by Eden Redd
Dax smiled ear to ear as he seemed on top of the world. After his final classes for the day, he left the Mage Tower and spotted two shadows smiling at him from a distance before they melted away. The mage couldn’t help himself as he waved to them, not sure if they still saw him or not.
Afternoon slid into evening and soon after that, Dax was in his bed, exhausted and Symon making fun of him. Despite Symon’s teasing, the mage thought about Zarra and Fern as he slowly fell asleep. Before he drifted off completely, an image of Nuria touched his thoughts.
She’s gone from my life and I’m okay with that.
Dax drifted off into deep slumber, no dreams haunting him.
The next day, the academy woke everyone with a ringing of the bell. Dax felt rejuvenated as he nearly vaulted out of bed. The mage dressed and rushed about, making sure he wasn’t late for anything. He made it to class and worked with his fellow students to cast shields and elemental weapons. Professor Frost commanded him to not use his cards and Dax complied with a smile. Despite that fact he was still a slow spell caster, the mage found his timing improving a sliver. It was enough for Vance to cheer the mage on and soon, other mages cheered him on as well. Even Clive clapped as Nuria looked on.
“Well done,” Professor Frost commended the mage before moving on.
After class, Dax rushed to the meeting room where he would work with the professors to finish the manual. When he arrived, the mage’s eyebrow went up as it was completely empty.
A table stood in the middle with a few chairs, but no scrolls or papers lay about. The professors were nowhere to be seen and all the work they had done had vanished.
“It’s over,” came a voice from behind.
Dax turned to see Professor Frost step into the room and close the door behind her.
“The manual is complete?” Dax said as he noticed his professor locking the door.
“Yes. I discussed it at length with Professor Plume and we felt that it was ready to teach the students in a week. I wanted to thank you personally.”
Professor Frost stepped closer, her eyes holding a warm gleam. Dax fought the urge to chew his tongue. The air took on a comforting yet odd gloom.
“You have gone above and beyond for the academy. Your name has been added to the manual so everyone will know you helped bring it together. Congratulations,” Frost smiled.
“What, um, happens now?” Dax asked as Professor Frost seemed almost ready to attack him.
The master mage looked Dax up and down, “What do you expect to happen?”
“Something, interesting,” Dax said with a small smile.
Professor Frost eyed the mage and let out a small laugh. “Oh, no. That will not be happening. You thought I was here to give you a special, intimate reward?”
Dax kept his smile. “You did lock the door.”
Professor Frost laughed louder.
Dax’s smile began to fade.
“Master Sage, you are a morsel, but it would not be fitting for a professor to fraternize with a student. I simply locked the door because I have a reputation to uphold. If it got out that I was nice to anyone, students wouldn’t take my teachings very seriously, now would they?”
Dax bowed. “I apologize. I misread the moment.”
“You wouldn’t be the first and certainly wouldn’t be the last,” Professor Frost said with a sultry smile. “But I do have more to speak with you about.”
Dax was all ears as the professor continued.
“The year has just started, but I wish to share something I discovered. We must keep this in the strictest of confidence for it concerns someone you know. Can you keep a secret?”
The mage nodded.
“Nuria has been acting odd, even in the last few days. She seemed unfazed when she was notified of her parents missing just yesterday. I know you two haven’t spoken for some time, but since you spent time together during the Trials, she may come to people she has known. Battles and adventures do bind people together, whether they like it or not. She may come to you.”
Dax’s eyes narrowed slightly, “I don’t understand? You want me to spy on her?”
Professor Frost shook her head. “Nothing of the sort. Once a student becomes part of the academy, we can no longer investigate what they do beyond the academy. It is a rule we follow firmly. There are some concerns, but it comes from a place where we want to help.
“Nuria hasn’t been herself. Counselor Skullcut has tried to bridge with her, as have several other professors and myself. She has denied us all and refuses to speak to anyone. If she is in trouble, she must know we are here to help her.”
Dax looked down, unsure what to say.
“We don’t want you to simply report back. If she comes to you for anything, encourage her to speak with us so we can help her. She is a bright star among the class and if she is having a difficult time, we wish to help.”
Dax’s heart froze in his chest as a shadow chilled his spirit.
“I don’t know what I can do. As you said, we haven’t talked in a while. If she does come to me and if she is going through something difficult, I will tell her to see you or Counselor Skullcut.”
Professor Frost bowed slightly, “Thank you, Dax. Hopefully, it is nothing but we can never be too careful.”
Dax bowed. “Understood.”
The mage began to walk toward the door when a hand smacked him directly on his rump. Dax turned his head to see Professor Frost’s wicked smirk.
“Have a pleasant evening. I expect you in class, bright and early,” the professor said with a breathy tone.
Dax eyed his professor before he moved to the door and unlocked it. Stepping out, he moved through the tower until he stepped outside. The moment he stepped out, he glanced to his side and saw a cloaked dranar leaning by the entrance. Her hood covered most of her face except for her small snout as she turned slightly to eye the mage.
“Ressa?” Dax said with a surprised edge.
