Basilard introduced the team to him and Eric launched into a half-hour speech entitled “Dengel is Evil.” While bored at first, the eyes of both father and son lit up once Eric began the section of Dengel's elfish arrogance. When Eric paused for breath, the elder mentioned that it coincided nicely with what Annala shared during the meeting of the Pan Human-Elf Cultural Awareness Club. In addition to the interview fee, they promised Eric a free copy of the issue, as soon as they found someone to outsource their printing and distribution.
“Annala was delightful to converse with – for a non-human,” Darwoss the Elder said. “Considering what her deity did to my press, I’m not sure whether to curse him or praise him.”
“Studying with her might not be a waste of time,” Darwoss the Younger said.
If all his Dengel Missions ended that way, Eric would have considered it a great day of work. Instead, he met people like the teacher at Annala's school.
These people did not see Dengel-the-brilliant-but-deeply-flawed-person. They thought only of Dengel-the-Inspiring-Magecraft-Codifier. When Eric tried his “Dengel is Evil” routine, most of them cut him off and asked him direct questions. Some pointed out that it was because of Dengel’s work that the rebuild of the city was progressing so smoothly. Others told him he was simply wrong and jealous and trying to make Dengel look bad to make himself look better in comparison.
In any case, they weren't interested in slander but in mining the self-praising monologues for factual details. No Dengel scholar ever had access to a primary source more direct than tall tales from the Dragon’s Lair, so picking the brain of his vessel was a golden opportunity. Eric was their chance to validate their theories and/or learn unknown aspects of his personal history. By the time Team Four returned to the Dragon's Lair, Eric wanted to scream.
“Go ahead, Dimwit,” Tiza said. “You'll feel better.”
“Don't,” Nolien said. “It's not dignified.”
No one in the media industry cared about them; Tiza was nobody and Nolien refused to talk about his connection with the Noble Heleti family (because it didn’t exist!) and so they were ignored. While they waited for Eric to finish slandering his one-time mentor, the healer practiced buffing and debuffing; casting various spells on her and then removing them with Dispel. The fighter worked on resisting the latter while shadow boxing. When it was all over and the four of them stood in the shadow of the Mother Dragon’s statue, Basilard sighed and made a decision.
“Eric, I have something you should see.”
“It involves Dengel, doesn't it?”
“What else? Come on.”
Inside the lobby, Mia was slumped over on her desk. She cradled her head in her arms, fast asleep. Basilard paused long enough to pull out one of her blankets and drape it over her. Then he gestured for his novices to move as quickly as possible across the lobby. Through the hallway to the courtyard and past the door at the other end, Basilard intercepted another sword as it flew his way.
Raki squatted on the ground and clutched the crown of her head while Aegis stood over her, holding her other sword. Blood dripped from his cheek.
“She's getting better,” Basilard remarked.
“There should be a statute of limitations for this sort of thing,” the lieutenant said in reply. Then he helped Raki to her feet and said, “As we agreed, you're paying for ice cream.”
“Fine! But I’m going to hate every minute of it,” she replied with a slight blush.
After they left, Basilard told Eric to take a look around.
In the courtyard, four statues stood in each corner of the room, representing the original five captains. In one corner was a fairy sitting on an orc's head, and both wearing scholarly robes. Next to them was a monstrous canine wearing armor and a pair of swords at its flanks. Across from him was a human girl holding a flower daintily before her nose while a dagger was clutched behind her back. Opposite the orc/fairy pair was an elf holding a bottle in one hand and a quill in the other.
“...No way...”
“Yes. Dengel Tymh co-founded the Dragon's Lair. He was the First Captain of Squad Three.”
Eric could see his former mentor immortalized. The hair, the pointed ears, the clothing, the haughty smile, and disdainful eyes were there. The statue seemed to stare down its nose at him.
Show respect to your captain, private. I'm still better than you are.
