Warlords Rising (13 page)

Becca didn’t like the sound of that. “But what if something
dangerous happens?”

“We can yank him away by force if we need to,” Nolan assured
her. “It’s just not advisable unless it’s a true emergency. It’s very jarring
to be taken out forcefully and it gives the body and mind an unwelcome shock.
I’d rather we didn’t try it unless we absolutely have to.”

Not being a Life Mage, or having anything more than basic
training in medicine, she couldn’t begin to evaluate if Trev’nor was in danger
or not. She’d have to trust Nolan’s judgement on this. So she nodded and
turned, looking about her. “Then, why don’t we put a ward up around him, just
in case, and go exploring?”

“We might as well.” Nolan turned and looked as well. “I
think this is going to take a while, so why don’t we find a fresh source of
water, if we can, and some place nearby so we can sleep.”

It was the sensible thing to do, so she agreed. “Any idea of
how to find water out here?”

“Not a one,” Nolan admitted cheerfully, already bring his
magic to the front, preparing to create a ward. “But we’ll figure it out.”

It took minutes to set up the ward and then they set out,
slowly exploring the ruins. The outer walls had come down in multiple places,
baring the interior, which gave her an interesting view. All of the doorways
were arched—not round per se, but with a definite diamond tip to the top. Other
places looked strongly Chahiran, with the traditional architecture that she was
used to.

Nolan held out a hand as they went down a crumbling
staircase. “Watch your step.”

She took the offered hand and was more than grateful for the
courtesy as the stone shifted a little under her weight. “This place grows more
bizarre as I look at it. Parts of it match up with Chahir so well and other
parts, like the doorways, look very in tune with what we’ve seen in Rurick.”

“It’s growing increasingly obvious to me that the original
builders to this place must have been Chahiran magicians.” Nolan looked around.
“That shimmering over there, does that look like water to you?”

“Possibly?” It glinted in the light like water would. If
nothing else, she wanted to see what it was. “Let’s see.”

Nolan led the way, making sure to keep his pace so that she
could easily keep up, and continued where he had left off. “The memory stone
alone says that an Earth Mage was up here at some point. I think this is
conclusive evidence. But none of the records show that we had a large number of
Chahiran magicians come and settle into Khobunter.”

He said this so confidently. “How do you know?”

“When Garth and Xiaolang were first given the task of
finding the magicians out of Chahir, they spent their off time studying the
indexes and matching them up with whatever records they could find,” Nolan
explained. “And when they found that huge stash of records at a pool in Chahir,
it was all carted back to the Sojavel Ra Institute and studied even more there.
Believe me, if there had been a record of a group traveling up into Khobunter,
they would know about it.”

Becca pondered on that for a while, trying to match it up
with what she had been taught in school. “But wasn’t the situation right at the
end of the Magic War a complete mess? I mean, they lost track completely of the
only family of Weather Mages in the confusion of evacuation. No one even knew
about Coven Ordan until they decided to come over and say hi.”

“That…” Nolan gave her a sharp look. “That is a good point.
What are you saying? That it’s possible the builders of this city were evacuees
from Chahir at the end of the Magic War?”

“It’s possible, isn’t it? And it fits the timeline too well
to be a coincidence. Trev’nor said this place had been built a few decades
after the war. Even with magic, wouldn’t it take a long time to build this
city?”

“Several decades, I would think.” Nolan’s steps slowed as he
took another, more contemplative look around. “But Becca, if that’s the case,
then the magicians here in Khobunter are likely the descendants of this ruined
city. That means that the magicians here are Chahiran.”

“Several generations removed.” The idea didn’t sit well with
her. She hadn’t thought of the magicians in Rurick as Chahiran because they
hadn’t looked the part. There hadn’t been a hint of blond hair or fair skin to
be found anywhere on them. But the magic that sang through their veins was
proof enough. “I don’t like this. We don’t have the evidence to prove it, I
know, but if we’re right?”

“I think we are,” Nolan said grimly. He had to duck and slip
sideways to get past a fallen pillar that was leaning at an angle and resting
in between two buildings. “It makes too much sense and fits in too neatly with
what we know. If we’re right, it means that a whole generation of Chahiran
magicians tried to take refuge in Khobunter and rebuild their lives. Only it
didn’t last. They were taken and turned into slaves.” 

