Mother of Wolves (Evalyce Worldshaper Book 1) (3 page)

“She told me, that's how.” Kalla allowed Aleister to help her up, ignoring the puzzled looks all around her.

“You need to rest, milady. You've done enough for today. I'm sure quarters can be found for you in the Inferno,” said Aleister. Kalla shook her head.

“No… if the
Stymphalian
still has her living quarters, it is there I would prefer to rest,” she replied in a drowsy voice. All Argosian ships had living quarters in them. The
Kruetzet
had featured two tiny sleeping rooms, one for the captain and one for the gunner. In addition, there had been a tiny bathroom area complete with a cramped shower, a tiny 'kitchen' and a cargo area. Aleister nodded and guided her back up the ship's stairs, to one of the small berths. He took the staff from her and made to help her onto the bed, but she waved him away.

“This isn't right…,” Kalla mumbled. She reached out and touched the bunk, pulling a small amount of strength from Aleister as she did so. The air shimmered and the bed disappeared, reforming into a hammock like the ones that had originally been on the ship. Kalla swayed on her feet, hardly aware of Aleister scooping her up and putting her in the hammock. Hardly aware of his good-natured grumbling as he did so.

“…I can see why they wanted you to have a magister… I have my work cut out for me. Do you always overdo things?” muttered Aleister as he gently covered her with a blanket and crept from the small quarters.

* * *

Morning found the paddocks cleared of bodies, if not of debris. Kalla yawned and stretched as she stood in the ship's doorway. She had to admit, sleeping in the safety and security of the
Kruetzet-
class ship had been wonderfully relaxing, though she had been a bit put out that the hammocks had been removed. It had been a foolish risk to completely drain herself to change it back, but she'd slept better for it and was now completely recovered.

A thud behind the ship brought her out of her musings, and a fiery-scaled head dipped around the side. A fierce orange eye fixed itself on her.

Good morning, Lady Mage.

“Good morning, Amaterasu. Don't be so formal. It's just Kalla,” the Healer said.

As you wish, Lady… Kalla. I am bid give you a message. The grumpy male went to get food. He said that they had taken the metal bird's stores. He will be back soon.

He slept not last night, Lady Mage. He was worried that you had overdone yourself.

Kalla frowned and cast her mind in search of her magister. She found him in the Inferno and he was indeed grumpy and tired. Worry tinged his thoughts and she felt a momentary twinge of guilt. The young mage was not used to having another concerned for her well-being. Before, it had just been her, looking out for herself. She often did push herself past her limits, but before she'd had the safety of the Kanlon in which to regain her strength and unlike most magi, she could recover her power in a few hours, rather than the many hours to days that it took other magi so completely drained of energy.

Kalla had another level of protection, too. She had gained the nickname 'Wolf that Sleeps' long ago, because she was prone to strike out at people who disturbed her in her sleep- the calculating and deadly attack of a disturbed frost wolf. Strength had bred in her a certain flippancy and casual attitude towards her own welfare. Kalla supposed that was one reason the Sin' had insisted she take a magister.

Irritation filtered through the link as Aleister dealt with the Inferno officials. No doubt they still harbored resentment over the fact that he had been freed from 'justice'. Kalla shook her head and turned her attention back to the wyvern looming over the ship.

“Amaterasu, you said last night that you were the seer of the Cove Rock Clan. I would like to do a scrying, to try and find some answers or at least a starting point. I would appreciate your help. Two minds are always better than one,” she said. The wyvern nodded.

If you can scry by fire, Lady Mage, then I can help. I'm sorry to say, I know no other way.

“Fire is fine. And it's just Kalla.” the mage replied absently, turning her gaze to the doors as she sensed Aleister heading back their way. He trudged across the paddock grounds, his arms laden with bags and packages. Kalla went to meet him and collected some of the packages.

“I see you're awake, milady. Did you recover your strength?” he asked.

“Aye, I did. It never takes long. And it's just Kalla! Why do all of you insist on calling me anything
but
that,” she grumbled. Kalla followed her magister up the steps, turning back to the wyvern before going into the ship. “Give me a bit, Amaterasu, and we can begin. Breakfast wouldn't hurt first.”

“Begin what…?” The Sky Fox's voice was weary. He took the supplies from her and began stashing them in the necessary compartments.

