Dragon's Mage (An Advent Mage Novel), The - Raconteur, Honor (2 page)

“And that part is true,” he admitted. “Fine. As long as you’ve thought this through. I just don’t want someone getting a familiar because
I
have one.”

I wished him luck with that. As the Advent Mage, everyone looked to him for an example, his students especially. Garth set precedents all the time without meaning to.

“No, I thought about it. I really can’t handle meurittas, they’re too much trouble for me. I didn’t get chosen to be a Rider by any of the nreesce, and I’ve been around all of them by this point, I think. The only other semi-intelligent creatures I know of are dragoos.”

“Well, there are dragons too,” he offered with a mischievous smile.

“Yes, that’s exactly what I need,” I answered dryly, “a two-ton, fire-breathing mount that eats a whole sheep for breakfast. No thanks.”

He laughed, giving a slight shrug. “Well, it’s true no one has seen one in the past fifty years. You’d have better luck finding a dragoo, certainly. Still, if it’s a dragoo you’re after, you probably won’t be able to get one in Sol. They’re very expensive there and most people won’t sell them because they’re a mark of high rank.”

I blinked. I hadn’t known that. “So where can I get one?”

“Libendorf. Granted, that means that you have to catch one wild and tame it, but as long as you have bacon in tow that shouldn’t be difficult.”

I’d have thought he was kidding about the bacon if I hadn’t seen Major Xiaolang’s dragoo consume bacon like an alcoholic would a fine brandy. “Bacon. Right. Any other tips I should know about?”

“I’d ask Xiaolang,” Garth told me as we rounded the corner and came into view of the main gate. “He’ll want to see you anyway.”

That was true. “Any messages you want me to pass along to him or your sister?”

“No, not really. Chatta and I spoke to them by mirror last night.” His face softened slightly.

It had caught quite a few people by surprise when Asla, Garth’s adopted sister, had agreed to marry Xiaolang. After what her first husband had done to her, no one thought she would trust a man again well enough to re-marry. There was a great deal of celebration all around when she and Xiaolang were married. This especially delighted Asla’s children as they adored Xiaolang. I’d taken the news with relief and happiness for them both. Asla, out of all of us, had the worst story about her coming into her powers. Not many people faced being burned alive because their own spouse turned them in.

“I’ll stop in for a day or so and spend some time with them.” I needed to pick Xiaolang’s brain anyway on where to get a good dragoo.

We were past the main gate now. I looked out over the main port, toward the direction of Sol. Chatta and some of the Coven Ordan magicians had rigged a glamour over the shore. It
looked
like there was a hundred yard gap between the shore and the ocean, with nothing but a bottomless chasm in between. Even though I could see the massive amount of magic behind the spell, I still couldn’t quite see past it.

The glamour is a tightly kept secret. Whenever any of us need to leave the Isle, someone has to build a bridge across or take us. The glamour is never dropped.

Garth took the stone resting on the shore—left for this purpose—to build a quick bridge to the ocean dock two hundred yards out. My boat currently sat there, patiently waiting for me.

I hefted my pack a bit more onto my shoulder as the bridge solidified. Garth turned and offered his hand, which I took in a firm grip. “Good luck,” he told me with a slight smile. “And if you run into trouble, or just need advice, don’t hesitate to contact us.”

I had a mirror broach in my pocket, given to me by Chatta just this morning, for that very reason. “I will.”

Halfway across the bridge, with the ocean wind ruffling my hair and making my robes flap around my ankles, I heard a voice calling out behind me. I turned to see Garth waving a hand, a broad grin on his face. Cupping both hands to his mouth, he called out, “GOOD LUCK!”

I waved back, smiling too. “THANKS!”

I had a feeling I would need all the luck I could get.

Chapter One: The Scaly Stalker

I was being stalked.

That was worrying enough in and of itself, but being out here in the wide, remote desert region of Libendorf made it infinitely worse. The area had some very large predators that even a Fire Mage like myself would have a hard time handling. I had my shields fully up; a dome of fire licking on the outer edge to prevent attack, even though doing so made me roast from the heat. Libendorf’s weather rather resembled an oven even on the best of days and here I was making it worse by surrounding myself with fire. But I didn’t dare drop my shields.

