The Ways of Mages: Starfire (6 page)

A rock smacked the sill outside Teran
a’
s window. Terana peeked out between the shutter panes. Down in the street below, she saw the two twin boys who were her biggest tormentors. Terana clutched her fist hard. She wished desperately that the boys would simply go away.  Another rock came to tap the window.  This time the rock bounced off of the shutter that blocked the window.
Leave me alone!!
She wanted to shout. The rock that had clacked the shutter swerved to fall right between the twins. On the dirt ground it cracked in two. The halves struck each boy in the leg with enough force to draw blood. Terana stared as other rocks around the boys shattered. The twins stared around in panic. They did the first sensible thing she had ever seen them do; they ran. She felt odd. It was
n’
t everyday that rocks decided to crack for no reason. 

“
Are they bothering you again
?”
Jeremy asked from the doorway. Terana looked at him a moment before answering.

“
Jeremy, the day they stop bothering me is the day they accept me
.”
She sighed shaking her head
.“
And we both know the likelihood of that
.
”

Jeremy grimaced. He knew. He knew perfectly well that the town
s’
people would never accept Terana
.“
Who was it
?”
He asked.

“
You had better not do anything to them, Jeremy
.”
Terana said warningly.

“
Them
?”
He asked. She realized her mistake when his eyes turned hard. He knew exactly who she spoke off
.‘I’
ve had enough of those twins.
I’
m going t
o
…”

“
Jeremy no
!”
Terana grabbed his arm before he could leave
.“
Do
n’
t let them have a reason to ruin your future. At least do
n’
t let me be the cause of it. Besides, they left already
.
”
 
She only let him go when he relaxed and submitted to her pleas.

Jeremy sighed as he walked into the room. Terana had not noticed the tiny sack he was carrying until he dumped it out on her bed
.“
At the very least, we need to decide what we are going to do with Trouble here
.”
Zeeve toppled out of the bag. He swayed for a moment, and then glared at Jeremy
.“
I found him in misses Pa
n’
s garden. And would
n’
t you know it, he was talking
.
”

“
Zeeve not talking loudly
.”
Zeeve replied defensively
.“
Zeeve was just muttering
.
”

“
Muttering loud enough that passerby could hear
.”
Jeremy clarified
.“
Terana, he ca
n’
t stay here
.”
Terana looked at him sharply. Zeeve gave a strangled cry that sounded very much lik
e‘
what!
?
’
“
He is making your life even harder
.”
Jeremy continued.

“
That may be, but he is still my friend
.”
Terana told him softly.

Jeremy sighed
.“
A friend would
n’
t do this to you. He would stay where he was supposed to
.”
While he said this, Jeremy gave Zeeve a meaningful look.               

“
Zeeve do
n’
t want to go nowhere
!”
Zeeve cried
.“
Zeeve can stay in room
!
”

“
I doubt it
.”
Jeremy told him
.“
You could
n’
t before
.
”

“
Zeeve could and Zeeve will
.”
The moleci sat on the bed stubbornly with his arms crossed.

“
Terana, you know perfectly well that he ca
n’
t
.”
Jeremy appealed to her sensibility
.“
He needs to go
.
”

“
Where do we put him
?”
Terana asked.

“
Right here
.”
Zeeve informed her.

Jeremy overrode him
.“
In the forest somewhere
.”
He thought for a second
.“
Hey! What about the Room? You know, the thicket
?
”

Terana thought about it. No one knew about it, but Jeremy and she. It was thick enough to offer shelter. It was perfect. The only problem was getting there. She said as much to Jeremy.

“
That is a problem. Perhaps at night would be best
.
”  

“
Jeremy! Terana! You have to come see this
!”
Mira cried, her voice coming from the stairwell.

“
What
?”
Terana asked as she quickly shoved Zeeve under the coverlet.

Mira was practically jumping out of her skin. Her eyes were large in wonder.
 “
There is a stranger in town
!
” 
 
Zeeve, who was crammed under the blankets, could not figure out what was so fascinating with a single stranger. Strangers came and went all the time. What Zeeve did
n’
t know was that Plarn had not seen a stranger for nineteen years.

‘
What? A stranger
?”
Terana and Jeremy asked together.

“
Yes
!”
Mira squealed and raced back toward the stars. Jeremy glanced at Terana.  She smiled and tried to run past him.

He grabbed onto her arm
.“
Oh, no you do
n’
t
!”
She struggled to free herself, but Jeremy pushed her playfully away from the door and raced out of it himself.

“
You rogue! You cheat
!”
She called as she raced after him.

“
Wait
!”
Cried Zeeve
.“
Zeeve stuck! In blankets! Wait
!”
By the time Zeeve surfaced, the two were long gone
.“
Nice. Zeeve feel loved.
Really
loved
.”
Still muttering he made his way down onto the floor. 