The thought made her blood boil. Bad enough that magicians
were treated like animals to begin with, but if they were originally
Chahiran
,
her own countrymen, it was a different matter altogether.

“Don’t get angry just yet,” Nolan counseled, although from
the sparks arcing off of his bare skin, it was clear that he was not following
his own advice. “We don’t have proof. And that memory stone likely holds most
of the answers that we need. We wait for Trev’nor to get done and then tell us
what we need to know.”

“You’re assuming it holds all the answers.”

“It doesn’t need to. It just needs to answer two: Were the
builders of this place Chahiran? Were they taken captive by the people of
Khobunter? That’s all we need to know.”

The building right behind the memory stone was largely
intact, with the second floor still standing and acting like a roof for them.
They chose it to stay in that night, sweeping the floor clear of sand and
pebbles to make a smoother bed, with a small fire going for warmth. Their
dinner was a cold one, made of the food they’d packed for the trip, and Nolan
was the one that coaxed Trev’nor to eat. Feeding someone while still in a
trance was interesting. At least, Becca found it entertaining. It took Nolan
nearly an hour to feed Trev’nor a full meal, one small bite at a time.

If Trev’nor had been with them that night, instead of glued
to the stone, he would have made the ground softer so that they weren’t
literally sleeping on a slab of rock. Becca, not used to such a hard bed,
tossed and turned, only falling asleep in the wee hours of the morning. When
she awoke, she felt fuzzy headed and her back half-numb. Some strange music
thrummed near her ear, too. It sounded somewhat like birdsong, but not quite,
with a strum of a vibrating string mixed in. What in the wide green world…?

“Becca. Don’t move.”

She blinked open both eyes and lifted her head enough to
see. Nolan was sitting comfortably on his bedroll, legs crossed, with the strangest
looking creatures covering him from the shoulders down. They were small, about
the size of a man’s closed fist, completely covered in fur with a long tail
that trailed out and big, liquid eyes. They seemed to come in every possible
hue of color from the brightest of blues to muted tans.

“Ah….”

“No idea what these are,” Nolan answered, as if she had
asked the question aloud. He was petting two of them with careful fingers, a
grin on his face. “But they’re very affectionate. And soft. I woke up this morning
completely buried in them.”

Seeing that she too was buried in them from the waist down,
Becca eased up onto her elbows and got a better look at them. They were all
more or less the same size, and seemed to have legs under all of that fur, but
really they looked like furry eggs. Large furry eggs. “How are they making that
sound?”

“Their tails are vibrating at high speeds. It’s rather like
a cat’s purr, I think. It’s a sign of happiness.” Nolan slid one finger under
and scratched at the belly of a yellow one and the tail went so fast that it
made a blur of sound. “Haha, they’re ticklish!”

Becca tentatively reached out as well—just because they
liked Nolan didn’t mean they’d like her, he was the Life Mage after all—and
stroked the head of one near her hand. It blinked at her and then crawled into
her hand, tail vibrating in a faster movement. “They are soft. Where did they
come from? We didn’t see a hint of them yesterday.”

“I felt them yesterday,” Nolan disagreed, “but I didn’t know
what they were. I just thought it was rats or something as they were small and
fast. I couldn’t get a clear sense of them. I guess they got used to us being
here during the course of the night and couldn’t resist coming in closer.”

Nolan’s magic had that effect on animals. “They can’t be
native to Khobunter, though, can they? I mean, Rurick didn’t have them.”

His eyes on the animals in his hands, Nolan said quietly,
“They’re Life Mage constructions.”

Becca’s breath caught in her throat. “You can tell?”

“The magic isn’t strong in them anymore, it’s been multiple
generations since the first one was created, but it’s like looking at a
meuritta versus looking at a normal cat. To me, it’s obvious that one was
created and the other is natural. These are created.”

So a Life Mage had obviously been up here too. “Nolan, this
is looking pretty conclusive to me.”

His mouth went into a flat line. “I’m convinced. But I want
to hear what Trev’nor has learned from the stone.”

