Chapter 22- Tending to Business
The light of an early afternoon sun shone brightly on the stone building of the Southwall hospital making Malaketh frown. Despite being late winter, it was a nearly cloudless day though still cold. Wishing that he had at least a few clouds to obscure him from the guards, who hadn’t quite noticed the wizard hovering around the side of the building on the second street corner; Malaketh wondered if he would have to wait until night. Waiting and having to find another excuse were not what he wanted, however, the master contemplated his next move.
While there were people walking the streets on various business, this area wasn’t as crowded at the moment. Anything Malaketh did had to be subtle and hidden from the guards, but few others would be likely to notice so long as he made his moves quickly. Even standing too long in one place alone, as he was, would be likely to start to draw attention soon.
Eyeing the two sets of guards standing in front of the hospital screening those entering, Malaketh readied his first spell. Few knew the extent of the master’s true knowledge of magic and this one would have surprised those who had known him in Mar’kal. The cast of the spell was subtle and the effect even more so. With no patrons lined up to enter the hospital, it was Malaketh’s turn to use his second spell.
A casual gust of air was drawn to strike the four men across the eyes. It wasn’t a harmful wind, but it made them blink. As Malaketh donned his third spell, that of invisibility, around him; the first spell’s charm was made manifest as the men seemed to blink in slow motion. Slowly their lids came down to block the wind and once shut they lingered. Into that opening, the wizard stealthily walked past the outer guards first. The second, still with their eyes closed, couldn’t react to the sound of the door opening quietly behind them as their reactions were caught in a lull in time created within their minds.
It was a temptation to extend the spell beyond those few seconds on the guards, but Malaketh released the men. They would never miss the minute it took for the wizard to pass by and they still appeared attentively awake. Had he put them to sleep, someone would have realized that magic was at work immediately. Another temptation was to affect more of those inside the hospital, but these were wizards and apprentices. Playing with magic of any kind risked warning those around him. He needed to play at stealth like a hunter and his prey could not know of his movements.
A man in yellow robes was followed by a pair of younger apprentices in their white uniforms ringed with yellow declaring their school of training. Holding close to the side of the hallway, the master let the three pass by his hidden form. True invisibility and spells of stealth hid a wizard from anyone including those with magical ability, but having a clumsy apprentice run into you would still give away the hunter.
Having locked in on Kel’lor’s magic, the wizard moved purposefully through the hospital halls. While still outside the gargoyle’s room, the wizard grasped his black amulet calling upon its power over the one worn by the mar’goyn’lya to hold his human form. The patient’s true nature was known, but his need to avoid using any magic made it necessary to keep it on his chest for fear of a single change worsening his condition. It also made him vulnerable to the black amulet.
The door to the room closed behind Malaketh drawing the gargoyle’s attention. He attempted to sit up and wanted to reach for the black sword beside his bed, but the black amulet’s power had already taken hold of the man in his bed.
“You don’t look so good, Kel’lor,” the master said with a pitying smile as he reappeared. His heart wasn’t truly set for pity, but in a way he almost regretted what had to happen to his former apprentice.
Allowing the gargoyle to speak, even as he hoped to shout alarm, Kel’lor found that he could only speak in hushed tones. His eyes noted the black amulet held in the man’s hand and knew what it was from Cheleya’s description. “I have been poisoned. I suppose that I have you to thank for that?”
The master shook his head holding a small smile on his lips as he replied, “An associate sent the shrikes and even I didn’t know that one was also a wizard assassin. It was quite interesting when he used an amulet similar to yours to change his form into a human before my eyes. I was even more impressed when he told me that he had managed to poison you, though the fact that you live still does bring a certain disappointment with it. What good is a poison that allows the victim to stay alive to try and get help after a week?”
“It’s good enough that the wizards here still don’t know how to counteract it,” Kel’lor admitted through gritted teeth. There was pain from the poison and weariness. Every hour he could feel its influence cutting his days shorter, so what disappointed the wizard was far from enjoyable for the mar’goyn’lya. But the poison wasn’t what had brought both men here, so Kel’lor asked, “Now that you have found me, how do you think that you will kill me? There are wizards everywhere and I am monitored through magic. If you try and kill me, you will find yourself surrounded by wizards.”
“True, but they are just healers after all. I doubt that it will come to any real conflict, however, since I was able to enter stealthily I will find a way to exit just as easily.”
“Then get it over with, Malaketh, so that I can sleep. If my soul can stay to watch you get dealt with in kind, then perhaps I will wait for that final sleep,” Kel’lor tried to growl his anger at the wizard before him, but once more his voice just breathed out quietly held in check by the amulet.
Pointing towards the ceiling, the wizard shook his finger saying, “Ah, but first I have to ask; where is Cheleya? Ridding myself of you, now that I am sure the girl told you what she knows, is not enough. She is the real worry.
“You know Kel’lor, despite being her elder, that girl is easily twice as intelligent as you. Always she made you and Mor’treya look like fools in training and yet you two started months before her. Learning to fly in mere months, she defeated you two who were born with wings over and over. It really is sad, so perhaps ridding myself of such a weak student isn’t really that much of a loss.
