"I am ready to go whenever you are." I figured that was fairly neutral. Mophor snickered in my ear.
She stood up and turned towards me. The outfit from last night was gone. The one she wore now was exactly what you might expect a merchant to wear while shopping. Her hair had been pulled back into one large plait down her back.
"I am ready. Where to?" Her tone showed she was still annoyed with me.
I handed the list to her. "You would know better than me. I have no idea where any of these places are. Or how I am supposed to get the items back here." Did I mention the list was about a hundred different items? It was also about thirty merchants.
She looked over the list. "Well, it looks like we have a long morning ahead of us. What about buying? Credit or coin?" She looked at me.
I held out the pouch with the coin in it."He gave me this. I think it should be enough. But I am not used to dealing with merchants." I handed the pouch to her. "Perhaps you should deal with them?"
She took the pouch and made it disappear into her clothes. "That is fine. You will have to authorize each purchase, but I will try to get the best price for each thing." She started towards the door. "Let us get this done."
As she walked out of the door she seemed to be surrounded by a halo of light. I followed her out into the brightness of the day. Let the shopping begin.
Three hours later she had crossed off most of the items and arranged to have them delivered back to the Inn. She was a skilled negotiator. Her attitude had slowly mellowed until she was explaining about the different areas of the Market District. Her descriptions were colorful and often funny. Mophor was often laughing in my ear.
"You getting thirsty?" She tossed over her shoulder as we left yet another shop. We walked out into the crowd.
"A drink sounds good." I could probably drink as much as Tag right now. The market district was dry and dusty. No plants grew anywhere. "Can we get anything around here?" I followed her through the crowd.
"There is a juice merchant down this alley." She darted into a narrow opening. The alley was dark and quiet after the noise and bustle of the main market ways.
She walked to the end of the alley. It opened onto a courtyard, much like the Inn. I could tell that there were more shops but they looked more like ones that catered to the actual residents who lived here. She approached one shop that had small tables sitting just outside of its doors.
The patrons sitting at the tables looked up at our approach. Raven walked into the door and stepped up to the counter across the shop.
"Could we have three juices?" She asked the young man at the counter. He quickly filled three cups and handed them across. She paid him from her own money and handed me a cup. We walked out and sat at one of the tables. She sat down and placed one of the cups by an empty chair. "I figured he might be thirsty." She pointed at Mophor.
He climbed down and moved to the cup. Within a few moments the contents had disappeared into the little lemur. We both sat in awe of his ability to finish off that much juice so quickly.
"So, did you capture him or buy him?" She was still looking at Mophor. There was a slight sneer to her voice.
She irritated me so easily. "Actually he chose to keep me company. He stays with me because he wants to." I pointed at Mophor. "No collar, chain, or leash." Let her think about that for a moment.
"Do you figure he is hungry?" She actually seemed to relax a little.
Mophor looked at me and smirked. "I could go for some fruit if there is any and possibly more juice." I smiled.
She suddenly leaned forward. "What did he say?" Her eyes had lit up, a flush risen to her cheeks.
I looked at her in surprise. "What?"
Her smile suddenly wilted. "If you are Stain's apprentice in everything, you should have beast speech. What did he say?"
Mophor chuckled. "Go ahead. I think she is much quicker than you give her credit for."
I shook my head. "He asked if he could have more juice and maybe some fruit."
She smiled and went back to the door. She returned with a pitcher of juice and a bowl of fruit. "So, what is his name?" She sat down and continued to stare at Mophor.
Mophor grinned, "Go on. Tell her." Evidently the fruit was good, since he had eaten quite a bit of it already.
I shook my head and smiled. "It is Mophor." I reached into the bowl to salvage some fruit before he ate it all.
"Mophor?" She looked at him. "Nice to meet you."
Mohpor looked at her and grinned. He then proceeded to walk up to her and kiss her on her lips.
She looked shocked and jumped back.
"I think he likes you." I barely managed as I laughed.
