Metal mage 5, p.4
Metal Mage 5, page 4
If I squinted, I could make out a rocky embankment not far ahead on the right, so I guided Bobbie through the thick brush to bring us into the shadows of the rocks just as the sky shifted to a deep blue. The giant boulders were tucked in a glade of towering trees, but it was too dark to make out much detail in the surroundings. Still, I could see there was an alcove where the boulders met and that it formed a sort of open-faced cave.
“We can camp here,” I said as Bobbie rolled to a stop outside the alcove.
After a week in the Draconis Mountains, I’d expected the night to be silent when the engine cut out, but the drone we’d listened to for the past five hours was replaced with a strange chirping. It didn’t sound like the chirp of crickets, but more like the chirp of an army of frogs mixed here and there with the high screech of a hawk. The noise seemed to come from all throughout the dense forest, and the four of us remained where we were for a long moment as we listened to the nightlife around us.
“That’s beautiful,” Cayla said at last.
“And loud,” Aurora returned. “How are we supposed to sleep with all that going on?”
I took my hands from the handlebars and slowly dragged my palms along the half-elf’s inner thighs. She let out a soft chuckle when my fingers found the cleft between her legs, and I pulled her tight against me as my lips brushed her ear.
“I could tire you out,” I murmured and was pleased to feel the woman’s skin warm by several degrees in my grip.
“It’s worth a try,” she answered coyly, and Cayla giggled behind us.
The princess loosened her legs from around me and dismounted with a tired sigh. “Food first,” she groaned. Her pale limbs glowed in what was left of the light in the sky, and she stretched languidly with a little moan of relief.
Shoshanne immediately followed her with an enthusiastic, “Yes please.”
I reluctantly released my hold on the half-elf, but I left a little bite on her earlobe before we joined the other women. We walked around the embankment of boulders a few times to get our muscles back in order, and I guessed much of the ground was covered in moss by the spongy feel beneath my feet.
It was surreal to feel a warm breeze and smell the dankness of fresh soil around me again, instead of snow and ice and hard ass rock. I could even roll up my sleeves without the hairs on my arms getting frost on them.
The moon had just risen and sent a yellowish glow through the trunks of the trees, and by its soft light I could tell the ferns dominated the forest around us. Their curling fronds overlapped and made odd shapes that shifted in the breeze and cast dense black shadows beneath them. It was almost cozy to see the fullness of the land encircling us, and I let out a satisfied sigh as I dropped down with my back against a large boulder.
Aurora started a fire for us outside of the alcove with strange and twisting branches she’d found in the brush. The flames illuminated a halo of earth and showed that the ground was covered in a thick layer of moss that rose and fell in little mounds. There were old felled logs littered around the small clearing, and the occasional shallow puddle where the moss thinned out.
The boulders around me were smooth and much paler than the rock in the north. I remembered what Thrungrig had said about the rocks in the southeast being too soft, and my curiosity was peaked as I dragged my hand along the smooth surface.
I called my magic up, and just as my arm began to tingle, I felt the boulder at my back warp easily under my will. Compared to the mountain I’d ripped apart with Pindor, it was like wrinkling a piece of fabric. The pale rock felt light as it reshaped itself, and not a single crack appeared on the face when I shifted and pushed the sides in on themselves, so the boulder gained well over five feet in height.
“I don’t suppose you’d feel like making us a dinner table?” Cayla called, and I turned to see she had hoisted one of the bags of food out of the sidecar.
“Not at all,” I said with a grin. The rock was pliable enough in my hands that a large chunk easily came loose from the side of the boulder, and I held it suspended as I moved closer to the edge of the fire.
The new rock felt fantastic to work with, almost like I’d switched mediums completely. I began to form a round table like a potter with a wheel and let the rock turn slowly before me while I smoothed the edges and flattened the surface out. Then I brought a pillar down from the center and broadened the base against the mossy ground to balance the weight of the stone table.
