The Ways of Mages: Starfire

by Catherine Beery

  Terana hesitantly peeked through her fingers to see the man was truly decent. She let her hands slowly drop from her face. She avoided his eyes, but her gaze nevertheless studied him. There was not a mark of a burn on him that her gaze could find. Just coal dark skin. There wasn’t even the smell of burnt hair.“How did you do that?”She asked, finally meeting his eyes. An orange glow was slowly receding from his steel gray eyes.

  “Curious are you, little miss? Did not Kadrean tell you?”He asked with a smile. She shook her head. Blaano glanced at Kadrean with a raised chocolate brown brow.“You brought a new mage here without warning her about what she might find?”

  “Neither seemed to care too much, now did they?”

  “’Neither’?”Blaano’s steel gray gaze turned toward Liam who stood near a table half in the shadows. Russy sat next to Liam. Zeeve was leaning against a taper in the middle of the table.“Ah, am I to guess the man is one as well?”

  Liam nodded.

  “So?”Terana asked. The curiosity was killing her.“How come you are not burned? And how were you part of the fire?”

  “I am what you could call an elemental mage. Fire is in my blood. Fire recognizes its own. It does not hurt me.”

  “There are elemental mages?”Terana asked turning toward Kadrean.

  Kadrean gestured at Blaano.“Yes, though they are terribly rare. They tend to scare most people. Reactions to an elemental are typically like those in Plarn, I believe. That is why there are those mages who search the land, we try to save as many as we can.”

  “I thought you were just passing through.”Terana replied.

  “Yes, well. I was, but if I find a person or two with magic I need to take them to the Keep immediately. You know how magic tends to scare those who do not understand it.”

  “Hmm”She turned back to Blaano.

  “So what can I do for you, Kadrean?”Blaano’s voice was business like as he rose.

  “Some of that excellent food you are known for and several rooms.”

  “Sure.”Blaano replied.“Why don’t you come with me to the kitchen? We can talk more there. And the house is empty, so you can have any of the rooms you want.”

  The companions followed Blaano into the small stone kitchen.“How is it that your house is empty?”Kadrean asked.

  Blaano glanced at him.“Think about where we are, Kadrean. Ronrend. If a wizard can avoid Ronrend, he does.”

  “True. I might have as well, but I needed the direct route.”

  “The direct route, hmm?”Blaano said as they entered the kitchen. He disappeared directly into a small room full of shelves, reappearing moments later with his arms full of ingredients.“Whatever the reason, I am glad for the company.” Terana was impressed as she watched the man mix some ingredients into a huge caldron and lit the flame with his finger. He and Kadrean talked about events progressing in the politics of the land. Evidently the lord of the city was being his usual self in trying to restrict mage movements.

  “His lordship can’t seem to get it through his head that it isn’t his right to control everything.”Blaano remarked.

  “Of course not, the idiot is an idiot. Not one iota of sense in his greedy, interbred skull.”Zeeve muttered.

  “Lord Carisda can whine around as long as the Council lets him. Razyan still has many allies in the council.”Kadrean replied.

  Liam and Terana glanced at each other. They would have to learn about this Council. Plarn being where it was, didn’t acknowledge the presence of any ruling body outside the mountains. They were self sufficient and didn’t even have a money system, instead they bartered. Terana and Liam had a lot to learn.

  “So, since you are taking the‘direct route’I can assume that you are not staying for the Midsummer’s Festival?”Blaano asked as he served them steaming stew.

  “’fraid not, Blaano. Got to get these two to the Keep as soon as is possible.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes. Terana here has some powerful magic that we can’t even name yet.”

  Blaano turned his gaze to Terana.“What do you mean, Kadrean?”

  Zeeve and Kadrean traded a look.“I think showing him would be the easiest.”Zeeve suggested. Kadrean nodded and untied a familiar black bag from his belt. He handed Terana the bag and nodded. Terana swallowed before proceeding to dump the tear shaped, milk on honey stone onto her palm. As before, it flashed brilliantly before melting. Terana flinched from the sensation, but continued to hold the stone in her hand. It continued to flatten out. Pulsating light stung the eyes. It didn’t stop. Terana tilted her hand over, squinting in terrified awe as the stone poured from her hand toward the table. Like before, it solidified as soon as it left her hand. The thin crystal shattered as it hit the table.