“Me too.” Becca gave her situation another study. “Say,
Nolan?”

“What is it?”

“How do I convince them that I need to move?”

“That is a very good question. If I knew the answer, I would
have done it myself.”

“But you can communicate with them, right?”

“Sure, but…how do I say this? I can talk to them but they
don’t quite get it. I ask them to move, and they gladly do, but it’s like three
inches. Max. I can’t get them to leave either one of us alone.”

“Slowly roll to our feet and give them time to move? I can’t
think of a better plan.”

Nolan shrugged and rolled up to his knees, fuzzy creatures
bouncing off in all directions. Even though they didn’t land on their feet,
they didn’t seem hurt by the movements and were upright again in moments, tails
still making those musical sounds.

Seeing how resilient they were, Becca wasn’t as cautious in
getting out of bed and gaining her feet. It helped that she wasn’t as popular
as Nolan, so she had fewer of the creatures to watch out for as she moved.

They spent the rest of the day exploring and dodging their
new fuzzy friends. They went back at noon for lunch, feeding Trev’nor as well,
and making sure he was hydrated under the hot desert suns. Then they continued
their foray, exploring a different section of the city. Aside from what they
had already discovered, nothing else leapt out at them. Becca and Nolan didn’t
really know how to analyze what they were seeing, but at the very least when
they were home again they could dump their memories into a crystal and show it
to other people.

When they came back that evening, Becca tried making
something over their small campfire, as she was tired of bread and jerky and
sliced fruit. The fuzzies had led her to a clear underground well, giving she
had fresh water and some vegetables, so she stewed them together and hoped for
the best.

Nolan sat and helped her, peeling a potato, when his head
abruptly snapped up. “Trev’nor’s out of the trance.”

“Finally!” Dropping everything in her hands, she raced
around the wall and directly to Trev’nor’s side. “Trev.”

He was sprawled out on the ground, breathing hard, a grimace
on his face. “How long have I been standing? My legs are cramping something
awful.”

“Two days.” Nolan knelt at his feet, hands reaching out for
Trev’nor calves. He glowed a muted red as he magically eased the cramps. “You
need to drink.”

“I need more than just to drink.” Looking a little
embarrassed, he eased back up to his feet. “Where’s, ah…?”

Nolan pointed him out of the building. “Go down, first
doorway on the right.”

“Thanks, back in a bit.”

It took Becca a second to get it. Oh, right, of course.
They’d been pouring water down him for two days but because of the trance he
couldn’t go to the bathroom. His bladder was probably screaming. A little
amused, she went back to making dinner, cutting up the rest of the vegetables
and throwing them into the cookpot.

Trev’nor came to them looking tired but relieved and plopped
down next to the fire. “My brain is wrung out. Shouldn’t there have been a
safety spell in place on that thing? It’s not supposed to hold you captive like
that for more than a few hours.”

“I have a feeling that spell failed over the years,” Becca
offered, brushing the last of the water from her hands. “It’s several centuries
old, after all. But tell us what it was showing you.”

“Sure thing, but…” Trev’nor pointed down at the creature
that was happily leaning up against his crossed ankles. “What’s that?”

“A fuzzy,” Becca replied promptly.

“Becca!” Nolan protested. “We have to give them a better
name than that!”

“They’re little, walking fuzzballs, what else are you going
to name them?”

The Prince of Chahir spluttered incoherently.

“They’re very sweet,” Becca assured Trev’nor, who was now
poking at the fuzzy with the tip of his finger, making the creature vibrate
with musical pleasure. “Not very bright, but sweet. The noise its tail is
making is like a cat purring.”

“And they like humans, I take it?”

“You’ll probably wake up completely buried in them,” Nolan
warned cheerfully. “We were. These are Life Mage constructions, by the way.”

