Broken by Magic: An Epic Fantasy Adventure (Dragon Gate Book 3), page 10
Somehow, Jak doubted Malek would ever need Rivlen—or any of them—to rescue him.
She scowled at him, and Jak realized he hadn’t been protecting his thoughts. Malek promised that would eventually become something he did naturally, without thinking about it, but Jak hadn’t reached that point yet.
“You’d make an excellent rescuer,” he whispered, hoping to placate her. “I would be happy to let you rescue me.”
“As good as you are at insulting mages, you’ll need rescuing.”
“I didn’t insult you. In fact, I was trying to appease you.”
“That’s called sucking up.”
“You know I prefer more precise terminology.”
“Yes, yes, you like your dictionary words. Catch some more flying crickets. Your hatchling looks hungry.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“We’ll stick together,” Malek said. “I acknowledge the merit in your suggestion, Captain, but this grass leaves few hiding places near the city, and since we have only one key, it might be unwise to allow ourselves to be separated. If there is danger, and you can sneak away to stage a rescue later, do so. I’ll attempt to distract any who battle us so they can’t give chase.”
“As you wish, my lord.” Rivlen didn’t sound that enamored with the plan.
Jak didn’t blame her for being wary and thinking of backup plans, but he liked the idea of sticking together and providing a strong front to whomever they encountered. Hopefully, the natives would be friendly. Or at least incapable of threatening them.
From what they could see of the city, it didn’t appear technologically advanced. Jak hadn’t spotted any steam-powered machinery or tall buildings that would suggest an understanding of modern engineering. The few large structures that were visible were built from stone and cement and on broad bases, using arches and columns such as had been popular in Ancient Zeruvia.
Jak doubted the people who had constructed the city had been the ones to alter the dragon steel. His hypothesis was that one of the good dragons, if they were still around—he dearly hoped so—had done it.
Using magic, Jak channeled bursts of air through the grass, knocking insects from the blades. As they flew from their perches, he adjusted the wind flow to direct them toward him. His efforts still felt clunky to him. They were nothing like that sophisticated net Malek had made from strands of magic, but he hadn’t figured out how to do that yet.
He lunged to catch the insects as they came within range. He missed a few but managed to grasp several to give to the hatchling.
“Try sucking,” Rivlen said, “since you’re a natural at it.”
“Pardon?” Jak asked.
“As if you were using a straw, a magical straw.” She extended a hand toward the grass to demonstrate but paused.
Mother was crouching, a sample spatula out as she scraped what looked like a piece of a blue mushroom into a vial. She’d already taken several specimens since they’d arrived.
“I doubt the plants and fungi growing alongside a road right outside of a busy city would have much medicinal value,” Jak said.
“You never know.” Mother capped the vial, tucked it into her backpack, and resumed walking. “Dandelions are considered weeds and grow prolifically all around Sprungtown, but they promote liver health, soothe minor digestive ailments, and can be paired with complementary herbs to cure urinary tract infections.”
“Your mother is odd,” Rivlen told Jak.
Jak didn’t know how to respond to that, since Mother listing the benefits and side effects of herbs was something he’d grown up with. Once, for a school project, he’d taken some of the information she shared around the dinner table and made a map of medicinal plants that grew wild around their neighborhood. As he recalled, he’d gotten a good grade on it.
Malek looked back and blandly said, “They are a quirky family.”
Jak snorted, surprised he remembered. When he’d first kidnapped them, that had been Jak’s description for Mother and himself.
“No kidding,” Rivlen said, then went back to demonstrating how to suck an insect out of the grass.
With the barest whisper of magic, a fat fuzzy caterpillar zipped straight into her hand. The hatchling noticed it flying past and sat alertly in his sling, eyes focusing on it even after it disappeared into her fist.
“Juicy one, huh?” Rivlen dangled the wriggling caterpillar over the hatchling’s snout. “Are you supposed to kill them first, or does he like live prey?”