“But back to my earlier question. Where is Cheleya?”
Kel’lor wanted to lie or remain silent, but the power of the amulet compelled him to speak. He was just grateful that even the amulet couldn’t get him to reveal what he didn’t know. “She and the mages from Staron brought me here so I don’t have any idea. Too bad for you, that they didn’t show me where they were staying, eh?”
“Did they say where they were going to look for a place to stay?”
“They were going to check in at the Staron embassy,” the gargoyle stated and frowned angrily at being unable to control his words. More importantly, he was angry that he had remembered Orlerin’s plan.
Malaketh gave him a satisfactory nod. “What do I face with these Staron mages? Are they simply battle mages?”
Turning red as he tried to fight the magic, his words still spilled out uncontrolled by his mind. “Three battle mages, well trained, and an earth wizard travel with her. I think they will fight for her even if they aren’t her race and people.”
“Good to know,” the wizard turned listening to the hallway outside the door. “Well, Kel’lor, unless there is something important that I should know concerning our mutual friend then I guess it is time to give you your final commands.
“You’ll remain where you are and keep silent. Wait five minutes and cast your magic until you burn out or the poison finishes you off. Either one works for me. I would wish you well, but of course, only your death would satisfy my side of wellness,” the wizard finished with a grin summoning his invisibility spell once more.
After the door opened, Kel’lor remained silent and still waiting for his last five minutes before death.
Five minutes passed all too soon, though for the immobilized mar’goyn’lya it was nearly an eternity, but like clockwork the spell forced him to build up his magical power. The poison seemed like a snake waiting to strike as his magic began to bleed out of the dragon mage. He was more
powerful than a battle mage in strength, but he was weary and weak from the poison taking its toll on his body. His magic focused on nothing and simply spilled into the air as his master had ordered.
Even as his magic bled out of the gargoyle, he tried to fight the compulsion of the black amulet, but struggle as he might, Kel’lor couldn’t stop. Wizards monitoring him soon came running, but he was like a reactor running out of control. He began to cough so hard that his body shook. No matter how hard he shook his magic continued to flow, and soon his coughs brought blood black with the poison.
His body felt drained but still he found more to cast into the air. More wizards rushed into the room trying to talk him into stopping. When that didn’t work, a healer tried to put him to sleep to stop his ability to cast, but it did no good. Malaketh and his amulet had decided his fate. Nothing the wizards did to try and stop the flow of magic could do anything to deter his wild casting.
Darkness crossed Kel’lor’s vision and it had nothing to do with the sleep magic that his body ignored. His pain from the poison continued to increase making his body want to black out in blissful exhaustion, but the compulsion wouldn’t allow that.
Kel’lor could feel the poison running through him taking the place of his dwindling magic and still the spell pushed for him to cast until he was nothing but a shell. His stomach seemed to tighten like he had starved himself near to death. His flesh felt like it was being eaten by his magic and still it would not stop.
Finally, a last ragged breath left his lungs as the last of his magic disappeared and with it the poison attached to him. Kel’lor’s magic stopped and the healers looked on in stunned silence. It was like nothing they had ever seen before in their lives.
“What happened here?” a wizard wearing green and brown asked. His silver-gray hair made those within the room bow their heads to their elder in respect, though few knew him well.
“Our patient came in with a strange poison that seemed bonded to his magic. Despite all our attempts to remove it, we couldn’t. Now all of a sudden we found him using his magic until he drained himself to death,” the healer in charge of Kel’lor responded forgetting to ask the identity of the wizard addressing him.
The leader of all healers in Hala stood directly behind the elder wizard with a pair of men who looked related to the first. They looked to the man for answers and instead he took charge giving orders.
“We have only a few moments to try and save him. You six, take positions where I tell you. Perhaps with any luck we can save him.”
“Kel’lor?” Cheleya suddenly stopped looked at the clothing in the store that had its wares both outside, where a woman braved the cold, and inside a large single room where counters and racks filled the space.
“What about Kel’lor?” Colbie asked while Evantus and the che’ther shadowing them moved closer to the girl who looked stunned.
Her confusion led the girl to look in the direction of the hospital though the wall and several blocks obscured the building. Trying to explain the feeling, the dragoness replied slowly in her daze, “I thought that I sensed a large amount of magic being cast from Kel’lor. Since I’ve worked with him for a year, I know the feel of his magic pretty well, but with this haze created to distract the trackers and the distance it’s hard to be sure. I think Kel’lor’s in trouble. I need to go check on him.”
As Cheleya moved to turn back on the path to the inner city, her father stepped in front of the girl putting a restraining arm on her shoulder. “No, Cheleya, you can’t go. That is what they are hoping you will do. If you go back, there is likely to be a trap waiting for you or a tracker that will be able to follow you to bring the others.”
“But Kel’lor is all alone in there. He needs help!” she replied starting to get worked up over the worry building within her chest. Not knowing what was happening to her friend, who was virtually a brother to her, was beginning to create imaginings of him alone, weakened from poison, and fighting for his life against Malaketh and his trackers.
