by Duke Kittle
* * *
The walk back to the Stumble Drum had been less eventful than Tina had expected. The guards had seen Luna’s condition when the three of them returned, and Tina expected Captain Cephalin wouldn't be happy that one of his lieutenants had been hurt on a venture with a wizard. But from what the nurse had said, Luna was going to be all right, and there was work to be done.
Back at the Stumble Drum, Kravek stepped through the doors at the front of the dining area and headed for the counter. Tina could hear muttered conversation among the gathering lunch crowd and noticed one or two patrons glancing her way. The sailors from the Thorn's Side were among those who were not looking at the pair, with the exception of the grey-furred Kylathian Captain Jessica Morgan, who was seated in a corner booth with her Madrian Shepherd first mate, Allister, and her black cabin cat, Thomas. Captain Morgan waved Tina over at seeing her on Kravek's shoulder. Tina shook her head at the captain. She didn't have time for socializing at the moment.
Kravek stepped up to the bar counter and put his hand down on it. Tina climbed down his arm onto the countertop and started for her door. She noted Mr. Kilba was behind the counter pouring water into a mug in front of a badger. She rounded the mug to head for her door but was surprised when she heard Lazur Thulfa's voice. “I was just waiting for you, wizard.”
Tina stopped and looked up at the stocky badger. She hadn't recognized him in passing without her glasses. “Oh, Lazur. We were just about to seek you out.”
Lazur lifted one eyebrow. “We?”
Tina pointed to Kravek who had seated himself at the counter. Mr. Kilba stepped up in front of the black bull, but Kravek shook his head and waved the weasel off. A curious smile appeared on Tina's mouth, but she shook it off and looked back up at Lazur. “Kravek has been accompanying me this morning. He has a much longer stride than I.”
Lazur raised both eyebrows and nodded. “I see. Did Beth tell you I was looking for you?”
“She did.” Tina reached up to adjust her glasses and came just short of hitting herself in the face in consternation for not being able to repress the personal tic. “I had errands to run this morning; and to be honest, I was a little unsure of how I should react to your telling Captain Cephalin where I was rooming. I had wanted to keep my presence secret a little longer.”
Lazur folded his arms on the counter. “You mean, you hadn't told Idori that you were here yet?”
Tina wrinkled her muzzle. “No, I hadn't.” She hesitated for a moment to tell Lazur it was practically his fault Luna had been hurt since Governor Keldo had insisted Tina have an escort. But she knew better than that, and she was the one who had picked Luna in the first place. “But it's no matter. I wanted to ask you about something, and Beth said you wanted to tell me something as well.”
Lazur gestured to Tina with his hand. “Ladies first.”
Tina wiggled her whiskers. “Well, I have a couple of questions, actually.”
“Fire away.”
“First of all,” Tina swiveled her ears toward Lazur, “the governor mentioned to me that the wizard had a pair of assistants with him, a couple of Kamadene women. The Kamadene aren't common in this area, and I was wondering if you knew anything about their whereabouts right now.”
Lazur shook his head. “I know who you're talking about, but I can't say I've seen them since the wizard died.” He rubbed his chin, “Come to think of it, I don't recall seeing them much after the Dragon Eaters appeared, either. Though they did once come out to Garina's farm to help her till the land.”
“Yes, the governor did tell me they lent a hand on the farms once in awhile.” Tina wrinkled her muzzle again. It seemed odd to her that the wizard would lend his assistants out to do farm work, but she pushed the thought aside for the time being. “If you come across any information about them, I'd appreciate it if you let me know.”
Lazur nodded. “I'll keep an ear up.”
Tina returned the nod. “Thank you. The next question concerns the wizard directly. Do you know where he died?”
Lazur nodded. “I do. Me and a couple of the others in town were trying to convince him not to go out and face those things on his own in an open field. But he seemed insistent on doing it.”
“You saw him die, then? How did it happen?”
Lazur leaned back from the counter. “Didn't think you the morbid type, wizard.”
Tina shook her head. “It's not out of curiosity that I ask. Details of how he died might help me determine what he was trying to do and to avoid possibly attempting the same thing myself.”
“Ahh, that makes sense.” Lazur picked up his mug of water and took a drink of it. He wiped the back of his arm across his muzzle. “Garina and I were standing at the edge of the woods watching the wizard while he was walking out into the middle of the fields between here and the mine south of the city. We'd tried to convince him not to go, but like I said, he was insistent. The others with us didn't even want to get close to the tree line.”
“If you don't mind my asking, what were you doing there in the first place?” Tina seated herself in front of Lazur with her legs crossed and her arms folded. “Surely, you didn't follow him all that way just to tell him it was a bad idea.”
Lazur shook his head. “He'd hired a few folks to help him set up some 'magic trap' for the things. There was this big stack of wood, looked like he was setting up for a bonfire. But he wasn't burning any of it. Last thing he did before moving back into the trees was chant some words out and make some kind of purple smoke rise from it. But the whole time, we couldn't see any fire. He'd had us clear an area of tall grass about twenty feet all around the pile of wood so he could draw some odd marks. Took him almost an hour to get all of the marks he wanted drawn.”
