by Megan Derr
Beside him, Tihan tensed with anger. Kaleo was merely amused. Such a blatant threat meant the mayor feared he might actually be capable of doing something. Or perhaps he simply feared anything that might stir the villagers to rebellious action.
He smiled brightly. "As I said, I have accomplished feats at least as great, if not greater. I should like to try, and what can be the harm in that? It is my life to keep or lose. Let me try."
Joffer sneered. "Indeed. What would you demand for this service, Pied Piper?"
"One thousand silver," Kaleo said, the price more than fair. If he could actually do it, he would be well within his rights to demand a thousand gold.
They both knew it, but Joffer did not press it.
"Papa," Ala suddenly said. "I do not like the rats."
Joffer patted her head. "I know, dearest, but papa keeps them from bothering you, doesn't he?"
"My friends don't like them either," she said plaintively.
Joffer frowned, but said nothing further, and for a moment Kaleo thought he saw something that almost looked like pain flicker in his eyes. Then his expression eased, and he picked the girl up, as though she weighed nothing more than a feather, and kissed her cheek
The rest of him might be an act, but the love he felt for his daughter was genuine. She was obviously in ignorance of her father's responsibility for the rats, and played with the other children in the village. He wanted her happy.
Interesting.
"Very well," Joffer said at last. "You may try."
Kaleo beamed, and swept a dramatic bow. "I thank you, lord mayor." He swept another bow to the people who had stopped to cautiously listen, hating the bleak hope in the backs of their eyes, the way they obviously knew that to really hope was a waste of time.
Why was he holding them prisoner?
He also wondered why he could not sense so much as a single shred of magic from Joffer. Ordinarily that would have convinced Kaleo to dismiss him as a possibility, except everything else made it blatantly obvious Joffer was responsible for the rats.
"Good people," he said aloud. "This time tomorrow, the rats will be gone and you will be free again."
Instead of cheering, or even booing his bragging, they simply scurried away, as though afraid to be caught not working.
Nodding stiffly, the mayor strode off, leaving Kaleo and Tihan alone in the square.
"What are you thinking?" Tihan snapped, the words bursting out of him "How could you say something like that!" His hands curled and uncurled, as though he would like to throttle Kaleo, or shake him very hard. "You said last night you can't match his magic!"
Kaleo nodded. "I can't—but I have something else in mind. We'll try it tonight. If I fail, well, it won't be anything the villagers didn't expect. If I succeed…oh, then the game is afoot. He was strange, Tihan. I could not put my finger upon it, but he was acting even more strangely than the villagers. But why, and what he is hiding, I could not tell."
"He's pretending to be human," Tihan said with a sigh. "I'll eat my boots if that bastard was human."
"Not human?" Kaleo said. "How can you tell? I sensed absolutely nothing from him. Not a single thing."
Tihan grunted. "The eyes. I know animal eyes when I see them. There are few humans in the world with eyes like that, I promise you. Humans like that may as well be animal. There is a wildness to them, no matter how hard they try at being civilized. The real question is: what sort of animal?"
Kaleo frowned. "There aren't many with magic strong enough to alter shape," he said slowly. "If you're right, and I can't see why you would be wrong, that does narrow the field of what we're up against. Did you read anything from the child? They do not hide things as well.
"She…there is humanity in her," Tihan said. "She seemed to be a mix."
"Fascinating," Kaleo murmured. "What in the hells is going on here?"
Tihan sighed. "I don't know, but I sense we will find the answer the hard way. What are you going to do tonight, to get rid of the rats?"
Kaleo smiled faintly. "I'm going to play along," he said, and laughed when Tihan scowled at him. "Come, strong arm, we have to find a good place for tonight."
"Strong arm? I thought you kept me around for other reasons, Pied Piper."
"I do," Kaleo murmured, and smirked as he dropped his eyes to Tihan's crotch. "Those reasons will have to wait a bit, unfortunately. Business before pleasure."
Tihan laughed, and lightly gripped his upper arm, tugging him forward and dropping a quick, firm kiss upon his lips.