The rogue bowed her head. Dax was about to step to her when hands wrapped around his mouth and head. The mage reached into his robe but was stopped short when Ressa slapped his hand down. The person behind him pulled, Dax being dragged around the tower. The moment they were almost out of sight, the mage brought his heel down on a booted foot.
“Ow!” came a familiar voice and let go.
Dax spun around, card in hand when he spotted Isani checking her boot while standing on one foot.
“You may have broken a toe,” Isani said before she put her boot down and tested it.
Dax’s eyes narrowed. “You deserved it for trying to kidnap me. Oh, and where is the card you stole?”
Isani tested her foot again and when the small pain subsided, she smoothed out her cloak and stood at attention. The shadow elf looked at Dax with crimson eyes before her dark lips shifted into a sneer.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I simply wanted to remind you of the party tonight.”
“By dragging me out of sight? Rogues have a messed up way of doing things,” Dax growled.
Isani crossed her arms against her stomach, “It’s what we do. We are trained to do everything in the shadows. Even simple meetings can tip off the wrong person. Stealth is key to our success and survival.”
The shadow elf stepped closer, arms uncrossing and hand reaching to touch Dax’s robe collar. The mage took a step back. Isani let her fingers stay in the air before they curled back and her arm fell to her side.
“For a former slum runner, you can get pretty jumpy,” Isani smiled.
“You took something that belongs to me. You can understand why I’m jumpy.”
The hooded shadow elf nodded. “Too true, but I assure you, Ressa and I come in peace.”
“That’s why Ressa is look out right now while you try to rob me again?”
“I don’t need a look out to rob you. I do need one if we are going to talk.”
It was Dax’s turn to cross his arms. “Then talk.”
Isani’s e
yes half closed as her lips parted. “Ressa and I wanted to make sure you were coming tonight. You didn’t seem too eager when we ambushed you and I had a thought you might turn us in for taking your precious card.”
“I wouldn’t turn you in. I would just get my card back,” Dax said as he fingered the card still in his hand.
The rogue smiled. “You may be fast but I’m sure I can cut you before you get a word out.”
“For a friendly reminder to make sure I come to your party, this isn’t very inviting,” Dax said with a hard brow.
Isani lifted both hands up to shoulder height. “You’re right. It is difficult to let our guards down, even when we really want something.”
Dax lifted an eyebrow, ready to ask her what she meant when the shadow elf twisted her wrist and a card slipped into her palm. The rogue turned the card over a few times between her fingers until it was between her pointer finger and her middle finger.
“Partnerships should start with a degree of trust,” Isani leered and held out the card.
Dax reached for it and the shadow elf pulled back with a gentle wave of her hand.
“Not until I know you’re coming tonight,” the rogue grinned.
Dax kept his shrewd gaze. “I’ll go, if you show me how you did that trick with your wrist.”
Isani licked her lips. “You are delightful, Mage Sage.”
“Don’t call me Mage Sage,” Dax growled.
The rogue bowed and held out the card. “As you will Dax. I’ll show you my little trick if you come. Deal?”
An uneasiness filled the mage as he slowly reached for the card, “Deal.”
Isani held out the card and Dax took hold of it. Pulling away, the card was but a few inches away from the shadow elf before she burst forward, her cloak up in a flurry. Dax could barely see what was happening as the rogue spun around the mage’s body. A flick of a wrist and a thin dagger slid from Isani’s other wrist while her arm curled around Dax’s neck.
The mage blinked as the point of the dagger touched his cheek, Isani behind him and her other arm wrapped around his neck.
“Now, I hold the cards to your fate. Shall I scar you for thinking I wasn’t a threat or should I kiss you for surrendering to my move?”
“I never surrendered,” Dax said defiantly as he poked the rogue’s leather covered thigh with the card still in his hand.
Isani grinned evilly. “We were right to align with you. Come tonight. We have such secrets to tell you.”
The dagger was still to Dax’s cheek as the shadow elf licked his ear. The moment she pulled the dagger away and let go, Dax spun around, only to be greeted with a blast of smoke. The mage coughed, blinded by the gray haze as he stumbled, hand out. When he emerged from the shadow of the tower and into the courtyard, the mage hacked, trying to regain his dazed senses.
Something was in the smoke. I can’t focus.
Dax took a deep breath. When he regained his senses, the mage looked up to see students moving about, some barely glancing his way.
I’m starting to regret everything.
Dax chuckled to himself as he tried to walk like nothing had happened.
Eight
“Okay, let me see if I understand. Two rogues invited you to a secret party in Silver Port so they can form some kind of alliance. They want you to go alone and will guide you to the party?” Symon said as he scratched his head.
Dax threw robes from a closet onto the floor. “Yep, that sounds about right.”
Symon shook his head. “Going alone, meeting two strange women and you’re okay with this?”
Dax lifted up a robe, sniffed it and shrugged. “You make it sound like they are going to kill me and dump my body into the sea.”
Symon exhaled. “Good, I thought I was the only one thinking that.”
The mage pulled back with a robe in hand, “I don’t believe they are going to do anything like that, but it was odd that Isani wants to tell me secrets. She spoke about forming some kind of alliance, but I have no idea why.”
