White Hall (The High King: A Tale of Alus Book 10) (31 page)

“What are you?” the healer asked again more demandingly of her healer’s apprentice. Having been assigned to the girl by Alum and High Wizard Herrol meant that Cheleya was special, but now the wizard wondered why. What had they hidden from her?

“I was born che’ther,” the pretty little blonde answered keeping her seat, but looking almost like a patient child awaiting the doctor on his table. “My amulet let me shed my larger form so that I could become human and use our magic to fly. I am sure by now that rumors have reached you that a mar’goyn’lya and a human girl flew over the school a little over a week ago.”

“I thought it was just a fanciful rumor.”

“Maybe later I can show you my wings. There isn’t much room to summon them here.”

Darius opened his left hand as if inviting the wizard to join him. “I was told that the stone fragments had been attached to your bones and that has prevented you from turning back into your old self. Maybe Wizard Saenic would like to assist in the examination?”

Pulling away instinctively a moment, Saenic began to recover her nerve and her curiosity began to get the best of the woman. She stepped towards the high wizard and Cheleya, who smiled pleasantly at her. Noting a sweet scent to the air, Saenic felt more comfortable with the situation and wished to help the girl, even if she was a dragon in hiding.

Saenic held the right wrist calling her magic to examine Cheleya even as she moved into a more professional tone with her voice. With more than two decades as a healer, the woman just naturally used her bedside manner to get to the bottom of the problem and to ease her patient.

To the healer’s surprise, Darius cast his spell but did not bother to use contact to examine the girl as Cheleya replied to Saenic’s question, “An earth wizard pointed the pieces out to me, though no one else has mentioned their location since. One was bonded to my forehead, two are part of my collar bone, one sits in the center of my chest, four are part of four different ribs and the last is somewhere on my spine. Since I don’t have magic which can examine them for myself, I have had to take her word for it.

“Ambassador Theress tried to help, but said there was nothing that he could do to remove them. We’re not even sure just removing them will actually change me back.”

Darius nodded while Saenic seemed more engrossed as her magic moved to the points mentioned and quickly found the irregularities.

“There is a possibility that separating them or otherwise destroying the shards grafted to your bones will not have any affect on your transformations. Have you tried using a second amulet to override the first’s transformation?”

“Yes, I used Kel’lor’s and a second one was given to me since then, but neither could supersede the first’s control,” the girl offered. Her friends from Staron had suggested the idea weeks ago and still she was trapped as a human. “Kev’Theress managed to connect the pieces to a point to enable a temporary change for emergencies, but I have only tried it once.”

“And it worked?” Darius asked as she watched his eyes move from one point to another on her body. The study of both wizards made her feel a bit self conscious which was rare since she normally didn't worry over other people’s attention.

“In a way,” Cheleya confessed looking at Saenic warily. “When I needed it and was angry enough to fight the man who did this to me, I managed to turn into a black dragon to drive him away.”

Darius lifted an eyebrow at the comment and asked, “And is that your true form?”

Shaking her head the girl responded, “No, I am small for my kind too. I have scales more like the color of a morning sky and I am just a che’ther.

“This was a true black dragon. Others said that they felt the fear the legends say a dragon can emit just by its presence. It had giant black wings, could breathe fire and I was much larger than my father’s che’ther form.

“It didn’t last very long. Kev’Theress said that the further the pieces were from each other, the shorter the transformation would last. The dragon only remained for maybe thirty seconds or so.”

“Interesting,” Darius replied even as Saenic released the girl and looked at the man like he was insane.

The healer’s eyes betrayed her thoughts. She feared the idea of a che’ther loose in White Hall, certainly, but a giant black dragon breathing fire could destroy the city in that short time before the magic wore off. Cheleya was a weapon that could destroy them all even if she seemed like a sweet girl normally.

“Why is that interesting?” Saenic asked the man and Cheleya’s eyes seemed echo the question.

“Well, if I am correct, and Cheleya can answer if I am not; the amulet is only supposed to act one way. She changes from che’ther to human and human back to che’ther. She has no true reference for the black dragon, yet the magic of the amulet, Kev’Theress, Cheleya, or a combination of all three made for the creation of a black dragon.”

Cheleya didn’t correct him, so the wizard went on with his musings, “Do any of the schools of magic in Southwall allow for transformations or shape changing?”

“There are limited changes to the body like stone skin and the like, but I don’t know of any offhand. If there are spells on the book, it would sound most like a nature wizard. They can communicate with animals with their spells, I think.”

“One of the boys I came with can already do that,” Cheleya nodded. “He sent his mind into animals and even a bird to look through our window when we were changing clothes.”

Looking appalled, Saenic started, “He did what? The hooligan should be punished for the disreputable act!”

“Katya and Iris already punished them, so we are even. I think it offended them more than me anyway. Since I was a che’ther most of my life, I am only now being taught the human ways of decorum and... modesty,” the dragoness finished trying to think of the words. “My friend Colbie was most emphatic about not being naked in front of boys in particular, though we took baths together in the large tub in the Inn.”

Looking like she wanted to say something, but didn’t know where to start; Saenic found herself wordless as Darius spoke up ignoring the conversation between the two. “The magic used is impossible to read. While I can see the results, the magic itself has faded so I can not try to reverse it by feel.

“There are a couple types of magic that might remove the pieces, but I do not know if they could reverse the curse of the spell. If I used alteration magic on them to turn the stone to bone, it might undue the magic of the amulet and the curse. It might also end the possibility of ever changing you back if I am wrong.”

“You can use alteration magic too?” Cheleya suddenly asked brightening at his words.

