Advent Mage Compendium (Advent Mage Cycle Book 5)

by Honor Raconteur

  “I know, believe me!” she responded in matching disbelief. “But look at it! Look at the way it reflects light. That stone looks like sapphire. And see how pock-marked it is? It looks like people have been chipping pieces out of the building whenever they get a chance.”

  Now that she mentioned it, it did sort of look like the building had leprosy. Huh. “Where is it?”

  “Not far, about two blocks from where we’re sitting.”

  I made a snap decision. “Let’s go. I think this situation calls for a closer look.”

  “No kidding,” she agreed with an emphatic nod. Putting the bowl aside, she extended a hand toward me.

  I took it, helping to pull her off the bed. She took advantage of the proximity to give me a hug. I smiled at her and returned it, half grateful and half annoyed that I couldn’t hold her for long. If I possessed the power to change history, I’d go back to that moment when I gave Delheart the oath and find a different way of placating the man. This was becoming really annoying. And it doesn’t help the matter whatsoever that Chatta is so tempting and always making physical contact with me!

  .

  With a very deep and calming breath, I shelved my impatience and went back to the task at hand. I followed Chatta down the stairs, through the crowded tavern, and out of the inn altogether. Since she knew where the building was, I let her lead. As we walked, I tried to make my mental voice strong enough that Night would hear me. We’re going out to check on something, I told him as clearly as I could. If anyone comes looking for us, we’ll be about two blocks away at the Star Order building.

  He must have heard me because he responded in surprise, “The Star Order building? Whatever for?”

  We think the building is made out of sapphire.

  There was this pregnant pause as if Night had mentally stumbled over the idea and needed a moment to recover. “…run that past me one more time.”

  Sapphire, I repeated in amusement. I know, it sounds crazy, but that’s what it looked like in Chatta’s scrying bowl.

  “I’m beginning to see why you want to verify this in person.”

  Yeah, I thought you might. Anyway, we’ll be back soon.

  “Alright.”

  The city streets were fairly crowded, and not always with the most trustworthy people. I made sure to keep close to Chatta with my eyes peeled for signs of trouble. Most just glanced at us as we went by but others took a second look, lingering over first Chatta (with her dark hair she was obviously foreign), and then me.

  Now, I know that my hair is unusual, but did I really stick out that much? “Chatta, are you sure that I can’t dye my hair?”

  “Positive.”

  Rats.

  She glanced back at me, expression curious. “Does it still bother you?”

  “Not really, but I think it’s making me easy to identify.”

  “That’s true; the gate guard was able to recognize you on sight, wasn’t he?” It was clearly a rhetorical question because she didn’t wait for a response. “I can’t think of a solution to that off hand, Garth, aside from wearing a hood of some sort. And that will be beastly hot in the summer.”

  No kidding. “Maybe a glamour?”

  “Now that’s an idea,” she approved. “It wouldn’t last long, of course, but that’s possible. We’ll play with it when we get back to the inn.”

  “Okay,” I agreed with cautious hope.

  We rounded another two corners before finally coming upon the Star Order building. I searched it mentally and found that the building was completely empty. Had Vonlorisen’s new laws already been enforced to the point that the Order had abandoned the building? And then we got closer to it, and I saw what condition the building was in, and realized that might not be the reason.

  The building, up close, was more holes than anything. I could literally see daylight in a few places. And it was definitely made from sapphire. My earth sense was telling me that in no uncertain terms. “It’s sapphire,” I confirmed with disbelief.

  “Yes, I can tell.” Chatta shook her head in amazement. “Unbelievable. Would an Earth Mage be able to do this?”

  “Probably,” I answered slowly. Sapphire, after all, was stone. A really fancy, pretty, hard stone, but a stone nonetheless. It had frankly never occurred to me to turn a building into sapphire though. “But I’m not sensing any earth magic. Actually, it feels like elemental magic.”

  “That’s what I’m seeing, too,” she agreed after a moment. “The spell doesn’t look old, perhaps three days or so.”