I decided to mix it up with the seating, mainly because the moss was so damned comfy, so I raised four squat mounds of dirt and was careful to work slowly so the moss wouldn’t split or flake away. By the time I’d finished, we had a rustic table that looked fit for elven knights, and I carefully dropped down onto one of the mounds to test it out.
“Oh hell yeah,” I sighed. “I should line Bobbie’s seat with this stuff. It’s like sitting on … well, moss. But tell me this isn’t the cushiest moss you’ve ever felt?”
Shoshanne let out a husky chuckle as she joined me at the table, but her eyebrows rose as she settled on to her own seat. “Okay,” she said with a smile, “this is actually the softest thing.”
“Right? I know what I’m making our bed out of tonight,” I mused, and I sent a wink to the caramel beauty.
Cayla had insisted we bring a pan for cooking fresh food on this trip, and I was glad she did as the smell of simmering meat drifted toward the table. The princess sat on the moss beside the fire with her long legs curled to the side, and her brows were furrowed in concentration.
I smiled at the sight of her. Even while cooking, you could tell she was royalty, and it felt a bit like an honor, the way she looked after us so often.
“You want us to help with that?” I offered, but as I began to stand up, Cayla waved me off with a glint in her eyes.
“No way, I want to do it,” she laughed. “I used to pretend I lived in the wild when I was a little girl, it drove my father crazy. I’d sit right down in the mud in the courtyard, with my dress all bunched up, and make disgusting cakes out of sludgy mud and rocks.”
“Hey me too!” Aurora chimed in. “But I definitely didn’t have fine dresses on.”
“We did sand pies on the island,” Shoshanne giggled. “I used to put shells around the edges for crust.”
“Back in my realm, I was all about forts,” I added. “The boy scouts took trips to the woods, and we had to build shelters in different styles out of sticks and branches. We were allowed to bring rope sometimes, but mostly we worked with the elements.”
“What’s a boy scout?” Aurora asked as she settled herself on one of the mossy mounds. Her eyes popped when she did, and she nodded her approval with a little wiggle of her hips.
I chuckled as I watched her. “Boy scouts were troops of boys who had a leader to teach them about surviving in the wild and being good members of the community. Looking back, it was probably the closest I ever came to feeling like I was in my element,” I mused. “Same way you all wanted to be in the wild, I suppose. It just felt right.”
Cayla craned her neck and spoke to us from the fireside. “My father had a lot to say about the right and wrong of it,” she said with a smirk. “He thinks the races who live in the elements are unrefined. It’s insulting, really. I mean … look at the dwarves. They have their homes in the capital, but Thrungrig and the miners make their own way in the mountains, and it’s so much more impressive I think.”
“I agree,” Aurora said with a nod. “To build yourself and your home up from nothing but what’s within reach is admirable. Especially without the use of magic.”
I hadn’t expected it, but at the mention of the dwarves and their home in the mountains, I actually got a little nostalgic. There was silence between us for a moment, and then I said, “It’s weird to leave the dwarves.”
“I was just thinking the same thing,” Shoshanne admitted. “They were so kind. I’ve never met anyone like them. Granted, I’ve been more sheltered than most, but I still think they’re finer than many others I’ve met.”
“And their ale … ” Cayla moaned as she flipped a slab of meat over, and the following sizzle sent off an aroma that made my stomach growl just to smell it. Then the princess rose, dusted the bits of moss from her back side, and joined us at the table.
“The ale and their hospitality were definitely welcome surprises,” I chuckled.
“Even more so after all that nonsense about them running us off cliffs,” Cayla added as she propped her elbows on the tabletop.
“Maybe we’ll be as lucky with the elves,” I offered, but their eyes were instantly wary.
“I don’t know, Mason,” the half-elf warned. “You saw that letter, and the dwarves are misunderstood mostly because they live in such remote and barren lands. They guard their lands carefully because of the wealth they gain from the mines, but it’s different with the elves.”
“How so?” I asked.
