The Fenimeldiyaan: Vacation - Chapter 7
“Lord Serkan Parnamiam at yer service”. The man gave River a dazzling smile and bowed
from the waist. “I come from Port
Byzarth over on Varathusia. I be here on
business. Aye, I know I don’t look like
a typical Varagan, but tis what I be.
Anyways, I be happy to help ye search for yer friend. We’ll cover the distance better by car. I be parked around the corner there”. He pointed to another side-street.
River’s only other experience of being in a car was when Andreas had taken her on a tour of his home city of Vaskrath, before she had begun her formal studies at the Donovan Institute. She recalled being introduced to some Varagan traders, but those men had been far taller and broader than the one who was offering to help her look for Rita. That was why she had not recognised Serkan as being a Varagan.
His hand brushed her arm but before they could go any further, a strident voice yelled out “Oi, hands off! I saw her first!”
Someone else grabbed hold of River. She tried to put up a struggle but she was too exhausted. Strong arms dragged her away and her book fell to the ground.
Serkan reached towards her, but it was too late. The cloaked figure translocated away with River held firmly in their arms.
He leaned down and picked up the book, cradling it to his chest and shaking his head in dismay. He muttered something in Varagan and walked the short distance to his car.
Laying the book on the passenger seat beside him, he took out his computer tablet and entered the words “Donovan Institute” in a search engine. Once he had the information he needed, he set off.
--------------------------
With much reluctance, Andreas delivered his report to the Vyrdigaan Elders and senior teaching staff at the Donovan Institute. “I’ve made a thorough search of Rita’s quarters and found nothing suspicious. I also scanned the whole place and interviewed her fellow students. None of them have seen her since yesterday and there be no evidence of her translocating out. I can only conclude that she’s been abducted by a sorcerer skilled enough to be able to mask their trail. Usually only an Ascended Master can disperse a translocation trail, but there be a few other methods which I be in process of investigating”.
“What about her family?” Judaas Fendor enquired. “Have you contacted them?”
“Aye”. Andreas gave a heavy sigh and twisted his long tail of hair around his fingers as he tended to do when in uncomfortable situations. “She ain’t been home, nor has she visited her cousins or any of her close friends. I’ve spent the past few hours doing the rounds, speaking to all the people she used to hang about with back in Inrith. I also checked her favourite shopping malls, cafés and restaurants, plus the spa and gym that she used to go to. No-one in Inrith has seen her since her last vacation time”.
“Then we’ll have to widen the search to include all of Malvania and all of Varathusia” Judaas stated. “All of us Ascended Masters will help you. We’ll divide up the territory and start searching as soon as this meeting be over”.
“Thank ye” Andreas acknowledged. “I hate having to bring the matter of security up yet again, but mayhap tis time ye considered me recommendations for upgrading yer systems. If it be that easy to abduct one student, then we need to work together to prevent any more incidents like this”.
“I agree with you”. The tiny figure of Kvyrt Elygiak hovered above the conference table, legs crossed, crumpled robes hitched up to reveal his bony bare ankles and feet. “I’ve always thought that this facility be far too vulnerable to attacks, both mundane and sorcery-based. But my opinions have never been popular”. He gave a dry chuckle and levitated himself up towards the ceiling.
“Don’t turn this into a circus, Elygiak!” Drusyt Retnik admonished, glowering at the little man known as the Trickster. “Only by the application of logic and hard work will we track down our errant student and bring her abductor to justice”.
“Blah, blah, blah!” Kvyrt mocked, poking his tongue out at Drusyt. “Tis hardly my fault that you never take me or Andreas seriously. We never had any students going missing when I used to teach at the Grymelaan, Rytsveen and Beryk enclaves. Implement the upgrades like Andreas suggests!"
He dissolved into a shower of sparks. Each spark shot off in a different direction. Andreas could not help grinning at the Trickster’s antics.
Shortly after his departure, the meeting ended and the Elders began searching their allotted territories.
-------------------------
“Aye, tis fine” Andreas said to Morgan. “Tis good to see ye again, Apollo and I be glad ye made it here safely”.
“Ye be most welcome here” Anwyn said, giving Apollo a warm hug. “Blessings of the desert be upon ye, Apollo. I expect ye be thirsty. I’ll get ye some fruit juice”.
Further conversation was interrupted by the arrival of a tall, imposing, black-skinned woman. Although her waist-length dreadlocks were streaked with grey and there were a few lines on her face, she was very attractive, albeit in a harsh, untamed way. She spoke to Anwyn in a gruff voice, then grabbed hold of the nearest person, who happened to be Gerald.
Gerald gulped, recalling a scene from his nightmare. “Ye be Anwyn’s mother, right? Whatever I’ve done to offend ye, I be truly sorry. Just don’t kill me. I get the feeling me wife were about to tell me something important and I want to live long enough to hear it”.
“Tis alright, Gerald”. Anwyn smiled at him. “Ye be right, tis me Ma, Veveen Ohrivaal. She don’t speak Vordellan, so I’ll have to translate for her. Let her dance with ye. Tis a traditional Sartorian greeting dance. She’ll want to dance with all of ye”.
Veveen danced with Gerald for several minutes, then let go of him, sending him sprawling on the sand, still reeling from the overly energetic dance movements. His bad leg ached terribly but at least he was still in one piece.
Next she approached Elsa, giving a motherly smile and enveloping her in a crushing hug. “Blessings for yer child” she projected to Elsa, the words forming slowly, since she had to project ideas rather than actual words in order to get around the language barrier. “Sand and tree protect ye and help yer child grow strong”. Veveen danced more gently with Elsa than she had with Gerald.
----------------------------
“This be the Donovan Institute?” the stranger enquired, peering at the tall elegant Malvanian who had opened the door to him.
“Aye” Caratacuus confirmed, giving a formal double bow. “I be Caratacuus Helvellyan, one of the teachers here. How may I help you?”
