Agate- Then and Now

by M. D. Grimm

  I dropped the blade. He sheathed his own.

  “You wished to speak with me?” he said, his voice rising above the jubilation of the crowd.

  “I do.”

  “Then let us speak.”

  ***

  We entered Brelyn’s tent, and he immediately poured clear water into a finely shaped goblet. He drained it before filling it again. Then, as if remembering I’d fought him, he filled another goblet, handed it to me. I took it with a grateful nod and sipped.

  “You returned,” he said, after setting his empty goblet on the table. “I doubted I would see you again. I thought you would send Aishe back to us and continue your journey.”

  I raised an eyebrow. I had my suspicions about Aishe’s parents, about their real reasons for sending Aishe to me. They’d expected me to turn him away, thereby making themselves blameless. Sneaky move. Didn’t work. “I thought so as well. But it ended up being a good thing that I brought him along.”

  “How so?”

  “He assisted me in finding your camp once again.”

  “You have no skill as a tracker?”

  I barely resisted scowling. “This territory is unknown to me.”

  Brelyn’s thin mouth twitched at the corners. “I see.” He paused. “Then by your return, should I assume you didn’t find what you sought?”

  “Oh, I found it. Or rather, it found me. The mage I pursued attacked, and I was unable to gain the upper hand.”

  Breyln’s body stiffened. His eyes narrowed, becoming like stone. “You and Aishe were attacked.”

  I nodded. “But, as you saw yourself, he is safe and whole.”

  “Yes, I saw.” There was a lot of meaning and emphasis behind those words. I made sure my face revealed nothing. “But why have you not gone after the thief? Why have you returned?”

  “There is no reason for me to run after her. I know now what she hunts for.”

  “And that would be?”

  I stared at his chest. “She wants Rambujek.” I spoke in a low tone, making sure my voice didn’t carry beyond the tent. Brelyn froze, then his hand traveled, instinctually it seemed, to the pouch around his neck. He gripped it, staring hard into my eyes.

  “You dare speak its name?” he whispered harshly.

  “Yes,” I said softly. “That stone is what brought her here. I know her, Breyln. She will not rest until she claims it.”

  “She will have a fight on her hands if she dares.”

  I opened my mouth to respond when Nunya swept into the tent. She glanced at me as she walked to her mate, putting a hand on his arm.

  “I have just spoken with Aishe.” She met my eyes. I tried to look away but she held me hypnotized, I felt like she was trying to peek into my soul. I made sure everything was boarded up. There was a moment of silence before she broke the contact and looked at her husband. I slowly, silently exhaled, feeling slightly jittery. She might not be a mage but she had her own brand of powerful magick.

  “Trust him, Brelyn,” she said softly. “He was sent to us for a reason. We must trust in the Mother.” Then she began to speak in her native language. I couldn’t understand her, so I took that time to sip some more water. Sent to them, huh? If she only knew. What had Aishe told her?

  Breyln spoke a few words back to her before turning his attention to me once again. “Morgorth tells me that the mage he hunts wants the ruby.”

  Nunya’s fingers tightened around his arm. “Is that so?” She looked at me. “How did she know we possess it?”

  “I couldn’t say,” I said. “But that isn’t where our priority should be. I need to capture her so she can face justice for what she’s done.”

  “What exactly has she done?” Nunya asked, tilting her head slightly. “All you’ve said is that she has stolen something of yours. Will you not tell us what?”

  I hesitated. I couldn’t tell them the truth; that much was obvious. But I could at least tell them some facts. “Her crimes are numerous. But I hunt her because she has another stone of power.”

  Their eyes widened.

  “I don’t know what stone it is.” I hated lying to them but what choice did I have? “But I can’t take any chances. It’s only a matter of time before she finds your tribe. We’re lucky she hasn’t found you yet. But we can’t afford to underestimate her.”

  “So what do you ask of us?” Breyln said.

  I took a deep breath. “I need to ask a favor of you and your tribe. Now that I know what she pursues, I must ask...well, that I might use you. To draw her out.”

