The Three Swords (The Ways of Mages)

by Catherine Beery

  “The Fires of the Damned was supposed to kill all the rebels. It didn’t.”Altana’s voice became even more ragged.“I had been given to several Dark Lords for punishment. They were not to kill me, or my baby.”Jason could faintly see a hand move to the top of the lump he assumed to be Altana. She was apparently lying on her back.“But that didn’t mean much. I think it is only magic that keeps me alive right now.”She admitted.“Once I serve my purpose they will either let me die or continue my torture. Either way, I am no longer what I was.”

  Jason shook his head.“Why do you serve them?”He asked.“It sounds like they just use you till a whim takes them. Then they toss you aside.”

  “I was useful to them. I am no longer useful.”

  “Doesn’t that bother you?”

  Altana’s laugh was broken.“You sound just like her. As I always tell her, and now tell you, I am evil. Evil attracts evil.”

  “What does Elainia say to you?”

  Altana sighed then gasped in pain. Eventually she managed to answer.“She tells me about her childhood. About how her, your, God loves his children. How he never gives up on them, no matter what they do. No matter how much they deserve to be left behind.”

  “She is right, you know.”

  “I have no doubt of that.”Altana admitted.“But I am not one of your God’s children. I am too evil, a creature of evil.”

  Jason smiled slightly and wrapped his fingers around the bars separating them.“Nothing is impossible with God.”He told her.“And He is all about grace. If you turn to Him and ask, I’m pretty sure that He will save you. No one is out of mercy’s reach.”

  “Why are you saying this? What are you expecting in return?”Altana asked derisively.

  Jason opened his mouth to answer, but realized that he didn’t really know. He closed his mouth and shrugged. Remembering that she couldn’t see him he said aloud.“To be completely honest with you, I don’t know. I don’t want anything from you, I’m just saying what I know to be true. And better then Elainia,”Jason continued,“God never leaves you.”

  Altana was silent, but Jason knew she heard him. He went back to the bench that was in his cell and sat on it. His back leaning against the cold stone wall. Softly he began to sing thanks softly to his King that he was still alive. Altana lay silently in her cell and listened.

  ***

  Riverdale, Pershara

  Shadows slinked out of the Dark Gate at the bottom of a dark pool. Nothing had come through the gate in centuries, but the very presence of it tainted the pool. Nothing wanted to live in or near it. The servants of the Shadow Lord peered above the lake. They were on a very important mission for their lord. They didn’t dare mess it up.

  They crawled out of the pool and made their way to the chamber that was to hold the dragon eggs. Their lord wanted them for an important ceremony. The dark sons shambled only a few steps before something blocked their way. They couldn’t move forward. Alarmed, Maltacken’s servants wriggled to move in any direction at all. But they couldn’t move. Even being shadows didn’t assist them.

  “I wondered when you would come.”A non-gendered voice commented. The dark sons looked about wildly, but couldn’t see anything. Nothing, until a gray-blue and purple winged leopard appeared before them. Its fluffy tail curled over its toes at it looked them over with entirely silver eyes.“I’m afraid that I must tell you fine gentlemen that you are to leave this place. But don’t worry. Even if you had gotten to your goal you would have been sorely disappointed. The eggs you seek are gone.”The cat shivered dramatically.“I can only guess at what your fate is going to be at the incorporeal hands of your master. You had no choice on this mission of yours. Either way you would have failed. Now, be gone.”The cat said turning away.

  The invisible thing holding them captive propelled the dark sons back to the dark pool. It even went so far as to shove them down into the gate. After appearing back in their master’s domain they felt the gate shudder. They were not intelligent beings, but even they knew that the force that had shoved them through the hole had shattered the gate. There would be no going back to the caverns under the monastery that way any more.

  WELL? WHERE ARE THE EGGS? the voice of their master demanded.

  Cringing the dark sons revealed both their failure and the loss of the eggs.

  Snarling, the Lord of Shadows destroyed them. How dare they fail? How dare the Light and His followers take his property? Growling, the incorporeal Maltacken sank down upon his shadowy throne. Now what? He wondered to himself. His husk would soon be born. He needed the blood and soul of a dragon to seal him into his new shell. He had had three cleverly stashed away for just this purpose. Now they were gone. Unless another dragon made itself available, he would just have to sacrifice his pet, Altana. She was the daughter of a dragon half breed, after all….

