Soul of the Sorcerer - Part Three: Daughter of the Dragon (2 page)

Lightning flashed illuminating the night and revealing the silhouettes of two figures unconscious on the soaked muddy floor. Fresh rain was now falling, clinging with a glossy sheen to the small circle of stones within which the two figures lay.

Lloyd Brook blinked as consciousness returned; his senses also now began to spark into life…unfortunately. First there was pain; every limb and organ of his body was in agony, he slowly lifted his head and turned towards his companion, still unmoving on the floor beside him.

Next it took moments for his vision to clear and focus, the girl's own eyes were closed, her red hair masking her features as it hung languidly with dampness across her face. He could see a pool of blood collecting in front of her.

Finally Lloyd opened his mouth to speak, letting a mixture of blood and mud run into it, the taste of the iron in his blood mixed with the bitter mud nearly caused him to retch.

“BETHANY?” he managed to blurt out.

The girl wizard initiate stirred and slowly opened her eyes; she then slowly pushed herself up to a sitting position with a groan...“By the Lord Creator that bloody hurt!”

“Tell me about it; that was far worse than when I helped Darrion transport us to your world!” Lloyd was discovering an extra level of respect at the power and ability of his friend and Master.

Bethany ran her fingers through her hair, lifting it from her face; she then rubbed her nose on her blue robes to clear it from blood. “I thought the idea of getting me to help you with the spell was so that when we arrived here you would have enough power to translocate us the remaining distance to your home?”

“So did I,” Lloyd replied as he tried gingerly to stand “but I’m spent.” he added as he looked at the tiny size of his air soul portal. He reached a hand down to Bethany and she took it with a grateful smile, he then pulled the wet girl to her feet. A flash of lightning and a crash of thunder signalled the arrival of a torrent of rain to drench the two initiates still further.

“Come.” Lloyd led Bethany by the hand from the small circle of stones he had been found in as a baby. Working their way in the darkness was not easy, but Lloyd was grateful that nothing had changed in the layout of the old worn paths leading out of the woodlands up towards the main road.

By the time the two of them reached the stile to exit the field, both of them were shivering. “Wait a second” Lloyd instructed as he opened his fire portal, which was in a far healthier condition than his air one at the moment.

“Blazefire, Blazemight, heat blast, heat fast.” This was one of the spells that Master Roff had taught him during his time on the Isle of Retreat; it was intended to be a spell used for cooking, but the principle of feeding energy into different materials should serve to at least warm their clothes if not necessarily totally dry them.

He concentrated first on Bethany’s robes “Tell me if it starts to get too warm.”

She nodded and smiled in gratitude when, within a minute, a gentle steam began to emanate from her clothes. “Thanks, I always forget you are a Sorcerer!”

Lloyd smiled in return, remembering her face the time when he and Edala had been revealed to them during the school assembly. Bethany had matured a lot since that time, they all had. Once he had warmed through his own clothes he helped Bethany over the stile and they headed down the road towards the village.

A drone of an engine and some headlights made him turn towards the redhead to warn her about the oncoming vehicle… “A car?” Bethany said before he could speak. “Yeah,” he replied “I’m actually impressed you were paying attention to all my teaching about Earth, considering all the flirting you were doing with Allen.”

Bethany blushed, but then broke out in a grin, “He is lush though Lloyd!”

“Lush? Who taught you that?”

“Wendy did the night of the wedding party.”

He sighed incredulously; inwardly he also hoped he would not bump into Wendy while back home, that would be a distraction too far from his quest to find the girl that he loved!

Although she had been paying attention to all of Lloyd’s teaching about his home, her jaw still dropped open in surprise as the sports car finally roared by.

Darrion, Master Air Mage, lay on the settee with his wife’s head on his shoulder; he was very comfortably tired having just returned from another trip abroad to reinforce the protection spells on more stone world portals. What he had seen in the last few months had staggered him beyond belief, and that’s not even including the wondrous technological marvels of Amy’s world.

Her eyes were also closed, she had remained at home this day, beginning to pack up her possessions into boxes ready to move closer to London and her parents; the local health authority having closed the practice in her absence as part of a cost saving measure that would result in the people of the village having to commute to the town for their medical treatment.