Kaleo's breath caught, as he stared into Tihan's jewel-bright eyes. That was the second time Tihan had kissed him so openly, when it was something he had never done before. "Tihan—"
"Let's get to work," Tihan said, letting him go and stepping away, turning to lead the way from the village and out into the surrounding woods.
Frowning, wondering at the abrupt shift—had he done something wrong? But Tihan was the one who had kissed him—Kaleo ran to catch up, and walked alongside him, wishing he could say what he felt, but the words refused to unstick from his throat, too long paralyzed by fear.
Several hours later, with food and wine sufficient to keep them for several hours more, and a bit of spell work to keep them warm and dry, they watched the village from a high knoll just outside it. They sat in the large branch of an enormous tree, it and the darkness working to make them more or less invisible to anyone who might happen to glance their way.
Not that anyone would. As soon as daily duties permitted, people vanished into their homes or the nearest tavern, of which the village boasted three. Looking at it now, as twilight slowly turned to full dark, it might have almost been a deserted village.
The rats were not so shy; they scurried around the village like they owned it and the humans were the unwanted vermin. Soon the music would start and the rats would appear to be washed anew in magic. Hopefully, his plan would work.
He had done such things before, but only on a very small scale, and more to support another mage—or another mage supported him. The idea was simple enough, in theory. He and Joffer were both sound mages. They both used music. He would simply turn Joffer's solo into a duet. He could not cast such powerful magic—but he could manipulate what was already being cast.
Tihan held out a cup of mulled wine, kept warm by magic, and Kaleo sipped it gratefully. He wished the troublemakers they were always being sent to quell would at least have the decency to misbehave in pleasant weather. Why would anyone want to work in the cold and snow?
He'd just finished his wine when he heard the first soft strains. Hastily handing his cup to Tihan, pressing a quick kiss to the frown upon his face, Kaleo leapt down to the snowy ground. He fumbled for a moment, but quickly regained his balance, moving to the edge of the knoll and listening carefully.
As he had hoped, the music carried perfectly to the spot where they stood. He could hear it clear and true and perfect. Closing his eyes, Kaleo concentrated, humming along to get the nuances of every note.
Finally, when he was certain he had it, eyes still closed, he pulled out his pipe and played.
He turned the hard, commanding music into something colder, turning firm battle song into a funeral piece, convincing the rats that what they really wanted, what they needed, was to leave town and throw themselves into the river.
Throughout, Kaleo was braced for when Joffer would hear the new addition to his song, but the moment never came. There was no challenge, no abrupt halting, no alteration in the music. Kaleo played on an on, his world narrowing to sound and magic, to manipulating the rats.
Satisfaction poured through him as he felt it work—the rats were leaving the city, were throwing themselves into the half-frozen river. One by one, at first, then by two and threes, then dozens, he could feel them slipping free of the control of the music as they succumbed to the far greater power of death.
At last, just as his energy began finally to run out, he felt no more rats in the spell. They were dead.<
br />
Kaleo blacked out.
*~*~*
He woke with a groan in a candle-lit room, and after a moment realized he was in the inn. What time was it? What had happened? The rats!
The door opened, startling him, and he stared wide-eyed at Tihan as everything came back in full. "The rats. I passed out—why did I pass out?" He shook his head, then groaned again, realizing it hurt. Which answered his question. "I used too much energy. I haven't done that in years. Guess manipulating that spell took more out of me than I anticipated."
Tihan frowned and set the tray he held at the foot of the bed. Then he sat down next to Kaleo, and cupped his face. "You took about twenty years off my life, Kaleo. I've never known you to drop from over-exertion before."
Kaleo yawned and made grabbing motions at the tray, the contents of which smelled fabulous. "I've never manipulated such a powerful spell before. Should have occurred to me I might overexert myself, but to be honest the thought never crossed my mind."
"You should be more careful," Tihan said with a hint of growl. "What if I hadn't been there to take care of you?"
