“What do you have in mind?” asked Laetícia.

  “Perhaps a kraken?” offered Grand Admiral Sónnel. “One as big as a dozen ships should do nicely.”

  “I like the idea,” said Inthíra. “But I can only create something that looks like a giant kraken. My illusions can’t actually toss vessels around. A kraken that appears and simply flails its arms around without causing any destruction is only a limited distraction.”

  “Could you hide a great dragon’s presence with your illusions?” asked Sónnel. “Zûrafiérix could effectively mimic the damage caused by a kraken.”

  “I could,” said Inthíra. “But it would be wise to have help. We should see if Merry can join us.”

  “I can assist,” said the amber-robed wizard standing behind Queen Signý.

  “Thank you for your offer, wise counselor,” said King Bjarni. “You can form ad hoc gates, too. That means we can travel with a somewhat larger party…”

  “…to check multiple locations for Valentius,” said Mafuta.

  “And still get everyone home safely,” said Queen Signý.

  “That’s all well and good,” said Laetícia. “But what if Zûrafiérix can’t get there in time to be useful? We don’t know how fast she can swim.”

  “Then I suggest we ask her,” said Grand Admiral Sónnel.

  Chapter 34

  Dust in the Wind

  Eynon bounded into the kitchen, preceded by a squawking raven on the wing. Corvi was indignant that Eynon hadn’t stayed put and allowed her to fetch Rōlin and Peregrína to confirm he had recovered enough to be out of bed.

  “I’m glad you’re feeling better,” said Peregrína from a counter on the far right, where she was nursing a dozen healing potions through the final steps until they were completed.

  Rōlin was standing by the sink, washing fresh berries for dinner. “Are you hungry?” he asked.

  “I’m starving,” said Eynon. “You wouldn’t have whole flathorn roasting in an oven somewhere, would you?”

  “Just a wisent haunch for tomorrow,” Rōlin replied. “Will that do?”

  “What will you and Peregrína eat?” Eynon responded with a smile. He was pleased to feel well enough to joke.

  “Let me see your wrist,” said Peregrína as she left her rack of potions to lift Eynon’s arm. She held his wrist up and inspected it closely. “The swelling is gone,” she said. “Is it tender?” Peregrína pressed both her thumbs into Eynon’s wrist.

  “Careful,” said Eynon. “I’d like to keep my hand attached to my arm.”

  “Your wrist doesn’t hurt?” Peregrína asked.

  “No,” said Eynon. “But there’s something strange about my vision. I’m seeing thousands of colored sparks drifting in the air.” He rubbed his eyes and stared at Peregrína. “Your magestone is glowing like a wizard lamp, too.”

  “Caw!” said the raven.

  “So are your feathers, Corvi,” Eynon added.

  “What about me?” asked Rōlin as he turned to face the young wizard.

  “Your magestone is so bright it looks like you have a piece of the sun embedded in your chest,” said Eynon.

  Rōlin touched his magestone and smiled. “It’s not warm enough for that.”

  “Don’t tease the lad,” said Peregrína. “It’s not funny. Do you think it’s a reaction to the megapede venom?”

  “It could be,” said Rōlin. “The sparkles in the air could be magestone dust blowing down from Melyncárreg.”

  “You did say there might be some odd effects from the venom,” said Peregrína, looking fondly at her husband before turning to Eynon. “And you haven’t seen magestones or magestone dust like this before you were bitten, have you?”

  “I’ve seen magestones,” said Eynon. “Or perhaps it’s more like I’ve sensed them, really. They didn’t shine like wizard lamps.”

  “Most wizards can sense other wizards’ magestones,” Peregrína replied. “It takes skill to hide them so they’re not seen. But seeing magestone dust is something different.”

  “So I’ve gathered,” said Eynon. “I’m not sure I like seeing it, either. Do you think the effect will wear off?”

  “I don’t know,” said Rōlin. “My father’s notes didn’t say anything like this happened to the person who was bitten—but they weren’t a mage. Can you do more than see magestones and magestone dust?”

  “I’m not sure,” Eynon replied. He tightened his jaw in concentration.