Darrion smiled at the events of the last few months, learning to speak English, flying in airplanes; that had been different, shopping...hmm maybe that hadn’t been so much fun; although he must admit that the clothing was superb.

But it had been their trip to Stonehenge which had shocked him the most and he had recorded, in a notepad, all of the glowing symbols on the stones so that he could transport them home for the monks and masters at Arrenloft to research and investigate.

He had also been worried, that in two of the portals he had visited the red warning alarm had been active, indicating that something undesirable may have crossed through. He wondered how events had panned out at home in Kalana, how were Lloyd and Edala and the Daemen! He would sure be in trouble if something happened to Lloyd!

He looked down at his wife and smiled to see her beautiful green eyes staring up at him.

“Sounds like the thunderstorm is returning, do you fancy another cuppa?” she asked.

“Yes please, and some rich tea biscuits.” Tea and biscuits were...after his lovely wife, one of his favourite things about this world.

“Oh, have you had a nosebleed?” she asked seeing a small spot of blood on his light blue t-shirt.

“I hadn’t noticed.” He replied a slight frown crossing his brow. “It looks like its nearly dry.”

BANG, BANG, BANG - three firm knocks made them jump and they both leapt to their feet and headed into the hallway towards the front door. Amy switched on the light before unlocking the door and turning the handle.

Her son and the red haired Bethany nearly collapsed onto the mat.

“Mum!” Lloyd grabbed her arm, both of them looked exhausted with smears of blood and mud on their faces and clothes.

“It’s Boadaiska, she needs your help!”

Several weeks earlier.

Edala perched high upon the roof edge of a domed temple. It was strange being back home in Kon, the place where her father had brought her hours after her birth and the death of Larissa her Mother. She looked northeast over the sprawling city that was Kon, heart of the Crescent Empire. In the moonlight the sandstone walls and buildings looked eerily white.

Kon was a mishmash of building styles, with very tight and winding streets, there were none of the wide thoroughfares as found at the city of Seadawn in the Kingdom of Kalana.

The sound of a coach and horses on the small cobbled street below alerted her to her prey,
victim
; she corrected herself with a grim smile. Her sharp eyes confirmed the coat of arms of the member of the royal family she had been tracking for days now. He had obviously finished his regular soiree at the brothel across the street from the temple; Edala shook her head at the irony before tying a black scarf around her face to conceal her nose and mouth. She then stepped off the edge of the roof and plummeted towards the coach below.

“Zephyrair, Zephyrmight, Wind Strong, Wind Wall” she whispered tapping into her air portal. The summoned wall of air she carefully positioned just above the coach to break her fall. Wind chimes, windows and doors, of nearby buildings, franticly clanked in the disturbance caused by the spell. The two horses pulling the coach stirred uneasily, but the driver quickly calmed them. He did not hear Edala land behind him or feel the thump to the back of his head which knocked him unconscious.

“Come on driver, I want to be home, what's the delay?” a loud pompous voice, with a slight drunken slur, bellowed from within the carriage.
Ealdorman
Trevainian was not a man to be delayed, he had bedded his favourite wench, downed several jugs of his favourite wine, gorged himself on the richest of foods and just wanted to finish off the night by tormenting the hell out of his ugly wife.

He nearly shit himself when the dark shadow leapt through the window and held a silver blade between his huge stomach and his groin.

“Giv us yer cash Guvna and you live to play another day”.

A slow fart emerged from the
Ealdorman’
s backside as he did, indeed, finally empty his bowels into his underwear.

He lifted open his yellow doublet, stained by several of his vices that evening, to reveal an inner pocket.    

“My purse is in there boy.” he said with a slight tremble. Edala’s smile was concealed behind her scarf, she was pleased that her street urchin twang and clothes had not only concealed her identity but also her sex. Her spare hand moved swiftly to retrieve the small bag and then in an instant she was bounding acrobatically up the walls of nearby buildings to cross the rooftops towards home.

Since her transformation into her Dragon Form on that fateful, horrible day, she had found that her senses, agility and strength had all increased beyond that of a normal human.

