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Chapter 04

After spending a day and night with Sul'ava, I wasn't ready to continue traveling to Angarth until well into the afternoon. Sul'ava didn't seem to mind, though I knew we'd have to travel pretty fast in order to reach the city in time.

The weather was fair so we made good time, although there were some clouds off in the distance. I was tempted to suggest stopping and taking a "break," but I decided it would be better not to try. Sul'ava didn't speak much, as usual, though she seemed a bit more spry than normal.

We ate dinner in silence and finally emerged from the woods a short while afterwards. Sul'ava led us to a road, which made it easier to make up time.

"We'll be there soon," Sul'ava said. "If you'll find us a room, I'll go meet the clients - they'll probably be waiting."

"What are they hiring you for?" I asked.

"They're hiring us," she said, emphasizing the "us." "We're going to repair a well."

"Sounds fairly easy," I replied. Many wells were magically-powered to enhance the quality and quantity of the water, though the enchantments could fail after a certain length of time if not done correctly.

"Yes, but they're paying well and it's on the way to where we're heading next."

"Where's that?"

"My home. I haven't been back in twenty years, so I thought I should stop by."

"You've been traveling for twenty years?"

"Yes," she said, looking up at the sky. "It's going to rain soon." She didn't elaborate further and I didn't get the impression she wanted me to ask.

I just kept walking. I still had a lot to learn about Sul'ava. She wasn't quite so stand-offish anymore, but she seemed to be uncomfortable around me at times, like she wasn't quite sure how she was supposed to act.

A lot of magicians turned out that way, though. Years of study didn't leave much time for socializing. It was rare to find a magician who could relax at a pub. But she was quieter than most.

I felt a few drops then and looked up at the sky. A storm was on its way. "How long 'til Angarth?"

"Just a few miles now," she said. "I think we should hurry so we don't get caught in the storm."

She broke into a light jog and I matched her speed. I felt fortunate for being in good shape - traveling around trying to find a master willing to teach me meant lots of lean nights and constant walking.

Angarth slowly crept into view as we made our way up a large hill. We ran more quickly as heavy drops of rain splattered on our faces and the road around us. Thunder boomed in the distance.

We reached the gate of town just as the downpour began. The wind whipped against us as she pointed me towards the hospitality house and bar. I nodded and, holding onto my cap, struggled with the wind to make it there while she went in a different direction, presumably to her clients' house.

I pushed open the heavy wooden door of the tavern and slumped back against it, closing it against the cold wind and rain. The tavern wasn't very busy - only a few people at the four or five tables inside.

I went up to the bar and leaned against it, breathing hard from the long run. "Gonna need a room for the night," I said to the barmaid, a tall wolf.

She nodded. "Got one left. Here's the key - you pay when you leave," the young wolf said. "You get one hot bath and one meal a day."

"Sounds fine," I replied wearily.

"Last room at the end of the hall," she said. "Here's the key."

I nodded, took the key and dragged my gear up to the room. It would be nice to sleep in a real bed tonight, after weeks on the road. I got some fresh clothes from my pack and changed after checking out the room, then went downstairs to wait for Sul'ava.

I picked a table in the back corner near the fireplace and sat down heavily, still very tired from the long run. I'm sure I didn't smell too good, but I wanted to wait for Sul'ava before ordering the bath.

The barmaid came over and I ordered a drink and a meal. I tipped her my last couple coins after paying and started to dig in. I wasn't sure how Sul'ava would manage my expenses - most teachers gave their apprentices an allowance. I'd have to ask her tonight - yet another consequence of our unorthodox arrangement.

I ate quickly - I was hungrier than I realized and felt much less tired afterwards. I sipped my drink, enjoying the warmth of the fire. The minutes and hours ticked by as it grew darker and darker outside. It was still raining and pretty close to the middle of the night, judging by how few people were still around.

The barmaid came over. "You're the last one here," she said, sitting down across from me. I could feel her eyes staring at the white streak of fur on my head. "I gotta stay a while yet, so I figured we'd chat. You waiting for someone?"

