Soul of the Sorcerer - Part Three: Daughter of the Dragon (12 page)

The following morning, Lloyd was surprised to wake feeling refreshed and without any sign of a hangover, “So Lloyd Brook…” a familiar thick, Russian like, accent brought a relieved smile to his face “You going to get your backside off that bed and go find the girl whose heart you broke twice?” Boadaiska finished.

Lloyd leapt from his bed and ran to Boadaiska’s bedside taking her hand and kneeling so that their heads were at the same level.

“Bloody hell it’s good to see you awake Boadaiska, I guess the others told you what happened on the beach then?”

“Yes, I’ve been awake for an hour, I also understand I owe you, Bethany and your Mother a great deal.”

“Just having you back is reward enough Boady.” Bethany interrupted as she joined Lloyd by the princess of the wolf clan’s bed. Boadaiska let go of Lloyd’s hand and cupped her right hand affectionately round the redheads face.

“Your skin has cleared up and you look taller, you are becoming quite the beauty” She then threw a rueful look at Lloyd “You behave yourself Lloyd Brook!”

Lloyd chuckled in response; Bethany, however, roared with laughter.

“What, are you serious, we are like brother and sister, besides I like my men a little firmer in the arm rather than the head.” She punched Lloyd with a sisterly punch as she said this.

Lloyd grimaced at the punch, “Beth is besotted with Allen anyway and watching them dance around their relationship at arm's length is quite amusing.” He smiled and threw a quick look at the bed where Allen was still sleeping deeply, he turned back to Boadaiska; “Besides, Edala is the sun my world revolves around now and if I don’t find her soon I think it might just break apart” Lloyd concluded sadly.

Bethany ruffled the Sorcerers hair and said with a sad smile “Don’t worry Lloyd we will find our friend. Now what’s a redhead got to do to get some breakfast around here?”

“Darrion, Amy and Arden have flown down to the village for some supplies.” Boadaiska responded.

“Flown?” Bethany asked, but there was no need for Boadaiska to respond as a blast of air, from the outside tunnel, accompanied by the sound of a huge pair of wings flapping, indicted Ingemar’s return. They could hear the voices of the three before they could see them.

“I could get used to flying by Dragon.” Amy laughed.

“If it’s okay with you wife, I think I will stick with translocation in the future, how do you say it in your world…it scared me shitless!” Darrion said.

Arden’s hearty laugh echoed around the passage about three seconds before he appeared through the door carrying a huge crate, he grinned at Boadaiska when their eyes met.

Lloyd noticed that there was still a look of fear in those eyes, the fear of suspecting that, at any moment, what you have loved and lost then found again could be stolen from you at any moment.

“I’m starving my love what have you brought me for breakfast?” the pregnant woman asked.

Arden placed the crate on the floor and retrieved a cooler box from it, which Amy had brought from Earth. “In this magic box which Amy Brook calls a cooler box, which also strangely keeps food warm, we have the best breakfast that can be found in Daria.” He placed the cooler box on the floor and lifted the lid to place a collection of plastic tubs, also a donation from Earth, which contained sausages, bacon, mushrooms and tomatoes and fried bread. When the lids were removed the aroma from the steaming food made Lloyd’s stomach rumble.

“Is this the first time in the history of Kalana that there’s been a takeaway?” he laughed.

“Well, definitely a full English breakfast one” Amy added to the laughter.

The aromas and laughter finally brought Allen out of his deep slumber,

“What have I missed?” he asked, rubbing his sleepy eyes.

“Fortunately not breakfast my soldier!” Bethany said gently punching him in the arm.

They moved the table and chairs closer to Boadaiska’s bed and began to help themselves to the food. The chatter was friendly, filled with relief for some and the desire to be travelling for others.

When they had finished it was Darrion who rose to leave first.

“Lloyd, Bethany and Allen I wish you well on your journey to find Edala. Tell her that she needs to finish her training, as do you two…” he indicated Bethany and in particular held Lloyd’s gaze “You may be a Sorcerer and seem to do things that I would never have imagined, but to be a Master will keep the monk’s off your back!” He then turned to his wife “I will only be gone for a few days” he said placing his arm around her waist and back and gently helping lift her lips to his.

He then kissed Boadaiska on the forehead “Any message for Kenelm if I see him?”

“Tell the mangy monk he owes me a beer for every time he’s letched at my breasts… hopefully that should see me through to the next time I die, a long time from now I hope!”  

Darrion smiled and then left the room to go and translocate to Arrenloft from the outside.

It was now Lloyd, Allen and Bethany’s turn to say goodbye, which for the most consisted of protracted hugs, as none of them knew the next time they would meet.

