Magus (Advent Mage Cycle) (27 page)

“What do you think of the place, Garth?” Terran inquired politely. There was a hint of mischief brewing in his eyes.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” I answered honestly. Everything that I knew of magic defied what was in front of my eyes, actually. I was feeling a lot of power—some of it very old—underneath the city. That didn’t surprise me, but it didn’t give me a good idea of what was going on either. Although there was something about it that felt very familiar…

We were all standing on the edge of a cliff, staring in amazement at the city. Even Didi was quiet and filled with awe, and that takes some doing. What truly puzzled me was that I couldn’t see any bridges connecting the floating city to the mountain ranges around it. Did they all use some sort of flying spell? But the Mages wouldn’t necessarily be able to do that…this was confusing.

“How
are
you doing that?” Chatta asked frankly. She was staring at the city in a baffled way.

“Garth can tell you.” Terran shot me a challenging look.

I waved a hand, negating this idea. “I have no idea. There is a very strong residue of earth magic, that’s about all I can say.”

His smirk faded a little. “Can’t you see it?”

“I can’t see magic,” I explained patiently. “I can only feel it.”

“And even though I can see magic, I can’t
begin
to tell you how you’re making a city float,” Chatta added tartly. “There’s a very strong glamour spell under the city, which I’m sure you know, so I can’t see anything. You’ve had your fun, Terran. Now explain!”

Terran shot her a look, but dutifully explained. “Actually, the city isn’t really floating. We built up a huge pillar of earth under it, raising it off the floor. The glamour spell is to keep anyone from seeing that support. Oh, and there’s also misdirection spells to make it hard to look at, and impossible to actually touch.”

Now
that
made a lot more sense! “Clever,” I said in true admiration. “It keeps all of those pesky bandits away, doesn’t it?”

“It certainly does,” Terran agreed brightly. “Not to mention anyone else that wants to borrow our talents.” He waved a hand, and a bridge suddenly appeared, starting from where we were standing and ending on the edge of the city. “Well, shall we go across?”

Chapter Fourteen: Coven Ordan

I’d idly wondered, back in Chahir, what a city built of magicians would look like. I expected a certain amount of lavish creations, of course, with incredible architecture.

I wasn’t far wrong.

The bridge ended at the main street, or what I assumed to be the main street, of the city. A huge fountain sprawled in the center of the courtyard, jets of multi-colored water shooting out of it at random. It was quite pretty and very distracting; my eyes kept coming back to it unconsciously. All around the fountain were benches, large trees, and pots of flowers here and there. Lining the courtyard were buildings—shops of various sorts, from bakeries to clothing stores. The architecture was a little different than I expected—it was like they were blending several different styles, with Hainian brick and Chahiran doorways, and some sort of slanted roof that I’d never seen before. Bromanian, maybe?

And then there were the people. Here it was obvious that they were mixing cultures—I saw every possible fashion of clothing being worn. As we arrived, people slowly stopped in their tracks, watching us with avid curiosity. I paused as well, waiting for some cue from Terran on where we were supposed to go. He, however, seemed to be waiting for our response.

“It’s a beautiful place,” Aletha observed quietly. “How much of it was made of magic?”

“All of it,” I answered slowly. At least, that’s what if felt like.

“You’re not far wrong,” Terran admitted.

“Terran!” A young woman separated from the crowd, running toward us. Her hair was thick, a rich mahogany, flying in every direction as she ran. She wore a simple black dress that gave no indication of what she was—but from the feel of her, I’d guess her to be an Elemental Mage.

Terran lit up at her appearance, walking forward quickly to meet her. He grabbed her when she was within range, swinging her up into a bear hug. “Liza! I swear you’ve grown again.”

She sighed happily, a large smile growing on her face. “I have! Two inches!”

“Good grief, girl, no man wants a wife taller than him! Stop your growing, now.”

“That’s not true,” she protested, pouting.

“Actually, it isn’t,” I agreed. Partly to tweak Terran’s nose, I admit.

She turned bright blue eyes on me, wide with hope and curiosity. “You like tall women?”

“Considering how short I am, my lady, it’s rather inevitable,” I drawled.

Shad started snickering. “Too true!”

