by D. R. Rosier
Saria winked at me.
Saria said, “Teasing love. In truth, he isn’t demanding that way, and didn’t press me on the subject when he sensed my reluctance, even if only subconsciously.”
I considered that, and decided she was probably right. My mates had the right to their secrets if they wanted them, as long as they were faithful to our bond and marriage, I didn’t need to know every detail of their lives. They told me enough to sate my curiosity about their lives though, and to get to know them. I had secrets too, everyone did. Of course, with our mate bond I knew exactly who they were, even without knowing every step to how they got to that place in their life.
Karana said, “I trust you, but it goes against our instincts to tell any humans about it in detail. If word spread, even innocently, eventually it would reach the ears of those who raid our forest for magic. Why make it easier for them by outlining the dangers?”
Saria replied, “Yes, but that was my failure, I have faith my mates will keep my secrets, they already keep a great number of them. I blame it on habit, or my training as a scout.”
Karana said, “I suppose we could tell you a little. The fae are always a danger, and random. A deadly and compact storm out of nowhere, or a calm river turning raging as it’s crossed, or the snare of their alluring magic could lead you happily to your death. The other dangers are more quantifiable. Wolves, bobcats, Jaguars, and other large predatory animals are even larger in Laya, the concentration of fae magic there doesn’t just make the trees larger. Some of those predators even have magic that helps them hunt. Even the plant life can be magical and deadly in Laya. But… it is beautiful, and it speaks to our souls. It is ours to protect, even as we must fight it to survive and prosper. That fight is done respectfully however, and in harmony with the ecological and magical balance.”
Well, that was certainly a good evolutionary explanation for elven instincts being closer to the surface than in humans, if they had to survive in such a dangerous environment they’d need that hunting predatory edge to even have a chance of competing. Perhaps it was even the fae magic that helped inform that evolution, including their longevity, and stronger and faster bodies. Much like as they said, the animals in the forest have magic, when panthers and wolves outside Laya do not.
“Is Amathyr a secret too?”
Karana tilted her head and studied me for a moment, perhaps trying to reason out the direction and purpose of my questions. All my previous ones had been about her likes, dislikes, and of course the main passion in her life, being a mage. It wasn’t exactly an interrogation, because she was asking me a lot of questions too, which felt balanced. That second day on the road Saria and Regina hadn’t needed to talk and prod at us as much to get us learning about each other, the both of us were hungry to learn about each other. Karana hadn’t shied away from her promise to get to know me and see what we truly had together, though it was still just the second day.
“No, not really a secret. Like Lelmalond, Amathyr is more circular in shape as opposed to square like human cities. It’s about two miles across in diameter. The reason for the round shape is more to do with the magic required to protect it and make it a relatively safe haven than anything else. We have warding circles around the city, that prevent the many predator species in the forest from invading our part of it. We also transplanted all the dangerous species of plants out of the city. It’s a place of relative safety, in a very dangerous forest.”
She stopped for a moment to gather her thoughts.
“Amathyr is part of the forest, our houses and buildings complement the forest around us, and some homes are even among the boughs of the trees. The palace is probably the only exception to that, and it is the center of the city. We didn’t clear trees to build it though, a large forest glade determined the city’s location.
“It’s a beautiful place, and a constant reminder we must find our place in nature and not unbalance it.”
I grunted, “And that’s why humans aren’t allowed there, isn’t it? Not because we’re warlike, because the elves are just as warlike and predatory as we are, it’s because we don’t live in balance with nature. Or at least, most of us don’t, and would destroy the ecological balance out of greed and avarice for riches, magic, and power.”
Karana bit her lip sensuously, and the look of astonishment on her face at my insight was answer enough.
Saria laughed, “Yes love.”
Regina asked, “Why the big secret?”
Saria shrugged, “Humans understand violence, and claiming land. Not exactly a secret, we just let them make their own assumptions, and most human mages believe we do it out of simple greed to keep it all to ourselves. Why waste the energy explaining something most won’t understand? They’d never believe us anyway, that we protect the fae instead of exploiting and draining them unto death for power, and that we are cautious even when harvesting magical flowers and herbs.”
Karana asked, “I’ve been curious for a while, even as I avoided you, just what did you do to destroy half the king’s army in that field?”
I smirked, and I started to explain about my grass minefield. The rest of the morning and afternoon went well as far as I could tell. I went back to asking Karana more personal questions, and I doubted she’d ever tire over the subject of mage magic. It was a good start, and I felt more admiration and desire for her as the day passed, she truly was a powerful and remarkable woman. The flirtatious attention and obvious desire she held for me was heady because of that, though not in a way that made me feel arrogant, it was humbling, and a reminder that Regina was right.
On my world I was just another doctor among many, if a brilliant and intuitive one, but here I was a singular power.
But her allure as a powerful and a strikingly and exotically beautiful woman in both raw power and her personality and morals, also made me wonder why she was even still free. Like Saria’s past, I was sure there were reasons I was so attractive to her when the men of her own race hadn’t caught her eye yet.
