Fireclaws - Search for the Golden

by T. Michael Ford

  I looked over at Wyeth. “Did he say the King and Queen left for their afternoon flight? Are they wind wizards?”

  I thought Wyeth was going to choke. “Err, no, not wind wizards,” he said, laughing under his breath. “But there will be time enough to explain all that once you meet them, let’s head over to the food hall.”

  An hour later, I was groaning from all the food I had consumed; I have seriously never seen people eat like that. Even the smaller wizard children in Central’s food hall could easily out-eat me. Fresh fruits, vegetables, smoked meats, cheeses and pastries all went down the maws of the hungry hordes. I knew from experience that spell-casting made you hungry, but this was beyond my wildest experience. The hall we were sitting in must have contained at least two hundred tables and chairs.

  Daffi, of course, really didn’t need to eat, so Wyeth had called over a teenage girl wearing green robes and whispered something in her ear that made her giggle and nod emphatically. A few moments later, she grabbed Daffi by the hand, and the two of them went off to do “girl shopping.” I looked down at my own robes self-consciously. After a quick trip to the public baths, I had been given a set of tan robes with gray sleeves and collar.

  “So does the tan color of the robes mean anything in particular?” I asked Wyeth.

  He nodded emphatically. “Yes, it’s a visitor's robe. It signifies that you are indeed a wizard; the gray signifies a windy and the tan simply means you are a visitor and non-aligned with any of Xarparion’s formal towers.”

  Just then, the outer door burst open and a very excited pooka with a green-robed girl in tow, made a beeline for our table.

  “I love this place!” Daffi exclaimed. “So, what do you think?” She spun around showing her new light green velvet overshirt, a wide leather pattern-scribed belt, and flawless dark green hose. Functional mid-calf boots rather than her old, worn out slippers completed the effect.

  I whistled. “It’s lovely, but how expensive was all that?”

  Wyeth chuckled and waved off my question. “Believe me, any word of Lady Ryliss at this point is worth any amount of gold or silver. Now, we should be going, it’s likely that the King and Queen will be back soon.” As we walked along, I asked about something that had seemed strange to me.

  “You keep calling her Lady Ryliss…is she highborn?”

  Wyeth bobbed his head back and forth conveying doubt of some kind. “Technically, no; but you have to realize that King Alex and Queen Maya have little to no patience for titles and the like. They have their own daughter, Princess Belle, but they have also adopted a pixie, Nia, and two dragons, Dawn and Dusk, as daughters. To complicate things even more, King Alex has acknowledged a pair of Druid girls, Lin and Julia, as adopted sisters, and Queen Maya has indicated that Ryliss is a sister to her, as well. But to answer your question; highborn, no; but deserving of the title, ‘Lady,’ very much so! Ah, here we are. Now, I should warn you, Sky Raven is like no other place on the planet. You are going to see some things that may shock you, so try not to stare too much.”

  Chapter 18

  Ryliss

  “Andi, wake up,” I whispered, slipping my hand over her mouth to keep her from crying out. “It’s Ryliss, please don’t scream.”

  The young seer had initially arched her back in panic, tensing up, but now sank back into her thin blankets spread over the hard pack dirt. There was a tent over us and a chamber pot in the corner, but that was about all the accommodations that had been given her. I had snuck in under the tent flap in the form of a small brown bat and reformed next to the seer.

  “Ryliss?” she said weakly, “I didn’t believe you were really dead, for that I am grateful. It is good that you have come, I am ready.”

  “Ready?”

  “Your promise, your oath, Ryliss, isn’t that why you are here?”

  I looked around nervously and placed a finger on her lips to quiet her down. “You need to speak extremely quietly, Andi; there are three human guards and the gargoyle right outside of the tent.”

  “Nah, they are used to hearing me babble at night. At first, they were always sticking their heads in here, but now they don’t bother anymore. If you can mimic my voice a little, we could have a full conversation and they wouldn’t care.” She pulled herself into a more upright position, wincing at the obvious pain it cost her to move.

