Moril clutched her spear and was the first to say “Chief, she’s gone!”
“Hardly!” He chuckled as he sensed her use of magic. Poli heard and pulled back her light altering spell to reveal her head to show she hadn’t left, merely went invisible to the naked eye. “She is simply hiding herself so as to not draw too much attention. Her scales alone are so reflective she could be spotted all the way to Kote at this altitude. She will watch over you and Daku after I leave later. I have a lot of things to do today and he wants to stay with you all. She will stay with him.” Daku rumbled his acknowledgement. “And no, I didn’t order her. Poli volunteered. She is very curious about humans.”
“Why?” Zatal asked as he kept looking for the dragon he could no longer see or hear.
“Because she was born on the dragon home world Valagax. She and Ulon came here two centuries ago and have studied we humans and like how you all live and how you’ve developed.”
“Primitive and inspiring.” Came her deep voice. “Short lived races do much in their time. It is how you say, fascinating. Rarely will our laws permit open dialogue, something I enjoy fully... And Cage Two-legs, remember your promise to my mate.”
“And we are honored to converse.” Brooke interrupted brightly and snuggled closer to Meeka and Ananna for warmth. “I would think we can be friends one day soon.”
“Time will tell.” The female dragon responded, feeling deeply touched.
“I don’t break my promises.” Cage simply said and went back to pondering a solution to his son’s idea.
Tiffa pulled her leather gloves back tightly before grasping the edge of the snow covered cloth draped over her winter resistant herbs and jerked quickly top uncover them. “Need help?” Came a young voice and the healer of Kote looked over her shoulder to smile beautifully. “I won’t turn it down, Kim. You’re up early this morning.”
The new young apprentice yawned as she crunched snow in her approach and kept her coat bundled tightly around her heavy winter dress. “Mayor Cillian’s snores can wake the slumbering gods.”
Tiffa threw her head back in a laugh. “Sure does. Keeps bears and wolves at bay. I let him rest since he got home a few hours before dawn. Old Lilliea lost some cattle and he and a few men hunted a cougar down, who was responsible. Said he used the new bow Cage made for him and took only one shot... right in the eye.” Kim helped fold the sheet while worrying her lower lip. “Something the matter, Child?”
“Just thinking about the letters you had me looking over, the medicines the mage Meeka is married to is strange to me.”
“Ah.” Tiffa nodded as she moved over a little more and uncovered a second pile. “I too found some to be outlandish, but not once has his methods been proven wrong. He might not know all the herbs and how to mix them properly, but he knows the human body better than I likely ever will. Already I saved three this winter alone who would have died had he not given me a method to treat them properly.”
Overhead there came a large shadow under a cloudless morning. Both heads turned up and the recognizable snowy form put a smile on Tiffa’s face. “Speak and they will come. Kim, run along inside and fetch my husband and make sure Sassy is tied up to the dining table. Every time she saw Daku she’d try finding the smallest hole in the cellar to hide.”
Kim ran back inside with haste, climbed the stairs after wiping her wet feet and knocked on the mayor’s bedroom door loudly and said visitor were coming. Lastly she found the leather leash for the fearsome guard dog who was already shaking frightfully beneath the table. As she tethered the hound Cillian was there and opening the back door where he heard Tiffa calling greetings.
Daku landed lightly in an open area as the owners of the property started their approach. The riders easily managed to climb down safely. Tiffa and Cillian’s eyes went straight to their daughter’s arm where she gently sat a bundle straddling her round hip. The mother smiled and asked “And just who do we have here?”
Brooke, sensing her woman’s fear, slid closer and wrapped an arm around Meeka’s waist for support. The loving touch gave just enough support to say “Her name is Ananna. She is Nolan’s daughter, my niece and your newest grandchild.”
“Ananna? That was my grandmother’s name!” Cillian announced. “Nolan always said he liked the name and if he had a daughter he’d name her such…” and then he was broken from his reverie when he heard his child’s heartbroken tone and how miserably she looked. “Meeka, what’s wrong?”
