Dark Magic (19 page)

Epilogue

It was a cold day when the troll and the changeling caught up with Mari. She had taken a room at the Inn in Riverton and bought herself some fine clothes. She finally had that beautiful calico dress she’d wanted for so long. But at night, alone in her room, she cried when she ran her hands over it, remembering her old life.

Piskin introduced himself by hopping into the windowsill and leaning against it with his one good hand.

“Good evening, madam,” he said.

She sucked in her breath and startled badly, dropping her fine dress.

“Oh now, don’t be fearing the likes of Piskin. Don’t you know our folk and yours are allies now?”

“Yes,” she said, picking up her dress from the floor. She had never dealt with one of his kind before, but she knew them to be tricksy and dangerous. What did this manling want? “You just startled me, appearing in my window like that.”

She walked over to her dresser and opened it, making as if to fold and put her dress away.

Piskin watched as if bemused. “What are you about, missy?”

She pulled out her ash leaf ward, triumphantly. She put the thong around her neck.

“You’ll not harm me now.”

“I’ll not harm you in any case, rest assured.” As he spoke, he came to stand on her bed. He eyed her ward closely.

“I think you had better leave now,” she told him.

“I don’t think so.”

“Get out or I’ll scream.”

“If you do, I’ll tell them what you did to that poor old gram in the Haven woods.”

At this, her mouth hung open. She was dumbfounded.

“Did the crone send you?”

He laughed. “Hardly, she’s stone dead.”

“How?”

“You should know. You released the thing in the chimney. You did the very thing she begged you not to do.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Are you the thing from the chimney?”

He laughed again. “No! Don’t they teach Haven children how to tell a troll from a gentleman of the Wee Folk?”

“They will take my word over yours. You have to get out.”

Piskin sniffed. “What about your recent, ah, good fortune? Where
did
all that money come from?”

“None of your business.”

“Quite right. It is the business of the Riverton Constabulary. They will get to the bottom of all this. Let me see, what clues do we have? A mysterious, violent death of a rich, elderly woman… followed closely by the disappearance of her maid. And lastly, the reappearance of said maid on a buying spree in Riverton….”

Mari sat down heavily upon the bed. “What do you want?” she asked.

“Why, to be your friend, of course!” he said.

Mari nodded, finally understanding. “You want part of the money.”

Piskin shook his head and rolled his eyes. “Never! What I want is your welfare, miss. Let me just plainly tell you, as I see you have not guessed yet.”

“What?” asked Mari, perplexed.

“Puck sent me,” he whispered, “to look after you.”

“Puck?” she asked, and her heart swelled. She almost burst into tears at the mere mention of his name. She had heard nothing from the elf for so long. “But why did he not come himself? What is he doing?”

She had a thousand questions which Piskin waved away.

“My dear, you must understand. What he did was forbidden, even to a lord of the elves.”

“Puck is a lord?”

“Why yes, didn’t you know? I had thought that’s why you consented to…. Well, never mind. What’s done is done. But I’m here to help guide you and look after you.”

And so Mari confided in Piskin, and told him everything she knew.

* * *

Later that night, after the maid had gone to sleep, a heated conversation took place out upon the window ledge.

The troll reached for Piskin, who naturally danced away. “I’ll not have you lay a hand upon her, she who released me from years of torment in the hag’s chimney.”

Piskin sputtered in exasperation. “Why else did you help me hunt her down?”

The troll shrugged. “For this very purpose. You sought her, and I sought to prevent you from harming her with that single, pale hand of yours.”

Piskin grew thoughtful. “I don’t truly wish any harm to your maid.”

Dark eyes drew into distrustful slits. “Why else would you hunt her with such single-minded zeal?”

“Would it ease your mind if I only wanted what the maid carries in her belly? Not even all of that, mind you. Just a drop or two of its blood.”

“She and her child are all of one piece. How could you bleed one and not harm the other?”

“I am a patient person.”

The troll snorted. “Then you would be the first of your kind to boast such a virtue.”

Piskin appeared to ignore the insult, although it did sting. He made a promise to himself that this tricksy troll would be the first to dissolve into a puddle of squirming flesh once he had full control over the Red Jewel.

On the surface, he donned a smile for the troll’s eyes to gaze upon. “I can wait. It will not be long before the child departs from her.”

The troll thought about it. “I owe her child nothing. You may do as you will with her spratling. Just do not harm the maid.”

Piskin smiled until his teeth were slowly revealed. “We are in agreement then.”

