Runes of Lore: Dragon Dusk, Book 3

Chapter 2

2

I leaned out the carriage window and smiled as the wind blew through my hair. The forests of Harlipren were long behind us, and now on either side of the wide dirt road lay fields and small farmhouses. The road ahead of us was partially hidden by short, tumbling hills that created little hollows for creeks and springs. A few mountains dotted the landscape, and here and there were large clumps of trees for fuel and play. The scent of freshly cut hay tickled my nostrils and the sounds of farm animals calling to one another filled my ears with their soothing monotony.

I dropped back into the carriage where Tristan sat beside me and Maddock with Alex in his large cat form sat opposite us. The mood inside the carriage wasn’t as fresh and carefree as the outside.

“Whom do you suspect to be our foe?” Tristan asked our medical friend.

Maddock folded his arms over his chest and pursed his lips. “To be perfectly honest, I haven’t the slightest idea who is at fault. Though you yourself have seen what happens when students turn their lessons to-well, less noble ventures, I can think of no person present at the academy who fits the description of such wanton brutality and reckless abandon for their fellow creatures.”

Tristan eyed him with a sharp look. “You do yourself a disservice in trying to protect the school.”

A small smile appeared on Maddock’s lips. “Is my partiality so obvious that I am blinded?” He looked out the window to his left and sighed. “I have been a doctor for the school for many years, as my forbearers were before me, and no doubt I would rather not cast suspicion on anyone whom I have met there.”

“And yet you do harbor such suspicions,” Tristan persisted.

Maddock continued to look out the window, but he gave a curt nod. “Yes, I do.”

“Do you have a list?” Tristan asked him.

A slight touch of Maddock’s humor returned as he reached into his traveling jacket. “You know me better than I know myself. I only made the list as I was coming to you.” He pulled out a folded slip of paper and handed the note to Tristan.

Tristan opened the paper and read the contents. I leaned rightward and cast my eyes on the three names listed there.

“You might read them aloud,” Maddock invited him as he studied us. “And then ask your questions that I can see in your eyes.”

Tristan cleared his throat. “Adria Ferro, Innesa Vasileva, and Charles Sullivan.” He looked over the top of the paper and at our friend. “All but the last are illustrious names.”

Maddock nodded. “They are.”

I looked from one to the other. “They’re famous?”

“The Vasileva were once royalty of a kingdom far to the north, but they were ousted a century ago and much of their wealth was taken by the new king as his own,” Maddock told me as he leaned back in his seat. “The Ferro family have a wealth of land to the east of Laethion where they grow the finest wines that are shipped to all the empires.”

“And Sullivan?” I wondered.

He shook his head. “A poor family from the east. He was accepted into the school through a scholarship and has shown an aptitude that has surprised all of his teachers.”

“So why do you suspect these students?” Tristan asked him.

“On the flimsiest of reasons,” Maddock answered. “In that they all have the power to pull off such magical spells as we have seen. Where they might have acquired the knowledge, however, is anyone’s guess.”

“Magic can come out of you from anywhere,” Alex spoke up.

Maddock smiled at him. “As you well know, my friend, and would your experience have been more fortunate.”

Alex shook his head. “I have no regrets.”

Maddock sighed. “And I have no guesses as to where they might have found such power.”

“Perhaps that is not to be guessed at all,” Tristan murmured.

Maddock arched an eyebrow. “I see you are already forming your plan to entrap the culprit.”

“Forming being the operative word,” Tristan replied as he looked out the window. His eyes hardened and his eyebrows crashed down. “But first I must ask the Committee a few questions.”

Our guide chuckled. “You will find them unwillingly at your assistance, I fear. They have still not forgiven you for defeating their finest at the Magick Tournament some hundred years ago.”

“He was an opponent worthy of defeating,” Tristan countered.

“What happened?” I spoke up.

Maddock waited a moment for Tristan to respond before his attention fell on me. “I once convinced our modest friend here to enter the Magick Tournament, a contest of skills in various aspects of magic. The Alchemists put forth the best among them, a gentleman held in high regard by syk and athrylis alike.”

“Syk?” I repeated.

“The term for those who are incapable of using magic,” Maddock reminded me as he nodded his head at Tristan. “It was quite a sight to behold as Tristan and the champion faced off over their cauldrons. They conjured up many a frightful and beautiful spell, but the victory went to our friend here, and the Committee has never forgive him.”

Something in his words caught my attention. “You said the tournament happened a hundred years ago, right?”

