The night I blew Skirmisher up, he told me he loved me. Ha! After what I’d learned, I doubted he’d ever come close to that emotion.
I told him I’d rather mate with a diseased octopus than spend another moment in his depraved company.
From the personal journal of Ozora
Dean of Magics
The Bestiary
****
True to his word, Fraser waited in the field below.
Him and three tents. From the scents that wafted upward, he’d also kept his promise about breakfast. Even if Taenya had twisted his arm about it.
My stomach rumbled.
Cassyrra banked and circled. I’d braided my hair more tightly to keep it from whipping around and saw more clearly now that I didn't have to paw my hair out of my eyes every few moments.
It was beautiful up here, and my soul ached with longing.
The Hastrior coast gleamed in the warm morning sunshine, and triggered a bittersweet rush of nostalgia when we’d left the DeLange estate to climb to the sky. I hadn’t flown since I left home.
Memories of my family rose unbidden. The Qarrai raise and partner with the great eagles of the Caradare Mountains, and I grew up soaring above the clouds like this. It seemed all my childhood came rushing forward to fill my vision and for a moment I felt the chill of the mountain air, here above the warm coastal waters.
Leaving the Qarrai meant I’d never expected to have this view again. Last night’s hectic jumble of events and the dark meant I didn’t seen much while aloft. I hadn’t thought of home until now. This time, it wasn’t the wind that sent fresh tears streaming down my face.
The Caradare mountains were still home, although I’d never been back.
A black streak of smoke rose in a thin thread to the north.
Emberglen. A pang shot through me, sharp and swift. Clenching my fingers into white-knuckled fists on the saddle lashings didn’t take away the pain or stop the next course of tears. They’d gradually dried as the dragon winged her way back to the keep overlooking the harbor.
Cassyrra passed over the tents again, lower this time. Fraser waved and pointed to a wide-open field near him. Bunching her muscles and angling her wings to follow his point, she prepared to land.
In the next breath, my head rocked, and the saddle tilted underneath me as Cassyrra pumped her wings and flung her body to one side. For a few moments, I clung sideways, clasping the harness and praying to Oone, the luck goddess that my bindings would hold.
A loud, trilling whistle whooshed past. It was a new sound, one I couldn’t place. Next, Cassyrra bellowed and for those seconds, that was all I could hear.
“What the … You treacherous prick!” Taenya too had a bellow that I could hear over the wind as Cassyrra backwinged, sculling the air to stand on her tail in the air.
Two indigo nets of numin flew to the scene below, woven from the dragon’s scythe-like claws.
On the grassy plain where the tents waited were Fraser Connell and a ballista, surrounded by three men. All were now trapped in two half-globes of numinous netting, Fraser in one, ballista and crew in the other. One tent had hidden the weapon and men until Cassyrra was in range. The dragon’s spell froze the crew while they were lifting the next three-foot bolt. The collapsed tent that had hidden them surrounded the still men like dirty laundry mounds..
Grumbling like a growling cat, Cassyrra settled on the grass. She let us dismount, and we walked up to where Fraser stood, trapped in a webbed dome crafted from deep blue magical energies. He folded his arms over his chest and said not a word as we approached.
In the bright morning sun, his tumbled mop shone in hues of deep teal and blue. I’d run my fingers through his soft curls so many times. The memory hit hard, and I twined my fingers through the laces of my tunic.
It wasn’t the same. Not even close.
I stared at the magical cage instead of Fraser to distract my unruly heart and blinked. At first it seemed Cassyrra had cast a single spell, but now I saw she’d cast two different spells at once. I had to check the ballista crew to make sure I saw this right. The three men remained frozen, while Fraser was not. He rolled his eyes as we approached, then his shoulders. His sleeveless tunic showed off his burnished copper skin and corded biceps.
The spell, look at the spell. Not the fierce pirate glowering at you, with blue eyes hotter than a flame.
The complexity of the numinous netting was dazzling. It sparkled and danced in my magesight. A shimmering web of sigils and runes spun with lavender numin that overlaid the visible woven dome of blue, anchoring it into the ground. From what I could decipher of the spell’s weaving, it was impenetrable to weapons, physical or magical.
I had to know more.