A curl of sharp white claw touched his arm. Piskin did not jump away as was his instinct. To do so would have made him appear guilty of secret thoughts.

“But have a care that you don’t forget your promise, charlatan.”

“Oh, have no fear. Every detail of our conversation has been recorded in my mind.”

The troll nodded and withdrew the offending claw. He seemed satisfied, having totally misunderstood Piskin’s meaning.

* * *

Cunningly hidden in the Everdark was a quiet alcove that few creatures knew of. The niche had been recently carven by rock-melting flame. It was close enough to the lava beds to be permanently hot, but not so close as to burn its sole occupant. Inside the alcove, a long time after the rest of the world had stopped worrying about it, a huge, leathery egg stirred.

The small, raspy-voiced dragon tore its way to freedom and cried, but no one came to aid it. In time, the creature realized it was alone, and left the alcove in search of its first meal.

The Everdark was now home to a new female dragon with shining scales of blue and eyes of startling green.

End of
Dragon Magic

by

B. V. Larson

Translated from the
Teret,
the compendium of Kindred wisdom:

This is my first entry into the sacred Teret. Herein, I will attempt to inscribe what wisdom has come to me during my centuries.

As both clanmaster of the Talespinners, and Queen of the Kindred, I’m a unique case in our histories. No Talespinner has ever been selected as monarch. This puts me in the delicate position of both creating history and recording it at the same time.

Let me first speak concerning my rise to the monarchy—it came too late. The Kindred must be ever watchful, ever suspicious of frivolous deviations from tradition. That is our nature and our way. However, as I reflect now, I believe we waited too long to select a new monarch. As is always the case when a new monarch is chosen, I am taking the reins of power in a fitful era. Since the Pact between the River Folk and the Shining Folk was broken, we have entered a time full of strife and change. In the future, I implore my distant descendants to watch more closely for rising new dangers. We must select a monarch and awaken from our natural slumbering state when the world sees fit, not when we do.

Secondly, I will detail the plans for my reign: I hope to be a Queen apart from those who lived before me. I do not hope to be a builder, but rather a
great
builder. One who is remembered for having grown our cities deepward beneath the Earth’s crust. One who leaves behind marvels of sculpted rock that will cause gasps of admiration for generations to come. I do not make idle boasts here! With the aid of Pyros, the Jewel of Flame, I shall do as I have described. Already, I have achieved a great deal of mastery over the Orange Jewel, at the cost of being left with only scraps of hair and unburnt skin. But my personal sacrifices are well worth it. I shall uplift our folk, and those folk who we count as allies, into a Golden Era.

Lastly, my mind turns to thoughts of war. Our enemies are legion. They must not be allowed to stand. I am no warrior, but no one will say upon my passing that I was afraid to lift an axe.

And so I say to my subjects: If you are of the Mechnicians, ask not what to build. Simply build that which ticks inside your mind.

If you are of the Talespinners, ask not what song to sing. Voice the tune that burns in your stout heart.

And if you are of the Warriors, ask not which enemy to slay. Take up your axe, my Kindred, and
slay them all!

—Queen Gudrin of the Talespinners, written circa the Fifth Era of the Earthlight

Chapter One

A Single Candle

Piskin stood on the dresser, watching the other two occupants of the room as they slept. His arms were crossed. One wrist ended in a stump, the other ended with fingers that tapped at his elbow.

He was in a foul mood. He had wasted a great many days with these two, and he was determined to change his fate this very morn.

Dawn broke outside the room’s sole window. A fresh breeze ruffled the curtains and allowed the first beams of pink light to stream inside. It was a cool day of early spring and birdsong could be heard.

The maid Mari slept fitfully upon the white-sheeted bed, a picture of loveliness. Under different circumstances, Piskin would have been as anxious as a new father. In times past, he would have been urging the birthing process to hurry so he might take the infant’s place at her breast all the quicker. But alas, with a hand missing and with promises made to the likes of Oberon himself, such an easy way through life was closed to him.

Complicating matters was the room’s last occupant, the troll. Piskin’s eyes slitted like those of an angry cat when he gazed upon the black furry mass that lay curled upon the floor around a bedpost, snoring ever so softly. One would have thought the little monster was the maid’s loving hound.

