by Viola Grace
Emjel stared at her. “That is... quite the change.”
“Thank you for the clothing.”
“Don’t mention it. That combination suits you.”
Aeli wrinkled her nose. “I wear a variation of it at home. No one cares what I wear around the neighbourhood, so this is my standard uniform aside from the vest. I do love this vest.”
“It suits you. Almost as if it was made for you.” She frowned. “Which is odd.”
“Not really. That is what the laces are for, also, because of the magic inherent in the clothing, I am able to manipulate it for a perfect fit.” Aeli bit her lip. “I can put it back the way it was.”
“No, dear. It looks lovely. I am beginning to realize that my son has had his eye on you for some time.”
“Why did you realize that?”
She took the shredded clothing and set it to one side. “Just something he said once about his opinion of a confident woman. He described you down to the streak in your hair, Aelemilial.”
Aeli blushed. “I can’t think of what I should say about that.”
“Don’t say anything. Just think about whether you are going to include Nolesander in the future you are planning. My son is a good man, and he rarely makes a decision without thinking it through.”
Aeli smiled. “I am definitely leaning in his direction, but aside from him and his family, every other dragon I have met was either insulting me or trying to kill me.”
“Insulting?”
“Yes, mocking the mages has been a Rekker dragon social responsibility since I was a child.”
They were still talking as they walked into the kitchen. Emjel asked, “What?”
“The dragons assigned to the Rekker council, the senior ones, not Nole. They demand that the mages submit to an audit every five years, everything from their groceries to their expenses on entertainment. Every part of a mage’s life is examined, but they stay in Rekker because they are with their own people. It is a demeaning process that ends with growing resentment. It sucks.”
Nole frowned. “I had heard that the audits were only for criminals.”
Aeli cocked her head and raised her eyebrows. “Every mage over the age of fifty participated in the uprising thirty years ago by the nature of their training. That means each and every one of them has been interrogated by the dragons at regular intervals. That is what caused the mages to rise, that is what caused my resentment, and it is what fuelled my rage.”
The dragons around the table stared at her as she checked on the cooker before working on some cabbage for a shredded salad.
If they wanted to have a family dinner before she and Nole left, she would make it as nice as she could with the limited resources at her disposal. They really needed some herbs around the place. Maybe after this was all over, she could help Emjel with her garden.
Chapter Nine
Emjel sat across the table from her and blinked. “I had no idea that the cooker could do that.”
“I make most of our meals that way. It saves me time.” She smiled. “If everyone has had enough, I think I would like to go now.”
Nole nodded. “It is time. It will be near midnight when we get to Rekker. I will call you when everything is over, Father.”
His dad stood, and he nodded. “Aelemilial, are you still holding the wards?”
“I am.”
“Drop them. When they come to the grounds, it will be Nole’s cue to take off.”
Aeli nodded, and she pulled her magic back in. When she was ready, she nodded. “Good to go here.”
Nole smiled. “Well then, let’s head back to Rekker. Father, I want you to call this number in an hour and tell Grand Master Mage Warrok that we are on the way and to wait for us near the exterior wall behind the gardens.”
Aeli sighed and went to the kitchen door. She was leaving before doing dishes, her favourite time of night.
She watched Nole hug his family and ruffle his sister’s hair. When he was done with that, he joined her in the dark gardens.
“Are you sure you want to do this? The dragon council could be asked to find a way.” He took her hand.
“They would have to go through the mage guild and that guild is located in Rekker. There are no good plans of attack that don’t involve lifting the spell first.” She grunted. “I cast it, I have to undo it.”
She thought about what had just happened. “While I appreciate your willingness to help me with my problem, be aware that I am used to solving my own issues and fighting my own battles. I should. I pick most of the fights myself.”
He chuckled. “It seems that it is a habit.”
She shrugged. “Blame my personality but never my upbringing. Dad taught me to take a hit and let fate take its revenge. I believe that fate needs the occasional push.”
She squeezed his hand, and he squeezed back. They could feel the dragons coming toward the Kreelo home, and they were waiting for them to shift into human form so that their escape could get underway.
Aeli watched the dragons descend, and she hid in the shadows with Nole. As the heads of Rekker shifted into human, Nole waited until they walked toward his father as he came out to greet them, and Nole walked around the back of the house for his transformation.
Aeli followed, and when he was shifted, he extended his front claws to her. She stepped into his grasp and curled into a ball as he lunged skyward.
The first time she had flown, she had been cold, frightened, and in shock. Now, she moved her head until she could see the ground beneath them whirling past.
She watched them work their way across the continent. Over the vast stretches of empty space where there was no human habitation, there was only the wildlife that was defended so assiduously.
Aeli spent her time focusing on what she was about to do and the spell that had started it all. She catalogued everything she had added to the spell, including hate and frustration. Every piece of it would have to be unravelled and dealt with. She knew what she had to do, she just had no idea of how she was going to do it.