  “You mean to use us as bait, Mage?” The insult was evident in his tone.

  I barely resisted cringing. Nunya suddenly laughed. We both looked at her as her eyes sparkled, looking horribly amused. Brelyn frowned heavily.

  “What do you find humorous about this situation, my love?” he said haughtily.

  She smiled at both of us. “This is not the first time we have used ourselves as bait, dear love. Don’t you remember? How else do you ensnare a trulbar or a brathsene? You send one hunter in as bait, the others lie in wait, and when you have the beast where you want it, you let loose your trap. Is this so different?”

  Brelyn scowled at her. She calmed herself and slid her hand in one of his broad ones. The love shining in her eyes made me ache for my Aishe. For my own time.

  “The mage is the hunter, this time, my love. He wishes to protect us.” She glanced at me, and I wondered what she was thinking behind those periwinkle gems. “We should let him. The other mage will keep hunting us if we do not stop her now. Think of our children.”

  “I am.” His voice was soft, low. I looked away, feeling like I was eavesdropping on a very intimate moment. I felt acutely uncomfortable.

  “We do things your way, Mage,” Brelyn said suddenly.

  The relief I felt was brief. “Good. I think it would be wise to draw her out as soon as possible. If we move tonight, go to a different location, it would provide too great an opportunity for her to turn down. She’s desperate and not much of a tracker. She knows your tribe’s in the general area but not where specifically.”

  Breyln was silent for a moment, considering. “I agree. We will tell our tribe today, so all will be prepared.”

  I nodded, then remembered the hunters. “But the hunters, they’re leaving now, are they not?”

  “Yes. We need meat.”

  “That makes them vulnerable. They can’t hunt right now.”

  “Then what would you have us do?” Brelyn stood up straighter, his full height easily dwarfing mine. “I have an entire tribe to feed, Mage. And the beasts are plentiful here.”

  I exhaled sharply. Stubborn bastard. Yet, he was chief and I couldn’t appear overbearing. “Fine. Then at least allow me to give them extra protection. Magickal protection.”

  “If you think that’s needed.”

  I realized Brelyn had never seen a mage use magick. Only one with that sort of ignorance would say such a thing.

  I glanced at Nunya. “Trust me, it is.”

  ***

  I enchanted some crystals I always kept on hand in several of my pouches, and gave them to the hunters. Not only would they make the dialen invisible, they would quiet their presence; even muffle their voices a little. Since dialen were quiet creatures by nature, I didn’t put too much magick in each crystal. The less magickal energy used, the less likely Drasyln would sense it.

  Since these dialen weren’t as versed in the common tongue as others were, I had to have Aishe translate. He’d bounded up to me the moment I left his parents’ tent and I didn’t even try to shake him. I was stuck here, for who knew how long, so I might as well get used to his presence. He seemed to want to stick to me like glue. I couldn’t resist being flattered.

  The hunters, at first, seemed ready to shake me off, but after Aishe translated for me, they seemed very excited. They slipped the cords that held the crystals over their heads, and chattered happily to each other.

  I looked at Aishe. He smiled. “They
say this will be their most successful hunt yet. Now the beasts won’t even see them!”

  I sighed. Whatever made them wear the crystals, I suppose. I tried to emphasize that they should never take the crystals off until they reentered the camp, and they had to keep on their guard against the mage. I didn’t exactly get eye rolls but I could see they wanted to. They nodded at me and assured me they would be careful. I knew I was being far too concerned, they were dialen for the Mother’s sake, but still. I couldn’t stand losing even one of Aishe’s tribe. Despite knowing the future, I wanted to protect them while I was here.

  I watched the hunters leave. Then I drew out more crystals from my pouches, and enchanted them the same way as the ones for the hunters, putting them around the border of the camp. The crystals would alert me if anything magickal crossed into the camp. They would either sense Drasyln’s magick or Atcoatlu’s magick. Aishe helped me, pointing out where the sentinels kept watch over the tribe. They greeted me cordially but otherwise, they ignored us. Aishe kept asking questions, and I answered as vaguely as I could. Once the crystals were set, I simply stood inside the camp, my arms crossed, and wondered what the hell I would do now.

