The Ways of Mages: Starfire

by Catherine Beery

  “It is good to see that has not changed.”A familiar voice said from the door way.

  Jewel turned and saw Grim leaning against the doorframe with a smile on his face. Jewel leapt from her chair, much to Sam’s disgust. At least he landed on top of the blanket. Jewel paid the resilient little white cat little heed. She raced to Grim and hugged him.“I thought you would never wake up.”She said into his chest.

  Grim held her for a long time. Jewel savored the moment. Grim eventually pulled back. He tucked a stray strand of silver hair behind her ear his expression troubled.“Much time must have passed since we last saw each other. It must have.”

  “Are you feeling better?”She asked knowing that it was worst then he knew.

  He nodded.“And the others are awake as well.”

  “Come then. Let us talk and share stories, for there is much we both need to know.”With that Jewel entered her home. Sure enough, she found the other three sitting in her living room before the fire. They looked up at Jewel when she entered. Jewel smiled her healer’s smile; calm and serene.“I am glad to see that all of you are awake. Introductions are in order, I believe. My name is Jewel Al’Dap-Holden.”

  The other woman smiled.“Thank you for pulling us from the sea, Jewel. My name is Jacquelyn DeCotes. My friends call me Jay Dee.”The dark haired woman looked Jewel over for a moment before continuing.“I think we are going to be good friends if Thomas is to be believed.”

  Jewel blinked at the use of the familiar in which Jay Dee had referred to her uncle. Jewel glanced at Grim and saw him smiling tenderly at Jay Dee. Yes, there was something these two had not told her yet, but if it was what she assumed Jewel was happy. If Jay Dee had caught the eye of Jewel’s beloved uncle then she must truly be something special.

  Jewel turned back to the group sitting on her couches. The younger of the two men grinned at her, having caught her looking between Grim and Jay Dee.“My name be Jingles. No fancy last name. Just Jingles.”He said nodding his head so that his earrings jingled which encouraged a cat to leap up on the back of the couch and stalk said earrings.

  The oldest man in the group smiled as Jingles tried to discourage the hunting kitty. He turned to Jewel and inclined his head.“I be Captain Wilaim, Lady Jewel. I used to be the captain of her good ship the Lucky Blue Wing before the sea chewed her up.”The last he said sadly. A look of horror entered his eyes.

  “It is good to finally hear your names.”Jewel replied.“That is one of my questions answered.”

  “You have many?”Jay Dee asked.

  “You have no idea. Uncle, please sit.” Jewel said gesturing for Grim to pick a seat. He sat, no surprise, next to Jay Dee. Jewel sat down in her favorite chair.“First, the last I remember of home was coming to rescue you,”She said looking at Grim“from Altana. But the rescue party came racing back with her on their heels. We escaped her by using a time/ space location device that Robert and Gawin created in South Port. The next I knew, I was here.”

  “Well, I did escape. I won’t go too much into the details other than to say I managed to get to the sea where Jay Dee fished me out of the water. I sent a message to the rebel forces that I had escaped and to stay away from Mortia.”

  “It must have come after we left for you.”Jewel said shaking her head slightly.“We didn’t hear anything.”

  Grim nodded.“As it is, Jay Dee brought me to Grinley. She and I are engaged and are to marry sometime this year. On our way back to Pershara to rejoin the army we were caught in a storm.”

  “And a giant sea monster came and destroyed the ship!”Jingles cut in, his voice shivering.

  “Aye, near the barrier maelstrom.”Willaim continued.“No idea how we could have steered that far off course.”

  “T’was the sea monster!”Jingles insisted.

  Grim nodded.“I don’t doubt you. Doc Harding had been working with it.”

  “And it killed him.”Jay Dee said grimly.

  “And everyone else, but us.”Jingles replied.

  “And we almost died too. Either we would fall into the maelstrom or the curtain of light would kill us.”Willaim mused.

  “A curtain?”Jewel asked puzzled leaning forward.

  “Yes.”Grim said, his hand holding Jay Dee’s.“Lit up the stormy sea like the sun had fallen to earth. There was a hole in it…”

  “We were floating toward it.”Jay Dee said looking at Grim.