  “Be careful,” said Peregrína.

  “Caw!” said Corvi. The raven retreated beneath the kitchen table.

  Eynon stretched his arms and moved his hands in circles as if he was conducting a room full of musicians. The magestone dust in the kitchen coalesced into glowing polychromatic streams that flowed around the kitchen in interweaving strands so bright Rōlin and Peregrína had no trouble seeing them. The two older wizards felt their magestones growing warm and saw their usually soft glows expand like hot blue flames.

  “Outside!” shouted Rōlin. Peregrína opened the kitchen door and Rōlin hurried Eynon through it. They watched the swirling multicolored strings of magestone dust surround the young wizard and lift him a dozen feet into the air without help from his flying disk, which was still inside. More magestone powder from the atmosphere around him seemed to seek out Eynon. Particles of blue and green and black and purple and red and amber added themselves to the ever-changing ripples of dust, making Eynon seem both taller and much more massive.

  “What’s happening?” Eynon exclaimed before the dust surrounded his head and neck. “How am I flying without my flying disk?” His arms kept circling involuntarily. They seemed to be drawing more and more sparkling dust to the glowing aura that surrounded Eynon. “I feel like I could defeat all the Emperor’s forces singlehandedly,” he said. Eynon’s voice seemed as distorted as his body looked through the haze of magestone dust. It felt like it was rising an octave. “The dust is full of power,” he said quickly, “and so am I!”

  “Careful,” said Rōlin. “I thought you were trying to learn your limits, not become even more overconfident.”

  “It’s not overconfidence when you really do have enough power to destroy armies,” said Eynon. The dust started to circle his throat.

  Peregrína thought Eynon’s face looked both exultant and worried. “Channel the dust away from you,” she said from her home’s back porch. “You’re not strong enough to control it.” Peregrína watched Eynon’s expression alternate through cycles of fear and exhilaration as he struggled to keep the crackling energy of the dust from overwhelming him.

  “Direct the dust at the top of the mountains,” said Rōlin. He pointed at the saw-toothed range of snow-covered peaks to the west. “Don’t release it anywhere nearby, or you might kill us all.”

  Eynon closed his eyes, put his palms together in front of him, and directed a tremendous blast of magestone dust-fueled power at the distant serrated mountains. Like a blow from an immense sword, the blast carved a new indentation into the side of the tallest peak.

  Peregrína’s mouth opened, but no words came out. She saw clouds of new sparkling magestone dust rush in to replace what Eynon had released. “Don’t give up,” she said. “Find a way to master the dust.”

  “I’m trying,” said Eynon. The syllables shot from his mouth like arrows from a fast archer’s bow.

  “It’s not the dust itself that’s causing the problem,” Rōlin told Eynon. “Somehow you’ve triggered every grain of magestone dust to open a congruency to a source of magical energy.”

  “That feels right,” Eynon replied. “But what can I do about it?”

  “Displace it?” Peregrína suggested.

  “Good idea,” said Eynon. “Displace it where?”

  Corvi chose that moment to fly out of the kitchen and perch on Peregrína’s shoulder. “Caw!” said the raven insistently. “Ca-ca-ca-caw!” The bird raised one wing and pointed toward the east where a shape on the horizon was rapidly growing larger.

  “Dragon!” exclaimed Rōlin.

  “Kârk!” croaked the raven.

  Seconds later, the huge rust-colored dragon was hovering above them. “Corvi said I was needed,” Kârkingórēx told Eynon. “Let me share your power!”

  Without questioning how the raven got word to the dragon almost instantaneously, Eynon balled his hands into fists and brought them to his sides, no longer drawing more dust toward him. He slowly descended until his feet touched the ground as he gained a measure of control over the cloud of magical particles around him. “Brace yourself,” he said, directing a coherent stream of energized magestone dust at Kârkingórēx.

  When the flow cut off, Kârkingórēx was sparkling like a rainbow of ice crystals. Eynon’s glow was muted, except for a vivid purple emanating from his neck where the red and blue of his magestones combined.

  Corvi launched herself toward the dragon and landed on his scaly head. Within seconds, the raven was also sparkling.

