In danger herself, she came to see if I was safe, pushing herself hard until she found me barely in time to slay the monster that was about to kill me. I should be unhappy about that, concerned that Mari ran such risks for me when only she can fulfill the prophecy that means everything to this world. But, perhaps, the same parts of Mari that brought her here in time to save me will also enable her to save this world.
I was taught that love did not exist, that like all else it is an illusion, yet today love saved my life.
I will never again leave her.
Chapter Six
Morning dawned chill, the heights around them blocking the sun’s rays. Alain could hear the calls of Alexdrian sentries reporting all well, a reassurance that the Imperial forces had relied on the dragon to finish the job of destroying the raiders and not pushing up the pass themselves. Alain took another look at the massive carcass, still frightening even in its ruin. He could not imagine commons, or even Mages, choosing to follow on the heels of such a monster.
The fire had sunk into a few glowing embers. Alain had been trained not to care about personal hardship or discomfort and so ignored the cold in the air, but found himself concerned about Mari. He pulled out a few remaining branches from their supply of wood and got a small fire going again. Mari stirred, then opened her eyes and looked across the fire at him. “Yesterday wasn’t a dream, then.” She sighed. “That was the first night in a long time when I didn’t have a nightmare.”
Mari sat up, yawning and blinking. “I must look awful. I hurt all over and my mouth feels like my horse spent the night in there. Let me clean up and neaten up a little, then we’ll eat something and go see your general.”
The soldiers, busy getting ready to break camp, all maintained their distance, but Alain noticed that they often took quick looks at Mari as they talked among themselves. Mari acted as if she were unaware of them, though Alain could tell she was bothered by the attention. Two more cups of stew made up their breakfasts, brought by a pair of soldiers, one of whom eyed Mari with an awed expression while the other tentatively smiled at her before both left. After using water from a canteen she had brought to wash her face and rinse out her mouth, Mari spent a while straightened her hair and clothing. “Ready?” she finally asked him.
Alain ran one hand through his hair to comb it, twitched his robes slightly to settle them properly, then nodded.
She shook her head. “Guys have it so easy.” Mari led Alain toward the camp, but halted several lance-lengths short of it. “Do you mind waiting here with me?” she asked. “I’m still a bit nervous around commons.”
Alain nodded in response, not remarking on the falseness he had heard in Mari’s voice. She was nervous, but not for the reason she had given him. “Will you ask these soldiers to join with you?”
“Will I—?” Mari looked at him the way she had soon after they had first met, when his simple statements of how Mages saw the world had baffled her. “Join with me? What does that mean?”
“You will need the assistance of commons—”
Mari laughed. “I’m not going to use an army to get through the Empire. I’m pretty sure I explained that we were going to sneak our way to Severun. It’s too bad you can’t make both of us invisible with that spell of yours.” She gestured toward the carcass of the dragon. “Speaking of things disappearing, Alain, why don’t those things vanish when they get killed? You told me that all Mage spells were temporary, only lasting as long as you could maintain them.”
“That is so,” Alain said, “but you must remember that dragons, trolls and similar spell creatures are not alive and so cannot die. They are a spell designed to maintain itself, mimicking a living creature. Because they imitate a living creature, they can be stopped by the same amount of damage which would kill a comparable living creature.”
She raised a skeptical eyebrow his way. “That’s consistent enough, but why don’t they disappear once they’ve been pretend-killed?”
“Because they are imbued with enough power to sustain themselves,” Alain explained. “It may be enough for a few days of activity, which for these creatures means intense action. That power does not vanish if they are stopped before the spell expires. It remains within them, slowly dissipating. The same amount of power which could keep a dragon moving and fighting for a few days would take many days to dissolve.”
Mari stared at the ruin of the dragon. “So it decays. Sort of like a living thing, but faster. What does it take, a month?”
Alain made an uncertain gesture. “It depends. How much power was placed within the creature? How much did it use before being stopped? I cannot imagine the remains lasting more than a month at the longest, though. After that, everything is gone. Bones, muscle, it all fades into the nothing from which it came.”
“From nothing to nothing?” Mari shook her head. “That really bothers me, Alain.”
“It has always bothered me as well, though I could not betray such feelings in the past.”
The soldiers must have passed the word of their presence there through the camp, because only a short time later General Flyn walked up, looking at Mari with uncertainty clear in his expression. “May I be blunt, Lady?” he asked her.
Mari shrugged. “I’m finding that plain speaking is too rare in my life, General. Feel free.”
“Are you truly a Mechanic? Or did you acquire that jacket under circumstances I would be better off not knowing?”
“I acquired my jacket after an apprenticeship at the Mechanics Guild Hall in Caer Lyn,” Mari replied. “I acquired my Master Mechanic status at the Mechanics Guild Academy in Palandur. And I’ll answer the question you didn’t ask, General. I’m eighteen years old, the youngest Master Mechanic in the history of the Guild.”
“A young Master Mechanic.” Flyn regarded her thoughtfully. “We have heard of a Lady Master Mechanic who burned down the city hall which was the pride of Ringhmon. This Mage and I discussed that incident a few days ago.”
Mari shrugged once more. “I’m not sure why you would think I had anything to do with that, but I am sure that Ringhmon had it coming.”
“Anyone who has dealt with Ringhmon would agree, I am sure, Lady,” the general said. “You weren’t in Dorcastle soon afterwards, were you?”
“Why do you ask?”
“A matter concerning dragons that weren’t dragons. The Great Guilds have put out their versions of those events, but many rumors are making the rounds as well, speaking of a young woman whose description matches your own appearance. I did not place much credence in those rumors, but yesterday the Mage informed me that you had killed another dragon before this one. Was it you, Lady, who slew the dragon seen in the remnants of a warehouse before the Mechanics Guild declared it off limits to common folk?”
Mari looked around as if seeking a way to escape, then faced the general squarely. “I’m tired of lying to people. Yes. This Mage and I were responsible for the death of that dragon and the destruction of the warehouse.”
“My role was small,” Alain interjected.
“No, it wasn’t,” Mari said, her tone sharpening. “General, I’m trying to keep a low profile. I know that commons are talking about that incident. But I’d rather not have my name linked to it in ways that will get back to my Guild.”
“We don’t share such stories with your Guild, Lady. It seems you have done a number of remarkable things.”
“Master Mechanic Mari will do many more remarkable things,” Alain said, feeling a strange sense of pride in the way Flyn looked at Mari.
Mari covered her face with one hand. “Thank you, Sir Mage,” she muttered from behind the hand. “That’s very helpful.”