So did Taenya, just not about magic.
“You tried to kill my dragon.” Her voice was soft, deliberate.
Fraser shrugged, meeting her eyes with his own glittering stare. “I said I’d be waiting here today. I’m here. I just didn’t say I’d have others with me.”
Silence stretched. Neither one broke. Cassyrra huffed and poked the blunt end of her long muzzle at Fraser. “I did tell you not to come.” He reminded Taenya, not glancing at the beast whose head was bigger than him. He kept his intense gaze locked on her.
“Are you forgetting that you two crazy bitches have tried to kill me?” Then he swiveled his glare to the dragon and poked his finger at her. “So back up, lizard.”
Cassyrra reared her head back like a startled horse and shook it with a twisting motion that set the frills and spines that adorned her jawline and brow ridges clattering together and chiming. She stopped herself and snarled at Fraser, lifting scaled lips to reveal glittering, scythe-like teeth.
Fraser snarled back, his steely calm breaking for only a moment before he regained his composure. He did not scare easy.
“You might have helped me out last night, but my gratitude ends when you, or your dragon,” he jerked his chin at her. “Demand I spend any more time in your company. Or hers.” Fraser shifted his intense focus to me. “I thought you sufficiently acquainted with my reputation for holding a grudge and getting revenge.” His calm, precise delivery sent chills skittering over my neck. He didn’t clip his words. Rather, he let them roll off his tongue, slow enough that each one settled in before the next one followed, and cool enough that snow wouldn’t melt.
He was the lethal mercenary right now, undaunted that Cassyrra trapped him under an unbreakable dome of numin.
“I would’ve thought you both had more sense than to come here.” He narrowed his eyes, and his gaze darkened. Silence dripped after his words, and he let it pool. His gaze roamed up and down my body, lingering on my hips and breasts with deliberate contempt.
“Especially you.” He wasn’t glaring anymore. Faint disgust now coated his features, as if he was looking over a piece of fruit he once fancied, then changed his mind. I thought I couldn’t get angrier. Wrong. His arrogance knew no bounds.
“I thought you were smarter than this, Ozora.” His forbidding demeanor and soft speech were scarier than angry yelling Fraser, but I was past caring about that. “You ran away, and I didn’t punish you for Skirmisher.” One thick finger jabbed at Taenya, then at me. “You both deserved the ballista from my point of view.”
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“Did you forget about one tiny detail?” I exploded. “The Emperor? Invaded last night!”
“I believe I’ve already said I’m grateful for your help.” He nodded at Taenya and Cassyrra. “But with our history, I figured you would just fly off. Consider us even. There was no need for any of this.” He waved his hand at his men and the dome enclosing him, as if to suggest we were to blame.
“This was the most important port of the Eastern Reaches and you’ve let it turn into a shithole. You practically rang the dinner bell for the Crimson Birth. You don’t get to pretend you aren’t to blame here.” I had to say it. If he was ignoring how Hastrior’s fall had led to this, I’d rub his nose in it and make him see.
This attack was his fault. He’d weakened Hastrior, and the Emperor had struck. After we’d settled in at the DeLange estate last night, I’d had plenty of time to mull over our reunion and the current state of the city.
I was back to mad at him and wanted to prod him into some sort of reaction.
I got one, but I didn’t like it. His dismissive sneer was insulting, a bare lift of one corner of his lip, but his bored tone was worse. As if our history were of no more importance than his breakfast last month.
“Little mage, we had fun, and you were sweet, but you aren’t as smart as you think. You let someone feed you lies, and you believed them. Lapped them up without even thinking to ask me if the rumors were true.”
“I saw everything. With my own eyes.” I flared. The calmer he was, the angrier I got.
“You. Sabotaged. My ship.” His words hit like rocks against my skin, accompanied by darts from his eyes, but I savored them. I’d finally got to him and now I knew.
He was still mad at me.
Good. I’d hate to be alone in that.
“I can’t believe I fell for such a monster!” Rage filled me, but I didn’t shriek. I growled. From somewhere deep within, all that fury from discovering his betrayal rose.
Not forgotten.
