Chapter 22
It would have been much better if Lina decided to talk to him right away. That is what I think first thing when I sense disturbance from Val's sleeping mind. I teleport to his door immediately and gently knock. When there is no answer, I seep inside.
Val is asleep, but his sleep is by no means peaceful. He is thrashing around, breathing heavily. I land on the edge of his bed and squeeze his shoulders, I call him, I shake him, I hug him... In the end it takes a rather nasty spell to wake him up.
He stares at me wide-eyed. I must be looking equally bewildered, though. On top of the general stress of the situation, I can't get rid of the memory of the last time he had such violent nightmares. He remembered something horrible then. What about now?
"Da-ad?" he asks shakily.
"Yes, baby, I'm here. What's wrong?"
He attacks me with a fierce hug across the middle. I embrace him too and stroke his hair, murmuring something soothing. He isn't sobbing. I wonder if it's good or not.
"Strange dreams," he manages finally.
I pat him on the back.
"Yeah, that happens sometimes. What was in them?"
He lets go of me, but doesn't pull back, instead turning in such a way as to lean on me.
"Not sure. It was all strange stuff. No people or things. Jus' sounds, colours, that kind of stuff. Weird. I don't remember much."
"Were you scared?" I frown. It sounds like he had a glance of the Astral Plane, which would explain why I had trouble waking him. But then, he had had experience with Astral before, and there was nothing scary about it. Besides, he should be able to recognise the sensation. Was it, after all, a memory?
"Not really," he says thoughtfully. "Jus' confused. And then I couldn't get out, that's the scary thing. I even heard you calling, but couldn't wake up. How did you wake me?"
"I had to use a spell," I say. "It's not a nice one, and I'd rather I didn't have to use it on you again. In the morning, we should ask Lina to teach you some White magic for this kind of situation."
"Why's your spell bad?"
"You'll have a headache from it."
"Oh."
That's not to mention that it could injure your Astral body if miscast. I am pretty confident with my skills, but I used it more out of panic than confidence.
"Is it early?" Val asks absently snuggling up to me.
"I'd say it's still late. You should go back to sleep."
He lifts his head to face me.
"Will you stay..?"
I consider his request. I don't have any urgent business or any appointments, have I? Can as well stay.
"All right," I nod, and he beams. "But I don't know any lullabies."
He sighs in pretend disappointment.
"You should learn some."
I can't help laughing. I'd like to see Milgasia's face if I approach him asking to copy some lullabies from the Temple library. Maybe I'll do it just for the sake of getting the look he'll give me.
Val snickers a little too, and then slips under the blanket and curls up on himself. I look at him this way and that, and finally decide that I'll go numb by the morning if I stay sitting. So I kick off the boots, unbuckle the cloak and stretch between Val and the wall, putting an arm around him. He moves closer, pressing his little back into my stomach, and then falls asleep within minutes. In about an hour, I follow suit.
So this is the picture Lina finds in the morning as she comes to wake Val up. I open half an eye to squint at her after I am aroused from sleep by her exasperated gasp.
"Morning there," I mumble sleepily through Val's hair. He mutters something incoherent and pulls my hand under his face.
"Really, Xellos," Lina says. "Couldn't get into my bed, and decided to parasitize on Val?"
"Nope, just spoiling him a bit," I grin. "Hey, Val, how about getting up?"
Instead of an answer he twists all the way around and buries his face in my shirt.
"That won't do," I say as I pull him away like a kitten. "I agreed to stay, not to be your pillow. Besides, you have a lesson today. It's not even early anymore, come on, get up."
He finally sits up, rubs his eyes and yawns, meticulously covering his mouth with both hands.
"Shorry," he mumbles. "Jus' feel tired. Like I did hard work at night."
"You did hard work yesterday, I understand," says Lina pointedly. "Perhaps you should rest today?"
"No!" Val says quickly, opening his eyes wide. "I must've slept too much."
"Do you remember anything about your dreams?" I ask frowning. If he feels tired as if from working at night, it must be that his mind was busy with something before I woke him.
He frowns in deep concentration.
"Not much," he says finally. "But it was important. And I have that headache."
Lina sends me a questioning glance, and I recount the night's adventure. She casts a headache-relieving charm and looks at Val with concern.
"I'll make you a bandana like mine," she says after some thinking. "It repels mind attacks. Perhaps, I'll throw in a couple of other spells. It would be good to have some Dragon-specific reinforcement spells," she looks at me pointedly.
"Isn't there a spell in White magic that we could teach him so that he could wake up if this happens again?" I ask.
Lina thinks some more.