The man held up a familiar looking book. “I be Lord Serkan Parnamiam, a Varagan trader and I believe I’ve just witnessed one of yer students being abducted from Rishlaan city centre”. He then proceeded to relate the brief exchange between him and River, finishing with “I be sorry that I weren’t able to prevent the abduction. It happened too quickly and they were gone without trace. I don’t have sorcery powers meself, or I would’ve gone after them”.
“You did the right thing in coming here” Caratacuus stated. “Would you be prepared to report what you saw to the Elders? In addition, they may wish to do a mind-merge on you, to see if there be any other memories which might help. Tis a serious matter and not the first of its kind”.
“Of course”. Serkan bowed from the waist in typical Varagan style. “I be a man of honour. The young woman were obviously in distress, worried about her missing friend. I want to help in any way possible”.
------------------------
River groaned soundlessly, her head pounding. She tried to move her hand but found that her body refused to respond. Although she had never found herself under the effect of an immobilising spell before, she assumed with detached thoughts that was what was wrong with her. Her headache was probably from using too much magic in translocating.
Panic abruptly shot through River, breaking through her mental fog. She remembered strong arms grabbing her, dragging her away from the kind man — Serkan. Then everything went black. Why would someone kidnap her? Had the same thing happened to Rita?
Although River tried to communicate with her friend, she hit a telepathic wall. Searching with her mind, she managed to very lightly touch Andreas’s and cried out, “Andreas! Plea —”
River’s only other experience of being in a car was when Andreas had taken her on a tour of his home city of Vaskrath, before she had begun her formal studies at the Donovan Institute. She recalled being introduced to some Varagan traders, but those men had been far taller and broader than the one who was offering to help her look for Rita. That was why she had not recognised Serkan as being a Varagan.
His hand brushed her arm but before they could go any further, a strident voice yelled out “Oi, hands off! I saw her first!”
Someone else grabbed hold of River. She tried to put up a struggle but she was too exhausted. Strong arms dragged her away and her book fell to the ground.
Serkan reached towards her, but it was too late. The cloaked figure translocated away with River held firmly in their arms.
He leaned down and picked up the book, cradling it to his chest and shaking his head in dismay. He muttered something in Varagan and walked the short distance to his car.
Laying the book on the passenger seat beside him, he took out his computer tablet and entered the words “Donovan Institute” in a search engine. Once he had the information he needed, he set off.
--------------------------
With much reluctance, Andreas delivered his report to the Vyrdigaan Elders and senior teaching staff at the Donovan Institute. “I’ve made a thorough search of Rita’s quarters and found nothing suspicious. I also scanned the whole place and interviewed her fellow students. None of them have seen her since yesterday and there be no evidence of her translocating out. I can only conclude that she’s been abducted by a sorcerer skilled enough to be able to mask their trail. Usually only an Ascended Master can disperse a translocation trail, but there be a few other methods which I be in process of investigating”.
“What about her family?” Judaas Fendor enquired. “Have you contacted them?”
“Aye”. Andreas gave a heavy sigh and twisted his long tail of hair around his fingers as he tended to do when in uncomfortable situations. “She ain’t been home, nor has she visited her cousins or any of her close friends. I’ve spent the past few hours doing the rounds, speaking to all the people she used to hang about with back in Inrith. I also checked her favourite shopping malls, cafés and restaurants, plus the spa and gym that she used to go to. No-one in Inrith has seen her since her last vacation time”.
“Then we’ll have to widen the search to include all of Malvania and all of Varathusia” Judaas stated. “All of us Ascended Masters will help you. We’ll divide up the territory and start searching as soon as this meeting be over”.
“Thank ye” Andreas acknowledged. “I hate having to bring the matter of security up yet again, but mayhap tis time ye considered me recommendations for upgrading yer systems. If it be that easy to abduct one student, then we need to work together to prevent any more incidents like this”.
“I agree with you”. The tiny figure of Kvyrt Elygiak hovered above the conference table, legs crossed, crumpled robes hitched up to reveal his bony bare ankles and feet. “I’ve always thought that this facility be far too vulnerable to attacks, both mundane and sorcery-based. But my opinions have never been popular”. He gave a dry chuckle and levitated himself up towards the ceiling.
“Don’t turn this into a circus, Elygiak!” Drusyt Retnik admonished, glowering at the little man known as the Trickster. “Only by the application of logic and hard work will we track down our errant student and bring her abductor to justice”.
“Blah, blah, blah!” Kvyrt mocked, poking his tongue out at Drusyt. “Tis hardly my fault that you never take me or Andreas seriously. We never had any students going missing when I used to teach at the Grymelaan, Rytsveen and Beryk enclaves. Implement the upgrades like Andreas suggests!"
He dissolved into a shower of sparks. Each spark shot off in a different direction. Andreas could not help grinning at the Trickster’s antics.
Shortly after his departure, the meeting ended and the Elders began searching their allotted territories.
-------------------------
“Aye, tis fine” Andreas said to Morgan. “Tis good to see ye again, Apollo and I be glad ye made it here safely”.
“Ye be most welcome here” Anwyn said, giving Apollo a warm hug. “Blessings of the desert be upon ye, Apollo. I expect ye be thirsty. I’ll get ye some fruit juice”.
Further conversation was interrupted by the arrival of a tall, imposing, black-skinned woman. Although her waist-length dreadlocks were streaked with grey and there were a few lines on her face, she was very attractive, albeit in a harsh, untamed way. She spoke to Anwyn in a gruff voice, then grabbed hold of the nearest person, who happened to be Gerald.
Gerald gulped, recalling a scene from his nightmare. “Ye be Anwyn’s mother, right? Whatever I’ve done to offend ye, I be truly sorry. Just don’t kill me. I get the feeling me wife were about to tell me something important and I want to live long enough to hear it”.
“Tis alright, Gerald”. Anwyn smiled at him. “Ye be right, tis me Ma, Veveen Ohrivaal. She don’t speak Vordellan, so I’ll have to translate for her. Let her dance with ye. Tis a traditional Sartorian greeting dance. She’ll want to dance with all of ye”.
