Mage Prime (Book 2) (8 page)

At a signal from Mordas one of the guards opened the small side gate. Mordas and Evalin slipped through and eased their way through the anxiously pressing throng to stand in front of Harrel.

He looked at them long and hard, then ducked to one side to peer over their shoulders. “Isn’t Karryl coming then?”

Evalin seemed to loom large and powerful in front of him. He took a small step backwards as her eyes locked on his. “We know Karryl is close family. He will be along shortly, as soon as we can gather some information from someone who can explain things clearly. Would that be yourself now?”

Rubbing his large hand over two days growth of stubble, Harrel turned to glance at the restive crowd pressing in behind him, all trying to hear what was being said. Some began to call out, each wanting their own families to be given priority. Within seconds, the whole crowd was alive and swaying, a tumult of voices raising their protests in the chill night air. The two women looked at each other. Mordas gave a brief nod as a tacit signal passed between them. They each held up a hand, palm forward. The crowd became still and quiet, all gazing vacantly as if waiting to be told what to do.

With her fine-boned hand resting on Harrel’s shoulder, Evalin spoke. “Harrel, you are free of this influence. Will you answer my questions?”

The burly drayman blinked, his gaze drifting briefly before he focussed once more on Lady Evalin. “Beg your pardon ma’am, my mind must have drifted off. It’s all the worry you know, but I’ll tell you what I can. Where shall I start?”

Evalin’s tone was calm and soothing. “Tell me how this has affected you, what you have experienced.”

Harrel’s mouth set in a grim line as he thought about his answer, then he straightened his shoulders and began. “A friend of my wife’s has two children, a boy of almost fourteen and a girl of twelve. They came home from school as usual, three days ago, both complaining of muzzy heads and feeling tired. Lyssa packed them off to bed, thinking it was the winter sickness come again.

“She went down to the kitchen to make them a hot drink of herbs and lemons. When she went to give it to them they were both sound asleep. She tried to wake them to give them the drink, but she couldn’t. Then Devin her husband came home, took one look at them and sent for Radbit the physician because they were so cold and still.

“It’s an awful thing to say, but he, Devin that is, thought they were dead. Anyway, Radbit comes running with his bag, and he holds crystals under their noses, and calls and shakes them, but he got nowhere. And the poor lambs are still the same. They haven’t even moved.” He looked down at his feet, as if embarrassed. “They haven’t done any of their functions either, if you know what I mean. Lyssa and Devin are out of their minds with worry, especially since the same thing’s happened to some of their neighbours. The word is that it’s some kind of plague, but so far it only seems to have affected the children. Do you know of a plague that does that? Anyway, it’s all over the city now, and the schools have closed already.”

Moisture glistening in his hazel eyes, he looked first at Evalin and then Mordas. “Can you do anything? We desperately need help.”

Evalin fondled a large gold pendant set with deep red stones and amber which hung around her neck. “We shall need to see some of the children. If it is what I’m thinking, they won’t be dying if we can find the source of this fairly quickly. Show Mordas to your friend’s house and I will follow shortly. Go now.”

Hitching her laden bag higher on her shoulder, Mordas followed close behind Harrel as he shouldered through the motionless crowd. Evalin turned to one side and also began to ease her way through. As she reached a clear space near the gates, a fresh-faced young man with a thick mop of unruly blond hair stepped out in front of her.

Far from being alarmed, Evalin let out a crow of delight, hurried forward and took both his hands in her own. “Well! Isn’t it glad I am to see you? Are you staying?”

The young man gave her an impish grin. “I thought I’d hang around down here for a while. It seems quite possible you’re going to be a bit short-handed.”

Evalin gave a wry smile. “Indeed we are. Do you want me to tell the others you’re here?”

He held up a cautionary hand. “You can if you wish, but I won’t make myself known just yet. There are certain things I have to look into. I’ll contact you again when circumstances make it necessary.”

The air around him shimmered, and in a swirl of green and gold, he was gone. Evalin stood for a few moments, gazing in quiet contemplation at the place where he had been standing. Then, slipping through the silent and unmoving crowd, she picked up Mordas’ trail and slowly walked away. A few yards from the back of the crowd she turned and sketched a simple symbol in the air before slipping into a side alley to her left. Following where Mordas’ trail led, Evalin hurried along, her sharp hearing catching the murmur of voices and the clatter of feet. The once somnolent crowd were returning to their homes, now strangely secure in the knowledge that all was being done that could be done.

