Description: Daine and Numair share their first Immortal encounter before the Wildmage receives her next lesson.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. Everything belongs to Tamora Pierce.
Author's Note: When I wrote Of Gods and Immortals, I skipped the majority of time between Midwinter and Midsummer just like ROTG. Since then, I was considering writing A Book Of 4.2 covering that period. What I have done instead is taken most of those ideas and adapted them for this story, minus Numair's endless pining.
Chapter 24
On the third day out from Corus the rain finally let up as the group continued their meandering journey following Numair's vague sense of direction. The mage didn't know the exact locations of any of the portals and it felt to Daine like they'd been travelling in circles for hours while he stared at the sky. How he hadn't fallen off Spots' back was a complete mystery.
You're so good to put up with such a terrible rider, she praised the gelding.
He keeps holding the horn instead of the reins, Spots complained. How does he expect me to know which way to go?
I'm not certain he knows himself, Daine grumbled.
As if he could hear them, Numair fumbled with the reins, jerking to a halt with his attention still on the sky while he twisted in the saddle muttering to himself. The Wildmage just waited quietly having seen him do this multiple times already that day when Kitten looked up at the mage and chattered, pointing south with a silver claw.
"You can sense the direction the portal is in?" he inquired.
The dragonet nodded her head and chirped excitedly.
"Then by all means lead on," Numair grinned down at her, squeezing Spots gently with his calves to get him to walk on. He was learning!
"How can she know where the portals are, but you don't?" Daine complained. It had been a long few days and her patience was wearing thin.
"Kitten is a dragon. They were known as the mages of the air," he explained. "Dragons have a natural affinity for magic that I could only dream of. It's said that they can see magic mortals can't even sense."
"But she's only a baby!" she argued.
"A baby dragon who could sense when Ozorne used his invisibility spells," the mage reasoned. "She could also see the portal at Pirate's Swoop." The dragonet was practically glowing in her travel bag from all the praise. "Have any of the masters offered to train Kitten in her magic?"
"No, they just want to study her," Daine muttered. She knew Numair had been spending more time at the college which put her slightly on edge. While the young woman doubted her teacher would suddenly start wanting to experiment on Kit and herself, he was a mage after all.
"We should test your abilities to see what you're capable of," Numair spoke to the dragonet. "I've seen you open doors and perform a few smaller spells, but you also released the spells on my collar and cuffs which were incredibly complex."
Kitten whistle-croaked lighting up the black opal earing making the mage chuckle when Daine pulled sharply on the reins as a horrible emptiness came from the left. Dismounting carefully with an apology to Cloud, she retrieved her bow, stringing it and notching an arrow swiftly.
"Trouble?" Numair whispered, fumbling with the reins again to halt his mount.
"I'm not certain," she replied, voice equally soft. "Wait here."
Advancing forward slowly, Daine entered the forest, senses alert for danger. It was eerily quiet, not a single bird or animal around except for their horses and Zek on her shoulder. On the ground in front of her concealed by leaves and stones was an odd regular pattern. Spidrens, the young woman shuddered. Of all the Immortals she'd encountered, these were the worst.
Backing up slowly, Daine planned to return and warn her teacher when she stepped onto a second concealed trap. Thick sticky webbing clamped around her arms and legs with another strand falling across her mouth before she could cry out an alarm. Zek screeched loudly in panic as he too was constricted by the threads.
Don't struggle, Daine tried to soothe the marmoset. The web will only get tighter.
A moment later Numair came crashing through the undergrowth, black sparkling magic surrounding him, only to get caught in the other trap. The mage cried out as he was quickly ensnared, struggling and writhing until he almost looked like a cocoon. At the edge of her senses, the Wildmage could feel an Immortal presence approaching rapidly. They would have company very shortly. Spidrens were terrifyingly fast and could jump vast distances, preferring human blood above any other food.
"Are you all right?" Numair asked. Despite how tightly he was bound, none of the webbing covered his face.
Daine nodded while she attempted to reach for the dagger at her belt, but her hands were too well restrained. The Spidren was almost on them, it must know it had caught a prize.
