Sorcery (Dragons & Magic Book 3)

by Dave Higgins

  Despite the dull ache in everything, Edmond grinned. If Peony’d headed to a boat, she might be safe.

  The footprints seemed almost to turn back upon themselves as collapsed buildings made the already winding streets into a maze; but they reached the docks. A single ship remained, riding lower in the water as people carried more crates and sacks onto the deck.

  The townspeople dropped their burdens as Edmond approached. From the corner of his eye, he saw them inch backward when they thought he wasn’t looking. He held his palms up and smiled to reassure them. “Hello. We’re wondering if you’ve seen a young woman called Peony.”

  “We’re sorry.” A haggard woman fell to her knees in front of him. “We didn’t know you wanted her.”

  “It’s all right.” Edmond’s image of Peony floating to safety sank. “Where is she?”

  The woman frowned in confusion. “South. You didn’t come to punish us for sending her against you?”

  “Punish you? I don’t think I’m who you think I am.”

  “She must think you’re Orped,” Grew said. “Or one of him, at least. Don’t worry, madam, we’re not with Imperatis.”

  The woman looked back and forth between them in confusion. Behind her, the people on the deck threw lines clear, casting off the boat.

  “You’d better hurry,” Edmond said. “Your friends are leaving without you.”

  The woman leapt to her feet and sprinted for the boat as it slipped away. She jumped from the dock and, feet flailing, wrapped her arms around the railing.

  Edmond watched them go. Peony had gone south.

  Of course. She never took the easy path. She’d have heard and seen what Imperatis had done and—despite not having any relevant stats—gone to fix it. He turned to Grew. “She’s her mother’s daughter.”

  “Hey,” Daffodil said. “I’ve seen how happy you’ve been since we came on this quest. I’m not the only one that likes adventure.”

  That was true. Life had seemed a lighter since they’d left Green Moss. Edmond had been so obsessed with his studies, he hadn’t taken time to think whether it was all worth it; whether he missed the fresh air and sense of danger. Lunging forward like a man half his levels, he swept Daffodil up in his arms and kissed her.

  After a moment, Daffodil shoved him off, giggling. “We’ve got a daughter to save. Knowing Peony, she’s marching up to Imperatis’ front gates as we speak.

  Chapter 20

  The Other Side of the Fence

  Peony strode ahead of Rauger, trying to outpace her doubts. She didn’t have the stats to do this, but she was going to anyway. Just like when she went to fight wights. Only this time she knew how stupidly dangerous it was. That must to count for something; her Dad was always telling her knowledge was half the battle.

  “You’re crazy, you know?” Rauger said. “You heard them. Dozens of people have tried to kill Imperatis and none of them have came back as themselves.”

  “We’re underdogs.” She slowed to his less enthusiastic pace. “Underdogs always win.”

  He frowned. “They don’t. They lose. And then they lose again. That’s what makes them underdogs.”

  She ignored him. He wasn’t saying anything she hadn’t worried about herself, so she didn’t need to listen. The only people who accomplished anything were the ones who risked everything. Besides, they’d travelled on their own all the way from Rockpoint, through the lands of the giants and the undead to the fence. They clearly had something.

  “We’ve only survived by chance,” he said.

  She thought for a moment. It hadn’t been chance. The one stat she had lots of, that they both did, was Charisma. It helped find them an ally in both lands. It got them into Amberwick. And it would help them again in Imperatis’ lands. It was something they could use. “Not chance. Charm.”

  The fence loomed ahead, twice as tall as Rauger. Despite it cutting across a dirt road, whoever built it hadn’t added a gate or way through.

  “Boost me up,” Peony said.

  He rested his hand on her shoulder and stared into her eyes. “Why are you so stubborn? You’re not even listening. There are a dozen people better suited to this quest. There must be people who have better stats in Amberwick alone.”

  “There’s only one thing that counts,” she said. “I’m the one who’s willing to go.”

  His brow crumpled, and he glanced at the fence.