Piskin had serious obstacles that stood between him and gathering the Red Jewel. Two of them, to be exact. To achieve his goals, he needed the blood of a half-fae. Oberon had told him that only such blood would cause the hound to come to him. To coax the bloodhound, he needed to fill a bowl with the blood of Mari’s half-fae child. Said child was yet unborn, but this was easily solved with a bit of knife-work.

The first obstacle held back his hand: The ash leaf ward. She wore it as if it were a string of fine pearls. She even slept with it on, more was the frustration.

There are ways around a ward, naturally. He could cause her death without directly touching her. A stout walking-stick, well-placed as she descended a tall flight of stairs, might do the trick. Pregnant women were off-balance naturally and a goodly fall could expedite the birth if not outright kill her. If the brat were stillborn, so much the better. He needed its blood, not its bawling. Such a fall might damage the ward as well, which was withered and dry.

But he was unable to even attempt such maneuvers due to the second obstacle: The troll. The vile thing wouldn’t take the clear hint that it was an unwanted third wheel in this relationship. Try as he might, Piskin had yet to dislodge it from the maid’s presence. The troll slept nightly at the foot of the bed, body curled around the bedpost, claws twitching if Piskin so much as took a step toward the maid. As good as his stealth was, the troll’s senses were better. One would think that having spent a decade in a stovepipe would have dulled its senses and mind. One would think, in fact, that madness would have taken any normal creature so tormented for so long.

Piskin imagined that with the troll’s nerves burnt away, its long flirtation with death had left it in a sleeping state, like a hibernating beast surviving a very long winter. It had spent years somewhere between life and death. Most trolls, Piskin knew, would have perished permanently after an hour’s contact with flames, but not this one. As if another demonstration of the world’s unfairness toward him were necessary, Piskin found himself haunted by the most fire-resistant troll in the land. This troll was a special breed, and perhaps only a vat of acid would do the trick.

This last thought made Piskin tap a finger upon his tapered chin speculatively. If he could get this beast down to the tanner’s, and somehow tip it into the vats, just possibly his troubles would be done. Often, a creature which was unusually resistant to one form of death was highly susceptible to another. Unfortunately, such creatures were also often aware of the weakness, instinctively. If he took the troll anywhere near the acrid stench of the Fob vats he’d probably balk.

The troll shifted in its sleep. The long white claws clicked.

A new thought spawned in Piskin’s slippery mind. Perhaps, right there within the very thing that haunted him, lay the answer to his troubles. The exit to this foul maze. Perhaps, he could use the troll to his advantage.

The troll protected the maid, whilst the maid was further protected by her ward. There was something, once properly employed, which would destroy one and drive the other.

It was a risk, but Piskin was impatient like all his folk. He was a creature of action, not patience. He plucked up the candle on the dresser beside him and cupped the tiny tongue of flame. Sitting in a brass dish with a glass globe around it, the taper had burnt low during the night, its fuel almost spent. But it would be enough. Very little flame was needed for his plan.

Holding the candle close, he burnt his single good hand. He sucked his teeth, wincing at the stinging heat of the candle in his hand. He hopped to the windowsill and trotted along a ledge to the nearest drainpipe. From there, he negotiated the leap to the roof of the stables, which stood behind the Inn proper.

The hay inside the stables was long, yellow and quite dry. The stable boy lay sleeping in the loft. Piskin smiled to think what a rude surprise was about to unfold upon the oaf.

With stealth and a wide grin, he set about firing the stables. Soon, flickering tongues of yellow light danced over the haystacks. The horses, nickering and sidestepping at first, began to scream and kick.

The mysterious springtime fire of Riverton, which would be talked about for years to come, had begun.

* * *

Oberon continued sulking for weeks after Piskin had made his dark deal and left him. He sat atop the tallest tree in the most tremendous forest in the known worlds: the Great Erm. In that fantastic forest beetles resembled legged boulders and vines grew thicker than tree trunks. The tree trunks themselves were monstrous.

Oberon had retreated from everyone and everything. He entertained no one and allowed none to attempt to entertain him.

Myrrdin, Oberon’s wayward son, had come to visit, but had not been received. He sat at the bottom of the mountainous tree waiting for his sire’s signal to ascend. This signal had not yet been given. Myrrdin continued to wait for a day, and on into the next.

Piskin had managed to climb the tree weeks earlier, but that had not been allowed by design. The very point of this locale was solitude. Myrrdin was too heavy to climb the spidery thread of silver that hung to the bottom of the tree, and Oberon was too stubborn to allow his son to come up. And so Myrrdin sat at the distant foot of the trunk, while his sire sat on the very top. For a full day and then a second, this impasse continued.

