“I have two as well, but money won’t get us anywhere on its own.”
“No, but it might help buy us some loyalty.”
“You want to hire some swords?”
“And bows.”
I frowned. “That involves trusting strangers.”
“Do you have a better idea?”
“I do.”
The sun found a way through the rain clouds on the day we reached Norret. Asking around the quiet village for the group of young adults from Ovira led us to their inn right away. Steffen answered the door to their large room after we knocked, his face contorting at the sight of Shara. Her bruises hardly looked different from when we left the forest.
“What happened?”
“I’m fine. May we come in?”
“Of course, and I have something that should help you heal.”
We greeted Effie and Alex as Steffen hustled into another room and came back with a leather bag. He set it on a table and fished inside.
“We’re leaving tomorrow,” Effie said, her voice dubious. “Both of you can still come with us.”
Shara gave me a teasing glance. “Some plan of yours.”
I sighed.
“What is it?” Effie asked.
“We’re going into the South to stop this war,” Shara said proudly. She’d spoken of nothing else besides our route and strategy for the past two days, eventually coming to the conclusion that there were some red priests in Marteph’s army who needed to go just like the king. While I only recognized their names from what I’d read, Shara knew everything about them, their age, families, how they came to power, and most importantly, where they likely would be.
She wouldn’t talk about what Swenn did to her, constantly assuring me she was fine whenever I asked. I worried her zealous determination would put her in danger, but I reminded myself that it was a long way to the South. We had time to calm ourselves and strategize further.
“You’re going on your own?” Alex asked.
“That’s why we’re here,” I explained. “Is Charlotte leaving with you?”
Steffen answered as he took an alabaster plant between his hands that seemed to give off a faint glow. “She’s staying.” His face pinched while his hands closed upon each other. A silver liquid seeped out, running around his bottom hand and into a bowl. The gleam of it looked unnatural. “Come here, Shara.”
She approached hesitantly. Steffen soaked his hands in the liquid of the bowl until they looked argent. “Close your eyes.”
“Augh.” She grimaced as he prodded around her eyes.
“Steffen,” Effie chided, “no woman wants your hands all over her face. Let her do it herself.”
“Oh. Sorry, Shara.”
One eye squinted open. “It’s all right.” She put her hands on his, gathering the viscous substance and dabbing her face. “I didn’t know you were a chemist.”
“One of the best,” Effie said. “And also one of the most awkward. You were saying why you’re here.”
“Before you leave,” I said, “could one of you go to the castle and ask Charlotte to come here so we can speak with her?”
Effie folded her arms. “You’ve asked for a lot without giving much in return.”
I glanced at Shara. She shrugged at me, then asked them, “What do you want?”
“You know what we want.” Effie leaned back and put a hand on her forehead with a groan. “Argh, but it’s too late. Terren already left for the South. He’s going to get a pyforial mage there because you wouldn’t go with us and there aren’t any others in the North sane enough to teach.” She pointed at me with a vicious expression. “And he’s probably going to get himself killed because of it.”
“Why didn’t you go with him?” Shara wondered.
Effie made two fists. “Because he wouldn’t let us!”
Alex put his hand on her shoulder. She visibly relaxed.
“I think we all know what’s about to happen,” Alex said. “So we might as well just get to it.” He stepped toward us, commanding the attention of the room. “You think Charlotte might be interested in helping you take down Marteph because she’s invested in this war. And we want Neeko to come with us to Ovira.”
“We also want Terren to come back,” Effie added.
“So let’s make a deal,” Alex said. “If Charlotte helps you, then afterward she takes you back to Ovira with her.”
“And you find Terren and convince him to go back to Ovira before he gets to Nymre.” Effie stuck out her hand. “Do we have an agreement?”
Except for the part about Terren, I already had this agreement in mind before coming here. “If Shara can come with us to Ovira, then yes.”
Effie and I were the first to shake. She said, “You’re only a day behind Terren. You should be able to find him.”
“I’ll go to the castle for Charlotte,” Steffen suggested.
“We’re coming with you,” Alex said. “You know how stubborn she can be.”
While waiting for their return, Shara and I purchased what we’d need for the trip. Norret wasn’t anything like Antilith; there were about a tenth as many shops. But eventually we got everything, even an extra pair of shoes.
Just before re-entering the inn, I grasped Shara’s shoulders so I could get a close look at her face. “My gods, your bruises are nearly gone.”
She touched her face with one hand, using the other to retrieve the mirror she’d purchased and I had scoffed at.
She marveled at what she saw. “Amazing. I’ve never heard of anything healing wounds so fast.”
We weren’t within their room long enough to sit down before the door swung open. Steffen ran in and continued straight past us and into another room. Effie and Alex did the same, hurrying into a different room. Cedri stepped in last, no less calm than the rest, and closed the door behind her.
“We have to leave!” Alex yelled.
