Shaking his head, the boy stood up before pulling aside a blanket and sheet to slip inside the covers. The lamps went out with a quickly uttered spell leaving the room very dark. He looked out the window. Wood shutters were open, yet only a dim glow from the clouds above seemed to illuminate the night.
He noted the missing three moons of Alus before rolling over to put the sight behind him. In moments, the young wizard was asleep.
Chapter 6- Salamanders
A heavy knock on his door had woken Alec up once again. He groaned as he still felt tired, but the young novice was mostly recovered. That was a benefit of youth. The wear and tear of his battles of the previous day could be felt slightly. Without any real damage taken, it had just been the energy he had used up from both using magic and the various physical challenges that really needed to be replaced.
Helios led him down to the same dining hall where Alec thought once more that Naermere looked like a place that should be filled with many more residents than it had. Not everyone that had been there for the evening meal was there for breakfast.
"How many keep watch at night?" he asked noting that one of the ram men and one of the ox headed ones were missing. As far as he knew, there was only two of each kind. That meant that half of them were missing.
"This valley is a wasteland," Helios stated without removing his attention from his fork as it carefully cut a perfect square of eggs. Though Alec was uncertain if they had chickens, something in this world produced something that both looked and tasted like the eggs he would get in the cafeteria of White Hall. "There are hollows from time to time, but we've rarely seen more than two at a time. They are the only danger here and, with our walls, they don't really pose much of a threat to us. We keep watch with just one person at a time usually. That's always been enough throughout the years that the Ciemnosci have kept a watch here."
"So that's why there is such a small amount of you."
The silver scaled head nodded. His blue eyes glanced over Alec's head drawing the boy's attention to the bronze dragon man as he entered the room. "And not everyone here is particularly social like Shaelamee. In fact, it often feels more like we are exiles here instead of guardians, so maybe this isn't the best group to find for you."
"I don't mind a certain amount of quiet, especially if I can spend time studying my magic," the novice wizard replied thinking that his learning might wind up stunted by staying here. His books were with his pack and his clothes beyond his reach for now. By frowning in disappointment, Alec must have given away his thoughts to a point.
"Is something wrong?" Helios questioned reading the human's foreign expression.
"My spell books were left behind. I actually have nothing beyond the clothes on my back."
"Shae might appreciate that complication," the dragon chuckled. Alec was surprised to hear a joke from what he thought was a mostly stoic creature.
"I suppose she would, but I was hoping that maybe there might be something lying around or someone who can make new clothes."
"I can look into it," Helios replied with a bob of his head.
Their breakfast was nearly finished by the time Shaelamee wandered in looking a bit tired. She wore a strange looking piece of clothing that Alec could only try to classify as a dress. Tied together around her neck, the overall piece of red cloth looked more like a herald's tabard. Two sets of strings held the front and back together revealing blue skin from shoulder to waist. It ended at about her knees, but each step made the covering ebb and flow to show more or less of her legs as they switched the lead.
Reaching up, the blue woman drew her hair back as she walked towards their table. Water droplets spilled from her hair like the genasi had just stepped out of a pool. A red cloth was tied around her dark blue hair exposing the young woman's slim neck and she flipped the new tail back over her shoulder when it was completed.
"You're here already," the pretty blue female commented before sitting beside Alec. "I suppose that you went to sleep early enough that I should have expected as much."
"Helios came to my door to wake me."
"Of course, he did," Shae replied giving the dragon man a disapproving look as if she felt it wrong to wake their new guest so early.
"I was pretty much awake by that time anyway," the boy clarified covering for the dragaoin's decision.
Before the three could continue their conversation, Ediyem stepped into the dining hall. Only the previous night's sentries seemed to be missing, the novice noticed now.
The dark elf moved towards their table as well, but she remained standing as Ediyem looked in Helios' direction. "I need you to check the Soyanne Valley today."
Though the dragon man's face was alien to him, Alec thought that Helios happened to raise his right brow questioningly. Also noting the look, Ediyem added, "The number of hollows is up there and, when we've tracked some of the recent appearances near the fort, most came from that direction as well. I want you to find out if there is something funny going on out there."
Blue eyes glanced in Alec's direction briefly and Helios reminded her, "I thought that I was watching over the human for you."
"Take him with you," the dark elf stated dismissively with a wave of her hand. Her eyes strayed to the only other woman in Naermere and added, "You can take Shae with you as well."
Though the genasi looked happy with the new mission, Alec was pretty certain that this was Ediyem just getting rid of the other woman for the moment. From the conversations he had heard between them, the women didn't appear to get along very well. Like Helios had said, the personalities gathered here didn't seem to make for a particularly cohesive group.
Ediyem seemed to consider something for only a moment before adding, "Take salamanders there, one for each of you. The trip shouldn't require more."
Nodding, Helios took the order stoically as Alec might expect from the dragon man. He did have a question, however, and asked, "What do you expect us to do if we find something?"
"If you can destroy whatever is making them, then do so. If just three of you would be unusually outnumbered, we will have to reinforce from Naermere. Just go to the valley and figure out what is happening. We can go from there once we know more."