  “What did you talk about with my pae?” Aishe asked, breaking through my brooding. His use of the informal, affectionate word for his father threw me for a moment. It was a term specific to his tribe, one that wouldn’t be used by another.

  “Adult things.”

  Aishe wasn’t the least bit dissuaded. “Did it have to do with that mage? The one who attacked us? What does she want anyway? How do you know her? You said you two had history. She said a lot of odd things, but I couldn’t hear it all.”

  I just stared at him, his pretty eyes fixed on my face. I might as well get used to his presence, I wasn’t going anywhere, and he certainly wasn’t. I opened my mouth to answer him—some of his questions anyway—when I was interrupted.

  “Stop pestering the mage, Aishe.” The voice was grouchy and belonged to a thin dialen with a sour expression. His hair was long and black, his eyes periwinkle. He was strikingly similar to Nunya, making him definitely another one of Aishe’s brothers.

  “He’s not pestering me,” I said, immediately defending Aishe. It didn’t matter that it was partially a lie. Aishe threw his brother a look and conspicuously walked to my side and grabbed my hand. I didn’t pull away.

  “Morgorth, this is Eulun, my eldest brother.”

  I stiffened. This was the dialen who Kayl said helped him massacre the tribe. Of course, Kayl had been a bastard, which meant he could’ve lied. No one would ever know if Eulun helped the sorcerer—willingly or not. But the youth did seem overly grumpy.

  “Morgorth.” Eulun inclined his head respectfully. I did the same. “Don’t you have training to get to, Aishe? I’m sure the mage has other things to do than entertain you.”

  Aishe squeezed my hand but I knew it was unintentional. He hunched a little, lowering his head.

  “He’s showing me around your tribe, Eulun,” I said easily, though inside my indignation was bubbling. “And introducing me to your kin. I have need of him.”

  I glanced down at Aishe who looked at me with a face shining with gratitude. He was so cute it hurt. Fuck, I missed my Aishe.

  Eulun scowled.

  I suddenly felt another hand, a small one, grab mine. I blinked and looked down to see Lucia holding a couple of my fingers and swinging my arm.

  “Play now, Mage?” she asked, her eyes huge and amazingly innocent. I’d never been innocent. Never. But I knew it when I saw it, and I wanted to preserve it for as long as I could.

  I offered her a smile. “Yes, I can play now.”

  She grinned, her face beaming. Just then, Amyla came running up, panting. “Lucia! I turn around for one moment and you’re gone! Don’t do that!” She grabbed Lucia’s wrist, the one holding the dolly. She gave everyone an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry to interrupt.”

  Eulun scowled at her as well. “You should keep that child on a leash, Amyla, if you can’t keep her near you otherwise.”

  Amyla’s face tightened. “Since you’ve never taken any interest in her, I’d say you have no right to speak to me like that.”

  Tense silence followed Amyla’s words, brother and sister in a stare-off. Then Lucia tugged at my hand, and I looked down to meet her eyes again.

  “Play now?” she said, pleading.

  “Yes, play now.” I nodded to Eulun. “Please excuse us.”

  I gestured to Amyla to follow us and we walked away, with three children I would protect with my life.

  ***

  Lucia finally got her wish. She oohed and ahhed over the small blue fireball I created. It hovered over my palm. I didn’t want to try anything too dramatic since she was so little. Aishe and Amyla stood with us, and I could see Aishe was a little disappointed. That made sense considering what he’d seen me do, but he played along for the little girl’s sake. Amyla’s eyes were big, her gaze fixed on the fire.

  “You can touch it,” I said. “It won’t hurt you.”

  Somehow Lucia’s eyes managed to grow wider. Still holding her dolly, she stretched out her other hand, which trembled slightly. Her little fingers seemed to touch the flames, but they only glided over her skin, and I knew they would feel like nothing more than very warm wind.

