“It’s easy enough to teach them,” Lady Sarai said. “And we won’t need that many, with these pieces coming one at a time.”
“Will you still need my services?” Hakin asked.
“Perhaps not, but I will leave that up to the overlord and the Wizards’ Guild,” Lady Sarai replied. “Having someone the demon trusts may still be useful.”
Hakin nodded.
Everything seemed to be working out. Karitha was safe for the next few decades—probably for the rest of her natural life—frightening arms buyers in Ethshar of the Rocks. Tarker would be busy for a very long time, but would eventually be able to go home. An entire mountain was going to be delivered to Ethshar of the Sands, but slowly enough to be manageable.
Hakin was very glad that Tarker had not found a way to convince the dragon to walk or fly close to Ethshar of the Sands, to save the demon the trouble of carrying pieces all the way from the Northern Deserts. Having that monster in an inhabited area would not be good.
And he was glad that all those years ago he had been brave enough to stand up and ask the demon what it wanted in the Hundred-Foot Field, because it had been his relationship with Tarker that had led to his present well-paid job as errand boy and troubleshooter for the overlords and the Wizards’ Guild.
He hoped all his other companions had been as fortunate.
Chapter Forty-Nine
Morvash of the Shadows
7th of Summerheat, YS 5240
Zerra sent the carpet in a long, slow loop before bringing it in to land, and Morvash looked the dragon over carefully.
He suspected that it could still move if it wanted to; Tarker had indeed broken both its wings, but the damage to its legs did not look very serious, and Morvash knew that creatures brought to life by Ellran’s Immortal Animation could bend and flex in completely unnatural ways. That meant that it didn’t want to move.
Tarker was chipping away at the tip of its right wing, using the iron drill as an oversized chisel and driving it into the stone with the big sledgehammer. Morvash waved to it, but the demon did not respond.
At last Zerra brought the carpet down to earth, hovering a foot or so above bare dirt and sparse clumps of grass directly in front of the monster’s face. Morvash clambered off and stood facing the creature.
The dragon’s eyes focused on them, and it spoke.
“You two? Why have you come?”
Morvash staggered back as the sound of its voice shook the earth. “I wanted to talk to you!” he shouted.
“You are not here to tease or torment me?”
“No!”
“Then speak; what would you have of me?”
Morvash hesitated, knowing that what he was going to say might sound insultingly stupid, but at last called, “I wanted to be sure you were all right!”
The dragon’s head had been resting on the ground, but now it lifted up so that the creature could look down at Morvash.
“I am being slowly murdered, and you know this,” it said. “How can you ask whether I am ‘all right’?”
“I…I wanted to know whether there is anything we can do to make it better for you!”
It cocked its head and studied him. “I don’t believe I understand what you are offering.”
“Well…I want to make sure you aren’t feeling any pain.”
“I am not. Was it not your fellow there who told me I am incapable of feeling pain?”
“Yes, I know,” Morvash said. “I just wanted to be sure she was right.”
“I believe she was, if I understand the word’s meaning. The demon’s pounding feels no worse than a gust of wind, and is far less troublesome than that fool I found in my ear when I first awoke.”
“That was the wizard that created you!”
The dragon made a noise that Morvash thought would have been a snort had the creature been capable of exhaling. “He did me no favor. As you said, I am far too large for this world. I am allowing this demon to destroy me because you were right; I should never have existed.”
“I’m sorry! I…I am not happy to have condemned you to this slow death,” Morvash said.
“Oh, I don’t mind. Do not think I am like you in my wants and interests. I have agreed to let the demon destroy me because I have no reason to refuse.”
“You…agreed?”
“We speak sometimes, the demon and I. That is the price I ask for holding still, that it take the time to talk to me. On one such occasion, early in our acquaintance, it explained to me the concept of an afterlife. It assures me that humans can continue to exist in another form after they die, as ghosts or spirits. Perhaps I, too, will be reborn into a more appropriate world when it has removed me from this one; perhaps I am as immortal as the spell that created me would claim. I decided I would take that chance. In truth, I have little to lose.”
“You talk to it? Even though it’s killing you?”
“I do. I wish to understand this world I am in. But alas, it is no part of this world, either, and cannot help as much as I might hope.”
“Are you lonely, then?”
“I think I might be. I am not sure.”
“I… Perhaps I could visit sometimes, or bring others. I think I could even ask a dragon by the name of Aldagon to stop by.”