Brandishing his staff, Eric shouted, “I'll show you who’s better!” Mana rapidly collected at his crystal's tip and fired. Basilard stepped in and stopped it with an open palm. He looked sternly at his student, who suddenly felt sheepish. Then he heard the statue laughing.
“Drunkard, right!? That bottle was full of alcohol!”
“No, that's the first Mana Juice. According to the guild's lore, he is responsible for brewing liquid mana that is safe to drink.”
“Really?” Nolien asked. “I thought no one knew its origins.”
“We don't have proof but –”
“He can't. He's Dengel. He definitely stole –”
“Novice Eric Watley! You can call Dengel anything you like – power hungry, treacherous, arrogant, evil, ugly – but it does not change the fact that he wrote the book that taught you magecraft. He earned this statue and your respect.”
Shadow Dengel patted Eric on the head. Listen to your Daylra, child. You might learn something about obeying your betters.
Eric ignored the hand. He clenched and unclenched his own. He opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again. Basilard's gaze softened.
“Everyone has a lair, remember? While your friends are in your lair, in Dengel's was his pride as an elf and as a scholar. He stayed true to the Mother Dragon because he had reason to and she kept him around because she had reason to.”
“Those reasons are?”
“A long story. I'll tell you over dinner. For now, we train.”
Tonight's lesson was teamwork and synergy. To Basilard's delight, his novices performed better than ever – they lasted two whole minutes before he disabled them. After an hour or so, Raki and Aegis returned from their outing and the former offered to help. Basilard set her against Nolien in one-on-one sparring. The healer was still unwilling to hit a girl and so he got his ass kicked. At its conclusion, she lifted his chin with one sword and said in a frigid voice, “If I were your enemy, you'd be dead right now.”
Then she looked to see if Aegis was watching and was disappointed to find him focused on his spar with Eric. Not only did the man's shields absorb the force of the boy’s staff, but one of them negated his magecraft and fired shots of its own. After blocking Eric’s combo, Aegis paid him back tenfold in power and number of hits. Raki squealed, then coughed, and turned her frigid eyes back to Nolien, who was inching away. She pursued him with flashy moves, which gave Nolien the upper hand and made her swear foully when he smacked her in the jaw.
“Sorry!”
“Don't apologize! I'm the enemy!”
“Sorry...I mean...”
Tiza rolled her eyes and Basilard socked her in the stomach for letting her attention wander.
“Eeeeerrrriiccccc!” Mia's voice called from the intercom. “I have a rush job for yoouuuuu!”
Bruised and singed, Eric excused himself and ran up the stairs. Thank The Trickster. Mia explained that HRM Queen Kasile sent an express summons to the Dragon’s Lair and that he was to report to the castle immediately. He ran with Winged Feet, but when he arrived at the curtain wall, the guards still asked him what took so long. The main castle guards said the same thing. As soon as Eric stepped into the castle, he understood why.
It was significantly warmer inside the castle. No soldier wore more than a light shirt with chain mail and no servant was without a sweatband. Every lady he passed was fanning herself and the wallflowers were wilting despite the best efforts of the castle’s garden corps. The guards at Kasile’s door were making a heroic effort to stay composed in the sweltering heat. They opened the door and closed it again as s
oon as Eric passed through.
Inside, Kasile glowed red light from every patch of skin and it shined through all her layers of clothing. She sat cross-legged on the floor with her eyes closed and her gloved hands overlapping in her lap. She breathed in and out slowly and each exhale was steam from a furnace; literal steam heating the air. Eric wiped sweat from his brow and called to her, but she didn’t respond. By the time he took the five steps needed to reach her, he felt like he was going to pass out. He shook her shoulder and said, “Kas! What’s wrong?”
Her eyes snapped open. “Eric!?”
She sprang to her feet and hugged him as hard as she could. Her body was as superheated as her breath and she burned him at every point she made physical contact. Eric screamed and she jumped back, stammering apologies, but Eric drew her back in.
“It’s okay,” he said through gritted teeth. “I know a good healer.”