Again Helios nodded, but this time he had no other questions. The others at the table remained quietly out of the conversation, even though the order involved them also.
Her orders given, the dark elf commander pulled away and pointed at Glint before gesturing towards the door. The hobgoblin picked up a covered tray and a stoppered jug taking it with him as he followed the other woman.
"Ediyem's eating breakfast in her room again. She's getting away from the rabble who are beneath her," Shae stated with a slight frown before turning on Helios with a smile only a moment later. "So we're getting out of this castle for awhile finally."
Cocking his head to the side, the silver dragon reminded the girl, "I spent most of yesterday in the valley waiting for hollows to appear."
Waving his words off, the blue girl countered, "You know what I mean. We're getting away from Naermere, Naeren Valley... Ediyem too."
"Is this Soyanne Valley like this one?" Alec asked trying to figure out what to expect in a land foreign and unknown to him.
Helios stood and at first Alec thought the dragon man was going to ignore his question. Shaelamee followed his lead, so Alec did the same. As Helios deposited his tray on a table closest to the door, he answered, "Most of Atropos will seem the same to you. You are new here and too much of this world is scarred, torn down to dirt and stone. Some places survived better than others, however. I wasn't alive during the war, but my parents told me stories that they had heard from theirs.
"They said that the world's wizards used their magic to protect as much as they could, but they were too few and the black dust too much for them to stop. Many of the attacks happened near our ancient cities with little notice so many wizards died before they even realized that they were under assault. Cities were cleansed ear
ly on, often without a fight. Once my people understood what was happening and the stakes at hand, they kept better watch at all times."
Clearing her throat, Shaelamee interrupted, "I will go get changed and collect some things for travelling. Will you be ready in half an hour?"
At the silver scaled man's nod, the genasi disappeared in a puff of silvery mist like she had the night before or on the roof when she had moved magically to the watch tower.
"I wish I knew that spell," Alec commented. "It seems very convenient."
"Your people can't use magic to travel in this way?" Helios asked in turn leading the boy back towards their rooms since both were in the same hallway.
"I have heard of some sorcerers using magic to move between worlds once and our greatest enemy could as well once upon a time at least, but I haven't read of any existing spells like this."
Nodding, Helios just said, "Perhaps Shaelamee can explain it to you sometime."
"Don't you know the spell?" Alec asked sounding slightly surprised. He wasn't sure which of them was older since he had no idea how old Helios really was in comparison. Their conversation about time being measured differently between worlds made it harder to fathom something which had seemed simple back on Alus.
"I know a version but... my magic works a bit differently from Shae's," the dragon confessed.
This caused the boy's forehead to furrow in confusion and he said, "But magic is magic."
"Perhaps in your world everyone who can use magic is the same, but for our people, it is learned differently sometimes. Some of my magic is innate. The spells were almost built into what I could do when I was barely more than an egg."
"An egg?" Alec queried wondering if Helios really meant that his race were born from eggs.
Waving the new question off, the silver dragon man frowned, "One question at a time. Besides I am hardly the one to teach you about procreation, so focus on what I am already telling you."
"Yes, sir," replied the boy a bit meekly as he realized he was pushing his new host rather inappropriately, even though Alec felt like he needed to run to catch up with everything he didn't know of this world.
"Anyway, some read and learn their magic from books; others, like me, often learn more from watching other magic users. We learn spells by watching or just inferring the knowledge. Trying to remember as many spells is more difficult, at least for me," he finished seeming a bit perturbed by the admission. "Do you just learn from books?"
"And demonstrations... though I guess there are those that we call wilders who are found by our wizards too late. Their magic can get out of hand and their spells are less controlled. Basically they are magic and release it in whatever way seems most natural to them. I know a girl that is said to nearly be one, but she was caught quickly enough that she is practicing to be more like a trained wizard. Well, I mean, she is being trained... Well, anyway, I guess that is more like what you mean."
They arrived before Alec's room and the dragon man pointed towards his door questioningly.
"I don't have anything to bring. I am wearing everything I have," the boy finished with a sigh.
Helios said nothing and continued down to the next door. Alec hadn't realized that the dragon had placed him so close to his room. Following through the door, the novice found the room barely more decorated from the one he was using. It was simple, but Helios took a bag and placed an extra set of clothing inside. A leather chest piece, little more than a thick coat really, went over a cloth shirt that the dragon man currently wore. A pair of leather wrist guards was tied in place sticking out from the sleeves of the coat also.
Looking at the novice watching him don his travel gear including picking up the cloak that Alec remembered from their meeting in the valley, Helios asked, "Do you wear armor of any kind?"
"No, my teachers say that it only gets in the way. Soldiers and battle mages stand between us and danger normally. Some spells can be used better than pieces of armor anyway."
Giving a grunt, Helios led him back into the hall after tossing a leather pack to the human on the way out. The dragon man carried a second one along with the cloak before taking him to the kitchen. Picking out travel supplies that could likely feed them for two days or so, the pair eventually went out of the keep into the outer courtyard.
