Dumpling ch 27
When they made it back to the library, the sun had already set and though she knew Farris was going to be angry that she had not returned before his curfew, it was the farthest thing on her mind.
“For the time being,” Maevis said to Jae and Nenani. “I think it best we keep what has happened here to ourselves.”
“Shouldn’t we tell Warren?” Jae asked dubiously. “I mean, he has a right to know.”
Maevis nodded. “I will broach it with his majesty and when Keral returns, I will share our new information with him as well. But for you two...act as though nothing has happened.”
“Well...I did kind of tell Farris that were looking for dead people in the tunnels.” Jae admitted sheepishly.
“Then you will tell him you found the lost tunnel, but no catacombs,” Maevis instructed. “And that because of your unfamiliarity, you got lost. Perhaps that will gain you a little sympathy for the hour.”
Jae leveled a flat and unimpressed look at the magician. “…I don’t know if you’ve actually ever met Farris, but that’s not really something he does.”
“Nenani,” Maevis said, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Today must have been very hard for you. I am sorry to have drug you through all of it.”
“How are we going to find the fallen flame?” she asked.
Maevis looked at her, taken aback, but seemed very pleased that she had not been reduced to a further sobbing incoherent mess by the day’s events. “First we must ascertain what, or who, this fallen flame is. Barnaby has likely retired already for the night and I will not rouse him. The poor man needs his rest, but tomorrow we will begin our research. But for now, I believe both of you need some supper and a good night’s sleep.”
“I don’t think I’m going to be getting much sleep after seeing the glowing green skeleton garble cryptic nonsense at us,” Jae said, rubbing the back of his head. “...Donal’s gonna hate me tomorrow.”
“No, I don’t suppose any of us should expect a peaceful night tonight,” Maevis agreed. “But we should make the effort regardless.”
“Come on, Nenani,” Jae said in tired resignation. “I’ll take you back to Farris. Maybe if you give him your best kicked puppy look he won’t be that angry.”
……………………………………………
The cooking fires had been extinguished when they made it into the camp proper and everyone had retired to the hut for the night. As Nenani and Jae approached, they could hear voices from inside and what seemed to be an argument. Farris’s irate voice chief among them.
“...better have one damn good excuse!”
“It’s the brat yer talking about,” said someone. Nenani was sure that it was Bart as it was too deep for anyone else. “He won’t have anythin’ but a mouth full of excuses.”
“You should go find that old cocotte, boss.” Someone laughed and she heard Yale reply, “It’s in the back of the tent on top of the larger oak chest. Y’know. Just in case.”
“Not a bad suggestion, lads.”
Beside her, Nenani heard Jae grumble unhappily. “This day just keeps getting better and better...”
“You don’t need to stay,” she told him. “I’m fine.”
Jae glanced at her with furrowed brows. “Are you sure? Because you’re awfully...quiet. I mean, seeing the thing and hearing all that junk...it freaked me out. Aren’t you scared?”
She thought about it. “The smoke mage scares me more. A lot more. But the skeleton doesn’t. Not really. I mean he does, it was a talking skeleton! He was a skeleton and we was talking! But...he didn’t seem to want to hurt me and he did tell us some things, so that has to be good, right? He wanted to help.”
“I guess...still freaky.”
“Very freaky,” she agreed. “And it does help to talk about it, I mean. When it was just in my head all the time it just felt like it got bigger and bigger until I couldn’t stand it anymore and sometimes it was all I could think about. But...saying it all out loud helped a lot. And you were right about Maevis. He’s really good about making you feel better when your scared.”
Jae smiled fondly. “Yeah. He is. For a man, he’s very motherly.”
She laughed. “He’s very kind.”
“So I guess I’ll leave you to your fate then,” Jae said and was about to say his goodbyes when the moonlight above them was abruptly cut off. They both looked up and any hope that Nenani could somehow muster a pitiful look great enough to surmount Farris’s anger was quickly dashed when they saw the spice master’s face.