The man nodded. “It isn’t a widely popular type of magic since it isn’t really used in combat, but it can be handy.”

Grinning at the idea, Cheleya nodded vigorously and added, “It is how I change the color of my clothing and hair or change rough cloth into light weight silk. I have used it in combat a few times also.

“I turned stone bonds to dust and changed a silver amulet to mud. That ended the spell and changed the user back to her original form. Do you think if we did that to the shards that I would turn back?”

“Like I said, without trying it I can only guess. The problem is the use of the dark magic which was meant to create a counter spell to the amulet.”

Cheleya looked determined and asked, “Would you try it?”

His surprise made the high wizard warn, “But you might remain trapped this way forever. Even the other magic which lets you change in an emergency is likely to be destroyed.”

“I would advise against such drastic measures as well,” Saenic added. “You don’t know if you will turn back into a che’ther or remain trapped as you are. While the shards remain, there is the possibility that someone might figure out how to reassemble the amulet to turn you back to normal.”

The woman couldn’t believe that she was suggesting that normalcy would be a massive che’ther.

Cheleya looked apprehensive and asked, “Could we meet outside the walls of the school? In case I should change into a che’ther, I might become stuck in one of the courtyards or break something inside a room and become trapped besides.”

Both wizards looked like they were unsure of the idea, but Darius sighed saying, “If that is what you want. You may not be able to fly again if it does not break the curse in a way that leaves you human or with the possibility to use an amulet to reverse the change.”

“Well, then doing this outside of the school would be most wise,” the little blonde haired girl stated with an emphatic nod of acceptance.

Realizing that they could not dissuade the dragoness from her decision, Darius decided, “We can meet to the west of the school walls between the outer and inner walls of the city. Do you need any time to prepare or should we just go there now?”

“I would like to get Kel’lor and the amulet my friend gave me in case the spell should be overturned.”

The man nodded, but Saenic said, “We could have the other teachers see if they have another idea.”

Cheleya slid from the high table and shook her head. “This curse has gone on long enough. I want to take the chance. It will either change me back into a che’ther and I may be stuck that way or I could be stuck as a human as I am now. If all goes well, then I will be able to use an amulet to change back and forth if it works at all.”

Seeing the dragoness set on it Darius agreed, and the man left to ready himself for the spell.

“Cheleya this is a great risk you are taking,” Saenic stated as the two women moved towards the door.

Shrugging, the girl replied, “Life has risk no matter what you do. I was once peacefully living in Mar’kal enjoying studying magic, and then I was betrayed by someone I trusted and cursed to be a human. While I like being human, I am not truly one. It seems wrong to be confined to this body, even if I do like so much about it. It isn’t truly who I am.”

The healer fell on her training and tried to buoy Cheleya’s hope. “This is just the shell of what you are, Cheleya. If I am right, you are this way no matter what you look like.”

Turning on the healer, the girl hugged her surprising Saenic. While healing meant feeling what someone else felt in relation to pain, the woman had always needed to remain outside of that pain as well. A healer could get swept away by a body’s pain, and emotions led to even more pain when magic could not save everyone.

Still this girl, who wasn’t really a girl, seemed to cut straight to her heart and Saenic could only hope that what Cheleya was doing would not harm her irreparably.

Katya had been in their room when the dragoness returned to loot through her pack. It sat in a wardrobe along with a longer wrapped bundle. She had been shone the handful of black swords kept within and knew that Cheleya had made them with her magic. The abilities of the dragoness amazed her and the younger girl thought that Cheleya should become a teacher, even if she was only seventeen years old.

Her knowledge of unknown magic to Southwall was impressive for someone studying for only a few years. Maybe Mar’kal knew more about teaching their students or perhaps Cheleya was simply such a prodigy that she excelled beyond most others, but the dragoness seemed much wiser in magic than she should be for one so young.

“Where are you going?” Katya asked as the girl pulled out an amulet of stone attached to a dull steel chain. “Dinner is only an hour or so away.”

It was the only protest to come to the younger girl’s mind as she felt something oddly desperate about her friend’s actions.

“High Wizard Darius is going to try to break the curse on me,” the dragoness stated calmly.

“He can do that?”

“We will see. He plans to use alteration magic to remove or at least change the material of the shards inside my body.

“After it is gone, we will see if I am free.”

“So he doesn’t really know if this will work,” Katya stated standing up with worry as she ignored her open text book.

Grabbing the younger girl by the shoulders, Cheleya said eagerly, “Come with me! I’ve already told Kel’lor, and Darius will meet us outside the school grounds between the two walls.

“I could use your encouragement, because I am worried as well; but it is time to try something. Once the shards are gone, we will know if I am stuck or not. If I do turn into a che’ther, I would like for you to see me the way I used to be.”

“We could get Briahnna, Iris, Piotr and the rest, if you are sure,” Katya offered weakly. The girl had a bad feeling about the idea, but didn’t truly know enough about it or magic in general to give her friend a reason to stop.

“If we find them on the way, then surely; but we do not have much time left before I need to meet Darius. I don’t want to waste his time or have him leave if he thinks that I have changed my mind.”

“Does that mean Darius doesn’t think this will work either?”

Cheleya smiled at her and said, “He is unsure, but had no better ideas. That he can use alteration magic like me makes me feel like this is the answer. It would be a big coincidence for him to come up with a type of magic which is so rare as a cure. I know this kind of magic and had thought to try it, but I was afraid to try the magic on my amulet myself. If things went wrong, it would be hard to use my own magic safely and try to change things as I went.