by Wil Ogden
As soon as they did, Heather said, “I’m going to try something different. I hope this works.” She said a brief chant and her forearms became covered in flame. She pointed her arm towards a Vulak a dozen paces away and the flames arced outward, spraying the oncoming attacker. The Vulak dropped. Heather picked new targets and three others fell in a similar manner. The rest of the Vulak stopped, keeping their distance from Heather. Several rushed to join the others by the fire pit.
Diten stood from where she’d been sitting and approached Kehet and Heather. The Vulak stepped out of her way, but made no action to stop or harm her.
“There are archers among them,” she said when she got close. “And Jonah is among the best in the world with his sword, but he won’t last forever against this many.” She nodded towards the fire pit.
“Then we should go help him,” Kehet said.
“You and Heather, yes.” Diten said. “I don’t participate in combat and combat doesn’t participate with me. It’s a restriction and benefit of my role with my goddess. I should be able to heal minor injuries after the fight, so don’t get hurt too badly.”
Heather’s toe nudged Kehet’s boot and she said, “Jonah?”
“Let’s go!” Kehet said then ran towards the fire pit.
“Archers!” Heather said. She pointed to several Vulak around the clearing who were readying bows. “They’re too far for this spell.”
“I’ll get them,” Kehet said. He touched his ring and imagined changing to his Unicorn form mid-stride. It worked. He charged the closest archer and impaled it on his horn. He hadn’t thought it through and it took a bit of effort to shake the Vulak off.
Across the clearing another had an arrow nocked and began drawing back his bow. With his speed, Kehet was able to get there before the Vulak finished the draw-back. This time he just knocked the Vulak aside with his shoulder then kicked him with a hind leg as he passed.
The other archers were on the ground, dead or dying within seconds. By the time Kehet was back at Heather’s side, the Vulak were all screaming the same word. By their scurrying, Kehet guessed the word meant ‘retreat’.
They rushed over to where Jonah stood alone by the fire pit. From Diten’s explanation and the time that had passed, Kehet had expected to find him bleeding from several wounds and surrounded by Vulak bodies. Jonah was unhurt and there were no bodies near him
“You don’t kill either?” Kehet asked after reassuming his human form.
“I have no qualms with killing,” Jonah said. “But, that wouldn’t have been the prudent course for that situation.”
“You were surrounded,” Kehet said. “Shouldn’t you have been thinning their numbers?”
“I’d challenged one of their champions to single-combat,” Jonah said. “I wasn’t going to win a fight against all of them at once but one at a time, it was they that didn’t have a chance. I didn’t want to risk the others not accepting the single-combat challenge, so I made the duel last. I figured when you two showed up we’d be able to work together and kill them all. That part of the plan worked well enough. Getting them to retreat is a win, for now. They may come back.”
“They may not,” Diten said. “Heather is frightening, and though a Unicorn horn would be a prestigious hunting trophy, they’re not dumb enough to attack one in open combat.”
“Aren’t we in the nation of Melnith, one of the Abvi Kingdoms?” Kehet asked. “Why are there Vulak here?”
“Vulak are everywhere that other people are not,” Jonah said. “They live in the mountains, the swamps, and even the untamed forests. They do occasionally raid the civilized folk nearby. But it is odd they were here. There are no such places within thirty leagues of here. Our winter camp is occasionally subject to raids, but this is a first for our summer camp. That was a very large group for a raiding party.”
“They didn’t attack anyone but the three of us,” Kehet said.
Jonah explained that Vulak didn’t fight people who didn’t fight back; they just enslaved them and plundered their possessions, after they killed anything that did resist. “The Gypsies have never seen Vulak as more than a nuisance since the Gypsies of the Wandering Rose are extremely pacifistic. Still, two seasons of slavery and having to rebuild the camp is enough for me to fight to defend them.”
“And Diten?” Kehet asked.
“No living creature can see her as something to harm,” Jonah said. “I’m sure there’s a story behind that. I just don’t know it.”