“Where’s Charlotte?” Shara asked.
“She’s dead,” Cedri answered with wide eyes. “And I’ve wrongly been charged with killing her.”
“We got Cedri out,” Alex said as he stuffed clothes into a bag. “But not without being seen. They must be on their way here.”
Shara jumped up. “How do we know you didn’t kill her, Cedri?” she accused.
“I would never!”
“She wouldn’t,” Effie agreed. “Charlotte trusted her.”
“And she didn’t trust Darri,” Cedri said.
Surprise grabbed my heart in a vise. “Darri killed her?”
Cedri looked at me pointedly. “I’m sure of it.”
“We must be leaving,” Alex announced again.
“If anyone from the army is coming here,” I said, “then we must be leaving as well. They have orders to kill me upon sight.”
“Same with me, now,” Cedri said. “You wanted a psychic. Take me with you.”
“Done,” I said.
“Neeko.” Shara gave me a look, her voice the same as when she’d tried warning me about Eizle. “We don’t know anything about what happened.”
“She’s Callyn’s sister. We don’t need to know yet.”
Shara’s top lip folded over her bottom one for a breath. “Oh, I’m sorry, Cedri.”
“It’s fine,” she said. “Steffen already told me about your plan. I’ll come with you, but we have to stop Darri, too. He’s a traitor marching among the others. I don’t know what he intends to do, but it can’t be good.”
That means we’ll probably encounter Laney as well
. I was glad, for I’d been worried she wouldn’t fare well without me by her side. I was to be killed on sight, but Shara could still approach anyone from our army. I had a feeling Laney would want to come with us.
I was still getting my mind around the idea of Darri murdering Charlotte. All I could feel was shock.
“You’ll need to explain everything that happened,” I told Cedri.
“Of course.”
The three from Ovira finished packing and then came into the main room to form a circle with us. Effie and Alex each had two large bags, one on their back and one in their arms. Steffen only had one bag, his hands holding something I’d never seen before. The top part looked like a cage while the base had solid walls to contain damp dirt. A handle ran from the top and into his hand. Four diverse plants grew tall, some poking out of the top of the cage. One glowed, producing a white light. Some of its petals looked identical to what he’d used on Shara.
“Find Terren,” Effie told me.
“We will.”
Alex started toward the door. Effie followed him, but Steffen didn’t.
“I’m going to join them,” he said, awkwardly pointing at me.
“Steffen!” Effie yelped. “They’re going to get themselves killed!”
Shara and I both shifted, refraining from saying anything.
“Someone needs to stay with them,” Steffen replied, somewhat shyly.
“Why?” Effie showed him a violent shrug.
“How will they know how to get to Ovira?”
Effie looked at Alex.
“He has a point,” Alex said.
Steffen’s voice rose. “And Charlotte is dead because of Darri. We’re just going to let him get away with murder? It was Charlotte!”
Effie’s mouth quivered. Shock hit me when tears shattered her hard expression. She dropped her bags and threw her arms around Steffen. He seemed as surprised as I was.
“You’re right,” Effie whimpered. “I can’t believe she’s dead.” A few curses about Darri followed.
Steffen finally got his arms around her back. “You’ll see me again. Tell Gabby and my mother the same thing.”
Alex shook Steffen’s hand. “Just make sure that beastslayer title doesn’t make you think you’re invincible. It will be dangerous.”
As we filed out the door, I asked, “What beast did you slay?”
“One of the most destructive creatures to ever exist in Ovira.” He seemed like a different man in that moment, ready for battle, ready for anything. “We’re stopping in Antilith so I can purchase a bow and sword.”
“You can use both and you’re a chemist?” Shara asked incredulously.
“Yes.”
Effie had wiped her last tear by the time we’d all mounted our horses.
“A wise man once told me danger is more often the path chosen than the one forced upon us.” She gave a teasing smile at Alex. “Though he never said why that’s the case.”
“Because I don’t know,” Alex said. “I’m not the one choosing danger this time.”
I looked at my new party—a bastial mage, a chemist, a psychic, and a pyforial mage—and realized what we all had in common. “Because running and hiding is the alternative, and that’s giving up.”
“Bastial hell,” Effie muttered. “We’re leaving Sumar before you shame us into staying.”
“Good luck,” Alex told us.
They rode north as we headed south. It took until we left Norret behind for Shara to break the silence.
“I just realized something,” she announced. “The rain stopped. The clouds are gone.”
I looked up to find a clear sky of the purest blue. It covered Sumar as far as my eyes could see.
END OF BOOK TWO
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I recommend taking a look at my first series,
The Rhythm of Rivalry,
which takes place in the same world as the Pyforial Mage Trilogy, with some of the same characters that appeared in this novel.
WRATH GAMES
Copyright 2014 by B.T. Narro
Cover art and map by Ricky Gunawan
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is coincidental.
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