"But you were," Kaleo said, and almost confessed, almost asked—but at the last, simply drank the tea which had been pushed into his hands.
Tihan sighed and looked away, staring at his hands for a long time before finally speaking again. "You'd think the villagers would be grateful, but I think they are even more miserable than they were before."
Kaleo nodded. "I'm not surprised. That does confirm our good lord mayor holds something over them we won't easily break. But what? What could he possibly have on them, that they would choose to live in constant terror?"
"There is no telling," Tihan said. "We need to know what manner of creature he really is, I think, before we can answer any other question. That shouldn't be too hard, if we just focused on it. What sort of creatures are magically powerful enough to maintain a human shape, and control rats?"
"Not many," Kaleo said, eating the apple bread Tihan gave him with relish, alternating bites with gulps of tea and swallows of porridge. He was always ravenous after using a great deal of magic, and he had not passed out due to magic since he'd finished his lessons and taken up a King's Seal. "Faeries, but they don't live around here. Certain goblins, but again, wrong part of the country." He snorted. "If not for the fact they're more or less extinct, I would say it's dragon work, but that's absurd."
Tihan frowned. "Absurd?" He tilted his head. "Are you certain?"
"No one has seen a dragon in fifty years or more," Kaleo said with a scoff. "They were wiped out during the Hunts. Anyway, why would a dragon do something this cruel? They only got that nasty when their treasures were…"
Comprehension struck them both simultaneously. "Impossible," Kaleo said. "It couldn't be."
"But it fits," Tihan challenged.
Kaleo made a face, and finished his breakfast.
Dragons were notoriously possessive creatures—and notoriously mean when their possessions were harmed or messed with in any way. The most infamous dragon story in history actually involved the royal family and the crown jewels.
They had been stolen by a bold—and stupid—knight from the nest of what he'd thought was a dead dragon. He'd looted the nest, put the fortune to good use, and several years later became king.
Twenty years later his entire family was dead from one tragedy after another, whittled down until only that foolish knight-turned-king and his youngest granddaughter remained alive. Then and only then did he learn that his trusted steward of fifteen years was actually the dragon he'd thought dead.
Mages had saved the king, then, though only barely. The line had continued, from a bastard who until then had kept his identity secret—the story was a famous legend, reshaped into glorious fashion to be told to the masses, where an evil dragon maliciously attacked a good and innocent king.
But those who bore the Seals knew the truth of that founding story, of events now over two hundred years old. There were other tales of dragon cruelty, but none so well known as that of the First King.
"I cannot believe it," Kaleo said, shaking his head. "It cannot be a dragon." And yet…the brightly colored clothes, the jeweled pin, the arrogance, the way he obviously doted upon his daughter, the power behind manipulating so many rats…
Tihan grimaced. "As much as I wish otherwise, I think it must be."
"No one has seen a dragon in decades. People are beginning to regard them as pure myth," Kaleo argued, even though he knew it was futile. If Joffer was a dragon, that would also explain why no one had challenged his spell last night. Dragons were powerful, but that power was not limitless. If he were human all day, he would have to rest by night. Very likely his spell was pre-set somewhere, to play over and over again every night. That the dragon would reset and strengthen every day.
Which meant if he was going to fight back, he would do it today, or rework his spell to do something different tonight.
If they really were dealing with a dragon… Kaleo's stomach clenched with fear, and he wished suddenly he had not eaten so much, so quickly. It made his blood run cold. "What are we going to do?"
"Deal with it," Tihan said grimly. "We have already gone too far to back out now. It would certainly explain why the village is so terrified. I'm astonished they can act like everything is normal."
Kaleo pushed away the rest of his food. "Our only chance is to strike before he does. We must strike now, hard and fast, before he enacts revenge upon us."
"First," Tihan said, standing and beginning to pull on his winter clothes, "we have to get out of town. We're sitting ducks here. At least in the woods, we will be harder to find, and no one else will get hurt. Any ideas on how to strike?"
"Maybe," Kaleo murmured. "It isn't nice…but it might work. We'll see. Let's get out of town, first. Then we have to find the dragon's set spell."
