Shrugging, Orlerin replied, “I was not aware that time, other than that needed to make the tournament, was enough of a factor to make a day or two a necessity.”
Cheleya patted Kel’lor’s forearm gently as she shook her head at the mage leader. “Don’t worry over time, Orlerin. Your plan is fine. We will be much less obvious on the journey to Hala riding horses. There are still the savages on the plains to worry about during the winter that might be more likely to pay attention to a mar’goyn’lya flying than a simple band of riders. If we should run into trouble, then our ability to fly would be a hidden asset in our favor.”
The mage nodded at the observation. “That was my thought as well, but if Kel’lor wishes to part ways to fly to Hala, we can certainly change our path to Estaria and pick up our replacement portal wizard.”
Feeling that Kel’lor had unintentionally stepped on their new friends’ feelings, Cheleya placed a charming smile on her face and replied, “We would love to have the company, Orlerin. I appreciate what you have done to help us and gladly accept your offer.”
After an elbow jabbed into his ribs, Kel’lor agreed and not reluctantly. He worried that if he were to be killed somehow, the girl would be on her own with no one to rely on at all. Cheleya was strong in many ways, but she was more like a human girl than just her body. Her spirit could be broken with loss and if he died, these people would need to be there to support her.
The mar’goyn’lya’s fears of his death troubled him. He had never had this worry since his kind lived for centuries, but something about this whole situation had him contemplating his mortality. He had heard of elders that could feel death approaching and hoped that was not a premonition that he was feeling.
Breakfast was followed by a walk to the stables on the west side of the town. Cheleya found her eyes going to all the people and the buildings so close together that a full size che’ther would be close to rubbing against both sides of the street as it passed. The girl had pulled on her crag dog cloak that, through her skill with alteration, looked like a simple, fur lined, leather covering. She wasn’t really cold, but the girl could tell from the people walking the street that she should be, so the cloak resting on her shoulders was made to look like a necessity. While illusion, like that of Kel’lor’s jacket, could be made from magic, sometimes a simple thing like wearing what was expected was a mundane way of achieving the same, she thought.
A man smiled back at the pretty girl as she walked by and Cheleya exchanged the look. He had seemed to brighten at her smile, the girl believed, and tried it with others as they walked. With each new smile, Cheleya felt that she was onto something. “People are friendly here,” she commented to her friends.
Colbie and Evantus actually laughed while the other two smiled back at her with nods of agreement.
“What?” the girl asked perplexed.
“Any time a beautiful girl is walking along and giving you a smile, you’re going to give one back,” Colbie replied holding in her laughter.
Evantus shrugged, “Admittedly, Televal can be fairly friendly, though winter usually tones such things down with the cold. On a colder day, even you couldn’t make them look up to see you while they bundled up against the wind. It’s a little nicer today, so you’re in luck.”
A little disappointed with their judgment, Cheleya still found smiling at the nice people enjoyable as she continued to look around the human town.
The stables were in a large building tall enough to both be able to house dozens of horses, and be able to store bales of hay and bags of feed to make it through the whole of a northern winter. It was late in winter and nearly spring, so the odds were that the storage was becoming more empty than full, however.
Seeing the approaching half dozen, a pair of men dressed in tunics of red and white appeared while remaining bundled within their warm red cloaks. Staron had held the tradition of these two colors for a millennium it was said, but it mattered less to the soldiers and servants of the country about the longevity as much as they still stood now.
Orlerin passed them his papers and the groomsmen called into the stable. Soon a half dozen horses, saddled and laden with the bulk of their packs, were ready for the group to ride.
Cheleya petted the horse chosen for her, with its white and brown dappled coat and gentle brown eyes that seemed perfect for the dainty dragoness. A female named, Dolly, the horse seemed to instantly like the blond haired girl and nuzzled her sniffing at the dragoness as if she smelled something wonderful.
Curious as to what the horse could be smelling on the girl, Colbie moved closer and lifted a lock of Cheleya’s hair off of her shoulder to sniff it as well. The dragoness looked at her friend questioning, even as the mage took a second whiff.
“You smell nice. Did you bathe this morning or put on perfume?”
Shaking her head, the dragoness replied, “You were with me when I awoke and I did neither of those things. What is perfume by the way?”
“It’s something women spray on arms and necks to smell nice, but you already do. I wonder how you do that. Did you alter your hair to make it smell like that too?”
Evantus, more than willing to be near the dragoness, smelled the lock of hair before nodding his head with a small smile. They tested the smell of the cloak, just in case, but after smelling it and then the back of the girl’s hands as she began to blush with the attention, the two came to a similar conclusion.
“Yeah, it’s definitely Cheleya. Both her hair and skin smell sort of like flowers though I can’t place what kind,” Evan replied before moving to his horse to take the reins from the stable boy. “The cloak just smells like leather inside and out except for the scent trapped near her back.”
Colbie took her horse as well and began to follow Orlerin who was getting impatient. The leader was also worried that such behavior would be noted by the stable boys should someone come looking for her. Strange behavior might lead to someone realizing that the che’ther was in human disguise.