"I doubt it. There are a few such spells, but they are no child's play. It's mind we are talking about. I think it would be much wiser to simply call me in case there is a second incident. Why didn't you call me in the first place?" she asks with sudden surprise.
"I, eh..."
I don't know why. I was lost. I thought it was my responsibility. I didn't want to bother her. Are those valid reasons?
Lina seems to read everything from my face. She starts rolling her eyes, but instead decides to pinch her nose and sigh.
"Honestly, Xellos. Who would've thought you're so fragile."
"HUH?"
Val looks from Lina to me and hunches a bit.
"Yeah," Lina confirms. "Every little thing makes you thing it's all over! How am I supposed to be mad at you when you are so easily hurt?"
"Perhaps... not be mad at me?" I put in.
She snorts.
"There isn't a person in the world I haven't been mad at. I doubt I can make an exception for you."
"There is, actually," I say, bouncing Val slightly on my knee.
"Well, yeah, right," she amends. "Val is so tiny and cute it's easy to forget he is a person," she chuckles. "But I'm sure you understand my meaning."
I nod.
"I am sorry, I should have called you. I'll, er, make sure to adjust my personality to family needs."
Lina smirks.
"That sounds nuts. Anyway, are you two going anywhere?"
Both Val and I not frantically, and Lina ushers us downstairs for breakfast after which we practically sprint to Izler's house.
This time he opens the door himself, looking off-balance. His study has suffered even more changes since yesterday. There are just two sculptures left, but one of the corners is cluttered with heavy metal details of an unfamiliar device.
"Well, mister, er, Beastmaster," Izler says checking if he had the name correctly, since I never really introduced myself. "I must thank you greatly. When you said you could find me a few buyers, my best hopes were that one or two pieces could be sold for a moderate price. But yesterday evening... They took everything! They actually started a fight over some of the pieces... In the end my wife suggested an auction, and that was the only thing that worked. Those two sculptures," he gestures to the wall, "are only left because one of your friends asked me to make bronze moulds of them. And I've got commissioned with a good dozen projects," he shakes his head in bewilderment. "I am grateful from the bottom of my heart!"
Looks like I'll have to get used to gratitude somehow. Seeing how much good I've been doing lately, I risk being sick till the end if my days, which won't be far off.
"I gather your wife likes you much more now," I put in.
Izler laughs.
"I say she does! Went to the market first thing in the morning. It's a good thing I asked most of my commissioners to put the money right into the King's Bank. People will know I'm rich soon enough, and this district isn't exactly filled with decent folk."
He shakes his head again, obviously still overwhelmed with his own unexpected success. Then he visibly collects himself.
"So, Val," Izler turns his attention to my son at last. "We should work hard today so that we'll have room to eat every bit of the most special lunch my wife will cook!"
Val smiles.
"I'll do my best!" he looks up to me. "When will you come back, Daddy?"
I think this is a dismissal.
"Just before dinner, like yesterday. Be good," I bend down to kiss him, and then leave with a nod to Izler.
Like yesterday, I teleport right back into the room and get to my viewpoint. I also have secured myself some reading for the boring hours. Milgasia's scrolls. I need to know every single thing about Ancient Dragon mind magic.
I am so engrossed in my reading that time flies by almost instantly. I am, of course, keeping an eye on Val, but not on what he is doing. The scrolls talk mainly about the control of elements, and I am starting to get the idea that Val's success with art isn't just his own talent, but more like an Ancient Dragon trait: those strange creatures seemed to have exceptional skills commanding substances like paints, wood, stone, plaster, clay, metal and everything else for the matter. This is completely new to me. I have heard that Ancients were outstanding goldsmiths, but I always thought it had to do with some sophisticated technologies. And here it looks like the reason was that metals simply obeyed them naturally, like a trained dog.
Of course, it doesn't mean Val isn't talented. It only explains his skill, and it should, because normally a five-year-old can't paint realistic portraits. However his ability to find the most characteristic and striking shapes as totally his own, a unique gift. At least, according to these writings. And to my own desires.
With half a mind I register that the two sculptors are having a lunch break, so I move over to the kitchen filled with most delicious smells, but my attention is still mainly on the scrolls. With such control over elements no wonder Val swims like a fish. Oh and it must also explain why he flies by hovering! He just probably hovers in the air by arranging the currants the right way!
And again I am faced with the question: does it come naturally to his kind or he remembers learning it in his first incarnation? And how much more is he going to recall?
At some point I notice that it is getting harder to read without aiding my eyes with special Mazoku equipment for seeing in the dark. I glance to the window and gasp: it's deep twilight. Val must be worried!
