Giving a signal to the guards behind him, the first of three gates opened beginning the maneuvering between them within the twenty foot deep wall.
Cold looking white walls made of stone lined the inside of the wizards’ hospital in Hala. The yellow garbed wizards and their apprentices in white tunics with yellow banding were the main residents walking the halls of the building as Cheleya followed an apprentice in search of Kel’lor. Feeling cold for the first time on the inside, the girl’s nose smelled cleaners and illness on the air.
Even wizard magic couldn’t make some illnesses go away instantly. A wound was simple, though it took time to fully recover after a wizard treated a patient. Healing magic drained both the wizard and the wounded, though to a lesser degree, and wounds needed nature and time to continue to heal. Unfortunately, some illnesses remained beyond the talents of the healers. They could work to solve the diseases with their magic, but there were no guarantees that they could save everyone.
Cheleya feared the magical poisoning of Kel’lor could be something without an answer in Hala. She had never heard of such a thing, nor had those from Staron, though admittedly none of them were healers like those working within the hospital walls.
When Cheleya, followed by Evantus and Colbie, who had chosen to stay near to help keep the dragoness both out of trouble and safe from it in the big city, found Kel’lor; the mar’goyn’lya in human form looked pale. Opening his eyes as the three arrived, Cheleya realized that his senses were working fine at least. They hadn’t announced their entry, but the gargoyle was awake and watching their approached attentively.
“Have they been able to help you?” the girl asked worried that his answer would be negative.
“They have run tests as well as used their magic to try and remove the corruption as they like to call it. So far I think their wizards are stumped. I guess that my time might be limited,” Kel’lor said looking tired. His brown hair was a mess as he sat up in the bed propped up by pillows. While the poison was slowly killing him, the healers were at least trying to keep him comfortable.
Noting pain in his brown eyes, Cheleya asked, “It hurts?”
“It’s not that bad. Admittedly this body seems to notice it more than my other form, but they didn’t recommend changing back since it requires more magic and might simply make things worse.”
Evantus shook his head as he strolled to the foot of the bed, “So every time you used the amulet it helped spread the poison?”
“Apparently so,” admitted the mar’goyn’lya reluctantly. “Using magic at all, whether to light a fire or use an amulet, will increase the flow of poison. If I hadn’t been staying in one form for most of the trip or used more spells, I probably wouldn’t have made it to Hala.”
“Is there anything I can do?” Cheleya asked with concern obvious on her face. Her emerald green eyes seemed muted from her inability to change the situation.
With a grunt of wry humor, Kel’lor said, “Not unless you can find the shrike that attacked me and make it talk. Otherwise I need to get lucky and have someone come with a cure.” His eyes darkened a little as he added, “I’m afraid that I can’t protect you now, little sister.”
Cheleya nodded sadly, but in the pause Evantus puffed up his chest unconsciously and declared, “Don’t worry. We’ll keep her safe.”
Colbie shot an elbow in the mage’s side making him flinch away in pain. “They were trying to have a moment, you idiot.”
Cheleya couldn’t help laughing at her friends’ antics and her smile brought a wane version to the gargoyle’s lips. Kel’lor nodded at the two mages and replied, “And I thank you for helping us. If this isn’t figured out soon, then you may be stuck with her indefinitely.”
Looking worried, the dragoness admitted, “Maybe not. My father is in the city.”
“Your real father or another person you simply care for like a father?” Evan asked in confusion as Colbie rolled her eyes at her friend. “No one sounded an alarm over a full size dragon roaming the city or anything.”
With a shake of her blond head, Cheleya clarified quickly, “No, he is my real father. He is using an amulet like Kel’lor to change his appearance. He and two other che’ther came along with a team led by Malaketh, but separated in Televal to hurry ahead of the rest of them.
