“It’s more like, because my magic doesn’t lend itself to any of the normal patterns of spells and incantations.” Frustrated with her hair still trying to escape into her face, she hauled it all back with one hand. “I should have tied it back. Anyway, it’s like this: my magic does very well with unraveling things. But most incantations are creating things. I can’t build well. Some of the very, very basic spells I can do somewhat. But if it’s complex in any way, forget it.”
I began to see the problem. “So, basically, they don’t know what to do with you. And rather than own up to their ignorance, they dump it on you.”
“Most of the time. Yeah. They have no idea. Tarkington was the only mage that would take me on as a student. My magic has actually given him a few migraines. But at least he stuck with me and helped me figure it out.” She shrugged and there was a lot of history and dark memories reflected in that simple movement. “As for what they call me…well, my nickname is the Destructive Mage. Which is more accurate some days than not.”
It was true that I’d never heard of magic that does what hers does. I wasn’t by any means an expert, either, but I’d worked with or fought against my fair share of mages. I had to wonder where magic like hers came from.
“Oh, we’re here.” Rena seemed glad for an excuse to drop the topic as she hopped off the trolley onto the cobblestone street.
I let it lay as well, looking about at our destination. It smelled like we were in a brewing district. It reeked strongly of alcohol, mostly mead and ale, with that under tang of rotting grains. All of the warehouses were huge, there was more than one wooden silo standing nearby, and the complex could house a small army. It now made sense why they had hired a mage exterminator. Places like this attract pests of all sorts like flies to honey. “So which building?”
“It’s the Mon and Sons Brewery Company that hired me. I’ve worked for them several times before, and they told me which buildings are infected, so we’ll just go straight there and do the work before dropping by the office for payment.”
That sounded fine to me, so I nodded and followed along behind her.
We went three warehouses back, to a set of older buildings that had definitely been here thirty years or more. Everything was kept in good shape, and I could see it had recently gotten a fresh coat of paint, but there was no disguising the age of the place. When I saw floorboards with narrow planks like this, I knew it was something from forty years ago at least. They always use wider planks nowadays. Well, actually, maybe they still made buildings here that way? In Z’gher, at least, they’d moved onto wider planks as it was faster to lay floor down that way.
Rena motioned for me to walk softly, a finger to her lips. I can move like the wind when I wish to, and softened my footsteps to nothing more than a whisper. Rena moved noisier than I did and I watched her with a frown on my face. She was honestly trying to be quiet but had no idea how to do it. I’d have to teach this girl a few tricks.
Looking up, I realized that someone had been kind enough to leave some lamps going so that we could see in the darker recesses of the roofline. All along the edges were these thick nests, mostly made of twigs and mud. It looked like ant hills and a bird’s nest mixed weirdly together. And the stench. Thunderation, the smell was overpowering. I silently gagged, a hand over my mouth and nose to act as a filter.
Pausing, Rena cast me a sympathetic glance. Pulling a stopper from her pocket, she offered it to me.
It turned out to be a vial of orange scented oil. I promptly put it on under my nose, which helped. A little. To some minor degree. It smelled like oranges overlaying old man smell, rotting fish, and a decaying latrine. Lovely.
If she had that vial of oil on her, then she knew it stank to high heavens like this, and still didn’t warn me. I gave her a dirty look. She suddenly found the nests perfectly fascinating to stare at. Uh-huh. We’d be talking about this later, see if we didn’t.
Proving that she had been here many times before, Rena moved to a position along the far wall that let her see an entire row of nests. She spoke the incantation in a soft roll of sounds, heavily peppered with vowels. It took several long minutes to recite but only an instant for her magic to reach out. In a flash, all of the nests were gone, nothing more than dust motes hanging in the air.
Satisfied, she carefully crept over to the other wall, where the rest of the nests were sticking to the ceiling. This time, however, the nests were not still. The ferret monkeys had sensed the destruction of the other side and I saw more than a dozen narrow heads with beady little eyes poking out to look at us.
