Quests Volume One

by Barbara G. Tarn

  Hinrik sat so he was covered in water up to the neck and let the current wash around him. Now he was feeling good – warm and comfortable. He closed his eyes and played dead. He wasn't going to drift away if he kept a foot against a rock to avoid being grabbed by stronger currents. He could just float in the light and maybe doze off again.

  "I told you he wouldn't drown." Keneith's voice startled him. "He's half-Waiora after all."

  "Then he should have stayed with his father underwater. I'm sure it's wonderful down there," Bellinda said.

  Both stood on the shore and watched him with amused smiles on their faces. The sun was up now and the sky was all blue, having lost its orange and yellow hues that made it look on fire.

  "Fancy some breakfast?" Bellinda said.

  "Coming," Hinrik said quickly, shooing them away.

  "Why can't I stay and watch?" Bellinda complained.

  "Get back to camp!" Keneith dragged her away as she burst out laughing.

  Hinrik exhaled. He quickly got out of water and slid his tunic on. He was pulling up his breeches when his father emerged from the water with a girl who wore the same nacreous fabric and sleeveless tunic.

  "I'm glad to see you're feeling better, Hinrik," his father said. "We have brought some fish for your breakfast."

  Hinrik glared at him as he put on his boots. "I don't want your gifts."

  "Maybe your companions would appreciate them. This is your half-sister, Dynine."

  "Did you abandon her mother too?" Hinrik asked sourly.

  "She's the daughter of a parigha nagho, or mating swim. No love-talk involved. As for your mother, it's her who refused to follow me. The Waiora would have welcomed her and you."

  "And wouldn't the Humans welcome you if you had married her?" Hinrik rose, ready to leave.

  "I doubt it. You saw how they treated you, and you're only half-blood."

  "You don't look Waiora. You could pass off as Human."

  "For a short time, yes. Not for twenty-five years. And, like I said, it was your mother's choice that we split. I kept an eye on you throughout the years, though."

  Hinrik scoffed. "Not very effective," he said, turning his back to the river and the two Waiora.

  "You could become stronger with water magic!"

  Hinrik ignored him. He didn't want to become a magic user. He didn't want his father's inheritance, whatever that implied. He didn't care if he had a half-sister or not. Not now, not after twenty-five years as an outsider in his hometown.

  He was free now, and he wanted to start from scratch, figure out who he was and what he wanted somewhere where nobody knew he was the son of an unmarried woman and probably a half-demon of some kind.

  He sat by the fire again and took the mug Bellinda gave him.

  "Good morning," he heard her say cheerfully, and she wasn't talking to him. He snorted. He didn't need to turn around to know the Waiora had followed him. "You must be Hinrik's father."

  "My name is Woram, and this is Dynine, Hinrik's half-sister."

  Hinrik sipped his tea as the Waiora offered the food they had brought and Keneith put it on the fire. He brooded while Woram repeated that it had been Kaline's decision to raise her son on her own.

  "She had promised to tell him about me, but she obviously didn't do it," Woram said sourly.

  "Maybe her son was a little stubborn and didn't want to listen to her?" Bellinda suggested with a smile.

  "Ah, well, I hadn't considered that!" Woram sounded relieved, but Hinrik kept staring at his mug, frowning. "You are right, he's probably as stubborn as his mother!"

  "Humans can be very stubborn," Keneith said. "What kind of magic do Waiora use – besides the obvious, water manipulation, of course."

  "I think Hinrik already has hydrokinetic recovery," Woran answered. "He could learn liquid healing. We can cast spells of water manipulation – Dynine, here, is very good at it – and there's also ice magic, since you're going towards the cold weather. But it's all limited to manipulating already existing sources, not even I can create water from nothing."

  "Maybe Dynine could come with us until the next Human town?" Bellinda suggested. "Or doesn't Hinrik want to talk to his half-sister either?"

  Dynine giggled and Hinrik glared at her.

  "He talked to us on the river shore," the young Waiora said. "I'll be very happy to teach him some water tricks," she added eagerly.

