The Dragon's Flame (The Chronicles of Terah # 2)

by Morgan, Mackenzie

  “Good to see you,” Duane said as he clasped Kevin’s hand. “Xantha said you wanted to talk to me.”

  Kevin nodded. “I’ve got a couple of questions about being part elf.”

  Duane chuckled. “I don’t know how much help I’ll be, but I’ll try. What do you want to know?”

  “How do you translocate? I know I can do it, but the only time I did it was when a big rattlesnake startled me. I’ve tried to do it at other times, but nothing happens. I asked Glendymere about it, but he wasn’t any help. All he could tell me was that it was an elf thing, and that he can’t do it. What’s the secret?”

  “I don’t really know how I do it. Most of the time it’s a panic reaction, like you and the rattlesnake.”

  “But you did it at Kalen’s as a demonstration. You were on one side of the dining room and then a second later, you were on the other side. How did you do it?”

  “I just pictured myself on the other side,” Duane said with a shrug. “There’s no trick to it.”

  “Have you always been able to do it?”

  “No, not really. When I was a child, the only time it happened was when something scared me. Controlling it came later, sort of like controlling magic does for a human.”

  “So I should just picture myself somewhere else?”

  “Yes, but not far away, just a few feet, at least at first. Even after you learn to control it, you still won’t be able to translocate very far, probably less than half a mile, unless your human magic kicks in to give you a boost, but I’ve never heard of that happening.” Duane paused and frowned. “In fact, I’ve never heard of any human being able to translocate, even the ones who have elven blood. Could Badec?”

  “I have no idea,” Kevin answered. “I asked Glendymere, but he didn’t know either.” Then Kevin pointed to a spot next to a small bush, about five feet away. “Okay, I’m going to try it. I’m going to picture myself over there.”

  He closed his eyes, created a mental image of himself standing on that spot, and concentrated on the image. After a few minutes, he opened his eyes and found that he hadn’t moved an inch.

  “Don’t try so hard,” Duane said. “If you can do it, it should be fairly easy, at least it is for elves.”

  Kevin nodded, cleared his mind, and allowed a quick image of himself standing next to the bush to surface, but he didn’t try to hold it in his mind. Almost before the image had finished forming, he realized that he was standing next to the bush. A slow grin spread across his face.

  “That’s better,” Duane said with a nod. “I think you’ve got it now.”

  “That was great! Let me try to go back.” Kevin let the image of himself standing beside Duane form in his mind, and almost immediately, he was back where he started. “This is fun! Can you picture yourself on the other side of an object, like on the other side of a closed door?”

  “Yes, but unless you know who or what is on the other side of that door, it might not be a good idea to do it.”

  “But didn’t you say translocation was good for escaping?”

  Duane nodded. “Just as long as you’re not going from the frying pan to the fire. You have to be careful how you use it. Of course if your life is in danger, use it, and don’t worry about where you’re going until you get there.”

  Kevin nodded and took a minute to think about everything Duane had said. Finally he said, “You know, this might be one of those things that I should keep to myself, at least for now. It might come in handy one day, especially if no one knows that I can do it.”

  “Just stay away from rattlesnakes or everyone will know that you can do it,” Duane said with a grin. “Are you ready to head back towards the houses? I need to go help Shelandra. She’s been cooking all afternoon for the dinner at Mother’s and if I don’t show up to carry the food over, my life won’t be very much fun for the next few days.”

  “You go ahead. I’d like to walk through the woods for a little while. You’d be surprised how long it’s been since I’ve had a few minutes to call my own, with no one watching me or waiting for me.”

  “I can imagine. Enjoy your walk. I’ll see you in about an hour or so.” Then Duane left Kevin in the meadow and hurried back to his house.

  Kevin wandered around the meadow for a few minutes and then strolled off into the woods. He roamed aimlessly through the forest until he realized that he had no idea where he was or which way he needed to turn to head back. He focused his seeing eye above the valley to locate the houses. Once he had the houses spotted and knew which way he needed to go, he let his seeing eye explore the rest of the valley.