I look down at him and see that he doesn't have a care in the world, so engrossed he is in his own activity. Well, it's time to finish.
I appear at the door and knock. Izler's wife, glowing with hospitality, lets me in and offers me to have dinner with them. I refuse politely, but sternly. I need to get Val quickly.
As I enter the darkened study, I notice for the first time what exactly Val is making. It's Posel again. Well, didn't Val tell Izler he was making an imaginary friend of Lina's? Posel's old body fits that description quite well. I am surprised, though, and a little disappointed that Val is so persistent in depicting Taforashia's prince. What good is he, really? What's so special about him?
I welcome my own surprise as Val turns to me. I don't have to pretend I haven't seen his project yet. I really haven't, simply because I wasn't paying attention.
But my surprise turns to worry as I look into Val's face. He looks older. Not by a year or two, but hundreds of years older. Of course, maybe it's the scarce illumination playing a trick on me, but...
"Val?" I ask carefully. "Are you all right?"
He blinks and shakes off his creative stupor. Next time he looks at me, he is five years old once again. Must be the light after all.
"Hi, Dad! Ooh! It's dark!"
"Yeah, sorry, I got busy with something," I say, hiding a sigh of relief. "Aren't you tired yet?"
"Like hell," Val admits with feeling. I cringe.
"Val! That's not something a nice little boy should say!"
Izler chuckles, wiping his forehead.
"It might be rude, sir," he says, "but it's really the only possible way to describe how tired he should be. I mean, I am barely standing, and he isn't even used to doing this for so long."
"Ne, Val," I say, scooping him gently into my arms. "Maybe we should take a day off tomorrow?"
"No!" he pushes off me so strongly that I almost drop him. "I must finish this as soon as I can!"
He looks worried, and my own concern returns.
"What's with the rush?" I ask with pretend nonchalance. "Pokota isn't going to run away."
Val shakes his head violently.
"No, Dad! It's important!" he looks at me as if trying to push his reasoning right into my eyes, then presses his lips into my ear and hisses, "It's the dreams!"
I startle.
"You mean..." I begin, but then notice a frowning Izler. This is a wrong place to talk about it, Val is right. "We'll have to talk about it at home," I say finally. "I'm sorry, Mr. Izler. This will be all for today. I'll send you a note later to say whether we are coming tomorrow."
"Better send it in the morning," Izler says through a yawn. "I'm gonna black out as soon as I reach the bed."
I don't try to put Val down, especially since almost instantly after we leave Izler's he falls asleep on my shoulder. The noisy evening street with shouting vendors doesn't wake him. I am getting more and more worried. What if he can't wake again? He doesn't have Lina's bandana on yet. I hope she'll be able to wake him if he has any more strange dreams. Oh L-sama, did I have to insist that he takes these lessons with Izler?
Lina meets me on the porch.
"Where the hell have the two of you been!" she asks with no attempt to hide her anxiety. "I almost went to look for you!"
"Sorry," I say. "Let's get inside, we need to discuss something."
When we are safely in Lina's quarters, I put Val gently on the bed and recount what I have seen today, or at least imagined.
"And then he said that the statue of Posel he is making is somehow related to his dream last night."
Lina stares into space.
"Rezo?" she says. "Or Hellmaster? What can it possibly be about Pokota? Do you know if anyone else tampered with him? Anyone Val could remember?"
I slowly shake my head.
"Not to my knowledge. Do you think we could question him?"
Instead of an answer, Lina rings a bell and tells the summoned servant to fetch Prince Posel. The servant obviously doubts the Prince will be willing to respond to Lina's command, but still gives it a try.
Pokota appears a few minutes later. He looks hopeful and apprehensive at the same time.
"Xellos means trouble after all?" he asks Lina. "I guess I could do with a little distraction, if it's not life-threatening."
"Have you ever," Lina starts without preamble, "had any business with Demon-Dragon King Gaav, his servants, any other high-level Mazoku or Golden Dragons?"
Pokota stares.
"Never."
"Oka-a-ay," Lina nods, pacing the room. I am sitting on the bed with Val's head in my lap.
"Have you ever been possessed, cursed or transferred to any other body, other that what I have seen?"
"No," Posel frown. "What's the-"
"Have you ever discovered any Ancient Dragon magic, texts or artefacts?" Lina interrupts.
"AncientDragon!" Posel gasps. "No way! Those died out a millennium ago!"
"More like nine hundred and-" I begin correcting.
"Xellos!" Lina barks. "So, Pokota, are you sure?"
He nods frantically.
"Absolutely. But why are you asking?"