"I believe I remember the spell to dissolve Spidren webbing." The mage opened his mouth when a glob of web shot out of the forest to cover his mouth and face, choking him.
A mottled furry female emerged from the trees grinning with sharp silver teeth. "Well, look at the pretties I caught in my traps!" The Immortal scurried over towards Numair. "Humans," she licked her lips greedily. "A nice long male and a female for dessert. No use struggling, my dear," the Spidren taunted the mage in a sing-song voice. "I'll not have you magicking your way out. Now, what shall I eat first? You have delicious looking arms or perhaps I should start with a leg…"
Daine screamed in frustration through her gag, needing some way to reach Numair or to get the Immortal away from him. A soft whistle sounded behind her as the young woman felt delicate claws at her legs. Kit! The dragonet had carefully snuck through the bushes until she found the pair. She trilled quietly, freeing one of Daine's hands. Another soft trill and the other hand was free. The young woman immediately reached for her dagger and began cutting through the rest of the webbing as fast as she could.
The Spidren had finally decided on one of Numair's legs, opening her mouth when vines shot up from the ground to ensnare the creature. She clawed at the restraints spitting curses at the man as the Wildmage finally got free. Collecting her bow from where she'd dropped it, Daine fired an arrow through the Spidren's eye, killing the female instantly. With the Immortal's death, the webbing turned to liquid releasing both Zek and Numair. The mage fell to his knees coughing and gasping while Daine checked on the pygmy marmoset. Zek was a little shaken but otherwise unharmed.
"Thank you," Numair wheezed. "I can't say the prospect of becoming a Spidren's lunch appealed to me."
Daine walked over to offer him a hand up. "You can do magic without speaking?"
He winked and smiled with perfectly white teeth getting to his feet. "Not all magic is hand gestures and spells."
The mage looked well enough as she grinned up at him. "I sure am glad to have you with us."
"As I am grateful for the both of you." Numair rested a large hand on her shoulder and nodded in gratitude towards Kitten.
Despite their ordeal the mood of the companions lifted significantly while they found a place far from the Spidren traps to stop for lunch. Daine sat with Zek in her lap examining him carefully with her magic to ensure he hadn't suffered any internal damage while Numair dug out apples and cheese from their packs, handing them out to everyone.
"I really need to brush up on my Immortals knowledge," he commented while they ate. "First chance I get, I'm raiding the library and reading every book on the subject. It's frightening to think how much I may have forgotten which could be fundamental to our survival."
"I've encountered Spidrens afore," the young woman tried to reassure him. "You can see the webs better in the dark 'cause they glow."
The mage ducked his head and looked at her from beneath his long lashes. "I would like to be of some use on our travels."
Ignoring the flutter in her belly, Daine shoved him playfully. "I'm surprised you can fit anymore learning into that head of yours with everything you know already."
He laughed, deep and rich before tweaking her nose.
A flash of silver light appeared in the centre of their camp as the badger god waddled forward. – I'm glad to see you have time to waste on frivolities while the situation grows worse. –
"Nice to see you too, Badger," Daine greeted her friend, voice dry.
– You have done well with your magic so far that I think you are ready for your next lesson. – The animal god turned his stripey head to regard her. – You have to be – he added darkly.
"Is this to do with the barrier destabilising?" Numair leaned forward.
– Not only that, Uusoae is growing stronger, and the Great Gods don't know why. – The badger answered, ruffling his fur in agitation.
The mages exchanged a worried look as Kitten approached to stroke the animal god in an attempt to soothe him.
Badger smiled at the dragnet before fixing his dark eyes on Daine. – If you try, you can learn to enter the mind of a mortal animal. You can use their eyes as you would your own, or their ears, or their noses –
"I'm not sure I understand. This doesn't sound like the listening or calling." She frowned.
– Make your mind like that of the animal you join. Think like that animal does, until you become one, – Badger explained. – You may be quite surprised what results in the end. –
"I thought I was supposed to be the teacher," Numair joked.
– Your job is to see Daine perfects this lesson and to help her understand it. – The animal god snarled causing the mage to blush and bow his head.
"I'll try," the young woman mumbled.