“Ah shit...” Jae said just as Farris reached down and grabbed him up by the back of his tunic. “AH! Fuck, Farris! Put me down!” Nenani was also quickly swept up into his other hand and without a word, the giant marched back to the hut with his prizes. Farris used his shoulder to push his way into room with his captives and all eyes turned to them.
“Ah! Well, look what the cat dragged in!” Kol laughed.
“Hold ‘em, Yale.” Farris said gruffly as he dumped both Jae and Nenani into Yale’s lap and turned back out into the night. He caught Nenani awkwardly and Jae mostly fell onto the cot, but Yale was quick to grab onto the young man’s leg as he tried to scurry away.
“Oh no ya don’t, boyo!” Yale laughed.
Jae twisted and kicked at Yale’s hand and managed to wiggle his foot out as Yale tried to adjust his grip on Nenani. But as Jae tried to make a break for the door, Bart’s foot was there to block his path and then rough and hard hands gripped him around the middle and lifted him up. Bart sat the flailing boy on his thigh and held him, ruffling his hair and making the unhappy human even more so.
“Nice try, lad,” Bart chuckled. “But ye should’a known better than cross Farris.”
“It was an accident!” Jae protested, experimentally wiggling in Bart’s grip, but Bart had a solid hold of him. “It’s not like there are windows in those tunnels, y’know!”
“Aye, but this ain’t yer first offense neither, is it boy?”
Jae sighed, exasperated as he tried to fix his hair. “Great...what else did I do?”
“Brought the lil’un back without ‘er marker,” the butcher replied.
Jae paused and considered that. “Oh...yeah.”
“And then before that,” Yale added, fixing his grip on Nenani so she sat in the loop of his arm. “Ya
brought her back all drunk off a’ Maevis’s loopy juice.”
“Yeah, but that one wasn’t my fault,” Jae protested. “That shouldn’t count!”
“And yet it does,” Saen added, his wide grin just making Jae all the more irate. But his bluster and bravado dropped like a rock when Farris walked back into the hut caring a cocotte. The kitchen staff burst out into raucous laughter at the sight and Jae just stared incredulously.
“You got to be joking,” Jae said, real worry starting to sink in and he started to struggle, but Bart just held him firmly.
Farris took the lid off the cocotte and jerked his head. “Put ‘im in, Bart.”
Bart was laughing loudly as the others as he complied with Farris’s order and forced Jae into the open bowl of the pot. “Duck yer head, boy,” Bart chuckled he pressed the human’s head down and Farris’ slipped the lid on top.
“LET ME OUT OF HERE YOU FUCKERS! THIS ISN’T FUNNY!” Nenani could hear the muffled sounds of Jae’s kicks against the metal pot’s sides. She sank into Yale, trying to maker herself as small as possible.
“You may not think so!” Kol said to Jae with a loud and boisterous laugh. “Oh...oh, Gods. I can’t breathe.”
Everyone was beside themselves with mirth and Nenani ducked down further behind Yale’s arm as Farris sat the cocotte down on the floor and use one foot to secure the lid. He flicked his sharp and angry green eyes to meet her own.
“Told ya one thing, didn’t I?” Farris asked, his voice deceptively low. She could almost see the vein at his temple throb with ire. His face was almost purple. She nodded, gulping nervously.
“And what did I fuckin’ say?”
“...to be back before sundown,” she replied meekly.
“Aye. Ya see the sun anywhere, lil’un?”
“No, sir.”
“And yet ye two come strollin’ in two hours passed curfew!” Farris’s voice rose and it sounded very loud in the small hut.
“We didn’t mean to!” she protested.
Farris pinned her with a very unamused look and jerked his head down the cocotte under his foot. “Ye wanna join ‘em in there, Dumplin’?”
She shook her head vigorously.
“Then don’t be feedin’ me any ‘a that,” He warned. “Your punishment comes tomorrow, lass. When I tell ya to do somethin’ or when’ta do it, it ain’t no request. I expect it to be done the way I told ya. Understand me?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
“Good. ‘Cause next time somethin’ like this happens, I’m stuffin’ ya both in there.”