“Anyway, it was already starting to get dark when those monsters decided to show up. It's the earliest I've ever seen them walking around. It was like they were drawn to that pile of wood because they went right for it. They even started shoving it in their mouths.” Lazur took another drink of his water and put the mug back down. “It was pretty strange, the whole thing. I thought they ate dragons, not wood.” He waved his hand. “But they just gobbled it all up. Then the wizard moved out in front of all three of them and stood right in the middle of that drawing.”
“We thought they were going to eat him, but whatever that circle and those drawings were for, they didn't want to move any closer once the wood was gone. It looked like he was talking to them or something after that, maybe trying to calm them down. I don't know. But it didn't work. The big, red one let out this loud roar, and I saw something like heat rising off the ground on a hot day swirl all around the wizard just before the red creep snatched him up and ate him.”
Tina cringed. It was hard to get any more dead than that. “Thank you, Lazur. I think that's all I need to know.”
“It might not be. And that's what I came to see you about.” Lazur leaned down from his stool and picked up a rectangular object with cloth wrapped around it. He laid it onto the table next to Tina and folded his arms again. “I saw something fall from the wizard's robe when the Dragon Eater grabbed him. This was lying in the middle of the circle.”
Tina looked at the cloth-wrapped object. She lifted one edge of the cloth. It was a book. “The wizard had this with him when he went to confront the Dragon Eaters?”
Lazur nodded. “I thought it was odd for him to have a book with him, but what do I know of what wizards carry around.”
“Too true.” Tina rubbed the side of her muzzle. “Lazur, why didn't you tell me about this before?”
Lazur shook his head. “You didn't really give me a good first impression, wizard. Being judgmental about the people here and the governor and sneaking around in the shadows, I wasn't sure what you were up to. But after seeing what you did for that Maldavian, it just seemed strange.”
Tina's ears stood up. “Strange?”
Lazur
put his finger on top of the book. “That circle you drew in the ground was a lot like the one the other wizard drew. Just a lot smaller.”
Tina wiggled her whiskers. The spiral Angelica had drawn was meant for the casting of a Ritual of Preservation. It wasn't an unusual practice for a wizard to draw a spiral like that, but she doubted Lazur had the knowledge in magic to really recognize the difference. But it did tell her the wizard was using a spell of some sort.
Tina stood up. “You're right, Lazur. Seeing it from your point of view, I must have seemed a bit like a thief sneaking around in the shadows. As far as being judgmental goes, I've learned in my line of work I have to be careful of people. Investigation is largely a matter of observation, so I've gotten used to trying to figure people out from a distance.” She sighed. “But I do see your point.” She put her hand on the edge of the book. “Thank you for bringing this to me. I take it from this you've decided to put a little more trust in me, hm?”
Lazur snorted. “Don't go too far, wizard. I trust you enough to try to put this thing to rest.” He leaned back from the counter. “Don't start thinking that means I'm ready to put my life in your hands.”
Tina smiled. “Fair enough.” She considered for a moment before asking her last question. “Lazur, how long ago was it that the wizard died?”
Lazur scratched the underside of his chin. “It would be around five months ago, so right in the middle of autumn.”
Tina supposed there would be no chance the spell spiral would still be visible since autumn was a rainy season. The winter had surely brought enough snow for the spring thaw to wash the spiral away even then. She nodded. “Thank you, Lazur.” She put her hand on the cloth wrapped book. “I'll see what I can find out from this book. Though, I am curious about one thing. Why were you holding onto it? I would have thought you'd hand it over to the guards or the governor.”
Lazur shrugged. “Idori might have destroyed it.” He thumbed toward the governor's house at the northern end of town. “And while I trust Governor Keldo to do what's right for the people, I'm not sure I trust him enough to put an implement of magic in his hands. I wasn't sure of what to do with it until I heard the governor was going to the Council of Stars for help.”
Tina nodded. “I think I can understand that.” She smiled at Lazur. “Thank you again, Lazur. You've been very helpful.”
Lazur gestured toward the book. “You need any help moving that somewhere safe?”
Tina shook her head. “I will handle it.”
Lazur nodded and rose from his seat. “Be careful, wizard.”
As Lazur walked away from the counter, Tina turned her head toward Kravek. She could see he had been keeping an eye on her, but he had stayed far enough away for her to handle business privately. She beckoned him over.
Kravek rested his hand on the counter next to Tina once he'd moved from his seat. “Guess we don't have to go looking for him, huh?”
Tina giggled. She pointed at the covered book. “Is there room in your backpack for that?”
Kravek started to lift the edge of the cloth covering the book, but Tina swatted his finger with her tail, and he moved his hand away. “Dangerous?”
“Potentially. Just leave the binding on and don't open it.”
Kravek nodded. “It'll fit in the back pocket.” He put his backpack down on the table and opened a large flap on the back. The book fit inside snuggly, and Kravek tied the flap. He then slung his backpack onto his shoulders again. “Since Lazur came to us, where do we go from here?”
“Before we do anything else,” Tina pinched the bridge of her muzzle, “I need my glasses.”