by Eric Vall
“You and Naomi?” I asked.
“Yes,” she confirmed. “Our magic won’t disorient us, but we will have to deactivate it for anyone else who wants to enter, even one of you.”
“Well, that won’t be for a while, and no one needs to be down here without you,” I said. “Will they remember what they’re doing if they come back to the other side of the spell?”
“It’s possible,” Alyona replied with a frown. “Typically, the spell won’t wear off that quickly, but we’re up against a group of people who work to understand magic and write their own spells. It may not be a perfect solution.”
“Nothing is perfect, princess.” I grinned. “You did great. And right now, we have another riddle to solve. We need to find the other relic before they do.”
“Do you think they know where it is?” The lizard leader began to wring his hands with worry again. “What if they’ve already gotten it?”
“Then we’ll take it back when we get the Sundex back,” I declared. “They have no idea what they’ve started.”
And I’d make sure they realized how badly they’d fucked up.
Chapter 14
We piled into the dining hall and spread the king’s letter out on the table to go over the other riddle. The parchment rolled out with a crackle, and Naomi set large rocks on each corner to hold it down as we all crowded around the table.
“I’ll have the cooks prepare dinner,” Vallen chirped as he scurried into the kitchen.
On cue, my stomach growled. It felt like days since we’d eaten breakfast this morning, and then we’d been so busy with the Bow, we hadn’t eaten lunch. Now, it was late in the afternoon, and the sun had begun its descent into evening. Food sounded like a phenomenal idea, and I was looking forward to pretty much anything they brought out for us to eat. Before I’d arrived in Rahma, I was a fairly adventurous eater, but now I’d tried meat from animals I’d never even heard of and had yet to be disappointed.
I sat down in front of the letter and leaned over to read the king’s second riddle. His dramatic handwriting flourished across the page, and I read the same four lines over and over.
I’ll wash away your worry and stress
Yet when you’re looking, I can’t be found
The bountiful fire is in my depths
But you must search without a sound
“Okay, it mentions wash and depths, so my first clue would be water,” I pointed out.
“We’re in the desert,” Nike replied with a frown. “What body of water could it mean?”
“I’d guess there aren’t any oceans around here,” I chuckled.
“Where would you look for water if you were in the desert?” Alyona asked. “I don’t know very much about desert terrain.”
“You can look for an aquifer,” Ravi explained as she narrowed her blue eyes in thought. “It could be in a canyon, an old river, or even rock features. There are actually more options than you’d think, but most people don’t know where to look.”
Her phoenix tribe had spent a century hidden away in the desert under the guise of being extinct, so she was likely the most knowledgeable about surviving the hot, sandy terrain.
“Why would there be water in rock features?” I raised a confused eyebrow.
“Because they’ll hold whatever rainfall comes in,” the phoenix answered with a shrug. “They don’t absorb the water like the sand will.”
“Ahh,” I exhaled. “That makes sense.”
“Okay, food is on its way!” Vallen announced as he rushed back into the room and sat in his seat. “So, where are we?”
“But there hasn’t been rain for weeks,” Naomi argued as though the conversation hadn’t been interrupted. “Unless you count the Oleum spell, of course, though I wouldn’t recommend that as a water source. You might as well look for an oasis.”
“Wait, an oasis?” I asked as an idea formed in my head. “When you’re lost in the desert, you’d probably want an oasis, right? It would have water, shade, maybe even something to eat.”
“Well, yes,” the lizard mage huffed and rolled her amber eyes. “They’re a great water supply when you can find one, but they aren’t exactly all over the place.”
“Exactly,” I said as I pointed to the riddle again. “If you’re looking for an oasis when you’re hot and thirsty, it seems like you can’t find one. Even if you feel like you’ve found one, it could be a mirage. It has to be an oasis.”
“There are several oases out there,” Naomi sighed. “And they’re in very different directions. We’ll have to use the other clues to narrow it down, or we’ll be searching the entire desert for days.”