Her face turned very dark, seemly from anger and embarrassment. She grabbed the pitcher of juice and flung its contents over Mophor. "Do not ever do that again!" She walked across the courtyard and sat on a bench.
Mophor looked extremely funny. His fur was slicked down and he looked pitiful. I started laughing even harder.
"There is a fountain over there." I pointed it out after I calmed down. "Go get yourself cleaned up."
He looked up at me and smiled. "Bet she was not expecting that."
I grinned. "I do not think she was."
He moved to the fountain and started to clean his fur. I stood up and took all the dishes into the building. The man at the counter seemed surprised to see me bringing them in. He thanked me and smiled.
Outside Raven looked like she had calmed down while Mophor was trying to get his fur to dry. It was slowly becoming extremely fluffy. I took a deep breath and approached Raven. I started to apologize for Mophor but she started talking.
"I cannot believe that you let him do that!" So much for calming down. "Do you let him do whatever he wants?" The disdain in her voice was plain.
I stopped and looked at her. "I know I told you he is with me because he chooses to be. I know you understand he is intelligent." My voice raised. "What makes you think I have any desire to control him? He is my friend, not a object to be controlled." I was mad now.
She stopped and looked at me. Her anger plain on her face. "Fine, I think you need better friends." She stood up. "Let's get done. I need to practice and you need to be somewhere else." She turned away from me and started back up the alley.
"Mophor, time to go." I called out.
"But I am still damp!" He answered. He did look a little damp.
"Too bad, consider it your reward for upsetting her." I was already moving after her. I suddenly felt his tail wrap around my waist and him climbing up my back.
"Well then friend." He wrapped his arms around my head. They were still damp after all. "This is your reward." Water dripped into my eyes. I smiled and hurried to catch up.
We finished the shopping trip with as little talking as Raven could get away with. The last item on the list had been marked off and arrangements made to deliver it to the Inn. She turned to me.
"Time to go back." She marched off, cutting through alleys and dodging across paths. I struggled to keep up, finally realizing that she wanted to punish me by making me sweat. I let her get ahead of me, thinking that she would not let herself get too far ahead. She kept looking behind her and suddenly stopped.
"What is wrong?" I asked. Thinking that her plan had failed.
She looked over my shoulder. "Those men are following us."
I turned around and saw four men running down the path she had taken.
"Why?" I had no idea why four strangers would be chasing us.
She shrugged. "I did not do anything. I am pretty sure you did not do anything." She stopped and looked at me. "But what about the men from the cabin? Maybe it is more of them?"
That thought scared me. My dad and I had almost died. "What do we do?"
She smiled and turned away. "Run." She put words into action and sprinted down the path. I struggled to keep up. She started dodging, obviously trying to make our path harder for those behind. It also made it harder for me. Mophor hung on with
all four paws.
I followed her around a corner and nearly ran her over. She had stopped in between two buildings. The walls rose high above us. And four more men blocked our path.
I bent over and tried to catch my breath. "What now?" I gasped.
She spun around and shoved me. "The other way." We ran up the other way and continued our chase. Every couple of minutes more men seemed to join the chase until there seemed to be dozens of them.
"How many men do they have?" She cried as we ran from the latest group.
We ran into a courtyard and realized at the same time that there was no other exit. All the doors were closed and no windows overlooked the area. We turned around just in time to see four men run into the opening. They stopped and all grinned. They entered the courtyard and spread out. No sound came from them, no questions asked or demands given. We backed up until we touched the fountain in the middle of the courtyard.
"What do you want?" Raven demanded. The men maintained their silence. They had us surrounded. We struggled to keep them all in sight but they spread out even more.
Suddenly they all stopped, frozen in their tracks. They looked surprised by this. I looked down and saw that the ground at their feet was full of earth magic. I could not tell where it was coming from. The men struggled and moved a bit. The earth magic suddenly grew and the men sank up to their knees into the ground, like they were standing in mud. Raven's mouth was open.
"Why could you not do that sooner?" She yelled at me.
I put my hands up. "Because it is not me." I looked around but we were still alone with the four men.
