Book 1: Chapter Twenty-One

Shavala and Katrin rode Socks and Flower to the elven quarter, since Katrin had suggested it was too far away to walk.

After two hours, Katrin finally said, “We’re getting close. I think.”

Shavala glanced back at the way they’d come, confused. She didn’t know her way around the city, but she had a good sense of direction, and it felt like they’d taken a roundabout route. “Couldn’t we have just come through there?” she asked, pointing.

“I led us around some bad neighborhoods,” Katrin said. “At least I did once we were close enough for me to remember where they were.”

“Bad neighborhoods?”

“Slums—where people live who don’t have much money. Like the spot where I grew up, though that’s on the other side of town. If Corec was with us, we could have ridden straight through, but with just the two of us, the gangs might have tried to steal the animals.”

“Gangs?”

“Gangs of thieves. I don’t know who runs this part of town, so I don’t know what they’re like.”

“The elves live in bad neighborhoods?”

“No, we’re out of the old part of the city now. Once we’re past these warehouses, we’ll reach the newer areas that have sprung up in the last hundred years or so. The elves live in one of those.”

The way Katrin spoke of Tyrsall sometimes made it sound alive, growing and changing over time. Terrillia changed, too, but only in small ways—a new home might be built, attached to the side of one of the giant tershaya trees, or an old one might be rebuilt, or even torn down if it was no longer needed. Once, before Shavala had begun her training as a druid, a lightning strike had caused enough damage to one of the trees that they had to cut it down, first moving the three homes that had been attached to it and the shop that had been constructed at its base. But there were never any big changes. Terrillia only had a tenth as many people as Tyrsall, and it was spread out across a much larger area. It never got bigger, and groups of people never moved to the forest, needing more space. As far as Shavala knew, Terrillia hadn’t changed size for as long as her people had lived there.

Before she could think about it any further, they turned a corner and were past the large industrial buildings they’d been riding through. Directly ahead of them was a street that was anchored on either side by taverns. The customers going in, or standing in groups near the entrances, were a mix of humans, silver elves, and wood elves, all talking together. More elves could be seen walking farther down the street. Even though Katrin had told her about the elven quarter, it was still a shock to see so many of her own people here in the city.

The two women continued riding. They passed the groups standing outside the taverns, some of the elves staring at Katrin while others watched Shavala. Beyond the taverns, the homes and shops they could see were built in the human style, though there were few humans to be seen as the two made their way farther in.

There were children, though—silver elf and wood elf children playing together in the street. Shavala moved Socks to the side to give them some room as they ran past, but that took her near a rug shop, too close to where a nilvasta woman was pulling a skein of dyed wool out of a large kettle to hang it up to dry. Shavala grimaced at the caustic odor of the dye, but nodded to the woman as she rode past, not wanting to seem rude.

The shops near the entrance to the quarter seemed designed to draw in visitors from elsewhere in the city, but Shavala didn’t see what she needed. She continued on, hoping that the shops for other elves were farther in. While the buildings were still human in design, they all had elven wind chimes or sun catchers hanging from their eaves. Windows displayed curtains with elven patterns, and once Shavala was past the kettle of dye, she could smell the sweet scent of a cinnamon bread she’d grown up with.

“Why do so many of them live here?” she asked as they rode. It wasn’t a surprise to find nilvasta living in a city, but they were outnumbered by the dorvasta, and Shavala had never seen any of these dorvasta before.

“You said you always wanted to see the city,” Katrin replied. “Maybe they did, too, and then they stayed.”

“They dress like humans, and I don’t recognize any of them. I don’t think they came from Terrillia.”

“You don’t know every elf in the forest, do you?”

“No, of course not, but I spent the last eight years in the border camp closest to Tyrsall. If they came from the forest, I should have seen some of them, unless they’ve been here a long time. And I never heard of this many people leaving—just a few, like me, going on their travels.”

“Then maybe they grew up here.”