* * *

Karryl and Kimi caught up just as Lyssa opened the door to Harrel. Leading the little party through the front room of the neat terraced cottage, she guided them up the narrow wooden stairs and into the small bedroom where a young boy lay, apparently peacefully asleep. Only the pallor of his face told them something was amiss. As they entered the neat room, all except Harrel and Lyssa exchanged knowing glances. Evalin fingered her pendant. Their faces etched with deep concern, the others gathered around the bed as Mordas reached under the eiderdown to take the boy’s small cold hand in her own. At the same time she gently lifted his eyelid then, bending low put first her nose and then her ear to his slightly open mouth. After a long moment she straightened up and replaced the boy’s limp hand beneath the eiderdown.

She turned to the distraught mother. “May we see the little girl now, please?”

Lyssa showed them to a pretty room on the other side of the landing. Again they gathered around the bed as Mordas repeated the procedure she had followed with the boy. Wringing her hands in anxiety Lyssa watched her every move, hopeful of even the slightest sign that all would be soon be well.

Straightening the bedclothes, Mordas turned to Kimi standing close behind her. “I was hoping we could attempt your waking spell, but there is indeed a strong enchantment over the children. All we can do for now is ensure that they don’t fall under so deeply that we are unable to recover them. We must use the spell of containment we used for Karryl.”

Kimi studied her face, seeming to be looking for something deeper and more significant in her expression. His dark eyes went from hers to the face of the child in the bed, and back again. “There are many children. To do this for each one would take much power. This we do not have.”

Mordas spun round to look at each of them in turn, her long auburn locks flying. “We would if the four of us did it. It would mean that each of us used less of our own power, and it would only take half the time!”

Karryl placed his hand on her arm. “Even so, there still wouldn’t be enough of us. We would run out of power and time before we were less than a quarter of the way round, then we would all be exhausted. Suppose something came at us while we were drained. What good would we be then?”

The ponderous silence which ensued was broken by Evalin’s lilting voice. “I think there may yet be a way to deal with this.”

Still not fully accustomed to having Evalin with them, the blunt statement took everyone by surprise.

Hurrying forward, Lyssa looked imploringly up into the strong face of the mage. “Please, do whatever it takes to save my children. Anything we have is yours!”

Evalin reached out and cupped her hands gently round the woman’s pale, worried face. “Don’t be fretting yourself child. If what I am about to do is successful, all will be well. Now, we must go back downstairs. And, if I may ask, where might your husband be in all this?”

Lyssa wrung her hands, her brow furrowing as if she felt she had enough to worry about already. “He went with some of the other men-folk to the palace. He’s not back yet.”

She took a lingering look at the wan face of her daughter, then with a deep sigh led the way downstairs. Just as they arrived back in the neat and cosy living room, the front door burst open.

Lyssa rushed into the arms of the stocky man who stood there. “Devin, these people have come to help. We must let them have anything they need!”

Her husband scowled at the little group. “Are you lot planning on using magic? If so, we want none of that here.”

He pushed Lyssa away as he stepped forward to thrust his face close to Harrel’s. “Those women put a spell on us when we were outside the palace. Who knows what they got up to while we were helpless to do anything?”

Grasping the potentially hostile husband by his upper arms, Harrel pushed him down into a chair and leaned over him. “You’re your own worst enemy, d’you know that? You’ve always been the same. These are good people who are trying to help not only you but everyone else whose children have been struck by this thing. There’s nothing, and I mean nothing, that you can do without them. If you refuse, your children will still be lying there when all the others are out and about, doing all the things that children do.”

He looked up, straight into the eyes of Evalin who frowned at him and gave an almost imperceptible shake of her head. Harrel shrugged and straightened up, leaving the intractable Devin slumped in his chair.

Karryl began to move towards the door. “I’ll see you soon Harrel. Try and get him to…”

The sound of heavy sobbing stopped him in mid sentence and he turned towards the sound to see Devin with his face buried in his hands. His shoulders shook as he cried out his desperation and frustration, mixed with not a little self-pity. Harrel reached down to pat the sobbing man’s shoulder as Lyssa crouched beside him, trying to peer up into his face. They all waited until the sobbing had subsided, then Lyssa stood up, her face calm and resolute.