“They’re awake,” I stated, already palming my sword hilts.
“Remember, don’t let them bite,” she cautioned, already readying herself. “You’ll be laid up for days if you do, as their saliva is acidic and a little poisonous.”
“I remember,” I assured her. “Go.”
Perhaps they had some sense of what was happening. Or perhaps it was just because we were lingering in their territory. Whatever the case, Rena spoke about four words before the ferret monkeys reacted. Several of them clambered out of the nests, racing down walls as if it wasn’t smooth boards but a ladder. I pulled out both swords and crouched low in a horse stance.
Well. I hadn’t done speed drills in a while. This should be interesting.
Bannen was perfectly amazing.
I felt more than a little awe for his speed, agility, and fighting prowess. Even though I’d told him that he absolutely could not let the ferret monkeys bite us, I didn’t expect to actually get through the whole job without being injured. I’d never managed it before and always had to spend at least part of my paycheck on an antidote and beg for a healing spell. But Bannen really had kept them off of us. The speed with which he moved was so quick that I literally could not track it.
If I could keep him as my familiar…I went off into a daydream. Oh, the things I could do. The jobs that I had could take on, because suddenly, I would be safe doing them. Why did reality have to be such a harsh taskmaster? Sighing, I shook the dream off and focused on packing. I didn’t have much time, as the job had been escalated to a minor state of emergency and we were being called out tonight. Fortunately, I’m a fast packer, and I knew more or less what to bring.
I did take a minute to study my face in the mirror, or more particularly, my hair. I could see baby hair growing back at the temples, which made me ridiculously happy. My hair has been thinning for years now. I had to figure out what I’d done different recently. It was obviously working. Not just my hair, but my nails, too. I hadn’t broken one or torn a cuticle in almost a week, which was a record for me.
It was the little things that made me happy. Snatching up my bag, I headed out.
By the time I made it back downstairs, a few familiar faces had arrived. I smiled and waved a hand in greeting. “Lori, Emily, Steph! I thought we were meeting at the train?”
“Master Vonda is running late,” Emily answered with an expressive roll of the eyes. “As usual. She said to meet you here and go without her, she’ll catch up.”
This was so typical of Master Vonda that I just went with it. I took a quick study of all three, and with growing alarm noted how battle-ready they seemed. Emily’s dark hair was tightly braided back, her petite frame encased in leather armor and shin guards. She even had a dagger strapped to one thigh, and I rarely saw her wear that. Lori’s blond hair was also caught up in a tight braid (likely Emily’s handiwork), also wearing a leather breastplate, although she had conceded to traveling comfort by donning baggy black pants tucked into half-boots. Steph was the only one not wearing armor, but her brown hair was atypically up in a bun instead of down and loose, and she was not wearing the lacy shirt with ruffled sleeves she adored but instead a plain jumper with worn-in boots.
“Are we fighting as soon as we arrive?”
“Don’t know,” Steph answered, her mouth in a grim line. “We’re getting some pretty bad information from the shield holders down there. App
arently things are going from bad to worse without stopping for breath in between.”
Well that didn’t sound promising at all.
Bannen popped out of seemingly nowhere, picking up a conversation he’d apparently paused before my arrival: “Tarkington said he does have all of our train tickets. No worries.”
The girls gave a general sigh of relief and I guessed dryly, “Master Vonda couldn’t remember if she had them or if Master did?”
“We love her,” Lori complained to no one in particular, “we really do, but half the reason she has apprentices is just to keep her life straight.”
I believed that. One hundred percent.
“You packed?” Bannen asked.
“And ready.”
“You got something packed for dinner?” he asked.
Ah? “We’re not eating on the train?”
“Remember the last time we tried that, we all got sick from the train fare,” Lori reminded me.