Veveen danced with Gerald for several minutes, then let go of him, sending him sprawling on the sand, still reeling from the overly energetic dance movements. His bad leg ached terribly but at least he was still in one piece.
Next she approached Elsa, giving a motherly smile and enveloping her in a crushing hug. “Blessings for yer child” she projected to Elsa, the words forming slowly, since she had to project ideas rather than actual words in order to get around the language barrier. “Sand and tree protect ye and help yer child grow strong”. Veveen danced more gently with Elsa than she had with Gerald.
----------------------------
“This be the Donovan Institute?” the stranger enquired, peering at the tall elegant Malvanian who had opened the door to him.
“Aye” Caratacuus confirmed, giving a formal double bow. “I be Caratacuus Helvellyan, one of the teachers here. How may I help you?”
The man held up a familiar looking book. “I be Lord Serkan Parnamiam, a Varagan trader and I believe I’ve just witnessed one of yer students being abducted from Rishlaan city centre”. He then proceeded to relate the brief exchange between him and River, finishing with “I be sorry that I weren’t able to prevent the abduction. It happened too quickly and they were gone without trace. I don’t have sorcery powers meself, or I would’ve gone after them”.
“You did the right thing in coming here” Caratacuus stated. “Would you be prepared to report what you saw to the Elders? In addition, they may wish to do a mind-merge on you, to see if there be any other memories which might help. Tis a serious matter and not the first of its kind”.
“Of course”. Serkan bowed from the waist in typical Varagan style. “I be a man of honour. The young woman were obviously in distress, worried about her missing friend. I want to help in any way possible”.
------------------------
River groaned soundlessly, her head pounding. She tried to move her hand but found that her body refused to respond. Although she had never found herself under the effect of an immobilising spell before, she assumed with detached thoughts that was what was wrong with her. Her headache was probably from using too much magic in translocating.
Panic abruptly shot through River, breaking through her mental fog. She remembered strong arms grabbing her, dragging her away from the kind man — Serkan. Then everything went black. Why would someone kidnap her? Had the same thing happened to Rita?
Although River tried to communicate with her friend, she hit a telepathic wall. Searching with her mind, she managed to very lightly touch Andreas’s and cried out, “Andreas! Plea —”
Before she could finish communicating or hear his response,
it was as if a mental hand had been clamped over her mouth. It dissolved her
thoughts, making it impossible to think. It also made her headache far worse,
and River wasn’t sorry when she lost consciousness again.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Morgan eyed Veveen nervously as she grabbed his arms. He managed a translation spell and started stuttering, “I really don’t think —” Before he could finish, Veveen was dancing with him, twirling around with him, keeping a firm grasp on his arms. After a few dizzying minutes, she released him and he staggered backwards, panting, falling onto the sand beside Gerald.
Veveen went up to Apollo next. The healer stabbed his staff into the sand, keeping it upright. He seemed resigned to his fate. “I’ve never been much of a dancer,” he began, but Veveen snatched his arms.
To Elsa’s surprise, Apollo was good at the dance, although Veveen was as … enthusiastic with him as she had been with the other two. When she released him, he managed to keep his footing and smiled, bowing his head slightly. “It was a pleasure,” he said.
“Show-off,” Morgan muttered, finally mustering the strength to sit up. “I don’t suppose I can have a look at the cooking hut now?”
“Go ahead,” Andreas said, laughing. The mage hopped to his feet and went off.
Apollo sat back down, pulling his staff from the sand and laying it across his lap. Elsa stood up, brushing sand off her clothes. “I’m going to go and make sure he doesn’t eat everything,” she said, straight-faced. “I suppose I should eat something, though I’m not particularly hungry,” she added in a mutter. Then she walked to the hut.
Gerald stayed in his lounging position, still trying to catch his breath from the dance. Then he whacked Apollo’s shoulder. “Ye have terrible timing, mate,” he told him.
“Me? Why?”
“She were about to tell me something important,” Gerald said. “And ye interrupted us. Now I can’t go after her and figure out what she were trying to tell me until later.”
Apollo was blushing furiously. “Oh, Gerald, I’m sorry,” he apologised. “I had no idea —”
An explosion interrupted them. Gerald shot to his feet, a little slower than Andreas and Anwyn. “What the devil?” he exclaimed.
Apollo slapped his forehead. “Idiot!” he said to himself before running towards where Elsa and Morgan had gone. The sight that awaited them was frightening. Elsa was crumpled on the sand, unconscious, and the top of the cooking hut had been blown off. Morgan stood in the sand, flames licking at his arms. When he turned to face them, his eyes were red and his expression blank. “Apollo, what the devil?!” Gerald yelled.
Apollo simply pointed his staff at Morgan and the mage crumpled. Once he was on the ground, Apollo knelt beside his fallen cousin and produced a vial of something from his pocket, dumping its contents into Morgan’s mouth. “I was a fool,” Apollo murmured.
Gerald sat beside Elsa, cradling her head. Luckily, she seemed only to have gotten a bump on the head, probably from whatever Morgan had done. “Care to explain?” Gerald asked.
Apollo didn’t look up from where he was. “I’m not sure it’s very pleasant for any of you to hear,” he said.
“I don’t care. Yer cousin just attacked me wife and I want to know why!”
Apollo sat back on his heels. “Very well. It was when he killed the ruler of Hindustan. He forgave himself and I thought that was the end, but it wasn’t. Not at all. He pushed his darkness too far in murdering an innocent, and it’s becoming more and more of a struggle for him to keep it at bay. If he loses his temper or gets annoyed or simply too tired, the walls come down and … this happens. Usually I can prevent any permanent damage, but he’s … it’s getting harder. For both of us. I thought coming here might help him, but I guess I was wrong.”
“Will they both be alright?” Gerald asked.
Apollo nodded. “I’ll tend to her,” he said. “Andreas, I don’t suppose there’s somewhere for Morgan to rest for a few hours? He’s going to be a little traumatised when he wakes up.”
