Talismans

by Lisa Lowell

  “We can't…” Raimi began awkwardly. Could they grow to understand each other, nurture their relationship with Owailion traveling all over the continent for months, not giving in to the temptations if they came to share every evening? “We can't continue just …. three months…”

  Owailion could sense Raimi's tension building, but its cause still eluded him. Where was this brave, brazen pioneer? What was concerning her? He wanted to send the dragons away again to ask her privately, but they could not keep doing that. Instead he experimented and built a private shield around Raimi's mind so her thoughts would go only toward him. Then he spoke to her in that private shell.

  “They do not understand about our attraction. Dragons only mate when there is a need for hatchlings. They want to watch us,” Owailion warned her. Then he tried a more teasing tactic to test Raimi's comfort. “We could always demonstrate. Me, I'm probably an exhibitionist.”

  Raimi stifled a yelp at the suggestion and put her hand over her mouth. She knew it was joking but human intimacy went far beyond the dragon's need to know. Then Raimi stilled her mind, diving back into her cool reserve, and practiced tentatively sharing her thoughts without spoken words. “I don't know if I would be the best prospect for that. Owailion…I'm not sure that…that…”

  Owailion pulled her in close so only he could see her full expression. “That you have ever been with a man?” he supplied the awkward words she couldn't even manage to think. “I'm fairly sure I'm not a virgin though I don't remember any wife or children in my former life. I doubt God would have selected us for this calling if we were abandoning obligations and loves in our other lives. It doesn't matter. That is literally in the forgotten past. When the time is right, like you said, we will be perfect together.”

  Raimi replied intently, her eyes focused on the plains that stretched out beyond the dragons. “How? There are no priests here. I will not just make due. I want it to be right the first time. Magic might throw us together and make our emotions kick in but we are not animals, driven by basic instincts. I want you, Owailion, far too much to just fall into bed with you without that commitment. I will only do it right,” she swore and her clothing shifted again, making Imzuli cock her head in curiosity.

  “We can't just stay in one place, or the dragons will fall asleep,” Owailion pointed out logically and then released his shield to include the dragons. “And that is why we have invited you, Imzuli, to join us. We need your help.”

  Carefully Owailion outlined his plans. He and Mohan would travel to Malornia to investigate the king and whether he was responsible for the missing stones. Also while there they would hopefully find a priest who could come to the Land to perform the wedding. Meanwhile Imzuli would teach Raimi the finer points of conjuring, magical travel and mindreading as well as shields. If they encountered anything going demon, hopefully Raimi's Wise One instincts would emerge to help train about that without the need for dragon fire. Finally they must locate Raimi's Heart Stone. Every evening they would contact one another and share all that they had learned in that day. Hopefully these tasks would be enough to make the three months pass more quickly and give them the hope to continue their path.

  “I'll teach you how to make the memory orbs so I can go back to where you've been as well. With your help I'll have the Land mapped in no time,” Owailion added, making it sound like a privilege as he made the map reappear and handed it over to Raimi.

  Chapter 11 – River Travels

  After the briefest of goodbyes and much to the delight of the dragons, Raimi kissed her new fiancé again and he then mounted Mohan's neck and they departed. Suddenly terrified, Raimi looked up at Imzuli and sighed. “I've not had any time to plan this. What should we do first?” she said hopelessly.

  “You've had no time? Neither have I,” Imzuli chirped. “I am excited by this opportunity. Let's focus on what we must do first. Are you tired? Hungry? I know humans need to sleep every night and eat several times a day.”

  Raimi looked at her new teacher and smiled. “Not right now. There's so much I want to learn. Like how to ride a dragon. You're smaller than Mohan. I don't think I could ride on your forehead like they do. Shall we experiment? I've never flown.”

  It took some trial and error before the two ladies established what might work. Raimi could climb to a spot between Imzuli's wings and conjured a bit of lashing to tie, like a necklace around the dragon's neck. “Like a necklace,” Imzuli commented. “I've seen human ladies wear them but they are prettier than just a rope. I shall make mine diamond.” And the dragon put words into action and added silver and stones to the new accessory.

  “And where shall we fly to?” Raimi added. “Owailion's palace here and the delta island are the only two places I have seen here in the Land.”

  “You are the Queen of Rivers. Therefore I will take you to the rivers,” Imzuli announced, and they launched into the air.

  Over the next few weeks they traveled far and Raimi reveled in flying. She begged to go high enough that she could see the edges of the earth. Flying southeast, over Tamaar's territory they revisited the island on the delta where her home would eventually be built, and then they passed over the nameless southern mountains. Out of these a river flowed due east and Imzuli flew low over them until it merged with a larger river that the dragon called Hedanilinidon.

  “I'll call it the Don,” Raimi insisted. “It is strange that none of us use the language we were born to. We share this language only. What does Hedana…whatever, mean?”

  Imzuli spiraled down, toward the spot where the eastern river met with the Don and landed on an island in the center. “It means 'The water that flows straight into the Sea'. And yes, language is different. God has given you these words, but not dragon words. In other countries they speak other languages.”

