The Ways of Mages: Starfire (8 page)

“
Yes, but they will
have
to move. Which would be nice for the other thing we could use sound for
.”
Cotey said undeterred.

“
What would that be
?”
Duncan asked.

“
Have any of you made a note resonate from a crystal glass
?”
Perela smiled and nodded.

“
I’
ve seen it done as an act once
.”
Trevor said. The other men nodded.

“
Did you know that if you play the same resonance note as the glass and focus it to a point that the glass will shatter
?
”

“
I’
ve seen an opera singer do that
.”
Perela answered.
 “
But what does this have to do with our situation
?
”

“
If we can find the wal
l’
s resonance and make it ring, much like a stone bell, we can make our own door
.”
Cotey said leaning back in his chair.

***

The waning moon nigh
t’
s uneasiness focused on one point, or rather, an individual. Ryan made it to his quarters before it hit him hard. It was one of those times that he cursed his heritage. He pressed against the door, fighting the pain.

The pain would not be fought. It drove deeper into his flesh and mind. Ryan thought he managed to lock the door before he was pulled under.

Fires that smelled of sulfur and screamed like the damned roiled before his vision. Evil laughed in glee. Shadows of men were torn apart by Dark Sons. Ryan saw Duncan fighting valiantly with his men. But they were being separated by the damned.

An equine face appeared. A face Ryan knew to be long dead. The Ucora was gold white with a flaming mane and a ruby horn. Black eyes met his and a monotone voice spoke
.“
My son of the Fire, the world is uneasy. The Dark plans something this night. Give warning to the sons of the Light
.
”

Abruptly, the vision ended. Unfortunately the pain remained. Ryan gasped and clawed at the stone floor
.“
T
yé
! At
yé
! Wav t
y
é
’
ou
!”
He writhed, begging in old Arathin.
Mercy! Pity! Have mercy on me!
The pain knew of no such thing a
s’
merc
y’
. It continued, raking its claws through tender flesh. It was times like these that he cursedhis gifts and his bloodlines. It made him feel better as he writhed. But, when he was not suffering under pai
n’
s heavy weight, he understood why he had it. Pain was the price he paid for the warnings of the future. The severity of the pain let him know how soon the event would be. The length after the vision the pain lasted, unfortunately, determined the importance of the vision. The longer, the more important.  When he cursed his heritage, it seemed unfair to him that he paid for something he never asked for.

But when he compared it to the lives he helped to save by getting the warning to the right people in time, the pain mattered very little. It was much worse when he failed to get the warning to the right ears. Many lost their lives last time. And an innocent man felt that it had been his fault. Sometimes Ryan could warn, but the event happened anyway. Some things, regrettably, are stuck in time.

A timeless moment later the pain finally ebbed enough that he could move on his own accord. He half crawled half dragged himself to the small fire place. The banked coals were too cold. His golden eyes turned black and the coals leapt to life. Ryan crawled into the fir
e’
s warm embrace.

Arathin
-
Plarn
,
Marlhema

Zeeve the Moleci, or stupi according to Terana, gulped as she walked under his branch. He was going to return to Plarn, but not yet. He was glad he was going to let Terana cool off. She looked ready to spit fire.

“
What have you done, little moleci
?”
A voice behind him made him yelp. Zeeve did a one-eighty and stared. Before him was an intelligent eyed Red-Wing Black Bird. The Red wing was large for his kind and spoke perfectly good common
marlnaim
. There was only one good explanation for over large talking birds. A wizard. It took an immensely talented wizard to shape shift
and
talk. One an awful lot like Razyan Seithan.

“
Razyan, you did not have to scare me like that
.”
Zeeve chided the bird, losing the entire third person dialog that he had been uttering for the last week and a half.

The bird chuckled
.“
Sorry, moleci, but
you
did call me, remember?

“
Yes, but you did not have to scare me to death
!
”

“
Funny, you look very much alive to me
.”
The Red-win
g’
s voice held an ounce or so of wicked humor in it. Zeeve did
n’
t think the comment was worth a response other than a shake of the head
.“
So why did you call me
?”
Razyan continued
.“
You did not get the chance to say
.
”

“
Yes, well, you can thank Jeremy for that
.
”

“
Jeremy
?
”

“
Yes, he interrupted me
.
”

“
I noticed
.”
Razyan drawled.

Zeeve continued as if Razyan had
n’
t said a word
.“
I was going to tell you that I wanted you to come here
.
”

“
I’
m here
.”
Razyan pointed out
.“
What can I do for you
?”
Razyan asked, a little too politely.

“
I think I have found someone with magic
.
”

“
Who? The girl who you put into such a rage? The same one who called yo
u‘
stup
i’?
”

Zeeve narrowed his eyes
.“
You are having way too much fun with that
.
”

“
I am easily amused
.”
Razyan agreed, bowing.

“
So I can tell
.”
Zeeve said crossing his arms as he leaned against a skyward pointing branch.

“
So, you think you have found a girl with magic
.”
Razyan said bringing them back to their original conversation
.“
Why
?”
He asked, cocking his bird head to one side. 

“
Why? Did you not feel it earlier? There is a pool of magic that surrounds this place
.
”

“
I
t’
s faint
.”
Razyan remarked.