  "I don't..." Hinrik wanted to snap at her, but couldn't. She had no faults of her own and looked sweet and nice. And he'd always wished he could have a younger sister. He snorted. "Fine!"

  Dynine clapped her hands and then she hugged him, startling him. Her lips on his cheek were very soft. He glared at her, but that didn't deter her much.

  "I will let her go with you up to Baes," Woram said. "It's the first town on the Ondan following the current."

  "Sounds good." Bellinda grinned. "We'll take care of her!"

  "Thank you." Woran squeezed Hinrik's shoulder. "Fare well, my son." He rose and left.

  Hinrik heard a splash, then nothing.

  "I will swim along," Dynine said. "I'm sure you'll camp on the river shore every night and before going to bed I can show some tricks to Hinrik."

  "Are you sure you don't want to ride with us?" Keneith asked.

  "No, thank you. I'll keep an eye on you from the river."

  ***

  Bellinda awoke at the sound of Hinrik's moans, then realized they had come from his mind more than his sleeping body. The healer in her had been called upon by Hinrik's nightmares.

  She knelt by his head and took it in both hands, putting her forehead against his and trying to dispel the bad memories that were still torturing him in his sleep.

  "Do you need anything?" Keneith's voice came through the fog of the healing.

  She raised her head but kept her eyes closed, still sending the golden powder into Hinrik's mind.

  "Water. Throw water on his face."

  Soon water splashed her, and Hinrik's bad dream dissolved in a mental scream.

  Bellinda exhaled and pulled away, slumping in Keneith's arms.

  "Take him to the river," she said before fainting with exhaustion.

  When she woke up again, the sun was high outside their tent. Keneith was by the fire, keeping the water boiling for whenever she got up. He offered her a warm tisane, but the headache wasn't too bad.

  "Where is he?"

  "Still by the river. His half-sister is keeping an eye on him. He hasn't woken yet."

  She nodded and sipped her warm beverage, then gave the mug back to Keneith. "Thanks, Ken."

  He might be only a magic user, but by now he knew how to help her when she spent too much energy healing.

  She went to the river shore and saw Hinrik lying on the grass with his head in the water. Dynine was holding his head and singing softly to him in Old Tongue – the language of the Magical Races. Small bubbles fizzled around Hinrik's head, and Bellinda recognized the Waiora healing power.

  Dynine straightened her back as Bellinda crouched next to Hinrik.

  "He's very hurt," the Waiora said gravely, her turquoise eyes full of sorrow.

  "His body is fine, it's his mind that hurts," Bellinda replied. "Humans can be very cruel."

  "He is also being cruel to himself by not accepting what he is," Dynine said.

  "We'll work on that too." Bellinda smiled. "Wake him up, it's time we fed him."

  Dynine nodded and took away her hands. Hinrik's eyes slowly opened and Bellinda offered him her hand to help him sit. His legs seemed to be a bit wobbly, so both Bellinda and Dynine helped him to go back to the camp.

  "You should have called if you needed help," Keneith chided.

  "I'm sure he'd be embarrassed if you carried him," Bellinda replied with a smile.

  "Yeah, I wonder how he got to the river last night," Keneith retorted.

  "How did I get to the river?" Hinrik asked, jarred.

  "You sleepwalked," Bellinda told him, patting his shoulder. "Now ea
t and get back some strength."

  Keneith shook his head but didn't add anything.

  They didn't go any further that day, and soon Hinrik went back to the river shore with Dynine to learn some useful spells to keep himself fit with water healing.

  Bellinda and Keneith stayed by the fire.

  "He's messed up," Keneith said.

  "And that's why I'd rather he thinks he sleepwalked than was carried by you."

  "You're being overprotective."

  "Ken, what part of he was raped didn't you get? I don't think he wants to be further humiliated by us."

  Keneith snorted. "If he's so immature, it's also because he's been overprotected in the past."

  "Why do you think he's immature? You're not a warrior, you don't know the consequences of war on men!"

  "Bel, you're the only one who actually grew up with a real family and both parents supporting you and explaining to you what your mixed blood meant. I doubt Hinrik's mother knew anything about Woram, and the way the whole town rejected them both means Hinrik himself grew up as an outsider and has no idea of how to get back in the embrace of society."