  “God wanted this. Do you realize, Owailion and I do not come from the same place and probably never spoke the same language?” Raimi then eagerly untied herself from the dragon's neck and experimented with climbing down. “If other people ever come to the Land from other countries, they must be able to speak with one another. I wish we could give that gift, to be able to speak the same to all who come to these shores.”

  “Really? Are more humans…more than just the Wise Ones going to come to the Land?” the white dragon asked in wonder. “Humans breed far more quickly than dragons….but then you also do not require the space that we do and I understand you also die off rather quickly too. Perhaps others will come and it will not grow too crowded.”

  “It would be a terrible shame if there were no other people with which to share the Land,” Raimi replied carefully. “But the Seal should not let anyone in who is not willing to follow the values of good magic.” She paused, wary of contradicting the dragon, but also she had been struck with a unique idea. “That's it! We can tie their desire to come into the Land with a commitment to the values of the Land. No magicians can come, just those people that wish for freedom from magic and careful cultivation of the Land. And the way we tell their commitment: we tie it to a language spell. Only those that are given the language of the Land will be allowed past the Seal.”

  “That would be a deep piece of magic indeed,” Mohan commented. “You would have to bind it to the Land itself, not to yourself as a source of the power.”

  “Deep magic indeed,” Raimi murmured and then carefully waded into the river. “Do you think other people will come to the Land after the dragons have fallen asleep?”

  With the river around her knees, Raimi felt a deep conviction that other people would come, but saying it aloud somehow made it real. “The Land will always be a safe haven for good magic,” Raimi promised, and accordingly put herself back into her royal costume, this time in a shimmering fabric that did not soak up the water. She sighed with irritation at the interruption, removed the veil and then continued. “If the Wise Ones are the only ones here, perhaps we will all be given the gift of the same tongue by God, but what of those that come and wish to enter b
ut who are not magicians? Should they not have the same opportunity?”

  “God has not said that He will even allow others beyond the Seal,” Imzuli pointed out logically.

  “Magic is for the service of others,” Raimi replied evenly. “If the only humans here are other Wise Ones, what is magic's purpose? No, I know in my bones that God will allow other humans into the Land. It might even be the reason why dragons are going to sleep. I don't think humans could be here and not disturb the dragons if you were awake. You need your space and humans do have a way of spreading far and wide, filling the space they are given. This language spell will be a means of helping us know those that can limit themselves to the laws of the Land.”

  “Will the humans disturb the dragons who are sleeping?” Imzuli countered*. “You say that humans have a habit of spreading everywhere.*”

  “The Wise Ones won't allow that,” Raimi promised, renewing her transition into her glorious costume. “These mountains along the south…they don't have any dragons in them right now. If the humans need resources like ore or timber from the mountains they must utilize these without dragons in them. We will not disturb you.”

  Then, giving up on making oaths, Raimi plunged into the river, luxuriating in the wonder of the water and strangely being able to breathe in it.

  “Aren't you cold?” the dragon commented. “It reminds me of my home in the north. And you do not feel this cold?”

  Raimi could care less about how cold it might be. Her desire to float along the river felt stronger than ever. “No, not at all. You should try swimming,” Raimi replied with a teasing note of challenge and then changed the subject. “It is my river affinity. Do dragons have these affinities as well?”

  Imzuli did not try to swim but instead kept a close eye on her human friend*. “I do not think we have the affinities like the Wise Ones will. For us, it is a location to which we are tied. I love my mountains in the north east, the lake and the tundra. It is too warm here in the south.*”

  “Okay, so you don't have affinities precisely like humans do, but surely there is some magic that you like, that you can share with me. I know very little. I can conjure, read minds, use my shields and now I like the idea of a language spell, but I have not tried other magic.”

  “Can you travel magically?” Imzuli asked. “It should not be hard for you.”

  “You mean, like with the orbs that show a place as it truly is? That reminds me, I need to make an orb for Owailion that shows this place.” She had been floating on her back, but now rolled over and saw Imzuli perched between the trees on the bank of the island. Carefully Raimi imagined a globe that would capture the charming place.

  “No,” the dragon replied. “I mean, that is Owailion's way to see where he needs to go. What will be your way to travel? I have drawn on minds in other lands go elsewhere on the planet.”

  Imzuli's suggestion fascinated Raimi, but a niggling doubt kept her at bay. She worried about that latent memory of harming others unintentionally with her actions. Was that a Wise One's instinct? If so she intended to obey it. “I don't think I should try to leave the Land. I only just arrived here. Can we try traveling within the Seal instead?”

  Accordingly she swam to shore and then stood on the sandy bank wondering how to get dry in the autumn chill. Could she use magic to dry herself? Experimentally Raimi closed her eyes, concentrated and then felt a warm puff of air lift from the ground that left her steamy, dry and content.

  Imzuli approved her experiment and then added a challenge. “Close your eyes. Think of a place…any place where you want to be. Picture it in your mind. Do you see it clearly? Now, wish yourself there.”

  Immediately Raimi pictured the river where her first memory resided, where she first met Owailion. She easily remembered the place on the delta, the island where her mansion would one day be built. She loved the beauty there; almost a garden designed by God just for her. She could smell the water at Lolar, the cascades of mist off the waterfall where it plunged down into the pristine calm of the valley itself. She needed only remember the water to return. She pushed against her magic and wished to shift to the delta at Lolar.

