Fireclaws - Search for the Golden

by T. Michael Ford

  The fire wizard looked at me for the first time and extended his hand warmly. “Wyeth Parker, and you are?”

  “Kerrik Beratin.” Shaking his hand firmly, I looked into his eyes and found nothing but goodwill and humor in them.

  “Kerrik, as I was saying, this is a stunningly beautiful steed you have here. She must not only be docile, but very well-trained for you to bring her into this den of chaos without so much as a halter or even a rope. May I examine her?”

  Under the watchful stare of the guardswoman, and not having any real good reason to deny his request, I acquiesced with a nod. He started moving around Daffi with practiced ease, gently examining her bone structure, ears, hoofs, and eyes. He ran his hand along her back but stopped before reaching her hindquarters. The entire time he was smiling and patting her while murmuring low, comforting words.

  While he was puttering around with Daphne, the dark elf resumed her questioning. “So Wizard Beratin, you were about to reveal to me the name of the individual whom you are delivering this fine mare to…”

  Wyeth interrupted, “Selda, did I tell you that Jaython and I are going to start giving Princess Belle riding lessons this week?”

  Iraselda looked briefly irritated, but apparently she couldn’t stay mad at the mage for very long. Finally, with a smirk and a shake of her spun silver hair, she put the pen away and closed her book of papers. “Why would that surprise anyone, Wyeth? You two have always been the Queen’s favorites.”

  “Yup and we intend to keep it that way, too…Anyway, one of my jobs is to find Belle a pony of her very own, and I think one exactly like this one would be ideal. How about you let me take charge of Wizard Beratin here, and he and I can have a discussion about where these beauties are bred and where I can get my hands on one.”

  The Captain looked a bit unsure, but Wyeth’s enthusiasm was infectious. Finally, she even volunteered, “Well, the creature is listed as breeding stock so there must be farms that raise them somewhere…”

  “Exactly, see everybody wins. I’ll take full responsibility for finding out where Kerrik here needs to go.”

  “I’ll assign a team of guards to escort you, then.”

  He shot her a look of mock disgust. “Captain Iraselda, you may not take my words of devotion seriously, but I hope you at least respect the skills.” He said, summoning a small burst of flame to dance on the palm of his hand.

  She nodded grudgingly. “Full responsibility?” She gave him the look of unqualified doom if he failed to live up to it.

  “Absolutely. Besides it’s not like he’s going to get past the second gate anyway. All livestock transactions take place in the outer ring.

  “Very well, Wizard Parker, see that you do not disappoint me.” And with that and a stern look, she tucked the papers under her arm, spun gracefully in a half circle and sauntered off toward the center of town, perhaps with a little more hip swing than absolutely necessary.

  Wyeth canted his head and watched her leave with a smile of frank admiration, whistling under his breath, “If only I were two hundred years older…” Then he reoriented on Daphne and me. “Come along, we have much to discuss.” Daffi and I exchanged looks of confusion, but we followed.

  Once out of the courtyard proper, the wizard led us along the inner wall, passing a large open area where a number of younger students in wizard robes were gathered. A young red-haired girl wearing healer robes and carrying a small baton strode out into the middle of the clearing followed by four other girls. One wore the robes of a water wizard; another, the crimson robes; the third, the green of the earth; and the final one was apparently a wind wizard like me. The healer turned to face the rest of the students milling about at the outer edges, and with a flourish, brought her baton up to a ready position. I was immediately interested and stopped. I wasn’t sure if she was going to be casting magic through it or what. To my knowledge, healers couldn’t cast spells like some of the other disciplines. But it was the other four who started casting instead.

  Directly in front of the leader, a large thick mound of solid stone erupted out of the ground. Immediately, wind and water began eroding and carving the mound into a shape. Chunks and pieces were sloughing off it like some invisible super beaver was hard at work. My eyes were drawn back to the healer girl; her face was pinched in concentration as she gestured and waved the baton back and forth between her companions. At that point, it occurred to me that her actions were similar to individuals I had seen before while in the army. Oftentimes, early in the campaign before things had gotten really grim, we had been accompanied by drum and horn bands and each of them had such an individual leading them. Thinking back, they carried such a baton to direct the music.

