CHAPTER SIX #2
Can’t say I blamed her. There were a lot of things I wanted to say to Fraser but, most of them would not be...helpful, if we were truly going to be Cassyrra’s students, more like pouring oil on a fire. Frankly, any association with Fraser would end in a bonfire no matter what I said.
Soon enough we were seated on a pair of soft, low-backed chairs around a lit brazier. A basket filled with breads, meats, and cheeses, along with skins of water rested on the side table within easy reach.
“I bought the bracelet, Cassyrra enchanted the tent spell into it.” She lifted her arm and pulled back her cuffed sleeve to show me a silver band around her wrist that shimmered with a slight rainbow tint.
“It’s an Adept spell. I don’t know how it works, you’ll have to ask her.
All I know is, I always have a nice place to sleep and plenty of food.
I can even change it up a bit.” She pointed a finger at our chairs.
“Two seats, that will become two beds instead of one. Some variation in the menu.”
I leaned closer to peer at the tight-fitting bangle; a simple, hammered band with scrolled filigree. Pretty, but nothing flashy, until I looked at it with magesight. The draconic magic wrapped around it was far too complex for me to try and understand with a simple glance.
“Wild, isn’t it?” she asked. “But we’ve got a lot to talk about besides my magic tent.”
“How about I’m your dragon’s apprentice to start?” I asked as I leaned back and took a bite. It was simple fare but delicious, and gave her the opening to start talking.
“She’s not ‘my’ dragon,” Taenya corrected, “I’m her Bondmate, and she’s mine.”
++Indeed, love, and I’m sure Ozora will find out what you mean soon enough. ++.
“Wait, what—?” Cassyrra either didn’t hear or ignored me.
++You three are the only ones who know the threat we face.
You saw Captain Connell’s reluctance to believe these were Cilirian elves.
Others who haven’t seen the threat as we did will be even less inclined to accept our explanation.
++ If she was going to be my teacher, I would have to get used to her voice in my head.
++We must convince them that the threat is real but, it will be difficult.
I fear most will doubt, so we must grow our school as quickly as we can.
The mages we teach will be the guardians against the Cilirian resurgence. ++
“We barely defeated them the last time,” I said, “how is a new mage school going to defeat an ancient empire? You don’t even have somewhere to hold classes.
Do you?” I glanced out through the open tent flaps, to where Cassyrra rested her head upon the grass.
Her eyes glowed like bright lanterns in the dark.
The chuckle from Taenya was answer enough, but Cassyrra said, ++Not yet, but that keep looked promising. I wonder if it’s still occupied? It seemed so from the way Fraser sent his men to investigate, so I will do some investigating as well. You are safe, here, but do not leave the house. ++
A loud clatter from outside announced the dragon’s rise and departure as her scales and hide scraped together. Booming wingbeats faded into the distance and Taenya shrugged.
“Who’s going to argue with her? Not me.” We both laughed.
We also took the opportunity to clean up. I’d never heard of a spell that could fit a complete, if small, washroom inside a tent that magically produced food, and furniture. However, I didn’t know dragons still existed either, until one rescued me.
“I know it’s probably a long story, but you have got to tell me how you and a dragon are now lifelong... What?” I asked after we’d refreshed.
“Bondmates.” She plucked a cluster of grapes from the side table and popped one in her mouth, as if she needed time to consider how to explain it.
“We’re bonded together magically forever, kind of like a mage-familiar bond but more intense.
The why and how are...complicated,” she paused, once again searching for the right words, “but to put it simply, we bonded because we have a common enemy, the Cilirian Empire. They’re threatening my home.
” A few more grapes followed the first. “And they killed Cassyrra’s twin.
She’s never forgiven them, and has vowed to never let them return to Athypsos'inar.”
I had so many questions but, I didn’t want to interrupt her tale, and she was still talking.
“Me? This is my home, and it nearly killed me to leave last time. I won’t abandon her now, not when she needs.
..all of us.” She waved her hand as if to encompass her whole house, or the whole of Hastrior.
“All I care about is making sure my home is safe and protected again. I thought that meant killing Fraser and setting the city council back up. Now? Who knows.” A wicked glint lit her gaze, and her eyes narrowed with something more edged than mirth.
“But, I think my chances of success are vastly improved with a dragon at my side.”
I took a sip of water to clear my throat, and wrestled with all the implications of what I’d just learned. What to ask first?
“How is a mage school supposed to stop an empire?” I asked.