Zeeve nodded
.“
I know, but there is something that Brightens it. I believe it is the girl. For the last week I have been living at her home and I can almost see the tiny ripples whenever strong emotion grips her. Or a wish
.”
Zeeve added thoughtfully. His brown eyes focused upon Razyan again
.“
But I ca
n’
t really be sure. Do you have a stone
?
”

Razyan snorted
.“
I would be a hypocrite if I did
n’
t have one. You know that I tell all of the mages at the Keep to carry a stone
.
”

Zeeve looked apologetic
.“
Sorry. Can I use it
?
”

Razyan smiled
.“
Take it
.”
From seemingly no where Razyan produced a glossy black velvet bag
.“
You remember how to use it, yes
?
”

Zeeve nodded
.“
Put the stone in her hand. If it glows she has magic. If it does not..
.
”

“
She does
n’
t
.”
Razyan finished.

“
Razyan, there is just one problem
.”
Zeeve said, letting the bag settle on the branch. Razyan cocked his head
.“
This bag is a little too big and cumbersome for someone like me to carry down this here tree, through the forest, and to her house. Not to mention being undiscovered. She will be most unhappy if I was caught again. And frankly, I had enough fun being tossed around
.
”

“
Tossed around
?”
Razyan asked, his eyes glinting
.“
This I must hear
.
”

“
Ask Kadrean. Now, are you really going to force me to climb all the way down this tree and scramble through the forest and somehow survive the town
?”
Zeeve asked with puppy eyes.

Razyan rolled his eyes
.“
If you want a ride, just ask
.
”

“
Fine, can you carry me back
?”
If the bird could it would have raised an eyebrow
.“
Please
?
”

“
Very well, I shall
.”
Razyan said bowing his head over one wing; much like a gentleman bowing to a pretty dame.

“
Quit being such a gentleman.
I’
m not a woman
.”
Zeeve grumbled as he scrambled onto Razya
n’
s back. He did
n’
t see the twinkle in Razya
n’
s eye that marked the beginning of a teasing storm.

“
Really? I never knew. Ow! Hey! No pulling the feathers
!
”

“
Ha
!”
Zeeve shouted triumphantly, waving a feather in the air.

“
I ca
n’
t believe you
!”
Razyan cried
.“
Ow! My feather! My poor feather! You monster! Ow, that hurt. You have no
idea
how much that hurt. OW
!
”

“
So dramatic, are you done whimpering
?”
Zeeve asked the bir
d’
s head
.“
You know
,”
Zeeve said stroking the glossy black feather
.“
it is hard to believe that you are a powerful wizard when you act like this
.”
Zeeve scolded with a shake of his head.

“
It is because I
am
a powerful wizard that I
can
act this way
.”
Razyan pointed out
.“
If I am to lug you back to the town we need to have an understanding.  NO PULLING FEATHERS!  Understand
?”
When no reply was forthcoming the Red-wing took the silence as an affirmative and took wing. Razyan was immensely, wickedly so, satisfied when he heard Zeeve yelp at his sudden movement
.“
You can hold on, just no yanking the feathers
.”
He informed the Moleci patronizingly

“
Okay, okay
.”
Zeeve hissed between clenched teeth.

“
Besides
.”
Razyan said thoughtfully
.“
You did give me an excellent opening with that woman comment. I just could
n’
t resist
.
”

“
It is truly amazing that you are alive right now. One would think that you would have angered someone and ended up as a pile of ash
.”
Zeeve remarked.

“
That is why I am only easily amused when I am around people I love
.
”

“
I feel the love
.”
Zeeve replied dryly.

“
You should. You are many peopl
e’
s favorite one to tease
.”
Razyan informed him as they approached Plarn.

“
Is that why I am teased by everybody
?”
Zeeve shook his head
.“
Being who I am, you would think I would get more respect
.
”

Razyan cawed his laughter
.“
Consider it a balance, my tiny friend. Your people treat you with all the pomp and circumstance you can take, plus extra. Among the people you escape to, you are treated to all the teasing you can take. It helps with your ego
.
”

“
Hmm
.”
Zeeve growled
.“
Why do they always call me tiny?
I’
m not
!”
He muttered into the Red-win
g’
s feathers.

“
I
t’
s fun and you are
.”
Razyan answered helpfully. As they flew over Plarn he aske
d“
Which house
?
”

“
That one there, near the square on the forest side
.”
Locating it the bird lifted his wings and dove. All the while the little Moleci screamed curses into Razya
n’
s feathers. Seconds before they could splat into the roof, Razyan pulled up and landed in a flourish
.“
Show off, you could have killed me
!”
The moleci whimpered as he tumbled from the bir
d’
s back.

“
What, you do
n’
t trust me
?”
Razyan asked innocently.

“
I
t’
s hard to trust anybody when they are diving head first to a hard roof
.”
Zeeve grumbled.

“
Would you prefer I barrel rolled
?
”

“
Shut up and good bye
.
”

“
Wait moleci
,”
Zeeve stopped moving toward the chimney
.“
You mentioned Kadrean was here. Where?

“
At the headma
n’
s house. There
.”
Zeeve pointed.

“
Thanks
.
”

“
Hmm
.”
The little Moleci hauled the bag and himself to the chimney and disappeared from sight.

***

Kadrean was in the room he had been given. It was simple with its furnishings. There was a window across from the door. A bed rested next to the window. A closet was stationed to the right of the door and a small writing desk was right inside the door to the left. He reclined on the bed, thinking. This town, Plarn he believed it was called, was strange.

What he had told the headman about being on his way to Ronair had been true, but what he did
n’
t say was he was taking a detour. He had passed the Teheadrillion Mountains for years, but never once along those trips did he notice Plar
n’
s Pass road. It was not well used, that was clear, but neither was it taken over by forest.   Granted, there were other roads leading to mountain villages, but on resent maps, there were none that came to a town called Plarn. Plarn was
n’
t even
on
the maps. He knew, he was studying one!