“Father didn’t trust Malaketh’s story and managed to convince the other two to join him. They talk to him like he is a master of magic and I witnessed his power over the earth first hand.” Looking meaningfully at Kel’lor, she added, “He knew dragon mage magic and can fly, though he appeared rather rusty at it.”
“I thought your father was a farmer,” the mar’goyn’lya said in confusion.
“Che’ther live long lives. He has always told me that he is a farmer and helps the others to make the valley rich with plants to feed the city and eyries. Apparently he is a master of earth magic also,” the little blond said with a shrug of her green clad shoulders. Waving her arms, the wide sleeves of her blouse looked almost like wings as they fluttered around. “I discovered them last night when I couldn’t sleep. After a little dragon mage fight where he used earth magic against me, we talked long enough for me to tell him what happened. He didn’t trust Malaketh, so I think that I merely confirmed his suspicions.”
Evantus, still looking a bit confused, had to ask, “So your father, another che’ther dragon, brought two other che’ther to help you against the master that tried to kill you in Mar’kal?”
Sighing at the man, Colbie ignored answering him as she pursued different information from the admission, “So did he say how long until this Malaketh might show up here? We still need to find someone to help you with removing the shards so that a second amulet will let you change back.”
Cheleya shook her head as coughing from Kel’lor halted the conversation momentarily and the mar’goyn’lya took over the conversation immediately saying, “You either need to find where the wizards from Mar’kal are staying or where they’ll be for the tournament. We can just hope that someone will know enough about the amulets to help break the curse on you.”
“If you could capture Malaketh and force him to undo the damage when he arrives, then you wouldn’t need to bother,” Evantus mused drawing frowns from the other three.
“He’ll have help who think that she’s the criminal, Evan,” Colbie shook her head at the mage surprised at his narrow view of the situation. “He probably has some form of warrant from Mar’kal, so anyone from Southwall is likely to side with them before hearing Cheleya’s side.”
“Still he has a point,” the dragoness in question stated thoughtfully. “Father and the other che’ther would turn the numbers against Malaketh to nearly even, as long as they haven’t changed their minds. If Kel’lor were well, we’d match up evenly and it would just be up to who has the better magi.”
Evan brightened as he said, “I’m sure Orlerin would let us help you. With the four of us, even with Kel’lor down, we’d have them outnumbered. If three battle mages and an earth wizard can’t replace one gargoyle, then we should retire now.”
Colbie nodded agreement with Evan for once as Kel’lor frowned slightly. The mar’goyn’lya added, “I am sorry that I am a burden to you, Cheleya. If only I hadn’t let that winged assassin catch me, then I could stand with you.”
“If you tried to use your magic now, you might die, Kel’lor, and I couldn’t ask that of anyone,” the blond haired girl declared adamantly as her mind worked on the idea of letting the mages from Staron help her. “I am unsure if you should get anymore involved with this, Evan. If things go wrong, our two countries might go hard on you for interfering.”
Waving off her worries and stopping Cheleya from going on, Evantus replied, “If we had plausible deniability about taking you here, then we can certainly be allowed to defend our friends from attack. This Malaketh knows how to manipulate the system pretty well, but I don’t believe that he’ll give us much warning if he wants you two dead to cover up his story.
>
“Then there’s the others he leads. If your father questioned your involvement, then if you can get Malaketh to somehow look bad they might turn against him as well.”
Colbie looked at him in surprise. Though Evantus often acted the fool, she forgot that he was actually fairly intelligent. “Well, that is something I hadn’t considered.”
Glancing back to Kel’lor and Cheleya, the woman asked, “Do you think Malaketh will overplay his hand? He obviously tried to kill you once, so it is conceivable that he might try again. I doubt that would sit well with whoever he has with him.”
It was Kel’lor who replied somewhat angrily, “He managed to fool everyone for a decade as he moved up into a position as a master of magic. I doubt that he would suddenly become careless now.”
Cheleya wagged her finger in the air as she countered, “Not necessarily. He nearly gave himself away when I caught him in the act.”
