The Sword that Binds (Book of Worlds 1) (11 page)

“Feeling better?” Tyrus asked.

“No! I’m tired of this! How am I supposed to get through this gateway without even a hint! This isn’t teaching me anything, Uckey! I wasn’t born to this like Tyrus was!” Sarena slapped the back of Uckey’s neck. She knew she was being childish, but after two days with no progress she just couldn’t hold herself back. Uckey had even forbade her from drawing on Tyrus’ power herself until she succeeded, instead having him provide just enough power to keep her aura healthy.

“I can’t teach you something that has never been done before!” Uckey protested, “According to my research it should be possible, and it is vital that you succeed! You won’t be able to form your own core until you can reach Tyrus’ on your own!”

“You don’t even know if this is even possible? You might have set me an impossible task and you just expect me to succeed, with nothing to go on but speculation? This isn’t training, Uckey!” Sarena spoke, her voice brimming with barely contained fury.

“Regardless of if you succeed or not, I can teach you nothing else unless you are able to. Gnomish magic doesn’t work the same way as shavren! The only reason I can even do this much is because my research was focused on your exact situation. I can guide you to the correct path, but I can’t tell you how to travel it. Only a shavren Highmage could teach you
how
to use your power, but with my guidance you will eventually be free from the bond!” Uckey explained hurriedly.

“You-why didn’t you just say that in the first place? Why tell me you could train me when you can’t?” Sarena’s anger dissipated at his words, but there was plenty left to let him know her displeasure.

“Well, you seemed a little bit prickly about the bond, so I thought I would try and help you with it under the guise of training. You’re much smarter than I expected, I didn’t think you would figure it out until much later on! Or maybe that means you’re just impatient?” he bluntly replied, his voice back to its ordinary cheery and high-pitched volume.

Sarena was speechless. She hadn’t expected him to admit it so easily, and she wasn’t even sure if he had just complimented or insulted her. Deciding to go with the safer route, she closed her mouth and frowned, trying to will her anger at him regardless of how immature it made her feel. The village was only moments away at this point, and they had already discussed that Sarena would have to do all the talking. Tyrus was only able to speak to Uckey because of Ankaros, while Uckey was a horse - a gigantic horned horse, but still not something that could normally talk. Which left Sarena, the only moderately normal one of the group, and even that was stretching it considering humans don’t exist here.

Before they even entered the village Sarena was able to see her first shavren. He was standing outside of his home, a simple log cabin that looked to be the standard for all of the buildings. From a distance he looked human, but when she was closer she was able to see the differences. Standing around six feet tall, with a thin body and tanned skin, his hair was a fiery red that looked almost alive, falling down slightly past his shoulders. If that was the only thing Sarena would have thought him just an odd looking human, but his eyes left no doubt that he was different. The whites of his eyes were the same fiery red as his hair, and there was no pupil to speak of. She couldn’t help but feel a shiver go down her spine as he stared at her, his face neutral and giving nothing away.

As Uckey had explained it the night before, shavren were born looking identical to what she would expect a human to look like, but as they grew older they began to take on aspects of their element. Usually their eyes and hair would change first, but after that would be their personalities. The man she saw was obviously a fire mage, but beyond that she wouldn’t know until she spoke with him. She had thought that every element was the same for everyone, but apparently there were vast differences within each one. Uckey had used fire as an example, saying that they could have an explosive temper, matching up with what she would expect from the dangerous element, and their use of the power would be equally as dangerous. But others could have a warm and friendly disposition, and their fire could help nourish those around it.

Hoping that this fire shavren was one of the latter, she raised her hand in greeting as she passed him by. He nodded at her and turned to walk back inside. Sighing in relief Sarena turned to face forward again.
That wasn’t too bad.
She thought.
If that’s what I can expect from the rest of them then this should be an easy trip.