  “Thank you, young mage,” said Kârkingórēx. “You’ve given me and my weyr a great gift.”

  “Uh, you’re welcome,” said Eynon. He was able to control the much smaller cloud of magestone dust now surrounding him without much difficulty.

  “Until we meet again,” said the dragon. Kârkingórēx twisted until he faced northeast.

  “Safe travels…” Eynon began to say, but Kârkingórēx and Corvi were already nothing but colorful specks in the distance.

  “I’ve never seen Kârkingórēx move so fast,” said Rōlin.

  “He’s never worn a cloud of magestone dust before,” said Peregrína.

  “What just happened?” asked Eynon.

  “You’ve obviously unlocked new capabilities,” said Rōlin.

  “But I nearly had to die from megapede venom to do it,” said Eynon. He stretched and blinked, then rubbed his eyes. “That was very strange. Can we go back to something ordinary, like learning more spells from On Wizardry now?”

  “If that’s truly what you want,” said Peregrína. “Is your vision still compromised?”

  “I can still see magestone dust in the air,” said Eynon. “But it’s much less noticeable than it was before.”

  “Good,” said Rōlin. “Let’s hope it doesn’t distract you from learning the Mule, the Locusts and the Hedgehog.”

  “Can we start with the Skunk?” asked Eynon. “I want to know how to counter dragons. I have a feeling I may be needing that knowledge in the very near future.”

  “Of course,” said Peregrína. “So long as you don’t try it indoors.”

  “I won’t,” said Eynon. He took a deep breath and savored the smell of roast wisent wafting from the kitchen. “Can we eat first?” Eynon asked.

  “Certainly,” said Rōlin. “You can set the table.”

  “And I can finish my healing potions,” said Peregrína.

  “The way things are going, I expect we’ll need them,” said Rōlin.

  Eynon reluctantly nodded, acknowledging Rōlin was likely correct. He followed his hosts inside and put trenchers made from split loaves of day-old bread at three spots on the kitchen table. Eynon rubbed his forehead but didn’t speak.

  “What is it?” asked Peregrína as she turned away from putting corks in potion bottles.

  “Ummm…” said Eynon.

  “How many pronghorn sausages do you want?” asked Rōlin.

  “Five or six, if there are enough,” Eynon answered, glad to have the temporary distraction.

  “The lad has a question for us,” said Peregrína. “Stop serving sausages and listen.”

  “Yes, dear,” said Rōlin.

  “Now that I’ve had time to think about it, could we please explore my new abilities after dinner instead of learning spells from On Wizardry?” Eynon asked.

  “I was hoping you’d say that,” said Rōlin. He carried a platter of scrambled eggs with scallions to the table. “We don’t want to wait before we investigate, since your remarkable new talents are nearly as rare as hen’s teeth.”

  “Pass the eggs, please,” said Peregrína.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Eynon replied. He followed Peregrína’s instructions, passed the platter, and started buttering two thick slices of toasted bread to occupy his hands until the eggs came back to him. With his eyes sparkling, Eynon asked, “Are there any leftover apple-honey tarts for dessert?”

  Chapter 35

  Second Fleet

  Admiral Pixo was pleased Sírénae had assigned Second Fleet twice its usual complement of wizards, despite the fact that many of them came from the barely competent thirteenth cohort. Even minimally-skilled wizards could generate wind to help his ships reach Moraría Bay in just over a day’s sailing. He knew the bay was the gateway to the broad Moravon river and Tyford, the second city of Dâron.

  Pixo completely approved of Sírénae’s plan to strike deep inside Dâron and capture the stores, supplies, and slaves the emperor’s forces would need until the fall crops could be harvested six months or more in the future. I pulled all the illusionists I could find, too, thought Pixo. They’ll keep our ships hidden.

  He remembered the emperor’s words earlier in the day when she’d authorized the illusion mages and thirteenth cohort.

  “Pixo,” said Sírénae. “Stealth and speed will ensure the conquest of Tyford. More wizards will provide both. Use them wisely.”