Aurora scrunched her brows while she thought this over, but Shoshanne spoke first.
“They don’t guard their lands, for one,” she informed us. “The Order of Pallax used to come right across the border to harvest the medicinal plants they needed, and no one was ever cautioned against it. It was the creatures that made it dangerous, not the elves.”
“That’s true … ” Aurora mused. “When I did manage to get across the border, when I was younger, the elves I met treated me like I was less than a fly, but they were mostly farmers. They didn’t even bother to tell me to get lost or out of their lands. They just sneered and ignored me.”
I was instantly irritated to imagine my beautiful half-elf being treated as lowly, but nothing would compare to the pure rage the people in Toroth had shown. I still wanted to rip their throats out of their necks just to think of the ambush they tried to pull, as well as the hateful words they’d thrown at Aurora. I reached out to gently brush the Ignis Mage’s arm, and she sent me a reassuring smile.
“Don’t worry,” she said. “I’ve had a little while to prepare for coming here now, and the more I think it over, the less nervous I am. I am half-elf, and even if that makes me less than garbage in their eyes, it’s better than being considered a threat.”
I could see the logic in it, but I hated the way it sounded. She deserved to be hailed right up there with the princess in my opinion.
“And I think it could actually help us out,” Aurora continued.
“How?” Shoshanne asked, and her eyes looked a bit saddened by the words about the treatment of the half-elf.
Aurora’s emerald eyes sparked as she leaned forward a bit, though, and she spoke in a conspiratorial way. “They don’t care about me, I’m nothing to them,” she began, and I winced at the words. “I mean, they seriously work at not noticing me. So, if it comes to it, I can slip under their radar in a pretty important way. Think of it, Mason.”
I cocked an eyebrow, and the half-elf shifted to face me.
“You’re all clearly human, so they’ll most likely be openly hostile,” she went on. “They’ll watch you wherever you go. But me? They’ll turn their back, and I can basically do as I please, if we’re lucky.”
“That’s a good point,” I admitted, and I scratched my beard as I thought over what this could mean. Still, without knowing much about the elves, it was hard to know what to do with the half-elf’s allowance.
“You said these were mostly farmers you met?” Shoshanne asked, and Aurora nodded her head.
“We don’t know what the elves of the council are like, though,” I said. “Not really. It’s mostly rumors and conjectures we’re going off.”
“True,” Cayla said, “and I think we should stay as open minded as possible.”
Aurora rolled her eyes. “You guys go ahead and be open minded,” she muttered. “I’m gonna keep my ears out and my chin up.”
“Good.” I smirked and nudged her gently on the arm. “I hate the thought of you being shoved aside,” I told her earnestly, “but if there’s even a scrap of good that comes from the shit way they treat you, we’ll absolutely use it to our advantage, I promise.”
The half-elf smiled at the idea and gave a curt nod. “That’s all I ask,” she said. “Whatever there is waiting for us in Rhoemir, I’d like to at least know we’re prepared on all fronts. And in my own way, I could be an important asset, beyond my Ignis magic.”
“Agreed,” I returned.
Cayla rose to check on the food, and a pleased smile spread across her face. “It’s ready,” she sighed.
Shoshanne hopped up and went to gather the few silver plates we’d brought from the dwarven kitchens, and the two women sorted the food.
“This is the only fresh meat I brought along,” Cayla said as they handed the plates around. “So, we’ll have to do some hunting along the way, but in the meantime, enjoy some venison, courtesy of the dwarves.”
The salty meat practically fell to pieces in my mouth, and the grease of it had fried the greens that she served with it to perfection. It even had the smoky flavor I loved in my camp food.
After only a few bites, the princess returned to the sidecar once more, and this time she came back with a giant jug in her arms.
“Wine?” she asked.
“I thought we were bringing the essentials only,” I laughed as the jug dropped heavily to the table top.
“It’s dwarven wine … ” Shoshanne sighed. “Of course it’s essential.”