As Gerald lifted the mage into his arms and followed Andreas to one of the tents, Apollo knelt beside Elsa. He felt her forehead and tapped into his magic. After a moment, he sighed in relief. “You’ll be alright,” he said. “Both of you.” Then he picked her up and carried her after Gerald and Morgan.
----------------------------
“Again!” Ursula urged, gesturing towards the row of sand-sculptures. “Hit harder this time!”
Rita sighed but knew better than to protest. At least she was doing something practical instead of writing endless essays or trying to solve complex multi-layered equations. She concentrated and let out another energy blast, aiming for the sculpture of Andreas which she had decapitated with her previous attempt. The blast was on target and the ridiculous headless sculpture disintegrated, scattering sand in all directions.
“Better”. Ursula gave a grin which looked more like a grimace and patted her on the arm. “Keep practising until ye’ve destroyed all of them. I’ll be back soon. I need to check on me other student”.
Rita noted the use of the singular. So far her new place of study was turning out to be a great disappointment. The facilities consisted of a sand-coloured villa which was Ursula’s residence, plus a poorly-constructed building for the students’ accommodation. She had been there nearly two days and had not seen anyone except for Ursula.
“What other student?” she asked, but Ursula ignored her and strode away.
----------------------
“Wake up!” a gruff voice demanded. Rough hands shook River by the shoulders and hauled her into a sitting position.
River rubbed her bleary eyes and looked around for her book, belatedly remembering that she had dropped it when her captor had dragged her away from Serkan. “Who?” was all she could manage to project.
The woman with the messy hair and ragged robes inspected her thoroughly, as if she were livestock at a market. “Aye, ye’ll do very nicely indeed. So the Carp turned out to be useful after all, if only for what were in her shallow little mind”. She smiled at River, but it was a fake smile, devoid of any real emotion. “Ursula Cadogan at yer service, me dear. Welcome to the Cadogan Academy of Sorcery”.
“Dorrie!” The name sprang into River’s mind, recalling the plump Virian sorceress who had tried to entice her to study on the island of Nhemayah instead of going to the prestigious Donovan Institute.
“Dorrie were me grandma” Ursula explained, speaking slowly as if to a small child. “She ain’t around anymore. I’ve taken over her academy and I’ll be teaching ye, Queen River Meer”. She gave another cold smile.
“Andreas!” In desperation, River tried again to reach him.
Ursula shook her head and wagged a bony finger at her. “He can’t help ye now. Besides, he never really had yer best interests at heart. Carps be all the same, only out for themselves. Ye be better off here”.
Her words sounded exactly like something Dorrie would have said. Clearly Ursula had inherited her grandmother’s loathing and mistrust of Carpathians.
“Eat!” Ursula materialised a bowl of something resembling lumpy porridge and handed it to River, along with a spoon. “Ye gotta keep yer strength up so ye can learn well. And don’t think of trying to use yer skills to get back to yer fake friends at the Don. The whole island be shielded. Ye’ll just be wearing yerself out for no good reason”.
-----------------------
“So ye never got a good look at the abductor, ye say?” Andreas spoke in Varagan for Serkan’s benefit, projecting a translation in Malvanian so that Caratacuus could understand.
Serkan sighed and shook his head. “Twas a narrow, dark street and the person were wearing a hooded cloak. I can only tell ye that they were small but had great powers of sorcery. The voice were disguised with sorcery too, so I couldn’t tell if it were a man or a woman. Didn’t sound Malvanian though”.
Andreas flicked through River’s book, knowing that the girl erased all but the most important conversations. Although they were one-sided, they could still provide useful insights. He found several comments which related to lessons, plus the brief exchange which River had with Serkan prior to her abduction.
He closed the book and leaned closer to Serkan, stroking the Varagan’s arm. “No need for a mind-merge. I were brought up amongst Varagans”. He smiled. “D’ye know of the Valencia Street Consortium in Vaskrath?”
“Aye, of course”. Serkan returned the smile and the arm-stroke. “I’ve done business with them a few times. I heard they had a Carpathian Guardian”.
“Ye heard right” Andreas acknowledged, standing and bowing from the waist in Varagan style. “Tis me”.
Serkan immediately went to his knees, bowing his head low so that his forehead touched the floor. “I be honoured to meet ye, Lord Guardian. I will put off me business so that I can help ye search for Lady River Meer and Lady Rita Micario”.
As soon as the trader straightened from his bow, Andreas hugged him and slapped him on the back. “Tis most generous of ye, me friend”.
-----------------------
“Let Elsa have our tent” Anwyn suggested. “Twill be more comfortable than one of the guest tents. And we’ll put Morgan in Uncle Erroll’s tent. He won’t mind”.
Apollo stopped outside the beautiful purple silk tent and waited for Anwyn to open the flap. Inside was a cosy nest of blankets and a few personal items, such as books, a computer tablet and a bottle of hair oil. It was tricky getting into the tent, for Apollo had to get on his knees while still holding Elsa in his arms. The interior of the tent had a faint aroma of incense and Andreas’s smoking herbs. He laid Elsa down in the blankets and backed out of the tent.
“Ye might have told me that this other tent be all the way over here!” Gerald complained, sweating and panting from the effort of lugging Morgan around. “Still at least he didn’t get a chance to eat. He’d have been even heavier then!”
“Sorry” Anwyn replied. “I’ll carry him the rest of the way. Ye ain’t used to the heat”.
“No, tis alright”. The last thing Gerald wanted was to be outdone by a woman, and a small one at that. “I’ll manage”.
“At least ye didn’t have to carry Erroll!” Andreas joked. “Morgan be like a child in comparison! Even Vev don’t attempt lifting him and she be the strongest of us all”.
Erroll’s tent was located close to the sacred grove, since he was the tribe’s Hastamage (or shaman) and it was his responsibility to tend the sacred Hasta tree and make sure that the oasis remained fertile. It was almost as elegant as Anwyn’s and Andreas’s tent, being constructed from multi-coloured silk.