When she reached the roof of a tall townhouse, she paused to check the contents of the purse, it wasn’t a huge amount, but it would help feed and house her sisters and those that they protected. Edala reached into her pocket and unfolded a small bag with a piece of rope looped as a handle. She quickly looked around; to make sure no one was watching her in the darkness, before quickly removing her black leather trousers, dark blouse and black leather jacket. She then folded them up tightly before placing in the bag along with the
Ealdorman
’s purse and her final items of clothing such as her boots.

She was glad the night was warm as she stood totally naked. With one last check that no one was looking she placed the rope handle of the bag in her mouth. Finally she closed her eyes and remembered the heartbreak and rage she had felt when Lloyd betrayed her on the beach that day with Wendy Walsh and also the utter despair when his eyes had met hers in Dragon Form.

Edala, the silver dragon, now sat wings stretching on the roof top, the bag looped around one of her larger teeth. She then leapt into the air, with only the quietest of flaps, and flew silently towards the northeast to continue her journey to the home of her sisters on the outskirts of the city.

Although unseen by the masses, one lone figure watched from the rooftops as Edala’s Dragon Form receded into the distance. Wrapped completely in a hooded cloak the tall Ebony Being, with eyes currently blacker than the moonlit night, watched emotionless, one tattooed hand pushing, for balance, against a thick chimney stack. A movement in the darkness made the being turn to the right to see what was approaching, a hand as equally black and tattooed touched his, but its form was far more feminine. His eyes blinked and became silver as he looked towards the equally hidden being concealed within its own robes.

“Is it time to implant it yet?” The soft feminine voice asked.

“Not yet, but we will do it to her soon.”

Maria, the oldest living daughter of Ingemar King of the Dragons, looked up from her sewing, with fondness, as her sister Edala appeared from the stairs leading from the roof. The pretty young girl was buttoning her blouse; she had obviously been in Dragon Form again. Maria marvelled; in her 200 years (she looked about 60) she had never known of a Daughter of Ingemar that could change her form at will. She remembered the stories the bedraggled heartbroken child had told when she had first arrived weeks ago and wondered if it was a side effect of the spell the Sorcerer had used to save her life back on the Isle of Retreat. A nasty business.

It had taken days before the child she had raised, with the help of her sisters, had even been able to speak, so broken was her heart. She had been inconsolable, but slowly, with love and the occasional poke, she had come out from her gloom and had taken on her role in helping to keep the sisters and those they helped alive.  Including supporting the poor and homeless of the great city of Kon.

She reacted instinctively to catch the purse of gold that Edala had thrown with an affectionate smile.

“I’m surprised I’ve not started to hear rumours about flying creatures with the amount of times you have been adopting your Dragon Form!” Maria said.

Edala smiled enigmatically, “Fortunately I love being a dragon, it’s the silver lining to losing him.” A flicker of sadness crossed her face, as it did each day when she thought of Lloyd, and her chest still tightened with regret when she remembered the abject terror on his face when he had looked upon her; a look that, to her, was verging on hatred. Even though Maria and the others had tried to convince her that it was purely the dragon fear, she was not so sure.

Maria pulled open the thread tying the purse and tipped out the mixture of coins onto her sewing table. “3 silver earls and about 8 tin bits, that’s not great!”

Edala shrugged “Well I told you I needed to get to him before he spent the night at the brothel! He’s squirted most of the gold up Juliet I should imagine.”

Maria gave the girl a remonstrative look “Your language has deteriorated since, returning home! Although the
Ealdorman
is her best customer I’m well advised that she nearly despises him as much as we do!”

“Well, if you say so, but I don’t imagine he squeezes taxes out of her teats as much as he does ours!” Edala grinned wickedly, being the street urchin again had expelled years of Darrion’s etiquette training. Edala ducked to avoid the playful swipe from her sister.

At this moment the door to the large top floor room opened to reveal her other sisters, who entered carrying trays of food for this evening’s supper.

Edala had still not fully adjusted to being back as a member of this unusual family and she looked at each of the daughters of Ingemar in turn; soaking in their looks for future prosperity should anything happen to them.

