A Dragon Born (18 page)

"Careful, lad," Stavros said, and the way he spoke reminded Aaron so very much of Tarnath.

Aaron let go of all the thoughts that were cluttering up his mind and he focused on the circular lines he had drawn and the energy that floated in the air. He imagined a giant soap bubble, shiny with myriad colors and the energy flowed outward to the lines and finally took shape, settling into place.

"Is that it?" Aaron asked.

Stavros glanced at Ehlena and she nodded.

"Well done, my boy," he said with a laugh. "You've not only hidden your power, but you've also turned yourself invisible."

"Invisible?" Aaron was surprised. "But I can see myself." He held up his hand and realized it had become translucent. "I can sort of see myself," he corrected himself.

"Aaron," Stavros said. "Try thinking about being visible."

Aaron shrugged and imagined himself becoming visible and he saw his hand become more solid looking.

"That's better," Stavros said. Ehlena leaned forward on the bed.

"Aaron, when you made the barrier around yourself, did you see any colors?"

"Yes, they were part of the soap bubble," he told her.

Ehlena smiled, giggling a little, and she reminded him of how she was when they traveled together to Maramyr. His thoughts quickly went to the memory of her in the bath and when they went swimming together, and Aaron felt his cheeks grow warm and something stirred deep inside him. He pushed those thoughts away, remembering that she was now a goddess and it was probably not polite to think about her in such a way.

"What colors did you see?" Ehlena asked. Aaron shrugged.

"All of them, I think," he told her.

Ehlena glanced at Stavros, then looked back at Aaron. It was unexpected, but not surprising that he should have such range to his power. With the knowledge of the Lady, Ehlena understood so much more about the world, but Aaron's power was fascinating.

"Well done, Aaron," she said, letting the matter drop. "It's important that the priesthood can't find you and it's even more important that Cerric, this god-king, can't find you either, for he will covet your power as he covets all those in the world who have power."

Aaron frowned. He did not want to be hunted by mage priests and their one god. He did not want to have anything to do with Cerric, even though the thought of what he had done to Ariana angered him. Still, these were matters of mages and kings, gods who walked the land, and all Aaron really wanted was to live in the cottage near Ashford and laugh with his uncle. He knew none of that was possible now, but the last thing he wanted was to hurt anyone with his power, and now that he was coming to understand it, he was afraid of it. It was overwhelming to be a mage and he did not know how Stavros and Zachary could stand it.

"Thank you for showing me how to hide from the priesthood, Stavros," Aaron said. "And thank you for helping me understand, Ehlena. All of this is very confusing and I have a lot to think about. I need some time to think. I would like to walk around the island and sort out my thoughts." Aaron picked up his sword belt and slung it around his waist.

"Of course," Stavros said. "You've been cooped up in this room for days. It's about time you got some fresh air. Then we have a lot of work to do, Aaron. There is much I can teach you and much you need to learn."

"Thank you, Stavros," Aaron said.

"Would you like me to come with you?" Ehlena asked. Aaron looked at her for a long moment.

"I would," he told her, "but I need some time alone, to think."

"As you wish," Ehlena said.

Aaron smiled at them both and walked out of the room. Stavros turned to Ehlena.

"He is uncomfortable with his power," he said. "I cannot think of any mage who would willingly even consider giving up such a gift."

"Aaron is different than most," Ehlena agreed. "The fact that he does not desire power for its own sake makes him worthy of being entrusted with it."

"I have always believed that we quest to learn to become greater, more knowledgeable, more powerful," Stavros said. "Though he learns quickly and comes to it naturally, I am concerned that he is unwilling to accept his responsibility to embrace that power and pursue the knowledge of who he is."

"Knowledge itself is a most often a noble pursuit, but that is seldom true of the pursuit of power itself," Ehlena said. "We must be patient with him. Aaron has great gifts but he has suffered much and his trust has been shaken. We must do what we can to allay his fears, for we will need his help in the coming days."

Ehlena sighed, then she swung her legs over the edge of the bed. Stavros held out his hand and helped her to her feet.

"Thank you, Stavros. You always have been a perfect gentleman."

"It is my honor, Lady...Ehlena," Stavros found it irreverently mundane to call the goddess by name and he also found it a little disconcerting that she knew so much about him even though they had only just met. He had a long list of questions he hoped to ask her and, since they had some time, he thought a little more irreverence might not hurt. "Have you ever tried pirate sweetwater?"

"No," she replied.

"If Carly and Zachary haven't drank it all, perhaps we could enjoy a cup."

*****

As he made his way down the stairs from the rooms of the inn to the tavern on the main floor, Aaron thought about being invisible again and he held up his hand for a moment to make sure it was translucent. Satisfied that no one could see him, he descended the stairs into the busy tavern. Across the room, he spotted Carly and Zachary, sitting at the bar, chatting animatedly and laughing about something. He was not sure how to feel about Zachary, and he wanted to ask him so many things, but he was angry about the fact that his father had not been in his life, and that the mage could sit there with a smile on his face when he had done the horrible things Aaron had witnessed. He looked at Carly for a moment, and wanted to thank her for helping him, for bringing him with her to Meer Island and for quenching the fire that had nearly overpowered him, diminishing its fury with her own deep power, and for being a friend. She was the only one who did not seem to want anything from him. Aaron decided he did not want to get into a conversation with Zachary, so he continued toward the doorway of the tavern and walked out of the inn.