  That was close to the estimate I had made as well. “So they can’t be too far away. Close enough for us to track down, surely.”

  “I would think so. I doubt they’d stay in the city, especially after doing something this flashy, but let’s go back to the inn and double check to make sure we haven’t overlooked them.”

  That was a good idea. “And if they’re not here, do we try searching outside of the city?”

  “I can’t do that very far, and neither can you,” she pointed out. “We’ll let Xiaolang decide if we get to that point.”

  It wasn’t a bad plan so I nodded in agreement.

  Chatta looked the building over from base to top and then down again. “Was this a Mage accident, you think?”

  It was a valid enough question but my gut instinct was that she was wrong. “I rather doubt that. Most Mage accidents are very spectacular, true, but they are also very messy. The building managed to survive the change intact without any sort of structural damage to it.” The damage had come later. “I can’t imagine that an accidental explosion of magic could do that. Doing something like this would take control or you’d risk the building collapsing.”

  “So that means that whoever this Mage is, he’s figured out how to control his abilities?”

  “When you put it that way,” I said slowly, “I think you’re right. He or she would have to be able to control their abilities at least in part, wouldn’t they?”

  “Or this really is a Mage accident,” she countered with a shrug of her hands, “and it was just a minor miracle the building survived.”

  I found that possibility hard to believe. “When we find the Mage, let’s ask them.”

  “It’s probably the only way we’ll find out the truth.” She slipped her arm through mine and looked up, her eyes silently asking if doing so was a breach of the oath or not.

  I considered it borderline. And I probably shouldn’t have allowed it, but if I didn’t get to touch her somehow, I was going to go stark raving mad. I brought her in a bit closer, encouragingly, and smiled. “Well, let’s go back to the inn. Do you want north or south?”

  “I’ll take north of the city, you take south.”

  “Hey, Garth?”

  Yes, Night.

  “I’m dying from suspense, here. Is it really sapphire?”

  It really is, I answered in amusement.

  “Unbelievable. I’m going to pass the news to the team, alright?”

  You’re bored, aren’t you? I guessed. Either that or he wanted a chance to tell the story first.

  “You try standing in a stall all day acting like a dumb animal,” he retorted. “And I’ll know they’ll ask this: was it an Earth Mage or an Elemental Mage that did the deed?”

  Elemental, we think. And it was done about three days ago. More or less. Pinning down a spell’s age wasn’t an exact science.

  “Got it.”

  “Night was talking to you?” Chatta ventured.

  “Yes, apparently the suspense was killing him. I think he’s bored standing in the stable.”