"Yeah... waiting for my teacher to get back from a meeting with her clients," I said.

"Oh? What kind of teacher?" she asked.

"Magical teacher," I said. "I'm her apprentice."

"Oh, that's interesting," she said. "You're in training then?"

"Yes," I said. "Though I've had a hard time finding anyone willing to take me. I've only been her apprentice for about a week. We're in town so she can fix a well for someone - needs a new enchantment to keep the bugs out and all that."

"Oh, that'd be the Johnsons," the wolf said. "They've been complaining about their well for weeks now. But it's hard to get a magician to come up this way."

"Yeah, it was kind of a trip to get up here. But my master's home is only a few days from here, so she decided it would be a good idea to take what jobs she could on the way."

"What's her name?"

"Sul'ava kin Ejderha," I said. "Big dragon-type."

The barmaid gave me a funny look. "Ejderha? That sounds familiar."

I shrugged. "First I'd heard of her," I said. "I met her out in the middle of nowhere, pretty much. I was traveling between Jacktown and Haumber."

She stared off into space, quietly repeating the word, "Ejderha." "Where have I heard that before?" she asked herself.

I shrugged again. "Where's the Johnson place?" I asked.

"It's out on the west edge of town," she said absentmindedly. "Wait a minute... Ejderha? No... it couldn't be..."

"Couldn't be what?" I asked. I felt a chill run down my spine - something felt very wrong all of the sudden.

"Well, I wasn't born yet, but there's a story that years ago this town was terrorized by a magician named Ejderha," she said. "It's the kind of story they tell you to scare you into eating your vegetables."

"What happened in the story?" I asked. Lightning crashed outside, illuminating the town.

"They finally figured out a way to kill the dragon-mage," she said. "There are still a few old people who remember it, I guess. And a lot of townsfolk are superstitious about the whole thing."

"I wonder if Sul'ava has any connection to that other kin Ejderha," I said.

"Well, of course she does! What do you think 'kin' means?"

A sudden thought struck me. "How old are the Johnsons?"

"Oh, they're pretty old - they really remember that stuff well," the wolf said, an eyebrow rising upwards. "You think they've done something to Sul'ava?"

"I don't know, but I better go find out," I said. "It's been too long... west edge of town?"

"Yeah," the wolf said. "You know, it's funny, there are usually at least a few people in here this late still, but nobody's coming in tonight."

"I better go," I said. I opened the door and looked back at the barmaid as she started cleaning off the table I'd sat at. "Hey - thanks."

The wind was cold and the rain even colder. I ran quickly along the major road. As I went, I noticed lots of people moving the same direction as myself. I picked up the pace - I was really starting to get worried.

The crowd grew and grew as I made my way further west. The feeling of something going very, very wrong grew inside me as I followed the crowd to a small house on the edge of town.

When I got close enough, a burst of lightning illuminated the grisly scene in front of me. Sul'ava was there, strung up on a poll, unable to move. And there was a host of angry townspeople all around her with pitchforks, scythes, and other farming equipment - it didn't look like they were in the mood for some idyllic planting.

I pushed my way through the crowd, up to the stage. I could hear Sul'ava trying to reason with what appeared to be several town elders who were being sheltered from the rain by large flaps of cloth. Sul'ava was left on her own in the wind and rain and her clothes looked completely soaked.

"Yes, Gorathi kin Ejderha was my father," she said. "But that does not mean I am going to follow in his footsteps." She seemed very angry.

"Nonsense! Why would this vile creature return to our village after so many years if not to re-enslave us all!" an incredibly ancient fox shouted. The fox looked skeleton-like, he was so old.

The townspeople looked ready to riot - they were fueled by fear and paranoia on the part of the elders, from what I could tell. They shuffled around the wooden platform hoisting their weapons as I was jostled around, struggling to hear.

"You're delusional," Sul'ava said. "You will not listen to reason."

"Silence, demon of Gorathi!" the elder shouted. A loud, angry rumble swept through the crowd. I doubted most knew exactly what was going on.