– You must do better than try. You're a good kit but you must learn your lessons quickly. The People will need you before the end. – With that last warning, Badger turned and vanished into a globe of silvery light.
Daine huffed out a heavy sigh and accepted a cuddle from Kitten. Why was it always bad news when her mentor visited of late?
"Well, if you're to become a magical symbiote shall I make us a cup of tea?" Numair offered.
"A sym-whatsit?" Normally she liked the fact her teacher considered her like another scholar but right now Daine didn't have the energy for it.
"Symbiote. Creatures that live off other creatures, but not destructively as parasites do," he explained.
Daine thought over what the badger said while she collected firewood. The Wildmage wasn't sure how to go about looking through an animal's eyes or listening with their ears. Getting out flint and steel from her belt purse it took a few attempts to convince the damp wood to light but eventually she got a fire going.
"Could you teach me how to do that?" Numair asked, watching her closely.
"I thought you wizard types could light fires by drawing circles and chanting." She scowled, adding more wood to the fire.
"I've never been very good with fire." The mage blushed. "It tends to get away from me, often with disastrous results. It was one of the many reasons my family were in a hurry to send me away to the Imperial University."
"What did you do?" she asked, curious.
"Accidentally incinerated a month's supply of firewood then almost burned down the family workroom including our latest cloth shipment," he admitted, bashful. "I would have cost my family food for several months and ruined our business contracts had my father not put it out in time."
"So, you can't light fires at all?" Daine looked over at him in surprise.
The mage sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I can light them, just don't ask me to extinguish anything smaller than a building."
"Why? What happens?"
"It explodes," he mumbled.
Daine giggled despite his embarrassment. "So, there are drawbacks to being one of the most powerful mages?"
"More than you know." Numair shifted uncomfortably. "If I haven't drained off significant amounts of my power then I struggle to do even the most basic magic."
"What sorts of things are you good at then?" she asked, filling a pot with water to heat on the fire.
"Esoterica mostly." The mage shrugged, retrieving a mixture of herbs from his belt pouch and adding them to the water. "You've already had one demonstration of what I can do."
"You mean with the word of power on the lake?" Daine confirmed, retrieving two cups from her pack.
He nodded slowly, watching the flames. "Transmuting an object from one thing into another, shapeshifting, and opening multi-dimensions are just some examples of what I can do."
"Is that the sort of thing you like doing?" He'd never really talked much about his magic before, and she didn't want to give up the chance to learn more.
"Honestly? I enjoy doing something useful with my Gift," Numair replied while they waited for the water to boil. "Before I grew into my full power, I used to help out in the plague districts, grinding herbs and adding to their potency during the outbreaks. It was exhausting and it wasn't glamorous or flashy like the magic my peers performed but it was important. One of my masters hoped I'd one day be able to divert the path of lava flows away from civilised areas built near the active volcanoes in the south."
"Glory!" Daine breathed in wonder.
The mage blushed and concentrated on pouring the tea. The pair drank in silence until he cleared his throat. "Why don't you give this new magic a try with Cloud while Kitten and I try to determine the exact whereabouts of this open portal?"
Her first attempt at trying to merge minds with her pony went very badly. All the Wildmage succeeded in doing was hurting Cloud and giving herself a fierce headache. Thankfully Numair and Kitten were confident they knew the location of the portal once she'd given up on the badger's new lesson after an hour.
It was a short ride to an unremarkable clearing in the forest when the mage called a halt. He and Kitten were staring at a patch of air intently which Daine had to guess was the portal as she couldn't see anything herself. Even her own magic told her there was nothing there.
Can you see what they're staring at? she asked Cloud and Zek.
It looks like a bare patch of earth to me, the mare responded tartly.
It is, the marmoset agreed. What is he looking for?
A hole between the realms, Daine answered.
Dismounting clumsily, Numair circled the spot several times before nodding in satisfaction. "This is it."
"Could a person accidentally walk through it if they didn't know it was there?" The rift at Pirate's Swoop had been miles up in the air but this was at ground level where anyone could stumble through.
"No. The portal is an omnidirectional gateway, meaning that creatures from the Divine Realms can cross into our realm but not the reverse," the mage replied, removing his cloak to hang on a nearby branch.
