Whether he was disappointed that the conversation had returned to the tournament rather than enjoying the music, Ardost still answered with a smile on his face, “Cazwallan used unusual spells and an even more unusual casting style. He threw dragons and fire birds at Sebastian, who simply kept cutting through his spells using basic mage shields. The man from Alcazar had a flair for dramatic looking spells like a fire dome to protect him and fiery tornados, but he never realized what Sebastian did. Using wind spears like Olan showed to you last night, he planted three wood spears in the wizard’s circle before using a form of nature spell to make them grow to capture Cazwallan. That is one of the spells that I have never figured out so far.”
Catching few of his words after dragons, the girl asked nervously, “He summoned dragons?”
Chuckling the mage clarified quickly, “Made of wind and fire like the birds and tornadoes. I’m sorry if I confused you.”
A moment passed as they moved in one of the patterns shown to the dragoness by Evantus. Cheleya was a quick study and knew enough to move comfortably in the humans’ dance rituals. Wrinkling her brow again drew his eyes as the girl looked up at Ardost, “So you recalled seeing me last night?”
Again the man laughed at her questing emerald eyes. “How could any man forget a beautiful woman like you? I was only disappointed that I couldn’t dance with you after seeing you last night.”
Blushing slightly, Cheleya shook her head saying, “But I was here dancing for awhile before that. Did you miss me then? Your friend found Colbie before Evan danced with me. You didn’t see me?”
It was the mage’s turn to blush with embarrassment. “I have to admit that I did see you when Olan went over to your table. I was surprised that he asked your friend to dance. If I were him, I would have asked the prettiest woman in the hall and that is you.”
Cheleya didn’t know why she said what she said next. It came out more mean than the girl meant, but the words slipped out anyway as she rebutted, “You would have chosen to dance with me, but instead you danced with no one? That theory seems to have a flaw in it.”
Looking almost like he had been visibly slapped, Ardost replied a bit meekly, “Well, your friend whisked you away before I could get up the nerve. A man doesn’t just walk up to a pretty girl without building up his confidence. We never know when a woman will respond poorly to our advances.”
She was young and definitely naive in the ways of man. Romance, as Colbie had once called it, wasn’t something that che’ther were known to have and certainly a child of seventeen was unlikely to know about any of it in her world. Still, Cheleya had been watching these humans and feeling more like one each day to the point that it nearly frightened her. Yet there was also that part of the dragoness who still enjoyed this new side to her life.
After a few dances, Cheleya noted Ardost looking warm enough to perspire on his forehead. It was an odd thing to see when the cold of winter still held the air outside, but there were many bodies on the dance floor. Colbie had joined Olan once more and the new woman Frell had decided that she liked Evantus enough to ask him to dance, a very forward thing for a woman to do, but she was a battle mage and held less fear than most women. Cheleya was impressed by the daring that it must take, if Ardost was an example of most humans.
The mage twirled her in a copy of one of the maneuvers that Evan had shown to her the previous night. Graceful on her feet as the dragon mage was in the air, the little blond moved so captivatingly that many of the men in the room could hardly avoid looking at the pretty dancer. Her lightweight skirt lifted above the knee flowing on the air showing more of her legs, but Cheleya didn’t worry over that. It was human thinking and for now she was just a girl enjoying the dance.
As the music came to an end, Ardost breathed out a little breathlessly, “You must be in really good condition. How about we take a moment and I’ll buy you a drink?”
Shrugging, the girl acquiesced to the offer. While she wasn’t tired, her mouth did desire refreshment. It was another difference between her human body and that of the land dragon. A che’ther required much less water, though a human also could sweat and they did not.
Ardost led Cheleya to the bar and requested an ale for himself. “What would you like?”
Again she shrugged, feeling adventurous the girl asked, “What would be refreshing? I have seen others drinking ale, but it seems boring. A juice would be nice maybe.”
The bartender was a male, only slightly older than Cheleya most likely. His smile at the conversation led him to ask, “I could make a perum for you.”
Wincing at the name, Ardost turned to the petite, little blond and warned, “That’s a little strong, if you don’t really drink.”
“What is it made of?” she asked with a polite smile.
“A couple fruit juices mixed with a type of rum made from fermented prapples,” the bartender noted with a shrug of indifference.
Giving a happy shrug, she smiled at Ardost saying, “I’ll try that.”
Sighing as her pretty emerald eyes looked up at him, the mage nodded to the bartender.
Minutes later, Cheleya took a tentative first sip. Liking the flavor, the girl drank it faster and soon she was looking at the empty bottom of the glass. After giving Ardost a begging look, the mage, who was still drinking his ale, said to the bartender, “One more.”
“It was very good,” Cheleya added to the young man behind the bar. His smile was sly as he shook his head slightly and created a second glass. His eyes met Ardost as if he was trying to congratulate the mage for something. The dragoness noted the look, but was quickly distracted as she tried to drain a last droplet from her emptied glass.
The second drink was set on the bar as Ardost paid the man. “Go slow with this one. Like I said, some bartenders make these strong and I have a feeling he’s one of those.”