A small, bald-headed, naked woman with a bright green serpent tattooed on one side of her face emerged from the tent. Her skin was as pale as that of the Vordellans and her eyes were a startling shade of maroon.
“Ye ain’t telling me that this be Erroll?” Gerald quipped, shifting Morgan’s bulk into a more comfortable position in his arms.
The woman laughed and smiled at him. “I be Justeen Halloran, Erroll’s wife. Tis good to meet ye, Gerald Hunt. Ye too, Apollo. Erroll be tending to the herb garden with our granddaughter, Yadzah. I expect ye’ll meet them later”.
Justeen helped Gerald to get Morgan settled in the tent. “I’ll watch over him” she offered. “I know all about the dark side of sorcery. I’ve had plenty of experience in dealing with those who struggle to keep the darkness from their souls. I be a priestess of Scherza, Goddess of Wisdom”.
Gerald murmured his thanks, feeling intimidated by the small woman. Although he was relieved at not having to supervise Morgan, he still felt worried about Elsa and he kept wondering what she had intended to tell him.
“I expect Vev will have repaired the cooking hut by now” Andreas remarked. “I be feeling hungry. Shall we go and get something to eat?”
----------------------------
River sniffed, fighting back tears until Ursula left her alone. Then she let them fall, dripping down her face into the lumpy and unappetising-looking porridge. She didn’t want her strength, and she didn’t want to learn from Ursula. Perhaps it wouldn’t have been so bad if Dorrie had been there, but Dorrie had never kidnapped her before!
Why wouldn’t Andreas answer her? He could beat some shield over the island! But try as she might, she couldn’t even touch his mind again. She’d felt something. Someone knew she was in danger; but why hadn’t they answered? Where was Andreas?
Fully giving in to the tears, River hurled her bowl of porridge at the wall and covered her face. Sobs wracked her body. She just wanted to go home — to the Don.
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Gerald mopped off his forehead uncomfortably, still sweating after his unwanted bout of dragging the unconscious Morgan all over the oasis. “Aye, food does seem to be in order,” he agreed. “I’ll just check on me wife.”
He ducked into the tent as they passed it, smiling a little at the sight of Elsa laying so peacefully inside. Even if the conditions of her falling unconscious weren’t the greatest, she still looked beautiful. He gently kissed her and smoothed her hair out of her face. “Ye’ll tell me whatever it is that be weighing on yer mind,” he whispered, “when ye be ready. I just wish we’d stop being interrupted when ye try and tell me.” Heaving a sigh, he crawled from the tent and brushed the sand from his knees.
Apollo, Andreas, and Anwyn were seated not far from the cooking hut, which had remarkably been repaired in the time that they had been gone. Gerald lowered himself down on the sand beside Andreas with a grunt. “Blimey,” he complained. “This ain’t exactly what I expected when we got to the desert.”
Apollo sighed. “I suppose that’s partially my fault,” he admitted. “And I also suppose I owe you some manner of explanation as to Morgan’s behaviour.”
“Ye mentioned it happening afore,” Gerald noted. “Care to elaborate? I don’t remember Morgan turning into a fireball lobbing maniac before.”
Apollo shrugged and sighed again. “I’ve managed to keep it hidden. The first incident occurred not long after the two of you got back from Thraesh. Daren called all of us,” he indicated himself and Gerald, “into a meeting. Morgan suggested an idea to dealing with something and Gerald had the opposite. Daren went with Gerald’s idea and Morgan got angry, storming from the room. When I went after him, he nearly torched me and looked just like he did now. Like he didn’t know what was going on. Empty.”
“Ye sound concerned,” Gerald said. “Can’t ye just prevent it like ye usually do?”
“It’s not that simple,” Apollo snapped. Then he took a deep breath. “Nothing should have pushed Morgan to that point here. He wasn’t angry or annoyed when he left to go to the hut, he wasn’t hungry, he wasn’t even tired. I can’t understand what caused him to snap. If he’s just randomly succumbing to the darkness, I don’t know what I can do for him.”
“There must be a reason, though,” Andreas said. “Morgan weren’t unhappy or even thinking about his dark side while he were here.”
Apollo chewed his lip as he stewed it over. “Normally, I’d say it was because he connected with a person in danger, someone who means something to him. But … I don’t know anyone here who would push him to that point.”
“Weren’t none of us,” Gerald said.
Apollo stood up abruptly, his blue eyes widening. “Andreas,” he said. The man raised his eyebrows. “Gerald and Morgan said you met a girl named River Meer on Thraesh and you brought her here to learn. Is she short, skinny as a twig, brown curly hair, with big brown eyes? And mute?” Andreas, Anwyn, and Gerald all nodded. Apollo cursed, putting his hands over his eyes.
“Apollo, mate,” Gerald said. “Get ahold of yerself. What be the problem with that girl? I don’t even think she nor Morgan ever even said anything to each other on Thraesh.”
“That’s not the point,” Apollo said tiredly, lowering his hands. “We met her several years ago, before we reunited with the Silvereyes. And before we met you,” he added to Gerald. “Morgan and I left Vordelle and went to Corttann, hoping for some kind of a new life. Of course, we didn’t know Corttann despises magic, and when we went there, Witchfinders — a group of people who ritualistically sacrifice magic users — caught us. They already had River Meer prisoner. They shoved Morgan against her and they mind-merged for a few moments. I’m not sure how, but Morgan always felt some kind of a connection to her after that. If she’s in trouble, he’ll know.”
“She’s disappeared,” Andreas admitted. “Abducted.”
Apollo nodded a few times. “There you have it, then,” he said. “Morgan felt her distress and it triggered his breakdown. Probably reminded him of nearly getting sacrificed as well as the things River went through.”
“Well, problem solved, right?” Gerald said. “With all yer Ascended Masters here, can’t be too difficult to find one girl.”