  “How did you do that?” She giggled, wiggling her fingers in the fireball.

  “It’s under my control,” I said simply. I didn’t relish trying to explain the rules of magick to the kids, so I didn’t even attempt it.

  But my words seemed to impress Aishe. “You’re controlling the elements? Like when you made the ground crack open?”

  Amyla mimicked Lucia, wiggling her fingers in the flames.

  I shook my head. “This is different. This fire is from inside me. I’m creating it entirely from my magick. When I cracked the earth, I was using the magick within the element.”

  I could see it was a little over their heads but Aishe seemed to try to process what I was saying. He narrowed his eyes in thought while Lucia now wiggled fingers from both hands in my small fire, her dolly forgotten on the ground. She giggled contagiously.

  I chuckled. Aishe grinned at Lucia and Amyla. His voice lowered. “They’re entertained by the little things.”

  “That’s not a bad thing.”

  He shook his head. “No.”

  “It must be great to be a mage,” Amyla said, her voice hushed.

  “It can be.” I vanished the fire and both girls’ faces fell. Little Lucia actually pouted. She picked up her dolly again, hugging it.

  “I want more!” she whined.

  “Don’t be greedy,” Amyla said, her voice holding a reprimand but her tone was gentle. “He showed you magick, didn’t he? What do we say?”

  She sighed heavily but gave me a small smile. “Thank you.”

  I’ve never liked kids. Never. I tolerated them as much as I would tolerate being poked in the eye with a sharp stick. But I found it wasn’t very hard to tolerate Lucia. Weird.

  “You’re welcome.”

  Then she just skipped off, singing nonsensically, her dolly flying around in one hand. Amyla ran after her.

  “Don’t get too far!” We both watched them go, and Aishe chuckled softly.

  “Whose child is she?” I asked.

  “Lucia? She was orphaned. My parents are her guardians until we find the right home for her. Amyla’s made it her duty to watch over her.”

  I nodded, the generosity of this family touching me deeper than I wanted it to.

  “Has Eulun always been so grumpy?” I asked.

  “Always,” Aishe said, drawing out the word. “He’s always been a sword in the mud.” Then Aishe turned fully toward me. “But you should meet my other brothers. They’re not nearly so...boring.”

  I smiled. “I’ve already met Wyn.”

  “And now you need to meet Fray.” He grabbed my hand again—I realized I shouldn’t let that become a habit but I didn’
t have the heart to stop him—and pulled me toward a group of youths. I honestly wondered how long I could keep my composure knowing that every single dialen I met would be slaughtered in the future.

  Chapter Eight

  It was the afternoon when I finally managed to gain an audience with Breyln again. I insisted that he gather his warriors and come with me to the training field.

  “For the purposes of what?” he asked. Little Lucia held his finger, her eyes locked on me. I’d seen him with his foster daughter and it was a sight to see. Gone was the fierce, deadly warrior, and proud chief. In his place was a dialen who obviously loved and adored his children, whether they be his blood or not. I’d also seen him with Wyn and Fray—now there was a proud father. He dropped his guard around his children, and I couldn’t help but think of my own father. May the bastard die and rot for all eternity.

  “With respect, Breyln, I don’t think you or your warriors know what you’re up against here. When last we fought, I wasn’t using any of my magick, and I believe that gave your warriors a false impression of the might of mages.”

  Breyln considered me.

  “Mages don’t fight with traditional weapons,” I said. “We use the elements: fire, water, air, earth. All are at our command. I fear, when I set the trap for Drasyln, your warriors will try to help me but end up dead.”

  His eyes narrowed. “You doubt our skill in battle?”

  “No.” Why couldn’t he understand? “I doubt your skill against a mage. There aren’t many non-mages that can stand against us. Let alone win.”

  “I see.” I couldn’t read Breyln, the chief locked up his emotions well. I could only hope I was getting through to him.

  “Allow me to demonstrate,” I said, keeping my tone even. “Gather your warriors and have them fight against me. Then you will see.”