Merchants and Mages (Highmage's Plight Book 2)

by D. H. Aire

  The Guilders frowned, but were soon on their way.

  Se’and muttered, “You’re not going to explain, are you?”

  His mount glanced back, then at Raven as she bounded forward, shimmered and took to the air as a pale winged falc with a black crest.

  “Uh, I don’t think even you’d believe me… I’m not sure that I even do.” The Summoning was humming in his head again. “I’m coming. I’m coming.”

  The elfblood looked at his hand that night, feeling his blood pulsing. He breathed harder and harder as he slipped out of his blanket. He was so hot that he unlaced his jerkin. He wiped sweat from his brow, pulling off his jerkin… The next morning the Guilders found only his clothes.

  “Where did he go?” they demanded, suspicious of the two well––known hoodlums.

  Bertin and Towsin looked at each other, then echoed each other, “Who?”

  “We’re better off without him!” the senior Guilder said. “Let’s get to Niota and get this job done.”

  They seemed to find it unremarkable that they had a somewhat large spare mount trailing after them. The stallion glanced back as the brush behind them suddenly rippled under an unnatural breeze.

  EXCELLENT, the breeze said as it watched them head east.

  The stallion whinnied as it trotted after the cart with the bemused men and the Guilders.

  The breeze moved off.

  The Scrying

  Chapter 11

  Scrying is an art. It is made possible through a gift and through a talisman. For Esperanza, her ability was taught. Her birthright was to have been born an elfblood. Her father’s name or station she never knew. That was often the way of the elves. Unions between humans and elves was fecund, between elves, who lived for centuries siring children was another matter. Birth rates were much lower.

  Once she was recognized as being of elvin blood she was taken from her mother and sent to the Northland Tower to become one of the consecrated. Sworn virgin, taught to use the scrying pool by the Lady Mother herself, her task and those of thirteen others was to probe past the enchantments and see to the defense of the Empire’s Northern border.

  She knelt at the pool, chanting the incantation. The waters rippled, then stilled. The Northland’s were blanketed by gray clouds. She changed the chant and sang of sunlight. The cloud’s briefly cleared as the rays of the sun broke through.

  The clouds closed once more and she turned to write everything she had seen. Another of the consecrated entered. Disrobed and stepped into the pool.

  Esperanza picked up the young elfblooded woman’s robe and held it for her as she dove under the waters, then returned to the edge and climbed out. “Thank you, Es.”

  “You’re welcome, Amira. Did you receive a vision?”

  The brown-haired elvin woman put on her robe. “I’m not sure,” she replied, then chuckled, “I must have been daydreaming.”

  “You?”

  Amira nodded. “It’s not like I’m ever leaving this place, am I?”

  Frowning, Esperanza made a sign of warding, “What did you see?”

  “The impossible.”

  That could only mean one thing. Esperanza’s eyes widened. Amira nodded. She’d seen herself in bed with a man… something that would never be permitted. It would thwart the talisman’s gifts and was flatly impossible.

  That was a vision of betrayal – a betrayal of everything they had been taught to believe. No male had ever been allowed in the Tower. The Empire depended on the scryers network, which could do more than see – they could communicate at great distances.

  Amira glanced at the visions book and did not make an entry. Esperanza threw off her robe and stepped into the talisman pool.

  The Lady Mother stared into the small scrying bowl and frowned seeing the two young women beside the pool. “Amira, what did you see?”

  That one’s gift had been a mixed blessing. Like the others, she knew nothing of her lineage. But the Lady Mother did. That lineage had protected her and seen her placed here. She was the last of her line, one that had taken thousands of years to pull down and eradicate from Imperial memory.

  “What are you two up to?” And worse, had they somehow learned the truth?

  The direct contact of water was something she did not need to scry. Yet, it was said to be best to invoke the talent in some. She had not done it since she was a girl. She had nearly drowned in vision, literally.