"Any idea what's going to happen?" Daine asked, dismounting.
"None I'm afraid," he admitted. "It could be that I seal up the breach and you sit there bored to tears, or the Immortals will become aware of what I am doing and make a bid for freedom. You understand I will be unable to help in any way while I'm repairing the tear. I need to maintain my focus just as with healing."
"Don't get killed and don't let any Immortals kill you," she listed off on her fingers. "I can handle this, you know?"
"Of that I am very much aware, or I never would have suggested for the two of us to undertake this task alone." Numair smiled gently.
"We're not alone. We've also Kit, Zek and the horses," Daine pointed out with an impish grin.
The marmoset and dragonet chirped while Spots and Cloud whickered making the mage chuckle as he took up position beside her. "Of course. How foolish of me to forget. Ready?"
She nodded, notching an arrow to the string as Numair held up his hands and began to chant softly in a language Daine didn't understand while black sparkling magic spilled from his hands, disappearing into thin air.
For the first half an hour nothing happened except for the mage's soothing muttering when a deafening cry sounded, and a killer centaur burst into the clearing. Daine released her arrow, spearing the Immortal through the throat, killing him when all hell broke loose. A herd of bloodthirsty centaurs galloped through the portal with talons instead of hooves, fangs and fingers tipped with claws.
"Protect Numair!" she shouted, placing herself between her teacher and the Immortals, firing arrow after arrow.
The mage was a horrible target standing out in the open, defenceless. Spots and Cloud circled him aiming well-placed kicks at any centaur stupid enough to come close. Daine was getting the numbers down when two of the killer centaurs got a rope around Cloud's neck and began to drag the mare away kicking and screaming. The young woman was terrified for her friend, but she couldn't leave Numair. Racing across the ground towards the struggling mountain pony, Kitten made a belching sound causing flames to ignite and snap the ropes holding her. Cloud spun kicking one centaur in the chest sending it flying and biting the other, drawing blood before rejoining the group.
While Daine's attention had been diverted, three of the Immortals had managed to get ropes around Spots and were hauling the gelding away, looping more ropes around his feet so he couldn't kick. Two killer centaurs charged towards Daine wielding axes. She shot the one on the left as the right Immortal turned to ash before it could reach her. Numair's face was like thunder as he turned his Gift on one of the centaurs that had captured his mount while the Wildmage shot another. The remainder of the herd fled as soon as the mage joined the fight, disappearing into the forest.
"Is everyone all right?" he called, dashing to Spots to untie the ropes around his gelding's feet.
"I think so." Daine checked on Cloud and Kitten, both of whom were unharmed.
"Well, that was exciting," Numair said with false cheer, patting Spots on the neck while the gelding lipped at his shoulder.
The mage sat on the ground panting and sweating heavily while Daine examined Spots with her magic. The gelding was unharmed which she was about to say when she noticed Numair was bleeding.
"It's just a scratch. I can tend to it in a moment," he waved her off dismissively.
Scowling at him in vexation, Daine sent Kitten to fetch her water canteen while she inspected the cut on his arm. "Did you fix it, or have we got to go through that all again?"
"The breach is sealed," Numair replied, submitting himself to her care.
"Couldn't you have warded yourself from sight like Onua does so you don't make such an obvious target?" Daine complained while she cleaned the wound with the water Kitten brought.
"I didn't think of that," he blushed.
She rolled her eyes. "Next time make sure no one can see you before you start!"
"Yes ma'am." Numair ducked his head, trying to hide the grin.
Daine glared at him while she applied a healing ointment of Alanna's which Zek fetched from her pack and bandaged the arm.
It was late that evening when the group came across a farm where the farmer agreed to let them spend the night in his barn – for a small fee, of course. For the first time in days the mages enjoyed a hot meal while the horses munched on hay in the stables, Zek feasted on a selection of nuts and Kitten ate whatever was put in front of her. They all felt much better for being in the dry with Numair insisting on meditation before they bedded down for the night. As eventful as the day had been, Daine fell asleep with a smile on her face surrounded by ducks, cats and goats no longer dreading what the next day would bring.
