from the cold. Shit, he'd already been underwater for close to a minute, and he still had to make it all the way back to the surface.

He pulled the urn close to his body and turned around, heading back to the surface. Needing one arm to hold the urn slowed him down a little, and he hadn't risen too far when the need to breathe became so urgent it hurt. He was still too far below the surface when his legs gave out.

Fuck, he wasn't going to make it.

Briefly wondering if the small urn he was holding would float to the surface if he let go, so that maybe Elryk could retrieve it and continue on his quest without him, he noticed that the sharks were coming closer. Oh, great, now that he was even weaker than before, they were going to eat him after all.

Two of the large beasts swam alongside him. They pushed their noses under his arms, while a third one bumped his ass, and kept pushing. All of them moved in concert, and they increase his speed to three or four times as much as he'd managed on his own.

Amazing
.

He looked up. The surface was approaching at an alarming rate. Just before he thought they might catapult him completely out of the water they slowed down, nudging him ahead with a gentle push. He was still moving fast enough to shoot up, gasping for air his first priority once he broke the surface. He got hold of the raft with one clammy hand and held on for dear life.

Made it
!

Elryk didn't like being left behind. He was the one who needed the pieces of the Magic Key so he could function again. Barely into the second challenge, he'd already had to let Kaythan do all the hard work. His mate had been reluctant to go into the water, Kaythan's wary looks had betrayed him. He hated that Kaythan had to risk his life for him, just because he'd lost his magic and couldn't seem to get it back unaided.
Fuck
! He hated feeling so
powerless
.

Every second that Kaythan remained underwater seemed to last hours. Who knew how deep down that piece of the Magic Key was going to be? Would Kaythan be able to see it in the darkness? Was he going to be able to hold his breath long enough, and withstand the water pressure? What about sharks and other dangerous sea creatures? This might be an artificial ocean inside the magical realm, but there was sure to be some sort of danger lurking underwater. He wanted Kaythan back and in his arms where the other man belonged, damn it!

"Are you worried yet?” Alwiil's voice and gleeful grin grated on his already raw nerves.

"Is that the point of this stupid exercise?” He wanted to yell at her, the universe and anything else that got between him and his mate. Tah', but he wanted Kaythan to be safe.

"It's not an ‘exercise.'” Alwiil shook her head and pointed at the raft. “It's a test of your willingness and ability to trust that your partner will do his part just like he trusts you to do yours. Only if you work together will you succeed."

Elryk took a deep breath. Arith had said the same thing back at his tree house. Apparently, cooperation and trust between them really were crucial if they wanted to succeed. Plus, he was dealing with water magic here. Unlike earth magic, which was solid and stable, water magic was more flexible and fluid. He was going to need it as part of his arsenal, so he better learn how to deal with it.

"As annoying as it is right now, you're right, of course.” Elryk sighed. “But it's hard to sit here and know that my mate might be in danger. Not knowing what is going on and not being able to help him is killing me."

"He's your mate? You are bonded?” Alwiil raised her eyebrows.

"Yes. We've only recently met and found out.” Elryk shrugged. “We haven't had much time to solidify the mate bond, so that makes it a lot harder to deal with this situation."

"I see what you mean.” Alwiil giggled.

"What's so funny?” Elryk was ready to strangle this creature.

"It makes the whole point of this test even more valid.” Alwiil stared at him. “If you two are going to share your lives successfully, you'll need more than the stability of your mate bond to rely on. Just as earth magic is the easier type of magic to deal with, having the stability of the mate bond to rely on is the easy part of the relationship."

"You mean because the bond is already there, like the ground under our feet?” Elryk tilted his head, paying close attention to the guardian.

"Yes, that's exactly what I mean.” Alwiil nodded enthusiastically, her green hair bobbing in the water all around her. “You'll always have that to fall back on. What water magic will give you is an ability to give and take, to let responsibility flow back and forth between you. It'll strengthen the bond by making it less susceptible to breaking from any strain that's put on it."

"So there is a link between all the types of magic and our mate bond?” Elryk's eyes widened. He'd never even thought about it. Not that he'd had an abundance of time for contemplation lately.

"There always is. Historically, the vast majority of mate bonds have involved a wizard, and the type of wizard largely determined the type of bond.” Alwiil grinned. “Bonds involving lightning wizards have always been more interesting, since lightning magic is more volatile. It also includes aspects of all the other types of magic, so the relationship is usually more varied. From what I can see, your bond with Kaythan seems to be no exception."

And with that, the vexing mermaid waved at him and vanished into the depths.
Typical
! Just when the discussion was getting interesting, the person you were trying to get information from took off. At least she'd given him something to think about.

Elryk returned his attention back to the raft, remembering Alwiil's warning about it dissolving. Kaythan had been gone for more than a minute, and to Elryk's horror, the raft began to fade at the edges, dissolving into thin air just like the guardian mermaid had ‘promised’ it would.

He called up the earth magic within him and tried to coax the wooden logs into growing back for him. It was hard work and when the wood finally reacted, he was so relieved that he almost lost his focus.

Sweat soon beaded on his brow and when he noticed first one, then two more shark fins circling the raft, a full-out panic was imminent. How was Kaythan going to make his way back up onto the raft without being attacked, or worse, eaten?

Elryk's heart beat so fast he was about to lose it.

A loud splash right next to him made him jump and he lost his magical hold on the logs. Kaythan was back! Gulping for air and shaking from the exertion, his mate clung to the dissolving raft with the shaking fingers of one hand. In the other, he held a shell-shaped urn, which was a deep green on the bottom and a swirling blue and white on top.

"Here.” Kaythan coughed and held the urn up for him to take.

"Come on up.” Elryk held out a hand, focusing on keeping at least the logs under Kaythan's hand from vanishing.

"No time.” Kaythan shook his head, dislodging rivulets of seawater from his drenched hair. “Get the water magic back, then we can worry about me getting up on the raft."

Not too sure they'd have time to worry, he took the urn, eying the sharks warily. There were at least seven of the great beasts.

"Don't worry about them.” Kaythan brought his second hand up to help him hold on while he regained his breath. “They actually helped me."

"Helped you?” Elryk was distracted from the cool urn for a moment.

"Yeah, they helped push me back up to the surface when I started to run out of air. I don't think I would've made it without them.” Kaythan smiled.