  Amira shouted, “Es, what are you doing?!”

  “What I must!” she said as she dove beneath the waters.

  The waters spouted upward, swallowing her.

  Ogres marched, singly, in pairs, and it what appeared to be families. They crossed leagues to the northeast. They would pause, kneel down and touch the earth as if listening, then nod and intone, “NI––O––TA.” The ogres continued on day and night without pause.

  “NI––O––TA,” she breathed out in bubbles as Amira threw off her robe and dove into the scrying pool.

  Esperanza felt something akin to electricity course through her at the intrusion.

  Amira lay in bed beneath plush thick blankets, lying with – a young man. She kissed

  him as he cried out, “NI––O––TA!”

  Another image assaulted her. An army massed on the plain far below the ancient fastness on the Empire’s edge. An ogre hefted a boulder and dropped it on the soldiers climbing the narrow road to the Imperial plateau to the fortress. It rolled, knocking scores down to their deaths.

  But the ogre was alone except for a boy in elvin chainmail urging people, peasants mostly, to bring bows and arrows.

  Niota will fall.

  Amira’s hand grabbed her arm, and… Esperanza reached to the next tower to pass on the warning.

  “No!” the Lady Mother cried. “You’ll ruin everything!”

  The scrying bowl tipped, splashing water. She sang out the counter spell in purest Elvin.

  The next tower heard the signal and started to answer. “Yes?”

  “It is nothing,” the Lady Mother said, interrupting.

  “Then why bother us?”

  “I have a new consecrated coming.”

  “Very well… Now, let us do our work and let us know about something serious next time.”

  “Signing off,” the Lady Mother said.

  #

  Amira burst back to the surface with Esperanza, then gasped for

  breath. “I… I couldn’t… get through.”

  “I know… I felt it… What’s going on?” Amira rasped.

  Esperanza took deep breaths, “We’ve got to help Niota.”

  “How?”

  Taking a deep breath, Esperanza dove back into the water. Eyes wide, Amira dove after her.

  The Lady Mother returned from the scrying link and looked back into the talisman chamber. The water in the pool churned and there was no sign of the two young women. Their robes lay strewn at the pool’s edge.

  “They’ve gone back in, the fools!” she cried. Then she sat back and

  smiled, “And accidents do happen to fools.”

  She dipped her finger in the scrying water, writing on the table an elvin rune. She then drew the dagger hidden within her robes and pricked her finger. The water rune glowed. She overlaid another symbol on it… Death.

  She turned back to scry the talisman chamber as the waters turned into a storm and arched upward, then solidified. “No way out now, poor dears.” She laughed.

  Consecrated’s Tower

  Chapter 12

  Esperanza sought to reach the next tower and give warning, yet, it was too far… Amira’s hand reached her shoulder as bubbles burst all around them and they were buffeted by waves. They saw the next tower along the Great North Wall.

  A face appeared before them, frowning, “You have come far, I see, just as the Lady Mother said you might when she woke me… Now do us all a favor and let this vision die – with you – of course.”

  The elfblood broke the link with a laugh.

&nb
sp; Amira looked up as she heard a sound like something closing forever. She saw the water above her turn to solid ice as the water grew frigid around her.

  Esperanza shivered and looked past Amira and not knowing what else to do, she reached beyond the towers to Niota itself… too far, she knew, knowing there was not even a tower to link to. Bubbles escaped her mouth as her lungs began to scream for air.

  There lay an ancient burial ground. It had been disturbed and one of its prime wards had been destroyed. That ward had hidden something else – something old from a time of the Empire’s birth.

  The reaching presence was two elvin minds – and one carried within it a key. That which was hidden considered. Not it’s key, but a key it recognized and the key was beginning to fade.

  Curious, it reached out and completely the link.

  Water splashed everywhere.

  Two forms gasped great gulps of air and shivered.

  ‘Welcome,’ it said.

  #

  “What?!” the Lady Mother screamed.

