Davie the Mage (Generations of Eredwynn Book 2) (22 page)

Chapter Sixteen

            
 
W
e stayed with the pixies for a couple days. They were wonderful friends and loved to talk. It took Mira and me a while to get used to their honest, straightforward bluntness. It was often embarrassing and amusing at the same time. We’d asked to be friends and they treated us as such, but they treated Mira with the respect one would have for royalty. We enjoyed our visit, but I decided to move on. Translucia advised that I might get information on the Magi from the centaurs that were usually found to the east. Flying, it would take us less than half a day to find their usual research location. Early in the morning of our third day with the pixies, we packed our belongings said our goodbyes. We rose into the air with waves, cheers and many tears. The pixies felt things deeply and we’d miss them until we could return.

              Mira looked at me with glistening eyes. “We must come and see them again very soon. I’ve fallen in love with those tiny creatures! I just wish that they were closer to home.

              “Your husband is a Mage, my love. We are as close to anywhere as a thought. You tell me where you want to go and you’ll be there in a blink.”

              “So you’ll bring us back some day and we wouldn’t have to spend two days flying here?”

              “Of course, my lady. You say the word and we’re here, but the days we spent flying here weren’t wasted. You met the King of No Man’s Land, after all, and accidentally became his symbolic Queen!”

              She giggled, “I bet the town girls back home wouldn’t pick on me now, if they knew my status in this country!”

              I laughed, “The wizards and the King and Queen of Eredwynn wouldn’t bother you, if they knew your status!”

              We flew along with her digesting that information and she knew it was true. Her scaly friend was the most powerful force in the country and he had allowed her to kiss him. When she’d asked kiss Niruth, neither of us had known the significance of the act. Now that it was done and I knew that our friend wasn’t going to try to keep his Queen, we were happy to be his friend. We flew in silence, reflecting on the events that had transpired over the last few days. This was turning out to be a honeymoon to remember!

              As midday approached, I sensed that we were getting close to the centaurs. I could feel their magic a couple miles away. We landed and started walking toward their camp. When we came to the clearing that the centaurs had set up camp in, we stopped at the edge and waited to be seen.

              The centaurs quickly spotted us and moved toward us. Archers flanked the main group of five large males that came directly toward us. At twenty yards, the group stopped abruptly and stared at us for a moment. The entire complement then bowed as low as a centaur can. I looked at Mira and she looked at me. We both shrugged because we were starting to get used to odd behavior from the population of this country.

              The largest male took a few steps forward and spoke to my mind,
“Welcome, Sir Mage. And welcome to the Queen, also. I can sense that she can’t hear me and perhaps we can rectify that, with your permission. According to our history, the mark of the Queen hasn’t been seen in over a thousand years. She must be quite the special young lady.”

              I smiled.
“I think that she is special and that is why I married her. We are on our honeymoon and have been married less than a week. Meeting Niruth has made for a very interesting trip!”

              His chuckle resounded in my head.
“That I can imagine! Have you sought us out for a reason, good sir, or is this just a chance encounter?”

             
“I am new to my Mage abilities and I was hoping, since the centaurs are renowned for their research and knowledge, that you might assist me. I feel that I have abilities that have, so far, been undiscovered. Do you think that you’d be able to assist me?”

              The centaur grinned at my compliment and my request for aid.
“Absolutely, Sir Mage! It would be an honor to work with you. With your permission, we’d first like to open your wife’s mind so we can talk more easily. Some of us speak your language, but others don’t. I’m sure that all of us would want to be able to talk with the Lady that has been marked by the king.”

             
“If you’re talking of freeing her magic, I’d have to object. That would be going against nature and the natural order of things. But what is this ‘mark’ you speak of?”

             
“I am impressed and respect the choice of not forcing magic on the young lady. What we speak of is just the opening of the part of the mind that most have forgotten they have. It would just be to open up the communication center in her mind. It takes a lot of power, so the whole group would be involved. So you can’t see the mark? We can fix that, too. For you it will be easy, and for her it won’t be much more difficult. Focus your vision through your active psionic magic and look at your young lady.”

              I did as the centaur suggested and looked at Mira. Blazing in red magic was the symbol of a rearing dragon with flames coming from its jaws. I turned back to the centaur
. “Am I marked the same?”

             
“It is very similar, but without the flames. That is the rare mark of the Queen, and you have the mark of friendship. It is a very rare mark, too.”

             
“Thank you for that, sir. But now I’d like to see about letting my wife in on this form of communication. I think her look of confusion is cute, but it would only be fair for her to be able to talk with you also.”

             
“Very well. If you’ll follow us to our camp, we can form a circle to boost our power and open her mind for her.”

              I nodded and took Mira’s hand. We followed the huge creatures and I explained to Mira what we were going to attempt. She was excited and understandably nervous about the procedure. I assured her that it would be painless and she’d be safe. She smiled and let me know that she was never worried about her safety anymore.

              We entered their camp and the leader spoke to everyone in a language that I couldn’t understand or even hope to mimic. The group turned and bowed to us and then formed a circle around us. Speaking aloud so that Mira could understand, the leader asked if I’d care to join the circle to assist in boosting their collective power. I nodded and walked between two female centaurs. They were smaller and I wouldn’t have to reach up as high to join hands. The ladies reached down and took my hands and I added my power to the collective. There was a gasp from everyone in the circle as my power surged through the group.