  Terana glanced hesitantly at Kadrean.“Sorry.”Her small voice broke the silence. Kadrean, Liam, Zeeve, and Blaano were staring like idiots at the crystal. Anger flared briefly within.“What?! You saw this before.”She told her three companions.“Why are you staring like that?”

  “I may have seen it once before, but it is still shocking.”Kadrean replied soothingly.“Calm down, Terana. Your magic is really waking.”

  “What?”

  “Look at the crystals. The magic within them is responding to your anger.”She looked and to her surprise the crystals shimmered with light. The sharp edges slowly smoothed.“That’s from me?”She asked. Her anger faded away and the crystals dimmed as well.

  Blaano let loose the breath he had been holding.“I see what you mean, Kadrean. Wow, I never thought that could happen.”

  “We didn’t either.”Zeeve agreed.

  “What can Liam do?”Blaano pulled his reluctant gaze away from the crystal shards. Liam glanced at Kadrean then reached out to gather the shattered crystal. With entrancing smoothness, the shards flowed together and returned to their original shape. The golden honey color dimmed as the stone turned black.“A Drainer!”Blaano whistled.“You certainly found rare talents Kadrean.”Blaano’s eyes settled on Terana.“Wherever did you find them?”

  “Plarn”Kadrean replied.

  Blaano’s brow furrowed as he ladled some bowls full of soup.“Plarn?”

  “Yes. Plarn. A small town in the middle of the country.”

  “I have never heard of it.”

  “I’m not surprised.”Kadrean said.“It’s a mystery, Blaano. I’ll tell you more about it later”

  “I’ll hold you to that.”Blaano told him, turning his attention back to Terana.

  She met his gaze.“What does the kadelledo when you touch it?”She asked.

  Blaano held out his hand for the crystal. Liam gave it to him. The stone kept its black shade, but it picked up red glimmers. Yellow tongues rose from the top of the stone. It looked like Blaano held a burning coal in his hand. Calmly he set it down on the table and it reverted back to its typical milk and honey.

  “Can I have more?”Zeeve asked, drawing attention to his empty bowl.

  Terana chuckled and Blaano took the bowl.“Sure, your majesty.”

  “Thank you.”Zeeve said and resumed eating when the bowl was placed in front of him. Terana raised an eyebrow at Kadrean. He mouthed Tell you later. A bark drew her attention. Russy sat before his own bowl and looked expectantly at Blaano. Zeeve managed to look too.“How much soup is left?”Zeeve asked.

  “Two thirds, your majesty.”

  “You can feed the fluffy mutt a little more.”Zeeve then turned his attention back to the food.

  With a shake of his head, Blaano doled out some stew for the wolf.“I’m not used to feeding wild animals, but he is so well behaved.”

  “Thank you for feeding him.”Terana replied.

  “Can I ask how you trained him? Is he like a typical dog?”

  “I didn’t train him. He does this on his own. And I wouldn’t compare him to a‘typical dog’. He is a wolf.” Terana said, stroking the wolf’s ruff.

  “Whatever, no one would suspect he just walked out of the woods.”

  Ter
ana nodded. She finished her soup and listened to the talk as she waited for Russy to finish seconds. She then excused herself.

  Chapter Twenty-Four- The Dream Hunter

  Thunder growled in the distance. She could feel it rumble through her feet. Terana looked about her. Stone arched in a natural ceiling over her head. Faintly, like ghosts, Terana could just see a chair, bed, and various other furniture. A blue fire danced in the middle, but, like everything else, it wasn’t completely there. Terana blinked and the ghostly images faded into memory. Nothing but hard stone surrounded her. Subtlety the cave shifted, so that what had once been a rectangular entrance became a cleft in the surrounding rock. Something was silhouetted in the opening.