“Okayyy,” I replied with a frown. “So, the Eternal Flame is somehow underwater in the depths, so it has to have an actual body of water like a lake or a pond, probably not a river or a stream. Does that help?”
“That rules out one or two, but most of them have at least a pond, if not a lake in them,” the lizard Demi-Human said, and her brow furrowed as her frustration mounted. “The animals drink from them, so there has to be enough water for a whole pack of animals to survive on.”
“And it’s probably far away from the cities,” Polina said as she cocked her head to the side.
“True,” Marina agreed. “You wouldn’t want someone to accidentally find it on a short trip.”
“Or be able to go back to their city and talk about it,” Trina added. “I doubt anything called the Eternal Flame is anything less than bright.”
“Well, what about the water itself?” Aaliyah asked, and her golden tail swished back and forth as she thought. “Why would you have to go through it without sound?”
“Maybe it’s near a rock formation that could fall on top of you?” Naomi wondered.
“Or something must not like to be messed with,” Polina said with a frown.
“A water creature, maybe,” Trina agreed.
“Or several water creatures,” Marina pointed out as she held up a jade finger. “It could be a pack of something.”
I looked over at Laika, who had traveled much of Rahma as the leader of the Blue Tree Guild, but she looked lost in thought as she chewed on her bottom lip and stared at the riddle. I wondered what she was thinking about, but she was the type to let it out when she was ready.
“There are a lot of water creatures it could be,” Alyona murmured and twisted her raven forelock around her finger. “Leviathan, Kraken, even Ponaturi all live in water and wouldn’t want to be approached by anyone. Not to mention, it’s incredibly dangerous when someone tries to enter their waters.”
“Those need a large body of water, though,” Ravi disagreed. “An oasis lake wouldn’t be nearly large enough for those creatures.”
“Good point,” Alyona sighed. “There are so many factors to consider.”
“So, something smaller,” Naomi murmured as she brushed her magenta hair away from her face.
“What about water sprites?” Aaliyah suggested.
“They do hate noise.” Trina nodded as she considered the idea.
“And they’re fierce when confronted,” Polina agreed.
“Especially if they’ve found a treasure,” Marina added.
“Or if they’ve been asked to guard one,” Alyona mused thoughtfully. “My father said you must search without sound. He knows we could easily defeat a group of water sprites, but he doesn’t want us to disturb them. Why do you think he would want that?”
“To protect them,” Laika murmured, and her furry gray tail swished behind her as she looked out the window.
Something must be on her mind.
“So, a horde of fierce water sprites are guarding the Flame, and we have to get it without hurting them?” I raised an eyebrow.
“It’s a possibility,” the princess replied and lifted a delicate shoulder.
“How do we do that?” I asked.
“I’m not sure yet,” Alyona admitted.
“Okay, where would we find an oasis with water sprites, then?”
Nike asked and looked around the group.
Silence fell over the table as everyone considered possible locations, but just then, the cooks brought out several steaming trays of food. The badger meat smelled tangy this time, and it reminded me of a Chinese buffet with its almost teriyaki-like scent. Next to the badger meat was a giant bowl filled with squash soup, and a hint of cinnamon wafted from the bowl. Then the servants set down a tray full of some kind of yellow fruit with fat orange seeds in the flesh, and I sighed as another servant set down a basket of fluffy white rolls that nearly overflowed onto the table. The staff left a tub of a butter and honey mixture next to the rolls, and suddenly, my stomach growled loud enough that even Lord Vallen turned to look at me.
I avoided his awkward gaze as I began to pile food onto my plate and pour some of the soup into a bowl. Everyone started to eat, and I stuffed a bite in my mouth until Laika suddenly slapped her hand on the table. We all jumped at the loud thud and looked at her, and the wolf-warrior’s gray ears were perked up on her head.
“The Montague Oasis,” she finally said, and her voice quivered with excitement. “I’ve never been there, but my comrades have, and they say it has a lake.”
