Davie the Mage (Generations of Eredwynn Book 2) (27 page)

              I grinned and shook my head. “You’re right as usual, my lovely lady. Are you sure I can’t talk you into being my consort?”

              She laughed as loudly as I’ve ever heard a pixie laugh. “Davie, if I could become a full consort to you, I seriously feel sorry for Mira! I heard that you have a Halfling consort and that’s one thing. A human and a pixie?” She giggled again. “I don’t think that’s going to work, sweetie.”

              I laughed and kissed her cheek. “You can’t blame a man for at least flirting with a beautiful lady. Good night, my flying friend.”

              “And goodnight to you my giant, flirtatious firefly.”

              We woke the next morning and packed up our gear. I’d been given directions to a place where we hoped to contact the elves. I kept thinking to myself how much easier this would be if we were dealing with wood elves like my Aunt Gwen. The elves we were dealing with were of a cave-dwelling variety that harbored a well-known animosity toward almost everything. They were also known to be very powerful wielders of earth magic. Earth magic of any major power was out of the reach of humans, due to our comparably short life spans. Elves weren’t limited in that respect and my Aunt Gwen, who was in her thirties, would still be considered a child in their society. I could only assume that the elves that we’d be dealing with would be hundreds of years old and very powerful.

              We flew east, barely above the trees, for just over a mile and found the break to the south that I’d been told to watch for. From there we turned south, flying at a thousand feet and a hundred miles an hour. We were only supposed to have sixty miles, give or take, before we’d come to a very large clearing. The pixies had told Mira that if we camped there, we’d be close enough to the elves’ territory to be of interest and questioned. They admitted that they had no idea how long it might take for the elusive and very private beings to show themselves.

              Forty-five minutes later, we swung around the clearing in a slow circle. I didn’t want to land and find out that mama bear had made her camp in the boulders before we arrived.

              The clearing was large, with a large cluster of boulders in the middle, as if left by an absent-minded giant. The glade looked empty of all life, so we landed close to the center. Our instructions only stated that we should arrive, set up camp and wait. I hoped our waiting would be on a human timescale. Niruth would come looking and find bones, if the elves decided to check us out on their time.

              We set up the tent, laid out the bedrolls and cleared the area a bit. We wandered along the edge of the forest, picking up dead wood and teasing like a married couple in love.

              “At least we have a very nice place to stay while we wait,” commented Mira. “I know you don’t know the answer, but humor me: how long do you think we’ll be here?”

              “They could show up right now or it could be months away. I don’t know much about them, except they aren’t like the wood elves and they do things their own way,” I replied.

              Mira shook her head. “No. Days we can do, or even weeks, if we have to; but months are out of the question. I will be there when it’s time for Amee to deliver, treaty or no treaty.”             

              For two days we relaxed and visited with each other. It was like having a second honeymoon. No one showed up and requested that I help with a problem, and Mira didn’t have any staff issues to deal with. I almost felt guilty as I just kicked back and had a relaxing time.

              On the evening of the third day, I thought I heard an unusual noise in the forest. I decided to call out and see if the elves had shown up. If they hadn’t, then Mira could give me a hard time for talking to the trees.                                                                                                                                                                  I called out, “We are emissaries from King Niruth. We’ve come to discuss a temporary treaty with the elven people.” I scanned the woods with my magic, but didn’t see a thing. If they didn’t want to be seen, I knew that even my magic couldn’t reveal them. It was known that earth magic could make one stealthy beyond belief.

              Suddenly an elf materialized directly behind Mira! The wicked dagger he was wielding in his hand made his intentions clear. As he drew back to strike, I yelled, “Amber! Duck!”  She rolled to the side, clearing my target, and I released a beam of pure energy, dissolving the elf into a fine mist. A crossbow bolt slammed into my shoulder, bypassing my shield as though it didn’t exist. As the pain swept through me, I focused enough to locate Niruth. Mira saw what I was planning and yelled for me to stop, but there was no way that I could allow her to remain in this danger. I ported her directly in front of where Niruth was sitting and talking to a crowd of orcs.  

              I pulled the bolt from my shoulder and examined it. It glowed, under my magical examination, with the
siege
spell that negated all shielding. I rose up to locate my attackers and one spell slashed my scalp, while another sliced through my robe under my arm and the flesh beneath. The wounds they were inflicting on me were very slow to heal, and I was losing blood.

              Firing off a volley of stun spells, I peeked over the boulder. I was forced back down by another round of whatever very painful spells the elves were using to attack with. The angle that the attacks were coming from had changed, and I could see that they were trying to get around my flanks. I cast pillar form
flamestrike
spells and directed them toward where I thought the attacks had come from. A rustling in the foliage gave me hope that I’d moved them back to where they had been.

              I had no plan, but hoped that if they saw that I’d stay and fight, they would be willing to talk. Up to this point I’d had no such luck, but at least Mira was safe. I was starting to get angry and desperate. In the past, my anger had caused a loss of control, and I was wondering if flattening the forest would get their attention. I rose up again to check their positions as best as I could, and was greeted with more spells.

              A roar sounded overhead and an angry dragon appeared. He swooped down just behind the tree line and cut loose with a terrifying burst of flames and magic. I’d never seen King Niruth work any magic before, and it was impressive. I knew that even if the recipients of that blast were shielded, they were finished anyway. He circled the glade and checked for more enemies, decided it was clear and landed beside me. Mira slid from his back and ran to me.

              Mira gasped, “Niruth, he’s hurt badly. Is there anything you can do?”