She shrugged and took a drink, “They taste fine, though I admit I have never had one before either. I will take your word for it that they are strong though I don’t know what you mean by that.”
“There’s alcohol in it, a lot of it. It’s a high concentration too. If you drink too many, you’ll become drunk and probably sick. Is this your first time drinking?”
“No, I have drunk many times,” the girl stated as she took another gulp of the drink. She looked at him like he was strange for asking such a question. Didn’t all humans drink regularly?
Groaning in frustration, the mage could tell that Cheleya didn’t actually understand. “This isn’t like drinking water.”
“No, it tastes much better actually,” she replied before draining the last of her second glass. “I feel refreshed now. Shall we dance some more?”
Quickly drinking the last of his ale, Ardost followed Cheleya onto the floor to dance again.
The two che’ther sat at the table watching the dancers move around the dance floor. Neither had any desire to follow the others. While the young ones forgot about their worries for a time, Dargan and Lystheir kept watch for Malaketh and his trackers.
“Your daughter acts more like these humans each day,” the female declared as she looked towards one door and then the next checking for anyone entering the hall.
Grunting noncommittally, Cor’Dargan watched his daughter for a moment over the tankard of ale he had been nursing for over an hour. The servers had returned several times to check on them only to leave empty handed.
As he watched Cheleya, her father considered what his eyes told him first. Like a wafting beacon of light, the blond haired girl danced as carefree as she could under the circumstances. She talked with her partner and seemed interested in the man, whether Cheleya saw more than a story teller in the human, he couldn’t tell. She may have simply been politely smiling at what he said, but to the elder che’ther even his daughter’s facial expressions remained less than obvious.
Dargan had once spent years among the humans learning about them, but that was long ago when they were learning to survive after the Cataclysm.
The che’ther and mar’goyn’lya had descended from their mountain homes where they had witnessed the devastation from afar. While the Dark Emperor had chosen to bring death and chaos to their adopted world, he too needed it to remain a livable place for his armies. The Cataclysm had sunk seashores and islands. He had created new mountains, but none of that had reached distant Mar’kal. Only the echoing tremors in the earth, drained of their magnitude had reached the races from another world.
During those dark times, Dargan and dozens more had adopted human forms to blend in with the suffering humans of North Continent. They had worked to rebuild cities and create new ones from the rubble of the old. Countries disappeared into the sea and new ones sprung to replace them.
The dragon served the cities for many years before returning to his home. A new appreciation for the city in the mountains and new magic to make it even better were his rewards. Cor’Dargan used spells developed in the field and retired from the academy to helps farmers grow their crops better than ever before.
Even during those years with the humans, staying in his altered form for much of the time, Dargan had never fully understood the creatures. Their races were too far different in features and even time spent in the small pink bodies wasn’t enough to solve that. Facial expressions hid too much from him, while they expressed many emotions to other humans. Now Cheleya was stuck as one of them. Worse the girl had come to love being human after receiving her amulet of change and now she could channel that into learning more of their race.
“She has to learn their ways,” he finally said as the human, who was also his daughter, twirled in the man’s arms. After a short time, they moved to the bar almost exactly across the hall from her father’s table. Dargan wondered if they simply went to get drinks or if there was more to the exodus from the dance floor. “Cheleya also needs to figure out who she can trust and who is a danger.”
“You think the battle mage is a danger to her?” Lystheir questioned in surprise.
Shaking his head, the dragon took another sip from his flagon before answering, “I doubt it. These mages seem like good enough people, but humans can be flighty things.”
“Their lives are too short to waste thinking things through, I suppose.”
“Possibly. The problem doesn’t have to come from him alone.”
“Malaketh and the others, you mean, or something else?” the woman asked leaning closer as they shared secret words.
Taking a moment to define what bothered him, Dargan replied, “Cheleya is young and trusting still. I fear that she isn’t ready to deal with these humans fully. They are good at showing two faces and hiding their real thoughts as Malaketh proves. I have known many others. Hiding what we are with these amulets has given me a lot of perspective on the darker side of these people.”
“Most are good and helpful, like these Staron mages,” countered Lystheir, though she still agreed with his summation. It was just a way to work through her thoughts.
“True enough, but those who are darkest hide what they are as long as they can.” He paused watching the two objects of his attention at the bar. His instincts said the bartender was less than upright, but the dragon wasn’t sure what he could hope to achieve. They drank and Cheleya took a large glass of liquid that he didn’t know from sight. Smiling as she drank, a second was soon in her hand replacing the emptied first container.
“Is something wrong, master?”
He shrugged watching the couple return to the dance floor. At first he missed the change, but soon he could see that Cheleya’s balance looked a little off. “Those drinks must have been alcoholic and strong.”
Lystheir looked at him appearing ready to rush to the girl’s side, but her father put out his hand patting the air and keeping the che’ther in check. “You don’t wish to remove her from here?”
“She’s growing up and, if Cheleya remains trapped as a human, she will mature much faster than as a che’ther. If she wishes to dabble in the ways of humans, then she will have to learn from her mistakes,” his eyes seemed darker even before Cor’Dargan leaned into the shadow between the lamplight. His look told the story of a father wanting to protect his child, but knowing that he couldn’t always do so.