“There is a good long story,” Diten said. “For another day, however. We should know what the Vulak are up to. I think someone needs to track them back to where they came from.”
“I’ll go,” Jonah said. “I know how to read tracks.”
“You should stay,” Kehet said. “The Unicorns here should be able to sprint out, gather some details and get back before the Vulak have time so set Unicorn traps.”
“Then go, quickly,” Jonah said. “Be careful.”
Kehet summoned all the Unicorns from among the gypsies and asked them to fan out of the camp and see where the Vulak were camped. He told them not to engage any, to which everyone laughed.
“We’re all of the Wandering Rose,” Silon said. “We won’t fight.”
The Unicorns all changed forms and ran out into the forest.
Diten looked puzzled.
“You didn’t know?” Kehet asked.
“That some of the gypsies were Unicorns, no,” She said.
She walked towards one of the fallen Vulak calling Kehet to join her. “I can’t save this one, you should kill it.”
The Vulak was charred over most of his body. Kehet had assumed it was dead. Cracking gasps came from the Vulak’s mouth.
“How?” Kehet asked.
“Your sword. Either cut off the head or pierce its heart,” Diten said. “I cannot kill, and Jonah cannot fight except to defend. “
Kehet drew his sword and took a deep breath then pushed it into the Vulak’s chest. It stopped gasping. “You would heal him if he weren’t dying?”
“I will make the ones who will live able to walk away,” Diten said. “I don’t like anything about the Vulak. I won’t kill one, however, either through action or inaction. If I have the ability to prevent death or even just prevent suffering, I will.”
“They wouldn’t do the same for us,” Kehet said.
“No,” Diten said. “They would not. We are not they.” She walked to the next Vulak and checked its condition. It was dead; she moved on. She only found one that was too wounded to flee with the others but not burned too badly to save. It was one Kehet had knocked over and kicked. She knelt by the Vulak put her hands on the creature’s ribs. A turquoise glow enveloped her and the Vulak.
A moment later the Vulak pushed Diten away then stood and ran off into the forest.
“I guess you don’t do what you do for the gratitude,” Kehet said.
“I do what I do because I can,” Diten said. “And it give me a reason to touch people. I like to touch people; it’s a little connection that brings us all a little closer.” She put her hand on his blood covered arm. “Are you hurt?” she asked.
“I was,” Kehet said. “I got better.”
When Diten didn’t remove her hand, Kehet found himself glancing around for Heather.
“Jonah took her off, away from camp, to burn the dead Vulak,” she said. “She’s not here, so I get to touch you without bothering her. Does it bother you?”
“It’s just a touch,” Kehet said, but he was bothered in a way he didn’t mind so much.
“When you find yourself alone, come to me,” Diten said. “I don’t invite men to seek me out, normally. They do on their own and I seek out those that interest me, but you are different, and not just because you’re a god or a Unicorn. When you find yourself alone, find me. I’d stay with you until your heart heals.”
“I don’t see anything coming between Heather and I,” Kehet said. “I’m the only one she knows she can’t kill.”<
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Diten pulled her hand off his arm and turned away. As she walked off she looked back over her shoulder and said, “If I’m not here when you come looking, I won’t be too hard for you to find, I promise.”
§
Each Unicorn reported the same things as they returned. There were no raiding camps; the Vulak were just moving through. There were a lot of Vulak, however, not just those that raided the Gypsy camp.
“We need to take the Gypsies east across the river and camp outside Fork. The Vulak won’t get close to that city,” Jonah said.
“We still need to go to Melnith,” Heather said. “I seem to be doing okay with the wizardry, but I’m still basically just playing with fire. It may not be safe.”
Jonah nodded. “The road is too dangerous, but there may be another way.” He turned to Diten, “Do you think Beldithe would be willing to do a favor for Kehet?”
Kehet wasn’t sure what happened. Suddenly he was standing by a pool, one of several in a temple, in a city. Dozens of women, mostly naked, swam around in the pools. Heather and Diten stood beside him. Heather looked as confused as he did. On the other hand, Diten seemed like she expected nothing else. Not only did she appear comfortable in the surroundings, she slipped out of her dress and dove into the pool.