  “I’m not alone, though.” She patted his reassuringly strong hand. “I’ve got you with me. I know you’ll keep me safe. Now, boost me up.”

  She marched to the fence and waited. Something about the set of Rauger’s jaw made her feel shaky. She didn’t know what to do if he refused.

  After a moment, he strode toward her and put his back to the fence. Lacing his fingers together, he motioned for her to stand on his hands.

  She placed her foot, pressing her hands on his shoulders to steady herself. Resisting the urge to wrap her arms around his neck as a gesture of thanks, she nodded to show she was ready.

  Even boosted, her hands barely reached the top. Splinters and hacked edges biting into her fingers, she struggled to pull herself up. After a moment of flailing, she sat astride the fence. Legs clamped tight, she reached down and held her hand out for Rauger.

  He ignored her hand and backed up a few paces.

  For a moment, she thought he’d changed his mind, then he sprinted forward and leapt. Grabbing the top of the fence, he pulled himself up beside her before dropping off the other side.

  The land beyond the fence was made of the same grass and rocky hills they’d passed through to get here, but she couldn’t ungrip her knees.

  Rauger stretched his arms out toward her and smiled. Not one of his “how can anyone be so bad at things smiles” but a friendly one.

  The tingly churny feeling in her chest grew, but she summoned her courage and dropped into his arms. Warmth spread through her from where his hands gripped her.

  “We can’t go back now.” He stared at her, face expressionless. “I don’t think you’d be able to manage that fence a second time.”

  She gave him a withering look. “Funny.”

  After a moment, he winked and set her down.

  She peered around. The land was different. Nothing visibly changed, but every bush or tree could hold one of Imperatis’ men. She pulled out her knife as Rauger did the same with his cudgel. The weapons didn’t seem like enough. All the heroes in stories had swords and shields, or powerful magic; something that would work against any threats they found. But, even if she found proper weapons, she never got those lessons from the sergeant of the guard.

  Thinking about the sergeant drew her mind back to Blackcrest. The kidnapping felt like months ago but it had only been days. Had Stephanie survived? Had her parents heard of her kidnapping? Were they arguing about which of them was to blame?

  She fell into step beside Rauger as he angled away from the dirt road. The trees grew denser, turning him into a lithe shadow, flitting from bough to bough. If it hadn’t been for her knack for finding dry twigs, they’d have been undetectable.

  Ahead of them, through gaps between the trees, mountains filled the horizon, tall enough to touch the clouds themselves.

  “That’s where Imperatis has his fortress,” Rauger said. “The Gaping Maw mountains.”

  Even from this distance, Peony could tell the mountains were vast. “Which part is his fortress in?”

  Rauger paused in the shade of a tree. “I’m not sure. And I’m guessing there won’t be any signposts.”

  She stopped beside him. “We can’t just wander up and down the foothills.”

  “We need a guide. Maybe a local might know; one who hates Imperatis.”

  “Won’t they all despise Imperatis? He’s been taking their family and friends for longer than the northern towns.”

  “I guess we’ll find out,” Rauger said. “We should veer back toward the road. It has to lead to a village or town.”

  She nodded. The
re was more chance of running into a patrol near the road, but they weren’t likely to find a guide in the deep woods. Still tending south, they angled toward the road until they could see it through the trees.

  Turning, Rauger led the way parallel to it until they came to the outskirts of a small village. Just like Amberwick, the village showed signs of sacking.

  Between the remaining buildings, Peony noticed a group of four men stood talking.

  Rauger crouched low. “Stay out of sight.”

  Angling sideways until they were blocked from view by a house, they crept forward.

  “—can you do about it?” one man said. “Imperatis is too powerful to fight. I hate him as much as the rest of you. If he were here, I’d stick my scythe through his temple. He isn’t though, and there’s no one likely to get close to him.”

  “He took my daughter, damn him,” a second man said. “She was only ten. What sort of person takes a ten-year-old and drains her? If her mother were still alive, she’d have died of a broken heart.”

