“Even the basics will help right now.”
Mentally, she held a debate with herself. “Which one takes higher priority, teaching our magicians some basics or making sure this city doesn’t revolt on us?”
“Magicians,” Trev’nor responded promptly. “Nolan has enlisted the dragons to make sure that people obey the martial laws.”
That was not something they had discussed beforehand, but Becca had to admit that was brilliant. Nothing escaped a dragon’s hearing, after all, and they might not have all of the vocabulary to understand human speech, but they could certainly communicate to Nolan when people were misbehaving. “The dragons don’t have a problem with this?”
“Actually, I think they volunteered. Nolan said their duty was to protect the city, from both inside and outside. It helps us tremendously.”
It truly did. Becca had been plagued by nightmares when she thought of trying to move on to the next city without properly governing Tiergan first. “Well, if we’re going to do magic lessons, I vote we do it outside of the city.”
“Where there’s less breakables around?” Trev’nor grinned at her in complete understanding. “Sounds good to me. Garth and I will go out and build some wards, if you want to gather people up and meet me out there?”
“Alright. I’ll be out there shortly.”
Gathering up the magicians didn’t take much time at all, and most were glad for an excuse to be outside of the city for once, so Becca didn’t need to do much more than call them. The hard part was explaining the fundamentals of magic. Becca had extensive training as a mage, mostly in weather patterns, but even with all of that knowledge, she didn’t know everything. In fact, most of the basics that she was trying to teach were things she had studied as an eight year old. To say that her memory was a little rusty was putting it mildly.
Their saving grace came from Trev’nor’s teaching abilities. He didn’t try to explain when he could demonstrate, or physically and magically walk a person through step by step. People crowded around him, intently watching his every move as he demonstrated how to properly activate magic, use it, then release it to let it idle again.
Someone had broken into a storage room that contained magical items, and they’d brought them along. Mirror broaches, small scrying bowls, a few triangles, and one bon’a’lon, which took Becca by surprise. Trev’nor used all of them to demonstrate how to properly use magic.
The lesson took three hours. Becca called a halt after that point before people could make any stupid and dangerous mistakes due to fatigue. It was a good breaking point anyway, as everyone understood the basic concepts and were no longer a danger to themselves or the populace in general.
Trev’nor regrouped with her as people trudged the short distance back into the city, talking animatedly amongst themselves. “I think that went well.”
“Extremely well. They were like sponges, soaking up everything you had to say. I didn’t know you were good at teaching like this.”
“Ah, that?” Trev’nor’s sight turned inward. “In the early days, before Strae Academy had a full roster of professors, I would often act like a teacher’s aide for Night.”
Having sat through Night’s class on History of Magic, Becca nodded understanding. “I remember liking his class. He’s a fun teacher.”
“He is. I don’t think I ever helped out with your class, though.”
“No, you must have had a class at the same time. In fact, I think the only class we ever had together was Weapons.”
“Huh.” Trev’nor pondered that for a moment. “I think you’re right. Anyway, I basically adopted his teaching methods, and Shad’s, as those seem to work the best. I don’t think there’s much more that I can teach the wizards and witches, not with what I know.”
“Even if you knew more, you wouldn’t be able to teach them much past this anyway,” she observed pragmatically. “You don’t have all of the potions and tools you need.”
“That’s a good point.” Trev’nor watched the last of his students enter the city and asked softly, “Is it safe to leave them here?”
“More than safety, I think it’s necessary to leave them here.”
Garth, trailing along at Trev’nor’s other side, gave a deep hum of agreement.
“You see what I mean?” she asked him.
“Do,” Garth stated with a slight nod of the head. “Tradition deep. Must change.”
Trev’nor cottoned on at that point. “True, the people of Tiergan aren’t going to learn to change their minds about magicians if we don’t leave magicians here to influence them, but Bec…that’s a really rough position to put them in. I mean, our magicians still have a lifetime of habit to overcome. They’re going to be deferential automatically.”
