WarMage: Undeniable (The Never Ending War Book 4)

by Martha Carr

  “It’s called having a conversation, Harold.” Janice chuckled and shook her head again slowly. “You’ve had all kinds of bad ideas, but you still haven’t thought this one through.”

  “I’ll get there.” He gave Raven a lopsided smile and leaned closer. “So how do you do it, then? No saddle, no harness. Fine, no hand signals, either. You ain’t talkin’ to that dragon the whole time up in the sky, are ya?”

  “No, actually.” She stepped aside to look at Leander but he intentionally blocked out the entire conversation. “He’s my familiar.”

  “Uh-huh.” Harold nodded slowly, his mouth open in excitement. “Your familiar what?”

  “You bonehead. She goes to that magic school.”

  “They take dragons at magic school?”

  Janice rolled her eyes. “Every day. The man can get any dragon in the whole damn ranch to follow him around like a lost puppy but beyond that, he can’t put two and two together.”

  “I’m a mage,” Raven said calmly and gave Harold a reassuring smile. “Every mage has a familiar. Leander happens to be my familiar and a dragon.”

  “Well, I’ll be…” He scratched his head. “How does someone manage a thing like that?”

  Jim scoffed. “You gotta have magic first, man. I think you’re out on that one.”

  “Well, shit. Oh, ʼscuse my language, miss.” He lowered his head. “I get mouthy sometimes.”

  “I’ve heard worse.” Raven slid a hand under the strap of her satchel and glanced around the large, clean, well-maintained dragon ranch. I wonder if William’s ever stopped by this one.

  “That’s enough talking about useless things,” Janet added with a smirk. “What brings you out here, miss mage?”

  “Just Raven.”

  “Sure.” All three workers smiled at her expectantly.

  “Actually, we’re delivering letters. I have to get one to Magister Verdeel in town, and we were relieved to see this dragon ranch here.”

  “Oh, yeah.” Jim chuckled. “Not much dragon-friendly parking in a town without a dragon ranch.”

  “That’s one of the things we found out today.” She gestured toward Leander. “I hoped you might have space here for Leander to wait for me while I make the delivery. I can pay you to rent a stall—”

  “Please.” Janice stepped toward her and clapped a hand on the young mage’s shoulder. “I won’t charge Raven Alby a single copper. Are you kidding? After everything you’ve done for this kingdom already? How old are you, girl? Nineteen? Twenty?”

  “Sixteen.”

  “Six—” The woman jerked her hand back and squeaked in surprise.

  Jim and Harold burst out laughing.

  “Did she say sixteen?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “That’s what I heard too.”

  “My stars.” Janice laughed. “That’s even better. You go on and do your business in town, Raven. Leander will be fine here with us.”

  “Thank you.”

  “All right.” Jim turned away with a thoughtful glance at the red dragon. “I’ll go get the lead.”

  Leander spread his wings halfway and took a step toward Raven. “No lead.”

  “No…” The baffled man pointed at the dragon, turned toward the young mage, and let his jaw fall open.

  “That’s part of it too,” Raven added. “He doesn’t do leads.”

  “How in the world…”

  “But a stall in your stables would be fine, if you have room.”

  “Go on and shut that mouth, Jim.” Janice snickered and Harold leaned sideways to shut the other man’s mouth for him. “Leander, you’re more than welcome to wait for your rider in the stables. But I wonder if you’d prefer to go out into that field and take a load off until she gets back.”

  Leander studied the Haverson Ranch dragons and snorted. “The field.”

  “The field it is. Right this way.” Janice marched down the fence toward the gate and waited for the red dragon to turn and follow.

  Raven reached her first. “Leander hasn’t exactly been trained like most others.”

  “Yeah, we hear that often. Every ranch has their own trainers with their own methods, Raven. I promise he’ll be fine.”

  “Well, he wasn’t trained by a dragon-trainer, either.”

  The woman stared at her and pressed her lips together until they practically disappeared. “Say what, now?”

