Flying around as she had been, Becca wouldn’t have been able to hear much of anything that her dragon said, so it was probably wise that she had been given a separate task from the boys. Becca surveyed the area again, a frown forming. “This was far easier than Rurick had been.”
“It really was,” Trev’nor agreed, almost disapprovingly. “I think it’s because of where they’re located. They’re in the far corner, protected on all sides, so I think they don’t get attacked more than once a century. The guards were like sloths responding.”
That did make sense. And it was part of the reason why they had chosen to strike Tiergan first. “Well, I guess that means we’ve won?”
“We’ve won.” Trev’nor puffed out a breath. “Now comes the hard part.”
This was not a repeat of Rurick in one simple way: none of the citizens had been allowed to flee. With dragons perched on top of the walls in every direction, no one had dared to get close to the gates, and so instead huddled in the middle of the city like confused sheep. This made the mages’ job easier as they didn’t have to wait for people to get brave enough to return to their homes.
Becca went with Trev’nor and Nolan to the center of the group, noting that some people were hiding in their houses, or any building they felt safe in. Only a few were brave enough to be out in the open still, although they were huddled together under a stone portico to shield them from the eyes of their aviator guards.
Being the best in Khobuntish still, Nolan went a little ahead and gave the group a proper greeting. “I am Vonnolanen, Life Mage of Chahir. I wish to speak with the governor or Rikkana of this city.”
There was a moment of taut silence. Everyone stared at Nolan as if he had announced he was a mythical being come to life. Which, maybe, he had. For all that they had witches and wizards here, Becca had yet to see a mage. No one in the crowd moved, or even seemed to breathe, for several long moments until finally one man in front cleared his throat and offered, “Governor’s dead.”
“I see. And who might you be?”
He didn’t shrink at gaining Nolan’s undivided attention although he looked as if he dearly wanted to just jump into a hole and pull the ground in over him. “Sosa. I’m Head of Artillery Construction.”
Becca leaned closer to Trev’nor. “A civilian doing a military job?” she whispered.
“Maybe,” he whispered back. “Or maybe he’s part of the guard but only does construction work.”
“A pleasure, Master Sosa. I’m sure you’re wondering—” everyone within earshot was included in this ‘you’— “why we have conquered this city.”
“Yes,” the man agreed carefully, uncertain how to address someone with magic properly. “Yes, we are.”
“In truth, it’s because of how you treat your magicians.” Nolan’s smile hadn’t faltered but there was a hard set to the expression that made him a little scary. “Magicians are not slaves. We will not tolerate having them treated as ones.”
Sosa glanced at the people around him and there was a low rumble as people muttered to themselves. Becca picked up a random word here and there but mostly she heard confusion.
Nolan launched into an explanation of exactly where the magicians originally came from, what had happened to the three of them when they traveled into Khobunter, and why they were fighting to reclaim Khobunter to right the wrong. He started using words Becca didn’t know, and her attention wandered, since she knew more or less what he would say anyway.
No one knew what to make of it. Becca watched their expressions, their body language, and saw that the people here didn’t understand his reasoning at all. They understood that they had three fully trained mages that were angry with them and that was all they were truly getting.
“Trev.”
Trev’nor turned to her, head cocked, listening.
“This isn’t working.”
“It’s not,” he agreed. His own words spurred him forward and he stepped up, clapping Nolan’s shoulder, stopping the other mid-sentence. Leaning in, he whispered something, and Nolan nodded slowly in support.
Decided, Trev’nor looked up and gave the audience a smile. “I’m Trev’nor, an Earth Mage of Chahir. One question for all of you: do you like your government here? Do you like your warlord?”
No one dared to speak out.
Trev’nor tried again. “It’s alright to answer the question honestly. I’m just curious, as the people of Rurick hated him. I’m not asking if your warlord is a good one or not, just if you like him.”