“Then they, too, need to learn better.”
“We help,” Garth assured them both. “All young need raising.”
Trev’nor tilted is head around to look Garth in the eye, tone suspicious. “Just how young do I look to you, anyway?”
“Baby chick,” the dragon rumbled, amusement rumbling in his chest.
Somehow this answer didn’t surprise Becca and she giggled. “Compared to him, I think most of the world are baby chicks. But I think we can trust the dragons to herd people in the right direction while we focus on the rest of the country.”
“Probably right.”
“Besides, Trev, look at this objectively: can we really take half-trained magicians in with us to the next battle?”
He winced. “Nooo, that’s a bad idea.”
“Right? Especially when they’re unarmed. They don’t have the tools they need to do magic with. It’ll be suicide.”
“But that doesn’t apply to our two mages,” he objected. “In fact, I think we should take them with us. They’ve got a half-grasp on their magic already. With some more training, some practical experience in doing something outside of their norm, they’ll become formidable.”
True. Becca did have some doubts about them, but mage powers were more volatile than a witch’s or wizard’s because they didn’t require a focusing tool to release. A few hours of training wouldn’t teach them everything they’d need to know. “It would be nice having some additional fighters.”
“Wouldn’t it?”
“But are you sure we can train them well enough in the next few days that they’ll be battle-ready?”
“I actually spoke with them a little earlier. Our Elemental Mage worked directly with the artillery in building and maintaining siege weapons as well as defenses. She’s been doing it for nearly four years.”
“Then she already has the experience she needs.” Becca felt hope rise up. “And the Water Mage?”
“He’s been at this for about fifteen years. Mostly they used him to find water in the desert but he said he’s fought in a few battles too. On the rare occasion they had a navy come in from the coast, he was the one that fought them off.”
That poor navy. When Becca imagined what a Water Mage could do with an entire ocean to work with…normal ships wouldn’t stand a chance. “So really, what we’re doing is fine tuning their control and teaching them what they’re really capable of.”
“Yup.” Trev’nor could read her reaction well enough to grin. “See? We need to take them with us.”
Becca was half-sold on this idea but still had reservations. “Let’s put it to the test first, then. I had a thought this morning as we were flying in. You know how we changed part of Rurick’s landscape, put in a garden, etc?”
“Yes, what about it?”
“Well, after we conquer everything, I don’t think we’re going to have a lot of spare time on our hands. Like, ruling a country is going to be really demanding. Do you think we’ll be able to roam around the country fixing the landscape later?”
Trev’nor shook his head. “I really doubt that. So what are you suggesting? That we fix the land as we go, take time after we win each city to work on the land?”
“Like we did in Rurick, yes. You
have a better solution?” she challenged.
“Naw, not really. In that case, you want to spend a few days working here before we move on, and use our new mages to help do it.”
“Two birds, one stone.”
“I can’t disagree. Alright, let’s talk to Nolan. We need his help after all.”
It really was going to take all three of them to put Khobunter back to rights. That and about twenty years. Strangely, this thought didn’t daunt Becca like it should have.
“One more thing we should do before leaving is get a full list of everyone’s names.” Trev’nor glanced between both dragons. “Can the two of you help with this? You have such amazing memories, can you remember every person’s name?”
“Can,” Cat assured him. “Why?”
“To help reunite people later,” Trev’nor explained. “Say, we go into the next city, we can recite the names to the slaves there so we know if there’re family members. We might not be able to reunite everyone all at once, but if we can start locating them, then I can always transport them real quick to the right place. I don’t see why they have to wait for us to win before seeing their families again.”
It was such a sweet, sweet, thought. Becca couldn’t contain herself. She slung an arm around his shoulders and hugged him to her. “I knew I liked you for a reason.”
“My devastating charm and good looks?”
“Nope, that wasn’t it.”
Trev’nor mock-pouted at her, which set her and both dragons grinning.