  I took a few moments to assess my little friend; dark elf vision in low light is nearly as good as a human’s in the noonday sun. But what I saw made me wish I hadn’t looked so closely. Andea was a broken mess, her face was swollen and her lips were split from repeated harsh blows. Now that the blankets had slid down, my nose registered the smell of singed flesh and hair emanating from her legs and feet. Self-consciously, she tried to pull the blankets back up under her chin but she was having a hard time. Several of Andi’s small fingers were grossly enlarged and bent at odd angles and she couldn’t grasp the cloth properly.

  “Andi, who did this to you?”

  “The one they call Lebahn, the fire wizard. I can always tell when he’s near because of the stench…that, and he laughs when he’s hurting me and he’s always whispering to that crystal of his.”

  “Lebahn is a dead man,” I gritted, meticulously ticking off in my mind the various ways that would be most appropriate.

  “He keeps demanding that I take them to the egg, a golden dragon egg, and they want it very badly. But I don’t know anything about any egg; apparently, I’ve never had contact with anyone that has seen it because nothing is coming to me. It’s like when Verledn used to ask me about Sky Raven. I didn’t have any frame of reference, no tie-in to the webs of fate to show me the place, until I met you. Now I see it all the time and it’s glorious! I wish I could have made it there in person…”

  “Andi, I know all about the egg, I know what it looks like and, generally, what kind of environment it will be in.”

  “Huh…well, I probably would have finally started getting visions about it, then.” She clumsily swept her curly black hair out of her eyes with a forearm. “But, Ryliss, that’s all the more reason for you to kill me now; we can’t let them win! I won’t let them win! I’ve already told them that I won’t tell them anything.”

  I gently completed the brushing of her straggly hair off of her battered face. “Andea, listen to me for a second. I know you are hurting badly right now, but your brother is on his way to Sky Raven right now to get help. He’ll be back soon so there is hope. The other thing is, and I won’t lie to you, I need that egg, too. Without it, every dragon on this world will perish shortly.”

  “Why would you care, Ryliss? Why would anyone? I thought dragons just destroyed villages and crops, stole gold, and kidnapped princesses?”

  “Oh, Andi, not all of them. There are good dragons in this world, too; very good dragons and they deserve a chance. I know two of them personally, and they played a key role in saving our world five years ago.”

  Andea sighed and shook her head. “Ryliss, I’m sorry, but if Verledn isn’t stopped, the world will be in danger again soon. And I haven’t told you everything; Lebahn is tired of getting no results. If I haven’t given him the precise location of the egg by midnight tomorrow night, he’s going to have the demon stone possess me! The only reason he hasn’t done it already is that they aren’t sure my “gift” will still function afterward. But he claims that is the deadline and I’ll be sorry if I don’t give him what he wants.” By this time, the seer’s bottom lip was trembling with fear, and it truly hurt me to look at her.

  “Andi, I won’t let that happen.”

  “Then the safest thing to do is to kill me now,” she said firmly.

  “Andi, I hate to ask this, but can you give me until tomorrow evening to free you?”

  “Free me? Ryliss, there are too many of them, and they are too strong!”

  “I need to go back and talk to a new friend of mine, she may be of great help. And you never know, the forces of Sky Raven may arrive early. But the point is, y
ou need to have faith, faith there can be a better outcome than death to all of this!”

  “Never argue outcomes with a seer, Ryliss,” Andea advised with a nervous chuckle. “But for the sake of Sky Raven, I will try and hold on a little longer.”

  We discussed plans for a couple more minutes and I healed her a little, not enough to be externally noticeable, but just enough to take away some of the racking pain from my small friend. The dark night air felt cool against my leathery wings as I slipped out of the tent and lifted up into the sky. I took a long roundabout route back to the small copse of trees that was our working camp. We had no need of a fire, tent, or blankets, so its sole purpose was to hide us from view. Once I landed and changed back, I acquainted Diori and Naurakka with Andi’s plight as I crouched in the darkness.

  “Do you really think the seer can lead us to Donatello?” the stone girl questioned.