“Meritia always said there were some of us living away from the forest, but she never mentioned this many. Why have we seen so few of them in other parts of the city?”

“There aren’t actually that many here,” Katrin pointed out. “Not compared to how big the city is. I’ve heard it’s less than two thousand, and they keep to themselves most of the time.”

“You’ve been here before?”

“I walked past a couple of times, but we didn’t work this part of the city—we were farther south. And we left the elves alone even when they were outside their quarter, but nobody ever told me why.”

Shavala nodded, then rode closer to a passing dorvasta man, who was also riding. “Excuse me,” she said to him, “is there a fletcher’s shop here, or maybe a leatherworker? Someone that sells quivers?”

He stopped his horse near them and looked over her clothing. “I don’t speak Elven,” he said in Eastern.

How could an elf not speak Elven? She didn’t know Eastern very well, so she repeated her question in trade tongue.

“There’s no fletcher here,” he replied in the same language, “but Lorvalla is a leatherworker. She works out of her home. It’s two blocks down, the second door on the right.”

They followed his directions to a building that was similar to many others around the city—two stories and made of wood, it extended the full length of the block but was divided into multiple homes, each with its own separate door. The front windows were too small to serve as storefronts, but there was a sign on the door marking the leatherworker’s home.

Unsure whether to treat it as a home or a shop, Shavala knocked and waited. The door was opened by an elderly elven woman, wearing a dorvasta-style tunic and skirt, and with her pure white hair tied back in an intricate braid. She looked to be at least five hundred years old, though she still moved easily.

The woman looked at Shavala, then Katrin, then back at Shavala again. “I don’t recognize you. Your clothing looks Terrillian.” Unlike the man from the street, the woman spoke Elven.

“Yes, I’m from the forest. Are you Lorvalla? My name is Shavala, and my friend is Katrin. Someone told me you work leather.”

“I am Lorvalla, and yes, I do.” She switched to trade tongue. “Come in, both of you. What brings a Terrillian to Tyrsall?”

Shavala had never heard herself called Terrillian before. Her people referred to themselves as dorvasta, but apparently the dorvasta in the city needed some way to distinguish themselves from those who dwelled in the forest.

“I’m on my travels,” she said, looking around the front room, which was a mix between a living space and a display for ornamental leatherwork.

“A druid? Or do others still undertake the travels?”

“I’m a druid, but I would have gone anyway. I wanted to see the world. Are you from Terrillia?”

“I am, but that was a very long time ago. I met a human boy on my own travels, and we settled down here.”

Shavala shied away from asking about that. It didn’t seem like it could have ended happily, given how short lived humans were. Instead, she said, “What about the others? There can’t have been this many that left the forest. I’ve never even heard of someone leaving and not coming back.”

“There have always been dorvasta outside the forest. Most of those in the city were born here, but there are others from Terrillia or elsewhere.”

“Elsewhere?”

“Most human cities have some elves, and there are a few dorvasta villages outside the forest.”

Shavala blinked in surprise. There were entire villages? “Why don’t they visit our home?”

“For the ones who were born here, this place is more their home than a forest would be. Some do visit Terrillia, but not very many. Being constantly surrounded by tall trees isn’t for everyone. Now, what sort of work do you need?”

Shavala slid her two quivers off her shoulder. “I was hoping you could help me with this…”

#

Rallus looked more the way Corec had expected a wizard to look than Deshin had. He was elderly, with a balding head and a long white beard, and he wore a black robe. He also wasn’t pleased to see them.

“I don’t sell my services anymore,” he said flatly, after his footman had kept them waiting for twenty minutes in a sitting room in the palatial estate.

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“Deshin thought you might, for the right price,” Corec said. “He was the first wizard we spoke to.”

“Deshin? Never heard of him. Mr. Larkin will show you out.”

“Wait!” Treya said. “Please, we need your help. Bishop Lastal thought you might be able to do something.”

“Lastal? The priest of Allosur? Why would he send you to me?”