“Well, that seems reasonable,” I replied slowly. “But what about the water sprites part? And is it far from a city?”
“People have disappeared there,” Laika explained, and her gray eyes lit up with exhilaration. “One of my people was one of them. The rest of the group said he got close to the water, and then he was gone. The sprites could have pulled him under. He was obviously too close to the Flame. We don’t usually venture that far from a city without the airship, but it was a special mission.”
“Water sprites are very protective of their treasures,” Trina said, and her sisters nodded in agreement. “It wouldn’t be too much to expect for them to lead someone to their death in the water.”
“Then we’ll send all of my best men,” Vallen declared. “We will not allow the creatures to drown our people. I have some of the best warriors in Rahma, and--”
“My lord,” Alyona cut him off as he stood to call the guards. “If the king has asked the water sprites to guard the relic, then we shouldn’t hurt them to get it. We must simply be silent like he said. The Green Glass Sect and this bandit group are causing enough bloodshed on their own. We shouldn’t add to it if we don’t have to.”
“So, we have to be stealthy,” I agreed. “No army, no large group. Only a few of us should go. We need to get in, grab the relic, and get out without disturbing them. We can’t do that with an entire army.”
“If you’re certain,” Vallen murmured and sat back down.
“Okay, we got that settled, but we should hurry before the sun sets,” Naomi pointed out. “It will be nearly impossible to find it in the dark.”
“Let’s go,” I said and pushed my chair back from the table with a loud squeak.
I tossed the last bite of my sweet roll into my mouth and headed for the front door, but as we walked outside, I could hear a child sobbing and wailing.
“But he’s gone!” the boy cried out. “He wouldn’t leave me!”
“What’s going on?” I demanded as I pushed through the guards who had formed a circle around the boy.
He was a young lizard Demi-Human, and he looked no older than seven. His dirty blonde hair hung in a limp ponytail at the nape of his neck, and his yellow eyes were bright with tears. His face was red from crying, and the tears had left light tracks down his cheeks to the yellow and gold scales on his neck.
“My father!” he sobbed as he clutched a guard’s tunic. “He’s missing!”
“I told you, son,” the guard said as he carefully unwrapped the boy’s fingers from his clothes. “You have to wait--”
“I want to speak with Lady Naomi!” the boy howled. “Please!”
“Hush now, sweet Israel,” Naomi said and placed a hand on the guard’s shoulder.
The other lizard Demi-Humans stepped to the side to allow her through to the boy, and the woman squatted down in front of him and took his hands in hers.
“Milady, you must help,” Israel nearly whispered as he gasped for breath. “Please, he’s the only one I have left!”
“Okay, take some deep breaths first,” the lizard mage murmured, and the boy began to inhale deeply. “Good, remember, control is key. Now, tell me what happened.”
“My father went to the market for bread two hours ago,” the boy replied as he began to regain his composure. “He never came back. The market has closed, and no one has seen him! He would never leave me alone for so long. Never!”
“I know he wouldn’t,” Naomi soothed him as she brushed his hair away from his face. “Let me talk to my friends. They’re very good at this kind of thing, and I know they’ll want to help you. Do you see that man?”
Israel nodded when Naomi pointed to me. “Who is he?”
“That is Lord Evan,” she explained and then lowered her voice as though telling him a secret. “He’s a dragon, and dragons never let bad things happen to us. Okay?”
Israel nodded and smiled softly as she stood up to face me, and then she gestured for us to step away from the boy.
“We have a problem,” Naomi muttered as we walked back over to the rest of our group.
“Listen, I know I have a soft spot for kids, but the guards can find him,” I said with a frown. “Kana isn’t that big, and we need to get to the oasis before it gets dark. This isn’t a high priority right now.”
“It’s not that,” she grumbled with frustration. “His father is Parrish, and he’s an architect who helped build new parts and fix old parts of the city. He knows every inch of Kana.”
