Sworn To Transfer (23 page)

Finally Lord Mage Meres spoke. “May we speak with the survivors?”

Alexandra’s grandfather nodded.

Turning to his group, Meres said, “Vana, Ciardis, and Alexandra, we shall split up and converse with the fallen here. Understand their stories, see if we can find out more about the shadow man, and, most importantly, see if any residual magic lingers from the attacks.”

Julius said angrily, “You don’t think we’ve done that already?”

“It cannot hurt to have a second set of eyes,” said Lord Meres.

“Let them,” commanded the old man.

As Vana, Ciardis and Alexandra walked among the victims they each spread out to cover a different section. At first Ciardis was hesitant. She’d never dealt with victims of war before. Everyone she saw had some kind of wound marring their bodies and all had grief-stricken eyes. It was enough to send her running from the area. But she mustered her courage. If they could survive such brutal attacks the least she could do was speak to them, hear their stories and perhaps help them with their grief in a small way.

As hours passed Ciardis spoke with dozens of individuals from griffins to
cardiara
to sylphs, but the one that struck her most was the tiny merchild lying listlessly in a pool of water. She looked down into the face of a young girl who had lost everything—her memories, her passions, herself
.
Her eyes were vacant even though her body responded. The healer who cared for her said, “She was attacked so brutally that she retreated inside herself. We believe she saw her family die, as well. She’s been like this since we found her in the river.”

As the noon sun faded, Lord Meres took note of all of their stories. Ciardis and Meres walked away from the grounds and along a small path. He asked her to expand on her visit with the mergirl she had seen.

“That’s the only one of an aquatic nature that I’ve noted,” Lord Kinsight said.

“Is that significant?”

“I don’t know,” he said, heaving an irritated sigh. “I wish I did. There are just too many unknowns about these incidents. But if we knew
why
the mergirl was the only one attacked in the water, perhaps we could postulate on the limitations of the creature or person attacking the others...this shadow man.”

“But with her unable to answer questions...”

“We can’t even do that,” he said. “But I will still alert Imperials authorities in Sandrin of what has been found so far.”

Ciardis nodded and prepared to walk back.

“Ciardis...” Meres Kinsight said hesitantly. “There’s one other thing.”

She stopped and turned to look at him, hearing the uncertainty in his voice.

Shifting on his feet in obvious unease, he nevertheless looked her straight in the eye as he said, “As you know, a few months back I was ill. I’m better now, but at the time I withdrew my petition to act as your Patron.”

Ciardis was surprised this was what he wanted to talk about, and a little uneasy. She wasn’t looking for a new Patron.

Hastily, he added, “And I don’t want to renew that interest.”

At her raised eyebrows, he amended, “Not that you aren’t lovely. I’m just...not in a place in which I can assume those responsibilities now.”

Ciardis face twitched in amusement, but she kept her composure.

“Of course, Milord,” she murmured soothingly.

He cleared his throat. “Very well. I’m glad we were able to speak about this.”

They were joining the others when the patriarch of the Panen – Julius and Alexandra’s grandfather – caught up to them. 

With a heavy sigh, he said, “There is one other thing you must see.”

Vana raised her eyebrows in question. “More death?”

“Not precisely,” he said with a gaze that could read souls. “But it is just as important to the forest and the people.”

“Grandfather, do you mean at the center?” said Alexandra.

“Yes,” he said while coughing, “If there’s any chance that a journey there will help
kith
survive we must allow them to go there.”

“Very well,” said Julius, “We will escort them.”

Vana muttered to Meres, “Do you know what center they’re talking about?”

“No,” he whispered back with a furrowed brow.

“Perhaps it’s best you tell us more about what you want us to see first,” Meres said aloud.

Alexandra and Julius exchanged hard glances.

“It might be best for you to see for yourself rather than have us explain it. But know it is important to the pact,” Julius replied.

“If we are going we must do so quickly before the day passes anymore. It’s a long walk,” said Alexandra.

At Ciardis’s hesitant look, Alexandra said, “Terris will receive the best care in the healer’s center. What she needs is rest and quiet. You can provide that by coming with us.”

Ciardis nodded, “I’m ready then.”

They gathering their hiking attire and followed Alexandra into the forest. 