  “There was a lot of magic because the pressure must have knocked us out.”Grim said nodding.“It is a miracle that we still made it back home.”At that Jewel got up and began to pace, wringing her hands.“Jewel?”

  “How long did your adventure take since you escaped Mortia to the storm?”She asked softly.

  “A couple months.”He replied.

  Jewel stopped her pacing and bowed her head. Her hands clutching each other tightly.

  “What is it, lassie?”Willaim asked.

  “Then the sword sent me back in time.”She whispered.

  “Pardon?”

  Taking a breath Jewel turned to face all of them.“I told you that the rescue group; that being Kindra, Robert, Bendon, Tommy, Toliver, Tep, Gawin, and myself had escaped Altana through a device that Gawin and Robert had made. The thing had been powered by Robert’s sword, but its cradle was very sensitive to movement. Gawin, our baby, and I were the last to step through.”

  “Hold on. Baby?”Grim asked raising his hand to stall her.

  Jewel smiled sadly.“Sorry, Gawin and I got married before we came after you. I’ll tell you the other reasons other than our love that led to it later. Gawin and our baby slipped through the portal before I did. We had been fighting Altana at the time. The sword kept moving. I tried to set it back to where it had been…the next I knew I was here.”

  “Where are the others?”Jay Dee asked leaning forward. Her voice was troubled.

  “I don’t know.”Jewel replied. She met each of their eyes as she continued.“You are not home. This is not Pershara. This is the southern part of Arathin.”

  “What?!”The people before her cried out in shock.

  “Arathin is a myth!”Willaim pointed out.

  Jewel nodded.“People here would agree with you, because they have only heard the name in myth. But this is Arathin.”She looked at Grim.“A few months have passed for you, but for me it has been much longer. The portal sent me here and back in time.”

  “Back in time?”Grim asked worried.

  “Yes.”

  “How far back?”Jay Dee asked.

  “Well, if you are present time, then roughly two thousand years.”Jewel commented as she dug through papers on her desk.

  “How are you still alive?”Jingles asked stunned.

  Jewel glanced over her shoulder at him.“Dragon blood. Kindra, the last of the True Dragons, was/is my mother. I can be any age I want, really.”She turned toward them with a scroll in her hand. With her free hand she gestured over her face and hair. A light pressure touched the backs of their necks. The old, silver haired Jewel was replaced by the version Grim knew well. Her hair returned to its vibrant copper red and her skin smoothed to that of youth. She smiled at them.“It is the same for Perela.”

  “Perela can do that too?”Grim asked softly.

  Jewel nodded.

  “What have you there?”Jay Dee asked nodding toward the scroll.

  “My proof that we are no longer in Pershara. This was my first real proof that I wasn’t just two thousand years in Pershara’s past.”Jewel unrolled the scroll.“This is a map of Arathin. And we are here.”She said pointing to the eastern most edge of the land mass.“We are just outside Qwincha in the country of Marlhema.”

  The color drained from all of their faces. They could not refute the fact that they were no longer in Pershara or anywhere near.“Then how do we get home?”Grim asked hollowly.

  “That I don’t really know.”Jewel replied.

  “But our people need us.”Grim insisted.

  Tears appeared in Jewel’s eyes.“I don’
t know if there is a way. And trust me I have been searching and searching. I didn’t know what had happened to you. I still don’t know what happened to Gawin or any of the others. I have searched for some passage to Pershara, but no ship captain knew of what I was talking about. They have never heard of Pershara. Only vague myth mentions it as“the other continent.”

  “There must be a way. I guess we could try going through the maelstrom again.”

  “NO!”Jingles said standing.“Not that nightmare again, begging your pardon.”He turned pleading eyes toward Jewel.“There must be another way.”

  Jewel chewed her lip.“Not that I know of, but I have a friend who may be able to figure something out. She is to the north of us and it will take some time to get there. And you lot need to be fully healed before we go.

  “We are healed. Let us go and talk to this friend of yours.”Grim said standing.