“THERE’S NO ROOM!” Jae’s muffled reply came from down near the floor.
“I’ll get a bigger one.” Farris replied flatly.
“Ugh, fucking piece of...how long are you gonna make me stay in here?”
Farris scratched the side of his face as he considered. “Ye got ‘bout eight hours before the sun rises and nine before Donal will be expectin’ ya.”
“YOUR GONNA MAKE ME SIT IN HERE ALL NIGHT?!”
“Aye. Use it as a’ opportunity to figure out how to tell time in th’ dark so this won’t be happenin’ again.”
“FARRIS FOR REAL. THIS WAS FUNNY WHEN I WAS TEN, BUT THERE IS A LOT LESS SPACE IN HERE NOW!”
“Settle in, brat. Ye ain’t gettin’ out till I say.”
“Wha –? Seriously?”
“Aye.”
“DAMMIT, FARRIS –!”
………………………………………………
Farris had not been bluffing when he told Jae he would be spending the night inside of the cocotte and as everyone began to get into their cot’s for the night, Farris weighed the lid down with a large rock before settling into his cot and closing his eyes. But in the early morning hours before the sun had risen, Nenani woke from a fretful and not very refreshing sleep to see Farris at the edge of his cot, wiping away the sleep from his eyes before looking down at the cocotte. He bent down to remove the rock and slipped the lid off. Jae was curled up inside, fast asleep. His chest rose and sank slowly as he breathed.
Farris touched the young man’s back and nudged him. “Come on, boy. Wake up.”
Jae groaned and twisted in response to the prodding, but before he was fully awake, Faris slipped his hand under the young man and pulled him out. The bleary eyed human was set on his feet, but Farris held him steady as he found his footing and once Jae was awake enough to stand for himself, Farris nudged him towards the hut’s door. “Off with ye now. Ye got a few hours yet before Donal will be lookin’ fer ya. Go get a bit a’ rest in a real bed. And don’t think I won’t put ye back in there if ye don’t start mindin’ me, eh?”
Jae just mumbled something noncommittally, still half asleep, rubbing at his eyes. Farris snorted, but the edges of his mouth curled into a light smile. He pressed his knuckles into Jae’s back to encourage him forward.
“I’m going, I’m going...” Jae replied sleepily. “Geez...first that fucking skeleton ghost and then fucking cocottes...never gonan get a full night’s sleep again at this rate. Just gonna tell Donal I’m sick or somethin’.”
Farris narrowed his eyes. “What was that?”
Jae turned back to stare blurry eyed at the spice master. “Huh? What was what?”
“...skeleton ghost?”
Jae was suddenly very much awake and his mouth floundered as he tried to explain himself. “Oh...uh. Not...uh. Nothing. Just nothing.”
“Yer were always a terrible liar, boy,” Farris said with a warning peppering his voice.
“Just a bad dream is all,” Jae replied, but even Nenani could tell that his nervous body language gave away the lie.
Farris pinned Jae with a look. “Jae?”
The young human opened his mouth as though he were going to answer, but paused and then turned on his heals and ran out of the hut before the giant could make a grab for him. Farris just glared after him and sighed. “Gods piss on it...”
Nenani watched silently from her spot tucked up against Yale’s side as Farris spent a few quiet moments for himself in the quiet, just looking out passed the open door to the sun as it slowly started to peak over the edge of the horizon. When the first hint of sunlight crept into the hut, Farris stood up with a grunt. “Alright, boys. Get yer lazy arses up and let’s get to it!”
Yale had become very good at sensing where Nenani was in the mornings and well before she felt Yale stir, his hand slipped under her and he pulled her up with him as he sat up, yawning. Yale was still rubbing the sleep from his face when Farris stepped up to his cot and held his hand out.
“Huh?” Yale asked, looking up at him.
Farris gestured with his fingers. “Hand me the Dumplin’, Yale. She’s with me today. I’ll leave the mornin’ prep to ye to look over.”
