by Eric Vall
“As you wish, Your Highness,” I intoned as I bowed. Damn, but she was sexy when she put on her regal airs, even as a joke.
A moment later, Aurora and I were aboard Bobbie, and we roared along the dirt path that led us to Eyton, the capital city of Cedis and seat of King Davit. Days before I gave the bike the channeling gem in her ignition, Aurora used a spark conjured with her powers as an Ignis Mage to power the engine, but now that was no longer necessary. Bobbie would speed up or slow down on command. I didn’t even need to steer though she would let me take over like any good steed. She knew the path well and even found a shortcut up along a dried creek bed that cut a few minutes from our travel time, so I usually just let her run.
With the death of Camus Dred, Eyton was no longer under a curfew, and the gates to the city were wide open. The citizens, men, women, and children, waved and cheered as we passed. I couldn’t imagine how that would ever grow old. We left Bobbie in her usual stall in the stable just inside the city walls, and she gave a little grumble as if she didn’t want us to leave.
I stroked her handlebars. “Be a good girl.”
Aurora stood back as I let go of the familiar surge through my veins and willed the stone around my Bobbie to rise up and envelope her in a warm, protective cocoon.
“You know, Mason,” Aurora smirked, “you don’t really have to do that anymore. I pity anyone who’d try to do anything to her now that she’s, well, awake.”
“I know, but it’s what she’s used to,” I responded with a smile. “She likes it.”
The half-elf mage rolled her eyes and took my hand to pull me away toward the palace. It was an uphill path, arduous even at my hale and healthiest, through crooked city streets. Even off our distinctive and loud steed, the people of Eyton recognized us and greeted us with bows and cheers. I soaked it all up. After all, who wouldn’t want to be seen as a conquering hero?
Regardless of the adulation, by the time we reached the gates of the palace, I required no additional persuasion to move in the direction of the infirmary. A familiar figure, Captain Norick Mayard, the commander of the royal retinue began to greet us but then paused when he looked me over.
“Gods, Defender Flynt, I’ve never seen you so pale,” the red-haired knight grunted. “Are you all right?”
“Never better,” I groaned sarcastically. “Catch you later, amigo.”
“We’re going to the infirmary,” Aurora explained and gave me a yank in that direction.
“Good,” Mayard nodded, and his face betrayed his concern.
It had only been two days since the battle in the castle, and the infirmary was still a whirlwind of activity. The healers, I had learned, were holy men and women in service of Pallax, god of wisdom and charity. Unlike their counterparts in the Middle Ages and Renaissance on my own planet, they seemed to do more good than harm. Let’s just say, they knew better than to rely on leeches for their cures.
“Can someone help us?” Aurora asked the first healer we came across, a paunchy old man with a head the shape and smoothness of an egg. “We need to see Shoshanne.”
The man lay his hand on my forehead, wet with sweat. “He has a fever. I can take care of him.”
“I’m afraid Princess Balmier has insisted that Shoshanne treat me.” I gave him an apologetic half smile. “No disrespect intended.”
If he had been offended, the healer knew better than to show it. He hurried off while I lurched for the nearest empty cot. A moment later, he returned with a woman. I began to think perhaps I was even sicker than I thought when I saw what I could only imagine was a hallucination.
Tall and slender, she was modestly attired in the robes of her order, and though she moved hurriedly, it was with grace and strength. She had wild, curly copper-colored hair pulled back in a messy bun, and her skin was the color of coffee with cream. She didn’t look my way at first but instead conversed with the healer we had just talked to as she put on her gloves.
“Hennot, you cannot drag me away from a patient,” I heard her complain.
“Tolnar can take care of him,” the healer Hennot insisted. “Her Royal Highness herself insisted that you see this man. I believe he’s the mage who saved the kingdom.”
At that, Shoshanne turned to me, and her brown eyes seemed to go right through me.
“Am I delirious, or is she absolutely gorgeous?” I whispered to Aurora.
Aurora couldn’t help but crack a smile as she held my hand. “Evidently, your libido is healthy enough, my love. Yes, she is quite striking.”