“It be more complicated than that, but ye shouldn’t concern yerselves with it,” Andreas assured him. “We have it well in hand.”
Apollo looked doubtful but leaned back. “Alright, then. As long as you’re sure … now that I know what pushed him beyond it, I should be able to protect Morgan from getting pushed again. Should,” he muttered.
Satisfied that the Morgan problem had been solved, Gerald leaned back as well. “I be ready to eat whenever the rest of ye are,” he said.
Apollo rose. “I’m going to check on Elsa,” he said. “Start without me. I’ll be back in a minute.”
He tramped through the sand back to the borrowed tent and went inside. Elsa was still asleep, and he touched her forehead. He sighed. “You and your sister have to have this problem,” he said.
When he got back to the others, they were getting their food. Gerald looked up when Apollo approached, an unspoken question on his face. “She’s fine,” he assured him. “It’s just … you remember how Elaine couldn’t handle a lot of healing in one day?”
“Let me guess,” Gerald said with a sigh. “Elsa has that same intolerance.”
“Translocating and whatever Morgan did to knock her out pushed her system over the edge,” Apollo admitted. “A day’s rest should be enough for her to recover.”
Gerald sighed again. “Another day that I don’t find out what she were trying to tell me,” he muttered. “Splendid.”
-------------------------------------------------------------
Morgan eyed Veveen nervously as she grabbed his arms. He managed a translation spell and started stuttering, “I really don’t think —” Before he could finish, Veveen was dancing with him, twirling around with him, keeping a firm grasp on his arms. After a few dizzying minutes, she released him and he staggered backwards, panting, falling onto the sand beside Gerald.
Veveen went up to Apollo next. The healer stabbed his staff into the sand, keeping it upright. He seemed resigned to his fate. “I’ve never been much of a dancer,” he began, but Veveen snatched his arms.
To Elsa’s surprise, Apollo was good at the dance, although Veveen was as … enthusiastic with him as she had been with the other two. When she released him, he managed to keep his footing and smiled, bowing his head slightly. “It was a pleasure,” he said.
“Show-off,” Morgan muttered, finally mustering the strength to sit up. “I don’t suppose I can have a look at the cooking hut now?”
“Go ahead,” Andreas said, laughing. The mage hopped to his feet and went off.
Apollo sat back down, pulling his staff from the sand and laying it across his lap. Elsa stood up, brushing sand off her clothes. “I’m going to go and make sure he doesn’t eat everything,” she said, straight-faced. “I suppose I should eat something, though I’m not particularly hungry,” she added in a mutter. Then she walked to the hut.
Gerald stayed in his lounging position, still trying to catch his breath from the dance. Then he whacked Apollo’s shoulder. “Ye have terrible timing, mate,” he told him.
“Me? Why?”
“She were about to tell me something important,” Gerald said. “And ye interrupted us. Now I can’t go after her and figure out what she were trying to tell me until later.”
Apollo was blushing furiously. “Oh, Gerald, I’m sorry,” he apologised. “I had no idea —”
An explosion interrupted them. Gerald shot to his feet, a little slower than Andreas and Anwyn. “What the devil?” he exclaimed.
Apollo slapped his forehead. “Idiot!” he said to himself before running towards where Elsa and Morgan had gone. The sight that awaited them was frightening. Elsa was crumpled on the sand, unconscious, and the top of the cooking hut had been blown off. Morgan stood in the sand, flames licking at his arms. When he turned to face them, his eyes were red and his expression blank. “Apollo, what the devil?!” Gerald yelled.
Apollo simply pointed his staff at Morgan and the mage crumpled. Once he was on the ground, Apollo knelt beside his fallen cousin and produced a vial of something from his pocket, dumping its contents into Morgan’s mouth. “I was a fool,” Apollo murmured.
Gerald sat beside Elsa, cradling her head. Luckily, she seemed only to have gotten a bump on the head, probably from whatever Morgan had done. “Care to explain?” Gerald asked.
Apollo didn’t look up from where he was. “I’m not sure it’s very pleasant for any of you to hear,” he said.
“I don’t care. Yer cousin just attacked me wife and I want to know why!”
Apollo sat back on his heels. “Very well. It was when he killed the ruler of Hindustan. He forgave himself and I thought that was the end, but it wasn’t. Not at all. He pushed his darkness too far in murdering an innocent, and it’s becoming more and more of a struggle for him to keep it at bay. If he loses his temper or gets annoyed or simply too tired, the walls come down and … this happens. Usually I can prevent any permanent damage, but he’s … it’s getting harder. For both of us. I thought coming here might help him, but I guess I was wrong.”
“Will they both be alright?” Gerald asked.
Apollo nodded. “I’ll tend to her,” he said. “Andreas, I don’t suppose there’s somewhere for Morgan to rest for a few hours? He’s going to be a little traumatised when he wakes up.”
As Gerald lifted the mage into his arms and followed Andreas to one of the tents, Apollo knelt beside Elsa. He felt her forehead and tapped into his magic. After a moment, he sighed in relief. “You’ll be alright,” he said. “Both of you.” Then he picked her up and carried her after Gerald and Morgan.
----------------------------
“Again!” Ursula urged, gesturing towards the row of sand-sculptures. “Hit harder this time!”
Rita sighed but knew better than to protest. At least she was doing something practical instead of writing endless essays or trying to solve complex multi-layered equations. She concentrated and let out another energy blast, aiming for the sculpture of Andreas which she had decapitated with her previous attempt. The blast was on target and the ridiculous headless sculpture disintegrated, scattering sand in all directions.
“Better”. Ursula gave a grin which looked more like a grimace and patted her on the arm. “Keep practising until ye’ve destroyed all of them. I’ll be back soon. I need to check on me other student”.
Rita noted the use of the singular. So far her new place of study was turning out to be a great disappointment. The facilities consisted of a sand-coloured villa which was Ursula’s residence, plus a poorly-constructed building for the students’ accommodation. She had been there nearly two days and had not seen anyone except for Ursula.