  “I would be,” Chatta muttered.

  ~~~

  Naturally, once Night had told everyone about the sapphire building, the whole team had to go see it for themselves. It was the main topic of conversation that night over dinner. Also naturally, it was Shad that asked the one question I didn’t want to answer.

  “So, Garth, why haven’t you done something like this before now, hmmmm?” He
waggled his eyebrows mischievously. “You said it was possible with your power. Wouldn’t it make life easier on you if you could just make a big block of diamond or some other jewel whenever you’re short on money?”

  I put my spoon down and faced him squarely. “No, Shad, it would actually make life very difficult.”

  He blinked, caught flat-footed for a moment. “Why?”

  “There are two reasons for this. One, if it ever gets out that I can make precious gems whenever I wish, what do you think people will do?”

  “Chase you down and plague you to do it for them,” he answered thoughtfully. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

  “It would also drastically lower the value of all gems,” Eagle pointed out. “If any gem could be made of any size, the rarity disappears.”

  “And that was my second reason,” I stated, inclining my head toward Eagle.

  “Pretty good reasons,” Hazard observed as he picked up his tankard.

  “Doesn’t the magical counsel also prohibit that sort of thing?” Aletha put the question to both Chatta and me.

  Since I had my mouth full, I gestured for Chatta to answer.

  “Yes, it does,” Chatta agreed. “There was actually a time, many centuries ago, when magicians weren’t as well regulated and they went a little crazy making gold or jewels or whatever else they felt like doing. The economy of the country collapsed as a result. Ever since then, doing anything of that nature is strictly against the rules.”

  This was taken in with a digestive silence.

  I was less interested in sapphire buildings and more interested in what the team had spent the day investigating, so I changed the subject. “So what’s the general consensus? How is Chahir taking this abrupt reversal of Vonlorisen’s?”

  “I’m not sure if they know how to respond just yet.” Xiaolang idly mopped up the last bit of the gravy on his plate with a piece of bread. “People are rather conflicted. Apparently, the Star Order here was very harsh even on people with no magical abilities whatsoever. I haven’t found a person yet sorry to see them gone.”

  “Me neither,” Shield agreed darkly. “And after some of the stories I heard, I don’t blame them.”

  Xiaolang nodded in acknowledgement. “What they’re not sure of is how to react to magic. Rumors of what happened in Jarrell have floated down, and while it’s somewhat exaggerated, it still paints a certain Magus in a very positive light. Of course, it also tells of an insane Mage, so I’m not sure if that event is hurting or helping at this point.”

  I was afraid of that.

  “I heard other rumors too,” Aletha offered. “While I was looking at that building, I had a little old lady tell me that it was the work of a young Mage they had captured. She claimed he was in there about five minutes, and then he turned the cell bars inside to brass and simply broke his way out.”

  “I heard something similar to that,” Hazard inputted, attention peaked. “And he apparently rescued a nine year old boy that was in the cell next to his. The boy was supposed to be a Wizard.”

  Aletha nodded eagerly as he talked. “That’s what the old lady said too. And she said that the building was turned into sapphire as revenge.”

  Hazard had a dubious expression on his face. “Now, I heard that the building was turned into sapphire to serve as a distraction while the boys ran away.”

  “It could probably be both,” Shad pointed out. “Having a building turn into this giant sapphire would be pretty distracting.”

  Shield was chuckling, a faraway look on his face. “And it’s a unique sense of revenge, if you think about it. No one would be able to leave temptation like that alone. Wouldn’t it be annoying to hear people chipping away at the walls at all hours of the day?”

  “Like living in a log house that’s infested with woodpeckers,” I agreed, smiling at the mental image. “No wonder the place is full of holes.”

  “You can see why they abandoned it.” Xiaolang was grinning too. “I wish we had been here earlier, just to see their reactions…ah well. Garth, Chatta, since you two haven’t already said anything can I assume that you didn’t find anyone here?”

  “Not a soul,” Chatta admitted with a shrug. “We searched a bit outside the city, too, but still couldn’t find anyone.”

  Xiaolang lost his smile as he heard this. “Which means the boys are outside of your range. I hate to pick a direction blindly and start looking. We could very well choose the wrong way and have to backtrack. Aletha, Hazard, did anyone offer a description of what the boys looked like?”

  Aletha shook her head immediately, looking toward Hazard. Hazard shrugged, splaying one hand in a helpless gesture. “Sorry, Captain. Everything I heard was second hand. I’m not even sure how accurate it is.”

  “Garth,” Shad had a too-innocent expression on his face, “couldn’t you go to the building again and pick up on the boy’s trail?”

  “Do I look like a bloodhound to you?” I groused at him.

  “Well, now that you mention it…”

  I chucked a piece of bread at his head, which he ducked. Chatta slapped me on the wrist and hissed, “Behave!”

  Frowning down at her I added irritably, “If that were possible, I’d have already done it.”

  Xiaolang tapped the table to get our attention back. “We’ll have to fall to basic legwork. I want everyone out tomorrow asking about this. Let’s see if we can’t get at least a basic description and a direction to go off of.”

  ~~~

  The story of the Sapphire Building was quickly becoming a city legend. Everyone knew of it, and most were willing to talk and theorize about it, but few actually knew any facts. Xiaolang divided Chatta and I up, feeling that it would be a better idea to send us different directions to increase our search area. She went with Shield, and I went with Aletha the next morning, going about the city and talking to everyone.