  “He wasn’t trained by a—”

  “I heard you, girl.” The woman’s laughter was sharp and skeptical. “If a trainer didn’t get that big red of yours to take a rider in the first place, then who did?”

  “I did.”

  Janice threw her head back and howled with laughter. “Are you pullin’ my yarn, mage girl?”

  “Not even a little tug.”

  “If that isn’t the most… I mean…” The woman scratched her head and laughed again. “You sure are full of surprises, Raven. Both of you. A sixteen-year-old girl in magic school trains a dragon like that with no lead, no saddle, no—whew! So tell me why you think that’s gonna be a problem for him in our field here.”

  “We’ve seen some other dragons recently who didn’t really know what to do with him,” she muttered. Leander had paused beside the fence again and gave them the appearance of privacy for the conversation. Still, he allowed himself an amused rumble as he watched the other dragon clans move around the field. “I’m not worried about him in there.”

  “But you’re wondering if my beasts are gonna turn on one who shows up a little differently, huh?” Janice patted her arm and grinned. “Don’t you worry about that one, girl. Haverson dragons don’t have a problem with different. They know what he is. As long as he doesn’t step in there and try to start a fight, we’re all good.”

  “I’ll finish one if I have to,” Leander interjected and swung his head away from the fence to stare at the ranch owner.

  “Ha! Consider me warned, Leander.” The woman gestured dramatically but her grin remained in place. “If any of mine give you trouble, you have my permission to beat their dragon asses back in line.”

  Raven lowered her head and choked back a laugh. Her dragon stepped quickly toward Janice as she opened the gate and paused beside Raven to position his head close to her ear. “She’s okay.”

  “You hear that, Jim?” Janice called. “I have approval from the saddle-less dragon himself. Now you know you won’t find a better job than the one you got right here.”

  Jim chuckled and shook his head. Harold pumped a fist in the air. “Haverson for life!”

  The woman scoffed. “Jim’s tryin’ to squeeze me for higher pay, makin’ empty threats to leave, and Harold wouldn’t dip outta this place if I made him work for free. Go on in there, Leander. Make yourself at home and holler or somethin’ if you need anything.”

  “I won’t.”

  She glanced at Raven as she shut the gate behind the visitor. “He won’t holler?”

  “He won’t need anything.” She smiled and held her hand out. “Thanks for letting him stay for a while.”

  “It’s my pleasure, girl. My pleasure!” The woman gave her hand an enthusiastic shake.

  “I won’t be very long. Half an hour or an hour. Then we’ll head out of here.”

  “Whenever you want, Raven. We’re glad to have him here.” Janice nodded at them both before she strode toward her ranch hands, who both leaned against the metal bars of an open pen, their elbows slung over the top rung behind them. “Didn’t we already break for lunch? What are you doing standing there? Go on.”

  The men pushed themselves off the bars, chuckled, and threw the newcomers last-minute glances before they returned to work.

  Raven turned to her dragon and widened her eyes. “This sure is a change of pace from Canterdown, huh?”

  Leander shook and stretched his wings. “Our reputation precedes us.”

  “Apparently so. I’ll try not to take too long. Hopefully, the people in this town have less going on.”

&
nbsp; “I’ll wait.”

  “I know.” She stretched over the top of the fence and ran her hand along the side of his face. “Have fun.”

  He snorted and turned away from her to focus on a small, curious yellow dragon pacing close by as it stared at the newcomer. “Hello.”

  The yellow dragon darted away, and Leander swiveled his head toward Raven. “Fun.”

  “Well, it’s something.” Chuckling, she waved goodbye and headed across the ranch toward the road. She slipped the folded list out of her pocket to double-check the name and nodded. It should still be easy. This time, I can leave him where I know he’ll be all right.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Raven sat on the steps outside Dresdel’s Town Hall, stared at the huge clocktower in the center of town, and sighed in frustration. That guy behind the desk told me ten minutes. It’s been forty-five.

  The door behind her at the top of the steps swung open, and a man wearing a long, bright red robe darted down the stairs with scrolls and a few huge tomes tucked under his arms.