“Sure thing, boss,” Yale replied, holding Nenani out to Farris. She settled easily into his warm hands, regretting her poor sleep and as Farris gave out the orders and quickly ran through the day’s work assignments, she laid her head against his chest and closed her eyes. There was no chance the smoke mage could get near her. Not with Farris around. Even with him angry at her, she still felt perfectly safe. The warm ball she had curled herself into, however, was abruptly undone when Farris sat her down on the cold wooden table inside the tent. The morning chill lingered even as the braziers and cook fires were lit.
“Now then,” Farris said as he placed several empty jars onto the table and filled them with vinegar. “By the end of breakfast, I’m expectin’ these all finished. Hear me, lass?”
She looked at the jars and counted. There were seven. It had taken her almost an entire day to do nine and now Farris wanted seven within a few hours. Her face must have betrayed her inner turmoil, because Farris laughed.
“Oh, aye. I’m serious. Seven by end of breakfast, girl. Best be gettin’ a move on then,” he said. “I’ll check on ya in a bit an’ don’t let me catch ya slackin’ none. Remember; that cocotte’s empty now and I’m sure yer plenty small enough t’be fittin’ just fine.”
Her strategy starting off was to pre-ground all of each ingredient first and then divvy them between each jar. She started with the licorice root as it was the easiest one and then started in on the ginger next. Farris peaked in on her after the first hour as she was just starting in on the ginger, but seemed satisfied enough to leave her at it. As she ground up the yellow roots, her mind began to drift and all she could focus on was the spirit’s words of warning.
“Find...the fallen flame...little one. They are...the one...who survived...the slaughter...of the ancient...blood...who has...no name...to pass...to her children.”
She wondered if Maevis or Barnaby were up yet and if they had began to look for clues. It just felt like they were sinking deeper into the mud and no where closer to knowing anything more about the smoke mage. It frustrated her to no end and it was only when she realized she had all but mashed the ginger into soup that she snapped out of it. She stared into the yellow goop clinging to the bowl and pestle. Her dress and hands were splattered with it. The smell clung to her.
“He is...the smoldering...wreck...of a man...once promised...great things.”
A wreck of a man promised great things. Was he out for revenge? What had he been promised? Had the fallen flame...wronged him? But why was he coming after her if this fallen flame was who he was really after? What had her Uncle done to deserve the death he got, stuck down by this mad man…
Her breath hitched in her throat as a sudden thought came to her. In her dream, her Uncle had spoken to the smoke mage and had said...said that he would be denied again.
“You will be denied. This time and every other. You have haunted my family all these years, took everything we ever had, and yet still you are here, demanding more!”
“I will have what is mine. I will see the dead walls rise...”
“You bathe in the blood of thousands. And crown yourself emperor of a mountain of bones. But you are not my King. No King at all...and she will never be yours, no matter how you twist and pull these threads. In this life or the next! She chose Hayron.”
She chose...Hayron. Her father.
“Mama?” Nenani asked aloud to the winds. “Mama...chose Papa...over him...”
Her mother...was the fallen flame. Oira. The woman who rocked her to sleep and sang her lullabies. Who made her clothes and teased her when she grew too big for them. Her gentle, warm smile. Her laugh. The smell of her hair and feeling of being wrapped in her arms. Safe and loved and…
The smoke mage had taken her mother from her. Had murdered her father and her uncle. And now he came for her. A nauseating pull from inside her stomach had her doubled over and it was only when she struggled to take in a breath of air that she realized she was crying. Yelling. Screaming. The flap to the tent flew open and many bodies rushed inside. She heard their voices, but could not understand their words. Hands, warm and soft, touched her lightly and she shrank back. There was a horrible urge to bite and scratch and hurt something. Someone. It was difficult to resist the urge.