“You have no room to talk, Cezza,” Chatta observed. “You’re barely taller than he is.”

“All of those vegetables my mother forced me to eat didn’t do an ounce of good,” he mourned. “I feel betrayed.”

Liza giggled. “I like these people, Terran. Some of them glow, too. Who are they?”

“Liza, this is Magus Rhebengarthen of Hain and his Nreesce Night, Witch L-Chattamoinita Delheart also of Hain, Captain Riicshaden of Chahir, and the Red Hand Squadron of Ascalon; Captain De Xiaolang, Lieutenant Shield Garbracen, Hazard Harewood, Aletha Saboton, and Eagle Sevar. Everyone, this is my sister Eliza.”

She dropped out of her brother’s arms in order to greet us with a proper bow. “We seek the balance.”

“They’ve come to borrow the pool,” Terran continued. “Where’s Raile?”

“Here.” Another man melted from the crowd, tall, with a hawkish look to him. He was fairer in coloring than anyone else I had seen so far, looking far more Chahiran then expected. He also looked ancient, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if he had actually been alive during the Magic War. His clothing gave no indication of what status he might hold, being a solid gray. However, I felt power from him—the power of a very gifted Wizard. “Welcome home, Terran,” he said, a sound of warmth in his gravelly voice.

Terran moved to meet him, clasping one of Raile’s hands. There was a great deal of fondness in his face. “Raile. How are you?”

“Old!” Raile responded with a broken chuckle. “But I’m still moving, which is a blessing. So.” Faded blue eyes focused on me with such intensity that I would not have been surprised if he could see the back of my head. “Magus Rhebengarthen, we’ve been looking for you.”

“So I understand, sir.”

He nodded, as if this didn’t surprise him. “I am Raile Blackover, Wizard and unofficial governor of this city.”

“Unofficial my left eyeball,” Terran snorted. “If you say jump, we start hopping.”

Raile ignored that and kept right on speaking. “I am glad you’ve come here. There are things you need to know. Follow me, and we’ll sit down somewhere comfortable.”

After that wild ride through the ocean, I was more than happy about the idea of sitting down. “By all means.”

“I’ll tell Mom that you’re home,” Eliza told her brother. With a nod toward us, she scampered away.

Raile turned, walking further into the city, all of us trudging after him. He was not a fast walker—frankly I was surprised he could still move—so we had a great deal of time to observe our surroundings and talk.

“This is a fantastic place,” Xiaolang observed to me. “Garth, could you do something like this?”

“Parts of it,” I admitted. “The basic structures of the buildings, the roads, fountains, things like that. But the finer details I’d have to leave to someone else.”

“Chatta?” he guessed.

“She could do most of it.”

“The metalwork would be difficult,” she observed. “I’d definitely want the help of an Elemental Mage or two.”

“I’d imagine that it would still take a while, though,” I ventured thoughtfully. Buildings didn’t come together overnight, magic or no magic.

“Oh, it took a while all right,” Raile chuckled. “In fact, we’re still building. We have to make room for the children, as they come.”

“Don’t take this question the wrong way,” Eagle said hesitantly, “but are all of the children born here magical?”

“Most of them. There are a few exceptions,” Terran admitted.

“Magic is largely genetic,” I explained tonelessly. “If there is someone in your family with magic—your parents, for instance—odds are at least one child will have magic as well.”

Sick understanding filled Eagle’s eyes. “Which is why Chahir normally executes the entire family if one of the children has magic?”

I nodded, unable to give a more vocal answer.

“That isn’t always the case, of course.” Raile gave me an unfathomable look. “Sometimes magic will skip whole generations. Rhebengarthen, you are the only magician in your family?”

“Yes.”

“Does anyone in your family line have magic?”

“Our family records only go back as far as the Magic War,” I replied with a helpless shrug. “Tobadorage—the city where my family lived—was burned to the ground at that time. We lost all of our history in that fire.”

“I suspect that was to your good fortune.” Raile had an odd smile on his face, not quite happy, but not displeased. “The Rheben family is one very rich with magic. At one time, they were advisors and teachers to the nobility.”

I stopped dead in my tracks, stunned by what I was hearing. “Are you serious?”

