Kerrigan watched the creature and failed to hide his surprise. He knew urZrethi could shift shape and had seen urZrethi who had changed their shapes, but he’d never seen the process taking place. Moreover, those he had seen in an altered form had kept their limbs symmetrical, which made their odd shapes easier to understand.
Bok reached to another shelf and got a small towel, which he clapped over the top of his head. He continued forward, then squatted at Kerrigan’s feet. He raised the bowl in one hand and warbled hoarsely. At the invitation, the mage dipped his hands into the cool clear water, instantly darkening it, then the creature pulled the bowl away and soiled the towel scrubbing Kerrigan’s hands down.
Kerrigan’s host gestured, and the bowl floated from the floor to his end of the table. He took it in both hands while the urZrethi dried Kerrigan’s hands and swirled the dirty water around. He peered into it as if reading it for portents and signs. Kerrigan watched, straining to catch any phrases of a mumbled spell, but he saw or heard nothing to indicate what his host was doing.
His host set the bowl on the table, then pointed to the chair, which slid back from the table. “Please, be seated.”
Bok moved away, returning to his corner, and Kerrigan sat, pulling his blanket tight around him. His stomach complained about being empty again, but the mage reached for no food. He had waited for a specific invitation to enter, and would wait for another to dine.
His host nodded. “I shall be known to you as Rym Ramoch. My servant is Loktu-bok Jex. I do not know how much you know of the urZrethi, but from your reaction to him I do suspect you know that finding a male urZrethi outside the mountains is exceedingly rare. In urZrethi society, which is a matriarchy, males are segregated and used for work or breeding. They are little more than chattel, though capable of reasoning. The suffix ‘bok’ indicates he is an outcast. I found him lurking in the Bokagul foothills and discovered he had potential as an aide. Alas, away from urZrethi society he becomes more and more feral, but is yet loyal and quite strong.”
Bok looked up at Kerrigan and gave him a toothsome grin.
Rym tapped his gloved index finger on the table, then drew a small circle with it. “You wonder why you are here, of course; any sapient creature would. You have determined that Bok was the one who stalked and captured you. He is quite at home beneath bridges and you fell for the snare we devised. You are, as you know, quite powerful and have a taint about you and your magick.”
“A taint?”
“Indeed, a taint, a stain. I thought it was of one source—the dragonbone armor—but it is more than that.”
Kerrigan blinked his eyes. “Dragonbone armor?”
Rym’s head came up, but the hood’s shadow hid his eyes. “You did not know that the armor that rises through your flesh is composed of dragonbone?”
Kerrigan thought back. The spell had used three fluids, all thick. The first had been ruby red and the second ivory. He’d not seen the third, but it had smelled of mint. “The ivory liquid, that was of dragonbone?”
“It was. Used first was earthsblood, a rare concoction known to few and fewer yet are those who can prepare it. It changed you enough to allow the binding of the dragonbone to you.”
“And the third? It smelled of mint.” Kerrigan shivered. “It numbed the pain from the other two.”
“Some unguent. It is not vital, but recommended so the recipient can concentrate enough to cast the spell. I will say, to have one as young as you cast it is remarkable.”
Kerrigan started to smile, but thought better of it. “I did what was required of me. They just asked if I could cast it, then had me do so.”
“So, you cast the spell without thought of the consequences?”
“Well, I…” Kerrigan frowned and hunched his shoulders. “I had ventured into Yslin, into the bad section of that city, and had been beaten badly. I could have been killed. And before that, pirates had tried to kill me and had shot me with an arrow. My masters decided I needed protecting. They showed me the spell, asked me to cast it, and I did. I didn’t know what it would do to me.”
Rym canted his head slightly to the right. “And if you had, would you have cast it?”
Kerrigan shrugged. “I was afraid then, so I probably would have. Your demonstration before, with the rocks, reminded me that even protected, I’m pretty vulnerable.”
“It disturbs me that you were given this spell to cast without being told its consequences, but your answer does please me. You are honest about your fears. It also speaks well of you that none of the spells you were preparing to cast earlier were of a violent nature.”
The young mage’s head came up. “How do you know that? I never cast any of them. You could not know what was in my mind.”
“Ha.” It came as a single low sound, not as much ridicule as surprise. Bok echoed it deeply, chuffing along insensibly until the flick of a finger silenced him.
Rym turned in the chair and brought his hands together, resting his elbows on the table. “You have been trained on Vilwan and you should know that Vilwan now is not as it always was. In the time of Yrulph Kirun, the way in which magick was taught, and the understanding of it, was different. Because of the methods and understanding, someone like Kirun could do the things he did. He understood enough of magick to be able to create that spell, and you know it had elven and urZrethi components to it.
“Think on this, Kerrigan Reese. While you are very special and quite adept at magick, how is it that a man, centuries ago, could have created that spell and yet, now, on Vilwan, you are the only man who has mastered the art of healing spells? You have not yet seen a score of years, yet can do something that learned mages four times your age cannot. Do you know why?”
Kerrigan started to answer that they just couldn’t grasp that sort of magick, but he knew that was not true. “They are not given the knowledge needed?”
“Not only that, but they are taught to believe it is impossible for them to learn such spells. After Kirun, after the bloodshed, Vilwan knew it had to police its own or the world would destroy it. They denied to men things that men had done before, and within two generations the hobbling of human mages was complete.”
“Then why am I able to do these things?”
“To fight fire, they decided to set a fire. Now, however, they fear you.” Rym pressed his hands flat to the table. “And I have cause to fear you, for that second taint on you. How far down the path of Kirun have you ventured?”
“None. I haven’t.” Kerrigan raised his hands and the blanket slipped off his shoulders. “Aside from that spell, which I didn’t know was his, I’ve done nothing.”
His host’s head came up. “If this is true, why do you bear the stink of the DragonCrown about you?”
Kerrigan hesitated. “I don’t know…”
Rym rose to his feet, his hands still on the table, but flames wreathed them, blackening the table around them. “Do not lie to me, child. You do not want to try me or my patience. Tell me what you know.”
“But if you are working for Chytrine…!”
The masked mage snarled in some guttural language and the urZrethi became very agitated. Bok bounced in his corner and that long left arm suddenly sprouted spikes from its hand. The urZrethi started to creep forward.
“Bok, no!” The mage looked his servant back into its corner. Once he had retreated, cradling his mace-hand to his chest, Rym looked up at Kerrigan again. “Adept Reese, either you have come in contact with pieces of the DragonCrown—prolonged and personal contact—or you are working on creating your own DragonCrown. Either is madness for someone of your youth. The former might slay you, the latter certainly will and by my hand. Tell me now, do I kill you, or do I help you remain alive so we can end this madness?”
26
Will’s first sensation upon waking was the searing pain in his throat. He tried to swallow, which didn’t help. Then the tickle in his throat made him cough, which amplified the hurt and brought him upright, snapping his eyes open. His left hand rested on the straw-tick mattress and his right hand clutched at this throat.