Whatever was stalking me was large.
Very
large. As a Fire Mage, I’m more sensitive to heat than anything else, so the bigger a mammal is, the easier it is for me to sense it. This thing produced a great deal of heat. More than a dragoo, even, and that was saying something. Actually, if it had been a dragoo, I would have been beyond happy. The whole reason why I’d come out here to Libendorf in the first place was to get a dragoo familiar of my own. Buying one anywhere in the Empire of Sol would’ve quickly broke my very slim budget, so coming out here to catch and tame one myself had seemed like a grand idea a week ago.

I hadn’t had second thoughts until the stalker had shown up two days ago. The distance between us never varied, the stalker always hovering just out of my sight. And I really wanted to know how this thing managed that, considering there was nothing here to hide behind. I slept with one eye open at night, nothing more than a heavy doze, for fear of what might happen if I totally let my guard down. But even then, the stalker didn’t come any closer. Either this thing had a rather large territory, one that I was still encroaching on, or I’d attracted a very dangerous animal somehow. Now the question stood: what do I do about this? I couldn’t very well keep on ignoring it. For one thing, it would be very dangerous to let it keep stalking me. It might pounce and devour the minute I dropped my guard. But for another, I hadn’t seen even
one
dragoo. And it was the middle of mating season!  I should’ve been tripping over them according to Xiolang. If I didn’t get the stalker to go away somehow, I’d never lay eyes on a dragoo, much less lay hands on one.

I’d been toying with the idea of calling home ever since my stalker started hovering on the edge of my senses. Obviously I needed to do so at this point. I couldn’t keep playing this cat and mouse game. Aside from the fact that I didn’t enjoy being the mouse, my limited supply of food had dwindled very quickly. I didn’t have much time before I had to turn back for Sol or face starvation.

Resigned, I pulled the mirror broach out of my pocket and called up the expert.

From the mirror, there were sounds of shuffling, a muted call to hang on, and then finally a clear, “
Hello
?”

“Hi, Cora.”

“
Krys
!
It’s good to hear from you. How are you
?”

“Hot, sweaty, sunburned…you know, the usual when you’re in Libendorf.”

She laughed, the sound light and pleasant. “
I wouldn’t know. I’ve never been that far north. Have you found your dragoo
?”

“Forget
my
dragoo, I haven’t found
any
.”

“
Really
?” she sounded surprised. “
But it’s mating season right now
!”

“Well, about that…” I kept walking, not wanting to give the stalker a stationary target, and kept my eyes peeled as I talked. “I think I know why. Something really big is following me, and by big, I mean much larger than a dragoo.”

There was this hefty pause before she slowly spoke. “
Can you give me a description
?”

I eyed the mirror suspiciously. She knew something. I could hear it in her voice. “I haven’t seen it. I can just feel it. Whatever this thing is, it’s been keeping carefully out of sight the past two days. Cora, you know what it is, don’t you?”

“
The only thing that can scare dragoos into hiding are dragons
.”

I froze in my tracks. “Run that by me one more time.”

“
The dragoos are hiding. It’s the only explanation. If you’re in the right area, in the right season, you should be seeing dozens. You’re not. The only things that dragoos are afraid of are dragons
.”

“Hold on, I thought dragoos and dragons were some sort of cousin-species!” I protested.

“
No, that’s a common misconception because they look alike. Actually, they’re a completely different species. Dragoos and dragons like to eat the same thing, so they’re constantly in competition with each other. It’s made for some bad relations. Dragons are fierce fighters. Even dragoos don’t stand much of a chance against them
.”

And that was saying something. I’d seen Hayate fight once. It’d taken him seconds to take down a heavily armored swordsman. You in no way wanted to tangle with a dragoo.

“Great. So I’ve got a dragon trailing me. Why?”

“
Now that is what I don’t understand. You’re too far south to be in their territory, right
?”

“Right.”

“
And it’s just one dragon
?”

“I only feel one.”