“What other student?” she asked, but Ursula ignored her and strode away.
----------------------
“Wake up!” a gruff voice demanded. Rough hands shook River by the shoulders and hauled her into a sitting position.
River rubbed her bleary eyes and looked around for her book, belatedly remembering that she had dropped it when her captor had dragged her away from Serkan. “Who?” was all she could manage to project.
The woman with the messy hair and ragged robes inspected her thoroughly, as if she were livestock at a market. “Aye, ye’ll do very nicely indeed. So the Carp turned out to be useful after all, if only for what were in her shallow little mind”. She smiled at River, but it was a fake smile, devoid of any real emotion. “Ursula Cadogan at yer service, me dear. Welcome to the Cadogan Academy of Sorcery”.
“Dorrie!” The name sprang into River’s mind, recalling the plump Virian sorceress who had tried to entice her to study on the island of Nhemayah instead of going to the prestigious Donovan Institute.
“Dorrie were me grandma” Ursula explained, speaking slowly as if to a small child. “She ain’t around anymore. I’ve taken over her academy and I’ll be teaching ye, Queen River Meer”. She gave another cold smile.
“Andreas!” In desperation, River tried again to reach him.
Ursula shook her head and wagged a bony finger at her. “He can’t help ye now. Besides, he never really had yer best interests at heart. Carps be all the same, only out for themselves. Ye be better off here”.
Her words sounded exactly like something Dorrie would have said. Clearly Ursula had inherited her grandmother’s loathing and mistrust of Carpathians.
“Eat!” Ursula materialised a bowl of something resembling lumpy porridge and handed it to River, along with a spoon. “Ye gotta keep yer strength up so ye can learn well. And don’t think of trying to use yer skills to get back to yer fake friends at the Don. The whole island be shielded. Ye’ll just be wearing yerself out for no good reason”.
-----------------------
“So ye never got a good look at the abductor, ye say?” Andreas spoke in Varagan for Serkan’s benefit, projecting a translation in Malvanian so that Caratacuus could understand.
Serkan sighed and shook his head. “Twas a narrow, dark street and the person were wearing a hooded cloak. I can only tell ye that they were small but had great powers of sorcery. The voice were disguised with sorcery too, so I couldn’t tell if it were a man or a woman. Didn’t sound Malvanian though”.
Andreas flicked through River’s book, knowing that the girl erased all but the most important conversations. Although they were one-sided, they could still provide useful insights. He found several comments which related to lessons, plus the brief exchange which River had with Serkan prior to her abduction.
He closed the book and leaned closer to Serkan, stroking the Varagan’s arm. “No need for a mind-merge. I were brought up amongst Varagans”. He smiled. “D’ye know of the Valencia Street Consortium in Vaskrath?”
“Aye, of course”. Serkan returned the smile and the arm-stroke. “I’ve done business with them a few times. I heard they had a Carpathian Guardian”.
“Ye heard right” Andreas acknowledged, standing and bowing from the waist in Varagan style. “Tis me”.
Serkan immediately went to his knees, bowing his head low so that his forehead touched the floor. “I be honoured to meet ye, Lord Guardian. I will put off me business so that I can help ye search for Lady River Meer and Lady Rita Micario”.
As soon as the trader straightened from his bow, Andreas hugged him and slapped him on the back. “Tis most generous of ye, me friend”.
-----------------------
“Let Elsa have our tent” Anwyn suggested. “Twill be more comfortable than one of the guest tents. And we’ll put Morgan in Uncle Erroll’s tent. He won’t mind”.
Apollo stopped outside the beautiful purple silk tent and waited for Anwyn to open the flap. Inside was a cosy nest of blankets and a few personal items, such as books, a computer tablet and a bottle of hair oil. It was tricky getting into the tent, for Apollo had to get on his knees while still holding Elsa in his arms. The interior of the tent had a faint aroma of incense and Andreas’s smoking herbs. He laid Elsa down in the blankets and backed out of the tent.
“Ye might have told me that this other tent be all the way over here!” Gerald complained, sweating and panting from the effort of lugging Morgan around. “Still at least he didn’t get a chance to eat. He’d have been even heavier then!”
“Sorry” Anwyn replied. “I’ll carry him the rest of the way. Ye ain’t used to the heat”.
“No, tis alright”. The last thing Gerald wanted was to be outdone by a woman, and a small one at that. “I’ll manage”.
“At least ye didn’t have to carry Erroll!” Andreas joked. “Morgan be like a child in comparison! Even Vev don’t attempt lifting him and she be the strongest of us all”.
Erroll’s tent was located close to the sacred grove, since he was the tribe’s Hastamage (or shaman) and it was his responsibility to tend the sacred Hasta tree and make sure that the oasis remained fertile. It was almost as elegant as Anwyn’s and Andreas’s tent, being constructed from multi-coloured silk.
A small, bald-headed, naked woman with a bright green serpent tattooed on one side of her face emerged from the tent. Her skin was as pale as that of the Vordellans and her eyes were a startling shade of maroon.
“Ye ain’t telling me that this be Erroll?” Gerald quipped, shifting Morgan’s bulk into a more comfortable position in his arms.
The woman laughed and smiled at him. “I be Justeen Halloran, Erroll’s wife. Tis good to meet ye, Gerald Hunt. Ye too, Apollo. Erroll be tending to the herb garden with our granddaughter, Yadzah. I expect ye’ll meet them later”.
Justeen helped Gerald to get Morgan settled in the tent. “I’ll watch over him” she offered. “I know all about the dark side of sorcery. I’ve had plenty of experience in dealing with those who struggle to keep the darkness from their souls. I be a priestess of Scherza, Goddess of Wisdom”.
Gerald murmured his thanks, feeling intimidated by the small woman. Although he was relieved at not having to supervise Morgan, he still felt worried about Elsa and he kept wondering what she had intended to tell him.
“I expect Vev will have repaired the cooking hut by now” Andreas remarked. “I be feeling hungry. Shall we go and get something to eat?”