“
Fresh eyes can repair the damag
e…
At least they can point out those things we are just are too blind to see
.”
- Unknown

Down in the sunlight of the square the tow
n’
s people were gathered. All had turned out to see the rare sight of a stranger. They waited excitedly as the man rode in. The man was well built and stocky. He looked to be in his late twenties. The ma
n’
s looks were kind of exotic, what with his white hair cropped close to his head. The white hair was marveled at. How did a young man have white hair? His eyes were a clear grey. His mount was a dappled grey gilding. He smiled good-naturedly as he halted his horse.  Terana could have sworn that some of the girls next to her sighed.

“
Good day
.”
He said cheerily as he dismounted.

“
Good day, sir
.”
Said the headman of the town
.“
Welcome to Plarn, stranger. Who are you and what brings you here
?
”

“
I am Kadrean
Né
aina, a healer of Razya
n’
s Keep. I was hoping to rest my horse for a while before I continue to Ronair
.”
The headman nodded with a slightly creased brow. Few of the town knew what Ronair was let alone where. To their reasoning it was a small town somewhere else in the mountains. In truth it was the economic and political capital of Marlhema. In other words, a
big
city.

The town healer, Missus Herverb, spoke up
.“
Yo
u’
re a wizard
.
”

A woma
n’
s snort followed that announcement
.“
There are no such things as wizards
.”
Said Lila Seedman, the headma
n’
s wife. Lila was a portly woman who had to be the worl
d’
s most annoying, empty headed gossip. Maybe that was a bit harsh, but she was a gossip and she was a bit slow
.“
Those who call themselves wizards are nothing more than charlatans
.
”

“
You are foolish to say such things
.”
Herverb responded.

“
Yo
u’
re a healer
.”
Lila pointed out
.“
And you are
n’
t a wizard
.”
Lila turned to Kadrean
.“
I hope you have not taken offense. She is nothing to worry about. Please, you can stay with us
.
”

“
Thank you, lady
.”
The stranger said to her with a slight bow. She grinned at the title. Terana felt sick.  The headman and his wife led the stranger to their home. Slowly the rest of the tow
n’
s folk went back to their daily chores and spoke of nothing else for the next week.

Well almost nothing else.

“
I wonder where he came from
.”
Jeremy said curiously
.“
I wonder what he has seen
.”
He looked at Terana
.“
You have to admit, he has the look of one well traveled.

Terana raised an eyebrow
.“
And how do you know what a well-traveled person looks like
?
”

“
I do
n’
t know. He was dirty
?
”

Terana rolled her eyes
.“
Jeremy, we used to get really dirty playing in the woods. And, in case you have forgotten, we are not well traveled
.
”

“
No, bu
t…
still
.”
Jeremy put his hands into his pockets
.“
He looks like he has seen interesting things. 

Terana shrugged. She agreed with that.
 “
Where do you think his horse will stay
?
”
 
She asked, enjoying the sunshine.  It was nice to be outside and not pestered.

It was Jerem
y’
s turn to shru
g“
Like you to worry about the horse.
I’
m sure the headman will let it stay in his sheep barn
.
”

“
Nice of you to wait for Zeeve! Zeeve feels really loved
!”
Zeev
e’
s voice came from behind. Terana whirled around and looked down. Zeeve stood behind her and Jeremy, tapping his foot. His expression cross. Teran
a’
s own expression was horrified. Jerem
y’
s as well.

“
Zeeve
!”
Terana hissed. She looked around, panicked. Here they were in broad daylight, in the middle of town, no less
!“
What are you thinking
!
”
 
What were they to do?

Jeremy had been trying to make her act normal. He then nudged her with his elbow to alert her to the fact that some of the children were watching. Mir
a’
s friends pointed at Zeeve and screamed. The twin boys, Eric and Rick, swooped in. Eric scooped the startled Zeeve into his hand. He then held Zeeve above his head and shouted
.“
TERAN
A’
S YELPING SPIDER! TERAN
A’
S YELPING SPIDER
!
”

“
Eric Pan, give him back to me
!”
Terana demanded.

“
Gimme, gimme never gets
!”
The two boys jeered.

“
Give him back
!”
Terana cried. She lunged for Eric. He jumped out of her reach and threw Zeeve to Rick.  

“
Terana! Zeeve need help! Zeeve was
n’
t meant to FLY
!”
Zeeve cried as he was tossed from boy to boy. Rick threw Zeeve to Eric, but Zeeve never made it. He was instead caught by the stranger who stared at Rick and Eric with a disapproving glare. None of them had seen the strange
r’
s return. The rest of the town watched expectantly.