Shikari lunged up, tiny teeth snapping, and chomped the caterpillar down.
“Never mind,” she said.
“Probably live,” Jak said, “but I don’t think it matters, so long as it’s an insect.”
“You better hope his diet evolves as he gets bigger, or your full-time job is going to be collecting bugs.”
As Jak attempted to suck instead of blow the insects into his grasp, another armored carriage came into view on the road ahead. This one had originated in the city and was rolling toward them. There were no horses or anything pulling it, nor did it have a smokestack, so he assumed it was magical, but it was too far away for him to tell.
Tezi jogged up to walk on Jak’s side opposite Rivlen. Her blonde hair was drawn back in two braids that left her freckled cheeks on full display, the orangish sun giving them an appealing warm glow. She smiled slightly and pointed at the hatchling. “How’s he doing?”
“Much better.” Jak beamed a smile at her, pleased she’d asked.
And even though he’d decided not to pester her with his stupid attempts to flirt—he agreed with his mother’s assessment that, after all she’d gone through with men, she wouldn’t be interested in a romantic relationship—he couldn’t help but find her attractive. There was nothing wrong with being attracted to a colleague. He wouldn’t act on it, nor would he admit that he was glad Mother had asked to bring her along.
He wasn’t sure why she had, but Tezi was a good shot, and with that axe, she could cleave a few enemies’ heads off, if need be. Or cleave a giant worm in half. He’d heard a number of the other mercenaries had been trying to get the axe from her. Maybe that was why Mother had wanted her to come, not only so she could help them if there was a fight but to keep people from ganging up on her to steal it.
“Good. He’s really cute.” Tezi turned her smile on the hatchling, an even broader and more genuine smile. Too bad Jak never received such enthusiastic smiles from women. “Do you think I can touch him? Will he bite me?”
“That’s a possibility.” Jak rubbed his slightly perforated earlobe. “It’s safest if he has something else in his mouth when you touch him. Let me see if I can get him a caterpillar.”
He looked at Rivlen, intending to ask if she had any tips for finding them, since she’d seemed to specifically pluck that insect out of the grass, and caught her scowling.
“I’m not fetching bugs so your girlfriend can feed them to your pet.”
Jak’s cheeks heated. “That isn’t what I was going to ask.” He couldn’t believe she could read minds and had still misinterpreted his thoughts. “And she’s not that.” He glanced at Tezi, worried she would be offended or think he was making romantic overtures when he hadn’t been.
Her smile had fallen, and she watched Rivlen with wary concern.
“She’s a colleague,” Jak said. “That’s all. And I was wondering how you picked out the caterpillar. Shikari really liked it.”
The hatchling’s tail swished as he looked back and forth between them, as if he knew exactly what they were talking about. Jak trusted that wasn’t true—even if dragons were smart, they surely needed time to develop the ability to think intelligent thoughts—but he was likely hoping for another caterpillar.
“They’re at the bases of the thicker blades of grass, munching on them.” Rivlen looked toward the city and the approaching carriage.
“Thanks.” Aware of Tezi still watching, Jak took a deep breath and concentrated on riffling through the grass with his magic. He knew how to stir the blades but had no idea how to detect if caterpillars or anything else were among them. So far, he’d been sweeping through, assuming insects were copious and hoping to luck upon some. He found he still couldn’t sense living things, so he swept upward, hoping for the best.
A spider hefted into the air and blew toward him. Well, maybe Shikari would find it tasty.
Jak caught the spider and dangled it above the hatchling’s mouth.
“Pet him now,” he suggested to Tezi.
Shikari’s eyes focused on the spider, and his swishing tail grew still. When he lunged up, Jak thought about pulling it away so Tezi would have longer to pet him while he was distracted, but that seemed a cruel taunt, and the last thing he wanted was for Shikari to grow up resenting him. He wanted a dragon friend, not a dragon that would turn into one of those mottled killers. Hopefully, that wouldn’t be possible.