“Cat,” Becca instructed, “tell Nolan our plans and ask him if he wants to join us out here.”
“Cat?” Trev’nor repeated, tone climbing. “You named a dragon Cat?”
“This was not my choice, trust me. She’s strange.”
“Like Cat,” Cat defended, miffed.
“Yes, dearling, I know.” Although heaven knew why, Becca was not questioning it. Her brain was completely tired of playing Name That Dragon. If she liked Cat, Cat it would be.
“You want us to fight with you?” Azin repeated incredulously.
Trev’nor had taken the precaution of bring all both mages out of the city before having this discussion. He did not want anyone to overhear them talking. The dragons were taking the time to hunt, although Becca noticed that either Garth, Cat, or Llona would fly lazy circles over their head, taking turns keeping an eye out.
Becca anticipated that today would go more smoothly than yesterday for the simple reason that Ehsan and Azin both spoke some Solish. Ehsan used the occasional Khobuntish word when he couldn’t think of or didn’t know the Solish one. Azin would stop and re-phrase entirely if she got stuck. But it saved Becca from a headache, trying to explain everything with her limited vocabulary. She’d improved by leaps and bounds over the past few weeks, of course, but she was not conversational in Khobuntish yet.
“We do,” Nolan confirmed. He had listened to Becca last night for all of a minute before agreeing that it was a good choice. “There are two reasons for this. One, we would like to have help in the upcoming battles. It’s a little rough with just three mages, even with this many dragons. But every time we conquer a city, we lose at least one pair of dragons to guard the city. We need to augment our fighting force or we’ll be in trouble later.”
“It’s a good argument,” Ehsan agreed, expression and tone unreadable. He stood with arms crossed over his chest, as if determined not to move until he had the full gist of the situation. “What else? There is something else.”
“We can’t teach the witches and wizards more than we already have,” Becca picked up the explanation smoothly, “because we don’t know as much about their magic and we frankly don’t have all of the right tools. But we can teach you. It’s safer to teach you, actually, than to try to leave you on your own to manage your magic. You’re not used to managing it day-to-day as your power was always sealed when not in active use. This is dangerous, for both you and the city as a whole. We’d rather take you along with us so that we can properly train you as we go.”
“We’d also be grateful for the help,” Trev’nor added. “I’m not sure if you’ve heard this already, but one of our goals is to change Khobunter back into the fertile land it’s supposed to be.”
Ehsan and Azin blinked at him as if he had gone mad. “Fertile?” they repeated in stereo, doubt dripping from the word.
Trev’nor gave them a sad smile. “Hard for you to believe it now, I know, as you’ve been in this desert your whole life. But it was not originally like this. It was the change of weather patterns that slowly made it this way. Its state now is such that it will take the combined powers of an Earth, Life, and Weather Mage to get it back to its former glory.”
“And that’s rather a tall order, for three people to change a whole country,” Becca tacked on. “Two more people will help speed the process along.”
Ehsan looked at them long and hard before puffing out an incredulous breath. “You’re serious.”
“Dead serious.” Nolan grinned at him. “Oh, it’ll take a long time. Decades, probably. But wouldn’t you rather live in a place that’s lush and green with abundant life in it?”
Azin seemed caught up in some internal vision. “I certainly would. You think I can help?”
“You can,” Trev’nor assured her promptly. “See, there’s too much of a mineral deposit in the soil right now, and not enough moisture and compost. I need help extracting some of the minerals to soften the ground up enough to be able to accept moisture. I figure that we can use what’s taken from the ground to build irrigation canals and wells. You have experience building walls, right? This is basically the same thing.”
“Our part,” Becca informed Ehsan, “is the water. I have rain clouds forming and on their way this very moment,” she had in fact started that this morning right after waking up, “but Trev’nor needs water now to moisten the soil. Otherwise when my rain gets here, it won’t be able to penetrate.”