She felt Nole’s forward progress slow. She shifted slightly to her knees and was thrown violently to one side of his scaled palms. She heard roaring and had to sit while Nole moved in an evasive pattern. She didn’t know what he was evading, but it was angry.
She cast the same ward around them that she had around his family home. It expanded outward and pushed the pursuers away. Well, she hoped that is what happened. She just knew that Nole’s progress changed, and he brought them down to the ground.
When he set her down, and she walked away from him, she got her bearings. Her vision was better at night, and the tattered magic wrapped in the swirling curse showed her home better than bright daylight ever could.
Nole resumed his human form, and he cocked his head. “Are we close enough?”
She grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the spot where the city wall crumbled, and her back garden was visible.
“We are nearly there.”
Nole scowled. “Why is the wall in such rough shape?”
“The repair crews can’t find it. It is part of the curse. Our family home also has issues with power and water, but we can work around that, and we do.” She smiled and kept walking.
“How is it that we can get so close?”
She snorted. “The misdirection spell. It was created to keep what we needed for complicated spell work or anything that could be used to interfere with the council away.”
“It bends magic?”
“It does. I have grown up compensating for the effect, so I am used to it.” She stood at the base of the wall and looked for a handhold.
Nole bent with his fingers locked. “I will give you a lift.”
She blinked, smiled and set her foot into his grip, balancing on the wall as he lifted her up until she could grab hold.
Aeli grunted and hauled herself up, bit by bit, her fingers cramping from digging into the stone.
Her companion flew past her, wobbling to
the top of the wall before his wings faded.
She muttered, “We are in the middle of the curse. I need you here, and the spell is trying to misdirect you.”
He reached down and grabbed her wrist, pulling her up to the top of the wall. “I am here now. I will do anything in my power to help.”
She balanced on top of the wall and looked down the twenty feet into her garden. Her father was standing next to the wall, and he had a ladder leaning up against the stone.
“I am glad you have made it home, Aelemilial. You can help me figure out what we need to finish the spell.”
Aeli climbed down the ladder, and then, she held it for Nole.
He bowed to her father. “Mage Warrok.”
Her father scowled. “Councillor Kreelo.”
Aeli watched the tension that her father was radiating, and she distracted him with a hug. She muttered in his ear, “Either behave or go to your lab. Nole has been nothing but kind, and he saved me from being torn to bits by angry dragons.”
Her father hugged her back, and he snorted softly in her ear. “As if you couldn’t have destroyed them.”
She leaned back and looked him in the eyes. “I wanted them banished, not murdered. I don’t kill.”
Her father blinked several times, and then, he touched her cheek. “No, you don’t. Right. Let’s reset the city, and then, the councillor and I can have a conversation.”
“You will show me what you have come up with, and you two will hash it out while I work on the counter-measure.”
Her father scowled. “I will deliver it.”
“You can’t. You didn’t cast it. I put my own grievances into that spell, not yours. You can’t pull it apart.”
He blinked and frowned. “Right. Of course.”
She smiled. “You were going to throw yourself at the mages?”
He shrugged. “I have been looking forward to a good fight.”
“Well, you can tackle the mages hammering at your wards when I head for the hall.”
He frowned. “How are you going to get there?”
“She can take me there. She is sure of it.”
Her father looked at Nole. “Can she?”
Nole shrugged. “I have never seen a dragon like her. Wherever she came from, there was more power in her development than most dragons I have met.”
“Most?”
“I have met one female recently who is more powerful.”
Her father nodded grimly, “Ah, the diamond. She didn’t choose you, did she?”
“No, I told her that my affections were already fixed, and she provided me with advice on how to court the lady in question.” Nole smiled slightly. “She had already made her choice, and in our culture, the female’s choice is the one that matters.”
Aeli watched her father soften. “So, if she chooses to leave things as they are?”
“I will respect that but remain nearby in case her mind changes.” Nole flicked her a smiling glance.
She blushed but held firm. “I am fairly sure that I have already made up my mind. I know she has.”
Aeli looked at her father and then Nole. “Right. I think we should get this started.”
Her father nodded. “Let’s go to your lab. I have assembled the necessary ingredients.”
She took Nole’s hand and led him through the maze of plants that made up the back yard of the florist and herbalist shop. She noticed that the plants bent toward her, and the denuded herb bushes began to sprout as she passed. Nole squeezed her hand. She was catching on to the fact that her affinity with plants had always been more than a standard herbal mage could claim.
Her father’s arrangement and the notes he had made for the reversal spell matched what she had come up with.
She was bending over the table when her father asked, “Aelemilial, where did you get those clothes?”
“Nole’s mother offered them to me. They will shift when I do, so public nudity is no longer a concern.”
Nole filled in details. “They are enchanted to fit any figure and will move aside when she shifts.”
“Ah. They are very formfitting.”