----------------------------
River sniffed, fighting back tears until Ursula left her alone. Then she let them fall, dripping down her face into the lumpy and unappetising-looking porridge. She didn’t want her strength, and she didn’t want to learn from Ursula. Perhaps it wouldn’t have been so bad if Dorrie had been there, but Dorrie had never kidnapped her before!
Why wouldn’t Andreas answer her? He could beat some shield over the island! But try as she might, she couldn’t even touch his mind again. She’d felt something. Someone knew she was in danger; but why hadn’t they answered? Where was Andreas?
Fully giving in to the tears, River hurled her bowl of porridge at the wall and covered her face. Sobs wracked her body. She just wanted to go home — to the Don.
------------------------------------------------------------
Gerald mopped off his forehead uncomfortably, still sweating after his unwanted bout of dragging the unconscious Morgan all over the oasis. “Aye, food does seem to be in order,” he agreed. “I’ll just check on me wife.”
He ducked into the tent as they passed it, smiling a little at the sight of Elsa laying so peacefully inside. Even if the conditions of her falling unconscious weren’t the greatest, she still looked beautiful. He gently kissed her and smoothed her hair out of her face. “Ye’ll tell me whatever it is that be weighing on yer mind,” he whispered, “when ye be ready. I just wish we’d stop being interrupted when ye try and tell me.” Heaving a sigh, he crawled from the tent and brushed the sand from his knees.
Apollo, Andreas, and Anwyn were seated not far from the cooking hut, which had remarkably been repaired in the time that they had been gone. Gerald lowered himself down on the sand beside Andreas with a grunt. “Blimey,” he complained. “This ain’t exactly what I expected when we got to the desert.”
Apollo sighed. “I suppose that’s partially my fault,” he admitted. “And I also suppose I owe you some manner of explanation as to Morgan’s behaviour.”
“Ye mentioned it happening afore,” Gerald noted. “Care to elaborate? I don’t remember Morgan turning into a fireball lobbing maniac before.”
Apollo shrugged and sighed again. “I’ve managed to keep it hidden. The first incident occurred not long after the two of you got back from Thraesh. Daren called all of us,” he indicated himself and Gerald, “into a meeting. Morgan suggested an idea to dealing with something and Gerald had the opposite. Daren went with Gerald’s idea and Morgan got angry, storming from the room. When I went after him, he nearly torched me and looked just like he did now. Like he didn’t know what was going on. Empty.”
“Ye sound concerned,” Gerald said. “Can’t ye just prevent it like ye usually do?”
“It’s not that simple,” Apollo snapped. Then he took a deep breath. “Nothing should have pushed Morgan to that point here. He wasn’t angry or annoyed when he left to go to the hut, he wasn’t hungry, he wasn’t even tired. I can’t understand what caused him to snap. If he’s just randomly succumbing to the darkness, I don’t know what I can do for him.”
“There must be a reason, though,” Andreas said. “Morgan weren’t unhappy or even thinking about his dark side while he were here.”
Apollo chewed his lip as he stewed it over. “Normally, I’d say it was because he connected with a person in danger, someone who means something to him. But … I don’t know anyone here who would push him to that point.”
“Weren’t none of us,” Gerald said.
Apollo stood up abruptly, his blue eyes widening. “Andreas,” he said. The man raised his eyebrows. “Gerald and Morgan said you met a girl named River Meer on Thraesh and you brought her here to learn. Is she short, skinny as a twig, brown curly hair, with big brown eyes? And mute?” Andreas, Anwyn, and Gerald all nodded. Apollo cursed, putting his hands over his eyes.
“Apollo, mate,” Gerald said. “Get ahold of yerself. What be the problem with that girl? I don’t even think she nor Morgan ever even said anything to each other on Thraesh.”
“That’s not the point,” Apollo said tiredly, lowering his hands. “We met her several years ago, before we reunited with the Silvereyes. And before we met you,” he added to Gerald. “Morgan and I left Vordelle and went to Corttann, hoping for some kind of a new life. Of course, we didn’t know Corttann despises magic, and when we went there, Witchfinders — a group of people who ritualistically sacrifice magic users — caught us. They already had River Meer prisoner. They shoved Morgan against her and they mind-merged for a few moments. I’m not sure how, but Morgan always felt some kind of a connection to her after that. If she’s in trouble, he’ll know.”
“She’s disappeared,” Andreas admitted. “Abducted.”
Apollo nodded a few times. “There you have it, then,” he said. “Morgan felt her distress and it triggered his breakdown. Probably reminded him of nearly getting sacrificed as well as the things River went through.”
“Well, problem solved, right?” Gerald said. “With all yer Ascended Masters here, can’t be too difficult to find one girl.”
“It be more complicated than that, but ye shouldn’t concern yerselves with it,” Andreas assured him. “We have it well in hand.”
Apollo looked doubtful but leaned back. “Alright, then. As long as you’re sure … now that I know what pushed him beyond it, I should be able to protect Morgan from getting pushed again. Should,” he muttered.
Satisfied that the Morgan problem had been solved, Gerald leaned back as well. “I be ready to eat whenever the rest of ye are,” he said.
Apollo rose. “I’m going to check on Elsa,” he said. “Start without me. I’ll be back in a minute.”
He tramped through the sand back to the borrowed tent and went inside. Elsa was still asleep, and he touched her forehead. He sighed. “You and your sister have to have this problem,” he said.
When he got back to the others, they were getting their food. Gerald looked up when Apollo approached, an unspoken question on his face. “She’s fine,” he assured him. “It’s just … you remember how Elaine couldn’t handle a lot of healing in one day?”
“Let me guess,” Gerald said with a sigh. “Elsa has that same intolerance.”
“Translocating and whatever Morgan did to knock her out pushed her system over the edge,” Apollo admitted. “A day’s rest should be enough for her to recover.”
Gerald sighed again. “Another day that I don’t find out what she were trying to tell me,” he muttered. “Splendid.”
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