  “Excuse me.” She stood as he descended. “Can you tell me how long—”

  The man brushed past her and disappeared into the busy throng of Dresdel’s people going about their lives.

  “Thanks, anyway,” she muttered and let her hand fall against her thigh. “This is ridiculous.”

  The young mage headed up the stairs and pulled the huge wooden door open. Her work boots clicked against the polished stone floors when she stepped inside. Once the door shut, it took her a moment to adjust to the much darker room before she walked down the long hallway at the front of the building toward the man seated behind that desk.

  “Excuse me.”

  “Yes?” His quill scratched furiously across his parchment paper, but he didn’t look up.

  “Raven Alby again. Waiting for Magister Verdeel. I think it’s been a little longer than ten minutes, which is what you told me the second time.”

  The man’s head whipped up and he pushed his thin-framed spectacles up onto the bridge of his nose with a sigh. “Raven Alby. Yes. I apologize, Miss Alby. Again. But Magister Verdeel has been in meetings all morning.”

  “I know. It’s three-thirty in the afternoon.”

  “It’s—” He cocked his head and frowned. “Are you sure?”

  “I was outside watching the clocktower.”

  “Hmm. Well, the best I can do is to tell you to sit once more and wait. It shouldn’t be more than another—”

  “That’s okay. Don’t try to guess the time again. Can I sit in one of these chairs?”

  “Of course.”

  Raven turned and strode toward the long row of chairs on her right along the hallway. Three men and a woman were waiting there as well. One of the men had his eyes closed, his head propped against the wall. The other two men spoke to each other in low voices, and the woman had pulled some yarn and knitting needles out to pass the time.

  I bet that’s more to keep from dying of boredom than to hang on her wall later. The thought made her smirk, and she took an empty seat between her and the men deep in conversation. On the other side of the woman, the sleeping man grunted, shifted his position, and began to snore.

  “How long have you been waiting?” Raven whispered and leaned slightly toward the woman.

  “I have no idea.” The needles moved rhythmically and their wielder looked up with a gentle smile. “Did you bring something with you?”

  “No. I didn’t think I’d be here this long.”

  The woman chuckled. “You’re not from Dresdel, are you?”

  “What gave it away?”

  “The fact that you stepped into the Town Hall without anything to keep you busy.” The woman nodded toward the large cloth bag at her feet. “I brought an extra pair of needles.”

  “Oh, no thanks.” She shrugged. “I wouldn’t know what to do with those anyway.”

  “Really? Your mother never taught you to knit?”

  “Nope.”

  “Crochet? Needlepoint? Anything?”

  Raven slid her hands along her thighs and shook her head.

  “Your grandmother didn’t pass any of that down, either?”

  “We’re not really a knitting kind of family.” And that’s as much as I can say without making her feel bad. Still, the brief image of Connor Alby sitting by the fire with a pair of giant needles like these made her chuckle.

  “Suit yourself. It’s a great way to pass the time.”

  “I bet.” Raven leaned forward and studied the man behind the desk, who hadn’t once looked up from his writing. I wasn’t supposed to need anything to pass the time.

  It felt like an eternity in that silent hallway while everyone in the chairs waited for the man behind the desk to call the next person there to see Magister Verdeel.

  Finally, two large double doors burst open at the end of the hallway, and two men walked out swiftly. “I’m telling you, Roger, it’s something we most certainly need to be concerned about.”

  “It was a fire, Matthew. That’s it. I’ve wasted my entire day following you around on some wild goose chase and now, I’m finished. Go home. Hug your wife. Stop overreacting.”

  The men’s footsteps echoed through the hall. “You’re not listening to me. This wasn’t only a—”

  The door closed with a soft thump behind them and cut their voices off. Raven leaned back in her chair and sighed.

  “Some people value their time way too much, don’t you think?” The man seated on the other side of the young mage turned toward her and winked. “He should know better. Trying to get a meeting with Magister Verdeel is one of those things that takes all day. If you’re lucky.”