“DON’T TOUCH ME!” she yelled, her voice cracking and making her throat ache. Her head hurt so badly now. Sound made everything hurt and all she wanted was to curl up and disappear into nothing. No sound. No touch. None of it…
“NENANI!” She opened her eyes to find bright green irises looming over her, hands cradling her in large open palms. Yale was looking down over Farris’s shoulders in worried bewilderment. She saw Saen and Harit. Farris’s face was suddenly all she could see and she realized belatedly that he was speaking to her. “What is it, lil’un? What’s wrong? Talk to me, lass!”
Her chest heaved in great gasping sobs and she couldn’t speak. She couldn’t meet his eyes and she pressed her knees to her chest, curling into herself and shaking. It was too much. Everything hurt and throbbed and she was so tired. No more. Please no more. Help me. Please. Someone...
She could feel Farris’s hand rub down her back, trying to soother her. To calm her. His voice washed over her in a worried, soft brush of air. “Come on, lil’un. Breathe now. Yer alright...”
“He...he’s coming to kill me...” she told him, choking on her own tears.
“What?” Farris’s voice did not sound like his normal self. He sounded concerned. Very concerned. “What are ye talkin’ about? Who wants t’be killin’ ya?”
“...the smoke mage...”
“What? What the fuck is a smoke mage? Ain’t no one after ya, Nenani. Ye had a bad dream is all.”
“No,” she said, shaking he head and the looked up to meet his gaze with wet and wild eyes, full of fear and desperation. “No, Farris...please. I...I’m in trouble...really bad trouble.”
And she told him. Everything.
……………………………………………………………………….
His heart was pounding loudly in her ear, but she did not care. She pressed her forehead into the fabric of his shirt as he carried her through the halls, his hands pressing her to his chest protectively. Everything passed by in a blur and her head ached and her tummy hurt...
There was a crash as a door was violently flung open and she could smell parchment and ink.
“MAEVIS!” Farris roared, the sound of it echoing around the large expanse of the King’s Library. “GET OUT HERE YA FUCKER!”
“F-Farris! What on earth is the matter?” she heard Barnaby speak. He sounded alarmed. She didn’t blame him, though. Farris sounded murderous.
“Holy hell Farris!” Jae. What was he doing in the library? Didn’t he have work?
“Gods above, Farris, what ever is the...ah,” Maevis’s voice came from the other end of the room. “Oh my. I think I know why you’re here...”
“OH, I BET YE DO! WHEN THE FUCK WERE YA GONNA TELL ME SOME LUNATIC’S BEEN TRYIN’ TO KILL MY FUCKIN’ WARD?!”
“Farris, please. I understand you’re angry...”
“ANRGY? YA THINK I’M ANGRY? MAEVIS, I COULD GLADLY HURL YER USELESS ARSE OUT THAT FUCKIN’ WINDOW RIGHT NOW!”
“Please. This is not helping. I can tell you everything if you just...”
“JUST WHAT? SIT DOWN AND HAVE SOME DAMN FUCKIN’ TEA? LOOK AT HER, YA FUCKIN’ NUTCASE! SHE’S SHAKIN’ TO PIECES!”
“We can explain what’s going on, but...”
“AND YOU, BOY! YOU KNEW AND DIDN’T SAY A DAMN WORD EITHER! YA TOOK HER INTO THOSE TUNNELS AND FUCKING….WHAT? WOKE SOME DEAD FUCKER UP? AND YA THOUGHT IT’D BE A GRAND IDEA FER HER TO SEE THAT?”
“We needed her there to be able hear them if they spoke.”
“SHE’S A FUCKIN’ BABE, MAEVIS! A CHILD! SHE SHOULDN’T BE ANYWHERE NEAR THIS MESS!”
“BUT SHE IS!” Maevis’s voice matched Farris’s. “She’s firmly in the thick of whatever it is this Smoke Mage is after. We’re trying to find out what he wants. To protect her!”
“IT AIN’T YER FUCKIN’ JOB TO BE PROTECTIN’ HER! IT’S MINE!”
“Farris, please, listen to us,” Jae begged. “This guy is really bad news. That dead guy gave us some clues to how to stop him and that’s what we’re trying really hard to figure out. We have to find this fallen flame person and...”