  Instead of music, this young girl, probably no more than fourteen or so, was directing magic. By now, the stone had been formed into the shape of a tea kettle complete with handle, lid, and spout. Of course, it was still fifteen feet tall and made of stone, but the minute detail was staggering, right down to the intricate scrollwork on the ersatz wooden handle. I stood there in absolute amazement; the spell casting, the level of control, and the cooperation between the disciplines was well beyond anything I could comprehend. I felt like a troglodyte among gods.

  “Impressive, is it not?” Wyeth said matter-of-factly as if he saw this on a daily basis. He nodded and waved at a few of the bystanders who were watching it all calmly.

  “What are they doing?” I gasped, my eyes never leaving the scene.

  “Practicing, of course. This is one of their better routines.” He chuckled. “This year, in addition to the combat part of the Wizard Tournament, the Headmaster has added an artistic team competition to the event. This group hopes to place; of course, they’re only second-year students so they are going to have to really step it up to win.”

  “They are incredible!”

  “Here comes the finale,” Wyeth said, pointing.

  Apparently, throughout our conversation, the wind and water wizards had been carving out a chamber in the middle of the stone, allowing it to fill with liquid. With a huge grin and a flourish, the healer gestured to the fire wizard girl, and an instant later real steam shot out of the spout of the teapot. The whistle generated was loud enough to drown out all conversation for ten seconds or so, and most of the bystanders were covering their ears by the time it ended. Finished, the entire group lined up and bowed to the crowd who responded with enthusiastic clapping and a few wolf whistles. Smiling proudly, they stepped back, took another bow, and watched as the teapot retreated once more into the ground from whence it came. A few seconds later, you couldn’t tell that anything in the clearing had been disturbed. I stood there dumbfounded; probably more potent magic had just been slung around to create a temporary teapot than I had witnessed at most of the battles in which I took part.

  Without another word, Wyeth nudged my arm and directed us on our way. Another hundred yards or so and we veered abruptly into an area of empty produce booths with large stalls for the wagon teams behind them. He ushered us inside one of the stalls, out of sight of passersbys, then turned to face us both.

  “So tell me, Kerrik, what is so important that you would risk visiting Xarparion under false pretenses?”

  His statement hit me like a brick. I had assumed we were going to be having a discussion about horse breeding. “I don’t understand.”

  “Come now, your lovely companion is no more a horse than I am, and there was obviously something that triggered an inordinate amount of interest in your papers from Captain Iraselda. She is no fool, I assure you. She would have continued to dig until she got to the truth, which probably would have landed you both in a holding cell at best, possibly much worse. Xarparion takes its security very seriously since the war, and the dark elves and even dwarves we’ve integrated into the guard force have little patience for deceit.”

  “We need to see the King and Queen of Sky Raven right away!” Daffi blurted out, still in horse form. She looked up at my shocked expression and ad
ded, “I like him Kerrik. I know we can trust him and I believe he will help us. Ryliss and Andi are depending on us not to fail.”

  Wyeth’s jaw dropped. “You want to see the King and Queen? And did you say Ryliss? Miss…?”

  “Daphne,” she supplied. “And if you would turn around for a few moments, I will change to a form more appropriate for explanations.” Amazingly, Wyeth did as she asked and faced the wall. “You too, Kerrik,” she commanded, and I joined the fire wizard in examining the rough-hewn pine that made up the sides of the stall. A minute later we both felt a light tap on the shoulder and turned to see Daphne fully clothed in her overshirt and ratty leggings. She smiled at us brightly and bowed. “Gentlemen.”

  Wyeth looked a bit stunned, but his inborn good manners must have kicked in because he stepped forward, bowed even deeper and grasped Daffi’s hand. He brought it to his face for a cavalier kiss. “Lady Daphne, it is a pleasure to meet you. You are just as lovely in your human form as your equine.”

  “Thank you, Wizard Wyeth, I believe that is the nicest thing a man has ever said to me,” she said, performing a little curtsey and giving me a meaningful, dark look.