Never would I forget those pens in his ship, fitted with sturdy upright beams for hammocks to hold the beasts. Hippocamps could survive out of the water. They had to breathe air just like us. The modifications to Skirmisher proved everything I’d been told. I’d planted the fireball spells as soon as I realized what the pens meant.
Confronting him, I realized this fight had been brewing in me for five years. I thought it would go in a very different direction. The times I imagined seeing him again usually involved him groveling in apology for even thinking of harming the hippocamps.
That’s okay, I was ready. I knew I was in the right then, and I’m still right today. I stopped him from raiding the hippocampus pods. That’s what mattered.
I just wasn’t expecting him to say, “You have no idea what you lost that day. Only what you think you took from me.”
Anger I expected, and his implacable determination. Those were easy enough to see, even through his aloof exterior. I didn’t expect the sadness, the regret that tinged his dismissive gaze for just a moment.
It stopped my heart, and for that timeless moment, I questioned if I had done what was right, as I’d told myself for so long. Doubt hit hard but was gone in an instant, when his pale blue eyes frosted over, once more cool and mocking.
How dared he blame me? As if I was the one at fault?
“Well, this is going to be awkward.” Taenya’s voice broke the climbing tension, and we each looked away. “Because Cassyrra insists her first students must be you two. Along with me. Won’t we all have fun together?”
I’d kinda forgot she was there. Fraser had filled my entire view.
From behind the webbing of the dome, he shrugged. “I told you this last night and I hate having to repeat myself. There is nothing you can say that will convince me to come learn some spells from your pet lizard. Add in her as a classmate?” He flicked his fingers where they peeked out under his crossed arms like he was tossing away trash. “Not happening.”
Taenya laughed and Cassyrra rumbled and shook her head.
“We do have our work cut out for us.” Taenya seemed unperturbed by Fraser’s flat denial.
“But you are right about one thing. I’m not going to convince you at all. You’ll decide that all on your own.”
Fraser could look furious, he could look intimidating, but now he just looked confused. “I told you, nothing you say—”
“It’s not what I’m going to say.” Taenya cut him off. “Like I told you last night, I’m going to let someone else to do the convincing.”
“Like who?” He scoffed. “I don’t imagine they’ll have anything more compelling to say than ‘the Emperor’s invading’ and I don’t really care much about that.”
Taenya’s grin widened, and she cackled. “Can’t wait for you to meet her. It’ll just be a few more minutes.”
The dragon had shifted position, so that she faced due east toward the sun climbing into the sky. Taenya watched her as if waiting for some signal. Fraser’s closed expression and frown said he was done talking.
The dragon uttered a low, resonant hum and raised one long-fingered forefoot. We all turned to face the massive beast. She sat on her haunches so she could raise her other forefoot, spreading her wings for balance.
“Cassyrra expected your little trick.” Taenya said, keeping her gaze riveted on her dragon. "We were warned, but it was easy enough to guess that you would try something," Taenya said casually while keeping her gaze fixed on her dragon. “She figured you’d take a shot at us.” Fraser’s brows raised and his eyes widened, but he said nothing. Taenya nodded, then started walking toward her dragon. Over her shoulder, she called. “You’re about to meet the one who warned us of your treachery.”
Cassyrra flicked her claws, then scythed them together. They made a snicking sound that chimed like metal on metal and sent bright violet sparks of numin outward in a spray.
Instead of fading, the sparks swirled and grew, until a vertical whirlpool of numin spun, hanging in the open air above the grass. It twisted there for a few seconds, then snapped into a doorframe. Hazy purple energy billowed, contained within the bright violet borders, and obscuring the view of the field beyond.
Taenya now stood at Cassyrra’s shoulder and spoke a few sentences in a language I didn’t recognize. Liquid and chirpy, it sounded like a cross between spoken word and birdsong. She finished speaking and clapped her hands, giving three sharp raps. The haze crackled and retreated to reveal a very different scene in the frame, one that did not belong in the grassy seaside field.
It was the fanciest teleportal spell I’d ever seen.
Undulating waves of sand stretched as far as the eye could see under a sky bleached white with heat. Standing in the doorway was another beast out of legend.
A sphinx.
Her lovely human-ish face was tinted gold, and her short, tousled waves of hair glinted like spun golden floss.