“WHAT THE FUCK IS A FALLEN GODDAMN FLAME?!”
“We think it’s a person. Maybe someone who...”
“Mama...” Nenani said quietly, uncurling herself from Farris’s shirt. Her head hurt so much…
“What?” Maevis asked. “Nenani, what did you say?”
“Mama is...was the fallen flame.”
“You’re...mother?”
“Nenani,” Barnaby said to her, his voice urgent and pleading. “Nenani, dear, I need you to tell me. Was your mother’s name Aine?”
“No...her name was Oira...”
“Yes, my dear, but was her full name Aine Elaine Oira?”
“I...I don’t know.”
“Nenani, please, this is very important. I have reason to believe you are right, that the person the spirit spoke of is your mother. This fallen flame, but I need to know...”
“But she’s dead...she can’t help us. He killed her. And Papa...” Nenani said. There was another painful throb inside her head and she felt ill. “My head hurts...”
“Farris, put her here,” Maevis said gently, gesturing to the table.
“What are –?”
“I have some tonic to help with the pain. She’s hurting.”
She felt his hands curl around her for a moment before he lowered her onto the table. Barnaby was next to her suddenly and held up a tea cup, a small amount of bluish liquid at the bottom. “Drink, my dear. It will help.”
She tipped the cup back and the liquid hit her throat and she began to cough. It tastes vile and burned a little. Barnaby rubbed her back as she coughed. “There’s a good dear.”
“Oh my child,” Maevis said, standing near one end of the table with his hands pressed to the surface. “I am so sorry...”
Farris growled. “Ye should be fuckin’ apologizin’ to me dammit, Maevis. Does the King know? Why hadn’t ye said anythin’ before?”
“Yes. You’re right,” the magician said, bowing his head. “And I will explain what we know now and…wait.” Maevis’s head tilted to the side as though he had heard a sudden noise. “What…?”
“Huh?” Jae asked, taking a few steps towards him. “What’s wrong?”
“I just –Oh!” Maevis’s looked worried now. “Oh no…”
“What’s ‘oh no’? Maevis?” Jae asked, his own voice beginning to sound worried.
“One of my barriers was just destroyed...”
“What? Now? Where?”
“The one I cast near the north tower and...” Maevis’s eyes opened wide. “Another! Some...someone is dismantling my barriers!”
The magician ran to the window and thrust it open. The cold morning air rushed in, scattering a few papers. Nenani’s head gave another powerful, painful throb and she dropped the tea cup and it shattered at her feet. Farris loomed above her protectively, reaching an arm around her.
“Jae, my boy,” Barnaby said as he hurriedly thrust something wrapped in a hemp blanket into the young man’s arms. “Take this.”
“What is…?” Jae unwrapped the top part of the bundle and from the folds of it was the hilt of a sword. Jae starred at it in disbelief and apprehension. “What –?!”
“Just in case,” Barnaby said, his face strained. “Just in case.”
“Wha...where the hell did you get a sword?” Jae demanded. “And why do I need it?”
Nenani’s head was swimming and the tonic did not seem to be helping at all. In fact, it seemed to make it that much worse. She heard the voices around her argue and speak, but she did not hear or understand them. She was too engrossed with trying to fight the painful aching between her temples. And then she smelled it. The scent of ash and smolder. She opened her eyes and looked around the room, searching with fervent paranoia. Her eyes were drawn to the velvet curtain that marked Maevis’s private study and there she saw it. Thin tendrils of smoke leaking up from behind the curtain and she followed it up and up to the ceiling. The face of a stag skull starred back at her, its two red eyes glowing from high up. He seemed to be suspended in air, but she realized he was crouched on the topmost shelf a hundred or so feet up, staring down at them.
“UP!” Nenani screamed, raising her hand towards the black cloaked intruder. They all craned their heads up and finally he was revealed to them. He was no longer a possible figment of Nenani’s imagination. He was there. He was real. And they all saw him.
