The Fire Mages

by Pauline M. Ross

  “Where?”

  “There? Can’t you – see it?” I puffed.

  “No. Maybe when we get closer.”

  The sun was still above the horizon, but even so I could see the aura clearly from right across the field, a figure shimmering amidst darker, leather-clad archers. We edged round the field between the fighters and the seats until we were opposite the person with the aura.

  “Is it that one? The one just aiming his bow now?”

  “Yes. You can see it, then?”

  “Just about. Man, I think.”

  “What should we do?”

  For answer, he strode off across the field, weaving between oblivious pairs of grunting swordsmen, and skirting a noisy group banging staves together. Shouts of annoyance followed him, and once two engrossed swordsmen nearly barrelled into him but he ignored them. Hands to mouth, I watched him go, immobilised by fear, heart hammering until he reached the archery group safely. A few words with the captain or commander, and the man with the aura was called across. Moments later, they were manoeuvring their way back.

  “What did you say?” I hissed when they reached my side.

  “Told him it was mage business.” He grinned.

  I was rather shocked, but mages and nobles were alike in that respect: they took whatever they wanted, and no one dared to object. I wondered what the captain thought about it – that Cal wanted the man for some magely experiment, perhaps, or just that he fancied him as a bed partner for the night.

  We found a quiet spot to sit, and Cal paid for ale and pies, even though I was still clutching the two I’d bought earlier, and we talked to the archer with the aura. He was a pleasant man, with the lank mousy hair and stubby nose typical of river people, but well-built like all the guards. His name was Lakkan, he said, and he came from Wissonlent, one of the largest river towns.

  “I been a guard there for twelve years,” he said in the rolling cadence of the river margins. “I been trying for the elite program for the past five years, but my face didn’t suit, I guess.” He talked easily enough, but there was a wariness he couldn’t hide. He had no idea what we wanted with him.

  “You must be good, though,” Cal said. “What’s your special talent?”

  “Oh, archery, for sure. I won every contest back home for years. Not bad at the rest, too,” he added with a slight blush, “but I doing archery best. You – looking for a guard, Lord?”

  “Maybe. But the talent I’m interested in is one you might not even know you have.”

  Lakkan’s eyes widened, more in fear than surprise. A noble who talked so cryptically generally had nothing good in mind. His eyes flicked to me, puzzled by my silent presence, perhaps, and then back to Cal, saying nothing. Cal charged on, unnoticing or uncaring.

  “Lady Mage Kyra here is a wild mage. That means she was born with a natural talent for magic. We think you have the same ability.”

  The open mouth was comical. Then he laughed in Cal’s face. “I thinking you must be mistaken, Lord. I knowing nothing about magic.”

  “I’m sure you don’t. But nevertheless, I believe you have some power, and I would like the chance to find out. We are bound for Ardamurkan and beyond, but then we return to Kingswell. I would like to take you with us, and find out what, if anything, you can do. I will employ you as a guard, at the usual rates, with a proper contract and a release clause in case you hate Kingswell or me or anything else about it. How does that sound?”

  The mouth was still open, but he managed to nod.