  “Oh, great.” Raven chuckled wryly. “That would’ve been nice to know before I was sent to run errands. This is only my stop number two.”

  The second man puffed out a sigh and twirled the end of his dark mustache. “It should’ve been your first.”

  “I realize that now.” she leaned her head back against the wall and stared at the chairs along the opposite side of the hallway. The men beside her resumed their conversation again.

  “Hey, you think those two yuppies were talking about the same fire?”

  “How am I supposed to know? We came here for our business, not theirs.”

  “Well, sure. But there’s been more talk the last few days than I like to hear. I tell you what, Don. Strange things are happening again ʼround here.”

  Raven straightened in the chair and turned to face them. “What kind of strange things?”

  The man beside her laughed. “Caught your interest, huh?”

  She smirked and gestured at the mostly empty hall. “Anything’s better than sitting here doing absolutely nothing.”

  “No truer words, miss.” He chuckled and nudged his friend’s shoulder. “You wanna tell her or should I?”

  The mustached man sighed and closed his eyes. “Be my guest.”

  “Right.” Her neighbor turned toward her again, nodded, and wiggled his eyebrows. “Now, I can’t say I know the whole of it, which is why we’re here in the first place. I’ve seen different farms and homesteads burned to the ground in the last week. Three. Unless there’s some kinda new sickness rolling around that makes people burn their own homes and livelihoods, I’m apt to think we have trouble on our hands.”

  Beside him, Don snorted.

  “Oh, don’t you go blowin’ me off like that, man.”

  Don leaned forward so he could meet Raven’s gaze. His mustache twitched when he sniffed. “Reggie thinks there’s a witch out in the mountains hexing everyone’s farms and burning the fields.”

  “That’s an awfully simplistic way to put it, but yeah. That’s close.”

  Raven frowned. “Have you seen any magic coming from the mountains?”

  “Well, I…” Reggie gaped at her and leaned back in his chair. “No. I can’t say I have.”

  “Ha. See? There’s one thing your crazy theory doesn’t cover.” The second man lea
ned forward again. “He doesn’t live anywhere near the mountains.”

  “Well, neither do you. And it’s not simply a crazy theory, man. There’s something unnatural going around. Witches. Powers of the darkness. Could be anything, really.”

  “Is anyone telling stories about monsters?” Raven asked.

  Don twirled his mustache again and raised his eyebrows. “Oh, there are always tales of monsters somewhere.”

  “Now monsters, I haven’t heard a thing about,” Reggie added. “Oh, except for that dragon trainer who rode through from Delton’s Crossing the other day, remember?”

  “The bald one?”

  Reggie rolled his eyes. “The only dragon trainer we’ve talked to in the last few months. Unless you went out to Nadine or something and didn’t bother to tell your business partner about it.”

  Don shrugged and leaned back in his chair again.

  “Did the dragon trainer say something about monsters?” Raven tugged her satchel slightly where she’d set it between her feet.

  “Not exactly.” Reggie scratched his head. “But he went on and on about a dragon ranch way out east by the mountains that had some trouble with a huge fire. It came outta nowhere, you know?”

  “That could have as easily been the dragons, though, right?” She leaned away when the man stretched his neck over the armrests and widened his eyes.

  “But something else spooked the dragons. As far as I know, those beasts aren’t afraid of the kind of fire they can make all on their own.”

  Don clicked his tongue. “What do you know about dragons? You haven’t seen one in person closer than twenty feet.”

  “That doesn’t mean anything. Dragons breathe fire. They fight. I’ve heard the stories. They don’t spook each other. Anything that scares a dragon that much is something the rest of us need to keep a lookout for, if you ask me.”

  The other man shook his head and closed his eyes.

  “Thanks for the tip.” Raven tried to smile while she thought through the new information. A burned-down ranch near the Mountains of Jared and terrified dragons. It’s close enough to the dragon sanctuary to be more than simply another fire.

  The doors at the end of the hall opened again, and the man seated behind the desk looked up at someone she couldn’t see. He nodded and called, “Raven Alby. Right this way, please.”