Kasile’s tears, like everything else about her, were far hotter than the 98.6 human constant and they evaporated as soon as they left her tear ducts. She nuzzled him and it felt like being brushed with burning silk. He stroked her back and it felt like raking coals. As the seconds passed, the temperature dropped, and the torment faded. Kasile let go, Eric let go, and she stepped away.
“Thanks, and I’m sorry. I’m so very very sorry!”
Eric shrugged. “What’s a few burns between...I’m not burned…” He bounced on his toes. “In fact, I feel pretty good!”
Kasile smiled sheepishly. “Divine fire is different from mundane or magic fire. It’s more like an ignited spiritual energy than an earthly kinetic energy. In short, it doesn’t burn unless I want it to, at least, once I have full control over it.”
“It’s tough to be a god in mortal form, huh?”
Kasile snorted. “If only. It’s my blood that’s divine and only a little of it. The rest of me is as mortal as you are. I wasn’t supposed to get it this soon, you know? The unsealing ceremony typically isn’t performed until my twenties and after an extensive training regime. Usually, I can prevent this sort of thing from happening but…”
“Alright, Kas, tell me what’s wrong.”
“That Abyss-cursed Trickster!”
She flared again, then immediately put her hands together and breathed deeply until the flame aura diminished. Daintily lifting her wrinkled skirts, she walked to her tea table, sat down, and gestured for Eric to join her. The biscuits on the plate were charred, but Kasile nibbled on one anyway, and Eric did likewise to humor her.
“He hasn’t done something this big in Ataidar in ages and he chose something immune to magic! He barely missed the Summit Approvers! It’s a logistical nightmare, people are still panicking, I’m trying to spread the word and keep the calm, but some pond scum sees an opportunity!”
“Really?”
“Yeah! Asks for my approval on something unrelated! I told my aide to read through it and you know what it was? KUAKI!”
“What’s kuaki?”
Kasile crossed her arms and huffed. “It’s so irrelevant, I don’t even want to think about it!”
“Okay, what happened next?”
“Even after all that I still had my fire under control, but then I received an SOS from the ship I sent to study mana storms. It was supposed to return home triumphantly with valuable and rare data on the most common cause of mana mutation, which would secure Ataidar the honor of hosting the Mana Mutation Summit. Instead, the ship disappears and I had to send the Ordercrafter Team after it. They called me some minutes ago with bad news.”
“No survivors?”
“Worse. See for yourself if you want.” She perked up. “Wait! That’s it! I’ll send you and your team and say that’s why I called you in the first place. Considering your dual status and Nolien’s family, I’m sure a moderate number of people will buy it.”
She arose excitedly from her chair and crossed the room to her desk. She didn’t bother to sit down. She just pulled out her stationery and wrote out the mission bill while standing up.
“Kasile, you should do something about this flaring thing.”
“I am,” she said without pausing her writing. “I have meditation and training and you.” She ripped the sheet off the pad and handed it to him. “They’re waiting at the harbor, just outside the walls. This note will make sure the soldiers stationed there cooperate.”
Ten minutes later, Team Four was assembled at the entrance of Sailor Town and, even from there, they could see the flares of golden-brown light from beyond the second wall. They waited while Eric investigated. Using his Winged Feet, he dashed over the water and made a tremendous leap to the top of the wall. The guards on duty took one look at him and groaned in unison. One of them face-palmed and muttered, “Dear Fiol, why?”
“Funny you should mention her.” Eric pulled out Kasile’s note. “I’m here under orders of her descent and your queen. Tell me what’s going on.”
“Okay, Trickster's Choice, look down there.”
On the other side of the wall was a small, floating vessel. Its form resembled a personal ship but it looked more like solid water mixed with pieces of warped wood and held together with barnacles. Golden-brown charges ran along its length and occasionally flared up. Onboard were the multi-color-haired girls that worked for Kasile as ordercrafters and six others: his fellow Dragon’s Lair mercenaries Laharg the orc and Malize the fairy, a badly injured human mage, another orc and fairy that he didn’t recognize, and one creature whose species was impossible to determine. Three of the girls held a glowing sphere between them while a fourth created an opaque shield on the injured human. Kimberly supervised them and waved to Eric.
