The Ways of Mages: Starfire Read online

“Don’t you talk to your dolls?”

  “Enough.”Their mother said and they went back to eating. During the meal, Terana saw Jeremy glancing at her every once and a while. A sinking feeling tugged at her consciousness as she concentrated on acting normal.

  After dinner she helped Mother clean up. Terana took scraps of food left from everyone’s plates and put them into a napkin. She told herself that she should just let Zeeve starve. Even as she sat there justifying her decision to not feed the little nuisance she slipped more food into the napkin. She was just too kind hearted some days. After she had wished everyone, but Jeremy, good night she went upstairs to wash up. It was there that Jeremy intercepted her.

  ***

  Jeremy had watched her carefully since she came back from taking care of the‘spider’. Terana had avoided his gaze the entire time. He knew that she was up to something. He wished he knew what, though. Jeremy missed not being in on Terana’s secrets, but since he had reached the age of sixteen he had been kept busy learning his father’s trade of carpentry.

  He sat on his bed and waited for Terana to come up. A few moments went by before she made her appearance on the landing. Without seeing him in the shadows of his room she made her way to the washroom. As he waited for her to finish cleaning up he went to stand beside her door.

  When she saw him, she smiled.“Good night, Jeremy.”She said, her voice betraying not a single trace of the nervousness he saw flicker briefly in her eyes. If he had been Mira or anyone else, he would have thought nothing was amiss. But he wasn’t anyone else and he could tell she knew it.

  “What are you hiding?”He asked flatly.

  Chapter Two- Caught

  “The trouble with secrets is that they always come out. Their timing is often inopportune…” – Journal of Scholar Brisbin

  “Hiding?”Terana asked innocently“What makes you think that?”

  “I know what I saw, Terana.”Jeremy said leaning his back against the door frame, his arms folded.“That was no spider that fell into the gravy. Don’t forget that we have bothspent some of our childhood exploring the caves. And I’ll tell you something else, there were no‘yelping spiders’. Tell me what you’re hiding or else...”He let the threat hang, because he didn’t know what to threaten her with at that moment.

  Before Terana could answer they heard singing from Terana’s room. Mind, it was not good.

  “Tummy, tummy, tummy;

  Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle.

  Zeeve be hungry!

  That be no burble!”

  “What the?”Jeremy gave his sister a searching look then opened the door. A tiny figure was prancing about on Terana’s bed. It looked more than anything else to be a lvessa out of fairy tales. It wore the green of a lvessa; even its shoes were pointed at the toes like the pictures depict. As Jeremy watched, the figure capered about the bed singing its ridiculous song. This time, backwards.

  “Burble, no be that!

  Hungry, be Zeeve!

  Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle;

  Tummy, tummy, tummy.”

  Jeremy’s hand shifted on the door, causing it to squeak. The lvessa-thing faced the door with a joyous shout of‘FOOD!”. Then its brain registered that it was not Terana who stood in the doorway, but someone else. Its little brown eyes widened and it dashed under the bed. Jeremy eyed Terana with a look that pretty much said‘and that was?’

  Terana gave him an apologetic look, and scurried over to the bed. Getting to her hands and knees she said“Zeeve, it’s me. I shouldn’t give you this, but…here.”From where Jeremy stood he could see her slide what looked like a napkin under the bed.

  “YUM!”Came a squeak of delight from under the bed.“Zeeve likes, Zeeve really likes.”Happy munching soon followed the words.

  “What was that horrible singing?”Mira grumbled, appearing next to Jeremy in the doorway and rubbing her eyes.

  Terana looked into his face worriedly. He sighed.“It’s nothing, Mira.”Jeremy said patting her shoulders.“You probably dreamt you heard something. Go back to bed.”Mira nodded and left. Jeremy closed the door.“Well?”he asked, leaning against the door.

  “Well what?”Terana said standing.

  “Terana, don’t bother trying to do what I did with Mira; I’m not even tired.”Terana looked at her feet. A wry smile pulling at her lips.“I have seen it twiceso far tonight. So, you might as well tell me what it is.”

  “He’s not an‘it’.”She corrected him quietly.

