Mother of Wolves (Evalyce Worldshaper Book 1) (2 page)

They followed the unhappy warden down a long corridor and out into the open area of the airship paddocks. The ships of the Inferno lined the broad plaza. Most were small personal ships, though there were several bigger transports. Through the newly forged bond, Kalla felt Aleister's concern for his ship and she could sympathize. For those who made the sky their home, their ships were family. What she didn't understand was why one of the Plains people would have an airship in the first place. Aleister sighed in relief as he spotted the ship and took off at a trot towards it.

Kalla followed behind at a more sedate pace, emerald eyes sweeping the ship. The
Stymphalian
was a
Kruetzet-
class strike-fighter, equipped with twin ion cannon. She smiled wistfully. When she was younger, Kalla had learned to fly on the original
Kruetzet,
thanks to her military father. Her smile faltered. It had been years since she had thought of her father. When children blessed with magick were taken to the Kanlon, they lost all family ties. She had heard later, in her second year at the Kanlon, that her father had disappeared while on a mission. Neither ship nor captain had ever been found.

Kalla didn't know how her little thief-magister had managed to procure one of the ships, nor was she sure she really wanted to. Her people guarded their technology jealously and the Argosian Technomancers' magick was quite different from that of the Kanlon's Artificers.

Aleister was grumbling to himself as she approached, irritated that they had undone all of his careful security precautions. He fiddled with the hatch panel a bit more and the door hissed open, a thin set of stairs unfolding to allow entry. The Fox gave her a mischievous grin and started up the stairs.

“HEY! What do you think you're doing. That's
mine!
” A curly-haired teen was running towards them across the paddock-grounds. Kalla snorted. From the teen's angry voice and the commotion now commencing at the paddock entrance, she could only assume that Lord Tysin had arrived for the execution only to discover that the fox had slipped his trap. Indeed, even as the youth stopped before the
Stymphalian,
the crowd by the doors started towards them. The boy began to open his mouth again, but Kalla silenced him with a glare.

“The airship belongs to me now. I'm afraid that's something you are going to have to deal with, young man, unless you care to challenge the

Sin' of Cryshal.”

“But it's MINE! Even the magi can't just take stuff!”

“Indeed. However, a magister's belongings go with him. The
Stymphalian
belongs to Aleister Balflear and Aleister belongs to me now, therefore the airship belongs to me,” Kalla said in a flat voice. Before the boy could argue further, his father arrived, huffing and puffing.

“This is an OUTRAGE! I demand that you turn this
assassin
back over to me for execution. He killed our Lord Governor.” Lord Tysin raged. Kalla's eyes narrowed.

“I'm sure the warden here has already explained things. You captured and tortured the wrong Arkaddian. This one is nothing more than a thief. Your assassin is still free.

Magi have the right to claim any criminal on a death-ward as their magister if they are in need. I was in need. Balflear is now my magister. No amount of outrage is going to change that.” Kalla's voice was low, dangerous.

An unearthly wail interrupted her scolding, the sound rising and falling in the air. The paddocks abruptly erupted in flames as fireballs burst along the grounds, striking several of the airships. Lord Tysin and his son stumbled and turned to flee to the ironic safety of the Inferno, but a fireball engulfed them before they had taken two steps. Kalla beat a hasty retreat into the depths of the airship, where Aleister was already busy with the controls. The ship hummed to life as the engines engaged. Behind her, the door slid shut with a whisper of sound. Another fireball slammed into the pavement, rocking the ship. Kalla settled into the gunner's chair and buckled herself in.

“What the hell is going on?” the Sky Fox asked, his anxiety spilling over to her before he got it under control. There was a deep thrum within the ship as it lifted off from the paddock.

“I'm not sure.” Kalla scanned the sky, finding nothing. Aleister pushed a few more controls and the ship's shield snapped into place just as a fireball washed over them. The
Stymphalian
rocked with the impact and he had to fight to keep control. Both of them screamed as the smoke cleared and brought them face to face with the source of the destruction. A brief glimpse of a nightmare visage of fangs and glittering orange scales and they had flown by the giant creature as its chest filled for yet another fiery assault.