She placed a hand on Evalin’s arm. “Do whatever it is you have to do. Devin will be no trouble, I promise.”

Evalin gave a little nod then turned away, one hand closing over her pendant. While the others spoke quiet reassurances to the distressed parents, she stood unmoving and seemingly un-noticed for a few moments before joining them in saying their goodbyes. They stepped out into the night, and with a soft click of the latch the door closed behind them. Karryl looked up and down the street. Every house showed a light, and doors opened and closed as concerned neighbours visited to sympathise, and distressed parents returned to their homes and their afflicted children.

Forefingers pressed pensively against her chin, Mordas followed Karryl’s gaze before turning to Evalin. “If we visit a few more, if only in this street, we can at least offer some comfort and we may well discover something useful about this wicked enchantment.”

After a brief discussion during which no objections were raised, the little group set off in search of those needing their help.

A light rain had started to fall a few moments before they left the last house. Now the pavements shone wetly in the pale yellow glow of the street lights. Across the street a small crowd of about a dozen men had gathered, hurrying forward as Evalin’s little group emerged. Karryl stepped out in the middle of the street to meet them, expecting and prepared for some kind of confrontation. The tall thick-set man who faced him obviously didn’t have anything like that on his mind. He pulled off the journeyman’s faded blue cap he wore, turning it over and over in his large hands, the entreaty in his eyes saying far more than words ever could.

Nervous and uncomfortable, he shuffled his feet. “Sir, are our children going to die?”

Karryl decided to tell him everything they knew, which he realized wasn’t such a lot. It would at least, he hoped, allay any panic likely to arise from misinformed fabrications and wild conjecture.

The little crowd of men drew closely round him as he began to speak. “From what we have seen so far we are convinced that the children are under some kind of enchantment. If we are able to establish the source and lift the enchantment, none of them will die.”

A small thin man with pale eyes and a mournful expression pushed forward. “And if you can’t?”

Karryl grimaced as the man’s query forced his mind to finally acknowledge the possibility. “We are confident it won’t come to that. There is a complex spell we can use which will keep the children stable until such time that we can find the source. However, it requires a lot of time and energy, so it would be quite a while before we got round to everybody. In that case there is a slim possibility we may lose some of the youngest infants, but we will work as fast as we can. You can help by squashing any ugly rumours that may arise, and telling everyone you know what I have told you. Now, please go back to your homes. The sooner you do that the sooner we can begin.”

There were a few uneasy moments of hesitation before the group of worried men decided that nothing would be further achieved by standing around in the rain. Disconsolate, they moved off towards their homes leaving Karryl and his companions to deal with the seemingly insurmountable problem which had landed firmly in their laps.

He turned to Evalin. “We could do with Symon right now. Where’s he gone?”

A frown briefly furrowed his wide brow as something else occurred to him. “And what was it you had in mind when you said there may be a way to deal with this?”

She studied his face for a moment. “Well, considering your potential status, it’s not unreasonable that you should know. There’s a nice little inn just at the end of this street. I think a drop of something and a good meal will set us up nicely, and I’ll tell you as much as I can.”

In anticipation of good food and something bracing, they set off towards the inn. Half-way towards their destination, Karryl stopped, frowned and looked behind him. The rain had eased to a soft, murky mizzle. Lifted and blown by the cool evening breeze, it swirled lazily round making rainbow hued haloes round the tops of the glowing street-lamps. Karryl sensed Kimi standing beside him.

The Ingalian hill ranger spoke softly. “Someone follows, Master Karryl.”

Aware and alert, the young magician nodded in acknowledgement. Staring into the misty murk, he debated in his mind whether to commence a defensive spell. A shadow flickered briefly at the edge of one of the circles of lamplight. Kimi released a low hiss. The shadow flickered again, resolving itself into something more solid, yet still keeping too far from the light to be properly definable. As he began to draw up a spell, Karryl’s nostrils caught the fresh tang of green leaves and the loamy smell of earth. The aroma seemed somehow familiar. Dismissing the spell, he began to walk towards the shadow still hovering just outside the compass of the lamplight. Kimi kept close, moving beside him on silent feet. Squat and bulky, the shadow slipped sideways, resolving into a solid form as it moved into the bright circle of light. As Karryl and Kimi drew nearer, it made a hunching sort of shuffle and moved back into the semi-darkness of a nearby alleyway. Karryl stopped under the lamp, looked at Kimi, then at the shadowed form in the alley. The cloaked and hooded figure beckoned them towards it. As they drew closer, it pushed back the hood to reveal a russet fur-covered face.