Oh yeah. We did. Bad, too. “Err. Bannen, let’s pop across the street and grab sandwiches to go.”
“I think we should,” he agreed and turned to ask the other three, “You need something to go as well?”
“Sure do,” Emily answered, already turning for the door. “Let’s all go. Rena, should we get something for Tarkington too?”
I could basically guarantee that he hadn’t thought of this. “Let’s do that. Maybe one or two extra, just in case.”
In mutual agreement, we stepped out the door and headed for my favorite little café. Steph swooped into my side and dragged me back three steps so that she could whisper in my ear, “What has the Council said?’”
I bit my bottom lip and groaned. “That they received Master’s report and to standby while they discuss. Worded very harshly, I might add, as it’s clear they’re not happy about it.”
“Of course they’re not.” Steph sighed a mournful sigh.
“Also as per sarding usual, they’re taking their own sweet time making a decision,” Emily added over her shoulder.
Steph flapped a hand at her. “Do not distract me, I have to ask, is there any chance that you get to keep him?”
“Likely not. We break at least three rules that I know of. You think the Council will let that sort of thing slide? They’re just trying to figure out if I did this deliberately and, if so, how severely to punish me before handing down the verdict.”
Lori snorted. “That sounds about right.”
Emily gave me a commiserating look. “Pity he can’t stay.”
Yes, indeed it was.
Steph gave me a close scrutiny for a moment. “The stress of all of this aside, you’re looking better.”
I brightened. “You can tell? My hair isn’t falling out.”
“Not the hair I’m noticing, but your skin tone. I don’t see any new sore spots and your skin is actually clear, with a glow to it, which I have literally never seen before on you.” Steph waggled her eyebrows in a lecherous fashion. “His doing, perhaps?”
The blush was fast and instantaneous. “Ha, no.” I wish. “Although how you jump to the conclusion that my health is improving because I have a familiar is beyond me.”
“Handsome men cure all ills,” Steph informed me seriously.
“It’s very true,” Emily agreed just as seriously, pausing in the café doorway. “For that reason, Bannen, I need a hug.”
Bannen grinned at her, fighting down a laugh. “Is that right?”
“Me too, me too!” Lori bounced forward and wrapped her arms around his waist.
I got an inkling what Bannen must normally be like in that moment. He didn’t hesitate to put an arm around both of my friends and give them a three-way hug. The ease with which he did it, without a trace of a blush on his cheeks, told me that he was no stranger to getting hugs from pretty girls. I should have realized this, because he is charming and confident, so of course a man like him would be comfortable around women. But I honestly hadn’t really thought of him in that light until my girlfriends stole hugs from him.
Huh.
The feeling that rose up in me was not a pleasant one but it wasn’t outright jealously. Just a sort of possessiveness that they were touching something that didn’t belong to them. Which was patently ridiculous, since Bannen didn’t belong to me either. Well, technically he does but not…I was going to stop that thought right there. I’d think about it later. As in, never. Never sounded good.
Steph let the matter drop as we reached the café. I had to read part of the menu for Bannen so he could pick out what he wanted, then ordered a few favorites for Tarkington and anyone else that might forget how bad train food was. As we waited for the sandwiches to be made, Bannen tapped me on the shoulder with a finger. “Yes?”
“When we go to Brightwood, can we form our own teams?”
A good question. I turned to Emily for the answer, as she’s been on more of these missions than I have. “Em?”
“Normally, yes,” she answered forthrightly, lounging back in a chair with one leg crossed over another. “But I got the impression from my master that this time they wouldn’t be splitting us up at all. It’s too big of a danger. I mean, normally, we wouldn’t have four dedicated mages going in with us, either. We’re all senior apprentices, literally two fingers away from graduating, so we should be able to tackle almost any problem. But this is something they’ve never seen before and I think the only reason why we’re going is because the Council is a bunch of cheapskates and they don’t want to pay for fifteen mages to go in. They figure they can get fifteen apprentices—which they don’t have to pay—to do the work for them.”