“Fire wyvern,” Kalla breathed, voice barely a whisper. It had been years since she had seen one. The fire wyvern were slender, serpentine creatures scaled in a fiery orange. Their tapered muzzles were graced with sensitive barbels and a sharp spike tipped the tail. Stubby horns framed the head, terminating in small spikes along the jaw line. Unlike dragons, wyvern lacked forelimbs, having only hindlimbs and an expansive set of wings.

Now that they were airborne, Kalla could see that the sky was filled with them. Odd, since they normally shunned human cities. The wyvern turned back to them and belched more fire at the ship, which Aleister deftly avoided. The creature bellowed in rage and dove after them, but the Sky Fox was living up to his name. He was quite the cunning pilot, but it was all he could do to avoid the beast's attacks. Kalla pulled the gunner's scope down and activated the strike-fighter's cannon.

“What are you doing!” Aleister yelped.

“Don't worry. Just fly!” Kalla tracked her target, then fired the cannon, one after the other. Both ion blasts slammed into the scaly creature, knocking it from the sky. Aleister whistled, impressed with her marksmanship. Kalla was equally impressed. The Arkaddian flew the ship better than some Argosians could, as if he had been born for it. Trusting Aleister to keep the ship safe, Kalla turned all of her attention and focus inward. She took two more of the wyvern down in quick succession, wincing as she did so. Like most Healers, she detested killing, even when it was necessary. Unfortunately the berserk creatures before her had no such compunctions. Two of them quickly paired up to tackle the airship together, forcing Aleister to become even more creative. Another fireball rocked the ship and a shrill warning alarm filled the cabin, followed by muffled curses from the magister.

“Another hit like that and the shields will be gone for good,” Aleister's voice came out in clipped tones.

“Not if I can help it.” Kalla divided her concentration, tracing the intricacies of the circuitry in her mind's eye, using her touch on the

controls as a guide. Finding the places that needed mending, Kalla drew just enough energy to repair the damage, never missing a beat with the cannon. By this time, the artillery of the Inferno's towers were at work, the giant anti-airship guns felling wyvern after wyvern. In short order, the battle was over. As Kalla came back to herself, Aleister turned the ship back to the paddocks. He let out a shaky sigh of relief and looked over at her.

“Where'd you learn to shoot one of these?” he asked.

“My father was captain of the original
Kruetzet.
I lived and breathed these ships growing up. Where'd you learn to
fly
one, Arkaddian?” she returned.

“I ran away from the Plainslands when I was young. Took up with an elderly Argosian who had turned to the life of a thief. He left me this ship.”

There was a sadness to his thoughts and Kalla didn't press him for more information. Instead, she turned her attention to the destruction below. The Inferno's paddocks were littered with bodies, both human and wyvern alike, and crews ran over the grounds, trying to get the fires under control. Aleister banked the ship and circled again, seeking a safe place to land. He found one along the outer rim and brought the ship to ground.

They wasted no time in joining the crews seeking survivors, though these were few and far between. The air was filled with acrid smoke and the sickly sweet smell of burnt flesh. Most of those who had not perished from the flames were too badly damaged even for the mage to heal. The most she could do was make the passing easier. Dante's Inferno has certainly lived up to its name this day.

For hours she and Aleister worked among the dead and dying, until finally the sun began to set. Enormous Artifice lamps came on all across the paddocks, allowing the people to keep working. Kalla sighed as she turned away from yet another whose passing she had aided and leaned against Aleister for support. They paused to watch as chains were wrapped around the body of a wyvern. While others had been tending the wounded and the dead, prisoners had been brought out from the upper levels of the Inferno to aid in disposing of the giant bodies. Chains were wrapped around the corpses, hooked to the undercarriage of transport vessels and carried off.

A deep, rumbling growl sent the team around the body scurrying away amidst shouts that one of the beasts was still alive. Wardens came flocking to the area, bringing heavy rifles to bear on the weakly struggling creature. Kalla frowned as something caught her eye. A flash of silver glinted from beneath one of the wyvern's thick neckplates.

“Hold off.”