Karryl’s wide grin was matched by the sparkle in his eyes. “Well met, Dhoum. You said we’d see you again.”

The hairy creature’s round eyes glinted darkly in the dim light as he held out a scaly, four-fingered hand. “Well met again, Master Karryl.”

As the two grasped fingers, Dhoum tilted his rust-brown-haired ball of a head as if surveying Kimi. The melodious chuckle which followed reminded Karryl of the time some four years past when they had first met, and the mixed reactions of Kimi and Mordas when he had told them of the meeting.

Now Kimi stepped forward for a better look, his dark, slightly tilted eyes sparkling. “It is indeed a Grrybhñnös!”

As Karryl marvelled at Kimi’s perfect pronunciation of an almost unpronounceable name, the wiry Ingali hill ranger bowed his tattooed head onto folded hands. “It is an honour to meet you, ancient one. I beg your forgiveness for doubting.”

Dhoum moved a pace forward and looked Kimi in the eye. Karryl thought it quite probable that he was smiling. The Grrybhñnös’ voice was vibrant with pleasure. “Well met Kimitan-paridi-na. You are known to us and no forgiveness is necessary.”

The clipping sound of light footsteps drifted back to them on the breeze. Flipping his hood over his head, Dhoum melted back into the deep shadow of the alley. Karryl and Kimi turned, only to see the two women approaching. Mordas looked a little puzzled, but Evalin’s face wore a knowing smile as she moved to stand beside Karryl.

Thrusting her head forward she spoke into the darkness. “‘Tis alright my dear Dhoum. You may come into the light again. There is nothing to fear from us, to be sure.”

As the Grrybhñnös ambled forward into the ring of light provided by the hissing streetlamp, Karryl could see that the large round eyes were a glowing brown, flecked with amber. Dhoum was happy. He stood looking up at Evalin, and some unspoken communication passed between them. Gently he rubbed at the soft patch of short golden fur which covered his throat.

Evalin turned to Mordas. “My dear, I would like you to meet Dhoum, one of the ancient race of the Grrybhñnös. Despite their appearance, they are a highly intelligent and gifted race, and possess certain talents which it is not given to us to understand. I for one am mightily pleased to see him here, although I do fear that his prompt arrival presages difficult and testing times.”

Still looking somewhat mystified Mordas bent forward and stretched out her hand. Gently taking her hand in his scaly four-jointed fingers, Dhoum pressed it against the long sleek hair of his face. The physician-mage gave an involuntary little gasp. To everyone’s surprise Dhoum sighed, a long, deep almost yearning sigh.

He blinked one of his rare slow blinks. “Pardon the liberty dear lady. I was in need of a modicum of your healing. For some reason the journey here has seemed unusually difficult, the task placed upon me is proving a drain on my resources, and the waiting beforehand has frequently been long and tedious. Many things are not as they should be. I fear the time is fast approaching when we will all be required to show our mettle.”

As he studied each of their faces in turn, the soft lamplight glinted in his eyes, accentuating the gradual change from the ice blue of deep concern back to the earlier brown-flecked amber of a lighter mood.

The sleek russet fur rippled. “Now then, where were you all off to? It wouldn’t have been the Miller’s Rest by any chance?”

Their expressions told him what he wanted to know. At a rolling pace he set off towards the inn, the hem of his dark grey robe rippling and bouncing around his unseen feet. The others hurried to keep up, surprised at the unexpected turn of speed in a creature whose appearance belied such an attribute.

As they approached the door of the inn Karryl gave voice to something which had been niggling at him since they left the alley. “Pardon me Dhoum but, well… would it be wise for you to go in there? What I mean is, they’ve probably never seen a Grrybhñnös before.”

In a perfect imitation of an owl, Dhoum turned his head round and looked at Karryl over his humpy shoulder. “And they won’t see one now. In you go.”

Mordas pushed open the door as Karryl raised a questioning eyebrow at Evalin. She gave him a knowing secretive smile, her eyes twinkling as she ushered him past Dhoum and followed him into the warm interior of the inn. The door thudded shut and Karryl looked behind him as the little party approached the bar. There was no sign of Dhoum. The innkeeper was sitting playing a game of battle-stones with one of the two customers he had. Seeing a potential increase in trade he jumped to his feet and hurried round the end of the bar to attend to their needs. The thickset man seemed genuinely pleased to see them, his round pink face creasing up in a broad smile.