After a short while Ciardis fell back to walk beside Meres. “What pact?” she asked him.

“The bond between the Imperial family and the Ameles Forest is among the strongest natural bonds in the entire empire,” Meres responded, pushing past heavy vegetation. “Each time a descendant is born—”

“They receive a piece of land and imbue it with their powers and care for it for eternity, yada, yada, yada,” said Ciardis with an eye roll.

A smirk crossed Mere’s face. “So you’ve heard of the bond? Not surprising, you being the Prince Heir’s Companion.”

“I’m not his Companion,” said Ciardis. “I’m just a trainee assigned to the Prince Heir’s service.”

“Assigned by who?”

“Myself, for now.”

Meres’s snort of disbelief was audible, but Ciardis chose to ignore it. She looked ahead to glimpse the others, who had ranged quite a distance in front of them. Vana had paused and bent down to examine a beautiful flower with wide, thick pink petals as large as Ciardis’s waist. As they caught up to her, Ciardis caught her first unpleasant whiff of the plant.

Wrinkling her nose and backing up a step, she said, “Vana, what is that? It smells like death.”

“Carrion flower,” said Vana, eyeing it with immense interest. “I’ve never seen one in person before. It’s quite good for masking scents.”

“No kidding,” said Ciardis sarcastically. “Can we leave the plant be?”

Scrapping off a sample, Vana stood and held out a mocking hand in front of her. “After you.”

Ciardis walked quickly to catch up with Alexandra and Julius, taking in the surrounding forest. It was a sea of greens, browns, reds, and colors she could never put a name to. Her feet moved automatically, crushing fragrant flowers and releasing their fragrances in the air.

“It feels as hot as summer here,” she said to Alexandra.

The woman smiled back at her. “The Ameles Forest is what you would call a rainforest among your people. It is always humid and hot, with plants that grow year ‘round.”

“But we’re not more than fifty miles inland from the coast and the city of Sandrin,” Ciardis said in disbelief.

“Does that matter?”

“I don’t know,” admitted Ciardis. “But shouldn’t it? If I were walking the city streets back on the coast now, it would be cold. I mean, without the tricks the Weather Mages can produce.”

“That’s true and possibly the very reason you have such unnatural weather,” said Alexandra.

Ciardis was sure she’d just been mocked, but she was more concerned with whatever her cloak had just gotten tangled in. Tugging on it with increased might wasn’t working. She finally turned and prepared to manually disentangle it from whatever shrub had caught hold of it, and then she saw the long, furry legs that were currently encroaching on the bottom of her blue cloak. She screamed bloody murder.

Unfortunately, the eight-legged monstrosity that was currently staring up at her with its pincers of doom didn’t flinch. She grabbed the cloak again to give it another tug, hoping to displace the five-pound spider from its perch but having no such luck.

“Ciardis,” Alexandra warned. “Stop tugging; you’re going to annoy it. You don’t want to do that.”

She released the cloak with a whimper as Alexandra walked in front of her and stared her in the eyes. “Stay still. I’ll cut your cloak. If it goes for your neck, I’ll stab it.”

Comforting words, that.

To distract herself while the cutting was going on, she looked over Alexandra’s shoulder at Julius.

“They go for the neck with a paralyzing toxin in their fangs,” he said in answer to her unspoken question.

Except she hadn’t asked and she hadn’t wanted to know. Whatever happened to delusional blindness?

Alexandra cut through the left shoulder of her cloak with ease and switched over to the right, where the spider was currently perched.

“You cut the cloak and hand it over quickly,” said Meres quietly. “I’ll fold it over the spider to keep it from running at anyone else.”

“Can’t you talk to it?” said Vana sarcastically. “You know, since it’s not moving or anything.”

Meres’s eye twitched, “Wouldn’t be a bad idea, but moon spiders are notorious curmudgeons. Even if I did talk to it—him—he’d probably just get angry.”

Ciardis was really not appreciating the jokes right now.

“See the design on its back?” said Meres excitedly, pointing out the white crescent shaped on its back.

Nor did she appreciate excitement over a thing that might possibly kill her in the next few seconds. And then it was over. Alexandra snapped off the edge of the cloak shoulder and tossed it quickly to Meres, who quickly wrapped up the struggling spider in its depths and tossed it into a deep crevice in the forest floor.