“
Maybe it’s lost
?
Or an exile
?
I’m not sure what’s going on here, Krys, but you better be careful. Dragons are semi-intelligent, about the same as a dragoo, but that doesn’t mean it won’t think of you as a convenient snack. I don’t know a lot about the breed but they’re potentially dangerous, even for a Fire Mage.
”

This just got better and better. I heaved a sigh. “So what are the odds of me finding a dragoo with a dragon lurking in the vicinity?”

“
Nil
.”

“Kind of what I figured.”

“What are you going to do?”

I had no idea. But I knew better than to tell her that. “Not much I can do. I don’t think I should linger in this area. I’m running low on food, and besides, I don’t dare court danger with a dragon. I’m going to head back south, toward Sol, and re-think my approach on this.”

“Probably the best decision,” she agreed, tone worried. “
Krys, be careful. Call Garth the minute that you think you’re in danger. We’ll race up and get you
.”

It was reassuring to hear that, especially considering the two-ton, potentially starving creature in my area. “I will.”

~*~

I made my way back south very cautiously, with an eye over my shoulder and my magical senses strained to the limit. For the rest of the day I walked at a good clip back toward the Sol border, my stalker following at the same distance as before, just out of my immediate sight. With the twin suns overhead, the arid wind, and the fire still licking along the edge of my shields, I felt like a roasted duck. Sweat poured from my temples, along my back and chest, and made my clothes stick to me. I’d striped down to the basics of a long-sleeved white shirt and tan pants, avoiding any other layers, but I still felt unbearably hot. I had to drink a lot of water just to avoid passing out. This wasn’t good. I couldn’t keep doing this. I didn’t have an unlimited supply of water on me and the heat could kill a man if he wasn’t careful. Xiaolang had issued strict warnings about this before I’d left his house.

All right, I needed to change tactics. Instead of walking in this blazing heat, I should settle down somewhere and wait until nightfall before continuing on. If I did most of my traveling at night, it would make life easier. I only had about four hours or so of daylight left anyway. If I kept my shields up, it should be safe enough to rest. My stalker wasn’t particularly hostile—if he had been, he would have attacked by now.

Still, I kept a weather eye on my surroundings as I sat down and unstrapped my pack. In this flat, desert land, I couldn’t find anything to shade me. But I could control how much heat could touch me, if I really concentrated.

People call us Fire Mages, and that’s the element that I have control over, certainly. But really, it isn’t limited solely to that. Anything that has an element of heat to it, I can manipulate at least a little. It’s just that, the further away it got from being true flame, the less control I have over it.

I settled on the hard, gravelly ground, closed my eyes to rest them from the penetrating glare, and started pushing the heat away from my skin. I cooled quickly, the sweat becoming cold against my skin. It felt good after almost seven days of baking in this heat. It felt so good, in fact, that I felt myself doze off a little.

I woke back up just enough to anchor the shield to the ground and then went right back to dozing. No harm in doing that and I would need the rest if I were to be walking all night.

Somewhere in my subconscious mind, an alarm screeched in warning.

For the first time in my life, I was wide-awake in less than a second.

Outside my shield, lounging with his front legs crossed at the ankle was my Scaly Stalker. He was slightly different than how I’d pictured him to be. For one thing, his skin was a dark red, almost black in some places. He didn’t have nearly as many ridges and horns on his head and neck as textbook illustrations had depicted. He was sleek, with signs of heavy muscle. My senses had put him at about the size of a small house, perhaps twelve tons or so. I was wrong on that, too. Dragons apparently put out an extraordinary amount of heat. This one was half the size I’d been envisioning.

That still made him larger than a dragoo and much more than I wanted to tangle with.

I swallowed hard and very slowly gained my feet. Why I stood, I had no idea. Running would be absolutely useless against a creature that could fly, after all. It just seemed a better idea to stand while facing a creature that could eat me for a midnight snack. As I stood, his eyes flickered to my shields, which were still fully up and flickering with fire.

Was he waiting for me to drop it before pouncing and devouring me whole? Fat chance, then, I could hold those shields indefinitely.