“Nobody else has been able to help us,” Corec said. “Deshin said we should try a major banishing spell, and he said you might know more about binding runes.”

“Binding runes?”

They once again told the story and showed their runes.

Rallus looked impatient the whole time they were speaking. When they were done, he said, “Those aren’t binding runes.”

Corec exchanged a glance with Katrin.

“Are you sure?” she asked. “Deshin and the elven woman both thought they were.”

“Yes, I’m sure,” Rallus said testily. “I’ve cast enough binding spells in my time.” He pulled the left sleeve of his robe up, showing two small, purple circles glowing faintly on his wrist. “My spectacles and my spell book. I’m forever forgetting where I left them.”

“How are they different?” Corec asked. They looked the same to him, other than the color and the location.

“Look with your arcane sight,” the wizard said to him.

“I…don’t know what you mean.”

Rallus grunted. “You really haven’t had any training? Have you ever cast a spell the normal way?”

“No. I can summon a mage light easily, but Deshin gave me the spell for it, and no matter how many times I try, I can’t cast it that way.”

“Arcane sight is what a wizard—a real wizard—uses to see the underlying magic within something. Did this wizard of yours cast a spell that made his eyes change? Made them glow or turn white?”

“Yes.”

“He was using arcane sight, but he didn’t know what to look for. I do. A binding spell links two things together, and that’s it. Yours are more complicated than that. Tiny tendrils leading off into nothingness. I can’t see what they’re connected to. Besides, the itching isn’t part of a binding spell.”

The old man hadn’t cast any spells, and his eyes hadn’t changed, but perhaps the rules were different for some wizards.

“Then what is it?” Treya asked.

“I don’t know. Whatever it is, a major banishing might still work, if you can find someone to cast it for you.”

“Could you do it? We can offer fifty gold.”

“What need do I have for more money, girl?” Rallus said, indicating the luxuriously appointed room. “That vase in front of you cost me fifty gold. However, perhaps you could do something for me.”

“What did you have in mind?” Corec tried to keep the suspicion out of his voice. Growing up in Larso, he’d heard too many cautionary tales about wizards making deals.

“An old friend of mine passed away recently. He and I were apprenticed together for several years, and I’d like to retrieve some of his more dangerous possessions before someone finds his home.”

“Dangerous?”

“If misused.”

“Finds his home?” Treya asked. “Where is it?”

“Lodarin didn’t like people very much. He built his place about a week’s ride due north of the city, but he’s not near any roads. The North Road’s to the east and the Mountain Road’s to the west, and there aren’t any villages nearby. My traveling days are behind me, and I don’t have time to go traipsing around the countryside.”

“A week?” Treya glanced at Corec, a look of concern in her eyes. That meant it would take two weeks until they got back to the city.

“That’s a lot of traveling,” he said. “What exactly would you want us to bring back?”

“I can give you a compass that will lead you directly to his home, and a wand that’ll light up anything you need to bring back. The most important item to retrieve is his spell book.”

“A spell book is dangerous?”

“The spells he created were dangerous, yes. I don’t want some half-trained wizard happening upon them. There’s also a gauntlet he used in his research—be careful not to touch it—and a scrying orb. The orb isn’t dangerous by itself, but it’s worth some money, and that’s what’ll pay for these banishing spells you want. Bring me those three things, and anything else that glows in the presence of the wand, and I’ll cast your spells. I’ll know if you try to hide anything from me, so don’t bother.”

“What if someone’s already taken them?”

“That hasn’t happened yet. His defenses haven’t been triggered, and he doesn’t get many visitors, but you should hurry nonetheless.”

“Defenses?”

“To keep people out. There’s a gem he gave me that’ll let you pass through most of them, but you’ll have to take care of the skeletons yourself.”

Corec swallowed. “Skeletons?” He’d only heard of skeletons in stories.

“Lodarin was a necromancer. That’s why I want to make sure his spell book is safely locked away. He created spells of death and undeath—bringing dead bodies back to some semblance of…well, not life, but movement.”