              The leader laughed, “Perhaps you could have done this procedure on your own, Mage. I’ve never felt power like this before.”

              I smiled and bowed my head. “Sir, power without knowledge is useless. I couldn’t do this without your help.”

              “You are a wise and honorable man! Are you sure you’re not a centaur in disguise?”

              There was laughter from those that understood my language, and then they went to work. It was interesting for me to watch the manipulation of the magic. I knew that I could spend years with these people and not learn all they knew. Poor Mira was alone in the center of a circle of enormous creatures and she was the focus of all their attention. It didn’t take long and we dropped our hands.

              The leader spoke with his mind and we all could hear him.
“My Lady? Are you able hear me now? If so, you can think back along the path you hear me on and I should hear you.”

              Mira jumped when she heard the voice in her head. She cocked her head to the side and put her hand to her temple.
“That is the strangest feeling I’ve ever experienced! Is this working?
”

              There was a chuckle around the circle. I thought to her,
“Yes, my love, it is working and we can all hear your mind.”
She giggled, ran to me and hugged me.

              She then pulled back and looked at me. “What is that dragon on your forehead for?”

              There were chuckles again and the leader thought to the crowd,
“We made it possible for her to see certain types of magic. We felt that, having a Mage for a husband, it would be safer. You wouldn’t want her walking into an experiment in progress.”

             
“Thank you, sir. I hadn’t thought of that. As you can tell, I am very new to my powers. Any help, knowledge or advice that you’d be willing to give would be received gratefully.”

              The leader grinned. “You are very welcome here, Mage, and your wife the Dragon Queen, as well. Stay with us a few days, if you can, and we’d be happy to assist you. It would further our research on Mage powers as well, so we both would gain from this. The ladies in my group would love to visit with your wife while we worked.”

              We accepted happily and set up our tent among the centaurs. They were excellent cooks and even though all the meals were vegetarian, we enjoyed them immensely. We worked from daylight to dark. They insisted that I learn the theory of magic, as well as how I could use it. The leader, Glonall, would call for a circle and I’d be put in the middle. The different scholars would focus on me and dump information into my mind until I thought I’d explode. We’d take a break while I absorbed the information and then start again.

              When I’d change clothes, they’d turn snow white by the time we were a few hours into our sessions. The centaurs were fascinated by that effect of my Mage magic and it gave them something to study. By the time we’d finished, all the clothing that I’d brought had lost all color.

              Mira was befriended by a young mare named Aevene. When she was invited to go out gathering wild edibles she accepted, but couldn’t keep up. Aevene made a suggestion that started quite a controversy, and then a long debate. At the end, it was decided that the Dragon Queen could ride the young centaur female on their excursions. It was taboo for a human to treat a centaur as a pack animal but given her status, an exception was made. Both Mira and Aevene were thrilled by the decision and Mira spent the next three days in the woods.

              The morning of our fourth day with the centaurs, Glonall announced that I’d learned enough for one session. He was afraid that cramming any more into my human mind would overload me and cause me to start forgetting what I’d learned. He said that if I’d return as my duties allowed, they’d continue to work with me.

              Since we were done with my education for the time being, I started taking down our tent. Mira saw me and came to me with a sigh, to help. We repacked our pack with our tent and bedding. The centaurs all gathered around to wish us well. There were tears between Aevene and Mira. I shook hands with my teachers and Mira hugged the ladies she’d become attached to. I lifted us into the air and we waved goodbye as we headed east.

              We flew along to the east and Mira asked where we were going. I told her that if we made even fair time, we should be in the town I was born in by noon. It had been burned out by the dragon that my parents and aunts had killed. I had conveniently forgotten that detail when we were talking to Niruth. I hoped he would be meeting the King of Eredwynn soon and I didn’t want them to start off on the wrong foot. From the stories that I’d heard, the banished wizards hadn’t seen any creatures of note between the centaurs and the coast, so we didn’t expect to see any now. Besides, I thought with a smile, regardless of what horrors we might encounter, they would probably just bow to Mira and back away.

              Just before noon, we spotted the town. I landed to the north of it because I’d been told that the wizards had bought land there, and Aunt Alice had built a stone home for them all. We walked north of the town and over a small rise. I could tell by the construction that it was Alice’s style. There were raised slabs of stone that had been sliced off for building material. The one that stood out the most was the one she’d raised for the roof. We walked to the building to investigate, and it looked as though no one had bothered the place since it had been left.

              This building and the land that it sat upon belonged to my father, so I had no qualms about opening it up and going inside. We wandered through the rooms on the first floor and then on the second. It seemed that they had done a very complete job of taking all their belongings with them when they’d left. We did manage to find a mattress that hadn’t taken too much of a beating over the years. We decided to stay at least one night so we could cuddle without being on the ground.

              I asked Mira if she’d like to go fishing with me, and we could have fish for lunch and maybe dinner, if she chose. After our days of rations and the vegetarian diet, she was thrilled by the idea. We walked to the coast and I made her light. I took her hand and we flew out over the ocean. We flew a mile off shore and I felt schools beneath us, so I asked her how many fish I should catch. She said that she was quite hungry and I should just grab as many as I could, so we could head back and get lunch started. I chuckled under my breath, wrapped a mental net around a school of thousands of quite large tuna, and pulled them into the air in front of us.