As he sang, he focused his gaze on Delminor as if calling him to concentrate on the words. The mage did so, making note to record what he could later in his journal.
The rest of the performances were more frivolous, with bawdy tales and cheerful sing-alongs. After some mead and a decent meal, provided for by Ramular’s song, they headed back to his home, discussing the Red Jade.
Chapter 51
Bandits
Essalia woke Delminor the next morning, keeping her voice low. “Our host has slipped out. Del, was it wise to tell him so much last night?”
“I couldn’t help myself. He was too easy to talk to. Do you have any idea where he was headed?”
“No. I didn’t want him to know I was watching. What if he went to get someone to take our jades from us?”
“I think you’re overly worried.” He smiled and took her hand. “It’ll be fine. I have a good feeling about this man.”
“I hope so. But we shouldn’t tarry longer than we need to.”
He agreed, rousing Pyron so they could start their day. He used a basin and placed their shards inside, divining the location of the missing jades. The shards shifted around twice, once sharply as if one was nearer than they’d thought.
Ramular returned sometime later with breakfast and a bag of provisions. “We’ll hit the road after we eat.”
“We?” Pyron asked.
“I’m coming with you. I want to see your success.” He smiled softly. “That is, if you don’t mind a bard tagging along for a while.”
Delminor saw no harm in having an extra set of eyes. “As long as you won’t sing about everything we do. Some of this is meant to be between us.”
Ramular nodded his head. “None will know we traveled together. Not even my sons.”
“Your sons?” Essalia asked.
“Oh yes, I have a family. Some are in Kallisor, others are not.”
This was a surprise to the group. “You have family spanning both kingdoms?” Pyron asked. “Family gatherings must be interesting.”
Ramular laughed. “Nonsense. There’s no difference between the people in both lands. They honor their king and they harbor prejudice. They just happen to be prejudiced against each other. No matter, though. I don’t frankly care either way. I’m a traveling man. I need to be free of mind to fit in where I go.”
“Have you been to Kallisor?” Essalia asked.
“Of course. It’s not a bad place, as long as you can get there safely. But let’s get started for today. A cold wind is coming and snow may follow.”
He was right about the snow, though it wasn’t terrible to trek through. The freezing wind was the worse of the two, but Delminor kept a consistent blast of air ahead of them to deflect what he could. It was draining, but better than enduring the cold.
They headed northeast, closer and closer to the mountains. Pyron worked with the beast jade to keep the feral creatures at bay.
Ramular periodically sang of their travels, teasing the three of them of their intertwined relationships. Yet he was fascinated by the jades and he told what related tales he could recall from his journeys.
“There weren’t always feral creatures in the land,” he explained. “Mages of old wanted to improve the strength of the beasts of burden, allowing them to travel faster and to pull more cargo. They altered the beasts and strengthened them, but the side effect was the distorted creatures we see today.”
“They must have used the beast jade,” Pyron said. “This connects to their essence in a way. It must have given them providence over their structure.”
“Yes, I was thinking the same thing,” Ramular agreed. “But over time, the magic grew weaker and soon the mages could no longer control the beasts.”
Delminor frowned. “Why would the magic grow weaker, though? I don’t understand that. As I’ve located and studied the jades, our skills have blossomed. Surely if the magic existed then, the mages practicing it would have shared their skills with apprentices and kept the powers alive.”
“It’s a curious question.”
“Maybe over time,” Essalia said, “the power returned to the jades directly, drawing away from the mages. Your connection to the shards has always been special, Del. You’ve been able to unlock their potential again, but you’re constantly communing with them and drawing upon them. Maybe you’re the one releasing the energy back into the world?”
“Ho, what a theory!” Ramular clapped his hands. “It is fortunate for me that you happened across my path.”
Pyron pointed ahead of the group. “Speaking of crossing paths…”
A campsite lay ahead with a host of a dozen bandits. A scout had alerted them to the group’s arrival and they were on their feet waiting.
“‘and over yer belongings.”
“We have no quarrel with you,” Delminor said.
The bandits laughed. “We outnumber yer three to one.”
“Four to one,” Ramular corrected. “I’m just here to observe. Don’t mind me.”
The news was startling to the trio, but they drew their weapons and prepared to fight.
The bandits wasted no time. They had two mages on their side who started casting spells. Delminor listened and heard keywords for water spells. He grinned and slowed to a stop, bringing his hands around and down, preparing himself to thwart the mages’ spells when they launched.
Essalia ran in with her mace flailing about. She struck two bandits before a third snuck in and slashed her thigh. She yelped and turned, bringing her wounded leg up and kicking the assailant, falling on her backside in the process.
Delminor saw her fall and abandoned the mages, hurrying to protect her. He lashed out with earth darts, knocking her foes aside, bruising them. He scooped her up onto her feet and she readied herself again.
The enemy mages unleashed their water spells, coating the ground with ice, making it a treacherous surface. Delminor noticed the bandits were able to walk easily on the ice, and when one lifted his boot to smash Delminor in the gut, he saw a set of small spikes on the bottom. Delminor fell out of the way to avoid the attack.