Oberon had expected his arrogant son to use Vaul’s powers to ascend. It would be a simple matter for the wielder of the Green Jewel to coerce one of the fantastic growths of the Great Erm to carry him upward. But Myrrdin did not. Nor did he leave in a huff, the second most likely option, after growing tired of being ignored. Myrrdin’s patience, more than anything, caused Oberon’s curiosity to grow. What might Myrrdin have to say that would make him wait so patiently, so politely, for his sire’s attention? What news might he bear? What thoughts had his twisty mind conceived?

At the finish of the second day, Oberon relented and allowed the silver rope to drop downward, until a thick enough portion lie in Myrrdin’s presence. Within a few minutes, the slightly-winded, half-fae wizard stood on the platform with his sire.

“Milord,” said Myrrdin, speaking first as Oberon said nothing. “I’ve come with news from abroad. Have you listened to the gossip of the wisps?”

“Nay,” said Oberon, “I’ve listened only to the sigh of the winds and the rains. No wisp has been allowed into my presence.” He left out all mention of Piskin on purpose, not being sure of Myrrdin’s loyalties. If Piskin were to be successful, which seemed highly unlikely, the Wee One needed at least the element of surprise.

“Milord,” said Myrrdin, looking troubled, “have you heard of the recovery of Pyros?”

Oberon’s head rose slowly. His silver eyes sought Myrrdin’s face. This was news indeed.

“Tell me of the Orange Jewel’s fate.”

Myrrdin fidgeted. Clearly, it was bad news, as he would not have been reluctant if the tidings were good. “Brand slew Fafnir in the Earthlight, Fafnir being the Dragon who had consumed Pyros centuries earlier. The Orange has now been recovered from his scaled belly. The Kindred have it.”

“Who bears the Jewel for the Kindred?”

“Gudrin of the Talespinners.”

Oberon made an irritated gesture. Generally, the Kindred had always been foolish when they laid their dirty hands upon an object of real power. They had always given the power to some brute amongst their kind, who soon lost it or went berserk and had to be put down. To hear they had given it to a scholar was bad news indeed.

“They gift Pyros to one of their wise?” Oberon asked. “Surely, such an oafish folk would prefer a warrior as their bearer.”

“Perhaps, but Modi and his sire Hallr both perished in dragonfire.”

Oberon nodded. This at least was good news. He had counted the Kindred as enemies ever since they had stood in battle with the humans at the Dead Kingdoms.

“There is something else, milord.”

Again, Myrrdin hesitated. And again this hesitation spoke for him. The news was bad. Oberon gestured impatiently.

“The Kindred,” began Myrrdin, “they have selected a new Queen. She is Gudrin, the same who wields the Orange Jewel.”

Oberon was horrified at this. The Kindred had lain dormant without a monarch for more than five centuries. He leapt to his feet and paced. “You saved the worst news of all for last,” he said. “The Kindred might do anything now. They have a Jewel and they have a Queen? They might march upon us, even to the Great Erm itself. They may go mad.”

Myrrdin nodded in grim agreement. When the Kindred did choose a monarch, they became a people apart from their normal selves. They built, they caroused and they warred freely.

“It’s time then that I stopped sulking atop this tree. In truth, I’ve grown tired of it. We must move before matters grow worse. What further tidings have you?”

“There is one other thing,” said Myrrdin thoughtfully.

Oberon thought he was perhaps reluctant to pass on this last tidbit. Again, he checked his son’s loyalty and found it wanting.

Myrrdin finally told him of Brand’s destruction of a tribe of
young gnomes. And of Brand’s later encounter and duel with the Gnome King. From this information, Oberon surmised that the gnomes might be less than delighted with the River Folk and the Kindred who helped them.

Oberon stretched his lithe body fully and did a summersault in the air. He landed with perfect grace. It was time for him to pay visits. It was time for him to stop sulking.

He could not rely on Piskin to aid him. Perhaps the little traitor would succeed, but the odds were long. Oberon knew he had to muster his folk and do what he could without powerful magic. As the Wee Folk themselves had done, he would use trickery and subterfuge to gain advantage.

Oberon meant to get
at least
one Jewel back into his possession, which one mattered little. The elves could not thrive without magic. Perhaps he could do it with skullduggery, which is why he employed Piskin. But if not, then he would raise an army and take one of the Nine Eyes of the Sun Dragon—the hard way.