  ***

  The City of Pershara, Pershara

  The last few months had been productive, but boring for men used to action. All this sneaking around; giving the food stolen from the palace storehouses to the starving people was admittedly useful. But it wasn’t the kind of warfare that Stanton and his men had trained for. Leaving their friends to face the Fires of the Damned by themselves had made the troops restless. They needed to do something. Not all of them had to assist with handing out the food since the population within the city kept dropping.

  Some relief had been found in stalking and taking prisoner the King’s messengers. Unless the people inside the Palace used magic, they were cut off from the outside world. More relief promised to be on its way thanks to the infrasound device that had finally found its way to them.

  Duncan, who had set it up back in Riverdale, set it up again. Its target this time was through the palace wall to the King’s Guard Barracks. Perela had spelled the block around it with a minor disorientation spell. Minor so it wouldn’t attract immediate notice. The hope was that it would confuse anyone who came to investigate the area. But knowing the King’s Guard’s new practice of staying behind the palace wall, they were not likely to bother the machine.

  The action would start when the enemy decided to try to do something about the device. If they didn’t, then the device would be set to resonate with the stone, cracking it. Then the rebels would have their own door. It would have to be timed correctly, but they would finally be able to stir the nest. It was a day, Stanton found, that he was dearly looking forward to.

  Chapter Twenty-Five–A Cry for Help

  Arathin-Plarn, Marlhema

  Jeremy sat slumped in the kitchen of his parent’s house. He stared at his trembling hands. Never in his life had he felt so helpless. Yeah, there had been the times when he had felt constrained by the traditions of Plarn, but he had had control over his own actions…A shadow loomed outside the window. Jeremy glanced up and met the angry red gaze of the large black eagle that was standing there. Jeremy gulped.

  “Don’t worry,”Reshan told him lazily. Jeremy glanced at him. The dark haired man with the strange blue eyes was sitting in one of his father’s chairs at his mother’s table. Reshan had his feet up lazily on the edge of the table, the chair balanced only on its back legs. Reshan smiled at him before making a casual shooing gesture with his hand at the eagle. With a hiss the creature left the window.“The Cursed can do nothing we do not want them to do.”Reshan said.

  Jeremy looked back at his hands not saying anything. He had no choice but to believe him. After all, he was little more than their puppet too. The day before, Jeremy had been himself. He had been taking a break with Cameron when Kaishan and Reshan had joined them. But then, he hadn’t known who they were. Meeting Kaishan’s dark blue eyes had been the greatest mistake he had ever made in his life. Jeremy could see, hear, and feel everything, but he was not in charge of his actions. Kaishan had taken his mind.

  He remembered Kaishan telling Reshan to go and gather the Cursed. After Reshan had left, Kaishan had made Jeremy call Zeeve. Cameron had been surprised when Jeremy had picked up the perid
ot gem and called Zeeve’s name. He had asked Jeremy why he had changed his mind. But Jeremy’s body had shrugged. Before anything else could have been said, Zeeve appeared. The little moleci had never seemed so surprised.

  Kaishan had leaned back in his chair as Zeeve sat there and scolded Jeremy for using the gem for no reason. It was then that the haunting screams of the Cursed echoed in the valley. Panic had taken over as the entire town fled into their homes to avoid the large black eagles that swarmed down from the sky. Those who didn’t make it in time were clawed. Farmer Trellis had been one of those not fast enough. Jeremy could still remember the big old man’s scream as the monster clawed his back. The Cursed had left him bleeding on the ground in favor of chasing after someone else. The Cursed had left Kaishan and Jeremy alone as they hunted everyone else. Zeeve had frantically grabbed the gem in Jeremy’s still hand and called a man named Razyan and told him that Plarn was under attack.

  Before Zeeve could say anything about anything else the gem zipped out of Zeeve’s grasp into Kaishan’s hand. The next Jeremy knew, a pheasant trap appeared around Zeeve. The spacing of the wires was too small even for Zeeve to slip out of. Jeremy then found himself picking up the cage and walking with Kaishan and the returned Reshan to his house. His parents and younger sister stared at them. Father had demanded who Kaishan was.