Those words were her undoing as she burst into tears and turned her back to bury her face into Brooke’s neck.
Somberly Cage stepped forth with Daku now riding on his shoulder like a feline eagle perched on a branch. Tiffa stared wide eyed whereas Cillian’s fists were balled as he asked “My boy is dead, isn’t he?”
“K.I.A.” Cillian needed no further translation. Letters had the same meaning.
“No!” Tiffa shrieked and dropped to her knees, her husband unable to get to her in time.
Meeka passed Ananna to Brooke and joined her mother in the snow, crying and mourning the loss of Nolan. Cillian’s knuckles were white as tears flowed freely, barely keeping it together.
Rena approached the girl about her own age with snow white skin, light brown hair and blue-green eyes. “Greetings, Sister, let’s go make hot tea for everyone. It will be needed.”
“Good idea.” Cillian managed. “But I think something much stronger will be in order. Rena, remember where my brew is?”
“Yes, Cillian Grandfather.” Rena, Sean and Kim were the first to go inside after Zatal gave a cursory look inside to find no other outsiders in the area.
The mayor scooped his wife in his thickly muscled arms while the warlock did the same for his woman. Together they all moved inside where it was warm. As they all settled beside the rekindled fireplace already were the children pouring generous amounts of heated ale for all the adults.
“Tell me.” Cillian asked with Tiffa curled in his lap, but Meeka recovered enough to sit on her own and cradle the child. Daku though was trying to be kinder to Sassy and his smaller size seemed to make her less weary, but she never got closer than to sniff him. Instead he curled up under the table and fell fast asleep.
Cage took his mug from Sean and had a sip before saying “First let me ask if you’ve heard what happened in Vin’re a week and a half ago?”
The mayor nodded. “We were worried greatly. It was said it occurred in your match with my king. One of the king’s courier mages appeared in town a week prior to warn the land of an attack during the Winter Tournament. All towns and outlying people were being warned. Said demons from another world attacked and if not for you and Daku, the city would have been destroyed and more would have been slain. She said other mages erected an immense spike from ice and you skewered them by flying the lot one behind another. And Daku was badly injured, when I asked, and you were last seen a bloody mess, but then you disappear on his back. The only thing that kept us here in Kote was the mage’s knowledge that my girls and your tribe all made it out safely. That’s as far as we know.”
“Tiffa, you don’t need to cry so hard.”
Her puffy eyes turned to daggers at the mage in her room. “I just learned my son’s dead. I’m entitled.”
Cage smirked. “But he is not.” The room silenced. “I talked to his spirit a week after he died. He isn’t sad at all except for the fact Ananna will never get the opportunity to know him as her real father. Nolan said he’s with his wife now, and your family ancestors. Trust me when I say your tears aren’t doing any good other than make you feel worse. I killed those who killed him so stop blubbering and listen.” He lifted his hand and said “Playback recording of Nolan’s last words.” The diamonds in his hands sparkled and a lifelike illusion of Nolan’s spirit appeared before them all. The fire of the room behind gave an eerie, transparent backdrop to the spirit. Before the sequence began Cage added “I learned a few new tricks in my time with dragons. I recorded this secretly for all of
you so you will know I’m not lying. Play!” he commanded and the final conversation of Nolan began the very moment he called for the departed spirit.
The room grew ever more silent as Nolan spoke. His ghostly form moved and looked without difference from the first time. It was short, but Nolan’s family stared at it.
When it faded Cillian gulped from his drink to say “That was our boy.” Tiffa could only nod. Suddenly Cage was slapped in the arm and Meeka demanded “Why didn’t you show that to me before!”