  And when she opened her eyes, she saw all that she had imagined. The distant splash of waterfalls and the scent of the river's musk greeted her. “I'm here,” Raimi called to her dragon escort, clear across the continent.

  “That was easy for you,” Imzuli replied as she burst into the air right above her human and her winging downdrafts stirred the water. “Can you travel to some place where there is no river?”

  Raimi thought of all the traveling she had done so far. Only one spot, the building site at Paleone where Owailion had proposed came to mind. She pictured the open plains and white walls rising, overlooking the ocean and concentrated, but something resisted her. She could not return there.

  “Then perhaps you are limited. You need flowing water to travel someplace?” Imzuli suggested, as she heard Raimi's struggles.

  Raimi frowned with discontent. “That means I will have to walk most places, especially out on the plains. And what if I have not been to some place enough to picture it?”

  “There is a danger in that,” Imzuli warned. “What if you send yourself to a place where there are sorcerers, or you go to a place that does not exist? You are not like the dragons, born with the instinct. That is why Owailion makes his orbs; so he can see how things have changed.”

  “Would going to a river in a different time be that dangerous?” Raimi asked. “Or what if I went with Owailion and left the Land?” Her true concern lurked about going to another territory and not being able to return back through the Seal, forever cut off from Owailion and her duties here.

  “No, but there are other kinds of danger,” Imzuli replied. “You have not had to worry about name magic or demons. Confronting that is far worse than dying.”

  “Name magic?” asked Raimi. She didn't understand half of what the dragon explained, about name magic and how something could be worse than dying. She only knew it distressed the white dragon.

  Unaccountably, Imzuli chose to ignore that question. Instead she changed the subject. “I think we should go and find your Heart Stone. I cannot believe we have neglected that aspect of your training for so long. Owailion claims that your Heart Stone is probably in this river where you arrived. Can you sense it?”

  Raimi allowed herself to be redirected and she used her magic instincts to begin looking at the bottom of the river, seeking an orb like the one Owailion had showed her, but that did not mean she had dropped the other topic.

  “So explain to me about the dangers of this…this name magic. Owailion didn't tell me about it, though he did introduce about demons.”

  Imzuli settled herself on the shoreline, furled her wings and seemed content. “You know dragons do not go by their full name, just part of it? That is because a name holds power over you. If a dragon…no, if any magician of any species is strong enough, and knows your name, he or she can command you to do anything and you will be unable to resist.”

  “Owailion does not know his real name,” commented Raimi. “That's probably why he didn't mention this name magic to me.”

  “Mohan probably has not taught Owailion fully about name magic either for that reason. Is Raimi your real name then?”

  “As far as I know,” the woman replied. “Owailion was surprised that I even remembered it. Yes, I came out of the water right here and introduced myself.” Then, without warning her friend she added. “I am not going to find my Heart Stone by looking from the surface. I'm going swimming.”

  And Raimi put words into action. She had no idea if she was familiar with swimming under water but gradually she recognized that with magic, nothing was impossible as long as she could imagine it. She dove below the surface, opened her eyes and stared in wonder. Despite the murky flow she had observed from above, she could see with crystal clarity here underwater. The silt in the channel glistened like diamonds in her eyes. She could swim forever h
ere.

  Raimi dove deeper, down into the darker water and then stretched out her mind, seeking magic not of her own making. The Heart Stone would have drifted, if left in nature's flow, but was it powerful enough to go upstream? Some instinctive calculating let her sense where magic would have taken a small orb that weighed no more than a river stone. Would it have mired itself in the silt at the bottom? No, the current was strong, despite being placid at the surface. And her instincts still claimed it had moved upstream, not down.

  Then an idea occurred to Raimi. Call to it. Without knowing what would happen, Raimi paused in her dive and opened her mouth. Sound traveled differently under water but it still traveled, she knew. The echo of muted music emerged from her throat. She called and then Raimi let her body drift against the pull of the river and she used a gentle stroke to propel herself along the bottom of the channel. The light from the weak autumn sun above did little to illuminate her way, but magic made up for it all. She floated effortlessly and kept her concentration on the call to find the stone.

  Then Raimi thought she saw a flash of a tropical golden fish. Such a fish would be alien here in these cold streams. Curiously, Raimi swam after the flicker of gold. It had to be magical. Perhaps something going demon? Could she catch up with it? She looked about intently for her guide and then she saw something more important.

  A blue glow floated just beyond her reach in the silt filled water, lightening the murk. She reached for it and felt the reassuring cool of an orb. It swirled with blue and white, like the sky with clouds passing by. She had found her Heart Stone. Raimi directed her stroke upward and broke the surface in triumph.

  She looked around the new terrain in wonder. Everything had changed. No silvery dragon waited on the shore. The sheltered valley had disappeared as well as the crash of cascades in the distance. Instead she had entered a forest creek flowing out of a forest and joining the Lara River. She had come so far up river, hundreds of miles in a matter of minutes. Well there was a new way to travel magically.