  “I believe she can if we can keep her alive, which means we need to get her out of that camp and away from that bastard Lebahn!” I said heatedly, my mind still reeling, trying to process the wrongness of all this. Naurakka let out a low throaty growl from where she lay as well, picking up on my rage.

  “Agreed, we must do everything we can to save the girl, what is your plan?”

  “Well, snatching her and flying out as an eagle is right out. I carried her before and it was barely enough to escape some hyenas; I would have no chance against that gargoyle. We need to think of something they cannot counter easily. Diori, I once saw Reggie form an air bubble around Lin and Julia, draw them down into the ground, and transport them a distance away. Do you think you could do that?”

  “Reggie being the Druid girls’ pet that you told me about once?”

  “Well, I wouldn’t call him a pet…more like a dedicated protector.”

  “Still, quite unusual behavior for an earth elemental. They aren’t very intelligent but are useful for certain tasks, I suppose. I am used to moving myself through the earth, but I have never tried to bring a living, breathing creature along…I will need to practice.” Without another word, she melted into the soil, leaving me to my dark thoughts about the fire mage. Perhaps ten minutes later, Diori slid back up out of the ground in exactly the same spot holding a hefty, disgruntled, and very much alive marmot by the scruff of the neck.

  I looked at her a bit askance, noting the rodent and the absence. “Nice marmot…Diori, I notice you disappear like that every once in a while, where do you go? Sometimes you are gone a few minutes, other times for hours.”

  She smiled, still looking exactly like a stone statue of me. In a way, it was a little unnerving, but it wasn’t like I spend a lot of time in front of a mirror either. “It is part life function, a way to rejuvenate myself. Another part is a need for a respite from everything in the surface world…the colors, the sounds, the animals; it can be both exhilarating and exhausting to take it all in. Sometimes I just need the lack of sensory images so I can process everything. But if it bothers or offends you, Ryliss, I will attempt to curtail them.”

  “No, I was just curious. If you need to disappear occasionally to be comfortable, please continue to do so.”

  “Thank you, Ryliss; you are a good person. I truly wish I could have had a friend like you sooner. Yes, I can perform the task you require and transport the seer to safety.” She proudly raised the squirming rodent up as proof. “But I should warn you, the process is not instantaneous, and there will be a plume of dirt and dust displaced, perhaps drawing attention. For a few seconds, Andea will be vulnerable to attack or she could possibly be snatched away from me.”

  “Well, that practically screams that we need a diversion of some kind to draw their attention away for at least those few seconds. I think Rakka and I could perform that minor task…are you going to put that marmot down or what?”

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Kerrik

  Less than twenty minutes after we stepped through the shimmering blue curtains from Xarparion to Sky Raven, Daffi and I were standing in the great hall of the Royal keep. Most of that time was a complete blur to me; the first thing I noticed was the noticeably chillier air, probably a drop of twenty degrees or more. Next, we were in a high-walled paddock of some kind with only one way in and out, through a high, rounded archway. I was still standing open-mouthed in one spot doing a circle of the world around me when Wyeth spoke to one of the gate guards in a hushed voice.

  I tried to look at the warriors without, of course, really staring, but they were definitely stare-worthy. Both were women, heavily-armored and holding long swords and shields, but it was their faces that drew my attention. They had gold-colored skin and arcane blue eyes, not just the pupils either, the entire eye, lid to lid. Obviously magical beings of some kind, they nodded at Wyeth.

  A few seconds later, another golden maiden walked around the wall. She was wearing a more elaborate set of armor, full golden breastplate and crested helm, and her bearing was much more official. The two guards immediately snapped to full attention, saluted sharply, and then stepped back to their posts.

  “I am Guard Commander Ebony, Headmaster Hons sent a runner through earlier to alert us to your visit. Please, come with me, you too, Wizard Parker,” she intoned formally, leaving no room for dissention of any kind. Not that I would have even thought about it, she was like a force of nature, her aura of command made even Iraselda look like a base rookie.

