Dragon's Mage (An Advent Mage Novel), The - Raconteur, Honor

by Raconteur, Honor

  “Kaya, which building?” I called over the wind.

  “Big building,” she told me.

  That could describe at least four of them. “The biggest one?”

  “Yes,” she confirmed, already heading for it.

  The biggest building was none other than Granvel Hall, one of the potential targets we’d marked. I didn’t see any trace of fire or smoke coming out, but this close, I thought I detected a trace of it on the wind. But Kaya’s nose was more sensitive than mine and I couldn’t be sure. I trusted her to know better than me, though.

  Quite a few people milled about the front doors of the Hall, and even more carriages and people lined up on the streets, but when they saw Kaya coming, they scattered for the sidewalks. Being as big as a house, she found it a little challenging to find enough room to land, but she somehow managed it without knocking anyone or anything over.

  I slid out of the saddle with practiced ease, pausing only long enough to give Mari a hand.

  “Do you sense anything?” she asked as her feet touched the ground.

  “Not sure,” I admitted, eyes scanning the building intently. This wouldn’t be an easy search. Granvell Hall stood four stories tall and spread out in every possible direction, taking up an entire city block by itself. It had more windows and rooms than I could count and that was just what I could see on this side. I couldn’t imagine how complex the building’s layout would be once I got inside. “Kaya, stay put.”

  My dragon let out a growl of protest.

  “You can’t fit through the door anyway,” I pointed out in exasperation.

  Her growl transformed into a mewl of discontent. I resolutely ignored her and headed inside the building.

  Quite a few people, in the fine clothes of the very rich, watched me enter the main doors with surprise. Because of my Solian uniform? My obvious foreign features? Or maybe they noticed the mage patch on my chest. Whatever the reason, I didn’t pay any real attention to them as I made my way across the foyer. The place was massive. Two huge staircases wound up to the left and right, spiraling upwards and out of my sight. I gathered the vague impression of plush carpet, chandeliers dripping from every ceiling, and an open area stretching all along the main floor. But I tried not to be too distracted by the interior layout. Fire. What had Kaya smelled earlier?

  At my elbow, Mari asked quietly, “Anything?”

  “Maybe. To the far right, back corner.” It might be my hopeful imagination that I felt something from that area, but I could vaguely pick up the scent of smoke too. It was hard to pinpoint anything when you had some very hot chandeliers all over the place.

  Not quite sure about what my magical sense told me, I nonetheless followed it, moving at a slow jog for the back corner. I passed all sorts of dining areas, seating rooms, and the like, slowly making my way into the more utilitarian part of the building.

  When I reached the last hallway, it became obvious that Kaya had been dead on. Smoke was slowly filtering in the air, drifting into the main hallway.

  Mari swore when she saw it and spun on her heel. “I’ll get the building evacuated!”

  “Go!” I encouraged her, picking up my pace so that I was running directly for the source of the smoke. I could sense the heat all the way from the other end of the hallway, and knew which door to go to. Even running at top speed, I could feel the fire becoming more ferocious, and the smoke steaming out from underneath the door. The handle had become almost red hot, so the temperature beyond had to be very high.

  This building had been very well constructed, so kicking at the door would be futile. At least, it would take a few tries before I could break through. So I just shot a high-density burst of flame at it, more or less evaporating the wood. The instant the door disappeared, the fire inside the room roared forward, black smoke billowing outwards.

  Swearing, I started putting out every trace of fire I could see, but that didn’t help to clear out the smoke any. This deep inside the building, there were no windows, no way to ventilate the smoke, and so it stayed trapped inside. It invaded my lungs, making it harder to breathe, and I started coughing uncontrollably.

  All right, fire was out. But I needed to know the cause, and to do that, I had to enter the room.

  “Krys, don’t go in there!” Mari called from behind.

  I turned to see her sprinting toward me. At some point, she’d grabbed our gear from the saddle, with her jacket already on and the mask on her face to protect her from the fire. She handed my mask over, something I hadn’t thought to grab on my mad dash here.

  “I have to,” I responded around another cough. “I have to know what started it. It could be his doing.”

  Her expression said she didn’t like it, but we both understood that I had to go in there before the fire cooled down completely. She reached up and set the mask over my mouth and nose, sliding the strap in place. I ducked my head enough so that she could reach.

  “You’ve got ten seconds and then I come in there after you,” she informed me.

  “I won’t take five,” I promised her. The mask did wonders in keeping out the smoke. I took in a deep breath, letting the pure air fill my lungs, then dove through the doorway, keeping as low to the ground as I could.

  The room was bad. Nothing but smoke and black ash everywhere, with only traces of carpet and scorched furniture remaining. With no lighting in here, and a thick haze in the air, I could barely see. Curses, I should have taken two seconds to grab my goggles as well. But still, I had enough light filtering from the hallway that my eyes adjusted enough to make out the basics. I panned the room from one side to the other, and found what I was looking for in the far corner, nearest the door. I read the situation in a second.