“He fooled you into believing that he wasn’t going to harm you,” Kel’lor stated wondering at how she could have forgotten so easily.
Shaking her head, the girl said, “No, I just didn’t think he could be so cruel to try and kill me. He was my teacher for a year and had always treated me well enough. Even so, I could see a danger in his eyes that night. We hear of so little crime in Mar’kal. Our races attained peace with the burning of our old world that helps hold us all to a different ideal than the greedy humans serving the Dark One. Seeing such darkness in him that night, I was afraid as soon as I knew that he had seen me watching. I feared that he might kill me then. I just couldn’t get my mind to trust my instincts.
“If Malaketh can be pushed to that point again, I have no doubt that our brothers and sisters would turn against him as well.”
A moment’s pause as the others considered her words was finally broken by Kel’lor as he replied, “Still, how can we be sure that he will show his true colors?”
Starting to pace as she thought, Cheleya considered his question even as she wondered if his very human nature was the flaw that could be used against Malaketh.
As the four remained quietly watching the little dragoness pace, a wizard dressed in yellow followed by a pair of apprentices entered the room. His face went from calm to a slight frown before speaking to those assembled in the room, “I am sorry, but visiting time needs to end. There are tests for this man that we need to run now and you will just be in our way.”
“Can you heal him of this poison?” Cheleya countered standing her ground as her eyes revealed the worry she held for her friend.
Softening slightly at the beautiful girl and her fears, the man changed to comforting in a blink as he tried to encourage her with his words, “We are doing the best that we can for him. After dealing with the Dark One for nearly two centuries, our healers have seen almost everything and can heal nearly everything he can throw at us. Just give us a little more time and I am sure that we will have your friend back to full health soon as well.”
The wizard finished by taking her by the shoulders and gently escorted her out of the room. Colbie and Evantus watched in near awe of the man’s softening by Cheleya. Once again they realized that there was something to the girl that just made people like her and want to help.
Outside in the hall of white with only yellow clad wizards and white robed apprentices visible, Cheleya in her green and brown clothing with her two mages in their dark uniforms, stood out looking completely out of place. Such a feeling, as well as the door closing off Kel’lor, encouraged the three to leave the sterile building quickly.
The cold air of late winter caught their faces making the mages from Staron blink at the chill breeze. Cheleya was virtually immune to the cold, but she started for another reason as she spied her father and one of the che’ther she had fought the previous night. Clad in human guise and clothing of a nondescript nature, Cor’Dargan and the dark haired Lystheir were a bit of a surprise standing beyond the guard wall of the hospital.
“Father?” she questioned as the girl hurried outside of the protective walls. The two mages followed right behind her taking in the forms of the two che’ther curiously. Cor’Dargan looked like a man of early middle years with brown hair and eyes. He was shorter than Evan with a lighter frame and a slightly soft belly. His brown shirt and pants, a leather jacket thrown over the former, and brown leather boots gave him the simple appearance of the farmer he claimed to be.
Lystheir, while taller than Colbie and Cheleya, had long, brunette hair slightly curled and wore a black blouse and skirt that rubbed the tops of her black leather boots. Like most transformations from the amulets, the woman had controlled the clothing she would wear, but her deep, blue eyes were something that came from the character of a che’ther. While dressed in a subdued manner, the woman’s appearance was still pleasant to the eye, though somehow unremarkable as well.
Evan’s eyes strayed from her father, a truly unremarkable looking man who would be missed in a crowd wandering Hala, to the slightly more interesting woman pretty quickly. How the amulets could change the huge dragons into these human forms was beyond his comprehension despite his years using magic. The two che’ther in turn, all but ignored the humans flanking the little, blond girl who was too special to be ignored.
“These are your allies?” Dargan asked quiet enough that only the five would hear his words.