Diten swam to another woman and embraced her. Kehet didn’t have to guess who the other woman was. He knew it was Beldithe, the goddess of love. Even if he didn’t have the instinctive knowledge, her near-luminescent blonde tresses and far too alluring smile would have been enough to tell him she could be no one else. Both women then swam back over to where he and Heather stood and climbed out of the pool. Other women rushed over to the goddess and her chosen and patted them with towels until they were dry.
Beldithe stepped close to Kehet, and placed a hand on his chest then leaned even closer and kissed his cheek. “Welcome back, my love,” she said. She then stepped away and embraced Heather, kissing her cheek as well. She also whispered something to Heather, but Kehet couldn’t hear it.
When Beldithe stepped back, Heather asked the goddess, in slightly shaky voice, “Are you and he lovers?”
“Jealous?” Beldithe said, her voice lilting, clearly teasing.
“How could I not be?” Heather asked. “I mean, look at you and your perfect body, your perfect beauty and your intoxicating voice. Diten is only a shadow of everything that you are and even I, a woman, wanted to be with her. With you, only knowing that you are a goddess and so far beyond a mortal like me, prevents me from pursuing the same with you. I can’t see how Kehet could see you differently, except, being a god, he doesn’t have the same reason to be inhibited.”
Beldithe laughed. “Should I dress? Would that help you feel better?” Without waiting for an answer, a gown appeared on Beldithe and a similar one on Diten. Neither gown did much to hide their bodies and if anything, it accented them making them more appealing.
Heather took a deep breath and looked away.
“Don’t get angry,” Beldithe said.
“Really, don’t get angry,” Kehet said. “I am with you, Heather. I am not with Beldithe.”
“Well, not today,” Beldithe said. “We’ve had our flings in the past and will probably have our flings again, but I don’t keep anyone. He loves you and that is something I cannot change.”
“So, I’m just supposed to be okay if my man has a fling with you?” Heather said.
“She’s a Wizard, my goddess.” Diten said. “I know you’re just teasing her, but she might not be the type to play with.”
“She’s a Wizard?” Beldithe asked then looked at Heather appraisingly. “My apologies, Heather. Diten is correct, I am just teasing. I wouldn’t take Kehet to bed while he was with you. That’s not true, I would. But, I promise that I won’t.”
“The goddess is always true to her word,” Diten said.
“And please don’t explode in my temple,” Beldithe said. “I like you, Heather. You are beautiful and dangerous. I like that combination in people. I have rooms below if you’d like to spend your time in Melnith being treated like a queen. Kehet, being a man, cannot stay here, but you would enjoy it here.”
Heather was noticeably calmer. “I’ll consider it, but I’ll probably be staying with Kehet.”
The goddess stroked Heather’s arm. “Now that he’s embraced his Unicorn self, he will have trouble staying in one place for long. You, on the other hand, are stuck here for the next twenty years if you are going to attend the Wizard school.”
Kehet didn’t have plans to go anywhere, and expected Heather to espouse her faith in him to stay with her, but instead she asked, “You know of the Wizard School? Do you know where it is?”
“There’s a smithy in the Foreign Quarter, in the Matderi section, called Izzy’s Iron,” Beldithe said. “Izzy’s not a Wizard, but she guards the entrance, which is under her shop. The Foreign District borders the Temple District behind the Temple of the Nightstar.” Beldithe pointed to a building made of dark blue marble. “You could get to Izzy’s in less than a quarter of an hour from here on foot.”
“Should we head there?” Kehet asked.
“Surely you’d like to stay and chat,” Beldithe said. “I have comfortable places to sit or lie down inside.”
“You know I’d like to,” Kehet said. “But we came here for Heather and helping her reach her potential and not explode again is what I want more than anything.”
“Yes, let’s go,” Heather said. She headed out of the temple without watching if Kehet would follow. He did.