“You mean all of it?” Ravi asked as we all started to realize the problem.
“All of it,” Naomi confirmed. “Even the catacombs. If he’s been kidnapped, it is either very unfortunate timing, or--”
“Or they know we have the Bow, and they want to find it,” I finished with a grunt. “We must have just beat them to the Bileu Forest. So, the bandits are trying to get that, too. They already have the Sundex, and we don’t know if they have the Flame or not yet. We can’t let them get any closer to completing the Triad, so we have to ensure they don’t get the Bow.”
“What should we do?” Laika asked, and her furry gray ears twitched with agitation. “Rescue the architect? What if he’s already told them about the city?”
“Parrish is stronger than that,” Naomi argued. “He wouldn’t just give up that kind of information. You don’t know him.”
“They have mages,” the wolf-warrior shot back. “I’m not saying anything about his character. They could have used magic to get answers from him, much like Lord Evan has used in the past.”
“That terra magic isn’t a regular spell,” Naomi insisted. “We need to find him before they get angry enough to kill him.”
“It could be another distraction,” Aaliyah pointed out. “Just like the Oleum spell. If they draw us away from the castle to look for him, they could get in and look for the Bow.”
“It could be,” I agreed, “but we can’t risk Parrish’s life on a guess. We need to find him. We just have to think of a way to find him quickly and not waste time by searching everything.”
“You could always ask the prisoner,” Vallen murmured, and I was both impressed and surprised at the lizard Demi-Human’s idea.
“Ahh, Byron could know what they’re up to with Parrish,” I conceded. “Thank you, Lord Vallen. We’ll go there first.”
“I’ll stay here with Israel,” the lizard leader volunteered. “I’m sure I’d be much better company to him than you, in case you have to, um, interrogate Byron again. I’d rather leave that to you, Lord Evan.”
“Good idea,” I chuckled.
Vallen didn’t have the stomach for my truth magic, so it was probably even better that he hadn’t witnessed the Blue Tree Guild’s tactics. They made my terra magic look like a card trick.
“Nike, you and the
dryads should stay and keep the boy safe,” I decided. “If the bandits know about him, they might try to use him for leverage on his father. Not to mention, we need to make sure no one else goes into the castle until we know what’s going on. Just tell Israel we’re going to find his dad. He doesn’t need to worry about the rest.”
“Of course,” Nike agreed as we walked closer to the boy and the guards to let them know we were working on finding Parrish.
“Israel, we’ll find him,” Naomi promised. “We’ll be back before you know it. Stay with Lord Vallen.”
“I will,” the boy replied with a solemn stare.
As we strode to the jail, I peeked over at Naomi whose face was set in a grim line.
“He asked for you by name,” I stated.
“Yes,” she said without looking at me. “He did. Brilliant observation, Lord Evan.”
“You also take care of the children you meet,” I murmured as I ignored her sarcasm. “There’s nothing wrong with caring.”
“I know that,” Naomi snapped, but then she took a deep breath to compose herself. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude. Israel is just one of the children who has shown early signs of magic. His mother was a mage, but she died when he was a baby, so I’ve been working with him. He should learn from a person, not from books like I did. He needs encouragement and understanding. His father was scared at first, but he’s come around to Israel’s studies.”
“That’s wonderful,” Alyona said with a smile. “He is lucky to learn from you, Lady Naomi.”
Naomi nodded once, and I caught a small smile as she waved at the jail guard to let us in. She obviously didn’t want to continue the conversation, but I thought she was surprised every time we cracked through her tough shell.
She would eventually give in. I knew it.
The jail guard dipped his head and opened the door for us. We strolled into the space in front of the cell door, and the guard slammed the outer door shut behind us. The jailhouse only had one narrow window near the ceiling. The rest of the room was fairly dark, and the floor was covered in the same stones as the road. The cell door was made from thick metal bars with small gaps between each one, and there was an open square in the middle for food to be given to the prisoners.
