by Holly Evans
"Erin had the right idea with the museums," Logan said.
Erin sat next to me on the larger bed while Logan worked at the desk. She was chewing her bottom lip, but looked to be back to normal. Wispy was a little sluggish, but that could have been down to the sheer amount of food he'd devoured.
"I'll look into museums with potential artifacts that fit the bill," Erin said.
"I'll return to my moon goddess angle and see if there are any other cults," I said.
Erin shivered next to me at the word cult.
"What do you think happened there? In the temple, I mean," Erin asked.
"I've done some digging into that, as it happens," Logan said with a grin. "I wanted to see if we could find any clues from there as to the whereabouts of the other tears."
He turned to face us fully with a large grin on his face, his eyes dancing. He did so love telling stories, and I adored listening to them.
"The hag said that she'd been trapped there for a long time, and the magicians had been kicked from their own temple. So, I started looking for stories about hags in the jungle. It's weird to find them in this part of the world. There were stories about a blood magician who was screwing around, trying to make beings dual-magic. It was awful. He did some really twisted things to little kids. Anyway, there was mention of a hag being involved, one of the early victims of his experiments.
"The fire magicians in this part of the world heard about this mysterious fire hag and cut a deal with the blood magician. They sent him a few of their magicians to turn into dual-magicians, and he handed them the hag. It seems they thought the hag would be a great addition to their ranks, as they were having a small-scale war with some other fire magicians across the border. The hag, however, was true to her nature, and she tore through the people she was supposed to be fighting for. They found a talented weaver and earth magician, and together they formed a cage for her deep in the jungle - the temple.
"Then! I dug into the life magicians. There were rumours of one of the life magician's senior priestesses craving more than her place in the temple. She had found this mysterious stone that increased her magic, but her life essence was dwindling fast. So, she became corrupted, started stealing the life essence from her acolytes. She was removed from the temple for such an abomination, and they say their goddess and magic network cut all ties with her. That didn't stop her, though; she was addicted."
"So, she kept stealing the life essence from those people in the temple?" Erin asked, horrified.
"It would seem so. I don't think they could convince new blood to come in, though. I don't know what the sacrifice was supposed to be for," Logan said with a crease between his brows.
Erin leaned into me a little at the word sacrifice.
"Anyone have any leads?" I asked brightly.
"I'm chasing someone I know in Marrakech; he has a pretty good network of people linked to museums," Logan said while furiously typing.
"There are four museums that I've found that house interesting stones that could potentially be our tears. I'm digging deeper to try and get more details," Erin said.
I wasn't making much headway on the moon goddess front. The problem with those dealing with the gods was, they didn't put much about themselves on the internet. I tried a few searches for sudden leaps in longevity and mental acuity on the off chance that something popped up from there. There were a few dead ends about supposed miracle cures that were actually hedgewitches trying to con people and life magicians going rogue. It was quite alarming how many of the life magician stories there were once I started looking. They were thought of as the sweet, kindly magicians. They were the people you always knew you were safe with. Or at least, they were portrayed that way.
"My lead's made us an offer," Logan said.
"An offer?" I asked.
"We meet him in Marrakech and allow him to join our hunt, and he'll give us everything he has from his museum ties," Logan said.
I narrowed my eyes.
"And how big a cut is he demanding for this?" I asked.
Logan shrugged. "Nothing. He's bored and wants to ride along.”
"Does he have any skills besides knowing museum people?" I asked.
Logan smiled and stretched, showing his gloriously toned stomach. "He's a breaker."
Magic breakers were very useful, and notoriously arrogant because of it. A tier one breaker could break any magic, given enough time. They tended to deal with hackers and security systems. As well as breaking magic, they could track it and feel it. That meant that, when someone tried to hack a magical security system, a breaker could destroy any little sigils or whatever they left behind and track them down. They were one of the rarer types of magician, although there was a lot of argument around whether they were, in fact, magicians.
"Looks like we're going to Marrakech. Are you ok with that, Erin?" I asked.
She grinned at me. "I can't wait. Do we have transport lined up? Are we going to use one of those teleporters again?"
Her usual spark and bounce was returning, much to my relief.
"I thought that was the only one," I said cautiously.
"We're hitching a ride with a dragon rider," Logan said far too casually.
"How on Earth did you pull that off!?" I asked.
Logan gave me his most charming smile. "I screwed the guy in return for a favour at a later date. He's coming into Rio in an hour, and just so happens to be heading to Casablanca tonight. He agreed to detour, for me."
I flipped back through my memories and wondered if I'd had the foresight to make such a deal. None came to mind. I'd have to try and keep it in mind for the future.
25
The dragon riders are a very select and mysterious group. They were few in number due to the lack of dragons. I didn't know how they came to be, or how they were chosen, but I planned on finding out. Their role in the world was to keep everything peaceful. Of course, small battles and such broke out here and there, but any time there was the threat of something larger, or a full-scale war, one or more dragon riders showed up. They stopped things from escalating. How they did that depended on the situation. If I remembered correctly, they razed a small city to the ground, once, when it refused to back down. It was unpleasant, but the point had been demonstrated. They weren't screwing around.