“About time.” Of course, a sphinx would speak. That wasn’t what made me flinch. It was her voice. I wish I could say it was musical, or lilting, but rather she sounded like a peevish teenager.
Massive paws the size of a royal’s dinner plate stepped through the teleportal frame, thudding softly as she walked from … wherever she was, to here. Numin sizzled against her tawny coat, a thin purple line that crackled along the length of her frame as she passed through.
She was easily the size of a small horse.
“I told you so.” She said, sitting and facing all of us. She shook out gilded wings, flaring them wide before folding them again to her sides. Her head tilted, and she rolled her eyes. “You waited, though. You got so close he shot at you.”
“Yes, Cleobah.” Taenya said, with exaggerated patience. “We had to be sure, but you were right.”
The sphinx chortled.
“Well, what’s next? He’s not so thrilled with our idea?” She tilted her head toward Fraser.
Cassyrra huffed, her agreement rolled along with the gust of air that came with it.
“You’re right. Again.” Taenya said. “If you count your sarcasm as a prediction.” Her green gaze went stony. “I think your exact words were ‘they’re gonna love it!’ Yet this is about as far from ‘loving it’ as it gets.”
“You must not have heard me when I said, ‘eventually.’ They’ll get there.” The sphinx radiated a confidence I couldn’t understand.
Sphinxes are immortal. One of the few truly immortal beings. I’d run across a few mentions of actual encounters with them at the mage schools I’d attended and they were considered rare, often deadly, like many magical creatures.
They had a reputation for capriciousness, benevolent in one meeting, only to attack in another. The most fascinating theory I’d read on this was that sphinx exist in all time streams and are the only creatures that can see and even walk from one to another with ease. My own instructors and authors of multiple bestiary textbooks theorized the creatures might be reacting to events in other realities that overlap with ours but are invisible to ordinary sight.
Since Taenya addressed this one by name, and as a friend, I relaxed somewhat.
Then those gorgeous golden eyes locked on mine.
“This one is more like it.” Satisfaction flowed from the sphinx with her purr in a palpable wave, the vibrations ticklish against my skin.
I realized the sphinx’s face was youthful, that she was not yet mature.
No one had ever encountered a sphinx, male or female, that looked young. All the bestiary tomes I’d read described them as mature or even old.
“Did you tell him about the school?”
“I told him Cassyrra had chosen him as a student. He didn’t want to hear anything after that.”
“Did you tell him he’ll have twice the numin he has now, permanently?”
“We didn’t get to that part.”
Now I needed to hear more. Twice the numin?
Numin is the magical energy that fuels a mage’s spells. Each mage’s personal store of numin varies, and those who have a smaller pool are always looking to gain more.
Some ways are less pleasant than others.
Never had I heard of permanently increasing a mage’s own inner numin pool. Everything I knew said it couldn’t be done.
“Well then, let’s see if that changes his mind.” The sphinx stepped up to Fraser, speaking as if to a small child. “You’re already using your numin with those hippocamps. How would you like an even closer bond and more numin to boost your spells?”
All I heard was “hippocamps.”
“I knew it!” I hissed, pointing my finger and hoping my ire would hit him through the numinous shield surrounding him.
“You know nothing, little girl.” The sphinx chuckled, turning her luminous golden eyes to mine. It was jarring being called “little girl” by a creature that looked to be five or six years younger than my twenty and five years. Even her lioness body was that of a rangy youngster. “But you will. Both of you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Fraser and I spoke in unison. I glared at him. He gave back as good as he got.
Her leonine shoulders shook, her wings rustling as well.
“Oh come on. I ca-an’t tell you.” Singsong and annoying. It was jarring to see this powerful magical creature acting like a bratty teen, and stripped away much of the mystique. She tilted her head, studying Fraser like he was a bug under glass. “Taenya was supposed to tell you about it.”
“We didn’t get the chance.” Taenya said. “You didn’t give me the heads up about these two hating each other.”
I turned my laugh into a cough. Cleobah broke off her examination of Fraser to slide a sly side-eye at me, then blinked at Taenya. “Oops.”
Taenya growled. “Ozora, Fraser, meet Cleobah. She and Cassyrra are friends. This new mage school is their idea.”