Amelia was the sister closer in age to herself, forty five to Edala’s thirtyish, and where Edala looked physically somewhere around the sixteen to eighteen mark, Amelia looked about twenty. She was the tallest of the sisters, nearly about six foot two inches in height and was the closest any of them had ever been to the height of their father, she also had fine blond close cropped hair, which framed a long oval face with pretty pouting lips and bright blue almond shaped eyes. She always tended to wear soft green dresses which Edala was not entirely certain suited her.

The next sister in age was Umaia; she was of shorter firmer build than Amelia and had a light tanned skin, long dark hair and sharp blue green eyes not too dissimilar to Edala’s own. Umaia looked about thirty five but was closer to seventy in actual years. She was fond of clothing in pastel yellows and currently wore a comfortable evening dress.

The next sister was Justina, she was short and dumpy, at least that is how she would describe herself, and she was the funniest of all her sisters, with a sharp tongue and wit to match. She had thick long mousey coloured hair tied into a thick single braid; that she currently had over her right shoulder. She winked at Edala with a twinkle in her brown eyes. She was currently dressed in a food stained cream night gown, actually, Edala corrected herself, she was always wearing a food stained nightgown...did she ever get changed? Justina was also the only one of the sisters, who had magic, but Edala had not seen her fire portal for a number of years, and as far as Edala was aware her sister had never received any formal training.

The final sister, living in the house, was Maria; the closest thing Edala had ever had to a Mother. Maria was a little taller than Edala, with dark curly hair streaked with grey. Her warm green eyes carried wisdom and love in equal measure and her gentle coaxing had brought Edala back from a very dark place.

Maria tended to wear dresses of either a soft pinkish red or pastel green; today she wore a red dress with a collar tight around her neck.  

The sisters entered, each carrying a tray loaded with meats, cheeses and salad. There were also two jugs, one full of ale and one full of wine. Edala smiled, Kenelm would have loved living here, she could almost hear the monks voice saying “Food, wine and five beautiful women, my dream come true!”

They all moved to a larger table closer to the double windows overlooking the street below. This room served as both a sitting and a dining room in the three storey house.

As they each helped themselves to food and drink, Edala wondered if the five of them were the last remaining daughters of Ingemar; when she had been a young child she remembered there being two other sisters between Justina and Maria but they had left by the time Edala was eight years old.

“So how was fishing tonight baby sis?” Justina grinned.

“I had a big fat one on the end of my stick, but when I gutted it the spoils were not that great.” Edala responded with a smile. Maria threw the purse on the table. “Only enough to tide us over for a few days based on the current rate of tax collections.”

Amelia thumped her tankard of ale on the table. “I can’t understand why the Emperor is doing what he is doing; he is starting to push the poor to the limits!”

Umaia paused before placing a fork of food in her mouth “Celeon has only been on the throne for ten years, but he has always been much kinder and people focused than his father, until recently that is. We need to get some idea of what is going on in the Emperor's court.”

“Another little job for our sister spy” Justina added with a wink at Edala.

“I’m starting to think you lot lazed around doing nothing until I came home!” the diminutive wizard thief Dragon-Girl replied. “You want me to visit
Ealdorman
Trevainian again and see if I can make him soil another pair of pants?”

Maria sighed with a gentle smile “I think we may need to be a little more subtle in our approach Edala. I’ve got several items of clothing we can take to the royal market next week, what about you ladies, any wares we can sell and provide some cover to get Edala in safely?”

“I could knock up some of my happy cakes.” Justina offered with a sarcastic smile. Maria looked to the ceiling “Please Father why do I have to suffer my sisters!” She looked back at the grinning Justina and Edala “Then again, they don’t taste bad and the drug will certainly take the edge off the guards!”

“I have a few small necklaces that are ready.” Amelia added.

“I can check how many bottles of my last batch of wine have finished fermenting” Umaia shrugged.

“Ok I take it back, you only laze around most of the time” Edala grinned.

Having finished eating, Maria relaxed back into the wooden dining chair “So next week we gather our wares and head to the market, there we can mingle with both high and low to see what we can learn...and if needs be our little sister can do what she is good at!”