There was some uneasy shifting and glances, but people didn’t respond still. No one said any praise, or offered any support to the government and warlord they had. The silence spoke volumes.
“Right, then, we’ll simplify this for you. We,” Trev’nor pointed between himself and Becca, “are going to conquer Khobunter and replace the government you have. It will be far more fair and tolerant than what you’ve been living under. The only demand we have, aside from your cooperation, is that you treat the magicians as citizens of Khobunter and not slaves.”
They didn’t know what to make of that, either. Becca knew that it wouldn’t be a simple matter to change their minds or the traditions that were engrained here. Notifying them first of what their conquerors felt was only an initial step and nothing more.
Nolan heaved out a somewhat resigned breath. “Just…keep that in mind. The dragons are here to make sure this place stays under our control. They will not hurt you.” He paused, waiting to see how this was taken, then continued, “Where are your slaves?”
Since Sosa had already spoken up, he was unanimously voted as the spokesman for the city. Very uneasy, he stepped forward and led the way.
As Becca followed him, she truly felt like she was reliving an echo of the past. It felt eerily similar to walking through Rurick’s streets. Why were the cities so similar? Even Sol, which had a set pattern for their cities, had more variety than this. Was it a matter of lack of building supplies, perhaps? They had precious little wood to work with in this desert landscape after all. And where was the Rikkana? Were they sheltering her from the evil conquerors? Likely so.
Sosa took them into a building that had the earmarks for a slaver’s pen all over it. Becca’s skin crawled at the first look of it and the thought of having to walk into that building made her stomach turn over in a hard lurch. Steeling herself, she forced her shoulders back and went in after the men.
For whatever reason, Tiergan didn’t have as many slaves. Less need for them, perhaps? Becca scanned, doing a quick headcount, and came up with a little over one hundred slaves. Most of them seemed to be young, few elderly mixed in with them, and quite a number of children. Odd, Rurick had a complete mix of people of all ages. Why was this place different?
“I’ve got the door,” Trev’nor stated simply and turned to face the doorway, feet planted shoulder length apart. “Master Sosa, you stay with me.”
The tension riding in Becca’s body eased knowing that he had a watchful eye on their backs. In this warring country, conquering a city did not mean the inhabitants would blindly follow whoever had defeated their government. They were used to war, and used to being fought over. Becca did not think them cowed and she had been afraid that someone would try to pounce from behind and take them unawares.
With her worries set aside, she paid better attention to the people. Not all of them were magicians, but the majority certainly was. She could clearly see their magic underneath the magical amulets subduing them. Actually, the amulets were distorting her vision enough that her eyes nearly missed the obvious entirely.
“Nolan,” she breathed, jerking back around, convinced her eyes were playing tricks on her. “Is that…?”
“We have mages,” he confirmed, equally hoarse. He took a step forward as if he wanted to make a beeline straight for them, but all of the magicians were standing up now and creeping cautiously closer.
Becca thought this was a different reaction from the usual. Why were they look
ing so awed, so hopeful? Realization kicked in and she felt like smacking herself. Of course they would react so. Three powerful mages just waltzed in without amulets or guards. Free magicians must be an awe-inspiring sight, like watching unicorns walk past. Clearing her throat, she tried to be as clear and distinct as possible. “My name is Riicbeccaan. I am a Weather Mage from Chahir. With me is Vonnolanen, a Life Mage, and Rhebentrev’noren, an Earth Mage.” Using the Chahiran names helped as the surnames of the boys rang a bell with everyone in the room and they looked more interested than before. “We are here to free you.” At that point, her limited grasp on the language rather failed and she looked to Nolan to cue him.
Nolan picked up the explanation of why they were there, what they hoped to accomplish, and so forth. As he talked, Becca found the key ring and started with the people nearest to her, unlocking shackles and ripping off amulets before crushing them under her heel. She made it almost halfway around the room before he stopped talking and waited for a reaction.