“One shot deal.” He said with a shrug, her smack stung, but not too much. “My gems can only do it once before getting shed from their memory. It isn’t like my other spells that last indefinitely. It is a magical limitation even dragon elders have yet to overcome. I saved it for this moment so you and your parents would realize his death didn’t leave you all behind. He’s still here.” He laughed when everyone glanced around the room to find nothing out of place. “It was a onetime gift and I know you wouldn’t have wanted to watch it without your parents, if it could be seen only once. I kept it a secret for a reason. What you all just saw was the final words you’ll likely ever hear from him till rejoining in death.” She gave him a grateful smile, as did his in-laws. “And here is what happened after I left Twilight.” He began explaining everything thereafter.
A half hour later Tiffa looked up at the ceiling to ask “And you say this silver dragon, Poli, is circling above us right now?”
“She is.” Brooke confirmed and smiled as Tiffa claimed her newfound granddaughter she never knew of till this morning. “And she will stay near till tonight when we depart for home.”
“Won’t she be bored up there all day?” Cillian asked.
Cage chuckled and shook his head. “Don’t worry about her. Dragons have more patience than even I can fathom. When I was resting after some blissful fighting, one of the elders stared at a blue star for hours without so much as blinking before I asked him what he was doing. I learned for the past ninety two years he had been watching this single sun burn, just to see how it could potentially affect a blade of grass exposed on its surface from a spell he had created, to see if his spell blocked a certain kind of harmless radiation. So far nothing’s changed and he said it’ll be another sixteen years before he’ll focus on another idea. And he says he’ll never run out. So trust me when I say that Poli could be up there for a week and not find herself needing to do anything… even if she didn’t prefer to fly all day long. I’ve never met such a free spirit. Still, they are patient unless angered. They have all the time in the universe.” He stood up and sat his empty mug on the table. “Unlike me who has a thousand and one things to do today. I’ve got to return to training with them in six days, meaning I have only three to finish up.” He smiled “But I come bearing gifts.” And stuck an arm down his pocket, whispered and pulled out a wood bound journal with pages created from modified leaves grown from the tree back in the Blind Mountains mountain he trained in. He handed it to Tiffa who passed Ananna to her grandfather.
She opened the front to see detailed drawings no hand could make and before she could ask he said “Part of my training was to write and draw without my hands. It was difficult, but I changed the paper’s pigment to accurately recreate the human body, its organs, circulatory system and even nerves. Use it to further your knowledge and halfway through I came up with a few natural ingredients you can use to make potent medicines and can do proper surgery. My ultimate goal is to make a portable hospital where you can use your talents to their full potential. Meeka is helping me to figure it all out, but till I can do it, that book has quite a few medical ideas from my world you can use here. And just incase we have different words for herbs, I made them my words and had help from Leon, my aide, to tell the common name. And the illustrations are the last resort.”
Tiffa surprised him with a hug, tightly enough to squeeze the air from him. “Thank you for everything.”
“Well I’m not done yet.” He chuckled and she drew away. Cage then pulled out an uncut piece of crystal about two inches long and completely asymmetrical from any angle.
He handed it to her to which she replied “It’s pretty, but does it do something?”
“It’ll allow you and Meeka to talk every day for about fifteen minutes, any time and anywhere.” The woman’s jaw dropped. “Thought you’d like that. It is one of two that are connected. It uses less mana than what she uses from the house on the island. And so long as you have it it’ll keep the two of you in contact from anywhere in the world. When it flashes black it means you have one minute before it’ll automatically disconnect so it can charge back up. Since I’m going to be overly busy till spring I won’t be able to answer all your questions, but at least now you have a way to contact us at any time.”
“Dad,” Sean asked. “will it only work for Meeka Mother? What if I need…”
“It will work for whoever wants to talk. You won’t be able to see each other, but you can talk at any hour of the day once the crystal charges on mana.” Black eyes returned to Tiffa’s vibrant blue. “All anyone has to say is ‘Phone call.’” And as he did the crystal glowed a soft blue and grew warm in her hand.
Seconds later there came a voice “That you, Chieftain?”
“Hello Bern, glad to hear you got the crystal. And I see you’ve adopted to how our people refer to me…”
The ranger said “This is strange…” there came a quieter voice from an indeterminable distance and a round of giggles became the result. Cage’s heightened hearing made him smirk. “Oh don’t make me come over there!”