Pyron raised a dirt shield so he could focus his energy on the beast jade. He reached his mind inside the shard and called for help. He sensed life nearby and tapped the creatures to come to his aid. It wasn’t long before a pack of snowpards joined the fray.
The gray-spotted white cats hissed as they approached the battle site, preferring to avoid such conflict. Pyron compelled them to attack the bandits long enough to subdue them.
Eyes ablaze, the feral beasts leaped in, their claws raking harshly into the enemy camp. Fangs bit into arms and legs, disabling the bandits one after another, but not killing them. It wasn’t long after that the bandits surrendered and Pyron released the beasts from their servitude.
“I dunno how yer controlled them beasties, but yer none to mess with,” the leader said.
“There was no need for any of this,” Delminor said.
“Eh, there’s not much pickings in these parts,” he said. “I’d say not to go northeast though.”
“What’s over there?”
“Bigguns,” was all he would say.
Ramular rejoined the group and applauded them. “That was something, I’ll say. We’d best be moving before these men decide to try us again.”
“Not gonna happen,” the leader assured him. “We got too much to tend to.”
The comrades moved on, heading further northeast. When they were out of earshot of the bandits, Delminor turned on Ramular. “You could have told us you weren’t going to help.”
“Oh, bah. You have everything you need to do what you must. All you’re missing is a record of your journey, and I’ll provide that for you.”
“Delminor keeps good enough notes,” Pyron said. “You may be more of a liability. If you’re not going to help us, then we won’t waste energy protecting you.”
“Fair is fair.”
Sometime later they came to the remnants of a battlefield. “T
his must be one of the scouting parties,” Delminor said.
Essalia bent over the corpses. “They’ve been here a long time and scavenged well, both by beast and bandit.”
Ramular made a lilting comment. “The pretty lady oversees death and nary bats an eye.”
“I’m a healer,” she said. “I’ve seen worse.”
Delminor felt the jades resonating and bent down toward one of the corpses. He rifled through the pockets and located a jade. “This is the second group. They didn’t make it as far as the first.”
“How can you tell?” Pyron asked.
“This is the shadow jade. It went with the second group. Besides, it’s only one jade. There should be three by the time we’re done.”
“Why didn’t the bandits grab that?” Essalia asked.
“Maybe they didn’t think it was important,” Pyrin guessed.
Delminor shrugged. “Or the shadow shard hid itself somehow. Maybe it didn’t want to be found.”
“But you got it.”
He lifted the metal jade. “I guess it couldn’t hide from this.”
They moved away from the bodies and Delminor cast the divination spell, finding a sharp tug toward the north. “Just one,” he said. “They must be together.”
“That’s a relief,” Essalia said. “I’m tired of this cold.”
Delminor smiled. “Let me help.” He held his hands out toward her and curled his fingers, tracing the shape of her body. “Hessakrakorian sheskatar engor tutrian enrallopar kaie.” A blast of fire erupted from his hands and surrounded Essalia without burning her.
At first she shied from the flames but then felt the warmth. “A fire blanket?”
“I would say ‘shield,’ but sure. It’ll help for a little bit anyway.”
“You could do that all along?” Ramular asked. “Would you mind…?”
Delminor shrugged. “You’re just an observer, I’m afraid.”
The bard nodded. “I deserve that.”
“You do.” But Delminor cast the spell on him anyway, then crouched down, needing a moment. Fire magic always drew a lot out of him.
“What could have killed them?” Pyron wondered. “Weren’t they trained thieves? And they had the shadow shard. They could have used it to obscure themselves from view.”
Delminor agreed. “That was the reason they were given that shard. But maybe they lost their mage along the way.”
“Or whatever attacked them was too powerful even for that,” Ramular put in.
Essalia sighed. “Great.”
Chapter 52
Rocktaurs
The quartet reached the base of the mountains and had nowhere else to go. The jades vibrated more when aimed toward the base rather than the peaks, leaving the group confused.
“Now what?” Pyron asked.
“Maybe we have to scale some of the mountains and wind our way lower,” Essalia offered.
Delminor shook his head. “That’s a waste of time. No, we have to work together on this one. Ess, have you been keeping up with your earth studies?”
“Of course, why?”
Delminor explained the plan, then the three set about working a fissure spell, casting in unison. Delminor channeled their energy, reaching his hands forward, into the ground. It was similar to what he had done to excavate the earth for his laboratory, but here he was cutting into stone. Still, stone was in the providence of earth magic and he was able to create the fissure.
A deep tunnel opened before them and they tentatively stepped inside. “Will it hold?” Ramular wondered, hanging back.
“You’re welcome to wait outside,” Pyron snapped. “Del, we need to do that again. The tunnel ends.”
They did so and the tunnel expanded further, though part of it caved in, as it was close to the surface at that point. “Over the mountain and down again,” Essalia chanted, having guessed correctly.
“True, but we’re progressing a lot faster this way,” Delminor said.
“But it’s exhausting.”
They took a respite so she could recover. As earth mages, Pyron and Delminor could work the spell more efficiently, but they waited for her help before casting the spell again.