A young woman with a heart shaped face and pretty dark eyes sitting in front of Becca tentatively reached out to take her arm. “Free?”
“Free,” Becca responded firmly. “You can go. Or stay. Will help you train magic.” Frustrated by her lack of vocabulary to explain all of this, she turned to Nolan and requested, “Explain to them what their options are.”
The woman tugged at her arm. “Will you fight all of Khobunter? Take back all of the slaves?”
Grateful she’d understood those questions, Becca met her eyes and said, “Yes. All of them.”
Tears brimmed in her eyes. “My husband, children, you will help me find them?”
Wait, what? “Were they taken?”
“Yes. They were sold four days ago and sent up north.” The woman’s grip on her became so tight it threatened to leave bruises. “You will go that far?”
She felt Nolan come to stand behind her and she looked up. Nolan’s mouth twisted as if he had bitten into something rotten. “Busted buckets, I didn’t think of that. Of course they would have no regard for families and would sell people anywhere and everywhere. We’re going to have a fun time later, trying to reunite people.”
Becca felt her stomach, already upset, twist a little more. Had they really paid no regard to families whatsoever?
To the woman, Nolan smiled and reassured her gently, “Everyone. We’ll free everyone and make sure that families see each other again.”
A sob escaped her mouth before she burst into tears. Becca felt like she’d been thrown into the past in that moment, reliving when she had been forced to say goodbye to her family. Even to this day, she had not been able to see them again, as it was still dangerous in southern Chahir. Feeling perfect empathy, she reached out and hugged the woman tight, rocking her slightly as if comforting a child. “We’ll find them. My oath as a Riic.”
From the other side of the room, a tall man that looked to be in his forties stood and made his way to them. He looked rough, long hair pulled back in a ponytail, beard scraggly and un-kept, skin dark from long exposure to the suns. He caught Becca’s undivided attention as this was one of the mages, a Water Mage, by the looks of it. “I am Ehsan. I have questions.”
“Ask,” Nolan encouraged.
“Only three of you fight?”
“Three of us,” Nolan admitted openly, mouth twisting up in amusement, “and about a hundred dragons.”
That shocked the room back into stillness.
“Dragons?” Ehsan parroted incredulously.
“The dragons are friends of magicians,” Nolan explained simply. “Always. They have agreed to help fight Khobunter and free magicians.”
Ehsan searched their expressions, then turned to Sosa. “He speaks truth?”
“He does,” Sosa answered although he had a strange expression on his face, as if he had just bitten down the impulse to say something nasty to a former slave for speaking out of turn. Wise man not to do that, as Becca was in such a mood that she would have gladly jumped down his throat for it.
Thinking this over for a long moment, Ehsan finally concluded aloud, “With dragons, you might win. I am tired of being a slave. I will fight with you.”
Nolan reached out, taking off the amulets, and crushing them under his boot. “You are a Water Mage, and powerful. We welcome your help.”
A fierce light came into the man’s dark eyes. “I am powerful? Like you?”
“Like me. Like Becca. You and the Elemental Mage over there.” Nolan turned to look at the woman that had still not moved. “What is your name?”
“Azin.” The woman slowly rose, revealing her full figure for the first time. She was a slender little thing, small enough to make Becca look large, dark hair in a matted braid over one shoulder, skin paler than most of the people around her. “I am not powerful. I can work with metal, a little.”
“And water, and earth, and air, and fire,” Nolan corrected, walking to her. “But your best element is metal. Isn’t that right?”
Stunned, she nodded dumbly. “You can see that?”
“Part of that was a guess,” he denied cheerfully. “But most Elemental Mages are very strong in metal, perhaps one or two other elements, and then can sort of work with the rest. That’s normal. Once we get these amulets off of you, and I have time to do some proper training, you’re going to be a powerhouse of a fighter.” Nolan happily flung off the amulets as he spoke, destroying them with a smirk on his face. “I know that all of you have a lot of questions. But let’s get these chains off, and the amulets, and get out of this hole first. Then we can talk.”