She looked at them, and Nole’s eyes were bright. She glanced back and saw the curve of her buttocks outlined by the taut fabric. “Ah, well, it can’t be helped, and my normal clothing is very similar, just matte with no shine.”
She focused on the herbs, took a breath, and started to shred them into the large mortar nearby.
Nole asked, “Why don’t you just cut them?”
Her father began basic magic instruction while she worked. The explanation that she had grown up with of cut the leaves and halve the magic rang in her ears as she continued to shred the leaves into tiny bits, one by one.
Her brain focused on her task until she had a small heap of fragrant greens in the mortar; then, she began to grind them with the pestle, whispering magic into them as she went. The other ingredients, the oils, the spellbinders, and a hint of chili oil for potency. The first spell had used mint to cool tempers, so it was a nice contrast.
She poured it into the suspension orb, and she stepped back, or rather, she staggered back, and Nole caught her.
“I need a few hours of rest before the spell is ready.” She looked up at him. “I have a cot in the back of the lab.”
Her father came in with a tea tray. “I made the bed. The linen is fresh.”
Aeli smiled up at Nole. “Behind the curtain, to the left, please.”
He helped her and supported her in her stagger to the cot. “You should rest in a proper bed.”
“I have one, but I need to stay close to the spell for now. It needs me close to keep developing.” She smiled slightly. “Soon this will be over, and I can be taken in front of the dragon council.”
He cleared his throat. “What?”
“I have broken the pact between mages and dragons. The council is not only within their right to punish me, but it is also their responsibility.”
He flipped the blanket on the cot back for her and helped her sit. His expression was closed as if he was thinking of how to get her out of her predicament.
“Don’t worry about it, Nole. I will manage, no matter what happens. I started this mess, and I will finish it.”
She rolled to her side and pulled the blanket up to her chin. He pressed a kiss to her lips and stood. “Are you all right here?”
“Yes. In four hours, the spell should be large enough for me to handle. Don’t pick a fight with my father. He will win. He cheats.” She muttered it as darkness took her over.
She thought she heard a laugh, but she was busy giving the last of her energy to the spell. Proximity was the final ingredient.
One way or another, this would all be over in a few hours.
Chapter Ten
Nolesander watched Aelemilial give in to the even breathing of sleep. He turned and found her father calmly pouring a cup of tea and then another.
“You know they won’t let her live a normal life. Not after what she has done.” Mage Warrok sipped at his tea and held the other out to him.
“I know. I am trying to think of ways around it, but she did cast spells on the council members of the city.”
“The dragon council members.”
“You, more than anyone, know why that is.”
The mage sighed. “I was younger then. I thought that magic held all the answers. The world was moving so fast, and we could make it go faster.”
“And weapons were designed.”
The mage nodded. “They were, and the dragons stopped us before anyone could get hurt. It was embarrassing, but I accepted my lot. I had no idea that the spell I created in the early days hadn’t been burned with the rest of my literature.”
Nole suspected he knew the answer to this question. “Why did you change your ways?”
The mage looked over to the heavy curtain where his daughter slept. “You know the answer.”
“How did you find her?”
“She was lying unde
r an oak, on a bed of moss with flowers surrounding her. The oak was ancient, and its branches were dry and snapping. The only living portion of the tree was right where that baby girl was lying.”
“You took her?”
“There seemed nothing else to do. She saw me and smiled. I could feel the earth energy in her, and for the first two years, I thought she was a dryad from the ancient world, born anew.” He got a faraway look in his eyes, and he smiled. “I knew that day I was blessed and my past had put me in a position to go for a walk that day to find that little girl.”
“What had happened that day?”
The mage blinked and grinned. “I got out of jail. I was determining what I wanted to do. Did I want to fight the council or did I simply want to grow old and die in Rekker? It was a big decision, and my walk took me into the wasteland where I found a small copse of old trees and one gold and green baby. She grew to a more standard shade in a few weeks.”
“You have no idea who her parents are?” Nole wanted to be absolutely sure.
“No. I went back, but the small stand of trees was gone as if it never was. They had delivered her, and that was all that they had been tasked to do.” He shrugged and finished his tea. “I got a daughter and a new lease on life on that day.”
“When did you find out she was a dragon?”
Mage Warrok grimaced. “She was reading at age two and doing all kinds of small spells that were far beyond what she should have been able to manage, even as a dryad. She had an affinity for plants, but her energy had the force of a sledgehammer. She was overpowering and still a toddler. I called every spell crafter that I knew, and they came here to teach her control and moderation. It took three years, but she stopped blowing up everything in the yard. After that, her studies focused on natural medicine, and we set up the shop. It was fun to learn as she did, but knowing that she was a dragon, I counted on the disorientation curse on our property to keep others of her kind away. You just had to keep coming.”
Nole looked at the older man’s grimace. “I would apologize, but I am not sorry. She has the right to a life of her own.”