Ehsan turned his eyes to Nolan. “And you?”
“Plant life. But I can only do my part after the rest of you are done.” He paused, thought about that, and re-phrased, “Well, actually I will need to come out here before Becca’s rain comes in. A good, soft rain is perfect for watering seeds with.”
Did she have a soft rain coming? Becca had been a little foggy this morning; she barely remembered getting a storm started and heading this direction. She’d need to check what type it was.
“You’re all crazy,” Ehsan informed them. A grin broke out over his face. “I like it.”
Azin was smiling too, almost laughing, although the laughter was born more from self-defense, it seemed. She looked more than a little overwhelmed.
“We’re not going to just turn you loose,” Nolan assured Azin, tone gentle. “Let’s go over the basics of power before we start. I know that your education in your ability was basically passed down like an oral tradition more than anything.”
Putting a hand to her heart, Azin gathered herself again, nodding. “That would be good.”
Trev’nor formed up earthen benches for them to sit on, which everyone promptly used. Becca, already tired of the sunburn she had gotten yesterday, decided she would not repeat her mistakes today. While they talked, she formed a miniature cloud to float over their heads.
Pausing in mid-sentence, Trev’nor glanced up. “I have this feeling that I’m under a dark cloud. Sure enough, I am. Bec?”
“You might not burn,” she responded frostily, “but I certainly do. I want shade, thank you very much.”
“No argument from me,” Nolan said cheerfully. “I’m tired of burning too. Go on, Trev.”
Smiling still at the absurdity of it, Trev’nor continued his lesson, asking questions more than anything. Becca listened very intently to the answers, as it was important for her to know as much about their new allies as possible. Basically, it seemed as if they had a foundation of how their magic was released and used. They just had no bearings on how to store it, control it, and
limited understanding of how intent could form magic.
They talked for half the morning, making sure the basics were ground into Ehsan’s and Azin’s heads before daring to get back up again and work.
When they were ready to start, Nolan went back into the city, wanting to check on how things were going. Becca gestured for Ehsan to follow her even as Azin went off some distance with Trev’nor. On the wind, she could hear snatches of their conversation and she frowned. “Azin doesn’t know how to draw ore and minerals from the soil?”
“She never had to before,” Ehsan explained. “She was always given either raw ore to work with or metal already forged.”
That did make sense. “What about you? Have you ever had to hunt for water underground?”
“A few times, in the dry seasons, when they needed new wells.” He took the initiative and led her to the far right. “There’s underground streams here, and another that joins up over here.”
“Is that all in this area?”
“No, there’s a few more. Most of them feed into the sea.”
That made perfect sense.
Ehsan stopped abruptly, expression warring as emotions clashed. “I don’t understand you.”
Becca blinked up at him. “Sorry?” Had she been using words he didn’t know?
“I don’t understand you,” he repeated, more forcefully. Rounding on her, he leaned forward, almost looming over her. “You’re all powerful mages, fully trained, with connections to prominent people. One of you is an actual prince! Why don’t you call for help? Why don’t you bring armies into here?”
Oh, that sort of not understanding. This man was a good decade older than she was. He was more mature in many ways, so perhaps to him her decisions made no sense whatsoever. Becca admitted (to herself at least) that her emotions were at the root of what she had decided to do. Logic hadn’t played into it much at all. How to explain this all to him? “Did you know that we were captured as slaves too?”
Ehsan stopped dead. “Even you? How?”
“How is that even possible?” Her mouth twisted into a grimace. “We weren’t expecting that much trouble. We were overconfident, I guess, and we waltzed into Rurick thinking that we might stumble across a pickpocket or some such, but nothing more serious than that. They caught us unawares, blind-sided us, and we were down before we properly understood what was happening. I lived in a slave pen for ten days, and it was a hellish experience. I fought my way out of there and swore that no one would be forced to live like that, like an animal, not as long as I breathed.”
Warlords Rising Page 19