  “Pardon me, Lady, if this is forward, but if you are a friend of Lady Ryliss, are you a Druid as well?”

  “Not exactly,” Daffi hedged, “but we are friends of Ryliss. In fact, she sent us here and gave us the instructions to navigate the portal. Which explains our paperwork; we really don’t know what we are doing. We just know that we need to speak to the King and Queen immediately. Ryliss and Kerrik’s sister Andea are both in grave danger!”

  “I see. We’ve all been worried. We haven’t heard from Ryliss in months, and she was sent out on a very serious mission; the Queen is beside herself with worry. If you have word of her, they will want to speak to you. Please come with me.”

  Daffi and I hung back a few paces as I whispered in her ear, “What do you mean ‘I know we can trust him?’ Women’s intuition?”

  “No, pooka intuition. When we are close to people, we get impressions about them, both good and bad. I can even tell what motivates them and what they fear. How else would we pooka be able to play the tricks on them that we do?”

  “Wait a minute…so you can read minds?” I questioned, a strong measure of guilt creeping into my thoughts.

  “No,” she paused, thinking about how to put something into words that came to her so naturally. “It’s more like a glimpse of their soul…”

  Gloomily, I pondered which of the two was worse in my case.

  Wyeth set a brisk pace as we exited the stalls area and started toward the heart of the city. This seemed to be the market hub of Xarparion, where all the provisions and supplies needed to run the school were gathered. It was nearly noon and large numbers of Xarparion staff in their brown tunics were bustling around in orderly pandemonium, eating their lunches and laughing at each other’s jokes. At one point, the fire wizard snagged a young girl in a gray and red robe, and knelt down to talk to her. From the adoring look the child gave him as he was giving her instructions, I gathered Wyeth was a popular figure in Xarparion. Finally, he kissed her gallantly on the hand, and she gave him a shy little bow, spreading out her robes like a little princess. Her face beaming, she tore off ahead of us at full speed.

  As we were approaching the second set of walls within the city, the buildings became more permanent in nature. These were the artisan’s shops, leather works, and I even heard the rapid-fire clang of a blacksmith’s forge in the distance. Here and there were also guard barracks, stables, and warehouses. Much of it looked like fairly new construction, but I remember Ryliss mentioning that the city had been largely razed in the war. The amount of horse and wagon traffic decreased, but general foot traffic increased as we approached the second main gate. The heavily-armored doors were in the open position, but just like the outer barbican, there were plenty of archers on the parapets looking down on everyone, as well as guards checking people through on the ground.

  Wyeth pulled us up short before we walked through. “We might have to wait a little while; things will go smoother if we have a bit more authority.”

  I watched the guard force with interest, and again noted the large numbers of dark elf females who carried bows and swords. “How many dark elves do you have at Xarparion and isn’t that a security threat in itself?”

  Wyeth shook his head. “At the moment, almost fifty percent of our guard forces are dark elves, and most of those are women, as you can see. In dark elf society, men and women can and do equally become warriors, but males are their primary strike force when they leave their own lands. During the war, when the dark elves were still under the thumb of the Lifebane, the males were the ones who served under the Lich and they died in droves. The women were the reserve force that guarded their homes and forests and most of them survived. Now under King Faeron, the dark elves are at peace with their neighbors and many of their female warriors were no longer needed. By the same token, Xarparion’s human guard force was decimated in the war. We offer them a purpose in life, good pay, and with the portals, the ability to easily visit or even still have real homes back in the dark elf capital.”

  “But how do you know you can trust them?”

  I saw a little flash of irritation cross his eyes, but then he reverted back to his normal genial self. “I’m sorry; I forget that so many people had experiences in the war which were different than my own.” Wyeth paused, looking out over the city as if collecting his thoughts. “I was here during the fall of Xarparion, just a stable boy whose mother worked sunrise to sunset in the bindery shop, no one of any consequence at all. We lived in a small shack right over there where the new tannery is now,” he said, pointing across the outer circle. “I’ll never forget the day the undead came. They appeared outside the walls and then inside, the human guard force we had fought bravely, but there were too many holes. It was a day of many villains, the fire wizard tower being chief among them. But there were many heroes, as well; people who risked everything to save a few, even if they were just inconsequential street urchins.