  "And what about you?" Bellinda stared at him.

  She'd known him for ten years but he still had surprises for her. He didn't like to talk about himself and she didn't like to ask personal questions, which meant that for some things they were still barely acquaintances.

  "I was an outcast. I was aware of my powers very early and I willingly stayed out of society. And then I left Kelvia and started looking for my mother, a long quest for which I don't see the end."

  "You said you were a toddler when she left."

  "Well, I was ten, which by Fajrulo standards is like being newborn. My father told me she was a witch, and I assumed I could be a wizard too, especially since I could so easily toy with fire. So at sixteen I went looking for schools of magic and then reached the west, where the Genn really helped me with my mixed blood, showing me how to combine both magic systems."

  "Fire and Earth." She nodded, thoughtful. "Like they taught me Ether and Earth. Dynine is teaching Hinrik Water, maybe we should teach him Earth, since that's the Human magic part."

  "Not until he gets rid of some of his angst – and the memory of the rape," Keneith said. "He'll have to stop feeling like a victim, and then I'll happily teach him anything he wants to learn."

  "I don't know why you treat him like a spoiled teenager, Ken..."

  "Maybe because I'm more than double his age and I can see right through him?" Keneith glared at her and she gaped.

  "Ken, how old are you exactly?" she asked. She had always assumed they were more or less the same age.

  "Fifty-five, and will live a lot longer than the normal Humans. And grow older much slower as well. That's what your father told me."

  "Oh." She looked away and frowned.

  She should have known. But Keneith had been the first half-Fajrulo she met, and she wasn't really prepared. She had Sila friends and even Waiora, since there were lakes and rivers near Havenstock, but Fajrulo were rare, and they didn't mingle with the other Magical Races. Only with Humans for some reason.

  And then Hinrik and Dynine came back from the river with a whole basket of fish.

  "We caught our lunch," Hinrik announced proudly. "Dynine brought some algae to spice this up."

  "Thank you, Dynine, now you better help Bel to cook all that, because she's a hopeless cook," Keneith said with a grin.

  Bellinda playfully slapped his shoulder and smiled at Hinrik. "Thank you, Hinrik. Sit down and let's make lunch!"

  CHAPTER SIX

  They traveled at a very leisurely pace along the Ondan. Hinrik was starting to like his travel companions, including his half-sister. None of them treated him as if he were different, and it was refreshing. He wasn't an outsider anymore.

  The three half-bloods divided chores. Keneith and Hinrik set up the tent, Bellinda and Hinrik groomed the horses, Keneith gathered wood and lit the fire, Hinrik took care of water supplies and Bellinda made sure the horses were fine and healed their bruises if any.

  Keneith, Bellinda and Dynine taught him how to feel the magic in his blood and channel it. Dynine took care of the Waiora side, Bellinda and Keneith advised him on the Human blood that apparently based its magic on earth.

  Being busy experimenting meant he went to sleep very tired, since the magic was quite draining, and dreamed a lot less. Or maybe it was Bellinda and Dynine's healing spells. Or the days passing and slowly taking away the memories of the past.

  Sometimes around the fire at night they told stories, although Hinrik mostly listened to them during those first days of travel. Even Dynine seemed to have a life more interesting than his, in spite of living underwater – or maybe for that reason.

  Both she and Bellinda had a normal family and siblings, even though the Waiora didn't really have marriage ceremonies, while Keneith seemed to be more like him, an only child of a lonely parent.

  "Actually, my father remarried at some point," Keneith said one night. "I even have a couple of half-sisters. That's when I left home, not because my stepmother was a bitch, but because I felt the need to find my own mother and figure out what my mixed blood meant."

  "And have you found her?" Hinrik asked.

  "No, not yet. But there's still a lot to explore. And I haven't met any other Fajrulo or half-Fajrulo either to ask them..."

  "What will you tell her when you find her?"

  "I don't know. If I find her, I'll improvise."

  "I hope you will come back to the Ondan one day and visit us," Dynine said. "Father would be very happy to have you and show you around."