  Jeremy shrugged. Outside, he looked indifferent. Inside, he cried out against the wall that had come between them. It was small; thin, but there had never been a wall between them before. It hurt that she did not want to share this secret of hers with him.“Who is it then?”

  “Zeeve?”She inquired in a soft voice.“He is just my little friend that I met in the woods. Come on out, Zeeve. He knows now, no thanks to you.”Zeeve poked his head out from under the bed. He eyed Jeremy for a second. Then he walked out. Somehow he managed not to trip over the strip of steak that he clutched to his breast; an amazing feat, Jeremy thought, considering Zeeve’s size and the size of the steak. Jeremy narrowed his eyes at Zeeve. He had the distinct feeling of being sized up.

  “Zeeve knows you to be a good man, but not her brother.”Zeeve remarked after a tense moment or so.

  Jeremy had to admit it was true. Sort of. He knew that she had been adopted at birth, but she was his sister in everything else. To cover what he knew he stated the obvious.“She just shows different traits.”

  Zeeve nodded thoughtfully.“Really? Zeeve find that hard to believe in a small out of way town. Zeeve thinks she has different blood.”

  “What is that supposed to mean?”Jeremy asked, not really liking what Zeeve’s words were getting at. Terana didn’t know, and that was how the family wanted it to be.

  Zeeve looked him directly in the eye and shrugged.“Zeeve don’t know. What does it mean?”The little lvessa’s eyes twinkled. Jeremy had the feeling that Zeeve lied about not knowing. The very thought worried Jeremy. What would happen if this lvessa told Terana?

  “I don’t know. You’re the one who said it.”

  “What are the two of you talking about?”Terana asked.“I know I’m different and something is wrong with me. So why are you two discussing it as if I wasn’t here?”

  Jeremy looked away from Zeeve to look at her.“There is nothing wrong with you. To be frank I’m not really sure I know what your lvessa friend is talking about.”

  “Lvessa! Zeeve is not a lvessa!”Zeeve had dropped the steak in indignation.“Lvessa leave Marlhema long time ago, with ucora. After the war when Dragon Kings were buried.”

  “Now what are you talking about?”Asked Jeremy somewhat confused. It sounded like the beginnings of a story thrown way out of proportion; what with Dragon Kings and a war and such. And what really got Jeremy was Zeeve making it sound like concrete fact. Everyone knew dragons were fairy tales told to scare maids.

  “The Shadowwar.”Zeeve clarified. His hands flew to his hips.“Don’t tell Zeeve that you never heard of the Shadow War. You must have heard something of it?”Zeeve’s voice held quite a bit of shock as he watched them shake their heads.“No? No?! You guys really areout of the way.”He muttered to himself.

  “I guess. But you still haven’t told us what you are.”Terana pointed out.

  Zeeve regained some of his composure.“Zeeve is a Moleci.”

  “A small person?”Jeremy asked.

  “Makes sense, doesn’t it, Jeremy?”Terana rationalized, meeting his eyes. And for a moment, Jeremy felt like there had never been a distance between them. Jeremy looked back at Zeeve.“He is tiny.”Terana concluded. Jeremy looked away from Zeeve to her. A faint smile played at her lips. A ghost smile that always was there when she was teasing him. It was then that he felt a small pang of jealousy; he was not her only friend anymore. He knew it was selfish of him, but he liked that she had been dependent on him and onlyhim. Now there was this…this Zeeve who also claimed her friendship.


  “Zeeve is not tiny! How many times must Zeeve tell you? Zeeve is tall for Zeeve’s kind.”The moleci reacted in outrage.

  Zeeve’s reaction was delicious. So Jeremy, who claimed to be Terana’s tutor, decided to follow her example. Perhaps get a better reaction due the teacher.“I’m sorry, Zeeve, but she is right, you aretiny. Itsy bitsy, even.”

  Zeeve stood straight with his jaw set and his hands on his hips.“I AM NOT TINY!! CAN’T YOU SEE THAT?!”

  A hastily stifled giggle and a cough were the only answers he got.

  ***

  Pershara- east of Egon Lake

  The voice said to run. Kairevasigh ran. There was something hunting in this dark, strange forest. She could hear it somewhere off to her left and slightly back.