  The scrying pool exploded.

  The water in her bowl turned instantly to steam. She fell backward. Shaking her head, she reached for the bowl, “Ouch.”

  It was too hot to touch. She hastily left her chambers and went to see the scrying chamber for herself as all the consecrated rushed out of their rooms drawn by the sound of the explosion.

  “Lady Mother? It sounded like it came for the Talisman Chamber!”

  “I think so, too!” she rasped as they all followed her.

  They all stopped to stare.

  “Who was on duty?” one young woman asked.

  “Amira,” the Lady Mother said and glanced around at the others. “Where’s Esperanza?”

  No one knew.

  The Lady Mother glanced back at the shattered talisman pools.

  “Where did all the water go?” the youngest asked.

  The Lady Mother stared, wondering about that, and more.

  Shivering, Amira hugged herself, then saw the water stop pooling around them and flow back toward them. “Es, where are we?”

  “I think we’ve bigger problems,” she muttered to her friend as the talisman’s water began to flow up their ankles.

  Amira gaped, “What’s happening?”

  The water sparkled as it covered them and turned into meshed links of elvin chainmail as the flowing waters rose to their shoulders. The remaining water turned to steam. They were suddenly dry and warmly clothed.

  ‘That’s better, yes?’

  “Who said that?” Amira asked.

  “I don’t know,” Esperanza replied looking around the chamber.

  ‘You don’t know me?’

  “Should we?” Amira said.

  ‘You should.’

  “Why is that?” she asked.

  ‘Your blood says you should. You are a descendant of Niota, after all.’

  #

  “Okay, let me get this straight,” Esperanza said. “Amira needs to go to Niota and I need to go get help.”

  ‘Yes.’

  “And just exactly where can I find help?”

  ‘NI––O––TA summons help… I hear her.’

  Esperanza said, “Ogres, you mean Niota’s summoning the ogres...”

  ‘Yes.’

  “Well, Niota needs troops. We’ve an army intent on sneaking through Niota to invade the Empire.”

  ‘Troops…’

  Amira trembled. The chainmail started to flow like water over her skin. Esperanza gaped as Amira’s eyes went out of focus and she muttered, “Troops.” She could see troops, a small troop of Imperial Legionnaires to the south. “They are heading to Rian… a training cadre under a Sergeant.”

  ‘Use them.’

  Esperanza muttered, “New recruits? What Niota needs is a mage.”

  Amira turned to her, her gaze blind. “There is a mage.”

  “Where?” that’s when Esperanza’s mail began to flow. She instantly knew and said, “Him?”

  The presence said, ‘What’s wrong with the elf?’

  Esperanza’s chainmail solidified, “He’s a heretic! He doesn’t chant spells to invoke magery!”

  ‘And that is a problem?’ the voice said.

  “Who are you?” Esperanza muttered. “Not saying spells is an abomination!”

  Amira shivered and held out her hand. Her mail solidified and the spilled waters of the talisman fountained and spat forth a scaled pouch, which landed in her hand. The next moment the waters spat forth a quiver of arrows. Amira juggled to catch the quiver, as Esperanza laughed.

  That’s when the waters seemed to catch fire from within and Esperanza saw what seemed to be a sheathed sword appear. However, instead of spitting it out the waters fountained and drenched her anew.

  A moment later the water was absorbed.

  “Okay, what was that all about?” Esperanza muttered as Amira took deep breaths.

  Lowering the quiver and pouch, Amira muttered, “These are sheathed in

  wyvern hide… and I think so was that sword.”

  “Wyvern hide? Isn’t that used to…?”

  “Insulate magery,” Amira finished. They looked at each other. “Somehow I think whatever it protects is pretty dangerous.”

  “Okay, but what are you supposed to do with a quiver?

  Ever so cautiously, Amira set it down, then opened the pouch. She frowned, “It’s filled with arrowheads.” She resealed the pouch.