  Jewel looked up at him for a moment before nodding.“Then let me get some supplies and then we will go. But I warn you, things are becoming more dangerous here and I dare not use too much magic.”

  “Understood.”Grim replied.

  “I’ll help you pack.”Jay Dee offered.“And while we pack you can tell me what you mean by‘things becoming more dangerous’.

  “Agreed.”Jewel said picking up a bag.

  Chapter Nineteen- Roads

  Arathin- East of Emeran, Marlhema

  Pain. That was all he knew. There was no world beyond it. Everything was black as pitch. His body was…he didn’t know. Something was burning within him. Burning, burning, burning.

  Nothing.

  The sun was rising over the Golden Sea. Its light chased away the shadows of night and called the birds to sing. They did so and their songs were joyful. They fluttered about, looking for juicy bugs and anything else nature had to offer. A little chickadee flitted to a place where she knew the pickings were good. On the edge of the brush she stopped. Something clung to the air; sweet and cloying. She landed on a thicket branch, working her way into the densest branches.

  Death and Danger were enjoying the morning. Or at least they had fun the night before. Lying in the clearing of their fun was the fly encrusted remains of large animal. In life it had been a horse. Lying several feet from the horse was a man of average height and build. Blood was not unknown to his clothing, but the flies didn’t seem to like him. He groaned as the morning light fell upon his features.

  Pain still nagged at him, but it didn’t dominate his senses. He could tell that the sun’s light was just too damn bright. But his body was too sore that he didn’t want to chance rolling away from the light. He wanted to remember who he was before he tried anything. Searten, Searten Kerat. He lay there for a time savoring that and trying to remember how he had ended up in the position that he was in. Memories eluded him for a time, leading him on a chase. Flashes of something large, black, and terrifying falling out of the sky. His horse had panicked, throwing him to the ground a split second before the thing crushed it under its weight. He remembered cold blue eyes turning toward him. Pain was the next memory that he knew. Slicing, burning pain.

  Searten shuddered impulsively at the memory. To his surprise, this didn’t cause the pain to smother him. In fact, the pain seemed to be a dim memory. Yes, he was still sore, but the crippling pain was gone. Testing this fact, Searten rolled onto his back and opened his eyes. No pain, just blue sky ringed by green covered branches. He heard buzzing and could smell death. He sat up slowly wondering how he could have missed the sound and smell a second before blaming it on his preoccupation with pain. His body didn’t scream at him as he made his way to a standing position. Searten looked over at what remained of his horse. Nothing but a pile of bone, tatters of skin, and a ton of flies.

  Shaking his head at the useless horse he looked down at himself. Blood was a rust black smear stiffening his deep brown vest and leather pants. He swore at the hanging section of vest. A long tear was slashed from his right shoulder down to just above his navel. He cursed not at the torn material, although that was a small part of it. His choice words were in disbelief of what lay naked before his eyes. A pinkish scar bisected the torn cloth. Searten knew from the look of it that it had been a terribly deep wound that no normal man should have survived. No normal man should have healed from it this fast.

  His mind came to the most obvious conclusion. He wasn’t a normal man. He was invincible! He had to be. Searten laughed. Here he was, immortal, and he had let himself be ruled by a sorceress who thought she was greater than he. Of course, he could understand his mistake. He hadn’t known of his superhuman condition. Arelle was a cruel mage who had made it clear that if he upset her that she would either kill him or turn him into something painfully unnatural.

  Searten smiled. Now he could turn the tables. He remembered now. He had been on his way back to Arelle’s abode when he had been attacked by that nameless nightmare. Searten glared at the now useless mare. Arelle’s keep was still another day’s ride through this forest then a long climb up the mountain. Grumbling about mixed blessings, Searten began to walk toward Emeran.

  Around noon pain smashed into him again. Searten was brought to his knees by the weight. Burning ignited throughout his veins. Struggling to breath, Searten felt something change. His awareness of body melted away. He felt himself grow in size. Shadows clouded his vision. Soon the pain was gone. So too were the burning and melting sensations. Searten opened his eyes. The ground was farther away than it used to be. And instead of a man’s boots on that ground he saw great, three-toed bird’s feet. Wicked talons of obsidian adorned each dusk gray toe.