Helios took him around the corner where they found a stable... or at least Alec assumed that was what it was called, but there were no horses inside. Instead, he was alarmed at the sight of about a dozen massive lizards.
"You have lizards for mounts?" the boy asked realizing that Ediyem had called them salamanders after all.
"We don't call these creatures lizards," the larger man said with a chastising shake of his head. Alec wondered if the translation spell was conferring the same thing back and forth before Helios continued, "They are salamanders, magnificent beasts capable of carrying a rider at speeds greater than we can achieve at least without magic. They can also carry us longer distances so we aren't fatigued."
"We have creatures called horses for that where I come from."
Helios mulled over the word aloud and even through the translation spell it sounded mangled. Apparently there was no true equivalent in the dragon's tongue. "Well, whatever you are used to, these are what we have."
As the taller dragon man began to place a large saddle on the even more massive beast's back, he seemed to be considering something. "The Ciemnosci do have other creatures that they have tamed and use on their world, I suppose, so I shouldn't be surprised to hear of these haorshes you speak of."
"Horses," the boy tried to adjust the pronunciation for Helios again.
His guide just grunted without trying the word again. "Shaelamee's world likely has other beasts that I have never seen or heard of also."
The dragon man patted the scaly reddish brown skin of the beast and received a sound somewhere between a neigh and a growl to Alec's ears. Reins were added around its mouth where the boy noticed sharp, carnivorous looking teeth. A second with blue scales, but slightly smaller was saddled next. Helios passed Alec the reins and the novice's eyes went wide as the black slit iris appeared to focus on him.
Swearing that his salamander looked unimpressed by the small human trying to control it with this frail looking piece of leather looped around its head, Alec swallowed nervously.
A third green scaled creature was saddled and ready when Shaelamee finally arrived carrying a pack of her own. Surprising to Alec, she almost looked like a completely different person just because of the way she was dressed. A black carapace-like breastplate covered her breasts in one solid piece. A second and third band were attached one to the other at the base. The overall piece of armor looked capable of some amount of flexibility should the girl wish to bend over at some point.
Her lower stomach was still exposed revealing blue skin down just past her belly button where the belt of a black leather skirt made of multiple vertical overlapping pieces started. Each step made the pieces shift and at times Alec could see a bit of blue flesh become exposed between the strips. Each piece of strapping had several metal studs inserted into it probably designed to help deflect blows to a certain degree. The boy wasn't quite certain what kind of blows it would protect against since the straps appeared easily shifted, however.
More pieces that looked to be made of the breastplate material were strapped to the girl's forearms, the front of her thighs and in a boot like shape surrounding her shins and calves. Strangely enough Shaelamee was still barefoot walking across the rough stone of the courtyard into the stables.
"You wear armor too, even more than Helios does?" he couldn't help blurting out in surprise.
The question seemed to confuse her and Shae answered, "It is wise to have defenses roaming the wilds of Atropos. You never know when a pack of hollows might turn up to attack you. While they aren't intelligent by any means, their claws can certainly tear up my delicate flesh."
Moving closer to Alec, the girl pinched him and he winced at the a
buse to his skin. Shaelamee shook her head and said, "I wonder if there is anything that we can get him from the armory. The boy's skin doesn't seem anymore resistant than mine is Helios."
"He says that his wizards don't wear armor. They use soldiers and something called a battle mage to defend them in a fight."
Looking perplexed, Shae commented, "But what do you do when you have no soldiers?" The girl gestured around the empty building and the equally empty courtyard outside.
"I will have to use the protection magic that I know and do my best to avoid getting caught near an enemy, I guess. Do you expect that we will be in that sort of danger?"
"How should I know? That is why I am wearing this," the girl replied patting her armor which sounded different from steel. Alec knew little of armor, but occasionally he had seen soldiers fighting with metal shields or wearing armor for protection. The breastplate, and by association the other pieces of plate, looked more like a bug's carapace than the armor he had seen in Alus.
"We will be fine," Helios stated. "We will be cautious and use stealth when possible. While riding the salamanders, your mount can protect you in a fight or help you run away also."
"You don't look to have as good of armor as Shaelamee," Alec noted wondering whether he should be worried for his safety.
Patting his silver scaled arm, the dragon man stated, "My skin is thicker and more resistant than my genasi companion's. I also have spells capable of protecting my body beyond that. Don't worry over me."
Thinking that he was still more worried for himself, Alec didn't bother to argue further.
The three riders mounted the salamanders; even Alec, in spite of his trepidations, had no problem getting up onto the back of the scaled lizard like beast. Its slit pupil watching him put his foot into a stirrup as he stepped up didn't help make him feel any more at ease, however.
Riding to the main gate, one of the minos threw open the large doors by itself. The heavy wood bar that secured the doors when they were closed stood against the wall to the right where apparently the powerful creature had placed it before they had arrived. Their exit was expected and the order had likely been passed along to facilitate their departure.
Smart Alec in the Dark Lands Page 7