“If you aren't here when I get back I will check with Malin down at the village to see if there are any messages.” Lloyd said kissing his Mum on the cheek. She looked up at him proudly “You’ve grown taller since when we first came here. You realise you missed your eighteenth birthday a few weeks ago?”

“No, I’ve not got a clue what the day, month or even the season is!” He smiled fondly at Amy, “Maybe when I get home you can play catch up with all my presents.”

At this moment Arden came forward with a hand sized pouch, “Call this my contribution to the back pay, the Empire is not a pleasant place to be if you don’t have funds.”

Lloyd took the pouch and opened it up with a gasp, inside were not only gold and silver coins but also small gemstones of all colours and variety.

“Thank you Arden, that’s brill!”

“Just remember that what you have there in your hands, is more than a lifetime of earnings for many a man and probably his brother!” The Dragon-Man added with a wink.

With that, Bethany, Allen and Lloyd marched out of the passage towards the entrance stone monoliths where the two mages would work their magic.

Edala poked her head out through the gap in the canopy at the rear of the wagon and stared into the rain filled night, not a soul stirred in any of the surrounding wagons. It was the end of the third day of the Imperial Market and the rain was ideal cover for the Urchin to go about her business.

At the moment, though, the Dragon-Girl was naked, but for good reason. She opened her air portal to cast one of the weather spells she had learnt on the Isle of Retreat, one which was far easier to cast if the prevailing conditions were such as they were.

“Zephyrair, Zephyrmight, lightning storm, strike with might” she was a little bit concerned about the
strike with might
bit, as she did not wish to hurt anyone or possibly start a fire, so she withheld her power so that it did not reach the level prescribed in the spell book she had learnt it from.

Fortunately, this seemed to have the desired effect and initially only blanket lightning appeared and the deep rumbling was just what she needed.

She focussed her mind inward on the painful memories of Lloyd’s betrayal, and stepped from the wagon, her sisters looking on behind her.

“Good luck sis.” Justina said, the others waved with a smile, except for Maria whose face was full of concern.

The dragon Edala enigmatically smiled back at them before reaching to take her bag of clothes from Maria’s extended hand, “Be careful child” she said, gently rubbing the side of Edala’s maw with the hand that had held the bag.

In the next second a flash of blanket lightning was Edala’s cue to leap into the air with a push of her wings, the sound of the flap blending into the sound of the arriving thunder.

The exhilaration of being in her Dragon Form made her inside tingle. In many ways it was more pleasurable than some of the antics she and Lloyd had practised in their short relationship; she would not let either distract her from her task of breaking into the Imperial Palace.

She circled as quickly as she could, gaining height on each rotation, until she looked down on the shadowed Imperial Palace below. Since the day when the Emperor and his Daemen had come to market, the Daughters of Ingemar had managed to acquire a lot of intelligence about the layout of the palace and where the Emperor’s residence was within it. Edala used this knowledge now to dive swiftly towards one of the long externally columned buildings forming one side of the square shaped palace.

Within seconds she perched on the top ridge of the red tiled tapered roof and quickly backed against a tall chimney, rivulets of rain running down her silvery scales. She shook herself before transforming back into her human form, then quickly retrieved her Urchin clothes from the bag and got dressed. Even though she was wet the clothes were welcome and warming.

She studied the roof and was pleased to see that the information they had been given about glass roof vents had been correct. These were situated on the top sharper tapered part of the roof and would normally encourage air to circulate within the buildings on the hottest of days. Tonight, however, they would serve as Edala’s access and egress. She retrieved a rope from her bag and secured it around the chimney before using it as extra support to shimmy across the roof and down to the nearest vent.

Its frame was wooden and was only secured by a simple internal latch with a ratchet mechanism, by which someone from the floor below could raise it using a very long pole. Edala carefully prised it open with a dagger and then used her hand to push the ratchet forward so that she could slowly open it all the way.

She quickly stuck her head in and could see the dimly lit white tiled floor far below, but she could see little else because of the internal wooden beams and the way the roof had a double taper, widening out in the lower section. Below the window vent and just to the right of it, was one of the thick broad dark wooden beams spanning the width of the building. Edala lowered the rope and gently eased herself towards the beam, just before her head vanished inside the building she reached for the vent and gently pulled it to, so that only the rope passing within kept it open a crack.

Once kneeling on the beam she could see a little more of the large room below, it seemed to be a lounge area with a number of rectangular couches each with wooden legs ornamentally carved with various animal legs. Each couch was covered in a draped red fabric and had a number of cushions up at the head end for comfort. Edala could hear female voices coming from the side of the room she was over, but to see would mean crossing the beam to the shadows on the other side of the room.

She stood up slowly and gently slid one foot forward, there was the slightest of creaks from the beam, but fortunately the rain beating on the glass vents and even the tiles of the roof masked this well. The beam looked a little worse for wear with signs of woodworm, particularly where it was supported by the wall behind her. She was light, however, and decided to take another step, then another and another, each time turning her head away from the beam to see what could be seen below and make sure, of course, that she had not been detected.