“
Wha
t’
s all this? Tossing a living creature like i
t’
s a doll; you two should be ashamed of yourselves
.”
The stranger told the boys.

“
Why
?”
Challenged the bo
y’
s mother, Goody Pan
.“
The girl is at fault, not them. She is old enough to know not to bring wild animals home
.
”
 
Terana felt her cheeks warm with hatred and humiliation.  Why were they all like this? What did she do? It had always seemed to her that the town worried constantly about their outward appearance. Now they did this in front of a stranger.  Did they not worry about what the stranger would think of them?

“
ZEEVE IS NOT A WILD ANIMAL
!”
She bellowed at the stupid woman wh
o’
s eyes widened at the venom in Teran
a’
s voice. Teran
a’
s ears buzzed. Goody Pan recovered enough to turn her look smug
.“
Ca
n’
t you see that? Besides what does it matter to you? You find anything and everything to be somehow my fault and not theirs
!”
She pointed at Rick and Eric. She could hardly see their smug faces through the tears of her frustration. She took several sobbing breaths to calm herself.  She turned to the stranger. His eyes were wide and his lips slightly parted in shock. Terana swallowed.
 “
Thank you sir, for saving my little friend
.”
She curtsied to him
.“I’
ll take him now
.”
She held out her hand which Zeeve jumped into. As she turned to leave this hateful scene, she gave the twins a glare that sent them back a few paces.  She ignored everyone. Including Mira, Jeremy, and her parents. Jeremy started to take a step forward but was held back by father. Jeremy started to argue, but father silenced him.

Terana headed to the wonderfully tranquil eaves of the forest. It beckoned to her to be embraced in its safe shadows and glades. She came readily.

“
Zeeve
,”
The little moleci looked timidly up at her. She had never shown him her true feelings about Plarn
.“
I am sorry that you were treated like that
.”
She looked over her shoulder at the village that she wished would burn. Unbeknownst to her, smoke trickled between the stones of the well before one of the town
s’
women accidentally spilled water on it. Terana turned back to the forest and sought release for her pent up emotions. She told Zeeve everything that she kept from Jeremy simply because her brother was as trapped as she was.  She described every childhood grievance. How people talked behind her back. How all the other kids found ways of framing her for everything they did wrong. And how their parents where too willing to believe every lie. And that was what bothered her the most; the lies that were allowed to exist despite the obvious truth. She vented until late afternoon.

She had a lot to say.
             

After a brief silence, Zeeve changed the topic
.“
That man is a nice man
.
”

She was taken slightly aback. What was he talking about? Then she remembered the white haired, grey eyed stranger
.“
That he is. And, now since we are out here, le
t’
s get you to the thicket
.”
She mumbled distractedly.

“
But Zeeve like Plarn
!”
Zeeve complained.

Terana stopped and held him away from her
.“
Have you that bad of a memory? You where being tossed around! Not to mention being called an animal! I think it is quite clear, even to you, that you ca
n’
t stay there
!
”

“
Yes, but I could stay in house and pretend
I’
m not there
.”
Zeeve persisted.

“
You idiot. Yo
u’
re never going to be able to do that
.
”

“
But Zeeve do
n’
t want to live in woods
.
”

“
But how am I going to keep a little terror like you safe
?
”

“
Lock Zeeve in room
?”
He suggested.

“
Mmhmm Yeah, w
e’
ve been through this. No
.”
As soon as her mouth finished forming th
e‘o’
, Zeeve wriggled out of her hands and flopped to the ground. He stood instantly and raced off through the underbrush
.“
Zeeve
!”
Terana called. She ground her teeth as she stared after him
.“
Stupid little Moleci
.”
She stalked off through the trees toward Plarn, muttering about how they should call Moleci
s‘
Stupi
s’
o
r‘
Idoioci
s’
instead.              

***

The Dark Council

Reflections of poisonous green light rippled over dark, glassy stone. The dim, sickly flickering light fingered the edge of bone chairs and sightless eyes and empty smiles. The light skimmed over the dark table with its evil bloated glyphs.

The young dragon skulls were smooth under his hands. Annoyance bristled through him. But he kept it to himself. The glyphs upon the table burned a deeper red and flashed. His servants and kin came in a line, heeding his silent call. His twelve, minus one, bowed to him. They then took their seats. Many of them shifted nervously, feeling the thickness of the air. Acedia, the Lady of Apathy kept glancing over at Ava
r’
vresh, the Lord of Avarice as if he knew what was going on. The Master of Gluttony, Gul
a’
dar looked past his thick stomach at the table. A frown furrowed his brow. It was as if he wished desperately to summon more food to cover the bare table, like he normally did at Council meetings. But he dared not to, for that would anger his master. Shame he was prudent this dark night, the leader of the Dark Kin mused sullenly.