“Amaterasu and I are going to do a fire scrying, to seek out the cause of this.” She caught his frown. “Don't worry. I'll be fine. I'm fully recovered. You, however, should get some sleep.” Kalla paused for a moment and her voice was soft when next she spoke. “Thank you for keeping watch. I will try my best to not overdo things in the future. I've gotten so used to it just being me.”

Aleister had gone still while she'd been speaking. Kalla felt a bit of fear through the bond, but mostly she felt a sadness. He quelled it quickly, burying it behind his mental shields. Kalla had to admit- he was getting better at keeping his emotions from spilling over too much.

“Bloody wyvern,” he muttered under his breath, turning back to the kitchen area.

“Yes, Amaterasu did tell me you'd been up all night, but I would have figured it out anyway. Your mind is grumpy when you're tired,” she laughed. The Sky Fox gave her an indignant look.

“I am
not
grumpy,” he huffed. She laughed again, the sound ringing through the ship.

“I rest my case. Go relax a bit. I can fix our breakfast. I do know my way around these ships, remember?” she chided gently. Aleister turned over the kitchen to her, grumbling as he made his way to the front, where he flopped down in the captain's chair. Within minutes he was dozing peacefully and Kalla didn't have the heart to wake him when she was finished making breakfast. Instead she conjured a covered tray, charmed it to keep the food hot, and left it on the counter.

Kalla found Amaterasu at the far end of the paddock, where the wyvern had already collected a pile of debris together. When she saw Kalla approaching she swelled up and spat flame at the pile, igniting a roaring bonfire.

I trust this will be satisfactory, Lady Mage.

“It's perfect. Will you allow me to link my mind to yours? That will make things go more smoothly,” Kalla said. When the wyvern nodded assent, Kalla reached out and put a hand on the muzzle before her, sending a bit of her own essence to join with Amaterasu's in a simple scrying link. Thus bonded, the two settled before the fire, letting the hypnotic flames lull them into a trance. Scenes began to form in the dancing flames - people with tranquilizer rifles, sneaking into the lands of the wyvern, impaling them with the spikes. They melted away and were replaced by scenes of the same wyvern clans attacking skycities all around the world of De Sikkari. One city, though it managed to take out all of its assailants, still fell to the flames of destruction.

Kalla recognized it. The skycity of Ben'talen had been completely destroyed.

They saw Argoth's response, the great flagships with smaller strike-fighters swarming around them. Few of the skycity's attackers managed to get near enough to do damage to the land itself. Kalla recognized the flagships
Kujata, Fenrir, Barghast
and
Tengu,
as well as the Grand Flagship
Phoenix.

Skycity after skycity they saw, most faring as Sevfahl had. There were other scenes in which humans spiked land-bound creatures and set them to attacking ground cities. Some fell, some survived. More of those attackers survived, running off into the wilds to nurse their wounds.

The scene shifted again, coalescing into images of a statue of monolithic proportions, whose eyes glowed with a radiant malevolence. Coil upon mythril coil glittered in the dark light. Another shift and they saw the same great creature, a Nagali, alive and in the flesh. A winged warrior drove home a spear whose tip was bound in parchment, impaling the beast in the heart, turning it to mythril. Images of a white feather, a palace in the mountains, a spear with a two-foot point. Kalla knew without knowing, what they needed to find to use against the creature, that they would need to face the fearsome Nagali. The vision began to fragment, but the final image that came to the linked minds was of a terrible cataclysm and a land sunk beneath the waves.

Slowly the two came back to themselves. Kalla broke the link and leaned against Amaterasu's side.

“Mercy of Balgeras… if I understand right, the Nagali is waking. It was he who sent the humans to the wyvern and the wyvern to their deaths in the sky,” she breathed. Amaterasu growled, a long, low sound.

Al'dhumarna. Bound aeons ago on the Isle of Whispers. If he truly be waking, then we are in terrible danger. It is the Nagali's delight to cause havoc and destruction. We must recreate the binding of old, in order to stop him.

“But how… in the legends the Nagali was bound by a scroll penned by the Elephant Lord, using the Quill of Ma'at. The white feather. And by using the weapon called Grael's Fang, said to be forged from a tooth of the Dragon Goddess herself. I have no idea where to even begin looking for such mythic artifacts.”

Kalla paused, thoughtful. “We should consult Gasta, the Keeper of the Deep Forest on Argoth. If any can point us in the right direction, it will be the Keeper.”