They walked farther until they saw something that shone with the glint of metal in the sun. A square enclosure appeared in the midst of the forest, conspicuously out of place with its straight wooden posts. From inside muffled cries came. It was the sound of a hurt creature.

“There’s a griffin inside,” Alexandra said, resting her hands on the wooden enclosure.

“A griffin?” asked Ciardis curiously. “What’s that?”

“A
kith
with the body of lion, the long, daggerlike claws of a
hurak
, and the wings as well as head of an eagle,” Julius explained. “She’s the last of her kind in the forest and carrying kits, which makes her extraordinarily valuable.”

Frowns were beginning to show on the faces of Meres and Vana. They didn’t like where this was going.

“How do you know it’s a griffin?” said Vana.

“Because we put her in there,” said Julius.

“What?” snapped Meres as he pushed forward, angry and defensive. “Griffins are sentient creatures. How dare you.”

“Of course she’s sentient,” Alexandra said turning to him.

“This is the mate of the dead griffin in the killing field. Griffins are magical creatures and we couldn’t restrain her in her grief,” she continued. “She attacked
kith
and human alike indiscriminately in her rage. Two of our people died under her claws.”

“If she is maddened by the attack—” said Vana slowly.

“She is not without her sense,” said Alexandra, “but she will also not respond to our efforts. She must rise from the fury she is in.”

Julius said, “She is the last of the griffins in the Ameles Forest. The others have been wiped out in the shadow attacks.”

“All of them?” asked Ciardis while looking over at them with a startled look on her face

“There were over thirty mated couples of griffins in the forest a few months back,” Meres said his hands balled into fists and teeth gritted. “How can this be?”

“Are any of the other
kith
races facing such dire straits?” said Vana.

“No,” replied Alexandra. “It’s just the griffins..”

“Now you see why we have done all that we could to protect her,” Julius said. “It’s your turn to act Kinsight. If she stays in this battle rage, the kits inside her will die.”

“And I suppose you brought me here to speak to her?” said Meres with anger in his voice.

“That’s the idea,” said Alexandra.

“Well, we have a problem. This enclosure is blocking my reception,” said Meres. “You need to open the gate.”

“Can’t do that,” said Julius, leaning against a tree. “This is the only thing keeping her contained. If it’s opened, she’ll be released magically and physically. One more chaotic episode could leave more individuals dead as well as agitate her enough to remove all chance of saving those kits.”

Ciardis was aware that she’d been brought along for one primary reason. She was a portable amplifier of sorts, and she didn’t feel offended. Stepping forward, she put her hand on the wood, looking for the griffin’s mage core. But all she could see was a web distorting her vision like a cloth had been put over her eyes.

Ciaris turned away from the enclosure to say, “This enclosure. If feels as if it was built to keep individuals out as well as well something confined inside. Why can’t I feel the griffin’s magic?”

Julius and Alexandra exchanged wary glances. Alexandra said, “The Princess Heir used this enclosure to keep something trapped inside. She never said what and we didn’t question her. Her mages came and made sure no one could pry magically or physically from the outside and whatever it was couldn’t escape from the inside. The enclosure emptied on the same night of her death.”

“And this whole mess with the shadow creatures started,” said Julius bitterly.

“You think one had to do with the other?” asked Lady Vana.

“I think it’s a hell of a coincidence.”

M
eres looked at Ciardis and put his hand on top of hers.

“At least you can feel the barrier,” he said. “Perhaps if you act as a conduit we can broadcast my thoughts through to the struggling mother inside.”

Ciardis nodded and put her hands back on the enclosure. She closed her eyes and opened her mind to the protective invisible barrier that vibrated under her fingers. She couldn’t feel the griffin or see it in her mind, but she saw the wild burst of magic emanating from the griffin’s core.

It wasn’t so much a sign of agitation as it was the feel of natural, wild magic. Human mages trained, pruned, and bound their mage cores so much that the presence was muted. In fact, it was considered a social affront to leave your magic leaking in a presence of another.
Or a sign of a pompous twat
, Ciardis thought with satisfaction while she remembered a certain count’s son who took joy in puffing up like a peacock and displaying his magic for all to see.