  Peony straightened and stepped out from behind the house, ignoring Rauger’s frantic attempts to grab her. “Good morning.”

  The four men stared at her, mouths wide. After a moment, they recovered enough to tip their hats. They all seemed middle-aged, with the hard, wrinkled faces of farmers.

  She strolled closer before stopping a few paces away. “I was wondering if you know where Imperatis’ fortress is?”

  A man with sandy hair and a thin beard narrowed his eyes at her. “Why?”

  “My friend and I will put an end to him. Stop him from raiding villages and taking innocent children.”

  “Kill him, you mean?” A man with a black moustache pointed at the mountains. “His fortress is between those two peaks there, in the middle of the maw itself. But, if you’re going to kill Imperatis, you can have more than directions. Allow us to give you a small meal and a large ale.”

  The men gathered around Peony, ushering her toward a house. From the corner of her eye, she saw Rauger step out from his hiding place and follow them, his cudgel still in his hand.

  The smell of baked bread and hops wafted out as one farmer pushed the door open. The sandy-haired man ushered Peony to a chair while his companions fetched mugs of ale and bowls of cold stew. “Please, eat up. We owe you at least that much if you can rid us of Imperatis. Ah, and this must be your friend.”

  Rauger stepped through the door, his eyes flashing a warning at Peony.

  “Come, sit down.” She patted the chair next to her. The villagers had lost members of their own family to Imperatis, so there was nothing to be afraid of. And she could use a meal after walking for hours.

  Rauger sat reluctantly, laying his cudgel on the table beside him.

  She ignored his fretting and took a swallow of ale. The bitter liquid made her tongue curl, but she forced herself to smile and nod her appreciation. She picked up her spoon and poked Rauger in the arm. “Eat.”

  He raised stew to his mouth. After chewing it for a while, he swallowed.

  “See?” she said. “Nothing to worry about.”

  Rauger’s eyes rolled back into his head. He pitched forward, face splatting into his stew.

  She reached for him, but everything seemed to move away faster than she could get there. Someone turned the room upside-down, then blew out the sun.

  “You two go fetch a patrol from Graymouth,” the black-moustached man said. “We’ll watch them until you get back.”

  Someone’s footsteps retreated as Peony sank into the floor.

  Chapter 21

  Wake

  She woke.

  Her head pounded like the guard’s boots on Jubilee Day. Why was she staring at her own knee…?

  She woke again.

  Where was she?

  After a while, she worked out how to lift her head. A table and chairs loomed over her. Beyond them, a pot hung in a cold fireplace. She was sitting on the floor in someone’s house.

  The meal! They’d been drugged. More memories cascaded free. She tried to stand, but something held her chest and arms in place. Before she worked out what, something pushed against her back and shoved her sideways.

  She twisted her head, cursing as the thudding got worse. She was tied back-to-back with Rauger.

  “What’s going on?” Rauger asked.

  “The villagers drugged us, then tied us up.” She shook her head to clear the cobwebs, and immediately wished she hadn’t. “I think they sent for Imperatis’ men.”

  “It was a trap.” He didn’t frame it as a question.

  The man with sandy hair and the one with the black moustache stepped through the door. Sandy Hair frowned. “You’re meant to be asleep. Orped can’t drain you if you’re awake.”

  “You keep an eye out for the piper. I’ll give them more.” Black Moustache fetched a mug of ale from the table.

  Peony struggled for a way to not drink, but thinking was like juggling treacle; hard work with no appreciable pattern. Rauger’s arms were muscular, but not enough to snap ropes. What if she—? No, she didn’t have a deck of cards.

  She had Charisma, though. “Bring it here. No point in dying thirsty.”

  Black Moustache grinned in appreciation at her sensible attitude. Kneeling beside her, he tipped the mug up to her mouth.

  She took a huge mouthful, then another. The bitter liquid swelled her cheeks and pressed at her throat until it felt like she’d drown. As the urge to swallow became unbearable, she spewed the ale back into Black Moustache’s face.

  Gasping in shock, the captor swallowed a gulp.