The six led the horses, with Cheleya’s moving closer to smell the girl as if looking for treats from time to time, and soon they were exiting the south gate. One of three gates, east, north and south, it had lighter traffic leaving Televal at that point of the morning. Farmers had no reason to go to fields when crops were dormant waiting for spring and most herdsmen lived near their stock. Winter made for a quiet day for the guards in their towers.
Once past the outer gate and the half dozen rows of the outer village, Evantus and Colbie helped the two from Mar’kal learn how to mount the horses. As a che’ther and mar’goyn’lya, they had never been a size or of an inclination to ride horses and they were uncommon to Mar’kal because of a lack of need.
Cheleya surprised them by only needing to be told once about how to use the stirrup to lift up into the saddle. Being a bit short, especially compared to the horse however, the little girl had a large jump to make it into her saddle and Evan took the opportunity to push on her rear to help her up. Colbie rolled her eyes in annoyance at the man’s taking the moment to touch the pretty girl.
Helping Kel’lor was a bit more difficult despite his height. The horse kept moving to the side making the man hop along trying to catch up. It took Evan and Colbie settling the horse by placing their hands against its opposite side to get the creature to stop for him to then easily vault into his saddle. Once on top, the gargoyle proved his mastery of the beast as he took the reins and guided the horse easily.
As Colbie moved to climb onto her horse, Evan gave a friendly push on her rear as well receiving a glare for his touch. Grinning, the younger mage said, “I didn’t want you to get jealous. Oh and by the way, yours is just as nice as hers.”
Getting the girl to blush, Evantus laughed and quickly pulled himself into the saddle to follow the Mar’kal riders as they grew used to guiding their steeds.
Colbie moved next to the audacious mage and warned him, “You get that one touch, but I will knock you out if you do it again.”
Putting up his hands appearing to ward off a blow, Evan joked, “Yes, falcon, but I will say it might be worth it.”
Blushing even darker red, the girl punched him in the arm. She knew he was just teasing, but Colbie had to admit getting that kind of attention was actually flattering even if it was from her annoying friend.
The site of the battle between the shrikes and mages beside the quiet lake drew a long look from the group chasing the thieves. Malaketh let them look. While the shrike carcasses, partially picked over by the local scavengers, were perplexing to the group, the bodies didn’t let them figure out anymore than they had before they happened upon it.
Theories that the mages from Staron had happened across the shrikes, or vice versa, and fought them driving the creatures off after killing several were the most common. Still Cor’Dargan didn’t seem as convinced. Malaketh led the others on the path south after noting the change of direction by the Staron group. The master wasn’t positive if they had joined together as only four sets of footprints led away, but with their ability to fly Cheleya and Kel’lor could have decided to go on ahead.
Also the trackers noted that the humans may have left first, which built up hope for Malaketh that they would split up to make it easier to catch the pair. He encouraged the team to move on even as Cor’Dargan remained behind to sift through the clues left behind. The master hoped that he would fall far enough behind to remain out of his hair once and for all to deal with the dragon’s child alone.
The brown dragon knelt in his human form using his magic to sense the earth. He looked for not only movement that might be found now, but for things that had been changed recently.
As the pursuit team left, Cor’Dargan was left with his thoughts and his findings.
First, the che’ther found that an earth wizard had been a part of the fight. Residual magic most likely of a defensive nature near the cabin let him know that the shrikes had not caught them off guard or not completely at least. Pieces of broken stone points meant they had been some form of spike designs to keep from being attacked from above, so they were most likely above human height.
His magic led him to a pair of graves. The first was more obvious and just beyond the travelers’ hut near the lake. A pleasant view for the living, it was merely the place the dead now lay. The second led the dragon farther away. Signs of blood and decaying flesh from a flaying were near the grave of some animal. Cor’Dargan didn’t choose to dig up the creature though he wondered at the significance of the burial. Animals were rarely buried in Mar’kal since few residents kept pets, though animals used to work farms were around, most were also edible for those who wanted meat. Only the sick and worn were buried to avoid disease from the release of death.
Checking the seen of the battle, his human senses had trouble making out human, mar’goyn’lya, shrike and a single crag dog far from home. The che’ther had seen signs of one along the way and wondered about its continual run to the south. He had seen the first area where crag dogs and wolves had fought. Perhaps something had drawn one to follow Cheleya and Kel’lor despite their flying for much of the journey.
Campsites had also seen signs of the dog with his daughter and her companion. Had she befriended the beast?
Sighing, the brown dragon searched the hut one last time. Blood and sickness had been here briefly. Perhaps the wounded had been tended? Did they also have a healer?
Cor’Dargan was getting frustrated. The more he searched the more questions he seemed to have, but one answer seemed to come from all that he examined and that was that the two groups had joined despite what the others had theorized. They had fought together and now moved in the same direction. He would look to validate that in the future, but he was almost positive that Cheleya now associated with humans from Staron.
What that would mean was yet another question that he would mull over as the Stone Runner closed the door and sped on his way southward.