              Niruth bowed his massive head. “Of course, my Queen. I’ll need you to stand back for me.” The dragon leaned in toward me and breathed a blue swirling magic across me. It was much more effective than my healing spells had been, and my wounds closed rapidly. “What happened to start this, my Mage friend?” asked Niruth.

              I shrugged. “We were waiting for them to contact us and an elf grabbed Mira from behind. He drew back with a dagger and I vaporized him. That’s when things started going badly and I sent Mira to you.”

              “You still miss Amber when you’re stressed, don’t you, my love? I noticed that you called me by her name when I was attacked,” stated Mira.

              “Forgive me, but I always think that a monster took Amber. When I saw that dagger, all I could think of was that another monster was about to take someone I love. I’m sure I’ll always miss Amber, but I wouldn’t give up the family I have now for anything.”

              “I wouldn’t want you to forget, and I believe you did the right thing, porting me out. This might not be the right time and place, but you brought up family. Do you want a boy or girl?”

              “Whatever Amee has will be perfectly fine with me. We still have a few months before we have to worry about that.”

              Mira blushed lightly. “I wasn’t talking about Amee.”

              I finally wrapped my muddled brain around what she was telling me. I gave her a questioning look and she nodded and smiled. I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her. “You best make the most of this trip, because I’m wrapping you in pillows and locking you in the castle until the baby arrives!”

              Niruth chuckled, “So you finally decided to tell him. I wondered how long it would take a human female to know for sure that she was with child. I knew the day that I picked her up to take her to the pixies, but assumed she’d want to tell you herself.”

              Mira nodded. “And you thought right! Next time I suspect that one of the girls or myself is with child, I’ll have you verify it for us. King Niruth, the midwife!”

              “I feel for you, Mage. You have to put up with this woman all the time. Is she always this spirited or just when I’m around?” Niruth asked.

              “She’s always like this, but she’s my life and I wouldn’t want to change her.” I kissed her and then jumped, as Niruth jerked his head.

              “We have company, Mage. Play time is over, but I don’t think they have the stomach to fight anymore. They’re carrying a flag of truce. Since you’ve made contact and have had a bit of a battle, you can stay here with Mira and rest. I’ll take over from here.”

              We watched the dragon move to the approaching elves and settle himself on the ground. For over an hour they debated the treaty, and when something was said that Niruth didn’t like, the ground would vibrate beneath us. Finally, everything was decided as well as it could be when working with these particularly difficult creatures.

              We took to the air and flew back to the edge of the pixie’s land, where Niruth had the long line of thousands of orcs formed up. He explained what was expected to the leaders and the long march began. Niruth circled above to make sure the line stayed on course, while Mira and I flew lower, watching for the possible stray.

                 At night we made camp out from the orc population. For the first time, I saw female and young orcs. The females, while not what I’d call attractive, were easier on the eyes than the males. I decided that was true for the human species, too; I knew which I’d rather look at.

              We weren’t the only ones who were watching this procession. All along the way, we could see centaurs and pixies, until we entered the elven forests. Then we only saw the centaurs. They were friendly to us and waved a greeting, but we didn’t try to talk. They were there to do a job and were very strict about duty.

              For ten days, our lives revolved around watching from the sky and camping where we could see the orcs. The orcs did become accustomed to us and acted almost friendly. A few times, we were signaled to their camp and took meals with them. We ate what we could identify and passed on even asking about what we couldn’t. It was a very odd feeling, sharing a friendly dinner with creatures that were considered mortal enemies by everyone we knew.

              Finally our trip ended up in an enormous clearing and Niruth landed at the south end. He spoke as loudly as we’d ever heard him, “We have come down a path that is a narrow gap between this land and the land to the north. It is a mile wide, and the eastern and western seas come inland to this point. Everything from here south will be your domain. Do not try to go back to the north, because the treaty we had is now void. The soil here will sustain farming, unlike the land of the north, and I know that many of you still farm. I’ll be back to check on you from time to time, but until then, welcome home.”

              There was a grunting cheer and we made our way to Niruth. Mira stated, “I didn’t know that so many orcs spoke common. If we had known, we might have tried talking to them more.”

              “You heard me speak in your language because that is what my magic let you hear,” explained Niruth. “I don’t speak Orcish well enough to have given that speech without the magic. You would think that, given all the time I’ve ruled over the orcs, I’d have learned the language better. I guess I just never took the time. I want to thank you both for your service to me and my people. Please follow me.”

              The dragon took to the air and I wrapped up Mira and followed. He blew out flames and magic, it swirled in the air and he flew through. We followed right behind him, but felt no change. It was when he began circling downward that we became aware that we were back in No Man’s Land and had traveled a long distance through that circle. Niruth led us to a colossal cave in the side of a mesa.

              Once inside, he declared, “Welcome to my home. Anything you see that you want, you may have.”

              Mira and I were overwhelmed by the wealth the dragon had collected. Piles and piles of gold and platinum coins, gold objects and jewelry of every description were lying about. Niruth nudged two Orcish-made pendants fashioned of platinum, with an enormous ruby at the center. “I want you two to take these and wear them when you travel to my kingdom. They are symbols that you are my Rhaglaw, or in your language, my Regents.”

              Mira and I were humbled and grateful. I bowed and she curtsied. Niruth spoke once again, “I’m sure that you’re tired of dealing with a dragon and orcs, so I’ll wish you well until next time.”

              We bade him goodbye and he received his kiss from Mira. I ported us to the courtyard of Perlsea, where a cheer rose up.