  “I remember two especially; warriors in snow-white armor, riding monstrous white chargers that looked like heaven’s own unicorns. They seemed to beat back the hordes through force of will alone. Time and time again, I saw them charge into the worst of the fighting and bring out a crying healer girl, or a guard slashed and bleeding, or sometimes even a simple stable boy. My best friend, Jaython, who you saw earlier, was one of those who was rescued by them.” Wyeth snorted with mock humor, but I could see moisture in his eyes. “It’s funny, but I remember at the time being angry and jealous that he got a ride on the great white horse and I didn’t. I really couldn’t comprehend what was happening to everything I knew in life. Anyway, those two warriors saved hundreds that day; one of them turned out to be a dark elf who did what she did even knowing that most of the cities inhabitants hated her for her dusky skin. Those two visions in white later became the King and Queen of Sky Raven, who you will meet later today.

  “So to answer your question, I believe trust is earned; Queen Maya and the dark elves who have followed her here have earned it with their own blood. I can’t imagine Xarparion without them anymore.”

  The young mage’s words struck me as the complete truth as he knew it, and indeed his experiences were not mine. But I was in his world now and I would need to put away my preconceived notions if I were going to succeed here. I looked down to see Daffi with her hands around my arms and her head on my shoulder as she silently listened to the story.

  “Wyeth! By the stars, this had better be important! Zenah pulled me out of a meeting with the water wizard faculty and you know what wet blankets they can be if they feel slighted.” We were all startled to see an average-looking man in a fancy black robe bearing down on us. A female dwarf in staff attire and carrying a writing board was struggling to keep up with him and scowling as only a dwarf can the entire way.

  On closer inspection, it appeared the newc
omer was actually fighting to keep from grinning about the whole matter, as he clapped an arm around Wyeth’s shoulder and ruffled his blonde hair. He had brown hair, a meticulously trimmed beard, and dancing eyes that took in everything around him. He seemed to carry himself with a competent earthy charm. “What’s this all about, and why didn’t you just come up to my office to complain like everyone else.”

  The fire mage squirmed a little, adjusting his now disheveled robes and striving for some shred of formality, as he cleared his throat and spoke up. “Headmaster Hons, I would like to present two travelers who have just arrived in Xarparion. Wind wizard, Kerrik Beratin, and his companion, Miss Daphne.” The Headmaster shook my hand with a firm grip. At the same time, I saw him assessing my ragged attire and his eyebrows went up ever so slightly. When he looked at Daffi, he cocked his head and a broad smile erupted. “Miss Daphne, your presence is an honor here at Xarparion; we rarely get visitors from the earth realms. How may I assist you?”

  “Actually,” Wyeth explained, drawing out the word, “they are here to see the Royals. They have news of Lady Ryliss and her mission. I was hoping you could clear them through to Sky Raven; they are without papers.”

  “Thank the stars!” Hons exploded. “If the Queen stopped by one more time to ask about scrying techniques…I kept telling her to talk to her pixie and that we don’t do scrying here…but I digress.” He stopped and looked up at the sun, then pulled an odd-looking crystal out of a pocket of his robes and held it up to the sun. “Well, that’s bad timing; they probably just left for their afternoon flight, and it will be at least an hour and a half before they return.” He looked us over again. “But then again, it will give us some time to get these two fed and changed into something more presentable. Not that Alex and Maya would care, but Qleyse would have kittens…Zenah!”

  The dwarf woman, who had been waiting patiently in the background, rushed forward, her pen out and an expectant look on her bearded face. “Zenah, please write a script for Wyeth’s guests here, giving them access through to Sky Raven. Wyeth, take your new friends and get them cleaned up, fed, and into some acceptable clothes. Now I need to get back to the wet heads.” The Headmaster strode off energetically in another direction and was lost instantly in the crowd.