“You said you wanted to learn our ways, Bern Love!” Came a feminine teasing voice from one of his newest mates. More giggling arose.
“Uh, Cage, how do you turn this off again?”
“Say ‘Hang up.’” And as he said it the crystal on both ends canceled their spell and became ordinary looking.
“Wondrous.” Tiffa marveled at the now cooled gemstone.
“And that is my cue to leave.” He said and laid a hand on Tiffa’s shoulder. “Again, I’m sorry about Nolan, but just remember he’s watching and doesn’t want you sad. And write down any and all questions you come up with in the book.”
“Thank you for doing what you did.” Cillian said as he stood. “You are too kind…”
“Repay me in a brawl one day. I’m expecting one soon, but one day.”
“I look forward to it.” The mayor felt his blood stir, remembering their last encounter during the Fall Harvest.
“See you all tonight.” The three Utala tribal warriors nodded, Daku snored deeply, his women quickly kissed his cheek while his kids offered a quick hug.
An inky black portal opened on the room and he stepped through.
With a soft pop of displaced air he disappeared.
He then came out just outside the island, conjured a flight board beneath his feet and found the giant white skull asking for the password. Once it was given he was released and he took off straight for the primary part of the village.
Flying was short lived as he landed on the beach and found Shorty and several people entering the main tree with arms heavily loaded and Cage knew immediately that the man had a plan for all of it and asked for help. An aroma so delicious breezed past among the wood smoke and remembered Luke was a baker for the tribe had never cooked anything with this particular scent. The first to call out and gain his attention was Elder Metak and three out of his six mates. The elders’ aged hair whipped around in the sea breeze while the rest of their bodies were wrapped in furs to resist the bitter cold. Cage waved and proceeded to get started on the list his people needed and the four elders merely went on their way.
It was all too easy for Cage to follow his hearing as he crossed the beach to take a trail behind the main tree where most of the adults lived and gathered when not using the Elders’ large home. The constant repetitive sounds of metal on metal drew him towards what was once a small clearing where he first began to grow copious amounts o
f food for his tribe and was barely recognizable after only a month since he last laid eyes upon the piece of land. Cords of wood and a small pile of scrap metal were stacked in neat piles beside a half finished structure where a forge roared with flames. Two men were inside working together as if they had done so all their lives. Without a word or misstep they hammered a single piece of iron into a round bowl shape. Eoin, being by far larger and more muscular than Cody due to living and breathing his craft while the other man was no slouch, but seconded as a former knight. Eoin proved to be ambidextrous for in both hands was a hammer while Cody held one and his other hand grasped a clamp which held the cherry red bowl. Now it made sense how three distinct blows could ring out when there were two blacksmiths. Above them was a temporary shelter while outside were three young boys along with four women and two older men who helped work around and ready what was needed. Three of the women had a glazed look as they watched their new mate Cody work shirtless, but did little as all four of them still sported wounds from the night before. The fourth woman was Lanna as she now smiled happily, more than Cage had ever seen from the easily angered warrior. She kept rubbing her taut belly whenever she got the chance, happy to be pregnant again with her spirit mate’s child.
Lanna was the first to notice the chieftain’s approach for his dark green robe clashed with the snow covered landscape. He came over and she said “Hello, Chief, how did it go with Meeka Sister’s parents?”
“Better than expected.” He didn’t need to say anything more as he took in the sight. “Lanna, can you please explain to me why this place was chosen for the forge?”
Her smile dimmed slightly, but she didn’t hear any anger in his tone. “Eoin wanted to see where you grew our crops with magic and decided this place would be ideal to work. Said the ground would be firm long after winter and is close to the village where if trouble arose and fire broke out, our people would be near to kill the flames. The stream off to the side will be beneficial and already there is space open enough to work. Is there a problem? The Elders said it would be alright.”
Ascension of the Warlock (Book 4 of the Death Incarnate Saga) Page 23