The village itself wasn’t that big, only around three dozen buildings spread throughout a clearing near the edge of the forest. There were still plenty of trees in the village, and surprisingly there was none of the stench she had expected from when people begin to gather together. Even Garland Keep hadn’t been able to escape that in the outdoor areas. The shavren people were walking about on their own business, all of them stopping to take a look at the strange visitor on the even stranger horse. Sarena thought she might have been imagining it, but more than a few of them looked to have a hostile expression on their face, while some looked at her with pity.

She continued to head toward the largest building in the village, where there were the most shavren gathered. Uckey had thought it would be a good idea to visit the local tavern, which also doubled as an inn, and try to find out more about the time period. He suggested she try and find a place to sell some of the extra pelts from the blue beast also. Sarena wasn’t sure she wanted to part with them, but she had to admit a bit of coin would be nice. Her clothes were the same ones she had been wearing since escaping from the keep, and what had started as a light tan color had instead became a mottled deep brown from all the blood stains. No amount of washing would ever save these clothes. There were rough patches all over from the constant repairs she had been forced to make.

Dismounting Uckey and leaving him to do as he wanted outside, Sarena stepped into the tavern and looked around. A counter stretched along the wall of the right side of the room, with round tables and chairs set up throughout the rest of it. It was only midday, so there weren’t that many patrons yet, but still more than a dozen men and women were seated and eating while talking merrily. The sound reminded her of the meals she used to have back home, with soldiers generally being loud and lively every day. Everyone in the room looked unique, no two having the exact same shade of hair color, and all of them with eyes to match. They all had looked up and paused in their meals when she entered, once more giving her pitying and hostile looks, making Sarena even more curious about their reaction. A burly man in an apron and dark brown hair, including a full beard, stepped out from behind the bar and walked up to greet her, his face showing none of the pity or hostility that everyone else seemed to have.

“Welcome stranger!” He greeted her with a deep voice while smiling, “I am Asbin, owner of this inn. What brings you to my fine establishment today? Are you here for a meal or do you plan to stay longer and require a room?”

Sarena stood there awkwardly for a moment, unsure of how to reply. It was her first time coming to an inn like this, and she hadn’t been expecting anyone to walk up and begin talking to her so suddenly. Her plan had been to find a table to sit at while she listened to the conversation around her - admittedly suspicious, but with her lack of means to pay she didn’t really have many options.

Seeing her discomfort, the large man spoke up again, “The first drink is on the house to strangers, helps to spread the word about the quality of service here.” He winked one of his solid brown eyes at her, the sight of it almost making her burst out laughing.

“Might as well accept it,” Tyrus spoke in her mind, “I’ve never seen a more welcoming aura than this man. He genuinely wants to make you comfortable.”

Unable to hold back a smile, Sarena’s dark mood from the morning was forgotten as she replied, “That would be wonderful, but I’m afraid I’m light on coin right now. I do have some pelts I could part with, but I’m not sure where I could trade them in this village.”

Asbin’s face showed a hint of surprise for a moment before he opened his mouth to reply, but before he could say anything another voice broke in to the conversation.

“Pelts? What kind do you have? I might be willing to buy them off of you if they are a decent quality,” A small man with pale blue hair and a hooked nose stood up from the table closest to the entrance, walking over to the two of them.

Sarena was unsure of how to reply. While she had been hoping to get some information on where to sell the pelts, she hadn’t expected a buyer to pop up as soon as she mentioned them. It took a moment for her mind to catch up with the situation, and without thinking about it she drew on her wind element from Tyrus to calm herself, forgetting about the restriction Uckey had given her.

As soon as she had drawn in the wind the eyes of both Asbin and the short man went wide in shock, their mouths hanging open slightly. If not for the confidence granted from the wind she would have been too confused to answer.

“I’ve left them with my horse, but if you want to step outside I can show them to you. I can guarantee they are unlike any you’ve seen before,” she replied calmly, ignoring the incredulous looks on their faces.

“You-how are you doing that?” The blue-haired man stuttered. “Aren’t you one of the magicless?”