Kalla gestured for the wardens to stay back and warily approached the wyvern. She talked softly and steadily, maintaining eye contact with the fiery-scaled creature. It snorted and tried to toss its head, but the chains weighted it down. She called the prisoners back.

“Grab the chains. Keep the head down.” Kalla came closer, the fierce hawk-like eye following her every move. Behind her she could feel Aleister fairly dancing with anxiety as she carefully prised back one of the heavy neck scales. The wyvern bucked, throwing her back, but the prisoners quickly pulled the chains taut and she approached it again, still talking softly. Once more she prised the scale back, revealing a silvery knob lodged underneath. Kalla touched the object gently with her mind. It was embedded deep in the skin, like a giant metallic splinter. The area around the metallic splinter was inflamed and taught with infection. She beckoned Aleister over and had him take hold of the splinter.

“This… thing is tapped into the creature's spine. I want you to pull it out.”

“Wouldn't it be better to wait until it's dead?” Aleister asked.

“I don't want it dead. I want to heal it. As you draw the pin out, I'm going to heal the wound behind it.”

The Sky Fox gave her a look that said he thought she was crazy, but he waited until she'd settled into a healing trance, then gently started to pull the silver spike out. The wyvern twitched feebly, but did nothing more aggressive than growl at them. After what seemed like ages Aleister drew the point out. The entire thing was as long as his palm and, as he investigated it, he found that the tip was hollow and dripped the remains of an oily, green substance. Aleister carefully laid the spike to the side and turned back to Kalla. She was working now to heal the rest of the wyvern's injuries. Towards the end he started to feel a slight pull on his own energy reserves and from the fatigue he felt through the link between them, he guessed she was at her limit.

Kalla finished her work on the wyvern. She started to stand, and pitched forward suddenly, leaving her slumped against the giant creature's neck. It stirred and, with a movement swifter than a striking serpent, jerked its head free. The chains gave a metallic hiss as they slid to the ground and Kalla found herself wrapped in a haze of translucent red as the wing nearest curled around her. The great head dipped around to face her. Dimly Kalla heard Aleister yelling at the men to hold their fire, for fear that they would hit her instead. The wyvern snorted and smoky breath washed over Kalla.

You healed me. You saved me. Why?

Kalla could only gape in amazement at the distinctly feminine voice in her mind. Though credited with being extremely intelligent, it had never been noted that wyverns had anywhere near the sentience that their closest cousins- dragons- did.

“It's okay! Everything's okay! Don't shoot.”

Kalla turned her attention back to the wyvern. “Your… people… are not known to be this aggressive to humans. When I saw the spike I assumed that it might have been part of the reason. I don't approve of killing simply for the sake of killing. It goes against all a magi Healer is taught. My name is Kalla kyl'Solidor.”

The hawk eye blinked slowly.

I am Amaterasu, seer to the Cove Rock Clan and I thank you, both for healing me and for sparing my life. For that, my life belongs to you.

People came, many days ago, to the lands of the Cove Rock Clan. They came with guns that paralyzed us. They embedded the spikes in my people and we lost control of who we were.

Amaterasu shook her head, as if to clear it.
There was a voice in our minds. It whispered to us that we should leave our home. That we should attack the skycity. We were promised great riches and plentiful hunting, if we would do as we were bid.

Grief filled the mage at the wyvern's words. She couldn't imagine who would do such a thing, to cause such death. If all of the wyvern's clan had attacked the Inferno, then Amaterasu was the last of her clan left alive.

“I don't know who would wish to cause such calamity. I've never seen anything like the spike, nor the drug used on you.” Kalla laid her hand on the wyvern's neck. “If you trust us enough, I will do my best to get to the bottom of this and see those involved punished.”

I thank you, Lady Mage.
Amaterasu unfurled her wing, revealing Kalla to her relieved magister. There was a rustle of weapons as the wyvern levered herself upright, folding her wings about her body.

“There is no need to worry. This wyvern we have no need to fear. She will harm no one,” Kalla said.

“
She?
How can you tell if it's a
she?
And how do you know it won't attack again?” One of the wardens was brave enough to question the mage.