  Feeling grim and angry, I spun back around and escaped for the relative safety of the hallway, retreating to Mari’s side. As soon as I had relatively clean air again, I yanked the mask down and took in a few cleansing breaths. My lungs still kicked back the smoke, though, and I knew I’d have a raw throat tomorrow.

  “See anything?” Mari asked almost automatically. When she got a good look at my face, her eyes turned hard. “This is his doing.”

  I nodded in confirmation that she didn’t need. “I found traces of oil in the middle of the floor. It looked odd, though. Like he threw already burning oil inside in a careless way and then closed the door to keep anyone from noticing immediately.” I looked around restlessly, not quite sure what my instincts were telling me. I just knew something would go wrong very soon.

  “How do you throw burning oil into a room?” Mari objected. “Wouldn’t that burn anyone trying to handle it?”

  “I would think so.” Anyone but a magician of some sort, at least. The speed and technique with which he moved unnerved me. He still used unmagical things, basic things, to start the fire with. But his method was too quick and unique. It smacked of magic. “Let’s check the rest of the building. I’ve got a bad feeling.”

  She fell into step with me as I started jogging through the hallways. “Is the place evacuated?”

  “No, but they’re working on it.” She growled in frustration. “It wasn’t until someone smelled the smoke downstairs that I made any progress with them. But it’s clear now. A local unit has been called for. You think that there’s more than one room he’s hit?” Mari ventured, tone indicating that she didn’t really need an answer, since she already knew.

  “This building is mostly brick,” I responded, eyes and magical sense alert to our environment as I switched from one carpeted hallway to another. “There’s wooden flooring and paneling here and there, but it’s mostly stone. The best way to burn this place to the ground would be the main auditorium, with all its wooden chairs and the stage. It would burn very well. But he didn’t choose that place—probably too many eyes. He chose an out of the way room instead. If he keeps doing that, then the only way to successfully burn this building down would be to start a fire in multiple rooms, scattered throughout so that we can’t find all of
them in time.”

  “Well, that’s rather what I thought as well, but I’ve got experience in this. You don’t. So how did you know that?”

  “What, you think I wasn’t paying attention while you were reading off all those reports?” I flashed her a quick smile before heading up to the next level. I didn’t sense anything on the ground floor, so hopefully it was clear. But then, I wouldn’t sense anything until something actually caught on fire.

  From the ground floor, somewhere near the front, I heard loud bells clanging as the firewagon arrived and men shouting. Ah, the local crew.

  Mari paused halfway up the stairs, half-turning back. Her instincts as a coordinator must have been speaking to her at this point.

  Actually, it might be wise to get the crews to help me. Just one man would take too long to search this huge building.

  “Mari, get the crews to check every room. I’ll start on the second floor.”

  She hesitated a moment longer before pointing a commanding finger at me and ordering sternly, “Do not go into any rooms. I’ll catch up with you in a minute.”

  I gave her a casual salute in acknowledgement before continuing up the stairs two at a time.

  No expense had been spared in building this place. The wood of the stairs had been elaborately carved, every inch of flooring covered with expensive carpeting, making it feel more like a museum than a hotel or theater. Aside from the smell of smoke, I couldn’t detect anything else, and nothing about the hallways had any distinguishing feature. It all looked elegant, but in a contrived way that felt bland after a while. Nothing in my surroundings gave me any indications that something else had gone wrong. I really, really hoped this wasn’t a diversion. The arsonist might be smart enough to start a fire here and keep me running around like a rat in a maze while he went to some other section of the city and set something else on fire.

  I reached the landing but the hallways split off to either side, one probably leading into the upper balcony sections of the theater, and the other toward the hotel. All right, think. Which would be more vacant and easier to access during the day? Theater? Probably.

  I went left, focusing intently on any trace of heat that I could possibly feel. This was harder for me than depending on sight alone and so it took more concentration. But no matter which way our magical senses worked, we could all feel our element, more or less. The larger it was, the closer the proximity, the better our feel for it.

  This section of the building had large doors at even intervals, opening up to the balcony around the stage. But to the right of the hallway, open seating had been set up, probably for the interludes of the play. I didn’t see any enclosed rooms that would be good to set up a fire in. After making the circuit, I reached the landing again and paused, as I saw Mari running up toward me.

  She looked up, saw me, and said even as she ran, “They’re going to search the hotel section. More rooms. They’ve left the theater side to us.”

  A good division of manpower. I nodded in approval. “I’ve cleared this floor. Let’s go up to the third.”

  “Let’s start with the fourth,” she corrected. “That’s attic space and storage, or so the owner of the building just told me. If there’s a place to hide a fire, it would be up there.”

  Smart. I’m glad she’d thought to ask the question of a person who knew the building well. I waved her up and we hit the stairs, climbing two flights as quickly as we could. As we ran, I asked, “Did you see Kaya outside?”

  “I did. She’s helping to keep the people back and away from the building.” Mari’s voice carried a timber of amusement as she added dryly, “For some strange reason, no one’s willing to argue with her about getting a better view.”

  “Really? How strange,” I responded in the same tone.

  “She’s really not happy with you. You know that, right?”

  “What am I supposed to do?” I asked in exasperation. Nearly to the fourth floor, now. “She can’t even fit through the doors, much less the hallways!”