  Clearing the portal grounds, we entered Sky Raven’s main courtyard, what little we could see of it, as Daffi, Wyeth, and I were immediately surrounded by a phalanx of more gold-skinned guards. Walking amongst them made it almost impossible to see anything save for the massive white wall that loomed over our heads like an impossibly tall, ivory cliff face. We were walking away from that structure toward another less impressive curtain wall. Beyond that, I could see a glimmering keep rising majestically above, capping the mountain peak that towered over the entire complex.

  I had my hand on Daphne’s arm and I could feel her trembling wildly. Having lived most of her life in a small section of deep forest, this had to be a daunting sight for her. Oddly though, not everything was regal. Between the two sections of wall, I caught glimpses of a small band of children running alongside us and playing with a baby goat on a string. Most of them were human, but there were several dark elves and even a dwarf child mixed into the bunch. All of them looked healthy and were dressed appropriately for the weather, unlike the street children I was used to seeing in other cities during my time in the military. As we were approaching the next wall, the urchins stopped and gave us an awkward laughing salute, giving the goat just the opportunity it needed to bolt away from them and tear off down the cobblestone path back toward the stables. Giggling madly, the kids broke rank and raced after it.

  In addition to the children, I noticed there were wizards here in large numbers, as well. Not as many as at Xarparion, of course, but enough to be remarkable. They walked past us in twos and threes, chatting amiably and occasionally looking at our party with interest but no fear. If I was interpreting the colors correctly, most of them were wearing healer or earth wizard robes.

  All-in-all, I didn’t get to see enough of Sky Raven in that first twenty minutes to form an solid impression. But now we stood waiting shoulder-to-shoulder in the great hall of the keep. We were standing on an elegant blue carpet that stretched all the way from the main door up to some raised steps and a platform that held two matching thrones. Ornate blue and gold filigree covered the stone bases and carved wood tops, which didn’t look very comfortable given their strange cut-out shape.

  I took a few seconds to look around and saw Daffi, wide-eyed, doing the same. Flanking the carpet on both sides were rows of polished marble pillars, which held extravagantly carved orb sconces. Behind the thrones, two curved flights of stairs wrapped around a huge stained-glass window, more like a wall, in the back. It depicted a blue and gold image that was unfamiliar to me, but the celestial representations of stars, planets and moons were e
asy to pick out. Tapestries lined the side walls beyond the pillars on each side. Some were star and planet scenes, but the ones that drew my attention depicted life scenes of individuals who I could only assume were the Royals. I already knew from talking with Wyeth that the King was human and his Queen a dark elf, so the weavings that I admired were most likely them.

  While I completed my visual tour, other people had begun to come in. I noted a very tall elf woman in a white robe eyeing us with great interest and fidgeting like a school child. She was talking animatedly to a pixie girl lounging casually on her shoulder. Another elf or former elf stood patiently a short ways off. He had the same golden skin and unearthly eyes as the guards, but he was dressed more formally, like an court official of some kind. The door opened again and a blonde human woman in healer robes slipped through and quietly closed it again. When she turned, I saw her face. She was a great beauty, not only facially, but she seemed to have an aura of goodness about her that just drew everyone’s attention. She moved with fluid grace into the room and took a place standing next to the elf official.

  Almost jarringly, the door swung open again and a human man, wearing ill-fitting armor and a long sword in a sheath, burst in. He looked haggard and ill, like he hadn’t slept or eaten in days. I looked around to see if any of the immaculately-outfitted guards were going to react to this strange sight, but most of them just averted their eyes or shook their heads sadly. He staggered on the carpet approaching us, and with a cry, the healer raced over and helped him to a nearby bench before he fell down entirely.

  Some gold-skinned serving girls glided in bearing trays of wine-filled goblets, emerging from hidden doors behind the staircase. The healer waved one over and forced the ragged man to drink as she gently wiped the sweaty long hair from his face. He didn’t look like had shaved or cut his hair in months. She spoke to him urgently in low tones that I couldn’t make out, but it didn’t seem like he took too much note of what she was saying, he just stared ahead in a fog. When he had finished the wine, she took the glass from him and looked sorrowfully over at us.