  "I will come back... eventually," Hinrik promised her. He was growing very fond of her. "But first I need to figure out who I am and what I want."

  "And when you know, you'll have to find the courage to prove your worth," Bellinda said. "But you must get used to your newly found independence first. And when you find yourself, you'll finally have the power to transform your life."

  "And you might not need magic for that," Keneith added with a grin. "I'm a magic user, but what I want doesn't involve magic."

  "And what do you want, besides finding your mother?" Hinrik wondered.

  "That's a tough goal already." Keneith chuckled. "When I find her, I'll find another quest for myself."

  "Quest for love?" Dynine asked. "Humans are usually obsessed with that."

  "Maybe, but I'm half-Fajrulo. And I doubt the half-Genn here is looking for love either."

  "I thought you might be a couple," Hinrik said.

  "Only good friends," Bellinda answered. "We watch each other's back. And I don't think love is the solution to the world's problems, although a little more love in general wouldn't be too bad."

  "What she means is she's not into romantic love," Keneith said. "And neither am I."

  "So you didn't have anyone so far?" Dynine asked quicker than Hinrik.

  "I had my teenage crushes." Bellinda shrugged. "Then I moved on. Healing people is more important than finding that special one who would stick by my side."

  "I had my stories," Keneith added. "But none permanent. I may have sired a child or two as well..."

  Dynine giggled. "I will soon have my first parigha nagho... and then we'll see if I find someone to spend my life with! Hinrik?"

  "What?" he asked absentmindedly.

  "Did you have someone?"

  Hinrik blushed. "I had an unrequited love. She would have never looked at me. And that was a good reason to join the army and try to forget her."

  "And get killed while you were at it." Bellinda smiled and shook her head. "Sorry we saved you."

  "I was probably wasting my life anyway," he replied with a shrug. "Hopefully now I'll find a purpose."

  "Fighting for your king and your country is a very good life purpose," Keneith said. "A lot of men live by that."

  "But it's obviously not my real call," Hinrik replied. "I don't think I found that yet. I like the sword-da
nce, but real battles... not so much."

  "I'm sure you could do some magic with blood," Keneith said. "It's liquid, after all."

  Both Dynine and Hinrik stared at him, aghast.

  "What?" Keneith said. "You manipulate liquids. Blood is a liquid, isn't it?"

  "Magical Races are non-violent by their very nature, Ken." Bellinda chuckled. "You can't suggest a Waiora teaches her half-brother to kill!"

  "He'll have to call on his Human blood for that," Keneith replied with a grin.

  "I don't want to kill!" Hinrik protested. "Not if I can avoid it! I mean, self-defense is fine, but attack..."

  "You're a trained warrior," Keneith said. "We'll see what happens when we reach the next town."

  "Meaning?" Hinrik challenged.

  "We'll see."

  Hinrik was a little upset at the conversation, but Dynine sang him a Waiora lullaby that night. The melody had a soothing quality even if he didn't understand the words, and he slept soundly until morning.

  "Baes is very close now," the Waiora said as they broke camp. "We'll have to part. I hope you'll keep your promise and come back."

  "I will." Hinrik hugged her. "Thank you for everything you taught me."

  "Stay safe in the Human world," she replied squeezing him. "You're in good hands."

  And then she pulled away and gave him a small purse.

  "This is what we gathered from the river. It should be a small fortune and keep you fed and clothed for some time, if you don't squander it," she said.

  "Oh, thank you, but..." He was about to give it back to her, but she put a finger on his lips.

  "We don't need Human coins. You do." She smiled. "We're happy to give them to you. Please accept this small gift from your Waiora family."

  He nodded, speechless.

  She grinned, gave him a kiss on the cheek and ran to the river where she dived, vanishing in a heartbeat.

  Hinrik sighed, staring at the small purse. He opened it – it was full of gold coins.

  "You're rich," Bellinda commented. "Hide that inside your tunic if you don't want to be robbed as soon as we get in town."

  Hinrik gulped and quickly dropped the small purse in his tunic. He'd have to make an inner pocket, or maybe sew the coins in the hem or something.