“I will need some gauze and polwort poultices,” Shoshanne barked to Hennot. “Now. Hurry.”
I felt weak, but I doubted I would have resisted under any circumstances as she made quick work of taking off my clothing. Modesty be damned. I hoped she liked what she saw even if it was a medically necessary procedure. Before she said a word, Hennot bounded back with the supplies she requested.
“I’m impressed you were walking around with these infections,” Shoshanne murmured, and I could feel her warm breath on my skin as she examined me thoroughly. “You must have the stamina of an ox.”
“That he does,” Aurora offered, and then she apparently felt the need to offer with a smirk, “and sometimes the brains of one.”
“Are you going to fix me or insult me?” I asked with a weak grin.
Shoshanne didn’t smile back, but there was a sparkle in her mahogany eyes that suggested she wanted to. Instead, she got to work covering me with the healing ointments. They were the same oils and unguents my previous healer had used on me, I recognized their smell, but the effect was very different.
Almost immediately, the pain in my body began to dissipate. It was as if her very touch was an anesthetic and a cure in one as it reached deep into me. I gasped and coughed, and then my lungs expanded in my chest as she laid her hands on me.
After that, I was overwhelmed by exhaustion. My eyes seemed to shut against my will, and I fell into darkness.
When I opened them again, Aurora was still by my side. Next to her were Cayla and her father, King Davit. All three breathed with relief on my return to consciousness.
“Don’t ever do that again,” the princess whispered, and tears brimmed in her blue eyes.
“Good to see you in the world of the living.” The king smiled, his whiskey-colored eyes full of concern. “We need you here.”
“How do you feel, my love?” Aurora asked simply.
I took stock. It was hard to explain how I felt because I had never felt this way before. Like any kid, I’d had my share of colds and the flu growing up. Once I even had chicken pox. That said, I would consider myself a very healthy person, and now I felt that I was recovered from a lifetime of sickness. I was strong, full of energy, ready to take on the world.
“I feel like a million bucks!” I chuckled.
“Why do you feel like such a large number of young male deer?” the king asked, confused.
I laughed and then looked under the sheet that covered me. All the festering wounds and ugly bruises had faded and were almost completely gone.
“I told you Shoshanne was good,” Cayla said as she smiled, joy in her blue eyes.
“She’s a damn miracle worker!” I exclaimed.
“What she is,” Aurora said as she cocked an eyebrow, “is an Aer Mage.”
The king, princess, and I all stared at the half-elf together.
“What is an Aer Mage?” the king was the first to respond.
“A mage who commands the element of air,” Aurora replied as she looked at us one after the other. “After you fell asleep, she took off her gloves, and I saw the Mage’s Mark plain as can be.”
“Did you say anything?” I asked.
“No, I didn’t know what to say,” she responded with a shake of her head. “I’ve certainly been under the impression mages of any kind were relatively unknown here in Cedis. Typically, mages migrate to Illaria to receive instruction from the Order.”
“Indeed, this is all news to
me,” King Davit said as he frowned. “I don’t like secrets in my palace. And what does commanding the air have to do with the power to heal?”
I hadn’t noticed Captain Mayard standing behind the king until he spoke and stepped forward. “I summoned her when we arrived in the infirmary, Your Highness. I thought you would want to see the healer who helped your daughter and Defender Flynt, but now you may wish to… ah, here she is now.”
Shoshanne seemed nervous as she approached us and awkwardly curtseyed to the king with a trembling, “Your Highness.”
“Take off your gloves,” King Davit demanded coldly.
“Of course,” Shoshanne obeyed, and then she stripped them off as quickly as she could. “They’re part of my order’s uniform, sire. They help prevent the spread of infections as I treat different--”
“There,” Aurora interrupted as she pointed to the mark on the back of the healer’s hand. “That’s the mark of an Aer Mage.”
“What?” Shoshanne looked to her hand, stunned. “This? I don’t know what you just said, but this is just a funny little discoloration I’ve had for as long as I can remember. I don’t know if it’s from a childhood accident or if it’s a birthmark, but I’ve never heard it called… whatever you just called it. Am I in trouble?”