Tihan nodded, and if he had any questions about what Kaleo was talking about, he was too accustomed to working with mages to voice them yet. He packed their things quickly, then drew his sword and led the way downstairs.
In the tavern below, no one would look up at them. If Kaleo had actually been expecting gratitude, or anything at all, he would have been crushed. As it was, he had enough on his mind.
Outside, the streets were deserted—save for one figure. Kaleo unthinkingly reached out and slid his hand into Tihan's, wondering if it was silly to feel better from that simple contact, the way Tihan immediately gripped his hand tight.
"Clever, little mage," Joffer said as he reached them, and Kaleo immediately saw what Tihan had meant by the strangeness of his eyes—there was a wildness to them he had not noticed yesterday. "You are no idle Piper, peddling your skills for trifling coin."
Tihan squeezed his hand tight once more, then let go, lifting his sword in the other. "We are here by the will of the king. To slay you, dragon, if it must come to that. We prefer no violence, but make no mistake, will resort to it."
Rage and pain flared in Joffer's eyes. "You come to help these stupid humans, but who helped me?" he snarled. "All our lives we were good little humans, eager to fit in and not be slain—and then a human got greedy, and slew my mate and son, and stole our bond jewels, and you come to kill me? Then do it, human. Kill me the same way they killed half my family, when our only crime was to possess jewels that some human thought he better deserved."
Kaleo motioned, but Tihan was already lowering his sword. "What do you mean?" Kaleo asked quietly. "Explain everything to us. We only knew about the curse. If there is some greater wrong which must be righted, then we attend the matter. We serve all citizens of the kingdom."
Joffer laughed bitterly, eyes glistening, and Kaleo could only marvel that he managed to hold back the tears, if all that he had so far said was true.
"Tell us what happened," Tihan said in his firm and gentle way. Kaleo had heard it himself, more than once, on the rare occasion he'd had a bad job go poorly and refused to speak of it. Tihan had made him, and it was
one of those discussions which had led to their first night as lovers.
Joffer stared at them, anger and devastation, anguish and mistrust plain upon his face, pooled in those hard, wild eyes.
"Please," Kaleo said gently. "You are a citizen of the king, and deserve justice."
"Which is why you hunted my people near to extinction, and forced those of us who survived to live as humans or die as well," Joffer snarled. "We did that, and still it was not good enough."
Kaleo nodded, for what was there to say? Dragons were feared, for their power and the lengths to which they would go for revenge, for justice—but not all stories of dragons were tales of blood and fear. There were good dragon stories, too. Many said the dragons had been hunted down unfairly—it was an issue which carried a great deal of anger, confusion, hurt, and shame.
"Come with me," Joffer said bitterly, and turned sharply away, stalking back down the way he had come, forcing Kaleo and Tihan to race after him. He moved quickly, and they could barely keep pace, panting for breath when he finally came to a halt well outside of town, just past the fine house which must be his, to a little clearing which boasted nothing more than a single, small tree.
There was no snow beneath it, despite the fact the barren tree would not have blocked it. Green grass grew, heedless of the bitter cold. Two stone markers rest at the base of the tree, and Kaleo closed his eyes against the pain on Joffer's face.
"We have lived here a very long time," Joffer said quietly. "Changing periodically, as we must. Always taking care, always cautious, always looking out for the village, our home. We return to our true shape at night, and hurt no one. My wife and I were together many years, before we finally decided to risk having children. We wanted children badly. One son, and a few years later, one daughter." His face tightened, and his voice grew unsteady with emotions barely contained. "One night, several weeks ago, I was called away to deal with a problem many miles away, concerning a farmer who does not care to live close to the village. When I returned, very late at night, I found my wife and son dead—poisoned, then their throats cut. My daughter would likely be the same, but she was sick and so we had hidden her elsewhere should her draconic nature slip out while ill. The murderer had broken into our chest, and stolen the only treasures about which my mate and I still deeply cared—the bonding jewels we exchanged when we pledged our lives to each other."