  Experimentally, he lifted a toe and one of those bird’s toes lifted. Startled, he peered at the rest of himself. Feathers of midnight shadows black adorned his body. As he peered at his new form he noticed that his movements were jerky, like those of a bird. He was a bird, an impossibly big bird.

  An idea came to him. Who needed a horse when one could fly? Cackling at the crazy way fate ran, Searten stretched his wings. Trees got in the way, but he didn’t mind too much. He jumped into the air, batting at it with large wings. To his elation, he gained altitude. Flying seemed to be a hidden instinct to him, for it came easily to him. Power was his. This form was the epitome of power. Nothing could stand against him, least of all a sorceress like Arelle. She had much to pay for. And she would pay very, very soon if these great wings had anything to say about it.

  ***

  Arathin- West of Plarn, Marlhema

  The same golden light that fell upon Searten warmed her. Terana stood upon a rock near the road. She looked away from the sun in the east, toward where they were going. Kadrean had told her that they were near the edge of the mountains. Terana shook her head. It was still hard for her to imagine huge stretches of flat ground with nothing but grass for as far at the eye could see.

  Terana looked down when she hear her companion scratching. Russy’s back foot was crazily attacking a spot just behind his ear. Terana chuckled softly at him and jumped down from the rock. Russy was making moaning sounds, trying to get to the itch.

  “Here, Russy. Allow me.”Terana said, pushing his paw away and itching the spot he couldn’t reach. Russy’s foot fell slowly away as he leaned into her. His amber eyes were shuttered by relief. Terana shook her head and continued scratching.

  She heard the plodding of a horse coming closer. Terana looked up to see the rest of her companions catching up. Kadrean led Tivieis. Beside him walked Liam who, for reasons beyond her, still used his cane. Zeeve, the pest, sat between the horse’s ears with a lock of mane in one hand and the other waving first to one side then to the other. He looked like he was trying to be some pompous king. To Terana he looked ridiculous.

  “Zeeve, What are you doing?”She asked him when they came close enough.

  “I am pretending to be in a parade, if ye wee person must know.”Zeeve answered, still waving. On a wonderful chance of fate, Tivieis shook his head as horses sometimes do. Zeeve lost his perch, but
didn’t lose all of his dignity because of the lock of mane he was holding. He fell to the side of Tivi’s head. Kadrean reached out and helped Zeeve back between the horse’s ears, chuckling the entire time. Zeeve was red in the face and glowering at the head on which he sat.

  “Poor Zeeve.”Terana said smiling.

  “Poor indeed. Something happens like that all the time. It makes you wonder if he ever learns.”Kadrean commented.

  “There is nothing wrong with being optimistic, Kadrean.”Zeeve muttered.“I was being optimistic. Can we get moving now? My tummy is demanding that it be filled.”

  “Of course it is.”Kadrean said with a shake of his head.“It would be the end of the world if it didn’t. Come along.”Kadrean gave Tivieis’s reigns a slight tug and continued on down the road.“Lancha isn’t that far now.”

  Lancha was a small town just on the outside edge of the mountains. Terana frowned as she looked upon it. Lancha was a lot like Plarn, maybe a little bigger, but that was truly the only difference. The only difference one could see from the outside.

  “Dinner.”Zeeve said when he saw the town before them. He leaned forward and almost fell between Tivieis’s eyes. A rumbling sound made itself known from his area. An answering growl issued from Terana’s stomach.

  Liam laughed.“Hurry, Kadrean. The little ones be hungry.”

  “I’m not that much shorter then you are, sir.”Terana told him.

  “Give it a break, Terana.”Zeeve said.“They never listen when you try to correct them. They never do when I tell them.”

  “Zeeve, that is because you aresuper little. I am only an inch or so shorter then Liam.”

  “Which still makes you a little one compared to.”Liam replied.

  Terana rolled her eyes.“Whatever. Let’s go.”And she put action to words. As she walked toward the town Russy trotted next to her.