"You're the reason our crops have failed! You're the reason the well dried up! You're the reason we've been hit with such heavy storms! Like the one you're causing now!" the elder screamed, managing to make even more noise than the whipping wind and heavy thunder.

The crowd rumbled again in approval as they pressed in closer to the platform. So that explained it - a village down on its luck, driven by fear and paranoia to blame Sul'ava for their troubles. But if she was the daughter of a dragon like Gorathi who'd enslaved a whole village...

That didn't matter. Nothing about Sul'ava indicated she was interested in doing anything more than fixing a well when we came to this town. And I'd be even more of a failure as a magician-in-training if I failed my new teacher now.

I climbed up on the platform, shivering from the cold, and ran to Sul'ava as angry voices broke out around me. I used my claws to try and sever the ropes, but they were wet and heavy and I couldn't cut them. I growled as I slashed at them where they were wrapped around the wood as Sul'ava stared at me, seemingly in shock at my actions.

Heavy hands grabbed me and dragged me away. I struggled, but they were too strong. I was tired from the long trip and the rain and the cold, but I still managed to get one arm free and slash at the other arm gripping me. I heard muttered curses as I struggled back towards Sul'ava.

I didn't get more than two steps before something hard and blunt hit me square in the back of the head. I went down to my knees, woozy. My paws hit the platform - splinters slid into my paws. As the rain beat down I looked up and saw a large male wolf raising a three-foot stake-driving mallet above his head, ready to bring it down on my skull.

"Say goodbye, Gorathi-scum!" he shouted.

That's when I heard the growling. At first I thought it was the thunder - I stared up into the sky, past the hammer about to swing down, head back. All I could think was that I didn't expect to go out quite this way...

But the noise grew and grew - everyone froze as a huge bolt of lightning crashed down only a hundred feet away, blinding everybody.

I rolled off to the side, hoping to avoid at least the first hammer swing. But when I opened my eyes and tried to see what was happening, I could see Sul'ava. She'd broken free of her bonds somehow and had the big wooden mallet in her hands. The wolf was lying crumpled at her feet.

"Relax," she murmured. "He's just unconscious."

"Witch!" one of the elders started to shout. "What have you done!"

"Silence!" she thundered. I could tell immediately she was the source of the strange growling earlier. Immediately the elders ceased shrieking and the crowd fell still. The only noise was the pattering rain and occasional thunder blasts, but even they seemed muted.

"Takajit, are you alright?" she asked. Her eyes were blazing again, like the other night. I could feel the rage emanating from her, but it was controlled. Palpable, but very tightly controlled.

"Yeah... yeah, I'm fine," I said, getting up shakily.

"Listen to me!" she said loudly, anger quickly leaving her voice. "Yes... my father was Gorathi kin Ejderha's daughter. But no!" she shouted, quelling murmurs from the crowd, "No! I am not my father... the evils he committed have shamed my family and I have no desire to repeat them. I wanted to talk this through, but you are unwilling to reason." She looked at me, her eyes softening. "Attacking my apprentice will not solve anything," she said more softly.

She turned back to the elders. "I could have broken those ropes at any time. If I were truly like my father, you would never have 'captured' me," she said, glaring at the elders. She turned to the crowd. "Go home. Get out of the rain. I am not your enemy. I am not my father. These fools," she said, gesturing to the ancient people behind her, "are still tortured by my father. But you are not. Go home."

With that, she gripped my arm firmly and pulled me up. With my arm over her shoulder, she started to make her way through the crowd. The crowd parted as she half-carried me until we reached the road. I could hardly walk - the cold wind and rain were taking their toll on me - exhaustion set in quickly.

Sul'ava pounded on the locked door of the tavern. The young wolf running it peeked at us through a window before opening it quickly.

"What happened to him?" she asked. "What happened to you?"

"Hmm? Oh... nothing," she murmured softly, glancing at her bruised wrists. "Just a small run-in with some of your neighbors. Why don't you get some hot water ready? I think Takajit needs to warm up."

That's about when I passed out.