Chapter 28- Distracting Marbles
Cheleya awoke to a prodding of her arm and a banging in her head. Her blond hair covered her eyes in a spider web of sunshine and the girl began to be thankful for the silky shade as she noticed the true light of the sun coming through the window. She couldn’t remember returning to the inn last night and wondered what had happened to her dance partner, Ardost.
“What happened?” the girl asked softly and thought she sounded hoarse to her ears.
“You, my friend, drank way too much,” Colbie laughed at Cheleya’s confusion and disheveled appearance. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look out of sorts before, but you are a mess this morning, my dear.”
Struggling to turn from lying on her stomach to sit up against the headboard, Cheleya made a face as her tongue licked the top of her mouth. Both felt like she had been chewing her pillow, though the item looked fine save for a little drool. She tried to remember the drinks consumed the night before and the perum came to mind.
“I drank how many perum again?” she asked aloud rhetorically trying to remember.
Colbie laughed and shook her open palm at the little dragoness. “You proudly told me that you drank this many,” her green eyes sparkled with mischief. “Now you get to pay the price for drinking.”
“I thought it was juice,” responded the girl raising both hands to lay her finger tips against her temples. Leaning forward made her head throb more and Cheleya quickly brought her head back smacking the headboard irritating the pain even more. “Ow, ow, ow,” she moaned pitifully.
Showing some compassion for her friend despite the obvious amusement the mage received from her misery, Colbie rubbed the back of her head as she encouraged the blond to remove her legs from the covers. Sitting on the side of the bed, the mage offered the girl a couple tablets. To the questioning green eyes, which looked less sparkly this morning, Colbie replied, “We take these when we drink too much to relieve headaches. Do che’ther ever drink alcohol in Mar’kal?”
Quickly swallowing the pills in the hopes of relief from her pain, Cheleya started to shake her head before realizing that only made things worse. “No,... well that is to say that, if they do, I have never seen any. As a magician in training, it has always been discouraged and I never thought to worry about finding any to try.”
Again her friend giggled at her misery as she helped the girl stand. Her legs were steady, but her stomach was beginning to become unappreciative of the movement.
“I don’t feel very good,” Cheleya said placing her left hand over her stomach while Colbie assisted on her right.
“Try to keep your stomach in check and soon you’ll feel better. Trust me. Now let’s get you into the tub to clean you up for the day. Tilana and Orlerin have already gone down for breakfast. She’s the first match of the day after her win yesterday,” Colbie said as she started the girl towards the foot of the bed to turn her towards the bathroom. Lystheir sat in her chair looking a bit tired, but she remained quiet in the face of Cheleya’s discomfort.
To the young dragoness, the trip to the bathroom seemed longer and more arduous than before. Once inside, Colbie pushed the door most of the way closed before helping pull off the girl’s top and bottoms. Steam was in the air from a tub already filled with warm water, but Cheleya spotted her image in the mirror and realized that she looked the way she felt. She had never been sick before, so this was completely new to the dragoness. It was also a feeling that she wished she had never discovered.
Slipping into the warm water, Cheleya’s stomach eased and either the water or the pills began to ease the pain in her head. She closed her eyes before sinking below the water a moment as she held her nose.
“Feel better?” Colbie asked with a combination of worry and bemuseme
nt.
A pair of splashes heralded the other girl stepping into the bath. At Cheleya’s questioning gaze after she opened her emerald orbs to see the bare mage sinking into the water, Colbie responded, “Since I’ve had to baby you this morning, I am running late now myself. I wasn’t sure if you would get sick on me so I hadn’t bathed just in case.”
“I’m sorry, if I have ruined your morning.”
Laughing happily, Colbie shook her head drawing a little envy from the dragoness whose head felt heavy and became dizzy doing such simple movements. “Oh, you haven’t ruined it. You’ve been pretty amusing so far actually, but we do need to hurry a little bit or we’ll miss her match.”
With her hair already lathered with shampoo, Colbie knelt to lean forward and wash the other girl’s blond hair. Cheleya enjoyed the feeling of her fingers running though her hair, which was one of the surprising things about being human. Touching and teasing her hair was one of the girl’s favorite feelings. It was something no scaled che’ther with their thick skin and scales could imagine.
Sitting back, her work done, Colbie tossed a wash cloth to the other girl before going to work on her own skin. “Hurry up, Cheleya, or you won’t get any breakfast.”
Smiling as she found the bath returning her towards her normal self, Cheleya managed to nod without pain and took the soap too as she had been shown the other night. This was one of the times that the dragoness had come to cherish. The quiet and peace of a simple, warm bath would be missed if she could never be human again.
With a contented sigh, the dragoness hurriedly cleaned up before dressing for the day.
Cheleya and Colbie were still finishing their breakfast when Fa’Elenek came hurrying into the restaurant of Two Circles. He looked worried and moved quickly to Cor’Dargan’s side.
“They’ve placed trackers on both of the inner gates,” the dragon stated quietly with a frown.
Battle Mage: Dragon Mage (Tales of Alus) Page 37