Mophor tugged on my hair. "Perhaps we can figure this out later. Let's get out of here." He pointed to the opening of the courtyard.
"Let's get out of here." Raven echoed Mophor.
We ran around the men on the ground, who tried to grab us as we ran by. They still made no sounds. We escaped and shortly found our way back to the Tired Fool. We staggered into the common room and found both our masters sitting at a table. We dropped into the chairs and tried to catch our breaths. Mophor climbed down and collapsed on the table.
Stain looked at us and said. "Well, it looks like something has happened. Want to tell us what?" He leaned forward. "Neither of you is hurt, but you are both scared. Were you attacked?"
"They tried, but we escaped." This was from Raven.
"With some help." Added Mophor.
Brooke waved at Ing, who brought some drinks brought over. "Now, why not you tell us what happened."
Raven and I looked at each other. I motioned for her to start. We told them about the day, answering questions as we went. When we were done Brooke looked worried and Stain had a thoughtful look on his face.
"Now about the magic." He closed his eyes. "Tell me what you remember."
Raven explained what she had seen.
"Okay. Ott, what do you have to add to what Raven has said?" His eyes still closed. I could see his magic floating out, like wisps of fog. Was he looking for something?
I told him about the ground being filled with earth magic and how it seemed to change.
Suddenly he smiled and stood up. "Well, I think that I might have some answers for all of us. But they are better explained in my rooms." He motioned to all of us. His magic had disappeared.
We all looked at each other and slowly stood up, following my master to his answers.
***
"Well, what is going on Stain!" Brooke spoke out as soon as we all sat down. "Who were those men and what did they want with our apprentices?"
Stain looked at her. He seemed disturbed. "I do not have the answer to those questions. I only have guesses." He thought for a moment, "I believe that Ott was their target. It seems to be the logical answer."
Great, more people chasing me. Everyone sat and thought for a minute. This was not a good development.
"But Stain, what about the magic?" Raven sounded frustrated. "Ott claimed it was not him." She looked at me like she did not believe me.
"I did not do it!" I jumped to my feet, furious. "If I knew how to do that do you not think I would have done something sooner? Or do you think I enjoy being chased by strange men who might want to hurt me?" I could not believe how stupid she was being.
"OTT! Calm down now!" Stain's voice cut through my anger. I looked at him. "Sit down." I sat. He turned to Raven, who had jumped up to yell at me. "You too. Sit!" The authority in his voice rang throughout the room. She looked like she wanted to argue but sat down.
Stain sat back against the cushion. "Now, as far as the spell that was used, I can say that it was not Ott. I think we might gain an answer if Ott would be so kind as to open the window." He had that sneaky grin again.
Everyone looked at me. I pushed myself to my feet and walked towards the window. As soon as I placed a hand on the shutters I felt earth magic outside the window. I hesitated and looked at Stain. His grin blossomed.
"Go ahead Ott, I do not believe he means you harm. Oh, ask him if he would join us." He made a go-ahead motion.
I pulled on the shutter and froze. There was a creature sitting on the window ledge. I thought for a second that it was a greenish rock statue of a small dog someone had placed there, but then it looked up and smirked. I could just stare.
"Ott! Invite our guest in!" Stain was definitely snickering at me.
I shook myself. "Will you please come in?" I stepped out of the way.
The creature stepped to the window edge and jumped into the room, wings suddenly flashing from its back. It glided to the table that sat in front of Stain. I just stood there. A rock statue creature just flew across the room, my head was having problems processing.
"Ott, you can shut the window now and rejoin us." He was laughing openly at me now. He leaned forward as I sat down. "Well, now for some introductions. I am Stain, King's Mage." We all stared at Stain, why would he tell a strange creature who he was? I noticed he did not speak in beast tongue. He pointed to Brooke, "My longtime friend Brooke, Traveling Minstrel." The creature looked at Brooke and nodded. Stain motioned to Raven and me, "Our apprentices, Raven and Ott. But I believe you have already met them, if not had the pleasure of an introduction." The creature glanced at Raven and nodded. It then looked at me and it's eyes lit up with a gold glow. He bowed to me, much like it's previous nod but its chin touched its front toes. Stain started, "Well my friend, who might you be and of what tribe?"