Lina's sharp voice wakes Val. I secretly sigh in relief.
"Mhm?" he asks, rubbing an eye.
"Are feeling well?" I ask back.
"Yeah," he says sitting up. Then he notices Pokota, and his absent gaze seems to get glued to the stuffed prince.
"Val?" I call. "Val, what are you seeing?"
"Lines," he says in a flat voice.
Pokota and Lina both frown at him.
"What lines?" Posel asks.
"Pink," Val clarifies. "He's got them wrong."
"I haven't got any lines wrong," mumbles Posel confusedly.
"Not you," Val corrects. "Izler."
He suddenly turns to me and starts urgently tattering.
"Dad, Izler's got it all wrong, he's been doing the left side, and he doesn't know how, I must get back there and fix it!"
"Relax a bit," I say soothingly, although I am myself extremely nervous. "Val, it seems that something is happening to you, and it isn't very good. You might get sick. And those lessons with Izler make you tired, so you are more likely to get sick. I think you must have a break."
"NO!" Val shouts suddenly with such horror that I flinch. "NO, I MUST GO THERE NOW!"
"Shsh!" I manage. "No need to scream. Can you explain why is it so important?"
To my dismay, Val starts sobbing. I try to hug him, but he pushes away.
"I must go back! It's all wrong! I must fix it! Please, Dad! PLEASE!"
I feel Posel's round bulging eyes boring into me.
"Dad?" he mouths in horror.
"It's complicated," Lina snaps at him. "And don't spread the news. Now, Val, someone's being naughty. You don't really think we are going to take you back there right now, do you? Besides, Izler must be asleep. And the way you are behaving, I am inclined to cut these lessons short. Xellos is right-"
Whatever she was going to say next drowns in a heart-rending scream. Val is pressing his fists into his temples, his face all screwed-up and reddened, and the piercing maddening shriek coming out of his lungs seems to have no end. The poor child barely gasps for air when another deafening bellow rips its way out of his throat. I am totally petrified with this display. Lina, too, but she comes to her senses first and dashes for a cabinet to get the newly-made bandana. She then hastily ties it around Val's head and adds a spell on top.
The shriek subsides, and Val is reduced to gasping and sobbing.
"Oh dear Ceified," Posel breathes.
The next second the door is flung open to let in a dozen guards.
"What's going on here!" demands the chief. "Prince Posel, are you injured?"
"D'you really think I could've screamed like that?" Pokota says. "I'm fine, no need for concern."
"Who screamed then?"
"It was my child," Lina says with difficulty. "He is ill. We are managing. Sorry for the alarm."
The chief guard frowns and looks ready to argue, but another guard, an older one, calls him off.
"Don' worry, boss. Children scream, that's what they do. I've fifteen of them, and thirty-five grands. Sometimes they jus' feel like screaming their stupid heads off!"
"Well," the chief guard says, "you sure have a lot of experience. We'll leave for now, but if there is more screaming we'll have to call the healers."
"Local healers won't help," Lina says quickly. "It's an inborn condition, and we've consulted with the brightest sages there are. We'll just have to manage according to their advice."
The chief guard looks at her doubtfully, but nods and calls his party off. As soon as the door closes behind them, I cast a silencing spell to make sure no more sounds can be heard coming out of Lina's quarters.
"Sorry," Val mumbles in a weak voice, and the next second he sicks up. Lina cleans the bedcovers with a snap of her fingers and summons a glass of water. As Val drinks, she rubs her face which is ashen.
Pokota is eyeing her with a mixed expression.
"I've only seen Rezo do things like that."
"Like what?" she asks without looking at him.
"Restoring order, creating stuff. I thought you could only destroy."
Lina chuckles without emotion, as if she felt obliged to do it.
"When people and monsters stopped hunting me day and night, I managed to secure some time for learning more routine magical tricks."
Val finishes his glass and drops it on the floor from a trembling hand. The bed is low and the floor is carpeted, so the glass simply stays lying there as I scoop Val into my lap and hug him tightly.
"Do you have any idea what is going on?" I ask softly.
"I must finish the statue," he replies in the same soft voice. "That's all I know."
"Can you wait until tomorrow?"
He nods against my shirt and immediately falls asleep again.
Pokota looks at us, then at Lina. Apparently, he can't choose which question to ask first. Lina meets his eyes and shakes her head.
"Don't ask anything. At least until he finishes the damn statue. Stuff is going on that you're safer not knowing about."
"Can you erase my memory?" he mocks her.
Lina frowns.
"We have enough mental problems without that. Go take a sleeping draught and forget we exist. Please."
Pokota slowly nods and leaves.