“This ‘ship’ came in about half an hour ago. It’s all that remains of The Tiger’s Breath that Her Majesty sent out two months ago; ship gone and data gone. If it weren’t for the order girls, the crew would be entirely gone. We can’t let them into port because they have a live mutation onboard. If that thing gets past the wall's repulsion runes, it would wreak havoc in the city.”
“Hmmm...Just a minute.”
Eric leapt down to the water and accidentally displaced enough of it to rock boats and splash people near the coast. When they saw the floating, spear-waving mage, they shook their fists and their middle fingers at him. Eric ignored them and explained the situation to his team.
“Nolien, what do you think we should do?” Basilard asked.
“Help them, of course. It is a healer's duty to cure any pain he finds and relieve any suffering he can; that's the Griffocratic Oath! If the Royal Ordercraft team has them stabilized, then I’m sure I can heal them.” He cast a float spell on himself and grabbed Eric's hand. “Let's go!”
Eric pointed his staff at the wall. “Up, up, and away to save the day.”
A moment later, they were back up on the wall and looking down on the ship.
“Hello down there! The Trickster's Choice is here to overturn your fortune!” Then he turned to Nolien. “What do we do?”
Nolien jumped.
Eric shrugged and jumped.
Nolien landed above the boat and slowed himself down enough to dissipate the rest of the energy with a roll. He came out of it on his feet and instantly examined the injured mage. Eric landed outside the boat, created a small wave, and walked to the side of the boat.
“Got any fish?”
Malize smacked him.
“This is not the time for jokes!” she shrieked. “Tsilear is mutating and Verde is at Death's Doorstep!”
“Tsilear!?” Nolien pointed to the morphing glowing thing on the deck. “That's Tsilear?” He looked around in bafflement until his eyes fell on Eric's crystal. “Eric! Place your staff on Tsilear's chest. The Soiléir should draw away the ambient chaotic energy.”
“Whatever you say, doc.”
He laid his crystal point first on the suffering man's chest and the grey light inside flashed. Immediately, all the golden-brown energy rushed into the crystal and into the grey light. This time it flashed gol
den-brown and the same color flashed in Eric's eyes.
“Oh yeah, that felt good.”
Nolien examined Verde’s injuries and his expression grew graver by the second. The damage was deep and numerous; muscles, nerves, and even bones were severed. There was some kind of poison in addition to infection. “This man is in critical condition. How did he survive this long?”
“Jasmine is preserving his life with her power,” Kimberly explained. “So long as he is within her barrier, Death cannot reach him and his soul cannot leave.”
She explained further that nothing in Verde was technically dead because the ordercrafters froze him in time shortly after the injuries. While this kept him alive, no one could heal him until they let go. As soon as they let go, his injuries would kill him. Magical healing would only prolong his agony. Nolien pulled his medallion out of his vest and stared at it while muttering, “I will prescribe regimens for the good of my patients according to my ability and my judgment and never do harm to anyone.”
The face of the griffin in the medallion shifted into that of Tasio. Nolien scowled at his defacing of a family heirloom but nonetheless heeded The Trickster’s hint. With the griffin’s staff, Tasio pointed at the griffin’s sword. Nolien nodded and The Trickster vanished.
His staff lightly touched his patient's chest while his right hand covered their eyes. It provoked whines of pain and Nolien closed his eyes against them.
“Wiol, heed my prayer. Your child hears your voice and feels your presence in the life-giving air. Look into the winds of change and if such a future exists where this one survives, then I beseech thee to grant me the power to make it happen.”
The sky blue of wind magic blazed from within him. The wind picked up, scattering clouds and rocking the boat. When he told the ordercrafters to release their barrier, his voice reverberated. Eric’s mouth dropped in shock. This was not mortal magic; it was divine magic!
Looming Shadow: Journey to Chaos book 2 Page 20