“What are we supposed to do about them?”

“With Lodarin dead, they’re probably just wandering around aimlessly. If not, well, that’s a rather large sword you’re carrying. You know how to use it, don’t you?”

“Yes, but I don’t know how to fight skeletons.”

“What’s to know? You take the sword and hit them with it.” The wizard mimed some awkward sword swings.

“We’ll need to talk it over and let you know.”

#

When they returned to the inn after meeting with Rallus, Treya came with them even though she’d been staying at the Three Orders chapter house.

They chose Corec and Katrin’s room for their discussion. Corec took a seat next to Katrin on their bed, while the others sat in chairs he’d brought up from the inn’s common room.

“Well, it would be another delay,” he said. “What do you think?”

Treya sighed. “I guess we have to do it.”

“Or wait, and find some other wizard who’d take the money rather than send us off into the wilderness for two weeks.”

“It would mean two more weeks until we can go to Circle Bay,” Katrin said.

“At least,” he replied. “Plus however long it takes to find a ship with room for this many passengers. But, if we do this thing for Rallus, then we can keep the money we set aside for the banishing spell. Even if I give out even shares from what we earned for the drake, we’ll still have enough to get your brother out, whether we find Felix and the rest of your money or not.”

“The runes aren’t hurting anything,” Shavala said. “Why not just go to Circle Bay and forget the wizard? I would like to travel on a ship.”

“We can’t just ignore them!” Treya said. She turned to Corec. “You can’t go off to Circle Bay and leave me with some spell you messed up!”

“The bishop said we should stay together,” Katrin said. “Maybe you should come with us.”

“I thought we were going to get rid of the runes before you left! And what if it happens again?”

Corec said, “I think Bishop Lastal was suggesting that it might only happen with mages. If we make sure Bobo or one of you does the talking with any mages we come across, maybe it won’t happen again.”

“He didn’t sound very certain about that.”

“No, but I still think he was hiding something. Maybe he saw the same thing Rallus saw, that they’re not binding runes, but didn’t want to tell us.”

“Why wouldn’t he want to tell us?”

“I don’t know, but I also don’t know how to get any more information out of him, so let’s think about our other options.”

Katrin said, “We can do what Rallus wants, or we can ignore him, go to Circle Bay, and try to find another wizard.”

Corec nodded. “Or, I guess, we could hire someone to find the wizard’s house for us, while we all go to Circle Bay. But then we’ll have to trust whoever we hire.”

“And wouldn’t it take you longer than two weeks to get to Circle Bay and back?” Treya asked.

“I’m not sure. I think it depends on the ship and the weather.”

“I don’t want to wait that long,” Katrin said. “And it sounds dangerous. I think we should look for a wizard in Circle Bay.”

“Well, maybe Bobo knows something about skeletons, and can let us know how dangerous they are.”

“My bow won’t do any good,” Shavala said. “Well, unless I get a lucky shot.”

“You’ve fought them before?” Corec asked.

“No, but my teachers told me about them. You have to break their bones, so you need something heavy. I can look for a cudgel like Bobo’s, but I don’t know how to use one.”

“Something tells me Bobo doesn’t, either,” Corec said. Bobo had replaced his broken cudgel at the earliest opportunity, but had never shown any interest in using it as anything other than a walking staff.

“Aren’t there any other wizards in Tyrsall that can help?” Treya asked. “I want to get rid of this thing! I’m tired of waiting!”

“Yours doesn’t even bother you!” Katrin said. “It never even shows up unless you want it to!”

“But it’s still there!” Treya exclaimed. “I want it gone!”

Katrin and Treya got along well together, but Katrin had been getting more and more frustrated by her continued inability to hide her rune for more than a few minutes at a time. Shavala was now nearly as good as Treya, and had decided to conceal her rune while they were in the city, not liking the feeling of being stared at by masses of people.