§
From Beldithe’s Temple, Melnith had appeared a city of towering white marble structures reaching into the sky. Once they entered the Foreign Quarter it was not much different than Blackstone. Small shops ran along the main street with homes, some no bigger than a one room hovel, lined the alleys behind the street. The shops were a little bigger and had much more inventory on display than the ones in Blackstone, but without turning around to see the white spires, Kehet couldn’t tell he was in a large city.
Izzy’s shop was an inconspicuous wrought iron implement store. When Heather told the Matderi Woman that Red Clan Ore was the hottest, Izzy took them into her shop and led them down a staircase. They descended a couple dozen steps into a torch lit spherical room that looked to be thirty paces across. A platform at the center of the room had four tables. A human in red robes was talking to two people, both Matderi, who sat at the tables.
“This is it?” Heather asked.
“There’re not a lot of Wizards,” Izzy said. “Few are born with the talent; fewer survive to discover the school.”
“But you can teach me to control this?” Heather asked.
“Not me personally,” Izzy said. “I teach the metalworking classes. Lucian teaches fire control.”
“When can I start?” Heather asked.
“You started when you gave me the Wizard’s Call.” Izzy said. “I’ll need you both to sign the contract, which is really just a pledge to complete the training and promise of secrecy.”
“Whoa,” Kehet said. “I’m not here for Wizard School. I’m just here to support Heather.”
“Hmm,” Izzy said. “I’d assumed by your calloused hands and large forearms that you were a blacksmith.”
“I am a blacksmith. I’m just not a Wizard.” Kehet said.
“Wait here,” Izzy said, then took a few steps towards the walkway leading to the teaching platform. She then turned back and asked, “I assume you’d rather have your memories for the past couple hours erased than be killed?”
“I don’t see either one of those coming to pass,” Kehet said. “Let’s just say I leave, promising to not reveal your secret.”
“There are rules we have in place to protect our secret,” Izzy said. “The punishments are harsh, but you understand we all risk execution if discovered. I highly suggest the memory wipe. I’m told it’s painless, or at least if it’s not you won’t remember the pain, so it’s the same thing in the long run.
”
Heather stepped towards Izzy. “My companion isn’t trying to be disrespectful of your, well I guess it now our, traditions. But, he’s correct, you won’t be killing him and you won’t be able to wipe his memory.”
“Oh?” Izzy said. “Is he of another magical college? I suppose a Mage could enchant protections but he doesn’t look like a Mage.”
“Does he look like a god?” Heather said.
Izzy stepped back towards them then walked around Kehet slowly. “No, but I suppose now would be a good time for introductions. Who, exactly, are you?”
“My name is Heather Feystal,” she said then added, “of Blackstone. I’ll let Kehet introduce himself.”
“But,” Kehet said, realizing Heather had given him away.
Izzy was quick to take in what the name meant. “The Founder?” she asked.
“That’s me,” Kehet said.
“I don’t know anyone who’s seen you in person,” Izzy said. “I’ve seen over two hundred gods, mostly lesser, but I’ve seen most of the founders in their temples. I’ve never seen you.”
“I don’t have a temple,” Kehet said. “I could change forms, but I’d have to step out of this alcove and onto the walkway to do so and I wouldn’t be able to turn around.” The walkway was only wide enough for a single person, and that person should have good balance.
“Or I could have Lucian test the theory that fire wouldn’t hurt you,” Izzy said.
“Well, it would probably hurt if Lucian is more powerful than Heather,” Kehet said. “But I’d get better and I’d probably be upset.”
“You know,” Izzy said, pausing as if to appear thoughtful, “I think we can trust our new student’s word on this.” Izzy went to stand by a bare, flat wall. “Heather, come place your hand here.”
Heather walked over and put the palm of her hand against the wall. The wall began to glow red, then after a moment changed to orange then yellow. It cycled through the colors of the rainbow. Izzy gasped when it hit blue and started to shake when it hit purple and then turned solid black. Izzy shouted for Lucian to run to them. By the time Lucian arrived, the wall had shifted again to white. “Does this mean what I think it means?” Heather asked. “This is a measure of my capabilities?”