“Quite serious. My wife was a Rheben, you know. A very powerful Earth Mage, as you are. In fact, you have two living relatives right here in this city. Why did you think we were looking for you, boy?”

My knees wanted to give out on me. It had never occurred to me to wonder if there was magic in my family. Occasionally, there were children born into families with no history of magic in their blood whatsoever. Since no one in my family was born a magician since the Magic War, I assumed myself to be one of those people.

“Who?” I whispered hoarsely. “Who was it out of my family that went to the Isle of Strae?”

“I don’t rightly remember her name,” Raile admitted. “But we’ll go to Sallah’s and Aral’s house—Sallah is a Rheben, you see—and they can tell you. Actually, we’ll need to go there anyway. Its Aral’s brother, Don, that’s been using the pool to search Chahir. I imagine you want to talk to him.”

“Yes, we do,” Xiaolang declared.

“Thought as much.” Raile nodded to himself, continuing along the road.

“Garth?” Chatta was watching me closely. “You look like someone just knocked the wind out of you.”

“It certainly feels that way,” I murmured. Relatives?
Here
?

The rest of the trip passed in a daze for me. I was so caught up in trying to imagine how so much information in my family had been lost that I couldn’t begin to tell you much about my surroundings. I know that magic was a dangerous and forbidden topic in Chahir while I was growing up, but we still heard fairytales about it. We still heard stories, now and again, and knew of the history of the Magic War. So why hadn’t it been passed down, orally at least, that the Rheben family had magic in them? That’s pretty crucial information!

Night nudged me in the back when we turned off the road, bringing me back into the present. I blinked, switching mental gears, and realized that we were in front of a beautifully kept two-story house. It was largely made of wood and brick, with a wide wrap-around porch on the lowest level. With it being in the heart of the city like this, there wasn’t much yard, but I could feel the magic in this place.

Earth Mages lived here.

Raile knocked out a quick rap on the wood before he opened the door. “You’re being invaded, Sallah!”

“Come right in, Raile!” a woman’s voice called back. There was the sound of quick footsteps coming from the back of the house, as if she were hurrying to the front door.

Raile waved everyone inside. I held back a little, looking at the doorway. It was so narrow, I wasn’t sure Night would fit. “Night?”

“
I don’t think I’ll fit in there,”
he said doubtfully.

“Think skinny thoughts,” I suggested with a sadistic smile. I told him he’d been gaining weight!

He shot me a dirty look. “
Don’t forget, I know where you sleep
.”

“You say that like I should be afraid.”

“
You should be. After all, you’re a deep sleeper.
”

You know, that was a definite point. I started to worry about myself. “Maybe you should stay out here?”

“
Their grass is a little tall. I’ll cut it back for them
,” he offered virtuously.

I shook my head in exasperation. The brat never stopped eating. You’d think he was a pig, instead of a horse.

“Garth!” Shad called in amusement. “Get in here!”

I left Night to his “mowing” and ducked inside. Everyone was already settled in chairs or on couches, and apparently already been introduced. Standing near the center of the room was a lovely woman in a simple blue dress, slightly rounded out with child. Her hair was dark, but her skin was so light that she could pass for Chahiran.

Raile, from his comfortable chair, cleared his throat. “Sallah, this is Rhebengarthen. Magus, your distant cousin, Sallah Bender, formerly Rhebensallahan.”

Sallah had a hand over her mouth, eyes wide. “Great magic, it really
is
you!”

Before I knew what hit me, I had my arms full of pregnant woman. Sallah was laughing and crying at the same time, arms around my neck.

Nonplussed, I caught her at the waist and steadied her before we both toppled over. Part of me was glad to finally see this woman I had heard about, another magician in the family—but part of me was a little uncomfortable being ambushed like this.

She must have sensed that, because she backed off a little. “I’m sorry, I'm just so glad to actually
see
you! Don showed us two years ago when you arrived, but then we lost you completely, and we couldn’t find you again, and we’ve all been so worried and
frustrated
.”

“I went into Hain,” I explained.

“We assumed as much,” she confided, expression lightening. “We did catch it when you came back to Tobadorage, and took your family out. Now that was a sight! I never thought to use stone like that before.”