  After talking and walking for about three hours, I was ready for a break. The day wasn’t really that hot, but there was no breeze and with all of the walking we were doing, I was heating up quickly. Taking off my jacket had only helped a little. “Aletha, how about we stop for an early lunch?”

  “Sounds good,” she admitted with a sigh. “I’m dying of thirst.”

  Since neither of us knew the city, I chose the first open air café I saw and led her to it. We sank into iron chairs, put in orders for food and ice water, and just relaxed for a minute.

  “Garth?”

  I was reveling in the nice cool feel of iron against my skin and didn’t feel like talking much so only responded with, “Hmmm?”

  “Chahirans don’t tend to move much, do they? You’ve said something like that before. That most families tend to stay in the same area generation after generation.”

  “Right,” I agreed. What was she driving at?

  “So wouldn’t that mean that even in a city of this size, everyone would know everybody?”

  She had a point. “That was certainly the case in my hometown, and Tobadorage is bigger than Nilton. What are you getting at, Aletha?”

  “It just strikes me as odd,” she said slowly, rubbing at her chin, “that no matter whom we ask, we can’t get much more than a basic description. If these two boys were from this city, wouldn’t people know who they are?”

  …I’m an idiot and I should have figured that out much sooner. “You’re right. Absolutely right. But if that’s the case, asking around in the city won’t do us an ounce of good.”

  “Not unless one of the team stumbles across someone who actually saw them leave town,” she agreed with a groan. “Which means the past three hours might have been a waste of time.”

  Maybe, maybe not. I wasn’t going to leap to any conclusions on that. “So what now?”

  “I’m not sure,” she admitted.

  Our glasses of water arrived and were set quickly in front us before the waitress moved on. The conversation stalled long enough for us to gulp the entire contents of the glass. I felt infinitely better after con
suming that nice, cool water.

  “Garth…” Aletha visibly hesitated, mouth working as if she were searching for the right words.

  “Ask,” I encouraged her in amusement. “I won’t take it the wrong way.”

  “You do realize that Chatta is going crazy about that oath, don’t you?”

  I winced. “Yes, I realize. She never says anything, but…” Chatta had ways of letting me know how she felt about something without saying one word. I was getting a lot of unhappy cues recently.

  “I’m just wondering why you haven’t done something about it. Normally, when you realize that Chatta wants something, you instantly respond. I just thought, especially considering how you feel, that you would have done something already.” She paused and added, “You can tell me to leave off. I know it’s not really any of my business.”

  No, it wasn’t, but Aletha was a good friend to me and Chatta. And it was obvious she only brought it up because she was concerned. “There are two reasons for this. One is that I can’t leave the team in Chahir again unguarded. I just can’t risk a repeat of what happened last time.”

  She nodded, accepting this. “I thought that was part of it. But what’s your other reason?”

  I couldn’t help but smile ruefully. “A few months back, Delheart and I had a little talk. He was worried about my intentions, I think. I assured him at the time that she was the dearest friend in the world to me but only a friend.”

  Aletha gave me a slightly appalled look. “You didn’t!”

  “Unfortunately, I did,” I groaned.

  “…oh dear.”

  I nodded, resigned. “I know. He’s not going to take this abrupt reversal well. I’ve been trying to figure out what to say.”

  Aletha’s lips were twitching suspiciously, as if she were struggling not to smile. “You really can get yourself into situations, can’t you?”

  “It’s a gift,” I agreed dryly. “But I do have a trump card.”

  She gave me an odd look. “A trump card?”

  “Chatta.” When her blank expression didn’t change, I elaborated. “Delheart has a very soft spot for his daughter. What Chatta wants, Chatta gets. If I don’t secure his permission to marry her, for whatever reason, I’m sending Chatta his direction. I have no doubt he’ll fold at that point.”