  A movement in a long, narrow clearing caught his eye. Someone had set up a target and was practicing archery. He watched for a few minutes, admiring the poise and skill of the archer. As he narrowed the focus of the eye to get a better view, he realized that the archer was a young woman. She was at least six feet tall and had the slender, curving figure of a female elf. Her hair fell in luxurious waves to her tiny waist, and looked like spun gold in the fading sunlight. The muscles in her arms and shoulders rippled as she drew the arrow back, struck her stance, and released a perfect shot.

  As she drew another arrow from her quiver, Kevin repositioned his seeing eye so that he could see her face. It was the most beautiful face he had ever seen. Everything was so perfectly balanced. Her ruby red eyes were diamond-shaped, and peeked out from under long, thick lashes. She frowned in concentration as she once more aimed her arrow, but as soon as the arrow struck the center of the target, a slow smile spread from her eyes to her lips.

  When she smiled, Kevin’s breath caught in his throat. He could feel the blood rushing through his body. His pulse pounded in his head, and his knees felt weak. He became unaware of anything except her. As she started walking toward the other end of the clearing to collect her arrows, Kevin was completely entranced by her feline grace. At that moment, he felt like all he wanted to do for the rest of his life was watch her.

  In a pasture on the other side of the valley, Xantha stopped eating for a moment and his ears perked up as Kevin’s reaction registered with him. When he realized who had caused that reaction, a quiet chuckle rumbled through his mind.

  As the archer gathered her arrows, Kevin realized that he had been holding his breath, so he slowly exhaled. As he concentrated on breathing, his pulse began to slow, and he gained awareness of where he was. He closed the seeing eye and quickly glanced around to make sure no one had seen him standing there in what he could only describe as a trance. He had known a lot of girls back on Earth, even dated a few, but never had he had that kind of reaction. He had heard other guys talk about being knocked off their feet, but he had always assumed it was just a figure of speech. Now he knew better.

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  Chris was standing in Hayden’s backyard waiting for Kevin, and when Kevin emerged from the woods, Chris walked over to meet him. “I met Landis a few minutes ago. Your description fits. I don’t think I’ve ever seen hair quite so red, and her eyes are deep green. She and Taelor look nothing alike. She’s taller than he is, has a more athletic build, and her skin is creamy. I’m not surprised that neither of them suspected that they had the same mother.”

  “I really should introduce myself,” Kevin said. “Do you know where she is now?”

  “She and Duane were out here a few minutes ago,” Chris said as he turned to look around. “I didn’t see them go in the house, so they should be around here somewhere.”

  About that time, Duane and a young woman came around the side of the house. As soon as Kevin saw Landis, he knew that she was the one who had stood against Rolan in his vision. He and Chris started walking towards them, but just before they all came together, another young woman stepped out of a small shed near the woods. Kevin froze in mid-step. It was the archer, and she was headed straight towards Duane.

  Chris glanced over at him with raised eyebrows but Kevin tried to shrug it off. “Thought I saw something in the woods,” he mumbled. “My imaginatio
n, I guess. Must be tired.”

  “Right,” Chris muttered under his breath.

  As the young archer reached them, Duane put his arm around her shoulders. “Myron, I’d like for you to meet Landis and my youngest sister, Rhianna.” Duane nodded to each one as he introduced them. “And girls, this is Myron, of the House of Nordin, Master Sorcerer of Terah.”

  Kevin felt like he was drowning. He swallowed hard, concentrated on breathing, and forced himself to focus on Landis. “I understand you’ll begin studying magic with Glendymere this fall.”

  Landis nodded, but she didn’t say anything.

  Kevin realized that she was almost as uncomfortable as he was, although for entirely different reasons. “Don’t worry. He growls a lot, but he doesn’t bite his apprentices, does he, Chris?”

  Chris grinned. “No, and if he didn’t lose his patience with Kevin, he won’t lose it with anyone.”

  “Kevin?” Landis asked. “Who’s Kevin?”

  “Myron,” Chris answered. “Sorry.”

  Kevin spoke up. “People who know me well call me Kevin.”

  Landis nodded, still looking confused.