  Lighting flashed. For an instant, a man was revealed. There was something…something familiar about him. There was a sense of danger clinging to him…He turned more fully toward her. Intense blue eyes met her own for a moment. Terana couldn’t look away from his gaze even though he didn’t truly look at her. He was the man from her nightmare. The one who hurt her, but also the same one who comforted her. Oh, she was in trouble…His face was as attractive as it was before, but this time it lacked the pained insanity. For which she was thankful. He also seemed to be healed from those horrendous burns that had drove him to hurt her.

  She found herself wanting to make sure he was okay. The lightning faded. She couldn’t see him anymore. Terana hurried toward where he had been. Cool air caressed her skin as she found the crevice. It was like she was blind. There was no light. None! And it was driving her crazy. Something soft brushed against her. She reached her hand toward where the softness came from. Lightning flashed again, blinding her. She gasped.

  Perched on the edge was an eagle. A huge eagle. Its wings were held slightly away from its body. Her hand was inches away from the nearest feather. The eagle eyed the storm. The broiling clouds were slowly moving away. Terana shrank from the angry heavens. She wanted to run back into the cave, but she couldn’t move away from the incredible bird. Was the man a shapeshifter? Were there shapeshifters? She saw a man change from a flame, so surely shifting such as this was possible.

  Muddy storm light took over the lighting from the receding lightning flash. For a time the two of them, the impressive eagle and the scared, entranced young woman, stood watch on the ledge. Somehow, her hand was still near the eagle’s outstretched wing. The question was, was she crazy enough to touch him?

  Yeah.

  Lightly she brushed her fingers over luxuriously smooth night black feathers. Silver flickered in strips upon his wing. He turned toward her, fully aware that she was there. He shrieked a hunter’s cry. Startled, she pulled her hand away. Suddenly everything was black. There was no cave…no eagle. Nothing.

  …Nothing…

  “You…I know…Where are you?”A voice whispered faintly in the nothingness. Terana trembled. Yep, it was him…She could feel something reach for her. She didn’t want to move for some reason. She wanted it to find her. She was dreaming, he couldn’t hurt her…but he did in the past. Her mind reminded her. Terror consumed her. Terana couldn’t move. She was like a scared rabbit with the hunter stalking near. It was a similar feeling to what she had felt back by that stream with Russy. His voice sounded softly in the void.“Hear my call, little one, and come to me. I can give you light…I know you don’t like the dark…”Terana swallowed. His voice was starting to entrance her. In fact, she found herself starting to take a step. Something that would make noise and he would know. Know where she was. Then she would be lost…

  “Come to me…”It was soft, melodic. Eternally patient. She wanted to hear his voice some more. But if she heard more, she knew she would find herself in his trap.“You are afraid of this darkness, are you not? Let me give you light…” Somehow, she knew he couldn’t give light. The darkness of night was his domain…A whimper wanted to drag itself out of her throat and give her away… “Give me your name…Come on, little one. Give me your name. Tell me where you are.”There was infinite patience in his voice. Sooner or later he would find her and he knew it. She knew it. It wasn’t just that, though. He was very far away. What would happen is she told him where she was?

  A shiver lapped up her spine.

  He was closer. She could sense it, a cool breeze whispering in the nothing. If she moved, he might hear her…if she stayed…he would find her. Could she somehow distract him? Unfortunately, she didn’t have anything to throw…maybe if she did speak, then moved quickly somewhere else? Terana knew she her plan had so many holes in it that it couldn’t hold a drop of water, but she couldn’t just stand there. She had to at least try. Slowly she started to move backwards.“Who are you?”Her small voice echoed in the void.

  And it echoed for a long, long time. She thought for a moment that he was no longer there. Maybe she had slipped passed him. How she could have done that in this emptiness she didn’t know, but maybe? A tiny finger of disappointment touched her. She started to turn when warning flags waved frantically. He was close, too close, though she couldn’t see him. She made to run, but arms slipped around her. Strong, familiar arms…That whimper got out. Why hadn’t she just stayed quiet? Why did she have to know who he was? His breath tickled her ear.“You first”Terana trembled. It would be so easy to tell him…too easy. And what could be harmed by her telling him?“Tell me, little dragon.”