“It’s the bond,” she answered, “it forged something new inside us that’s.
..hard to describe. Cassyrra told me she has more—” A close look revealed signs of stress in the lines around her eyes and mouth.
“—power?” She hesitated. “It’s more than simply, we both have more numin.
Yes, the bond spell pooled our numin together but.
..” Again she trailed off. “Cassyrra says she now has more spellcasting ability than she had before, more than the most ancient dragons before the Sundering had, somehow the spell made us something new, that we’ve only begun to understand. ”
I had to know more. “What was this bonding spell?”
“Ha! I wish I knew.” She grabbed more grapes. “Even Cassyrra can’t fully decipher it. Yet.” She hastened to add.
My puzzlement must have been obvious, but she didn’t answer right away. She swallowed a couple more grapes, her peaked brows and pinched lips a match to my confused expression. “She had...help.” More grapes. “And that’s her story to tell.” Her tone was final.
“Fair enough,” I said, “I don’t remember much about your...adventures...before I arrived. Are you a mage? If Cassyrra got more power, what did you get?” I had to ask. Despite activating the bracelet, I hadn’t seen her work any magecraft.
“I had mage training, but I hadn’t taken my Journey exams yet when the whole Fraser-mutiny-debacle went down.
Then I was on the run, and—” she cut herself off, and abruptly shifted position, deftly wiping at one eye as she did so, “—then Cassyrra and I were bonded. Even after two years, we’re still figuring this out. ”
The tension in her voice was reflected in how she clutched a throw pillow, so tightly her fingers whitened.
Her eyes closed briefly, and her nostrils flared as she drew a deep breath, then another.
Deep green eyes opened and held mine. “Our bond was a surprise, and there’s a lot that I’m unsure of, but I do not doubt her intentions or sincerity.
Any sort of lying or deceit is impossible between us. ”
Her intensity was compelling, and I couldn’t help but believe her. The bond between eagle and rider was sacred, and Taenya’s description mirrored those of my clan. It seemed just talking about her Bondmate soothed her, for she relaxed her grip on the pillow and color returned to her fingers.
“Cassyrra says, this is a school for a new kind of mage, and the bond will make them capable of guarding against the empire. The two will become as one and more powerful as a whole,” she said.
“Bond? To...what? Dragons?” My heart gave an extra skip, then settled back into her regular pace. My only regret when I left home, was I’d never have an eagle of my own.
A dragon? A terrifying, yet intoxicating thought.
“No,” she laughed, then stopped and tilted her head, as if considering, “or...?” She waved her hand to dispel her unspoken thought.
“It depends,” she continued. From the way she squinted her eyes and pursed her lips she was searching for the right words.
“It’ll be something like summoning a familiar.
You get what you get.” She ended by lifting her hands as if to show she held nothing.
“That’s really as much as I know, and I think Cassyrra’s still working out the details. ”
My itchy curiosity would have to wait, but Taenya had questions of her own.
“You’ve heard of me but, I don’t know you. Which means you arrived after my disaster.” She didn’t ask, but left the invitation hanging.
“Only to create a bigger one.” I laughed at the irony, that there I was where I started.
“There’s not much to tell. We met accidently, he hired me to make some magic items, and we ended up.
..involved. I told you the rest.” I flicked my fingers, as if I could brush away the events of five years ago.
“I don’t know much about what happened after, only that Fraser left, Gordon took over, and now he’s gone.
All that caused the city to lose a lot of businesses and a lot of people have left. ”
She nodded, her eyes distant, as if she saw beyond the fabric walls, to the remnants of her old life.
“This has been my family’s home for over a hundred years.
I never thought I’d see it again when I ran.
Cassyrra offered me the chance to come home, but said it would be a lot of work.
She wasn’t kidding.” The firm set to her lips was resolve, not despair.
“Neither one of us will let this place fall any further.”
The food was gone and it was late. Although the questions in my head still demanded answers, I knew I wouldn’t get them before the dragon returned. We both agreed it was time to retire.
The chairs unfolded into quite comfortable cots, and she dimmed the magelights but, I lay there, wide awake. The events ran through my thoughts on a seemingly-endless loop.
Not how I thought my night would end when I went for my evening stroll along the beach. It didn’t seem possible that it had all happened over a few hours. From being captured by a deadly elf to being rescued by a dragon, you’d think the night’s adventures had spanned a lifetime.
What more would tomorrow bring?