I didn’t know why I believed Shoshanne that she didn’t know she was an Aer Mage, but I did. After all, Aurora had been the first to spot the mark on me when we first met, and she hadn’t believed my protestations of ignorance either at first. I couldn’t look in the healer’s big brown eyes, wide with confusion, and not trust that she was in a similar predicament.
I could read bewilderment on the faces of Aurora, Cayla, King Davit, and Captain Mayard as well. Evidently, they struggled too to understand how someone could be a mage and not know it.
“Shoshanne,” I said simply. “Where are you from?”
“You’ve probably never heard of it,” the healer said as she turned to me. “A tiny island called Epiphones off the southern coast. My family were fishermen, very poor, reliant on the kindness of the Order of Pallax to survive. They clothed us, healed us, taught us the wisdom of generosity and goodness. I began helping in their ministry, and they recognized an affinity for healing in me. It was the greatest, proudest moment in my life when I was invited to join their ranks.”
“I see,” King Davit said, and I could tell his customary calm had returned. “And you have not been on the mainland very long?”
“Only a few months, Your Majesty,” Shoshanne replied timidly. “The head of our Order summoned us to assist when he heard about the crisis in your kingdom. Please tell me what I did wrong.”
“Nothing at all,” Cayla smiled sweetly. “I don’t think you even knew you were using your magic together with the traditional medicines to help heal people, but I’m so glad you did.”
“I have heard of islands so remote that there’s no knowledge of things like magery,” Aurora acknowledged as she also gave Shoshanne a comforting smile. “To think, you might have lived your whole life without knowing you have the power to do even more than heal the sick.”
“I still don’t understand what controlling the air has to do with healing,” Davit remarked as he shook his head.
“Actually, quite a bit,” I spoke up. “She may be unconsciously cleaning wounds greater than even the best salves and ointments can. Where I’m from, people who are very wounded are given a therapy with a gas called oxygen to speed the healing. Do you feel something when you’re treating patients, Shoshanne? Like a wave of energy that seems to pulse with the blood in your veins?”
“I do,” the healer whispered, and her brown eyes grew even wider with wonderment. “I believed it to be the spirit of Pallax moving through me.”
“It may be,” Aurora said as she nodded, “but it is also how mages like Mason and I feel when we summon our craft.”
“The answer is obvious,” King Davit said as he stood up from my bedside. “You must take her to Illaria and the Order of Elementa where she can learn her full potential.”
“Father has another reason to send us there,” Cayla gave the king a knowing look before turning to me. “He wants us to appeal to King Temin for his assistance in helping to rebuild and refortify. We know the danger from the minions of the Master has not passed us.”
I nodded. I had expected that request for days now.
“I-I cannot go!” Shoshanne blurted. “I have my sworn duties to the service of Pallax to attend. I’m sorry, but--”
“Pallax wants you to go, my child,” Hennot said from behind her. A small group of other healers had gathered, he among them. “If you are capable of even greater good by exploring your gift, then you know in your heart it’s the right thing to do.”
A loose strand of her copper hair fell onto her forehead, and Shoshanne carefully pulled it back while she considered those words. At last, she nodded.
“Excellent,” King Davit clapped his hands together. “We are putting together supplies for you. Assuming your patient Mason here is well enough, you should be able to leave as early as tomorrow afternoon?”
“Yes,” I said, and a wide grin grew on my face. I had an idea of how to solve the problem with Big Guy’s shield, but I would need everyone’s help, including the Aer Mage Shoshanne. “But your training begins tomorrow morning. At the mine. I think you’ll enjoy it.”
Chapter 2
At the crack of dawn, we asked Shoshanne to meet us at the stables just inside the city walls, and to her credit, she didn’t make us wait. Cayla had to stay with her father and supervise the preparation for our journey to Illaria, so it was just Aurora and me.
“Here comes our little Aer Mage,” the blue-haired Ignis Mage whispered as she pointed up the street toward where Shoshanne walked down from the castle and through the narrow streets still illuminated by torchlight more than by the morning sun.