  “Excellent,” Cal said. “Say nothing to anyone about magic, though. Just tell your captain I’ve recruited you as a guard. We’ll talk more tomorrow. Now, let’s have another round of pies, shall we? They’re rather good.”

  ~~~~~

  The following morning brought a servant from the local Kellon. Greatest respect to Lord and Lady Mage, not wishing to impose, but if we could possibly be so obliging as to attend the Gracious Lady at the Kellona’s Hall...

  It was exciting to be summoned but I was disappointed too, since I’d hoped to see more of Lakkan; only the third natural mage I knew. It would be fascinating to learn about him, and perhaps find out what his talents were. But the Kellona took priority.

  Cal sighed. “There’s never any hiding away for a mage. You’ll have to get used to that. Well, we’d better find time for her, I suppose.”

  Despite his casual words, we ate only a hasty morning board, then went directly to the hall. It wasn’t hard to find, easily distinguished from neighbouring buildings by virtue of its position on a low hill, a monstrous multi-towered affair of black stone, looming over the gaudy ramshackle shacks below it.

  The Kellona was a surprise – a thin woman not much older than Cal, with a nose as sharp as a bird’s beak.

  “Ah, thank you so much for coming! And so promptly. And the new Fire Mage, too – I am honoured.” She looked at me speculatively, head tilted to one side. “I wonder if you would mind – my daughter, you know. Not long married, all wonderful, but these pains... My own mages can treat them, naturally, but they keep coming back, and worse than ever. More than two ten-suns the poor girl has suffered. Perhaps you can root out the problem? I daresay it will pass, but I do worry so about her. This way, this way. You are so good, and so fortunate you were here. Perhaps your skills will solve the problem altogether, and that would be such a blessing. Along here, if you please.”

  She shepherded us along a passage and up some circular stairs, all the while talking without pause. We smiled and nodded and followed meekly behind her until we reached a small wedge-shaped room, an outer room in one of the round towers. There was a middle-aged female mage there, and a young blonde woman reclining on a long chair.

  “Here they are, Lanonia! Sooner than we expected, too. They are from Kingswell, you know, the very best. All will be well now, my dear. I am certain they will find the root of the matter.”

  The mage looked sourly at her, and no wonder. It was quite an insult to her, but then what mother wouldn’t try everything to help her daughter? I wasn’t a mother yet, but I had some inkling of how a baby casts its own magic over those around it. I felt the pull already, and my child was no more than a rounded belly.

  The daughter, Lanonia, had been staring listlessly into space, but now she turned towards us, a half smile on her face. She was very pale, with the grey sheen of perpetual pain. Cal tossed his coat over a chair and sat cross-legged on the floor beside her, asking gentle questions which she answered in a wisp of a voice. I could see the Kellona forcibly holding back from speaking on her behalf.

  “May I examine you, Lady? If you permit?”

  She nodded, and loosened the front of her bed-robe to uncover one side of her belly. “There – that is where it hurts.”

  Cal drew out his vessel, removing it from its little case and unfastening the top of his shirt to let it settle on his skin. He no longer needed it, since he wore the belt, but it reassured those he dealt with. Then he confidently laid one hand on her belly. Instantly he pulled it back, eyes wide.

  The women gasped. “What is it?” Lanonia whispered. “Something bad?”

  “No, no.” A quick glance at me. “It’s just – my vessel is full of power at the moment, I can see more clearly than usual. It surprised me. Your pardon, Lady. I had no intent to alarm you.”

  The mage snorted, but I understood. This must be the first time Cal had healed anyone since he’d had the jade belt, and he could now see the colours as I did.

  He laid his hand on her belly again, and held it there a long time. Then he rose. “Kyra, I should like your opinion.”

  A louder snort from the mage.

  I settled beside her. “If you permit, Lady?” She nodded, twitching the robe further open. “No, I only need to hold your hand.” I hoped my palm wasn’t too clammy. I knew all the protocol for a healing, but this was the first one I’d participated in. I listened for the snort, but none came this time.

  As soon as I touched her and closed my eye
s, I could see the problem; a roiling mass of brown and black to one side of her belly, small but sharp. I could feel the jagged edges of pain as a piercing sensation in my mind. Without any effort on my part, my magic flowed into her to soothe it away, and the black receded a little. And there was something else in there.

  “Oh! A little stranger!” I said, the traditional village expression slipping unheeded from me.

  For a moment the women were bewildered, then the Kellona laughed and Lanonia blushed. “I suspected! But – I was not quite sure, because there was still some bleeding. Ah, that feels warm!”

  “What are you doing?” the Kellona said sharply. “Are you healing her?”

  “No, just easing the pain a little. It’s complicated. I – would you mind if I consult my esteemed colleagues? In private? There are some aspects I’m not sure about.”

  This time there was a definite snort, but the mage led us into an adjoining room, a rather untidy office, every surface heaped with candle stubs, books, papers, scarves and wraps. There was only one chair, so we stood.

  “Well?” she said.

  “The baby is – unhappy.” It was an inadequate word, but all I could think of. “All the pain, the bleeding, the damage – it surrounds him. I think he’s causing it.”

  “You can see that?” the mage said, disbelief plain on her face. “A Fire Mage, and you can see all that?”

  Odd question. “Yes. Can’t you?”

  “No. I cannot see a baby. It is far too early to detect. Lady Lanonia has only been married a few ten-suns. Even if there is a baby, the pain is to one side, not in the womb.”

  “Yes. He’s in the wrong position, I think, growing in a place he shouldn’t be.”

  A sharp intake of breath. She understood. “Ah. That is bad.”

  “It does account for the symptoms,” Cal said.

  The mage rounded on him. “Could you see any of this? The baby, the bleeding?”