  She heaved again, trying to spit every last drop into his mouth, but the world grew dim.

  Black Moustache struggled to stand, then keeled over sideways. His fingers grabbed for a chair, but only succeeded in knocking it over with a thud.

  Sandy Hair burst into the house, raising his fists as he took in the situation.

  Peony watched him stalk toward her as if down a long tunnel. He seemed to get shorter. No. She was getting taller. Rauger had stood with her on his back.

  Her legs flailed, numb and impossible to control. The room lurched as Rauger turned, leaving her unsure what was happening.

  Swinging back and forth, she realised Rauger was fighting Sandy Hair, but couldn’t work out who was winning.

  The walls blurred as she was spun around sharply. A jolt of pain cut the numbness, as her legs flew out, smacking Sandy Hair in the jaw as Rauger bent forward.

  With a crunch, the villager folded over backward and landed, limbs sprawled.

  Peony swallowed several times as bile flooded her mouth. She blinked. All that spinning on top of being drugged must have fuzzled her because she seemed to be glowing.

  “Can you walk?” Rauger asked.

  She shook her head, but realised she had to reply. “No.”

  “That’s fine. Curl into a ball as tight as you can. It’ll make it easier.”

  She didn’t know what was easier, but she did her best to draw her legs up to her body. Holding them up without her arms to support them made her thighs burn, but she knew it was important somehow.

  She bobbed from side-to-side as Rauger staggered across the room and dipped through the doorway. Then rolled back and forth as he jogged away. The pounding in her head grew again. At least the sun was warm on her face, though.

  Wait… they were going north? “Imperatis is south.”

  “I know,” Rauger muttered through clenched teeth.

  She looked up at the cloudless sky above. It was a vivid shade of cerulean, so spotless it seemed to reach forever. Trees closed across her view, blocking it off.

  No matter how hard she squinted, the branches of the trees remained blurry. She tried to hawk and spit out more ale, but only drooled.

  “What’s dripping on me?” Rauger staggered for a moment as his concentration went.

  “Nothing.” She wished she could wipe her mouth, but her arms were bound to him. Just like her heart was bound to— />
  She gasped, limply. Was she in love with Rauger? Or was she hallucinating?

  And was he in love with her? Why else would he have come south to die with her?

  “Stupid,” she muttered. “You’re stupid. Boys are stupid.”

  “Sure. Not stupid enough to walk straight at those men, though.”

  “And they smell.”

  Rauger strode on in silence.

  Not aware she’d been speaking aloud, she watched the leaves above and tried to make her mind work. After a while, the trees angled downward, and she saw the surrounding forest.

  “Put your feet down.” Rauger devoured two rasping breaths. “I need a break.”

  Peony lowered her feet to the ground. They still felt distant, disconnected from her. She pushed against them, amused by how Rauger’s weight shifted behind her. Maybe she could lift him? She leaned forward, trying to pull his weight onto her back.

  “What are you doing? Stop.”

  “Lift your legs up.”

  “No. You lift yours up. We need to keep going. Someone’s following us.”

  “Boys are mean.” She felt tears well in her eyes as he leaned forward and took her weight again.

  They lurched through the forest, still moving what she thought was north. Rauger’s breath heaved in and out. He sounded like he was working hard, barely able to keep going. It reminded her of how she’d tried to keep up with him. She giggled, tears still oozing down her cheeks. “Remember how much you hated me at the start?”

  He didn’t reply. From the sound of his breathing, he didn’t have the air to talk.

  She could say anything and he couldn’t reply. Time to set things straight. “You thought I was some spoilt, rich girl. Growing up in castles and fancy dresses. Well I did, but I got my share of skinned knees. I sneaked out whenever I could and went on adventures. I looked for quests, for a chance to be a hero. Even after I was nearly killed by wights, I still kept trying.”

  Talking about the wights reminded her of her parents. That’d been the last time she’d seen them smile at each other. They hadn’t thought she’d noticed, but walking back, they’d held hands. It was the happiest she’d ever seen them.