Tezi stroked Shikari’s belly a couple of times. “Oh.” Her smile returned. “He’s softer than I expected. Not like fur, but kind of like suede.”
“Yeah, his belly is softer than his back. His back is all scaly. Probably because he has scales.” Jak rolled his eyes at himself. Way to state the obvious…
“Probably.” Tezi withdrew her hand as soon as Shikari finished chomping down the spider.
“How’s your axe?” Jak asked, then realized that sounded stupid. It wasn’t as if it had been in poor health and was now better. “I mean, are you learning about its abilities?”
Tezi frowned. “I don’t know how I would do that. I saw how Lord Malek lifted his hand, and it flew back to him after being embedded in the worm, but uhm.” She bit her lip.
Jak, deciding he shouldn’t find that gesture appealing, focused on the road ahead instead of her face.
“I went into the jungle alone to practice throwing it,” she whispered. “I did manage to lodge it in a tree—possibly with some magical intervention, since I’ve never thrown an axe—but I couldn’t get it to come back to me. Do you know if he did that, or if the axe did?”
Jak thought about asking Malek, but Mother was showing him one of her samples and talking about chloroplasts and how she would look at her specimens later under her microscope. Jak couldn’t imagine Malek being interested in the cellular makeup of plants on an alien world, but he did appear to be listening, so Jak didn’t interrupt.
“I bet it’s a power of the axe,” he said. “Malek was so injured that I doubt he had a lot of energy left to spare. He probably would have left it embedded in the worm if it hadn’t returned automatically. It might respond more to someone with the ability to use magic, but you should try talking to it. I mean, connecting to it. Maybe if it gets to know you, it’ll share advice on what you can do with it.”
“Gets to know me?” Tezi mouthed.
Jak realized how goofy that sounded. “If it’s like the portal, it might have some kind of… sentience and even intelligence. I could touch it for you later and try to figure it out if you want.”
Tezi drew back, as if she feared he would try to take it from her. Based on how many people wanted it, he couldn’t blame her, but it stung that she thought he would do that.
“I’ll figure it out myself,” she said.
“Good.” He nodded. “I’m sure you can. You’re smart. And strong.”
Tezi glanced at her arms—her admittedly slender arms—and raised skeptical eyebrows.
“I mean mentally strong. Like with fortitude. Though I’m sure you’re strong physically too. I know you mercenaries train hard.”
Mother frowned back at Jak, and he stopped talking, afraid he was burbling and sounded like an idiot. Or a flatterer. All he wanted was to smooth over any offense he’d caused, but maybe he needed to shut up.
“Thanks,” Tezi said in a muted voice, looked warily at Jak and Rivlen again, then stopped to wait for Tinder and Fret.
“That was painful,” Rivlen said.
Jak glanced at her, thinking she’d twisted her ankle or stepped on a rock.
“Watching you flirt,” she clarified.
“I wasn’t flirting,” Jak whispered, horrified Tezi would hear. The girlfriend comment had been bad enough. The last thing he wanted was for Tezi to avoid him because she thought he was another creepy man who wanted to have his way with her.
“That’s good, because it appeared ineffective.”
Jak rubbed his face.
“You shouldn’t waste your time thinking about sex anyway,” Rivlen added, her voice stern.
“I wasn’t.”
“Or partaking in it, should some woman deign to sleep with you. Mages who wish to develop their potential to the greatest must focus all of their waking hours on their duties and their training. The less time wasted on frivolous activities that do nothing to increase your abilities, the better. Why do you think the zidarr are so powerful? They don’t waste any time on recreation.”
Malek held up a hand. Jak thought he might protest this description of him, but the carriage had drawn close. He waved for their group to get off the road as he formed a barrier around everyone.
Worried he might have deemed the approaching carriage a threat, Jak sprang into the grass and cradled the hatchling protectively. He could now sense the magic of the carriage, a long rectangular box that was self-propelled and appeared to be for cargo rather than passengers. With Malek and Mother no longer in front of him, Jak could see two drivers on a bench up front.
