The Ways of Mages: Starfire (28 page)

“
’
fraid not, Blaano. Got to get these two to the Keep as soon as is possible
.
”

“
Really
?
”

“
Yes. Terana here has some powerful magic that we ca
n’
t even name yet
.
”

Blaano turned his gaze to Terana
.“
What do you mean, Kadrean
?
”

Zeeve and Kadrean traded a look
.“
I think showing him would be the easiest
.”
Zeeve suggested. Kadrean nodded and untied a familiar black bag from his belt. He handed Terana the bag and nodded.  Terana swallowed before proceeding to dump the tear shaped, milk on honey stone onto her palm. As before, it flashed brilliantly before melting. Terana flinched from the sensation, but continued to hold the stone in her hand. It continued to flatten out. Pulsating light stung the eyes. It did
n’
t stop. Terana tilted her hand over, squinting in terrified awe as the stone poured from her hand toward the table. Like before, it solidified as soon as it left her hand. The thin crystal shattered as it hit the table.

Terana glanced hesitantly at Kadrean
.“
Sorry
.”
Her small voice broke the silence. Kadrean, Liam, Zeeve, and Blaano were staring like idiots at the crystal. Anger flared briefly within
.“
What?! You saw this before
.”
She told her three companions
.“
Why are you staring like that
?
”

“
I may have seen it once before, but it is still shocking
.”
Kadrean replied soothingly
.“
Calm down, Terana. Your magic is really waking
.
”

“
What
?
”

“
Look at the crystals. The magic within them is responding to your anger
.”
She looked and to her surprise the crystals shimmered with light. The sharp edges slowly smoothed
.“
Tha
t’
s from me
?”
She asked. Her anger faded away and the crystals dimmed as well.

Blaano let loose the breath he had been holding
.“
I see what you mean, Kadrean. Wow, I never thought that could happen
.
”

“
We did
n’
t either
.”
Zeeve agreed.

“
What can Liam do
?”
Blaano pulled his reluctant gaze away from the crystal shards. Liam glanced at Kadrean then reached out to gather the shattered crystal. With entrancing smoothness, the shards flowed together and returned to their original shape. The golden honey color dimmed as the stone turned black
.“
A Drainer
!”
Blaano whistled
.“
You certainly found rare talents Kadrean
.”
Blaan
o’
s eyes settled on Terana
.“
Wherever did you find them
?
”

“
Plar
n”
Kadrean replied.

Blaan
o’
s brow furrowed as he ladled some bowls full of soup
.“
Plarn
?
”

“
Yes. Plarn. A small town in the middle of the country
.
”

“
I have never heard of it
.
”

“
I’
m not surprised
.”
Kadrean said
.“
I
t’
s a mystery, Blaano.
I’
ll tell you more about it late
r
”

“
I’
ll hold you to that
.”
Blaano told him, turning his attention back to Terana.

She met his gaze
.“
What does the
kadelle
do when you touch it
?”
She asked.

Blaano held out his hand for the crystal. Liam gave it to him. The stone kept its black shade, but it picked up red glimmers. Yellow tongues rose from the top of the stone. It looked like Blaano held a burning coal in his hand. Calmly he set it down on the table and it reverted back to its typical milk and honey.

“
Can I have more
?”
Zeeve asked, drawing attention to his empty bowl.

Terana chuckled and Blaano took the bowl
.“
Sure, your majesty
.
”

“
Thank you
.”
Zeeve said and resumed eating when the bowl was placed in front of him. Terana raised an eyebrow at Kadrean. He mouthed
Tell you later.
A bark drew her attention. Russy sat before his own bowl and looked expectantly at Blaano. Zeeve managed to look too
.“
How much soup is left
?”
Zeeve asked.

“
Two thirds, your majesty
.
”

“
You can feed the fluffy mutt a little more
.”
Zeeve then turned his attention back to the food.

With a shake of his head, Blaano  doled out some stew for the wolf
.“I’
m not used to feeding wild animals, but he is so well behaved
.
”

“
Thank you for feeding him
.”
Terana replied.

“
Can I ask how you trained him? Is he like a typical dog
?
”

“
I did
n’
t train him. He does this on his own. And I would
n’
t compare him to
a‘
typical do
g’
. He is a wolf
.
”
 
Terana said, stroking the wol
f’
s ruff.

“
Whatever, no one would suspect he just walked out of the woods
.
”

Terana nodded. She finished her soup and listened to the talk as she waited for Russy to finish seconds. She then excused herself.