  Arrruuu RUP! The sound was like the noise a hanging wet carpet makes when struck by a broom. Kairevasigh startled at the sound and lost her stride. Her foot snagged on a loose rock and she went down. The wrapped sword flew from her hands. The cloth unwound, revealing the black blade with the shining brass hilt. Kairevasigh heard something padding toward her. She turned and her eyes widened. Coming out of the shadows was a dog-like creature. Its yellow eyes were fixed alarmingly on her. It paused to stand on its hind legs, sniffing the air. It fell back to all four, its mouth open in a toothy grin. Saliva dripped from its fangs. It was huge, about seven feet long.

  Kairevasigh scrambled forward, snatching up the sword and turned on the beast. Arruu RUP! It barked. Another answered, looming next to it. Kairevasigh growled at the two beasts. Unlike the horse or most any other creature; they were not impressed at her attempts to intimidate. After all, she was a small twelve year old human. They were seven foot long, dog-like killing machines. And there were more of them then her solitary self. She was like a bear cub faced with a pack of wolves. Wolves avoided an adult bear, but a cub was fair game.

  She didn’t like being fair game.

  Kairevasigh found herself once again brandishing the sword before her against a monstrous foe. Again, the beasts were not impressed. She could hear more of them circling behind her. It was a large pack of whatever these things were.

  The one who had come out first decided that it was done waiting. It leapt for her. She raised the sword between them and, looking into the creature’s yellow eyes, shouted “STOP!!” She slammed most of the power she had left into its mind. She had never tried this before, having some respect for the sanctity of another’s freewill. But she was aware of others of her race doing it. Kairevasigh hadn’t seen it with her own eyes, but she heard the whispers of the upper hierarchy doing so. This ability was why she avoided looking into too many eyes…

  But now Kairevasigh had no choice if she wanted to live. Her power hit the overlarge canine and she saw herself. Saw herself as prey. That would not do. She learned from the creature’s mind was that it was the alpha and female. Its duty was to lead the hunt and protect any pups. Kairevasigh labeled herself ‘pup’. And worse yet, a pup in danger.

  Immediately, the creature jerked to the side and tackled one of the smaller pack members who had leapt to attack next. The alpha growled at the rest of the pack. The other pack members shifted about, severely confused. Why was the alpha protecting the prey as if it were a valuable pup?

  The circling pack edged closer. They avoided the alpha, but when its back was turned they would lunge forward. Apparently the alpha was only alpha because she was the largest female. In most things, the pack went along with her decisions. But when those decisions were so backwards, like protecting prey, they could choose their own way. Which wasn’t good for Kairevasigh. She had expended a lot of power to take the alpha’s mind. And even as the alpha protected her, it was starting to realize something was wrong. The wrong was probably somewhere on the alpha’s part if the whole rest of the pack was gainsaying it.

  Time was running out for Kairevasigh. She didn’t have enough power to keep ahold of the alpha, nor did she have enough to capture another pack member. And what would be the point? She would only have two against ten or so others. There was also no way Kairevasigh could survive if she decided to chop at them with the sword. They had too long a reach and her back would be unprotected. She looked up and narrowed her eyes at a branch high above. She had enough power to flash up there.

  Another of those monsters lunged toward her and the alpha was looking at her like she was food. Kairevasigh teleported. Kairevasigh crouched on her chosen perch , the sword in her hand. The dog-like creatures barked at her and leapt toward her branch. The hair rose on the back of her neck as the creatures stood on their hind legs and stretched up the tree. Sharp teeth stopped short of her branch by a man’s length.

  Then the beast jumped.

  “Shrakha!”Kairevasigh swore. She stabbed the sword down at the creature’s face. It roared and fell back to earth. Another looked up at her and began to push at the tree, obviously wanting to knock it down.“You have got to be kidding me.”Kairevasigh muttered.“I’m not even snack size for oneof you!”She called down.

  Arruu RUP! was the reply she received. The tree continued to sway and groan. She needed to climb higher, thus needing her hands. And leaving a sword was foolhardy. So, with limited options, she tore off her shirt leaving her breast band, and wrapped the destroyed shirt about the sword. The sleeves she tied together so the sword rested roughly diagonally across her back. That done, she scrambled up the tree.