  “Huh?”Dragon? What did that mean?

  Thunder rumbled, rocking the void. He hissed, his hold on her increasing.“Tell me.”No longer was he gently coercing, he was demanding. Demanding an immediate answer. The thunder grew in volume and power. A child’s scream soared over the base thunder. An aged, yet commanding voice demanded that she not tell. Caught between the two commands, Terana could do nothing. Seeming to sense or hear the other voice, he whispered gently“Just your first name.”

  The chaos increased. Wetness covered her face and splashed against her ear. A small voice begged her to wake. Begged and begged. It captured her attention. It made more sense than this void…More normal then the commanding voices. It was the middle ground. She could feel the void fade. But if she was in the middle ground she had to obey both voices.

  She opened her mouth and managed to say the first part of her name before the wetness entered her mouth.

  The dream shattered.

  A warm, wet, smelly, pinkish thing was sliming her face. Disoriented, Terana pushed the looming, furry thing away. Russy whined and resisted her attempts to get some tongueless space.

  “Russy!”She regretted opening her mouth.“Yuck, yuck yuck yuck!“Terana rolled away from Russy. She scrubbed her face on the pillow, spat wolf spit into the cloth. She glanced at the tiny window. It was still dark.“Why did you wake me up?”She asked, glaring at him. Russy laid down and rested his head on his paws. His amber eyes studied her.“Why ?”She asked again as she turned the pillow over and settled back down.

  “You were in trouble.”The same voice that had begged her to wake replied.

  “What made you think I was in trouble?”Terana was too disoriented to care that Russy could communicate. She was just happy for some explanation.

  “You were whimpering. Restless.” Russy cocked his head at her.“The child begged me to wake you.”

  “A child?!”Terana sat straight up and looked about the room.“What child?”There was no response until she looked back at Russy.

  “A distressed one. It told me you needed to wake, but couldn’t. Told me that he wouldn’t let you leave.”

  Terana’s brow crinkled as she laid back down. She couldn’t remember if she ever tried to wake from that dream. She hadn’t even thought of it in the void. She recalled hoping to be caught, then changing her mind quickly. She had known at some level that she knew that she was dreaming…she just hadn’t been conscious of it. Terana shook her head at the convoluted reasoning. In the dream, all she was conscious of was that she was going to get caught. There had been no other way…and she had been caught. If only briefly.

  “What is
he, who is he, and is he even real?”She asked softly, throwing her arm over her forehead. And what, she wondered staring at the ceiling beams; would I do if he did exist?

  ***

  The Nirami’s Grave trembled slightly at the sound of a hunter’s frustration. Too close and too soon.

  ***

  Pershara- The City of Pershara

  Ryan left the practice room where Toliver and Tommy were teaching Tep the finer techniques of sword play. He traveled down the near dark passage. Candle light flickered from a storage room normally dark. Curious, Ryan approached. He was not too worried of danger because the flames were dancing happily. Calm and joyous. Nevertheless, Ryan opened the door wider with his hand on a hidden dagger. Just in case.

  Behind the crates in an alcove sat Kairevasigh. The girl with sitting in such a way to make the most of the single candle stuck in a candle nook. Ryan let his hand fell from his dagger and approached the girl. He knocked on the wall to warn her of his presence. Kairevasigh startled, snapping the book shut and almost falling off the alcove shelf.

  Ryan grinned behind a shielding hand. His golden eyes danced mischievously. Smoothing the smile from his face, Ryan dropped his hand.“Forgive me for startling you. It had not been my intension.”Kairevasigh raised an eyebrow in disbelief though her eye never met his.“You do not believe me. Consider this, if I had meant to startle you, I would not have knocked.”Kairevasigh looked down at her book. She didn’t have a response to that.“Why do you do that?”He asked leaning against the wall.