Thunder growled in the distance. She could feel it rumble through her feet. Terana looked about her. Stone arched in a natural ceiling over her head. Faintly, like ghosts, Terana could just see a chair, bed, and various other furniture. A blue fire danced in the middle, but, like everything else, it was
n’
t completely there. Terana blinked and the ghostly images faded into memory. Nothing but hard stone surrounded her. Subtlety the cave shifted, so that what had once been a rectangular entrance became a cleft in the surrounding rock. Something was silhouetted in the opening.

Lighting flashed. For an instant, a man was revealed. There was somethin
g…
something familiar about him. There was a sense of danger clinging to hi
m…
He turned more fully toward her. Intense blue eyes met her own for a moment. Terana could
n’
t look away from his gaze even though he did
n’
t truly look at her. He was the man from her nightmare. The one who hurt her, but also the same one who comforted her. Oh, she was in troubl
e…
His face was as attractive as it was before, but this time it lacked the pained insanity. For which she was thankful. He also seemed to be healed from those horrendous burns that had drove him to hurt her.

She found herself wanting to make sure he was okay. The lightning faded. She could
n’
t see him anymore. Terana hurried toward where he had been. Cool air caressed her skin as she found the crevice. It was like she was blind. There was no light. None! And it was driving her crazy. Something soft brushed against her. She reached her hand toward where the softness came from. Lightning flashed again, blinding her. She gasped.

Perched on the edge was an eagle. A huge eagle. Its wings were held slightly away from its body. Her hand was inches away from the nearest feather.  The eagle eyed the storm. The broiling clouds were slowly moving away. Terana shrank from the angry heavens. She wanted to run back into the cave, but she could
n’
t move away from the incredible bird. Was the man a shapeshifter? Were there shapeshifters? She saw a man change from a flame, so surely shifting such as this was possible.

Muddy storm light took over the lighting from the receding lightning flash. For a time the two of them, the impressive eagle and the scared, entranced young woman, stood watch on the ledge. Somehow, her hand was still near the eagl
e’
s outstretched wing. The question was, was she crazy enough to touch him?

Yeah.

Lightly she brushed her fingers over luxuriously smooth night black feathers. Silver flickered in strips upon his wing. He turned toward her, fully aware that she was there. He shrieked a hunte
r’
s cry. Startled, she pulled her hand away. Suddenly everything was black. There was no cav
e…
no eagle. Nothing.

…
Nothin
g
…

“
Yo
u…
I kno
w…
Where are you
?”
A voice whispered faintly in the nothingness. Terana trembled. Yep, it was hi
m…
She could feel something reach for her. She did
n’
t want to move for some reason. She wanted it to find her. She was dreaming, he could
n’
t hurt he
r…
but he did in the past. Her mind reminded her. Terror consumed her. Terana could
n’
t move. She was like a scared rabbit with the hunter stalking near. It was a similar feeling to what she had felt back by that stream with Russy. His voice sounded softly in the void
.“
Hear my call, little one, and come to me. I can give you ligh
t…
I know you do
n’
t like the dar
k
…
”
Terana swallowed. His voice was starting to entrance her.  In fact, she found herself starting to take a step. Something that would make noise and he would know. Know where she was. Then she would be los
t
…

“
Come to m
e
…
”
It was soft, melodic. Eternally patient.  She wanted to hear his voice some more. But if she heard more, she knew she would find herself in his trap
.“
You are afraid of this darkness, are you not? Let me give you ligh
t
…”
 
Somehow, she knew he could
n’
t give light. The darkness of night was his domai
n…
A whimper wanted to drag itself out of her throat and give her awa
y
…
“
Give me your nam
e…
Come on, little one. Give me your name. Tell me where you are
.”
There was infinite patience in his voice. Sooner or later he would find her and he knew it. She knew it. It was
n’
t just that, though. He was very far away. What would happen is she told him where she was?

A shiver lapped up her spine.

He was closer. She could sense it, a cool breeze whispering in the nothing. If she moved, he might hear he
r…
if she staye
d…
he would find her. Could she somehow distract him? Unfortunately, she did
n’
t have anything to thro
w…
maybe if she did speak, then moved quickly somewhere else? Terana knew she her plan had so many holes in it that it could
n’
t hold a drop of water, but she could
n’
t just stand there. She had to at least try. Slowly she started to move backwards
.“
Who are you
?”
Her small voice echoed in the void.

