Author's Notes: Sorry about the eternal wait! I am truly sorry. Thank you Goddess of Purple Coats for reminding me I have an audience out here, and I thank you all for your continued interest. Now, onto the part you want! -StarWitch
~*~*~
Three weeks later"Shakith take it!" Oran cursed as an impressive bout of violet and gold flame scorched the spot where he had just been standing. "That should have worked!"
-Of course- Athis replied. –Just like the one before should have worked. And the one before. And the one last week.- Still slightly clumsy in the dragon body, she pulled herself heavily upright until she towered over the human mage. Oran had stopped being afraid of her as a dragon a week and three days ago. She had kept count. And how sad is it, Athis thought, when the most interesting thing for me to remember is when Oran stopped levitating when I came up on him.
Oran whirled about to glare at Athis. "You know, you aren't the only one with difficulties at the moment," he growled. "Due to a mistake, one of my friends is trapped in dragon form and it's looking like my fault. Mina is getting suspicious, and I just got paired with her on an experiment!"
-I thought you had come up with a way to throw her off track- Athis commented rather heatedly. –It's not my fault your experiment went wrong and trapped me in this form or that you can't solve your own problems.-
Oran's eyes grew wide in shock. "I'm trying my hardest to get you back and you insult me?!" he shouted. "You know I'm the only one who can help you-"
-For all the good that's done.-
"If you don't want my help, fine! Figure it out for yourself!" Oran yelled. He stomped over to a small crystal that glimmered a sunny yellow. He had created it as a better beacon, when Athis had insisted on moving out of the desert and away from other people. She had found a mountain cave, cool enough to be survivable in Carthak's extreme heat and large enough to contain her increased bulk. The crystal at the entrance let Oran teleport directly to the cave. It also changed colors; when Oran was at the cave, it was yellow. When he was at the university, it was blue. He had also put in a warning system. It had turned blood red only once, when a caravan was in the pass above the cave. Athis had stayed in the cave for two days, waiting for them to leave.
Now Oran was a storm of brown robes and dark features as he grabbed the crystal. Athis stared at him. –You're taking it?!- she said. Oran just stared back at her, then took a long look at the yellow crystal in his hand. Athis stood frozen. Quietly, the mage put down the crystal and disappeared in a flash of orange.
Athis shuddered. She had never been so scared in her life. Walking carefully, she curled her long body around the crystal. The dragon waited, studying the blue glow until she fell asleep.
~*~*~
Oran solidified in the center of his room, breathing hard. Why was Athis being so pigheaded? They were working on a new branch of magic entirely. She couldn't expect results immediately! Moving one of the large piles of equipment on his desk next to others on the floor, the mage slumped onto the worn wooden surface that still bore scars of another of his experiments. The crystal on the corner of his desk winked blue at him, somehow just as taunting as Athis's comments in the mountains. He had promised to help her any way he could… he just needed more time. There would be a way, and he would find it. Oran took out a leather-bound record book, angrily slashed out several of today's spells, and began to note the events and evidence of the new findings.
His studious work was interrupted by a knock on the door. Giving a slight groan, Oran shoved the record book under a textbook and opened the door.
Mina stood there, ready to knock again. Her face betrayed her surprise at him being in his room, then smoothed out into her customary smile. "Oran, I wasn't sure I would catch you," the blonde began. "But you said you had some crystals primed for shielding the experiment, and I was hoping to continue…"
"Yes, of course," Oran said. "If you wouldn't mind waiting for a moment while I find them." He turned and began to burrow thorugh the teetering piles in his room nearest the bed. He got only a glimpse of how Mina's nose wrinkled at the constant disorder his room was in. Athis had never appreciated it either.
He heard Mina yelp as she stepped on some rocks near the door, then stumble to the area of his desk. She sighed, commenting, "How do you ever find anything in this realm of Chaos without killing yourself?" Oran just flashed her a smile, then began on another pile. Silence reigned for a moment.
"Did you hear about the rogue mage?" Mina asked.
"No, not at all."
"Well, there was a man from the naturalist's side of the university. They say he was marketing in poisons and illegal drugs. Magically grown ones. They only just caught him."
"Do you know who it was? I have friends from there."
"No."
"Oh."
"The news is spreading like wildfire, though. The people all know about it. Many are scared of the university, you know."
"Got it!" Oran stood holding a collection of sixteen clear crystals. "This will be enough, right?"
"It should be," Mina assured him. "Come, we can set it up right now."
Oran nodded, quickly brushing debris off of his robe. "This should be a good experiment. After all, if we straighten out this anti-dust spell, housewives will sing our praises forever," the man said, trying to mask a yawn as a storm of exhaustion broke over him.
Mina gave a curt nod and the two walked out the door, Oran just remembering to lock the door behind them.
~*~*~
This is a godsforsaken hour to be up, Oran thought as he stumbled into his room. It was too many hours after dusk for him to recall and the only light in the room came from moonlight streaming through the window. Something in that thought jarred his sleep-fogged mind, but as he reached for it, the thought left him. Joy, the mage thought, that was probably the last intelligent thing I'd know tonight. He collapsed on the bed, not bothering to remove his robe or any of the items strewn on his bed in his search for the crystals.
In what seemed a mere moment, there was a loud bang just near his door. Oran jerked upright, suddenly seeing the bang was his door, which was now flat to the wall and letting in a large collection of mages and soldiers. One burly man grabbed the young mage by the arms and pushed him to the floor. Oran moaned as he felt steel cuffs locked around his wrists. His magic retreated before the power in the cuffs, hiding itself Shakith-knew-where within him. A rough hand tugged his hair, forcing Oran to look up at the dean of the university.
The dean was an old man, lean and weathered by years in Carthak's hostile environment. Usually firm, the man now looked only tired. Oran shivered. Somehow in the light of the crystal the guards held, the dean's face looked like a skull.
"Mage Oran Kowiin, you are under arrest for the use of harmful experiments against human beings and your fellow mages and for the disappearance of Mage Athis Termari."
Oran stared at the man, stammering. "But I never meant to… I didn't… how?"
Mina stepped forward. Her blue robe glinted in the light. "Oran, it's mages like you that make people fear the university. I'm sorry, but you needed to be stopped," she told him. In her pale hands she held the record book and his crystal, now black without his magic to fuel it. Her eyes had tears in them, but her face was as stone as Oran was dragged out the door.