Chapter 14- Father’s Daughter
The bridge was long gone before their first break for a lunch. Foothills to the northwest of the Spinera River were of no concern as their path led between the Dragon Spine and the single odd mountain directly west of Estaria. When the Cataclysm had struck, the bit of land to the west of the capitol city had risen to become a solitary mountain and shifted the Spinera River to the east.
With the remainder of the land between made of low rolling hills for the first part of the journey, the horses were able to set a quick steady pace, but horses weren’t immune to tiring, so like their riders it became necessary to stop and rest. Cheleya took a moment to use a swipe of the dragon claw spell to clear a fair piece of land to the grass covered by a half dozen inches of snow. Winter continued to linger, but the dragoness knew enough about horses to know that they would eat grass and hay if they could find it.
Tilana used her magic to raise enough stone for the group to sit, while Kel’lor used a little fire magic to remove the snow from their seats. Even though weather didn’t bother a mar’goyn’lya that much, having wet clothing was still a bit annoying.
Sandwiches were made from travel bread, cheese and dried meat. Canteens were heated by Kel’lor and Evantus to make sure the ice within was returned to cool water to drink. As the group began to eat, Cheleya noted a strange cough from Kel’lor. The girl had never heard him cough as a mar’goyn’lya or in human form and looked at him questioningly.
Raising a hand to ward off her question, the giant said quietly to the che’ther, “This human form must be bothered by the cold more than my other body. It is nothing though.”
“It is odd to have you coughing like that. If your human body is reacting so poorly to the winter weather, it is the first time I have ever noticed it before,” she returned worriedly.
He could see the concern in her face and even a mar’goyn’lya could understand that look. Shaking his head, Kel’lor replied, “My race does cough from time to time. It is probably just the cold air, but I will let you know if I start to feel worse. I would hate to pick up one of those human colds,” he finished with a chuckle that stopped with a cough that seemed to surprise him.
Laying her hand on his, the che’ther let her senses move into him looking for anything in his lungs despite his assurances. His human body seemed strong and there was nothing that her novice abilities could find wrong with him.
Looking a little more relieved, the girl confessed, “I can’t find anything wrong, but make sure to watch over yourself. If you need to change into a mar’goyn’lya to avoid sickness then it will have to be so.”
“You worry too much. I am fine, Cheleya,” he replied with a gentle smile for his little sister.
The others had noted the exchange, but they were not healers and other than the occasional cough the gargoyle seemed fine.
Her horse was still feeding along with a couple of the other steeds that had wandered over to the open winter grass when Cheleya and the others packed up to continue their ride.
Through out the afternoon ride, Tilana would occasionally dismount to check for vibrations in the ground. The open grasslands running from Staron to the distant kingdom of Kardor were home to nomads. Unfriendly to those who trespassed in their lands, they were considered a minor nuisance since they were barely organized with small tribes making up most of their societies. Few could stand up to a group with any magic users, since they seemed unable to learn magic as a whole. It was believed that shaman led their folk, but what magic and powers they might have had never been revealed as far as anyone knew.
Each check brought ease to their minds as the woman continued to find the land around them clear of activity, which wasn’t unusual during the winter.
Night approached and they made camp. Two mid size tents had been brought for the trip since they had horses to carry more weight. Though each one had a rider, the horses could carry them plus fairly large packs. Only Kel’lor’s horse was spared with his greater than normal weight, even with the large horse he had been given.
&n
bsp; Cheleya cleared the snow from the ground so quickly with her pair of dragon claw spells, that no one had to do more than put up the tents on the newly opened ground. The men would share one tent, while the women took the other.
A campfire was created magically by Evantus and could only be maintained until they went to sleep. There was no good supply of wood in the area, so the humans knew they would have to share body heat to avoid freezing in the night. For Kel’lor and Cheleya, the cold seemed like a minor thing, but the others were sure that it would be important to seal the tents and keep each other warm.
“You know ladies,” Evantus began as they started towards the tents after their meal, “four bodies keep these tents much warmer than three, especially with a very warm male keeping you company.”
Rolling her eyes, Colbie pointed at his tent and ordered with a single word, “Bed.”
With an exaggerated sigh, the young mage slunk into his tent pretending to be sad.
A glowing orb that cast no heat was created by Tilana and lit the interior of the girls’ tent while Colbie sealed the three inside. Blankets were distributed and as they lay down for the night, Cheleya talked to the mage who was in the middle.
“How long have you and Evantus known each other? You two seem like long time friends the way you tease each other,” her emerald eyes almost seemed to have their own light from within under the glow of the orb.
Thinking on it a moment, Colbie finally came up with a number, “Eight or nine years now. We’ve known each other since the school at Estaria. Staron only has one training area for wizards and battle mages; so being a little older than Evan, I was there for several months before he arrived.
“How long have you and Kel’lor known one another? You two call each other sister and brother, so I can assume that it has been awhile too.”
Shaking her head sending a little flurry of blond hair waving in the air, Cheleya replied, “We have been learning from the same master for just over a year actually. Kel’lor is about twice my age and has been studying at the academy probably longer than I have been alive.
Battle Mage: Dragon Mage (Tales of Alus) Page 18