“Stay down, lass.” Farris told her, nudging her down into the safety of his looped arm.
“By the seventh seal...” Baranby breathed as he too laid eyes on the smoke mage. The stag skull mask turned to the archivist and tilted curiously. “It’s true...”
“Well I am surprised,” the black figure said, high amusement in his tone. “Is that truly you, archivist? I did not think you were still alive, but there you are. Still intact and everything! It appears you’ve managed to escape their soup pot all these years. Too bony for you, giants? I can rough him up a bit for you. Make him a little more tender.”
“How...” Barnaby seemed lost for words and in great distress.
“Shut your filthy mouth, Mage,” Maevis growled up at the figure, reaching out to wrap his hands around Barnaby and pulling him closer to his person. “If you should even think about harming him, I will rip your legs off.”
The smoke mage just laughed. “And you magician. Your annoying spells and incantations have been quite bothersome. Forgive me if I wasn’t very delicate in dismantling them. They were in my way.”
“What do you want here?” Maevis demanded.
“You have something of mine. I am simply here to collect. As well as pay you back handsomely for destroying my favorite pet. He still had plenty of use let in him before his body would have given out.”
“There is nothing for you here. I suggest you leave.”
“No,” the mage said and pointed his finger down towards Farris. “No, I don’t believe I will. I have need of that one. That thorn guard’s bastard...”
Farris growled a deep, guttural, feral sound, and his arm pulled Nenani closer to him. “Over my fuckin’ rottin’ corpse ye will, ye hazey lil’ fuck.”
“Such eloquent talk, giant,” the Smoke Mage replied dryly. “But if that is all I need to do, then it will be my pleasure.”
The Mage raised his hands and a black mist burst from his palms. Farris barely had time to take a breath before the force of it hit him straight in the chest and sent him flying back several dozen feet to crash against a bookcase. He fell to the floor and did not get up.
“FARRIS!” Nenani screamed. Jae’s arm wrapped around her shoulder when she made to run to her guardian.
“ENOUGH!” Maevis sent two blue orbs back at the Mage who leaped away from the wall just as the blue light struck where he had once been. Parchment and the shredded remains of several books rained down upon them. The Mage clung to wall like a bat and raised his palm towards Maevis to release another powerful burst of black mist. It struck the magician in the shoulder and sent him flying to the floor. He was dazed, but not knocked out, groaning against the pain and struggling to get back to his feet.
“NO!” Nenani yelled and then looked around to see where the Mage had gone, but his movements had been so fast…
“NENANI!” Jae yelled and pushed her away from him just as the Smoke Mage’s sword came down between them. Nenani fell hard on her hip and look up just in time to see the black figure standing above her, his hand reaching out for her. Then movement as Jae was there behind him, his own sword raised above his head to strike at the Mage and Nenani recognized the sword immediately.
...it was her father’s sword.
The skull tilted and Jae brought the blade down, but in a flash the Mage was turned towards Jae, his own black blade parrying the boy’s downward thrust. Jae looked startled at the figure’s incredible speed and that was all the time the Mage needed. He kicked Jae in the chest and the boy fell back hard. Jae laid there dazed for a few moments, but he got back onto his feet, wobbling and breathing hard.
“You’re annoying,” the Mage growled and turned his hand towards Jae as though to send a shot of black mist at him as well.
“NENANI, DUCK!” Maevis shouted and she had just enough time to pull her head down before another blue orb shot towards the Mage and this time it hit true and the Mage was sent hurling across the room. Jae went to Nenani and helped her up.
“RUN!” Maevis told them, pointing to the open window. “GO! GET TO THE KING’S KEEP!”
“Com on,” Jae said, pulling her along with him and in his other hand he still held the sword. “We need to move!”
“But Farris!” she protested, sending back an anxious glance to where the spice master lay prone on the ground. His head was bleeding, but she could see his chest falling and rising.
“We have to go!” Jae told her and even as she allowed herself to be pulled and ushered to the window, she did not take her eyes off of the prone form of her guardian.