We had packed up and headed out to the outskirts of the city to meet Logan's dragon rider, Alex. They had chosen a large, scrubby open area to meet us in. I saw why. The dragon was bigger than I'd expected. It must have been almost three stories tall at the shoulder and almost a block long from nose to tip of the tail. It was pitch black with a beautiful blue-green iridescence. I didn't dare reach out and touch it for fear of its biting or setting me on fire.
Logan strode up to the lean man who I assumed was Alex. He stood a few inches shorter than Logan and appeared to be a couple of years older. I didn't get a good look at him until after he'd greeted Logan with a hard kiss and a smirk. I raised an eyebrow at the man's arm around Logan's waist. Was he trying to claim him? I gave him my sweetest smile while fighting back what could have been jealousy. I'd never been jealous of one of Logan's lovers before, but they'd never tried to claim him, either. Logan stepped away from the man's embrace and introduced us.
"Kaitlyn, my girlfriend, and our friend, Erin."
The man's smile sharpened when Logan called me his girlfriend. I ignored it and looked at his beautiful dragon. I'd never had any interest in those irritating little games, which was part of why I'd never had a steady monogamous relationship.
The rider spoke in a foreign tongue, and the dragon flattened itself to the ground.
"It will take us a few hours to reach Marrakech. Stay still and don't speak during the ride," Alex said.
I gave a nod of acknowledgement.
"What happens if we speak?" Erin asked.
Alex laughed.
"Then no one will hear you, and it will be a waste of breath," he said with an accent I couldn't place.
Th
e darkness hid his heritage even when he wasn't hanging off Logan. Shame, I'd been hoping to learn so much from this trip. Still, it would be quite an experience.
Alex helped Logan onto the dragon's back first. I didn't miss the way his hand slipped down over Logan's ass twice. Logan politely pushed him away and reminded him we had places to be. He didn't bother trying to grope Erin or me when he secured us between the large spines.
"We don't normally allow passengers aboard our dragons," he said as I double-checked I wasn't going to fall off mid-flight.
"Logan really is quite special," I said sugary sweet.
He didn't reply. Instead, he took his place in the saddle behind the dragon's head. I was disappointed to find that I couldn't feel much of its magic through its beautiful scales. Still, the rush when it flapped its great wings and took off into the inky sky was unlike anything I'd felt before. It was freedom, pure, glorious freedom.
26
The dragon rider had woven some form of mask around our faces just after the dragon flapped its wings for the first time. I was able to see and breathe, but the cold, bitter wind still tore at my face and my bare hands. The feeling of absolute freedom as we soared through the night sky was worth every second of discomfort. I pressed myself against the hard spine in front of me and laughed like a fool. The stars sprawled overhead in complicated constellations that I’d never seen before. Nothing in the world would ever compare to the sheer exhilaration of that feeling. I should have been born with wings.
The cities and forests sprawled beneath us before changing to deep oceans with flickering lights and wondrous beings. I tried to drink in every small detail and revel in every new sensation as the air changed around us. The dragon took us through the white clouds that hung low in the sky. I reached my hand out and felt the cold press of them against my skin and giggled like a giddy girl. Before I knew it, the sun was rising. It stained the horizon the most stunning shades of peace and lilac. I watched entirely rapt as the sun slowly began its ascent through the increasingly blue sky. Slowly, the stars faded away, and it was day once again.
The oceans glittered and rippled below us. I gasped as I saw a shadow that looked suspiciously like a kraken flicker below the surface. The temptation to call out to Alex and tell him to go lower filled me, but he had said he wouldn’t hear us anyway. I had been truly spoilt, and airships would never feel the same again.
I was disappointed when the dragon began to make its descent and Marrakech appeared before us. I needed to make myself a set of wings, or form the alchemy to allow me to fly without them. Why hadn’t the gods blessed me with such freedom? I looked skyward one last time before Alex landed his dragon in the heart of Marrakech, much to the crowd's delight. Children stood at the very front and watched in awe as we dismounted, and Alex gave them all a winning smile and a small bow. They cheered when the dragon flapped its great wings and took off again.
"Are you one of them?" an eager teenager asked us.
"No, we were just given a ride," Logan said politely.
Word spread through the crowd, and it dissipated quickly. We weren’t nearly interesting enough to leave the usual morning’s activities for. We were left with the bright sunny morning and a packed market before us. My stomach growled as the scent of freshly baked fig pastries made my mouth water. We casually made our way towards the market, where stalls bursting with freshly ground spices sat next to beautiful clothing stalls, alchemical ingredients, and stunning glassware. I paused in front of the glassware and looked at the marvellous craftsmanship that had gone into each piece.
Small earth-magician-made glass orbs contained lightning that struck at its confines, giving flashes of brilliant light. Small storms raged within other orbs, and flickering flames lazily licked at the edges of spiral lamps.
"Come on Kit, we need to meet Ethan," Logan said as he wrapped his arm around my waist.