Corec cleared his throat. “The only other wizard I’ve heard anyone mention is Yelena,” he said. “But she works for the duke, and the people I’ve spoken to said she won’t be willing to talk to us.”

“Then we should do what Rallus wants!” Treya said.

He nodded, then looked at Katrin. “I think we should give it a try, or at least ask Bobo what he thinks.”

She pursed her lips in annoyance, but nodded.

There was a knock at the door and Bobo came in. “What’s with all the long faces?”

#

Katrin looked over the fruit stands, searching for the best prices while she waited for Corec to bring Boy back from the other side of the open air market.

Finally, he returned, saying, “I filled one of his saddle bags with dried meat and hardtack.”

“I found apples and potatoes. You said they lasted the longest on the trail, right?”

“Yes, and onions, though we don’t need very many of those.”

“There are some dried berries and raisins, too,” she said.

“Great. Let’s get it loaded up.”

They filled the second saddle bag with fruits and vegetables. Since they’d been staying at inns and hadn’t done much cooking on their way back to Tyrsall, they already had plenty of flour, sugar, oats, beans, and rice.

While they walked back to the inn, Boy following along behind them on his lead rope, Corec said, “You were quiet last night, and you seemed angry at Treya today.”

Katrin hesitated. “I’m not angry at her. Not really. I’m just annoyed that she and Shavala are so much better at controlling their runes than I am.”

“Well, the hat looks good on you.”

She couldn’t help laughing, but then grew serious again. “And I don’t like that you keep doing dangerous things just because she wants you to.”

“I’m doing those things for all of us. You don’t want that rune on your head any more than she does. And the drake wasn’t supposed to be dangerous—there was no way for us to know there were two of them.”

“And what’ll happen with this wizard’s house? What if the skeletons are worse than Bobo and Shavala think they’ll be? Or what if that gem Rallus gave us doesn’t work, and some sort of magic…thing attacks us? Something worse than the skeletons?”

Corec was silent for a moment before answering. “I don’t know, but I’ve got to try. Deshin thinks Rallus is one of the best wizards around. We can look for another one in Circle Bay, but Circle Bay’s smaller than Tyrsall—I don’t know that we’ll find anyone helpful there. A month ago, you would have been pushing for any chance to get rid of the rune.”

“And I still would, for a safe chance, but it’s not worth anyone getting hurt. It’s not that bad, especially if I can ever learn to control it the way Treya does. I’m starting to agree with Shavala—if it’s not hurting anything, why worry about it? We just need to find a way to keep it from happening again.”

“Hopefully Rallus can help with that. You can stay here, you and Bobo. Neither of you are fighters. It doesn’t really make sense for you to go all the way out there and back again, and it doesn’t sound like a dagger would do much good against a skeleton.”

“If you’re going, I’m going. I can find a cudgel. Besides, two weeks alone in the city with Bobo?”

He laughed before growing serious again. “All of that doesn’t explain last night.”

She sighed. “I was only at the jail for a few hours, and I’ve never been in jail before, but somehow it reminded me of what my life used to be like. I saw the other people they brought in, and I thought about my brother, and I realized I don’t want that life for myself. I still want to get Barz out of prison, but he’s not going to stop doing what he does, and next time, I won’t be there for him. I’ll be here, with you.”

“Maybe he’ll want to come with you. A change of scenery.”

“I…I think I’d prefer if he didn’t. I left that life behind a long time ago, and then he drew me back in. Well, no, he didn’t. It was my idea—he never asked me to get involved. But if I’m around him, I will get involved, one way or another. It would be easier if he stayed in Circle Bay.”

“I can understand that. It’s easier for me to be away from my brothers, too.”

“And then that reminded me of my music. I don’t think I need any more training from Felix, but I could probably learn things from other minstrels, and I still haven’t found a bard who’s willing to teach me. I haven’t even looked. It scared me when the bishop said bardic abilities are magic. I always tried not to wonder about that too much.”

“We’ll have time to look for a teacher once we’re back from Circle Bay. I need to find a job, too.”