  The hapless tree was swaying alarmingly now. It was almost enough to make her sick. She got as high as she could. Kairevasigh jumped as the tree gave a final groan and began to topple to the ground. Once the branches cleared her, Kairevasigh shifted into her Night Eagle form.

  She thanked God that shapeshifting drew from a different magic well within her, or else she would have been dog-meal. She heard the dog-monsters howl and bark in frustration as she flew away. She headed north, looking for a safe place to finally get a decent rest.

  Chapter Three- Choices

  “This much, at least I know. When I stop feeling the need to move forward and improve, it’s time to toss another clod of dirt on me because it means I've already left this world for the next.” – Robert Kimbridge

  “Exactly, how many of those things do you have?”Robert asked as he and Bendon walked out of the forest onto the road. ‘Those things’being the transport symbols Bendon had set up over the years deep in the woods.

  Bendon adjusted his red cloak and raised an eyebrow at his old friend.“A wizard never tells all his secrets.”He said with a smile.

  “Old friend, that applies to parlor magicians and charlatans only.”Robert replied in a tone of voice that conveyed that he was not buying what Bendon was selling.“How many, Bendon?”

  The old wizard sighed and shrugged.“A few here and there.”At Robert’s look he continued.“Alright, they are near large cities as escape routes. They are keyed to me only, unless I temporarily change it to include someone. Like the one we used. If someone else tries to use them, they disintegrate.”

  “So that’s how you have been showing up over the years!”Robert said with a laugh.

  “Yes, well. Do not expect me to tell you my other ways. A wizard needs some secrets to keep his mystique intact.”

  “Don’t worry, Bendon, you are very mysterious.”Robert assured, patting Bendon’s shoulder.

  “Humph.”Bendon shook his head muttering something about those who didn’t appreciate the upkeep of a proper image. Eventually Bendon turned his gaze back on the older engineer.“Is the sword still south of us?”He asked.

  Robert closed his eyes for a second before nodding.“Not too far ahead.”

  “Good. The sooner we retrieve it, the sooner we can rejoin the others on the road to my daughter.”Bendon said, snuggling into the folds of his cloak. It still amazed him the Robert seemed unfazed by the low temperatures.

  Kindra, Tommy, Tolivier, and Tep were heading for the Sigon Pass. Selfish, though it was, Bendon had to admit that he was glad he was away from Kindra. At least fo
r a little while. The mother dragon reminded him so much of Jewel. It hadn’t bothered him when Jewel had been here in this timeline and place. But now that Jewel had disappeared it was a sore reminder. He knew some of the same feelings existed for her as well. He was Gawin returned. He reminded her of Jewel.

  “You and Kindra need to come to terms.”Robert said softly. Bendon looked at him sharply. Robert sighed.“The fact that Jewel is missing is not her fault nor yours.”

  “I know that.”

  “I know you do. But knowing and accepting are two different things. I know that I am not much of one to talk, but Jewel is alive. You two need to stop acting like she is dead and keep your eyes open. When they are open, you have a better chance of seeing her.”

  Bendon eyed his friend. The man knew him too well and saw far too clearly.“You’re right.”Bendon admitted.“Kindra is stronger than I am and I know she will pull herself together soon. Especially since she has Tommy. We both just need time.” Robert nodded, patting his shoulder in a show of support. To change topics Bendon asked“Are we any closer to the sword?”

  Robert closed his eyes . He suddenly stopped walking. Bendon halted and faced him curiously. Robert opened his eyes, his expression incredulous.“It’s above us.”He mouthed then looked up into the trees.

  Bendon glanced up and blinked several times. Tucked high up in the branches was a slim dark haired girl. She appeared to be sleeping in the crook of several branches. He blinked not because he was surprised to be seeing the same girl he had seen earlier, first riding a horse, then later in the vision to locate the sword. He blinked in surprise because there was no way the girl could have climbed the tree that high because the lowest branch was twelve or fifteen feet above the ground and there were no step stool trees close to it.“There she is.”He remarked

  “How did she get up there?”Robert mused, a hand stroking his chin. He glanced at the wizard.“Better yet, how do we wake her and get her down here without her falling to her death?”