They were human males in long white tunics that fell to their knees, leaving their legs bare, save for the leather straps of sandals that crisscrossed up their calves and shins. A shield, axe, bow, and quiver of arrows lay on the seat between them, and one man’s hand rested on the hilt of a sword as he eyed Malek.
“What’s on their faces?” Dr. Fret whispered.
On each man’s right temple, a metallic disc glinted.
“Jewelry?” Tezi guessed.
“Whatever they are, they’re magical,” Rivlen said.
Malek kept his hands on the hilts of his weapons and didn’t comment, only watching the two as the carriage continued past. Jak didn’t sense anything magical about either person, but as Rivlen had said, he did detect a hint of magic from the discs. He also sensed magic from something inside the carriage, perhaps the engine that powered it.
The drivers whispered to each other in their language. Though they appeared to find Malek suspicious, they didn’t linger or challenge him in any way. The carriage accelerated away from their group.
“The magic of the carriage engine is sophisticated,” Malek said, “but nothing like that of the dragon-steel device.”
“It would be surprising if dragon steel was commonplace,” Mother said.
“Uthari is hoping it’s more common here than in our world.”
“So it’s easier to acquire some?” Mother kept her tone neutral, but Jak doubted she was pleased with the idea of helping Uthari gain more powerful resources. Surely, he already had enough.
“Yes. I’ve a few trinkets he sent along that can be used for trade. If the leaders are amenable, and if there’s something in our world they covet, I’m authorized to negotiate a long-term trade agreement.”
“The zidarr diplomat,” Mother murmured. “Don’t you think the other kings and queens will object if Uthari unilaterally negotiates with rulers from other worlds?”
“That is for him to hash out with them.” Malek nodded toward the road and led the group back onto it.
The city was walled, but there were no towers or turrets along the top, nor evidence of artillery weapons. The wide gate stood open, with no guards out front.
Jak’s initial thought was that little trouble came along, perhaps thanks to the device on the portal, and that these people didn’t have need for defenses. As they drew closer, however, he sensed a magical barrier. It was invisible, much as with the mage barriers back home, and in a dome shape that extended over the entire city and down to a harbor, the docks protected from the surf by a breakwater.
Another carriage exited through the gate, this one smaller with windows and no driver, at least not on the bench on the outside. Fishing poles and spears were affixed to the top.
The carriage clattered past, wooden wheels jarring on the stone road, and Jak glimpsed two men inside. They didn’t look out the window at their group, but he spotted another metal disc at one man’s temple.
A few steps farther on, Malek stopped. They’d reached the barrier. As far as Jak could tell, despite the recent carriage departure, there was no breach in the magical field. Would Malek force his way in?
He prodded the barrier with his sword. It buzzed angrily and threw sparks. Malek didn’t react, other than to lower his sword, but Jak suspected that would have stung if he had used his finger.
“I have a theory about the discs,” Rivlen said.
“Actually, you have a hypothesis,” Jak told her, hoping to be helpful—and apologize if he’d somehow managed to offend her. He appreciated that she’d been showing him how to better catch bugs with his magic. “That’s a tentative explanation for an observable phenomenon. A theory is a widely accepted explanation that’s supported by data.”
Judging by the scathing expression Rivlen gave him, she didn’t find his correction helpful. “Quirky isn’t a sufficient word to explain you.”
“You think the discs are what allow people to pass through the barrier?” Malek guessed, ignoring the rest of their exchange.
“Yes, my lord,” Rivlen said. Amazing that her tone could change so abruptly from scathing to polite and respectful.
“Maybe if we stand out here long enough,” Mother said, crouching to poke at a purple flower growing out of the grass, “someone will notice us and invite us in. You wouldn’t think that travelers from another world would be so common that the locals would be blasé about it.”
Two humans with nets and fishing spears came out riding large furry animals that looked like a cross between a horse and an anteater. Again, metallic discs were affixed to the riders’ temples.