The healer seemed nervous as she walked. Every few feet, Shoshanne would look behind her or start at a noise. Once it was a dog’s bark that made her jump. Another time it was one of the baker’s apprentices who whistled as he arrived at his shop. I couldn’t help but chuckle. Eyton was nowhere near as big a city as Serin, the capital of Illaria, but it seemed overwhelming to a simple girl like her.
Aurora and I exchanged bemused looks as if we shared the same thought. We had to start small so as not to frighten her.
“Best get Bobbie out of ‘bed’ before she gets here,” Aurora whispered, and I nodded. Then I sent a small wave of power to the stone barriers I had pulled around the bike and let them settle back down to the stable floor. Just as I finished, Shoshanne arrived with a shy smile and a small sack looped around her shoulder. She was wrapped in a gray cloak that matched her modest robes, the uniform of her order. Of course, I preferred the way my lovers Cayla and Aurora dressed, tight, low-cut bodices and the like, but there was something about Shoshanne’s innocence, how little aware she was of how sexy she was, which was in itself very alluring.
“Good morning,” she said before her eyes caught sight of Bobbie and widened. “W-what is this?”
“We call her Bobbie,” I explained as I took Shoshanne’s hand and brought her over. “She was one of my first creations when I learned what I could do as a mage. Do you want to touch her?”
I could tell the beautiful Aer Mage didn’t, but she put on a brave face and reached out anyway. Bobbie’s engine purred to life, and Shoshanne jumped back with a squeak of terror.
I tried to hold back a laugh as I said, “It’s okay. She’s friendly.”
“I’ve never seen anything like… her?” Shoshanne said as she gaped at the bike. “S-she’s alive then?”
“I think I’ve always thought of her as alive,” I replied thoughtfully, “but I had an emotional connection from the moment I made her. It took a special, rare kind of magic to give her a mind of her own. In that sense, she’s two days old, but like I said, I’ve always thought of her as more than a tool for transportation. Does that make sens
e?”
Shoshanne laughed and shook her head. “You must think me very stupid.”
“Honey, where I’m from, you’d be considered a doctor, and no one would call them stupid,” I replied with a chuckle. “Maybe it’s easier to show you than to try to explain. Climb on.”
I let Shoshanne climb onto Cayla’s regular seat and made myself a mental note that I needed to make Bobbie big enough for four people to ride before we left. Would there be time enough to create a sidecar? I tucked the thought away for later. There was still much to do.
Aurora eyed her sack and asked, “Is that everything you’ve brought with you for our journey?”
“I’m afraid I don’t have much,” Shoshanne sighed.
“I’m sure the princess will provide,” Aurora reassured her.
I jumped on next, and Aurora slid in front of me as usual. And as usual, the half-elf slid herself back, so the back of her tight skirt touched the front of my leather breeches. That never ceased to give me a charge, especially when Bobbie cranked her engine and we felt her vibrate beneath us.
Shoshanne let out a yelp, but I quickly turned to her with a reassuring grin.
“Don’t worry, you’re safe,” I said and took her hand. I wrapped it around my waist before I did the same with her other arm. “Just hold on tight.”
I didn’t have to say anything out loud to Bobbie about where we needed to go, nor ask her for a slow, steady ride. The bike had felt my thoughts the moment I had them. We slid out of the city gates, smooth and unhurried, and drove northward toward my workshop and mine.
Even with those precautions, I could feel Shoshanne tremble and press her warm body hard against me. I must admit that felt pretty damn good as well. Her head crushed into my back and her tight bun of hair must have come loose because I could see the long dark red curls whip in the wind.
I nudged her gently back and raised my voice over Bobbie’s engine. “Open your eyes and look around! It’s a beautiful country.”
I didn’t know when she actually relaxed and did so, but by the time we arrived at the mine and workshop, her grip around my waist was looser. I took a peek over my shoulder and watched her as she took in everything there was to see, wonderment in her warm dark brown eyes. The morning sun sparkled through her thick, wild hair as it flew free in the wind.