  “What are we supposed to do now?” Esperanza muttered, looking around.

  “We? I’m going after the mage… You’ll need to get the cadre.”

  “And why should they listen to me?”

  ‘Give them these.’

  Charms rained from the ceiling.

  Esperanza looked up, “You expect me to bribe them?”

  ‘Legionnaires can’t have changed much… They must still be superstitious and like small enchantments.’

  One thing scryers understood was superstition. Everything they saw might have a hidden meaning and charms often offered practical solutions to life’s little unpleasantries.

  “Who are you?”

  ‘Me? I am a ghost… Now do you want my help or not?’

  Ghost

  Chapter 13

  “Amira, this is crazy.”

  “Well, Es, let’s think about this. We’re two hard worker scryers who know that the Empire’s going to be invaded and that our network’s been suborned… We’ve nearly been killed how many times today, already?”

  “And we’re going to believe a ghost? You know it’s lying to us.”

  “Well, of course, it is… We’re wearing elvin chainmail, which transmutes to scrying water. I’ve never heard of such a thing. But I know this… It is not dark magery! I feel it! It is seeking to aid us for reasons of its own. That’s why I’m going to take this bane sword and give it to a Faeryn mage I’ve no reason to trust… and you are going to find that cadre of Legionnaires and get them to help Niota.”

  “Amira, you think that we’re just going to walk out of here, wherever here is, and find them?”

  Amira glanced around them, “That’s not up to me, is it?”

  ‘I think Niota is going to like you…’

  “What?” Amira said.

  ‘One last thing… Don’t ever come back.’

  Esperanza felt the water on her body as she saw Amira trembling, nearly dropping the pouch and quiver. The charms flowed to Esperanza like a magnet. The next thing either of them knew they were leagues apart. They could see each other, knew their mail was solidifying and changing color, and appeared outwardly as cloth.

  Then each was alone under a cloudy sky.

  The Lady Mother’s hands were shaking as she poured water into her new scrying bowl. The former was warped and would never hold liquid again. She chanted, then leaned close and muttered, “Where are they?”

  There was no sign. She slapped her hands against the table, then reached out through the network. “I need assistance. I’v
e two consecrated who have gone rogue – I believe they are spies for the Demonlord.”

  ‘What?’ echoed through the scrying chain.

  She shared their image. “Alert the entire network and all Imperial outposts. These two are very dangerous. They destroyed our talisman and broke our wards as if they didn’t exist. They must be agents of the Demonlord and we must find out what they were concealing with their scrying.”

  ‘Lord Mother,’ a voice called from afar, ‘we’ll seek to cover the eastern edge of your range. We’ll contact the Lyai and send…’

  “No man or elf must come here. The consecrated must remain apart or we could lose their skills for years,” she warned. “I’ll leave the Tower, while the consecrated try to, somehow, repair the pool.”

  Amira rose from the ground. She dusted off her hands and picked up the sheathed sword.

  She turned and saw a cottage in the distance, felt the wards. “Well, a mage on vacation, perfect.”

  Esperanza found she had pockets. She shook her head, the pockets were filled with charms. She didn’t know if she could really bribe Legionnaires to join a desperate defense of an old fortress. But she knew they were going to be making camp… over there in about… she glanced up …two hours.

  Walsh paused on the battlements. He felt the vibrations of the earth. It was a new sound that wasn’t addressed to ogres. “Walsh, what’s wrong?” Thomi asked.

  The ogre didn’t respond for a time, smiling. “Help comes.”

  “More ogres?”

  Shaking his head, “Help comes…” He patted the boy’s shoulder. “Your… wife comes.”

  “My what?”

  The ogre laughed. The earth promised Niota that she would like this young lady. She had… spunk.

  “You – make – good – elf—in babies.”

  Thomi swallowed, “Huh?”

  Walsh nodded, “Boy – grow—up… Soon—marry.”