We made our way through groups of desert elves with their pitch hair and golden skin. I wanted to talk to them and ask so many questions. I hadn't had a chance to speak to desert elves before, but Logan led me through the crowds towards some undisclosed location. Erin tapped my elbow and gestured at an adorable litter of fennec fox kits that were for sale.
"I'm sure Wispy would love a companion," she whispered.
"I'm sure that's he's a jealous little ball that would hate any form of competition," Logan said.
Right on cue, Wispy growled at the fox kits and spat a few sparks at Erin for daring try and pet one.
We made our way through the white buildings towards the more luxurious part of the city, where bird shifters, with their long feathers naturally mixed into their hair, and pet Enfields sat enjoying rich coffee outside cool and sleek cafes.
"Almost there, Kit," Logan said encouragingly as I looked hopefully at the array of sumptuous cakes in the window of one such cafe.
We turned one last corner and entered a small courtyard with a water-magician-made water feature in the middle. At its base, it was a simple round pool with rich blue and yellow tiles around its edge and a narrow ledge for people to sit on. That was where the simplicity ended. Someone had clearly paid a water magician a rather sumptuous amount of money. The central fountain moved the water some five feet into the air in an intricate series of spirals. At its very peak, it formed small orbs of crystalline water that bobbed and danced before they broke and the water cascaded back down into the main pool in a series of beautiful waterfalls. It was very soothing to watch.
Logan released me and greeted a rather attractive dark-blond man with a firm hug and a kiss on the cheek.
"Ethan, it's been too long," Logan said with a warm smile.
The breaker had returned Logan's kiss on the cheek and turned his attention to Erin and me.
"You must be Kaitlyn! I've heard many good things about you," Ethan said as he pulled me into a hug and kissed my cheek.
I returned the gesture, finding that he felt oddly safe.
Erin thrust out her hand for him to shake before he could give her a hug. The breaker dipped his chin a little, his warm smile not faltering.
"I ordered us coffee and lots of food, I thought you'd be in dire need of both," Ethan said, gesturing to a large table in the shade.
The day was already beginning to get warm, and I was in dire need of a shower. The first sip of coffee washed away those considerations, though. It was rich with chocolate undertones and a warm spicy final note that lingered on my tongue as I leaned back in the comfortable chair and relaxed. Wispy began to whine and demand to be let out of his cage before I had a chance to try any of the foods before us.
Ethan pushed a plate full of leaves and such towards me with that smile of his. He had a way of putting me at ease. Logan trusted him. If he hadn't, I'd have been very suspicious of the breaker. I was a firm believer that you should never trust anything that you trust immediately. There were far too many predators who used such tricks to lure their prey in.
Wispy shot towards the plate and didn't so much as glance at any of his new surroundings. You'd have thought I hadn't fed him in a week. He purred as he ate, apparently happy with the selection he'd been given.
Ethan gave us time to eat our fill and drink a couple of cups of magically enhanced coffee before he got down to business. The magic had been slow to kick in, and I hadn't noticed the taste, but it woke me up far more than normal coffee. I flagged down a waiter to ask what type of magic they'd added. He gave me a pretty smile and said that was a secret.
"You are not sneaking back there and finding out, Kit, it's only coffee," Logan said as he kissed my temple.
"Spoil sport," I said with a grin.
"I've spoken to my museum contacts, and there are three potential locations for the object you're after," Ethan said.
"Any way to narrow them down without visiting them?" I asked.
"Not really, not without having someone handle the item, that is. Or having another breaker get near it. In either case, you're risking lives and a rival steali
ng it," he said.
I wrinkled my nose and ran my fingers over Wispy. He rolled around under my fingertips purring.
"Where are they?" Logan asked.
"Casablanca, Oslo, and Dubrovnik," Ethan said.
"Well, Casablanca isn't too far away," I said.
"We have an air transport collecting us in two hours. You can shower and get changed in my hotel room before then," Ethan said.
"I'm calling the first shower," Erin said.
With that, we paid for our food and made our way through the increasingly luxurious part of the city to the boutique hotel. A Zeifri manned the front desk. Her pure white feathers fell almost down to her hips in a stunning mane. The Zeifri are a bird people, with delicate bone-structures and feathers instead of hair. They can shift wings and fly off, should they feel the need. I hadn't met one before. They were known for being aloof, scatter-brained, and cliquey.
Logan grabbed my hand and led me to the elevator before I could march over to the woman with her olive skin and bright golden eyes. A single feather would have been a delight to experiment with in the lab, and she could tell me so much about her experiences. Logan clearly disagreed and wouldn't let me even think about it.
"Your curiosity will be the end of you," he said with a grin.
"At least I'll die satisfied," I said as I gently bit his bottom lip.
"We'll be on a Zeifri ship later, you can speak to some of the crew then," Ethan said.
My grin widened. How wonderful! The ride would be an hour, possibly two. Just think how many questions I could squeeze into that time.
Logan shook his head and Erin laughed.
"Please don't get us kicked off," she said with a smile.
"I wouldn't," I said.
"You got us thrown off that raptor-shifter ship because you kept asking questions," Logan said with a smirk.
"And you thoroughly enjoyed trying out those gliders they gave us to get rid of us," I said.