“The only thing we’re missing is cups,” Cayla hinted, and all three women looked to me expectantly.
I chuckled and stood up. “Yeah, that’s why Thrungrig loaded up the sidecar,” I said as I made my way to Bobbie. “To craft goblets for my women along the way.”
I dug through the many chunks of metal in the bottom of the sidecar until I found a decent hunk of gold. When I returned to the table, the plates were being refilled, and I set the metal down on the stonework.
I felt the magic trickle down my arms and surge in my fingertips, and the gold began to hover as it separated into four lumps. I decided to go for classic tumblers about five inches high, but I used the same slow turning method I’d tried out on the table, and it created shallow grooves in the surface of the gold that spiraled upward toward the lip. When I’d finished, the golden tumblers gleamed in the firelight, and the deep red glow of the wine Shoshanne filled them with made it all look nearly fine enough for the elders of Aurum themselves. Although, I thought the lack of gaudy gems made it a touch classier and fit the circumstances better.
We had just settled in for a second helping of venison when Aurora’s eyes snapped up to the trees, and her lips parted slightly. A look of wonder came to her face, and we all turned to see what had caught her eye.
The moon was higher in the sky now, and the light of it was dappled through the leaves of the trees, but this wasn’t what we noticed first.
It was what the light caught on.
Dozens of wings flashed in the moonlight and fluttered down from the treetops toward the flames of our fire. I realized they were moths as I watched them flit around, but they were at least three times bigger than any moth I’d ever seen. A few came to rest on the surface of the table, and as they lazily folded and unfolded their wings, the soft dust that coated their bodies shimmered with iridescent blues and purples.
Shoshanne extended a slender finger toward one of the moths, and she angled it to run gently along the feathery antennae. When her finger met with the feathers, there was a sharp sound like a zap, and she jumped to pull her hand away.
“It shocked me,” the Aer Mage laughed.
“Seriously?” I asked, and of course, I reached out to try it for myself.
The moth on the edge of my plate didn’t even move when I brought my hand closer, so I carefully tapped my finger on the strange antenna. The zap of blue light arced from the antenna to my finger and over to the golden rim of the cup, and I felt an odd surge of magic when the three connected for the briefest moment.
“Woah,” I breathed. I pulled my hand away quickly, and the moth remained exactly as it was. It seemed unphased by my prodding, as well as by the strange electricity that had just formed a circuit between us.
“What are these called?” I wondered out loud, but before I could raise my eyes to the women around me, I heard the half-elf’s sword unsheathe, and in the blink of an eye, she brought it down hard on the table between Cayla and Shoshanne.
Everyone jolted in surprise, and the moths took off toward the treetops. For the briefest moment, the noise of the creatures in the forest ceased, but by the time Aurora brought her sword back across the table and wiped something from its blade, the strange chirping had risen again.
Shoshanne gasped and leapt out of her seat, and I finally saw what had happened.
Two heads wriggled in the shadows near her plate, but whatever body they’d been connected to was nowhere to be seen. The eyes protruded from the skulls and darted in every direction, and while it flopped around on the stonework, I realized the two heads were joined in a single neck.
“What the fuck is that?” I demanded.
Cayla curled back her lip and prodded the thing with the tip of her knife to send it toward the center of the table. “It’s still alive … ” she muttered.
“Yeah it is,” I replied. “What the fuck is it?”
Aurora snorted next to me. “Whatever it is, it’s resilient. Are those scales or what?”
“Looks like it.” I peered closer at the two heads, and the firelight illuminated a strange magenta sheen on what was left of its body. The eyes flashed yellow in the centers, but with every twist and turn, they became less shifty until they finally stopped looking around all together.
The heads lay still in the center of the table while a puddle of goo I couldn’t make out the color of oozed from its severed neck.
Aurora sent a flame out, and the corpse ignited in a blaze that shifted from orange to pink before it fizzled out with a spurt of green. There was only a pile of ash left when it burned out, and we all exchanged glances.