Kasai watched from his perch atop the highest ramparts of the Inferno as his scapegoat walked back across the paddocks to the Argosian ship. He chuckled to himself. Now that had been a lucky break, finding another trespasser to take the fall for him after he'd carried out the assassination. Lucky break for the other, too, that the mage had come just in time to save him.

The Arkaddian uncoiled his wiry frame, running a hand over a scarred face. Kasai favored the looks of his people, save for the fact that his right eye was the color of mahogany, glinting with red highlights in the light. The left eye had been taken long ago, in battle. All that was left was a milky orb that saw nothing. The scars were a source of pride, the mark of a true warrior. His shoulder length red-brown hair was pulled up in a traditional Arkaddian bob.

Kasai was one of the Khan's Harriers, an elite group that served as guards, assassins, information gatherers. The Harrier adjusted the slender swords across his back and slipped away into the shadows, lips curling at the mere thought of the assassination he'd been forced to carry out. He'd bet good vykr that the order hadn't really come from the Khan himself, but had been instigated by the mage that came to Karokorum quite often of late. Kasai wondered who the other Arkaddian was and how he'd come to be on Sevfahl in the first place.

Merryn crept quietly down the smooth stone corridor and edged into a small work chamber off the left. It was the middle of the night and the room was lit only by a pair of gently flickering glowlamps. A small furnace stood in one corner, the door slightly open, radiating heat into the workroom. The lamps cast eerie dancing shadows along the walls and floor, making it seem as if the night air itself were alive.

A long, low table ran the length of one wall, tools arranged neatly over it. A handful of uncut gems- sapphires, rubies, emeralds, diamonds, even a single multi-hued zarconite- were piled upon a velvet pouch, glittering in the dim light like dragons' scales. Merryn froze as the man sitting hunched over the table sat back and stretched, running a hand through thick blond curls, before returning to his work.

Absorbed in his project, he gave no indication that he heard her enter and Merryn curled up quietly in the far corner. From her vantage point the area before him was visible and she could see that he was painstakingly shaping an emerald. The man was Merryn's husband, but the marriage had been purely political. She gave a barely audible sigh. She'd tried, she really had, to make things work, but he paid her little mind. Small wonder that he didn't notice her the occasions she did sneak into the workroom. She knew he would probably be angry if he found her, especially this time of the night, but she couldn't help herself. She wanted to be close to him. And she could hope things improved… Merryn watched him work and wove dreams of a happier future until she fell asleep, propped against the wall.

The blond-haired man slipped the jeweler's loupe from thin-rimmed glasses and let it fall to thump dully against his chest. He took it from around his neck and tucked it away into its proper place. The glasses quickly followed suite. Running his hands over his face, he yawned. Hours had slipped away during his crafting. Trapped in the depths of the caverns, he had little idea of the true time but he suspected it was early morning. Putting his tools away, he surveyed his final product- a leaf-shaped emerald set into a ring base. It winked green fire at him as he turned it this way and that, assessing the soundness of it.

Satisfied, he put the ring into a velvet pouch containing a similar one cut from carnelian and tucked the pouch into his robes. Rising stiffly, he turned to leave and heaved a sigh as he realized his young wife was sound asleep in the corner. Usually he heard her enter, even though he rarely acknowledged it, but tonight he'd been too lost in his work.

There were times when he wondered
why
he had agreed to the marriage to begin with. Among a people to whom such alliances mattered not at all, theirs was an unusual partnership indeed. A very surprising and unlikely one whose proposal had thrown him off guard. Merryn deserved more than a man with the chains he bore about his neck, but he'd needed to keep this particular alliance and so he found himself with a young woman nearly ten years his junior, whom he had no idea what to do with.

He didn't imagine that Merryn was very happy with her situation either, given that his attitude towards her tended to be brusque to the point of disdain, but she seemed drawn to him like a moth to flame so often did she creep into his workroom. It wasn't that he hated her. Far from it. It had simply been so long since he'd cared about anything that his heart had forgotten how. Stifling a twinge of regret, he carefully picked her up. Merryn made a small noise of protest at being moved and burrowed her head against him. With a deep breath, she lapsed once more into sleep. Carrying her back to their room, he tucked her beneath the blankets and collapsed into exhausted slumber beside her.