The slaves didn’t know what to do with themselves. Becca realized that before they had even left the building and took charge of them. With Sosa’s reluctant help, she found three inns and commandeered them, getting people into bathing chambers and finding clean clothes for them to wear. Once they were properly bathed and fed, then it seemed to sink in that they truly were free.
Some of the braver ones went out in the streets, walking about and testing their new freedom. Of course the dragons noticed them, and a few came down into the streets to talk. Becca caught one exchange in between bustling from inn to the other. The two magicians in the street looked ready to bolt but the dragon was careful in its approach, slow, showing no aggression. Becca thought she recognized the dragon in question, a young male that had been one of her better students, and he tried out his language skills in a low rumbling voice.
Hearing human words out of a dragon’s mouth surprised them, but put them at ease, and they cautiously responded. Becca smiled as she watched them grow more comfortable in the exchange. It did not escape her notice, either, that the other inhabitants of Tiergan were also watching and taking special note of this. “That’s right,” she muttered to them under her breath, “the dragons like your former slaves. Keep that in mind.”
Her dragon had been lounging along the roof of the inn but dipped her head down to talk to Becca. “Guards now in hole.”
“Hole? Oh, you mean where the slaves were?” Becca had referred to it as a ‘hole’ several times, that was probably where she’d picked up the term.
“Yes.” Her golden eyes flared with a spark of anger. “Bad men?” she asked, tone relaying that she was perfectly amiable to frying them for Becca if needed.
“Don’t know,” Becca admitted. “Some probably are. Some were probably just defending the city. We’ll have to see.”
Satisfied, her dragon sat back again, stretching out in her new sunny perch.
“You’re seriously like a cat, you know that?” Becca felt, watching her, that she had another feline familiar.
“Cat?” the dragon repeated, interested.
“Right, cat. You sunbathe, you chase things that move, your mannerisms are all like a cat.”
With a feline rumble of pleasure, she repeated, “Cat.”
Becca’s forehead compressed into a quick frown. “Wait, you like that word?”
“Like. Name.”
“You want Cat to be your name?” Seriously? Of all the ones for her to choose. Not that it wasn’t accurate, but still….
“Name,” her dragon stated firmly.
“Well, alright, Cat it is.” Watching her dragon’s tail twitch happily, she shook her head. Strange, strange creature. “So, Cat, can you see everything up there?”
“Yes. Trev’nor—” her mouth tripped a little over the ‘n’ sound “—have guards locked up. Nolan talk with people.”
“Which people? Magic people?”
“No. City people.”
It was very interesting to Becca that the dragons could tell a difference between the two. And it wasn’t like they were asking to verify, they just knew in a glance. Were dragons sensitive to magic? There was so little really known about them, yet somehow Becca had no doubt that they could. “Can you hear what he’s saying?”
“Yes. People confused. Don’t know what want.”
Didn’t know what Nolan wanted? True, they had rather divided up duties here, with Nolan taking the lead in establishing a temporary government. It worked rather like Chahir’s martial law, as that was one they were all familiar with, and knew well enough to implement here. Besides, any government was better than the one here. “Does he need help?”
“Will ask.” Cat’s head lifted, eyes intent for a long moment. “Says no.”
Nolan was more up to the task than she was.
Trev’nor came around the bend, spotted her, and made a beeline directly for her. “Bec. You know what just hit me?”
“What?”
“Our mages have no limiters on their powers.”
It took a second to click, but when it did, she groaned. “And they only have a basic grasp of how to use their magic. We’re sure to have magical accidents at this rate.”
“It’s seriously a problem. Not just with them but the witches and wizards. I think we better have some quick lessons on magic.”
Becca whole-heartedly agreed. After all, the three trained mages in this city might or might not have the right skills to fix whatever broke. “How much should we teach them?”
Warlords Rising Page 18