“That might be interesting.”
“Or I could put you to sleep with a spell, so that you… If you want.”
“Oh, I prefer to remain awake. I enjoy watching the sunrise. But thank you. And visitors would be welcome.”
“I have… There are these four gargoyles that your creator made, as practice for making you. He made six, but only four seem to be alive. I could bring them to stay with you. The house they lived on is gone.”
“That would be interesting. Thank you.” It tipped its head in the opposite direction. “For someone who was determined to see me dead, you are being surprisingly kind.”
“I never want anyone to suffer. I have made it my business to find people who have been turned to stone and restore them to life—I’ve been hunting for statues that used to be human. I take other curses off people, too. That’s what I want to do, to help people. When I was here before I was so afraid of how many people you could hurt that I didn’t think about how you felt; I’m sorry.”
“I understand.” Then it turned its attention to Zerra, still seated on her carpet. “And do you have anything to say?”
“No,” she shouted back. “I’m only here because he paid me to fly him here.”
“I see.” Then it turned its attention back to Morvash, but he could think of nothing more to say.
“I’ll bring those gargoyles,” he said, as he reached for the carpet.
And then he and Zerra were airborne, bound for Ethshar.
Epilogue
Although no public explanations were ever given, some seven assorted wizards scattered all across the World, all of them old and powerful, disappeared abruptly over the course of the year following Erdrik’s reappearance. All were known to have been conversant with petrifaction spells of one sort or another, and any inquiries about them were greeted with assurances from the Wizards’ Guild that everything was under control.
Word went out that a wealthy collector in Ethshar of the Spices was seeking any and all life-sized works by the famous Lamumese artist Varrek the Sculptor, and would pay generously for them.
The Wizards’ Guild, after some discussion behind closed doors, accepted the legal fiction that Darissa was not a witch. In any case, there was precedent for allowing witches in government in places as varied as Klathoa and Ethshar of the Rocks, under certain circumstances, so it was agreed that the Guild would look the other way in this instance. The failed apprentice married Prince Marek and became Princess Darissa, and eventually, some years later, Queen Darissa, consor
t to King Marek of Melitha, and mother to Prince Nondel, Prince Terren, Princess Zerra, and Princess Ithinia.
Gror and Morvash were eventually able to either restore all the former statues who had taken refuge in Gror’s mansion to their homes, or settle them into new lives, though it took almost two years before the last was gone. Most of them were able to adjust to their situation in time. Even Thetta, no longer a dancing girl but a baker, eventually decided she did not need to kill or mutilate herself—she found that ugly clothing and a bad haircut were enough to deter unwanted attention, and that she enjoyed baking at least as much as she had dancing.
In addition to several fees, Morvash received a great deal of favorable free publicity from the people he had rescued. Gror benefitted from the reflected fame; his business thrived. He also found himself the holder of an exclusive license to trade with the royal family of Melitha, which proved reasonably profitable despite Melitha’s notable lack of industry.
Morvash became known as an expert on breaking curses—his expertise in curses, which he had never particularly appreciated, allowed him to live up to this reputation, since of course he knew how to remove every curse he could cast. He learned to perform Javan’s Restorative more reliably, and over time restored several more enchanted people to their natural forms.
Karitha kept calling herself “the Demonologist,” but never again summoned a demon. Her major task was to stand behind Morrin’s chair and look menacing, and she became quite good at it, even after she married a swordsmith and bore five children. She did eventually recover Tarker’s lost secret name by hiring a wizard who used the Spell of Omniscient Vision to watch her writing it down in the first place, back in 5231, but kept it in reserve.
Erdrik the Grim’s remains were found and given a proper pyre; the Wizards’ Guild wanted to be sure he was dead this time. His house on Old East Avenue was carefully disassembled and carted away, the wards and other spells were removed, and the furnishings, animated and otherwise, were auctioned off. Morvash acquired the animated copper kettle, though he sometimes regretted the impulse that had prompted him to do so, and made good on his promise to deliver the four animated gargoyles to the northern desert where the dragon lay.
Pender opened a jewelry shop on Gaudy Street in Sardiron of the Waters, where he specialized in dragon-shaped charms and gems suitable for enchantment. His mysterious background and his ability to speak Ethsharitic attracted a relatively sophisticated clientele.
And even after losing almost three dozen of the finest pieces, Lord Landessin’s sculpture collection remained unrivaled.
Stone Unturned: A Legend of Ethshar Page 46