The creature glanced at Stain and sighed, sounding much like some pebbles tumbling. "I am Fiosrach Beag Cróga of the Madra Marmair Clan." It spoke with a voice like pebbles tumbling in a wood tub.
"Well, that is a mouthful." Brooke chuckled. "What does it mean and what can we call you?"
He looked at Brooke, "Well minstrel most people call me Fiosrach, as my name is complicated. Basically it describes me, since we are given our names after our third winter. It means I am curious, small, and brave. As far as my clan name it simply describes the appearance of my clan. We have the appearance of marble dogs." He provided this information calmly, much like it was used to having to explain its name. Looking at him now I had to agree he did look like a small dog carved from green marble, except for the wings and short horns.
One question still bothered me. "What are you?" I blurted out. Oops. That sounded rude.
Everyone looked at me in astonishment. Raven was the first to start laughing.
Only Fiosrach did not laugh, "I am what would be called Cloch Anamúil or stone spirited." He looked at Stain, "But my understanding is that you might call me by something else in this place."
"I believe the word you are looking for is Gargoyle." Stain told him.
"Ah, yes, that is the word I have heard." Fiosrach turned back towards me. "Does that answer your question?" He did not seem upset, only bemused.
"Yes, thanks." I was embarrassed.
Stain grinned again, "I believe both Raven and Ott owe Fiosrach a thank you for saving them this morning." Raven and I both stared at Fiosrach, who suddenly lo
oked embarrassed.
"I could not let them come to harm, not after all my waiting." He shuffled around.
Stain leaned up suddenly, "What do you mean by your waiting?"
Fiosrach glanced at me, then addressed Stain, "It is a little bit of a long story." Stain sat back and motioned for Fiosrach to continue. Fiosrach sighed, rumbling again. "When one of my clan becomes of age, around 15 winters, we go out in search of where our destiny lies. We are all called to be guardians. Some guard buildings, some guard bridges, one of my cousins is even guarding a mountain pass. We use our magic to protect whatever we are called to guard. Sometimes we have to search for a while before we find what we are supposed to guard. Most of the time it takes from around a year before we find what we are to guard." He went through this explanation simply.
"What does that have to do with me and Ott?" Raven sounded impatient.
Fiosrach glanced at her, "Not you. Just Ott." He turned back to me with a puzzled look on his face. "When I was sent out I was told that I would know when I was close to what I was meant to guard. They described the feeling. A sense of belonging was to show me. This morning I was sitting in the market district, on top of a building when I felt a feeling like they explained. Only one problem, the feeling grew stronger and weaker without me moving. I could not figure out what was going on. When they explained the feeling they told me it would help me to move around to find the building, to figure out where the feeling was the strongest and narrow down the possibilities until I found the right place. How could the place I was to guard move? I started to try to find out what was going on. I started trying to follow the feeling, trying to find where it was the strongest. Suddenly the feeling stopped moving. I hurried to narrow in on it. I stopped just outside of a courtyard. I walked all around the courtyard and the feeling was centered on the courtyard, towards the fountain. I thought at first that maybe I was to guard the fountain, maybe it had just been installed which would explain the moving around. As I was watching the feeling suddenly started moving again. At the same time I saw you get up from your table and go inside a building. I was shocked. How could this be true? I had never heard of such a thing." As he explained his expression become concerned. "I had to figure this out. You came out of the building and went with the girl. I followed you at a distance and the feeling was centered on you. I could tell where you were even if you got out of my sight. I also saw the men start to chase the three of you. I was upset. What was I supposed to do? I had to determine if you were the one that I had to protect. So, yes it was me that saved you." He settled back on his back legs and smiled at me. "Now, if you would allow me to do one last thing I can answer that question."
The Wandering Apprentice Page 18