Shaking his head slowly, Cor’Dargan stated coolly, “Yes, but even if that is true, you can not be the one to go nor can I or your shadows since they know our forms.”
“Then I can go,” Evantus volunteered quickly, even as Colbie had taken a breath to say the same. The two mages glanced to each other briefly before locking onto Cor’Dargan in decision.
“We can go,” the second mage stated her green eyes looking determined. She had grown attached to the mar’goyn’lya on their trip as had Evan, so they were worried over one they considered to be their own now. “They shouldn’t know us from sight and hopefully they weren’t tracking our scents and magic.”
The brown dragon nodded after a moment’s consideration and decided, “Then I think you both should go. We can protect Cheleya and meet back at the Crystal Well in an hour. I don’t think any of us should be closer to the inner city than that for now.”
“But, father,” Cheleya started to protest and was immediately cut off by a shake of his head.
His brown eyes turned from the girl to look at the battle mages knowing their determination from their faces and their loyalty from their fierce protection of the girl. “You should go together and watch each other’s backs. Since we can only give you descriptions of those we traveled with to Televal, you will have to be vigilant and keep your eyes open for people with too much interest in watching others.
“If you feel that you have been compromised, then return to your inn and we will see if we can get back to you tonight.”
The two from Staron nodded before giving Cheleya what they hoped were supportive smiles as they hurried off towards the inner city.
Evantus led the way through the streets of Hala and Colbie followed. The crowds were already beginning to lighten as those who had errands apparently wrapped up their day in the cold to return to their homes or heated businesses. Traffic into the city was less as well and they seemed to see more leaving the inner circle than going into it now. Winter tended to keep people inside as much as possible and, for those that had been in the chill air all morning and into the afternoon, it wore them down with cold even with the bright sun shining down on them.
Barely a cloud was in the sky and the mage’s eyes watched the world around him warily without trying to appear too conscious of it. He had never been a tracker like the che’ther he had met and certainly lacked their overall power, but Evan had lived in the country before joining the battle mages of Staron and knew hunting at least in part. His father and brothers had taken him along warning him to be quiet and move silently, but this was an entirely different kind of hunt.
Unlike Cheleya with her shadowing trackers, the two mages were now out on their own. If the pursuing trackers were watching out for those from Staron as well as Kel’lor and Cheleya, then they were risking much, but Orlerin and Tilana were on their own as well he remembered.
“We should swing by the inn and pick up the others,” the young mage stated to the woman trailing slightly on his right. “Orlerin should be caught up on what we know.”
Colbie agreed as she answered, “If these gargoyle trackers are following us, we might find the Two Circles being watched. It would certainly let us know who they are following, if we find any of the trackers there.”
“If they do find us, how will we be able to help Cheleya?”
Shrugging in response, the redhead said, “We’ll figure that out if it happens. First things first, Evan.”
Soon they were at the tall stone inn and, although they looked for anyone too curious about the structure or the mages entering it, noticed no one fitting that description. The two did find Tilana and Orlerin waiting at a lunch table for them. From the looks of the partially emptied glasses and completely emptied plates, they had been waiting for awhile. Those waiting on them seemed a little tired of seeing them occupying the table though a quiet afternoon’s business left many seats available in the restaurant.
Hurrying to join them, Evan led Colbie to the table an
d sat in front of their leader. Orlerin raised an eyebrow questioningly before asking, “Are you planning on telling us what happened or do I have to guess?”
Evan glanced around the room trying not to look conspicuous as he replied a bit cryptically, “There are gargoyle trackers in the city already, we believe, and Kel’lor might be in trouble at the hospital.”
Colbie ignored the man as he continued to be more distracted by those in the restaurant than interested in relaying the information. “We need to keep an eye open for someone watching us as well as looking for her,” the young woman said using the pronoun generally rather than speaking Cheleya’s name aloud. “Evan and I came here hoping to find out if the inn was safe and to gather you two to help us. She’s afraid that our friend in the hospital might be in danger.”
Nodding, Orlerin quickly asked, “Do you two need lunch or are you ready to head out then?”
Like Evantus, their leader was a typical battle mage ready to move rather than sit in one place too long. Colbie said quietly, “I think we should give it a few minutes to let Evan try and find someone watching us, and then we can get moving. We don’t want to gather too much attention from just coming in and running back out again. Though maybe you two have already stayed too long,” the redhead stated nodding towards the staff standing ready near the kitchen.
Noting the crew that rarely looked very happy to serve them anyway, the four decided not to wait after all and moved away from the table. With four sets of eyes, they tried to avoid being too curious about others watching them for fear of becoming equally suspicious looking. Evan took the lead again as the other three spoke casually of Tilana’s upcoming match in the morning.
“Do you think that you are ready for a wizard’s duel, Tilana?” Colbie asked her friend to make conversation as they walked.
Battle Mage: Dragon Mage (Tales of Alus) Page 30