And it echoed for a long, long time. She thought for a moment that he was no longer there. Maybe she had slipped passed him. How she could have done that in this emptiness she did
n’
t know, but maybe? A tiny finger of disappointment touched her. She started to turn when warning flags waved frantically. He was close, too close, though she could
n’
t see him. She made to run, but arms slipped around her. Strong, familiar arm
s…
That whimper got out. Why had
n’
t she just stayed quiet? Why did she have to know who he was?   His breath tickled her ear
.“
You firs
t”
Terana trembled. It would be so easy to tell hi
m…
too easy. And what could be harmed by her telling him
?“
Tell me, little dragon
.
”

“
Huh
?”
Dragon? What did that mean?

Thunder rumbled, rocking the void. He hissed, his hold on her increasing
.“
Tell me
.”
No longer was he gently coercing, he was demanding. Demanding an immediate answer. The thunder grew in volume and power. A chil
d’
s scream soared over the base thunder. An aged, yet commanding voice demanded that she not tell. Caught between the two commands, Terana could do nothing. Seeming to sense or hear the other voice, he whispered gentl
y“
Just your first name
.
”

The chaos increased. Wetness covered her face and splashed against her ear. A small voice begged her to wake. Begged and begged. It captured her attention. It made more sense than this voi
d…
More normal then the commanding voices. It was the middle ground. She could feel the void fade. But if she was in the middle ground she had to obey both voices.

She opened her mouth and managed to say the first part of her name before the wetness entered her mouth.

The dream shattered.

A warm, wet, smelly, pinkish thing was sliming her face. Disoriented, Terana pushed the looming, furry thing away. Russy whined and resisted her attempts to get some tongueless space.

“
Russy
!”
She regretted opening her mouth
.“
Yuck, yuck yuck yuck
!“
Terana rolled away from Russy. She scrubbed her face on the pillow, spat wolf spit into the cloth.  She glanced at the tiny window. It was still dark
.“
Why did you wake me up
?”
She asked, glaring at him. Russy laid down and rested his head on his paws. His amber eyes studied her
.“
Why
?”
She asked again as she turned the pillow over and settled back down.

“
You were in trouble
.”
The same voice that had begged her to wake replied.

“
What made you think I was in trouble
?”
Terana was too disoriented to care that Russy could communicate. She was just happy for some explanation.

“
You were whimpering. Restless
.
”
Russy cocked his head at her
.“
The child begged me to wake you
.
”

“
A child?
!”
Terana sat straight up and looked about the room
.“
What child
?”
There was no response until she looked back at Russy.

“
A distressed one. It told me you needed to wake, but could
n’
t. Told me that he would
n’
t let you leave
.
”

Teran
a’
s brow crinkled as she laid back down. She could
n’
t remember if she ever tried to wake from that dream. She had
n’
t even thought of it in the void. She recalled hoping to be caught, then changing her mind quickly. She had known at some level that she knew that she was dreamin
g…
she just had
n’
t been conscious of it. Terana shook her head at the convoluted reasoning. In the dream, all she was conscious of was that she was going to get caught. There had been no other wa
y…
and she had been caught. If only briefly.

“
What is he, who is he, and is he even real
?”
She asked softly, throwing her arm over her forehead.
And what,
she wondered staring at the ceiling beams;
would I do if he did exist?

***

The Niram
i’
s Grave trembled slightly at the sound of a hunte
r’
s frustration. Too close and too soon.

***

Pershara- The City of Pershara

              Ryan left the practice room where Toliver and Tommy were teaching Tep the finer techniques of sword play. He traveled down the near dark passage. Candle light flickered from a storage room normally dark. Curious, Ryan approached. He was not too worried of danger because the flames were dancing happily. Calm and joyous. Nevertheless, Ryan opened the door wider with his hand on a hidden dagger. Just in case.

             
Behind the crates in an alcove sat Kairevasigh. The girl with sitting in such a way to make the most of the single candle stuck in a candle nook. Ryan let his hand fell from his dagger and approached the girl. He knocked on the wall to warn her of his presence. Kairevasigh startled, snapping the book shut and almost falling off the alcove shelf.

             
Ryan grinned behind a shielding hand. His golden eyes danced mischievously. Smoothing the smile from his face, Ryan dropped his hand
.“
Forgive me for startling you. It had not been my intension
.”
Kairevasigh raised an eyebrow in disbelief though her eye never met his
.“
You do not believe me. Consider this, if I
had
meant to startle you, I would not have knocked
.”
Kairevasigh looked down at her book. She did
n’
t have a response to that
.“
Why do you do that
?”
He asked leaning against the wall.

            
 “
Do what
?”
She asked puzzled.

            
 “
Not meeting someon
e’
s eye when you talk to them
.”
Ryan said looking at the crates.

             
Out of the corner of his eye he caught her glance in his direction before rubbing her hands over the cover of the book
.“
Because, I ca
n’
t
.
”