Saria had been waiting for a warrior who was her match, and it took a non-warrior with power to catch her eye, me. It was more complicated than that of course, and she’d told me all the reasons why before. Mostly she’d been lost in her own ambition, and desire to get out from under her older siblings’ shadows, while finding no man that could challenge her and be her equal. Suffice it to say, she hadn’t expected a man of peace to sweep her off her feet just as she’d achieved the casting of her own large shadow. Still, Saria had only been a legal adult in elven eyes for thirty years.
Karana had been an adult dark elf for eighty years at that point, and it was mind-boggling to me that she didn’t have a mate already, but it was the one question I held back. I wasn’t ready to ask her questions quite that personal yet. Things were going well between us, but I knew it was just a fragile beginning as we explored each other.
Of course, it wasn’t a constant thing, I did spend the lion’s share of my time flirting with and learning about Karana, but I also spent time talking with and maintaining the intimacy with Saria and Regina. I loved my mates dearly, and there was still more to learn about them. Regina called it spoiling them with attention, but I wasn’t going to take any chances on our happiness.
Chapter Eight
It was late afternoon, and the sun was about halfway to the horizon as we moved west.
I wished this world had sunglasses, or maybe some clouds, as the sun beat down on our faces during the hottest part of the day. It was definitely warmer than it’d been a month ago, and I guessed we were moving toward the summer months. I supposed that made sense, since I’d been taken in late March from my world, although the matching seasons were probably just random chance. This wasn’t some alternate Earth or something, I could tell that by the strange stars at night.
Or maybe it was, and the Milky Way had formed differently in this reality. Point was, I’d never know the truth of it, alien planet, quantum dimension, alternate universe, or perhaps some other
truth that even science fiction on my world hadn’t conceived of yet. In the end, it didn’t matter if I did learn the truth. The universe was filled with mysteries, my arrival on this world, and what this world was in relation to my own, was just one more.
Saria held up a hand and we stopped. She’d done it a few times today, but not because anyone was coming, simply to check in with her two, ten elf scout teams. Although those two that left us probably wouldn’t catch up until tomorrow night at the earliest, so eighteen right then.
Saria said softly, “An old mage, with a younger man and woman, and two children in their mid-teens. All on horses with large saddlebags. The younger man moves like a trained soldier, but he’s wearing the clothes of a well to do commoner or a merchant, along with a sword.”
“What do you think?” I asked.
Saria like Regina would obey me if I made a decision, it was a strange thing being a true head of the family, yet also felt… right. But, I’d be a moron if I didn’t listen to her advice, especially where our safety was concerned and in martial matters, where her experience and ability far outstripped my own.
Saria shook her head, “It sounds like a mage, his kids, and his grand kids. Mages are a wildcard, and dangerous. I have faith in Karana’s ability, that it far outstrips his, but even she’s not invulnerable.”
That was true, she’d been enslaved, which meant she’d at least lost one fight. That had been before she’d analyzed and built a defense for the human’s creation of a paralyzing spell though, that only worked on elves, but that didn’t mean this old mage didn’t have an unknown trick up his sleeve.
“Chances are, with his family he’s not looking for trouble?”
Karana looked at me, “Probably, but seeing elves may make him defensive and reflexively attack to defend his loved ones.”
Saria nodded, “Let’s head off the road, we’ll continue on after he passes.”
We dismounted, I didn’t even have to be told this time, and we moved into the trees until the road was impossible to see, for me at least.
Then we waited.
It felt a bit like the last time, especially when the mage called out in a voice I shockingly recognized.
“James Cook! I know you’re in there. I mean you no harm, this is my daughter Caroline, son-in-law Thomas, and my two grandchildren, Katie and Joseph.”
We all exchanged glances, and I whispered.
“That’s Mage Irwin, the mage that brought me here. I think we can trust him not to attack us, not with his family there.”
Karana whispered a word I didn’t recognize, and I felt her magic wash over us.
“Just in case.”
We slowly threaded our way through the trees and back out to the road.
“Mage Irwin,” I said rather coldly.
He grinned, and tossed something toward me. It stopped, dead in the air a foot away.
I said, “It’s okay Saria, it’s my watch.”
Saria looked over at Karana.
Karana said, “It is not enchanted.”
Saria nodded, and dropped it in my hand.
“I wasn’t expecting to see you again.”
Irwin said, “I’ve been tracking you as we moved east, to return your time piece and apologize to you. Obviously, I can’t do that anymore with your property returned. We’re going to settle in Eastguard, I hope to find some obscurity there. I managed to escape during the three day siege, and collected my family as I did so. I don’t think Queen Sera would be forgiving if she found me, being the old high mage advisor to the king, so I’d appreciate your discrete silence on this matter.”
He was acting like we were old friends, which was confusing the hell out of me.
“You kidnapped me, and were planning to kill me when the king woke up, why shouldn’t I tell Sera where you are?”
The younger man clenched his fists, while Irwin’s daughter got a worried look on her face.
Irwin waved a hand at the younger man.