It was late in the day and the streets were busy with people making their way to their homes or the various taverns and other establishments that lined the main street of the town that overlooked the pirate harbor. The sky above was already turning from blue to brilliant red and orange, and it seemed almost strange to Aaron to be outside the inn. He could feel the cool mist of the ocean air on his skin, with its gritty saltiness carried by a steady breeze. Still invisible, Aaron navigated his way down the street and toward the harbor where a number of large ships and smaller boats were moored, though not a large number given Meer Island's reputation as the home of the pirates. Aaron imagined they must have more ships somewhere and he thought about using his power to see if there were more ships somewhere else at the island, but he decided against it. Other than making sure the priesthood or Cerric could not find him, he wanted nothing to do with his powers, so the less he used them, the better.

Aaron made his way down to the docks and saw Malek talking with a group of pirates. Their conversation appeared to be about something important, for all the people at the docks were gathering around to hear what was being said.

"You'd be willing to swear to that?" asked a large, dark-haired man with a stiff black beard, who appeared to be the leader of the group.

"Aye," Malek said. "It's the truth of it. I barely had enough to pay for the cost of all those trips I made. Look at my ship. Don't you think I'd have a bigger one if my share of the gold amounted to anything?"

"True," said the other man, and the other pirates nodded in agreement. "I wondered what nonsense she was talking when she said she was clear of her debt."

"Carly gets strange notions in her head," Malek said. "You ever notice how she changes the way she talks and acts. It's like she's pretending to be someone she isn't. I don't know what game she's playing at but I don't trust her."

"Well, she's cosied up to those mages so there's not much we can do, but by rights, she shouldn't be here at Meer." The other man glanced at the men standing around him. "We've got a right to demand she leave the island. Maybe the mages will leave as well. I say we march right up there and deal with it right now. I, for one, am done walking on eggshells around these mages and this is pirate business! We've a right to enforce the code on our island."

Aaron stepped out of the way as the group of pirates, who had been riled up by their leader, began marching up the road toward the town. He thought about warning Carly that trouble was on the way, but he noticed that almost all of the pirates had left the harbor. There was only one large ship that still had crew aboard, and they did not seem particularly interested in whatever the group of pirates were doing so Aaron hoped they would ignore him as well.

He walked onto Malek's ship and checked the stores to make sure there was water and food aboard. It appeared that Malek was only part of the way through restocking the supplies but Aaron figured there would be enough to last a while for one person. He checked the wind and, though it was not ideal, he figured it was enough for him to sail the small ship out of the harbor. Quickly, he drew a series of lines, sending the power outward from his fingertip in large arcs big enough to encircle the ship, then he untied the heavy lines of rope from the moorings and gathered some of his power into his body then pushed the side of the ship away from the dock, keeping his hand on the ship's rail and jumping onto the deck as the ship rocked in the water and floated out into the harbor.

Aaron unfurled the shortsail at the front of Malek's small ship and used it to catch the wind, adjusting the angle so the nose of the ship came about and began to move toward the mouth of the harbor. Aaron was glad he had paid attention to the things Malek had taught him when they had sailed down the river and across the sea, and even though he felt a moment of guilt about taking the ship, he knew from the things he had seen in Carly's mind when he and the pirate girl who was not just a pirate girl had touched, that the pirate should have more than enough gold to buy himself a new ship. Aaron thought it would be amusing to see how he would explain that, after swearing publicly before the other pirates that he did not.

As Aaron began to sail the small ship toward the mouth of the harbor, he heard yelling from the crew that had remained aboard the one ship. He saw them standing at the rail and pointing at him and he realized that it must look a little strange to see a ship unfurling its own sails and piloting itself across the water. He picked up one of the oars from its resting spot along inside of the rail and waved it at them, smiling even though he knew they could only see the part of the oar that was outside the sphere that kept him invisible. Aaron did not like the fact that he was sneaking away, but at least he could say goodbye in some way.

Aboard the Al-Andor, Sten watched with several of the crew as the small ship made its way to the mouth of the harbor and began to ride the larger waves of the open sea. The large sail unfurled and caught the wind at a rough angle, billowing and pulling the ship on an angle toward the sea break and Sten worried that the ship might run aground but it corrected itself and continued back on course. A few moments later, the ship disappeared, and all that was left was a dip in the water where its hull had been.

"Strange things abound on this isle," Sten said aloud.

"Aye," Rika replied. "I expect we'll see a lot more in the coming days."

"I don't doubt that," Sten agreed.

"Should we send a message to the Lady, Ehlena to let her know about this?"

"I do not doubt she already knows," Sten said. "It's her wind in those sails."

*****

"Is everything all right?" Stavros asked, noticing that Ehlena seemed to be distracted.

"No," she said. "Aaron has left the island."

"What's this?" Zachary asked, having heard her.

"He travels toward the mainland," Carly said.

"We must try to stop him," Stavros said. "There is no telling what kind of trouble he might get himself into."

Ehlena looked at Stavros, then at Zachary.

"No," she said. "Let him go. We have helped him, and for now, that is all we can do. You, yourself said power cannot be controlled, only guided."

"Should we not continue to guide him?" Stavros asked. " Aaron has so much to learn."

"And when does that guidance become control?" Ehlena asked, considering the turn of events. "Now that his will is his own and he is free from the magics of others, Aaron must find his own path. Besides, it appears we have other problems."

Ehlena turned toward the door to the inn and a moment later it burst open as a large group of pirates, led by Lanos-Meer and Malek entered the tavern.

"Here comes trouble," Carly said.

"Will you need our assistance, Carly?" Stavros asked.

"No, I can deal with this lot," Carly said and she stood from her seat as Lanos walked up to her and thrust a finger in her face.