  Duane spoke up and said, “It’s a long story, Landis, but basically it’s like a nickname. He answers to either one.”

  Gwynn stepped out on the back steps and called everyone to dinner. Kevin managed to maneuver things so that he accompanied Landis into the house, leaving Chris to walk with Rhianna. When they reached the dining area, Kevin sat between Taelor and Hayden, and across from Landis. Chris was at the other end of the table, between Duane and Rhianna.

  Kevin made it through the meal, but he didn’t remember very much about it. He smiled, answered a lot of questions, even managed to ask a few, but mostly he concentrated on keeping his breathing slow and steady, and his eyes off of Rhianna.

  When the meal ended and people began leaving the table, Kevin turned to Hayden and said, “I really do hate to eat and run, but Chris and I need to get back to Milhaven.”

  Hayden nodded. “I understand. You’ve given us a lot of your time today, and we’ve all enjoyed your visit.”

  “We’ve enjoyed it, too. Your valley is lovely, and it’s been so nice to wander around the woods and not worry about anything for a few hours.”

  Hayden smiled. “Glad you enjoyed it. Feel free to come back any time you feel the need for a break.”

  Kevin nodded. “I’d like to thank Gwynn for her hospitality, and then I guess we’d better go. Thanks again for today, and I may take you up on your offer.” Kevin stood up, smiled, shook hands with Hayden, and left to go find Gwynn and Chris.

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  Laryn was in Kevin’s office when they returned. She gave them a moment to recover from the energy field and then said, “That’s good timing. I was going to leave you a note.”

  “What’s up?” Kevin asked.

  “Nothing,” Laryn said. “I just wanted to tell you that Steve and I are going to ride up into the mountains around daybreak tomorrow. We’ll probably be gone most of the day.”

  Kevin nodded. “It’ll do you good to get out of here for a day. I know I enjoyed our trip to Crinsor Run.”

  “Did you get to meet Landis?” Laryn asked as she sat down in one of the armchairs.

  Kevin nodded as he walked around his desk and sat down in his chair. Then he frowned. “I talked to her a little at dinner, but she didn’t seem to be very comfortable around me.”

  “I don’t imagine so,” Laryn said. “You’re the Master Sorcerer, the most powerful sorcerer on all of Terah. Naturally she’d be a little intimidated.”

  “Yeah, well, here’s hoping I can live up to the billing,” Kevin grunted as he thumbed through the messages that Ariel had left on his desk.

  “Did you get a chance to talk to Taelor?”

  Kevin nodded and told her what Taelor had told him about Tsareth’s death.

  Laryn shook her head. “I’ve never heard of a son or daughter challenging a parent before. If he had come to Badec and issued a formal challenge, Badec would have turned him down flat. There’s no way he would ever have sanctioned it.”

  “That’s probably why he insisted it was a family thing,” Chris said.

  “Is that an option?” Kevin asked. “I thought that every challenge had to be granted.”

  “The Master Sorcerer can refuse to set it up, but you’d have to have a good reason,” Laryn explained. “Of course, if the challenger insists, he can always state his case before the full council, and if they agree, they can override the Master Sorcerer, but it would never happen in a case like that. Every one of those sorcerers would be sitting there thinking of the day when his or her heir would decide to issue a challenge. They would have backed Badec up if only to protect themselves.”

  “Is there anything we can do about Rolan?”

  Laryn thought for a few minutes and then said, “I don’t think so. As far as everyone else is concerned, Tsareth died of natural causes. Even if you could get Rolan to admit to the challenge, without Taelor’s testimony I can’t think of anything you could charge him with. It isn’t murder if it’s a challenge, although it isn’t really a legal challenge unless it’s sanctioned. That’s sort of a gray area.”

  “But it wasn’t a duel,” Kevin protested. “Rolan murdered his father. He hit him with an energy bolt while his back was turned!”

  “But you weren’t there, Kevin. You didn’t see it. No one did except Taelor. All you have is Taelor’s word that Rolan didn’t win the challenge fair and square, that he attacked while Tsareth’s back was turned. I don’t know how much weight his word would carry with the rest of the sorcerers, especially since he was one of Rolan’s slaves. And by his own admission, he heard Rolan roar and then he was knocked out. He didn’t actually witness much of anything. I don’t see that there’s much you can do.”