              As she crossed the halfway point more couches came into view and she could see the Emperor’s betrothed Lameath standing behind the other ebony woman, briskly brushing her thick red hair, a little too roughly based on the pain and tears on her sad face. Edala quickly finished the last few feet and shrank against the edge of the sloping roof into the deepest shadow, listening and watching intently.

“Themisia you need to cheer up or JalTak and the Mistress will tire of your existence!” Lameath said pausing with her brushing.

“You try being happy with this attached around your ankles day in and day out!” the crying girl shouted, while lifting her right leg to rattle the long chain currently attached to a clasp around her ankle. The other end was attached to a ring of metal which had recently been hammered deeply into the stone floor.

“It’s only because they have little control over you and doubt your conviction to the cause. Once it is confirmed that I have the Emperor’s seed within me, we will pass out of these lands and across the sea to find a suitable seed for you, then when you have a child you might be set free.” Lameath concluded.

 Edala sighed with relief; it seemed these Daemen would not be a concern for her and her sisters to try and deal with, she was just going to leave her place in the darkest shadows within the roof, when a door creaked below and the midget appeared. It strolled across to the two girls and looked at Lameath and then Themisia; a message must have passed from the creature as Themisia began to sob “Please can’t you just let me go I am of no value!”

“You are wrong my sister, JalTak and the Mistress know that there is something interesting in your blood that makes you different to me, you are hard for them to control; even for the Mistress, and you are even able to resist my charms.” As she said this she pulled the others face around and Edala witnessed what she thought must be Lameath’s efforts to charm the other girl. Themisia did seem to relax but then snapped “Don’t!” and pulled her eyes away from the other.

Edala decided that there was no point in staying and realised that the rain had also stopped, meaning that any sound she made might be heard…she would have to be very careful. She turned to face along the beam toward the open vent and her heart stopped. There, perched on the other side of the beam, leaning to try and get a look at what was happening below was another Ebony Daemon.

This one was as different to the midget below as chalk is from cheese. Although crouched, Edala guessed it was about six foot four in height, totally hairless, with a very muscular torso; veins pulsing under a skin riddled with tattoos; the designs were difficult to make out at this distance, their tone being very similar to the creatures dark skin. A length of brown cloth wrapped around its legs and tied at the waist, was all that concealed its modesty. Edala’s hair nearly stood up on end when the creature, sensing it was being watched, turned to face her, two silvery eyes glowing with an internal white light stared into hers. She froze in indecision, should she reach for her dagger or resort to magic to defend herself?

What happened next she was not expecting, the creatures face became filled with panic and it stood to leap up to the window vent which was now wide open. As it stood, however, its bulk proved too much for the wooden beam and it gave way beneath it with a huge crack. Edala gasped as she felt the beam shift beneath her, fortunately it snapped about four feet from where she was hidden and the part she was on remained firmly embedded in the wall.

The Ebony creature and broken beam fell quickly towards the floor below, but it was only the beam which made it to the floor with a hollow wooden thud, the Ebony Daemon was somehow slowly descending and had righted himself to a standing position.

JalTak and Lameath were already making their way toward the levitating being.

“Do you have him?” Lameath asked turning to the midget, who was just behind her, deep in concentration.

Edala stifled a gasp when a voice entered her head.

“Yes...but he is strong, hard to control.”

Edala wondered whether the midget’s telepathy was directional, because she was nearly in the line of sight of where it was looking past Lameath towards the floating Daemon. She certainly felt no indication within the voice that she had been detected. She wondered how the Daemon was floating and decided to risk her soul vision. The sight that she beheld did not totally shock her as she had witnessed Daemon before with her vision, the Ebony Being was surrounded by a blue black aura with, she was a little surprised to see, just a hint of the silver that she normally associated with dragon-kind. In front of its head floated a soul portal so black it seemed to suck the very light out of the room, but for every piece of light it sucked in, a stream of multi-coloured rainbow like energy emerged, to swim around the Daemon, holding it aloft in the air.

JalTak’s aura was the traditional darkness of a Daemon, but it too had a black soul portal at this moment throwing beams of black energy towards the head of the levitating Daemon. Lameath was again an image of black apart from two alluring bright blue lights which had replaced her normal azure coloured eyes. Edala had to refrain a gasp when she moved her eyes to Themisia, although there was a touch of darkness to her aura, it was predominantly overwhelmed by a lighter blue swirling colour and within each swirl was a strong strain of silver. Although not as strong as Edala’s or her sisters, this was definitely a distant relation, perhaps a granddaughter or even great granddaughter of her Father.