  “Kyra’s power is greater than that of ten mages,” Cal said smoothly. “She sees detail that no mage with a single vessel could detect. But I know of no cure for this. The babe will grow, and gradually the pain and bleeding will kill mother and child both.”

  “Is this true?” I said to the mage. “What about a death spell on the child?”

  “Without a living, named person to direct it to?” the mage said. “Far too risky. It could kill Lady Lanonia too.”

  “She will die anyway, if we do nothing,” Cal said impatiently. “Kyra, we’ve talked about how thought magic alters the spell. Could you do it, do you think? At least you are aware of the baby, you can direct the spell that way, instead of by name.”

  “I don’t know,” I whispered. Probably I could. My mind was already running through ways that might work. But to kill someone? Even a child perhaps no bigger than a fingernail, and to save his mother’s life? I’d never intentionally killed before.

  “Will you try?” he said softly. “If we do nothing, they will both die, a lingering, agonising death.”

  “She can do this?” the mage said, eyes sliding from him to me. “She really has that power?”

  Cal hesitated. “More than you or I, certainly. More than just control of fire. But she is new to her abilities, and this is a difficult case. I cannot force her to attempt it, I can only ask.”

  I bowed my head. “I will try,” I breathed.

  When we re-entered the room, Cal knelt beside Lady Lanonia and, holding her hand, explained the situation in plain terms. He wasn’t unsympathetic, but he didn’t dance around the bleak prospects, either, or hide that my attempts to help might fail. She cried a little, but accepted the proposal without demur. It was the Kellona who objected.

  “Wait, you are going to let the Fire Mage kill my grandchild? You surely do not approve of this, Dresh?”

  “We cannot find a better solution, Gracious Lady.”

  “Why can you not do this? You are more experienced than this chit of a girl.”

  The mage hesitated. “I do not like it, but she says she can see the baby, which neither I nor my esteemed colleague can. I do not see an alternative. Lanonia will die if we do nothing.”

  “You said nothing of this before. Just a little female trouble, you said, that would clear up in time. You said nothing of Lanonia dying then.”

  “I suspected, of course, but I hoped I was wrong. There is no accepted cure, so... But the Fire Mage – perhaps she can do something.”

  “Perhaps? I forbid it! We will get more mages here, and get their opinions. There must be something we can do. I will not have this girl experimenting on my daughter.”

  “Mother.” It was no more than a whisper, but they fell silent. “Kyra has the hands of a healer. Even her touch makes me feel better. None of the others do that. So I will permit it. The decision is mine.”

  I wasn’t sure whether I was relieved or sorry about that. Part of me wanted to try my hand at proper healing, a serious case with all the time I needed to do it right. But part of me would have been glad to walk away from such a difficult task. If it went wrong... I shivered.

  I knelt beside Lanonia and took her hand again, closing my eyes to see clearly inside her. The baby, that was the problem. There it was, in the midst of all the trouble, and clear enough that I could certainly kill it. But then what? It would still be there, still tearing at Lanonia’s insides until - well, what happened to a dead baby? Perhaps it would fester, and eat away at her in a different way, years of chronic difficulties and no obvious means of relief. If only there were some way to get the baby out of there....

  Then I saw the solution. It was obvious, really. I lulled the baby to sleep, bathing him with all a mother’s compassion and love, as gently as if he were my own. Then, drop by drop, I turned his tiny body to blood. I knew very well how to change one thing into another. After that, it was a simple matter of healing the damaged tissues and soothing the remaining pain.

  I opened my eyes.

  “There. That’s done.”

  “That was – very quick.” Cal sounded dubious. “May I see? If you permit, Lady?” She flipped open the robe to let him lay his hand on her. His eyes widened. “That is – astonishing.”

  The other mage had to check as well. I don’t know what she’d seen before – some hazy sense of wrongness was how Cal had described what he could see with a single vessel – but she could tell it was gone. “We are in your debt, Lady Mage,” she said gruffly.

  They were exultant; relieved and surprised and ecstatic all at once. But for me, it was a sun shadowed by sorrow. I went back to the inn and lay on my bed, one hand resting on my belly, grieving for the child I’d killed that sun, but immeasurably glad to feel the tiny fluttering movements of my own daughter.

  30: Healing

  I must have slept for a while, because the room was draped in shadow when a slight scratching at the door roused me.

  “Come in!” I assumed it was one of the inn workers, but it was Lakkan’s pleasant smile which peered round the door.

  “Sorry I disturbing you, Lady. I looking for the Lord Mage but he not here, so the inn manager directing me to you.”

  “Of course, come in.” I hauled myself upright on the bed, a little awkwardly because of my increased girth. How pleasant to have a chance to talk to him alone! The previous night, I’d not been able to get a word in, Cal had so monopolised the poor man.

  He pulled up the only chair, and before he’d properly sat down, questions poured from him. I saw no reason to hide anything. He was like me, and only the third natural mage I’d heard about; it was only right that he knew everything. Well, except for Cal’s jade belt; that was the only secret I kept. I told him about magical energy, about auras and creating fire, about healing and the colours hidden in the body, about the blue lights of liars. I demonstrated, and he tried too.

  He squealed with delight when he first shot flames from his fingers. “This – is so amazing!” he burbled, over and over, face shining.

  Finally, I let him hold my
hand to see inside me. He was silent, awed. “Can you see her?” A nod. “She’s beautiful, isn’t she?” A more vigorous nod.

  He was a nice man, easy to talk to. He told me, in an artless way, a great deal about himself and his family, with lots of amusing tales. He had two brothers close to himself in age, who were also guards. “I never being away from them before,” he admitted.

  He was interested in me, too. “You been a drusse for long?”