  “So there’s not much point in pursuing it, is there?” Kevin asked.

  Laryn shook her head. “Anything else before I go?”

  “Not that I know of,” Kevin answered. “Have a good trip tomorrow.”

  After Laryn left the room, Chris asked, “Do you remember meeting Rhianna, Duane’s sister?”

  Kevin concentrated on looking at the messages as he asked, “Wasn’t she the one with Duane when he introduced me to Landis?”

  “Yes, that’s the one. Taelor told me that Rhianna is going to be Landis’s assistant.”

  Kevin fumbled the messages. “Oh? I thought Taelor would be her assistant.”

  “I did too, but apparently not. Anyway, I didn’t mention it while we were there because Taelor said that the girls haven’t told Hayden and Gwynn yet.”

  “I’m not sure the elves will go along with that. If she travels with Landis, she’s going to be in danger herself.”

  “I know,” Chris agreed.

  Kevin frowned. He flipped once more through the messages as the image of Rhianna in Willow Canyon filled his mind. He saw the words, but nothing was sinking in. “Well, there’s nothing here that can’t wait until morning. Let’s get some sleep.”

  Chapter 10

  Brena

  Monday morning, while he and Chris were going over the weekly schedule, Kevin mentioned that he wanted to make arrangements to go see Robyn as soon as possible.

  “Do you have any idea where he lives?” Chris asked.

  “Not really. The name of the village is Mapleton, but that’s all I know, and I’m not sure it would be a good idea for a stranger to show up and start asking directions to his house. Rolan is probably having him watched.” Kevin slouched down in his chair.

  “Do you want me to write him and ask for directions?”

  Kevin thought about it for a minute and then slowly shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. A letter from here could draw attention if it fell into the wrong hands, and I don’t want to make him any more of a target than he already is.”

  “Too bad he doesn’t live in Drisden. We could get Theresa to write to Drusilla and send a letter to hi
m through her.”

  “Yeah,” Kevin said. Then he sat up as an idea hit him. “Wait a minute. That’s not a bad idea. When Evelyne wanted to get a message to us, she sent a letter to Theresa in care of Sister Agnes.”

  “You mean send a letter to the local sister and ask her to deliver it? How would she know it’s for real and not some trick of Rolan’s?”

  “She’d do it if the letter came from someone she knew.”

  “But who around here would know the local sister in … what was that village? Mapleton?”

  Kevin nodded. “Brena.”

  “The head of the Sisterhood?”

  “Uh-huh. I need to go see her anyway. She lives in Ragenon. I want to warn her about Gwendolyn’s complaints about sisters treating runaway slaves and about the pendants.”

  “Do you think Laryn knows her?”

  “I haven’t asked, but I’m sure she does.”

  “Might be nice to ask her to go with you and introduce you,” Chris suggested.

  “Good idea. And I imagine Theresa would like to meet her, too. She’ll be back tomorrow, so if we went Wednesday, she could go with us,” Kevin said. “And Brena needs to know who you are in case you need to contact her sometime, so I want you to go, too.”

  “That makes four already. What about one of the bodyguards?”

  “Five. Okay, two trips. No problem. Let’s plan to go right after lunch Wednesday. Check with Laryn and see if that’s okay with her. I’ll tell Theresa when I pick her up tomorrow morning.”

  “Any preference as far as bodyguards goes?”

  “No. Just tell Darrell we’re going and let him assign one of them to go with us.”

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  Laryn and Theresa joined Kevin and Chris for lunch Wednesday and walked back to Kevin’s office with them. Alek was waiting for them in the reception area. Once they were all in his office, Kevin handed Laryn the key.

  “Alek, you’ll go with me and Laryn. Then I’ll come back to get Theresa and Chris.” Alek nodded and put his hand on Laryn’s arm. Kevin put his hand on her other arm and said, “Don’t put us in the front yard though. I’d like to get a look at the area. How about taking us in a mile or two from her chapel?”