Maddock laughed. “I see my tongue has slipped, but yes, I did say that.”

My eyes widened at the youngish man. “But that would make you-?”

He bowed his head. “Quite right. I am rather young looking for my age, am I not?”

“But I-” I whipped my head to and fro between the men. “How? What? I mean, do people live a long time in this world?”

Maddock shook his head. “Not any longer than yours, I would wager. My case is rather, well, complicated.” His eyes flickered to Tristan who’s lips were so tightly pressed together that the color had gone out of them. “An unintentional error, if you will.”

“Then how old are you?” I asked him.

He shrugged. “Only a few hundred. After eight decades I am afraid I had forgotten the exact date of my birth.” The carriage slowed and Maddock leaned out the window to look ahead of us. “We are nearing our destination.”

I looked out the window and my eyes widened. Our carriage crested a short hill and made a sharp turn, and before us arose a majestic city of white stone. The metropolis seemed to grow out of a hollowed out mountain and the sharp spires of its tallest structures cut into the very sky. Even at this distance I could see the winding streets and different sizes of buildings that created a maze of wonder and confusion.

The streets wound up and down the cut remains of the mountain, creating four tiers of progressively larger buildings until my eyes reached the top. At the summit stood an impressive castle constructed of the white stone, and its ramparts glistened in the bright midday sun.

“Wow,” I breathed.

Maddock studied me with his mischievous smile. “Do you like it?”

I nodded. “It’s beautiful.”

Maddock nodded. “I must admit I feel the same awe every time I return. The beauty of this ancient city never fades, and I hope it never will.”

“No amount of water will ever wash those stones of their blood,” Tristan spoke up.

I turned my head to Tristan and blinked at him. “Blood?”

“A city as ancient as Laethion has its fair share of atrocities,” Maddock warned me with a sigh. “Even the hands of the Alchemical school are not clean as they should be.”

We passed a large boulder upon which had been affixed dozens of posters. Some of them advertised plays and shops, but one of them had a picture of a shadowy face with the words Lady Night printed beneath the picture.

“Who’s Lady Night?” I asked my companions.

Maddock chuckled. “A recent celebrity, if you can call a thief such a thing. She is a burglar of extraordinary skill who took up residence in the city some six months ago and has succeeded in ever more brazen attacks against the wealthy. She seems to have a particular animosity against many of the older households who advertise their fae heritage.”

My eyes widened. “Fae and humans can have kids?”

“Often without issues, though obviously the fae mate will outlast their mortal partner, and their half mortal children,” Maddock told me.

I noticed that Alex had stuck his head out the window. His appearance frightened several pedestrians as we passed by them, but he appeared oblivious to their shrieks and yelps. His every attention lay on the city.

“Do you recognize the city?” I asked him.

He nodded. “Yes. This is where I lived before-well, when I was alive.”

“Has it changed much in your long time away from the city?” Maddock asked him.

Alex closed his eyes and shook his head. “Not from this far away, but I knew the streets better than I did the countryside.”

Maddock smiled at him. “Then we will have to show each other around when we have the time.”

The city was entered via a wide stone arch through which four of our carriages could easily ride abreast. The wheels of our carriage rolled off the dirt and clattered onto the rutted cobblestones that made up the many winding streets. The carriage turned to the right and traveled up the tiers to the third level.

On the way I noticed that each step was held up by massive stone walls of cut rock and boulders. Stone and wooden houses pressed up against the walls and crowded against each other so that one could walk across their various roofs. Several larger houses occupied their own little plot of land with yards and trees while most homes were hardly more than three-room affairs.

The two lower tiers had a special feature: tucked between the houses were large, impervious boulders. Their chisel-marked and scorched sides revealed the attempts made to turn them into powder, and all to no avail. There they sat among the houses, many used as walls and others standing alone, silent witnesses to the changes in the city.

The higher we drove the steeper the climb until, at the last, the pair of horses were forced to an easy walk. I leaned over Tristan and looked out his window. The drop to the buildings on the lower tier was some fifty feet down and climbing. I shuddered, but Tristan wrapped a strong arm around me and drew me close against his side.

“A carriage has rarely failed to reach the top,” he assured me.

I winced. “And the times they have?”

“Political intrigue would be an apt term for those ‘accidents,’” Maddock spoke up as we reached the top. “But it appears we bear no one any ill-will. At least not yet.”