“They are my friends,” Cheleya confirmed catching a slight frown from Fa’Lystheir thrown towards the mages. Not every che’ther could be said to like the humans occupying this world. Few could be said to hate them, however, since few from Mar’kal dealt with them in any manner despite several hundred that lived in the mountain city these days.
On the other hand, Cor’Dargan merely nodded at her clarification and asked, “Have you found the delegation from Mar’kal as of yet?”
He was a dragon of few words, especially in public where the quiet man appeared shy. Away from the land and his plants, the farmer became uncomfortable with people, even che’ther.
“We were checking on Kel’lor first. Our friends went to register with the tournament officials since the ambassador virtually forced her to do so in order to get our place to stay at the inn. If we head over there, perhaps we will find the delegation sent to compete in the tournament.
“Tomorrow the first rounds begin. If we miss them here, then we will have to try and find them among the battle fields.”
Shaking his head considering the second part the harder of the two tasks, Dargan suggested, “Then we should probably head over to the office also. We can wait until they show.”
“Where is your other member?” Cheleya asked as she moved to walk beside her father. Feeling the close presence of Colbie and Evantus right behind her, the girl spoke conversationally feeling quite secure.
“He is watching the outer gate furthest north. If Malaketh and his team arrive, he will try and give us warning.”
“Will he try to change his appearance? They should know him by sight after traveling together so long,” the girl worried to the others.
Fa’Lystheir answered from her right, “Elenek knows what he is doing. We are trained as trackers. For those who haven’t been through the training, you don’t realize that we are put on both sides of the search. We get to be both the trackers and the quarry, so we learn to avoid detection as well.”
Feeling like the elder che’ther wanted to call her little girl as she lectured Cheleya, the tone of the speech rubbed her the wrong way. Strangely if Lystheir had said the same thing when they were che’ther, the girl thought that her thicker skin would have caught less of that. Unfortunately almost two weeks of being trapped as a human was making her more susceptible to the human mood swings that the che’ther and mar’goyn’lya often noted to one another after their dealings with the other race. For all the charm of being more nimble and the dexterity they had, the flaws of the humans’ nature was the one thing Cheleya didn’t enjoy. She missed the calmer, more exact demeanor of her race.
Little
more was said before they found a building with a line extending out into the cold. The officials had set the time to sign up not realizing how many wizards would come to Hala for the challenge.
Cheleya noted the strange dress of several wizards and even the unusually dark skin of men and women from lands far away. The king of Southwall had a long reach apparently and the draw for wizards and nations was strong. As Colbie and Evantus found Tilana and Orlerin standing near the doorway of the building, Cheleya noted several people with the amulets worn by the che’ther. Easier to note were a handful of mar’goyn’lya, who apparently refused to change despite the crowds, or maybe because of them.
“Do we just come out and ask them if they know about amulets?” the girl looked up at her father inquisitively.
Ignoring the question, Dargan moved closer and greeted one of the che’ther delegation, “Fa’Arronnon, I see you are preparing to join the tournament.”
“Fa’Dargan’zer? Did they call you out of retirement to join the humans’ little tournament?” a dark haired man with piercing brown eyes and appearing of an age with her father replied as he extended a hand in a very human handshake. It was one of the gestures the che’ther had learned along the way as they began to associate with mankind.
Cheleya knew that the amulets often created the illusion that best suited the user. She saw two more men of a similar age to her father, a younger man looking like he was in his twenties as well as a blond woman of the same range, and last was a girl with copper hair and green eyes like Cheleya though darker like evergreen.
Paying attention to her father’s conversation, the young blond heard him say, “No, I joined a group that came on other business for Mar’kal.”
“It’s a pity then. You know Draasstmass and Varesen, I believe,” he gestured to the other two older men. The first of the che’ther was a rough version of a man with a dark bushy beard and eyebrows beneath wavy black hair. The second was thin with long brunette hair that looked like an oiled pelt. His brown eyes were so dark they almost looked black.
Battle Mage: Dragon Mage (Tales of Alus) Page 26