Symon rubbed his jaw, “Well, Isani sounds like your type.”
Dax blinked. “What?”
Symon gave his friend an easygoing smile. “You like the crazy ones and Isani and Ressa are as crazy as they come, from what I heard.”
Dax’s lips curved into an amused smirk. “You heard something about them?”
Symon nodded. “I do have other friends in my Spellsword class. We do talk.”
Dax winced, “How dare you cheat on me. I thought we had something special.”
Symon barked out a laugh. “We don’t talk anymore.”
Both students chuckled as Dax looked to the robe in his hands again.
Symon continued, “But seriously, Isani and Ressa are not top of their class, but are pretty skilled. They may have some insight into what to expect in two months.”
Dax eyed the silver runes along the wrist cuffs and down the middle. It added some flair aside from his usual robes.
“That one is good,” Symon smiled.
Dax nodded. “I know we’ve only been back a few days, but any advantage we can get will help all of us.”
Symon leaned back in his chair. “Yea, but going alone, I don’t know.”
Dax draped the robe over his forearm. “You worry too much.”
“And you don’t worry enough,” Symon shot back.
“I’ll have two dozen cards on me if I run into trouble. If I’m not back by tomorrow morning, you know the names of the people involved and the place I will be last. It will be fine.”
Symon nodded. “Back before sunrise or me and the entire academy will be looking for you.”
“And they say romance is dead,” Dax sighed.
The two friends laughed as the sun set behind the distant horizon.
***
Cold air drifted off the sea as Dax walked. The hour had slipped by as he trekked from the academy and toward Silver Port. The mage kept his senses alert, but maintained a relaxed pace. The ocean scent washed over him as he stepped along, the temperature beginning to drop.
It’s a beautiful night to walk into a trap.
Dax smiled to himself as he felt the meeting and party were nothing of the sort. The way Isani looked at him spoke volumes. The mage, former slum runner, had dealt with enough unscrupulous people and bad deals to spot when someone was being deceptive. He checked for tells but Isani did come off genuine, even if she went about it the wrong way.
Is Symon, right? Do I like the crazy ones?
Dax’s brow wrinkled at the thought. Thoughts floated to Fern and her wild, berserker side. Zarra had shown him that despite her quiet shyness at times, she could be violent. The memory of the phantom void spawn and how the quiet cleric unleashed her fury on it was burned into his memory. Zarra is part of an ancient bloodline of dragons, but even she was prone to madness just like everyone else.
And now I’m walking to a party where a shadow elf and a dranar want to talk about secret alliances.
The mage pondered the possibilities. He would be lying to himself if he didn’t find them attractive. When Nuria’s image stabbed into his thoughts, the mage’s heart sank in his chest.
Don’t think about her. What we had is long gone. She’s not the same woman I knew. She’s different and so am I.
The inner thoughts felt hollow as Dax didn’t believe them. The connection was still there, no matter how hard he tried to push it away. She had burrowed into his mind, took his technique and sent it out into the world because she thought she was doing something great for the mage. Instead, it threw the status quo into mild chaos. A chaos that was only going to grow the more people learn card magic.
She is an innocent to our world. I can’t be so harsh.
Dax’s hands clenched at his sides.
I can’t keep making excuses for her. Nuria is dead and the thing living in her took something from me without my permission. She could have planned it all along, trying to throw our world into disorder while her people are ready
to reopen their portals and start another war.
Dax’s mind spun as he thought about the possibilities. Nuria’s words haunted him that people from her world would come again to steal magic artifacts and those who could create them. It has been ninety-nine years since the war, but Dax wondered if and when they came back, would Ikkudran be better or worse than the first time? There are tens of thousands of champions. Would they all be enough to fight off a second invasion? Could they stand a better chance against an enemy with strange magic and technology?
The mage remembered growing up, seeing and hearing the Doom Sayers that spoke of another invasion. Sometimes they shouted and yelled, telling people to not become comfortable because the tentacled monsters would return. Dax remembered how many laughed at them, putting their trust in champions. Sebastian Kinarth led a small army of brand-new champions to fight back the invasion and they won. The victory eased the remaining souls on Ikkudran but now that so much time has passed, will people and champions be strong enough to fight them again?
“Deep in thought?” a voice flowed like silk into Dax’s ear.
The mage turned his head to see Isani on his right and Ressa on his left. The rogues grinned as they walked with him like they were always there.
“Yea, wondering when you would spring the trap,” Dax smirked
Isani’s black lips smoothed into a gentle smile and curled her arm around his. “The trap is already sprung. You belong to us for the evening.”
Ressa curled her arm around Dax’s left arm. The trio walked for a few moments. Ahead of them was the town of Silver Port. Dax eyed it, thinking they would be heading to a tavern or some abandoned building. A slight tug of his arms and the three of them turned and walked down a side road into dark woods.
Dax looked around, the trees arching overhead and forming a canopy. The path was pitch-black, but the shadow elf and dranar moved with ease.
“No need to blindfold me since I can’t see in the dark,” Dax smirked.
Isani looked to the mage with red eyes, “Unless you’re into that sort of thing?”
Ressa let out a hissing giggle.