“I am sorry, I did kidnap you, and I was under orders to kill you when his recovery was verified. But I did my best to allow you to escape, and it worked. I did the best I could, under hard circumstances, to lessen the impact of suffering by the king. Did you truly think it was a coincidence young Maria was there to help you escape? I arranged it through subtle magical manipulation, she’d never been brave enough to manage it otherwise. I also made sure there were enough holes in what I told you to make you suspicious, so you’d run. You were my hope, that the king’s life would come to an end at some point, though admittedly I never expected it to happen as it did.”
I frowned in thought, he had seemed a bit of a bumbling old man for a high advisor who no doubt was steeped in the subtleties of political maneuvering. He seemed different now, except for his warmth. Maybe that part hadn’t been a lie?
I nodded, “The town could use your help, they don’t have any mages left now that the elves have returned to Laya.”
He shook his head, “I’m too old for politics, and I’d be recognized at some point. I’m retiring, but maybe my grandkids will step up and serve in five years or so. The power skipped my daughter, but both of my grandchildren are mages. I’ll retire, and train them. I wish you well, and good luck.”
I nodded, still a little dumbstruck in surprise. I’d thought I’d been so clever when I escaped, and perhaps a touch lucky, I’d never imagined I’d had more help than I knew. Could he have been working in the background against the king to lessen suffering? It would be an impossible position, and if he’d been caught he’d have been enslaved and possibly tortured, which explained the roundabout way he’d helped me escape, and why he hadn’t let me know he was helping.
“Before we part, what happened in the siege?”
Irwin frowned, “It was ugly, but I’ve seen worse. The invaders left the city mostly intact, don’t doubt Sera is a better monarch than Hanson ever was even on his best day. She’s fair, but she’s ruthless and unforgiving of those that cross her. Ten thousand undead and five thousand soldiers flooded the streets, after she turned a highly warded and protected gate into splinters.”
Karana asked curiously, “How did she manage that?”
Irwin said, “Her mages all cast spells to suppress and weaken the wards, and her own vaunted power took care of the rest and smashed right through them.”
Karana nodded in understanding.
Irwin turned back to me, “Anyone that stayed in their homes were safe, anyone found outside their homes were assumed part of the defense and killed. It took her a day to gain control over the city, and only two more days after that to breach the castle walls. I escaped on the second day, when all the king’s other mages fell into exhaustion trying to maintain wards against twice as many mages and Sera herself.
“Then it was a slaughter, with the exception of the servants, all the royal guards and nobles were killed within an hour of the castle gates being breeched. It was both ruthless and merciful, she didn’t spare anyone, but she also didn’t torture anyone. Just quick and clean kills. I escaped under a simple illusion of a servant, gathered my family, and fled.”
It did sound ugly, but also gave me hope. Sera might have been ruthless against her enemies, but she hadn’t allowed her troops to rape and pillage, nor had she killed the innocent. Still, it would be naïve to believe she didn’t get whatever she wanted, and she wanted something from me.
“Good luck Irwin, and to your family as well.”
We said goodbye, and then we went our separate ways.
We were all quiet the last two hours of that day’s ride, absorbing all we’d learned about each other and the strange but heartening meeting with Irwin. Karana was a large part of that for me, and I glanced over at the raven-haired ebony beauty often. Both of us caught each other looking more than once, usually ending in a bold smile and stare on both our parts.
Inevitably perhaps, my thoughts eventually went to my magic, and its possibilities. One thing about the armor was not only was it alive, b
ut it wouldn’t die like wood would after just a few days or a week, it lived and fed off magic, as well as the dead skin and even bodily waste of its wearer.
Perhaps crude, but it was still a point. I could take a leak in my boxers and remain perfectly clean, cleaner than without the armor boxers on. Not that I did that kind of thing.
When I first thought about weapons while working on the armor the first time, I’d worried about aiming because the armor lacked eyes to see, which made me think of the directed wind burst cone. But… I thought of another possibility recently. My only defense for not thinking of something so simple before then was that I was a physician and man of peace, and didn’t often think about weaponry.
I cut off a small piece of the armor, and suppressed it’s growth and self-destructive capabilities as I worked on it. Changing small things at a time, and committing that change with magic before moving on. First, this wasn’t going to be armor, it was going to be a distance weapon to balance out my own magic’s range limitation, so I removed all the protections and even the healing. My armored briefs were enough for that.
I was still concerned about people learning the truth about me, but that wouldn’t do me any good if I was killed, so it made sense to have a fallback weapon just in case everything else wasn’t sufficient in a situation. I knew I could depend on Saria and her elves for protection at a distance, but they might not always be by my side, and it was long past time I rectified the lack.
When I was finished with the initial changes, it was simply a living strip of armored cells that could mimic shapes and colors, would survive from magic and off its host like a parasite, and was bonded to me so no one else could command it or use it. It also still had the growth potential, but I limited its size to the mass of a ring, and then put it on my right index finger. It looked like silver, with cut designs in it, although close inspection would reveal it to not be true silver, unlike Karana’s necklace which was covered with illusion. Maybe someday I’d work with a mage and figure out how to incorporate illusions in my organic creations, but not that day.