Bannen’s face became oddly unreadable, almost expressionless. “They’re sending uninitiated people into an area with an unknown danger because it’s cheaper to send you than to pay for professionals?”
“That’s my guess.” Emily grimaced, hand splayed in an open shrug. “I hope I’m wrong, but with the Council’s history? Not likely.”
Shaking his head, Bannen asked almost rhetorically, “Why are these fopdoodles in power, again?”
“Because without them it’s complete chaos and magical anarchy,” Lori responded simply, a little sadly. “We’ve experienced that. As annoying and overbearing as they can be, they’re still better than the alternative.”
No one seemed to know how to respond to that. I cleared my throat and sought to change the subject before the silence grew too awkward. “Why did you ask, Bannen? About the teams.”
“I wondered if we could use the formations we practiced in our sparring match,” he admitted easily. “Since we’ve all got practice fighting with and against each other, we’d be the best combination for a situation like this. But if we’ve got fifteen or more people going in, then that changes things.”
“True enough.” Steph gave him a warm smile. “I’m very glad that the Council is made of a bunch of slow pokes. I was afraid you would be sent home before you could go with us. After our sparring, I really, really want you to go with us.”
“Because I’m dangerous?” Bannen gave her a wink.
“And sexy,” she purred, winking back.
He laughed in delight. “I’m glad I get to go as well. I heartily dislike leaving all of you to the fun parts of the job without me.”
“You mean dangerous,” I corrected him dryly.
“Yes, like I said, fun,” he riposted cheerfully.
Rob showed up with the sandwiches all wrapped and ready to go, which interrupted the conversation. Accepting the bag, Bannen led the way back toward the guildhall, and I kept in step with him. My mind went unerringly to a picture that I had been steadfastly ignoring. What if the Council had already handed down the decision? What if I were forced to send him home on the eve of this assignment? I hated the idea with a passion, I really did, and for several reasons. Facing danger without the best fighter I’d ever seen was horrible enough. But having to do it with the ache of a familiar separation on top of it all? I was under no illusions of what would
happen when I was forced to sever the familiar bond. I’d seen what happens to mages that lose a familiar. They walk around like an amputee for weeks, sometimes months, before they start to heal from that pain. Granted, those bonds were fostered for decades before the mage lost them, so that might be part of the reason why the pain was so intense.
I harbored a hope that it wouldn’t be as bad for me or Bannen as we had known each other ten days instead of decades. I glanced up at the man walking steadily at my side, his eyes roving over the street, anyone and everything, automatically on alert even though there was nothing dangerous in the area. Perhaps the familiar bond was the reason why he was always alert and attentive, but did it matter why? I would lose this. In the near future I would lose this and there wasn’t a single thing that I could do about it.
My eyes prickled and I hastily blinked, forcing my mind to other paths before I started crying right here in the middle of the street. I should not borrow sorrow prematurely. It would be waiting for me soon enough.
A thought occurred and I blurted out, “Don’t tell anyone else that we haven’t received an answer from the Council yet.”
Lori looked like she understood why instantly but it took the other two a moment. “Because,” Steph ventured, “they’ll pull you both from the job and demand that Bannen stay here.”
I nodded, feeling a whorl of emotions, none of them pleasant. “I don’t want to lose him yet. And this job is important.” I glanced up at Bannen, not sure how he felt about this.
Bannen gave a grunt of agreement. “I’d rather go with all of you. I’ve been spoiling for a fight.”
“Even though that means Rena’s going straight into the maws of danger?” Emily asked.
He grinned at her cockily. “You really think I’ll let anything—”
“Everyone here?” Master interrupted, coming up to us. “Oh, you bought dinner. Good idea. Did you get me something?”
“Turkey and balsamic sandwich,” I answered with a slight smile.
The Human Familiar (Familiar and the Mage Book 1) Page 14