Broad stubby hands placed flat on the bartop, he leaned forward in anticipation. “Good evening ladies, gentlemen. What will be your pleasure?”

At the soft creak of the door opening and closing, Karryl slowly turned round. The sight of the person who had just entered the room gave further emphasis to his increasingly high opinion of the chunky Grrybhñnös. Only the eyes gave him away. They were still large and round, shining deep amber in the brightly lit bar-room. The rest of him was an almost complete metamorphosis. As Dhoum lifted a finger to his lips for silence, Karryl noticed with some amusement that he still had four finger joints.

He now stood somewhat taller than Symon, almost on a level with Karryl’s shoulder. Although his strong face was heavily bearded, his hair was the same rusty colour it had been previously, while the large convoluted ears were either changed completely or obscured by the wealth of hair which fell in waves to his shoulders. He still wore the same shapeless and unflattering grey robe, so Karryl wasn’t able to see what he had done with his legs and feet, but as Dhoum flashed a grin, the seemingly impossible amount of sharp yellowish teeth confirmed his identity beyond all doubt.

Evalin had ordered tankards of ale for each of them. As she handed over coins she leaned toward the innkeeper. “Would you be having a little private room where my friends and I could talk for a while undisturbed?”

The man’s face flushed with pleasure at the prospect of a long evening of paying customers. He pointed to a brown painted wooden door at the far end of the room. “The fire is lit in the snug. I’m sure you’ll be very comfortable in there. Just ring the little handbell when you require service.”

They each lifted a tankard from the bar-top and followed Evalin into the snug. The room was small and cosy, its two windows covered by heavy deep-dyed curtains drawn against the night. A fire crackled in the grate, while a number of comfortable armchairs, each with its own round, iron-legged table were arranged in front of the tidy hearth. On the mantelpiece stood a small, wooden-handled brass bell alongside a tasteful selection of decorated jugs.

As they each chose a seat, Karryl looked across at Evalin. “How about a ward of silence just to be on the safe side?”

Dhoum gestured with his tankard. “Already done. Did it when we came in.”

The change in Dhoum’s appearance having been unanimously accepted, they got down to business, beginning with their deep concern for the present situation in general.

Karryl leaned forward, his elbows on his knees and his hands round his tankard. “What bothers me at the moment is the problem of getting round to lay the stasis spell in every household that’s affected. There just aren’t enough of us. We’ll run out of time and be totally drained before we’re halfway through.”

Dhoum rumbled, as if clearing his throat. “Done.”

Even Evalin, not given to surprise, stared at him. The metamorphosed Grrybhñnös placed his half empty tankard carefully and deliberately on his table.

The expression on his face was one of complete and utter satisfaction. “Easy for me. Did it while you were busy sorting out the crowd at the palace. Saw all that y’know. Pretty good.”

Evalin leaned forward. “So, you were here all the time?”

“Of course. How do you think I answered your call so soon? Even I can’t shift through at that speed.” He chuckled. “Mind you, next time I’ll take care not to move in so close. My eardrums are still ringing.”

Evalin shrugged and raised an eyebrow. “Well, and wasn’t I thinking you were still…”

Dhoum held up a restraining hand. “Yes, I may well have been. Anyway, as it is, I’ve managed to do what you requested, sooner than I’m sure you’d hoped. Those few extra minutes might well make all the difference. It will also give us a little breathing space without jeopardising our efforts.”

Mordas glanced at everyone in turn, the concern in her eyes softening to relief. “Does that mean we won’t have to visit every home and work the stasis spell?”

Dhoum answered as he peered accusingly into his tankard. “Wouldn’t hurt to go round and make a small gesture of some sort. So no-one feels they’ve been left out. Wouldn’t take long. Split up. Do it in twos.”

He leaned forward and peered at Evalin, his normally round eyes compressed into a pale blue tinted squint. “What’s the other one doing here?”

Karryl sensed Kimi start to bristle in the seat beside him. Evalin, too, had noticed. She raised a placatory hand towards the hill-ranger. “‘Tis not yourself he means and the person to whom he refers is not present. This is something I intended to tell you about in this very room.”