  The light haired man smiled at Mr. Carpenter and simply said“I am the man who is brining your adopted daughter back to you, Chris Carpenter.”Father’s eyes widened. Kaishan’s smile turned somewhat cruel as he continued.“And once Terana returns, as I’m pretty sure she will, she will be mine.”He raised a finger to his lips when both parents made to protest.“Annoy me and I will throw you out there.”He said gesturing to the chaos outside.

  Jeremy’s family had fled into the living room. Jeremy and Zeeve were kept in the kitchen with Reshan. Kaishan had disappeared.

  “Feed me!”Zeeve called from his cage. His little hands were wrapped around the wires and looked absolutely retched.“Please! I’m dying of the tummy gurgles!”

  Reshan raised an eyebrow at the moleci.“You were fed five minutes ago.”

  “For crying out loud, I’m a moleci!”Zeeve said glaring at Reshan.“Unlike you, I have a healthy appetite and thus need more than a measly slice of bread!”

  "The bread was bigger than you are." Reshan pointed out. Zeeve glared at him.

  “He does eat a lot.”Jeremy said.

  Reshan snorted.“Aye, that may well be. He can learn that all good things come in time.”

  “And soon he will be able to eat everything he wants.”Kaishan said reentering the room. Zeeve momentarily perked up before noticing who it was.

  “Oh?”Reshan asked.

  “Dragons are on their way. I can sense the Enaza Terelle with them.”

  There was a thump as Reshan took his feet from the table allowing the chair to stand as it had been made to.“The princess is coming, huh?”

  Kaishan nodded and Reshan grinned. Jeremy’s eyes widened. Terana was a princess? Kaishan crouched in front of him and said“It is time, Jeremy...”

  Jeremy ran. He didn’t know how he could have possibly escaped the large eagles that had descended suddenly onto Plarn. Everyone had fled into their homes. Jeremy had decided that being attacked by big black eagles as reason enough to call Zeeve. Zeeve had come and, seeing the situation, had called someone named Razyan. Zeeve had then told Jeremy to run and meet help when it came. In the meantime, Zeeve would stay and keep an eye on the situation.

  So Jeremy ran to find help.

  The question that was most pressing at this point was where would help come from? There was the road that led into Plarn, but that was a route known by both sides. Though Jeremy doubted the black eagles had much of a brain that didn’t think in terms of ripping apart prey. They might not care if rescue came for the townspeople. But the road was wide open and would allow the eagles to see the newcomers. So that left help coming from some forested rout.

  The only problem with that, was that was everywhere else. Wishing Zeeve had told him where to meet help Jeremy rested against a tree. A rustle of leaves brought his head up. It was soft, careful. Jeremy held his breath and waited a moment. The rustle continued and it seemed to be passing by him, heading toward Plarn.

  Curious, Jeremy snuck after the sound. The years of his childhood spent in the forest was paying off as he didn’t make so much noise as the rustling. The cadence of the rustles reminded Jeremy more and more of footsteps. It made him wonder who was out here with him. Peering around a tree, Jeremy saw a man dressed in traveling clothes. For some reason, Jeremy was very sure he knew who the man was. Maybe it was the hair. Gold flecked mud brown hair was rather hard to forget.

  “Liam Seedman?”Jeremy called hesitantly in case he was wrong. Of course, if he was wrong and the other was an enemy of some sort, he wasn’t entirely sure what he would do.

  The man startled before turning. Dreamy hazel eyes widened as Liam recognized who had spoken.“Jeremy?”

  “Yeah,”Jeremy said leaving the hiding foliage. He gestured the way Liam had been going.“I wouldn’t go to town right now. Some big black eagles are attacking. Luckily they can’t get into the houses, so most everyone is safe for the moment.”

  Liam’s expression became grim.“I saw them from a distance. What are you doing out here?”

  Jeremy looked about them with a half smile and grimace on his face.“I’m hoping to find the help Zeeve sent for.”

  “Zeeve?”Liam said in surprise.

  Jeremy nodded.“He stayed behind to keep an eye on things.”