“The what?” Sarena asked. Then it hit her. The pitying looks, the hostile ones, they were all because they thought she had no magic. Uckey had even said that they looked almost identical to humans until they began to take on the aspect of their element. If they didn’t have any magic though, they would just look like a normal human. Just like her. That explained the pity, but she wasn’t sure about the hostile still. Was there a prejudice against those without magic here?

“Tell them you were unable to use magic until recently. Uckey says that very rarely a child is born with a block that they don’t overcome until later in their life. Not as late as you, but it should be a good enough excuse,” Tyrus sent to her. He had been staying in contact with Uckey outside in case something unexpected happened.

“I was born with a block that I wasn’t able to get past until recently,” Sarena quickly said, “and I’m still fairly new to my power, so I haven’t begun to change yet.”

A look of understanding passed between them, while those who had been close enough to hear their conversation began to nod and whisper quietly to each other. The silence that had permeated the room since she entered was dispelled, and the interest in her was gone along with it.

“Of course, of course, I was just surprised. I haven’t heard of anyone awakening to their power at such a late age, but the proof stands in front of my eyes,” said the short man while nodding. “Let’s go take a look at these pelts of yours. I want to see if they truly are as outstanding as you say.”

Without any hesitation the man walked past them and towards the door. Right before exiting he turned and spoke, “My name is Ropal. A merchant if you hadn’t guessed by now.”

“I suppose you’ll be waiting to take me up on that free drink until later then,” Asbin said with a laugh, “You can trust Ropal to give you a fair price for your pelts. Probably not a good price, but fair. He’s been trading with our village for years and never cheated us.”

“Thank you,” Sarena said with a small bow. “You’ve been very helpful. I’ll definitely be back for that drink, and a meal if I can help it.”

Stepping outside, Sarena saw Ropal staring at Uckey, warily eyeing his vicious looking horns. He glanced at Sarena for a moment when as she walked up next to him before speaking.

“I don’t know if I would call that a horse. Looks more like a demon to me,” he said.

“Uckey is harmless, he only attacks when I tell him to,” she replied confidently, walking over to the saddlebag she had made with more of the pelt from the blue beast. Reaching in she pulled out her last two rolls of the tough pelt, each enough to make a cloak from. The fur was short, barely an inch long, but softer than the smoothest silk. She tossed one of them to Ropal. His eyes widened as he stared at the fur in his hands.

“Remarkable. I’ve never felt such a soft fur, or seen one with this coloring. And the size of it, whatever this came from must have been at least the size of a wolf. You were able to take it down on your own without magic?” Ropal asked, his eyes glancing over the rest of the gear on Uckey, obviously surprised at the amount of fur that had been used.

“No,” Sarena answered while shaking her head, “the battle with the beast is what awakened my magic in the first place. Without that I wouldn’t be here right now. They are tough enough to protect against most blades and arrows, and will keep you warm when made as a cloak.”

Ropal stood holding the fur silently with eyebrows raised. After a few moments had passed he nodded to himself and spoke. “I can give you twenty gold for each one. They are worth more, but I can’t afford any more than that. I’ll barely be able to make it to the capital to sell them as it is after spending that much.”

“Take the offer, Sarena,” Uckey suddenly spoke to her, almost making her jump, “Forty gold was no small sum in my time, and if it’s enough to beggar a successful merchant then it should more than cover our costs to reach Stewrix.”

She frowned for a moment, trying to make it look like she was considering his offer instead of just jumping at it right away. “That sounds reasonable, but I’d also like some information. We can talk over a meal can’t we?” Sarena gave her best smile, unable to hide the eagerness in her voice at the prospect of a meal that wasn’t dried meat.

A flash of surprise crossed Ropal’s face at how easily Sarena had accepted, but immediately disappeared into a broad smile of his own. “It would be my pleasure. Tovern may be a small village, but Asbin’s wife is the best cook for a hundred miles. Not even the royal chefs can match her, or so I’ve heard; I’ve never actually been to the palace.” He turned back to the tavern and led Sarena back inside, walking back to a table in the corner. Asbin looked at them as they entered and grinned at Sarena.