  “Yes, my Emperor,” Pixo had replied. “You can count on me.”

  “I hope so, for your sake,” said Sírénae. She ruffled Thraxa’s feathers and gave Pixo a hard look. “Just be victorious. I’d hate to have to break in a new admiral.”

  “Yes, my Emperor,” said Pixo. When Sírénae was in that sort of mood—which was often—it paid to be deferential and say little.

  * * * * *

  Several hours later, Admiral Pixo and Lieutenant General Belisaria had seen to the transfer of the additional wizards to Second Fleet. Pixo knew these wizards were skilled in illusion magic and would help disguise the fleet’s movements up the bay and the Moravon. Manipulating the winds was a common skill among Roma mages, even ones in the less-than-competent thirteenth cohort. They’d all be able to help the fleet make excellent time to the shores of Orluin.

  Now they were sitting on either side of a wide chart table. Pixo’s spacious cabin aboard the Menodorus Maximus, the flagship of Second Fleet, was designed for both comfort and utility. The admiral unrolled a map of Dâron on the chart table and moved brass weights into place to hold down the corners.

  “You know the general outlines of our mission, don’t you?” asked Pixo.

  Belisaria leaned forward to review the map. “Of course,” she said. “I understand the wisdom of taking Tyford, but why aren’t we occupying the estates south of the city and seizing their supplies as well?”

  “The emperor wants to travel disguised by illusion magic, so we’re not seen, then take Tyford first,” Pixo answered. “The warehouses there should be well-stocked, and once the city is taken, we can sail south again and gather supplies from much more lightly defended towns and villages. The emperor wants Tyford’s fall to come as a complete surprise to our opponents.”

  “And if we pause to collect supplies farther south on the river, we won’t be able prevent word of our arrival from preceding us,” said Belisaria.

  “Exactly,” said Pixo.

  “How effective is illusion magic at hiding ships?” asked Belisaria. “I’ve had wizards assigned to me use it to make my forces seem larger, and to disguise small ambush parties, but I’ve never seen it used for hiding anything as large as Second Fleet.”

  “Sírénae assures me we won’t be seen,” said Admiral Pixo. “It helps that we’ll be sailing at night for most of the trip.”

  “Is that safe?” asked Belisaria.

  “A few wizards with lenses that let them see in darkness will fly ahead of the fleet and warn us about shoals and islands,” said Pixo. “We’re fortunate that Moraría Bay and the Moravon are both well charted.”

  “If you say so,” said Belisaria. “I’ll still wait to have my soldiers put on their armor until we’re nearly to our destination.”

  “That’s your prerogative,” said Pixo. “Just tell them to be quiet putting on their loricas. I don’t want clanking plates or chiming mail echoing across the water to give us away.”

  “I’ll pass the word to my commanders,” said Belisaria.

  “It probably won’t matter that much, considering how lightly Tyford should be defended,” said Pixo. “Even if they do hear us coming, there’s not much they can do about it.”

  “True,” said Lieutenant General Belisaria. “It sounds like my legionnaires won’t have too much to do at this stage. From what we’ve heard from Umbrose’s agents, most of Dâron’s army is still in the east near Brendinas. Tyford’s leaders will see they can’t stand against us and should surrender the city.”

  “If they have any sense,” added Admiral Pixo.

  “Which is never assured with Orluin barbarians,” said Belisaria. She smiled and Pixo could see why Machaera had selected her for her position. Belisaria’s smile reminded him of a hungry wolf staring at a spotted fawn.

  “We can hope they’ll be sensible,” the Lieutenant General continued. Belisaria rubbed her palms together. “If not,” she said, “we’ll have to take the city.”

  “We’ll also have to load most of the supplies we capture on cargo vessels and transport them to Nova Eboracum,” said Pixo. “Our forces occupying that city will need them. We can fend for ourselves by raiding up and down the Moravon and the farms along the bay.”

  “I expect we’ll have to do that quickly, though,” said Belisaria. “Before King Dârio can bring the army of Dâron west.”

  “True,” said Pixo. “But Dârio isn’t king of Dâron any longer. He’s king of Tamloch.”

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45