  “Who did Zeeve call?”

  “Someone named Razyan.”Jeremy answered.

  “Then we may have a chance against the Cursed. Or at least contain them.”Liam said, relaxing slightly.

  “Cursed? What is that?”Jeremy asked in confusion.

  “Those black eagles you men…”Liam began, but was interrupted by an excited cry.

  “JEREMY!!”

  Jeremy barely had time to turn before he was nearly bowled over by a copper haired figure he knew very well.“Terana?”he asked breathlessly.“Terana!”He repeated hugging her back.

  “I’m just guessing that you know him.”A very amused woman’s voice said. Jeremy startled and looked up to see a slender woman with long black hair and dark eyes. Next her was a very large man with the air of a warrior. Another woman was with them . Her hair was very much like Terana’s.

  Terana pulled away from Jeremy with a smile. Jeremy was surprised to see that her blue eyes now seemed to glitter with silver.“This is my brother Jeremy. Jeremy, these are my friends. The dark haired woman is Jay Dee. Then Thomas GrimHolden, Jewel, and Tsoya.”Another woman walked into sight. She had tawny hair and blue eyes that also seemed to glitter with silver. A rust red wolf stretched before walking over to him for a pet.“And, of course, you already know Russy.” Jeremy smiled and scratched the wolf’s ears. He didn’t know the wolf as well as Terana did, but he always did like to see him.

  “So this is where you had to go, Liam.”Jewel said.

  Liam nodded.“I Saw that a danger was coming to Plarn, but I didn’t know what. And at the time that I left you, it didn’t feel like it was the end of the town.”Liam frowned.“It still doesn’t even though there are Cursed.”

  Jeremy nodded.“There are a few.”

  “How many?”Tsoya asked.

  Jeremy frowned thoughtfully.“I didn’t count them, but I would hazard around ten or so. Maybe more.”

  Tsoya looked grim before turning to Terana.“My lady, I do not think this is a good idea.”

  “’My lady?’”Jeremy repeated looking at Terana for an explanation.

  She shrugged.“Apparently I am the daughter of a prince.”

  “Is that why you left? Because you are royalty?”Jeremy felt shocked, hurt, and a little angry.

  Terana blinked at him. Pain flickered in her strangely beautiful eyes.“No. I didn’t know until recently.”Terana looked down, h
er right hand holding onto her left.“I left because I felt that I was just too much trouble. The town was getting worse and worse and I heard your parents talking about me. How I was a duty to them.”

  “So you ran away, leaving only a cryptic goodbye note in the forest room.”Jeremy shook his head. He ignored the others who were watching with concerned eyes.“And you just called mom and dad my parents. They raised you as their owndaughter. You didn’t have to see their worry or devastation when I showed them the note. Mom cried for a week! Even now she is still not quite herself. I’ve never seen father this quiet before. He keeps looking at the dragon paper weight he made for you that you left behind and gets even quieter. They even confronted Mrs. Seedman for chasing you away. For making you think you were not their daughter when the truth was that was exactly how they saw you.”Jeremy took a breath. Softer he said.“They feel as if they failed youand they have no way to make it up.”

  As Jeremy spoke, Terana’s eyes widened. Her hands rose to cover her mouth. Closing her eyes, Terana tied to understand how she could have misunderstood that conversation she had overheard. It had never been her intention to hurt them. A tear trickled down her cheek. She looked back up at Jeremy with tear bright eyes.“I am so sorry.”She breathed.“I didn’t know…not that that excuses anything…Are they safe right now?”

  Jeremy closed his eyes and hugged his lost sister again. Misunderstandings were always the cruel curse of the blessings called speech and hearing.“When I left they were. They were still in the house.”

  Tsoya took a step forward.“Wait, they are in the houses? And the Cursed haven’t attacked them?”

  “The people are in the houses, the Cursed are outside. No one dares to go out.”Jeremy shook his head.“I don’t know how I got past them, but the Cursed don’t try to get into the houses. I’m not even sure they can.”

  “Believe me when I tell you, they can. The question is. Why are they not?”Tsoya told him.

  Jewel sighed.“Then it is even more possible that a Sheyestivan is present.”