“Not surprised.” Trev’nor blew out a breath, expression
troubled. “I’m not sure how much the two of you have figured out in the past
two days, so I’ll just start from the beginning. Some of the families that
evacuated from Chahir during the Magic War came here. It was a slow journey—some
of them actually took two years to get here, as they tried living other places
first—but they gradually all came here. My many times great uncle, a
Rhebenhughen, was the one that created the stone and set up the core of the
city. Other magicians gravitated here when they found out about the place and
it eventually grew to,” Trev’nor gave an expansive sweep of the arm, “this. It
was a trade hub, and because of the magic of its citizens, it was like a
garden. A paradise in the middle of the desert. They had no trouble setting up
trade with the neighboring cities and it flourished very quickly. Eventually,
other people started marrying in, and they started to look Khobuntian, even
though they retained their magical heritage.”

Hence why the slaves didn’t look Chahiran anymore.

“And then about a hundred years ago, give or take, their
neighbors started to get greedy. They didn’t want to abide by the terms of the
trade agreements anymore. They didn’t want to live in their desert cities. They
wanted this place, Rheben.” Trev’nor rubbed at his temples with both hands.
“Keep in mind, I’m condensing this a lot for you. There’s too much to recount
if I don’t.”

“We figured as much considering the stone kept you for two
days,” Nolan assured him. “We’ll put it all into a memory crystal later, record
it for history. But keep going.”

“There were a lot of recordings of different skirmishes and
battles that they had with their neighbors. It eventually came down to a battle
of attrition and then a massive betrayal at the end. Rheben was conquered in
force.” Trev’nor’s eyes grew sad. “The person that last recorded, Linsallahan,
was actually killed while trying to record. So I don’t know what happened after
that. I think anyone that fought back was killed, anyone that they could
capture was sold into slavery, and the place was looted.”

“Odds are they weren’t able to stay in here for long.” Nolan
looked grieved by this account. “I mean, most of what we’ve seen took magic to
operate. Even the irrigation canals required someone with magic to keep the
water flowing. They might have had a few months to enjoy their new city before
it started falling apart on them.”

“So senseless.” Becca stared at the city, now shrouded by
nightfall, with sad eyes. “They destroyed the very thing they were trying to
have. I wonder why the original group chose this place. Why here? Why not
somewhere in a country more peaceful?”

“They tried other peaceful places first, but magicians were
in such high demand they couldn’t stay there for long without being fought
over. They chose this spot because
nothing
was here. It wasn’t desirable
to anyone. Even the underground lake here that fed the canals wasn’t here to
begin with. A Water Mage and Earth Mage together crafted it.” Trev’nor pointed
toward the stewpot. “Is that done yet?”

“Give it a little more time,” Becca cautioned. Reminded, she
leaned over and gave it a good stir. “So we know the answers to our questions.
The current day slave in Khobunter is originally from Chahir.”

“And they were enslaved at first because of jealousy and now
out of…what? Engrained habit? Ease of living? Profit?” Nolan shook his head in
violent denial. “Poor excuses, all of them.”

“I now feel a little better about what we did in Rurick.”
Trev’nor had a ghastly expression on his face, lips stretched into a feral
baring of teeth. “So. We have answers. Now what?”

“Now we go back to Rurick,” Becca opined. “I think we should
be there when we call home so that if they ask us questions we don’t have an
answer to, we can ask someone there.”

Trev’nor lifted a shoulder in a tired shrug. “Agreed. I
think we need another day to think about this anyway before we call home.
Besides, when we do call, they’re going to immediately demand we go back. But
Becca, we haven’t found your answer yet.”

“And we don’t have our dragons yet,” Nolan reminded him. “I
think we should call home, make arrangements, and then quickly get out of
Rurick before they catch us. We still have things to do up here.”

Becca agreed. She wasn’t done up here yet and wasn’t about
to go home. Yes, Khobunter was dangerous, but they now knew exactly how
dangerous. A slaver wouldn’t get the chance to catch them again. Forewarned was
forearmed. “Then let’s eat, sleep, and figure out what to say to everyone back
home.”

“I’m sleeping in late tomorrow,” Trev’nor told them firmly.
“And getting a good look at the place before we go back to Rurick. You two got to
explore this place but I didn’t. I want to see it all before we go back.”

“Fine,” Becca acquiesced. It wasn’t like they had a firm
deadline after all. Besides, she wanted to play with the fuzzies a little
longer. She’s grown strangely attached to the little things. Really, she was of
half a mind to take one home with her, although it might be a little dangerous
to do so.