  “Well, I know that, and you know that, but she doesn’t see a problem with punching a hole through the wall to get to you.”

  “Errr…that’d be bad.”

  “Try convincing her of that.”

  Just as glad I didn’t have to. And I hoped it stayed that way. I paused at the top of the stairs and stretched my senses as much as I could. Nothing. I blew out an exasperated breath. “I’m just not good at sensing heat.”

  “So nothing up here?”

  “No, there could be, and it’s just too small for me to sense right now.” Curse it.

  Mari looked around us for a moment. The owner had been dead on in describing it as just storage as props. Once you got past the glamour of the stairs, the place had nothing but open rooms filled with all sorts of things from scenery to a room filled with wigs. Most of the doors to the rooms stood open, so apparently they didn’t have problems with people coming here when they shouldn’t. Actually, the lax security might be how the arsonist moved so freely through this building.

  “You take the left, I take the right?” she offered.

  Divide and conquer? “Sounds good.”

  We split up and started ducking into the rooms, just far enough to see if any fires had been started. I must have checked six rooms before I heard Mari’s frantic scream, “KRYS!”

  Black magic, what now?! I spun on my heels and tore out of the room, racing to get to her. It took a minute, as she had gone down a side hallway, but I found her standing in front of a doorway and frantically pointing inside. “Back corner, back corner!”

  I skidded to a stop in front of the doorway. Indeed, in the very back corner, a small arc of fire blazed along the middle of the floor. It barely registered for me even now, the flame was so small, and I put it out with nothing more than a split second of concentration.

  “He had to have been here recently, the fire didn’t have a chance to spread.”

  Mari growled in agreement. “Is it safe to assume he’s only done this once on every floor? Can we focus on just finding him?”

  “I think we have to. Let’s start looking.”

  Chapter Twenty-one: Trickett

  It was all well and good to say that, but we weren’t that lucky.

  In theory, anyone that didn’t have a firefighter’s gear on didn’t belong in the building, so it should have been easy to find him. But we found a few staff members that were inside and frantically rescuing precious belongings. One or two curious newspapermen had snuck in as well. Mari and I were diverted from our chase completely when we got a report that another fire had been started on the third floor of the hotel. But by the time I made it over there, the firemen had managed to put it out with only minimum damage to the room.

  We spent several hours checking every inch of that building but didn’t find anything else or anyone else suspicious. Fed up, tired, hungry and more than a little angry at the whole situation, I ended up on the last step of the main floor, and just sat there hunched over for several minutes.

  When I caught that arsonist, I was going to strangle him!

  Mari dropped down next to me, close enough so that she could gently jostle my shoulder with hers. “Don’t look so depressed. At least our instincts were right.”

  “There’s that,” I sighed, still feeling put out at the world in general. “I wish we could have caught him, though.”

  “I don’t think it would have been possible here.” Mari looked all around her, eyes absently tracking firefighters carrying equipment out and doing structural examinations, a few members of the staff sneaking back in. “The owner told me this place is a labyrinth. There are more back staircases, shortcuts, and access routes for staff members than you can shake a stick at. It might have been challenging for the arsonist to run around and light these fires without catching him, but it’s even worse for us because we don’t know the building at all.”

  Truly. It still bothered me, the speed he used. He hadn’t set the fires with any bottles
of oil this time, not like he’d done in the Merton fires. Whatever his earlier experiments, he’d found a faster method to throw burning oil out. The fact that he was using oil to spread a fire didn’t automatically rule him out as a magician, either. The amateur magicians didn’t really understand how their magic worked. They often tried to blend conventional methods with magical tools.

  If he was another insane Fire Mage, I didn’t know what I would do.

  Trying to look more on the bright side, I added, “And it could have been worse. Only four rooms were damaged instead of the whole building.”

  “See? Besides, you have no time to sulk. You have an impatient dragon outside, remember?”

  Oh. Oops. I’d forgotten that.

  Almost as if she’d heard Mari, Kaya started calling from outside, “Krys! No like! No like no see!”

  Groaning, I shoved myself to my feet and started for the door. “I better get out there before she tears the building down.”

  Mari chuckled as she followed me out. “What were you saying earlier? About her maturing and not having to keep you in sight all the time?”

  “I take it back.”

  ~*~

  We lingered another four days in Goddard, waiting for the arsonist to strike again. Mari gave it a fifty-fifty chance he would do so. After all, he had struck twice in Mohr. We spent those four days making reports and speaking with the fire chiefs in the area, like we had done in Mohr. Quite a few of them talked to me seriously about going northward and recruiting a few dragons. Kaya hadn’t been able to help as much here as she had in the forest fire earlier, but that didn’t stop anyone from seeing the potential.

  But when the fifth morning dawned without anything happening, it became obvious that our arsonist had moved on. The question left was, where?

  I met Mari for breakfast in the hotel’s dining room, intending to pose the question, only to find she had anticipated it. A map of Sol already lay spread out over the table, and she nibbled on a muffin as she leaned over it, tracing things with a finger and muttering to herself.