The top was a small plateau with stone walls on two sides that signaled the end of the road. The other two were the steep drop and the road back down. The greenery was sparse, but a small park claimed the side farthest from the cliff while a narrow, tree-lined path occupied the cliff. A small stable stood precariously near the sharp drop.

Our carriage rolled through a small archway and into a courtyard. Four floors of Gothic architecture towered above the arch and occupied three sides of the yard. The majestic structure of sharp angles and guarding gargoyles was shaped like a ‘u’ with a few odd buildings that stood outside those tall walls. A covered walk surrounded the three tall sides of the courtyard and planters full of flowers spilled over onto the smooth stones where many a foot had tread.

For all its beauty the buildings showed signs of great age and some neglect. Water stained the stone walls and the steep roofs were missing a few tiles. The tall paned windows that looked down on us with such distaste were dirty on the outside and each tried to hide a darkness that occupied the halls beyond like an unwelcome guest.

However, a steady stream of students and teachers disturbed the lifelessness of the place as, laden with books, they scurried to and fro. The teachers were clearly denoted by their black robes with six-pointed star lapels over their hearts while the students, with a wide range of ages in that company, all wore the same drab black turtleneck sweaters with pants, though the girls wore long skirts with their hair pulled back.

The carriage stopped before the rear part of the building, and Maddock climbed out first and offered me his hand. “Welcome to the Alchemical Research School.”

“It’s a little foreboding,” I commented as he helped me out.

He chuckled as Tristan followed me. “You must forgive the stone monsters. They were a fancy of the architect, and the leader of the Committee at the time took a liking to them, and there they have stayed these many centuries.”

“Maddock!” called out one of the boys as they passed.

Maddock grinned. “Not skipping class today, Tony?”

“Tomorrow!” the young lad shouted back with his own sly grin.

“Hey, Maddock! Hi, Maddock! Where you been?” came the shouts of other students as they hurried past. The teachers gave a respectful bow of their heads, and some offered a smile.

“What a cute kitty!” several of the girls cooed as they passed by us.

Alex hunched over and flattened his ears. “I’m not a kitty. . .”

Several of the girls stared with admiration at the tall, handsome dragon at my side. “He’s so handsome!” they squealed in barely hushed whispers.

I looped my arm through one of his and grinned up at him. “I have a lot of competition here.”

He wrapped his arm around my waist and shook his head. “None at all.”

“Maddock!” a boy of ten shouted as he hurried up to us. His trousers were a little too big for him and he tripped over their bottom hem.

Maddock caught him and righted him. “Still growing into your pants, eh, Ryan?”

Ryan sheepishly looked up at him. “Mother says I’ll be in them in no time the way I grow.”

Maddock laughed. “Like a weed, or so I’ve heard.”

Ryan straightened and grinned. “Where have you been?”

“Having a little adventure on the road,” Maddock replied with a wink. “And have you been having adventures in your studies?”

Ryan wrinkled his nose. “No. They’re kind of boring, and too easy.”

Maddock laughed. “Well, I’ll have to give you some better material later, but right now I am in need of a favor of you.” He leaned in close and lowered his voice to a whisper. “If you could summon night and shadow, I would be much obliged.”

Ryan’s eyes widened and he nodded. “Of course! I’ll do it right now!” He scurried off to the right wing of the school, tripping every couple of steps.

I smiled at our friend. “He seems like a good boy.”

Maddock watched him go with amusement and not a little pride. “Yes. He’s eager to please and as smart as his pants are loose.”

“Lord Maddock!” a voice shouted from the cloistered hall. A pudgy man of middle-aged chugged out from beneath the shadows with arms wide open. “I am so pleased to see you have returned!”

“And with good tidings, Lord Burliton,” Maddock replied as he gestured to Tristan.

The lord stopped and frowned at Tristan. “I see. Well, congratulations on fetching him. It is unfortunate that we need his help more than ever.”

Maddock arched an eyebrow. “Has something more happened?”

The lord slung his chubby arm over Maddock’s shoulders and turned them back the way he came. “Perhaps this would be best discussed in close quarters.”

A few lingering students and teachers studied us with curious looks, but a bell rang out from a tall tower above the uphill wing and they scurried on their way. In a few moments Tristan and I were alone with Alex, the carriage driver having left with his p*****t.

I looked up at Tristan with an arched eyebrow. “Lord Maddock?”

“He has that distinction,” Tristan revealed.

“Are you three still admiring the view?” Maddock teased from the shadows of the covered walk.

“The Committee is waiting,” Lord Burliton called after him in a sharper voice. “Hurry along!”