“It amplifies with each caster,” Delminor explained. “Two of us and it’s three times as strong. Three of us and it’s six. Roughly speaking.” He heard Ramular scribbling in a journal.
Following the resonance of the jades, they eventually broke through the mountains into a clearing surrounded by tall peaks. In the center was a curious sight. Large stone statues of men sat around an empty campfire.
The group entered the area, noting passages up into the mountains on several sides. This appeared to be some sort of crossroads for travelers. But who would cross the mountains?
Essalia stepped toward the statues and shook her head. “They’re remarkable craftsmanship.”
“And the jades are going berserk,” Delminor said. “The other shards are here! Let’s search.”
They walked around the area, each holding a shard in hand and trying to assess where the vibrations were the strongest. They overturned rocks and dug into soft ground, finding nothing. But as they did, a loud grinding sounded nearby.
The statues were moving.
The team backed away from the statues, not knowing what to do. Pyron called to the beast jade, hoping to stop the creatures. “It’s not working!”
“We’re not monsters,” one of the statues said though a slit that opened subtly. “Your powers over creatures will not work on us.”
“Then what are you?” Delminor asked.
“We call ourselves rocktaurs now. And we see that you have brought more pieces of the Red Jade. We will gladly take them.” The statues advanced on them.
Delminor threw up defensive spells immediately, foregoing the Shield of Delminor, figuring it wouldn’t slow down creatures of earth.
Essalia looked around for scraps of plants she could use to her advantage. With a twist, she launched her hands forward. “Rabbular vinatora florishca vie.” The plants nearby expanded by drawing natural energy and growing prematurely. She grabbed a handful and threw it toward the nearest statue. “Balinidar enforthitra augraen.” The greenery splattered against the statue’s face and effectively blinded it.
Delminor and Pyron focused on earth magic, calling to the stone. “Elcatrackican bracken kaie!” Pyron shouted, splintering the leg of one of the statues. The being sank to the ground, but the stone slowly fused together again.
Delminor saw how they were channeling earth magic in a unique way. He knew they had the earth jade, but the magic they used was too powerful for it to be just that. They had clearly used the magic for a long time, long before the seven years they’d had access to the earth jade.
“You killed the king’s men to obtain that shard. We are here to reclaim it.”
“Your king’s men came into our camp and tried to smash us up. We merely defended ourselves.” With a stony fist, the statue swung at Delminor, who dodged quickly. He grabbed his sword and attacked, but the metal glanced off the stone, sending sparks.
The rocktaur laughed, gesturing to the mountains. “It is useless. We are surrounded by the very material that makes us who we are. Your weapons will not harm us.”
Pyron and Essalia coordinated an attack. He cast a spell to shatter one statue’s arm, and as it pulled its pieces back together, she launched a bottle of moss, which cracked on impact. As the creature drew itself together, she cast a spell and exploded the moss, shattering the creature into smaller bits. Its recovery was much slower.
“Keep at it!” Ramular cheered, keeping out of everyone’s way.
Rolling his eyes at the useless bard, Delminor brought his sword around again. He closed his eyes and called to the metal jade. “Sharrathapon estrakor klaie.” He felt a hum resonate through his blade, strengthening it. He slashed again at the rocktaur, this time severing its arm completely.
The being screamed and fell to its knees, grabbing its limb and h
olding it in place as pieces of dust fluttered down and mended the wound.
“Don’t shatter them. Break them completely apart!” he shouted.
Essalia called out, “We can’t. Our weapons aren’t strong enough.”
Delminor knew the metal jade’s spell wouldn’t last long, but he cast its power to the others’ weapons, allowing them to strike once or twice before he had to reset the spell.
It wasn’t working well, though, and the rocktaurs retaliated by grabbing rocks from around them—sometimes pulling chunks from the mountain stone itself—and hurling them.
“Stay close to them,” Pyron said.
“But they’ll smash us,” Essalia called. “We should get out of here.”
Pyron cast more earth spells, breaking the limbs into smaller and smaller pieces. Delminor tried the shadow jade, throwing darkness over the beings’ heads, but it had no effect. They simply opened eyes on other parts of their bodies.
Together, they brought down one of the statues, reducing it to dust, where the pieces were too small to reassemble. It was an exhausting victory and they had no idea how to repeat the process on the other six.
“We have to take off the limbs first,” Delminor called. Then he remembered. “The jades!” How could he have forgotten? “They’re pure energy, condensed to crystal. They can’t be broken. Use them as your blade!”
He withdrew the metal and shadow jades and charged. The rocktaur grabbed him and started squeezing, trapping him and crushing his ribs. Delminor hurried and stabbed the being with the jades, causing it to scream in agony. He hacked away at the armpits until he broke the limbs and released himself from its grasp.
Essalia continued to use her magic, breaking holes in the statues with the nature jade and then filling them with whatever form of plant life she could grab from her pockets, jamming it into the hole and expanding it to break the rocktaur apart.
Pyron focused his attacks, cracking limbs and slowing the statues down. Though he tried to sever the arms and legs completely, it was difficult hitting the same area twice before the beings could repair themselves.
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